Mark Blitzer, left, of Seattle and Jim Roche of Puyallup have the train car to themselves as the Sounder heads northbound out of Tacoma on Monday afternoon, the first day of the "reverse commute" service. "I take the train for fun," Blitzer said. "What's cool is that I used to take the bus back. Now I can take the train back" to Seattle. The reverse commute trip, in effect Mondays through Fridays, departs the King Street Station in Seattle at 6:10 a.m. and arrives at the Tacoma Dome Station at 7:10 a.m. The return trip departs Tacoma at 4:45 p.m. and arrives in Seattle at 5:45 p.m. A one-way ticket for adults costs $4.75. Sound Transit also operates a special Sounder train on Sundays when the Seattle Seahawks have a home game at Qwest Field. For more information, visit www.soundtransit.org.

The fair is a visual feast for photographers from casual snap-shooters to seasoned pros. This year, staff photographer Drew Perine made a couple of videos from the fair, something new for us. Click the photos below to see them.

Photo Booths

Fair rides

We also have a nice gallery of stills from this year's fair. See those here.

And readers sent in their shots from around the fairgrounds. Check out this gallery to see their work.

Things were getting wild and woolly near E. McKinley Ave. Friday aftenoon. Frolicking together are (clockwise from top left): Wesley Leafty, 5, Susan Okert, 9, Sheri St. Clair (adult), Miah Robertson, 9, Judith St. Clair, 1 (at extreme left), and Samantha St. Clair, 11.

Laurie Brauneis of Lakebay can't resist trying on the big rubber yellow hands as she visits the "I Am Curious (Yellow) Yardsale" at Tollefson Plaza Sunday, August 9, 2007. As for her black burka, "someone asked if it's a political statement, but it's just a visual thing," she said. The event was organized by a group of artists as both performance art and a fund-raiser for Tacoma Habitat for Humanity.

Second-place finisher Drew Wartenburg (left) runs tight with winner Ben Mangrum (time of 32:22.8) along Schuster Parkway in the eighth annual Bank to Bay runs, September 9, 2007. In the other lanes (northbound lanes) of are runners in the 5K run.

Does anyone besides me enjoy the pair of pairs? A pair of runners recapitulate the pair of ships in the other corner.

Staff photographer Janet Jensen’s photos from Camp Goodtimes were named the August 2007 Feature Photo of the Month by the Associated Press Washington State bureau. Jensen's photos along with Debbie Cafazzo’s story from Camp Goodtimes ran on the Soundlife cover on August 26th.

This scene on the Puyallup River explains why absenteeism was so high today.