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- “If you are going to do good work, you have to risk failing badly.” — Natasha Richardson
- A Rock Star, His Mother, and His Underwear. 1956.
- “To me, Martha Graham is one of America’s few authentic geniuses.” – Bette Davis
- Review: Sew Torn (2025)
- “Before verse can be human again it must learn to be brutal.” — Austin Clarke
- “As long as politics is this confused and evil, turning away from it would be cowardly.” — 20th century hero Sophie Scholl
- “He sold his soul to the devil to get to play like that.” – Mississippi bluesman Son House on Robert Johnson
- “You can’t study comedy; it’s within you. It’s a personality. My humor is an attitude.” — Don Rickles
- “A lot of people try to equate me with guys like Frankie Avalon and Fabian, but in the old days I sold a lot of records over a period of time, and you can’t sustain that by being just another pretty face.” — Ricky Nelson
- “You are not acting so much as being. The result is realism.” — Gary Cooper
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- sheila on March 2025 Supernatural Viewing Diary Season 15-12, working backwards
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- Mike Molloy on “Fear and the absence of hatred may go well together.” — Niccolò Machiavelli
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- Kristen on “Fear and the absence of hatred may go well together.” — Niccolò Machiavelli
- sheila on “You are not acting so much as being. The result is realism.” — Gary Cooper
- sheila on “You are not acting so much as being. The result is realism.” — Gary Cooper
- sheila on “You are not acting so much as being. The result is realism.” — Gary Cooper
- sheila on “Fear and the absence of hatred may go well together.” — Niccolò Machiavelli
- sheila on “Fear and the absence of hatred may go well together.” — Niccolò Machiavelli
- sheila on March 2025 Supernatural Viewing Diary Season 10, working backwards
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- Mike Molloy on “You are not acting so much as being. The result is realism.” — Gary Cooper
- Kristen on “Fear and the absence of hatred may go well together.” — Niccolò Machiavelli
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Category Archives: On This Day
“Ballet taught me to stay close to style and tone. Literature taught me to be concerned about the moral life.” — Joan Acocella
Joan Acocella, longtime dance critic for The New Yorker, and regular contributor to the New York Review of Books died in 2024 at the age of 78, and I did not mark her passing. It’s her birthday today. Acocella brought … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged ballet, Bob Fosse, dance, Dorothy Parker, H.L. Mencken, Joan Acocella, Martha Graham, Nureyev, Primo Levi
2 Comments
“I trust contrariness. I simply rebelled at being commanded.” — Seamus Heaney
It’s his birthday today. Jean and I went to visit Siobhan in Ireland. Siobhan was in school, so while she was in classes Jean and I rented a car and drove across the country to Galway, and other Western points. … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, Personal, writers
Tagged Belfast, Ireland, Irish poetry, poetry, Seamus Heaney
5 Comments
“I don’t think you go to a play to forget, or to a movie to be distracted. I think life generally is a distraction and that going to a movie is a way to get back, not go away.” — Tom Noonan
Most well-known for playing supernatural-style “heavies” in movies such as Manhunter and Robocop 2, he got his start in the 1960s experimental theatre scene in New York City, and in many ways he’s never really left that scene. He established … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies, On This Day, Theatre
Tagged Tom Noonan, What Happened Was
5 Comments
“If you don’t see the book you want on the shelves, write it.” — Beverly Cleary
“I think children want to read about normal, everyday kids. That’s what I wanted to read about when I was growing up. I wanted to read about the sort of boys and girls that I knew in my neighborhood and … Continue reading
“For I am of the seed of the WELCH WOMAN and speak the truth from my heart.” — Christopher Smart
“For in my nature I quested for beauty, but God, God hath sent me to sea for pearls.” — Christopher Smart, from “Jubilate Agno” Christopher Smart, born on this day in 1722, spent over 10 years of his life locked … Continue reading
“I prefer a national film to an international film.” — Jean-Paul Belmondo
It’s his birthday today. I wrote about him on my Substack. Thank you so much for stopping by. If you like what I do, and if you feel inclined to support my work, here’s a link to my … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged France, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Paul Belmondo, newsletter
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“Sometimes I can sing it when I can’t say it.” — Carl Perkins
“The music was new, the kids were just eatin’ it up. They were claiming it as their own music. But I really think when the kids were comin’ to the sock hops and to the rock and roll shows, I … Continue reading
Posted in Music, On This Day
Tagged Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Rufus Thomas, Sam Phillips
2 Comments
“I never wanted to be this famous. I never imagined this life for myself.” — Kristen Stewart
It’s her birthday today. “Really, I’m incredibly disjointed and not candid. Just in general, my thoughts tend to come out in little spurts that don’t necessarily connect. If you hang around long enough, you can find the linear path. But … Continue reading
“It sounds like something from a Woody Guthrie song, but it’s true; I was raised in a freight car.” — Merle Haggard
It’s his birthday today. “There were so many things I loved about the thirties. I could find many reasons for wanting to live back there. Such as trains was the main method of travel, the glamour of trains always appealed … Continue reading