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Friday, August 24 —Well, there goes the ballgame. Old timers can hang out the “For Sale” sign. The New York Times has discovered Portsmouth. The article appeared in today’s “Havens” column in the “Escape” section. Those categories indicate to me, not that life is so great here, but that it sucks everywhere else. Portsmouth, of course, has been discovered many times before since it first ventured into the tourism biz in the 1850s. But amazingly, New York Times writer Jeff Schlegel almost gets it right in a piece entitled “A ‘Mini-Boston’ on a Small Slice of Coast.” While New Yorkers still like to think of …

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Friday, August 24 – Well, it’s publication day. An image of the front page of our Volume 251, No. 24 appears at right. We should be working on the mailing labels, and clearing away the debris so the labeling crew can fold the papers so as to meet the Post Office’s latest set of deranged regulations designed to make America safe for the corporate point of view. Instead we’ve been fiddling with this digital whizbang. But we’re done fiddling, for now. We hope to be back here soon with a brief update on the progress of the fifteen Iron Butt riders who came by Federal …

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Wednesday, August 22 — I was standing in line at Piscataqua Bank the other day when the teller, without a word of warning, began telling me how much she loves the New Hampshire Gazette. I mean loves the thing. Says she rushes around town looking for it every other Friday. I believe she even used the word “fortnightly,” which is a dead giveaway that the woman is an addict. Says she reads my column at the front, then flips to the one at the back. Also loves the tide chart, old news, etc. etc. When she is done, she hands it to the woman at …

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August 21 – It’s a beautiful day in old Po’town, but the first Iron Butt Rally riders to arrive at Federal Cigar said their first dry pavement began about fifty miles back. They left St. Louis, MO yesterday about 10:30 a.m. Rob Nye, said to be the “biggest techno geek” of the bunch, is shown here on Market Street, aboard his gadget-laden BMW. Inside Federal Cigar, Bob Torter, Rob Nye, and Bob’s wife Sylvie dig into free brioche. Federal is also offering free cigars for Iron Butt riders today, but these three weren’t takers. Bob and Sylvie are shown here heading down Market Street, on …

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Monday, August 20 — The 2007 Iron Butt Rally began in St. Louis, MO yesterday. Tomorrow, some of the participants will be coming through Portsmouth to earn bonus points by picking up a copy of the New Hampshire Gazette at Federal Cigar on Ladd St. The Iron Butt Rally is an eleven day, 11,000 mile-plus endurance event for motorcyclists. The Iron Butt Association, the body which organizes the Rally, calls its members The World’s Toughest Motorcycle Riders. We are certainly not going to argue the point. These riders are not the posturing, over-the-hill wannabes who think violating noise ordinances will make up for their lack …

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Friday, August 17 — “You shall know a man by the company he keeps,” wrote Aesop long ago. So, what do we know about Senator John Sununu, based on this photo published in the August 10 issue of The Messenger? Well, we know that Senator Sununu (at left; R-NH) looks fairly relaxed, comfortable, and happy considering that he’s having his picture taken while sitting next to a convicted forger and sex offender. Of course, Leigh Bosse (right) is a Republican. Perhaps if he was a Democrat, Mr. Sununu would feel differently about him. On February 28, 2007 Bosse was found guilty of two felony counts …

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