When I went to bed, they were estimating 45-60 deaths, but now the estimates are down to 5-15. Which is something.
Video footage of the aftermath:
The explosion evidently registered 2.1 on the Richter scale…
West Explosion: Small Mercies
April 18th, 2013Fertilizer Plant Blows Up in West, Texas
April 17th, 2013Crap. Supposedly leveled portions of the town.
I have relatives in West, albeit it ones I haven’t seen in over 30 years.
Very brief video:
Updated: Explosion caught on video (might take a few minutes to load). Holy crap…
Update 2: Now embeddable video of explosion
Shoegazer Sunday: Alcest’s “Souvenirs D’un Autre Monde”
April 14th, 2013Alcest, a French shoegazer band that sounds a little bit like M83 by way of Sigur Ros and Midsummer, offers up the compelling “Souvenirs D’un Autre Monde” (“Memories of Another World).
Want to Feel Really Old?
April 13th, 2013See if you can figure out who is in this picture without looking at the image name.
And don’t click here to see why it’s topical.
Prices Realized on SF Books in Heritage Auctions’ April 10 Offering
April 11th, 2013As a followup on my previous auction post, here are the prices realized on the items I highlighted in yesterday’s Heritage book auction. All prices include buyer’s premium:
Japanese Pop Punk Band SpecialThanks
April 10th, 2013While plumbing the depths and breadths of YouTube for suitable Shoegazer Sunday entries, sometimes I stumble across something interesting that doesn’t fit in the Shoegaze label. Today let’s take a look at Japanese band SpecialThanks.
The first 20 seconds of silence is just to mess with you.
So a pop-punk band with a deadly cute female lead who sings in English that sounds like a cross between Blink-182 and [Insert Current Teenage Female Pop Sensation Here]. This is the sort of Japanese cross-cultural pop artifact that Bruce Sterling circa 1992 would have been all over. As it stands, I’m pretty sure some canny American record label would make millions signing them over here…
Preview: SF First Editions in Heritage Auctions’ April 10th Offering
April 8th, 2013Heritage Auctions has another signature book auction coming up on April 10, and there are several interesting SF/F/H first editions up for offer. Here’s a preview of a few:
Plus a few other miscellaneous SF items. However, the main strength of the auction overall is a number important scientific first editions, a signed first of ian Fleming’s Moonraker, etc.
Shoegazer Sunday: Clams’ “Sundae Bird”
April 7th, 2013From Japan comes Clams with “Sundae Bird.” The first 48 seconds are space music drone, but after that the catchy dreampop tune kicks in.
More Roger Ebert Tidbits
April 5th, 2013A few more interesting pieces of writing from him:
So I don’t just show them giving pans, here’s a young Ebert and porn-stached Gene Siskel splitting on Taxi Driver:
Reviewing one of my favorite films, This Is Spinal Tap:
And here’s them loving Ed Wood: