The Olympia and the Beast Within

Hello all -
I have a special treat for this blog entry and unfortunately, no typecast due to time & energy constraints (but i did buy a new printer/scanner this past weekend so we should be copacetic once i get some freakin sleep!)

First, i shall mention the boring: The new job.
It's going okay. Nothing to get excited about. There are some new things but its mostly old. It is nothing like i dream my dream job to be. But heck, theyre compensating me well enough for me to put my dreams on hold for the time being; furthermore, there are other goals to pursue such as putting food on the table and being able to support my family and getting the baby's college savings going again (not to mention, fueling this typewriter addiction). And remember this little tidbit too: i have a 2nd son on the way come december! And 2-under-2 is no joke!

Being away from the little one is tough and quite honestly a lot more challenging than i imagined. It's a hard adjustment to be going from spending 10 straight hours with him during the day to none at all except for the ride to grandpa/grandma's house and then back home. I think of him nonstop and miss him so ridiculously much.

Now on to the business at hand.

A couple nights ago, i submitted an entry real late just letting you know that i had a pretty worthwhile typewriter adventure once again in Los Angeles.

Now who's crazy enough to drive to LA the night before his first day on a new job? Apparently, i sure am.

I thought i was being rational thinking: once i start this new job, i probably wont have as much opportunity to just leave on a whim and drive to LA.

Well, so i took off at 8:30pm and drove what was supposed to be 45min to LA. Of course, being LA, there was traffic and it took me 1hr 30min to get there. So now it's about 10:15pm.




Why go to LA? well, typewriter business, of course.

And not just any typewriter adventure either.

This one had the makings of something memorable, and it was.


As many things do, It began with a craigslist ad:



in case you cant read it:


Not only did i want this typewriter but i was curious: a forthcoming documentary about typewriters...
Yup, It's this film. And the author of the ad introduced himself as the Director of the film who needed to sell some of the typewriters used in the film because he didn't have the space to keep them. So we arranged for me to pick it up at his place near the Griffith Obsevatory and Griffith Park - totally awesome location!

Christopher Lockett is a real cool guy  -cool bc he simply is. And also cool bc he gave me permission to blog about my visit!

He took the time to show me his place which is decorated sparingly but with sublime artistic flair such as his own photography. He's also a scotch guy, and that's something i really want to learn more about.

I checked out the typewriter i was to buy and it's nearly perfect.

Later he showed me his other typewriters including a Hermes 3000 with Techno font and a Hermes Baby. Stupid me, i forgot to take pics - but Mr Lockett will be sending me some pics that i can update this entry with. He really likes typewriters and knows their history. Also, being primarily a cinematographer, he has a true passion for photography; and consequently has a real nice collection of vintage cameras.


Perhaps the coolest part of the night was when he graciously let me watch some of the film. If you haven't seen any of it yet, check this out on YouTube. I saw some interviews - including some of Richard Polt, Ruben Flores of US Office Machine and Bill Wahl of Mesa Typewriter Exchange.


I'm sworn to secrecy on what i saw but it looks pretty darn good and it is right for us typewriter enthusiasts and collectors to be excited.


Mr Lockett knows the film by heart, knows all the people who participated including Michael Clemens,  Ton Sison and Ted Munk among others in the typosphere as well as all the repairmen and authors. He passionately narrated the sequences i was shown.

And the typewriter i bought? The Olympia SM3? Mr Lockett says that my machine is not only in those cutaway scenes but also appears on the movie poster - so that is nothing short of badass!!! Unfortunately the movie poster is still a secret.

Finally, as far as the hint i provided the other night...

"The Beast Within"

Well, that's in the movie and this i can share: It is what John Steinbeck etched into the back of his Hermes Baby - which so made an impression of Mr Lockett that he had to go get a Hermes Baby of his own. It's impressive!