New mp3s, laws, a book, a name and the end to the war

Greetings all!

Boy there's a lot for me to unload. I'll start with that particular image. The Apple. As in Apple Macintosh, the accursed (and yes, I know they are good for the graphically inclined) maker of macs. Suffice it to say, I've never been a fan. Don't get me wrong. I've used them but usually at schools who bought them cheaply because Apple thought it would incite parents to buy them for their children. This idea never really caught on and Macs have remained the red-headed stepchild for years. And just like like the proverbial sibling, they're really flashy but lack substance.

My reason for vilifying Apple know no limits. I detest iPods and even more so, itunes. Why? Well, besides the fact that there are better mp3 players out there that get a whole lot less press (and don't have the slick and snazzy marketing campaign), I just don't like the idea of an apple product in my home (I do have to admit I own a couple of Apple accessories that work on PCs). I also think itunes is revolting due to the fact that I cannot control the content I purchase in the same way if I bought the hard copy itself. I can download it but it will only play in itunes unless I burn it onto a cd, then rerip it on to my pc. Ugh....

I own a Dell Desktop and a Gateway laptop. Not that I'm a fan of those brands either but they aren't macs. Frankly, the Dell is only a Dell in name only (the insides are mine, I just use the case). I own a 30GB Creative Zen Vision: M which sadly is nearing the end of its life. I also am a suscriber to eMusic. If you haven't heard of this site, check it out. They are not about contemporary pop music like Akon and Christina Aguilera. Rather they specialize in independent and less popular genres like jazz, classical and older shite that is cool. True Audiophiles move past current music in search of the obscure aan forgotten. I will listen to everything. To look at my library is a test of endurance. It runs from Bach's organ music to Japanese rap to Glenn Miller and gothic. I even have a slew of environmental sounds, old radio plays and soundtracks. I have a cd library to match and consider myself legal. Some stuff was downloaded back in the day but I've since moved past that. Emusic has helped me build a library of big band, folk and even polyphonic music. EMUsic has grown to add audiobooks.

But itunes was still the place to go for current music like the aforementioned Christina Aguilera. I say was... because on September 25th, Amazon started up its on wing of mp3 downloads (and its in Beta). They offer songs at $.89-$.99 apiece. This is a competitive price since Apple's itunes is roughly the same. However, where Amazon rules is the album pricing. It runs about $8.99 or less for current drivel and $6.99-$7.99 for the stuff I'm currently interested in like Bing Crosby, the Dale Warland Singers and Debussy (don't ask about Debussy. Actually, I'll tell you as a classical music buff that classical is a very seasonal genre. Listening to Debussy and other late Romantic composers in the fall is best. Stravinsky, Saint-Saens, Rimsky-Korsakov, Shostokovich, some Chopin, non Nutcracker and 1812 Tchaikovsky, Holst, and Ravel are great listens in October. Debussy's Claire de Lune sparkles regardless of the season, however. Stravinsky's Firebird Suite is excempt from the autumn as it is a spring juggernaut. You'll note the lack Germanic composers though Chopin was Polish (as was Tchaikovsky, too). Most composers on the list are Russian or French... I'm getting away from my point). This is music to my ears. They are DRMless and better yet, highly mobile! I've already downloaded a bunch of Dale Warlad, Anonymous 4 and 4 cds worth of ol' Bing. His non-Christmas stuff. I'll attack Count Basie tomorrow! Regardless I couldn't be more thrilled. To add to my already enormous World War II collection is a treat.

Moving on, I actually have really become absorbed by the war. The war as in World War II. It begs the question. We are currently embroiled in a rather unpopular war that requires little sacrifice for the civilians other than those whose send loved ones to fight. There are no war bonds to buy, no metal to salvage and ration books to use. And yet, without the hardships of the 40's, we complain. Gas prices are too high, FEMA is a mess and the press is a confusing mash of ambitious political hacks. Its no wonder I dream of Edward R. Murrow, Winston Churchill and FDR fireside Chats.

But like nationalist sentiment and the allure of scratched, sepia-toned photos, there is something wrong with my fascination with the War. It was not a romantic time. It has been romanticized through film, song and anecdote. Vietnam vets looked longingly at that war and wished theirs had been like it: Just, right and necessary. What hurts is that there isn't such a thing. War is dirty, rotten, hellish, surreal and agonizing. No one, conquerer or conquered comes out without some rather nasty scars. World War II left many and its a shame that we lose so many veterens every year. They are wonderful people who sacrificed so much and deserve our undying respect.

Regardless, we look at it without the reality of what the sense can truly tell you. Looking at photos of crematoria at Auschwitz without really seeing it begins to become a problem when Holocaust deniers begin to get attention. We need to continually re-evaluate the war and its effects on the world we know. We need to look at it without the romanticization of time. With the romance comes mythology and eventually the war becomes not how and who fought or even why, but what we imagine it was and idealize it to be. Otherwise it will become like Victorian age. We have glossed over the human suffering that took place in the name of the Industrial Revolution. We read Dickens now and forget how very real the conditions were.

Because of this, I was glad that Ken Burns made The War. In 7 installments we look at the war through the eyes of those who lived it and experienced it. I had never known about the slaughter of Nazi soldiers near Normandy as they were trying to retreat. It is so obscure that it is difficult find any documentation. Anyways, those who didn't watch it... what's wrong with you? It will be replayed. View it just for the poetic and elegant Sam Hynes of Minnesota (the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature Emeritus I might add. He taught at Princeton after getting his PhD!). Listening to his words alone makes it worthwhile

While I go through reading books on the war and listening to its music, I also am reading up on its slang. There's a book out called FUBAR (which I might add looks similar to the US Army's FM 21-76: the Survival, Evasion and Recovery Field Manual). In here are not only the American GI and Gyrene slang but the British & Aussie as well as German, Russian and Japanese. There are some interesting entries such as Khaki-Whacky and cackle fruit. The oft-argued about and aptly, the book's title, FUBAR is included. It states in the text that it stands for Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition. There are several arguments about this term. One being that it is Fucked Up Beyond Any Recognition or All Repair or Reason. I was raised by two Sailors who both were raised by former military men. It was always All Recognition to me which by the way I learned at a very young age ;).

But here's a conundrum: was it really used in WWII? My father maintains that it was not. He claims it was coined in Vietnam. A good many things were coined in 'Nam but I never believed him. It gets mentioned far too many times in film and literature alike prior to Vietnam to be from there. The book does not shed any light on this perplexing mystery. However, in the introduction, author Gordon L. Rottman (somewhat ironically named) asserts that many terms predate the war and were coined during the American Civil War or in other countries. Well, thats a different frame of mind. No one had ever thought it might be older than the War! He also mentions that terms were from various other walks of life and professions such as farming even! Again, not a possibilty in my mind. Usage seemed so entrenched in World War II lore that I failed to envision a very different circumstance to its birthing.

I began to do a search for the origins of the fabled FUBAR. SNAFU, the name of this blog, was also included in this search (And in case you do not know what SNAFU means, it is Situation Normal (or Nominal as a good Marine might say), All Fucked Up.) In Google Answers, it says that it came from the Fuchtbar. THis I find hysterical as there is a plot within the World War II-era film Saving Private Ryan where Captain Miller's rangers tell the translator they're saddled with that FUBAR is German. Poor kid looks it up but cannot find it!

"Lieutenant Dewindt: FUBAR.
Private Reiben: FUBAR.
Sergeant Horvath: FUBAR.
Captain Miller: FUBAR
Private Jackson: Y'all got that right.
Corporal Upham: I looked up fubar in the German dictionary and there's
no fubar in here."

It also states that phone booth repairmen used it when they went out to sites to communicate over less then preferable quality back to their bosses. FUBAR and SNAFU were easily heard and quickly said. I wanted more corroboration than Wikipedia however. I continued but I could find no other reference for this storied beginning to the overused term. I did find it interesting that Wikipedia listed other R-words that also turn up such as rescue, recovery, reality, and redemption.

I also found an interesting entry: SUSFU. This is related to FUBAR and SNAFU. SUSFU means Situation Unchanged: Still Fucked Up (By the way, I haven't been saying Fouled instead because it was Fucked. Get over it!). I was wondering about changing the name of this site to SUSFU. Things haven't changed despite the sweeping elections of democrats last year who were dedicated to bringing our troops home from the war. Problem isn't that they can't get things done. The war cannot end. Not as we envision it. It may take decades which frightens me to tears. It may end as it did in Vietnam with a helicopter atop the embassy and Bing Crosby's White Christmas being the signal to drop everything and scram.

I don't know. I'll give it some thought. I'm going to bed. Turning in.... Smoking Lamp is out!