Arts & Culture

  • Three Classic British Sketch Comedy Shows

    During the same period they were bringing Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster to the small screen, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie were sprinkling the British airwaves with their own sketch comedy show A Bit of Fry and Laurie. If you ever thought to yourself, as I have, “Is there any such thing as ‘highbrow absurdist humor’?”… Continue reading

  • Leading Ladies of British Comedy

    The Vicar of Dibley – Reverend Geraldine Granger is assigned to the small Oxfordshire village of Dibley, its first female vicar following the Church of England’s quite tardy change of heart regarding the ordination of women. Offering spiritual guidance to the tiny town’s cast of oddballs, the vicar negotiates her way around and through entrenched… Continue reading

  • One Season Wonders (kind of…)

    At Last the 1948 Show (1967)  Prior to 1967 it was a dark time. Comedy hadn’t yet been invented and the population was just starting to accept the world becoming colorized after thousands of years being a nice, calm, black and white. Enter two scholars from Cambridge, John Cleese and Graham Chapman. Well, them and… Continue reading

  • The Story of Film Part 15: Cinema Today an Tomorrow

    The Story of Film Part 15: Cinema Today an Tomorrow

    We’ve now come to the end of our journey through Mark Cousins’ The Story of Film, following cinema’s early beginnings to the advent of the digital age. But before we ring down the curtain, we have a few more stops on our tour of cinema history.                As digital effects began to strip the “realness” from mainstream… Continue reading

  • One Season Wonders – Mystery Edition

    Just because a show only lasts a single season is no reason to think it is a bad show. Yes, yes, I know, most WERE bad and were thankfully put out of our misery quickly, but some were tossed by the wayside merely due to the way the TV industry machine works. Here are a… Continue reading

  • The Haunted Podcasts of Autumn

    The Haunted Podcasts of Autumn

    Well, we’ve definitely turned the corner into the spookiest time of year. No, I don’t mean election season: I’m talking about the lead up to Hallowe’en. This time last year – and for the past five years – I’d be stepping out into the chill winds of Autumn to go read haunting ‘Ales from the… Continue reading

  • Fifteen Years since Hurricane Katrina – Nonfiction

    As Hurricane Sally made landfall, I remembered on August 30, fifteen years ago, when I realized I needed to actually put together an emergency kit for my family and me. What made me finally do this is seeing New Orleans underwater after Hurricane Katrina and the levees breaking.  What a devastating part of our history… Continue reading

  • The Story of Film Part 14: New American Independents & The Digital Revolution

    Throughout The Story of Film, we’ve seen how the advent of new technology has changed the face of cinema. Sound, color, and widescreen technology altered filmmaking significantly, and in the 1990s CGI (computer generated imagery) changed cinema again. Suddenly, it seemed anything a filmmaker wanted to show, could be. A vast Roman city, one costing… Continue reading

  • Three on a Theme: Films About Elections

    With the 2020 elections on the horizon and dominating the news cycle, it is a great time to engage with media that focus on various aspects of electoral politics. Here are three documentary films, available for free with your library card to stream on Kanopy, that tell specific lesser-known election stories from the United States… Continue reading

  • Three on a Theme: Disability Justice

    2020 is an important year for disability rights in America, as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) turned 30 years old this July. This landmark piece of legislation was the result of the hard work of activists in the disability justice movement, which is still in progress today. Here are some SPL resources from disabled… Continue reading

  • Ray Harryhausen – Featuring Creatures

    As a kid in the 1960s I loved the Sunday afternoon movies. Sometimes a Tarzan flick, sometimes a Kung Fu movie, sometimes a Hammer Horror, and sometimes it was a creature feature. Sure Godzilla or Mothra were fun, but the BEST creature features were done by a guy by the name of Ray Harryhausen. Harryhausen… Continue reading

  • 100 Years of Agatha Christie

    In October of this year, we get to celebrate Agatha Christie being brought into our lives. Her first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles was published in the U.S. in October of 1920. The United States was first to be introduced to Hercule Poirot. He would go on to be the main character in 33… Continue reading

  • The Story of Film Part 13: New Boundaries – Cinema From Around the World

    As Mark Cousin’s The Story of Film marches into the 1990’s, we are now on the cusp of a technological step forward that will change the face of cinema itself. But before we cross the digital threshold, let’s focus on the filmmakers emerging during the waning days of celluloid. Though he began his film career… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW2020: Trans or Non-Binary Author

    For transgender and non-binary folx, 2020 has been a mixed bag politically, while the intentional killing of trans folx continues, unabated. Publishing has been a bright spot, as trans and non-binary authors are more visible than ever before; yet J.K. Rowling’s controversial position on trans rights, considered by many to be transphobic, shows more work… Continue reading

  • Three on a Theme: Movies About Being Outside

    What is almost as good as getting outside in the summer time? Watching movies about other people getting outside! The outdoors are a great component of so many amazing films available at the library, but there are some films in which “outside” features almost as a character all on its own. These films are different… Continue reading

  • The Story of Film Part 12: Fight the Power – Protest in Film

    In our last column on Mark Cousin’s The Story of Film, we looked at the rise of Hong Kong and Bollywood cinema, and the triumph of big budget, high concept blockbusters in Hollywood. More change was on the way in the 1980’s, with the rise of MTV and music videos making a huge impact on… Continue reading

  • Celebrating 30 Years of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): The ADA Anniversary Movie Project

    Hello, my name is Isaac. I have worked for the Seattle Public Library for about a year now and I have come to appreciate a lot of what the Library has to offer. I have been recently helping the Library with the ADA anniversary movie project and I would have to say there is a… Continue reading

  • Three on a Theme: Music Documentaries on Kanopy

    The library has always had great resources for music buffs, but lesser known among these are the many documentaries about music, musicians, and musical history that are available on our video streaming services. Often, these include both great insights into the works of famous musicians or hidden gems that tell a particular story about music… Continue reading