E. Michael Harrington

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SALT LAKE CITY WAS AMAZING. From the air it is obvious why people would love the area and want to live there. The hills of middle Tennessee are nice but the mountains are wild.

Our meetings in SLC went great. I was with a diverse nice bunch of people, if we are university professors. The only down side was that each time in my room, I would turn on the television to see the most important person who has ever lived. Who? Who else but ANNA NICOLE SMITH. I've only had one ANS-free day and that was my day at NYU and doing Hell's Kitchen as the Devil has other plans for us in Hell's Kitchen - popular culture, especially the depraved stuff like ANS, might not be so present in the Kitchen de Diablo.

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The Little America is an amazing hotel that features so many beautiful details wherever one looks, from the lobby to the rooms. My room was one of these with a great northern view of mountains and the large "U" of the University of Utah.

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We ate and spent a wild night at La Caille in the mountains just outside Salt Lake. The first ting I noticed when I got there - and this was one of the most noteworthy moments I've ever had - was this soon-to-be new friend - a PEACOCK. Who thought this up? A bird with feathers down to the street corner aimed away from its head. And such a huge supply of feathers, all for show, all to impress females. What some of us won't do to try to hook up...... He was damn cool, and this was my first encounter with a peacock. My life is full of great fun, friends, strangers and travel, but never peacocks. I fed him bread and he was gentle, more so than the ducks, and as gentle as the geese I also fed. I put down my champagne to feed and talk with these damn cool critters. All of this while I was surrounded by a vineyard, mountains, friends and the best female waitstaff anywhere. Damn nice....

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And the food at La Caille is as great as the ambience and animals. Fortunately I did not have to pay for the rest of the night. Check out the menu. The Menage de Trios - three lobster tails from the Great Barrier Reef are priced at..... "FINANCING AVAILABLE." It's good to have a sense of humor with prices like that.

From the menu:

Menage de Trios
Triple Great Barrier Reef Lobster tails
boiled with clarified butter and herbed olive oil
Financing Available

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AND AS I JOKINGLY MENTIONED, I was going to SLC to find three wives. Well, on that Saturday night, the city was full of 18 year old lovely Mormon high school girls. No males, just females in beautoful dresses. It was completely make believe - I could not comprehend what was going on or WHY it was going on. I know some people act strangely and see strangely during and after tequila, and we had eaten at the excellent non-pricy non-pretentious RED IGUANA. When I got back to the room, the local TV news was reporting on the religious convention of Mormon high school girls (LDS) taking place a few blocks away. It wasn't my imagination. The city really was devoid of males, and instead filled with 18 year old lovely women in dresses. How bizarre and idyllic!

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I SPOKE TO the Digital Millennium Copyright Society last night at MTSU. It seemed to go well and at least I had a lot of fun. It's always fun to expose creative copyright crimes - audio and video mashups, many of which I know well from having played a part in defending these crimes against reactionary small-minded lawyers. As Negativland have written, "Copyright infringement is your best entertainment value." We have to break the copyright law, at least now and then and always during baseball and football seasons, and always if you are learning to play an instrument, if we are going to live good meaningful lives. I can go justify what I've just stated or I can go shower. The justification will have to wait until another time. Cleanliness comes first this morning, the coffee's finished, and this e-diarization's entry onto the Tubes of the Internets must now take place.

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MLB - wow. I need to read what you wrote carefully. I'm thrilled to hear from you.

Annuit Coeptis

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Posted by EMH at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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THERE ARE SO MANY GREAT BLOGS AND BLOG POSTS to read today... where should one start?

Compare GW Bush four years ago to MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, after wearing his cute little jump suit, to GW Bush now. Now he says the war is winnable, almost 1,500 days after MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, if we have the courage and resolve to STAY THE COURSE, although the White House Linguist did not use that STAY THE COURSE phrase - he merely mimicked it.

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At this point, in 2007, we were supposed to have 5,000 troops in Iraq, not the 146,000 + we have now. We were supposed to be as happy and shiny as the Iraqis would be right now - right now there should be millions of happy children, successful proud parents sending their children to schools, a glowing democracy that would give us oil at a good price (ignore the fact that we/Halliburton/Cheney would really own the oil), and democracy would be spreading over the suddenly freed Middle East as if everything was being blown by Santa Ana Winds - the Al-Ja-Ana Winds. What's gone wrong? EVERYTHING. We hapless citizens elected GW Bush twice (although with a lot of cheating the first time and a little less the second time). Sadly, we deserve this too.

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These are good times, sort of, for Democrats - almost everything has gone wrong with Bush and the Bushies. And of course I need to make an ass of myself by prognosticating again. This time, I swear, it's a simple thing. I want to be part of THE GONZALES WATCH. When will Alberto resign? The AG has got to go. He will go. He won't last the week. This should be simpler than predicting when George Steinbrenner will blow a fuse over his overpaid underaccomplished New York Yankees.

So my prediction (this should be better than my prediction on Cheney's resignation) - Alberto will quit on Friday at 4 PM (the cowardly time when things are SUPPOSED to be quiet). Regardless, AG the AG will quit sometime in the next 11 days, 13 hours and 15 minutes.

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The White House is already floating the names of replacement Attorneys-General. One is an empathetic widower - TED OLSON. TED married a very blonde mate, and very popular talking head, who had identical right wing views. Sadly, she died in one of the flights in 9/11. No one needs to experience 9/11 and have a loved-one killed. But it does make him sympathetic as hell, and maybe it makes him "confirmation-proof," as why should anyone ever vigorously interrogate a qualified (good legal resume) widower.

GONZALES GONZO ? A very good caption I just saw on MSNBC.

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Within hours more White House emails will be released. These will be so damn entertaining, I am certain. Again, this is why I follow politics closely and never attend comedy clubs. My tax dollars go to this particular brand of Northern VA/Southern MD brand of comedy. (I can't even mention those letters conected by retrograde----- D followed by C. Federal Politicians in my country need to be paid very well as they do so much more than just represent us. Keep in mind what our Congresspeople bring to us daily.)

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AL SHARPTON - I've blogged about him before. I'm a big fan and choose to forgive him for Tawana Brawley (forgive any spelling error but she's not worth googling - for this phrase, I'm being Fox News-like - who gives a damn about primary sources and facts?)

BUT AL.. You let a big one slip today..... Al Sharpton said,

"All five officers should have been shot."

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BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO the people who authored this video (know it wasn't Apple, Obama, Clinton or an Democrats....)

Wow - very well done. Legally, famous politicians should be parodied and ridiculed, thank you FIRST AMENDMENT - may I have another? But smart lawyers are out there, along with IP law, unfair competition law and more, and the DMCA. Can they stop this? VIACOM, those bastards, want to stop YouTube but free speech is here to get us thinking as well as entice, scintillate, obnoxious-ate and more.

Bill Maher told a joke that was very funny. But it really wasn't a joke and really wasn't funny. (If you know SPINAL TAP, you know that, although that film is extremely funny, in most ways, it is not funny as it is.) Maher criticized liberals who state that Bush, while starting a war, never asked for anyone to sacrifice. I agree with that. But Maher wisely pointed out that YES, HE DID ASK US TO MAKE sacrifices. He asked us to give up our civil liberties. EXCELLENT POINT, Bill Maher. I'm humbled and have been reminded by that remark.

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John McCain is getting old. It's sad to see him fumble so much. I ridicule him for his slipperiness, a la Mitt Romney, the sleaziest politician in North America, and Hillary Clinton, just to mention two that will say anything necessary to get friends/diners to fund their campaigns and get elected. I don't want to draw attention to his aging issues on top of his pandering issues. May I never age and pander. I'll simply age.

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Here's another thing i should try to predict... when will we attack Iran ---- WE WILL ATTACK TARGETS IN IRAN because it will help Bush and Republicans of like mind, and they are part of the AXIS OF EVIL. But we need to not recall that we wanted Iran to have a nuclear program back in teh 70's when we liked them. But we also liked Iraq and Saddam the Guy Hanged On YouTube when he hated Iran. Foreign affairs in the U. S. can be so confusing......

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THE BEST THING I READ TODAY WAS FROM GARY HART, a guy I once had dinner with (notice the preposition at the end of this sentence).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-hart/the-lessons-of-iraq_b_43695.html

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A final thought.... this has been a most enjoyable WAR as I've received those great Republican tax cuts, spent like hell, used the U. S. Tax Code to my great advantage, prospered and fought terrorism somehow.....

I fly to Salt Lake City on Thursday. I love HBO's BIG LOVE and would love to have his three wives. I am not sure whether my love life will allow for that while I'm out there but you never know.....

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Posted by EMH at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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BEATALLICA

ANYONE who is in Nashville and free on Wednesday, March 14 at 10:00 AM, should come hear Beatallica's Jaymz Lennfield and I speak about music, video and copyright and play examples of music and video by Beatallica, Metallica, the Beatles, Jay-Z and more. We will be participating in an event at the Massey Performing Arts Center, 1900 Belmont Blvd., Nashville.

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The Meaning of MARCH 12

TODAY was almost Anna Nicole-free.

TODAY General Kevin Kiley was fired, i.e., he was forced to resign. He became a fat, arrogant out-of-touch administrator who ignored the day-to-day pain and suffering that injured soldiers at the Walter Reed Medical Center experienced. Kiley, obviously, did not have loved ones suffering in that medical center.

TODAY was sunny and 75 here.

TODAY was the 71st day of the year.

ON THIS DAY in 2001, Harvard announced that they were hiring a new president. He was Lawrence H. Summers and he was one of those few very big and visible Harvard mistakes.

ON THIS DAY in 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave his first "fireside chat." He spoke in English and eloquently. Someday we'll have another President who does the same. I look forward to the end of The Decider's days ruining our nation internationally.

ON THIS DAY IN 1993, Janet Reno was sworn in as Attorney General.

ON THIS DAY in 2006, The Sopranos penultimate season began.

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ANTI-FRENCH?

ON THIS DAY in 2003, someone I know wrote:

"I've got the best idea. While we're destroying everything French, let's fly some planes into the Statue of Liberty (those peacenik French commie peacenik bastards certainly shipped it to us for some malevolent reason - the Trojan French Maid?) and destroy that enormous and extremely French intruder into our country.

Perhaps we could take some people from the many U. S. Death Rows who are pilots, or have flight training, put them on an Air France jet (again, making sure that there are only French passengers on this ill-fated flight), and crash them into the French woman who holds a torch in NY harbor. That way we'll have killed off some French and their mean-spirited French Maid gift. To hell with all of the French culture. Next, let's kill all the French poodles (or call them Freedom poodles and let them loose to truly enjoy their freedom)."

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OF COURSE, I'll protect the writer's identity. He had to keep this quiet as this only a week before the U. S. attacked a small country without any provocation. I will always be ashamed of what my country did in 2003 and continues to do to Iraq.

YES, that someone who wrote that was reacting to the foolish anti-French fervor spreading o'er that land, for the French did not have the insight and moral righteousness we had and they did not want to liberate Iraq like we did, so we needed to assault their toast and fried potatoes and wine and cheese and statues and impressionist art and music and "droit de moral" and anything else francois.

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DID I MENTION that Beatallica will be in Nashville on Wednesday?

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CHUCK HAGEL'S BLOWN OPPORTUNITY

Chuck Hagel..... I like you. I don't love you. I like you. I think there are times when I probably said, "I love Chuck Hagel," after Hagel tore into Bush and the MESS in the MIDDLE EAST. We probably disagree on far more than on which we agree. But I always look forward to hearing Hagel speak as Hagel is smart, seemingly original, and I've thought Hagel was a gutsy guy with integrity. So why did Hagel announce today that he would make an announcement in the future as to whether or not he'd run for the Republican Presidential nomination? Why not simply announce that he was "forming an exploratory committee" to consider running for President? Now Hagel seems like a flake or a nut or a nut cluster. In my neighborhood jargon (my old hood, not where I now suffer), HAGEL IS NUTS. He's robbed me of the opportunity of cheering for a Republican Presidential candidate.

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Q. What is it I like best about George Walker Bush?

A. He speaks Spanish far better than most people born into centuries-old old New England money!

Read/watch any transcripts of his press conference today. Funny stuff. I would consider voting for him if he ran again (I know he can't due to that Republican-driven 22nd Amendment - the "Sour Grapes, Why Do People Keep Voting For Democrats?" Amendment), because he is always better than Saturday Night Live when it comes to humor. Although he is ruining the country in many ways, sometimes it is just fun to laugh at his imbecility.

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DID I MENTION that Beatallica will be in Nashville on Wednesday?

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Posted by EMH at 07:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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I highly recommend a piano concert here in Nashville tomorrow afternoon (4:00 PM, Sunday, March 11). My friend Bob Marler will be performing works of Bach, Beethoven, Shostakovich and Liszt. More information is available here. Despite Bob being a friend of mine - we have three times bicycled across the U. S., and caused trouble in as many places as we could - he is a great pianist and this will be a great concert.

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I JUST GOT BACK FROM shopping at Publix. The cashier told me I look like a famous scientist but she could not tell me who. I've never looked like a scientist, famous or not, until this afternoon. At different times in life I've been told I look like this or that famous person. These days I am told I look a lot like a particular British actor. Receding hairlines do that. All guys with receding hairlines must look like this particular famous British actor.

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MY TRIP TO NEW YORK was short but completely successful. As always, there were things to be expected - the unexpectable as well as the expectable - old friends, old sights, new friends, new sights and new experiences. And it was an ANNA NICOLE SMITH-free day and a half!

Amtrak was wonderful especially because most of the trip is alongside the ocean. I want to retire and live at the edge of the ocean in Rhode Island or Connecticut.

I saw thousands of geese walking southward in three rows in consecutive beautiful large brown fields near the U of RI at sunset on the way back to Boston. I have no idea whether I was witnessing normal goose behavior or not but it was unlike anything I had never seen. I usually see geese flying or in the water, never walking in formation in large fields!

I also saw a submarine in New London harbor.

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Brazil Grill now has amazing Buffalo wings. Huh? Brazil does Buffalo? Yes, and they were excellent.

The sign at Rudy's indicated that their Harpoon IPA now cost $4 for a BA glass. It had been $3 in December and on Tuesday, for some strange reason (the faux full moon?) it was $3.

Tuesday night was full moon-ish as very special new friends were made. I met my first "special new friend" - I am quoting Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap, when he introduces the camera to his special new friend, Cindy - at Brazil Grill. She is in advertising, a field I love, and is a strongly independent person. I wish I could express more but I can't just yet.

The next special new friend was more my friend's special new friend than mine. She was a more complicated person. Her field was makeup and constumes. I can't quite explain how she was dressed but it was nice artsy odd stuff, kind of like her.

A lot happened - it was a late night/early morning and 8th and 7th Avenues were wildly windy and cold. All I could do was smile and laugh out loud on the way back to my hotel.

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My Mom's birthday was yesterday. Unfortunately I could not be with her as I had to be in Nashville for Leadership Music on Friday. But thanks to my friend Debi at Michi Kusa, Brian the owner, and a lot of Michi Kusa patrons who love seeing my Mom, we had a hell of a great surprise party for her. I took the train back from NYC, had my Mom pick me up, and we went to the restaurant. I always like my last night in God's Country (Massachusetts) to be spent with my Mom and friends at Michi Kusa.

Too much is coming this week and in March and April. But when things get overwhelming, I often do my best and fastest work. Perhaps that's because there is no alternative!

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The liberation of Iraq is going so well. There have been less than 3,200 American deaths and we are only averaging 2.7 deaths per day this month. Has Fox called this Iraq War a hoax? Perhaps it's something concocted by the liberal media.

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Posted by EMH at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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I HOPE TODAY IS THE DAY when I do not hear the words, "Anna Nicole Smith." But I know better. Her death is more important to more people than how our government is making our lives worse and making it more dangerous to be a U. S. citizen. I wish ANS hadn't died simply because now she'll never go away. She'll be edited and revised endlessly. I can see it now:

The Anna Nicole Smith Foundation for Excellence In The Arts

The Anna Nicole Smith Conservative Political Action Committee (along with its figure head, Paris Hilton Ann Coulter)

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Yes, Paris Hilton Ann Coulter has struck again using the word, faggot, to be as caustic, hideous and mean-spirited as ever. (Why is Paris Hilton Ann Coulter so obsessed with the bassoon? Could it be due to the bassoon's [fagotto's] hard wood or shape or sound???)

Paris Hilton Ann Coulter is the embodiment of one of my favorite fortune cookies -

"Loud winds come from empty caves."

And yet there are Republicans that are proud that she is "hot" and one of them. I think blonde and thin really matters to people of such substance. Blonde and thin can eradicate caustic and cruel?

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FEBRUARY was a great month but a bit frantic. I got to spend some very good time with students and faculty at Eastern Kentucky University. I also spoke at the Millennium Music Conference in Harrisburg, PA and made new friends and got to hang out with some and do too many things in Nashville.

Today is the anniversary of my first "serious" public talk. I delivered my first paper - Density In A Musical Context - on this day in 1979 at the National Conference of the American Society of University Composers (how's that for an acronym?) at the University of California at San Diego in La Jolla. I also met some friends at that conference who would be life-long friends and would change my life.

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There is great news for the Democrats - Rudy Guiliani is the most popular Republican candidate for President. Hopefully this will continue and Mitt Romney will not be able to convince too many conservatives that he is one of them. (Romney is the most shifty, spineless and focus-grouped politician I've ever seen.)

Guiliani leads McCain, 59-34, in the most recent Newsweek poll. McCain is looking old, has crossed conservatives way too often, and is now the most important Champion of Surge and Dirge - foolishly, McCain refuses to see that we have already lost the Iraq War and wants to place more Americans into "harm's way."

My prediction - and I'm always wrong - is that if Guiliani wins, there will be a third party, a la Ross Perot or John Anderson, that wll draw conservative Republicans away from the "ultra liberal" Guiliani and that any Democrat will be elected President in 2008. (How can any proper Republican conservatives vote for a guy who has been married three times, is an abortionist, pro-gay rights and for gun control? On their positive side, he is mean-spirited - almost a Paris Hilton Ann Coulter - and anti-minority.)

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I will be traveling Amtrak business class to New York Penn Station on Tuesday morning. I'll be speaking at NYU that afternoon, meeting with friends, revisiting each and every favorite NYC spot, and returning to Boston on Wednesday. While in NYC, I will be hotel-ing in Hell's kitchen so I can be closer to my people.

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The great Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) is at it again. He and Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) have authored the Fair Use Act of 2007. Links to its text, excellent commentary and how to take action, can be found here at the Electronic Frontier Foundation website. This is an important bill that needs to become law. The content industry - the almost always wrong, RIAA and MPAA - have pushed in every possible way to stifle the "progress of science and the useful arts." If the RIAA ever can, they will charge for people if they ever sing in the shower or even think of music.

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SWISS ARMY INVASION and near Liberation

I TREMBLED WITH FEAR when I read that the Swiss Army had invaded Liechtenstein. I thought to myself, "oh, no - they suspect that Lichtenstein has weapons of mass destruction or that the Swiss feel justified in liberating the people of Lichtenstein from their tyrannical dictator, or that Lichtenstein if not checked could invade France, Germany, Italy or other of its European neighbors that rightly fear L-stein." Fortunately, however, individual members of the Swiss Army took it upon themselves to reverse course and revise their invasion plans.

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Posted by EMH at 07:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)