Back in July, I took my family on the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) Western Region Farm Tour, a “behind-the-barn” look at local food production. We got to see loads of produce, take a hayride to see pasture-based cattle, taste delicious local cheeses, and even feed alpacas. And those were only four of 20 [...]
Posts Tagged as ‘DVD’
August 31, 2009
My Favorite Dance Movies
Two upcoming movie releases, the DVD release of Dance Flick (Oct. 6) and the theatrical release of an updated Fame (Sept. 25), got me thinking about my favorite dance movies.
In the category of “good” dance films (those that actually have good storylines and good acting) I’ll start with All That Jazz (1979). This movie, based on [...]
August 6, 2009
The Disappeared
Last year there was a brief article about people who have “disappeared” (re: been kidnapped and murdered) in Brazil since 2007. The number, 9000, is staggering, and the cause is largely narcotics traffickers and police “working” after hours.
The article got me thinking about the military juntas and dictatorships in place in many Latin American countries [...]
July 20, 2009
How do you say “pass the popcorn” in Kurdish?
Among the many many wonders of the Film & Audio Department is our foreign language film collection. What started out a decade ago as four shelves of French, German, and Italian VHS tapes has expanded to twenty-nine shelves of VHS tapes and DVDs in fifty-nine languages.
So yes, we do have those Japanese samurai classics. And if you’re [...]
March 23, 2009
Myth, Understood
Every day I talk to people who are looking for facts and answers. Libraries have lots of resources and services for factual questions, and I love showing people how to use them!
It’s only fair to point out, though, that libraries also house questions: the big ones, about life, the universe, and everything. And while librarians can’t tell [...]
March 5, 2009
Early Film
If your library is across the street from a university with a film studies program and down the road from a large local media arts center, you just might have an unusually high demand for early films. And here in the Film & Audio Department, we’re all about meeting demand.
Of course we have Luis Bunuel’s surrealist classic Un [...]
March 4, 2009
Truth, Fiction, Poetry, Film
While I appreciate filmmaking as an art form, I’m usually way too busy reading books to check out a DVD. When I do pick one, it’s probably going to be either a documentary, or something based on a true story. This is primarily because such films make me want to learn more about the people involved, [...]
February 17, 2009
Upset at the Oscars? This Film Could Do It!
The Oscars are just around the corner and most of the nominees have already been reviewed, analyzed, examined and pored over in every conceivable way. But be on the lookout for one new upstart, just released last week, that could steal the show in the Short Film Category.
A recently released “biopic” of the Music Department [...]
February 16, 2009
Now that’s comedy!*
The Film & Audio Department contains a wonderful selection of stand up comedy on both DVD and book on CD. And conveniently enough, they share the same basic call number with the stand up comedy books: PN 1969.
We’ve got live people!
Rough Around the Edges - Audio and video clips from Dane Cook’s “Rough around the edges” tour from [...]
February 13, 2009
Non-fiction fix: Loads of lovely love
Today is my parents’ 38th wedding anniversary – how cool is that? Staying with the same person for more than three decades is no mean feat, especially since the complexities of loving and being loved are among the thorniest mysteries of being alive.
Whether you’re happily married, single and satisfied, desperately seeking somebody, or all up [...]
