Seattle’s new performance venue, Marion Oliver McCaw Hall comprises 75% new construction and 25% renovation. Home to the Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet, the new hall had it’s operatic debut on Saturday with a performance of Wagner’s “Parsifal.” As with all concert hall renovations, it took a real performance to truly put the new acoustics to the test. In the opinion of the N.Y. Times’ Critic’s Notebook, this one is a winner with thanks to Jaffe Holden Acoustics (who, by the way, are next to my CT hometown).

Prompted by a reader inquiry, I did some research a few months ago about coinless slot machines. Wired News has delved into the topic with a report on the continued adoption of the “Ticket-in/Ticket-out” system which is replacing the clatter of coins. These newer machines save labor and time. Gamblers aren’t shying away from them, though some dedicated coin droppers dislike the loss of the metallic sounds of money changing hands.

There’s a Mustard Museum in Mount Horeb, WI. “4,000 jars, bottles, and tubes from all 50 states and more than 60 countries.” That’s a lot of mustard. Take a look at the online galleries. (via Simmer Stock)

As I was re-entering our Tivo “season passes” I noticed a show on the Food Network titled “How to Boil Water.” That may ring a bell for longtime Food Network viewers. Years ago I would stay up late to watch Sean Donnellan learn how to cook basic dishes with helpful chef Cathy. I learned about the existence of grill pans. I loved the silly little theme song and Sean’s magical mystery oven (they had not bothered to install an oven in the studio so he had to pretend). Well, someone decided to bring “How to Boil Water” back, but not with Sean. This time it’s a female comedian and a male chef. Reviews on the message boards are mixed. However, Sean himself posted to the board, explaining that after Food Network president Reese Schonfeld left, they eventually stopped communicating with him about plans for another food show. But Sean’s still making a living with TV commercials and voiceover work. He’s got his own website now. And Schonfeld has a weblog!

Our broadband is finally up, so I am back to posting. It took most of a day, a reinstall of XP, two tech support calls, a trip to troubleshoot with a friend’s working service (thanks!), and a purchase at Best Buy for my good geek husband to determine that Comcast gave us a bad modem.

Tivo Usability Note: The Tivo channel lineup selections for our new location were listed as: Basic, Expanded Basic, Rebuild Basic, Rebuild Expanded Basic. Thinking “Rebuild” was an action of some nasty or labor-intensive sort, we ignored it, and had trouble finding the proper channel lineup. But it turned out that “Rebuild” was not a command, but the name of a channel selection. Our cable network had undergone a “rebuild” and if we had only known the cable lingo we’d have been less confused. Now would it have been incorrect for them to use “Rebuilt” instead?

When is the Renton, WA Fry’s opening? Even journalists are befuddled. On our way down to IKEA, I spotted several cars clustered in the Fry’s parking lot, so we drove over to investigate. There wasn’t much to see, but there were a few workers sitting outside on a break, and we could peer through an open door at stacks of furnishings. Considering the number of cars and the hour (a late Friday evening), I am guessing they are trying to hit a date not too far away. The sheer size of the building is promising: 152,000 square feet. The Fry’s in San Marcos, CA opened without advertisement, with faithful fans flocking in before the announced grand opening (one fan circled the parking lot every day for months).

Roseanne Barr will be starring in her very own cooking show on ABC Family in September. Yes, that Roseanne Barr. On a cooking show. But not is all as it seems, for the cooking show seems to be a clever ruse of an excuse for the creation of yet another celebrity reality series, “The Real Roseanne,” which will take viewers along on the creation of her cooking show, titled “Domestic Goddess.” The New York Times points out that Roseanne clearly knows (or knows to hope) which show will be paying the bills. Thus the participants and publicity for “Domestic Goddess” serve primarily to further the goals of “The Real Roseanne,” namely inciting conflict and encouraging beepable dialogue.

The ambitious and highly visible replacement of the east span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has an accompanying website run by the California Alliance for Jobs. The site pulls together information about the companies and unions involved in the project and pays special attention to individual contributers on the project. The current east span was built in the 1930s with the piers standing on wooden timbers. You may remember that a section of the upper deck collapsed during the 1989 earthquake. It was determined that a complete replacement, at $2.6 billion, would be more feasible than a retrofit. The new bridge is designed to withstand a quake measuring 8.1 to 8.2 on the Richter scale. (via larkfarm)

It’s very nice of the Blue Angels to come out and welcome us to Seattle.