The retired ferries of Washington state. Steve Pickens’ eight-year old EvergreenFleet.com website has details on over 70 retired ferries in the Pacific Northwest and San Diego, plus information on the current Washington fleet. Each boat has its own unique history.

No one knows the intricate details of a museum piece as well as the artisan who affixes it to the display case. Two mount-makers created a custom bracket for each of the 1,008 pieces in the Seattle Art Museum’s display of European and Asian teapots, saucers and statuettes. Every earthquake-safe bracket is its own invisible work of art composed of Plexiglas and wax. The mount-maker has the rare privilege of touching and examining these ancient ceramics up close as they determine the best way to display it. The renovated SAM opens to the public on May 5th with a 35-hour opening marathon.

We’ve launched CatInABox.com. Because cats like to sit inside of things and their owners like to take photos. And because tumblr is great for people who should know better than to add another blog to their busy lives.

The May issue of Sunset magazine has a list of Top 10 Rafting Trips and #1 is a journey down the Colorado River with a string quartet. Yes a cellist actually carts her (or a rental) instrument down the Grand Canyon along with the violins and viola for rafters to enjoy the natural acoustics. A similar trip is chronicled in this 1998 article where the musicians battled against mosquitos along Utah’s Green River. One morning cello solo was called on account of bugs.

There’s a house going up in Walnut Creek, CA that was manufactured in Austria. The prefabricated structure is composed of European Larch panels, twelve inches thick, fixed together with dried wooden dowels that will absorb moisture from the panels and expand to keep it all secure. Architect Gordon Pierce is building the home for his daughter’s family. He’s President of Pure Wood Solutions, which hopes to raise U.S. interest in this patented prefab system known as Thoma Holz100. It’s quick (a house can be assembled in 3 days) and green (the European Larch is easy to grow, no glues or chemicals are used, and the factory is fueled by wood waste).

At center stage on the front page of Saturday’s Seattle Times was an article on big budget local high school musicals. Many local drama departments are going all out, licensing Broadway shows whose royalty fees alone exceed the budget of most high school productions. Ticket sales and donations make up the bulk of these ambituous shows’ costs which run $25,000 and up to $90,000 (Bishop Blanchet High’s “Barnum”). Elaborate sets are constructed, costumes custom-made or rented, fight choreographers hired. Pros (aka “ringers”) are even hired to plump up the pit orchestra. The kids of course have a magnificent experience, but I wonder if they’d be better off learning how to gather the forces needed to put a play on in a barn.

A city audit reveals that San Francisco cable car riders have a 40% chance of riding free. Conductors didn’t collect fares in 17 out of 42 undercover boardings. “San Francisco’s public transit system raises only 22 percent of its operating expenses at the fare box.” A cable car ride costs 5 bucks.

The first big trailer for the movie-based-on-the-musical-based-on-the-movie Hairspray is out. Pick your poison: Youtube, AOL, official site. Michelle Pfeiffer, Allison Janney, and Christopher Walken!

Here are some amazing sculptures made out of books. Each artist has a unique approach to shaping art from bound pages. There’s even a functional lamp!

In 2003, archeologists in Cyprus unearthed the oldest known perfume factory, dated to 2000 B.C. They extracted fragrances from the containers found at the site and used them as the basis for four perfumes. Visitors to Rome’s Capitoline Museums can smell these ancient concoctions of spices and oils at a special exhibit.