E. Michael Harrington

On this day in 2004, the Cleveland Indians, a baseball team in northern Ohio, beat the New York Yankees, the embodiment of Evil, who play in a stadium in the Bronx, by the score of 22 - 0. I was living in midtown Manhattan wearing Red Sox shirts everyday and was able to celebrate in NY bars that night and for the rest of the glorious 2004 baseball season.

This is the day in 1897 when Thomas Edison received a patent for his movie camera, the Kinteograph. The Motion Picture Association of America was not formed yet but their antipiracy movement soon sprang into action.

This is also the day in 1997 when Dodi and Diana died.

________________________________________________________________________________

The opera...is to music what a bawdy house is to a cathedral. - H. L. Mencken

________________________________________________________________________________

The Peninsula Hotel on 55th & 5th has one of those few bars on a roof in Manhattan. We went there yesterday and I was warned that it was pricey. When I walked on, not in (it was a roof), there were the beautiful people (just ask them) drinking champagne, cosmos and other martinis. Having a moderate attraction to girlie drinks, and no attraction to grown up things like whiskey, bourbon, Scotch, Jack Daniels and other harsh tasting stuff, I ordered a cosmopolitan. It was $20, as were most drinks there. The margarita was $19, the house wine, $14, but there were $55 and $85 drinks as well. It's a lovely roof where one can enjoy one drink, not two, and breathe in the air of cigars from those who want you to know that they too are living the good overpriced life.

________________________________________________________________________________

I'd feel better if I knew that more of our National Guard was in the U. S. and not Iraq. I'd also love it if we did not have to spend more than $200 billion erroneously on the Mideast Mistake. That money could come in handy now as the security, welfare and health of millions of Americans who live on the Gulf Coast, as well as the many millions more who will be economically effected by Katrina, need to be better addressed. Of course the Bush Administration will develop a good plan for this and I am sure that it will focus on two principal actions - cut taxes and privatize social security.

Bush has been comparing the Allies victory over Germany and Japan to Iraq. That is foolish. In World War II, we were attacked and then attacked back. We attacked the correct nations. In the Iraq mess, it was known that Iraq did not attack us. The Iraqi military could not even fly over most of the northern and southern parts of their own country, let alone send a nuclear weapon to New York City in 45 minutes. We rightly attacked Afghanistan and immorally attacked Iraq, a country that had done nothing to us. But Bush was able to come up with a string of alternative reasons later, throw them at the wall and see if one would stick. The Bush Administration works this way. 98% of everything wrong is the fault of terrorists - the rest is due to Bill Clinton.

________________________________________________________________________________

"why do cupids and angels continually haunt her dreams like memories
of another life is painted on her shirt in capitals
out on the free free way there's only she and the they represented by the lights..."

Today's song of the day is by _________________

Posted by EMH at 07:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

On this day in 1972, Cameron Diaz was born.
On this day in 30 BC, Cleopatra committed suicide.

I think Republicans blame Bill Clinton for both.

____________________________________________________________

NEWS in the neighborhood:

In addition to the fruit cart and the fast Indian food cart, there is now a cream puff cart on my corner. The cream puffs look great but I'm still getting my sugar mainly from fruit, so I'll continue to steer clear.

Limoncello, with its $11 oatmeal, might be out of business. It looks abandoned anyway. We need expensive oatmeal and this is probably a wonderful business opportunity for someone.

____________________________________________________________

We still have troops in Germany and Japan.
They have been there since that ended in 1945.

We still have troops in South Korea.
They have been there since that ended in 1953.

We will no longer have troops in Iraq-Nam in (year) ____________. If we consider Germany and Japan to be the worst case scenarios, i.e., keeping troops overseas for 60 years after victory, then it would follow that our troops would stay at least 60 years after we win this war. We've won, haven't we? Which was the winning indicator? Toppling the statue of Saddam? Spinning the aircraft carrier around for the First Passenger to land on the aircraft carrier? Unfolding the heroic, "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" banner? Killing Saddam's sons? Capturing Saddam? Staging an election? Writing a constitution?

So, we'll leave Iraq-Nam as soon as 2063 and we'll finance the entire thing by cutting taxes and using their oil.

____________________________________________________________

One of my favorite songs:

"...we went to the store and bought something great
which samples this song from Washington state

go little record go
it is named by
some guy named
Joe and the words are the letters of the words..."

Writer of the above six lines? ___________________________

And, what time signatures are used in the music accompanying these lyrics? (yes, that's a pretty esoteric and unfair question!)

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

Posted by EMH at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

RAT Watch - 1

Saturday, August 27 - I saw my first rat, not in the subway but at night on my street running next to, and I think in and out of, Heartland Brewery. I don't like rats on my street, let alone my expensive block on my expensive street. (Last year I spotted my first rat after approximately 6 weeks in New York and he was scurrying about at night on the F & V train tracks at the 47-50 Rockefeller Center station. He was a not-small blue- blooded rodent.)

CELEBRITY Watch - 1

Sunday, August 28 - I saw my first celebrity today. She also happens to be one of my favorite actresses (usually I write "actor" but this time I didn't) - Frances Conroy, who plays "Ruth Fisher," on the HBO show, "6 Ft. Under." She looked the same as she does on the tube.

YANKEES (Evil Empire) fans - 1

I had my first long conversation (many sentences long and I won when it came to the outcome of the argument) with a few Yankees fans. Although I despise that team and its owner and their "buy happiness" approach to life, some of their fans can be fairly decent people and we baseball fans can be sort of polite and respectful. I'll go on and on later about the shortcomings of the New York Yankees.

The Evil Empire Encounter took place at an excellent little bar/restaurant at 13th & 9th called, "The Hog Pit," named because of its great barbecue and possibly another reason related to its clientele.

________________________________________________________________________________

"The sound of a harpsichord: Two skeletons copulating on a galvanized tin roof." - Sir Thomas Beecham (1978)

________________________________________________________________________________

NEW ORLEANS - I pray for their safety. I fear what will happen. Having traveled there more than 30 times, I view the city as a friend. Some of my best things I've experienced have taken place there.

Posted by EMH at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

We learn a lot by looking to the past. There is a brilliant means to look at how the Internet itself has changed. The Wayback Machine (I think this was the name of Poindexter's time machine in the Underdog cartoons) is a search engine for more than 40 billion websites of the past. The Wayback Machine has been collecting these since 1996.

http://www.archive.org/web/web.php

My favorite part of Article 1 of the U. S. Constitution is found in Section 8. It is known as the copyright and patent clause and is the justification and basis for our laws governing copyright and patents.

Here is that inspired and inspirational phrase:

Article 1, Section 8: "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to ther respective Writings and Discoveries."

The U. S. Copyright Office proudly displayed that phrase on its website, in all of its versions and revisions, until 2004.

One of my uses for the Wayback Machine now is to show that the U. S. Copyright Office dropped its constitutional charge, that great phrase of our Founding Fathers, from its website.

Simply insert, "copyright.gov," in the space to the right of "enter web address" and up pops 151 different captures of the U. S. Copyright Office homepage from February 5, 2001 through November 30, 2004.

The earliest archived Copyright homepage is found here (April 5, 2001):

http://web.archive.org/web/20010208201650/www.copyright.gov/copyright/

Notice how prominently, "to promote the Progress of Science and the useful Arts..." is displayed, even so far as correctly reproducing the specific capital letters within the words that the Founding Fathers used.

Move ahead to late 2003 (December 18, 2003) and the phrase is still prominent:

http://web.archive.org/web/20031218111219/http://www.copyright.gov/

All of the sites between February 5, 2001 and December 18, 2003 display the Enlightened Phrase.

Now, if one clicks on February 4, 2004, the founding phrase has been ELIMINATED with no explanation as to why the U. S. Copyright Office no longer finds its founding phrase and justification for existence important. THIS NOW MARKS THE MOMENT when federal employees of the U. S. Copyright Office decided that the public should no longer be aware of the Founding Fathers' inspired work, and that these federal employees were qualified to override the U. S. Constitution.

http://web.archive.org/web/20040204104606/http://www.copyright.gov/index.html

Notice that the phrase is gone.

Why have they eliminated Article 1, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution from their homepage? And why does a group of federal employees feel they can simply hide what they do not like, the "promote the Progress" section of the Constitution. The music and film industry do not believe that the essential point of copyright is to promote progress but rather to maintain the federally charged and federally backed monopoly on copyrighted works, WITHOUT regard for the greater point of copyright - to educate and enrich the public and public domain. The music and film industry are not charged with following the U. S. Constitution - these industries were not governmentally and constitutionally established. The Copyright Office, however, is governmentally and constitutionally established even if they choose to ignore that sacred constitutionally established trust.

Shame on them. Are they enjoying their romp in the sack with the like-minded entertainment industry? Are we as a society better off for this unholy alliance?

Posted by EMH at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I woke up this morning>>>>>> STOP right there. It looks like a blues song is coming, but it's not. Instead, I had Loretta Lynn in mind and her song of wonen's liberation, "The Pill."

I'm tired of all your crowin'
How you and your hens play
While holdin' a couple in my arms
Another's on the way

This chicken's done tore up her nest
And I'm ready to make a deal
And you can't afford to turn it down
'Cause you know I've got the pill

This incubator is overused
Because you've kept it filled
The feelin' good comes easy now
Since I've got The Pill

It's getting dark it's roostin' time
Tonight's too good to be real
Oh but daddy don't you worry none
'Cause mama's got The Pill

Why a 34 year old Loretta Lynn song on a Saturday in midtown Manhattan? I don't know.

________________________________________________________________________

Once upon a time, I created and taught a course called, "Entertainment Industry In New York." I also lived in New York and taught non-New York resident students who moved to New York to study for a semester. One of the requirements was that each student had to attend cultural events. Here is the relevant excerpt from my syllabus:

Students must attend at least nine (9) music/arts/theatre/cultural events in the Fall semester, write a one-two page report about each event, and submit the program, ticket stub, receipt or memento of the event. This report must be typed, double-spaced, 12-size Times New Roman font, and contain the following information:

The category of the event: World Music: South American (Brazil)

The name, time and date of the event: David Byrne and Gilberto Gil, 8:00 PM, Tuesday, September 21, 2004

The name, address and description of the venue: Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center – outdoor band shell at the SW corner of Lincoln Center, 64h St. & Broadway

How you got to the event: 9 train to 14th and L train to Bedford Ave., Brooklyn

Description of the ensemble/musicians/performers: 5 musicians – piano/keyboards, sax, electric bass,
drums/percussion, electric guitar/acoustic guitar

Description of the program: Orchestra concert featuring Beethoven Symphony No. 7, Mendelssohn
Violin Concerto, and Messiaen Les Offrandes oubliées (The Forgotten Offerings))

Your one-two page report on the music or event.

The report must be submitted in hard copy within one week of attending the event.

These events will include world music, classical music, jazz, theater, dance and museum/gallery events. These events must be held in different parts of Manhattan as detailed below:

At least 1 event must be north of 96th St.
At least 1 event must be between 59th and 95th St.
At least 1 event between 4th and 58th St.
At least 1 event in Greenwich Village (south of 4th St. to the Battery)

Students must attend at least one (1) event from each of the following nine (9) categories. A singular event can only count for one (1) category.

World Music: Africa

World Music: South America, Caribbean and Central America (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Dominican Republic, etc. not Canada, U. S. or Mexico)

World Music: Asia, Sub-continent (not Pacific islands)

Classical Music: Orchestral (not John Williams)
Chamber (not Bond),
Solo (not Andrea Bocelli)

Vocal Music: Opera
Broadway

American Music: Jazz (not Kenny G)

Theatre: Play
Performance Art

Dance: Modern
Classical

Museum/Gallery: The Met, Whitney, MoMA, art gallery, etc.

*************************************************************************************

Extra credit: attend an event in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx or Staten Island

attend a university arts/music event in the tri-state area

University: university music/arts event
(Columbia, NYU, New School, Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, CUNY, Barnard, Yeshiva, Hunter, SUNY, William Paterson, etc.)

________________________________________________________________________

Looking back on that course, it was a lot of fun and students told me that they learned from the experiences. I'm probably most pleased that I wanted them to explore different sections of Manhattan, and, to quote Spinal Tap, "the world and elsewhere." I'll never teach this course again but it was a lot of fun.

________________________________________________________________________

I'm glad that my friends in Florida survived Katrina. I hope no one ever says the phrase, "only a Category 1 hurricane," ever again. I wish the best for my many friends in Sodom, i.e., New Orleans. Please, leave now. Santa Fe is gorgeous this time of year.

________________________________________________________________________

A final reference that sprung from an earlier reference.

"I met her on Monday
it was my lucky Bun day
You know what I mean

I love her each weekday
Each velvety cheek day
You know what I mean"

And the author of this is ______________

________________________________________________________________________

Posted by EMH at 08:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Justice John Paul Stevens is one of my heroes partly for his opinion in Sony, the case that allowed us to record television programs using that "end of the world as we know it" technology, the VCR. This was the entertainment industry's 9/11 - the Supreme Court case that prevented them from becoming the North Korean style menace they still long to be. In the Court's June 27, 2005 Grokster decision, this core principle - that a technollogy "need merely be capable of substantial noninfringing use" - was not overturned despite the millions of dollars and years of effort on behalf of the music and film industry.

Here are Justice Stevens' elegant words from 1984:

"Accordingly, the sale of copying equipment, like the sale of other articles of commerce, does not constitute contributory infringement if the product is widely used for legitimate, unobjectionable purposes. Indeed, it need merely be capable of substantial noninfringing uses." U. S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens in SONY CORP. v. UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS, INC., 464 U.S. 417 (January 17, 1984)

Stevens' phrase is so worth repeating: a technology "...need merely be capable of substantial noninfringing uses." This phrase and its implications helps to distinguish us from our enemies - the North Koreans in the U. S. Copyright Office, for example, who shun even their founding constitutional phrase - "to promote the progress of science annd the useful arts."

Justice Paul Stevens, speaking to a bar association meeting in Las Vegas recently, stated that he regretted two of his decisions in this past term - eminent domain, and California's medical marijuana initiative. The eminent domain has led to more outrage than any other decision in this term, and physician-supervised medical marijuana is an excellent idea that should be widely adopted. Stevens' personal opinion re both issues had to be subjugated to his interpretation of law and preeminence of U. S. Constitutional principles.

_____________________________________________________________________________

On the subject of marijuana, I am in agreement with two famous conservatives who have opined about marijuana. Nobel Prize winning economist, Milton Friedman, and National Review founder, William F. Buckley, Jr., both feel that marijuana should be decriminalized. Marijuana has been called a gateway drug to more dangerous drugs. In some cases, that is true. But in all cases, crawling is a gateway drug to walking, which is a gateway drug to running, which is a gateway drug to robbing a bank.
Our war on drugs is silly and futile. It reminds me of the war on downloaders. These activities won't stop and we'd better off making money from them. Many things are taxed _ I can't understand my phone bills with their oddities and hidden middle finger fees. It's time to tax some more. Despite the fact that we just started a war _ Iraq-Nam - and to fund it, cut taxes, usually our country and most others raise money by collecting taxes.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Great lyrics - I'll quote this person more in the future:

You can't judge an apple by looking at a tree
You can't judge honey by looking at the bee
You can't judge a daughter by looking at the mother
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.
Oh can't you see
Oh you misjudged me
I look like a farmer
But I'm a lover
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover

Can a farmer not be a lover? As I am from the farming community of Cambridge, Massachusetts, I resemble that remark. But every other things about that song and its lyrics are perfect..

And the author of the song is_____________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Posted by EMH at 05:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Pat Robertson - you're a millionaire, old, past your prime, have had too much fame and attention, have been able to be irresponsible and give Christianity a bad name (remember many people pay attention and act when you own media and broadcast what you want with wanton regard), and have not recently been fired for being such a mean spirited bastard. I know if I, or millions of other Americans, ever said that the U. S. should assassinate an elected leader of an allied nation with which we have important trade treaties, I/we would have been fired. You really should be grateful that you have freedom of speech to a degree that few of us have. That old saying applies to you and your extra privilege - "All men are created equal although some more equal than others."

________________________________________________________________________________

Azucar is a new and fantastic Cuban restaurant on 8th Avenue, between 55th & 56th streets. When you get to the front door, you'll notice a man outside with big brown leaves and mechanical objects. He is rolling cigars and if you're lucky, and a customer, you might get a free one later. A's mojitos are as great as I've ever had. The mint leaves are beautiful and fresh and the M is lovingly prepared. Being one who grows his own mint leaves and lovingly prepares his own M's, I can attest to Azucar's beautiful M's. The food is great as well. We had many different dishes - steaks, black beans and rice, pork this, pork that, vegetables, etc. - that were great. And the best part of the entire experience, for me, is Mario, the owner. His charm makes A's even better. We hit it off and I will stop in to see him soon. Look for, ask for, and meet Mario. The rest of the employees were really cool and fun as well.

http://azucarnyc.com/

________________________________________________________________________________

I hope I'm never this sad. Even Pat Robertson shouldn't be this sad (even when imploring George Bush to murder fellow humans):

"I've never seen a night so long
When time goes crawling by
The moon just went behind a cloud
To hide its face and cry

Did you ever see a robin weep
When leaves began to die
That means he's lost the will to live
I'm so lonesome I could cry"

(Hey Child Of The 60's, can you name the composer?)

And I know I (and Pat Robertson) will never be this cool:

"Well you're where you should be all the time and when you're not you're with some underworld spy or the wife of a close friend wife of a close friend..."

(Hey Child Of The 60's, can you name the composer?)

________________________________________________________________________________

And now for the big answer to yesterday's big question:

Westerly delivered, and on time. Tony The Tiger said it best: "They're GREAT!"

________________________________________________________________________________

Posted by EMH at 01:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

What goes into getting elected:

P: "Do you think people will vote me for me?"
N: "Heck, yes. I'd vote for you."
P: "Like what are my skills?"
N: "Well, you have a sweet bike, and you're really good at hooking up with chicks. Plus you're like the only guy at school who has a mustache."
P: "That's true."
N: "If you need to use any of my skills, I can do whatever you want."

Skills, obviously, are everything.

______________________________________________________________________________

Yesterday, a friend turned me on to Heather B. Armstrong's blog. She survived Mormonhood and likes to write about it. She had sex before she had coffee. Me too.

http://www.dooce.com/about.html

______________________________________________________________________________

Hollywood is wondering why box office receipts are down. When will MPAA head, Dan Glickman (I miss writing and saying, "Jack Valenti"), get more vocal about Hollywood's problems being the fault of college students downloading (and wearing beards and hijacking planes). Hollwood's problems couldn't be because of such predictable, derivative "crapola" (to quote Archie Bunker) that the MPAA keep churning out, could they?

(Note to Nicole Kidman on the regurgitation of the 60's TV show, "Bewitched:" "Nicole, I knew Elizabeth Montgomery (the real "Samantha Stevens" the witch). Elizabetth Montgomery was a friend of mine. You're no Elizabeth Montgomery.")

Sharon Waxman, who authored the article, hits on some good reasons for Hollywood's problems. When one pays that much to get into a theater, the experience should be a sweet one (I've used the word, "sweet" twice today - that's twice more than I've ever used that word). This should mean that one is not shown commercials, very few short previews, and cell phone users should be fined, thrown out and arrested, and made to watch "Survivor" outtakes. But the writing and production of the films is not as good as it should be. When the public has dozens or hundreds of television channels, it knows better and is not desperate for any type of big screen experience.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/movies/24slum.html?hp

______________________________________________________________________________

I had lunch at the Bryant Park Grill yesterday. The Grill, located just behind the main and enormous NY Public Library and its lions, has two floors - the upstairs is an outside patio that overlooks the gorgeous park and surrounding skyscrapers. Even if the food and drinks were not good, it would be worth it for the visuals and aurals (the conversations).

I wanted to have the incredilbe looking Cobb salad but wanted to substitute mozzarella cheese for the bleu cheese. I'm still not mature enough or emotionally ready for bleu cheese. Nasty stuff.... The waiter told me that it is pre-made and M cheese cannot be subbed for B cheese. Scary as hell thought so I turned my attention to sandwiches as I think they can handle pre-made better than salads can (the atomic structure of lettuce being what it is).

It was amazing to be served the B. A. turkey club with a nine inch nail holding the thing together. Actually, it was a nine inch skewer holding it together but I couldn't intially remember the word, "skewer." My friend would call this a "compensation sandwich," not to mention the "compensation skewer" or the Skewer from Hell.

______________________________________________________________________________

And Westerly Liqour, 921 8th Ave., has Camelot chardonnay. They are supposed to deliver it to me at 2:00 PM today. If so, they are highly recommended. Stay tuned....

______________________________________________________________________________

Posted by EMH at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Thank you, Pat Robertson. I had been feeling that cults and crazy people have not gotten their share of attention lately. I remember the more than 900 suicides at Jonestown, the failed singer-songwriter David Koresh and his cult in Waco, the 39 programmers shedding their containers to visit the spaceship behind the Hale Bopp comet (they too were led by a failed musician, Marshall Herff Applewhite), and still expect something along those lines, hopefully not anytime soon. Of course there are fundamentalist nuts all around - some with beards and flying licenses, some without beards and flying licenses.

But when it comes to crazy speakers (as opposed to doers), Pat has only Jerry Falwell, who blamed the pagans, ACLU, People for the American Way, feminists and abortionists for the 9/11 attacks, as a peer. And Robertson has now erupted again! I am certain that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez' opponents have been dealt a serious blow by having friends like Pat Robertson. Why would Robertson only want Chavez killed when most world leaders have met with Castro? Surely Pat needs to do further research and name dozens more leaders who have dealings and trade with Cuba. In fact, every country but the U. S. does trade with Cuba.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/23/robertson.chavez/index.html

If Pat really thinks about this, his killing opportunities have not even begun! There are leaders in France, Germany, Canada, England, Japan, China and more who may also present such great threats to the United States.

Venezuela is a country that is almost completely Christian. Where are all of these Venezuelan Muslims? Pat Robertson - Napoleon Dynamite summed you up eloquently - "IDIOT!"

_________________________________________________________________________________________

2005 will be a great year because there is a new Milton Nascimento album. Nascimento is my favorite Brazilian musician, composer and singer. I've only followed him since the early 70's. I've gone back to learn the wonderful music he released in the 1960's. The new album, "Pieta," features Milton at his finest as a singer, composer, adventurer, humanist and experimentalist. He has also been a great collaborator and here works again with Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Fernando Brant, and Airto. "Pieta" is a foolishly great masterpiece - long live Milton!

The other great surprise for me at Tower-Lincoln Center this morning was a new series of music CD's coupled with DVD's, a book and a map by National Geographic. I bought one of the the first three to be released - Africa." (The others are "Baaba Maal," one of the two best Senegalese musical exports, and "Vedic Path," featuring the music of India. Future National Geographic/Palm Word Voices releases include "Brazil," "Mandela," and "Spirit.") I can highly recommend the new National Geographic "Africa."

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Tonight is CopyNight, a night in which people in 10 U. S. cities - Cambridge, New York, Nashville, San Francisco, Des Moines, Washington, Chicago, Columbus, Raleigh and Houston - as well as Montreal and Toronto, Canada, who care about a balanced viewpoint when it comes to copyright, technology and the arts, come together to hang out, have fun, discuss issues and become friends.

http://www.copynight.org/

Copyright is being used far too often these days to suppress freedom and free speech, restrict how technology works, and stifle innovation. One of the worst culprits and an organization that has intnetionally ignored its charge and dashed off to take a side, rather than remain centrist and a voice of reason is the U. S. Copyright Office. The U. S. C. O. in the past year has no longer championed its constitutional charge. The U. S. C. O. has removed from its website the extremely noble and enlightened justification for copyright in the United States - the "copyright and patent clause"

(Article 1, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution: "Congress shall have the power to promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive rights to their writings and discoveries.")

The U. S. C. O. is ashamed of the U. S. Constitution. They do not want us to know about the origin and constitutional justification for copyright. Someone in the U. S. C. O. thinks he knows better than the Founding Fathers.

The United States Copyright Office SHOULD BE COVERED IN SHAME.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Posted by EMH at 04:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

It is 4:00 PM and I am sitting in Bryant Park, 42nd St. & 6th Ave., USA, straining for a good wi-fi connection. Google offers this service at Bryant Park, and wi-fi (especially free wi-fi) is almost as essential as fill in the blank. Blank = mojitos with your home grown mint leaves? A refrigerator that dispenses ice, crushed ice and water (all fiiltered) magically through its left door?

My first two NYC disappointments today - one should try to avoid JFK as the ground traffic to and from that airport is really bad. LaGuardia is the best, and Newark second best. Second disappointment - my favorite hot dog cart raised its prices - hot dogs and knishes are no longer $1.00 but $1.25. So I splurged and had a $1.50 sausage. The even bigger money will be spent tonight.

Other items----------

Independence Air is still a fun ariline with its "budget luxury" - hot towels and mints before the descent.

Corneliu, Jesus, Harry and even Republican Dave (four of our doormen at 150 W. 51st) were thrilled to see me, as I was to see them (Republican Dave did not have enough time to get irritating).

Time Warner can connect my cable and give me ISP (that sounds like a reckless and deviant kind of behavior, doesn't it?) on Friday between 12-4. Waiting only four and a half days for a utility in New York is not bad. And this year I did not have to fax a notarized proof of my living at 150 W. 51.

Limoncello, with its $11 oatmeal, no longer has their menu in the window. Perhaps the price, like the local hot dogs, has increased 25% and it's too obscene a price to advertise. Or perhaps they are finally ashamed to admit to charging $11 for oatmeal.

The unlimited Metro ride card has increased from $70 to $76. That is still a bargain though.

People in New York City are still fun, still move fast, and most of all (southerners never believe this) friendlier than people from any other part of the U. S. And OF COURSE they are the most tolerant and non-judgmental people. Living in this much diversity improves peoples' souls, or so I claim.

____________________________________________________________________________

If you want to support extremely important causes - freedom, liberty, privacy, the pursuit of happiness, the ability to be able to use your computer, iPod and Internet as you desire - give to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (www.eff.org). I am a proud member and have had the great fortune of being able to know and work with these people. I'll go on and on about them later but I wanted to introduce my EFF feelings now.

____________________________________________________________________________

HBO is showing a free film in Bryant Park at 5:00 PM.
Happy Hour at Brazil Grill begins at 4:00 PM.

____________________________________________________________________________

My Wi-Fi and my mind are getting weakened and distracted, so here are my final thoughts:

Not a great lyric:

My love don't give me presents
I know that she's no peasant

(can you guess the author?)

A great lyric:

I got a mean red spider and she been webbing all over town
I got a mean red spider and she been webbing all over town
I'm gonna get me a mean black spider so I can tear her cobwebs down

I got a mean red spider she breaking up my happy home
I got a mean red spider she breaking up my happy home
if I don't go crazy I'll surely lose my mind

(can you guess the author?)

Posted by EMH at 03:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

"We are, of course, a nation of differences. Those differences don't make us weak. They're the same source of our strength." Jimmy Carter, October 21, 1976

I saw Kinky Freidman this morning on CBS Sunday Morning. When he met with President Bill Clinton several years ago, he offered Clinton a Cuban cigar, an illegal object in the United States (and nowhere else on Earth). Clinton and the 50-60 witnesses all knew this and Clinton was reluctant to take the cigar. Kinky told him to not think he was helping the Cuban economy but rather, "burning down their fields."

Friedman is running for governor of Texas. He is a long shot but is far more intelligent than any Texas governor in the past few decades.

______________________________________________________

Neil Young premiered his new album, "Prairie Wind" at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on August 16 and 17. There were more than 40 different musicians performing on the August 17 date, the concert I attended.

The first half of the program featured the songs from his soon to be released CD, "Prairie Wind," a work that finds Young in a style reminiscent of his quieter 70's and 80's works such as "Harvest," "Comes A Time," and "Harvest Moon." The new album features Emmylou Harris, a black gospel choir (10 singers from the Fisk University Jubilee Singers), 3 Memphis style horns (trumpet, trombone and baritone sax), steel guitar, the Nashville String Machine (6 violins, 3 violas and 2 celli), up to 7 acoustic guitars on a song, an autoharp, harmonica, vibraphone, and a broom and rug.

The second half of the program consisted of works from Buffalo Springfield (I Am A Child), the Harvest album (Heart of Gold, The Needle And The Damage Done, and Old Man), the Comes A Time album (Comes A Time, and Four Winds) and Harvest Moon (Harvest Moon, Old King, One Of These Days).

The most unusual moments, and therefore my favorite, included the broom and rug in "Harvest Moon." The song is in 4/4 and at a tempo of 114 beats per minute. The percussionist playing the broom makes contact with the rug on the 2nd beat, drags and releases the broom (making its greatest "swoosh" sound) on the last upbeat of the measure (the upbeat of the 4th beat), just before the first beat of the next measure. It is really cool sonically, as it enforces the drummer's brush strokes, and visually - the "broomist" has to smile and be exactly correct in his performance. The broom is used in each verse but not the choruses.

There were more surprises involving the orchestra and others but this is not a real concert review so I'll swish to a stop.

______________________________________________________

I fly to New York on Monday morning and will be living in Manhattan again (corner of West 51 & 7th) from August 22 - December 15. There might be down time in resuming this blog as things with Time Warner Cable and Verizon might not work out perfectly.

I am very fortunate to live in this neighborhood. It is the northern edge of Times Square with its things to avoid, namely, tourists who flock to Broadway shows and TGI Friday's, a diner with loud singing wait staff and even louder tourists, and the usual hustler-criminals with transportable tables-in-a-hurry and knockoff bags.

The restaurant to the right of my apartment has $11 oatmeal, the restaurant to my left is Ruth's Chris Steak House with no $11 oatmeal but $40 steak.

Fortunately there are great halal, hot dog and breakfast/bagel carts everywhere and I am savvy enough to know that a hot dog is supposed to cost $1, not $1.50 or $2.00 as it can be in my neighborhood. My apartment is in a building attached to CNN, across the street from Heartland Brewery and Radio City Music Hall, only two blocks from kick ass Hell’s Kitchen, two blocks from MoMA, three blocks from Brazil Grill and six blocks from Central Park. It should make for an even more fun life again.

Posted by EMH at 07:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Robert Taft, after losing the G. O. P. Presidential nomination in 1952: "Every Republican candidate for President since 1936 has been nominated by the Chase National Bank." What did he mean? Were these sour grapes or some kind of insight into the political process?

What's with the next Robert Taft and his ethics scandal? An ethics scandal is bad enough, worse when ethics were the highlight of your campaign, and even worse when you come from a long family of Ohio politicians who did not have problems of this nature.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1095407,00.html

Ohio Democrats must be thrilled with these events. Maybe in the next election, even with Florida-style voting and vote counting shenanigans, the Democrats might take back the governorship. Of course I wouldn't want to underestimate the abilities of Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell http://www.truthout.org/cblog.shtml, the northern black male version of ex-Florida Secretary of State Katherine "who doctored my makeup" Harris, to help throw an election. http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/08/04/harris.makeup.ap/ I'll have to rant more about Katherine Harris and Makeup-Gate at a future date.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I remember the comic intellectual property issues involved in Bob Taft's election. Tim Hagen, his Democratic opponent, ran internet commercials using an animated duck that uttered, "Taft quack," an animal utterance that sounded a lot like the real animal utterance, "quack," and the corporate animal utterance, "AFLAC." Of course, Taft and AFLAC were not amused but how much intellectual property protection should a one-second utterance of "quack," or "Taft quack," or "AFLAC," be afforded? How important are any politician's feelings? (Americans should take pride in our almost four centuries long tradition of parodying politicians.) Wouldn't Gilbert Gottfried's rendition of ""AFLAC," be an insignificant derivative of a real duck's rendition of "quack?" AFLAC rhymes with quack but by rhyming with quack and even registering to protect the utterance, "AFLAC" does "Taft quack" infringe or damage AFLAC?

http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1029/p02s01-uspo.html

And now for something completely different...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday I flew for more than one hour in a Robinson R-44 helicopter http://www.robinsonheli.com/photogallery/newsphotos/tuckeraward2.jpg above Chattanooga and surrounding areas, then visited the beautiful University of The South campus, in Sewanee, Tennessee http://www2.sewanee.edu/why/gallery and then attended a special taping of a three hour Neil Young concert at the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville. It is being filmed by Jonathan Demme for a future release.

http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001018365

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050816/COLUMNIST0501/508160324/1121

More on the helicopter flight and Neil Young concert later.

_______________________________________________________________

FInally, if you are near Nashville tonight, consider attending the opening of the TBA show at the Plowhaus.

http://www.plowhaus.com/currentshow.html

Posted by EMH at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"If there's one thing about death that I can tell you, death will shut you up right quick. So if you have something to say in this lifetime, say it." - Peter Krause, actor who plays, "Nate Fisher," on HBO’s "6 Ft. Under," on life and "6 Ft. Under") August 15, 2005

---------------------

Today will probably be the last day we hear about BTK-TEB (The Evil Bastard). Great!

Now, when will the day come when we no longer hear about Terrell Owen, his attitude, his contract restructuring, his not talking with teammates, his anger over being told to "shut up" by his coach, his value as a player, and so on. Time spent on T. O. is time not spent on the New England Patriots. T. O. has a contract to play for the Philadelphia Eagles. Philadelphia is best for WHYY, the city's wi-fi initiative, Penn, Drexel, and my friends who live there, not the Eagles.

And football is always wrong when it encroaches on the baseball season!

After T. O.'s gone, there will still be reality TV. And cults. When is the next mass suicide scheduled? It's been a long time since a group of programmers shed their containers.

Next---------

A friend suggested that it might be a good idea if I could write something kinder about G. W. Bush. And to respect her, I will. What follows will be what I like about George W. Bush.

He has gone far in life

He seems to like his family

He graduated from Harvard

He graduated from a less prestigious school in New Haven, Connecticut

His parents live on Walker's Point in Kennebunkport, Maine, one of the most beautiful places anywhere

In his dreadful new energy bill, there is one good thing – some type of tax incentive if one buys a hybrid car

THAT IS THE END for now. The Bush Praise-a-thon might resume again someday. More sane discourse will happen tomorrow.

I will be flying above Chattanooga in a helicopter today. Can life get much better than that?

-----------------------------------------

A very good site:

http://www.bannedmusic.org/

Posted by EMH at 11:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. No WMD's. If the WMD excuse didn't work, we had at least one more - we went there because Iraq was behind the 9/11/2001 attacks. But then that proved false. There was no evidence that Iraq was involved.

It got even worse after the bipartisan committee headed by the distinguished Gov. Thomas Kean (R-NJ) investigated, researched, interviewed dozens of witnesses, and published its findings. Kean, a prominent lifelong Republican, went so far as to state that the 9/11 attacks could have been prevented:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/12/17/eveningnews/main589137.shtml

But George W. Bush should not be blamed for any of his failures as he listens to "a higher father." Remember the Bob Woodward interview?

-------Did Mr. Bush ask his father for any advice? "I asked the president about this. And President Bush said, 'Well, no,' and then he got defensive about it," says Woodward. "Then he said something that really struck me. He said of his father, "He is the wrong father to appeal to for advice. The wrong father to go to, to appeal to in terms of strength.' And then he said, 'There's a higher Father that I appeal to.'"--------

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/15/60minutes/main612067.shtml

And next, to a great quote:

"It's just plain wrong to make the [U. S.] Department of Justice Hollywood's law firm." [in reference to the Intellectual Property Protection Act] - Stacie Rumenap, Deputy Director, American Conservative Union (Wired, November 16, 2004)

The American Conservative Union does not think much of the entertainment industry's efforts to purchase Congress and use the DOJ to control technology and protect the old-fashioned business models that dominate the music and film industry. And yet in Nashville, most songwriters and musicians are conservative and Republican, even in the midst of the downfall of Bush and his Iraq-Nam policy. It's fun to point out to them that the Democrats more often act on what songwriters perceive as their best interests, not the Republicans. [One should never overlook the importance of emotion, sentiment and patriotism, in contrast to reason, intelligence and facts, as the principal determinants in decision-making.]

More on, "why songwriters should be Democrats" later.

Posted by EMH at 09:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

How is Iraq-Nam going? Where were those weapons of mass destruction? How did the Bush Administration know that Hussein's (non-existent) nuclear weapons could reach the United States in 45 minutes? What became of these and the other "weapons of mass destruction?" I miss hearing and reading those four words - "weapons of mass destruction." The chic new ubiquitous four-word phrases are, "up or down vote" and, "legislate from the bench." And another Bush favorite is half that length - "judicial activist." This Supreme Court stuff will be good at getting minds off of more unpleasant news from Iraq-Nam:

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 17 - At least 43 people were killed and 76 were wounded when a series of car bombs exploded at a crowded bus station in central Baghdad today, sending debris and body parts flying across the scene and horrified survivors fleeing on foot, police and hospital officials said. (NY Times, August 17, 2005)

Great definition: CHRISTIAN, n. "One who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbor. One who follows the teachings of Christ so far as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin." - Ambrose Bierce - The Devil's Dictionary

Great link:

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut

Other thoughts:

Once upon a time, I had to sue a lawyer who would not pay me for my services as a music copyright expert witness. It's a long tale that has still not ended, even after my final victory on July 7, 2003 in the Tennessee Supreme Court. Who would want to read about this? Actually, the story did appear in a law journal and I heard from people who found it interesting and unique.

http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:J6-sEQPftZYJ:www.tsc.state.tn.us/opinions/tca/PDF/031/HarringtonEl.pdf+Grant+Smith+v+Michael+HArrington&hl=en&start=2

To be continued...

Posted by EMH at 05:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Welcome to this site.

It will feature print/thoughts/opinions/rants/poetry/perceptions/outbursts and original works of authorship authored by several friends and strangers. When in doubt/as a default, blame me for what lies below.

If you die today or on a future August 16, you might be a great musician. August 16 is the day in which more of my favorite musicians died than any other day. The following died on August 16:

Robert Johnson (1938)
Elvis Presley (1977)

And saving the best and chronologically latest for last:

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1997)

August 16, 1969 was also a Saturday at the first and only real Woodstock music festival. On that day, I bought Moby Grape's "Truly Fine Citizen," their 4th album.

Other notable things about August 16, 2005 include...

P. Diddy, who was once Puff Daddy, has now changed again, this time to simply, "Diddy." I think his future moves should include lengthening his name - how about Bo Diddy? http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/22945531

Ex-Senator Robert Dole (R-KS) wrote a somewhat enlightened editorial in the NY Times decrying the foolishness of Judith Miller’s imprisonment. Now that he is not as frequently in the public spotlight, Dole appreciates the independent and adversarial nature of a free press. He even lauded a proposed bill by two fellow Republicans to alleviate such press/prison situations. (Republicans for a free press? Some may be but not their leader who had fewer than 10 press conferences in the same amount of time that his father had given more than 60 press conferences as Chief Executive.)

Warning - Sarcasm Ahead:

The RIAA did not initiate any new lawsuits against children or adults today or yesterday. At least I did not see any news that they did. I hope that those well employed lawyers are at work safeguarding the creative process. Without the knowledge that RIAA lawsuits against customers are forthcoming, how can songwriters be expected to write music? So many songwriters love these lawyers and their suits as they are such an assurance that song writing is valued and of value - more lawsuits equals more money for songwriters. Lawsuits stop the illicit behavior? Lawsuits educate about the value of copyrights? Lawsuits lead to songwriters owning more Music Row real estate? Lawsuits lead to fewer songwriters working day jobs in retail?

Great Thought for a Day

"The most important thing in acting is honesty. If you can fake that, you've got it made." - attributed to George Burns

Posted by EMH at 04:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)