Difference between revisions of "Chapter 10"

Revision as of 10:21, 24 September 2013

Page 96

shviger evil eye
Shviger is Yiddish for mother-in-law.

Midwest... it was the golden age of arcades then...
Possible reference to Walter Day and Ottumwa, Iowa's Twin Galaxies.

Page 97

opera
Frank Henry Loesser (1910 – 1969) wrote the lyrics and music to Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, among others. Jussi Björling singing Nessun Dorma, Deanna Durbin singing Nessun Dorma. Squillo "is a technical term attached to the resonant, trumpet-like sound in the voice of opera singers." Wikipedia

References to opera are littered throughout Pynchon's works. Wagner is mentioned numerous times in Gravity's Rainbow.

Page 98

it's Aretha Franklin, the time she filled in for Pavarotti at the Grammys back in '98
Here's the performance right here.

prewar classic seven
Prewar apartment with seven full rooms.

Space Ghost Coast to Ghost
A cult classic cartoon that ran from 1994-2004, known for its "surrealism, non-sequiturs and random, unpredictable parody humor". Wikipedia

Likud Day
Likud is the major center-right party in Israel. A secular party, it was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had lost power. In addition, it was the first time in Israel that a right wing party won the plurality of the votes. However, after ruling the country for most of the 1980s, the party lost the Knesset election in 1992. Nevertheless, Likud's candidate Benjamin Netanyahu did win the vote for Prime Minister in 1996 and was given the task of forming a government after the 1996 elections. From WIKI.

Page 99

Fu Manchu
Dr. Fu Manchu is a fictional character introduced in a series of novels by British author Sax Rohmer during the first half of the 20th century. The character was also featured extensively in cinema, television, radio, comic strips and comic books for over 90 years, and has become an archetype of the evil criminal genius while lending the name to the Fu Manchu moustache. From WIKI.

Soutine
Website here.

Lenox Hill
Lenox Hill Hospital, on Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City, is a 652-bed, tertiary-care hospital and a teaching hospital of New York Medical College, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, Long Island University and Pace University. It was founded in 1857 as the German Dispensary. From WIKI.

Page 100

a RICO beef
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. The RICO Act focuses specifically on racketeering, and it allows the leaders of a syndicate to be tried for the crimes which they ordered others to do or assisted them, closing a perceived loophole that allowed someone who told a man to, for example, murder, to be exempt from the trial because he did not actually commit the crime personally. From WIKI.

Explaining to Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
The narrator jokingly refers to Windust as Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., who played an FBI agent in the TV series The FBI.

Sam Jaffe
Sam Jaffe (March 10, 1891 – March 24, 1984) was an American actor, teacher, musician and engineer. In 1951, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and appeared in other classic films such as Ben-Hur (1959) and The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). He may be best remembered for playing the title role in Gunga Din (1939), and the High Lama in Lost Horizon (1937). From WIKI.

Klaatu
Klaatu is a fictional humanoid alien in the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still and its 2008 remake. Klaatu is famous in part because of the phrase "Klaatu barada nikto!" used in the classic film and its re-use in the Bruce Campbell cult comedy film Army of Darkness, as well as many other films. From WIKI.

Page 101

the Hollywood Ten
Folks in Hollywood blacklisted as said they were Communists. See the WIKI.

Page 102

A reconvergence of what the day scattered
Sappho was a Greek lyric poet, born on the island of Lesbos. The Alexandrians included her in the list of nine lyric poets. Her birth was sometime between 630 and 612 BCE, and it is said that she died around 570 BCE, but little is known for certain about her life. The bulk of her poetry, which was well-known and greatly admired through much of antiquity, has been lost, but her immense reputation has endured through surviving fragments.

Pynchon is referencing this Sappho poem:

To Evening
O HESPERUS! Thou bringest all things home;
All that the garish day hath scattered wide;
The sheep, the goat, back to the welcome fold;

Thou bring'st the child, too, to his mother's side.

Pynchon quotes this very poem in Mason & Dixon, at 96.

Page 103

still believes the Rosenbergs were innocent
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of espionage and executed in 1953.

La cibaeñа
An entirely invented word. Perhaps some pun?

La cibaeñа is a girl or woman from the Dominican Republic region of Cibao.

catibias
Dominican street food.

General Tso's catibias, going along with the restaurant's Chinese-Dominican fusion, would be a catibias, kind of like a small Dominican calzone, filled with General Tso's chicken or pork, a popular Chinese dish which mainly has to do with the sauce.

morir soñando
Morir soñando (die dreaming) is a popular beverage of the Dominican Republic which has made its way to other Hispanic countries, usually made of orange juice, milk, cane sugar, and chopped ice. Sometimes vanilla extract is also added, or evaporated milk is used instead of regular milk. The recipe varies greatly depending on the region and family heritage. American observers have described the drink as resembling a Creamsicle. From WIKI.

Page 104

rugelach
A Jewish pastry of Ashkenazic origin. See WIKI.

Page 105

the Ofeq satellite
Ofeq is the designation of a series of Israeli reconnaissance satellites first launched in 1988. Most Ofeq satellites have been carried on top of Shavit rockets from Palmachim Airbase in Israel, on the Mediterranean coast. The Low Earth Orbit satellites complete one earth orbit every 90 minutes. The satellite launches made Israel only the eighth nation to gain an indigenous launch capability. Both the satellites and the launchers were designed and manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) with Elbit Systems' El-Op division supplying the optical payload. From WIKI.

the Pollard case
Jonathan Jay Pollard (born August 7, 1954) is an American who passed classified information to Israel while working as an American civilian intelligence analyst. He pleaded guilty and received a life sentence in 1987. Because his crime occurred prior to November 1, 1987, he is eligible for parole, and may be released on November 21, 2015. From WIKI.

Hertzliya
The Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya is a private university in Israel founded in 1994 by Uriel Reichman. IDC Herzliya is a non-profit corporate institution that receives no government subsidies. The goal is scholarship that goes hand in hand with social responsibility. Degrees granted by IDC Herzliya are accredited by the Israeli Council for Higher Education and are recognized worldwide. From WIKI.

sayanim
A sayanim is a Jew living outside Israel who volunteers to provide assistance to Israel and/or the Israeli Mossad utilising the capacity of their own nationality to procure assistance. This assistance includes facilitating medical care, money, logistics, and even overt intelligence gathering. Estimates put the number of sayanims in the hundreds of thousand. While not official Mossad agents and sometimes acting without explicit knowledge, they may work in the capacity of unregistered representatives of the government of Israel in their respective nations. From Meta.

Page 106

Politics & Prose
Independent bookstore in Washington, D.C. Website here.

Page 107

Duane Reade
Duane Reade Inc., a subsidiary of the Walgreen Company, is a chain of pharmacy and convenience stores, primarily located in New York City, known for its high volume small store layouts in densely populated Manhattan locations. The headquarters is located along Ninth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. From WIKI.

Page 108

Bronx Science
The Bronx High School of Science is a specialized New York City public high school often considered the premier science magnet school in the United States. Founded in 1938, it is now located in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx. Admission is by an exam open to all grade-eligible students in New York City, reportedly taken by more than 20,000 students annually. Although known for its focus on mathematics and science, Bronx Science also emphasizes the humanities and social sciences and continually attracts students with a wide variety of interests beyond math and science. From WIKI.

Santiago, Chile, on 11 September 1973
The 11 September 1973 Chilean coup d'état was a watershed event in both the Cold War and the history of Chile. Following an extended period of social and political unrest between the conservative-dominated Congress of Chile and the socialist President Salvador Allende, as well as economic warfare ordered by U.S. President Richard Nixon, Allende was overthrown by the armed forces and national police. During the air raids and ground attacks that preceded the coup, Allende gave his last speech, in which he vowed to stay in the presidential palace, denouncing offers for safe passage should he choose exile over confrontation. From WIKI.