Public Speaking, Sarah Palin, and “Accidental” Plagiarism

I know some folks saw this video a while back, but I just came across it again and almost fell out of my chair laughing.  It’s the “boom goes the dynamite” segment from a poor Ball State sportscaster, and it is ridiculously funny.

Note: Brian Collins sounds like a good guy.  Read the updated story.  Poor guy didn’t get a single date from the whole thing.

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Speaking of talking in public, this Men’s Health featurette has some useful tips on public speaking (or as David Brent once called it, “public squeaking”).  There’s some bad language, so note that.  I found it helpful, for example, to think about concentrating on vowel sounds when you’re nervous.  So there you go.

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George Will on Sarah Palin and the strengths and weaknesses of populism.

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There’s some bad language in the following story too, but if you can skip that, it raises some fascinating ethical questions, namely, is it possible to “accidentally” plagiarize?  The NYT just fired Zachery Kouwe for just that.  Let me answer my own rhetorical question (does that mean I’m interrupting myself?).  Sometimes we might use a phrase and not know its origin, but plagiarism–particularly multiple acts of it–can’t be “accidental”.

Kouwe, apparently unaware of how silly he’s making himself look, notes that he “was as surprised as anyone else that this was occurring.”  These really are strange ethical times.

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You may have it already, but if you don’t, buy Fernando Ortega’s recent The Shadow of Your Wings.  Most of the cd features Scripture set to calm and moving music.  Beautiful cd, and deeply edifying.

–Have a blessed weekend, all.