From Seattle Transit Blog:

On June 9th, Mayors Mike McGinn of Seattle, Gregor Robertson of Vancouver, BC, and Sam Adams of Portland signed an agreement to jointly pursue high speed rail funds between their three cities:

1. Affirm their commitment to bringing high-speed rail to the Pacific Northwest;
2. Prioritize their legislative agendas to ensure that high-speed rail advocacy becomes a centerpiece of their long-term transportation infrastructure planning;
3. Commit to meeting semi-annually to review progress, set agendas and share best practices;
4. Work to establish municipal and regional task forces on high-speed rail to coordinate outreach to key stakeholders... (more)

It has been a century since the freedom of self-expression in film-making  has been  as open as it is today.  Like the pioneers of the moving picture, today’s camera pointers are operating without any artistic constraints. Film, which only forty years ago was spoken of as the new art form, is devolving  into  a folk art,  taking its place alongside    pottery making, basket weaving, and the composition  of synthesized music on computer programs such as garage band.     For some, this is a bad thing.  For others, it is a revolution in extending one’s personality through a medium that was formerly the province of an  group of skilled craftsmen under the leadership of an elite production and distribution mob.

While there has always been a wildcat underbelly to the motion picture industry, the old school mavericks, or independent, film-makers who got their movies into commercial venues were connected in some way to the studio... (more)

 In a vote closely watched by other states with budget woes, Oregon voters Tuesday chose to impose corporate tax hikes and an income tax increase on the wealthiest of taxpayers to prevent mammoth cuts to public education and other state services.  Multnomah County — home to Portland — went heavily for the measures, but support was also strong in more conservative parts of the state.

 In Washington state, some lawmakers grappling with a $2.6 billion budget gap and talking about taxing muffins and soda pop no doubt are looking longingly south this morning. (more)

In typical Manhattan fashion, the New York Times treated its national edition readers to a story about "the Biennial." For us non-cognoscente (or maybe incognoscente?), that's "The 2010 edition of the Whitney Biennial — that giant survey of American art on the Upper East Side of Manhattan."

OK. We're more interested to learn from the former Seattle Post-Intelligencer's outstanding art critic Regina Hackett (definitely one of the cognoscente, in the nicest sort of way), that two Portland artists will represent the Pacific Northwest at "the Biennial."

Excellent choices, Hackett reports. Yes, but could it be that Portland can beat Seattle in lots more besides oh, land use, transit and bicycling?

more here from her blog, Another Bouncing Ball.

Portland and Honolulu may be higher on the “green-only litmus test” writes commentator Joel Kotkin, but  Seattle has a “smarter” economy. And I’d add a “luckier” economy to that list, because he goes on to note Seattle’s location as the closest major port to the Asian Pacific.

Judging cities by economic fundamentals of infrastructure and livability, he says, would place cities like Seattle, Amsterdam, Singapore and Morterrey, Mexico, ahead of Portland. Seattleites are accustomed to hearing themselves compared unfavorably to Portland. It’s greener. Has more bike paths. Hipper. More livable. And so on. So this is good news for the bigger city with a chip on its shoulder.

Read more here from Rita Hibbard at InvestigateWest.

Stuart Thayer in Paris in 1984 (Courtesy of Boyka Thayer)

By Philip Dawdy

PostGlobe

Stuart Thayer loved walking and, in the end, it’s what undid him. He had lived in Seattle for 25 years and had become a fixture in the 15th Avenue East part of Capitol Hill. Thayer was a close friend of August Wilson, the legendary playwright who lived in the area before dying of cancer in 2005, and the two could be seen most mornings sitting in front of Caffe Ladro chatting with a few other men and laughing their butts off. Thayer was a writer himself, a well-regarded historian of the early American circus, and the two had stories.

I used to see Thayer strolling around the neighborhood – he lived on 17th Avenue East in a townhouse with a wife named Boyka and two black cats – and I’d say “Hello” and he would nod his head. Thayer, who turned 83 this year,  was usually smoking a cigarette. He wore a brown beret. Until last year, he used a cane. Then, he switched... (more)