VL-IV p 24, 25 (and correction Reagan guber. 1967-75 not 73)

[Michael Bailey]

p 24

7 - "half a lid of Mexican commercial in those days"
mysterious measurement the lid.  I remember asking somebody about it
(maybe the same guy I asked to explain the concept of "buzz" and
"munchies") but never getting the concept pinned down.
http://www.marijuanadictionary.com/l-marijuana/marijuana.html has
id  - Def#1 original 60's version- 1 finger on a bag of marijuana
approx. equal to a 1/4 oz. the term comes from the 1960's and is used
correctly in Cheech & Chongs movie: Things are Tough All Over.
Lid - Def#2 90's version -1 ounce of marijuana.
Lid - Def#3 submitted version - It is the amount of marijuana that
fits into the lid of a mason jar.

now that 3rd one actually makes some sense and gives a concrete
referent to remember it by (such clues being one of the things that,
in my druggie days, very often were faded and eroded by chemical fogs)

10 - "imprest fund"  the Chums of Chance later (well, earlier) also
draw upon an imprest fund.  Slush fund, almost.

17 - Walteria is near Torrance, and not, as I surmised, a playful
description of Disney and environs

22 - "eating the groceries, burning the gas, and smoking the pot
others obtained with [the snitch money]"
cf 21, "Zoyd had played a few mob weddings in his career, nothing the
kid couldn't handle, and besides the eats would more than make up for
any awkward episodes"

24 - "sweet basil in a heat-sealed bag, a small vial of Bisquick (pancake mix)"
like Fat Freddy, getting burned once again...

31 - "Each time Zoyd failed to inform on these people" - so his
principled stand evolved by a series of situation-judgements, or
accreted like his house in Vineland...


page 25

1 - a flight of public steps
this very attractive feature of Southern California, and I guess the
Bay Area too, is, um, very attractive

3 - "Casbah topography" - rock the Casbah! (like that Thief of Baghdad)

4 ff "terrain where the skills of the bushwhacker became worth more
than any resoluteness of character, an architectural version of the
uncertainty, the illusion, that must have overtaken his career for him
ever to've been assigned there in the first place"
- sidelong glance at Vietnam?
- how serious can the kvetching be?  c'mon, to have the run of a beach town!
- that difference of "scale" again?

line 9 ff- "relationships, sure got tangled up in that house"
again with the adaptation to population density (cf p.9)
Zoyd's speech as counterpoint to Hector's frustration. also makes the
transition from his reminiscence to the tete-a-tete in the bowling
alley.  He had been weighing the proposition of meeting Hector in the
same balance (or, um, *scale*) as he earlier weighed each of the
instances of being burned.  He lost sleep over it.
This indicates that Zoyd is a thoughtful person who considers his
actions at length, aided of course by the mediation of nature's
friendly bounty.

"more and also less temporary love partners" - in fact, this is the
house that he lived in with Frenesi, right?  A-and it must be purt'
near that College of the Surf.

"and sex companions" - thrown in, perhaps, to elicit a bit of friendly
envy from Hector, presumably monogamous, contemplating the sexual
revolution having missed it

"substance dealers and their go-betweens" - more than one friend of
mine used to cop sacraments from their landlord, eg.  Big house, many
rooms.  (cf "in my Father's House are many rooms" - Jesus)

"narcs who thought they were undercover" - indicating a high level of
interpersonal awareness, and co-operation, playing "Three's Company"
type of games (can't let Mr Roper know this or that) for higher stakes

"couple-three politicals fleein' from different jurisdictions" - the
Pisk sisters, at one point?  also, "different jurisdictions" is a nod
to the old days, when criminals could escape easily across a county
line

the picture of Zoyd that emerges is of a bad-ass not unlike DL in some
respects...
not particularly a doper, nor a politico, yes a musician but also a
bit of a hippie Godfather able to do favors for folk

 25-26 - "At least I'm not droppin it all over the place, includin my
shirt, like I was out in some parkin lot"
hearkening back to the parking lot confrontations between the surfers
and the chicanos, but also to some male-bonding in other parking lots,
scenes where he and Zoyd might have shared a meal and some beer, while
Hector plied his pitch - always unsuccessfully, and maybe partly
because Zoyd knew the places were "eyeswept"

Zoyd is guessing Hector has taken a promotion - and wondering what's
on his mind.
"At this point we still don't know" - the J Belushi character in
"About Last Night"

Zoyd's enchiladas are spilling on his shirt, Hector's playing with his food.