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Gunny Advances in Another Direction

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Wednesday, January 5, 2011 — For nearly a quarter of a century R. Lee Ermey has been the unannointed poet laureate of the vernacular branch of America’s military language. (The bureaucratic branch, appropriately, has no face). Breathtakingly obscene, surrealistically violent, and apparently inexhaustible, Ermey’s portrayal of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, in Full Metal Jacket, threw moviegoers unaquainted with military manners right back in their seats. For those with military experience, particularly of the period being portrayed, Ermey’s performance carried an additional levels of richness and meaning. The role of drill instructor in the U.S. military may always have held an element of self-parody. In Ermey’s performance, …

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Rare Fowle Declaration Being Auctioned Today

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Sunday, November 14, 2010 — Today the Boston auction house of Skinner, Inc. will sell to the highest bidder an original copy of the Declaration of Independence, printed in Exeter, New Hampshire in 1776 by Robert Luist Fowle. The public sale of a copy of the Declaration from one of the fourteen original printings is an exceedingly rare event. Of the 100 or so that have survived, nearly all are in libraries, museums, or other institutions.* According to Skinner’s catalog, this copy “[d]escended in a New Hampshire family, whose relative, a judge, likely received this document in his official capacity. The water stain occurred in …

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It’s All in the Presentation

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Monday, October 11, 2010 — Having just published the first paper of our 255th year, it should come as no surprise that we’re less adept with some of the more modern methods of presenting information than some of our friends. Our friends at the Monday Morning Show, for example. They’ve figured out how to present the material we run on page eight in a way that is most refreshing. Here’s Emily Briand with the latest. If it seems a bit subversive, don’t worry — it’s all been approved by the Office of Rhetoric and Propaganda.

War Is The Obscenity

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Tuesday, October 5, 2010 — It took a couple of days for this news item to reach us. We thank Will Thomas, New Hampshire’s Acting Coordinator for Veterans for Peace, for alerting us to it. The story, lifted by us from the Common Dreams newswire, follows the video. Much of the video and text revolves around the deployment of an obscenity, which seems appropriate. Some things are more obscene than others. The question, “How’s that war economy working for you?” has plenty of merit, too. Banner-Drop on Pennsylvania Avenue: “Mr. Obama: End These Fucking Wars! War is the Obscenity” Veterans’ 25 x 17 Banner Tells …

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