Daniel’s getting the very first Episode since I ran out of the regular mini-CD sleeves I was using and had to design and make my own. Much more time-consuming, but I designed the envelope template so I can attach the CD/DVD to the letter and have it open from the front. I also needed to […]
10th Phoenix Type-In Report: A Good Time Had By All! :D
Joe’s Video Report! :D A new podcast launched today, where the pod interviews typewriter repair pros. First episode’s on Phoenix’s own Duane Jensen, worth a listen!
The Strange Case of the Sears Branded Royals
Having found a US-Made Royal Sabre-style “Sears Portable” this past week, I realized that TWDB now has a few each of the two different Sears machines that were specially manufactured for Sears by the Royal Springfield plant in the US. In examining them, I came to the realization that I had also had the oldest […]
Mail Call: A Missed Postcard
Currently in the eyeholes:
Tape Pals 3-Way #2 Round 4 Cassette Arrives!
The Tape Pals cassette has arrived! That’s a good hour and a half of listening and letter-reading. Time to SAVOR! (: Oops!, the theme of this round is actually “Interesting Stories“, as per Joe’s side of the tape. Maxell XLII High-Bias 90 #E061A6B4 USA-Made, May 06, 2001 Still recording fine with no dropouts or fade […]
Mail Call: Lord Guildford Deigns to Write
Currently in the Eyeholes:
The Bomb in Your Pocket
Oh hey – the 90’s called… and now you’re dead! Jeebus Crispy, the world is a weird place. Over the weekend another assassination attempt on a current presidential candidate, and again nobody seems to be especially surprised or concerned – at least not as much as they care about a fabricated story about people eating […]
Currently in the Eyeholes: Drum Struck
In the 1990’s there was a place you might remember called a “Video Rental Store” where you’d go every Friday after work and browse the racks of “videotapes” so you could select a few to rent over the weekend. On these videotapes were movies, and if you frequented just the right sort of video rental […]
Mail Call: Aliens in my Mail!
Currently in the earholes:
Special Tape Pals Edition: Letterpress 1997 & Sounds of Night 2001
Even more Special Episodes hot off the griddle!
Mail Call: Real Deal Mail Freshly Typed & Prepping for a Cassavetes Run
Currently in the Eyeholes:
Recording Phonecalls
Mail Call: Shag and the First Catch of the 2024 Typewriter Hunting Season
WoC: 1966 Sears Portable #SS 6559402
Currently in the Eyeholes: A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
So what do you get when you hire a bunch of the ugliest actors you can find, then give them lines to memorize that depress them so much that they commit mass suicide – but, surprise! The director knows a witch doctor, so they re-animate the actors as zombies, cover them in chalky, white makeup […]
Mail Call: A Threefer Weekend! :D
Currently in the Eyeholes:
Digitizin’ The Last of my Interview Tapes
These last tapes cover interviews with the Brother between 2011 and 2013 plus some 2018 tapes. I’ve had luls in the recording sessions, times when I didn’t have a good recorder or periods like when Covid started and then the restrictions were largely lifted. This, however is the whole enchilada of the Brother Project (so […]
The Accutower of Power
Currently in the Eyeholes: Le Samouraï (Typewriter Sighting!)
Rest in peace, Alain Delon – It was a real dick move to request that your *still alive* dog be buried with you, but thankfully your family didn’t do that, and now all you’ve got is a stain on your legacy. That said, I still like Le Samouraï, and watched it again tor the typewriter […]
Mail Call: Passport to Adventure!
Currently in the Eyeholes: Dark City
Better than I remember, maybe because I watched the Theatrical Cut before, not the Director’s Cut. I felt compelled to put it on after a review by a Typospherian (can’t find it now or remember who) on his blog and also one on Ty and That Guy in the same month. Too much of a […]
A Day at the Typewriter Shop & Thriftin’ with Friends
Mail Call: Two Letters from Canada and an Evening with The Brother
Mail Call: Power Brick & Pencils
A Plan Has Been Laid…
Last night’s Movie In The Eyeholes: Altman’s “The Long Goodbye“. Like every other Altman film, it’s muddled and somewhat incoherent on first watch because of often ad-libbed and overlapping dialogue, but worth a second watch to really get what’s going on. Weird choice of having all the in-universe music just be different renditions of the […]
Mail Call: Sewing Machines & Adler J3(n)s!
Currently in the eyeholes: (restored 1977 version – Han shot first! Also have the 2004 Special Edition from the DVD set on here, but prolly won’t ever watch that “CGI slapstick in the streets of Mos Eisley” version again. I think the last time I saw this version was 1978 at the Cine Capri downtown. […]
More Kaiju Composers!
WoC: “Mothra” 1972 IBM Selectric Composer #5016537 Reminder for me how the ribbon winds onto the spools and which way is “top”. Trust me, I did it wrong *TWICE* :D Way back in 2015, I picked up a working Selectric Composer which I named “Mothra”, and at the time I think it was probably the […]
Mail Call: Choppity-chops from Sue
Tonight we TAPE! :D
Weapon of Choice: “Moneypenny” 1948 Royal Quiet De Luxe #A-1551567 Keep on Savin’ That Date!
Enjoying a Royal Experience
Mail Call: Poltburo Mail & Six Flags Over Jesus – Phoenix, 1986
Also, now that I have a stereo cassette deck again, I’ve been sampling old tapes I have in my collection. This one, which I think is from 1986, is a tape I recorded of a local band called “Six Flags over Jesus” (not the ones found in Google nowadays) at a bar called “Crash“. Recorded […]
Mail Call: Adventures in Stereo!
A Box full of cassette tapes? Well, that’s part of it – the cream and strawberry on top, if you will. Underneath the tapes – this well-padded rectangle of tingly anticipation… Tada! A rebuilt Marantz PMD-430 Stereo Cassette Field Recorder! :D Quick comparison between the Marantz PMD-430 and Marantz PMD-201. Same basic dimensions as they […]
Strange But True: Paper Salesman’s Sample Books – 1995
Back in my 20’s, working at the print shop I often met with a profession that probably doesn’t exist anymore: The traveling paper salesman. There were a few of them that stopped by the shop every week to talk about new papers, take orders and drop off sample books of their wares. We had a […]
Mail Call: The Cursed JP4 Organ-Donates Again!
Save The Date!
How To: Join in a Tape Pals 3-Way!
Suggested Implementation: You gonna need a box. Plain on the outside, tasty on the inside! Mmm, yummy! Mission folder, Cassette Tape and Agent Log Scroll ensconced in hand-crafted padded satin bed. Insist on genuine MunkTone(tm) Instant Loading Tape Cassette! Available at participating Western Auto stores for a limited time. Gilt-edged, wax-sealed Mission Folder containing Mission […]