In the now-annual tradition, I bring you a public service announcement from William Shatner: try not to set yourself on fire while frying a turkey.
Behold the Shatner!
For those with low Shatner thresholds, the advice is:
If you’re going to fry a turkey, this is pretty sound advice.
Here’s an item I picked up backing the Kickstarter:
Andreae, Johann Valentine and John Crowley. The Chemical Wedding by Christian Rosencreutz: A Romance in Eight Days. Small Beer Press, 2016. First edition hardback, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Crowley’s version of the classic work of allegorical, alchemical fiction originally published in Germany in 1616, introduced and annotated by Crowley with two color illustrations. Bought for backing the Kickstarter to the tune of $30.
The Lame Excuse Books Web Page has been updated.
I’ve just started work on the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, so drop me a line if you’d like to receive it via email.
Here’s an incredibly odd (and likely fragile) item:
Swanwick, Michael. Signed Poem on Leaf. Dragonstairs Press, 2016. First edition. Note: Signed poem on leaf is a description more than a title, since it’s literally a leaf with a poem written on one side, and signed, numbered (4/20) and dated “2016” by Swanwick on the other. This just showed up unexpectedly in the mail. In cardboard sleeve stating “For a friend of/Dragonstairs Press” and the shipping envelope.
Another signed first edition I was able to pick up cheap:
Bloch, Robert. The King of Terrors. Mysterious Press, 1977. First edition hardback, #129 of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Near Fine slipcase with a few white marks to black slipcase at heel. Currey A, page 46. Flanagan, Robert Bloch: A Bio-Bibliography, page 49. Won off eBay for $21.50. I also have Bloch’s Out of the Mouths of Graves by the same publisher in the limited edition.
I was pleasantly surprised to get to the end of the trailer and not automatically think “Boy, this is going to suck.”
It might still suck, but it looks like they’re making a good-faith effort to capture the postcyberpunk vibe at the heart of the franchise. Never mind that I’m a much bigger fan of GitS:SAC than I am of the original movies, and that the movie leans much more heavily on the latter. (“No Tachikomas for you!”)
Mood: Cautious optimism.
Japanese babY [CIC] hails from Krasnodar, Russia. Here they are with a live version of “Твое солнце.” No, I don’t know how to pronounce that. The sound’s a little raw, as you might expect from a live club recording, but the riffs are tasty.
(Note: The old version died, so I found another, and I don’t think the sound quality is as good.)
Influences seem to be Jesus and Mary Chain, Sigur Ros, and maybe just a tiny hint of Laibach.
Here’s another book I picked up at a bargain price:
Powers, Tim (as Francis Thomas Marrity). Nine Sonnets. Subterranean Press, 2006. First edition hardback chapbook, letter Q of 52 signed, lettered hardbacks, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Berlyne, B14a2. (In addition to this and the wraps chapbook state made to accompany the Subterranean Press edition of Three Days to Never, there were 9 (!) hardback copies in a different patterned binding and matching traycase, not seen.) Bought for $50 from a Camelot Books 50% off sale.
Here’s another chapbook I had been looking for a long time that, like Moorcock’s Caribbean Crisis, popped up on an ABE Books want search at a bargain price:
Asimov, Isaac. Little Brothers. The Pretentious Press, 1988. First edition chapbook original, one of 126 copies signed by Asimov (the only edition), a Fine copy, with two photos (of Isaac and Stanley Asimov) tipped into front, as issued. Reprints Asimov’s first published work, an essay about how much he hated his little brother, from the Boys High Recorder in 1934. Bought for $35 plus shipping from a well-known literary dealer.
Pretentious Press chapbooks were done by bookseller David Aronovitz in very small runs, most of which were given away as freebies to his best customers. I now have the Zelazny and Asimov chapbooks (both very hard to find), but still need to track down the rest…