Thomas Pynchon Wiki - User contributions [en]

Chapter 11

2009-08-26T04:16:56Z

Dan-o: /* Page 182 */

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==Page 166==
'''Brylcreem''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brylcreem Brylcreem] is a hair styling oil/gel for men that was very popular. It gives hair a wet, oily look.

'''on the natch''' 
"natch" is short for "natural" and "on the natch," in this context, means sober. On pg. 273, the perennially sober Bigfoot is described as a "literal-minded natch-meister."

==Page 168==
'''Leuzinger High''' 
A [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leuzinger_High_School real] high school, in Lawndale, California, which - particularly in the story's time period - was a relatively undesirable and low-priced city in the LA area.

==Page 171==
'''Japonica Fenway''' 
"Japonica" is just a Latinization of "Japanese," but it is most commonly used in formal Latin plant names. There are a wide variety of "____ Japonica" plants, such as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camellia_japonica Camellia Japonica]. While it's not really possible to make any universal statement about such widely varied species, they tend to be ornamental and hardy.

'''Crocker Fenway''' 
It is possible the first name is inspired by the character "Crocker Jarmon" from the movie [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068334/ The Candidate (1972)]. The character in the movie is an establishment, incumbent GOP Senator from California.

The first names of both characters may also refer to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crocker_National_Bank Crocker National Bank], which historically was a conservative, Republican institution. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,847658,00.html 1936 Time Magazine reference], [http://articles.latimes.com/1986-05-27/business/fi-7509_1 1986 Article].

'''the ancient American Indian belief that if you save somebody's life, you are responsible for them from then on, forever''' 
Last seen in Against the Day with Foley Walker and Scarsdale Vibe.

==Page 172==
'''Governor Reagan''' 
Ronald Reagan was governor of California from 1967 to 1975.

==Page 175==
[[File:MercedesSedan.jpg|thumb|200px|right|1960 Mercedes-Benz W128 Sedan, image from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_W128 Wikipedia]]]
'''Mercedes sedan''' 
ten-year-old Mercedes sedan with a roof panel

==Page 176==
'''outdoor concerts where thousands . . . public self''' 
A good description of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodstock Woodstock], which had just taken place the previous year.

'''each person was listening in solitude, confinement and mutual silence''' 
Perhaps a foreshadowing of the iPod generation?

'''''head''phones!''' 
Here, "head" refers to drugs, as in [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=head+shop "head shop"].

==Page 181==

''''64 Dodge Dart'''
[[File:1964_Dodge_Dart.jpg|thumb|200px|left|1964 Dodge Dart Sedan, photo by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:64_Dodge_Dart_F34.jpg Scheinwerfermann]
]]

==Page 182==
'''They went down Pico . . . before repeating an ethnic category.''' 
A possible nod to noted LA chowhound Johnathan Gold, who got his start as a Pulitzer Prize winning food critic eating his way across ethnic LA along Pico Blvd. Profiled here on NPR's [http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=110 "This American Life"] (See: ''Act Five. Taste.'')
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Chapter 11

2009-08-26T03:41:33Z

Dan-o: Reference to noted Los Angeles food critic Johnathan Gold who specializes in ethnic eating and got his start eating his way down Pico.

Chapter 6

2009-08-18T23:57:50Z

Dan-o: /* Page 73 */

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==Page 72==
'''Wouldn't it Be Nice''' 
Beach Boys, 1966, off the album ''Pet Sounds''.

==Page 73==
'''Tommy's''' 
[http://www.originaltommys.com/ Tommy's] is a famous burger chain in the LA area. This place was a food shrine to the American Hamburger and people used to come from miles around to get them. Pynchon moves the location one block east from Rampart and Beverly to Coronado and Beverly.

==Page 75==
'''Ron Karenga''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Karenga Ron Karenga] is an influential African American activist. He invented Kwanzaa. Back in the day in some quarters he was thought to be an agent provocateur in the employ of the FBI, especially after the shoot out at UCLA in January 1969 that left two Black Panthers, Alprentice Bunchy Carter and John Huggens, dead.

'''Can I be frank for a minute''' 
A bad joke since Doc starts to sing Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me to the Moon."

'''Lew Erskine''' 
main character in the TV show, "F.B.I.," which ran 1965-74. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058801/ IMDB]

==Page 76==
'''Ralph's''' 
Ubiquitous grocery chain in California. Plays an important role in the Coen brothers' ''The Big Lebowski'', a film to which Inherent Vice is often compared.

==Page 77==
'''before he's slipped, as Jim Morrison might put it, "into unconsciousness"...''' 
lyrics from "The Crystal Ship" by The Doors: "Before you slip into unconsciousness / I'd like to have another kiss." The song was on the Doors' first album, The Doors, released in January 1967. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awi14wDTxNw Have a listen on YouTube...]

'''as Fats Domino always sez, "Never to be"...''' 
"Blueberry Hill" was written in 1940 and was recorded by Gene Krupa, Glenn Miller, Jimmy Dorsey and Gene Autry, and others. In 1956, Fats Domino (b. 1928) recorded it and it was a #2 hit on the Billboard Top 40. Excerpt:

:The wind in the willow played 
:Love's sweet melody 
:But all of those vows we made 
:Were never to be

'''Hawaiian shirt''' 
One was worn by Tyrone Slothrop in ''Gravity's Rainbow'', part 2.

==Page 78==
'''Beach Boys''' 
This must follow some Beach Boys melody. Anyone?

Pynchon's Boards' lyrics bear more than passing similarity to the lyrics of the Beach Boys' 1963 song, "Shut Down."[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ykmekz9--t8&NR=1 A live version.] Note the scarcely-competent sax solo by Mike Love, which provides some support for Doc's and Hope Harlingen's opinion, at page 37, of the general level of surf sax playing.

The Beach Boys song was co-written with KHJ DJ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Christian_(songwriter) Roger Christian], who was likely the source of the car terminology.

'''GTO'''[[File:1966GTO.jpg|thumb|right|1966 Pontiac GTO (Gran Turismo Omologato), Photo from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_GTO Wikipedia]]]

==Page 79==
'''A toda madre!''' 
from Urban Dictionary:
Mexican slang that means something is totally awesome. Often abbreviated, especially in graffiti, as ATM.

"La fiesta estuvo a toda madre." translation: "The party was totally awesome."

==Page 80==
'''like Moe going, "Spread out!"''' 
Moe, of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_stooges Three Stooges] would yell "Spread out!" to the other two, and sometimes some other people, when fighting.

[[File:VincentThomasBridge.jpg|thumb|100px|right|The Vincent Thomas Bridge by night, as it appears today.]]
'''Kai Tak''' 
Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998.

'''San Pedro, Terminal Island, Vincent Thomas Bridge''' 
All back in L.A.

==Page 81==
[[File:Cheongsam.jpg|thumb|100px|right|Model in a red cheongsam. [http://www.cheongsamboutique.com/2008/07/cheongsam-qipao.html Source]]]
'''Cheongsam''' 
a body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for women.

'''Fan-tan... dollar-a-stone Go''' 
Fan-Tan is a form of gambling long played in China that has similarities to roulette. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan-Tan Wikipedia]. The "stones" in "dollar-a-stone Go" most likely refers to the point differential at the end of the game, usually ten or less between evenly matched players.

==Page 82==
'''LZ''' 
Vietnam soldier slang for "landing zone."

==Page 83==
'''Dan ranking''' 
the dan ranking system is a Japanese mark of level is used in martial arts (and also traditional fine arts, including mastery of the board game, Go).

'''1956 Fireflite ragtop'''[[File:1956Fireflite.jpg|thumb|right|1956 DeSoto Fireflite Convertible, photo by [http://www.flickr.com/photos/bsabarnowl/2784312247/ bsabarnowl / Creative Commons]]]

==Page 85==
[[File:PostExchange.jpg|thumb|100px|right|Post Exchange in Mogadishu, Somalia.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PostExchange.jpg Source]]]
'''PX''' 
abbreviation of Post Exchange. A service mark used for a military store on an Army or Naval base that sells goods to military personnel. Apparently, the PX often appeared in the Beetle Bailey comic strip from the 1950s. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_exchange Wikipedia].

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