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This digital document is an article from World Watch, published by Worldwatch Institute on September 1, 1997. The length of the article is 3949 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: The pilot retail electricity program in New Hampshire allows residents to choose their electricity suppliers, instead of requiring them to purchase their electricity from a local monopoly. The pilot program gave rise to 'green power marketing,' as would-be suppliers scrambled to win customers with claims of environmentally benign electric power. Questionable claims of environmentally benign electricity prompted government agencies and monitors establish standards for 'clean' power and to regulate the new market for the electric power industry.

Citation Details
Title: Power of choice. (consumers' freedom to choose electricity sources and green power marketing)
Author: Seth Dunn
Publication: World Watch (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 1997
Publisher: Worldwatch Institute
Volume: v10Issue: n5Page: p30(6)

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History Of The Progressive Work Of God, Extending From The Creation Of Man To The Harvest, Comprising The Four Great Dispensations Now Consummating In The Millennial Church. ... Read more

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The critically acclaimed hit is back with an all-new adventure that will quickly teach the Freshmen whats at stake when you put on a costume! Wannabe, the powerless team leader who has always dreamed of being a superhero, is having visions of the eccentric Mr. Fiddlesticks, a character from a series of childrens books. But what does it mean? Is Mr. Fiddlesticks warning Norrin of danger, or bringing it himself? Also: How can Drama Twin Brady break away from his toxic romance with Renee? And will the drunken Intoxicator ever be able to pass a class? Co-created by Buffy and Italian Job star Seth Green and written by Mister Girth himself, Hugh Sterbakov, Freshmen is an uproarious combination of superpowers and college...with a talking beaver! ... Read more

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The sold-out, critically acclaimed series co-created by Buffy and Austin Powers star Seth Green is collected in all its glory! Meet the beautiful Puppeteer, the wistful Seductress, the desperate Wannabe, the wasted Intoxicator, the bickering Drama Twins, the overwhelmed Green Thumb, the snotty Squirrel and the obsessed Beaver. Extra goodies include the entire Freshmen Yearbook. Baron Von Sterbakov and Maestro Kirk deliver thrills, chills, spills and tons of laughs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Valiant effort
Jim Shooter's Harbinger is what I thought of when I read this book.If you are a comicbook geek you will understand the frustration that one of the Freshmen feels (think Zepher).I do not want to spoiler (wow! thats a weird word) this book, so I will only say read it, make it a party game, insulate your life with this comic.Ok, just read it, if you are a comic lover.If you are comic hater, read Ambush Bug it is so full of comicbook references you will burn your copy and increase the value of mine.Thanks!

Wonderful comic!
I got the origin trade paperback for 'Freshmen' last month. I just figured I'd give it a shot because I like Seth Green. I am VERY glad I did. That comic had me hooked right away. The characters are all cool, funny, and likable. Wannabe makes for a great unlikely hero, and I love his costume. Puppeteer is a fascinating character, I loved a scene in one issue in which she uses her power to help a comatose friend come to grips with some of her worst memories. Intoxicator was a very funny guy who has some of the best lines in the book, and his power would make for an excellent weapon when you think about it. As a Christian, I really, really liked the character Quaker. Even though the portrayal of Amish life probably isn't very accurate (I don't know much about Amish culture), I liked the fact that, although his naivete about the world and modern technology is mocked at times, his faith is NOT. During an issue in which the narration is provided by him writing a letter to his family, he at one point makes a very astute and hard- hitting observation about what crude, decadent, and generally unhappy and unfulfilling lives many of his classmates lead, compared to the harmonious life in Amish country he was used to. I LOVED the scene in the final issue in which he finally uses his amazing earthquake power, it probably ranks up as one of my all- time favorite moments in a comic book. In addition to having such likable heroes, the villains are quite effective as well. Dr. Tomlinson comes across as a man who is not necessarily evil, just someone with his priorities messed up. He shows the consequences of the reckless pursuit of science without having proper morals and ethics to guide you. The Frat Guys, in contrast, ARE evil. They were cruel bullies even before getting their powers, but after getting them, they became complete barbarians whose blatant bloodlust made them VERY scary.
The only real problem I have is that some of the characters could have been given a LOT more use and exploration, most notably Cacophony, who was barely even in it before leaving.
So, in summary, I most definitely recommend 'Freshmen,' it is an amazing comic and a proud member of my collection.

Hilarious almost from Start to Finish
I picked this book up randomly, just because the premise sounded interesting, but I ended up reading the whole thing in one day. Just the fact that the book revolves around a rag-tag superteam composed of people with some people with almost useless powers (or none at all) is funny enough, but then they get into some ridiculous situations that made me literally laugh out loud. Unfortunately, then they start to deal with some more serious topics and issues that kind of hurt the initial feel of the book. It is certainly a memorable book though, so much that I even went out and got the second one later on.

A Must Read
One of the greatest origin comics of our time.If you haven't been shut-in you entire adolescent life, in one way or another, you will be able to relate to one or more of these characters and totally get where they're coming from.That and super powers combined, make for a mighty fine read.

Tired of grit, angst and Wolverine in your comics?Try this...
This book is fun.It's not over the top slapstick humor or full of witty conversations, but it is pretty fun.It's really well drawn by Leonard Kirk, who I remember from his great run on Peter David's Supergirl, and is written by Hugh Sterbakov, who I never heard of.Hugh mentions in his afterword that co-creator Seth Green is his best pal...so I think we all know how he broke into the field.The book is labelled Volume 1, but the story has a real ending and sequels, although welcome, aren't needed to enjoy the book.

The story: You've got a bunch of stereotypical college freshmen (except for the Amish guy and the beaver) (yeah, I just wrote the line "Amish guy and the beaver" in a review) who find themselves living in the school's science building due to a dorm shortage (except for the beaver - he is there for another reason).

When a science experiment on another floor misfires, the freshmen, and the aforementioned beaver, are all given super-powers related to whatever was on their mind at the instant of the misfire.It works out pretty well for the chick who was wondering how to get into other people's heads.But not so well for the guy looking at a squirrel or the guy who was measuring his, um, well, ahem, let's just call it his 'shortcoming'.

Anyhow, they all get drawn into a plot involving some bad guys and in the process turn into a super-hero team led by an uber-comic-book-geek who ironically happened to be out of the dorm at that critical moment when the others gained their powers.

The book collects the complete six issue miniseries, some art in progress pages, alternate covers, some pinups, introductions by Seth and Hugh, character bios and a short prose wrap-up story.

I don't think I'd give this book to anyone under the age of 14 or so since it does involve frank depictions of college age topics like sex and drinking.But for the super-hero fan looking for something lighthearted it's a good read and it is completely accesible to those who don't read other comics. ... Read more

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384 Pages ... Read more

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In The Partly Cloudy Patriot, Sarah Vowell travels through the American past and, in doing so, investigates the dusty, bumpy roads of her own life. In this insightful and funny collection of personal stories Vowell -- widely hailed for her inimitable narratives on public radio's This American Life -- ponders a number of curious questions: Why is she happiest when visiting the sites of bloody struggles like Salem or Gettysburg? Why do people always inappropriately compare themselves to Rosa Parks? Why is a bad life in sunny California so much worse than a bad life anywhere else? What is it about the Zen of foul shots? And, in the title piece, why must doubt and internal arguments haunt the sleepless nights of the true patriot?

Her essays confront a wide range of subjects, themes, icons, and historical moments: Ike, Teddy Roosevelt, and Bill Clinton; Canadian Mounties and German Filmmakers; Tom Cruise and Buffy the Vampire Slayer; twins and nerds; the Gettysburg Address, the State of the Union, and George W. Bush's inauguration.

The result is a teeming and engrossing audiobook, capturing Vowell's memorable wit and her keen social commentary. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (69)

Sarah Vowels most Engaging Book
I knew Sarah Vowell's voice and style from episodes of This American Life on NPR.However, I picked up this book knowing nothing about it, just on a recommendation from a friend. It took me a few essays in to really start to get into it, but once I did I was hooked.

Sarah Vowell's writing is both precise and conversational at the same time. I found myself devouring essays about political topics I had heretofore had zero interest in. That is the mark of a truly good writer.

After completing this book I plan on reading Sarah's other books of essays.A definate must read for those with a dry sense of humor and a love of all thing pop culture and political.

No David Sedaris
I gave this one star because it was remarkably underwhelming for the witty-sophisticated, short essay genre. I'm liberally minded, and have similar historical interests, yet I can't fathom why anyone would choose to read the questionably glib ramblings of a well-off, hyper-active, depressive, so engrossed in her own attention seeking needs that she writes an entire book relating interesting historical antidotes to her own insecurities and selfish wants.The concept is a modern historian as glib essayist, but that is really just a platform for the author to talk about herself.For example, relating the hardships endured by the pilgrims to her own flight delay is shallow in the extreme, and attempting to make it humorous by developing an "it could have been worse" mantra, is just a catchphrase that enables the author to continue her excessive whining, yet avoid being openly labeled a whiner. Many reviews compared her as the Gen X alternative to David Sedaris, however, Sedaris manages to be both funny and poignant, intellectual but self deprecating, caring but brazenly honest.This book is just a collection of self absorbed ramblings.

And frankly, the sentence structure and word choice makes it painful to read.It's written in the author's speaking/story telling manner, which is appropriate for recitation on NPR.While I can work to "hear" the author's voice, after a few chapters it becomes more irksome than listening to a teenager use "like" to start every sentence.For an author who openly idealizes great speeches and literary works, such as addresses by Roosevelt, and Lincoln, Ms. Vowell's writing just demonstrates how far we've fallen.

A Little Disappointed
I have to admit that I was pretty disappointed. I love Sarah Vowell, but this wasn't her best. Still, it was better than some other commentaries out there, but just not as witty (but always just as insightful) as I would have expected.

Random essays of varying quality
I first learned who Sarah Vowell is, not from her books or from her appearances on NPR, but from a short film about her and one of her books that was on the DVD of "The Incredibles."That film interested me enough to read her books and I have been well rewarded.This book is one of her oldest and is a collection of essays that she wrote for various publications.As you might expect from an author who writes essays about current events, many of her essays have not aged well.

The essays cover various topics including trips to North Dakota to see where Teddy Roosevelt lived during his sojourn in the west, a cafeteria at the bottom of the Carlsbad Cavern, Tom Landry, Canadians, and growing up with a fraternal twin sister.Other topics include the presidential election of 2000 and the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.It is these essays that seem like ancient history now and reading them makes you wonder if Ms. Vowell would feel the same way eight years after writing them.And overall, there is no theme to carry the book along.These are just random essays that Ms. Vowell wrote for various publications in the period from about 1998 to 2002.They vary in quality and, after ten years, interest.Do I really care what Ms. Vowell thought about Tom Cruise ten years ago?

Anyway, there are some good hits among the misses in this group of essays and if you are a fan of Ms. Vowell's writing, this is worth reading while you wait for her next book to come along.

Not your boring history class...
This book is just plain fun to read.The writing is funny and the subject matter is truly interesting.Highly recommended! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (12)

Green love
The world's greatest comic book collector, profiled documentary-style by his colleagues, acquaintances and admirers: this is "Wimbledon Green", Seth's most enjoyable book. Through small panels done in single colours we hear about the great collector and his habits. How he came to be, allegedly stealing comics from unsuspecting members of the public, winning all the auctions, outfoxing his competitors with either money or other ways. We hear about the Wilbur R Webb collection, a fabled store of mint condition Golden Age comics. We hear the conspiracy theories about Green's true identity. And along the way we are treated to the obsession of comics collecting as memorably explained via the collectors, as well as Seth's knowledge of the era reproducing facsimiles of comics from that time. We learn about Green's favourite comic "Fine + Dandy" a limited comic run about hobos in the '30s. And in the middle is a racy Tintin-esque search for an elusive comic "The Green Ghost #1".

Seth's work is always among the best the indie comics world has to offer. Here he scales back the art to become more sketch-like with smaller panels like Chris Ware's work. The single tone colours of the pages, sometimes chrome, sometimes golden, sometimes a dull green, add to the atmosphere of the book.

Seth hints at darker secrets to Wimbledon Green, chiefly among them the identity as well as the scene at the end where a thug tears up some rare comics leaving Green in a ball on the floor sobbing - blackmail? It all adds to the richness of the story. And even if the world of comics collecting feels a bit stuffy, Seth throws in a hammy chase quest for Green and his competitors to go on to stir up the reader's attention.

Seth mentions in his introduction that this was a way of reconnecting to his youth which was spent with similar comic books and a way of remembering his recently deceased mother as she was when he was a child. The final few pages of the book deal with Wimbledon's own mother succumbing to dementia and the scenes bring a powerful resonance that is missing from the generally jolly tone of the book.

I read this a few years ago when it came out and I just re-read it today and am pleased to see that it still holds up really well. The book itself is a small hardback, about the size of a regular paperback, with wonderfully crisp pages bound nicely and with an embossed cover. The overall design of the book is really wonderful, as the inside of the book is such a treat. Seth's best book in my opinion, it's definitely the place to start for new readers looking to enter into Seth's melancholic world of comics. Hooray for Wimbledon Green!

An absolute joy
This book is a delight. While the story is, on the surface, about comic book collectors, so much of the detail is fictionalized that I think it would be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in history and old things.

The creator, Seth, tapped into a wondrous streak of inspiration with Wimbledon Green.

Love song to comics & those who collect them
Subtitled "The Greatest Comic Book Collector in the World", Wimbledon Green is a surreal study of the madness that overtakes collectors. The book is a collection of short, revealing interviews & anecdotes about the mysterious Wimbledon Green. Green is a fantastic figure, even to the fictional collectors, shopkeepers, admirers and rivals that make up the charming underworld of comic book collecting. No one knows who he really is - only that he's somehow better at collecting than they are.

Wimbledon Green is cover-to-cover charm - combining nostalgia, humor and genuine warmth to create a wonderful, magical world of collecting that is (sadly) much more exciting than the reality. Without becoming too gushy, this is probably the finest book I've ever read on the strange, loving relationship between collections and collectors, and a genuinely brilliant exercise of the graphic novel form.

With Seth One can get Green with Envy!!
Seth even admits that this work was in essence a series of vignettes which in the beginning had no cement to make a normal graphic novel.This may be true as to how Seth set upon his rather excellent depiction of Wimbledon Green.In the end his novel resembles his depiction of George Sprott.This series of graphic vignettes paint a picture of a comic book collector extraordinaire who devout's his life to the comic media of the 1940's through the 1960's.In essence this depiction of this fictional Wimbledon Green is in reality the very thought process and philosophy of Seth.
As in his other graphic depictions, Seth creates a graphic Hopper-like world which means singularity and ultimate loneliness.Don't get me wrong, Seth is not a cultural loner.Instead, he creates a thought process that is quite cozy and comfortable.His novels reflect life as it should be.Each man is an island, but we readers can identify with this act.Seth's novels tell us that the past represents a better time.Nostalgia is the major theme and essence in Seth's depictions of life as it should be.With Wimbledon Green it is no different.As has become as I call it Sethesque, in the forming of all major characters that of being unique men of the recent middle 20th century.
Seth has done it again.Five Stars!!No Problem!!!

Seth pokes fun at fandom, film at 11
Seth, Wimbledon Green: The Greatest Comic Book Collector in the World (Drawn and Quarterly, 2005)

Amusing dig at the obsessive collector mentality (centered on comics, of course, but the obsession is universal; viz. Dork Tower and the like). The titular antihero (note to self: change word before posting to Amazon, for "titular" contains a-- gasp!-- seeming reference to the female breast) is a greedy scumsucking pig who always seems to show up where the good stuff is, and get to it before anyone else. Soon, a gang of his rivals get together and form a society; perhaps they can combat him in numbers where they have failed individually. The story is told in anecdote and flashback, for the most part, with threads of plot interweaved in a number of concurrent storylines; it's the kind of thing Chris Ware does (and Seth, in fact, credits his inspiration for the book to Ware), but I liked this better than I've liked the Ware I've read. I do wish it had been slightly less impressionist, but you can't have everything. A must for collector-types with thick enough skins to be able to laugh at themselves. ***

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