Thomas Pynchon Wiki - User contributions [en]

Chapter 33

2013-10-17T17:20:57Z

Mattmacleod: /* Page 364 */

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==Page 354==
'''Jetsons-era spaceport''' 
Not a bad little [http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/paleofuture/2013/03/mid-21st-century-modern-that-jetsons-architecture/ 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 [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/opinion/sunday/the-death-of-the-cyberflaneur.html?pagewanted=all Death of the Cyberflaneur]

==Page 355==
'''''Battlestar Galactica''''' 
The reboot doesn't come out until 2004, so here they are talking about the original show.

'''Regulate''' 
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1plPyJdXKIY YouTube] has it. The song was released in 1994.

'''''More Cowbell''''' 
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGBD1KUz2RA YouTube] has a clip from this famous SNL skit, which was first aired, by the way, April 2000. 
Does this count as a sneaky Godzilla allusion since the band parodied in the skit, Blue Oyster Cult, also recorded the song [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln8-Y-fIbqM Godzilla]?

'''Deus Ex theme''' 
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1oxIrAX39M Youtube] to the rescue again. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_ex 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.

==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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertigo_%28film%29 Vertigo.] "Lovesick, nauseous" could be the film's subtitle.

==Page 360==
'''King Kongs, which are Crown Royal plus banna liqueur''' 
Little odd, no, for the narrative voice to define something like this? I thought that was our job! Real drink, by the way.

==Page 361==
'''Oakley M Frames''' 
Somewhat spacey-looking, apparently famous, athletic sunglasses. [http://www.oakley.com/mframe Oakley] site.

==Page 362==
'''seldom-heard oldie "Soul Gidget"''' 
Fictional song by from ''Inherent Vice''. Nice touch. [http://inherent-vice.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_10#Page_155 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''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_New_York_Mets_season Miracle]Mets.

==Page 364==
'''ever try anal?...His specialty I bet?''' 
Little nod to Pynchon's niece, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_Taormino 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".

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Chapter 15

2013-10-06T22:46:33Z

Mattmacleod: /* Page 166 */

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==Page 160==
[[Image:ZiL-41047.jpg|200px|right|ZiL-41047]]

'''ZiL-41047''' 
ZIL-41047 is a limousine built by ZIL of Russia. Production of ZIL models ceased in 2002 due to their previous customer base turning to more modern Western vehicles. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZIL-41047 WIKI].

==Page 161==
'''''kagdila''''' 
Padonkaffsky jargon for "how are you." A misspelling of ''kak dela''.

'''methcathinone''' 
Methcathinone (sometimes called "cat" or "jeff") is a monoamine alkaloid and psychoactive stimulant similar to cathinone, the primary psychoactive compound in khat. It is used as a recreational drug and considered to be addictive. It is usually snorted, but can be smoked, injected, or taken orally. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methcathinone WIKI].

==Page 162==
'''''govno''''' 
Total shit

==Page 163==
'''live local bachata groups''' 
Bachata is an Afro latino genre of music that originated in the Dominican Republic in the early parts of the 20th century with the African descendants in the country and spread to other parts of Latin America and Mediterranean Europe. It became popular in the countryside and the rural neighborhoods of the Dominican Republic. Its subjects are often romantic; especially prevalent are tales of heartbreak and sadness. In fact, the original term used to name the genre was amargue ("bitterness," or "bitter music"), until the rather ambiguous (and mood-neutral) term bachata became popular. The form of dance, Bachata, also developed with the music. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachata_%28music%29 WIKI].

==Page 164==
'''Celia Cruz''' 
Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso de la Santísima Trinidad (October 21, 1925 – July 16, 2003) was a Cuban-American salsa performer. One of the most popular salsa artists of the 20th century, she earned twenty-three gold albums and was renowned internationally as the "Queen of Salsa" as well as "La Guarachera de Cuba." She spent much of her career living in New Jersey, and working in the United States and several Latin American countries. Leila Cobo of Billboard Magazine once said "Cruz is indisputably the best known and most influential female figure in the history of Cuban music." From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celia_Cruz WIKI].

'''Paradise Garage''' 
Noteworthy members-only disco that operated from 1976 to 1987. It appears to have been very serious ''dance club;'' according to this lengthy [http://www.djhistory.com/features/larry-levans-paradise-garage djhistory] page, it was an exclusive, private place, extremely focused on music and dancing, a disco that did not serve serve alcohol, and instead had non-alcoholic drinks, and some snacks, simply on-hand for the dues-paying members. It's remembered fondly as a gathering space where the wide variety of members, united by their interest and commitment to dance, created some sense harmony and unity. From the djhistory page: In stark contrast to the harsh city lights outside, the Garage offered freedom, compassion and brotherhood.

In other words, it was the "anti" Studio 54.

'''Presidente longneck''' 
Dominican [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidente_%28beer%29 beer.]

'''"Cuándo Volverás"''' 
"Cuándo Volverás" is a 1999 song by Aventura. You can hear it [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3ItxMywq5o here].

'''Studio 54''' 
Studio 54 was a famous club in the late 1970s in Manhattan, known for rich people using drugs and dancing to Disco music.

==Page 165==
'''wolf-whistle''' 
A wolf-whistle is a two-toned sound (like 'whip-woo') commonly made using the above technique to show approval of something or someone (originally a person thought to be sexually attractive).

'''1937 Gar Wood''' 
This [http://www.hagerty.com/classic-car-articles-resources/Features/More-Articles/Marine/All-articles/2013/06/06/Marine-Marketwatch page] says the value of the rare boat could be over three hundred thousand dollars.

'''Pappy Mason''' 
Drug smuggler who has a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Mason WIKI] page.

'''the World Trade Center leaning, looming brilliantly curtained in light''' 
Another foreshadowing of 9/11

==Page 166==
'''Neglected little creeks... Yupper West Side''' 
This description of a mountainous garbagescape echoes a similar, lengthier, backdrop in Pynchon's shorter work ''Low-lands'' (1960) published in the compilation ''Slow Learner''.

'''Island of Meadows''' 
The Isle of Meadows is a 100-acre uninhabited island on Staten Island, New York in the United States. It is located along the western side of Staten Island, where the Fresh Kills empties into the Arthur Kill. The island is owned by the city of New York. In the 1990s, the island escaped becoming part of the Fresh Kills Landfill. It is now a nature preserve providing important meadow and salt marsh nesting habitat for herons, ibises, and egrets, and is not accessible to the public. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_of_Meadows WIKI].

'''This Land Is My Land, This Land Also Is My Land''' 
Obviously, a play on Woody Guthrie's song: "This land is my land, this land is your land."

==Page 169==
'''Captain Stubing''' 
Captain on ''The Love Boat'', a TV show in the 70s and 80s. Also mentioned on pg. 16.

Can you believe this show lasted for 9 years and 249 episodes? [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Love_Boat WIKI]

==Page 170==
'''Schachtmanite goons like Elliott Abrams''' 
Max Shachtman (September 10, 1904 – November 4, 1972) was an American Marxist theorist. He evolved from being an associate of Leon Trotsky to a social democrat and mentor of senior assistants to AFL-CIO President George Meany. He supported the Bay of Pigs invasion. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Shachtman WIKI].

Elliott Abrams (born January 24, 1948) is a well known neoconservative American diplomat, lawyer and political scientist who served in foreign policy positions for both U.S. Presidents, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. While serving for Reagan, Abrams and retired U.S. Marine Corps officer Oliver North were integral players in the Iran-Contra affair. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_Abrams WIKI].

'''Ríos Montt''' 
José Efraín Ríos Montt (born June 16, 1926) is a former de facto President of Guatemala, dictator, army general and former president of Congress. A General in the Guatemalan Army, Ríos Montt came to public office through a coup d'état on March 23, 1982. In turn, he was overthrown by his Defense Minister, Óscar Humberto Mejía Victores, in another coup d'état on August 8, 1983. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rios_Montt WIKI].

'''EGP or Guerrilla Army Of The Poor''' 
See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ej%C3%A9rcito_Guerrillero_de_los_Pobres WIKI].

==Page 171==
'''I'm really Dr. Ruth Westheimer, nothing shocks me''' 
A famous and unflappable sex therapist.

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Chapter 9

2013-10-04T18:11:03Z

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==Page 88==
'''chercher le garçon''' 
has been the title of a French movie and pop album. Presumably it's a French saying?

It means quite literally to "look for the boy." In this case, however, it's '''chercher le geek''', i.e. Get the geek. The French phrase "cherchez la femme" appears often in popular detective stories and means "find the root cause behind events" or, literally, "look for the woman".

'''le tout Montreal''' 
All Montreal.

==Page 89==
'''NetNet''' 
Cute name. Aside from the being a universal nickname for the Internet, "net" is also common French for "clean". ("Nettoyer" = To clean).

'''...every Keanu Reeves movie ever made, including, that night, Felix's personal favorite ''Johnny Mnemonic''.''' 
Notable films by Reeves up to this point, if I'm reading the time frame of the novel right, include ''Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Point Break, My Own Private Idaho, Dracula, Much Ado About Nothing, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Little Buddha, Speed,'' and, perhaps most significantly, ''The Matrix''. I'm not sure just what it means, but Felix preferring ''Johnny Mnemonic'' over ''Speed'' and ''The Matrix'' is surely saying something important him. Or maybe Pynchon is simply giving a friendly shout-out to William Gibson, writer of ''Johnny Mnemonic'' and he wanted to namedrop a film that has some resonance (see below) with his own novel.

'''Johnny Mnemonic''' 
Film based on a short story by William Gibson, who also wrote the screenplay. The plot is pretty apropos to ''Bleeding Edge''': "In 2021, Johnny (Keanu Reeves) is a "mnemonic courier" with a data storage device implanted in his brain, allowing him to discreetly carry information too sensitive to transfer across the Net, the virtual-reality equivalent of the Internet. " [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Mnemonic_(film) Wikipedia]

==Page 91==
'''''Ayn al-hammam''''' 
Arabic: "Where are the toilets?"

==Page 92==

'''Psycho''' 
Another Hitchcock reference. Possible thread in the novel? Also, the scene in question is of a knifing, you know, a murder committed with a weapon that has an edge, as in a "bleeding edge." Just saying.

'''Basil St. John in the life of Brenda Starr''' 
''Brenda Starr, Reporter'' was a comic strip about a glamorous, adventurous female reporter. It was created in 1940 by Dale Messick for the Chicago Tribune Syndicate. In the story, her love interest was Basil St. John. They were married, had a child, then divorced. See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Starr,_Reporter WIKI].

==Page 93==
'''chase around the world after black-orchid serum''' 
Another allusion to Basil St. John (see previous page), who was obsessed with black-orchid serum.

==Page 95==
'''Windows on the World''' 
A restaurant on the top floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, which, of course, was destroyed on 9/11.

'''"Like going to Collegiate"''' 
a private school in NYC which Pynchon's son attended.

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Chapter 1

2013-10-04T17:53:21Z

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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]

'''"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''' 
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]

'''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==
'''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]

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Chapter 9

2013-10-04T04:19:48Z

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==Page 88==
'''chercher le garçon''' 
has been the title of a French movie and pop album. Presumably it's a French saying?

It means quite literally to "look for the boy." In this case, however, it's '''chercher le geek''', i.e. Get the geek.

'''le tout Montreal''' 
All Montreal.

==Page 89==
'''NetNet''' 
Cute name. Aside from the being a universal nickname for the Internet, "net" is also common French for "clean". ("Nettoyer" = To clean).

'''...every Keanu Reeves movie ever made, including, that night, Felix's personal favorite ''Johnny Mnemonic''.''' 
Notable films by Reeves up to this point, if I'm reading the time frame of the novel right, include ''Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Point Break, My Own Private Idaho, Dracula, Much Ado About Nothing, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Little Buddha, Speed,'' and, perhaps most significantly, ''The Matrix''. I'm not sure just what it means, but Felix preferring ''Johnny Mnemonic'' over ''Speed'' and ''The Matrix'' is surely saying something important him. Or maybe Pynchon is simply giving a friendly shout-out to William Gibson, writer of ''Johnny Mnemonic'' and he wanted to namedrop a film that has some resonance (see below) with his own novel.

'''Johnny Mnemonic''' 
Film based on a short story by William Gibson, who also wrote the screenplay. The plot is pretty apropos to ''Bleeding Edge''': "In 2021, Johnny (Keanu Reeves) is a "mnemonic courier" with a data storage device implanted in his brain, allowing him to discreetly carry information too sensitive to transfer across the Net, the virtual-reality equivalent of the Internet. " [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Mnemonic_(film) Wikipedia]

==Page 91==
'''''Ayn al-hammam''''' 
Arabic: "Where are the toilets?"

==Page 92==

'''Psycho''' 
Another Hitchcock reference. Possible thread in the novel? Also, the scene in question is of a knifing, you know, a murder committed with a weapon that has an edge, as in a "bleeding edge." Just saying.

'''Basil St. John in the life of Brenda Starr''' 
''Brenda Starr, Reporter'' was a comic strip about a glamorous, adventurous female reporter. It was created in 1940 by Dale Messick for the Chicago Tribune Syndicate. In the story, her love interest was Basil St. John. They were married, had a child, then divorced. See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Starr,_Reporter WIKI].

==Page 93==
'''chase around the world after black-orchid serum''' 
Another allusion to Basil St. John (see previous page), who was obsessed with black-orchid serum.

==Page 95==
'''Windows on the World''' 
A restaurant on the top floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, which, of course, was destroyed on 9/11.

'''"Like going to Collegiate"''' 
a private school in NYC which Pynchon's son attended.

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Chapter 9

2013-10-04T04:19:18Z

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==Page 88==
'''chercher le garçon''' 
has been the title of a French movie and pop album. Presumably it's a French saying?

It means quite literally to "look for the boy." In this case, however, it's '''chercher le geek''', i.e. Get the geek.

'''le tout Montreal''' 
All Montreal.

==Page 89==
'''...every Keanu Reeves movie ever made, including, that night, Felix's personal favorite ''Johnny Mnemonic''.''' 
Notable films by Reeves up to this point, if I'm reading the time frame of the novel right, include ''Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Point Break, My Own Private Idaho, Dracula, Much Ado About Nothing, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Little Buddha, Speed,'' and, perhaps most significantly, ''The Matrix''. I'm not sure just what it means, but Felix preferring ''Johnny Mnemonic'' over ''Speed'' and ''The Matrix'' is surely saying something important him. Or maybe Pynchon is simply giving a friendly shout-out to William Gibson, writer of ''Johnny Mnemonic'' and he wanted to namedrop a film that has some resonance (see below) with his own novel.

'''Johnny Mnemonic''' 
Film based on a short story by William Gibson, who also wrote the screenplay. The plot is pretty apropos to ''Bleeding Edge''': "In 2021, Johnny (Keanu Reeves) is a "mnemonic courier" with a data storage device implanted in his brain, allowing him to discreetly carry information too sensitive to transfer across the Net, the virtual-reality equivalent of the Internet. " [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Mnemonic_(film) Wikipedia]

==Page 91==
'''''Ayn al-hammam''''' 
Arabic: "Where are the toilets?"

==Page 92==

'''Psycho''' 
Another Hitchcock reference. Possible thread in the novel? Also, the scene in question is of a knifing, you know, a murder committed with a weapon that has an edge, as in a "bleeding edge." Just saying.

'''Basil St. John in the life of Brenda Starr''' 
''Brenda Starr, Reporter'' was a comic strip about a glamorous, adventurous female reporter. It was created in 1940 by Dale Messick for the Chicago Tribune Syndicate. In the story, her love interest was Basil St. John. They were married, had a child, then divorced. See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Starr,_Reporter WIKI].

==Page 93==
'''chase around the world after black-orchid serum''' 
Another allusion to Basil St. John (see previous page), who was obsessed with black-orchid serum.

==Page 95==
'''Windows on the World''' 
A restaurant on the top floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, which, of course, was destroyed on 9/11.

'''"Like going to Collegiate"''' 
a private school in NYC which Pynchon's son attended.

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Chapter 9

2013-10-04T04:15:57Z

Mattmacleod: /* Page 89 */

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==Page 88==
'''chercher le garçon''' 
has been the title of a French movie and pop album. Presumably it's a French saying?

It means quite literally to "look for the boy." In this case, however, it's '''chercher le geek''', i.e. Get the geek.

'''le tout Montreal''' 
All Montreal.

'''NetNet''' 
Cute name. Aside from the being a universal nickname for the Internet, "net" is also common French for "clean". ("Nettoyer" = To clean).

==Page 89==
'''...every Keanu Reeves movie ever made, including, that night, Felix's personal favorite ''Johnny Mnemonic''.''' 
Notable films by Reeves up to this point, if I'm reading the time frame of the novel right, include ''Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Point Break, My Own Private Idaho, Dracula, Much Ado About Nothing, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Little Buddha, Speed,'' and, perhaps most significantly, ''The Matrix''. I'm not sure just what it means, but Felix preferring ''Johnny Mnemonic'' over ''Speed'' and ''The Matrix'' is surely saying something important him. Or maybe Pynchon is simply giving a friendly shout-out to William Gibson, writer of ''Johnny Mnemonic'' and he wanted to namedrop a film that has some resonance (see below) with his own novel.

'''Johnny Mnemonic''' 
Film based on a short story by William Gibson, who also wrote the screenplay. The plot is pretty apropos to ''Bleeding Edge''': "In 2021, Johnny (Keanu Reeves) is a "mnemonic courier" with a data storage device implanted in his brain, allowing him to discreetly carry information too sensitive to transfer across the Net, the virtual-reality equivalent of the Internet. " [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Mnemonic_(film) Wikipedia]

==Page 91==
'''''Ayn al-hammam''''' 
Arabic: "Where are the toilets?"

==Page 92==

'''Psycho''' 
Another Hitchcock reference. Possible thread in the novel? Also, the scene in question is of a knifing, you know, a murder committed with a weapon that has an edge, as in a "bleeding edge." Just saying.

'''Basil St. John in the life of Brenda Starr''' 
''Brenda Starr, Reporter'' was a comic strip about a glamorous, adventurous female reporter. It was created in 1940 by Dale Messick for the Chicago Tribune Syndicate. In the story, her love interest was Basil St. John. They were married, had a child, then divorced. See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Starr,_Reporter WIKI].

==Page 93==
'''chase around the world after black-orchid serum''' 
Another allusion to Basil St. John (see previous page), who was obsessed with black-orchid serum.

==Page 95==
'''Windows on the World''' 
A restaurant on the top floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, which, of course, was destroyed on 9/11.

'''"Like going to Collegiate"''' 
a private school in NYC which Pynchon's son attended.

{{Bleeding Edge PbP}}

Chapter 4

2013-10-03T01:19:30Z

Mattmacleod: /* Page 33 */

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==Page 30==
'''Leuzinger High School''' 
Leuzinger High School is a public high school (9th through 12th grades) in Lawndale, California. It opened on January 27, 1931, with an enrollment of 268. It was named after Adolph Leuzinger in recognition of his 25 years of service on the Board of Trustees of the Inglewood Union High School District. The school is in the Centinela Valley Union High School District. As Leuzinger's first senior class graduated while the 1932 Summer Olympics were hosted in and around nearby Los Angeles, the school's mascot became the "Olympians". From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leuzinger_High_School WIKI]

==Page 31==
'''statues of the Buddha''' 
The Buddhas of Bamiwam were two 6th century statues of standing buddha carved into the side of a cliff that were destroyed in 2001. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhas_of_Bamyan Wikipedia]

'''if the Buddha's in your way . . . it's OK to kill him?''' 
A famous koan attributed to Zen Master Linji: "If you meet the Buddha, kill him."

'''"If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him!"''' is also the title of a popular psychology book from the early 1970s, written by a man with the Pynchonesque sounding name of Sheldon P. Kopp.

'''Wahhabists''' 
Wahhabism is an ultra-conservative branch of Sunni Islam (though some people dispute that a Wahhabi is a Sunni). It is a religious movement among fundamentalist Islamic believers, with an aspiration to return to the earliest fundamental Islamic sources of the Quran and Hadith, with inspiration from the teachings of Medieval theologian Ibn Taymiyyah and early jurist Ahmad ibn Hanbal. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahhabists WIKI].

'''The Brady Bunch''' 
When someone once asked Pynchon's sister, "What's your brother likely to be doing right now?", she reportedly said "Watching The Brady Bunch." [http://www.pynchon.pomona.edu/bio/influences.html Source] The episode where Jan gets a wig is titled "The New Jan Brady." It's also [http://inherent-vice.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_17#Page_310 discussed] on ''Inherent Vice'' Wiki (page 310):

:"What kind of wig?"
:"Brunette, I think. She gets tired of being a blonde?"
:"Tell me about ''that''. Still not the same as changing your politics, I guess."

Here's the clip...
{{#ev:youtube|1Lg3OVrytOM}}

'''krav maga''' 
Krav Maga is a tactical martial system developed in Israel that consists of a wide combination of techniques sourced from boxing, Muay Thai, Wing Chun, Judo, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, and grappling, along with realistic fight training. Krav Maga is known for its focus on real-world situations and extremely efficient and brutal counter-attacks. It was derived from street-fighting skills developed by Slovakian-Israeli martial artist Imi Lichtenfeld, who made use of his training as a boxer and wrestler, as a means of defending the Jewish quarter against fascist groups in Bratislava in the mid-to-late 1930s. In the late 1940s, following his immigration to Israel, he began to provide lessons on combat training to what was to become the IDF, who went on to develop the system that became known as Krav Maga. It has since been refined for civilian, police and military applications. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krav_maga WIKI].

==Page 32==

'''Disrespect and The Contaminator''' 
Other superheroes invented by Pynchon include Fatal Four in ''Gravity's Rainbow''... any others?

'''krav maga... kidon''' 
a martial art developed in Israel. Kidon is the name of an alleged secret department within Israel's Mossad. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidon Wikipedia]

'''Emma Levin, who's rumored to be ex-Mossad.''' 
Surely an allusion to the NCIS character Ziva David, an ex-Mossad, deadly, female agent.

==Page 33==
'''Shabtai Shavit''' 
Shabtai Shavit was director general of the Mossad from 1989 to 1996. Shavit first joined the Israel Defense Forces, where he served in the Sayeret Matkal. From 1958 to 1959, he was military governor of the Southern Command. In 1964, he joined the Mossad, where he worked his way up to director general. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabtai_Shavit WIKI].

'''A store something like Fairway...''' 
Fairway Market is an American grocery chain. Founded in the 1930s, it is one of the United States' highest grossing food retailers per square foot with 14 million customers per year. Fairway has had significant store expansion in the New York area, with 13 locations in the tri-state area including 13 food markets and 3 wine and spirit shops. The flagship store still occupies the original Broadway location at West 74th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, with larger locations in Harlem; the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn; Paramus, New Jersey; Plainview, Long Island; Pelham Manor, New York; Stamford, Connecticut; and Woodland Park, New Jersey. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairway_Market WIKI].

'''Fresser''' 
Glutton (German and Yiddish)

==Page 35==
'''what Bob Barker might call 'right'''' 
Bob Barker used to host a TV game show called ''The Price is Right''.

'''VC''' 
Venture Capitalist. Someone who has money to support new companies or projects.

==Page 37==
'''Beneish model''' 
A math model that identifies whether a company has manipulated its earnings using said company's financial statements.

{{Bleeding Edge PbP}}

Talk:Chapter 4

2013-10-03T01:02:43Z

Mattmacleod: Created page with "Just a heads up. The "Brady Bunch" video clip gives an error message "playback is prohibited". I'm in Canada but suspect the same result is happening just about anywhere outsi..."

Just a heads up. The "Brady Bunch" video clip gives an error message "playback is prohibited". I'm in Canada but suspect the same result is happening just about anywhere outside of the US.