[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events - August 11, 2013
George Mokray
gmoke at world.std.com
Sun Aug 11 12:17:58 PDT 2013
Energy (and Other) Events is a weekly mailing list published most Sundays covering events around the Cambridge, MA and greater Boston area that catch the editor's eye.
Hubevents http://hubevents.blogspot.com is the web version.
If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe to Energy (and Other) Events email gmoke at world.std.com
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Who Owns the Future?: A Book Review
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/11/1229529/-Who-Owns-the-Future-A-Book-Review
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Event Index - full Event Details available below the Index
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Monday, August 12
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10am Doctoral Dissertation Defense Entitled: "The Marine Biogeochemistry of Dissolved and Colloidal Iron"
12pm Cyber Security and Cyber Defense: A Systems Approach
6pm A Bitcoin Buttonwood Exchange (First Ever in Boston)
7pm Science by the Pint: The mysteries of the genome
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Tuesday, August 13
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2pm TEDxBeaconStreet Adventure: EyeWire/Brain
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Wednesday, August 14
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7pm Cambridge Net Zero Zoning Proposal Meeting
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Thursday, August 15
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Boston Greenfest
12pm FAS Monthly Environmental Movies/Brown Bag Lunch Series
1pm Energy-Efficient Lighting Webinar
2:30pm Green Entrepreneur Small Business Network Forum
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Friday, August 16
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Boston Greenfest
4pm TEDxBeaconStreet Adventure: Google Glass
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Saturday, August 17
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Boston Greenfest
10:30am 6th Annual Sustainable Buildings Bike Ride
12pm National Honey Bee Day 2013
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Sunday, August 18
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10am Family Workday at JP Greenhouse
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Monday, August 19
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12pm Harvard Freecycle
6:15pm Free Compost Workshop
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Event Details
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Monday, August 12
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Doctoral Dissertation Defense Entitled: "The Marine Biogeochemistry of Dissolved and Colloidal Iron"
Monday, August 12, 2013
10:00a–11:00a
MIT, Building 54-915 (the tallest building on campus)
Speaker: Jessica N. Fitzsimmons
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
For more information, contact: Jacqui Taylor
617-253-2127
Editorial Comment: This is an important topic as one of the leading ideas for geoengineering is to seed the oceans with iron to stimulate phytoplankton uptake of CO2.
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Cyber Security and Cyber Defense: A Systems Approach
Monday, August 12, 2013
12:00p–1:00p
Webinar at http://sdm.mit.edu/news/news_articles/webinar_081213/iheagwara-webinar-cyber-security-defense.html
Speaker: Charles Iheagwara, Ph.D., director, cyber security practice, Unatek; SDM alumnus
Abstract:
Cyber espionage and cyber attacks are just two of the innumerable threats facing enterprise networks as a result of the ever-evolving technical landscape. Reasons include:
wireless and cloud domains that have expanded the perimeter of cyber defense;
a new underground economy that is not properly understood and which therefore challenges the design, operation, and effectiveness of enterprise cyber security; and
the resultant multiplicity of undefined, unforeseen, and often undetected threat vectors.
This webinar will provide:
an overview of the extended enterprise landscape and the cyber space ecosystem;
a high-level explanation of why current and/or traditional cyber security architecture fails to effectively protect networked institutional and corporate assets; and
an introduction to new concepts and ideas that can form the foundation of future cyber security architecture and shields.
MIT SDM System Thinking Webinar Series
The MIT System Design and Management Program Systems Thinking Webinar Series features research conducted by SDM faculty, alumni, students, and industry partners. The series is designed to disseminate information on how to employ systems thinking to address engineering, management, and socio-political components of complex challenges.
Web site: http://sdm.mit.edu/news/news_articles/webinar_081213/iheagwara-webinar-cyber-security-defense.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Tickets: See url above.
Sponsor(s): Engineering Systems Division, MIT System Design and Management Program
For more information, contact: Lois Slavin
617-253-0812
lslavin at mit.edu
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A Bitcoin Buttonwood Exchange (First Ever in Boston)
Monday, August 12, 2013
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Veggie Galaxy, 450 Massachussetts Avenue, Cambridge
Be a part of this historical event. The first Buttonwood Bitcoin Exchange (aka Satoshi Square) ever held in Boston. These are open air exchanges of the like no one's seen since 1792. Similar Bitcoin exchanges have already occured in NYC, SF & LA which would make Boston the fourth in the world. The idea is featured in a Wired magazine article from July 23, 2013.
You don't need to exchange, own, purchase, buy or even fully understand Bitcoin to participate, but these types of activities often happen! Bitcoin enthusiasts from all over will be there to chat and exchange this revolutionary currency, we hope you will join us.
NOTE: We changed the time and date for two reasons. One to embrace the Cambridge Bitcoin group, and to have a great place to meet, THAT ACCEPTS BITCOINS. Veggie Galaxy has great coffee, a great outside patio (We will meet outside), and a great inside incase the Boston weather decides to turn on us. Hopefully this doesn't inconvenience anyone. Thanks
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Science by the Pint: The mysteries of the genome
Monday, August 12
7pm
The Burren, 247 Elm Street, Davis Square, Somerville
Dr. Andrea Pauli
The genome contains all the information necessary to build a living being – whether a little bacterium or an entire organism as complex as a human being. One of the greatest conundrums in biology is that neither genome size nor the number of protein-coding genes scales with the complexity of an organism. What then distinguishes us from an little earth-worm scavenging for food, or from a fish swimming around in a pond?
Dr. Pauli will discuss novel insights into the complexity of the genome, particularly in light of the recent finding that a much larger fraction of the genome is transcribed than previously anticipated. Despite some exceptions, most of these novel transcripts do not appear to encode proteins and have not been identified in previous large-scale screens for essential regulators of development. Do these ‘non-coding’ RNAs have any function in vivo, or are they merely transcriptional noise? Apart from non-coding RNAs, an additional layer of regulation has been suggested by novel insights into the dynamic organization of chromatin. Chromatin modifications, long-range interactions between distant genomic elements – what are their roles in regulating gene expression?
SITN’s Science by the Pint is a chance to interact directly with research scientists. Dr. Pauli will give a brief intro to her work, and take a few questions before mingling from table to table with other member of her group to chat with you.
We look forward to seeing you there!
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Tuesday, August 13
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TEDxBeaconStreet Adventure: EyeWire/Brain
Tuesday, August 13
2 PM
Dr. Seung's Lab @MIT
RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1mtgd1m1NSQOewNK5LA7WYKjzvs9PMCMBVjai06OWIcg/viewform
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Wednesday, August 14
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Cambridge Net Zero Zoning Proposal Meeting
Wednesday, August 14th
7 to 9 pm
Boardroom, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, 1575 Cambridge Street.
People can call or post a comment at http://www.netzerocambridge.org/open_meeting_with_local_stakeholders to request specific discussion points or agenda items.
Contact Mike Connolly, Volunteer Campaign Manager Cambridge Committee for Net Zero Buildings at 617 981 6235
More information at http://www.netzerocambridge.org
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Thursday, August 15
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Boston Greenfest
Thursday-Saturday, August 15-17, 2013
Boston City Hall Plaza, Boston
Free admission
Boston GreenFest 2012 is a fully inclusive festival filled with fun learning experiences to address the important changes we need to make in our daily lives and our neighborhoods. It will begin at Boston City Hall Plaza with a Kick-Off Concert on Thursday, August 16, from 5-9:30 pm and will continue all day long, Friday-Saturday, August 17-18, from noon-9:30 pm and 11 am-8 pm. This year we are introducing The Movement Festival and will have performances and free dance classes on Sunday, August 19 from 10 am-5 pm. It is an event that will have something for everybody, young and old.
What's Happening at Boston GreenFest 2012?
All of our neighborhoods will come together from across Greater Boston to work on solutions to make our city a healthy sustainable place to live. People from all over New England will be welcome to join us. Boston GreenFest 2012 brings many opportunities to the heart of our city to learn about green products, services, ideas, networks, and jobs. There will be interactive exhibits, workshops, presentations, and special features: continuous live entertainment on three stages, EcoTimeTrail, EcoFashion, GreenFilmFest for children and adults, eco-games, One Gallon Challenge – a "race" starting at noon on Thursday, August 16th from Plymouth, MA to GreenFest for cars that can drive 112 miles on 1 gallon of gas and arrive at City Hall throughout the afternoon to be on hand during the entire festival, lots of great kids' activities, great food, and much more.
Learn and Celebrate!
Find out how to save money and make your home efficient. Buy local fresh and organic fruits and vegetables. Explore interesting vendors of unique crafts and products. Check out new clean technologies and green inventions. Be amazed at how we can begin to make a difference with small changes to our own lives and how we can build on these changes with our neighbors. Let's learn and celebrate together!
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FAS Monthly Environmental Movies/Brown Bag Lunch Series
Thursday, August 15, 2013
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Harvard, Mallinckrodt 102, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Join us for screenings of the most inspiring TED talks on a variety of environmental topics. Every 3rd Thursday of the month.
Contact Name: Gosia Sklodowska
gosia_sklodowska at harvard.edu
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Energy-Efficient Lighting Webinar
Thursday, Aug. 15
1 p.m. Eastern; 10 a.m. Pacific; 11 a.m. Mountain; noon Central
Webinar at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/550061046
Shelli Sedlak, senior lighting specialist at the GE Lighting Institute and Niel Rohleder, traffic engineering field operations manager for the City of Las Vegas.
If you looked at the costs and benefits of an energy-efficient lighting retrofit a few years ago but didn't pull the trigger, you might want to look again. LED and other energy-efficient lighting technologies have been rapidly evolving over the past decade; industry standards have been established and codified; and prices have plummeted to the point where high-efficiency lighting solutions that were "almost there" a few years ago have officially "arrived" today.
After testing 6,600 LED streetlights for more than a year, the city of Las Vegas decided to convert a total of 42,000 streetlights to new solid-state LED lamps and fixtures. The savings in energy and maintenance is expected to be $2 million per year, with a return on investment in seven or eight years.
Ms. Sedlak will describe how cities across the U.S. are following examples like those in Las Vegas to save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a variety of lighting projects.
Mr. Rohleder will step attendees through the Las Vegas project from RFP to installation and describe the metrics the city used to calculate its savings.
If you or someone on your team is involved in energy-efficient lighting initiatives, this webinar might be of interest.
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Thursday, August 16
2:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Curley Room, Boston City Hall
RSVP at http://bostongreenfest.org/greenjobs.html
There will be great speakers, great vendors and great networking! There has never been a better time to own a green business. High demand is driving an expansion of the market for environmentally friendly products and services. Every business starts as an idea. How does an entrepreneur turn this exciting idea into a successful business? Or, how do small business owners ready themselves to expand their offerings to leverage the growing green consumer market? A strategic business plan will help you clarify your product or service, your goals, and your market niche. It will also help you determine how much capital you will need in order to expand. This workshop will provide an overview of how you can create a business plan that highlights not only the economic potential of your business, but also the environmental and social benefits it will create. Please join us for an informative and interactive session.
For details, go to http://bostongreenfest.org/greenjobs.html. Please pre-register!
Sponsored by the Green Neighbors Education Committee, Inc. and the Foundation for a Green Future, Inc.
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Friday, August 16
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Boston Greenfest
Thursday-Saturday, August 15-17, 2013
Boston City Hall Plaza, Boston
Free admission
Boston GreenFest 2012 is a fully inclusive festival filled with fun learning experiences to address the important changes we need to make in our daily lives and our neighborhoods. It will begin at Boston City Hall Plaza with a Kick-Off Concert on Thursday, August 16, from 5-9:30 pm and will continue all day long, Friday-Saturday, August 17-18, from noon-9:30 pm and 11 am-8 pm. This year we are introducing The Movement Festival and will have performances and free dance classes on Sunday, August 19 from 10 am-5 pm. It is an event that will have something for everybody, young and old.
What's Happening at Boston GreenFest 2012?
All of our neighborhoods will come together from across Greater Boston to work on solutions to make our city a healthy sustainable place to live. People from all over New England will be welcome to join us. Boston GreenFest 2012 brings many opportunities to the heart of our city to learn about green products, services, ideas, networks, and jobs. There will be interactive exhibits, workshops, presentations, and special features: continuous live entertainment on three stages, EcoTimeTrail, EcoFashion, GreenFilmFest for children and adults, eco-games, One Gallon Challenge – a "race" starting at noon on Thursday, August 16th from Plymouth, MA to GreenFest for cars that can drive 112 miles on 1 gallon of gas and arrive at City Hall throughout the afternoon to be on hand during the entire festival, lots of great kids' activities, great food, and much more.
Learn and Celebrate!
Find out how to save money and make your home efficient. Buy local fresh and organic fruits and vegetables. Explore interesting vendors of unique crafts and products. Check out new clean technologies and green inventions. Be amazed at how we can begin to make a difference with small changes to our own lives and how we can build on these changes with our neighbors. Let's learn and celebrate together!
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TEDxBeaconStreet Adventure: Google Glass
Friday, August 16
4 PM
@MIT Media Lab
RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1mtgd1m1NSQOewNK5LA7WYKjzvs9PMCMBVjai06OWIcg/viewform
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Saturday, August 17
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Boston Greenfest
Thursday-Saturday, August 15-17, 2013
Boston City Hall Plaza, Boston
Free admission
Boston GreenFest 2012 is a fully inclusive festival filled with fun learning experiences to address the important changes we need to make in our daily lives and our neighborhoods. It will begin at Boston City Hall Plaza with a Kick-Off Concert on Thursday, August 16, from 5-9:30 pm and will continue all day long, Friday-Saturday, August 17-18, from noon-9:30 pm and 11 am-8 pm. This year we are introducing The Movement Festival and will have performances and free dance classes on Sunday, August 19 from 10 am-5 pm. It is an event that will have something for everybody, young and old.
What's Happening at Boston GreenFest 2012?
All of our neighborhoods will come together from across Greater Boston to work on solutions to make our city a healthy sustainable place to live. People from all over New England will be welcome to join us. Boston GreenFest 2012 brings many opportunities to the heart of our city to learn about green products, services, ideas, networks, and jobs. There will be interactive exhibits, workshops, presentations, and special features: continuous live entertainment on three stages, EcoTimeTrail, EcoFashion, GreenFilmFest for children and adults, eco-games, One Gallon Challenge – a "race" starting at noon on Thursday, August 16th from Plymouth, MA to GreenFest for cars that can drive 112 miles on 1 gallon of gas and arrive at City Hall throughout the afternoon to be on hand during the entire festival, lots of great kids' activities, great food, and much more.
Learn and Celebrate!
Find out how to save money and make your home efficient. Buy local fresh and organic fruits and vegetables. Explore interesting vendors of unique crafts and products. Check out new clean technologies and green inventions. Be amazed at how we can begin to make a difference with small changes to our own lives and how we can build on these changes with our neighbors. Let's learn and celebrate together!
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6th Annual Sustainable Buildings Bike Ride
Saturday, 17 August (rain date 24 August)
10:30am
Kendall Square meetup for 8 mile ride
RSVP at http://www.usgbcma.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=441
It starts at the Boston Marriott and should last around 2 hours, followed by lunch at a LEED certified restaurant. The focus of the ride is sustainable buildings and they’ll take a special look at some of Harvard’s and MIT’s structures.
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National Honey Bee Day 2013
Saturday, August 17, 2013
12:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Follow the Honey, 1132 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
This is our 3rd year hosting free public events during National Honey Bee Day at Follow The Honey. We'd love to hear from you for apis mellifera inspired performance, presentations & demonstrations. Is there something you would like to say? Is there something you would like to learn? Is there someone you know who should bee in the lineup? Please be in touch and let's cross pollinate a community based day of honey bee loving fun!
Editorial Comment: Always good to remember the bees, Mr President.
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Sunday, August 18
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Family Workday at JP Greenhouse
August 18
10 am to 2 pm
Sign up at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/401818
Hi folks -- theMOVE (getoutma.org) is hosting our annual family workday on the morning of Sunday August 18th, 10a-2p. It's always a great time, working, hanging out, and playing games with a range of families from across Boston. We also provide lunch, and free transportation from Central Sq and Forest Hills if needed. Please let us know if you can join us!
Come join theMOVE as we offer our help to Andree and her family at JP Green House in Jamaica Plain in Boston, a sustainably-designed home with a 1200 square foot garden that provides their family with much of their food for 6 months of the year! We’ll help with harvesting, weeding, and whatever else needs help that day.
We’ll work from 10a-12:30p. We’ll offer a complimentary lunch, snacks, and transportation to/from the event. Van will pick group up at 9a from Central Square Station and Forest Hills Station. Youth must be 8 years or older. Maximum of 2 youth per 1 adult. Only 12 spaces available.
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Monday, August 19
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Harvard Freecycle
Monday, August 19th, 2013
12-2pm
Harvard Science Center Lobby, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Donations welcome from 9am-11am on the day of.
As the summer winds down, prepare for the new school year by cleaning out your home or office, or come by in search of that elusive special something that will make your new place. No donations required- come take what you want!
Welcome items include: Office Supplies, Kitchenware, Books, Clothes, Games and Toys, Small Furniture (lamps, chairs, etc), Appliances, Media (CDs, DVDs, Tapes), Electonics
Early donations (pre-August 16th):
FAS and SEAS staff- email Brandon_geller at harvard.edu to schedule a pickup.
HLS- Email Jourdan_phillips at harvard.edu to schedule a drop off.
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Free Compost Workshop
Monday, August 19
6:15pm
Public Works, 147 Hampshire Street, 1st floor conference room, Cambridge
RSVP to recycle at cambridgema.gov
Save your banana peels and learn how to compost and reduce food waste. Learn the composting options residents have and ways to reduce food waste, from Cambridge's Recycling Director, Ms. Randi Mail. She will review best practices for outdoor composting, indoor composting with worms, options for drop-off and bicycle pickup. Composting and making soil is rewarding, benefits your garden and house plants and curbs climate change! Reducing food waste is incredibly important considering that Americans waste more than 40% of the food we produce for consumption. That comes at an annual cost of more than $100 billion.
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Upcoming
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Energy Exodus
August 28 to September 2, 2013
From Somerset, Mass To Cape Wind, Across the South Coast, MA
From August 28th to September 2nd, the Better Future Project will sponsor the Energy Exodus -- a march from the largest point-source carbon emitter in the North East to the site of the nation's first off shore wind farm. Whether for a single day or for the entire march, we hope you can join us on this six-day trek from Brayton Point to Barnstable, MA. By the end, with over 1,000 people participating, we will have demonstrated the strength of our movement and progressed toward the clean, safe future that we all deserve.
Let us know you're interested here: http://energyexodus.org/
Facebook: Energy Exodus: March from Coal to Cape Wind https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/332490020213403/
Sponsored by: Better Future Project
http://www.betterfutureproject.org/
Contact Better Future Project
Email: info at betterfutureproject.org
Phone: (617) 299-0771
Website: http://energyexodus.org
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Bread and Puppet Total This & That Circus
Sunday, September 1st
3 pm
Cambridge Common, near the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Waterhouse Street, Cambridge.
Free performance [pass-the-hat donations welcome], rain or shine.
For further details, call the Boston-area Bread & Puppet Theater information line 617-286-6694 or log onto www.breadandpuppet.org.
As part of a world-wide birthday celebration of "50 Years of Sublime Arsekicking Puppetry," the award-winning Bread & Puppet Theater from Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom presents their Total This & That Circus on the Cambridge Common, a public space they used to frequent prior to the mid-1980’s. For the past few years, the company has once again revived its descent upon the park, resurrecting that age old Harvard Square tradition of outdoor theatrical political rabble rousing.
Total This & That Circus includes the following ingredients, as described by Bread & Puppet's artistic director Peter Schumann:
Daffodil combat forces battling F-35 jets; the elimination of the 800,001st Palestinian olive tree, totally unattended by the National Outrage Orchestra; an Animal Rental Facility, which offers disenchanted customers of civilization instant transformation into frog or deer, cricket or rat. There will also be new characters, such as underprivileged Corporate Dwarves, overshadowed by Ordinary 99% Giants promoting brand-new economy-shrinking ventures, while the Lubblerland National Dance Company enhances the program with eternal values gloves-on dances presented to the gloves-off practitioners in Guantanamo and elsewhere.
Please take note that if some of the circus acts are politically puzzling to adults, accompanying children can usually explain them. The audience is welcome to examine all the masks and puppets after the performance, and Cheap Art will be for sale. Examples of Bread & Puppet’s work can be found atwww.breadandpuppet.org.
Harvard Square's Revival Month:
Bread & Puppet’s outdoor Circus on the Cambridge Common kicks off what now has become Harvard Square’s annual “Revival Month.” The finale to thisentire "month of reincarnations” will be the return of the HONK! Parade on Sunday, Oct. 13th. Bread & Puppet will join two dozen HONK! Festival street bands and hundreds of local participants in a procession to "Reclaim the Streets for Horns, Bikes, and Feet" on Massachusetts Avenue leading into Harvard Square’s35th Annual Oktoberfest (from noon-6 pm). For complete information on Harvard Square’s “Revival Month” visit www.harvardsquare.com. For more information on the HONK! Festival and the parade that runs from Davis Square to Harvard Square, log onto www.honkfest.org.
Bread & Puppet 2013 Celebrating "50 Years of Sublime Arsekicking Puppetry" in the Boston-area:
The Circus on the Cambridge Common also serves as the local launch of a series of national and international "50 Years of Sublime Arsekicking Puppetry"anniversary events. Besides the aforementioned HONK!, there will be a Total This & That Circus performed as part of Lawrence, Mass.' Bread & Roses Festival (www.breadandrosesheritage.org) on Monday, September 2nd. Soon after on Saturday, September 14th, Boston College will host "50 Years Bread & Puppet: Cheap Art and Political Theater" (www.bc.edu/BP50), a day-long symposium packed with scholarly and artistic presentations showcasing the breadth and depth of Bread & Puppet's influence on politics as well as art.
Special thanks to the Cambridge Arts Council and the Harvard Square Business Association for helping make Bread & Puppet's return to the Cambridge Common possible; funded in part by the Cambridge Arts Council.
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The New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable Presents: Modernizing the Electric Grid in New England
September 20, 2013
9 am to 12:30 pm
Foley Hoag LLP, 155 Seaport Boulevard, 13th Floor, Boston
In October of 2012, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities issued a notice of inquiry (NOI) on electric grid modernization that sought to develop a vision for a modern grid in Massachusetts and a road-map to get there. The NOI launched a stakeholder process charged with exploring both grid-facing and customer-facing issues, as well as developing recommendations for the DPU.
On July 2, 2013, the MA Grid Modernization Steering Committee, comprised of the four investor-owned utilities and representatives from over 20 diverse stakeholder groups, filed a 141 page Final Report with the DPU. The Report includes 1) goals, opportunities, and barriers; 2) a clear taxonomy of a modernized grid including outcomes and enablers; 3) a snap-shot of utilities' current systems and technologies; 4) a joint fact- finding summary of advanced metering functionality and cost, as well as time-varying rates; and 5) extensive recommendations on a wide range of grid modernization issues, including the appropriate regulatory and cost-effectiveness frameworks to foster grid modernization.
Join us at our 136th Roundtable as we discuss the Report and the DPU's plans for adopting and implementing an appropriate grid modernization regulatory framework. The panel will be anchored by MA DPU Chair Ann Berwick, who will discuss the DPU's vision and its next steps. She will be joined by representatives from the MA Grid Mod Steering Committee who will discuss the findings and recommendations of the report, including those where consensus was reached and those where two or more options were delivered to the DPU:
Jamie Tosches, Assistant Attorney General, MA AGO
Peter Zschokke, Director, Regulatory Strategy, National Grid
Camilo Serna, VP Corporate Strategy, Northeast Utilities
Janet Besser, VP Policy and Govt. Affairs, NE Clean Energy Council
To provide additional perspective on grid modernization, we have invitedCommissioner Kelly Speakes-Backman, Maryland Public Service Commission, to kick-off the Roundtable by discussing Maryland's efforts to modernize its grid. Maryland utilities are currently involved in the widespread deployment of advanced metering infrastructure and a peak-time rebate program, among other grid modernization activities. Commissioner Speakes-Backman, who has been actively involved in Maryland's grid modernization efforts, also serves on RGGI and was previously the Clean Energy Director at the Maryland Energy Administration.
Free and open to the public with no advanced registration!!
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Opportunity
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Where is the best yogurt on the planet made? Somerville, of course!
Join the Somerville Yogurt Making Cooperative and get a weekly quart of the most thick, creamy, rich and tart yogurt in the world. Membership in the coop costs $2.50 per quart. Members share the responsibility for making yogurt in our kitchen located just outside of Davis Sq. in FirstChurch. No previous yogurt making experience is necessary.
For more information checkout.
https://sites.google.com/site/somervilleyogurtcoop/home
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Cambridge Residents: Free Home Thermal Images
Have you ever wanted to learn where your home is leaking heat by having an energy auditor come to your home with a thermal camera? With that info you then know where to fix your home so it's more comfortable and less expensive to heat. However, at $200 or so, the cost of such a thermal scan is a big chunk of change.
HEET Cambridge has now partnered with Sagewell, Inc. to offer Cambridge residents free thermal scans.
Sagewell collects the thermal images by driving through Cambridge in a hybrid vehicle equipped with thermal cameras. They will scan every building in Cambridge (as long as it's not blocked by trees or buildings or on a private way). Building owners can view thermal images of their property and an analysis online. The information is password protected so that only the building owner can see the results.
Homeowners, condo-owners and landlords can access the thermal images and an accompanying analysis free of charge. Commercial building owners and owners of more than one building will be able to view their images and analysis for a small fee.
The scans will be analyzed in the order they are requested.
Go to Sagewell.com. Type in your address at the bottom where it says "Find your home or building" and press return. Then click on "Here" to request the report.
That's it. When the scans are done in a few weeks, your building will be one of the first to be analyzed. The accompanying report will help you understand why your living room has always been cold and what to do about it.
With knowledge, comes power (or in this case saved power and money, not to mention comfort).
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Free solar electricity analysis for MA residents
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHhwM202dDYxdUZJVGFscnY1VGZ3aXc6MQ
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HEET has partnered with NSTAR and Mass Save participating contractor Next Step Living to deliver no-cost Home Energy Assessments to Cambridge residents.
During the assessment, the energy specialist will:
Install efficient light bulbs (saving up to 7% of your electricity bill)
Install programmable thermostats (saving up to 10% of your heating bill)
Install water efficiency devices (saving up to 10% of your water bill)
Check the combustion safety of your heating and hot water equipment
Evaluate your home’s energy use to create an energy-efficiency roadmap
If you get electricity from NSTAR, National Grid or Western Mass Electric, you already pay for these assessments through a surcharge on your energy bills. You might as well use the service.
Please sign up at http://nextsteplivinginc.com/heet/?outreach=HEET or call Next Step Living at 866-867-8729. A Next Step Living Representative will call to schedule your assessment.
HEET will help answer any questions and ensure you get all the services and rebates possible.
(The information collected will only be used to help you get a Home Energy Assessment. We won’t keep the data or sell it.)
(If you have any questions or problems, please feel free to call HEET’s Jason Taylor at 617 441 0614.)
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Resource
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Sustainable Business Network Local Green Guide
SBN is excited to announce the soft launch of its new Local Green Guide, Massachusetts' premier Green Business Directory!
To view the directory please visit: http://www.localgreenguide.org
To find out how how your business can be listed on the website or for sponsorship opportunities please contact Adritha at adritha at sbnboston.org
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Free Monthly Energy Analysis
CarbonSalon is a free service that every month can automatically track your energy use and compare it to your past energy use (while controlling for how cold the weather is). You get a short friendly email that lets you know how you’re doing in your work to save energy.
https://www.carbonsalon.com/
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Boston Food System
"The Boston Food System [listserv] provides a forum to post announcements of events, employment opportunities, internships, programs, lectures, and other activities as well as related articles or other publications of a non-commercial nature covering the area's food system - food, nutrition, farming, education, etc. - that take place or focus on or around Greater Boston (broadly delineated)."
The Boston area is one of the most active nationwide in terms of food system activities - projects, services, and events connected to food, farming, nutrition - and often connected to education, public health, environment, arts, social services and other arenas. Hundreds of organizations and enterprises cover our area, but what is going on week-to-week is not always well publicized.
Hence, the new Boston Food System listserv, as the place to let everyone know about these activities. Specifically:
Use of the BFS list will begin soon, once we get a decent base of subscribers. Clarification of what is appropriate to announce and other posting guidelines will be provided as well.
It's easy to subscribe right now at https://elist.tufts.edu/wws/subscribe/bfs
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Artisan Asylum http://artisansasylum.com/
Sprout & Co: Community Driven Investigations
Greater Boston Solidarity Economy Mapping Project http://www.transformationcentral.org/solidarity/mapping/mapping.html
a project by Wellesley College students that invites participation, contact jmatthaei at wellesley.edu
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Bostonsmart.com's Guide to Boston http://www.bostonsmarts.com/BostonGuide/
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Links to events at 60 colleges and universities at Hubevents http://hubevents.blogspot.com
Thanks to
Fred Hapgood's Selected Lectures on Science and Engineering in the Boston Area http://www.BostonScienceLectures.com
Boston Area Computer User Groups http://www.bugc.org/
Arts and Cultural Events List http://aacel.blogspot.com/
Cambridge Civic Journal http://www.rwinters.com
http://www.massclimateaction.net/calendar/events/index.php
http://www.mitenergyclub.org/calendar/mit_events_template
http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/
http://green.harvard.edu/events
http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/tabid/57/Default.aspx
http://boston.nerdnite.com/
http://www.meetup.com/
http://www.eventbrite.com/
http://www.greenhornconnect.com/events/calendar
http://harddatafactory.com/Johnny_Monsarrat/index.html
http://bostoneventsinsider.com/boston_events/
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