Here’s a pleasant one off the Saint Marie Records Static Daydream sampler.
Shoegazer Sunday: Static Daydream’s “Drift Away”
April 19th, 2020Would You Believe William Shatner As Archie Goodwin?
April 17th, 2020Seeing is believing:
That’s the unsold pilot for a 1959 Nero Wolfe TV show, with Shatner as Goodwin and Kurt Kasznar (probably known best, most unfairly, for a role in Land of the Giants) as Wolfe.
I could definitely see myself watching this on METV…
(Hat tip: Don Webb.)
Library Addition: Michael Swanwick’s In Memoriam Gardner Dozois
April 13th, 2020Sometimes things just show up in my mailbox:
Swanwick, Michael and Sean Swanwick. In Memoriam: Gardner Dozois 1947-2018. Dragonstairs Press, 2020. First edition chapbook, #60 of 70 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Came in the mail with a “with the Compliments of the Press” notice laid in. Originally appeared in the Philcon 2018 program book.
I’ll have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Library Addition: Signed, Limited Edition of Robert Silverberg’s Reflections and Refractions
April 8th, 2020Here’s something else I missed when it came out:
Silverberg, Robert. Reflections & Refractions: Thoughts on Science Fiction, Science and Other Matters. Underwood Books, 1997. First edition hardback, #180 of 300 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in decorated boards and Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued. Collection of essays, most (but not all) from his “Reflections” series of columns in Amazing and Asimov’s. Bought off eBay for $25, exactly half off the original list price of $50.
Another Industrial Book Piracy Site
April 6th, 2020It looks like we have another massive book piracy site, https://full-english-books.net.
Here’s the WhoIs information:
Domain Name: FULL-ENGLISH-BOOKS.NET
Registry Domain ID: 2298584626_DOMAIN_NET-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.namesilo.com
Registrar URL: http://www.namesilo.com
Updated Date: 2019-06-10T04:26:19Z
Creation Date: 2018-08-17T17:40:19Z
Registry Expiry Date: 2021-08-17T17:40:19Z
Registrar: NameSilo, LLC
Registrar IANA ID: 1479
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@namesilo.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.4805240066
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Name Server: ARNOLD.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM
Name Server: ZITA.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM
DNSSEC: unsigned
Among the writers they appear to have ripped off are:
Among many, many others.
I’m no longer a member of SFWA, but those who are may want to pass this on to the legal committee…
Library Additions: Two Manly Wade Wellman Firsts
April 6th, 2020Closing in on a complete Manly Wade Wellman collection, and picked up two of his more obscure works:
Library Addition: Ward Moore’s Lot & Lot’s Daughter
April 2nd, 2020Sometimes books just come out at the wrong time. I wasn’t reading Ward Moore in 1996 when this came out, so by the time I was collecting Moore the hardback state had disappeared and gotten pricey. So only recently did I find a nice hardback copy in my price range:
Moore, Ward. Lot & Lot’s Daughter. Tachyon, 1996. First edition hardback, #52 of 100 numbered, leatherbound hardback copies (the only hardback state), copies signed by introduction author Michael Swanwick, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with touches of wear at points and elsewhere. Two linked nuclear holocaust stories. Bought off eBay for $40.
Library Addition: Signed, Limited Edition of George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood
April 1st, 2020Martin, George R. R. Fire and Blood. Subterranean Press, 2019. First signed, limited edition hardback (the Bantam and Harper Voyager trade hardbacks precede by a year), #619 of 750 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine slipcase. A novel set some 300 years before A Song of Fire & Ice proper. A handsome production.
Library Addition: J. G. Ballard’s The Terminal Beach
March 31st, 2020Closing in on a complete Ballard collection:
Ballard, J. G. The Terminal Beach. Gollancz, 1964. First hardback edition (preceded by the Berkley paperback), a Near Fine copy with small owner’s name on FFE, small Australian bookstore sticker at bottom inside front cover near gutter, uniform dust soiling to top and side edges, and slight bumping at head and heel, in a Very Good+ price-clipped dust jacket with a 3/16″ chip at heel, shallow chipping at points, slight dust staining to spine and edges. A fairly nice copy of a key Ballard short story collection, including the title story and “The Drowned Giant.” Goddard & Pringle, J. G. Ballard: The First Twenty Years, 54. Currey, page 23. Bought at auction for A$500 plus shipping. Replaces an Ex-Library copy.
Shoegazer Sunday: Ringo Deathstarr’s “Cotton Candy Clouds”
March 29th, 2020Ringo Deathstarr is a Shoegaze band that on paper I should like more than I do. An Austin band with redheaded female bassist? I should be all over that. But for some reason they’ve never really clicked with me.
But they just dropped a new, self-titled album, and this track sounds like a homage to not only Pink Floyd’s “Brain Damage,” but also The Beatles at their most psychedelic.




