June 6, 2005: Headlines: Figures: COS - Malaysia: Writing - Malaysia: Humor: Election2006 - Friedman: The Daily Texas: Kinky Friedman, armed with clever quips, offered the crowd rare, unsigned versions of the book if they wished, and said, "I'll sign anything except bad legislation."

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Malaysia: Special Report: Author, Humorist and Malaysia RPCV Kinky Friedman: February 9, 2005: Index: PCOL Exclusive: RPCV Kinky Friedman (Malaysia) : June 6, 2005: Headlines: Figures: COS - Malaysia: Writing - Malaysia: Humor: Election2006 - Friedman: The Daily Texas: Kinky Friedman, armed with clever quips, offered the crowd rare, unsigned versions of the book if they wished, and said, "I'll sign anything except bad legislation."

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-245-37.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.245.37) on Sunday, June 12, 2005 - 4:08 pm: Edit Post

Malaysia RPCV Kinky Friedman, in race for Texas Governor, offered the crowd rare, unsigned versions of the book if they wished, and said, "I'll sign anything except bad legislation."

Malaysia RPCV Kinky Friedman, in race for Texas Governor, offered the crowd rare, unsigned versions of the book if they wished, and said, I'll sign anything except bad legislation.

Malaysia RPCV Kinky Friedman, in race for Texas Governor, offered the crowd rare, unsigned versions of the book if they wished, and said, "I'll sign anything except bad legislation."

The Kinkster's book signing doubles as campaign opportunity
Friedman's book shares his take on Texas with outsiders,potential voters
By Megan Headley

Kinky Friedman reads a passage from his book to a packed house at BookPeople at Sixth Street and Lamar Boulevard on Friday afternoon.

Though he's loyal to only one kind of hat, cowboy Kinky Friedman is a jack of all trades: musician, mystery writer, salsa-maker, animal rights activist and now a 2006 gubernatorial candidate. With his new book, "Texas Hold 'Em," a collection of nonfiction and autobiographical pieces on Texas, he shares his expertise on the state he soon hopes to work for.

About 60 people attended a book signing for Friedman's new book at BookPeople on Friday.

"He's like a Texas icon," said Adam Rice, events coordinator at the bookstore. "It's good to have him here."

Friedman, armed with clever quips, offered the crowd rare, unsigned versions of the book if they wished, and said, "I'll sign anything except bad legislation."

He wrote the book to explain Texas to outsiders and to share his take on the state with everybody, Friedman said.

"Texas is a big, beautiful, independent-thinking state," he said. "It shouldn't be run by empty suits and empty dresses."

"The office should not be overrated," Friedman said. "The governor should be able to inspire the people."

Friedman plans to redefine the job and be more available to the constituents by having a listed phone number, he said. Education, energy, animal rights, criminal justice and border issues are among his concerns, along with the end of political correctness, or the "de-wussification" of Texas. He wants to end teaching to standardized tests in schools, outlaw the de-clawing of cats and instate life-without-parole as a possible alternative to the death penalty in order to cut down on executions of innocent people. Friedman also expressed his view on gay marriage.

"They have every right to be just as miserable as the rest of us," he said. "On a serious note, I believe love is bigger than government."

Before he can do any of that, Friedman will have to jump through a few hoops to get his name on the ballot. Within two months after the March 2006 primaries, Friedman must collect almost 50,000 signatures, or 1 percent of last election's voter turnout, from eligible voters who didn't vote in either primary.

"Save yourself for Kinky," Friedman told his audience, commenting on the perverseness of having to ask people not to vote and referring to the petition drive as a "circus with a purpose."

As governor, Friedman would also like to restore the name of the cowboy, which has come to mean "loose cannon" or "bully" in other parts of the country, he said.

Being a cowboy is about desiring spiritual, physical and political elbow room, he said.

"Anybody with a cowboy spirit doesn't like to be fenced in," he said. "You long for freedom and wide, open spaces, which hopefully are not between your ears."

Friedman plans to lead by example: by standing up for the little people and by giving Texans a cowboy they love, he said.

"Only two kinds of people wear cowboy hats: cowboys and assholes," he said. "I hope I'm the former."

Those lined up to get their books signed ranged from political supporters to mystery book fanatics.

"I think I'm going to vote for him," said high school teacher Joy Giles. "I'm jaded by what the Legislature doesn't do. He couldn't do any worse."

Todd Ruge, an operator at Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., reads all of Friedman's books.

"He says things that most people only wish they could say," Ruge said.

Though Friedman ended his 17-book-long mystery series by killing off the main character - Kinky Friedman - in the last book, Ruge is hopeful the author will pick the series back up at some point, since no body was ever recovered.

"If I hear the literary community of the world clamoring for his return, I suppose you could always figure out a way to bring him back," Friedman said. "But it won't be in a dream sequence. I think I'll be working for the people of Texas, so I won't have time."






When this story was posted in June 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:


Contact PCOLBulletin BoardRegisterSearch PCOLWhat's New?

Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
The Peace Corps Library Date: March 27 2005 No: 536 The Peace Corps Library
Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. If you have a web site, support the "Peace Corps Library" and link to it today.

Top Stories and Breaking News PCOL Magazine Peace Corps Library RPCV Directory Sign Up

June 6: PC suspends Uzbekistan program Date: June 7 2005 No: 640 June 6: PC suspends Uzbekistan program
Peace Corps has announced that it is suspending the Uzbekistan program after the visas of 52 Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in January were not renewed. The suspension comes after a State Department warning that terrorist groups may be planning attacks in Uzbekistan and after the killings in Andizhan earlier in May. Background: PCOL published a report on April 23 that Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in January were having visa difficulties and reported on safety and visa issues in Uzbekistan as they developed.

June 5, 2005:  Special Events Date: June 6 2005 No: 622 June 5, 2005: Special Events
Vote in the NPCA Election for new board before June 15
"American Taboo" author Phil Weiss in Maryland on June 18
"Rainforests and Refugees" showing in Portland, Maine until June 25
"Iowa in Ghana" on exhibit in Waterloo through June 30
RPCV's "Taking the Early Bus" at Cal State until Aug 15
RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

May 28, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Date: May 29 2005 No: 607 May 28, 2005: This Week's Top Stories
The Coyne Column: Love and War in Afghanistan 28 May
Sam Farr supports Coffee Growers in Colombia 28 May
Elaine Chao wins Woman of Valor award 27 May
Nebraska has strong ties with Afghanistan 27 May
Arthur Orr to seek Alabama State Senate seat 26 May
Murder of John Auffrey remembered in Liberia 26 May
Bill Moyers says journalists should be filters for readers 26 May
Linda Seyler spent two years in Thailand digging latrines 25 May
Chris Shays blasts Bush on stem cell research 25 May
George Wolfe to head Loudoun Academy of Science 25 May
David Rudenstine heads Cardozo School of Law 24 May
Mark Schneider says declaration is "pretty thin gruel" 24 May
Robert Blackwill supports seat for India on Security Council 24 May
Chris Matthews weighs Thomas Jefferson nomination 24 May
Jim Knopf is expert on xeriscape gardening 23 May
Mae Jemison receives honorary degree at Wilson 23 May
Kenneth Proudfoot says dreams come true 22 May

Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000  strong Date: April 2 2005 No: 543 Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong
170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community.


Read the stories and leave your comments.






Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: The Daily Texas

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Malaysia; Writing - Malaysia; Humor; Election2006 - Friedman

PCOL20674
52

.


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: