I know these things are basically “Hey, how’d you like to expose yourself to the possibility of catastrophic injury for the greater glory of Red Bull and Go-Pro?” but I’m always impressed with these downhill speed-runs where they basically clear out half the population of some steeply graded city in South America for some nervy bicycling lunatic to careen down streets, stairs, sidewalks and goat-paths at a breakneck pace for our amusement.
Archive for February, 2016
Another Speed Downhill Mountain Bike Run
Monday, February 29th, 2016Shoegazer Sunday: Plastic Flowers’ “Diver”
Sunday, February 28th, 2016Plastic Flowers is Greek-born/London resident musician George Samaras. “Diver” is an aggressively pleasant little song off his new album Heavenly.
(Hat tip: Primal Music Blog.)
Kickstarter for the Sequel to Manos: The Hands of Fate
Thursday, February 25th, 2016I know that many of you (and by “many” I mean “five or six of you”) come here for news of Manos: The Hands of Fate). (And yes, I have the restored Blu-Ray of the original Manos, but I haven’t watched it yet.) So here’s some news about the sequel:
The previously announced sequel, The Search for Valley Lodge, officially died back in 2014.
However, and entirely new sequel is being put together by Jackey Neyman Jones (the little girl in the original film) and their Kickstarter just made it’s $24,000 goal. They even have Tom Neyman back as The Master!
If you think there’s too much puppet action (from Manos: The Hands of Felt) in the Kickstarter trailer, here’s a shorter trailer:
$24,000 isn’t much for a feature film. Then again, the original Manos: The Hands of Fate wasn’t much of a feature film…
Library Additions: Three PS Publishing Limited Editions
Monday, February 22nd, 2016PS Publishing had a sale, and I picked up three limited editions of things I already had the trade editions of.
A Bad Day for Literature
Friday, February 19th, 2016First Harper Lee dies, and now comes word that Umberto Eco died at age 84 today as well.
I enjoyed both The Name of the Rose and Foucault’s Pendulum, even though I knew at the time I was probably missing many of the literary in-jokes. The Name of the Rose in particular is well worth reading, as you’d never believe a 30 page discussion of various medieval Christian heresies could ever be so incredibly funny…
Harper Lee, RIP
Friday, February 19th, 2016“Harper Lee, whose first novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, about racial injustice in a small Alabama town, sold more than 10 million copies and became one of the most beloved and most taught works of fiction ever written by an American, died on Friday in Monroeville, Ala., where she lived. She was 89.”
The list of credible candidates for the great American novel of the 20th century is a short one, and To Kill A Mockingbird is one of the top contenders. If you haven’t read it, make that the next book on your stack; it’s that good.
Library Additions: Non-Fiction Books from Cold Tonnage’s £5 Sale
Wednesday, February 17th, 2016A follow-up to yesterday’s post, here are the non-fiction books I bought in that Cold Tonnage £5 sale:
Library Additions: Fiction Books Bought from Cold Tonnage’s £5 Sale
Tuesday, February 16th, 2016Cold Tonnage Books had a sale where all £10 books were £5, so I picked up a fair number. This post covers fiction titles.
Library Addition: The Da Vinci Code
Monday, February 15th, 2016Only doing a separate blog post on this to illustrate a few points about bookselling and collecting.
Brown, Dan. The Da Vinci Code. Doubleday, 2003. First edition hardback (price of $24.95 on flap, “First Edition” and “10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1” numberline on copyright page), a near Fine copy with owner blindstamp on front free endpaper, in a Fine- dust jacket with a small crease to bottom corner of front flap.
The multi-million bestseller. At one point people were getting big bucks for first printings. This copy? I bought it for $2 from the “Nostalgia Bargain” section of a Half Price Books.
Sic transit gloria mundi…
Shoegazer Sunday: Rancho Relaxo’s “Stars”
Sunday, February 14th, 2016For your Sunday dose of Shoegaze, here’s Norway’s Rancho Relaxo with “Stars.”