diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/editor.cc b/gtk2_ardour/editor.cc
index 928b3bd137..601eda7733 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/editor.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/editor.cc
@@ -830,14 +830,14 @@ Editor::initialize_canvas ()
 
 	/* stuff for the verbose canvas cursor */
 
-	string fontname = get_font_for_style (N_("VerboseCanvasCursor"));
+	Pango::FontDescription font = get_font_for_style (N_("VerboseCanvasCursor"));
 
 	verbose_canvas_cursor = gnome_canvas_item_new (gnome_canvas_root(GNOME_CANVAS(track_gnome_canvas)),
-						     gnome_canvas_text_get_type(),
-						     "font", fontname.c_str(),
-						     "anchor", GTK_ANCHOR_NW,
-						     "fill_color_rgba", color_map[cVerboseCanvasCursor],
-						     NULL);
+						       gnome_canvas_text_get_type(),
+						       "font-desc", fontname,
+						       "anchor", GTK_ANCHOR_NW,
+						       "fill_color_rgba", color_map[cVerboseCanvasCursor],
+						       NULL);
 	verbose_cursor_visible = false;
 
 	/* a group to hold time (measure) lines */
@@ -1389,7 +1389,7 @@ Editor::track_canvas_allocate (GtkAllocation *alloc)
 
 	if (session == 0 && !ARDOUR_UI::instance()->will_create_new_session_automatically()) {
 
-		string fontname = get_font_for_style (N_("FirstActionMessage"));
+		Pango::FontDescription font = get_font_for_style (N_("FirstActionMessage"));
 
 		const char *txt1 = _("Start a new session\n");
 		const char *txt2 = _("via Session menu");
@@ -1400,27 +1400,21 @@ Editor::track_canvas_allocate (GtkAllocation *alloc)
 		   compute width, and multiply the height by 2.
 		*/
 			
-		gint width;
-		gint lbearing;
-		gint rbearing;
-		gint ascent;
-		gint descent;
+		int pixel_height;
+		int pixel_width;
 		
 		/* this is a dummy widget that exists so that we can get the
 		   style from the RC file. 
 		*/
 		
 		Label foo (_(txt2));
+		Glib::RefPtr<Pango::Layout> layout;
 		foo.set_name ("NoSessionMessage");
 		foo.ensure_style ();
 		
-		gdk_string_extents (foo.get_style()->get_font(),
-				    _(txt2),
-				    &lbearing,
-				    &rbearing,
-				    &width,
-				    &ascent,
-				    &descent);
+		layout = foo.create_pango_layout (_(txt2));
+		layout->set_font_description (font);
+		layout->get_pixel_size (pixel_width, pixel_height);
 			
 		if (first_action_message == 0) {
 			
@@ -1432,22 +1426,22 @@ Editor::track_canvas_allocate (GtkAllocation *alloc)
 			strcat (txt, _(txt2));
 			
 			first_action_message = gnome_canvas_item_new (gnome_canvas_root(GNOME_CANVAS(track_gnome_canvas)),
-								    gnome_canvas_text_get_type(),
-								    "font", fontname.c_str(),
-								    "fill_color_rgba", color_map[cFirstActionMessage],
-								    "x", (gdouble) (canvas_width - width) / 2.0,
-								    "y", (gdouble) (canvas_height/2.0) - (2.0 * (ascent+descent)),
-								    "anchor", GTK_ANCHOR_NORTH_WEST,
-								    "text", txt,
-								    NULL);
+								      gnome_canvas_text_get_type(),
+								      "fontdesc", font,
+								      "fill_color_rgba", color_map[cFirstActionMessage],
+								      "x", (gdouble) (canvas_width - pixel_width) / 2.0,
+								      "y", (gdouble) (canvas_height/2.0) - (2.0 * (pixel_height)),
+								      "anchor", GTK_ANCHOR_NORTH_WEST,
+								      "text", txt,
+								      NULL);
 			
 		} else {
 
 			/* center it */
 
 			gnome_canvas_item_set (first_action_message,
-					     "x", (gdouble) (canvas_width - width) / 2.0,
-					     "y", (gdouble) (canvas_height/2.0) - (2.0 * (ascent+descent)),
+					     "x", (gdouble) (canvas_width - pixel_width) / 2.0,
+					     "y", (gdouble) (canvas_height/2.0) - (2.0 * (pixel_height)),
 					     NULL);
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/marker.cc b/gtk2_ardour/marker.cc
index 2621102865..0d124f556c 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/marker.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/marker.cc
@@ -351,17 +351,17 @@ Marker::Marker (PublicEditor& ed, GnomeCanvasGroup *parent, guint32 rgba, const
 				    "outline_color", "black",
 				    NULL);
 
-	string fontname = get_font_for_style (N_("MarkerText"));
+	Pango::FontDescription font = get_font_for_style (N_("MarkerText"));
 
 	text = gnome_canvas_item_new (GNOME_CANVAS_GROUP(group),
-				    gnome_canvas_text_get_type (),
-				    "text", annotation.c_str(),
-				    "x", label_offset,
-				    "y", 0.0,
-				    "font", fontname.c_str(),
-				    "anchor", GTK_ANCHOR_NW,
-				    "fill_color", "black",
-				    NULL);
+				      gnome_canvas_text_get_type (),
+				      "text", annotation.c_str(),
+				      "x", label_offset,
+				      "y", 0.0,
+				      "fontdesc", font,
+				      "anchor", GTK_ANCHOR_NW,
+				      "fill_color", "black",
+				      NULL);
 
 	gtk_object_set_data (GTK_OBJECT(group), "marker", this);
 	gtk_signal_connect (GTK_OBJECT(group), "event", (GtkSignalFunc) callback, &editor);
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/time_axis_view_item.cc b/gtk2_ardour/time_axis_view_item.cc
index 7f1bfc53e5..62a1e7d9e6 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/time_axis_view_item.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/time_axis_view_item.cc
@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@ using namespace Editing;
 
 //------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 /** Initialize static memeber data */
-std::string TimeAxisViewItem::NAME_FONT;
+Pango::FontDescription TimeAxisViewItem::NAME_FONT;
+bool TimeAxisViewItem::have_name_font = false;
 const double TimeAxisViewItem::NAME_X_OFFSET = 15.0;
 const double TimeAxisViewItem::NAME_Y_OFFSET = 15.0 ;           /* XXX depends a lot on the font size, sigh. */
 const double TimeAxisViewItem::NAME_HIGHLIGHT_SIZE = 15.0 ;     /* ditto */
@@ -65,8 +66,9 @@ TimeAxisViewItem::TimeAxisViewItem(std::string it_name, GnomeCanvasGroup* parent
 				   Visibility visibility)
 	: trackview (tv)
 {
-	if (NAME_FONT.empty()) {
+	if (!have_name_font) {
 		NAME_FONT = get_font_for_style (N_("TimeAxisViewItemName"));
+		have_name_font = true;
 	}
 
 	item_name = it_name ;
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/time_axis_view_item.h b/gtk2_ardour/time_axis_view_item.h
index d4e852461a..ff651b9649 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/time_axis_view_item.h
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/time_axis_view_item.h
@@ -264,7 +264,8 @@ class TimeAxisViewItem : public sigc::trackable, public Selectable
     bool name_active() const { return name_connected; }
 
     // Default sizes, font and spacing
-    static std::string NAME_FONT ;
+    static Pango::FontDescription NAME_FONT ;
+    static bool have_name_font;
     static const double NAME_X_OFFSET ;
     static const double NAME_Y_OFFSET ;
     static const double NAME_HIGHLIGHT_SIZE ;
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/utils.cc b/gtk2_ardour/utils.cc
index 21a8233d44..e0a31e5844 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/utils.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/utils.cc
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@
 #include <gtkmm/combo.h>
 #include <gtkmm/label.h>
 #include <gtkmm/paned.h>
+#include <gtkmm/action.h>
+#include <gtkmm/actiongroup.h>
+#include <gtkmm/accelgroup.h>
+#include <gtkmm/accelmap.h>
 #include <gtk/gtkpaned.h>
 
 #include <gtkmm2ext/utils.h>
@@ -36,6 +40,7 @@
 
 using namespace std;
 using namespace Gtk;
+using namespace sigc;
 
 string
 short_version (string orig, string::size_type target_length)
@@ -102,27 +107,22 @@ short_version (string orig, string::size_type target_length)
 }
 
 string
-fit_to_pixels (string str, int32_t pixel_width, Gdk_Font& font)
+fit_to_pixels (string str, int pixel_width, string font)
 {
-	gint width;
-	gint lbearing;
-	gint rbearing;
-	gint ascent;
-	gint descent;
-
+	Label foo;
+	int width;
+	int height;
+	Pango::FontDescription fontdesc (font);
+	
 	int namelen = str.length();
 	char cstr[namelen+1];
 	strcpy (cstr, str.c_str());
 	
 	while (namelen) {
-		
-		gdk_string_extents (font,
-				    cstr,
-				    &lbearing,
-				    &rbearing,
-				    &width,
-				    &ascent,
-				    &descent);
+		Glib::RefPtr<Pango::Layout> layout = foo.create_pango_layout (cstr);
+
+		layout->set_font_description (fontdesc);
+		layout->get_pixel_size (width, height);
 
 		if (width < (pixel_width)) {
 			break;
@@ -415,26 +415,19 @@ url_decode (string& url)
 	}
 }
 
-string
+Pango::FontDescription
 get_font_for_style (string widgetname)
 {
 	Gtk::Label foobar;
+	Glib::RefPtr<Style> style;
 
 	foobar.set_name (widgetname);
 	foobar.ensure_style();
 
-	if (foobar.get_style() == 0 || foobar.get_style()->gobj()->rc_style == 0 || foobar.get_style()->gobj()->rc_style->font_name == 0) {
-		return "fixed";
-	}
-
-	string str = foobar.get_style()->gobj()->rc_style->font_name;
-
-	if (str.empty()) {
-		return "fixed"; // standard X Window fallback font
-	} else {
-		return str;
-	}
+	style = foobar.get_style ();
+	return style->get_font();
 }
+
 gint
 pane_handler (GdkEventButton* ev, Gtk::Paned* pane)
 {
@@ -446,8 +439,8 @@ pane_handler (GdkEventButton* ev, Gtk::Paned* pane)
 
 		gint pos;
 		gint cmp;
-
-		pos = Gtkmm2ext::gtk_paned_get_position (pane->gobj());
+		
+		pos = pane->get_position ();
 
 		if (dynamic_cast<VPaned*>(pane)) {
 			cmp = pane->get_height();
@@ -522,5 +515,39 @@ rgba_from_style (string style, uint32_t r, uint32_t g, uint32_t b, uint32_t a)
 void
 decorate (Gtk::Window& w, Gdk::WMDecoration d)
 {
-	w.get_window().set_decorations (d);
+	w.get_window()->set_decorations (d);
+}
+
+Glib::RefPtr<Action>
+register_action (Glib::RefPtr<ActionGroup> group, string name, string label, slot<void> sl, guint key, Gdk::ModifierType mods)
+{
+	Glib::RefPtr<Action> act;
+
+	act = Action::create (name, label);
+	group->add (act, sl);
+	AccelMap::add_entry (act->get_accel_path(), key, mods);
+
+	return act;
+}
+
+Glib::RefPtr<Action>
+register_action (Glib::RefPtr<ActionGroup> group, string name, string label, slot<void> sl)
+{
+	Glib::RefPtr<Action> act;
+
+	act = Action::create (name, label);
+	group->add (act, sl);
+
+	return act;
+}
+
+Glib::RefPtr<Action>
+register_action (Glib::RefPtr<ActionGroup> group, string name, string label)
+{
+	Glib::RefPtr<Action> act;
+
+	act = Action::create (name, label);
+	group->add (act);
+
+	return act;
 }
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/utils.h b/gtk2_ardour/utils.h
index b844e0eb30..1b33db7a4a 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/utils.h
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/utils.h
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ slider_position_to_gain (double pos)
 }
 
 std::string short_version (std::string, std::string::size_type target_length);
-std::string fit_to_pixels (std::string, int32_t pixel_width, Gdk::Font&);
+std::string fit_to_pixels (std::string, int pixel_width, std::string font);
 
 int    atoi (const std::string&);
 double atof (const std::string&);
@@ -66,9 +66,14 @@ unsigned char* xpm2rgba (const char** xpm, uint32_t& w, uint32_t& h);
 GnomeCanvasPoints* get_canvas_points (std::string who, uint32_t npoints);
 
 int channel_combo_get_channel_count (Gtk::ComboBoxText& combo);
-std::string get_font_for_style (std::string widgetname);
+Pango::FontDescription get_font_for_style (std::string widgetname);
 
 gint pane_handler (GdkEventButton*, Gtk::Paned*);
 uint32_t rgba_from_style (std::string style, uint32_t, uint32_t, uint32_t, uint32_t);
 
+Glib::RefPtr<Gtk::Action> register_action (Glib::RefPtr<Gtk::ActionGroup> group, string name, string label, sigc::slot<void> sl, guint key, Gdk::ModifierType mods);
+Glib::RefPtr<Gtk::Action> register_action (Glib::RefPtr<Gtk::ActionGroup> group, string name, string label, sigc::slot<void> sl);
+Glib::RefPtr<Gtk::Action> register_action (Glib::RefPtr<Gtk::ActionGroup> group, string name, string label);
+
+
 #endif /* __ardour_gtk_utils_h__ */
diff --git a/libs/gtkmm2ext/gtkmm2ext/utils.h b/libs/gtkmm2ext/gtkmm2ext/utils.h
index 57cbe7dda5..f9d4569e44 100644
--- a/libs/gtkmm2ext/gtkmm2ext/utils.h
+++ b/libs/gtkmm2ext/gtkmm2ext/utils.h
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include <vector>
 #include <string>
 #include <gtkmm/widget.h>
+#include <gtkmm/paned.h>
 #include <gtkmm/comboboxtext.h>
 
 namespace Gtkmm2ext {
@@ -39,8 +40,8 @@ namespace Gtkmm2ext {
 	template<class T> void deferred_delete (void *ptr) {
 		delete static_cast<T *> (ptr);
 	}
+
+	GdkWindow* get_paned_handle (Gtk::Paned& paned);
 };
 
-gint do_not_propagate (GdkEventButton*);
-
 #endif /*  __gtkmm2ext_utils_h__ */
diff --git a/libs/gtkmm2ext/utils.cc b/libs/gtkmm2ext/utils.cc
index df4e510df8..2f0bf3a98e 100644
--- a/libs/gtkmm2ext/utils.cc
+++ b/libs/gtkmm2ext/utils.cc
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
     $Id$
 */
 
+#include <gtk/gtkpaned.h>
 #include <gtkmm2ext/utils.h>
 #include <gtkmm2ext/gtkutils.h>
 #include <gtkmm/comboboxtext.h>
@@ -35,12 +36,6 @@ Gtkmm2ext::set_size_request_to_display_given_text (Gtk::Widget &w, const gchar *
 	set_size_request_to_display_given_text(w, text, hpadding, vpadding);
 }
 
-gint
-do_not_propagate (GdkEventButton *ev)
-{
-	return TRUE;
-}
-
 void
 Gtkmm2ext::init ()
 {
@@ -57,3 +52,9 @@ Gtkmm2ext::set_popdown_strings (Gtk::ComboBoxText& cr, vector<string>& strings)
 		cr.append_text (*i);
 	}
 }
+
+GdkWindow*
+Gtkmm2ext::get_paned_handle (Gtk::Paned& paned)
+{
+	return GTK_PANED(paned.gobj())->handle;
+}