Comic for Thursday, February 14th, 2008

Posted: 7:55 am, Thursday, February 14th

The gang's kind of heartbreak central right now, so there's no real point in doing a Valentine's Day strip. I hope everybody out there is doing something nice - be it cheese and wine or hitting happy couples with a whiffle ball bat (outside of the Brooklyn area, anyway).

Awesome thread on some musician's forum about bars having Guitar Hero contests. Nothing's better than hearing sensitive ponytail-wearing acoustic-wielding songwriters whining about people not wanting to hear them play. I mean, I'd be mad if it were happening to me, but since it's happening to someone I don't know in Alaska, I think it's hilarious. There's only a few bars I've seen having Guitar Hero contests in the New York area, and none of them are the sort to have open-mic night, anyway. And I love their arguments about and constant misspellings of karaoke.

There's apparently a remix package of one of my favorite songs of last year, that Paper Planes song by M.I.A., coming out. For as much as I dig mash-ups, traditional remixes really don't do it for me. Nine times out of ten, it's stripping out everything I actually like about the song and just looping the vocals and emphasizing the beat. Adrock's remix on that page is no exception.

That's really all I've got right now. Pat jumped in with a list of surviving WWI vets worldwide last night, here that is, and an observation that more British soldier died in WWI than II, but that we never hear much about WWI in the States. I'm guessing that's all about narrative - WWII just makes a better story. Our sovereign territory was attacked in WWII; the rises-from-the-ashes thing is in play because of the Depression; the film industry was established and ready to pounce on the propaganda train; two fronts mean twice as much propaganda; there was a clearly identifiable enemy and a clear winner instead of bizarre Balkan alliances drawing everyone into conflict; air power was more dynamic in WWII... I dunno, just some of my ideas.

Alright, have a good one, everybody.

bullfrog

Grafe -- Thursday, February 14 2008, 08:07 am

Didn't we get into WWI kind of late?

Yes -- we joined in 1917, I believe, and the war ended a year later, though it started in 1914 for everyone else. It was also sort of Britain's Vietnam, in that it caused mass disillusionment with the military and many social structures, especially among young people, for the stupid, senseless, enormous loss of life. If you're at all interested in WWI, you should try Pat Barker's REGENERATION, about the poet and soldier Siegfried Sassoon's time in a military hospital. . . . It's a less manic, more elegant and heartbreaking CATCH-22 in its approach to war.

Also, the only WWI museum in the United States is in Kansas City, Mo. (birthplace of General John J. Pershing). It's really well done, if you get a chance to go.

Even though the USA got into the war late, the difference was vast. Near the end of the door we were landing 10,000 troops A DAY into france. I can't help but wonder what the world would be like had Germany won world war I. Or if peace had been worked out a few years prior. No WWII, countries would still have their empires, the USA wouldn't be a world power per se, Russia could still have a tsar. Most importantly in my opinion there would never have been an Israel and the ottoman empire would still have existed and secular turks would still hold the middle east. So many possibilities and potential outcomes, all with their own unique advantages and disadvantages.

Hee hee. Clemens looked about as uncomfortable yesterday as if he'd wandered into the Boot and Saddle by accident. Guess he won't have to worry about which hat to wear into the HoF anymore (can you believe one of the sens asked him that? The Republicans should have been wearing I LOVE ROGER ties.

Zero

One thing I found interesting is the perception of WWI here in Britain -- and how that changes. Now, you have memoirs of how bad it was -- Wilfred Owen kind of stuff -- gas, trenches, all sort of horrible things.

But in the 1920s you have memoirs published in Britain whose account of the war was more, 'Actually, I really kind of enjoyed all the fun. I had adventures and had a good time. Rah Rah and all that, chaps.' You'd *never* see that kind of assessment of the war in Britain today.

I forget where I was reading it... I think it was a Susan Sontag essay 2.0 had, but it was an essay on how if the world is ever drawn into an ELE war, it'll be the US who does it, because the two World Wars were not fought on our turf, and we haven't played host to wholesale destruction of the homeland since the Civil War, when, as brutal as that was, a cannon ball could only kill maybe a dozen people at a time, instead of a single bomb being able to clear out a city.

That's extinction-level event, for the non-Busta Rhymes fans in the room.

Phase one of operation "Romantic Dinner at Home" is now complete!

I had a lovely conversation with our local wine guy about, well, wine first, but second Barack Obama. It was more like barely controlled elation, actually. Seems the neighborhood is lousy with Barackers who just can't wait to tell you about it!

I have to guess that this local wine guy was not the localist of local wine guys?

I picked up a dude's Obama pin on the subway yesterday and returned it to him after it had falled on the ground.

"Thanks! These things are really hard to come by!" he told me. Brother, don't I know it.

There was a line outside of Crumbs on 42nd Street when I was running around at lunchtime that was simply ridiculous. New Yorkers really love their fucking cupcakes.

It's Valentine's day love. They're probably picking them up to take home. To that end, I have that under control as well.

Yeah, the "localist" of local wine guys (for those not in the know) is the sort of dude that wears his Veterans of America baseball cap irregardless of occasion. I will say though, that guy and I engaged in a similarly agreeable conversation regarding the disturbing truths of Orwell's 1984.

He could be an Obama fan in the making...

CK just sent me a Valentine, but it's too good not to share with the rest of you.

http://www.zapboom.com/content/view/131255/Show_Your_Love_for_Barack.html

My mother was telling me that she was watching a commentary by a former Republican speech writer claiming that Obama is channeling Bobby, not Jack, Kennedy. He claims the last time anyone got the 18-25 year old voters galvanized to vote, it was Bobby. Anyway, Mom was mad that he admitted he would vote for Obama. I guess that would explain the "former" part.

I'm an independant voter spawned from two Republican parents, and that drives them mad.

I can't help but wondering, what's Phase 2?

This.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28657

After Clinton both of my parents were Republicans. Actually, my dad's been one as long as I've been alive, though my mom (thank the lord!) has gone post-Bush blue.

Any time I said anything that could remotely be construed as conservative my father would say..."tisk-tisk, sounds conservative to me," or some such nonsense. He claimed with age and maturity I would "evolve" into a conservative voter.

I must be an utter disappointment. Ah well...

Phase 2 is prep. I've got some stuff to do to the cheese. This is not your typical unwrap and serve operation over here Miyaa. We are serious about our cheese consumption.

Ooh. What cheese did you end up purchasing, pray tell?