Magic Kismet

Know 99 Typewriter Story

The City of Phoenix has an education channel called Know 99. It's very local and very fun to watch. Many of the students from the Cronkite School of Journalism at ASU produce segments and this is one. It fell on the heels of the CBS story and, honestly, I forgot about it. It's these kinds of local things that give me the most pleasure. CBS Sunday Morning was awesome, but when your local educational community recognizes something, it's really nice.

 

The awful thing about seeing yourself on TV (or in this case the internet) you can really see where you need to shed some pounds. So, if you excuse me, I need to run up and down the stairs while holding a couple of Royals.

A Tad O' the Green

This afternoon I spent a little time preparing a typewriter for a special young lady. Diana is Alhambra's valedictorian and I found out that she wanted a typewriter of her own. From what I gather, she had worked hard all year in a part-time job and her tax return was going to be used to buy the typewriter of her dreams. Well, I've seen what's out there and I was positive I had the perfect machine for her…and gratis too. She can keep the tax return. It's this Hermes 2000:

Wow, the iPad camera is pretty grainy in medium-light situations.

I really must get some better pictures tomorrow.

As it was in a fine condition when it came to me I only had to clean it up a little and throw a ribbon in it. 

This looks more green, but still sickly.

I had offered a few other machines, but it was the Hermes 2000 that she really wanted. Until I had the joy of getting this one ready for a new user, I was unaware of how lovely they are. This diminutive gem has a touch regulator and you can tune it quite nicely to your typing peccadilloes. I feel the touch is less "pillowy" than the Hermes 3000. It's not snappy, it's soft in the first half of the key press and then it thickens in the last half. It's quietly muffled like all Hermes are and is not distracting in the least. As one is inured to the rhythm and cadence required from the 2000– the commonest problem being skipped letters originating from the type bar segment antipodes– the experience becomes smooth and enjoyable. I have heard that the letter 'a' is a particular nuisance to our more ham-fisted Typospherians, but I have never had that sort of problem. 

While this post comes at the nadir of St. Patricks Day it is appropriate that this Typegrant is green. The greenness bends more to the mint and less to the kelly, but the sentiment is the same. And to honor those of Irish blood here is a link to a very interesting report by Michael Everton on Irish Typewriter Keyboards. This link comes by way of Richard Polt's very stimulating website. It's very interesting and there are samples of the typefaces too. Absolutely beautiful!

Royal Doire from
http://www.evertype.com/celtscript/type-keys.htm  

Yellow Typewriters are for Redhead Apple-Eating Geniuses

March 31st Type-In at Lux Coffeehouse

Spring Break

Photographic Evidence

A few days ago I lamented not finding more pictures of HHs in the rarer colors. Well, I stumbled across a picture of one while looking for information on the Royal Grand. Will Davis' site (currently mirrored by Machines of Loving Grace). When I first saw it I thought that the picture was just an odd shade, but as you can see, the ribbon is very visible. Very grey. This is a sombre typewriter. I LOVE it!

From what I have read this machine is the personal favorite of the Elder Davis. I can imagine why. Smooth operation. Snappy feel. Easy carriage tension adjustment. The keytop's bowl shape make typing less fatiguing. When it comes to the pinnacle of typewriter design perfection, this is it. I know they are not lookers, but form will follow function and these function perfectly.

From Machines of Loving Grace's mirror of Typewriters by Will Davis