Outside of eBay, I rarely win things at auction these days, as almost everything seems to go for more than I’m willing to bid. But here’s an exception on: Three items from the same Asimov-heavy auction that I picked up at bargain prices.
Library Additions: Three Asimov Titles
September 21st, 2021Library Additions: Two David Wong Firsts
September 18th, 2021Two David Wong firsts from that bulk book purchase:
Added the back cover scan just because there doesn’t seem to be one on the Internet.
Library Addition: Gnome Press Anthology The Robot and the Man
September 17th, 2021Another book from that bulk purchase I’m cataloging:
Library Addition: Three Signed Firsts
September 15th, 2021Another one from the bulk purchase:
Norm Macdonald, RIP
September 14th, 2021The great comedian Norm Macdonald has died:
Norm Macdonald, who has died at 61, was a comedic genius whose irreverence and inimitable delivery made millions of people laugh harder than almost anyone else could make them do—whether he was taking shots at mainstream figures (O. J. Simpson, the Clintons), constructing elaborate setups for impossibly simple punchlines (depressed moths, massacres in Vietnam), or saving dull affairs by subverting expectations (celebrity roasts and awards events, big and small). A private man who kept his nine-year battle with cancer out of the public eye, Macdonald occasionally showed flashes of a deep seriousness, expressing frustration with an increasingly intolerant popular culture and offering genuine insights in interviews and in an uproarious pseudo-memoir. But in the final analysis, he was a pure aesthete of jokes and one of the funniest people around.
Born and raised in Canada, Macdonald began his comedy career in the late 1980s. He was a frequent guest of late-night shows throughout the 1990s, with his appearances on Conan O’Brien in particular being the stuff of legend. His apogee of fame probably came between 1994 and 1998, when he hosted Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” segment—typically a stepping stone to a late-night show of one’s own—only to be fired by NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer for joking too much about O. J. Simpson, Ohlmeyer’s personal friend. Immediately afterward, Macdonald went on David Letterman, who asked how he had reacted to getting canned. “I said, ‘Oh, that’s not good,’” said Macdonald. “And I said, ‘Why is that, now? And [Ohlmeyer] goes, ‘Well, you’re not funny.’ And I said, ‘Holy Lord, that’s even worse news!’”
When I go looking for random YouTube comedy videos, Macdonald and Bill Burr are the two comedians watch most often.
There’s no shortage of great Macdonald clips out there:
Here's another clip of how great Norm Macdonald was at taking the most awkward comedy and making it so funny you couldn't help but laugh.
Norm is doing a bit about Steve Irwin (Crocodile Hunter) dying… 10 days after it happened. pic.twitter.com/bSP83bqQrg
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) September 14, 2021
His standup routine on the last episode of Letterman:
The “I’m not sure if you’re a history buff…” intro gets me every time.
His sendoff to Conan O’Brien:
Bob Dole offers a classy tribute:
“Norm @normmacdonald was a great talent, and I loved laughing with him on SNL. *Bob Dole* will miss Norm Macdonald.” pic.twitter.com/gPsdyJ5tS9
— Senator Bob Dole (@SenatorDole) September 14, 2021
And Norm would have loved this tribute:
RIP Norm Macdonald pic.twitter.com/yVunOgXRQU
— Bruce In Key West (@BCinKW) September 14, 2021
Library Addition: FEL First of Asimov’s I, Robot
September 13th, 2021First Edition Library was a publishing line that produced prestige facsimile reprints of famous first editions. They printed the book and dust jackets to match the look of the original first edition (save an additional information box on the copyright page and an “FEL” notice on the bottom rear dust jacket flap) on quality paper and bindings with a slipcase. Most of these were literary works: Steinbeck, etc. By they did some dozen science fiction works, including this one.
Asimov, Isaac. I, Robot. Gnome Press (i.e., First Edition Library), 1950 (1978 copyright date, but actually printed sometime in the 1980s). Facsimile reprint of the Gnome Press first edition, first edition hardback thus, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase, which includes the front and back just jacket cover art pasted on, with FEL cardstock information brochure laid in. An attractive production, and undoubtedly done on better paper stock than the Gnome Press original. Aiming for the same prestige reprint market as Easton Press, and indeed they were either part of or acquired by Easton. Obtained as part of the same private library purchase as the two signed Ellison books.
I only picked this up because true jacketed firsts of I, Robot have zoomed up considerably beyond what I’m willing to pay right now. I don’t collect First Edition Library, but it’s somewhat annoying that no good, complete list of the science fiction volumes seems to exist online. So I compiled the following:
I note that Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan of the Apes was done as part of their literary line.
Library Addition: First of Theodore Sturgeon’s The Dreaming Jewels
September 9th, 2021Another book from the same purchase as two Ellison books.
Sturgeon, Theodore. The Dreaming Jewels. Greenberg, 1950. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with slight flatness to top of spine, a few touches of wear to boards, slight foxing to inside covers, FFE and RFE, and trace of light spotting at top page block, in a Very Good+ dust jacket with shallow chipping at head and heel, moderate light staining spots to white rear panel, and some 1/4″ closed tears at top and bottom fold joins and various other traces of surface wear, with Greenberg response postcard laid in. Currey, page 471. His first novel.
Library Additions: Two Signed Harlan Ellison Firsts
September 7th, 2021Both of these were bought from a customer who wanted to sell off his collection. Some of that was listed in the Lame Excuse Books catalog, and I’ll be listing the books I bought for my own collection here.
Other Ellison firsts I’m still looking for can be found here.
Shoegazer Sunday: The 30th Anniversary of Slowdive’s Just For A Day
September 5th, 2021On September 2, 1991, Creation Records released Slowdive’s debut album Just for a Day. This was the first Shoegaze album I had ever heard, and in many ways is still my favorite.
1991, you may remember, was a banner year for music. Everything interesting got slapped with the “Alternative” label, but Slowdive was far from the Seattle sound of Nirvana and Pearl Jam dominating the airwaves. The first track I heard off it was “Catch the Breeze”:
From it’s echoey, moody opening to it’s soaring wall of guitar ending I was hooked. But I truly loved closing track “Primal.”
The first seventy-five seconds are the most beautiful music Slowdive ever created, while the rest builds to a melancholy crescendo of loss.
Shoegaze is The Genre That Refuses To Die, and I think Just For A Day is a huge cornerstone.
I hear Slowdive will be releasing a new album as soon as they can book a run at a vinyl pressing plant.
Library Additions: Three NewCon Press Firsts
September 3rd, 2021These three came in just before I sent out the book catalog.
All three of these are still available through Lame Excuse Books.