Craig Davidson

Sunday, February 25th

AMC / SOME GOOD MOVIES

Hey all,

Sunday afternoon here, just sort of schlepping around after the gym. I go to the Talisman Center here in Calgary to work out/jog, peoplewatch, etc---sort of an all-purpose space, with gymnasiums, a pool, lots of weights, etc. I saw an inordinate amout of fe-mullets this afternoon. Is that a word---a female mullet? A Fe-mullet? Or is there some other, more clever wording for that particular hairstyle?

There was a big women's indoor field hockey tourney going on, so I think that might account for the number of fe-mullets spotted thereabouts. Not that I should talk when it comes to hairstyles: mine currently looks as though a ginger-haired otter crawled atop my skull, curled into a fetal ball, and promptly expired. It's just that I haven't seen ONE fe-mullet in many moons, let alone the fe-mullet convention I waded through today.

Craig Davidson on 02.25.07 @ 06:44 PM EST [more..]

Friday, February 16th

REVIEWS FOR RUST AND BONE STILL CROPPING UP

Hi all,

This one is from Books in Canada. I read it; the collection is so far in the rearview mirror by now that I can safely read reviews without worrying about the troubling psychological shockwaves they might send through my psyche. Of course, THE FIGHTER will be coming out in the US and UK this summer, and I've been in contact with those publishers and things are starting up again, galleys being sent out, etc, so there will be another rash of reviews for me to post and avoid reading in a few months' time.

My thanks to John Oughton, the reviewer. I like this review quite a lot, and not because it is largely kindhearted (kindhearted? Is that the right word? I'm dopey today; the words aren't coming to me. Oh, I'm dopey every day, but today especially. Today would be a good day to write alphabet books for pre-schoolers; that's about my level of mental capacity), but because it's a bit of good, a bit of bad. In any case, my thanks to him.

All best, Craig.
Craig Davidson on 02.16.07 @ 01:07 PM EST [more..]

Tuesday, February 13th

STEROIDS ARTICLE TO APPEAR IN ESQUIRE

Hello all,

A few months ago, well many months ago now, I told anyone who reads this blog that, as a sort of Hunter S Thompson-esque, participatory journalism-style exercise in straight-up idiocy (the style of idiocy I excel at), I took steroids whilst writing, or in fact editing, THE FIGHTER. It was such an awful experience that I thought I'd write an article about it, too; a pretty candid, sordid sort of piece, describing all the woeful physical and emotional weirdness that descended upon me while I took drugs for the first time in my life.

So I wrote it and sent it to my editor at Penguin just for a looksee and she liked it and it sort of floated around the Penguin offices and I was happy to let it be, having no particular intentions for it at that point. But a few weeks ago I figured, hey, why not send it out and see what happens? It's been years since I've personally submitted anything and what was the harm?

I chose Esquire magazine, because I love Esquire and I met the old fiction editor, Adrienne Miller, when I was in France and she had some interesting stories about her time there and most of all, because when you're submitting your work the rule is to always pick what you feel to be the best market and work your way down. It was a total flier. All it cost was some paper, ink, an envelope, 3 bucks postage. A message in a bottle sort of scenario.

So I get a call today from an editor there. Lo and behold, looks like they want to publish it. So, very cool. A stroke of luck, no doubt about it. It's a 7,000 word piece, so it'll have to be cut pretty heavily (3-4,000 words in the end draft), but still, it'll see the light of day in a really good publication. And replete with the aforementioned photos of me jamming needles into my pasty ass (I hope, anyway).

I feel good about it, mostly because I now feel like I've done something to help Soho publicize the book. I did what I could for Penguin and now I can rest somewhat easier knowing I ravaged my body for my US publisher, too. I don't know what I'll be able to do for my UK publisher (I do hear Irvine Welsh might write a review of it, though, so that's wonderful if he's willing to, I'll owe him my soul), which just leaves France. I can go fight a big Frenchman, I guess. We can break baguettes over each others' heads. Zut alors!

I of course will let everyone know when it is published (and while it seems pretty much a done deal pending edits, I've come to the opinion based on past experiences, and one touched on by the editor at Esquire himself, that nothing is quite 100% until you see the book or magazine on the shelves. But in this one instance I'm going to put aside my pessimistic view and look at things in the rare strange light of optimism. Watch it bite me in the ass!), and you can go to the newspaper stands and grab a copy, or at least leaf through it and laugh at my chunky naked ass with a big needle poking out of it.

Hopefully I can cultivate some sort of good working relationship with the magazine, have them send me out on assignment:

ESQUIRE: Davidson, we're sending you to Borneo. We want you to stick your head in a hill full of fire-stinger ants.

ME: Yessir!

ESQUIRE: Don't ask me what sort of social ramifications we expect this to have, what our readership might possibly glean from it, we just want it done. And you're just the sort of melonhead who'll do it.

ME: Hey, you don't have to sell it---you had me at "fire-stinger ants"!

All best, Craig.
Craig Davidson on 02.13.07 @ 07:54 PM EST [link]

Thursday, February 8th

ARTS ADDENDUM

Hi All,

Oddly enough, I get this today in the email inbox, sent by an old friend from university:

www.PetitionOnline.com/DFAIT07/

I don't know that I'm going to sign it or not. As I said in my last post, I've got no problem with arts funding; more with people abusing the system or---my real peeve---freeloading artists who think they deserve or are entitled to it (as I've been re-stressing to several semi-miffed friends who've emailed me this morning). In any case, I post it here for the benefit of anyone who is not so on-the-fence / on tenterhooks about this issue as I am and want to sign the petition.

I gotta say, even going through the names of the signers---none of whom I recognized, at least the few pages I checked---I was getting a little rangy. #52 makes a point to write PHD after her name. Sorry, but you still only count as one vote, regardless of any degree that might hang on your wall. If I do sign, it will be as Sir Craig Davidson III, Esq, Knighted (knighthood impending). Apparently Douglas Coupland signed it, and I do dig Coupland a helluva lot.

All best, Craig.

Craig Davidson on 02.08.07 @ 01:19 PM EST [link]

Wednesday, February 7th

ARTS FUNDING

Hi All,

I’m sorry that self-flagellating story isn’t ready to go yet---it’s written, it’s been accepted, it will be forthcoming but there are other stories in the cue before me.

So, on to new business. This may end up as a rant---and, like many/most of my rants, it will probably only interest a very tiny demographic of the population, the demographic I generally circulate amidst, and thus the only people it will likely piss off are artist and writer types, some of whom I call friends and others not.

The other day I came across this article:

www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070203.ATWOOD03/TPStory/?query=margaret+atwood

…which was linked through this site:

www.bookninja.com (a word on this site: I like it quite a lot. It’s sort of a daily compendium of literary/writing-related articles, culled by the Bookninja. I occasionally find myself a little miffed, as every time I am mentioned on the site, it is usually in relation to my having had my ass kicked in a boxing match---to which I sometimes, cholerically, feel that getting one’s ass kicked is generally enough of an exercise in embarrassment that it might be nice to not have it constantly brought up in unflattering ways. Then again, I did it, I hoped to profit from it, and so I have to deal with the repercussions. Then again, if I ever do chance to meet Mr. Bookninja, I will be delighted to talk about my losing bout in a gentlemanly, face-to-face manner.)

A word about the article itself, and its author: first off, I admire Margaret Atwood. I know I’ve made a few jokes about her, but a Canadian writer taking potshots at Mrs. Atwood is as common an occurrence as spotting a squirrel in your backyard. She’s a fantastic writer, she’s brave, she says what she means and damn the consequences, and the one time I did meet her I was reduced to a puling lump of pudding in her presence. Her article deals with the Harper government’s cuts to arts spending/funding, which she is against. The article, like most everything that comes from Atwood’s pen, is acerbic, intelligent, and wonderful to read.

Craig Davidson on 02.07.07 @ 09:59 PM EST [more..]