Proceedings: Woodstock Festival of Design and Construction The LaiseBoy™ Philosophy, Part 4—Botox for the Brain LaiserinLetterLetters Laiserin's Lemma™—"There is no sanity clause." Proceedings: Woodstock Festival of Design and Construction Several million aging baby boomers claim to have been among the 400,000 who attended the legendary Woodstock music festival during the 1960s. In hindsight, today's boomers recognize the cultural watershed that Woodstock represented: anybody who (now) is cool must have been there. Likewise, in just a few years from today thousands of building industry folks will claim to have been among the 100 or so who attended the June 27 Virtual Builders Roundtable Workshop at DPR Construction and the June 28 Executive Seminar at Stanford/CIFE, "Real Profits Through Virtual Building." Just as Woodstock changed the course of popular music, the DPR and CIFE events promise to change the course of design and construction. The LaiseBoy™ Philosophy, Part 4—Botox for the Brain A recent cosmetic craze entails periodic injections of deadly botulism toxin (botox) to partially paralyze facial muscles—supposedly making the patient look younger, albeit vapid and expressionless as well. A parallel reading craze entails periodic interjections of smarmy TV-talk-show-host book recommendations that partially paralyze "brain muscles"—leaving the reader no smarter and certainly no younger. For those who prefer to think younger and get smarter about designing, building, and operating the man-made environment, here are six books you won't find recommended on TV. LaiserinLetterLetters An occasional sampling of reader electron-mail, or "keep those waves and particles pouring in, folks!". Laiserin's Lemma™—"There is no sanity clause." (lemma: a short theorem used in proving a larger theorem) Fans of the Marx Brothers' film classic, "A Night at the Opera," will recognize the punchline to Groucho and Chico's contract negotiation routine. Elsewhere, Groucho Marx said, "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies." Although he probably wasn't referring to our present system of disincentives for intelligently using digital technology in AEC, plant/process, and infrastructure projects, Groucho wouldn't have been too far off the mark, either.