The long guitar intro to this song sounds so much like that from A Beautiful Machine that I had to check and make sure it wasn’t the same guy. No, the band consists of Ryan Graveface, who’s also the guitarist for Black Moth Super Rainbow. No only did Andrew really like them at Psychfest, but he’s been communicating with Graveface (who has his own record label), and says he’s a swell guy, which is good enough for me.
“New Zealand” is long, noodly, a bit self-indulgent, and very pretty.
Although I’m not completely ignorant of classical music, the work of Gustav Mahler isn’t something I’ve bumped into terribly much, despite assurances from my hardcore classical music loving friends (which is to say, Mike) that he is Teh Awesome. I’ve always felt a vague urge to correct this oversight, but not enough to actually spend any money doing so. That is, until today.
That’s because Amazon is offering up a Big Box of Mahler today for 99¢. How big? Some 13 hours worth. That’s a lot of Mahler for your buck. Granted, you have to download the icky Amazon downloader, but once you’ve jumped through those hoops, it’s easy to select the files and pull them into iTunes.
I’m sure that this is off-brand Mahler which might be sneered at by some purists. (I doubt the Utah Symphony is at the top of the classical music food chain.) But I’m listening to it now, and so far it doesn’t suck.
You may remember my piece on Hephaestus Books, the “publisher” who automatically packages up free digital content (like Wikipedia articles) and slaps them together as a Print on Demand book with a deceptive title available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Well it appears that a company called Webster’s Digital Service is doing the same thing. Here’s a volume on Octavia Butler that appears to be put together the same way, though the title doesn’t look quite as misleading as those Hephaestus Books used. The first line of the description reads “Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.”
The “author,” one “Elizabeth Dummel,” appears to be quite the busy bee, being listed as the author of no less than 907 books on Amazon, including this one on Jo Walton. I wonder if she know about it. I suspect not. I’ll send her email after I post this.
I wonder just how many other content scrapers are assembling such books?
Like Hephaestus Books, these books are complete ripoffs, but not technically illegal. As always, let the buyer beware.
Time for another roundup of what additions I’ve made to my library of science fiction first editions. This is what I’ve picked up in the last six months. All are Fine/Fine hardback first editions unless otherwise noted.
Baker, Kage. The Best of Kage Baker. Subterranean Press, 2012.
Baxter, Stephen. Last and First Contacts. Newcon Press, 2012. One of 150 signed, numbered copies.
Beagle, Peter S. The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche and other odd acquaintances. Tachyon Publications, 1997. First edition hardback, one of 100 signed, numbered copies (and only 126 hardbacks total).
Bear, Elizabeth. ad eternum. Subterranean Press, 2012. First edition hardback, one of 250 signed, numbered copies with the chapbook Underground.
Bear, Greg. Hull Zero Three. Orbit, 2010.
Bishop, Michael. The Door Gunner and Other Perilous Flights of Fancy. Subterranean Press, 2012. One of 250 signed, numbered copies.
Black, Pansy E. The Valley of the Great Ray. Stellar Publishing Corporation, 1930. First edition chapbook original, VG, with punch holes and usual page browning. More information on the Stellar Science Fiction series books here.
Bloch, Robert. Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper. Subterranean Press, 2012. First edition thus, collecting all Bloch’s Jack the Ripper-related material.
Bourne, Frank/Long, Amelia Reynolds. The Thought Stealer (Bourne) and The Mechanical Man (Long). Stellar Publishing Corporation, 1930. First edition chapbook original, VG, with punch holes and usual page browning.
Brackett, Leigh. Shannach: The Last Farewell to Mars. Haffner Press, 2012.
Bradbury, Ray. Witness and Celebration. Lord John Press, 2000. First edition hardback, Fine, sans dust jacket, as issued. Signed by Bradbury.
Bradley, Jack. The Torch of Ra. Stellar Publishing Corporation, no date (1930). First edition chapbook original, VG, with punch holes and usual page browning.
Brown, Chris, and Eduardo Jimenez Mayo, editors. Three Messages and a Warning: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic. Small Beer Press, 2012. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, inscribed to me by Brown and contributors Bernardo Fernandez and Pepe Rojo. More information here.
Cadigan, Pat. Synners. Bantam Books, 1991. First edition uncorrected proof, mass market paperback trim size, of a paperback first edition, a Fine copy, signed by Cadigan. Bought for $5 from Half Price Books.
Cline, Ernest. Ready Player One. Crown Publishers, 2011.
Colladay, Morrison. When the Moon Fell. Stellar Publishing Corporation, 1929. First edition chapbook original, VG, with punch holes and usual page browning.
Clute, John. Canary Fever. Beccon Publications, 2009. First edition hardback, one of only 40 (!) hardback copies signed by Clute, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Non-fiction.
Dick, Phillip K. The Complete Stories of Philip K. Dick Volume 2: Adjustment Team. Subterranean Press, 2011.
Dick, Philip K. Counter Clock World. White Lion, 1977. First hardback edition, an Ex-Library copy, otherwise VG/VG. Complete details here.
Duncan. Andy. The Pottawatomie Giant and Other Stories. PS Publishing, 2012. Fine in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued.
Eberle, Merab/Mitchell, Milton. The Thought Translator (Eberle) and The Creation (Mitchell). Stellar Publishing Corporation, 1930. First edition chapbook original, VG, with punch holes and usual page browning.
Farmer, Philip Jose (and Christopher Paul Carey). Gods of Opar: Tales of Lost Khokarsa. Subterranean Press, 2012. One of 250 signed, numbered copies.
Farrar, Clyde/Sharp, D.D.The Life Vapor (Farrar) and Thirty Miles Down. Stellar Publishing Corporation, no date (1930). First edition chapbook original, VG-, with punch holes and usual page browning, slight staining to top back corner near spine, and initials to very bottom of cover.
Gaiman, Neil. Rhyme Maidens. Biting Dog Press, 2012. Folio edition of first edition broadsheet. Details here.
Gaiman, Neil. Rhyme Maidens. Biting Dog Press, 2012. First edition broadsheet. Trade edition (though still signed by Gaiman).
Higginson, H. W. The Elixir. Stellar Publishing Corporation, 1930. First edition chapbook original, VG, with punch holes and usual page browning.
(Howard, Robert E.) de Camp, L. Sprague and George Scithers, editors. The Conan Swordbook. Mirage Press, 1969. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine -dust jacket, with a few pinpricks of wear.
Hughes, Matthew. The Yellow Cabochon. PS Publishing, 2012. One of only 100 signed copies.
Hughes, Matthew. The Yellow Cabochon. PS Publishing, 2012. Trade edition.
Kennedy, Leigh. Wind Angels. PS Publishing, 2011. First edition hardback in decorated boards, Fine, sans dj, as issued.
Kuttner, Henry. Man Drowning. Harper & Brothers, 1952. Near Fine copy with slight spine creasing at top and bottom in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with slight edgewear at head and heel, one phantom crease on top front pane, and short, thin indention line on rear cover.
Kuttner, Henry. Thunder in the Void. Haffner Press, 2012.
Lansdale, Joe R. Act of Love. Subterranean Press, 2012. One of 200 signed, numbered slipcased copies. First edition hardback thus, with a new novelette, “A Bone Dead Sadness,” and interview with Lansdale not included in any previous edition.
Lansdale, Joe R. Act of Love. Subterranean Press, 2012. Trade edition.
Lansdale, Joe R. and John l. Lansdale. Shadows West. Subterranean Press, 2012. One of 500 signed, numbered copies.
Lee, Tanith. Electric Forest. DAW, 1979. Paperback original, a Fine- copy with edgewear.
Lindholm, Megan, and Robin Hobb. The Inheritance & Other Stories. Subterranean Press, 2012. One of 1,000 numbered copies signed by “both” authors (actually, Robin Hobb is just Megan Lindholm’s pseudonym).
Lorraine, Lilith. The Brain of the Planet. Stellar Publishing Corporation, 1929. First edition chapbook original, VG-, with punch holes and usual page browning, and a few stray black marks to cover.
Lovercraft, H. P. (edited by S. T. Joshi and Marc A. Michaud). Uncollected Prose and Poetry. Necronomicon Press, 1978. First edition side-stapled chapbook, a Near Fine- copy with uneven darkening along spine and top far edge.
Michelmore, Reg. An Adventure in Venus. Stellar Publishing Corporation, 1929. First edition chapbook original, VG, with punch holes and usual page browning.
Moon, Elizabeth. Phases. Baen, 1997. Paperback original, a Fine- copy with just a touch of wear.
Powers, Tim. The Bible Repairman and Other Stories. Subterranean Press, 2012. One of 500 signed, numbered copies.
Reed, Robert. Eater-of-Bone and other novellas. PS Publishing, 2002. First edition hardback, Fine in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued.
Reynolds, Alastair. Blue Remembered Earth. Gollancz, 2012.
Sarath, Patrice. Gordath Wood. Ace, 2008. Paperback original, a Fine- copy with a tiny bit of wear to points.
Scalzi, John. 24 Frames Into the Future. NESFA Press, 2012. One of 150 signed, numbered, slipcased copies. Non-fiction.
Scalzi, John. 24 Frames Into the Future. NESFA Press, 2012. Trade edition. Non-fiction.
Schroeder, Karl. Lady of Mazes. Tor, 2005.
Shepard, Lucius. The Dragon Griaule. Subterranean Press, 2012.
Silverberg, Robert. The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg Volume Six: Multiples 1983-1987. Subterranean Press, 2012.
Stone, Leslie F. When the Sun Went Out. Stellar Publishing Corporation, 1929. First edition chapbook original, VG, with punch holes and usual page browning.
Straub, Peter. The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine. Subterranean Press, 2012.
Vance, Jack. The Magnificent Showboats of the Lower Vissel River, Lune XXIII, Big Planet (AKA Showboat World). Underwood Miller, 1983. First hardback edition, one of 200 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. The longer title is Vance’s original title, and appears only on the book cover and title page of this edition (but not the dust jacket), and on volume 19 of the Vance Integral Edition.
Wagner, Karl Edward. Where the Summer Ends: The Best Horror Stories of Karl Edward Wagner Volume One. Centipede Press, 2012. One of 500 hardback copies.
Wagner, Karl Edward. A Walk on the Wild Side: The Best Horror Stories of Karl Edward Wagner Volume Two. Centipede Press, 2012. One of 500 hardback copies.
Wellman, Manly Wade. The Invading Asteroid. Stellar Publishing Corporation, 1932. First edition chapbook original, a Near Fine copy with usual page browning.
Wellman, Manly Wade. Napoleon of the West: The Aaron Burr Conspiracy. Washburn, 1970. A Fine- copy with slight crimping at head and heel in a Near Fine- dust jacket with spine fading and a trace of soiling to rear cover.
Willis, Connie. All About Emily. Subterranean Press, 2012. One of 400 signed, numbered copies bound in leather.
Yu, Charles. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe. Pantheon, 2010.
All of Auburn Lull‘s Begin Civil Twilight is worth listening to, but “Arc of an Outsider,” with it’s lovely, floating, wistful, waltz-time beauty, has always been my favorite.
Do we need really another go-round explaining all the problems with Prometheus?
Why, yes. Yes we do.
Which is why I’m linking to this Prometheus Captain’s Log, not least for this line: “Weyland Corporation must not give a crap about this mission since they hired Insane Clown Posse to be our science team.”
If the review Howard and I did of Prometheus wasn’t enough to warn you away, here’s a spoiler-filled and NSFW list of all the questions regarding various plot idiocies in the movie, some we covered, some we haven’t. Enjoy!
I see that some online sources are calling Maryland’s Black Tamborine (active during the first wave of Shoegaze in the 1990s) “Twee Pop.” Screw that. Sounds like Shoegazer to me.
