Armageddon Expo (Part 1)

Prior to his Q&A at The Astor Theate on Saturday night George Lazenby also attended an event called the Armageddon Expo in the City that morning.  Neither my wife nor I had ever attended one of these events before and surprisingly it was pretty good and well organised.  There were heaps of people dressed in costumes, artists showing their art and stands selling items, as well as a  number of actors (including the afformentioned Mr Lazenby) signing autographs and having photos taken.  This entry is just some general photos from the event.  The next entry features Mr Lazenby.

Also present was an Aston Martin DBS like the one featured in OHMSS.  When I spoke to the owner of the vehicle I discovered he'd purchased it over 30 years ago, had it shipped in from Europe and it was confirmed as the actual vehicle from the film.

OHMSS Display At The Astor Theatre

A couple of months ago I was very excited to discover that George Lazenby would be appearing at The Astor Theatre in Melbourne to do a Q&A before the screening of a newly restored 2K digital print of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".  So I got in touch with The Astor asking if they'd like me to lend them some items to display in one of their glass cabinets in the cinema lobby.  They said they'd be most appreciative.

Last week I went through my books and magazines for OHMSS specific items.  Nothing rare or valuable but nonetheless still important to me.  I also got some large photos copied as 6x4 prints.  These were the items I provided:

And on Saturday night when my wife and I attended the The Astor I was very pleased to see how they were displayed.  I noticed a few people looking at the items and some were pointing.  Here's some photos I took of the display:

Another Gardner Arrives

Another Gardner novel arrived last Friday. It's good to receive another book in the Pegasus (US) series as the Orion (UK) series is getting close to complete.

Screening Of OHMSS This Saturday

Here's a promo flyer for the screening of OHMSS at The Astor Theatre in Melbourne this Saturday night following a Q & A with Mr Lazenby.  Should be good

Hobart Book Hunt

As well as Hobart sight seeing with my wife (see previous blog), when she had to go to work on Monday and Tuesday I spent my time book hunting.  In the past I've picked up some pristine copies of 60's paperbacks from Tassie, but unfortunately I wasn't as lucky this time.  However I did discover a bookshop with heaps of Jonathan Capes.  Here's some photos

- Ellison Hawker Bookshop (new) - had a couple of the new Gardners and some Higson covers plus the 50th Anniversary Bond Postcards

 - Astrolabe Booksellers (rare and antique) - none

 

- Deja vu Books (second hand) - a good paperback copy of "The Diamond Smugglers" and a US hardback of "Thrilling Cities".  I only purchased the paperback from these very friendly owners

 

- The Hobart Book Shop (new and second hand) - Penguin Flemings plus Kev Walker Young Bonds

 

- Rapid Eye Books (second hand) - a few Pans but unfortunately none for me here

 

- Kookaburra Antiques And Books (second hand) - hardback copies of "James Bond - The Authorized Biography" and a Cape "From Russia With Love" with dust jacket (but I felt a little too expensive despite needing one of these)

 

 - Imperial Secondhand Bookshop (second hand) - five 60's Pans and a heap of Jonathan Capes, many first editions.  They even allowed me to take the books out of the cabinet and take a group photo.  I've never seen this many Capes in one store.  The two owners were great guys to talk to.

 - Tolhurst's Downunder Bookshop (second hand ) - none.  But the very friendly owner wanted to let me know about the Fantastic Fiction website which he said he often used as a reference

 - Collectables Antiques (second hand) - upstairs I found a tatty Cape "OHMSS" for just $14 but I let it go.  I also organised some other common Flemings together for them on the shelf but no luck here

 - Antiques To Retro (second hand) - last time I visited this store I purchased a really nice copy of Pan "Colonel Sun" but unfortunately they had none this time

- Dymocks (new) - a couple of Higsons, Roger Moore's "Bond On Bond" and some Vintage Flemings.  None for me though

 - Fullers Bookshop (new) - a great shop and a good copy of "Silverfin" in the Kev Walker Young Bond series which I purchased and a Penguin Fleming

So at the end of my book hunt I purchased two books: a paperback "The Diamond Smugglers" and the Puffin "Silverfin".  But some of those Capes are calling my name !

Hobart Break

As I mentioned the other day my wife and I visited Tasmania for four days.  She had to work in Hobart for two of the days and I decided to tag along for a bit of a break.  We spent all our time in Hobart.  This blog is just a few details about our trip.

We watched the AFL Grand Final in a pub on the Saturday.  And on the Sunday we visited the fantastic MONA gallery.  It's the best building containing an art gallery/museum I have ever visited.  Here's a couple of photos

And here's a couple more photos from the Monday and Tuesday while I walked the City myself while book hunting (see my next blog).

 Church and old building.  Tassie has some of the oldest preserved buildings in Oz.

 State Parliament House.

Salamanca Place where the famous market is held on Saturdays.

 A vintage neon sign.

 Another old building.

More Bond Stuff Appearing Everywhere

Bond stuff is starting to appear everywhere now, especially with "SkyFall" being released in Oz on November 22.  Here's some photos from a local Dymocks book store which include the second seven of the "There Is Only One Bond" series and also a toy DB5 I noticed being sold in a supermarket.

Alternate Film Version Of "Quantum Of Solace" ?

Last weekend I spent four days in "Tassie" (Tasmania) with my wife.  I did some book hunting there of course which will be featured in my next blog.  On the flight back though I noticed a strange blurb accompanying the film "Quantum Of Solace" in the Inflight Entertainment Guide.  Must be a different version of "Quantum" to the one I've seen because I don't recall Bond ever visiting Australia!

Three Faces Of Dr No Addenda

I recently received an email from a visitor to the website, John F, after he'd viewed the Less Common Books And Ephemera page.  He noted that he also had a copy of Dr No from Coronet featuring the spider but the cover text reading "Ian Fleming" was not embossed.  This differs from the covers shown as part of "The Three Faces Of Dr No" section.  So I checked it out on the web and managed to find a copy myself.  Sure it's only a minor difference, and it's not even a difference in cover images, but I've decided to add this cover as an addenda to the existing three covers.