THE LEFT LANE
Would lava lamp lure you to Soap Lake?

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Local design consultant Brent Blake was looking for a way to bring tourist dollars to sleepy Soap Lake, population 1,760. Then inspiration struck: the world's largest lava lamp.

Blake has no idea what such a thing would cost. But he is talking to U.S. manufacturers of the lamp. He also set up a Web site, www.giantlavalamp.com.

What they read

The public library in Gardiner, Maine, polls celebrities and other public figures annually to learn their favorite books. Excerpts from the "Who Reads What?" list for 2003:

• Dick Gephardt, U.S. representative: "Truman" by David McCullough.
• John Kerry, U.S. senator: "Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley with Ron Powers, "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose.
• John McCain, U.S. senator: "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Ernest Hemingway.
• Helen Thomas, journalist: "War Torn: Stories of War from the Women Reporters Who Covered Vietnam," an anthology published by Random House with Hawai'i's Denby Fawcett contributing.

"Survivor: Africa" winner Ethan Zohn embraces runner-up Kim Johnson. Advertiser library photo

Ethan Zohn, winner of "Survivor: Africa" and a former Hawaii Tsunami soccer player, will be at Saturday's grand opening of the Hula Motion gift and flower shop at the Continental Surf Hotel in Waikiki. Zohn, a friend of co-owner Al Eugenio, will sign autographs from 10 a.m to 1 p.m.