I recorded Stuart Hart’s 1997 paper for Harvard Business Review, “Beyond Greening,” at the the studio yesterday, as part of a collection of articles on organization development. As is typical for papers in that publication, it’s a mousse of hard-nosed analysis whipped together with long-term vision and topped with blue-sky dreams, but the central point may turn out to be sound: the smart businessman will find a way to cash in by solving environmental problems instead of creating them. He has elaborated his position in the book-length Capitalism at the Crossroads. Hart is unique, in my limited reading, in that he treats poverty issues and environmental concerns as being of a piece.
Upcoming: 2
Turner Classic Movies has two really interesting themes for June: films featuring or directed by the sultry Ida Lupino, and Screened Out: Gay Images in Film. Some of the titles, like The Killing of Sister George and The Boys in the Band, I recognize as causing a stir at of the 1970s. They are largely forgotten now, but I remember them as being judged too mature for my adolescent sensibilities at the time.
Ooh shiny shiny
And I can hear what you’re thinking, David, what happened to the perfectly good car you bought in 1993? Three new cars in 24 years: where did this profligacy come from? And you paid cash? Yes, you’re right, but there it is.
Leta and I picked up the as-yet-unchristened vehicle—a 2007 Accord Coupe LX—from Bill Page Honda on Saturday. The dealer did an excellent job of responding to my online request-for-quote with a good price and without a lot haggling and games about extended warranties and extraneous add-ons. As Accords go, it’s the bottom-of-the-line model: the only extra accessory on the car is the mud guards in the rear wheelwells. But it’s one of the scarcer colors, a pearlized graphite gray with some overtones of blue, and it has the nice quality of shining differently in varying lights. It took some persistent questioning on my part to get the dealer to agree to schlep out of the Eastern Shore of Maryland to find one of the right color. Yes, I understand the quote. How much for one in graphite? No, I don’t have a second color choice.
As I said, as-yet-unchristened; the car doesn’t have any mojo yet, let alone any scratches. At least it picked up some road dust during Sunday’s thunderstorms. I’m not even sure yet whether it’s a boy or a girl.
I”m keeping Alberta, the ’93 Explorer, in service for the muddy jobs, the cargo hauling, and the three days of each D.C. winter when 4WD is a really good idea. (Alberta just turned over the double-century on her odometer.) The Accord will be taking over the daily commuting duties and the Beltway crawls to rehearsal, saving a reasonable quantity of gas in the process. It’ll be so nice to stop and go on I-495 with air conditioning that works full-time. Any commute can be fun for a while when you have a new machine to figure out, to find out how it responds.
I gave of lot of thought to buying a Toyota Prius, and I drove my friend Richard’s around the block once, but in the end, a conventional drivetrain, conventional styling, and the right number of doors (two) prevailed. So my driving will not be as squeaky-clean green as it could be, and I’m okay with that. Nor is it one of the luxury rockets that most of the guys I work with drive.
I can’t get over how quiet the car is inside, and I have more legroom that in the Explorer. But, as you might expect, the throw of the stickshift is a lot different. I’m still trying to start from a stop in third and to downshift from fifth to second. I haven’t yet established the TSA policy on liquids in the car: this morning I carefully sipped my coffee from the travel mug only at red lights, and closed it up again before getting underway.
So, how do you know Andrew?
Via kottke.org, Heather and Andrew draw a story map for the attendees at their wedding.
Some links: 16
Leta and I are both impressed by the capsule summary of celiac disease and gluten intolerance written by Jean Bauch for Wegmans, a medium-sized regional chain of supermarkets that has been expanding into the D.C. area.
Some puzzles: 1
This bus stop post is sporting a new gizmo at the top. Is it a wireless network booster? A relay mechanism for GPS units (where is that dang bus, anyway?)? A base station for Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft? Nope, it’s an experimental solar-powered lighting fixture.
Still counting
A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Environmental Impacts of Wind-Energy Projects, is in pre-publication. As summarized in the press release, the study examined onshore projects only, and concluded that wind projects will have a measurable impact on CO2 emissions by 2020 but will not reduce sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxide levels.
The report seems to haver on the effects on vertebrate populations—birds and bats:
… the committee saw no evidence that fatalities from existing wind facilities are causing measurable changes in bird populations in the United States. A possible exception is deaths among birds of prey, such as eagles and hawks, near Altamont Pass, Calif.—a facility with older, smaller turbines that appear more apt to kill such birds than newer turbines are.
Too little information is available to reliably predict how proposed new wind projects in the mid-Atlantic highlands would affect bird populations…
Worth the wait
Oh, my: Tony Long watches Star Wars for the first time:
I watched it with a friend, a veteran of many viewings. She knew I wanted to approach this with fresh eyes and an open mind, so she was careful to keep her opinions to herself. Still, I knew where she stood. The fact that she owned the DVD told me what she thought of the movie. Every now and then as we watched, when I’d turn to her with a bemused expression, she’d simply smile and say nothing.
A pity that Princess Leia didn’t show my friend’s restraint. Geez Louise, what a harpy.
Some links: 15
Hmm. I thought that I must have linked to the Clean Sweep self-assessment questionnaire the last time that I filled it out, but I guess not. 88 out of 100—still lots of work to do! Though I can’t say that I think sunglasses are all that important.
7×7: Shakespeare
With the theme of Shakespeare, it’s not surprising that two of the pieces in Washington Ballet’s latest installment of 7×7 feature spoken-word accompaniment. But it is a couple of the wordless pieces that are the most effective of the evening.
Trey McIntyre’s Queen of the Goths, drawing on two scenes from Titus Andronicus, ends with a saucy flourish. quick bright things, by Matthew Neenan in response to a line of Lysander’s, is a colorful romp for six.
In Lovers Speak, Brianne Bland and Runqiao Du dance a meaty, muscular adagio duet by Matjash Mrozewski. As their bodies intertwine on the floor, there’s a strong sense of intimate improvisation.
The standout piece is by Cathy Marston, scored by Henryk Górecki: Whispers recounts Hamlet’s scene from Act III with his father’s ghost and Gertrude in her chamber. Third-season company member Zachary Hackstock gives an agile, expressive performance as he is called upon both to partner and be partnered. This is lean-forward entertainment that you can’t get from a screen.
- 7×7: Shakespeare, Washington Ballet, England Studio Theater, Washington
Washington Ballet continues to make improvements to the friendly confines of its England Studio Theater. Stepped risers (that apparently stow away like a trundle bed) now allow for six rows of seating (and every seat has a back). Sight lines are pretty good, though seats on the extreme right and left lose sight of some of the far upstage action.
I am only going to say this once
(Via Language Log.)
10 years of “Here I am”
I cracked the electronic mic ten years ago today with a GeoCities account (back before the Yahoo! acquisition). My first project was a set of photos taken from various vantage points along the 70-odd miles of Interstate 66. Painstakingly scanned and cropped, most of them nevertheless were quite pedestrian, and I’ve since taken the set down.
Nearly six years later, I migrated most of the rest of the content to a Comcast account. My Larry Shue appreciation page is still up, as is the suite of pages about the Wood Duck. I was experimenting with several blog-style efforts (here, here, and here), but the page-maintenance effort was dragging me down, so I climbed on the dedicated-software bandwagon once it picked up some steam, and the result was pedantic nuthatch.
I’ve a couple of Blogger-based side projects (here and here), I write and maintain the web site for Reston Community Players, and my fingerprints are beginning to appear in a couple of wikis.
Last year, after a futile bit of FTP-juggling and username chicanery, I realized that I was going to run out of disk space on the Comcast account, and so I moved my blogging house here. And now you know everything.
John Doe
“He commits the same crimes year after year,” according to poet Cathrine Grøndahl.
Calico
Cool: I spotted a couple of little things worth adding to the wiki for Against the Day.
Resonances
Via Table of Malcontents and elsewhere, John Cage performs Water Walk for Garry Moore and the audience of I’ve Got a Secret, original air date 1960. The sound engineers picked up most of the sonic goings-on, including the interesting echoes in the bathtub, but the rubber duck thought it had a tacet.
Oh, John, what would you have made of/with YouTube?