Chapter 10

2011-07-03T21:11:45Z

Effwit:

{{Inherent Vice PbP Text}}

==Page 154==
'''"...the phone began a God-awful clanging."''' 
See page 34. Doc's phone at the office is diffident; his phone at home clangs. Is this ambivalence about his work, while reality intrudes noisily on his home?

==Page 155==
'''"Soul Gidget"''' 
These lyrics have some similarities with "Shaft" by Isaac Hayes:

:''Who's the black private dick ''
:''That's a sex machine to all the chicks? ''
:''Shaft!''

:''Who is the man ''
:''That would risk his neck for his brother man? ''
:''Shaft!''

'''signifyin on your mama''' 
"Signifyin" is a verbal strategy employed in the African-American culture. The idea was developed most fully in Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s book ''The Signifying Monkey''. Signifyin indicates a kind of play or trickster technique. "Yo mama" jokes also appear in ''Mason & Dixon'' [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_44:_440-447#Page_445 (pg. 445)] and ''Against the Day'' [http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATD_1-25#Page_12 (pg. 12)].

'''[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/18/arts/music/wild-man-fischer-outsider-musician-dies-at-66.html Wild Man Fischer]''' 
Mentally ill Los Angeles street musician who was discovered on Sunset Strip and signed by Frank Zappa to a record contract with Bizarre Records. Died June 16, 2011. Was mentioned also on page 309 of ''Vineland''.

YouTube video of WMF performing "My Sweet Little Cathy" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqei5299Q0Q]

'''Pink's''' 
[http://www.pinkshollywood.com/ Pink's] bills itself as "Hot Dogs to the Stars." It's been in the Hollywood area since 1939.

==Page 156==
'''"This Guy's in Love with You"''' 
A nitpick, perhaps, but this single was actually not a Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass release. It was credited to Herb Alpert. If deliberate, this may have been to show how little Doc followed that kind of music. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Guy%27s_in_Love_with_You Wikipedia]

==Page 157==
'''"Stick around, Barney"''' 
See [[Chapter_7#barney|entry, p. 102]]

'''Jason Velveeta''' 
Velveeta, a notoriously plastic "processed cheese product" is probably fueling a roundabout slang joke on "cheddar," used recently to mean money, specifically a pimp or dealer's money. Hence, Jason Velveeta is not really a very good pimp.

As cheeses go, Velveeta is fake, soft and easily melted. "Jason" is a quintessentially middle-class white first name. Velveeta is also associated with middle-class white culture in its most unhip and soul-free form. See, for example, this recent [http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s2i32975 spoof news story].

==Page 159==
'''O Cangaceiro'''
A Portuguese word rooted in "canga," meaning "yoke," that means "brigand" or "highwayman." In Brazilian Portuguese it carries the meaning "braggart."

==Page 160==
'''"Desafinado"''' 
A bossa nova-style song written by Jobim. Stan Getz's version was a hit in 1962. The title translates as "off key" or "out of tune."

'''Little Black Dress''' 
Simply cut, often short, cocktail dress [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_black_dress]. It's worth noting that the dress our singer is wearing is described as being from the 1950s, since the most famous, perhaps, little black dress of them all was worn by Audrey Hepburn in the later 1961 film [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfast_at_Tiffany%27s_%28film%29 Breakfast at Tiffany's.]

'''I can sure relate to that lyric, man''' 
And here are the lyrics to "It Never Entered My Mind":
:I don't care if there's powder on my nose. 
:I don't care if my hairdo is in place. 
:I've lost the very meaning of repose. 
:I never put a mudpack on my face. 
:Oh, who'd have thought 
:that I'd walk in the daze now? 
:I never go to shows at night, 
:but just to matinees now. 
:I see the show 
:and home I go. 

:Once I laughed when I heard you saying 
:that I'd be playing solitaire, 
:uneasy in my easy chair. 
:It never entered my mind. 

:Once you told me I was mistaken, 
:that I'd awaken with the sun 
:and order orange juice for one. 
:It never entered my mind. 

:You have what I lack myself 
:and now I even have to scratch my back myself. 

:Once you warned me that if you scorned me 
:I'd sing the maiden's prayer again 
:and wish that you where there again 
:to get into my hair again. 
:It never entered my mind. 

Introduced in the show ''Higher and Higher'' in 1940. Famous renditions of the song in the '50s and '60s that may have inspired our singer in the Little Black Dress were done by Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis (as a jazz instrumental), and Leontyne Price (!).

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrgDbS9aHF4 Listen] and let Peggy Lee break your heart, too.

'''Dietz & Schwartz's 'Alone Together'''' 
These lyrics are also relevant to the scene, and to ''Inherent Vice'' as a whole:

:Alone together, beyond the crowd, 
:Above the world, we're not too proud 
:To cling together, We're strong 
:As long as we're together. 

:Alone together, the blinding rain 
:The starless night, were not in vain; 
:For we're together, and what is there 
:To fear together. 

:Our love is as deep as the sea, 
:Our love is as great as a love can be, 
:And we can weather the great unknown, 
:If we're alone together. 

Introduced in the revue ''Flying Colors'' (1932), the song has had famous interpreters, including Ella Fitzgerald and Ray Charles. There's another important D&S allusion in an upcoming chapter, folks. TP a connoisseur too of Broadway show tunes--who knew?

'''"...Doc bought himself and Coy cachaca with beer chasers."''' 
Cachaca is a rum-like beverage made from bagasse, the crushed fiber of sugar cane that is left over when sugar is made. It is a national symbol of Brazil and the basic ingredient of caipirinha.

==Page 162==

'''Samba do Avião''' 
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK-k0SstIJQ Song] by Antonio Jobim. Title translates into "Song of the Jet." [http://lyrics.wikia.com/Tony_Bennett:Samba_Do_Avi%C3%A3o Lyrics,] in English translation, are a tribute to Rio de Janeiro as seen from a returning airplane. Substitute Los Angeles for Rio and the connection with certain parts of Inherent Vice become even more obvious.

'''then sat through the dawn''' 
Morning, the thirteenth day of the narrative, Sunday, April 5, 1970.

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Chapter 10