Archive for the ‘pics’ Category

Pictures from the World Horror Convention in Austin, Saturday, April 30, 2011

Saturday, April 30th, 2011

It looked like my Kodak Digital camera had died, but it seems to be working again after fiddling with it, removing the battery a few times, and plugging it in. Still, I’ll probably need to get a new camera before Apollocon in June, since the automatic shutter isn’t retracting all the way any more…

William F. Nolan and Rocky Wood, both of whom were with me on the “Horror Without Stephen King,” along with someone who wasn’t.


Bill Crider


Bill & Judy Crider.

Bill Spencer. A lot of Bills today, mainly because none of them had yet been signed into law.

Now THAT’s a HAT.

SF Signal’s John DeNardo, AKA “Mr. Saturday Night.”

Don Webb, in the one photo I took on my iPhone that didn’t completely suck.

Pictures from the World Horror Convention in Austin, Friday, April 29, 2011: Part 2

Saturday, April 30th, 2011

The front of Kasey Lansdale’s head.

Stina Leicht, Mikal Trimm and Guest of Honor Joe Hill. This was right before Hill discussed that most important of philosophical question: If you have a cloth spiderman mask in your pocket (and really, who doesn’t?), and two guys rush into the store you’re in with shotguns, do you instantly put on the mask and start wailing on then? I pointed out that since this is Texas, and we’re all armed, the issue was probably less pressing here than in Maine.

Chris Roberson, Joe Hill and John Picacio doing some serious comic geeking.

Three women, six different hair colors.

Jessica Reisman.

Sanford Allen, showing Scott Cupp the ticket that doesn’t let him into Willie Wonka’s factory, but does let him on Captain Morgan’s ship.

Scott Cupp, and people I don’t know who seemed to be discussing adultery among TSR employees.

F. Paul Wilson in the center.

John Skipp, just before he went trekking off to a lost city in the jungles of Peru.

The art show reception. Even though this is Austin, in real life the room was not that shade of burnt orange.

Library Acquisitions: Robert A. Heinlein’s Assignment in Eternity

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

I picked the following up at a Heritage Auction:

Heinlein, Robert A. Assignment in Eternity. Fantasy Press, 1953. First edition hardback, first state Currey A binding (brick red cloth, with six gilt bands on spine, and with “Heinlein” 3mm high), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket.

I started fairly late to acquire a complete collection of Robert A. Heinlein in first edition, but I’m working on it…

Japan Earthquake/Tsunami Update for Tuesday, March 15

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

Some news on the Sendai earthquake and tsunami:

  • Confirmed death toll above above 3,400, but estimates still above 10,000.
  • Supermarket shelves in Tokyo are bare
  • I can’t even pretend to keep up with all the contradictory twists and turns of the nuclear plant saga, but the latest news I saw was things were looking up. Slightly. Maybe.
  • Gilbert Gottfried fired from his gig as the voice of the AFLAC duck for telling jokes about Japan on Twitter. The jokes, while indeed in somewhat poor taste, are pretty mild for a comedian that appeared in The Aristocrats, and probably compared to the inevitable forthcoming South Park episode.
  • More aftermath pictures from the Sendair earthquake and tsunami.

    Tsunami coming in to Iwaki City:

    More tsunami wave footage:

    Rooftop tsunami footage:

    Sendai tsunami footage:

    The tsunami in Minamisanriku:

    Still more tsunami footage:

    The aftermath in Rikuzentakata:

    Shinmoedake volcano eruption in SW Japan:

    This and all previous posts on the Sendai earthquake and tsunami can be found here.

    Japan Tsunami/Earthquake: More Before and After Pictures

    Sunday, March 13th, 2011

    From ABC Australia.

    Armadillocon 32 Photos (Part 3)

    Thursday, September 2nd, 2010


    Here’s Bradley Denton, urging Richard M. Nixon’s head on to victory.


    Doug Potter.

    William Browning Spencer asked that his orange visage be stricken from the Internet.


    Howard Waldrop. The background came out so nice I left it in.


    Howard setting up for his reading, where he read portions of The Moone World


    A. Lee Martinez.


    Stina Leicht.


    Willie Siros.


    A very tried Scott Bobo.


    The hardcore Dead Dog Party attendees, from left to right: Jonathan Miles, Michael Sumbera, Andrew Wimsatt, Richard Simental, Dwight Brown.

    Here’s Part 1.

    Here’s Part 2.

    Armadillocon 32 Photos (Part 2)

    Monday, August 30th, 2010

    And here are some more photographs I snapped at Armadillocon 32.


    “Steampunk Guest of Honor” Michael Bishop upon seeing that I had a box of books for him to sign.


    Michael Bishop upon finding out that I had a second box of books for him to sign.

    Better pictures of the dealer’s room:

    Better pictures of the hotel atrium:


    Robert Jackson Bennett, whose first novel, Mr. Shivers, no less an authority than Joe Domenici called “The finest first novel I have read in years.”


    Lovely Editor Guest of Honor Anne Sowards reviewing a manuscript at the signing table, presumably a novel about shape-shifting car mechanic who is also a werewolf, or perhaps a shape-shifting wolf mechanic who is also a werecar.


    Noted lush and former Armadillocon fan GoH Scott Bobo, who once tried to help us pick up teenage girls in Japan.


    Kasey and Joe R. Lansdale.


    Kasey and Joe R. Lansdale, now with 75% more Fortified Cuteness per serving.


    The wily Maureen McHugh, who skillfully avoided lesser hunters by not appearing on programming.



    Two Views of Mark Finn from his one-man show, “Colonel Kurtz Goes Bowling.”


    Paul Miles


    Chris Nakashima-Brown and Paul Miles, poised artfully in front of a display of Michael Bishop’s books.


    SF Signal honcho John DeNardo caught during a spare moment of his one-day whirlwind tour.


    Lillian Stewart Carl.


    Jayme Lynn Blaschke. Disclaimer: I feel it only fair to warn you that the planets depicted on his vest are not, in fact, astronomically accurate.


    GoH Rachel Caine.


    Don Webb, preparing to lead his troops up the beaches of Normandy. Or perhaps Cancun.


    Hugo-winning fan artist Brad Foster IS Beldar Conehead!


    Noted lush Mikal Trimm, enraged that I’ve temporarily delayed him from obtaining more beer.


    Old Earth Books publisher Michael Walsh. (And if you want to buy signed copies of the Best of Howard Waldrop volumes he published, look here.)


    Paul Lynde expert Steve Wilson.


    Dwight Brown, contemplating exactly how he will murder executives at AT&T slowly and painfully.


    Yvonne Daily and Phil Brogden,


    Chuck (not at the con), Michael Sumbera, and Milton (also not at the con)


    An attendee’s Steampunk purse, which is just a few dials shy of a certified weather station.


    Said purse may or may not have belonged to one of these Steampunk aficionados.


    Kim Kofmel and Al Jackson. (I have another picture of the two of them, and Al’s eyes are also closed in that one.)


    The lovely Denman Glober, camped out below a giant Space Squid banner. But I do wonder why her parents named her like a James Bond villain. “Denman Glober” sounds like someone who should be running a shadowy international conglomerate from his secret lair underneath the Pacific…


    Sarah Felix.


    New York Times best-selling author Aaron Allston, struggling mightily to stay awake after having just seen a compilation of the line-dancing scenes from Howling 7.


    Program director Jonathan Miles, who put me on not one, but two 10 AM panels after I asked not to be scheduled for any panel before noon. Incidentally, this picture was taken just after Jonathan had finished his busy day of selling crack to school children, but before he went off to kick puppies and burn American flags.


    Houston writer John Moore, looking snazzy in the seersucker pants he borrowed from reporter Carl Kolchak.

    Armadillocon 32 Photos

    Saturday, August 28th, 2010

    Here are a few quick-and-dirty photos from Armadillocon 32, all except the first taken Friday.


    Michael Bishop, from the Thursday Pre-Con dinner.


    COOOOKIEEEEE!


    Neal Barrett, Jr. in his stylish hat. “I got it from Walgreens. I buy all my clothing there.”


    Richard Simental, AKA RoadRich.


    Matthew Bey. Photo uncropped to give you some idea of the dealer’s room space. (Will try to get a better picture today.)


    Michael Sumbera


    Andrew Wimsatt


    Stina Leicht, looking at Elizabeth Moon (who only dropped in briefly the first day, due to a busy schedule)


    Stina was complaining about me taking pictures of her, so naturally I had to take several more.


    Patrice Sarath


    The first of three unsuccessful night views of the Renaissance Atrium. I’ll try to get some daylight shots today.


    Phil Brogden, Yvonne Daily, and Mike’s torso


    Karen and Kasey Lansdale.

    Updated: You can find Part 2 here.

    New Book Acquisition: Signed H. G. Wells

    Sunday, July 18th, 2010

    Half-Price Books was having their usual coupon sale, so I picked up their set of H. G. Wells’ The World of William Clissold. Published by Ernest Benn (UK) 1926, it’s three volumes, one of 198 copies signed by Wells on the title page, green boards and vellum spines, with gold gilt on front board, spine, and top book edge, some leaves still unopened, two of the three volumes in paper slipcases (the slipcase for volume 2, alas, was missing). Originally priced at $500, marked down to $350, minus 50% off with the coupon. It’s not one of the key Wells SF works I really want, but I thought a signed Wells (and in particular, a set for which you know the signature is genuine; see L. W. Currey’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors: A Bibliography of First Printings of Their Fiction, 1978, page 527), was a nice thing to have.

    Below are some pics. Click to embiggen.

    H. G. Wells: The World of Williams Cissold, three volume set of the first edition, signed by Wells

    The limitation page, with H. G. Wells' signature

    ApolloCon 2010 Pictures

    Sunday, June 27th, 2010

    Some pictures from the 2010 ApolloCon in Houston, just concluded today:


    The lovely and talented Stina Leicht, celebrating her forthcoming novel by going blue in both ocular and follicular realms.


    Gabrielle Faust, putting on her best “Who, me?” expression.


    The dealer’s room. Neither Willie nor myself dealt there this year, meaning Edge Books was the only real bookdealer there this year.


    SF Signal’s John DeNardo. I think the smug was entirely unintentional.


    Scott Cupp, no doubt contemplating some book he’s owned, or will soon own, both of which are extremely target-rich environments.


    GOH Catherine Asaro. This photo doesn’t show her high-heels. Without them, she’s actually only 3’6″.


    Karen Burnham, searching her tattoos for the identity of the killer she’s hunting.


    A fairly interesting tabletop boardgame featuring smooth pucks that you flicked to knock out your opponent’s pucks, sort of a cross between marbles and shuffleboard, except there are some screws around the circle in the center that you can bounce the pucks off of and which provide something of an obstacle. The name was “crocsomething,” but not crocodile. Please note that searching for “game” and “screw” is probably not something you should do at work.

    Updated to add: The game is called “crokinole”.


    Clockwise from lower left: Judy Crider, Lou Antonelli, Bill Crider, Scott Cupp. I think we were talking about bad movies yet again.


    A pair of con-goers decked out to the nines in Steampunk attire. This takes an extraordinary amount of dedication. In Texas. In summer. Wait, did I say “dedication”? I meant “complete insanity.”


    The Shrine O Dolls found at the “in-room convention party.” Sadly, there were no book dealers there either…