Thomas Pynchon Wiki - User contributions [en]

Chapter 10

2013-12-24T20:44:51Z

Jkvannort: /* Page 104 */

{{BE PxP Header}}

==Page 96==
[[Image:Vontz Center.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Vontz Center at the University of Cincinnati. Photo by Greg Hume.]]

'''Scott and Nutella Vontz Auditorium, whose architect owing to some sort of mental condition...''' 
This is a reference to the Vontz Center for Molecular Studies at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, designed by architect Frank Gehry. It's indeed an interesting structure.

'''''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 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPEG914GATk singing Nessun Dorma], Deanna Durbin [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inV3RlOTOXM singing Nessun Dorma]. Squillo "is a technical term attached to the resonant, trumpet-like sound in the voice of opera singers." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squillo 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 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlNV6YkpXdo here].

'''prewar classic seven''' 
Prewar apartment with seven full rooms.

'''frosk''' 
Yiddish for "slap" or, more particularly, "a slap in the face."

'''''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". [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_ghost_coast_to_coast 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Likud 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu_Manchu WIKI].

Just a coincidence that on page 9 of ''The Crying of Lot 49'' Fu-Manchu makes an appearance on the face of an impersonating Dr. Hilarius as a treatment for hysterical blindness?

'''Soutine''' 
Website [http://www.soutine.com/ 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenox_Hill_Hospital 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RICO 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''.

'''''The Day the Earth Stood Still''''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Earth_Stood_Still Wiki.] (Sheer coincidence that Keanu Reeves, mentioned on page 89, starred in the 2008 remake?)

'''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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Jaffe 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaatu_%28The_Day_the_Earth_Stood_Still%29 WIKI].

==Page 101==
'''the Hollywood Ten''' 
Folks in Hollywood blacklisted as said they were Communists. See the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Ten#The_Hollywood_Ten 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, also known as fragment 104(a):
<blockquote>
''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.</blockquote>

Hesperus is the planet Venus glowing in the evening sky. (The V motif again!) Pynchon quotes this very poem in ''Mason & Dixon'', at 96.

'''Strangers in the night, exchanging--''' 
From the song "Strangers in the Night" made famous by Frank Sinatra in 1966. The first verse goes: 
Strangers in the night exchanging glances 
Wondering in the night what were the chances 
We'd be sharing love before the night was through. 

==Page 103==
'''still believes the Rosenbergs were innocent''' 
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of espionage and executed in 1953. By 2001, revelations from the Venona Project indicating the guilt of Julius Rosenberg (but not Ethel) had been widely publicized, making Ernie's belief in their innocence even more of an old-Leftie-holdout position. See [http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venona_project#Julius_and_Ethel_Rosenberg%C3%B1ando WIKI].

'''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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morir_so%C3%B1ando WIKI].

==Page 104==

'''Promis''' 
An actual program with a history not different from what Windust describes, Mossad agents included. See the article by Michael Ruppert [http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/pandora/052401_promis.html Promis]

'''rugelach''' 
A Jewish pastry of Ashkenazic origin. See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugelach 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofeq 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Pollard 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herzliya_Interdisciplinary_Center 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 [http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Sayanim Meta].

==Page 106==
'''Politics & Prose''' 
Independent bookstore in Washington, D.C. Website [http://www.politics-prose.com/ here].

'''Big Ben theme''' 
as heard [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbq-1Dlu1Wc here].

'''Kozmo.com''' 
an actual delivery website, went out of business April 2001.

==Page 107==

'''Duane Reade''' 
a chain of pharmacy and convenience stores, with locations seemingly everywhere in New York City.

==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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronx_Science WIKI].

[[File:Bombing of presidential palace in Chile.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Bombing of presidential palace in Chile on 11 September 1973]]

'''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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilean_coup_of_1973 WIKI].

'''Dirty War''' 
The Dirty War (part of Operation Condor) was a period of state terrorism in Argentina against political dissidents, with military and security forces conducting urban and rural guerrilla warfare against left-wing guerrillas, political dissidents, and anyone believed to be associated with socialism. Victims of the violence included an estimated 15,000 to 30,000 left-wing activists and militants, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers. Some 10,000 of the "disappeared" were believed to be guerrillas of the Montoneros (MPM), and the Marxist People's Revolutionary Army (ERP). The guerrillas were responsible for causing at least 6,000 casualties among the military, police forces and civilian population according to a National Geographic Magazine article in the mid-1980s. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_war WIKI].

'''IMF''' 
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization that was initiated in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference and formally created in 1945 by 29 member countries. The IMF's stated goal was to assist in the reconstruction of the world's international payment system post–World War II. Countries contribute money to a pool through a quota system from which countries with payment imbalances can borrow funds temporarily. Through this activity and others such as surveillance of its members' economies and the demand for self-correcting policies, the IMF works to improve the economies of its member countries. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMF WIKI].

==Page 109==
'''School of the Americas''' 
The US Army School of the Americas, is a United States Department of Defense Institute located at Fort Benning near Columbus, Georgia, that provides military training to government personnel of Latin American countries. The school was founded in 1946 and from 1961 was assigned the specific goal of teaching "anti-communist counterinsurgency training," a role which it would fulfill for the rest of the Cold War. In this period, it educated several Latin American dictators, generations of their military and, during the 1980s, included the uses of torture in its curriculum. In 2000/2001, the institute was renamed The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC). From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_of_the_americas WIKI].

'''Zermelo's Axiom of Choice''' 
In mathematics, the axiom of choice, or AC, is an axiom of set theory equivalent to the statement that "the product of a collection of non-empty sets is non-empty". The axiom of choice was formulated in 1904 by Ernst Zermelo in order to formalize his proof of the well-ordering theorem. For more detail see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axiom_of_choice WIKI].

==Page 111==
'''United Fruit''' 
The United Fruit Company was an American corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Central and South American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899 from the merger of Minor C. Keith's banana-trading concerns with Andrew W. Preston's Boston Fruit Company. It flourished in the early and mid-20th century and came to control vast territories and transportation networks in Central America, the Caribbean coast of Colombia, Ecuador, and the West Indies. Though it competed with the Standard Fruit Company for dominance in the international banana trade, it maintained a virtual monopoly in certain regions, some of which came to be called banana republics. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_fruit WIKI].

'''Kanjobal''' 
Mayan language spoken primarily in Guatemala and part of Mexico.

{{Bleeding Edge PbP}}

Chapter 10

2013-12-24T20:42:54Z

Jkvannort: /* Page 104 */

{{BE PxP Header}}

==Page 96==
[[Image:Vontz Center.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Vontz Center at the University of Cincinnati. Photo by Greg Hume.]]

'''Scott and Nutella Vontz Auditorium, whose architect owing to some sort of mental condition...''' 
This is a reference to the Vontz Center for Molecular Studies at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, designed by architect Frank Gehry. It's indeed an interesting structure.

'''''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 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPEG914GATk singing Nessun Dorma], Deanna Durbin [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inV3RlOTOXM singing Nessun Dorma]. Squillo "is a technical term attached to the resonant, trumpet-like sound in the voice of opera singers." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squillo 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 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlNV6YkpXdo here].

'''prewar classic seven''' 
Prewar apartment with seven full rooms.

'''frosk''' 
Yiddish for "slap" or, more particularly, "a slap in the face."

'''''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". [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_ghost_coast_to_coast 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Likud 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu_Manchu WIKI].

Just a coincidence that on page 9 of ''The Crying of Lot 49'' Fu-Manchu makes an appearance on the face of an impersonating Dr. Hilarius as a treatment for hysterical blindness?

'''Soutine''' 
Website [http://www.soutine.com/ 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenox_Hill_Hospital 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RICO 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''.

'''''The Day the Earth Stood Still''''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Earth_Stood_Still Wiki.] (Sheer coincidence that Keanu Reeves, mentioned on page 89, starred in the 2008 remake?)

'''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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Jaffe 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaatu_%28The_Day_the_Earth_Stood_Still%29 WIKI].

==Page 101==
'''the Hollywood Ten''' 
Folks in Hollywood blacklisted as said they were Communists. See the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Ten#The_Hollywood_Ten 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, also known as fragment 104(a):
<blockquote>
''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.</blockquote>

Hesperus is the planet Venus glowing in the evening sky. (The V motif again!) Pynchon quotes this very poem in ''Mason & Dixon'', at 96.

'''Strangers in the night, exchanging--''' 
From the song "Strangers in the Night" made famous by Frank Sinatra in 1966. The first verse goes: 
Strangers in the night exchanging glances 
Wondering in the night what were the chances 
We'd be sharing love before the night was through. 

==Page 103==
'''still believes the Rosenbergs were innocent''' 
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of espionage and executed in 1953. By 2001, revelations from the Venona Project indicating the guilt of Julius Rosenberg (but not Ethel) had been widely publicized, making Ernie's belief in their innocence even more of an old-Leftie-holdout position. See [http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venona_project#Julius_and_Ethel_Rosenberg%C3%B1ando WIKI].

'''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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morir_so%C3%B1ando WIKI].

==Page 104==

'''Promis''' 
An actual program with a history not different from what Windust describes, Mossad agents included. See the article by Michael Ruppert [http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/pandora/052401_promis.html]

'''rugelach''' 
A Jewish pastry of Ashkenazic origin. See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugelach 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofeq 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Pollard 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herzliya_Interdisciplinary_Center 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 [http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Sayanim Meta].

==Page 106==
'''Politics & Prose''' 
Independent bookstore in Washington, D.C. Website [http://www.politics-prose.com/ here].

'''Big Ben theme''' 
as heard [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbq-1Dlu1Wc here].

'''Kozmo.com''' 
an actual delivery website, went out of business April 2001.

==Page 107==

'''Duane Reade''' 
a chain of pharmacy and convenience stores, with locations seemingly everywhere in New York City.

==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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronx_Science WIKI].

[[File:Bombing of presidential palace in Chile.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Bombing of presidential palace in Chile on 11 September 1973]]

'''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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilean_coup_of_1973 WIKI].

'''Dirty War''' 
The Dirty War (part of Operation Condor) was a period of state terrorism in Argentina against political dissidents, with military and security forces conducting urban and rural guerrilla warfare against left-wing guerrillas, political dissidents, and anyone believed to be associated with socialism. Victims of the violence included an estimated 15,000 to 30,000 left-wing activists and militants, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers. Some 10,000 of the "disappeared" were believed to be guerrillas of the Montoneros (MPM), and the Marxist People's Revolutionary Army (ERP). The guerrillas were responsible for causing at least 6,000 casualties among the military, police forces and civilian population according to a National Geographic Magazine article in the mid-1980s. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_war WIKI].

'''IMF''' 
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization that was initiated in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference and formally created in 1945 by 29 member countries. The IMF's stated goal was to assist in the reconstruction of the world's international payment system post–World War II. Countries contribute money to a pool through a quota system from which countries with payment imbalances can borrow funds temporarily. Through this activity and others such as surveillance of its members' economies and the demand for self-correcting policies, the IMF works to improve the economies of its member countries. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMF WIKI].

==Page 109==
'''School of the Americas''' 
The US Army School of the Americas, is a United States Department of Defense Institute located at Fort Benning near Columbus, Georgia, that provides military training to government personnel of Latin American countries. The school was founded in 1946 and from 1961 was assigned the specific goal of teaching "anti-communist counterinsurgency training," a role which it would fulfill for the rest of the Cold War. In this period, it educated several Latin American dictators, generations of their military and, during the 1980s, included the uses of torture in its curriculum. In 2000/2001, the institute was renamed The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC). From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_of_the_americas WIKI].

'''Zermelo's Axiom of Choice''' 
In mathematics, the axiom of choice, or AC, is an axiom of set theory equivalent to the statement that "the product of a collection of non-empty sets is non-empty". The axiom of choice was formulated in 1904 by Ernst Zermelo in order to formalize his proof of the well-ordering theorem. For more detail see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axiom_of_choice WIKI].

==Page 111==
'''United Fruit''' 
The United Fruit Company was an American corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Central and South American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899 from the merger of Minor C. Keith's banana-trading concerns with Andrew W. Preston's Boston Fruit Company. It flourished in the early and mid-20th century and came to control vast territories and transportation networks in Central America, the Caribbean coast of Colombia, Ecuador, and the West Indies. Though it competed with the Standard Fruit Company for dominance in the international banana trade, it maintained a virtual monopoly in certain regions, some of which came to be called banana republics. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_fruit WIKI].

'''Kanjobal''' 
Mayan language spoken primarily in Guatemala and part of Mexico.

{{Bleeding Edge PbP}}

Chapter 1

2013-12-24T19:07:20Z

Jkvannort: /* Page 2 */

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==Title==
"Bleeding Edge" has a number of meanings. See [[Bleeding Edge Title]]. The phrase first appears on pg. 78 "What's known as bleeding-edge technology. [...] No proven use, high risk, something only early-adoption addicts feel comfortable with."

==Cover==
The cover photograph is of a server farm. I found it [http://www.wallpapervortex.com/wallpaper-18727_miscellaneous_server_farm_at_night.html here]. It's entitled "Server Farm at Night." Note how the image also evokes the World Trade Center, and the cover of Pynchon's [http://v.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page ''V.''] ...

More info at [[Bleeding Edge cover analysis]]

==Book jacket description==
Pynchon likely wrote [[Bleeding_Edge|the copy]] for the book jacket description of ''Bleeding Edge'' and he likely did the same for [http://inherent-vice.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page ''Inherent Vice''].

==Epigraph==
'''Donald Edwin Westlake''' (July 12, 1933 – December 31, 2008) was an American writer, with over a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into science fiction or other genres. He was a three-time Edgar Award winner, one of only three writers (the others are Joe Gores and William L. DeAndrea) to win Edgars in three different categories (1968, Best Novel, ''God Save the Mark''; 1990, Best Short Story, "Too Many Crooks"; 1991, Best Motion Picture Screenplay, ''The Grifters''). In 1993, the Mystery Writers of America named Westlake a Grand Master, the highest honor bestowed by the society. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_E._Westlake More on Wikipedia]

See and hear Westlake paraphrase/misquote himself by calling New York City "the enigmatic blond who knows the answer but isn't going to tell you." [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0ptliV4fzc Youtube]

[http://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/31/nyregion/they-love-new-york.html New York Times] article containing the epigraph proper.

==Title Page==
'''Flatiron Building''' 
The title page feature a photograph of the Flatiron Building, a skyscraper in NYC. "The neighborhood around it is called the Flatiron District after its signature building, which has become an icon of New York City." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatiron_Building Wikipedia]

==Dedication==
Like ''Inherent Vice'' and ''Against the Day'', ''Bleeding Edge'' has no dedication. Pynchon dedicated three of his earlier novels to friends and family: ''Mason & Dixon'' ("For Melanie, and for Jackson"), ''Vineland'' ("For my mother and father"), and ''Gravity's Rainbow'' ("For Richard Fariña").

==Page 1==

'''"the first day of spring, 2001"''' 
three instances of beginnings: the first day, of spring (the season of beginning and renewal), of the new millennium.

'''"though some still have her in their system"''' 
the novel's first sentence invokes the topic of personal data held in various databases or systems.

'''Loeffler''' 
Literally translated from German, it means 'someone who eats with a spoon'. It is not an uncommon last name in Germany; it is also the German name of a bird, the Eurasian Spoonbill. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Spoonbill Wikipedia]

Loeffler is also the name of a German composer, Charles Martin Loeffler. Very interesting to note that the composer's father wrote journalism under the name 'Tornov' or 'Tornow' while the son sometimes used it as a middle name. [http://mldd.blogspot.com/2011/07/charles-martin-loeffler-150-years.html]

'''"walking her boys to school"''' 
This scene -- a parent walking children to school in the Upper West Side of New York City -- is, more than any of Pynchon's novels, evocative of what is reported of Pynchon's biography.
:This could be an early hint that the novel has a more autobiographical element than any of his previous works? [[User:Benvolio|Benvolio]] ([[User talk:Benvolio|talk]])

[[File:Callerypear.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Callery pear trees blooming in NYC, Creative Commons licensed photo from [http://www.flickr.com/photos/kamekame/5621004054/sizes/z/in/photostream/ here]]]'''

'''Callery Pear trees''' 
Planted extensively in NYC due to its fast-growing nature and tolerance of pollution and other extreme conditions. [http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/trees-blooms/tree-database/callery-pear.html Central Park Conservancy] Their blooming is a first sign of spring.
:Much has been written on how Callery trees smell like semen. E.g., [http://www.theawl.com/2013/04/this-spring-new-york-city-smells-much-less-like-sperm article]

'''she drifts into a pick''' 
A "pick" is a basketball term. It refers to an offensive player blocking a defensive player.

==Page 2==

'''unsheltered''' 
a term meaning those homeless who sleep in such places as doorways and lobbies. "The word unhoused refers to that segment of a homeless community who do not have ordinary lawful access to buildings in which to sleep, as referred to in the HUD [United States Department of Housing and Urban Development] definition as persons occupying "place not designed for ... sleeping accommodation for human beings." "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness#Unsheltered_or_unhoused_people Wikipedia]

added thought: Pynchon has tickled his creatures with Heideggerian thought throughout his writing. Unsheltered is not the "normal" way in which we describe our "homeless".

'''Razor scooters''' 
a popular brand of scooter, but note how the word "razor" echoes/evokes the title, ''Bleeding Edge''.

'''Otto Kugelblitz''' 
A fictitious character, i.e. no real person. Maybe Otto Rank [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Rank] was the blueprint for Otto Kugelblitz. 
German, "ball lightning". The Kugelblitz was also the name of a tank in WWII. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kugelblitz Wikipedia]
:Many references to Germany, German words, names and German history run throughout Pynchon's oeuvre, to the point where Pynchon scholar David Cowart posits that "Pynchon seems to have had a German period, a post-German period, and a neo-Continental or global period. During his German phase he produced his first three novels... His next work, the long-awaited Vineland, represents a new phase in which the almost obsessive attention to German more seems to have faded." ''Thomas Pynchon and the Dark Passages of History'' (2012), at p. 59. [[User:Benvolio|Benvolio]] ([[User talk:Benvolio|talk]])
:A character name Skip the sentient ball lightning appears in ''Against the Day. [http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=S]

'''the human life span runs through varieties of mental disorder as understood in his day- the solipsism of infancy, the sexual hysterias of adolescence and enty-level adulthood, the paranoia of middle age, the dementia of late life... all working up to death, which at last turns out to be "sanity"''' 
I was irritated that Pychnon writes so early in this book that much about the theory of a fictitious psychonalayst. It seems to me that this theory may of further importance, i.e. could it be a kind of program for this novel? 
Solipsism > sexual hysteria > paranoia > dementia > deatch > sanity 

'''on a cross street ''Law & Order'' has so far managed not to film on''' 
''Law & Order'' was the longest running crime drama on TV. It ran for 20 seasons and filmed its episodes on the streets of New York City. Of course, this adds to building sense of paranoia and fear in this opening description.

'''Berggasse 19''' 
The address in Vienna where Freud lived. It is now the site of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud_Museum_%28Vienna%29 Sigmund Freud Museum].

==Page 3==
'''Vyrva''' 
The name sounds like the German word "Wirrwarr", meaning something like "muddle", "huddle", etc.

'''"Maxi, hi?'''" 
Vyrva speaks in uptalk, or phrasing statements like questions, a linguistic characteristic found (among other places) in Southern California, especially among so-called "Valley girls". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uptalk Wikipedia]

==Page 4==

'''Maxine runs a small fraud-investigation agency''' 
"Fraud" sounds quite similar to the name of the psychologist "Freud" who was mentioned on the previous pages. So is Maxine perhaps a "Freud-investigator"? There are so many hints about Freud and psychonalasis already on these first pages, this is why I assume that psychonalaysis may be a kind of program for the novel (see comments about Otto Kugelblitz on page 2).
NB "Gravity's Rainbow" was about another school of psychology, the "behaviourism".

'''antennas for the unspoken''' 
Cf, a letter by Pynchon: "Given the British genius for coded utterance, this could all be about something else entirely, impossible on this side of the ocean to appreciate in any nuanced way..." [http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/08/thomas-pynchon-on-plagiarism.html Source]

==Page 6==
'''the gates of Danbury''' 
a federal prison. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Correctional_Institution,_Danbury Wikipedia]

'''Crazy Eddie''' 
American electronics store famous for its radio and TV ads in the 60s and 70s, featuring the slogan, "his prices are insane". The T-shirt in question was designed by, of all people, Robert Crumb. The TV ads featured New York disc jockey Jerry Carroll as the pitchman. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Crazyeddie.jpg Wikipedia]

[[File:Crazyeddieshirt.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Crazy Eddie T-Shirt, designed by the legendary Robert Crumb''']]

"Crazy Eddie" also features prominently in the science fiction novel ''The Mote In God's Eye'' by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (1974), signifying both the point of insanity and the furthest known reaches of the universe as the author's aliens see it.

==Page 7==
'''as Britney always sez''' 
"Oops! I Did It Again" was a huge pop hit in 2000 for Britney Spears.

'''"Help Me Rhonda"''' 
1965 song by the Beach Boys. [http://gravitys-rainbow.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Pynchon_and_Brian_Wilson Pynchon reportedly recommended] that Jules Siegel listen to the Beach Boys' ''Pet Sounds'', as recounted in Siegel's article, "Who is Thomas Pynchon, and Why Did He Take Off With My Wife" (1977). Pynchon mentions "Help Me Rhonda" and two other Beach Boys hits in ''Inherent Vice''. [http://inherent-vice.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Songs_mentioned_in_Inherent_Vice]

{{Bleeding Edge PbP}}