Packages from the Postman

bendk · 05-07-2021

I thought it might make for an entertaining thread if TLO members shared a significant item or a particularly good haul that they received in the mail. I had a very nice day recently. I got three packages.

The Daniele Serra Artbook from PS Publishing. I rarely buy new art books because they tend to be expensive. I think the last two I purchased were the Harry O. Morris volume from Centipede Press and Kris Kuksi: Divination and Delusion. (Boy, that volume has catapulted in price! I recently got his newer volume Conquest through an interlibray loan. It is outstanding.) The Daniele Serra book was reasonably priced and I really enjoy his work. Most of us know him for being the cover artist for The Grimscribe's Puppets. This is a nice oversized volume with many hauntingly beautiful images. I only have one demur: One of my favorite paintings of his is the cover he did for The Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste. This was reproduced over two pages and the fold is middle of the art and compromises it. But still, it is a fine book. Serra has also done some nice work for Clive Barker on display here.

The second package I received was from Redbubble. I love this company. It is a great platform for artists to make some money. I was looking for a few HPL related shirts because I wanted to make a valiant effort to go to the Necronomicon this year (just once before I croak) and I wanted to dress appropriately. But alas, it was cancelled due to the pandemic. Maybe next year. I did get a nice t-shirt with one of HPL's most famous portrait photos. I got another t-shirt with a Blue Velvet theme with an illustration of Isabella Rossellini singing. And they also had the movie poster for Possum! Got that too. That scary thing now dangles from my wall.

Unfortunately, they didn't have any Ligotti items. I would love to see the simple silhouette design of the hardcover of CATHR on a black shirt. Or maybe HOM's color plate for MWINYD. I also e-mailed Butcher Bird Studios who made the film In A Foreign Town and suggested they put The Showman poster up on Redbubble. I would love to have that even though it would probably plague me with nightmares.

The last package I received was from eBay. It was a DVD. Most DVDs are cheap because they are going the way of CDs. When is the last time you used a CD player? The same fate will engulf DVD players. But for right now, you can save money by buying a DVD instead of a digital movie. The DVD I got was Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Great movie. I bought it mainly for the extras.

Well, that's it. Quite an untypical day for me. My typical day is zilch. Looking forward to a few vicarious thrills from fellow TLOers. Thanks.

gveranon · 05-07-2021

From the past few months, a few packages I was especially happy to see:

Garielle Lutz's new collection, Worsted

The Comics Journal, Winter 2004 (I ordered this for Alexander Theroux's essay on Chris Ware, which, as far as I can tell, has never been published anywhere else)

Alan Wilson, The Blind Owl (two-CD set of Alan Wilson's songs, with booklet)

Ditko Shrugged: The Uncompromising Life of the Artist Behind Spider-Man, by David Currie

Teetering-Crutches · 05-08-2021

I've been working from home for over a year.

I keep the front door open, and I work in the front living room area.

I can always hear the mailman come right up and scan package as he delivers them. It will be a huge thing I miss once the pandemic has passed, and I'm no longer home around mailtime...

The mail has basically kept me sane this last year. Some of my favorite things have been:

- "Power of the runes" by Donald Tyson
- 3 x Necronomicon press zines for CAS
- Warhammer 40k rulebook etc.
- Stealing the Fire from Heaven - AOS book
- Peter Coddle's Trip vintage card game.

ToALonelyPeace · 05-08-2021

My best hauls this year were from February and March.
The Lost Art of Real Cooking (Ken Albala, Rosanna Henderson): Ken Albala is a historian foodie. I enjoy his TGC series "Food: A Cultural Culinary History" a lot and he posts some lectures on Ytube too. Here's on "Alcohol and Intoxicants Prehistory"

2666: A Novel (Bolano Roberto) & Roadside Picnic & Hard To Be A God (Strugatsky): They have been on my book list for 2-3 years already so I thought it was time to purchase.
Collected Maxims (Rochefoucauld): A recommendation from E.M Cioran. I read it a week after it arrived. I wish I would have done so sooner. His maxims on relations between humans remind me of the Desert Fathers in its pessimistic tone. It also piques my interest on Versailles.
The Custom-House of Desire: A Half Century of Surrealist Stories (J. H. Matthews): A recommendation from a Ligotti's interview. I haven't read it but should be interesting.
No Country for Old Men (Cormac McCarthy): I decide to stop 'saving' this popular McCarthy novel to read later so I'm going to finish it and get The Orchard Keeper next year.
Memoirs from Beyond the Grave: 1768-1800 (Chateaubriand): Another recommendation from a Ligotti's interview.
Vegetables for Carnivores - A Cookbook for the Reluctant Vegetarian (Greg, Easter): This guy is a professional chef and has a cooking channel CookinginFinland (used to be CookinginRussia). His cookbooks are great for authentic (?) recipes though technique heavy. For this book I thought the front cover looks funny with a dinosaur holding broccoli and carrot so I bought it.
The Melancholy of Resistance, Satantango (Laszlo Krasznahorkai): I heard of him for years already. After reading gveranon's review recently I decided to finally get some of his books.
Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome (Apicius): Thought it would be fun to look at what the Romans aspired to serve at their dinner tables.

Metaphysical Mutant · 05-08-2021

Today I got my copy of Cadabra Record's illustrated edition of The Small People, which comes with a signature by the author so I now have signatures from both Thomas Ligotti and Dave Barry.

So far I've read the introductory essay, which is about the difference between the kind of horror fiction which presents the everyday, natural world being invaded by a supernatural or otherwise inexplicable horror, and the world in Ligotti's fiction, which is already a nightmare and in which everyone is already doomed and they know it. Apparently a blogger had written that the latter kind of story doesn't have scares, and didn't consider that horror can be unsettling as well as scary.

In any case, its a cool little book and I'm glad I picked it up.

Zaharoff · 05-09-2021

Using the computers more.
Received memory cards last week to double the RAM of my main workhorse.
Also two USB 3.0 flash drives.
One for my wife, she uses a very old system, unable to handle any Windows now. Installed four Linux distros on her flash (Antix, Slacko, Slax, and WattOS), so she can keep using her preferred relic.
Mine is a travel flash, so when visiting relatives I can plug in and use my own setup.
Like many here, I just received the Cadabra Ligotti.
Also Matthew Ruddick's "Funny Valentine", a comprehensive biography on Chet Baker. This had been unavailable from bookstores for awhile. I simply wrote the author, who had copies to sell.
Massive book, many photos, detailed discography at the back.
Great for Baker enthusiasts.

Teetering-Crutches · 05-11-2021

Quote Originally Posted by Zaharoff

Also Matthew Ruddick's "Funny Valentine", a comprehensive biography on Chet Baker. This had been unavailable from bookstores for awhile. I simply wrote the author, who had copies to sell.
Massive book, many photos, detailed discography at the back.
Great for Baker enthusiasts.

I've always wanted to know more about Chet getting his teeth kicked out in Sausalito ... I'm often times in Sausalito and I usually tell that story...

and more about Chet falling to his death trying to get on to some Woman's balcony.

Any insight?

Zaharoff · 05-12-2021

Quote Originally Posted by Teetering-Crutches

I've always wanted to know more about Chet getting his teeth kicked out in Sausalito ...
and more about Chet falling to his death trying to get on to some Woman's balcony.

Any insight?

I am familiar with both events.
Ruddick's research is meticulous, and he has interviewed hundreds of people with their thoughts.
Unfortunately, I had to break off just as Gerry Mulligan was sent to prison for heroin possession and Baker formed his own quartet. (An inter-library loan book had arrived with a 10 day due notice - those always take priority)
Anyway, I have not made it to that section. Even before his teeth were knocked out, he was missing a front tooth, which is why you never saw an open-mouthed smile from him.
As far as Baker's death, theories have always run to fell - jumped - pushed. Accident - suicide - murder.

ToALonelyPeace · 05-19-2021

I finally received my copy of Junji Ito's "Lovesickness". Been waiting for its official release for 3-5 years since I read it.

bendk · 06-09-2021

I got a nice art book in the mail today. It is a 9.5" x 11.5" volume: Territory Mood of the Gothic. It features 16 artists including Gary Baseman, Scott Radke, and others. I spent a nice leisurely day reading the interviews and looking at the art. Somehow I found this for less than $7 postpaid on AbeBooks. The next cheapest copy I can find is over $100. I would never consider paying that much.