Chapter 33
How to Format Entries
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Explanation or analysis of Quoted Text
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Contents
Page 354
Jetsons-era spaceport
Not a bad little essay on Mid-21st Century Modern architecture.
cyberflaneurs
"A person who idly surfs the internet." In 2012 the New York Times ran an article on the Death of the Cyberflaneur
Page 355
a strange creepy nimbus like a follow spot in a club
A nimbus is an aura, or a luminous cloud or a halo surrounding a supernatural being or a saint. A follow spot (or followspot) is a moving spot light that tracks a subject, eg a dancing couple on the dance floor.
Battlestar Galactica
The reboot doesn't come out until 2004, so here they are talking about the original show.
requesting her presence on the bridge
Star Trek references start here and continue for another half page or so
posters of Denise Richards and Tia Carrere
Denise Richards for her role in Starship Troopers, no doubt, and Tia Carrere, for Relic Hunter maybe?
Page 356
Regulate
YouTube has it. The song was released in 1994.
More Cowbell
YouTube has a clip from this famous SNL skit, which was first aired, by the way, April 2000.
Deus Ex theme
Youtube to the rescue again. WIKI has more on this 2000 cyberpunk-style video game.
cyberelves
Not to be confused, surely, with cyberflaneurs or the "little tiny people...from under the radiator..with little brooms, and dustpans" from page 346.
tarball
Slang for a way to distribute code tarball derived from the tar archive format wiki
Page 357
Kabbalistic vessels smashed at the Creation into all these bright drops of light
Recalls Gravity's Rainbow, page 148: "Fallen sparks. Fragments of vessels broken at the Creation."
An Abyss
A reference to the Tree of Life in Hermetic Kabbalah.
From Lon Milo DuQuette's "Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot," page 63:
"The area (or non-area) between the supernal triad (sephiroth 1-2-3) and the rest of the Tree is called the Abyss. It is an inscrutable looking glass that separates the ideal (the abstract concepts of 1-2-3) from the actual (the manifest qualities of the phenomenal universe)."
In other words, it separates the unmanifested from the manifested, or, as Lucas puts it, the codeless from the coded.
Page 358
the edge of the unnavigable, the region of no information
Bleeding edge?
the beginning before the Word
John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
vertigo--lovesick, nauseous
Yet more intimations of Hitchcock's Vertigo. "Lovesick, nauseous" could be the film's subtitle.
Page 359
Munchkinetic effect
A reference to Munchkins from the Wizard of Oz.
Phatic how's Justin, how's Fiona, all fine thanks
"Phatic" means denoting or relating to language used for general purposes of social interaction, rather than to convey information or ask questions, such as hello, how are you? and nice morning, isn't it?
Page 360
Dear Abby, I have this friend with a big problem . . .
Long running advice column started in 1956 by Abigail Van Buren.
IRS-issue stogie
An “IRS-issue stogie” would be an American cigar that came in a box with the IRS stamp on it. Since 1862, when Congress passed a broad taxation law that included taxing cigars — to help finance the Civil War — the IRS has taxed cigars [1]. Since then cigars have come in boxes and those boxes have the IRS stamp (looks sort of like a postage stamp) on them which means they’ve been properly taxed.
Quality cigars, usually from other countries (e.g. Cuba), don’t have the IRS stamp, so the "IRS-issue" — not to mention "stogie" (a cheap cigar) — would imply a cheap cigar.
King Kongs, which are Crown Royal plus banana liqueur
Little odd, no, for the narrative voice to define something like this? I thought that was our job! Anyway, also known as a "Rock Star," this is a real cocktail.
Fernet-Branca... That crazy motherfucker from Voorhees, Krueger!
Cf. p. 70.
Page 361
that crazy motherfucker from Voorhees, Krueger
That would be Ian Longspoon. The name is likely a tip o' the hat to Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees of two classic slasher/horror films "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Friday the 13th".
what sort of look like giant letter J's, not to mention L's
"It could stand for anything, couldn't it?" This is reminiscent of readers speculating on what the "V" stands for in Pynchon's first novel V..
Oakley M Frames
Somewhat spacey-looking, apparently famous, athletic sunglasses. Oakley site.
Page 362
seldom-heard oldie "Soul Gidget"
Fictional song by from Inherent Vice. Nice touch. Page 155.
"One of the few known attempts at black surf music...by Meatball Flag."
Lyrics:
Who's that strollin down the street,
Hi-heel flip-flops on her feet,
Always got a great big smile
Never gets popped by Juv-o-nile—
Who is it?
Soul Gidget!
Who never worries about her karma?
Who be that signifyin on your mama?
Out there lookin so bad and big,
Like Sandra Dee in some Afro wig—
Who is it?
Soul Gidget!
Surf's up, Soul Gidget’s there,
Got that patchouli all in her hair,
Down in Hermosa she’s runnin wild,
Back in South Central she just a child—
Uh who is it?
Soul Gidget!
Page 363
you've got to believe...that was the '69 Mets
The 1969 New York Mets season was the team's eighth as a Major League Baseball franchise and culminated with them winning the World Series over the Baltimore Orioles. They played their home games at Shea Stadium. The team was managed by Gil Hodges. The team is often referred to as the "Amazin' Mets" (a nickname coined by Casey Stengel, who managed the team from their inaugural season to 1965) or the "Miracle Mets.".
HOWEVER, "You gotta believe!!!" was Mets pitcher Tug McGraw's catchphrase during the 1973 season, and that phrase wasn't used during the 1969 season.
Page 364
Duane Reade
See pp. 107 and 414.
ever try anal?...His specialty I bet?
Little nod to Pynchon's niece, Tristan Taormino, sex educator who wrote The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women?
Note also that this is set up a bit earlier in their conversation (on page 360) with Vyrva saying "a-little-goes-a-long-way, pain-in-the-ass-unbearable".
| Chapter 1 pp. 1-7 |
Chapter 2 pp. 8-19 |
Chapter 3 pp. 20-29 |
Chapter 4 pp. 30-40 |
Chapter 5 pp. 41-52 |
| Chapter 6 pp. 53-67 |
Chapter 7 pp. 68-79 |
Chapter 8 pp. 80-86 |
Chapter 9 pp. 87-95 |
Chapter 10 pp. 96-111 |
| Chapter 11 pp. 112-120 |
Chapter 12 pp. 121-133 |
Chapter 13 pp. 134-144 |
Chapter 14 pp. 145-159 |
Chapter 15 pp. 160-171 |
| Chapter 16 pp. 172-184 |
Chapter 17 pp. 185-197 |
Chapter 18 pp. 198-210 |
Chapter 19 pp. 211-218 |
Chapter 20 pp. 219-229 |
| Chapter 21 pp. 230-238 |
Chapter 22 pp. 239-246 |
Chapter 23 pp. 247-255 |
Chapter 24 pp. 256-264 |
Chapter 25 pp. 265-273 |
| Chapter 26 pp. 274-287 |
Chapter 27 pp. 288-300 |
Chapter 28 pp. 301-313 |
Chapter 29 pp. 314-326 |
Chapter 30 pp. 327-337 |
| Chapter 31 pp. 338-346 |
Chapter 32 pp. 347-353 |
Chapter 33 pp. 354-364 |
Chapter 34 pp. 365-382 |
Chapter 35 pp. 383-394 |
| Chapter 36 pp. 395-407 |
Chapter 37 pp. 408-422 |
Chapter 38 pp. 423-438 |
Chapter 39 pp. 439-447 |
Chapter 40 pp. 448-462 |
| Chapter 41 pp. 463-477 |
