| The World of Typewriters » Try Not to Scream: Typewriter Crushed By Hydraulic Press » 29-5-2016 07:00:45 |
- Javi
- Replies: 26
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This video and the whole keychopping thing makes me wonder...
Why do we, people who love typewriters, react as we do? What do typewriters have to make us feel that bad when they´re abused? Would you feel the same if someone gave a TV a roundhouse kick in pure Chuck Norris-esque fashion?
And why do keychoppers exist? If the keys are so nice, why wouldn´t you just leave them where they are?
As for this video, it´s pretty much like vandalism. Why destroying something? Because yes! I´m cool, see?
| The World of Typewriters » Typewriters in the Movies » 29-5-2016 06:33:15 |
- Javi
- Replies: 94
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I love to identify typewriters on the screen as well, and a good one is father Karras´ Royal KMM (The Exorcist). You can see a good pile of IBM´s in Catch Me if You Can (and a Olympia SM3 IIRC), and another IBM Selectric in the first Airport movie. In Boardwalk Empire Maggie uses a beautiful Underwood 5
In Spanish sitcoms Olivetti Lexicon 80´s are fairly common, as well as Studio 45´s.
And in video games, I think the big prize goes to Alan Wake: I´m not sure which typewriter he uses, but I think it´s some Smith Corona. Sorry, I´m pretty much lost with SCM´s, they´re quite rare around here.
| Portable Typewriters » Need help identifying an Olympia » 29-5-2016 05:13:00 |
- Javi
- Replies: 16
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I´d go for the SM5 as well. SM´s have no badge with the model name, and that makes them "identifiable". That is, if it doesn´t have a badge then you have a SM, and now you have to guess which one it is.
Look at the serial number, that should help as well.
| Type Talk » New Member Thread » 29-5-2016 05:09:10 |
- Javi
- Replies: 1017
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So far I´m trying to get a REAL one, because the only ones available in Spain so far are digital copies. But yeah, I´m sure I´m going to enjoy it!
| Type Talk » Describing how a typewriter feels. Not easy! » 29-5-2016 05:06:00 |
- Javi
- Replies: 11
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I´d add reliable / unreliable. That´s a defining factor for me.
A reliable typewriter is one which works as it´s supposed to do, and since we´re dealing with machines at least decades old (or even a century old) many things can go wrong. Sometimes you´re in the thick of it and suddenly something cuts the flow and you find yourself fixing some tiny little problem instead of writing. That reliability is key.
| Type Talk » Where Do You Prefer To Write? » 28-5-2016 09:57:34 |
- Javi
- Replies: 21
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1) I have no specific preferences at home, it depends on the moment. Most of times I stay at the basement because that´s where I keep most of the typewriters, but frequently I take them somwhere else. And when I´m outside there is a very special place: la Fuente el Sol (the Sun Fountain).
2) I use music as a wall to isolate myself when writing, and as inspiration as well. I rarely write in silence.
3) Late evening, no doubt about it.
| Type Talk » If You Had to Start all Over Again » 28-5-2016 09:43:42 |
- Javi
- Replies: 17
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A tough one...
If I had to keep only one typewriter as a writing tool I´d go for the Olivetti Linea 98. A great blend of reliability, tons of functions and raw speed. Performance-wise, it is unquestionable, but then there comes personal preference and how do you adapt to each typewriter. I find the touch very precise, you can rest assured you aren´t going to go faster than the escapement does, and it´s hard to get entangled typebars (you have to do something very wrong).
But then, if wedges are not excluded I have another candidate which devours pages and makes your life extra-easy: Olivetti ET2200. It´s not the same, but it´s a good piece of equipment.
And I was going to say that if I had to choose a portable I´d stick to the Hispano Olivetti Pluma 22 (Lettera 22 in the rest of the world) but that makes me sound like an Olivetti fan. Thing is that Olivetti has a lot of models which are only so-so, but a few of them are just great, and somehow I feel more comfortable with a Linea 98 than with a SG3.
| Type Talk » New Member Thread » 27-5-2016 15:20:50 |
- Javi
- Replies: 1017
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Hi! I´ve been a bit of a lurker around the Typosphere except for what I´ve been posting at the TWDB. Now I think it´s time to get a bit more involved, or at least to extend things a little further than just submitting typewriters, and this is the best place to tell a bit about me.
I don´t know if there are more people from Spain around here, and if not, then I´d be the first! I live between Valladolid and a small village near the city, and my interest in typewriters started around 2011 - 2012 when my girlfriend´s grandfather passed away. His typewriter (an Olivetti Leterra 32) was going to be discarded because no one knew what to do with that useless piece of junk, but I decided to keep it because somehow I felt it plainly wrong to throw it away. Then I just tried to write a bit with it, and that was it. No stopping since then, and as for May 2016 I have around 110 typewriters in my collection. I firmly believe each model has its own quirks, so they´re all valuable and everything is welcome.
The best part of it is the continuous learning process. Apart from the "pure" typewriter lore, there´s the technical part, the historical part, the social part... So many things to learn!
