Craig Laurance Gidney's Blog, page 49
December 28, 2013
Rest in Peace, Mr. Dorfman
I remember we bonded over the metaphysical side of the singer/songwriter Rickie Lee Jones’ oeuvre. I’ll think of you everytime I play the song Deep Space: An Equestrienne in the Circus of the Falling Star.Filed under: Book Reviews Tagged: michael dorfman, passings
December 27, 2013
MUSES: Jean Cocteau and the shadow of Orpheus.
Jean Cocteau is perhaps best known for his films, in particular, his elegant, candlelit classic take on Beauty and the Beast. He was a kind of renaissance man, with achievements in literature as well as film and art. He was not a Surrealist, though that movement did influence some of his work. His work is […]
December 21, 2013
BOOK REVIEW: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. An ecological field guide full of beauty and horror.
Annihilation: A Novel by Jeff VanderMeer My rating: 4 of 5 stars The fiction that truly disturbs me, that causes me nightmares, that stays with me, that chills me to the bone all have one element. Beauty. Gore and splatter punk can gross me out and causes a short, sharp shock. But evil beauty, or […]
On Suicide & Depression
–Found in the comments section of an article about the death of Ned Vizzini. I couldn’t have put it better myself.Filed under: Book Reviews Tagged: depression, ned vizzini, suicide
December 19, 2013
My Mother, the Soul Sister Scheherazade of the Seventies.
Like many mothers, my mom told me fairytales when I was a child. But as a public school administrator (her title was Cultural Coordinator) she had access to a wide breadth of media, including films and ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) of picture books. Two items in this treasure trove of fairytale lore stick with me. […]
December 16, 2013
My first piece of fan art!
The up and coming author James Champagne sent me a drawing of Mehitabel, the strange angel featured in this year’s weird Holiday story that I sent out last week. I plan to have the story available online in Christmas 2014. Thanks so much, James! Filed under: Book Reviews Tagged: art, holiday, james champagne, weird fiction
December 11, 2013
Confounding Stereotypes: Adventures in Fandom and Microaggression
A Buzzfeed article, 21 Microaggressons You Hear on a Daily Basis, has been passed around my Facebook feed. One particular sign really resonated with me. No, I don’t listen to Carrie Underwood. But….I like ‘white’ music. Particularly alternative, gothic and indie music. So I feel this girl’s pain. I remember when I haunted a record […]
December 10, 2013
BOOK REVIEW: Big Machine by Victor Lavalle. A secret society of unlikely scholars and Afrogeeks
Big Machine by Victor LaValle My rating: 4 of 5 stars Big Machine by Victor Lavalle is an ambitious horror novel about secret societies with subtextual issues about race and class that is full of laugh aloud moments. It’s a sort of tonal patchwork of A Confederacy of Dunces, The DaVinci Code and The Intuitionist. […]
December 5, 2013
CONCERT REVIEW: Anna Von Hausswollf at the Atlas Theater, 12.4.13
Last night I saw Swedish composer and multi-instrumentalist Anna Von Hausswolff in concert at the Atlas Theater in Washington, DC. She mostly accompanied herself on the organ, and along with her three-piece band (guitar, drums and synthesizer) crafted complex post rock soundscapes that drew from folk, liturgical and progressive metal musics. At times, it sounded […]
December 4, 2013
On Diversity & Dogwhistles
A couple of years ago, the online zine Expanded Horizons published a short piece of fiction that I’m immensely proud of, entitled “Conjuring Shadows.” The story is about a transgender conjure-woman in the Harlem Renaissance. Expanded Horizon’s mission statement is this: The mission of this webzine is to increase diversity in the field of speculative […]
