22 Oct 2013

An Adventure Begins


I've never been keenly interested in the smallest portables, so I don't have a large range to choose from, and I don't own some of the better machines in that size class. I'm thinking about taking my Alma Jolson branded Antares. Incidentally, I haven't had a chance to feature that (might fairly soon) but Mr Messenger just mentioned Mr Polt's on his latest blog post. I hadn't been aware of any Alma Jolson's other than mine until today. :)

Sent from my Olympia SM3.

17 comments:

  1. Sounds like a grand adventure! Maybe you'll find a cache of unwanted cold war era typewriters with exotic keyboards. My best wishes to you and W for a bon voyage.

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    1. I admit I have pretty strong hopes to find one of these! There's going to be space to bring back two typewriters.
      http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ffGNvJa9Flk/TgUTwyMZAjI/AAAAAAAAAI0/DMohZ5Fos4k/s1600/Moskva+no+2.jpg

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  2. One of the pleasures of Georgia is that they speak worse Russian than you do.

    Yes, there should be plenty of opportunities for hiking, but don't expect to find a happy Eden in the former Soviet Union: the legacy is more scrap metal, abandoned buildings and Mercedes G-wagons stolen from Western Europe. That includes Georgia, whatever expatriate Georgians will tell you.

    Good luck finding typewriters, but don't forget that Western technology (and even Eastern bloc machinery) was rare in Soviet daily life. Even in the 1990s all shops were still using abacuses.

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    1. (I should have used my ID for that previous post -- this is it.)

      Try the lovely second-hand bookshop on Rustaveli prospekt or ulitsa Mostava, on the left-hand side of the road as you walk north from the parliament. It's not only jam-packed with musty Sovizdat, it seems the kind of place a typewriter might turn up. The shop was there during the Russian invasion and I imagine it survives today.

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    2. Of course we're not getting Russian lessons from Georgians. :D It's going to be weird not knowing any Georgian, though. It'd be weird knowing it, too, just because of their alphabet.

      Books are definitely a priority as well as finding a typewriter! Thanks for the suggestions. Something's sure to turn up if we visit regularly over our 4 weeks.

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  3. Nick, I'm excited for you. I hope you'll be blogging along the way. You haven't forgotten about your Good Companion and the Aristocrat in my attic, I hope. Or is that another trip?

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    1. I certainly haven't forgotten. :) This trip was a bit of sudden planning on the part of his work; being in the Air Force has some weird qualities.

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  4. Must. Get. Georgian. Typewriter.

    This sounds very exciting! Keep us posted.

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  5. Exciting! Have fun during your stay in Georgia. Hopefully you get to bring a typewriter back home with you.

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  6. How exciting, I will look forward to your typecasts from Georgia!

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    1. If I may, I'd like to nominate your Lettera 22 to be your travel mate. ( :

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    2. Nomination accepted, and until further notice, your nomination is the winner. ;)

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  7. That's so exciting!!! I know I haven't been keeping up well or in touch with the goings-on in your life, but glad to have seen this post! Hope you guys have an amazing trip! :D

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    1. If I can actually get some letter writing done, I'll send you something while we're there. :D

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  8. By the way, I'm glad to know that another Alma Jolson exists. I have just a little documentation from the Remington company records about their investigation of this machine.

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    1. I can't find a serial number on it, oddly. I'll be typecasting in an hour or two on it. :)

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