I first read fahrenheit 451 in the 9th grade, I had the best english teacher in the whole school too! Which made it even more awesome. That book opened my eyes, and I recieved an A+ on my essay. Since that point I have been writing a lot more in my spare time as well as reading. My personal favorite book of Bradbury is the Illustrated Man. That was a few years ago, now I am a junior in high school still and I am working on a novel, and I owe all the inspiration to Bradbury.

Hello, Hun. I'm sure Ray would be pleased to hear that yet another has been compelled to write and read to a greater extent due to his works.

The only trick is, how to keep yourself going long enough to put together something grand? I certainly have my slacker moments. I'm thinking of buying one of those old black machines that has keys like a keyboard so that I won't be distracted by the computer's myriad doo-dads. The thing is, I've heard it has no need of electricity and can be quite clanky. I'll just have to work through it.

Nico, think of the fantastic muscles you will build up on every finger (and both thumbs)!

Hi Hun:

I read Farenheit 451 in 9th grade, also. Due to the insistence of a friend. That book just lit me on fire and opened me up to a world of ideas. At 52, ideas still turn me on and I'm working on a book on Bradbury as we speak.

I've never left him and his influence has never left me. He was/is a major part of my life.

Mr. Dark

LIVE FOREVER!

And keep at it!

Nico, I believe that they call those old black (although mine was green) machines typewriters. I had a manual in college (Smith & Corona) and would love to have had a PC back then.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: biplane1,

quote:

Originally posted by biplane1:
Nico, I believe that they call those old black (although mine was green) machines [b]typewriters

Ah, so a pen extends from the apparatus and writes the corresponding key character? Or does it brand the letters in like a cattle prod?

No.
You see, there were tiny little men inside who, when hit on the back of the head by a minute hammer attached to the typewriter key, would quickly push their letter (a bit Like a branding iron) into what was called a "ribbon" (which was inked) and the image was then transferred to paper. When the ribbon ran out of ink, one would send the little men out to get more, but, as you may have guessed, the machines waned in popularity as many of the little men wouldn't return, having found little women.
(This caused some letters not to print, even with a new ribbon installed.)
I wonder what became of those fellows?

Here is ancient archival footage of this instrument actually used in a musical composition by Leroy Anderson:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-85653687843566...ype=search&plindex=0

Nico and Braling II, and when you hit the wrong key (wrong branding iron) you had to erase the error which resulted in scraps of eraser all over the platen (the round rubber sheathed roller which allowed the paper through) and, if you weren't careful, a hole in your manuscript.
Ugh! The memories.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: biplane1,

Sheathed is a good word.

quote:

Originally posted by Braling II:
You see, there were tiny little men inside who, when hit on the back of the head by a minute hammer attached to the typewriter key...

Stephen King called them Fornits, and they lived in the typewriters of authors and brought them good luck.

Only thing about them was that they left food crumbs inside the typewriter which had to be kept clean.

If only they had the cans of compressed as they do now for computers, those little bits of eraser would not have been such a problem.

Remember the little wheel of an eraser that also had a bristle brush attached to it to sweep those darned eraser crumbs (could have worked with food crumbs as well I am sure) away onto the floor?

I do remember those wheel eraser/brushes!
Haven't thought about those in years!

Remember what Archy and Mehitabel did with a typriter?

http://www.donmarquis.com/archy/index.html

Bradbury never liked the soundings of an electric typewriter, but preferred the clickety-clack of a manual typewriter. Except there was one electric typewriter he was somewhat fond of, and that was a Selectric III. Now, unable to hit those keys with fingers now loosened from their sound positional direction, he dictates, thus reverting back to proven principles of story-telling. It's the verbal pronunciations and declarations that echo thruout history, propelled by sound sharp thinking, honing words in syllables carefully placed on the tongue for delivery to those fragile yet so sensitive tissues named eardrums, that--! Well, the rest is biological textbook somersaults. The end product is what counts.

First off:
Welcome, Gandhi the Hun! I'm a newbie myself and enjoy this site and the forums immensely!

Second: All of you guys are deliciously nuts! I hope Mr. Bradbury reads these posts. Y'all would make him so proud!

I'm yet another of you who was introduced to Mr. Bradbury by an English teacher. I will be forever grateful.

Mr. Bradbury inspired me with what I like to call the KISS! Philosophy: Keep It Simple, Stupid! In some of his stories, Mr. Bradbury wrote of the simplist of things, so often with that longing touch of nostalgia.....I found it utterly captivating and used to long to be able to make people FEEL with my writing, as he did. He taught me that the mundane can be made marvelous.