Bad Moon Rising in German

[Thomas C. Breed]

>I agree that there are a lot less 'gaffes' like the above in Pynchon 
>than in otherrs - but even he is not immune. My particular pet-hate 
>(apart from the problems he himself acknowledges in Slow Learner) is 
>his use of German in GR. Would it really be too much trouble to get 
>somebody who actually speaks the language to proof-read the German 
>passages before printing? Oh well, I have yet to come across _any_ 
>novel which manages to get that particular aspect right. (How about 
>the other languages TRP employs? Anybody speak Spanish or Russian?)

>hg
>hag at iafrica.com

My Russian is admittedly imperfect, but on page 377 of _Vineland_ Pynchon 
has a rather bizarre two word phrase that I'm unsure of.  Bolshoi 
Metallisti?  Literally this means "big metalworkers."  Is he trying to say 
"heavy metal" or "heavy metal-lers" or "lots of metal-lers?"  Or is he 
literally saying that are quite a few large metalworkers in Vladivostok 
(possibly poking fun at the character's imperfect English?).  Does anyone 
else speak Russian (hopefully better than I)?  

Or have I totally missed some subtle joke here?
                                       Thomas Breed
                            "You're never gonna chain my words."
                                -My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult