Which Do You Think the Fixtures Are in the Bathroom at the White House, Gold or Brass?

's 471 (11347.2) 1573 (4146.14) 2529 (1602.59) 16.939
jobs 151 (3637.85) 289 (761.751) 439 (278.188) 14.242
why 85 (2047.8) 75 (197.686) 222 (140.678) 13.623
businesses 70 (1686.42) 75 (197.686) 140 (88.7161) 12.093
that 912 (21971.7) 4629 (12201.2) 19589 (12413.3) 11.936
get 98 (2360.99) 171 (450.725) 300 (190.106) 11.873
i'm 61 (1469.6) 79 (208.23) 136 (86.1813) 10.653
don't 56 (1349.14) 82 (216.137) 137 (86.815) 9.752
can't 44 (1060.04) 54 (142.334) 102 (64.636) 9.161
like 83 (1999.61) 199 (524.528) 572 (362.469) 8.541
we'll 42 (1011.85) 61 (160.785) 98 (62.1013) 8.498
innovation 24 (578.202) 13 (34.2656) 40 (25.3475) 7.982
republicans 27 (650.477) 24 (63.2596) 49 (31.0506) 7.862
kids 28 (674.569) 29 (76.4387) 50 (31.6843) 7.761
college 41 (987.761) 70 (184.507) 128 (81.1118) 7.730
because 114 (2746.46) 399 (1051.69) 870 (551.307) 7.634
what 128 (3083.74) 462 (1217.75) 1282 (812.386) 7.547
companies 33 (795.027) 37 (97.5252) 167 (105.826) 7.471
we've 64 (1541.87) 175 (461.268) 251 (159.055) 7.438
democrats 25 (602.294) 24 (63.2596) 47 (29.7833) 7.434

the 1840 (44328.8) 23017 (60668.6) 133003 (84282.2) -8.955
of 1022 (24621.8) 13939 (36740.7) 86737 (54964) -8.133
must 53 (1276.86) 1583 (4172.5) 2843 (1801.57) -7.308
in 651 (15683.7) 8433 (22227.8) 33474 (21212) -6.237
peace 8 (192.734) 670 (1766) 1736 (1100.08) -5.699
program 16 (385.468) 618 (1628.93) 730 (462.591) -5.244
federal 22 (530.018) 737 (1942.6) 1315 (833.297) -5.216
freedom 8 (192.734) 472 (1244.11) 691 (437.877) -4.922
which 18 (433.651) 1072 (2825.6) 11029 (6988.93) -4.732
economic 21 (505.927) 614 (1618.39) 852 (539.901) -4.655
billion 9 (216.826) 425 (1120.22) 462 (292.763) -4.603
nations 16 (385.468) 601 (1584.13) 1651 (1046.22) -4.560
world 82 (1975.52) 1369 (3608.43) 2239 (1418.82) -4.508
free 17 (409.56) 554 (1460.24) 1166 (738.878) -4.366
national 17 (409.56) 566 (1491.87) 1837 (1164.08) -4.104
programs 16 (385.468) 440 (1159.76) 470 (297.833) -3.937
hope 7 (168.642) 324 (854.005) 769 (487.305) -3.638
be 175 (4216.05) 2499 (6586.91) 16149 (10233.4) -3.585
war 29 (698.66) 652 (1718.55) 2567 (1626.67) -3.449
provide 8 (192.734) 295 (777.566) 641 (406.193) -3.308
policy 8 (192.734) 333 (877.727) 1199 (759.79) -3.305

Explanation of the two text boxes here: I took X as Barack Obama's five SOTU addresses so far (41,508 "words", as per my tokenization), Y as the SOTU addresses of all other presidents since WWII (Truman through George W. Bush), and Z as the all SOTU addresses since 1790.  I then fed in all the words in SOTU addresses since Truman, Obama included, and sorted the results according to the weighted log-odds ratio. Here's the positive end of the list (i.e. tokens favored by Obama). Each line presents WORD XCount (XPerMillion) YCount (YPerMillion) ZCount (ZPerMillion) SCORE

So, I promised both Arvo Pärt and Swans cascades, here, perhaps for the first time in recorded human history, alternating Pärt and Swans pieces! Instead of watching SOTU, I was here:

• Among the crowd at Carrow Road: Being season-ticket holders and having been to most home games we went to Carrow Road last night to watch Norwich play Newcastle. It was our first evening game of the season and we were looking forward to it. Everything feels different under floodlights: the ground is more theatre than pitch, it's colder, noises arise out of the dark of the terraces, the far end of the pitch looks further away. The rain, which was heavy at times, and the swirling wind were effects we saw illuminated, the dimpling of small pools, the rain swept in this or that direction. The stand is a mixture of rough and delicate music.
• Food links.
• I ordered Miss McIntosh, My Dear from Dalkey last week, received an email from them yesterday, they are out of Volume 2 and there are no plans to publish more, did I want a refund or another book of the same value. I asked for a copy of Elkin's Franchiser, it yours to the first taker.
• A clarification on the typograph from Shohir's Stalin Is Dead posted yesterday. The typographs aren't Shohir's, they are the translator's, Ornan Rotem, as is the note on the typograph.
• Surzhyk.
• In defense of regionalism: Yet there are many ways to succeed as a poet. The California-born Jack Spicer never felt a need to prove himself on the East Coast. In college he encountered kindred spirits Robert Duncan and Robin Blaser, forming the Berkeley Renaissance. Spicer went on to cofound San Francisco’s Six Gallery, where Allen Ginsberg would later present an early draft of “Howl,” and in addition to teaching he informally mentored writers through his Circle sessions in North Beach. Spicer’s West Coast setting is usually obscured by allusion in his work. But his openness to poetry as dictation, as discourse with unruly spirits, reflects a specific cultural landscape. When water is the key motif, the Bay’s ecology surfaces; in “Any fool can get into an ocean…,” Spicer invites us to “Look at the sea otters bobbing wildly / Out in the middle of the poem.”
• Robert Creeley, for those of you who do.
• Re: top Arvo Pärt piece and the poet below the next Arvo Pärt piece - there are many happy accidents here, but sometimes things are done on purpose.
• Have I ever mentioned how much I love Jack Spicer's poetry? Fell asleep reading James Tate, woke up with the Tate poem below in my head, so more Spicer poems tomorrow, days to come.

THE MOTORCYCLISTS

James Tate

My cuticles are a mess. Oh honey, by the way,

did you like my new negligee? It’s a replica

of one Kim Novak wore in some movie or other.

I wish I had a foot-long chili dog right now.

Do you like fireworks, I mean not just on the 4th of July,

but fireworks any time? There are people

like that, you know. They’re like people who like

orchestra music, listen to it any time of day.

Lopsided people, that’s what my father calls them.

Me, I’m easy to please. I like ping-gong and bobcats,

shatterproof drinking glasses, the smell of kerosene,

the crunch of carrots. I like caterpillars and

whirlpools, too. What I hate most is being the first

one at the scene of a bad accident.

Do I smell like garlic? Are we still in Kansas?

I once had a chiropractor make a pass at me,

did I ever tell you that? He said that your spine

is happiest when you’re snuggling. Sounds kind

of sweet now when I tell you, but he was a creep.

Do you know that I have never understood what they meant

by “grassy knoll.” It sounds so idyllic, a place to go

to dream your life away, not kill somebody. They

should have called it something like “the grudging notch.”

But I guess that’s life. What is it they always say?

“It’s always the sweetest ones that break your heart.”

You getting hungry yet, hon? I am. When I was seven

I sat in our field and ate an entire eggplant

right off the vine. Dad loves to tell that story,

but I still can’t eat eggplant. He says I’ll be the first

woman President, it’d be a waste since I talk so much.

Which do you think the fixtures are in the bathroom

at the White House, gold or brass? It’d be okay with me

if they were just brass. Honey, can we stop soon?

I really hate to say it but I need a lady’s room.