Difference between revisions of "Chapter 17"

Revision as of 12:08, 28 September 2013

Page 185

when WYNY switched formats overnight from country to classic disco
Some anachronistic joshing from Pynchon here, perhaps an old WYNY country fan, as per WIKI on July 5, 2012 WYNY changed their format from country to adult contemporary.

Page 186

what Jodi Della Femina might call shortcuts
Or advertisements of the route, i.e. street signs? Jerry Della Femina (born 1936 in Brooklyn) is an American advertising executive and restaurateur. Starting from a poor Italian background in Brooklyn, he eventually became chairman of Della Femina Travisano & Partners, an agency which he founded with Ron Travisano in the 1960s. Over the next two decades they grew the company into a major advertising house that was billing $250 million per year, and had 300 employees and offices in both New York and Los Angeles. Della Femina is known for his larger than life personality and colorful language and was referred to as a "'Madman' of Madison Avenue". In 1970, he wrote a book about the advertising industry, humorously titled, From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor: Front-Line Dispatches from the Advertising War. It became a cult bestseller, described by The Guardian as "one of the defining books about advertising", and eventually inspired the television series Mad Men. Jodi is his son. From WIKI.

Page 187

some Meat Loaf reference
Bat Out of Hell?

Page 188

schadenfreudefest
The enjoyment, and making it a festive occasion, of others's failures and misfortunes.

Page 189

Cheatin side of town, as the Eagles like to say
Here are some lyrics from the song "Lyin' Eyes" by the Eagles: "She is headed for the cheatin' side of town." See the WIKI.

where a man can kick out the jambs
A play on "Kick Out the Jams," an album and song by the band MC5. And Pynchon has used this before, see Vineland pg. 191.

Page 190

Bobby Van's people
Bobby Van was born Robert Jack Stein to vaudeville parents in The Bronx, New York City, and grew up backstage, witnessing many memorable Depression-era acts. See the WIKI.

Page 191

Gurney's
Gurney's Inn is a historic oceanfront resort on the very tip of Long Island, located on 290 Old Montauk Highway in Montauk, New York. U.S. President Richard Nixon wrote his acceptance speech at the Skippers Cottage. It has a famous Thalasso spa. From WIKI.

Har-Tru tennis court
American-style green clay court. Clay courts aren't made of clay, by the way. Instead they are made of "shale, stone, or brick." WIKI. Har-Tru courts are typically constructed with crushed Pre-Cambrian metabasalt. More trivia: the Har-Tru company got its odd name by combining the first initials of the owner's name "Henry Alexander Robinson" and a variant spelling of "true" that stressed the "true bounce" of the court. Company history page.

Page 193

Bluebeard's Castle
Judith and Bluebeard arrive at his castle, which is all dark. Bluebeard asks Judith if she wants to stay and even offers her an opportunity to leave, but she decides to stay. Judith insists that all the doors be opened, to allow light to enter into the forbidding interior, insisting further that her demands are based on her love for Bluebeard. Bluebeard refuses, saying that they are private places not to be explored by others, and asking Judith to love him but ask no questions. Judith persists, and eventually prevails over his resistance. The first door opens to reveal a torture chamber, stained with blood. Repelled, but then intrigued, Judith pushes on. Behind the second door is a storehouse of weapons, and behind the third a storehouse of riches. Bluebeard urges her on. Behind the fourth door is a secret garden of great beauty; behind the fifth, a window onto Bluebeard's vast kingdom. All is now sunlit, but blood has stained the riches, watered the garden, and grim clouds throw blood-red shadows over Bluebeard's kingdom. From WIKI.

Bluebeard, thank you, wiki, is possibly based on a real man, Gilles de Rais, who lived in France in the early 1400s. He was executed in 1440, having been found guilty of committing numerous child murders. Centuries later, in 1697 Paris, Charles Perrault published a fairy tale that really got the Bluebeard legend rolling. In the Perrault version, Bluebeard is slain and the story has a happy ending.

phonetic letters including Whisky, Tango, and Foxtrot
a.k.a., WTF or What The Fuck

But we later learn what they stand for. See Page 261.

Page 194

a child? Something in a child-size fatigue uniform...rising as if on wings
Very Korean horror.

Vosne-Romanée
Vosne-Romanée wine is produced in the commune of Vosne-Romanée in Côte de Nuits of Burgundy as well as in the neighbouring commune of Flagey-Échezeaux. The Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) Vosne-Romanée may only be used for red wine with Pinot noir as the main grape. There are a total of 15 Premier Cru vineyards in the two communes, as well as six Grand Cru vineyards in Vosne-Romanée and two in Flagey-Échezeaux. These Grand Cru vineyards include Burgundy's most iconic, sought-after and expensive red wines, with Romanée-Conti of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti at the pinnacle: "There can be little doubt that in the firmament of the Cote de nuits, Vosne-Romanée is the brightest star." From WIKI.

Page 195

Roll on, four-wheeler, roll on.
Riffing on Charley Pride? Randy Newman's Burn On, as in, "burn on, big river, burn on"? The possibilities must be legion.