caitri: (Default)
 Photo from behind the scenes of the season finale of Discovery, in which Anson Mount has his Captain's jacket open and I feel so attacked.





How DARE you, sir. HOW DARE.
caitri: (Printer)
 I survived my conference and it went well! So of course we had to go to the International Printing Museum because, uh, have you met me?






We got to pull prints on this replica Gutenberg press! It's...huge. But the platen was well-leveraged so actually pulling the bar was no big deal, and in fact, didn't reach back all the way to the cheek of the press, which surprised me and is something I'm not used to.
 
Anyway, I'm back home and trying to catch up! Which is, you know, always a work in progress...
caitri: (Default)
 These anonymous Fleeter girls dancing together.




Everyone else dancing in this scene is a couple of some kind. Just <3
caitri: (Printer)
 I have waited three years to make this post, ISTFG.

This one is from 3x05 "Freedom and Whiskey." Apparently they made two common presses and sent Sam Heughan to "printing school" so he could operate them properly. (They had a consultant at Reading University, so I wonder if they sent him there?) Apparently a lot of the prints you see onscreen he actually did himself. Good job, boyo.

Anyway, this is a nice set-up here. My only complaint is piling that much stuff onto the closed tympan; that much printing paper is **heavy.**



This next series of 'caps are all from 3x06 "A. Malcolm." Here's Jamie checking his prints first thing in the morning, probably to see if they dried properly. Note the combination of wooden dowels and hanging ropes to hold all the printed sheets. Absolutely correct.



Jamie's got his apron on (and I covet that beautiful leather apron that is....absolutely spotless. *thinks about the distressed aprons in my 'shop* *sighs*) A minor blooper here; when we see the bed of the press the chase is totally empty, but when he gets to work a few minutes later the type is locked up. 



This is a shot from the "Inside the World" featurette after the episode. Note that they did the lock-up properly with all wooden quoins and furniture rather than cheating and using modern (metal) speed quoins. My one hiccup here is that the bed is half-empty, and he's shown printing small bi-folios rather than quartos. It just wouldn't make any sense to print that way when you're doing pamphlets. Anyway, I think they may have done proper handset type here instead of cheating and using zinc plates, which is what you ordinarily see in print scenes in movies and whatnot. Although minor complaint: Throughout the shop you see all the equipment, all the paper stock, etc. etc., but you don't see any typecases or cabinets. And fwiw I have a small hobby operation and I have four type cabinets, so. They take up space.



Now what impressed me here is they got almost all of the inking correct! However, Jamie grabs the pair of prepped inkballs off the cheek of the press, where....they shouldn't be first thing in the morning, or they should be capped with a damp rag if they are. Why? Turns out the leather pelts used can dry out over night and makes it harder for them to pick up the ink; really you should start up first thing in the morning by taking the pelts out of a bucket of water where they would sit over night, wringing them out, then freshly stuffing the ink pelts with carded wool, then nailing them to the stock, and THEN prepping your ink. 

You do see Jamie working the ink with an ink knife from a jar on the inking stone. However, when they cut back to it its all spread out properly, which means someone likely worked it over with a modern brayer to get it perfectly ready to go. But he applies the ink to the ink balls correctly, then applies them to the press correctly. My heart went bat-bat-bat-bat just like the ink on that type, I tell ya.



Okay, here we see him pulling the bar:



My one hiccup here is--he doesn't pull back at an angle, which means he's not using a footbrace. Contrast with my bro Todd at work: 



See how he's got his knees bent just a bit? You got to make the press's leverage work for you when you're doing your pulls.Now, both Sam/Jamie and Todd are big guys, so they don't really need to. But back in the day, people were shorter. So, there's that. Now, back to Jamie:



Jamie checks his impression. Nice and even, particularly given he was using undampened paper from the post behind him. A couple more nitpicks: We don't see tables for the fresh paper OR the stack of prints that they would be producing (and you wouldn't hang them straight away--they need to dry off a bit). You also need to dampen your paper overnight because printing ink is incredibly thick stuff, and the wet paper picks it up much more easily and evenly than dry paper does. But as I said in my live-blogging, It's okay, Jamie. I've fucked that up too!

I didn't get a decent screencap of it, but he's also printing using "duckbills" or small folded bits of paper attached to the tympan to hold the paper in place, rather than "points" (thumb-tacks, basically). As far as I know the duckbills are a 19th or early 20th c. thing rather than 18th, but I've also never been able to confirm this, so who knows. 

Anyways then Claire comes in and drama ensues and he never cleans the type or anything, which is totally gonna bite him the next day if this were real life, but whatever. Also, he has a 2 press shop with like 1 dude working for him, which is INSANE. A 1 press shop would have 10 people at a minimum (overseer who can double as corrector, 2-4 pressmen, 2-4 compositors, 1-2 apprentice minions for cleaning, gophering, etc.), so really Jamie have like 19 dudes & ladies going full-time, but whatever. (Gabaldon fudged her research on the printing in ways that totally went over my head the first time I read the books TWENTY FUCKING YEARS AGO, JESUS, but now I'm just like, "where did you even GET that?!" when rereading. For instance, she consistently claims that printing ink consists of powder and alcohol, which, no. That would get you some writing ink, though mostly you'd use water instead because alcohol was expensive. She also does some funny stuff with typecasting which I can comment on next week, assuming they do that scene.)

Anyways, there's my feels. SORRY NOT SORRY.
 
PS They made a small dialogue addition I appreciated: When Claire tells Jamie he can't possibly be "just" a printer because he's so fit, Jamie rightfully says "Ever worked one, Sassenach?" PREACH, BOY!

ETA: In case you yourself want to learn to ~print like Jamie,~ you can go take the Book History Workshop at Texas A&M with Todd and my bros. Held every May for one week, this is the printing school where you too can learn to work a Common Press, cast some type and pull some paper sheets of your very own, and bind everything up to take home. It's the only program of its kind out there; the twenty student spots are first-come, first-serve, and its usually a mix of grad students, librarians, and hobbyists. So, think about it! :)
caitri: (Default)
More pics forthcoming later, but today was Hamilton day! First we did the full pilgrimage, going to Trinity Church to see the Hamilton family and Hercules Mulligan's graves, then going to Federal Hall (the site where George Washington was sworn in; the original building is no more but they had the surviving stone balcony where he took the oath and gave the first inaugural address, and bonus! a printing press in an exhibit on the Zenger Case! much commentary forthcoming), then had lunch at Frances Tavern (site of a regular meeting place for the Sons of Liberty, one of Mulligan's hangouts, and where Washington held a farewell dinner for his officers at the end of the war, plus a little museum with a couple of exhibits and one of which was all about Lafayette), then went to the American Finance Museum (Scott can give TONS of commentary on that) to see the Hamilton exhibit. We hit the Hamilton store (because apparently you need it with that much demand) and got a light dinner, and then we SAW HAMILTON. YOU GUYS.

Okay so we were in second row center, which meant we were less than four feet from the stage, when the actors would come up for their big moments they were RIGHT THERE, it was amazing. Especially when at the start of act 2 one of the ensemble climbed out of the music pit to start and waved at us. I brought a bunch of tissues because despite having listened to it a million times for the past year and a half, I *still* tear up at the sad bits and figured it was gonna be worse in person, which, yes. I cried a loooooot. And in person, seeing the actors emote, I mean, the Hamilton actor was in tears throughout "It's Quiet Uptown" and that just starts the sympathy feedback loop. The new Burr is absolutely freaking incredible, as is the new Washington. We got the Hamilton alt but he was still excellent. Anyway at the very end I was among a number of still crying people and so when they took their bows the Laurens/Philip actor winked in our general direction; I like to imagine he went backstage and was like "we got a bunch of the fangirls again." But yeah, wow. Dude. WE SAW HAMILTON AND WAS AS AMAZING AS WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE!!!!!!!!

caitri: (printer)
Last week I was at Wells College for their Summer Book Arts Institute, this time taking a course on punchcutting. A punch is the first stage in making a matrix, or mold, that can then be used to make type. In theory, I could design a whole new typeface, take the matrices to a typefounder, and then have a set of types all my own. (And the ambitious part of my brain thinks ~how cool~ would it be to have a set of types in Sindarin and Quenyan?!) And it's difficult to write about the process of creating an object from raw steel on Monday and then printing with it on Friday afternoon, but that's pretty much what happened. Also, out of seven students I was the only woman, which thankfully was managable; all the guys--which included Todd--were good guys, so that was a relief.

Here's some photos from Todd's Instagram, because I don't have pictures of my stuff, and anyway, it's kind of embarrassing in contrast.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIYk83PBJiF/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BIWCRnghC8q/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BITsEADhyQJ/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BId5vWQBeHF/

I was feeling incredibly frustrated for the first two days because I was so behind everyone else--I finished a set of two punches, while everyone else had four or five--but on Thursday through happenstance I was seated at a different workstation, and...the files there were SO MUCH BETTER than the ones I'd been using. Which was just happenstance, but also speaks to how important it is to have the tools that are ~right for you~ which I don't think I quite understood until then.

I also got to do a small print project in the off-hours; having access to a full shop with a huge type and ornament library is lovely. Although Vandercooks still freak me out. I like platen presses, ok?
caitri: (Gamora)
The new WoW update included lots of new options for transmogs for gear. After way too much time thinking and playing, I got my Level 100 Blood Elf Hunter some sexy new gear:



SO PRETTY. SO BADASS.

*is so absurdly pleased that I managed this unified look out of a variety of random things* *THIS IS NOT ALL TOP-LEVEL GEAR, THIS IS SOME RANDOM THINGS I HAD PLUS SOME NEW STUFF THAT I MADE INTO THE BEST I HAVE.* *I STILL LOOK SO BADASS THO!!!!*
caitri: (Dorian)
Text-To-Speech in 1846 Involved a Talking Robotic Head With Ringlets
Meet the Euphonia, a machine that boasted the ability to replicate human speech.


The Euphonia was the product of 25 years of research and an undeniably impressive feat of engineering. Fourteen piano keys controlled the articulation of the Euphonia's jaw, lips, and tongue while the roles of the lungs and larynx were performed by a bellows and an ivory reed. The operator could adjust the pitch and accent of the Euphonia's speech by turning a small screw or inserting a tube into its nose. It was reported that it took Faber seven long years simply to get his machine to correctly pronounce the letter e. ...

The answer may lie in a thought experiment put forth by the roboticist Mashahiro Mori in 1970. Mori proposed that “as [a] robot became more human-like there would first be an increase in its acceptability and then as it approached a nearly human state there would be a dramatic decrease in acceptance.” This dip in public approval represents a Goldilocks zone for robotic anthropomorphism: Robots who find themselves in it are simultaneously too human and not human enough. Faber's Euphonia seemed to have gotten lost somewhere in what Mori called “the Uncanny Valley.” ...

Sigmund Freud defined the uncanny as “that class of terrifying which leads back to something long known to us, once very familiar.”  The Euphonia, in spite of its familiar and quintessentially human ability to speak, was still undeniably inhuman; A mechanical imposter in a rubber mask.







caitri: (Cait Yatta!)
A few weeks ago we adopted a new puppy to be a little sister for Bilbo; we named her Rey because she is tiny and has so much attitude.

Prepare yourself for the cute.






caitri: (printer)
1022151148

Made these at a workshop at Virgin Wood Type. I actually find making wood type more stressful than making metal type because with the machines you can't actually see what you are doing. >_< You have to focus on operating around a pattern and then pause carefully and look over to check yourself as best as you can--as you can tell with the heart, I failed a bit. But, I kind of like that ding--which actually doesn't show up badly on the carbon proof--because it goes to show that I really did make it, so. *G*

Anyway, today's the slow day, so I have a little bit of time to relax that is sorely needed. This afternoon I'm heading back to campus to check out a book arts vendor fair and, hopefully, get a shot at doing a pull on the Kelmscott Press, which was the same one used by William Morris in his shop and is held at the Cary Collection at RIT. Yes, I am rather pathetically stoked at being able to have a go on a specific famous press because hi, have you met me?

Relatedly, last night's talk was by the folks at Virago Press, who primarily specialize in translations of Polish poetry from 1976-1989. One of the founders, Gwido Zlatkes, put together a book reprinting various things including a printers' manual used during the period, and when I went to chat with him we ended up talking about fanzines as underground literature, because, yes, only I can go to a print history talk and end up talking about fandom. I'M NOT SORRY.

More squee

Jul. 1st, 2015 07:47 pm
caitri: (printer)
Tonight I got to spend some quality time organizing my job cases into the type cabinets.

0701151939

There's still a stack to go, amongst many other things, but still!!!!!
caitri: (printer)
0630151118

That's 2100 lbs of awesome. Also three cabinets of type in the background...

Query

Jan. 5th, 2015 12:58 pm
caitri: (Gamora)
Working on my Maleficent paper, and.... is it just me, or do her wings in glass recall the good ol' diagram of women's reproductive organs?

Maleficent's wings

I mean, sometimes the Sacred Feminine is just the Sacred Feminine, but...
caitri: (Cait Yatta!)
This morning was the last day of workshop, and in an hour I'll catch the shuttle to the airport and thence home. Some last photographs:

0621140952

We had book-decorated cupcakes as a final farewell.

0621141152

We also made enclosures to take our projects home in safely. Hard to believe this little box carries everything I made this week, but it does!!!!!

Leaving is bittersweet because I'll be glad to be home again tonight, but I've really had so much fun here this week!!!!1
caitri: (Cait Yatta!)
Very tired after today's art show, so a quick post:

This was my table display with the work I did this week:

0620141130

I got a number of kind comments from visitors, including one from a woman I shared the airport shuttle here with: "I had to come see the show today because I've watched you walk around every day with your face lit up like a Christmas tree because you're so happy to be here!"

This workshop has been one of the best ever--I'm including the whole Kenyon experience. Every writer and artist I've talked to has been genial and thoughtful and constructive; there's none of that sort of jockeying for position competitiveness I've experienced with other groups. I absolutely want to come back again!!!!!!

I also manned the letterpress demo station for the show and made cards to give out to visitors:

0620141139

Don't worry, I fixed that "N" after I took this photo!

It was very cool to, for maybe the first time, be a printer in my own right. I've always been in the shadow of Todd and it was neat to be there on my merits and recognized for myself rather than, you know, the also-ran or the apprentice, you know? And the instructors were delighted that I was "a pro" who could set things up for students and clean etc without direction and whatnot. So it was all pretty cool!!!!!!
caitri: (Cait Yatta!)
A quick post of more sneak peeks of my work for the studio show tomorrow--I was working until 10:45 there tonight trying to get things done!!!!

0619141508

0619142157

Funny story: I'd been texting Todd pictures of things as they came along and whatnot, and mentioned this to one of my instructors; I didn't think anything of it since I had written a nonfiction piece about working in BHW with him, Chris, etc. The instructor blinked and said, "You talked to the character from your story?" "....who is a real person," I explained. Basically, I am way entertained having a bestie who people apparently think is fictional.

...I am entirely too slaphappy. I should probably try to go to bed eventually.
caitri: (books)
So tired: I was in the studio all day and now I'm trying to finish some text for the books I want to finish tomorrow. Here, have a sneak peek:

0618141656

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