Gene Wilder has died at age 83 of Alzheimer’s.
He was one of his generation’s great comic actors, with a natural gift for underplaying a straight man and perfect deadpan delivery, and was in some of the greatest comedies of the 1970s.
Blazing Saddles, of course:
And who can forget the freaky boat ride from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory:
And here’s an animated overview of his life in his own words:
Just a few days after picking up Clark Ashton Smith’s Out of Space and Time for $399, I was able to pick up another important Clark Ashton Smith book at a bargain price. And this one is signed!
Smith, Clark Ashton. The Double Shadow. Auburn Journal Print, 1933. First edition oversized (8 1/2″ x 11 1/2″, about the size of a sheet of music) side-stapled chapbook, a Very Good copy with light crease to bottom corner, bottom staple starting to go, page 19 torn most of the way through in the center (but still intact) and general wear. Inscribed by the author: “With compliments of Clark Ashton Smith.” There are also several hand corrections by Smith in blue ink. Smith’s first collection of prose. Currey, page 453. Bleiler, Supernatural Fiction, 1483. Locke, Spectrum of Fantasy, page 200. Emperor of Dreams, page 183. Bought off eBay (after a bit of haggling) for $220. I did not previously have anything signed by Smith.
Via When the Sun hits comes three unreleased demo tracks from American band Ozean, “Fall,” “Porcelain” and “Scenic.” To Quote When the Sun Hits: “Today, the songs still sound remarkable and lovely – very much in the vein of Slowdive, but clearly nuanced with Ozean’s own style.”
Five more books from the Cold Tonnage 40% off sale, all first editions and all signed:
More books from the Cold Tonnage 40% off sale, three Vance firsts (one signed) I either didn’t have or didn’t have in these particular forms:
The hits keep coming! We interrupt our cataloging of the Cold Tonnage 40% off sale to catalog this exceptional item I picked up off eBay at an exceptional price:
Smith, Clark Ashton. Out of Space and Time. Arkham House, 1942. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with slight bumping to bottom corner points and slight bend at head and heel, in a Very Good+ dust jacket with yellowing tape at head, heel and top points and the usual age darkening of the spine lettering (turning it from pale green to off-white), plus extremely slight wear at edges; despite the flaws, this is actually an intact and attractive specimen of the dust jacket. The third Arkham House book published and, with only 1,054 copies printed, the smallest print run among all Arkham House titles until Leah Bodine Drake’s partially subsidized poetry collection A Hornbook for Witches (with a print run of 553 copies) in 1950. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 3. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House, 3. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 3. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 3. Sidney-Fryer, Emperor of Dreams, page 183. The Tales of Clark Ashton Smith: A Bibliography, page 1. Currey, page 453. Chalker/Owings, page 21. Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 290. Bleiler, Checklist of Science-Fiction and Supernatural Fiction, page 252 (1948), page 181 (1978), Bleiler, Guide to Supernatural Fiction, 1484. Barron, Horror Literature 3-182. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 200-201 (he had Fryer’s inscribed copy!). Bought off eBay for $399.
Of the many books Arkham House published by Clark Ashton Smith, I now own:
However, I still lack
Note that, barring postal delays, I should be blogging about another notable Clark Ashton Smith acquisition in the near future…
Lazy legs is a Chicago-based trio that just released Visiondeath, their debut album. And here’s “Crush.” Because: Doggies!
(Hat tip: Primal Music Blog.)
Really, what action film trailer isn’t improved by “Sabotage”?
I’m pretty sure the use of it in the Star Trek: Beyond trailer probably added a good $5-10 million to that film’s gross. But I suspect Disney doesn’t have the audacity to follow Star Trek and pony up money to make this an official trailer…
Two more books from the Cold Tonnage 40% off sale, both Michael Moorcock first editions, both inscribed, one an associational copy:
