October 29th, 2013
Another important book for closing in on my complete Philip k. Dick in hardback collection:
Dick, Philip K. A Handful of Darkness. Rich & Cowan, 1955. First edition hardback, Currey binding A (blue boards lettered in silver) in a first state dust jacket (no mention of World of Chance), an Ex-Library copy with most of the usual flaws, including protected dust jacket flaps taped to boards (and inner cardboard sleeve additionally taped) and stamp for Eeeling Science Fiction Postal Library on inner cover; dust jacket is completely intact, the only flaws being “D11/2” written in white on bottom spine just above publisher, and slight dust staining to white rear cover; call it a VG/NF Ex-Lib copy. Levack, 21a. Currey (1978), page 157. Dick’s first short story collection and first hardback book.
(Click to embiggen; hairline crack on left is a scanner artifact.)
Tags: Books, first editions, Philip K. Dick, pics, Science Fiction
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October 28th, 2013
Well, here’s something you don’t see every day. A giant pentagram in the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan.
Looks to be about 1,300 feet across.
I’m sure it’s in no way a summoning grid for unspeakable eldritch horrors…
Tags: Halloween, Horror, Kazakhstan
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October 27th, 2013
For your Sunday dose of shoegaze, here’s Black Tambourine’s “Throw Aggi Off The Bridge.”
Tags: Black Tambourine, Music, Shoegazer, video
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October 25th, 2013
Tags: Halloween, Horror, prank, video
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October 24th, 2013
I picked up two more signed Ray Bradbury books off eBay:
Bradbury, Ray. The Homecoming. Collins Design, 2006. First edition hardback in decorated boards, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Bradbury. Illustrated by Dave McKean. Short story done as a short illustrated book. Bought for $30.51 off eBay.
Bradbury, Ray. With Cat for Comforter. Gibbs Smith Publisher, 1997. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Bradbury. Illustrated by Louise Reinoehl Max. Short poem turned into an illustrated children’s book. Replaces an unsigned copy in my library. Bought for $16.66 off eBay.
Tags: autographs, Books, first editions, Horror, pics, Ray Bradbury, Science Fiction, signatures
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October 22nd, 2013
Here’s a GIF that’s a wee bit unnerving:
It’s vaguely reminiscent of the creepy moon in Georges Méliès’s The Astronomer’s Dream.
Turns out it’s from a “tracking & compositing experiment” video:
I know that I always use subjects that are super-creepy for my tracking and compositing experiments…
Tags: creepy, gifs, Halloween, video
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October 21st, 2013
Picked up another book for my collection:
Asimov, Isaac. Nemesis. Doubleday, 1989. First edition hardback, number 485 out of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued.
This was a serendipitous find. I wasn’t looking for it (since I’m not generally a big fan of Asimov’s later work), but merely entered “signed limited edition” in Amazon’s books section just to see what I would find and this came up at $80. Given that it was originally issued at $125, and given that copies on Bookfinder start at $150, I thought it was a good price. Asimov isn’t actually a hard signature (especially compared to verified Philip K. Dick or Robert A. Heinlein signatures), but he has become fairly pricey one for his first editions.
Tags: Books, first editions, Isaac Asimov, pics, Science Fiction
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October 20th, 2013
Velveteen is a band from Germany most famous (for certain values of “famous”) for having their album hoaxed as a Death Cab for Cutie album. (Disclaimer: I couldn’t recognize a Death Cab for Cutie song with a gun to my head.) Correction: The band wrote to note they’re the London Velveteen, not the German one. “Poster Boy” is another video whose theme is “War is bad and stuff.” Or alternately, “stock footage from the Vietnam is pretty cheap.”
Tags: Shoegazer, Velveteen, video, Vietnam
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October 18th, 2013
Former Houston Oilers football coach Oail Andrew “Bum” Phillips Jr. has died at age 90. It’s pretty much impossible for anyone who didn’t grow up in Houston during the “Luv Ya Blue” era of of the Earl Campbell Oilers to tell you how much Phillips meant to the city. He may be the most beloved NFL coach never to even reach a Superbowl. Bud Adams firing Philips (and then trading Campbell to New Orleans for a sack of doorknobs) was one of the many, many, many things Oilers owner Bud Adams did to earn the enmity of the city he would eventually deprive of the Oilers.
Philips was an ornery cuss, but a classy one, and 100% Texan. He will be missed.
Edited to Add: Oiler player tributes to Bum. “Everybody loved Bum.”
Tags: Houston, Houston Oilers, NFL, Obituary, Texas
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October 18th, 2013
Another post for the Halloween season.
I’ve always thought this was one of your creepier online GIFs:
And actually, it’s from a very short horror film called “Bedfellows,” available online:
The guy’s evidently done a whole series of them.
Sweet dreams…
Tags: gifs, Halloween, Horror, pic, scary, video
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