Difference between revisions of "B"

Revision as of 19:27, 12 October 2009

Bambi
76; Chick Planet masseuse; at Boards mansion, 130; at Sybil Brand Institute, becoming lovers with Jade, 135; missing, 154

barratry
358; (maritime law) a fraudulent breach of duty by the master of a ship that injures the owner of the ship or its cargo; includes every breach of trust such as stealing or sinking or deserting the ship or embezzling the cargo.

Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs Invasion (began April 17, 1961), was an unsuccessful attempt by a U.S.-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba with support from U.S. government armed forces to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. It was widely seen as a serious misstep of President John F. Kennedy; Golden Fang bringing arms to the anti-Communist guerrillas, 95

Beach Boys, The
The Beach Boys are an American rock band. Formed in 1961, the group gained popularity for its close vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a Southern California youth culture of cars and surfing. Brian Wilson's growing creative ambitions later transformed them into a more artistically innovative group that earned critical praise and influenced many later musicians. The Beach Boys were the first American hit group to write their own music. Brian Wilson, their guiding light, developed psychological problems beginning around 1967 and gradually retreated from the group; 72; "Wouldn't It Be Nice"; 78; "Help Me, Rhonda" 364; "God Only Knows" 368

Beatles, The
Rock group that formed in Liverpool, England in 1960 — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison & Ringo Starr — and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music. Their music dominated the music and culture of the 1960s; "Can't Buy Me Love" 3; George Harrison, 166; Beatles Wiki...

Beaverton, Puck
149; bodyguard for Mickey Wolfmann who betrayed Glen Charlock when Wolfmann was abducted; "One of Mickey Wolfmann's jailhouse praetorians" at home of dealer who provided Coy Harlingen with heroin that killed him, 211; Trillium Fortnight looking for him, 217; swastika tattoo on his shaved head, 218; screwing Trillium "California Department of Corrections style" 223; in Nine of Diamonds, 231; 258-259; 264; "one of Prussia's people" 269; with Doc and Adrian Prussia, 317; "False Inhaling" 317

Beer
43; Oof and Elfmont's band; opening for the Boards at Surfadelic Freak-In, 297.

Belairs, The
125; Formed in 1960 by guitarists Paul Johnson and Eddie Bertrand, The Belairs were the premier surf instrumental band along California's South Bay. Their release "Mr. Moto" was a 1961 hit. The original band was completed by drummer Richard Delvy, sax player Chaz Stuart and keyboardist Jim Roberts. Eddie Bertrand quit the band and formed Eddie and the Showmen.

Belaying Pin
89; "local fish place" in San Pedro. A "belaying pin" is a device used on ships for securing ropes. See here.

A belaying pin also makes a handy cudgel-like weapon. Intriguingly, this use of belaying pins is alluded to in the CineBooks review of The Sea Wolf, one of the key John Garfield movies mentioned in Inherent Vice (and based on the Jack London novel). Here's the relevant part: "...the Ghost is manned by shanghaied sailors who have been pressed into service with belaying pins and Mickey Finns in the old British way,..." Isn't it curious that belaying pins are mentioned in such a context, in a review of The Sea Wolf, and then Pynchon calls his restaurant "The Belaying Pin"? Full text of review: The Sea Wolf

bent
182; broke, as in the Del Reeves country tune "I Ain't Broke but I'm Badly Bent":

I ain't broke but I'm badly bent

I had a little money but that's all been spent

When I look back I wonder where it went

It ain't no joke, I ain't broke but I'm badly bent

Bermuda Triangle
90; a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean in which a number of aircraft and surface vessels are alleged to have disappeared in mysterious circumstances which fall beyond the boundaries of human error, piracy, equipment failure, or natural disasters; and the Golden Fang, 92

Beverly Hillbillies, The (1962-1971)
American sitcom that was one of the most successful comedies in the history of American television. It ranked among the top 12 most watched series on television for seven of its nine seasons, twice ranking as the #1 series of the year with a number of episodes that remain among the most-watched television episodes of all time. The series was about a hillbilly family transplanted to Beverly Hills, California after finding oil on their land; 200

Big Bounce, The (1969)
A film starring Ryan O'Neal and directed by Alex March; score, 318

Big Valley, The
43; American television Western which ran on ABC from 1965 to 1969, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, as the widowed matriarch of the wealthy, influential Barkley family living in 19th century Stockton in California's central valley. Beer's cover of the show's theme has added lyrics absent from the original instrumental. Similarly, Pynchon adds lyrics to the surf sound Hawaii 5-0 theme on Page 99 of Vineland. YouTube

Bishop, Joey
American entertainer who was perhaps best known for being a member of the "Rat Pack" with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin. Bishop appeared on television as early as 1948 and was a frequent guest on television talk shows, game shows, and comedy shows; ashtray he threw up into, in Las Vegas, 220

Bjornsen, Lieutenant Christian F. "Bigfoot"
8; LAPD cop; addiction to chocolate-covered bananas, 139; "One of America's true badasses" 202; Vincent Indelicato, his partner of many years in the LAPD, 284; "LAPD's own Charlie Manson" 332; See Mount Shasta and the Lemurian Connection

Bjornsen, Chastity
260; Bigfoot's wife

Black Dahlia
Elizabeth Short (1924-1947) was an American woman who was the victim of a gruesome and much-publicized murder. Nicknamed the Black Dahlia, Short was found mutilated, with her body severed, on January 15, 1947 in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California. The murder, which remains unsolved; "good old-time L.A. murder mysteries" 209. And there's a little girl named Dahlia on pg. 28 in Against the Day.

Black Guerilla Family
Prison gang founded in 1966 by George Jackson while he was in the San Quentin State Prison in Marin County, California, north of San Francisco. The gang is ideologically-based, established as an African-American Marxist revolutionary organization. It was founded with the stated goals of eradicating racism, maintaining dignity in prison and overthrowing the United States government. Historically, it was associated with a number of leftist groups, including the Black Liberation Army, Symbionese Liberation Army and Weather Underground; "George Jackson's outfit" Tariq was in in prison, 16

Black Narcissus
115; Black Narcissus (1947) is a film by the British director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on the novel of the same name by Rumer Godden. It is a psychological drama about the emotional tensions within a convent of nuns in an isolated Himalayan valley, and stars Deborah Kerr, Sabu, David Farrar and Flora Robson, and features Esmond Knight, Jean Simmons and Kathleen Byron.

Black Nationalist
Advocates a racial definition (or redefinition) of black national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different black nationalist philosophies but the principles of all black nationalist ideologies are 1) Black pride, and 2) black economic, political, social and/or cultural independence from white society. Martin Delany is considered to be the grandfather of black nationalism; 221

Black Panthers, The
Founded in Oakland, California, in 1966 by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, the Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was an African-American organization established to promote Black Power, and by extension self-defense for blacks. It was active in the United States from the mid-1960s into the 1970s. The Black Panther Party achieved national and international fame through their deep involvement in the Black Power movement and in American politics of the 1960s and 70s; 75

Blatnoyd, Dr. Rudy, DDS
168; at Golden Fang Corporate HQ; trampoline death, 203; "puncture wounds on his throat" 213; autopsy, 259; 293; 345

Blondie-san
82; gangster-type at Club Asiatique in San Pedro, accompanied by a "yakuza torpedo named Iwao"

Blue Cheer
San Francisco proto-heavy-metal band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with their 1968 album Vincebus Eruptum and the hit "Summertime Blues" (the Eddie Cochran tune). They were a power trio — like Cream and Jimi Hendrix — with electric guitar, bass and drums. They were known for the gigantic stack of Marshall amplifiers which dwarfed the band standing in front of them; 95

Boards, The
36; surf band with Coy Harlingen; Topanga mansion, 124; tattoo sandals, 126; zombies, 132; trash Denis's place, 196; Symphonic Poem for Surf Band and Orchestra, 223; plotting against Denis, 296; house dezombified by an exorcist, 299

Bodhi and Zinnia
124; "house groupies" at The Boards' mansion in Topanga Canyon

Bong Users' Revolutionary Brigade (BURBs)
302; group Coy Harlingen is infiltrating at UCLA

Bonzo Dog Band
56, 289; The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (also known as The Bonzo Dog Band, The Bonzo Dog Dada Band and, colloquially, as "The Bonzos") are a band created by a group of British art-school denizens of the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz, psychedelic rock, and avant-garde art, the Bonzos came to the attention of a broader British public through a children's television programme, Do Not Adjust Your Set; "Bang Bang" - Cher's second single, written by husband Sonny Bono and released in 1966. It was covered by the Bonzos in 1969.

Boone, Pat (b. 1934)
130; whitebread singer and actor, most (in)famous for his covers of Black artists' music, rendered in a bland style; 240;

Borderline, Special Agent
72; FBI agent with Penny Kimball; in Las Vegas looking for Puck and Einar, 220

Boris
See Spivey, Boris

Bostic, Earl (1913-1965)
American jazz and rhythm and blues alto saxophonist, a pioneer of the post-war American Rhythm and Blues style. He had a number of popular hits such as "Flamingo", "Harlem Nocturne", "Temptation", "Sleep" and "Where or When", which showed off his characteristic growl on the horn. He was a major influence on John Coltrane; 37

Brady Bunch
American television situation comedy starring Robert Reed and Florence Henderson, and which revolves around a very large blended family. The show originally aired from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on the American ABC network and was subsequently syndicated around the world; Burke Stodger in episode of, 310

Branch, Farley
104; Vietnam veteran and friend of Spike's; darkroom, 137; footage of Chick Planet Massage raid, 141-142; 201

Breeze, Elmina
8; Doc's mother and Reet's kid sister; 112; 352; getting high, 353

"The Bright Elusive Butterfly of Love"
330; "Elusive Butterfly" is a popular song by Bob Lind released in 1966. It was also recorded and released in 1966 in the UK by Val Doonican. The chorus:

Don't be concerned, it will not harm you

It's only me pursuing somethin' I'm not sure of

Across my dreams with nets of wonder

I chase the bright elusive butterfly of love

Bugliosi, Vincent (b. 1934)
An American attorney and author, best known for prosecuting Charles Manson and other defendants accused of the Tate-LaBianca murders and later writing a book about it called Helter Skelter (1974) which became the biggest selling true crime book in publishing history selling over 7 million copies; 280

Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour, The
ABC began re-running The Bugs Bunny Show on Saturday mornings in August 1962. The series was rerun in color beginning in 1965, and remained on ABC until September 1968. At this point, the series switched to CBS, where it was combined with The Road Runner Show (which had aired on CBS since 1966) to create The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour; 199

Bugs Bunny
Fictional character who appears in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated films produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, which became Warner Bros. Cartoons in 1945; 326

Bunco Squad
138; handles "resurrections" at the LAPD

Byrds, the
The Byrds were an American rock and roll band. Formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964, The Byrds underwent several personnel changes, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group's disbandment in 1973. They achieved popularity covering Bob Dylan songs, beginning with "Mr. Tambourine Man" (1965), but had continued success with their own compositions; "Eight Miles High" 135;