The August Ansible is Up
August 2nd, 2011Howard Waldrop and I Review Cowboys & Aliens
August 1st, 2011This Week in Criminal Stupidity
July 27th, 2011Protip: If you’re trying to sell meat door to door out of a truck, don’t try to sell to a game warden.
Especially if you don’t have retail truck dealer’s license.
And you’re wanted in California for burglary.
And the truck you’re driving is stolen. (Scroll down to July 18 on the link.)
Norts Spews
July 26th, 2011Which is sadder:
- The fact that the Mariners have lost 16 games in a row, or
- The fact that they’re still ten games better than the Astros?
The Honorable Kind of Dishonorable
July 25th, 2011Once again I have won a coveted Dishonorable Mention in the Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest. As in one previous entry, my contribution deals with the joys of the writer’s style…
Obscure Movie Thread
July 24th, 2011That is to say, there’s an obscure movie thread over on Ace of Spades (a political blog, but this is a non-political thread).
Post your own favorite obscure films below.
Worst Cartoon Character of All Time?
July 20th, 2011Here’s a list of the 21 Worst Cartoon Characters Of All Time. They got number one right. The rest of the list is more mixed, but I haven’t seen all the cartoons on it.
In the interests of gathering a more complete sample, here’s a poll for the worse cartoon character of all time. Some are from that list, and some I came up with on my own. Add any additional nominees in the comments.
Recent Library Acquisitions: Traycased Edition of Jack Vance’s Dangerous Ways
July 19th, 2011Vance, Jack. Dangerous Ways. Subterranean Press, 2011. Ultralimited PC traycased edition, one of an indeterminate number of signed, leatherbound copies beyond the 26 lettered copies.
I don’t often buy traycased editions (I have some for Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Joe R. Lansdale, and some Cheap Street authors, since they regularly did traycase editions for their “Publisher’s States” of books), but a book dealer offered up this Vance traycase as part of a number of Subterrranean Press PC editions for less than the original (long-sold-out) published price, and I snapped it up. It’s a rather imposing traycase (I’m not sure if you can see it in the picture, but the title lettering has a somewhat metallic sheen, like burnished copper), though there are two small oddities about it: 1.) The rounded spine edge of the case looks nice, but it prevents the case from laying flat while it’s open, and 2.) The left-side folds into, rather than outside, the right hand part of the traycase holding the book.
Still a very attractive production. Click to embiggen.
Three Trailers for Movies Howard and I Will Be Reviewing
July 18th, 2011Since trailers for two of the films Howard Waldrop and I will be reviewing for Locus Online have recently dropped, I thought a trailer roundup was in order:
Cowboys & Aliens, directed by Iron Man‘s Jon Favreau, is up next on the guitar:
In November we’ll be reviewing Hugo (AKA Hugo Cabaret, based on Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret), a steampunk children’s fantasy from Martin Scorsese:
Which begs the question: Will Hugo be up for a Hugo?
Next year comes John Carter, AKA John Carter of Mars, AKA A Princess of Mars) directed by Pixar’s Andrew Stanton from a script written by Michael Chabon:
Hotel Torgo
July 15th, 2011Don Webb alerted me to the existence of Hotel Torgo, a documentary on Manos: The Hands of Fate. It features commentary by El Paso SF fan Richard Brandt (a regular Nova Express reader, back in the day), and memories by cast member Bernie Rosenblum.
Warning: You do have to put up with annoying, intrusive Microsoft ads.