Read this article and then see if there is any way you could possible support the current administration. This is straight out of the Soviet Union (except that the banned books are different). How long is before people are disappeared? Are people already being disappeared?

---

Comments

tarv

2005-12-19T16:45:39.000Z

It’s Spy vs. Spy!

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/18/bush.nsa/index.html

With of course, Miss Rice defending her president at every turn.  Of course, this is the woman who’s not-so-secretly in love with him:  http://www.slate.com/id/2099516/

smashley

2005-12-20T18:42:45.000Z

One day I was at Bookpeople and I happened across the Koran, translated of course.  I was ready to buy it as I have always wanted to read the Koran but decided not to buy it since I would be using my debit card.  I just assume that is something it would be best to pay for with cash.  I remember a time not so long ago when people read books without fear and when we had a  president that could read books.

kelli

2006-01-15T21:13:29.000Z

Well, at least now the kid is admitting he made the whole thing up.  Sad plea for attention in my opinion, but I guess it’s better than taking your gun to school or something.

Josh

2006-01-16T03:03:30.000Z

hi tim,

thanks for taking a look at the RED CANS blog. i liked reading the “animated christo” response. that’s a tempting idea. now if only we could figure out a way to convince the performers to stay in the cans for three or four days w/o leaving…

It’s that time of year again. Time to find your driver’s license and head down to your local polling place. Prop 2 is getting all the press, but there are several other things that don’t need to be in the state constitution that you can take a stand on also.

Click here to verify your voter registration

This will also list your polling place. If you would like to vote early you can do so at any of the places listed here.

I’m not going to write a play about this. I’ve already written a play joking about the president attacking Iraq that opened the week he did, and a play about a house being flooded in New Orleans, that opens the week after it did, so I’ll just write this down in a blog.
The new zip codes that have been setup for all the evacuees in Houston and San Antonio and Dallas? They’re going to make sure they can’t vote in Texas. Mark my words. Can you imagine what a destabilizing presence to Texas Republican politics this could potentially be? Tens of thousands of voters pissed off at Bush for leaving them hanging out in disgusting conditions for a week congregating in one place…

Thanks so much to everyone who helped to make it such a great success. We’re planning our next season and are hoping to have some great new surprises in store!

Don’t forget this weekend is your last chance to see “The Grind”. We have a pick your price ($5, $10, or $15) this Thursday (August 25) at 8pm. Then we have $12 shows Friday and Saturday at 8pm. Get your tickets now.

I am currently writing a play in a building that also contains the Department of Public Safety Office. Right outside my window (I am blessed with a window), the parking lot is setup with some pylons. People come out and try to parallel park in preparation for their driving tests. I feel their nervous energy transferring through the window. The next time I look out they’re always gone. They never seem to really spend much time practicing. I guess it’s too nerve wracking for them as well. I wonder what they think looking in my window, lit by a weird elipsode lamp, me typing on a computer. How do these two worlds connect at all…

---

Comments

Seth

2005-08-27T20:55:34.000Z

Personally, I would suggest mounting either a telescope or binoculars in your window, aimed at the pylons.  This would add a Rear Windo effect to any parallel parking practice taking place, as well as give the event a zing of real world pressure, just like they’d feel on a busy street.

Don’t forget “The Grind” opens this Friday, August 12th. Get your tickets now!

And you might want to come for the party… Loosen your tie, take off your heels, and get ready to dance at “The Grind” Office Party! Loaded Gun Theory’s opening weekend party is this Saturday, August 13th at Arts on Real immediately following the show. We’ll have a keg, some wine, and a few munchies to take the edge off your late liquid lunch. We’ll have music from the Unbearables and the Hat Madders! Do you really need a reason to come party loyal Loaded Gun Theory fans? Come see the show and celebrate a day without work!

So there’s been this story in the news about this Scout who survived 4 days in the mountains of Nevada before being rescued. They say he survived because he stayed on the path. The reason they couldn’t find him is because he had been told to never talk to strangers and so he hid anytime a search party went by.
Now correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t this the epitome of not being smart? Blindly following directions is not smart. Smart would have been realizing that you were hungry and freezing to death and that there were many animals unfriendly to small humans, and that perhaps you should ask even a stranger for assistance, as the chance of dying from exposure to the elements or large animals has exceeded the chance of encountering a child molester. If that’s what passes for “smarts” these days I pray my kids are dumb.

So I have this good buddy who has this blog, and for some reason he has comments disabled. Which makes me feel like I’m at a Republican Town Hall meeting. I can listen, but no discourse is allowed. So that had me irked, but then I realized that I could just write my comments here and vent. No one will be the wiser, and in fact no one will probably have a clue what I’m talking about.

The question of the day was about being a good listener and probably more to the point about being a good communicator. The idea was that sometimes people don’t listen. If you tell them something deep and personal and completely out of the range of their life experiences they will try to find an appropriate anecdote from their own life and extrapolate advice based upon that. Which can be sort of irritating if that’s not what the communicator is looking for.

But that does beg the question - What is the communicator looking for? Normally when we talk about our problems we’re looking for someone to comiserate with. We may ask them a question. We may even give them a couple of choices we’re leaning towards, but the fact of the matter is that generally we’re trying to lead them towards agreeing with our already predetermined outcome.

I.e.
yes, you’re right the President is a rat fink
no, your toes do not smell like an old soggy peanut butter and jelly sandwich
etc.

So the question then, is how do you reply when the communicator is not looking for one of these answers. Personally, I’m fond of “Man, that’s rough. I don’t know what to tell you.” That seems to work for me, and people tell me I’m a great listener. But I think it has to do with my technique rather than what I say. A technique I invented for a teacher in high school who felt like none of us were paying attention (and would shout at us to try and make us pay more attention to her). I got really good at nodding along to what people say. Which doesn’t mean I’m not being sincere. It’s that listening to another person’s problem is like a ritual. Actually it probably is a ritual. It’s basically a catharsis. “Let me get something off of my chest.” The ritual takes the proverbial monkey and throws him clear. So the question is what do you do when there is nothing to say in response? Because I am pretty sure the answer is not to say nothing.

---

Comments

Julie

2005-06-20T21:19:52.000Z

Yes, but Tim’s obsessive nodding continues when he watches plays.  Which means he often gets picked out of the audience during audience-participation type things.  And he HATES audience-participation.  It’s kind of cute the way he nods along and then freaks out when picked to participate:)

Loaded Gun Theory Productions will be holding a garage sale to help fund their upcoming theatrical productions. Everything from gently worn books to old theatrical props are yours for the bargaining. Saturday, May 14, 8:00 am - 1:00 pm, 8420 Steamline Circle. Feel free to email info@loadedguntheory.com for directions.

[map:8420 Steamline Circle,Austin,TX,78745]