Craig Laurance Gidney's Blog, page 51
November 17, 2013
My review of Von Trier’s MELANCHOLIA: depression is a glowing blue planet
{Below is the text of the spoken review} I want to like the films of Lars Von Trier more than I do. I admire that he has a singular vision, and that he has the audacity to disturb his audience. His work is difficult and he explores the darkest reaches of the human experience. But […]
November 15, 2013
Bereft is nominated for an NAACP Image Award!
My YA novel, Bereft, has been nominated for an 2014 NAACP Image Award in the Outstanding Literary Work: Youth/Teen category. It’s a great honor, both for me and my publisher, Tiny Satchel Press. Keep your fingers crossed for me!Filed under: Book Reviews Tagged: award nominations, BEREFT, naacp image awards
November 14, 2013
Digitial Ink Stained Wretch: my writing regimen
Here is how I compose text: Over-the-ear headphones plugged into my computer, listening to a White Noise generating program. I used to listen to ambient music (and sometimes, I still do), but I often found that even instrumental music could be distracting. I use Scrivener as a word processor, with the full screen option on. […]
November 11, 2013
The Dancing Boy: (The story behind an embarrasing photograph)
I found this alarming picture of me, aged 4, when I was going through old photo albums. In one context, it could be considered quaintly racist: a young black boy performing for some random white people. Here’s the story (which I don’t remember). The time is the early 70s (check out the pianist’s beehive hairdo!). […]
Birthday Post: The Magic of 11 (November 11, 19__)
I made my debut on November 11, 19__. It’s been a long, wild ride. And I haven’t even started yet. Watch out, world, here I come!Filed under: Book Reviews
November 5, 2013
Gender & Reading: Confessions of a Female Man (apologies to Joanna Russ)
When I was in Junior High, I interned one afternoon a week at the Chesire Cat Children’s Bookstore. Located in upper Chevy Chase, on the DC side, it was like heaven for a nascent bibliophile like me. (Side note: my version/vision of Heaven would be an endless library of books). The highlight of my time […]
October 30, 2013
MUSIC REVIEW: Singing the Body Electric: the electronic artpop of Interiors by Glasser.
The cover of the new Glasser release, Interiors, shows frontwoman/conceptualist Cameron Meslrow dancing in a reflective sea of liquid metal. She appears to be molding it into a shape, even as she is being distorted. It’s an appropriate image for the music within. The music is meticulously crafted on computers, full of sound effects that […]
October 28, 2013
Twelve Years a Slave: The True American Horror Story
If the American spirit were to be personified, she wouldn’t look like Lady Liberty. She would be a woman of color with scars on her flesh, calligraphic tattoos of pain and suffering. All of the progress and expansion of the U.S. has been gained through the genocide of the indigenous population and slavery. (Not to […]
October 25, 2013
Conjuring Subtexts: thoughts on the movie The Conjuring
I finally saw the horror movie The Conjuring this week. It had all of the things I love about good horror movie. ▪ Atmospheric ▪ Slow build with lots of plausible deniability ▪ The handsome Patrick Wilson ▪ The brilliant Lili Taylor (whom I sat near in RL in a restaurant; ask me about it […]
October 24, 2013
BOOK REVIEW: Kill the Dead, by Tanith Lee. Tarot-inspired Gothic fantasy
Kill the Dead by Tanith Lee My rating: 5 of 5 stars The 1980 novel KILL THE DEAD is a perfect introduction to Tanith Lee’s writing in the Gothic mode. The short novel has all of her hallmarks: two tortured Byronic anti-heroes, a beautiful witch antagonist and a plot that is full of twists that […]
