Archive for the ‘speeches’ tag
David Foster Wallace #
I’ve refrained from commenting on the passing on David Foster Wallace because until that news spread, I might have assumed he was a Scottish revolutionary (or somesuch). But Gong Szeto captures how I feel about it all pretty well:
I can conclude with certainty that everyone I have ever encountered who admired his work are smart, passionate, and engaged people. And even though I have not myself engaged in his (intimidating) writing oeuvre, I see the far-reaching effect he had and continues to have on people around me.
Of the limited engagement I’ve had with his work in the last few days, I most liked this 2005 commencement speech. These two quotations are also good.
An Interesting Look at the State of the Union #
Slate’s provided a way to make last night’s State of the Union interesting, and placed it within a historical context. Though I can’t vouch for the accuracy of their process, it does create interesting results. Through a “natural-language analysis” they’ve found the speeches fall into four distinct phases.
Monday night, a fourth and final Bush emerged, Crawdad tells us: “Legacy Bush.” New and year topped the list, along with leader, Congress, and agreement. Iraq(i) was also influential.
“As is common in most State of the Unions, Bush framed his thoughts in a nationalistic manner, using the words America(n), nation, good, people, and world very significantly,” Dooley tells Slate. “We note that Bush believes his legacy is still very much tied to Iraq and the Iraqi people.
You can also skip straight to their table of all of Bush’s addresses.