I’ll be taking a blogging break for the holidays. Enjoy the remainder of 2007!

Seattle’s Theo Chocolate offers public tours twice a day, three times on Saturday & Sunday, plus they’ve noted an “extended tour schedule during the holidays.”

Putting on a ballet performance takes a lot of rehearsals. Filming a ballet perfectly also takes careful preparation. For the high definition recording of the San Francisco Ballet’s “Nutcracker” the producers and directors hired an experienced camera crew, broke down each shot carefully to corresponding beats of the music, and taped a matinee performance for their own rehearsal. The veteran cameramen find the work pleasantly challenging, as they are guided through a large number of speedy shots, following the rhythm and motion of the dancers through their viewfinders. The results are currently being shown in select movie theaters and will be broadcast by PBS’ “Great Performances” next holiday season.

Fake home buyers steal from luxury homes during tours and also case properties for burglaries. But some just pretend to be luxury home buyers for the thrill of the fantasy. One imposter went so far as to sign actual title papers before he disappeared. The realtor later discovered that he had pulled the same con before.

At certain Whole Foods Markets you can get your purchases cooked to order and served to you with a cloth napkin and silverware. The service targets singles, couples, travelers, people who can appreciate a convenient meal with quality ingredients but who don’t want the overhead of a night out at a restaurant. The chefs enjoy the challenge of not knowing what the next customer will bring for them to whip into a meal.

Vacuuming kills fleas (96% of adult fleas, 100% younger fleas) say insect specialists at Ohio State University. The study involved vacuuming up fleas at different life stages from a carpet and was partially funded by the Royal Appliance Manufacturing Co.

PosterWire has a nice write-up on the teaser poster for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Drew Struzan, poster artist extraordinaire, had another official release this week with his cover for the DVDs of BladeRunner: The Final Cut.

A cool gift idea or memento for yourself, the Fluid Earth Bowl is shaped based on the topology of the map location you choose.

The quiet pavement project along 520 didn’t just happen out of the blue. I now have a person to thank for advocating the Washington State Dept. of Transportion’s testing of different road surfaces to reduce noise. Walter Scott took on a grass roots effort six years ago to reduce the noise at his home near I-5. His coalition obtained Gov. Gregoire’s support in directing the DOT to test quieter pavements. We’re still enjoying a much improved environment in our home thanks to the test pavement. I hope one or more of the surfaces holds out through our wet winters. (my earlier Vox entry on the 520 paving)

If your everyday duct tape is boring the heck out of you, perhaps a version in plaid would perk you up. You have a choice of red with black or green with black. Or go crazy and buy both. (I can’t find it on the L.L. Bean website though, just their camo and wildlife prints.)