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February 17, 2007
Type is All Around
Well, I guess I haven't said it here, but it's been said here instead: Matthew and I have signed up for a letterpress workshop at W.C. I'm very excited about all the big mechanical equipment we will be using - things that whump and thunk in a way that my computer never will (I suppose that's actually a blessing)... as our teacher Michael says, it's a working museum. Most places, you wouldn't even get to touch this stuff, let alone print off of it. The workshop is a part of the Lit House at W.C. - an amazing resource for writers and artists alike, and I can't believe that people aren't just lining up to take advantage of it. I guess I forget what it was like to be in college. I suppose learning an antiquated reproduction process (not the rhythm method) isn't probably at the top of most students' to do lists. Anyway, we are going to learn to set type, do print runs, and maybe I'll get to carve a linoleum plate or two. Matthew and I are dreaming of doing a small/short/few pages long Idiots'Book that we can print out, zoop zoop zoop like a letterpress does, then send it to our subscribers, before we have too many of them (the hubris!).
Like I said, tres excited!
Anyway. We got to actually get our hands in the type last week:
And then wash them, of course.
I walked home, and on the way home I did some more photos at night (that's when I took the pix of the parking meter, too). I especially like this one, of the flower shop née movie theater.
I love old theater marquis, and that blocky lettering. This particular theater used to be where I could catch the 25 cent matinées on the weekends. I would go almost every weekend, usually by myself. It was right around the corner, so I didn't even have to remember to go until like 2 minutes before showtime. The floor was sticky, bats flew in and out across the screen, and the movies were year-old-crowd-pleasers, but that was fine by me. It was at that movie theater that I first recognized that my time might be more valuable than my money - I walked out of Ziggy Stardust after 10 minutes thinking "who in the world would want to see that?!". Of course, I had been under the impression that it was about Ziggy, the big-headed pasty blob of Sunday comics fame (described in wikipedia as a "small, bald, pantless, almost featureless character (save for his large nose) who seems to have no job, hobbies, or romantic partner" - and apparently, that seemed more interesting to me than Bowie). Anyway - prices went up (it was still pretty cheap), but I guess not enough to keep the place in business. It closed down for a long while, then was an art gallery, then a sometime theater venue, now a flower shop. It's been a nice transformation, but I sure do miss getting my bad movie fix. I guess that's why I've got TBS.
Posted by ribbu at February 17, 2007 10:46 PM
Comments
Ah yes. The bats. And the sneaking in of star fruit. And the eating of far too many sweetarts (a roll of tarts is meant for two not one) that led to festering acidic holes in stomach linings.
Good times.
I loved that we could play scrabble until 2 minutes before showtime - leave the board and return to the game when the movie was over. Never a dull moment.
Posted by: ming at February 20, 2007 09:23 AM
yea, and what about that back door at the top of the steps. you could sneak in there all the time and wouldn't have to pay the 25cent.
Posted by: the hose at February 21, 2007 09:02 PM
WHAT?!
I would never do such a thing!
Actually, I didn't find out about that until, like, last summer. Someone was talking about sneaking in all the time and I was like, "where the hell was I when all this was happening?!"
Sheesh.
That 25cent coulda bought a LOT of swedish fish.
Posted by: ribbu at February 21, 2007 09:06 PM