AtDtDA(34): Up in the Balkan Range

[Dave Monroe]

"Up in the Balkan Range one day for the first time ..."  (AtD, Pt. IV, p. 956)


"one day for the first time"

Uncharacteristically clumsy phrasing?  Or ...?


"some kind of Bulgarian thrush"

Monticola solitarius  Blue Rock Thrush
Monticola saxatilis  Rock Thrush
Zoothera sibirica  Siberian Thrush
Zoothera dauma  White's Thrush
Turdus torquatus  Ring Ouzel
Turdus merula  Blackbird
Turdus ruficollis  Dark-throated Thrush
Turdus pilaris  Fieldfare
Turdus iliacus  Redwing
Turdus philomelos  Song Thrush
Turdus viscivorus  Mistle Thrush

http://www.birdwatchingbulgaria.com/?page=checklist

Cf. ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Bulgaria#Order_Passeriformes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Bulgaria

pas·ser·ine
'pa-s&-"rIn
adjective
Latin passerinus of sparrows, from passer sparrow
1776
: of or relating to the largest order (Passeriformes) of birds which
includes over half of all living birds and consists chiefly of
altricial songbirds of perching habits -- compare OSCINE

os·cine
'ä-"sIn
adjective
New Latin Oscines, suborder name, from Latin, plural of oscin-, oscen
songbird, bird giving omens by its cry, from obs-, ob- in front of, in
the way + canere
to sing -- more at OB-, CHANT
1883
: of or relating to a large suborder (Oscines) of passerine birds (as
larks, shrikes, finches, orioles, and crows) characterized by a vocal
apparatus highly specialized for singing

http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary

"'We're in luck.  Loren Passerine, the finest auctioneer in the West,
will be crying today.'" (Lot 49, Ch. 6, p. 183)

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0109&msg=59200

"... I am as cheerful as a finch" (AtD, Pt. I, p. 21)

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0701&msg=114554


"singing in modal scales"

In music, a scale is an ordered series of musical intervals, which,
along with the key or tonic, define the pitches. However, mode is
usually used in the sense of scale applied only to the specific
diatonic scales found below. The use of more than one mode is
polymodal, such as with polymodal chromaticism. While all tonal music
may technically be described as modal, music that is called modal
often has less diatonic functionality and changes key less often than
other music....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_mode
"singing in modal scales"

This point to any particular thrush?  Help!


"a skein of goat paths"

Main Entry: skein
Pronunciation: \ˈskān\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English skeyne, from Middle French (Picard) escagne,
probably from Vulgar Latin *scamnia, from *scamniare to wind yarn,
from *scamnium rack for holding bobbins, from Latin scamnum bench,
stool — more at shambles
Date: 14th century
1also skean  or skeane \ˈskān\ : a loosely coiled length of yarn or
thread wound on a reel
2: something suggesting the twists or coils of a skein : tangle
3: a flock of wildfowl (as geese or ducks) in flight

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skein

Cf. ...

"No hallowed skein of stars can ward, I trove, Who's once been set his
tryst with Trystero." (Lot 49, p. 58)

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0509&msg=97516

"skeins of narrow streets" (AtD, Pt. II, pp. 422-3)

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0708&msg=120979


"choral voices"

Cf. "birdsong" above ...


"Byal Sredets"

The Sredets or Sredetz lines of cigarettes are still produced. Byal
just means "white"; Byal Sredets was (speculatively) a sub-brand.

After not too much searching, no cigar(-ettes) but Byala and Sredets
are towns near Varna, and silly speculation: to a non-Bulgarian
English speaker, Byal Sredets, kind of looks like it could sound like
"buy all cigarettes," if you pronounce Sredets as sir-e-dets.

Byala and Sredets are not in major tobacco-growing regions of
Bulgaria. If we have to try parsing the brand name (and we do),
Sredets may refer to the Sredna Gora growing region.

Sredets is the old Bulgarian name of Sofia, and now a municipality
within the city.

Byal is also evocative of beyul, Baikal and bi-locale.

http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATD_946-975#Page_956

Please see Binarisms Discussion for more on Byal as white on the Black
Sea, and other dualities in AtD.

http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Binarisms_Discussion


"'Zdrave ... kakvo ima?'"

Bulgarian: Good health . . . what's the matter?

http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATD_946-975#Page_956