Pychon clones?

[Bonnie Surfus (ENG)]

I don't remember discussing Pynchon clones, but here's something 
interesting and perhaps on a related note:
	Mike and I traveled to Connecticut for Thanksgiving and then over 
to Syracuse to visit my sister & family.  On the drive, we had a borrowed 
car and didn't have any tapes.  We stopped at a rest area to pick up some 
coffee and generally, to refresh ourselves.  In a little gift shop, 
toward the back, there were some horrible old tapes on sale on a tiny 
little lazy susan.  Mike searched for something as I was scanning the 
other lovely items, thinking there'd be no chance of finding anything 
(silly me.)  He found this compilation and read off a few of the 
artists:  REM, The Butthole Surfers, The Jesus & Mary Chain. . . 
Surprised, I said "great, get it."
	As I drove, he read me the liner notes.  The tape, called WHERE 
THE PYRAMID MEETS THE EYE, is a dedication to Roky Erikson.  Various 
artists recorded his songs as a "tribute" (this is a tricky trend;  call 
it a tribute and it's ok to make big bucks from someone else's songs.)  I 
like it.  But the liner notes were more interesing, for me.  Roky, lead 
singer for the 13th Floor Elevators, was arrested in the 68 for 
possession of marijuana and plead insanity, spent four years in a 
sanitarium (what do we call those places?) and came out, the Rev. Roky 
Kynard Erikson, tried to start a band called Bleib Alien (bleib, an 
anagram for Bible), and "settled into a steady diet of smiling devils and 
monster movies."  He _wasn't_ making much money and became desparate, it 
seems.  Here, I am most intrigued, for some silly reason.  It seems that 
in 1989, he was incarcerated for "a misunderstanding with the U.S. Postal 
Authorities".
	I suppose this is most intriguing because of Pynchon's request to 
the folks at the Laroquette show, that the guy supposed to appear as TRP 
should, must wear a t-shirt that says 13th Floor Elevators.  I wonder if 
he knew of Roky's crime, or if he ever heard about it.  I didn't, until 
now.  I'd like to know more about it so I'm going to try to look into it 
today, if the end-of-semester anxiety crunch doesn't exhaust my supply of 
xanax or stamina (these days, it's whichever comes first.)  Does anyone 
know of this?  Sources?  etc. . .
	Here's another interesting thing:  I hate this, I hate that I'm 
doing this, but here goes.  Now first, let me say that if you want to be 
a recluse (and I'm undersanding this more and more lately), good luck.  
And I'm NOT trying to imply that TRP IS Roky Erikson.  But there is a 
photograph of Roky next to the liner notes on WHERE THE PYRAMID MEETS THE 
EYE.  I couldn't help noticing the resemblance to Pynchon.  Mike said the 
nose is too broad, but in Pynchon's high school photo, he's turning to 
the side a bit and looking down his nose (imagine that).  I think if seen 
straight on, it might resemble Erikson's.  But those kinds of particulars 
don't interest me so much as just a general resemblance, the look in the 
eye (hear MInistry's "stigmata"), the intelligence of the brow.  It's 
just something maybe that I feel.  See what you think.  If I had the 
sophisticated technology, I'd scan it.  Maybe my friend Todd can do it at 
school in the publications office.  I'll ask.  Either way, you should get 
the tape.  It's great, especially The Jesus & Mary Chain's version of 
"Reverberation (doubt)", and REM's "I Walked with a Zombie."
	

Until later. . .
Bonnie