Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Scheidegger at the con









Post-typecasting research yields this image of Doc Scratch. You can learn about Homestuck here.








Sadly, it turns out that since 2008, Resident Evil no longer uses typewriters to save the game (stories here and here).




























18 comments:

  1. I'm glad to see you putting it out there. A con is the place to do so, as you noted, a more accepting environment. I got considerably less attention with mine at ComiCon, but I only brought it out twice, and then it did get a few comments. The (older) woman at the steampunk booth loved the Corona 3. That's a nice machine, and if it's not too dear, probably a good choice for travel (remember my Tippa lost a knob at the hands of security).

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  2. Amazing how much you stick out by being mundane, isn't it? Next year, go in a top hat and spats and I bet you don't get a second glance. ;-)

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  3. First, that's a nice Scheidegger Princess Matic. What year was it made? Can you say more about typing action and feel? How does it compare to, say, Olympia Splendid?

    It's great that you have teaching stint in London. I'll be flying to the Netherlands late May for a conference but won't be staying long enough to need to bring a typewriter. I do hope to bring one home!

    Haha, I can just picture being a fish out of the water in that Otakus meet! By the way, you're not the only one with a non-smart cellphone!

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    1. I like the little Olympias a lot, but I have to say this Princess is even better. The date is around 1965. It has a nice, smooth, springy feel, totally smooth return, snappy ... no complaints.

      These were also made later in Bulgaria as the Maritsa. I haven't tried one of those.

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  4. wacky. I read that guy's webcomic when it was still called MS Paint Adventures. very.. um.. odd stuff. I'm guessing that Homestuck is an entirely different thing these days.

    Nice typer, and great interactions with the Con crowd. I've done some interactive typecast reporting from Cons as well, and it's a good place to get the participants to interact with the machines. I brought 3 and left a couple out for passersby to write on. Always a good vibe. (:

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  5. Thanks for this interesting coverage of the steampunk typewriter world. For both more Scheidegger and Heidegger, let alone Sommeregger, you are most welcome to visit a remote corner of Switzerland, very close to Todtnauberg. It's all there hingestellt.

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  6. You are brave soul... and so's your girl! I really don't think The Young Master could cope if accompanied him on a jaunt with his peers. I have had KuKas in my sights more than once but they always seem to get away. But I have sort of used up my quota this spring so I'd better not resume tha chase. Great reporting!

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  7. Ha ha ha. It looks like you had something of a ball there! It does look awfully fun. And what a great little machine to take along!

    I love the idea of a Concast. I might have to do one myself later this year.

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  8. Very interesting article, Thank you. It looks like everyone had fun.

    I too use a dumb phone and was going to post about it a few times. I use even better than a separate digital camera, 35mm or medium format. OK, I have and use a digital camera. Cellular phones just do not have the array density.

    I'd love to see you dressed up in one of those crazy costumes.

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  9. Ha! Steampunk cons are one of the reasons I want to get a pre-1930 portable to take with me! My standards are simply too heavy to be lugging around those long, crowded hallways.

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    1. Aha, so we have a steampunk among us! I hope you'll do it and give us a full report.

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  10. So great on so many levels. I hope your daughter wasn't too mortified. My 15-year-old has a good pack to run with and is less in need of escorting, but the 12-year-old is stuck with us for awhile. I can see the little one in horns.

    Have you considered time travel? You can home brew your own character; perhaps an anthropologist from the past caught in a wormhole eddy or something like that. You could do a formal study of this subculture while marginally being part of it. Get a pocket watch to go with the typewriter and then all you need is an old suit.

    I went to cons way back before they were overrun with cool characters. I went dressed as a science fiction nerd and still do for the local Maker Faire.

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  11. I have been to a few local comic-cons. The feeling is more "old school." You do see people wearing t-shirts with Batman, Spiderman, and the occasional costumed crusader. It sounds like a great father-daughter day. Well done!

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  12. Father of the year award for you!

    Back when I was a tobacconist, I had a regular customer who was a big, burly tattooed fellow that worked for the Boston Fire Department. He wanted to start wearing a kilt among friends, so he found a group of local Scots that got together once a month. He was apprehensive the first time he went to ride the subway in his tartans, but when he got on the T, the cars were all full of cos-players. Anime Boston was in town. Suddenly he was the most normal person on the train.

    God I miss the city.

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    1. Funny story! There was, in fact, a man in a kilt at the con.

      A friend's son decided that wearing kilts 24/7 was a good idea, so at college he became Kilt Man.

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  13. Very nice story, well written. Feel good stuff!

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  14. Nice report, Richard. And it almost goes without saying that Steampunks were gonna be receptive to seeing a typewriter in action. Gotta love 'em. Their bravery and inventiveness.
    Imagine the frenzy if you had brought along a '20s Royal or Smith-Corona.You'd have gotten no writing done.

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