Tag: Military

West Point

POE 1: I myself attended West Point … I’m embarrassed to say that I was court-martialed in 1832 and forced to leave.

POE 2: Excuse me, but I was expelled from West Point in 1831, not 1832.

The United States Military Academy, also known as West Point, in West Point, New York. The site was originally Fort Clinton; it sits on strategic high ground overlooking the Hudson River. Founded in 1802, it is the oldest of the five American service academies and educates cadets for commissioning as officers into the US Army. The entire central campus is a National Historic Landmark and popular tourist destination.

Edgar Allan Poe entered West Point in 1830, and after deciding to pursue a career as a poet, purposefully got himself court-martialled in 1831 by refusing to attend classes, formations, and classes. The second Poe is correct.

Picasso

MRS. VAN WYCK: Then Picasso is obscene … It has six breasts.
TRIX: You cannot be sure if those are breasts. They could be cannons. He was quite obsessed with the Spanish Civil War for awhile.

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore.

Picasso painted a number of female nudes that Mrs Van Wyck might be looking at. Nude Woman With Necklace is one possibility, as at my first glance, I also was unsure how many breasts the figure has. On closer examination, some of them are her stomach and thighs. Remember that Mrs Van Wyck is peering at a tiny piece of transparent celluloid to view the painting.

One of Picasso’s most famous works is Guernica, a dramatic portrayal of the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by German forces during the Spanish Civil War.

The Big One

MAN 2: I was in France during the Big One.
MICHEL: Oh, that’s nice. So –
MAN 2: Nice? It was a war. What’s nice about that?

The Big One, an informal name for World War II.

This Doose relative is played by veteran actor Bob Larkin. He was born in 1929, so when World War II broke out, he was only ten years old. His character is apparently meant to be about ten years older than the actor’s real age.

Memorial to Casimir Pulaski

In the background in the town square is a memorial to Casimir Pulaski (1745-1779), Polish nobleman, soldier, and military commander who has been called the “father of the American cavalry.”

Driven into exile after a failed uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, he came to North America to help in the American Revolutionary War, following a recommendation by Benjamin Franklin. He distinguished himself throughout the revolution, most notably when he saved the life of George Washington.

Pulaski became a general in the Continental Army, and he created the Pulaski Cavalry Legion, reforming the American cavalry as a whole. He was killed at the Battle of Savannah, and is remembered as a hero who fought for independence and freedom in Poland and the US.

Numerous places and events are named in his honour, and he is one of only eight people to be awarded honorary United States citizenship. There is a very fine statue in his honour in Hartford, and the memorial in Stars Hollow may be an attempt to provide a fictional counterpart.

Korean War

[Students are gathered in a meeting room]
MADELINE: I called last night and I asked [Paris] to talk me through the Korean War and she said she was busy.
LOUISE: Oh, she’s definitely got a boyfriend.

The Korean War was fought between North Korea and South Korea from 1950 to 1953. The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following clashes along the border and rebellions in South Korea. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union while South Korea was supported by the US and allied countries. The fighting ended with an armistice on 27 July 1953, although the war itself technically has never come to an end.

Jackbooted

EMILY: Of course I said it. Well, I can’t imagine who would take jackbooted as a compliment.

Jackboot, military and combat boot associated popularly with totalitarianism, as they were worn by German military and paramilitary forces during World War II. However, they have been used officially by other nations as well, including the UK, and had some civilian uses as well.

The Art of War

RORY: You wanna play rough, fine. I’ve read The Art of War.

The Art of War, ancient Chinese military treatise dating from roughly 5th century BC. The work, attributed to the military strategist Sun Tzu (“Master Sun”), is composed of 13 chapters. Each one is devoted to a different set of skills or art related to warfare and how it applies to military strategy and tactics.

The Art of War remains the most influential strategy text in East Asian warfare and has influenced both Far Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy, politics, sports, lifestyles and beyond.

The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War

RICHARD: Oh, I must say, I am a very spoiled man. Chuck Berry, and the complete History of the Peloponnesian War.

LORELAI: Well, sure, ’cause a partial history would skip all the dirty stuff.

RICHARD: I especially like the way you wrapped the books in a bow tie. It’s very, very clever.

The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, a historical account of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), which was fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) and the Delian League (led by Athens). Written by historian and classical scholar Donald Kagan, a professor at Yale University, the book comes in four volumes. Lorelai has bought Richard all four volumes, hence it is the “complete” version. Lorelai has wrapped the books in the bow tie which was her original present for her father – Rory almost certainly suggested the books.