Pynchon on the Larroquette show

Thu Dec 19 00:55:26 CST 2002

Thanks dude. My memory was hazy but I did recall thinking that it was
inspired at the time.

I raise a Sam Adams Winter Lager to you.

Peace
Joe

on 12/19/02 12:51 AM, Joseph Andrew Bono at Joseph.Bono at yale.edu wrote:

> I'll admit to being a big enough geek to having the episode on
> hand, as well as the DS9 Companion and its associated notes.
> 
> There's no indication in the production notes that Truly Barr
> Clark, Scott J Neal, or Ron Moore based the episode in any way on CoL49,
> or that they are even aware of Pynchon, but nevertheless the episode
> does have a number of Pynchonian elements.
> 
> The Willie Mays baseball card that Jake and Nog work to obtain
> throughout the episode is a MacGuffin, it doesn't have any particular
> powers or represent a link to a deep conspiracy. But it does spawn a
> brief, virtual conspiracy when Jake and Nog provide Weyoun with a
> whopper of a cover up story, that:
> 
> "Until yesterday, that man, one Willie Mays, did not exist in any
> historical documents. Then, in a blink of an eye, that card appeared on
> the station. And at same moment a bust of Willie Mays appeared at the
> Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. There's only one explanation: we
> suspect that this man is from the future.
> [...]
> And so far, that card is the only link we have to him. We must find out
> what he has done in the past, or what he may have done already. We need
> that card. The entire future of the galaxy may depend on tracking down
> Willie Mays and stopping him."
> 
> I believe the secret underground network of communications Joe
> refers to is the series of machinations Nog goes through to provide Dr.
> Geiger with the supplies he needs in trade for the Willie Mays baseball
> card. Again, it seems like a surface similarity, as these are not
> particularly pre-existing networks, nor do they have a mysterious other
> quality. Dr. Geiger, however, seems to be a very pynchonian character -
> he's quite paranoid, delusional, and fleeing from the "Soulless minions
> of Orthodoxy." Oh and his invention? "The Cellular Regeneration and
> Entertainment Chamber" which he designed to alleviate "cellular ennui" -
> you see, you die not because your body decays, or evolved to reach a
> certain lifespan, but because your cells get bored. But if you relieve
> their boredom, if you keep them constantly entertained, you can live
> forever. Geiger's name stems from a bad, pynchonesque pun/joke - "Lions,
> and Geiger's, and bears . . . Oh my!" (ref ST:DS9 Companion), and has
> few fantastic lines:
> 
> "I haven't broken any laws, except perhaps the laws of nature."
> "Let me ask you both a simple question: Do you want to die?" "No" "Not
> really"
> "And you, the unwary victim of cellular ennui, are quite literally bored
> to death"
> "What does it do?" [Bunch of technobable] "And send uplifting and
> entertaining messages to the nuclei of every cell in your body. Spend
> eight hours a day in this machine, and your cells will never get bored,
> you will never get old, and most important, you will never die!"
> "I'm not crazy - I'm just a little obsessed"
> "Do you know how many germs are transmitted by a handshake? Do you want
> to kill me?"
> 
> I don't think it is meant to be a Pynchon parody. Rather, the
> series hit upon a particularly deranged and absurd character, who
> provides us with moments of Pynchonesque dialogue.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On
> Behalf Of vze422fs at verizon.net
> Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 9:48 PM
> To: jbor; pynchon-l at waste.org
> Subject: Re: Pynchon on the Larroquette show
> 
> 
> on 12/19/02 2:13 AM, jbor at jbor at bigpond.com wrote:
> 
>> So, what's the connection to _Lot 49?_
>> 
>> best
>> 
> 
> I haven't seen it in a while and I'm not a big enough geek to have these
> things on hand. My memory is a little hazy, so I tossed it out as a
> question. There was a lot of stuff about a secret underground
> communications network, an excess of plot convolutions, questions about
> the nature of truth and perceived truth, alternate histories, etc. At
> the time, I recognized it as a Pynchon parody and called several friends
> to say "Check this out." and they agreed. I would have to watch it again
> to be specific. Little help here, Dave and Mark?
> 
> Peace
> Joe> 
>> on 18/12/02 2:49 AM, Dave Monroe at davidmmonroe at yahoo.com wrote:
>> 
>>> Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 5, Episode 523,
>>> "In the Cards," Stardate 50929.4 (aired 6/09/97) ...
>>> 
>>> "As the Dominion threat to the Alpha Quadrant
>>> intensifies, Jake notices Sisko is growing
>>> increasingly depressed. Hearing that Quark plans to
>>> auction off a collection of antiquities that includes
>>> a vintage Willie Mays baseball card, he decides
>>> obtaining the card for his father is the perfect way
>>> to lift his spirits. Jake persuades Nog to use his
>>> life savings to bid on the collection, but a man named
>>> Dr. Giger outbids them, taking the card and crushing
>>> Jake's hopes.
>>> 
>>> "Jake and Nog approach Dr. Giger with an offer to buy
>>> the card, but he refuses.
>>> 
>>> [...]
>>> 
>>> "After learning that Odo has no record of Giger being
>>> on the station, Jake and Nog spot Kai Winn on the Promemenade,
>>> talking with a man who bid against them at the auction. Jake assumes
>>> they kidnapped Giger and confronts Kai. This lands him and Nog in
>>> Sisko's office where, determined to keep the baseball card a
>>> secret, Jake tells his father they were drunk. Sisko
>>> confines them to quarters, but on their way they are
>>> suddenly transported to a Jem'Hadar interrogation
>>> room.
>>> 
>>> "Jake and Nog explain their quest to obtain the
>>> baseball card from Giger, who is being held captive,
>>> but Weyoun believes they are plotting against him. Desperate, Jake
>>> makes up a story about working for Starfleet Intelligence. The tale
>>> is so preposterous Weyoun decides he belives the first story. In
>>> fact, he is actually interested in Giger's work! Weyoun lets
>>> the boys take the baseball card, which, as Jake
>>> predicted, succeeds in improving his father's mood."
>>> 
>>> http://www.psiphi.org/DS9/ep/523.html
>>> 
>>> It's available on video ...
>>> 
>>> --- Mark Wright AIA <mwaia at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Star Trek Deep Space 9 had an episode that was a
>>>>> parody of COL49 where the baseball card collection
>>>>> was a stand in for the stamp collection.
>>>> 
>>>> And OW! Consider me bitch-slapped silly!! Or are you serious, God
>>>> help us...
>>> 
>> 
> 
> 