October 2007 – Page 3 – Silence and Voice

Blog Action Day

Today is Blog Action Day, which I learned about from Beth and Andy and Tom and Howard and Wendy and Darren and Stephen (I read some really interesting blogs!). I know, a little late in the day to learn about this, but that is just part of how technology seems to be changing how we operate and work.

What does this have to do with the environment, which is the point of Blog Action Day? Technology should help us be more efficient, but when we are not using it, there hardly seems any efficiency to keeping all of it on and using the electricity when we leave the office. To this end, I will begin turning off my monitor at work at the end of the day, rather than leaving it on as I was always taught to do with the old, large monitors. Mind you, my monitor at work is still large and thus uses a lot of power, and while I do turn my computer off, I never touched my monitor.

Furthermore, I will look into saving power from a corporate social responsibility perspective, and will look at work for whomever directs this initiative about saving power when computers and monitors are not in use.

How is that for a simple piece of action that can have large possible effects?

Dutch collection at the Met

I went to see the Dutch collection show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art today, entitled The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I have seen many of these works over the years at the Metropolitan, since as a member I go there frequently to recharge.

In the same way I found the paintings recharging, I thought I would share some of them from the collection I find most engaging (all from the Met’s site):

Aelbert Cuyp (Dutch, 1620–1691) Young Herdsmen with Cows, ca. 1650:

Young Herdsmen with Cows

Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669) Man in Oriental Costume (“The Noble Slav”), 1632:

Man in Oriental Costume

Johannes Vermeer (Dutch, 1632–1675) Young Woman with a Water Pitcher, ca. 1662:

Young Woman with a Water Pitcher

Jacob van Ruisdael (Dutch, 1628/29–1682) Wheat Fields, ca. 1670:

Wheat Fields

Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669) Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, 1653:

Aristotle with a Bust of Homer

The recording that accompanied the show stated that the final image here, Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, is the most significant work in the collection. While it gave only a brief account why this claim was made, I was hooked. It seems there is the tension between Aristotle’s fingering the worldly reknown signified with his gold chain and the force of Homer’s legacy, without the benefit of worldly compensation. They are both memorialized, and it is to our benefit this is the case with Rembrandt’s painting to remind us of this tension and leave it up to us to determine which one we choose.

Al Gore, Nobel Laureate

Congratulations to Al Gore for winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to raise awareness about the issues surrounding global warming, or what I like to refer to as Global Climactic Change.

In the company of Desmond Tutu, Muhammad Yunus, Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama, and Mother Teresa, Al Gore seems to have accomplished more after his “official” role in the government than while he was vice president. I wonder if that is at all significant?

Jaiku and Google

So, Google has bought the social networking application/website/company Jaiku. I tried Jaiku, and while their technology looks promising, too few of my colleagues used it to make it worthwhile. I suppose that may change with the critical mass that Google brings to the mix.

Of course, look what happened with Macy’s when they took their critical mass strategy to the likes of Marshall Fields and Filene’s here and here. Let’s hope Google continues to turn things to gold when they invest.

Episcopals, Anglicans, and free speech

I seem to be on a free speech kick here (how better than to be true to one’s own beliefs?) when I see that the American Episcopalians have somehow met the demands of their Anglican counterparts to not ordain any more gay bishops and not to bless same-sex unions. At least from this article, it seems the Anglicans in England and Africa have succeeded in controling those Anglicans (Episcopals) in the US. Amazing the role religion still plays in the world outside of radical Islam. This demand by a group of conservative religious across the world to tell how the American church how to believe and act seems more and more like the same criticisms against Catholicism.

I thought that was why the Anglican Church was formed in the first place–to confront being told what to do by a corrupt group of wealthy men from far away? Perhaps history does repeat itself?