Archive for September, 2015

Library Addition: Anthony Armstrong’s Wine of Death

Monday, September 14th, 2015

Someone put in a want for this book so long ago I apparently no longer have the email they sent about it, which I think may have been some 15-20 years ago. But it popped up at a reasonable price so I picked it up.

Armstrong, Anthony. Wine of Death. Stanley Paul & Co. (London), no date [1925]. First edition hardback, a Very Good copy with moderate bend at head and heel at head and slight spotting to page block edges and first few pages, and slight foxing to front and rear free endpapers, with 32 page catalog dated 1924-1825 at rear, lacking the dust jacket. Tietler & Locke, By the Book World Remembered, pages 37 and 119. Locke, Spectrum of Fantasy, page 22. Tietler, By the World Forgot, 55 (where it’s compared to Robert E. Howard’s Conan tales). Not in either edition of the Bleiler Checklist. Bought for $32.04 plus transatlantic shipping. Last year Lloyd Currey listed a better (but not perfect) copy, still lacking the dust jacket, for $1,250, and noted it was “Rare.”

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Shoegazer Sunday: Soft Blonde’s “Walk Under Lightning Strokes”

Sunday, September 13th, 2015

Soft Blonde is on the Mazzy Star-twangy end of Shoegaze, with a few dashes of prog rock thrown in for good measure. Here’s “Walk Under Lightning Strokes” off their No Good Trying EP.

(Hat tip: Primal Music Blog.)

Library Additions: 4 Books, 3 Non-Fiction

Tuesday, September 8th, 2015

Here’s the final titles I bought from the Cold Tonnage 40% off sale, three of which are non-fiction and the fourth just an odd item:

  • Bradbury, Ray (illustrated by Gary Gianni). The Nefertiti-Tut Express. The RAS Press, 2012. First edition oversized oblong (9″ x 12″ long) chapbook edition, a Fine copy, new and unread. Oversized illustrated edition of a longish poem. Signed by Gianni. Bought for £12.
  • Clarke, I. F. Voices Prophesying War. Oxford University Press, 1990. First edition hardback (of this new expanded and updated edition), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket with slight wear on rear points. Non-fiction. The standard reference on future war fiction. Bought for £10.8.
  • (Ellison, Harlan) Priest, Christopher. The Book on the Edge of Forever. Fantagraphics Books, 1994. First edition trade paperback format (perfect-bound with the look and feel of a short graphic novel, which is Fantagraphics primary line), a Fine- copy. Non-fiction. An inquiry into the non-appearance of Harlan Ellison’s massive, long-delayed anthology The Last Dangerous Visions, expanded from an earlier fanzine titled The Last Deadloss Visions. Hugo Award nominee for best Non-Fiction. Bought for £15. Not particularly a Priest fan (I had lunch with two of his ex-wives at the 2014 London Worldcon), but when you’re right…

    Book Edge Forever

  • (Heinlein, Robert A.) Olander, Joseph and Martin Harry Greenberg, editors. Robert A. Heinlein (Writers of the 21st Century Series). Taplinger, 1978. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Non-fiction. Bought for £12.
  • Quick Hits From a Movie Viewing Party

    Monday, September 7th, 2015

    Quick impressions from a movie viewing party yesterday:

    Guardians of the Galaxy: Yep! Not my favorite Marvel, but in the top 10.

    The Lego Movie: A whole lot better than you had any right to expect it to be.

    Coherence: Eh. Ends better than it begins, but shallow California Yuppies sort of spoil the quantum mechanical creepiness.

    Also, congratulations to whoever cut the trailer for The Frame: You’ve managed to craft a trailer so stylistically annoying that I never want to see the movie just to spite you…

    Shoegazer Sunday: Tuath’s “Ag dúnmharú an timpeallacht” Live

    Sunday, September 6th, 2015

    Though you can’t tell from the video description, this is Ireland’s Tuath performing “Ag dúnmharú an timpeallacht” live. It’s a straightforward guitar-drive instrumental piece. (I only know the name of the song by tracking down their bandcamp page for the album it came from.)

    (Hat tip (indirectly): Primal Music Blog.)

    Beware, Evil Doers! You Face The Tick!

    Friday, September 4th, 2015

    In 2001, Fox premiered the live-action version of The Tick. I thought they did a pretty credible effort capturing the comic book’s goofy, off-kilter charm, despite an incredibly modest budget for a live action network show (they couldn’t even hire someone who looked like Jimmy Carter for the pilot).

    So naturally, it being on Fox, they cancelled it after nine episodes

    Now comes word that Amazon is resurrecting the show with Patrick Warburton back in the title role.

    If it gets picked up, I may have to finally break down and subscribe to Amazon Prime…

    (Hat tip: Bill Crider on Facebook.)

    Library Additions: Five Signed Books

    Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015

    More books from that Cold Tonnage 40% off order:

  • Brunner, John. Times Without Number. The Elmsfield Press, 1974. First hardback edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed and dated by Brunner in 1987, with his usual peace symbol. Currey (1979), page 24. Bought for £18.

    Brunner Times Without Number

  • Disch, Thomas and Charles Naylor. Neighboring Lives. Scribner’s, 1981, First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head in a Near Fine- dust jacket with one 1/8″ by 1/4″ triangular chip at top front cover ner head and wear at points. Signed by both Disch and Naylor. Bought for £18.

    Neighboring Lives

    (The scratches in this pic are surface wear on the dj protector.)

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  • Joyce, Graham. The Limits of Enchantment. Gollancz, 2005. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Joyce. Bought for £9.
  • Le Guin, Ursula K. From Elfland to Poughkeepsie. Pendragon Press, 1973. First edition paperback chapbook original, #49 of 100 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Non-fiction. Currey (1979), page 306. Bought for £18.
  • Williamson, Jack. Manseed. Del Rey, 1982. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Williamson. Bought for £9.