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L.T. Hanlon

Warning about that keyboard

June 5, 2019June 5, 2019 L.T. Hanlon4 Comments

This is a photo of a typewritten page containing the following text. Wednesday, June 5, 2019. Chicago, USA. The danger of typewritten letters. This will be a short one but it's a vital message nonetheless. Keep track of what's in the letters you type and mail. At least once this month a friend has emailed to tell me that I’d already described an incident once before in a previous letter. Writing letters with a typewriter isn't like using email, which offers an archive of your letters. So be careful.

 

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The rare gems of YouTube

June 4, 2019June 8, 2019 L.T. HanlonLeave a comment

James Stobie explains it all to you in one of his earliest videos.

This photo of a typewritten document contains the following text. Tuesday, June 4, 2019 Chicago, USA. He caught the westbound. There's a lot of stuff on YouTube that feels more like masturbation than mass communication. Yet amid the flotsam of influencers, conspiracy nuts, and downright idiots are the gems that shine so brightly you anxiously await every new video. One such gem was James Stobie, AKA Stobe the Hobo, who hopped freights across North America and posted videos of his exploits on YouTube. Unlike other trainhopping videos that seemed devoted to the hipster thrill of riding the rails, Stobie’s work came off like something Charles Kuralt might have done. Each video adventure of Stobe the Hobo included commentary about the towns he visited, the nature of life on the rails, and a musical soundtrack featuring Stobie himself on piano. Stobie died in November 2017 under circumstances still not entirely clear. He seems to have either fallen from a bridge or been struck by a train. Much of Stobie’s travels can be viewed on YouTube.

Above, Stobe the Hobo appears in a visually stunning video by RanOutOnARail.

James Stobie Obituary

Secret Society of Internet Hobos — James Stobie Page

Stobe the Hobo YouTube Archive

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Road trips and fine front yards

June 1, 2019June 1, 2019 L.T. Hanlon1 Comment

Dinah Shore wants you and your Chevy to take a road trip.

This photo is of a typewritten page of the following text. Saturday, June 1, 2019. Chicago, USA. Summer always smelled like turf builder. I've always felt that the first of June is the start of summer. Sure, summer begins astronomically on the 21st or 22nd or so. This year the seasons switch at 10:54 a.m. Friday, June 21, here in Chicago. A sure clue that summer had arrived when I was a kid came with the emotionally satisfying odor of Scotts Turf Builder blanketing our neighborhood. Even today I t m given to warm nostalgia when I detect that unmistakable odor. Just what makes that smell? The nitrogen? The phosphorous? The potassium? Who knows. Road trips and vacation also are a sure sign of summer, but our family didn't take many of those. In fact, we took only one: a weeklong summer vacation to the Four Corners area highlighted by a visit to Mesa Verde National Park. When I worked in Wyoming and commuted — I mean spent weekends in Colorado — I enjoyed treating the journey like a road trip. My favorite route took me from the Denver suburb of Wheat Ridge along Interstate 70 and then on past Glenwood Springs (or just before it, depending on your direction of travel) to where I—70 ended and returned to two—lane U.S. 6. I always liked this pre-interstate road; it played a big part in the early scenes of the original Vanishing Point. Interstate 70 is complete through Glenwood Canyon now and it is beautiful but it just isn't the same

 

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When retailers look like jerks

May 29, 2019May 29, 2019 L.T. Hanlon3 Comments

Photo of a typewritten page that contains the following text. Wednesday, May 29, 2019. Chicago, USA. Enough with the mercantile patriotism. I’m glad the holiday weekend is over. I can't begin to tell you how annoyed I get when a retailer declares it will donate X percent of my purchase to (fill in the blank) This past weekend it was to some Memorial Day—related cause. For crying out, loud, if you really care, don’t place conditions on your philanthropy. If you must, by all means make a public spectacle of your donation, but don't dangle strings. It's in poor taste. Even worse are the retailers whose cashiers are forced to pimp for contributions and won't allow customers to complete a transaction until they select YES or NO on the touchscreen. This always brings up memories of the United Way campaigns at work that required employees to sign and return a form even if they elected not to participate. If the odor of all this smells familiar, it's almost as bad as what's lingering in the opposite armpit: cause—related marketing. To conclude: Lead by example, not by cynically incorporating customer kindness into your fucking marketing plan.

 

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Infected by E-6 color sensibilities

May 24, 2019May 24, 2019 L.T. HanlonLeave a comment

Friday, May 24, 2019. Chicago, USA. Smith-Corona Silent-Super Elite 1954. Ektachrome and espionage. I’ve always wondered why back in the early to mid—1970s I made the switch from Kodachrome to Ektachrome. This affected my 35mm slides shot with my Pentax Spotmatic as well as 3—D images created with my Wirgin (Edixa) stereo camera. Switching was a big mistake, of course, since Kodachrome offered not only a truer representation of reality but also a much more archival medium. National Geographic photographers favored Kodachrome, switching only to Ektachrome when a faster emulsion was necessary. But why specifically did I switch? While watching Three Days of the Condor tonight, the reason finally hit me: movies. With a few exceptions like 1973’s Westworld, nearly every movie I saw in the ’70s looked blue. That's what infected me. It wasn’t until the early 1980s that I realized the error of my ways and returned to Kodachrome. As for the 1975 film Three Days of the Condor, it holds up exceptionally well and is clearly the spiritual mentor of many recent movies, including the Jason Bourne franchise. It also serves as a wonderful glimpse into world of 1975. Flared jeans, the Bell System, newfangled things like eyewitness news, big—ass land yachts, and even the 2—year—o1d Twin Towers all co—star in this Manhattan spy drama.

 

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I love a rainy night

May 23, 2019May 23, 2019 L.T. HanlonLeave a comment

Photo of a typewritten page with the following text. Thursday, May 23, 2019. Chicago, USA. Smith—Corona Silent-Super (pica). I’m not here for the destruction. I’ve posted several times before about how I enjoy monitoring the live video feeds of stormchasers. But I ought to make it clear why I watch this stuff. Like the majority of folks who are fans of NASCAR, I have no desire to see the tragedy. Far from it. I like seeing how stormchasers track bad weather, decide where to go, and how they coordinate with other chasers and with the media. Last night, one of the best feeds showed some chasers stop at a Sinclair service station in Oklahoma and get gas and food. Or food and then gas, as we'd joke in junior high. As the chasers tended to their vehicle, one pointed out the green concrete Dino out front. I hoped someone would go ride Sinclair's mascot, but nobody did. This venerable Smith—Corona I’m typing on probably has seen its share of storms. It still bears the business decal of the outfit that sold it: Windward Office of Kaneohe, Hawaii a Honolulu suburb.

 

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Kingdom of the Spiders

May 22, 2019May 22, 2019 L.T. HanlonLeave a comment
Silhouette photo of the scary-looking but harmless bridge spider.
L. sclopetarius silhouetted against a highrise window. (Photo by L.T. Hanlon)

Photo is of a typewritten page with the following text. Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Chicago, USA. Smith-Corona Silent-Super. Welcome, my 8-legged friends! As May draws to a close and summer readies its reign, my 54th floor windows once again play host to Larinioides sclopetarius, the common bridge spider that spins webs across Chicago's skyline. These spiders look impressively large as the season grinds on, but they're harmless to humans. In their native habitats, they live on barren cliffs. As man made his mark upon the land, L. sclopetarius took advantage of bridges and other metallic spans and then found comfortable niches in highrise buildings. Bridge spiders mostly keep to themselves. Just once in the two years I’ve been a cliff-dweller has one ventured inside my sky terrace. I used a broom to persuade it to return to the Kingdom of the Spiders. When I read more about these spiders and their ways, however, I felt bad about having done so. The specimen that sought refuge In my apartment was a small one and the species is known to be cannibalistic if sources of its usual prey are unavailable. Most of the time prey is plentiful, so much so that L. sclopetarius can be choosy diners. Often, most of the victims in its webs are still alive, sort of like how lobsters and crabs greet customers of seafood restaurants. Hey, everybody enjoys fresh food.

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