Tonight's picture was taken in November of 2003. Mattie was a year and half old and we took him to a Fall Festival. In fact, that was the year that our Fall tradition weekend began! Since Mattie loved being outside, I figured it was worth a try going to these events. It turned out to be a big hit. As you can see, I was introducing Mattie to a slide. Mattie was a naturally cautious child, so the notion of going down this smooth and steep surface was not up his alley. But of course with time and age, Mattie grew to love slides and I quickly learned he LOVED motion and movement. A total opposite to me!
Quote of the day: Every ray of sunshine, every drop of rain, every tear that falls, you are with me for I carry you in my heart forever. ~ Heather Wolf
I was listening to the radio this morning and heard them talking about a typewriter orchestra! I am not sure why I found that abundantly hysterical, but I did! I remember when I went to college, I had an electric typewriter in tow! This was pre-internet, and frankly in some ways, the world was simpler and easier! But today's generation.... what do they know about the typewriter?
Think about life with a typewriter. You couldn't just write something! It had to be intentional, because you couldn't move paragraphs around, there was no spell check, or even an automatic correction of your grammar. So how did we do it? Well if you were like me, you composed your thoughts on paper first! Pens and pads of paper or notebooks were commonplace! Now they have been replaced with electronics.
Any case, the notion of a typewriter orchestra, seems to harken back to a different time. If you know me by now, you know if I hear about something and it interests me, I am going to read up about it. So here's what they say about the Boston Typewriter Orchestra:
One night in 2004, Boston-area artist Tim Devin was presented with the gift of a child's typewriter at a bar. His typing eventually annoyed the waitress who asked him to stop, whereupon he responded "It's OK, ma'am. I'm the conductor of the Boston Typewriter Orchestra." Thinking there was something to the idea, he assembled a group of interested performers on the night of October 20, 2004 in Somerville, Massachusetts.
An office setting was quickly decided upon as an overarching theme for live performances. The members (usually numbering between four and eight people) perform wearing white shirts and neckties, engage in typical workplace banter and write office-themed lyrics to satirical or comedic effect. The typewriters are utilized in a rhythmic fashion while melodic elements are supplied by the vocalists. The group uses several varieties of manual typewriters from such manufacturers as Underwood, Smith Corona, Hermes, Remington and Royal.
The Boston Typewriter Orchestra began performing at house parties, eventually expanding venues to clubs, arts festivals, and museums. Local and national media appearances soon followed. The group appears in the documentary California Typewriter, and their song "Entropy Begins at the Office" has been used in promotional ads for the film The Post.
Check out this news clip of the group. Somehow watching this makes me smile and laugh! Who would think of the rhythmic sounds of the typewriter, but I appreciate when people use objects around them in novel ways, to think creatively and to remind us that music is really all around us. We just need to be able to stop and absorb it!
The Typewriter Orchestra is featured in the 2017 documentary entitled California Typewriter!
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