Arts & Culture

  • What’s on your coffee table?

    Inspire and impress visitors with intriguing books on your coffee table brought home from your local library. Not only will you save yourself a ton of money, but you and your guests will be constantly stimulated with a rotating collection of new books. Order some online, or stop by your local library and visit our… Continue reading

  • She Makes Art!

    A rich mix of artwork greets us this fall when Seattle Art Museum presents Elles: Women Artists from the Centre Pompidou, an international survey of works by groundbreaking artists.  Not to be missed, too, are installations and exhibits of pioneering artists from SAM’s own collections that will be on view in Elles: SAM– Singular Works by… Continue reading

  • Los Dias de los Muertos

    Several years ago a recently retired teacher who lived in the Beacon Hill neighborhood asked me if she could add a “decoration” (previously used in her classroom) to a branch program. Skeptical but intrigued, we were willing to host her Los Dias de los Muertos altar and we were subsequently awestruck at the charming and… Continue reading

  • Country & (Mid)Western

    Gorgeous orchestral arrangements. Achingly beautiful vocals set against the sparkle of mandolin and glockenspiel. Nuanced lyrics that invoke the stark panoramas of an Ohio landscape. Could this actually be country & western music? Yes, but with a twist. Sometimes known as “alt-country” or “countrypolitan,” this relatively new form of country music has transformed an often-maligned… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: More Alternatives to Game of Thrones

    In our never-ending quest to call out readable alternatives to terrific TV series, SPL librarians have been looking for something to satisfy that GOT craving–Game of Thrones, that is. One of our fabulous teen librarians have some suggestions for you for when the series ceases to engage–or if your appetite, once whetted, needs some print… Continue reading

  • Backwards down the number line (Part 1)

    On the opening track of Phish’s most recent studio album Joy, singer Trey Anastasio assures us that “all my friends come backwards down the number line.” Using this refrain as a prompt, I decided to buddy up with the band and dive headlong into the Library’s catalog, seeking out numerically titled albums to arrange in… Continue reading

  • Long May You Run

    If the Solstice Parade and Pride festivities have you all worn out and you’re planning to take it easy next weekend, come on over to the Greenwood Car Show! Take a leisurely stroll down Greenwood Ave N. on Saturday, June 30th, where you’ll be able to drool over 1.5 miles of hot rods, collector cars, antique gems… Continue reading

  • LGBT Pride

    June is here, which means LGBT Pride Parades are taking to the streets of major cities, including ours: the Seattle Pride Parade and Seattle Pride Fest take place on the weekend of June 23-24! Names like Ellen, Harvey, Elton, Dan, and Wanda will float about, rekindling our knowledge of famous gays and lesbians throughout our… Continue reading

  • Many Shades of Black (and White, Jack)

    After many months of waiting, my patience was rewarded and I checked out a copy of Jack White’s new solo album Blunderbuss. To keep me busy while I waited my turn, I decided to revisit some of his earlier works and some other great albums with a relationship to “black” or “white.” In hindsight, I… Continue reading

  • Sasquatch and Folklife kick off the 2012 NW summer music festival season

    Memorial Day is right around the corner, and you know what that means – Summer music festival season has begun in the Pacific NW! This weekend (May 25-28), Seattle music lovers can head on down to Seattle Center for the 41st annual Northwest Folklife Festival, which features the folk music traditions of many cultures, performed… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Friday: SF Film Fest

    Local science fiction fans may be well aware of the Cinerama’s upcoming Science Fiction Film Fest, but how many of you read the book first? Interestingly, most of the films started out as books of one kind or another, and they are worth a look. Here’s a rundown. Metropolis: no source book for this one, but this… Continue reading

  • Crime: If You Like Boardwalk Empire

    I just finished season one of Boardwalk Empire, Martin Scorcese’s series set in prohibition era Atlantic City, and am dying for more. I love good immersive TV experiences (and saving money with library DVDs), but in the end you’re as bereft as if you’d just finished a satisfying long novel. So I put together a couple of… Continue reading

  • My Favorite Women Writers and Artists

     Advance Weekend Edition for Sunday, April 1, 2012 I’m always amazed at how an artist’s personality and distinctive voice come through in their work, especially with some of my favorite women authors. Case in point: Joyce Kilmer. She’s most famous for her beautiful poem “Trees,” which has also been set to music by Oscar Rasbach.… Continue reading

  • What was on the Tube in 1962

    On the 50th anniversary of the Seattle World’s Fair, we look back at that year’s popular books, music, movies and TV shows. This week, what was on TV in 1962. Television looked different in 1962. Nine out of ten American households had TV sets, but they were almost all black & white; Zenith produced its… Continue reading

  • What we were watching in 1962

    On the 50th anniversary of the Seattle World’s Fair, we look back at that year’s popular books, music, movies and TV shows. This week’s list in our catalog: what we were watching in 1962. Lawrence of Arabia was the top-grossing film that year (winning seven Oscars), with the star-studded D-Day epic The Longest Day hot on… Continue reading

  • Audio Described Movies

    What is an audio described movie? An audio described movie is a movie with a separate sound track that includes a narrator who verbal describes important visual elements of the film. The narration is interspaced between the movie’s regular dialogue, to create as little disruption to the movie’s main sound track as possible. The audio… Continue reading

  • What we were listening to in 1962

    On the 50th anniversary of the Seattle World’s Fair, we look back at that year’s popular books, music, movies and TV shows. This week: what we were listening to in 1962. I like to be in America! If we could travel back in time to a random Seattle living room circa 1962, chances are good we’d… Continue reading

  • Crime: The Sherlock Holmes you don’t know.

    Arriving at the D’s in my Alphabet of Crime, I want to pay homage to Arthur Conan Doyle, or more specifically to his greatest creation. Sherlock Holmes is especially hot right now, but as arguably the most beloved series character in the history of fiction, he never really goes out of style. Of course you can… Continue reading