Sunday, June 02, 2013

Conversations With Dave

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Typecast140

Post-Script: Dave doesn't like this photo of him, taken with the iPad 2's barely adequate camera, using the Hipstamatic App's Tintype effect, but I think it reveals something of his inner character, even though it makes his hair look gray and skin a bit wrinkled, which it's not, really. Not that he's vain, but everyone wants to be flattered, which is why I'd never make a successful portrait photographer, as I'm too bent on being a documentarian and am not interested in the least bit at flattering someone. I'd shoot portraits like I do street photography, seeking out the most gritty, grungy aspects of the subject and reveal all in shocking detail, I would.

Regarding the typecast, I've retired the Olympia SG9 for a while, returning once again to the Corona 4. Now, here's the thing: this particular Corona 4 is a whore. I'm serious. She has all the looks, but where it counts, she's woefully lacking in fundamental character. What I mean is, if the Olympia were a wife, she'd be all practical and get things done and you could rely on her 110%, though not be the most outstanding in appearance; while the Corona 4 will flatter you with her charms but can't type a straight line without the characters being all jiggle-jaggle and the ribbon become folded or shredded, and the type slugs ink-clogged. She's high-maintenance, she is. Needs her little slugs cleaned out after every type session, needs the ribbon covers removed when typing else the ribbon gets stuck and a hole gets shredded through it, gets the edge of the ribbon all snarled with little hanging threads that dirty the paper. But she's a charmer, she is. A whore. But I still love her, I does.

Errata: "tounge" should read "tongue." But at least I included all the correct letters, just in the wrong order. Obviously one of the risks of typecasting without a net (or first draft) is to reveal one's lack of education.

1 Comments:

Blogger Rob Bowker said...

Great vignette, thanks Joe. I was supplying type samples from my collection recently. I got to my couple of gaudily painted Corona 4s (rhymes with whores) and I concur. On typecasting without a net - such a visually rich phrase - it is the only way I ever type unless it is for Type-O-Matic which sometimes requires a couple of drafts. My own misspellings and tortured grammar are byproducts of the different rates at which my brain and my fingers operate. I see the mistakes on the page but realise I'd spend so long re-drafting that any spontaneity in the original would be lost. I do keep a pack of Tipp-Ex papers handy though :-)

4:32 AM  

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