Shangri-La Vancouver BC - March 22, 2009

Okay, okay, okay. I realize it is a little silly to post a walk-through video of our hotel room. BUT here it is. It was a very impressive room.

"He liked the serene world that Shangri-La offered him, pacified rather than dominated by its single tremendous idea.

He liked the prevalent mood in which feelings where sheathed in thoughts, and thoughts softened into felicity by their transference into language."

--From the book Lost Horizon

Seattle-To-Tukwila Light-Rail Line Runs Out of "Cushion" for a July 3 Start

By Mike Lindblom
Seattle Times transportation reporter

Sound Transit is almost done building its first line from Seattle to Tukwila, but there's still some drama over whether it will open exactly on July 3, as promised.

When construction began five years ago, the schedule included 180 days of "float," a cushion in case things went wrong. The float is now zero, says a January progress report published this month.

The most difficult part of the route is a one-mile Beacon Hill Tunnel, which includes an underground station 165 feet deep, and an elevated station near Franklin High School.

Progress was delayed by soil slides, an investigation into a fatal construction accident, occasional slowdowns with the tunnel-boring machine, and strained relations between transit and contractor officials. December snow is blamed for wiping out the last nine days of cushion.

Ahmad Fazel, the light-rail director, continues to vouch for the July 3 deadline, barring some calamity. "I'm not an oddsmaker, I'm not in Vegas right now. I'm saying, right now, the project stands to be open on time," he said. Even if it doesn't, Sound Transit has apparently succeeded in meeting the project budget of $2.4 billion to reach Tukwila. If current trends hold, there will be about $125 million in unspent reserves left over, to be spent on extensions to Northgate or Federal Way.

Schedules are especially sensitive to Sound Transit, because of the agency's troubled early history. In 1996, voters approved a 21-mile project from Seattle's University District to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, but costs doubled, causing delays. Its credibility shaken, Sound Transit nearly collapsed.

Elected officials running the agency split the light-rail plan in two, to build the southern end first, in hopes it would create momentum for more. They guessed correctly; voters last fall approved suburban lines to be finished by the early 2020s, and the agency held a groundbreaking ceremony last week for a tunnel to Husky Stadium.

Meanwhile, the Beacon Hill Tunnel schedule is going down to the wire — crews are stringing overhead lines that power the trains in one of the twin tunnel tubes. Work is under way 24 hours a day, said Fazel.

Millions of dollars are being spent to reach the finish line:

• Tunnel contractor Obayashi has been offered new incentives of up to $2.7 million, to finish certain jobs quickly, so electrical and signal contractors can gain access. The initial $280 million contract is now $303 million, and will increase a few million more to cover cost-of-living pay raises for union workers and expected claims by Obayashi.

• GETS, the signal contractor, took a $3.8 million pay boost, for the inconvenience of performing work around the tunnel crews.

• PB Americas, which monitors the tunnel's quality control, will get $3 million extra because work is extended through May.

If delays occur, they would likely be measured in days or weeks, rather than a prolonged wait for the public to ride the trains. The line is more than 96 percent finished, and train testing is under way.

In the Federal Transit Administration's view, the job is "under budget and on time," said spokesman Paul Griffo.

The next two miles, to the airport, are supposed to open Dec. 31.

The Last Word, A Cocktail Reborn in Seattle

By Tan Vinh
Seattle Times staff reporter

In cocktail geekdome, few drinks get more discussed and dissected than The Last Word, a once-forgotten classic resurrected in Seattle that has crossed the Atlantic and is now showcased in bars as far away as Sydney, Australia.

Many leading cocktail authorities, including historian Paul Clarke of Seattle and author Robert Hess of Lake Forest Park, have declared The Last Word the definitive Seattle cocktail; they say the pale green concoction is undisputedly Seattle's biggest contribution to the world of mixology.

When it comes to flavor, the drink with the declarative swagger of a moniker lives up to its name. Made with gin, fresh squeezed lime juice, maraschino liqueur and green Chartreuse, The Last Word is a balance of sweet-and-sour with a robust herbaceous tone.

If it were a wine, it would be a full body red.

The Last Word is a prohibition-era drink, which originated at the Detroit Athletic Club and had gotten lost over the decades.

Five years ago, Seattle bartender Murray Stenson discovered it while rifling through old cocktail manuals for obscure drinks to put on the menu at Zig Zag Café.

Considered one of America's top bartenders, Stenson found The Last Word in "Bottoms Up!" by Ted Saucier, a 1951 bartender's guide that is so old it was bound together by packaging tape.

The drink became a cult hit around Seattle, then Portland and was eventually picked up at cocktail dens in New York City, where many bartending trends are set. The Last Word then started to appear on drink menus in Chicago and San Francisco and spread to several cities in Europe — especially around London and Amsterdam — and beyond.

Audrey Saunders of the Pegu Club in New York City, one of the nation's top cocktail lounges, declared The Last Word "one of the best drinks I have. God bless Murray.

"I love the sharp, pungent drinks, and this has a good bite," she said. "It's a great palate cleanser. And it's perfectly balanced: A little sour, a little sweet, a little pungent."

Ryan Magarian, a cocktail consultant from Portland, believes that the public, more educated in food and wine now than in the past, wants a more complex drink.

"The Last Word is that drink," said Magarian. "It's not a Cosmopolitan. You've got to chew on it a bit. It's not part of the standard flavor profile for the average drinker. I would think that first sip of The Last Word would come as a shock, but a pleasant shock."

Magarian, who tracks cocktail trends, said The Last Word has started to appear even in cocktail lounges Down Under, in Sydney.

"In Seattle, outside of cocktail aficionados, The Last Word remains unknown to the mainstream. It appears on few drink menus. But like an Old Fashioned or Aviation, it's become a drink that local mixologists well versed in classic cocktails know how to make.

Because Stenson, a Queen Anne resident, is credited with reviving this classic, The Last Word has become a source of Seattle pride among local bartenders. In the process, it has become a metaphor for creating a legacy cocktail.

Historian Clarke said, "You often hear some of the best bartenders around town use this casual phrase: 'I was developing this drink, and I was hoping this could be my Last Word. ' "

The Last Word has spawned variations, the most famous being The Final Ward, from acclaimed bartender Phil Ward of New York City, who substitutes gin and lime with rye whiskey and lemon.

But to Stenson, this lost classic has a following because it's perfect as is. "The Last Word," Stenson said, "is, well, the last word."

The Last Word doesn't appear on many drink menus, but most bartenders in Seattle's top cocktail lounges such as Liberty, Vessel and Spur Gastropub know how to make this once-forgotten classic. However some cocktail geeks — especially those visiting Seattle from around the world — want only Murray Stenson at Zig Zag Café to make their Last Word. Stenson works Tuesdays-Fridays; during happy hour, from 5-7 p.m., The Last Word costs only $4.75.

The Last Word

1/2 ounce gin

1/2 ounce lime juice

1/2 ounce green Chartreuse

1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Source: recipe from "The Essential Bartender's Guide" by Robert Hess.

WA Senate OKs Domestic Partner Rights Expansion

By RACHEL LA CORTE, Associated Press Writer Rachel La Corte, Associated Press Writer Wed Mar 11, 6:26 am ET

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Same-sex domestic partners would have all of the rights and benefits that Washington offers married couples under a measure passed by the state Senate.
Supporters of the bill said it offers same-sex couples fairness that has been denied them under the state's 1998 Defense of Marriage Act, which restricts marriage to unions between a man and woman.

"You have denied us that right," said bill sponsor Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, one of six openly gay lawmakers in the Legislature. "Do not deny us the right to care for our families and build our lives."

The bill passed on a mostly party-line 30-18 vote Tuesday night and now heads to the House. The Senate rejected two Republican amendments, including one that would have sent the measure to voters.

The bill expands on previous domestic partnership laws by adding reference to partnerships alongside all remaining areas of state law where currently only married couples are mentioned, statutes ranging from labor and employment to pensions and other public employee benefits.
The underlying domestic partnership law, which Murray spearheaded two years ago, provided hospital visitation rights, the ability to authorize autopsies and organ donations, and inheritance rights when there is no will.

Last year, lawmakers expanded that law to give domestic partners standing under laws covering probate and trusts, community property and guardianship.

As of Tuesday, 5,112 domestic partnership registrations had been filed since the law took effect in July 2007.

Opponents said the bill alters the traditional definition of marriage.
"Same-sex couples have the right to form meaningful relationships. But I don't think they have the right to redefine marriage for all of us," said Sen. Janea Holmquist, R-Moses Lake.
Gov. Chris Gregoire has said she supports the new expansion measure. Gregoire signed the last two domestic partnership bills into law, as well as a gay civil rights law in 2006.

Only Connecticut and Massachusetts have legalized gay marriage. Same-sex marriage was legal in California for five months until a state referendum to ban it passed last fall.

Vermont, New Jersey, California, New Hampshire, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia have laws that either recognize civil unions or domestic partnerships that afford same-sex couples similar rights to marriage. Thirty states have gay marriage bans in their constitutions.

Utah Number One in Online Porn Subscriptions

By Elaine Jarvik
Deseret News
Published: March 3, 2009

Utahns, famous for their wholesomeness and frugality, buy online pornography at higher rates than the rest of America.

That's the conclusion of a Harvard economics professor who tracked subscriptions to online porn sites. Utah ranks No. 1 in subscriptions, according to Benjamin Edelman, who reported his findings in the article "Red Light States: Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment?," published in the most recent edition of the Journal of Economic Perspectives.

The most porn-watching ZIP codes in Utah, "with unexpectedly high subscriptions relative to their population and broadband usage," are 84766 in Sevier County, 84112 in Salt Lake County, 84018 in Morgan County, 84006 in southwest Salt Lake County, and 84536 in San Juan County.

A color-coded map in the journal article shows only two states with subscription rates higher than 3.6 per thousand home broadband users: Utah and Mississippi. Utah topped the list, with 5.47 users per 1,000. (Edelman says he took into account the amount of broadband access available in various regions and adjusted his data accordingly; porn users tend to favor high-speed data transfer that can download lots of the steamy visuals quickly.)

"Subscriptions are slightly more prevalent in states that have enacted conservative legislation on sexuality," Edelman writes. In the 27 states where "defense of marriage" amendments have been adopted, there were 11 percent more porn subscribers than in other states, he reports. Use is higher also in states where more people agree with the statement "I never doubt the existence of God."

Edelman is also quick to point out, however, that the difference in usage between states is relatively small (compared to, say, the difference in truck ownership between various states). The state with the lowest subscription rate was Montana, with 1.92 per 1,000.

Edelman looked at subscriptions to a top-10 seller of online adult entertainment, comparing ZIP codes associated with all credit card subscriptions between 2006 and 2008. Although some Internet porn is free, the subscription sites often offer higher resolution and sometimes real-time "chat" communications, Edelman notes.

Subscriptions to online porn are "particularly widespread where young people are prevalent," Edelman writes. Utah has a high proportion of young people, so when that's taken into account the porn use in Utah compared to other states is "somewhat less stark," he says. "But demographics don't explain all of the difference."

"Looking at the relative popularity of online adult entertainment among Utah consumers," he wrote in an e-mail exchange with the Deseret News, "one possibility is that Utah consumers find it difficult to obtain their desired adult entertainment through retail purchases. … As a result, Utah residents may be buying online (hence appearing in my dataset), whereas people elsewhere buy retail (hence not in my dataset).

And maybe, says Logan psychotherapist Todd Freestone, the fact that porn is not as visible in Utah makes it more enticing. "If you're seeing it all the time" in cities like Las Vegas, he says, "and it flashes up on your computer screen, then it's not that big a deal."

Utah's No. 1 ranking doesn't surprise Freestone, who works with sex offenders at his Comprehensive Treatment Clinic. Freestone has done searches on Google Trends, typing in words ranging from "swimsuits" to "naked girls," and found that Utah ranked No. 1 or 2 in most searches. A similar exercise by Deseret News reporter Lee Davidson in 2007 found that Utahns were more prone to search for words like "topless" and "pornography" (as well as "Jesus" and "home storage").

"The forbidden is really tempting," University of Utah sociology professor Theresa A. Martinez told Davidson. "Where you have a culture that is known for family values, morality and apple pie, you will also have curiosity and interest in the forbidden."