John Elkington

Just in from phenomenal concert by Bill Wyman and The Rhythm Kings at Cadogan Hall.  Gaia and Hania came, too.  We sat perhaps 10 rows from the front, Elaine with cotton wool stuffed in her ears, in a highly convivial with the likes of John Hurt (the seat behind), Jerry Hall and Ben Kingsley. A bit like a family reunion in terms of the band/audience interface. Albert Lee and Beverley Skeete did a ravishing ‘Crying in the Rain’ and the reworking of ‘Johnny B. Goode’ was outlandishly good. ‘Honky Tonk Woman’, too. Joy unconfined.

At the wheel We’re off …

As I began my presentation at the Telekom Austria event, I spotted racing driver Niki Lauda in the front row – and addressed him in my opening remarks. I recalled that quite some years ago I had been asked by J. Walter Thompson what I thought of Formula 1 racing in the context of sustainability? My slightly unexpected (they told me) reply was that I supported their proposed ad campaign linking Shell to F1 sport and sustainability – because racing engineers were often at the cutting edge of fuel efficiency technology. But, I noted to my Vienna audience, if we all end up wanting to drive Maseratis we are going to have a bit of a problem.

Later in the evening, totally unexpectedly, I found myself at the wheel of a Tesla – an adventure captured by a Tesla photographer (see above). About as far from a Lauda as could be imagined – and instead of an ever-louder roar, there was just the crunch of the gravel under-wheel.

Before the event Dance 1 Dance 2 Dance 3 Dance 4 Dance 5 Tesla worship

Just in from doing a keynote at the third Climate Dialogue organised by Telekom Austria at Schloss Schonbrunn, alongside CEO Dr Hannes Ametsreiter and Austrian Forests and Environment Minister Nikolaus Berlakovich. Our session was followed by a truly spectacular ballet/gymnastics display, featuring images of the formation of the Earth, through the ravages of industrialisation to the emergence of clean, green technologies. And then I got to both sit in a Tesla sports car and drive it across the gravel and around a fountain, which for someone who doesn’t like sports cars had me rather excitable. Have been stunned at how hospitable the Austrians are.

Walking in the Belvedere Spanish School horse-head Inside the Cathedral Drivers await fares, with horses Art in our new hotel, Le Meridien Horizon, evening mood as some painters would say, from our verandah

Wonderful visit to the Belvedere to see their Klimt collection, including ‘The Kiss’, in which the male looks vampiric and the female unconscious, but lovely nonetheless. Also interesting to see the likes of Jacques Louis David’s portrait of Napoleon on a rearing horse, while his poor troops trudged up towards a distant pass, some of them almost buried already, only their bayonets showing as they climb through a defile. History in the making. One expected delight today was stumbling on the Spanish School and seeing some of the horses.

Oh, and reading again a website entry about Cafe Mozart, I discovered that this is where Graham Green worked on the script for the film of The Third Man – and that the theme tune is also known as the Cafe Mozart Waltz.

 

November frieze Pink tram Hundertwasser facade 1 Hundertwasser facade 2 We two And again … Cafe floor Hundertwasser’s flag for New Zealand Condensation trail Sitting Bull Hunched eagles Hunched eagles, 2 Escher moment Franz-Joseph’s horse kicks Moon Cafe Mozart Illuminations St Stephen’s Cathedral and Moon

One of the best days I have had for ages, walking around Vienna with Elaine, visiting the Hundertwasser Haus and Museum, and the Impressionism exhibition at the Albertina. I first came across his eco-posters when a group of Swedish scientists and officials came to London in the late 1980s, to lobby the UK government on acidic emissions from sources like the old CEGB, and gave me one of his posters, ‘Save the Rain’. Also came across Walton Ford, in Pancha Tantra, whose images blew me away. Wonderful traveling on the trams. Later, we had Turkish coffee and apfelstrudel at The Café Mozart and a delightful light supper at the vegetarian Wrenkh Restaurant.