“They’re Depleting Our Strategic Velour Supply!”

March 17th, 2015

People impose their own sense of style (or lack thereof) on their homes. Sometimes the results are awesome.

And sometimes they’re not. The theme of this house is “Velour.”

Lots and lots and lots of velour.

In some ways you have to admire the singular pursuit of their own vision. “Screw your definition of good taste! I like velour and my house is is going to have enough of it to crush an elephant!”

(Hat tip: I think I originally saw this house on the now-deleted Lovely Listing site, from which I’ve shamelessly stolen the blog post title.)

Library Addition: The Hardback Edition of James P. Blaylock’s Doughnuts

March 16th, 2015

I picked up the later Subterranean chapbook of this, but I missed picking up the original hardback until now:

Blaylock, James p. Doughnuts. Airtight Seels Allied Productions (A.S.A.P.), 1994. First edition hardback, number 11 of 224 signed, numbered hardback copies, a Fine copy (save some waviness to the pages, which I take as a byproduct of the binding process), sans dust jacket with color illustration pasted onto the front board, as issued. In addition to the short story, this volume includes an Introduction by Lewis Shiner, an Appreciation by Lucius Shepard, an Afterward by Tim Powers, illustrations by Phil Parks, and tipped-in color photographs by Vicki Blaylock (and is signed by all of them). An elaborate production, much like all of A.S.A.P.’s hardback chapbooks. Chalker & Owings, Science Fantasy Publishers (2002), 1011. (Also Supplement Two, page 57.) Bought for $60 from a dealer off the Internet.

Doughnuts

Shoegazer Sunday: The History Of Colour TV’s “I Keep Seeing People I Think I Know”

March 15th, 2015

The History of Colour TV are based in Berlin and another St. Marie Records band.

You may be cool…

March 13th, 2015

…but you’ll never be “Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark delivering a bionic arm to a seven year old boy” cool…

Sold My Story “Saul’s Diary” to Galaxy’s Edge

March 12th, 2015

I just sold my most recent story, “Saul’s Diary,” to Mike Resnick for Galaxy’s Edge.

This is the second story I’ve sold to Mike, following “Huddled Masses” to the Alternate Presidents anthology way back in the dim mists of the 1990s.

Shoegazer Sunday: Presents for Sally’s “A Touch of Joy, a Touch of Sadness”

March 8th, 2015

Presants for Sally is UK band and another part of the St. Marie Records stable. Here they are with “A Touch of Joy, a Touch of Sadness.”

The End of the Llamas With Hats Saga

March 5th, 2015

I’ve mentioned Llamas with Hats before. While I wasn’t looking, the people at Filmcow went out and completed the saga.

The verdict? Eh. The combination of humor and disturbing off-screen violence of the first few hit the spot, but they gradually cranked up the disturbing while sidelining the humor.

Not the choice I would have made.

Here are all twelve for your viewing pleasure.

Three is still the funniest.

Also enjoy these complimentary memes with your flight:

Llamas1

Library Addition: PB of Neal Barrett, Jr.’s Through Darkest America Inscribed to Lewis Shiner

March 4th, 2015

I found this shopping at Half Price Books, bought it, then confirmed my suspicion:

Barrett, Neal. Through Darkest America. Worldwide, 1988. First paperback edition, a Fine- copy with tiny bump to bottom front corner and slight age-darkening to paper, otherwise apparently unread. Inscribed by Barrett, Jr. to fellow Texas science fiction writer Lewis Shiner: “11/29/88//Unca Lew—/Having you here for/a while has made my/day, as ever—/(Signature)”.

Shiner Darkest

Lew confirmed that it was indeed inscribed to him, noting he must have sold it because he was moving again and already had the hardback…

Library Addition: Signed First of Ray Bradbury’s Murder Madness

March 2nd, 2015

I’d seen signed copies of Ray Bradbury’s PBO A Memory of Murder floating around for $40 and up, but I struck a deal for this one off eBay for $25:

Bradbury, Ray. A Memory of Murder. Dell, 1984. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with a tiny bit of edgewear, signed by Bradbury, with a review slip laid in. Collection of Bradbury’s early mystery stories. An unusual book, in that you wouldn’t think he would have a mass market paperback original (with no hardback edition) this late in his career. Not particularly common, and even less so signed.

Bradbury Memory Murder

Shoegazer Sunday: Ummagma’s “Rotation”

March 1st, 2015

Ummagma is a Canadian-Ukrainian indie duo” of Alexx Kretov and Shauna McLarnon that describes their music as “Rock, Pop, Electronic, Ambient Styles: Alternative, Indie Rock, Dream Pop, Ambient/Ethereal, Synth Pop Electronica, Lo-Fi, Post-Rock, Pop Rock, Indietronic, Progressive Rock, Shoegaze, Instrumental, Space Rock, Power Pop.” Well, that covers a lot of territory, doesn’t it?

Here’s “Rotation,” the video for which is pretty interesting.

Looks like some of the video was stolen from here.