Thomas Pynchon Wiki - User contributions [en]

Chapter 23

2018-08-01T22:44:11Z

ChrisSch: /* Page 253 */Fixed typo.

{{BE PxP Header}}

==Page 247==
'''anti-kibbutz''' 
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. For more see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbutz WIKI].

'''Kyrgyz movie''' 
Recall [http://gravitys-rainbow.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=The_Kirghiz_Light The Kirghiz Light] in Pynchon's ''Gravity's Rainbow'' (1973). Interestly, he changes the spelling here, reflecting how it's now [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrgyzstan commonly spelled].

Perhaps the 1998 film [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166503/ The Adopted Son] playing as a revival at the [http://www.filmlinc.com/ Film Society of Lincoln Center.]

'''Tongue Polonaise''' 
A traditional Jewish holiday dish. The recipe Pynchon describes may likely have come from
[http://books.google.com/books?id=PZTEv5vV8IMC&pg=PA154&lpg=PA154&dq=tongue+polonaise+gingersnaps&source=bl&ots=m7Bn8OBm0v&sig=D2GPLhldrSi6CDWYGlLJ_WvmEM4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=20I5Uu2NDMLqrQGEt4GAAw&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=tongue%20polonaise%20gingersnaps&f=false ''Cooking Jewish''] by Judy Bart Kancigor (Workman Publishing, 2007):

<blockquote>
If you attended Bar Mitzvahs in the 1950, you probably saw some permutation of this recipe on the buffet table. Tongue has fallen out of favor in the intervening decades, except on sandwiches in kosher delis, and even then it's ordered only by people old enough to remember that era. [...] Tongue has a soft, creamy texture and rich taste that is difficult to compare to anything else.

<blockquote>
1 pickled beef tongue (about 4 pounds) 
1 can (20 ounces) pineapple chunks, drained 
1 cup canned pitted black cherries, drained and chopped 
1/4 cup golden raisins 
1 jar (10 ounces) orange marmalade 
2 cups orange juice 
1/2 cup (packed) light or dark brown sugar 
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar 
Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons) 
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard 
'''10 gingersnaps, crushed''' 
1/4 teaspoon kosher (coarse) salt, or to taste
</blockquote>
</blockquote>

==Page 248==
'''No hondeling''' 
Hondeling is the bargaining, or haggling, style in Israel.

'''blue lines on a stick''' 
This refers to a pregnancy-test device a "stick" that a woman uses to see if she is pregnant. The device displays one blue line to indicate the test has worked. A second blue line, forming a + indicates pregnancy. [http://www.errorprooftest.com/how-to-read-ept] So, yup, a Pregnant Pause...

==Page 249==
'''"He meets her gaze and then sits staring at her, as if she's some kind of screen..."''' 
Crap. More Lacan references, only now Maxine's a TV with a difference: instead of ''tubeside'', Avi is ''Maxiside''.

'''p'tcha''' 
A traditional Ashkenazi Jewish dish prepared from calves' feet, similar to an aspic.
In Eastern Europe, Jews served p'tcha with chopped eggs on Sabbath. In the early 20th century, Jewish immigrants in the United States continued to prepare the dish, and it was often served as an appetizer at Jewish weddings. But vegan?

'''classical piano novelty act''' 
a polonaise is a dance, and Chopin wrote a lot of polonaises for solo piano

==Page 250==
'''"...Avi pretends to be absorbed in the television."''' 
Told ya.

==Page 251==
'''Proust Schmoust''' 
In ''In Search of Lost Time'' (aka ''Remembrance of Things Past''), Marcel Proust uses madeleines to contrast involuntary memory with voluntary memory. The latter designates memories retrieved by "intelligence," that is, memories produced by putting conscious effort into remembering events, people, and places. Proust's narrator laments that such memories are inevitably partial, and do not bear the "essence" of the past. The most famous instance of involuntary memory by Proust is known as the "episode of the madeleine." Here, the Tongue triggers Ernie's involuntary memory.

==Page 252==
'''Purple Drank T-shirt''' 
Purple drank is a slang term for a recreational drug popular in the hip hop community in the southern United States, originating in Houston, Texas. Its main ingredient is prescription-strength cough syrup containing codeine and promethazine. Cough syrup is typically mixed with ingredients such as Sprite soft drink or Mountain Dew. The purplish hue of purple drank comes from dyes in the cough syrup. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_drank WIKI].

'''enough dress-code violations to get thrown off the L train''' 
The L (not "El") runs along 14th Street past the old Stuyvesant H.S. (Eric Outfield from Stuyvesant), through the East Village on its way to Brooklyn. From [http://web.mta.info/nyct/service/lline.htm].

The L train goes to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and is heavily relied on and populated by "hipsters" (meaning the 2000's version of "hipster's" as opposed to the 1950's version) who reside in Williamsburg and ride the L into the Village. So the remark refers to Windust not dressing in current hipster attire and being recognized as not belonging with hipster's on the the L train.

'''Just some schmatte from H&M''' 
"Schmatte" is Yiddish for a rag. H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) is a Swedish multinational retail-clothing company, known for its fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers and children. It opened its first U.S. store in New York City, on Fifth Avenue (at 51st Street) in March 2000. As of August 2010, the company had nearly two hundred individual stores in the United States.

==Page 253==
'''As Deborah Kerr, or Marni Nixon, might say, or actually sing''' 
Marni Nixon (b. 1930) is an American soprano and playback singer for featured actresses in movie musicals. She is most famous for dubbing the singing voices of the leading actresses in films, including ''The King and I'', ''West Side Story'' and ''My Fair Lady''. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marni_Nixon Wiki] says she earned the nickname the "Ghostess with the Mostest" because her work was often uncredited.

In 1956, she worked closely with actress Deborah Kerr to supply the star's singing voice for the film version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's ''The King and I'', and the next year she again worked with Kerr to dub her voice in ''An Affair to Remembe".betweenAnna (the Deborah Kerr role) and the powerful yet untrustablre King. (Yup Brynner). Not unlike Maxine and Windust, I'd say.

[[User:ChrisSch|ChrisSch]] ([[User talk:ChrisSch|talk]]) The phrase "On the clear understanding " comes from the "King And I" song "Shall We Dance

==Page 254==
'''ghetto-ass g's''' 
Ghetto-ass gangsta's

'''Paradise Garage''' 
Again, see chapters 14 and 15, Maxine recalls going to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Garage Paradise Garage.]

'''9:30 Club... maybe he caught Tiny Desk Unit and Bad Brains in their local-band period... maybe the smell of the 9:30 Cologne is his last, his only link with the uncorrupted youth he was?''' 
The 9:30 Club was a late 70's-early 80's club in Washington D.C. where as mentioned, new wave/punk bands like Tiny Desk Unit and Bad Brains once played. In a negative marketing twist, Pynchon implies here that, though seemingly unrelated, Windust's use of 9:30 Cologne and its appeal is tied with the 9:30 Club of his youth.

'''Maybe's ass, OK?''' 
Another way of putting it... “Fuck all the maybe's!” In other words, all those speculations are bullshit.

==Page 255==
'''Princess Heidrophobia''' 
Heidi, a pun on hydrophobia (= rabies).

{{Bleeding Edge PbP}}

Chapter 23

2018-08-01T22:41:56Z

ChrisSch: /* Page 253 */Fixed typo

{{BE PxP Header}}

==Page 247==
'''anti-kibbutz''' 
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. For more see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbutz WIKI].

'''Kyrgyz movie''' 
Recall [http://gravitys-rainbow.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=The_Kirghiz_Light The Kirghiz Light] in Pynchon's ''Gravity's Rainbow'' (1973). Interestly, he changes the spelling here, reflecting how it's now [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrgyzstan commonly spelled].

Perhaps the 1998 film [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166503/ The Adopted Son] playing as a revival at the [http://www.filmlinc.com/ Film Society of Lincoln Center.]

'''Tongue Polonaise''' 
A traditional Jewish holiday dish. The recipe Pynchon describes may likely have come from
[http://books.google.com/books?id=PZTEv5vV8IMC&pg=PA154&lpg=PA154&dq=tongue+polonaise+gingersnaps&source=bl&ots=m7Bn8OBm0v&sig=D2GPLhldrSi6CDWYGlLJ_WvmEM4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=20I5Uu2NDMLqrQGEt4GAAw&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=tongue%20polonaise%20gingersnaps&f=false ''Cooking Jewish''] by Judy Bart Kancigor (Workman Publishing, 2007):

<blockquote>
If you attended Bar Mitzvahs in the 1950, you probably saw some permutation of this recipe on the buffet table. Tongue has fallen out of favor in the intervening decades, except on sandwiches in kosher delis, and even then it's ordered only by people old enough to remember that era. [...] Tongue has a soft, creamy texture and rich taste that is difficult to compare to anything else.

<blockquote>
1 pickled beef tongue (about 4 pounds) 
1 can (20 ounces) pineapple chunks, drained 
1 cup canned pitted black cherries, drained and chopped 
1/4 cup golden raisins 
1 jar (10 ounces) orange marmalade 
2 cups orange juice 
1/2 cup (packed) light or dark brown sugar 
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar 
Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons) 
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard 
'''10 gingersnaps, crushed''' 
1/4 teaspoon kosher (coarse) salt, or to taste
</blockquote>
</blockquote>

==Page 248==
'''No hondeling''' 
Hondeling is the bargaining, or haggling, style in Israel.

'''blue lines on a stick''' 
This refers to a pregnancy-test device a "stick" that a woman uses to see if she is pregnant. The device displays one blue line to indicate the test has worked. A second blue line, forming a + indicates pregnancy. [http://www.errorprooftest.com/how-to-read-ept] So, yup, a Pregnant Pause...

==Page 249==
'''"He meets her gaze and then sits staring at her, as if she's some kind of screen..."''' 
Crap. More Lacan references, only now Maxine's a TV with a difference: instead of ''tubeside'', Avi is ''Maxiside''.

'''p'tcha''' 
A traditional Ashkenazi Jewish dish prepared from calves' feet, similar to an aspic.
In Eastern Europe, Jews served p'tcha with chopped eggs on Sabbath. In the early 20th century, Jewish immigrants in the United States continued to prepare the dish, and it was often served as an appetizer at Jewish weddings. But vegan?

'''classical piano novelty act''' 
a polonaise is a dance, and Chopin wrote a lot of polonaises for solo piano

==Page 250==
'''"...Avi pretends to be absorbed in the television."''' 
Told ya.

==Page 251==
'''Proust Schmoust''' 
In ''In Search of Lost Time'' (aka ''Remembrance of Things Past''), Marcel Proust uses madeleines to contrast involuntary memory with voluntary memory. The latter designates memories retrieved by "intelligence," that is, memories produced by putting conscious effort into remembering events, people, and places. Proust's narrator laments that such memories are inevitably partial, and do not bear the "essence" of the past. The most famous instance of involuntary memory by Proust is known as the "episode of the madeleine." Here, the Tongue triggers Ernie's involuntary memory.

==Page 252==
'''Purple Drank T-shirt''' 
Purple drank is a slang term for a recreational drug popular in the hip hop community in the southern United States, originating in Houston, Texas. Its main ingredient is prescription-strength cough syrup containing codeine and promethazine. Cough syrup is typically mixed with ingredients such as Sprite soft drink or Mountain Dew. The purplish hue of purple drank comes from dyes in the cough syrup. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_drank WIKI].

'''enough dress-code violations to get thrown off the L train''' 
The L (not "El") runs along 14th Street past the old Stuyvesant H.S. (Eric Outfield from Stuyvesant), through the East Village on its way to Brooklyn. From [http://web.mta.info/nyct/service/lline.htm].

The L train goes to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and is heavily relied on and populated by "hipsters" (meaning the 2000's version of "hipster's" as opposed to the 1950's version) who reside in Williamsburg and ride the L into the Village. So the remark refers to Windust not dressing in current hipster attire and being recognized as not belonging with hipster's on the the L train.

'''Just some schmatte from H&M''' 
"Schmatte" is Yiddish for a rag. H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) is a Swedish multinational retail-clothing company, known for its fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers and children. It opened its first U.S. store in New York City, on Fifth Avenue (at 51st Street) in March 2000. As of August 2010, the company had nearly two hundred individual stores in the United States.

==Page 253==
'''As Deborah Kerr, or Marni Nixon, might say, or actually sing''' 
Marni Nixon (b. 1930) is an American soprano and playback singer for featured actresses in movie musicals. She is most famous for dubbing the singing voices of the leading actresses in films, including ''The King and I'', ''West Side Story'' and ''My Fair Lady''. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marni_Nixon Wiki] says she earned the nickname the "Ghostess with the Mostest" because her work was often uncredited.

In 1956, she worked closely with actress Deborah Kerr to supply the star's singing voice for the film version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's ''The King and I'', and the next year she again worked with Kerr to dub her voice in ''An Affair to Remember''.?", expresses the tentative attraction betweenAnna (the Deborah Kerr role) and the powerful yet untrustablre King. (Yup Brynner). Not unlike Maxine and Windust, I'd say.

[[User:ChrisSch|ChrisSch]] ([[User talk:ChrisSch|talk]]) The phrase "On the clear understanding " comes from the "King And I" song "Shall We Dance

==Page 254==
'''ghetto-ass g's''' 
Ghetto-ass gangsta's

'''Paradise Garage''' 
Again, see chapters 14 and 15, Maxine recalls going to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Garage Paradise Garage.]

'''9:30 Club... maybe he caught Tiny Desk Unit and Bad Brains in their local-band period... maybe the smell of the 9:30 Cologne is his last, his only link with the uncorrupted youth he was?''' 
The 9:30 Club was a late 70's-early 80's club in Washington D.C. where as mentioned, new wave/punk bands like Tiny Desk Unit and Bad Brains once played. In a negative marketing twist, Pynchon implies here that, though seemingly unrelated, Windust's use of 9:30 Cologne and its appeal is tied with the 9:30 Club of his youth.

'''Maybe's ass, OK?''' 
Another way of putting it... “Fuck all the maybe's!” In other words, all those speculations are bullshit.

==Page 255==
'''Princess Heidrophobia''' 
Heidi, a pun on hydrophobia (= rabies).

{{Bleeding Edge PbP}}

Chapter 23

2018-08-01T21:42:05Z

ChrisSch: /* Page 253 */Clarified source of "On the clear understanding" line, and speculated on its applying to Maxine and Windust.

{{BE PxP Header}}

==Page 247==
'''anti-kibbutz''' 
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. For more see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbutz WIKI].

'''Kyrgyz movie''' 
Recall [http://gravitys-rainbow.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=The_Kirghiz_Light The Kirghiz Light] in Pynchon's ''Gravity's Rainbow'' (1973). Interestly, he changes the spelling here, reflecting how it's now [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrgyzstan commonly spelled].

Perhaps the 1998 film [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166503/ The Adopted Son] playing as a revival at the [http://www.filmlinc.com/ Film Society of Lincoln Center.]

'''Tongue Polonaise''' 
A traditional Jewish holiday dish. The recipe Pynchon describes may likely have come from
[http://books.google.com/books?id=PZTEv5vV8IMC&pg=PA154&lpg=PA154&dq=tongue+polonaise+gingersnaps&source=bl&ots=m7Bn8OBm0v&sig=D2GPLhldrSi6CDWYGlLJ_WvmEM4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=20I5Uu2NDMLqrQGEt4GAAw&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=tongue%20polonaise%20gingersnaps&f=false ''Cooking Jewish''] by Judy Bart Kancigor (Workman Publishing, 2007):

<blockquote>
If you attended Bar Mitzvahs in the 1950, you probably saw some permutation of this recipe on the buffet table. Tongue has fallen out of favor in the intervening decades, except on sandwiches in kosher delis, and even then it's ordered only by people old enough to remember that era. [...] Tongue has a soft, creamy texture and rich taste that is difficult to compare to anything else.

<blockquote>
1 pickled beef tongue (about 4 pounds) 
1 can (20 ounces) pineapple chunks, drained 
1 cup canned pitted black cherries, drained and chopped 
1/4 cup golden raisins 
1 jar (10 ounces) orange marmalade 
2 cups orange juice 
1/2 cup (packed) light or dark brown sugar 
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar 
Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons) 
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard 
'''10 gingersnaps, crushed''' 
1/4 teaspoon kosher (coarse) salt, or to taste
</blockquote>
</blockquote>

==Page 248==
'''No hondeling''' 
Hondeling is the bargaining, or haggling, style in Israel.

'''blue lines on a stick''' 
This refers to a pregnancy-test device a "stick" that a woman uses to see if she is pregnant. The device displays one blue line to indicate the test has worked. A second blue line, forming a + indicates pregnancy. [http://www.errorprooftest.com/how-to-read-ept] So, yup, a Pregnant Pause...

==Page 249==
'''"He meets her gaze and then sits staring at her, as if she's some kind of screen..."''' 
Crap. More Lacan references, only now Maxine's a TV with a difference: instead of ''tubeside'', Avi is ''Maxiside''.

'''p'tcha''' 
A traditional Ashkenazi Jewish dish prepared from calves' feet, similar to an aspic.
In Eastern Europe, Jews served p'tcha with chopped eggs on Sabbath. In the early 20th century, Jewish immigrants in the United States continued to prepare the dish, and it was often served as an appetizer at Jewish weddings. But vegan?

'''classical piano novelty act''' 
a polonaise is a dance, and Chopin wrote a lot of polonaises for solo piano

==Page 250==
'''"...Avi pretends to be absorbed in the television."''' 
Told ya.

==Page 251==
'''Proust Schmoust''' 
In ''In Search of Lost Time'' (aka ''Remembrance of Things Past''), Marcel Proust uses madeleines to contrast involuntary memory with voluntary memory. The latter designates memories retrieved by "intelligence," that is, memories produced by putting conscious effort into remembering events, people, and places. Proust's narrator laments that such memories are inevitably partial, and do not bear the "essence" of the past. The most famous instance of involuntary memory by Proust is known as the "episode of the madeleine." Here, the Tongue triggers Ernie's involuntary memory.

==Page 252==
'''Purple Drank T-shirt''' 
Purple drank is a slang term for a recreational drug popular in the hip hop community in the southern United States, originating in Houston, Texas. Its main ingredient is prescription-strength cough syrup containing codeine and promethazine. Cough syrup is typically mixed with ingredients such as Sprite soft drink or Mountain Dew. The purplish hue of purple drank comes from dyes in the cough syrup. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_drank WIKI].

'''enough dress-code violations to get thrown off the L train''' 
The L (not "El") runs along 14th Street past the old Stuyvesant H.S. (Eric Outfield from Stuyvesant), through the East Village on its way to Brooklyn. From [http://web.mta.info/nyct/service/lline.htm].

The L train goes to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and is heavily relied on and populated by "hipsters" (meaning the 2000's version of "hipster's" as opposed to the 1950's version) who reside in Williamsburg and ride the L into the Village. So the remark refers to Windust not dressing in current hipster attire and being recognized as not belonging with hipster's on the the L train.

'''Just some schmatte from H&M''' 
"Schmatte" is Yiddish for a rag. H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) is a Swedish multinational retail-clothing company, known for its fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers and children. It opened its first U.S. store in New York City, on Fifth Avenue (at 51st Street) in March 2000. As of August 2010, the company had nearly two hundred individual stores in the United States.

==Page 253==
'''As Deborah Kerr, or Marni Nixon, might say, or actually sing''' 
Marni Nixon (b. 1930) is an American soprano and playback singer for featured actresses in movie musicals. She is most famous for dubbing the singing voices of the leading actresses in films, including ''The King and I'', ''West Side Story'' and ''My Fair Lady''. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marni_Nixon Wiki] says she earned the nickname the "Ghostess with the Mostest" because her work was often uncredited.

In 1956, she worked closely with actress Deborah Kerr to supply the star's singing voice for the film version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's ''The King and I'', and the next year she again worked with Kerr to dub her voice in ''An Affair to Remember''.?", which expresses the tentative attraction between Anna (the Deborah Kerr role) and the powerful yet untrustablre King. (Yup Brynner). Not unlike Maxine and Windust, I'd say.

[[User:ChrisSch|ChrisSch]] ([[User talk:ChrisSch|talk]]) The phrase "On the clear understanding " comes from the "King And I" song "Shall We Dance

==Page 254==
'''ghetto-ass g's''' 
Ghetto-ass gangsta's

'''Paradise Garage''' 
Again, see chapters 14 and 15, Maxine recalls going to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Garage Paradise Garage.]

'''9:30 Club... maybe he caught Tiny Desk Unit and Bad Brains in their local-band period... maybe the smell of the 9:30 Cologne is his last, his only link with the uncorrupted youth he was?''' 
The 9:30 Club was a late 70's-early 80's club in Washington D.C. where as mentioned, new wave/punk bands like Tiny Desk Unit and Bad Brains once played. In a negative marketing twist, Pynchon implies here that, though seemingly unrelated, Windust's use of 9:30 Cologne and its appeal is tied with the 9:30 Club of his youth.

'''Maybe's ass, OK?''' 
Another way of putting it... “Fuck all the maybe's!” In other words, all those speculations are bullshit.

==Page 255==
'''Princess Heidrophobia''' 
Heidi, a pun on hydrophobia (= rabies).

{{Bleeding Edge PbP}}

Chapter 14

2018-08-01T21:22:00Z

ChrisSch: /* Page 153 */Clarified the "soubrette" versus "leading lady" talk, as well as establishing that someone other than Gloria Grahame was the film's leading lady.

{{BE PxP Header}}
==Page 146==

'''E-rated video game''' 
E is for "everyone", i.e. a non-age-restricted rating.

'''James Bond at the baccarat table''' 
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNWGbZlDPlQ See] ultra-cool Bond introduce himself at the baccarat table, a game he played throughout the books and films. (Some later post-Ian Fleming) films had casino scenes shot twice, with Bond playing baccarat in the international release, and poker or blackjack in the dumbed-down North American release.)

==Page 147==

'''third ballet position''' <br\>
One foot is placed in front of the other so that the heel of the front foot is near the arch of the back foot. [http://0.tqn.com/y/dance/1/0/3/-/-/-/Third.jpg]
This position is rarely used anymore, because now most professional dancers are so flexible that they can rotate the front foot even further, so that it is parallel to the back foot, but pointing in the opposite direction, ie the "fifth position"

'''Lennie on ''Law & Order''''' 
Lennie Briscoe was a detective for 12 seasons on the TV show ''Law & Order''.

==Page 148==
'''Zabar's''' 
Zabar's is a specialty food store at 2245 Broadway and 80th Street, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, founded by Louis Zabar. It is one of the best known commercial landmarks of the neighborhood, and is known for its selection of bagels, smoked fish, olives, and cheeses. Zabar's is frequently referenced in popular culture. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zabar%27s WIKI].

==Page 149==
'''''noraebang''''' 
In Korea, Karaoke is most commonly called "Noraebang" Noraebang is even conducted in transport vehicles such as tourist buses. Noraebang is the equivalent to the Karaoke-Box in Japan. Karaoke boxes consist of multiple rooms containing karaoke equipment, usually rented out for time periods, whereas singing before an audience in a karaoke bar is called Karaoke in Korea.

'''Streetlight People, Don't Stop Believing, karaoke boilerplate''' 
A proper karaoke boilerplate would certainly include Journey's 1981 hit "Don't Stop Believin'" which is the top-selling catalog track in iTunes history with over 5 million digital copies sold, as well as the best-selling rock song in digital history until it was over taken by Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive" in January 2014.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_Stop_Believin'] And it's also in the top 15 most popular karaoke songs, according to [http://mentalfloss.com/article/49789/15-most-requested-karaoke-songs this site].

'''Regulation D''' 
Reserve Requirements for Depository Institutions (Regulation D) is a Federal Reserve Board regulation that limits the number of preauthorized withdrawals and transfers from a savings account or money market account. The regulation applies to all United States banking institutions offering such accounts. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_D_%28FRB%29 WIKI].

'''Filene's Basement''' 
A store where designer clothes are sold on discount. (cf pg 13)

==Page 150==
'''Vinalon''' 
From [http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2785895/posts this news site]:

<blockquote>The low-grade synthetic fiber indelibly associated with North Korea's failed "juche" or self-reliance ideology has become fit only for rags, Radio Free Asia reported on Thursday. Once touted as the future of the socialist clothing industry, Vinalon fabric is now chiefly used as rags, or as wallpaper paste by heating it to high temperatures, RFA quoted North Korean expatriates in China as saying.

Developed by Dr. Lee Sung-ki during Japanese colonial rule in 1939, Vinalon is made from limestone and anthracite, unlike other synthetic fibers that are made from petroleum by-products. It is produced only in North Korea. The problem is its inefficiency. A Unification Ministry official said, "The North has to use too much electricity to extract Vinalon from anthracite. It would be more cost-effective to import finished textile products, even at a rip-off price." - 9/30/11 [http://www.vinalon.eu/ More...]</blockquote>

''Actually, the main reason for vinalon's poor quality is because it is made from polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), a terrible polymer for making synthetic fabrics, and not because it is derived from coal. In South Africa, Sasol has been making petrochemicals from coal since World War II, and these are used to make a wide variety of "normal" high quality synthetic fabrics. North Korea ended up with vinalon only because it is much easier to turn coal into acetylene and acetylene into PVA than it would have been to master Sasol's process or turn acetylene into (say) nylon. Electricity consumption in the first step is indeed an economic problem.''

'''comfortably bridge-attired''' 
Bridge attire is a pricing and styling category of misses apparel. Typically, bridge designers are one notch under designer (luxury) lines. Bridge lines have more unique styling than contemporary misses but are ''usually'' not as pricey as designer lines. The name comes from the fact that they are a "bridge" between less expensive lines and luxury lines. [http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/what_is_a_bridge_line/]

The hierarchy with regard to styling, price and exclusivity from highest to lowest is: <blockquote>Haute Couture 
Designer RTW 
Bridge 
Contemporary</blockquote>

'''Mikimoto''' 
Japanese jewelry company, pretty much top of the line in pearls.

'''Tim Horton's''' 
A ubiquitous doughnut/coffee shop in Canada.

==Page 151==
'''feeble snow''' <br\>
"neige faible" is a common French expression, and would normally be translated as "light snow". I'm not sure why Pynchon would call it "feeble snow". Even in other contexts, "faible" is hardly ever translated into English as "feeble", instead "weak" usually comes pretty close. Actually, Montreal gets less snow than many other cities in Quebec (Sherbrooke, Trois Rivieres, ...), and even less than Buffalo NY, so I'm confused as to why this is even brought up.

'''we're trying to go legit . . . like Michael Corleone''' 
The main character in the ''Godfather'' films. After he becomes the head of his family, he tries to make his family's business legitimate.

'''''Amy & Joey'', an Off-Broadway musical''' 
This fictional musical is about Joey Buttafuoco (from Massapequa, NY). In 1992, he had an affair with Amy Fisher, who then shot Buttafuoco's wife Mary Jo. Mary Jo survived.
:Funny, we're 150 pages into a Pynchon novel and this is the first song. Must be some kinda record.

==Page 153==
'''like Gloria Grahame in ''Oklahoma!''''' 
Gloria Grahame starred in the 1955 musical film ''Oklahoma!''
[[User:ChrisSch|ChrisSch]] ([[User talk:ChrisSch|talk]]) Gloria Grahame did not star in the movie of "Oklahoma!", the female lead was Shirley Jones as Laurey. Grahame played the soubrette character Ado Annie, "a comedy character who is vain and girlish." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soubrette Wikipedia Entry]
Gloria Grahame had already starred in other films, "The Big Heat" f'rinstance, so she did bring "leading lady presence."
The stage musical "Oklahoma!" was written by Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (words), who later wrote "The King And I."

==Page 154==

'''Soju Wallbangers''' 
Soju is Korean rice liquor. A "Harvey Wallbanger" is a cocktail made with vodka, Galliano, and orange juice.

'''Darkeden''' 
DarkEden is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing computer game that's big in Korea. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkeden WIKI].

'''Cohiba''' 
Brando of Cuban cigars.

'''"Volare" . . . Domenico Modugno on ''Ed Sullivan'' back in '58''' 
This happened. Watch it [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4IjJav7xbg here].

:Pynchon's commentary on Volare lightly recalls a central theme of ''Gravity's Rainbow''-- flying in the sky, above it all, defying gravity...

'''Young man dreams he's flying . . .''' 
This paragraph is a faithful summary of the lyrics of "Volare" (which means "to fly"). Knowing that 9/11 is right around the corner, I found this unsettling. Full lyrics [http://www.diggiloo.net/?1958it here].

'''I don't think it's 'I left my brains down in Africa'''' 
Spud is singing "Africa" by Toto. The actual lyrics are "I bless the rains down in Africa."

==Page 155==
'''Gematria''' 
Gematria is a traditional Jewish system of assigning numerical value to a word or phrase. From [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gematria Wikipedia]: "The best-known example of Gematria is the Hebrew word Chai ("life"), which is composed of two letters which (using the assignments in the Mispar gadol table) add up to 18. This has made 18 a "lucky number" among Jews, and gifts in multiples of 18 are very common."

'''tables versus CSS''' 
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used for describing the presentation semantics (the look and formatting) of a document written in a markup language. CSS is designed primarily to enable the separation of document content (written in HTML or a similar markup language) from document presentation, including elements such as the layout, colors, and fonts. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS WIKI]. 
This small scene in the novel captures a transitional moment in the development of web design. Positioning content by the use of tables was the original layout technique for web pages in the 90s/early 00s. In the early 2000s the capabilities of CSS were being extended to include new methods for formatting web pages, an approach that - as noted above - distinctly separated content from the means of its presentation (within the underlying code). CSS-based layout was more technically complex and required a fairly specialized skill set to work with. Advocates of CSS-based layout could be quite evangelical about its adoption ("a controversial issue of the time, which has always, given its level of passion, struck Maxine as somehow religious") and were sometimes vehemently dismissive of those still employing tables. Hence Lester Traipse's subsequent remark (p.156) "the partners were all morphing into CSS nazis ... and I'm just an old die-hard tables person". It represented something of a paradigm shift that would shape the appearance, development and capabilities of the web over the following years. CSS-based layout has now come to dominate as the de facto standard technique for formatting web pages.

==Page 156==
'''some telltale fidgeting of the Florsheims''' 
Florsheim is a brand of shoes.
:Brings to mind the comment of Lucas or Justin in regard to getting out of DeepArcher, i.e. just gotta click your heels three times. Also, all of the special focus on shoes so far... And the comment at one point of Maxine, I believe, that in NYC shoes told everything, or something to that effect.

'''Daikatana''' 
''John Romero's Daikatana'', or simply ''Daikatana'', is a first-person shooter video game developed by Ion Storm and published by Eidos Interactive. The game is known as one of the major commercial failures of the video game industry. ''Daikatana'' was delayed multiple times from its conception in early 1997 to its eventual release in 2000. By this time, numerous games based on more advanced graphical technology (such as id Software's ''Quake III'' and Epic MegaGames' ''Unreal Tournament'') had already been released, causing ''Daikatana'' to lag technologically in the market with its dated ''Quake II'' game engine. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daikatana WIKI].

==Page 158==
'''"When information wants to be free"''' 
Allusion to the technology activist slogan, coined by Stewart Brand [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart_Brand], first usage is reported to be at the 1984 Hacker's Conference. "Information wants to be free" is invoked by advocates against government or corporate control of the flow of information at the cost of the public domain.

Full quote below:

"On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other." - Stewart Brand, 1984

'''"Are You with Me, Dr. Wu"''' 
Actually, the song is simply called "Doctor Wu," from Steely Dan's 1975 album [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katy_Lied Katy Lied.] Does [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=6519 Doctor Wu] metaphorically stand for a drug habit?
The harmony lyrics in question are: 
Are you with me Doctor Wu? 
Are you really just a shadow 
Of the man that I once knew? 
Are you crazy; are you high? 
Or just an ordinary guy? 
Have you done all you can do? 
Are you with me, Doctor? 

'''Danceteria ... Paradise Garage''' <br\>
well-known New York nightclubs active at the time. The former was mainly disco, the latter had multiple locations and a broader scope.

'''haewoned passengers''' 
Korean slang: to "haewon" someone is to mislead or confused them. [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=haewon] So these passengers are confused.

==Page 159==
'''adjusts an invisible cloak, and vanishes'''<br\>
adjusts an invisibility cloak and vanishes?

{{Bleeding Edge PbP}}

Chapter 38

2018-08-01T20:11:12Z

ChrisSch: /* Page 433 */Clarified the source of the song.

{{BE PxP Header}}

==Page 424==
'''Depending of course what your definition of the word 'is' is''' 
President Bill Clinton said something close to this while trying to explain that he had not lied when he denied having sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky: "It depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' is..." 
You can hear it [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4XT-l-_3y0 here].

'''the kid in the teen horror movie who turns out to be possessed''' 
A likely candidate for which teen horror film Pynchon is referencing here is ''Night of the Demons'' (1988) (aka ''Halloween Party''). [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Demons_(1988_film) Wikipedia]

==Page 425==
'''air in a can'''<br\>
CFC's (chlorofluorocarbons) were banned in Europe in 1990 and in the U.S. in 1994, with a phase-out period. Fluoroethane (R-134a, no chlorine) was one of the replacements and can be purchased compressed in a small canister (with a nozzle) for removal of dust from camera lenses and other optical equipment. Since it's a refrigerant, fluoroethane cools down to something like -50 C when it expands, so even if it had psychoactive properties (which afaik it doesn't) it wouldn't be much good for spraying up your nose. Most photographers use compressed air instead (for lens cleaning, not as a recreational pharmaceutical). Maybe a play on "ice", who appears again in the next paragraph.

'''patafamiliarass around here''' 
A pun on ''pater familias'', defined below. Avi becoming a “patafamiliarass around here” is Pynchon punning on it with “pat a familiar ass” which would be Avi’s being treated in condescending or patronizing way in a place where he's taken for granted. A "pet" of sorts, not totally unlike Chandler Platt's assistant Darren, whose rap on [[Chapter_26#Page_283|page 282-283]] is so defiant while Darren himself remains, essentially, Platt's subservient pet.

The ''pater familias'', also written as ''paterfamilias'' (plural ''patres familias''), was the head of a family in ancient Rome. The ''paterfamilias'' was the oldest living male in a household, and had complete control of all family members until he died. Once the ''paterfamilias'' died the next oldest male would then have control. The pater familias was always a Roman citizen. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paterfamilias WIKI].

'''lunchhooks''' 
1940s-era slang for "hands" often seen in the pulp/hardboiled/noir/detective fiction of the time.

To understand the origins of this slang term, hold an imaginary sandwich, with both hands, in front of you. A couple of hooks, eh?

==Page 426==
'''the company tambourine''' 
The company's moneymaker. "Shake your moneymaker" is an old blues lyric, recycled, just like blues riffs, throughout the history of the blues and rock 'n' roll. Variations include "shake your tailfeather" and "shake your tambourine." [http://everything2.com/title/Shake+your+money+maker]

Similarly, the rapper Eve in her 2007 song "Tambourine" used both "shake your tambourine" (shake your ass) and "shake your tambourines" (shake your tits). [http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/eve/tambourine.html]

'''RPG heretics''' 
RPGs are Role-Playing Games

==Page 428==
cf. p. 335: "Ms. Cheung, an English teacher who if Kugelblitz were a town would be the neighborhood scold, has announced that there shall be no more fictional reading assignments."

==Page 429==
'''Eddie Fisher''' 
Edwin John "Eddie" Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010) was an American entertainer. He was the most successful pop singles artist of the first half of the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. Fisher left his first wife, actress Debbie Reynolds, to marry Reynolds's best friend, actress Elizabeth Taylor, when Taylor's husband, film producer Mike Todd, died. This event garnered scandalous and unwelcome publicity for Fisher. He later married Connie Stevens. Fisher is the father of actresses Carrie Fisher (with Reynolds), Joely Fisher (with Stevens), and Tricia Leigh Fisher (with Stevens). From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Fisher_%28singer%29 WIKI].

[[File:Goomba.PNG|80px|thumb|caption|A Goomba|left]]'''factual elements have started popping up like li'l goombas''' 
Goombas, known in Japan as Kuribo ("Chestnut People"), are a fictional species of sentient mushrooms from Nintendo's Mario franchise. Their appearance is based on shiitake mushrooms. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goomba Wikipedia]

==Page 430==
'''here comes a plastic top from a nine-inch aluminum take-out container...''' 
When Maxine sees the plastic top from a take-out container rolling on its edge down Broadway, seemingly with a mind of its own, reader Diana Poskrop recalled that in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 1970 novel [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_Years_of_Solitude ''One Hundred Years of Solitude''], after Jose Arcadio's murder his blood took a direct route through town to Ursula, his mother. (HarperPerennial Classics, 2006, pp. 131-132).

==Page 431==
'''meet my man Ketone''' 
In chemistry, a ketone is an organic compound with the structure RC(=O)R', where R and R' can be a variety of carbon-containing substituents. Ketones feature a carbonyl group (C=O) bonded to two other carbon atoms. Many ketones are known and many are of great importance in industry and in biology. Examples include many sugars (ketoses) and the industrial solvent acetone. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketone WIKI].

''ketones, when inhaled, also produce a sort of high, as discovered by glue-sniffers. The disadvantage is that inhalation of ketones (including acetone) causes significant, permanent and irreversible brain damage.''

==Page 432==
'''strange feeling about the Internet, that it's over'''<br\>
Sounds like a replay of Doc Sportello's thoughts about the Sixties at the end of ''Inherent Vice''?

==Page 433==
'''Wagnerian brass section'''<br\>
Wagner's writing for the orchestra's horn section has always been sublime, and (at least in my short and long term memory) never "blaring". Perhaps Maxine is thinking of the helicopter scene in Apocalypse Now, where Ride of the Valkyries does blare from the mobile speakers.

One of Wagner's contributions to music was the invention of the "Wagner tuba", an instrument about halfway between a tuba and a French horn. It was derived from an instrument popular in German military bands of the day, and as a result his music probably would have had a distinct martial feel to operagoers of the time, but I don't think that's what TP is getting at here.

==Page 433==

'''''Granada Asbury Park Uncertainty Question''''' 
From the lyrics of "At Long Last Love" (written by Cole Porter for the 1938 musical *You Never Know*; first sung by Clifton Webb; recorded by Frank Sinatra for the 1957 album *A Swingin' Affair!* and the 1962 album *Sinatra and Swingin' Brass*)
 
''Is it for all time or simply a lark?''
 
''Is it Granada I see or only Asbury Park?''

==Page 435==
'''''sillage''''' 
From this [http://boisdejasmin.com/2011/02/perfume-vocabulary-fragrance-terms-sillage.html page:] a term used to describe a scented trail left by the fragrance wearer.

'''''The Ray Milland Story''''' 
Ray Milland (3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in ''The Lost Weekend'' (1945), a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in ''Reap the Wild Wind'' (1942), the murder-plotting husband in ''Dial M for Murder'' (1954), and as Oliver Barrett III in ''Love Story'' (1970). Milland, who was at one time Paramount Pictures highest paid actor, co-starred alongside many of the most popular actresses of the time including Gene Tierney, Grace Kelly, Lana Turner, Marlene Dietrich, Ginger Rogers, Jane Wyman, Loretta Young and Veronica Lake. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Milland WIKI].

==Page 436==
'''breaker breaker good buddy''' 
"breaker breaker" is trucker CB-radio talk for a request to interrupt the conversations on a channel and start a new one with anyone on the channel, in this case Maxine. "Good buddy" is also common CB-radio vernacular used by truckers in addressing each other.

'''Redmond campus''' 
a.k.a., Microsoft headquarters

'''racks of electronic gear receding into infinity''' 
Describing the ''Bleeding Edge'' front and back cover photograph. On the next page, Eric speaks of "Bleeding-edge developments"...

''and another tardis-like "bigger-inside-than-outside" shot''

'''going as you might expect for rock bottom prices'''<br\>
After the dotcom bust of 2000, all of the hardware bought by now-bankrupt tech startups was released onto the used equipment market, and this did cause a big drop in the going price for both new and used servers.

==Page 437==
'''Ray Milland...''The Thing with Two Heads''''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Milland Ray Milland] starred in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_with_Two_Heads ''The Thing with Two Heads'',] whose movie poster reads "They transplanted a WHITE BIGOT'S HEAD onto a SOUL BROTHER'S BODY!"

'''Bleeding-edge development phase''' 
On the previous page, Pynchon describes a server farm that matches the ''Bleeding Edge'' cover photo.

'''We could be heading anywhere, Alberta, Northwest Territories, Alaska'''<br\>
If Horst is correct, they are westbound on I-90 in southern Montana. At Butte, they could head north on I-15 to get to all of these places. Looking for cold weather to run their server farm?

{{Bleeding Edge PbP}}