Thomas Pynchon Wiki - User contributions [en]

W

2009-12-05T21:07:25Z

Niall:

'''Waimea''' 
99; famed surfing location on Oahu's North Shore

'''Wabash Cannonball''' 
227; is an American folk song about a fictional train, thought to have originated sometime in the late nineteenth century [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabash_Cannonball]. The song is part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll [http://www.rockhall.com/exhibithighlights/500-songs-by-name-wz/].

'''Wallach's Music City''' 
176; record store with "audition booths"; Wallach's was located on the northwest corner of Sunset and Vine in Los Angeles and had listening booths where you could go in a listen to records. It was opened by Glenn Wallichs (1910-1971) in 1940 and closed in 1978. In its time, it was the biggest record store in Los Angeles.

'''Walnut Creek''' 
188; "isn't a chakra"; Walnut Creek is a small San Francisco Bay Area city in Contra Costa County east of Oakland.

'''Warbling, Riggs''' 
61; Sloane's "spiritual coach"; in desert, 143; 144; at Arrepentimiento, 250

'''Warriors Against the Man Black Armed Militia (WAMBAM)''' 
292; Tariq Khalil's people on the outside (of prison)

'''Waste-a-Perp Target Range''' 
269; a civilian range "down off South La Brea" where Bigfoot practices in the UGH (Urban, Gang-related and Hippie) section

'''Watusi-ing''' 
The Watusi is a solo dance that enjoyed brief popularity during the early 1960s, almost as popular as the Twist. Its name came from the Batutsi tribe of Rwanda. It was popularized by the Orlons' hit single "The Wah Watusi" (1962); Penny Kimball, 6

'''Watts clambake''' 
195; a large-scale race riot which lasted 6 days in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, in August 1965, where 34 people were killed; 201;

'''Wavos''' 
12; 98; restaurant in Gordita Beach, Los Angeles. As mentioned in the page 12 annotations, the name is an anglicization of the Spanish ''huevos''. Maybe also a surf culture nickname for waves? Anyone concur?

'''Wayne, John (1907-1979)''' 
American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and has become an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive voice, walk and height. He was also known for his conservative political views and his support in the 1950s for anti-communist positions; 334

'''"We Should Be Together"''' 
From the 1938 film ''Little Miss Broadway'', performed as a song and dance by Shirley Temple and George Murphy; 360; Sample lyric:

:You're a cup of coffee''' 
:You're a peachy pie''' 
:We should be together, you and I

'''Wee Kirk O' the Heather''' 
246; where Puck and Trillium get married, in Las Vegas; a real Wedding Chapel, it is touted as "the original Las Vegas Wedding Chapel" and has been in operation since 1940

'''Welk, Lawrence (1903-1992)''' 
257; a musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, hosting ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1955 to 1982, his "champagne music" is considered wholesome, bland and mediocre; 260

'''"White Rabbit"''' 
156; 1967 acid-inspired hit for the Jefferson Airplane, on their ''Surrealistic Pillow'' LP

'''Wild Man Fischer (b.1944)''' 
155; Larry "Wild Man" Fischer was institutionalized at age 16 for attacking his mother with a knife, as was diagnosed with severe paranoid schizophrenia. After his release from a mental hospital, he wandered Los Angeles singing a unique brand of songs all his own. He was discovered by Frank Zappa who directed the recording of his first album, "An Evening with Wild Man Fischer" (1968).

'''"Wipe Out"''' 
101; Famous surf music song by the Surfaris. The original Dot label version of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH5WGWX4MPg "Wipe Out"] has the laughter on it that Zigzag and Flaco are arguing about, not the later, and less well-known, Decca re-recording. The song has a surprisingly tangled history worth reading about: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wipe_Out_%28song%29 Wikipedia]

'''''Wizard of Oz, The'' (1939)''' 
MGM-producted American musical-fantasy film mainly directed by Victor Fleming and based on the 1900 children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The film stars Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, and Frank Morgan. All of the sequences were filmed in three-strip Technicolor. The opening and closing credits, as well as the Kansas sequences, were both filmed in black and white and colored in a sepia tone. Sometimes color and sepia would be juxtaposed in the film within seconds of each other. The most dramatic switch occurs when Dorothy Gale lands in Oz; 286

'''Wolfmann, Michael Zachary ("Mickey")''' 
4; LA developer Shasta is seeing; sightings, 76; decides to give money away, 150; calls Tito Stavrou to pick him up at Chryskylodon, 184; Mob connections? 221; "the Mickey book" at the Kismet, 237; "putting up a whole city from scratch someday, out in the desert" 240; with Puck and Einar at the Kismet, 243; his change of heart, 252; '''M.Z.W.''' initials appear the same right-side-up & upside-down. 
See [http://www.lemurianconnection.com/en/about-mount-shasta.htm Mount Shasta and the Lemurian Connection]

'''Wolfmann, Sloane''' 
55; Mickey's wife

'''Wolfsburg''' 
193; Volkswagen Corporate Headquarters are located in Wolfsburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany

'''Womack, Droolin' Floyd''' 
51; fictional blues singer whose song "The Repossess Man" Doc hears on KQAS (kickass?) radio while driving

'''Wood, Evelyn''' 
211; creator of speedreading courses

'''Worthington, Cal''' 
9.

'''Wright, Rick (1943-2008)''' 
129; keyboard player in Pink Floyd

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Chapter 18

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==Page 315==
'''still another day of classic day of California sunshine''' 
Back into real calendar time, morning, Tuesday, May 5, 1970.

'''bindlestiffs''' 
Pynchon may just be using the word in with its basic literal meaning (hoboes), but it is also the name ("Bindlestiffs of the Blue A.C.") of a "club of ascensionaries from Oregon," referred to in Against the Day at page 18 and again at page 1083.

==Page 316==
'''Carl Yastrzemski''' 
Carl Yastrzemski played for the Boston Red Sox from 1961-1983, and was at the peak of his career between 1967 and 1970, when he was among the most formidable hitters in professional baseball. Like Pynchon, he grew up on Long Island. He was generally admired as a hard-working, unpretentious player.

==Page 318==
'''Mike Curb''' 
In addition to contributing the musical score for The Big Bounce and other movies, Mike Curb was the leader of The Mike Curb Congregation, a popular music group with a wholesome, all-American image. The group often appeared on the Glen Campbell Show. He was also a record-company executive and, later, a Republican politician who was elected Lieutenant Governor of California in the late '70s.

'''The Big Bounce''' 
Is a film adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel. The score is bouncy and peppy, and entirely out-of-place in the movie, and Doc's opinion regarding it is likely shared by many, if not most, viewers.

==Page 319==
'''he woke up, mercifully not too many hours later''' 
Afternoon, Tuesday, May 5, 1970.

==Page 322==
'''your hour is at hand''' 
In [http://bible.cc/matthew/26-45.htm Matthew 26:45], Jesus wakes up his disciples and warns them that the "hour is at hand" (i.e., Jesus is about to be arrested).

'''dropped it inside the forms for a concrete support column about to be poured.''' 
The fate of Adrian's victim bears a resemblance to some of the theories about the 1975 disappearance and presumed murder of Jimmy Hoffa and disposal of his body.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Hoffa Jimmy Hoffa]

==Page 326==
'''Dagwood and Mr. Dithers, Bugs and Yosemite Sam, Popeye and Bluto''' 
These are all pairs of cartoon characters who are in conflict.
:Dagwood butts heads with his controlling boss Mr. Dithers in the comic strip [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blondie_(comic_strip) Blondie].
:Bugs often has to hide from his nemesis Yosemite Sam in the TV cartoon [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugs_bunny Bugs Bunny].
:Popeye and the brute Bluto fight for the affection of Olive Oyl in the cartoon [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popeye Popeye].

==Page 327==
'''He lit up one of Puck's prison menthols''' 
This is, it seems to me, a very odd time to be having a smoke, with (potentially) match flare and/or tobacco smell announcing his position when he most wants to be invisible.

'''Some late light off the ocean''' 
Evening, Tuesday May 5, 1970.

==Page 328==
[[File:1965Impala.jpg|thumb|right|1965 Chevrolet Impala, photo by [http://www.flickr.com/photos/braintoad/2687568205/ The Brain Toad / Creative Commons]]]
''''65 Impala'''
 

==Page 329==
[[File:59CadillacHearse.jpg|thumb|right|[http://www.tristatechapter.com/meet.htm photo] courtesy Mark & Debbie Teague]]
''''59 Cadillac hearse'''

'''The sun was just down'''
Sunset, Tuesday, May 5, 1970.

==Page 332==
'''Herb Alpert arrangement of "Yummy Yummy Yummy"''' 
Thankfully probably a fictional song. Anyone been able to track down a recording? [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_alpert Herb Alpert.] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yummy_Yummy_Yummy "Yummy Yummy Yummy"] is [http://www.last.fm/music/The+Residents/_/Hitler+Was+A+Vegetarian covered,] starting at 5:24, of the lengthy "Hitler was a Vegetarian" from the Residents' satirical pop album [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Reich_%27n_Roll The Third Reich 'n Roll.] Not to be missed if you're looking for something to cleanse your palate if you feel like you've listened to just too many of the songs name-checked in the novel, especially since a few of them get worked by the Residents. (By the way, it's part of the soundtrack of [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0304820/ Journey into the Mind of P.] Pynchon and the Residents can go well together.) Finally, forgive me, for the sake of completeness, the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG1SVKipKZE original version.]

==Page 338==
[[File:442 Olds.jpg|thumb|right|1969 442 Olds - Photo by [http://www.flickr.com/photos/dstone7y/1121708840/ dstone7y /Creative Commons]]]
'''442 Olds'''

'''a reasonably dark street''' 
Evening, Tuesday, May 5, 1970.

==Page 339==
'''The bars hadn't closed yet''' 
Late night, Tuesday, May 5, 1970.

==Page 340==
'''Doc had been on the phone...around noon''' 
Midday Wednesday, May 6, 1970.

'''It was toward sunset''' 
Early evening, May 6, 1970.

==Page 341==
'''way, way too chirpy for this time of the morning''' 
The chirp seems to be a Fenway family characteristic, since Japonica is first introduced on page 170 with "a loud, violent chirp."

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==Page 124==
'''headed up to Topanga that afternoon''' 
Afternoon, the ninth day of the narrative, Wednesday, April 1, 1970.

'''Stone Turntable''' 
The name is presumably intended to be a jokey reference to Rolling Stone: a stone turntable being not a rolling stone, but a rotating one. It also suggests the phrase "no stone unturned", which is appropriate both to journalism and detective work.

==Page 125==
'''Jurgensen's''' 
Jurgensen's was an upscale, gourmet grocery store with locations in Beverly Hills, Pasadena, and throughout greater LA.

'''porte cochere''' 
Porch-like structure on the entrance of a building, large enough for vehicles, horses, and carriages to pass through, providing shelter from the weather.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porte-cochere Wikipedia]

[[File:Hokusai.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Great Wave off Kanagawa, image from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa Wikipedia]]]
'''Hokusai's famous ''Great Wave off Kanagawa''''' 
a famous woodblock print. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa Wikipedia]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

==Page 126==
'''uncountableth''' 
In mathematics, "uncountable" is used to describe the size of infinite sets larger than the set of natural numbers. Pynchon's use of the word here is deliberately oxymoronic. See also the reference to George Cantor further in the same paragraph.

'''the Boards...''' 
As the surf band that makes it big, the Boards suggest the Beach Boys. Pynchon himself once visited the home of Brian Wilson in Beverly Hills. See [http://gravitys-rainbow.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Pynchon_and_Brian_Wilson Pynchon and Brian Wilson]. Perhaps this chapter drew some inspiration from that visit?

'''Cantor's Delicatessen''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Cantor Georg Cantor] (1845-1918) was a German mathematician who pioneered the subject of set theory, now at the foundation of all modern mathematics. He proved that there are different sizes of infinity - for example, the set of natural numbers is smaller than the set of real numbers, though both sets are infinite. The name of the restaurant is a play on the real [http://www.cantersdeli.com/ Canter's Deli] in Los Angeles, established 1931.

==Page 127==
'''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_dick Spotted Dick]''' 
Spotted Dick is a suet pudding served in England. Possibly a parody of British band Cream.

'''[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_762505728/general_pause.html General Pause]''' 
A musical rest during which the entire ensemble remains silent.

==Page 128==
'''''Dark Shadows''. . . The Collins family . . . parallel time''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Shadows ''Dark Shadows''] was an innovative TV show in the late 1960's and early 70's that focuses on the Collins family. The show included many Gothic elements, including vampires, zombies, and witches. It also played with time travel and parallel universes in which the same character would be played by different actors or the same actor would play different characters.

In both parallel time storylines (1970 and 1840), one or more characters went to a specific room in Collinwood which shifted periodically from one universe to the other, so if you were in the room at the wrong (right) time, suddenly you were surrounded by people who looked like the people you knew (played by the same actors), but had different personalities, different relationships, and sometimes different names.

If this is April 1, 1970, here's a plot summary of today's show from [http://www.darkshadows.com/cgi-bin/eplist.pl?ep=983 darkshadows.com], all in parallel time today:

:Daniel plans to drive Maggie out of Collinwood. Quentin tells Chris to make sure Bruno Hess, another loyal friend of Angelique, is kicked off the estate. Daniel frightens Maggie by having Amy hum a tune, making it sound like it was coming from Angelique's portrait; Amy later tells Daniel that she did not make the humming sound.

'''parallel time''' 
This paragraph ''may'' be a coded reference to Pynchon's own [http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page Against the Day] and its reception. ''Against the Day'' features parallel universes/time (?) and confounded readers nation- (and world-)wide. This interpretation may be a stretch.

In [http://v.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/ ''V.''] Pynchon talks about [http://v.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Mirror_Time "Mirror Time"]:

:"Rachel was looking into the mirror at an angle of 45°, and so had a view of the face turned toward the room and the face on the other side, reflected in the mirror; here were time and reverse-time, co-existing, cancelling one another exactly out. Were there many such reference points, scattered through the world, perhaps only at nodes like this room which housed a transient population of the imperfect, the dissatisfied [...]" ([http://v.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Mirror_Time ''V.'', p.46])

'''Hanon''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanon Hanon] was a 19th-century French piano teacher and composer. He's most famous for developing exercises for piano students.

The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Virtuoso_Pianist_in_60_Exercises exercises], rather than the guy who wrote them, are the primary focus of the reference. These are the basic finger exercises that almost everyone who took piano played for some period, and almost everyone who has had a family member who took piano listend to over and over for seemingly endless periods. They're basically short, hurried, unmelodic scales that work up and down the keyboard without any regard for key. The more advanced exercises feature 4th- and 5th-finger repetitions and trills that are about as pleasant to listen to as a skipping record. They would sound particularly silly on a portable Farfisa, and practicing them on a Farfisa would be strange, as the instrument, unlike a piano, has soft organ keys with virtually no action.

An [http://www.upload-mp3.com/files/84678_nuehq/HanonFarfisa.mp3 MP3] of Hanon's Exercise 1 played on a Farfisa (actually a synthesizer emulating a Farfisa).

'''Farfisa''' 
One of the first electric keyboards/organs used in rock 'n' roll. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farfisa Wikipedia entry...] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkvK638yKuY "Ninety-six Tears" by ? & the Mysterians] is a classic example of the Farfisa sound, as is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O6x_m4zvFs&feature=fvw "Light My Fire" by the Doors].

==Page 130==
'''George Formby''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Formby,_Jr. George Formby, Jr.] performed "Leaning on a Lamppost" (written by Noel Gay) which Herman's Hermits covered. Tyrone Slothrop, protagonist of ''Gravity's Rainbow'' is described as "sort of an American George Formby, if you can imagine such a thing." Obvious influence on "The Bonzo Dog Band." Here's a video of George Formby singing [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEymZ3rXOmc Leaning On A Lamp Post.]

==Page 131==
'''Donna Lee''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Lee Donna Lee], way more than Coy's usual 1 or 2 note solos.

'''abrazo''' 
Spanish for hug.

==Page 132==
'''third ballet position''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positions_of_the_feet_in_ballet here]

'''louche''' 
Of questionable taste or morality; decadent.

==Page 133==
[[File:Example.jpg|thumb|right|1949 Mercury Woodie [http://www.pbase.com/xl1ken/image/3748891 © Ken Leonard] used with permission]]
'''1949 Mercury woodie''' 
''The Mod Squad'' drove a Mercury woodie, either a '49 or '50.

==Page 134==
'''no longer saw the headlights''' 
Evening, the ninth day of the narrative, Wednesday, April 1, 1970.

==Page 135==
'''hoddible''' 
The way an old-movie society lady might pronounce "horrible"

==Page 138==
'''van Houten, Leslie''' 
b. 1949. A former member of Charles Manson's "Family" who was convicted of the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. She remains imprisoned at the California Institution for Women in Chino, San Bernadino County, California.

'''did he happen to catch the game with Phoenix''' 
Daytime, the tenth day of the narrative, Thursday, April 2, 1970. Doc is probably referring to the second game of the Western Conference playoffs. The Lakers beat Phoenix 114-101 on March 29. Again, Pynchon has anchored the text in real time by referring to an NBA playoff game.

This is probably as good a time as any to mention that the 69-70 NBA season was a big one for Lakers fans. Bill Russell had just retired as a player, after leading the Celtics to 11 of the last 13 championships. Finally, other teams would have a shot at the title. The Lakers thought that the title would be theirs. Unfortunately for Lakers fans, so did the Knicks.

'''Upstairs, Bigfoot, strangely jumpy today''' 
The '''today''' is what identifies this as Daytime, the tenth day of the narrative, Thursday, April 2, 1970.

==Page 140==
'''a hippie belief of the moment''' 
I don't know about the magazine articles, but this rumor was making the rounds at just about this time. It is odd, however, that Bigfoot's addiction to, and supply of, chocolate-covered frozen bananas is described in such detail here, and then is never mentioned again in the novel.

'''--not logical, Captain''' 
Star Trek reference, a phrase often spoken by Spock to Kirk.

==Page 141==
[[File:Triumph_Bonneville_T120.jpg|thumb|right|Triumph Bonneville T120, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_Bonneville_T120 Wikipedia]]]
'''Triumph Bonneville T120'''

[[File:Kawasaki_Mach_III.jpg|thumb|right|Kawasaki Mach III, photo by [http://www.flickr.com/photos/optikalblitz/2447598991/ optikal / Creative Commons]]] 
'''Kawasaki Mach III'''

==Page 142==
'''Around lunchtime, next day''' 
Midday, the eleventh day of the narrative, Friday, April 3, 1970.

'''Sinvergüenza''' 
Spanish for "scoundrel" or "rogue."

==Page 143==
'''SS396''' 
[http://inherent-vice.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Cars_mentioned_in_Inherent_Vice#SS396 Photo]

==Page 144==
'''esta gente no sabe nada''' 
Spanish for "these people know nothing."

==Page 145==
'''hijo de puta''' 
Spanish for "son of a bitch."

'''otra vez''' 
Spanish for "again/one more time."

'''Looking forward to a peaceful morning in the office''' 
Morning, the twelfth day of the narrative, Saturday, April 4, 1970.

==Page 146==
'''"Cootie food!'''" 
What Doc means is "le coup de foudre," aka "bolt of lightning." This echos Reef's 'rounder Italian'; "Say surly topple!" he would scream..." (page 889) from [[Against the Day]]. 
The English meaning, if it has one, and the explanation for Clancy Charlock's response to Doc, is unclear. It may perhaps refer to the childish fear of being infected by a sort of imaginary germ borne by the opposite sex and known as "cooties," which - possibly - makes a member of the opposite sex whom you touch "cootie food." Or, it could just be a very idiosyncratic reference to oral sex. 

Another possibility is that Doc, whose French is likely weaker than his Spanish, memorized the phrase phonetically as "cootie food", since he would not have known the spelling when it was told to him. Assuming Clancy understands French, or at least this particular idiom, her reply is fairly natural.

The phrase is apparently used - at least in the South, and not commonly - to refer to unappetizing or unclean food.

Cooties is slang for crabs or lice.

==Page 147==
'''Now, Voyager (1942)''' 
from Wikipedia: Now, Voyager is a 1942 American drama film directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Casey Robinson is based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Olive Higgins Prouty, who borrowed her title from a line in the Walt Whitman poem "The Untold Want," which reads in its entirety, "The untold want by life and land ne'er granted, / Now voyager sail thou forth to seek and find." Bette Davis' portrayal garnered her an Academy Award nomination, and the film continues to be popular not only due to its star power but also the "emotional crescendos" engendered in the storyline.

The film includes the line: "Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon... we have the stars."

The film's romantic smoke sequence, repeated during the film and much parodied, featured Paul Henried placing two cigarettes in his lips, lighting them both, then handing one to Bette Davis. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-KGiwGn1d8 YouTube]

==Page 148==
'''That night Doc met Clancy''' 
Evening, the twelfth day of the narrative, Saturday, April 4, 1970.

'''Zubin Mehta''' 
A famous conductor, Zubin Mehta was the Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, 1962-1978. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zubin_Mehta]

'''massé shots''' 
In billiards, a massé shot is when a player strikes a ball with the cue at a sharp angle and causes the ball to curve drastically or even eventually reverse direction. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0ly8Ee_7jM Here's an example.] Some pool halls (like this one) forbid this kind of shot because it often leads to scratching or tearing of the felt.

==Page 151==
'''forget the Smith''' 
Doc is presumably referring to the revolver in his ankle holser, which Boris rather obviously noticed a few lines earlier ("glancing quickly down in the direction of Doc's ankle rig"). "Smith" is short for "Smith & Wesson."

==Page 153==
'''"Happy Trails to You"''' 
Besides the reference to Roy Roger's theme song, this phrase is a favorite double entendre among those who use psychedelic drugs. "Acid trails" are a common hallucination produced by LSD.

Also the title (and last track) of the 1968, "live", genre-defining, acid-rock album by the Quicksilver Messenger Service [http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1108947/a/Happy+Trails.htm]

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==Page 124==
'''headed up to Topanga that afternoon''' 
Afternoon, the ninth day of the narrative, Wednesday, April 1, 1970.

'''Stone Turntable''' 
The name is presumably intended to be a jokey reference to Rolling Stone: a stone turntable being not a rolling stone, but a rotating one. It also suggests the phrase "no stone unturned", which is appropriate both to journalism and detective work.

==Page 125==
'''Jurgensen's''' 
Jurgensen's was an upscale, gourmet grocery store with locations in Beverly Hills, Pasadena, and throughout greater LA.

'''porte cochere''' 
Porch-like structure on the entrance of a building, large enough for vehicles, horses, and carriages to pass through, providing shelter from the weather.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porte-cochere Wikipedia]

[[File:Hokusai.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Great Wave off Kanagawa, image from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa Wikipedia]]]
'''Hokusai's famous ''Great Wave off Kanagawa''''' 
a famous woodblock print. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa Wikipedia]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

==Page 126==
'''uncountableth''' 
In mathematics, "uncountable" is used to describe the size of infinite sets larger than the set of natural numbers. Pynchon's use of the word here is deliberately oxymoronic. See also the reference to George Cantor further in the same paragraph.

'''the Boards...''' 
As the surf band that makes it big, the Boards suggest the Beach Boys. Pynchon himself once visited the home of Brian Wilson in Beverly Hills. See [http://gravitys-rainbow.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Pynchon_and_Brian_Wilson Pynchon and Brian Wilson]. Perhaps this chapter drew some inspiration from that visit?

'''Cantor's Delicatessen''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Cantor Georg Cantor] (1845-1918) was a German mathematician who pioneered the subject of set theory, now at the foundation of all modern mathematics. He proved that there are different sizes of infinity - for example, the set of natural numbers is smaller than the set of real numbers, though both sets are infinite. The name of the restaurant is a play on the real [http://www.cantersdeli.com/ Canter's Deli] in Los Angeles, established 1931.

==Page 127==
'''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_dick Spotted Dick]''' 
Spotted Dick is a suet pudding served in England.

'''[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_762505728/general_pause.html General Pause]''' 
A musical rest during which the entire ensemble remains silent.

==Page 128==
'''''Dark Shadows''. . . The Collins family . . . parallel time''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Shadows ''Dark Shadows''] was an innovative TV show in the late 1960's and early 70's that focuses on the Collins family. The show included many Gothic elements, including vampires, zombies, and witches. It also played with time travel and parallel universes in which the same character would be played by different actors or the same actor would play different characters.

In both parallel time storylines (1970 and 1840), one or more characters went to a specific room in Collinwood which shifted periodically from one universe to the other, so if you were in the room at the wrong (right) time, suddenly you were surrounded by people who looked like the people you knew (played by the same actors), but had different personalities, different relationships, and sometimes different names.

If this is April 1, 1970, here's a plot summary of today's show from [http://www.darkshadows.com/cgi-bin/eplist.pl?ep=983 darkshadows.com], all in parallel time today:

:Daniel plans to drive Maggie out of Collinwood. Quentin tells Chris to make sure Bruno Hess, another loyal friend of Angelique, is kicked off the estate. Daniel frightens Maggie by having Amy hum a tune, making it sound like it was coming from Angelique's portrait; Amy later tells Daniel that she did not make the humming sound.

'''parallel time''' 
This paragraph ''may'' be a coded reference to Pynchon's own [http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page Against the Day] and its reception. ''Against the Day'' features parallel universes/time (?) and confounded readers nation- (and world-)wide. This interpretation may be a stretch.

In [http://v.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/ ''V.''] Pynchon talks about [http://v.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Mirror_Time "Mirror Time"]:

:"Rachel was looking into the mirror at an angle of 45°, and so had a view of the face turned toward the room and the face on the other side, reflected in the mirror; here were time and reverse-time, co-existing, cancelling one another exactly out. Were there many such reference points, scattered through the world, perhaps only at nodes like this room which housed a transient population of the imperfect, the dissatisfied [...]" ([http://v.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Mirror_Time ''V.'', p.46])

'''Hanon''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanon Hanon] was a 19th-century French piano teacher and composer. He's most famous for developing exercises for piano students.

The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Virtuoso_Pianist_in_60_Exercises exercises], rather than the guy who wrote them, are the primary focus of the reference. These are the basic finger exercises that almost everyone who took piano played for some period, and almost everyone who has had a family member who took piano listend to over and over for seemingly endless periods. They're basically short, hurried, unmelodic scales that work up and down the keyboard without any regard for key. The more advanced exercises feature 4th- and 5th-finger repetitions and trills that are about as pleasant to listen to as a skipping record. They would sound particularly silly on a portable Farfisa, and practicing them on a Farfisa would be strange, as the instrument, unlike a piano, has soft organ keys with virtually no action.

An [http://www.upload-mp3.com/files/84678_nuehq/HanonFarfisa.mp3 MP3] of Hanon's Exercise 1 played on a Farfisa (actually a synthesizer emulating a Farfisa).

'''Farfisa''' 
One of the first electric keyboards/organs used in rock 'n' roll. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farfisa Wikipedia entry...] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkvK638yKuY "Ninety-six Tears" by ? & the Mysterians] is a classic example of the Farfisa sound, as is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O6x_m4zvFs&feature=fvw "Light My Fire" by the Doors].

==Page 130==
'''George Formby''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Formby,_Jr. George Formby, Jr.] performed "Leaning on a Lamppost" (written by Noel Gay) which Herman's Hermits covered. Tyrone Slothrop, protagonist of ''Gravity's Rainbow'' is described as "sort of an American George Formby, if you can imagine such a thing." Obvious influence on "The Bonzo Dog Band." Here's a video of George Formby singing [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEymZ3rXOmc Leaning On A Lamp Post.]

==Page 131==
'''Donna Lee''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Lee Donna Lee], way more than Coy's usual 1 or 2 note solos.

'''abrazo''' 
Spanish for hug.

==Page 132==
'''third ballet position''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positions_of_the_feet_in_ballet here]

'''louche''' 
Of questionable taste or morality; decadent.

==Page 133==
[[File:Example.jpg|thumb|right|1949 Mercury Woodie [http://www.pbase.com/xl1ken/image/3748891 © Ken Leonard] used with permission]]
'''1949 Mercury woodie''' 
''The Mod Squad'' drove a Mercury woodie, either a '49 or '50.

==Page 134==
'''no longer saw the headlights''' 
Evening, the ninth day of the narrative, Wednesday, April 1, 1970.

==Page 135==
'''hoddible''' 
The way an old-movie society lady might pronounce "horrible"

==Page 138==
'''van Houten, Leslie''' 
b. 1949. A former member of Charles Manson's "Family" who was convicted of the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. She remains imprisoned at the California Institution for Women in Chino, San Bernadino County, California.

'''did he happen to catch the game with Phoenix''' 
Daytime, the tenth day of the narrative, Thursday, April 2, 1970. Doc is probably referring to the second game of the Western Conference playoffs. The Lakers beat Phoenix 114-101 on March 29. Again, Pynchon has anchored the text in real time by referring to an NBA playoff game.

This is probably as good a time as any to mention that the 69-70 NBA season was a big one for Lakers fans. Bill Russell had just retired as a player, after leading the Celtics to 11 of the last 13 championships. Finally, other teams would have a shot at the title. The Lakers thought that the title would be theirs. Unfortunately for Lakers fans, so did the Knicks.

'''Upstairs, Bigfoot, strangely jumpy today''' 
The '''today''' is what identifies this as Daytime, the tenth day of the narrative, Thursday, April 2, 1970.

==Page 140==
'''a hippie belief of the moment''' 
I don't know about the magazine articles, but this rumor was making the rounds at just about this time. It is odd, however, that Bigfoot's addiction to, and supply of, chocolate-covered frozen bananas is described in such detail here, and then is never mentioned again in the novel.

'''--not logical, Captain''' 
Star Trek reference, a phrase often spoken by Spock to Kirk.

==Page 141==
[[File:Triumph_Bonneville_T120.jpg|thumb|right|Triumph Bonneville T120, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_Bonneville_T120 Wikipedia]]]
'''Triumph Bonneville T120'''

[[File:Kawasaki_Mach_III.jpg|thumb|right|Kawasaki Mach III, photo by [http://www.flickr.com/photos/optikalblitz/2447598991/ optikal / Creative Commons]]] 
'''Kawasaki Mach III'''

==Page 142==
'''Around lunchtime, next day''' 
Midday, the eleventh day of the narrative, Friday, April 3, 1970.

'''Sinvergüenza''' 
Spanish for "scoundrel" or "rogue."

==Page 143==
'''SS396''' 
[http://inherent-vice.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Cars_mentioned_in_Inherent_Vice#SS396 Photo]

==Page 144==
'''esta gente no sabe nada''' 
Spanish for "these people know nothing."

==Page 145==
'''hijo de puta''' 
Spanish for "son of a bitch."

'''otra vez''' 
Spanish for "again/one more time."

'''Looking forward to a peaceful morning in the office''' 
Morning, the twelfth day of the narrative, Saturday, April 4, 1970.

==Page 146==
'''"Cootie food!'''" 
What Doc means is "le coup de foudre," aka "bolt of lightning." This echos Reef's 'rounder Italian'; "Say surly topple!" he would scream..." (page 889) from [[Against the Day]]. 
The English meaning, if it has one, and the explanation for Clancy Charlock's response to Doc, is unclear. It may perhaps refer to the childish fear of being infected by a sort of imaginary germ borne by the opposite sex and known as "cooties," which - possibly - makes a member of the opposite sex whom you touch "cootie food." Or, it could just be a very idiosyncratic reference to oral sex. 

Another possibility is that Doc, whose French is likely weaker than his Spanish, memorized the phrase phonetically as "cootie food", since he would not have known the spelling when it was told to him. Assuming Clancy understands French, or at least this particular idiom, her reply is fairly natural.

The phrase is apparently used - at least in the South, and not commonly - to refer to unappetizing or unclean food.

Cooties is slang for crabs or lice.

==Page 147==
'''Now, Voyager (1942)''' 
from Wikipedia: Now, Voyager is a 1942 American drama film directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Casey Robinson is based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Olive Higgins Prouty, who borrowed her title from a line in the Walt Whitman poem "The Untold Want," which reads in its entirety, "The untold want by life and land ne'er granted, / Now voyager sail thou forth to seek and find." Bette Davis' portrayal garnered her an Academy Award nomination, and the film continues to be popular not only due to its star power but also the "emotional crescendos" engendered in the storyline.

The film includes the line: "Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon... we have the stars."

The film's romantic smoke sequence, repeated during the film and much parodied, featured Paul Henried placing two cigarettes in his lips, lighting them both, then handing one to Bette Davis. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-KGiwGn1d8 YouTube]

==Page 148==
'''That night Doc met Clancy''' 
Evening, the twelfth day of the narrative, Saturday, April 4, 1970.

'''Zubin Mehta''' 
A famous conductor, Zubin Mehta was the Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, 1962-1978. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zubin_Mehta]

'''massé shots''' 
In billiards, a massé shot is when a player strikes a ball with the cue at a sharp angle and causes the ball to curve drastically or even eventually reverse direction. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0ly8Ee_7jM Here's an example.] Some pool halls (like this one) forbid this kind of shot because it often leads to scratching or tearing of the felt.

==Page 151==
'''forget the Smith''' 
Doc is presumably referring to the revolver in his ankle holser, which Boris rather obviously noticed a few lines earlier ("glancing quickly down in the direction of Doc's ankle rig"). "Smith" is short for "Smith & Wesson."

==Page 153==
'''"Happy Trails to You"''' 
Besides the reference to Roy Roger's theme song, this phrase is a favorite double entendre among those who use psychedelic drugs. "Acid trails" are a common hallucination produced by LSD.

Also the title (and last track) of the 1968, "live", genre-defining, acid-rock album by the Quicksilver Messenger Service [http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1108947/a/Happy+Trails.htm]

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Chapter 6

2009-12-05T20:51:38Z

Niall: /* Page 71 */

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==Page 68==
'''A lunch date had just happened to cancel''' 
Afternoon, Friday, March 27, 1970, the fourth day of the narrative, and Good Friday.

'''Nickel''' 
"He showed up at a peculiar skid-row eatery off Temple where wine abusers up from bedrolls in vacent lots back of what remained of the old Nickel." The part of downtown centered around '''5th Street''' is Los Angeles’ Skid Row and has long been referred to by locals and detectives in noir novels as "The Nickel." While downtown Los Angeles has gone through a revitalization in recent years, it has mostly skipped over the Skid Row neighborhood. Listen to Tom Waits' wino lullaby [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sILtO6LAEq8 "On The Nickel."] "...off the nikel..." page 320. "Plastic Nickel" page 293.

'''eighty-five-cent mickeys''' 
A [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mickey mickey] is a half-pint (375ml) bottle of liquor.

'''I just heard she skipped''' 
Doc heard it the day before from Bigfoot, on page 34.

==Page 69==
'''Never trust a flatland chick''' 
Could be a reference to ''Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions'' (1884) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland], a satirical novella by the English schoolmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott. In the chapter "Concerning the Women" ([http://abbott.thefreelibrary.com/Flatland/1-5 full text available here]):

:"If our highly pointed Triangles of the Soldier class are formidable, it may be readily inferred that far more formidable are our Women. For if a Soldier is a wedge, a Woman is a needle; being, so to speak, ALL point, at least at the two extremities. Add to this the power of making herself practically invisible at will, and you will perceive that a Female, in Flatland, is a creature by no means to be trifled with."

:"Obviously then a Woman is not to be irritated as long as she is in a position where she can turn round. When you have them in their apartments which are constructed with a view to denying them that power you can say and do what you like; for they are then wholly impotent for mischief, and will not remember a few minutes hence the incident for which they may be at this moment threatening you with death, nor the promises which you may have found it necessary to make in order to pacify their fury."

==Page 70==
'''DDA game''' 
Deputy District Attorney (Penny Kimball)

==Page 71==
'''stewardii''' 
In the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjWKPdDk0_U Pynchon-narrated promo video for ''Inherent Vice''], Pynchon sez:

:"stewardesses or, more correctly I guess, stewardii"

The comedian [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelley_Berman Shelley Berman] (b. 1926), in his 1960s nightclub act, puzzled over "incongruities in the English language":

:"I just want to say just a few words about stewardii. They have... (he is interrupted by crowd shreik of laughter) Stewardii is plural for Stewardess. Uh...I think there are many incongruities in the English language as far as plurals are concerned. For example, it seems to me that the plural for Yo-yo should be Yo-yi. How about, one sheriff; several sheriffim. Um...one goof; a group of geef; uh...one Kleenex, several Kleenices; one Blouse, two Blice ........Two Jackii."

This could very well be the source for Pynchon's use of "stewardii".

The joke is based on a misconception of Latin plurals: if stewardess was spelt "stewardus", the plural would be "stewardi". It is only nouns ending in "ius" which are pluralized "-ii", eg radius/radii.

'''after nightfall [...] they ended up cruising''' 
Remember, Lourdes and Motella are, in criminal parlance, "dewdrops" night pleasure seekers as the character Jade will be described on [[#Page_82|p. 82]] of this chapter.

'''seeking out of some helpless fatality the company of lowlifes of opportunity''' 
A clearer punctuation of this would be "Seeking, out of some helpless fatality, the company of lowlifes of opportunity." The phrase "helpless fatality" is commonly used to describe a condition where one has no influence, to which one is fated. Lourdes and Motella, even with all their offshore bank accounts and extravagant lifestyle, are helpless in resisting the urge to cruise "the bleak arterials of dismal L.A. backwaters" for lowlifes (eg Cookie and Joaquin) who will take advantage of L & M's goodies, material and carnal.

In [[Chapter_1#Page_6|Chapter 1]], "fatality" is used to describe Aunt Reet's ex-husband who had "a fatality for the restless homemakers one meets in bars." And, on [[Chapter_12#Page_203|p. 203]], Bigfoot's "fatality [...] for introducing disaster into every life" he touches. And, on [[Chapter_13#Page_223|p. 223]], Puck, gazing at Trillium's ass "in a kind of morose fatality" and, finally, on [[Chapter_18#Page 318|p. 318]], Dr. Blatnoyd's "fatality for rogue profit-sharing activities."

==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.

Krishna, the fry cook: could this be the same Krishna who shows up in [http://vineland.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/ ''Vineland''] as the sound man for 24 fps?

==Page 74==
'''pretended to explain''' 
As Hope Harlingen "pretended to explain" about her teeth on page 36.

'''Kahuna Airlines''' 
Airline made famous in Pynchon's [http://vineland.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/ ''Vineland''], "a non-sked flying out of LAX’s East Imperial Terminal to Hawaii" ([http://vineland.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_5#Page_56 p.56]).

'''COINTELPRO''' 
The FBI's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO Counter Intelligence Program]

==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."

'''...the Director...spade penises...''' 
Long time FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, now famous for his paranoia and closeted homosexuality.

'''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.

'''Coming out of work later in the day''' 
Afternoon, Friday, March 27, 1970, the fourth day of the narrative.

==Page 77==
'''I'm working weeknights at Club Asiatique''' 
Afternoon, Friday, March 27, 1970, the fourth day of the narrative. Doc sees Jade this night at Club Asiatique, still nominally a weeknight.

'''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

'''Motella gave him a skeptical O-O''' 
Once over.

'''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] (1934-1991), who was likely the source of the car terminology. Christian's other Brian Wilson collaborations included "Don't Worry Baby", "Little Deuce Coupe" and "In the Parkin' Lot" and he co-wrote, for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_and_Dean Jan and Dean], "Dead Man's Curve", "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena", "Sidewalk Surfin", "Drag City" and "Honolulu Lulu."

[[File:1966GTO.jpg|thumb|right|1966 Pontiac GTO (Gran Turismo Omologato)]]'''GTO''' 
The Pontiac GTO (Gran Turismo Omologato) is an automobile built by Pontiac in the United States from 1964 to 1974, and is often considered the first true muscle car. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_GTO Wikipedia...]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

==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.

<div style="clear:both;"></div>

==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.

'''sauntering in in step''' 
A cute double preposition. Cookie and Joaquin enter the club doing the dance move called [http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3truck.htm "truckin'"], which enjoyed a brief revival in the sixties and seventies after Robert Crumb published his popular [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_on_Truckin'_(comics) "Keep On Truckin'"] drawing.

<div style="clear:both;"></div>

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

'''Asian dewdrop''' 
A dewdrop or dew-drop is a night pleasure seeker, in criminal slang. Source: ''Criminal slang: the vernacular of the underground lingo'' by Vincent Joseph Monteleone [http://books.google.com/books?id=nN81uyN8WmIC&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=slang+%2B+%22dew+drop%22&source=bl&ots=8J6r0X_EiL&sig=Ht_7U1ag4dbs0YM6Tc9dIuInDto&hl=en&ei=3mPNSsT2GYHssQO46fGhBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7#v=onepage&q=&f=false]

'''''abuelita''''' 
Spanish: grandmother

'''South Pas''' 
South Pasadena, Los Angeles County

==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). [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_%28rank%29 Wikipedia entry]

'''wallerin in eye contact''' 
Phonetic spelling of "wallowing" (pleasantly indulging in), as in a sort of hillbilly or rural-Southern accent. [http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?id=41517 This article] goes into more detail. An excerpt:

:For those unfamiliar with southern U.S. parlance, the English verb “wallow” is many times pronounced as “waller” in areas of The Southeast, especially rural areas. According to Dictionary.com, the verb “wallow” means “to roll about or lie in water, snow, mud, dust, or the like, as for refreshment." [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wallow]

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

<div style="clear:both;"></div>

'''The nearly total absence of lighting''' 
Night, Friday, March 27, 1970, the fourth day of the narrative.

==Page 84==
'''gathering pinks as it came''' 
Car slang referring to cars racing for pink slips (the winner wins the loser's car and, thus, obtains the loser's registration slip - which in Calif is pink in color). So, in Pynchon's context, the '56 "Fireflite ragtop" was exhausted (so to speak!) from racing all the way down, and gathering the pink slips (vehicle ownerships) of racing opponents whom it'd beaten along the way.

==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].

<div style="clear:both;"></div>

'''ear trumpet [http://www.phisick.com/a7et30.htm]''' 
An old-fashioned hearing aid, shaped like a funnel to direct sound to the eardrum.
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