News & Notes: The Wasteful, Print It Out and Throw It Away Edition

Dallas likes to save rubber bands. That's according to those who responded to the America's Least Wasteful Cities survey, anyway.

​Some news and notes on this thank-God-it's-Friday:

I've been told that everyone loves lists. So, then, with that in mind: Mazel tov, Dallas! Last year, we came in at No. 24 on the America's Least Wasteful Cities list -- 24 out of 25, shameful. This year, though, we're all the way down -- er, up? -- to 14th! Which means, per the release sent out by a company that makes reusable water bottles, Dallas has the "best overall city improvement." Where we do best: using reusable water bottles and shopping bags; apparently, we also like to eat leftovers and save rubber bands. Where we do worst: "driving car[s] for trips that are less than one mile from home." Patrick "Car-Free" Kennedy is not amused ...

Speaking of unnecessary short drives, Jim Keyes, CEO of downtown-based Blockbuster, spoke to The Los Angeles Times yesterday about, among many other things, why people still want -- no, need -- their corner video-rental shoppe. Said Keyes, plain and simple, people like to browse: "Here's an analogy: If I want to buy an obscure book title, I'll go to Amazon.com. But if I want to browse and see what's new, I will go to Barnes & Noble." ...

And on a very related note, Carl Icahn -- the man who pretty much installed Keyes as Blockbuster CEO only to eventually dump most of his stock -- has been trying to take over Lions Gate Entertainment. But today Seeking Alpha has taken note of another major stockholders'  filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday -- some dude by the name of Mark Cuban. SA wonders if the Mavs' man investment in the movie studio is setting up "a battle of billionaires." I'd pay to see that.