I think these guys could be in a Joe R. Lansdale story…
Bold New Frontiers in Cattle Rustling
September 5th, 2014Library Additions: Two Reference Works by George Locke
September 5th, 2014I saw grand old British bookseller/publisher/bibliographer George Locke at the London Worldcon. George has been book hunting and dealing in the field longer than I’ve been collecting, and has written a number of important bibliographies in the field, of which the three volume Spectrum of Fantasy set and Voyages in Space: a Bibliography of Interplanetary Fiction, 1801-1914 are perhaps the best known.
George has just published two books of genre bibliographic material, in editions of a mere 50 (!) copies each which, with a little prodding and discounting, he convinced me to pick up.
(Shadow effect is a scanner artifact.)
I paid £100 for the pair (a show special, since I believe George is selling them at £65 each).
If you’re looking to pick one or both of these up, you’ll probably have to contact George directly:
George Locke
Ferret Fantasy
27 Beechcroft Road
Upper Tooting
London, SW27 7BX
020 8767 0029
george_locke at hotmail.com
How A Professional Media Outlet Does Things
September 3rd, 2014So Sports Illustrated, the website that a few months ago decided “Hey, let’s make our site look like ass!” has released it’s Superbowl and MVP picks. Let’s take a look at these two screen shots I grabbed today so you can see how a real professional website works:
Evidently Tom Brady is going to be Defensive Rookie of the Year, as well as Coach of the Year, thanks to his awesome Lorem ipsum skills. At least so say the numerous clones SI hires as sportswriters…
Remember: Sports Illustrated is run by professionals. Do not attempt this at home…
Photos From the 2014 Armadillocon
September 3rd, 2014We interrupt this cavalcade of books, Slowdive covers and tanks to offer up some pics from the 2014 Armadillocon, which occurred a little more than a week before I flew off to London.
Howard Waldrop. Actually a pretty good picture of him.
Claude Lalumiere
The elusive Robert Taylor. Like most pictures of him taken in the wild, it’s a bit blurry…
Ian McDonald. I would say he’s signing one of the way too many of my own books I had him sign, but since I own the Simon & Schuster UK (true first) edition of River of Gods, not the Pyr first American edition, obviously it’s someone else’s book…
Arch-villain Denman Glober caught outside her secret underground lair.
Ted Chiang.
One of these men had a role in Once Upon A Time in China VI.
Martha Wells.
Mark Finn, describing his wrestling match with the gorilla.
Patrice Sarath.
Ian McDonald and Ted Chiang at the bar.
Library Additions: Books Bought From Cold Tonnage Books
September 2nd, 2014On my London Worldcon sojurn, I took a day to visit Andy Richards of Cold Tonnage Books, who I’ve been buying from and trading with for a quarter century. In addition to swapping old bookseller stories (and it was a shock to realize I’m considered one of the “old timers” by now), I went over his stock and picked out a few things, some to buy and some for Lame Excuse Books stock. Below are just the items for my own library.
Just noticed my cheap all-in-one HP scanner/printer/etc. is starting to develop streaks. Might need to get a new one before too long…
Jellybelly Cover’s Slowdive’s “Machine Gun”
August 31st, 2014And the Slowdive cover kick continues, with Indonesia’s Jellybelly doing their cover of “Machine Gun” in a jangly live performance.
Library Additions: Three Ian McDonald Books
August 29th, 2014Since Ian McDonald was Guest of Honor at the most recent Armadillocon, I picked up his hree latest books there and got him to sign the rest.
Restaurant Review: Maggiano’s Little Italy
August 28th, 2014Maggiano’s Little Italy
10910 Domain Dr #100, Austin, 78759
(512) 501-7870
- Pepper Grinder Rating: 0 (They had several impressive pepper grinders in a server cubbyhole, but neglected to offer any to us.)
- Bathroom Rating: 3
- WiFi note: There’s free WiFi…if you’re using the conference room and have a password. Otherwise the restaurant seems to be built within a Farady Cage, as my iPhone frequently was unable to connect to AT&T at all.
Maggiano’s offers up tasty, overpriced Italian food. In that sense it’s much like Brio, with the added hassles of being in the Domain, which makes it hard to get to. We also had to wait for a table, even though I had made reservations (though we did get there a little bit early).
The first disappointment after being seated was the free bread: uninspired baguette rounds (though at least they were served warm) with unspiced olive oil. Both Reale’s, with their delicious breadsticks, and Brio, with a more interesting bread assortment and spiced olive oil, do a better job in the bread department.
The crab cakes appetizers were good, but not $15 for two good.
Service was attentive, with numerous free drink refills without having to ask.
For my entree, the veal picatta was both nicely done and had pretty generous portions (which is only fair, considering the price). I thought the angel hair aglio olio was underspiced.
For dessert I had a perfectly caramelized creme brulee with fruit.
It was a very good meal. It also cost some $50, without any alcoholic beverages. That, dealing with the hassle of The Domain, and dealing with the hassle of the crowds (“Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded”) make it hard to recommend.
If I’m hungry for great Italian food, Monday through Saturday I’m probably going to go to Reale’s if they’re not too packed. If it’s Sunday (when Reale’s is closed), I’d pick Brio over Maggiano’s.
[Cross-posted to The Logbook of the Saturday Dining Conspiracy.]
Book Addition: Paperback of Philip Jose Farmer’s Down in the Black Gang Inscribed to Bruce Sterling
August 27th, 2014I picked this up before Armadillocon through one of Half Price Books’ coupon sales:
Farmer, Philip Jose. Down in the Black Gang. Signet, 1971. First paperback edition (Currey says the SFBC hardback, which I also have, precedes), a Very Good+ copy with faint spine creasing, very slight spine lean, edgewear, and darkening to pages. Inscribed by Farmer to Bruce Sterling.
I thought that was a nice association copy to pick up for $12…
Book Additions: Various SF Reference Works on Sale
August 25th, 2014The final batch of books I bought from Lloyd Currey, all reference works.
(Lovecraft, H.P.) Brennan, Joseph Payne. A Select Bibliography of H. P. Lovecraft. Self-published, 1952. First edition chapbook, a Fine- copy with a tiny bit of wrinkling. Joshi, Lovecraft Bibliography, III-B-8. Bought for $10.
