IVIV (11) 171

[Clément Lévy]

Hello, I am going to overlap on Laura's posts, but not for a long  
time. Thank to all of you who posted remarks about my comments.

I'd like to add something about Rudy Blatnoyd: his nickname may stand  
for Rudolph, which immediately bears to mind both Rudolph Valentino  
and Rudy Giuliani. The first was a sex-symbol, dancer and actor in  
the silent-film era, the second was prosecutor attorney, and mayor of  
New York. He fought against drug and corruption in the southern  
district of the city in the first half of the 70's, and in 1975 he  
changed his party affiliation from democrat to republican and moved  
to Washington, "where he served as associate deputy attorney general  
and chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Harold R. Tyler  
(1922– ) in the administration of President Gerald R. Ford" (I'm  
quoting an online encyclopedia: http://www.history.com/ 
encyclopedia.do?articleId=210469).
I also found something that may be totally irrelevant, but sounds so  
pynchonian that I can't help passing it to you. It is about a fashion  
brand called Valentino Rudy (name and first name inverted here, a  
hysteron proteron that is presented as the real name of the founder  
of this Italian company born in 1931, the year of Rudy Valentino's  
death). The brand was bought by a Japanese company during the 1970's,  
and here is what they tell about it on the website:
« In the 1970s, after meeting President Yasuhiro Matsuda of Matsuda  
Co., Ltd. based in Kyoto, Valentino Rudy started to be engaged in the  
field of textile design and made his debut in the Italian fashion  
circle with the ties he designed.
In 1972, with Producer Yasuhiro Matsuda, the designer announced "3V  
Philosophy --- Veneration, Veracity and Value" and established his  
own brand "Valentino Rudy" based on the concepts of "potentiality,"  
"creativity," and "formative attractiveness."
Supported entirely by Matsuda Co., Ltd., Mr. Rudy launched business  
all over the world starting from the Asian region. »
http://www.valentinorudy.com/en/about/profile/
But in my opinion, everything is connected on the web, more than  
anywhere else. This must be a mere coincidence.

- ancient American Indian belief: there was already a similar  
reference to "an ancient superstition at the beach, something like  
the surfer belief that burning your board will bring awesome waves,  
and it went like this—take a Zig-Zag paper and write on it your  
dearest wish, and then use it to roll a joint of the best dope you  
can find, and smoke it all up, and your wish will be granted" (35).  
Popular culture, hippie trends that lead here to some kind of a  
serious moral commitment toward Japonica.

- the Fenways live in Palos Verdes in a gated community, Rolling  
Hills. Doc meets Crocker Fenway in Lomita, a place down the hills,  
near the Peninsula, next to Torrance and West Carson.
The father's first name suggests heavy dishes (crockery) that can be  
used in an oven. But it is also the name of a wealthy Californian  
family who gave Sacramento an art museum. Here is what we can read on  
the museum's website:
« As a prominent California family, the Crockers supported many  
social and civic causes. Judge Edwin B. Crocker (1818-1875) practiced  
law and served on the State Supreme Court. He was the brother of  
Charles Crocker, one of the “Big Four” railroad barons, and acted as  
legal council for the Central Pacific Railroad. In 1885, his widow,  
Margaret (1822-1901), fulfilled their shared vision of creating a  
public art museum when she presented the E. B. Crocker Art Gallery  
and collection to the City of Sacramento and the California Museum  
Association, “in trust for the public.” »
http://www.crockerartmuseum.org/about/history_crockers.htm
They have a great collection. The Crockers must have had much  
political influence in California and represented "big money" indeed.
And Crocker Fenway payed Doc very well.

- "runaway-daughter case" cf. Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep. The  
runaway daughter is Carmen Sternwood, who is sent to a mental  
institution at the end of the novel.

- like in The Big Lebowski, The Big Sleep here is alluded to in a  
very ludicrous way. The mention of vomit in the girl's hair is very  
un-romantic!

- There are a couple shifters in the bottom of the page, maybe  
because Doc is now too high to control his focus on the scene: "once  
may have rescued," "apparently," "perhaps."

- The vision of the American Indian warrior has been prepared by the  
allusion to that American Indian belief. Is Doc having a bad trip?  
Chryskylodon is both the place that Mickey Wolfmann helped finance,  
and that could be responsible for his disparition, and it seems to be  
linked to the Golden Fang, if Japonica's treatments have a consistence.

Clement