On the subject of race.

Tue, 1 May 2012
1 min read
Add Comment
HENRY: You want to tell me about black folks? I’ll help you: O.J. Was guilty. Rodney King was in the wrong place, but the police have the right to use force. Malcolm X. Was noble when he renounced violence. Prior to that he was misguided. Dr King was, of course, a saint. He was killed by a jealous husband, and you had a maid when you were young who was better to you than your mother. She raised you. You’ve never fucked a black girl, but one sat near you in science class, and she was actually rather shy.

(Pause.)

CHARLES: …I would never say any of…

HENRY: You’re fucking A right you wouldn’t. Which is the purpose of the lesson. Do you know what you can say? To a black man. On the subject of race.

CHARLES: “Nothing.”

HENRY: That is correct.
— David Mamet, Race, Theatre Communications Group: New York, pp. 5 – 6.

Related links of interest:

  1. We Can’t Stop Talking About Race in America.
  2. Dangerous Liaisons: Tennessee Williams and David Mamet on the damage that we do.

Birthday wishes

Tue, 20 Mar 2012
1 min read
Add Comment

Birthday dino

While trying my best not to sound stupid: HEY EVERYONE, IT’S MY BIRTHDAY TODAY! WOO HOO!

Haha!

Anyway, as I’m writing this you might be thinking about sending me birthday greetings.

You might even be contemplating – dinosaur-gods forbid – giving me a present.

Whatever the case, I’d like to ask for a favour from all of you.

Two, in fact, since today is a special day for me, and I don’t often ask for favours.

Could I please trouble all of you to do the following two things for me?

  1. ‘Like’ the Checkpoint Theatre page on Facebook, and
  2. Sign up for the Checkpoint Theatre mailing list.

It may not seem like much to you, but it means the world to me.

Thank you in advance for making this special day even more special for me, and I hope you all have a great day too!

Leadership (Part I)

Thu, 8 Mar 2012
2 min read
Add Comment

While the principles of leadership have interested me since I was young, I’ve been thinking more about these principles in recent months.

That plus this picture I recently saw floating around on Facebook comparing the difference between a boss and a leader inspired me to write about this topic.

The content of the visual is more or less spot on, but it’s also quite ugly. So I thought I’d create my own visual for posterity:

Difference between a boss and a leader.

For the less visually-inclined, the difference between a boss and a leader can be summarised as thus:

  1. A boss drives employees, whereas a leader coaches them.
  2. A boss depends on authority, whereas a leader utilises goodwill to get things done.
  3. A boss evokes fear, whereas a leader generates enthusiasm.
  4. A boss says “I”, whereas a leader says “We”.
  5. A boss merely places the blame on someone when there’s a breakdown; a leader fixes the breakdown to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
  6. A boss knows how it’s done but a leader shows how it’s done.
  7. A boss uses people but a leader develops people.
  8. A boss takes credit whereas a leader gives credit where it’s due.
  9. A boss commands; a leader asks (difference is in the tone of instruction).
  10. A boss says “Go” but a leader says “Let’s go”.

Is this true for you?

In any case, come back again tomorrow for part 2.