Archive for December, 2014

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eBay Bad Seller Alert: jazzsharkman

Wednesday, December 24th, 2014

Back in October, I thought I had snagged a great deal: A first edition of Philip K. Dick’s Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said for $48.

However, upon getting it, I immediately saw that it was not a first edition. There was no First Edition statement on the copyright page, and code P7 rather than code 050 on page 231, indicating a later printing, as per Levack’s PKD bibliography. So I contacted the seller for a refund.

Despite selling it on false premises, he refused to take it back, and offered an insulting $5 refund through eBay’s arbitration system.

So this is a blog post to warn anyone away from dealing with eBay seller jazzsharkman, AKA

Kurt Skaggs
PO Box 1800
Union City, CA 94587
jazzsharkman@yahoo.com

due to his fundamental dishonesty in selling a non-first as a first edition, then refusing to take it back.

I’ll update this page if he ever comes to his senses and sends me a full refund.

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Library Addition: The Signed Edition of Levack’s Philip K. Dick Bibliography

Monday, December 22nd, 2014

In the past few years I’ve obtained the signatures of H. G. Wells and H. P. Lovecraft (among many others), but wasn’t able to find a verifiable signature I could afford for Philip K. Dick.

Until now.

(Dick, Philip K.) Levack, Daniel J. H. PKD: A Philip K. Dick Bibliography. Underwood/Miller, 1981. First edition hardback, one of 200 copies signed by Dick, Levack and annotator Steven Owen Godersky. A Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Bought for $299 off eBay at the Buy-It-Now price, which is less than half what it usually lists for.

PKD Bib signed

Dick Bib Signatures

I think this was the last signed edition Dick did while he was still alive. In fact, discount the numerous posthumous “cut from a check” limiteds, I think only this and Confessions of a Crap Artist were done in signed/limited editions.

A year and a half ago, I didn’t have the signed editions of any of the Levack Underwood/Miller bibliographies (Dick, Zelazny and de Camp); now I have all three.

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Shoegazer Sunday: Drowner Covering Slowdive’s “Hide Yer Eyes”

Sunday, December 21st, 2014

I’m really digging that Saint Marie Records Static Waves 3 album I talked about last week, though it turns out that only about one-third of the songs on it are actually Slowdive covers.

I was completely unaware of Houston band Drowner before they released this amazing cover of “Hide Yer Eyes,” an unreleased Slowdive song I’d never heard before:

I wonder if vocalist Anna Bouchard is doing the harmony electronically, via overdubbing, or with a guest vocalist.

For contrast, here’s the original

I think this is one of those rare cases where the cover is better than the original.

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Happy 75th Birthday, Michael Moorcock!

Thursday, December 18th, 2014

John Picacio notes that today is Michael Moorcock’s 75th birthday. Happy birthday, Mike!

By way of celebration, I thought I would scan one of the more unusual items in my collection:

Moorcock at 60

(Moorcock, Michael) Moorcock@60.com. Nomads of the Time Streams, 1999. First edition oversized trade paperback original (A4 sized), a Fine- copy (one corner bumped from bringing it with me to London to get several contributors to sign it). A festshrift miscellany celebrating Michael Moorcock on his 60th birthday put together by several of his friends, and not generally available for sale (I bought my copy from one of the contributors). This copy is signed or inscribed by Moorcock, Brian Aldiss, Nick Austin, David Langford, Kim Newman, and Howard Waldrop.

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Big Animation Cel Auction December 18

Wednesday, December 17th, 2014

There’s a reasonably big auction of animation cels drawings, production stills, etc. starting December 18 at 11 AM PST. Interesting stuff, from a number of Disney films, a few Warner Brothers (including One Froggy Evening, the animated Star Trek, and even Ralph Bakashi’s Wizards.

And those of you with $40,000 burning a hole in your pocket can bid on an original Chuck Jones oil painting of Daffy Duck:

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Library Additions: Random Interesting Books

Monday, December 15th, 2014

A few of these are from a mostly-disappointing book shopping jaunt around Houston the day after Thanksgiving, plus two from eBay.

  • Banks, Iain. The Steep Approach to Garbadale. Little/Brown, 2007. First edition hardback, a limited edition of 1000 numbered copies signed by Banks distributed through the Waterstone’s bookstore chain, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket as issued. Supplements a trade copy.

    P1000915

  • Bradbury, Ray. A Graveyard for Lunatics. Knopf, 1990. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Bradbury. Bought for $19.99 off eBay.

    Bradbury Grave Signature

  • Brooks, Max. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Crown, 2006. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket. Bought for $12 at Quarter-Price Books in Houston, which is conveniently close to Joel’s Classical Shop.
  • Ford, John M. Growing Up Weightless. Easton Press, 1993. First hardback edition, one of an undetermined number of signed subscriber copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued, in decorated leather boards. Bought from Half Price Books for $35.

    Growing Up Weightless

  • Niffenegger, Audrey. The Time Traveler’s Wife. MacAdam/Cage, 2003. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought for $20 at Half Price Books. Replaces a less perfect copy.

    Time Traveler's Wife

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    Shoegazer Sunday: Scarlet Youth Cover’s Slowdive’s “Primal

    Sunday, December 14th, 2014

    I said the fastest way for a band to get featured her is to do a credible cover of Slowdive’s “Primal,” and Scarlet Youth has picked up the gauntlet. It’s not a great cover of “Primal,” but it’s a credible one, so here it is.

    It’s off of this compilation album that’s entirely Slowdive covers. Echodrone? SPC ECO? 42 songs for $9.99?

    Saint Marie Records is obviously very much on my wavelength…

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    Library Additions: Three Gregg Press Hardbacks of Piers Anthony’s Bio of a Space Tyrant

    Monday, December 8th, 2014

    I’ve never been a big Piers Anthony fan, so it might surprise some that I’m picking these up. But: A.) I have a long-term goal of picking up all the Gregg Press hardbacks, B.) I am given to understand that these (along with Macroscope and On A Pale Horse) are among his best work, and C.) They were incredibly cheap, $6 (plus bidder fee and shipping) for all three (plus a random Xanth novel) from a Heritage Auction.

  • Anthony, Piers. Bio of A Space Tyrant 1: Refuge. Gregg Press, 1985. First hardcover edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust.

    Anthony Bio Refugee

  • Anthony, Piers. Bio of A Space Tyrant 2: Mercenary. Gregg Press, 1985. First hardcover edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket.

    Anthony Bio Mercenary

  • Anthony, Piers. Bio of A Space Tyrant 3: Politician. Gregg Press, 1985. First hardcover edition, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with edgewear at head.

    Anthony Bio Politician

    • See Hartwell, David G. “The GREGG PRESS Science Fiction Series 1975-1985 Complete, a Preliminary Annotated Checklist.”

    These were the only volumes of the series done by Gregg Press. Volumes 4-6 were evidently done in hardcover by something called “Xlibris Corporation,” which I would guess is a Print-On-Demand publisher and lord, did they put some stupidly hideous covers on them…

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    Library Additions: Two H. G. Wells First Editions in Dust Jacket

    Monday, December 8th, 2014

    In the same L. W. Currey order as the Bradbury chapbooks, I picked up two H. G. Wells first editions in dust jacket.

  • Wells, H. G. Men Like Gods. Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1923. First edition hardback (a probable third binding state, as per Currey’s listing, with decorated brown boards with black lettering, which is not recorded in Currey (2002)), a Near Fine copy with slight wear at heel, small, faint stamp to FFE, foxing to gutters and slight bend at head in a Very Good- dust jacket with small sticker remnant on front and shallow chipping at head and heel, and chips at points. Wells’ second socialist utopia. H.G. Wells: A Comprehensive Bibliography, 85. Bought for $22.50

    Wells Men Like Gods

    Wells Men Like Gods boards

  • Wells, H. G. The Secret Places of the Heart. Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1922. First edition hardback, first state binding (title blindstamped on cover, as per Currey (2002)), a Fine- copy with slight bending at head and heel and foxing to gutters in a Fine- dust jacket with a tiny bit of edgewear. H.G. Wells: A Comprehensive Bibliography, 81. Bought for $37.50

    Wells Secret Places

    • Wells is a bit before the time period I usually collect (post-World War II), but I like his work and he’s tremendously important in developing science fiction.

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    Shoegazer Sunday: Pretty Sad’s “Swim”

    Sunday, December 7th, 2014

    Pretty Sad is a UK/Denmark band that collaborates via Garageband and Dropbox. They have a pleasingly peppy retro sound not unlike that of Black Tambourine. For your Sunday dose of Shoegaze, here’s “Swim” off their first EP.

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