Sunday, June 21, 2009

June BlogMeet: WIN

(Update: Congrats to Og, who caught that the Underwood has only three rows of keys -- it's another one with separate "CAPS" and "FIGS" shift keys, bit of a challenge for the typist. Figs? Tasty!)

There were nineteen or twenty of us (depending on how you count it) BlogMeeting at the Brew Pub, including Breda and Mike and the inimitable Les (late of Discontented Cookie and pointing us at Chicago Appleseed -- y'never expected that from Chicago, didja?)) from Far Forn Lands. Fabulous Prizes in the form of red-white-and-blue pens on lanyards were awarded the first 16 attendees! The event looked kinda like this: In fact, it looked just like that. Of course, I had to type-blog it. (Clicken for biggen, bearing in mind that I do not type so very well). BTW, Marko, the Underwood Portable weighs in at well under ten pounds and they don't ask you to leave the brew Pub when you start clattering away! I have most of the names in there, some a bit scribbly. Red rectangles enclose Caleb and the younger (but not that young!) Soames' typing. (I'll add more names & links asap, promise, but I have got to get to bed before I fall asleep at the keyboard). Here we are: Joanna, Tam, Old Grouch, Shermlock Shomes, Mrs. Shomes and Hagbard Celine (aka Check ID), Shootin' Buddy, Caleb, The Other Wayne, Kerry, Darlene, Kerry's father-in-Law, Martha, Greg, Dawn and child, Mad Saint Jack, Breda and Mike, Les and some chick named Roberta X.

Don't forget, 23 June is Typewriter Day! (U.S. and I think the rest of North America. Europe's is in April, in honor of an Italian parallel inventor).

The "Cup of Turonistan" for travelling the farthest distance was awarded twice -- once to Breda and Mike (a plastic soft-dart gun that looks like a tiny AK-47 -- except there is a a tiny gunner mounted atop it!) and then again to Les (an equally tiny toy gun, something of an "AR-47" or "AK-15" with light-up thingies on it).

Shermlock Shoames presented Tam with her very own paper shorts -- perhaps she can auction them on eBay to raise funds? "Own the paper shorts Tam has looked at and even held in her hands!" Oooo.

Here we see Breda and Les conferring: This was one of our bigger BlogMeets and conversation was wide-ranging, from politics and shooting to Gilbert & Sullivan, pocket knives, pets, why records (remember those?) had two inventory numbers and doubtless many more topics. Caleb shared interesting items about upcoming shows on Gun Nuts, about which I would love to tell you -- better stay tuned to find out!

All in all, a very fine BlogMeet. Hope to see you at the next one!

As for the poor typing, notice anything funny about that keyboard? Give ya three guesses!
It's odd, people accuse me of being old-fashioned. Imagine that!

21 comments:

Alan said...

One of these days, I'm gonna make it to an Indy blog meet.

Ritchie said...

Shades of Max Headspace! And yes, I do know what's odd about it, but I have been previously told.

WV: rumbil: We don't tolerate no rumbil in this hood.

Stingray said...

Caleb and any machinery combined is a recipe for disaster. Precision instruments sense and distrust his inherently imprecise nature. Better give it a good once over to make sure it didn't lose faith in mechanical consistency, leaving it only capable of typing "BLACKHAWK" and "SERPA" over and over.

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

Sorry I missed. Too much work around the house and not enough dry or semi-dry days to do it.

og said...

Have to echo Nathan's comment. Woulda been a hoot but I had a big pile of "Had to be done by monday AM"

"As for the poor typing, notice anything funny about that keyboard? Give ya three guesses!"

Well, there's the noted lack of a "Delete" key, the lack of numbers, the lack of carets, the fact that it's ported for chinese people's fingers, to begin with.

Roberta X said...

...Noooo, Og, it does have numbers and symbols....

(You were much missed, by the way. Maybe next time?)

Roberta X said...

Missed Nathan, too. Hey, with two more, we could'a staged a coup!

Les said...

I can't believe that you didn't post the "Dark and stormy night" story that I "oh-so carefully" crafted while balancing the type writer...

Man, I think that story give P.J. O'Rourke a run for his money (I read half the book at a Starbuck/gas station somewhere near Demotte, IN: Pure Awesome!)

Plugging my own agenda: Check out Chicago Appleseed! (We're not all liberal panty-waists... most, but not all!)

Shermlock Shomes said...

It was fun to pull a version of Monty Python's Bruce sketch on Breda:

Wayne: "I'm Wayne."

Me: "I'm Wayne, too."

Breda (looking at Shermlock Jr.): "He's can't be Wayne, too?"

Shermlock Jr.: "No, I'm Nathaniel."

Me: "That's Nathaniel WAYNE."

og said...

Sorry, meant to say "number keys"

Wish I coulda been there. Was a cluster, sunday, but post to follow on that.

Wayne said...

'Berta,
I can't help the size of my pocket-knife, it's just genetics.

Just being prepared.
You know those zombies won't chop themselves.

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

July and August are the "quiet months" on my calendar.

Till they get filled up. *sigh*

But right now it's only one or two things a week instead of something every damn day or night...and sometimes both. I just have to stop overcommitting...

Looks like either the 12th or 19th of July would be good.

Turk Turon said...

I'll be there in July!

wv: table

Roberta X said...

Hooray!

breda said...

we had the BEST time!

Mad Saint Jack said...

I'm back on-line.

City work crew cut the phone line under the street.

Good to see everybody at the meet.

Unknown said...

What's the fountain pen next to that Underwood? Looks like a Pelikan demonstrator...M200, maybe?

Old NFO said...

I've gotta get there too... Sounds like a fun group!

Roberta X said...

Marko: It's a Pelican Demonstrator indeed (good eye!) but I am not sure of the model number. Fountain Pen Hospital (or could it have been Levenger's? Seems unlikely) had them on sale some years ago and I couldn't resist. It's a very nice pen, a little too nice to carry regularly

Scale: the notebook next to the typewriter is 5.5 long on the edge facing us; the typewriter is about 11" wide. So the pen is not quite full (or "execudroid-with-a-Mont-Blanc") size.

Jay G said...

There's a blogmeet coming up in the Northeast either next month or August.

Y'all would be a shoe-in for the furthest traveled award...

Just sayin'...

Cowboy Blob said...

Where's the mouse?

werdverf: briculam

I think my Logic professor described Ad briculam as a fallacy of some sort.