The Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle offers dining etiquette classes almost every month at its restaurant The Georgian. 10 diners pay $69 for a three-course dinner during which they are taught the finer points of what to do with all the forks and who gets served first. A children’s class is also available.

A cat appeared inside the packed hall of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (video) as Zubin Mehta led the orchestra for a Sunday concert where Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi was a special guest.

There’s a six week waiting list for whips right now at David Morgan Inc., supplier of whips to the Indiana Jones films. Demand has always risen following the release of each movie, and orders are already up for the family owned business located in Bothell, WA. David W. Morgan started the company in the 1960s to import Australian goods, including whips. He became interested in whipmaking himself after Australia asked the U.S. to ban imports of kangaroo leather in 1974 and he could no longer sell the Australian whips (the ban was lifted in 1981). Morgan started making his own and developed a reputation that got the attention of the stunt coordinator for “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” For the latest Indy film, David Morgan Inc. provided 8 whips of various styles and Australian maker, Terry Jacka, supplied several others.

To get that perfect aerial shot of a condo building under construction or a snazzy new tower, Seattle area developers can call on Sandy and Fred Cavazos of Above the Rest Aerial Photography. With an 18-foot tethered blimp, remote controlled Canon 5D, and wireless TV camera, Fred Cavazos maneuvers for the perfect shot from up to 500 feet above. Their rig hits the sweet spot between cranes & lifts and low-flying aircraft.

The legendary Gurkha soldiers in the British Army are still going strong, with successful recruitment from a large pool of men interested in joining Her Majesty’s troops. Last year 17,349 applied and 230 were accepted. Recently the Gurkhas have had success in their campaign for pensions equivalent to their British counterparts and the right to live in Britain after retirement. And, in a true sign of modern times, females are going to be recruited starting in 2010. A pilot program attracted hundreds of interested Nepalese women last year.

Kärcher GmbH & Co. keeps the world’s monuments clean and gains a bunch of free publicity in the bargain. This week the pressure washer manufacturer started a project to spiff up Seattle’s Space Needle by blasting it with hot water. Although the Space Needle was repainted in 1998, it has never had a real cleaning. Kärcher’s rappelling cleaning crew is working during the night so the Needle can stay open and that has resulted in some superb photos of the Needle’s angles with a Seattle cityscape backdrop (scroll down here). The water comes out at 3,000 pounds per square inch and 194 degrees F, ridding the structure of bird droppings and pollution grime. Kärcher’s donated services included everything except the cost of rope technicians from Skala. Some of Kärcher’s other cleaning jobs include Mount Rushmore, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, and the National Library in Athens.

Paparazzi got you trapped? Slap on these black bar glasses and make a run for it. Any photos will be pre-censored for your incognito convenience. There don’t appear to be matching black bar undergarments for wardrobe malfunctions, but you aren’t looking for that kind of publicity anyway, are you?

Is a tour on the Foreclosure Bus anything like a trip to Storyland at Disney? I don’t think so, but a Redfin blogger draws a contrast between a sweet trip on the Storyland boats and a tour bus ride that takes you to see foreclosed houses available for sale.

Finishing up my Beijing photos (finally), here are a few shots of the gigantic new airport terminal that opened a few days prior to my trip: the drive-up approach, crazy large interior, and the red supports along the walls. It’s impossible to convey the sheer size of this building in a photo.

PBS is reviving “The Electric Company” and updating it for today’s kids who are fed a diet of hip hop and “High School Musical.” For me, the original show was notable for having an actual, honest to goodness Asian person in the cast, June Angela (with the amazingly long hair). In a DVD interview, she recalls that the casting call only went out for “black and white” children but her agent asked them to see her anyway. Angela stayed with “The Electric Company” through its entire run, the only one of the Short Circus kids to do so.