My habit of picking up signed Ray Bradbury first editions when I see them cheap continues apace:
Library Additions: Two More Signed Ray Bradbury First Editions
March 12th, 2014Library Additions: Centipede Press Limited Edition of Tim Powers’ The Anubis Gates
March 10th, 2014I recently got in some imperfect copies the Centipede Press limited edition of The Anubis Gates, and it’s completely off the hook:
Powers, Tim. The Anubis Gates. Centipede Press, 2014. First edition hardback thus, a Fine copy save two flaws (the slipcase keyhole cutout is about 1/4″ misaligned between the two halves, and it lacks the signature page) bound in decorated red and black velvet with a lenticular image embedded in the front cover, in a Fine slipcase. The thing is ginormous, resting in a two-part red velvet slipcase which houses the book and an accordion portfolio of the color art plates in the book, and includes an appendix of deleted scenes from the original manuscript and a fold-out map of 1810 London.
The entire assemblage is only a hair thinner than the traycased edition of George R. R. Martin’s GRRM.
I didn’t think I needed another Anubis Gates, since I have the PBO, the UK first, the Ziesing hardback, and the facsimile manuscript included with the ultralimited edition of the Berlyene bibliography. Plus I’m not a big fan of post-first limiteds in general. But this edition is so over-the-top I couldn’t pass up a chance to pick up copies at a bargain price. In fact, I still have a couple left at $75 a pop (first come first serve), which is a hefty discount over the $295 offering price on pristine copies…
Shoegazer Sunday: Meeks’ Covering The Beatles’ “Across the Universe”
March 9th, 2014A Shoegaze cover of The Beatles’ “Across the Universe”?
Yep.
Would you believe that Japan’s Meeks has done an entire album of Shoegaze Beatles covers called Beatless?
This Is Spinal Tap Turns 30
March 2nd, 2014Thirty years ago today, from the place eardrums go to die, the Greatest Mockumentary Ever Told premiered:
Here’s Siskel & Ebert’s original review:
And this is pretty much obligatory:
Sunday Shoegazer: The Dune’s “Post Office Rock”
March 2nd, 2014For your Sunday dose of Shoegaze, here’s Australian shoegaze band The Dunes (sometimes spelled TheDunes) with “Post Office Rock,” another entry in the “Damn, waltz-time Shoegaze sounds really good” sweepsteaks. (See also: Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You” and Auburn Lull’s “Arc of an Outsider.”)
Yelp’s Top 100 Places To Eat Include Six from the Austin Area
March 1st, 2014So Yelp has release a Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S. list. Their ratings, being based on actual diners, are very different than high-end restaurant critics, and include six places around Austin:
Quick thoughts:
By comparison, only one place made the cut in Houston, and none in Dallas…
(Cross-posted to The Logbook of the Saturday Dining Conspiracy.)
Aaron Allston, RIP
February 28th, 2014I’m floored by the news that Aaron Allston just died from a heart attack at age 53. I knew he had health issues, but had no idea any were that serious. I used to run into him fairly regularly at Indian restaurants in north Austin, as well as at cons and parties. Aaron wrote mostly media tie-in work, but I enjoyed the stories of his I read.
I should probably finally get around to reading Doc Sidhe, his Doc Savage pastiche…
Shoegazer Sunday: Skies of Ember Covers Slowdive’s “Catch the Breeze”
February 23rd, 2014I really am on a Slowdive cover kick. Skies of Ember is a Filipino band, and although it says so nowhere in the title or description, this video is actually a live instrumental cover of Slowdive’s “Catch the Breeze.”
Dream Diary: My Non-Shootout With Michael Jackson
February 18th, 2014I dreamed I was in the process of buying a bank. One customer I knew was telling me she was going to sue me, even though I didn’t even own the bank yet. I think she was doing it out of spite.
Then I was riding in a car with someone I think wanted to sell some sort of service to my bank. While we drove I was worried about what level of fractional reserve the bank should have in these tough economic times. (Yes, I dreamt about fractional reserve banking; I’m just a wild and crazy guy). But then the guy driving drove up and over an unfinished overpass, despite my warning, and we landed with a crash in a closed Target parking lot at night.
I was walking along after that, and I had to go into a convenience store to use the bathroom (yes, one of those dreams), but I was worried my dog would run off while I was inside.
Inside it was more like a hotel or bank lobby, and when I went into the restroom, it was some sort of cave (more like a video game cave than a real one).
For some reason, Michael Jackson was holding a ridiculously long antique wooden rifle on me, something like 15-20 feet long, saying he wanted to die as a woman and as a defender of the Alamo. (I guess he was channeling Phil Collins here.)
The gun was so close to my face that I swept the barrel aside with my left hand while I pulled my own gun out of my pocket with my right. But I couldn’t fire it because there was a beef jerky packet stuck to it that prevented operating the trigger.
Meanwhile, Michael Jackson had turned into a friend of mine, and not only was the rifle he holding normal sized, but it turned out to be made of beef jerky packets connected together in the shape of a gun as well.
Then I woke up.
Library Addition: E. E. “Doc” Smith’s The Skylark of Space
February 17th, 2014Another important small press work I bought at auction:
Smith, Edward E., PhD. The Skylark of Space. Buffalo Book Company, 1946. First edition hardback, a VG+ copy with slight bumping at head, heel and corners and faint dust staining at heel, in a VG- dust jacket missing a small 1/4″ triangular chip from center of dj spine, plus about 1/4″ of chipping loss at head and heel, and slight overall rubbing, otherwise intact with $3.00 price on flap. The very first of Doc Smith’s famous space operas. Currey (1979), page 457. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 78. One of two books done by the Buffalo Book Company (the other of which, John Taine’s The Time Stream, I picked up in December).
Bought for $237 from Heritage Auctions.