Better Living Through Introspection

If you haven’t heard, Boeing has a blog. (The blog is old, the news isn’t. Not sure about the time diff there.)

The Chicago aerospace giant — no stranger to recent and well-publicized ethical and political scandals — is among a small but growing group of large non-tech companies such as Walt Disney (DIS ), General Motors (GM ), and McDonald’s (MCD ) that are embracing the power of blogging. That means Boeing has learned to cede some control and expose itself to stinging criticism in exchange for a potentially more constructive dialogue with the public, customers, and employees.

Why am I mentioning this? Well, design-wise, the Boeing blog is wholly unremarkable, and the content itelf is geared heavily toward aviation topics (duh!) — not exactly my bag. But, regardless of your level of blogging experience and area of expertise you can learn a lesson from Boeing marketing veep Randy Baseler on how to handle feedback with class and panache. Take a minute to read the entire entry; it might be dated, but it’s worth it.

For those friends of mine who might be looking for a place to buy the Tablas Creek 2003 Esprit de Beaucastel, check out wine.com. (If you don’t know, this particular Central Coast wine is one of the Tabard Inn’s more delicious moderately priced wines, and I’ve been on a quest to find it — haven’t found it in local stores yet. If you know of somewhere else that carries it, let me know, please!)

Well, that sounds more like the Congress I know.

Protocol Was Breached, Peeved GOP Aides Say
A day after he said “the stars are aligning” in favor of giving the District a vote in Congress, Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) conceded that the idea is “a long way” from winning congressional approval and may well founder in the House Judiciary Committee.

Update
DC Wire reports D.C. Vote Passes House Committee. The saga continues…

Finally! This fall you’ll be able to get the Star Wars trilogy in its original theatrical release form — without the mucking about that Lucas did for the remastered release. Most imporantly, the cantina scene where Han Solo shoots Greedo is restored to its original gunslinging glory. I’m going to buy it just for that — it’s been bugging me for years how they “justified” the shooting.

And, yes, I’m such a geek that I’ve already pre-ordered the “Han Shot First” t-shirt.

Apparently there was some controversy regarding the mass media versus bloggers coverage of this event. Regardless, Google has the Colbert portion (and the rest of it) on video. Colbert needs to work on his math skills, but otherwise, this is some funny stuff.