The Sheila Variations
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Latest posts
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“I decided to write the book to open the eyes of the people of how corrupt John D. Rockefeller company was and the unfair ways he used to be successful. I wanted the people to know the truth about the Standard Oil Company.” — journalist Ida Tarbell
It’s a good day to think about unchecked power. Power needs people out there to check it. It’s a good day to acknowledge that the world – its money and resources – is dominated by a multi-national cadre of fat … Continue reading →
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Happy Birthday, Ralph Macchio, or: How one episode of Eight is Enough saved my life
Yesterday was Ralph Macchio’s birthday. I always knew Ralph Macchio was something special. I knew it before Karate Kid. I knew it from Eight is Enough. I clocked him as awesome from the beginning. I felt territorial. When everyone else … Continue reading →
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“People say I’m a one-note actor, but the way I figure it, those other guys are just looking for that one right note.” — Joel McCrea
It’s his birthday today. Joel McCrea had a long career, with many different phases. He did it all, although he is primarily associated with Westerns. It was what you might call a “classy” career. Steady, successful, no scandals, and he … Continue reading →
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“Suppose I were to begin by saying that I had fallen in love with a color.”
“That this blue exists makes my life a remarkable one, just to have seen it. To have seen such beautiful things. To find oneself placed in their midst.” — Maggie Nelson, BLUETS
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From the archives (March 16, 2005): Silhouette, Parts 1 and 2
Silhouette, Part 1 We were in the San Francisco airport, rain against the windows, we sat next to each other, we were beyond speech. It was good-bye, we both knew that, but the words would not come. They were caught … Continue reading →
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“If the thing is there, why, there it is.” Happy Birthday, Walker Evans
That last photo is Walker Evans’ innovative perspective of the parade for Charles Lindbergh after Lindbergh successfully crossed the Atlantic in 1927. It’s one of the first photos Evans took, and shows that he had a “good eye” from the … Continue reading →
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“I’ve had the kind of fame which I felt was just the right amount.” — Lois Smith
Lois Smith, who turns 96 years old today, made her film debut in 1955, playing a young prostitute in East of Eden. She has a small scene with James Dean, and then exits the film forever. But the memory of … Continue reading →
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Nov 12-15: AFI Silver Classic Film Weekend
Really pleased to announce I’ll be presenting three films at the upcoming Silver Classic Film Weekend, an annual festival hosted by the American Film Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland. It will be a jam-packed four days, with some old favorites … Continue reading →
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From the archives (February 29, 2008): Patrick Stewart as Macbeth
Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood I saw Patrick Stewart do Macbeth tonight at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. It was a lovely evening. It’s freezing today and I trekked out there, emerging into the utter chaos of Atlantic and Flatbush. … Continue reading →
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Off Campus, episode 5: You actually can choose your family
Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 film Magnolia, one of the most eccentric mainstream American movies ever made, culminates in a sequence where thousands of frogs rain down on the empty streets of Los Angeles. Up until this moment, each character – … Continue reading →
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From the archives (October 27, 2004): The pros and cons of “Smotheration”
Last night, I was at a bar. Of course. I am very much looking forward to next week when I don’t spend literally HOURS every night in a bar watching the playoffs. Last night, two guys were sitting next to … Continue reading →
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From the archives (September 12, 2006): Under the Ghostbuster Sky
Michael and I sat up on my roof for a couple of hours on the late afternoon-early evening of Sept. 10. The sky was what I call a “Ghostbusters sky”: smudgy, charcoal grey, heavy and low, dramatic. Smudgy almost-black clouds … Continue reading →
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From the archives (October 18, 2002): the first post on my blog
A Saturday in NYC with Allison and the Manson Family Saturday was a cold day, wind biting up and down the canyons. Sheila kind of weather. My friend Kate and I have discussed at length our preference for autumn as … Continue reading →
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Today, the Sheila Variations turns 24
The above pic of me – taken by Michael in a field somewhere in Ithaca – graced the top of my original blog, when I set it up 24 years ago today. I never should have put my picture up … Continue reading →
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Off Campus, episode 4: Moonlight in a chamber
If random people find these recaps they might get frustrated with how I do things. They clearly missed the 10,000-word Supernatural re-caps. I like to write about things that inspire OTHER things, like aesthetics, film acting, dramaturgy. I was inspired … Continue reading →
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From the archives (October 12, 2011): Wisconsin Idyll in Funny Hats with Rocket Launchers
Me, Kenny, Phil, and Ann Marie, in the photo booth at Lounge Ax in Chicago. On a “Pat night”. One of the most specific times in my life, so much so that it is practically an anomaly, was living in … Continue reading →
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From the archives (January 12, 2004): I Was Told I Would Get Wings
As a child, I was a Brownie. All of my friends were Brownies. It was part of being a kid. My memories of Brownie meetings and Brownie activities are rather dim. I have other memories from those long-ago days, very … Continue reading →
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Off Campus, episode 3: Two truths. Hence, ergo, therefore.
Episode 3’s title is attention-getting and I am here for it. Episode 4 could be called “The Orgasm, Part 2.” The two episodes are laid out like a thesis paper: episode 3 presents the thesis, episode 4 breaks it down … Continue reading →