A pleasant Shoegazey song set to someone’s video of their vacation in Japan. It’s actually pretty cool.
At some point The Kritzlers apparently became Cochlear Kill.
Shoegazer Sunday: The Kritzler’s “Scarlet Sometimes”
August 2nd, 2015Shoegazer Sunday: Tennis System’s “Space Age Love Song”
July 26th, 2015For your Sunday dose of Shoegaze, here’s Tennis System covering A Flock of Seagulls’ “Space Age Love Song.”
In other news, A Flock of Seagulls had songs other than “I Ran”…
Our Short Regional Nightmare May Be Approaching An End
July 21st, 2015Blue Bell ice cream to begin test production this week.
Hip hip, hooray! If all goes well, they expect to have product back on store shelves by Labor Day. Also, billionaire Sid Bass has made a “significant investment” in Blue Bell, which should help them survive until production is up and running again.
For All Mankind
July 20th, 201546 years ago today, mankind landed on the moon.
And “An Ending (Ascent)” (which you only get a little bit of above) is the greatest piece of music Brian Eno ever did…
Library Addition: Proof of George R. R. Martin’s Never-Published John W. Campbell Awards Volume 6
July 20th, 2015Finally obtained a book I’ve been trying to get for over 20 years, ever since hearing about it while compiling Bruce Sterling’s bibliography for Nova Express in the early 1990s:
Martin, George R. R. The John W. Campbell Awards Volume 6. Bluejay Books, 1986. Uncorrected proof, trade paperback format, of the never-published hardback first edition, a Very Good- copy, being well-read with creasing along front and back spine joins, bottom of front spine join starting to split, a few spots of staining (including one to the edge of side/bottom page block), and general wear, with note on front cover stating “To/Shelia/Williams/Isaac/Asimov” and a note on the table of contents saying the Orson Scott Card story listed was going to be replaced with another Card story. Never produced because Bluejay Books went out of business in 1986. Copy on the back covers states the book was to be produced in both hardback and trade paperback formats.
The contents are as follows:
Bought for $100 from an editor who was downsizing his library as part of moving.
Shoegazer Sunday Soundpool’s “On High”
July 19th, 2015Here’s New York-based Soundpool with “On High.”
Library Addition: Signed First Edition of Jack Vance’s The Dragon Masters
July 15th, 2015Picked up the hardback first edition of one of my favorite Jack Vance works.
Vance, Jack. The Dragon Masters. Dennis Dobson, 1965. First hardback edition, a Fine- copy with usual page darkening, in a Fine, bright, unclipped dust jacket. Signed by Vance. Bought for $120 from L. W. Currey.
Library Addition: Michael Swanwick’s Meditations on Meditations on Oysters
July 14th, 2015Another weird Swanwick chapbook from Dragonstairs:
Swanwick, Michael, and Christophe Morley. Meditations on Meditations on Oysters (Swanwick) b/w Meditations on Oysters (Morley). Dragonstairs Press, 2015. First edition sewn chapbook with decorative beadcultured pearl*, #24 of 50 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Swanwick’s observations on a 1917 free-form rumination on oysters.
Scan is extra wide to show the bead pearl…
*Correction via Michael Swanwick.
Shoegazer Sunday: The Mary Onettes “Ruins”
July 12th, 2015For your Sunday dose of Shoegaze, here’s Sweden’s The Mary Onettes with “Ruins.”
Library Addition: Ray Bradbury Signed Limited Edition
July 10th, 2015Take a moment to pity the people who ran Hill House Publishers, as they had more good taste than business sense. They were publishing the right authors (they did several Gaiman limiteds), but usually at the wrong print runs and price points to make it a reliably profitable enterprise.
Take this nifty Ray Brabdury production, for instance:
Bradbury, Ray. The Cat’s Pajamas: Stories +5. Hill House Publishers, 2004. First limited edition and first edition thus (containing five stories not in the trade edition), #352 of 1,000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine die-cut cloth slipcase with an extraction ribbon to pull out the book. Contains 5 stories not found in the William Morrow trade edition. Bought for $35 off eBay.
Given that it’s an attractive production by a legendary author, what’s the problem? Well, namely the fact that they did 1,000 copies at $150 a copy. The price point was simply too high for a limitation run that large. Also, the book wasn’t the true first, as the Morrow trade edition precedes. So no wonder Hill House (which is now out of business) had enough copies left over that someone would buy them at clearance and blow them out cheap on eBay…