Archive for June, 2014
Thursday, June 26th, 2014
Q: Have you ever wanted to own the screenplay to Manos: The Hands of Fate?
A: No, it’s one of the worst movies of all–
Q: Of course you have! Now, for the low price of $8, that script can be yours!
A: $8 seems a little steep for–
Q: Put on your own staged plays of Manos! Invite the neighbors!
A: They’d stone me.
Q: But that’s not all! For $20, you can get the scripts for Plan 9 From Outer Space and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians!
A: Yuck! It’s like a trifecta of suck! I’d rather–
Q: Of course you want them all! So get your money in to the Kickstarter campaign today!
(Hat tip: SF Signal.)
Related: “How Plan 9 From Outer Space earned, and lost, the title of worst movie of all time”.
Tags:Bad Movies, Manos: The Hands of Fate, Movies
Posted in Movies | 2 Comments »
Monday, June 23rd, 2014
Been meaning to pick this up for several years now, and finally found a decent copy at the right price:
Moskowitz, Sam. The Immortal Storm. The Atlanta Science Fiction Organization Press, 1954. First hardback edition, a very good+ copy with slight rubbing to spine ends, slight bump at top rear board, and slight crimping at head and heel, in very good dust jacket with shallow chipping at head, heel and top front, and slight age-darkening to white areas. His acclaimed book on the early history of science fiction fandom. This is the first hardback edition, having been preceded by a mimeographed edition. Currey (1978), page 380. Chalker/Ownings (1991), page 51. Interestingly, Currey and Chalker/Ownings disagree on the print run, with Currey citing 1000 copies printed, but Chalker/Owings saying only 500. Bought for $36 off a major SF book dealer.
Tags:Books, fandom, reference works, Sam Moskowitz, Science Fiction
Posted in Books, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Sunday, June 22nd, 2014
For your Sunday dose of Shoegaze, here’s another shot of SPC ECO with “Fallen Stars.”
This is off their new album Sirens and Satellites, which I liked enough to buy. The overall sound features very pretty, very spacey background synthesizer washes with poppy tunes and understated female vocals somewhere between Florence + The Machine, Sarah McLachlan, and Tori Amos, with a dash of Yoko Kanno. The emotional feel of the album is a lot like Malory’s Outerbeats.
Tags:Music, Shoegazer, SPC ECO, video
Posted in Music, video | No Comments »
Sunday, June 15th, 2014
How long has it been since I featured an obscure Japanese Shoegazer band? Well that’s too long!
Here’s Bertoia‘s “Snow Slide,” which proves once again that low-rent costumes and dreamquest fantasies are a fine hook to hang a music video on…
Tags:Bertoia, Japan, Music, Shoegazer, video
Posted in Music, video | No Comments »
Friday, June 13th, 2014
Additions to my non-fiction reference library continues apace. Here are three science fiction reference works I picked up recently:
Del Rey, Lester. The World of Science Fiction, 1926-1976: The History of a Subculture. Garland, 1980. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight crimping at head and heel, sans dust jacket, as issued. A history of science fiction fandom by someone who witnessed it.
(Heinlein, Robert A.) Thorner, J. Lincoln. A Guide Through the Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein. Gryphon Books, 1989. First edition trade paperback chapbook original, a Fine- copy with touches of wear along the spine. 48 pages critical guide, including a small bibliography of reference works in the back.
(Wolfe, Gene) Borski, Robert. Solar Labyrinth: Exploring Gene Wolfe’s BOOK OF THE NEW SUN. iUniverse, 2004. First edition hardback (no additional printings listed, though I believe iUniverse is a POD outfit), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Critical guide to Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun. Supplements a trade paperback edition in my library. Bought for $20 off an Internet bookseller.
Tags:Books, First Edition, Gene Wolfe, Lester Del Rey, reference works, Robert A. Heinlein, Science Fiction
Posted in Books, pics, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Monday, June 9th, 2014
I recently picked up eight hardbacks in the Starmont Reader’s Guide line. For many authors, these were the only critical companions to their work ever published, and I get the impression that the hardback book runs for the critical titles were pretty miniscule (Chalker/Owings The Science Fantasy Publishers estimates 75-80 hardbacks) and mostly sold to libraries. Starmont was distributed by Borgo Press, and sometime you’ll see these titles listed under the Borgo imprint or with Borgo price stickers affixed.
Some of these state First Edition and some don’t, but I’m assuming these are first printings unless they state otherwise (the Silverberg states Second Printing). All are essentially Fine- copies with slight rubbing, sans dust jackets, as issued.
(Bester, Alfred) Wendell, Carolyn. Alfred Bester: Starmont Reader Guide 6. Starmont House, 1982. Signed by Wendell.
(Clement, Hal) Hassler, Donald M. Hal Clement: Starmont Reader Guide 11. Starmont House, 1982. Signed by Hassler.
(Delany, Samuel R.) Weedman, Jane Branham. Samuel R. Delany: Starmont Reader Guide 10. Starmont House, 1982. Signed by Delany: “Samuel R. Delany/Madison/2006”.
(Farmer, Philip Jose) Brizzi, Mary T. Philip Jose Farmer: Starmont Reader Guide 3. Starmont House, 1980.
(Haldeman, Joe) Gordon, Joan. Joe Haldeman: Starmont Reader Guide 4. Starmont House, 1980. Signed by Haldeman (and also an unreadable signature that I take to be either Gordon’s or the cover artist).
(Silverberg, Robert) Clareson, Thomas D. Robert Silverberg: Starmont Reader Guide 18. Starmont House, 1983. Signed by Silverberg. Second Printing.
(Pohl, Frederik) Clareson, Thomas D. Frederik Pohl: Starmont Reader Guide 39. Starmont House, 1987. Signed by Pohl. By this time the press had moved to what Chalker/Owings called the “Ditky-Newcomer” printing process (basically high quality Xerography) with the characteristic flocked edges that would appear on Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine a year later.
(Tiptree, Jr., James) Siegel, Mark. James Tiptree, Jr.: Starmont Reader Guide 22. Starmont House, 1986.
As the seller said: “They never bound any two books the same way.” As you can see from the picture, some have the trade paperback cover affixed to the front, while others are simply cloth with the title, author and series number printed on the spine.
Paid a total of $246.40, which went to SF writer Julian May, who is: A.) Still alive, and B.) The widow of Starmont House founder Ted Ditky.
Tags:Alfred Bester, Books, Fantasy, Frederik Pohl, Hal Clement, James Tiptree Jr., Joe Haldeman, Philip Jose Farmer, Robert Silverberg, Samuel R. Delany, Science Fiction, science fiction criticism
Posted in Books, Fantasy, pics, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Sunday, June 8th, 2014
Here’s “Faded Hearts,” another track from School of Seven Bells’ Put Your Sad Down EP. When I first listened to the EP, I kept skipping it because I didn’t like the sound of the first 15 seconds or so. But once you get past that it’s a really engaging song. And Alejandra Deheza still has a great voice.
The music for both this and “Put Your Sad Down” are both sort of pop-electronica on the surface, but lyrically and emotionally, both are dealing with the same affecting subject matter: how to convince someone who’s dying to keep living.
Tags:Music, School of Seven Bells, Shoegaze, Shoegazer
Posted in Music | No Comments »
Saturday, June 7th, 2014
This is pretty awesome.
Basically, Stephan Pastis, the man behind the Pearls Before Swine comic strip, managed to strike up an email conversation with the Bill Waterston, the famously reclusive creator of Calvin & Hobbes.
The end result was that Watterson secretly drew panels in Pearls Before Swine strips.
Start here and keep scrolling forward through today.
(Hat tip both Michael Swanwick and Ted Cruz, who each shared it on Facebook…)
Tags:Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes, comics, Michael Swanwick, Pearls Before Swine, Stephan Pastis, Ted Cruz
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
