Portola IV: Ch 19-p 143

[Joseph Tracy]

All seems to refer to old real estate claims, old money, old ports of  
commerce, ownership with deep roots,  and gold extracted from those  
roots.
On Jan 4, 2010, at 9:11 PM, Bekah wrote:


> But Portola California is in the northern part of the state.   I  
> considered looking into that but ...
>
> So I figured the name was probably from the expedition of Gaspar de  
> Portola.  He touched almost the whole coast.   And then there's the  
> "port" in his name which his repeated in Sport and has to do with  
> the coast for the Fang and all.
>
> "The expedition started at the Presidio of San Diego on July 14 and  
> returned on January 24, 1770 — failing to recognize Monterey Bay."
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portola_expedition
>
> Bekah
>
>
> On Jan 4, 2010, at 4:19 PM, Mark Kohut wrote:
>
>
>> If the club is named cause of the town, we have these resonances  
>> with the rich, threatening, dad:
>>
>> Gold Rush
>>
>> Railway----we know about THEM in his work
>> Portola is a crew change site on the Western Pacific Railroad (now  
>> Union Pacific Railroad) Feather River Route over the Sierra Nevada  
>> mountains. The city is also home to the Western Pacific Railroad  
>> Museum (formerly Portola Railroad Museum), one of the largest  
>> railroad museum in the Western US. The museum is famous for its  
>> Run A Locomotive program, where the public can participate in a  
>> "fantasy experience" program allowing them to run a railroad  
>> locomotive on the museum grounds.
>>
>> Big Pharma and packaging comnpanies therein.
>>
>> Republican thru and thru
>>
>> http://www.ci.portola.ca.us/
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portola,_California
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --- On Mon, 1/4/10, kelber at mindspring.com <kelber at mindspring.com>  
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> From: kelber at mindspring.com <kelber at mindspring.com>
>>> Subject: Re: IV: Chapter 19 - page 343
>>> To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>>> Date: Monday, January 4, 2010, 3:16 PM
>>> You're probably right, Mark, though
>>> I'd prefer to believe Robin's joking explanation - a good
>>> Bossa Nova-playing sax is hard to find.
>>>
>>> Still, though, I think there's got to be some significance
>>> in Pynchon's choice of Portola for the name of the
>>> club.  It's too close in meaning to Doc's last name, in
>>> the sense of "portal," for Pynchon not to have something
>>> specific in mind.
>>>
>>> Laura
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>
>>>> From: Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> i think Pynchon saves Coy for almost religious, New
>>>>
>>> Testament, JC reasons: "what you do for the least of them,
>>> etc. ", or whatever it is.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> I think Coy is 'saved' as one human exemplar of a lost
>>>>
>>> preterite.....Doc's meaning in his life.....
>>>
>>>>
>>>> And for the child, the family---that later-works
>>>>
>>> hopefulness---in TRP's oeuvre.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> --- On Mon, 1/4/10, kelber at mindspring.com
>>>>
>>> <kelber at mindspring.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> From: kelber at mindspring.com
>>>>>
>>> <kelber at mindspring.com>
>>>
>>>>> Subject: Re: IV: Chapter 19 - page 343
>>>>> To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>>>>> Date: Monday, January 4, 2010, 12:19 PM
>>>>> The mention of the obscure ship also
>>>>> echoes back to COL49 in the scene where Mike
>>>>>
>>> Fallopian's
>>>
>>>>> describing the origins of the Peter Pinguid
>>>>>
>>> Society -- in
>>>
>>>>> this case a Russian ship was involved.
>>>>>
>>>>> Wondering if there's any significance between the
>>>>>
>>> Portola
>>>
>>>>> club and Sportello.  By virtue of even sitting in
>>>>>
>>> this
>>>
>>>>> power-bastion, negotiating, is Doc passing through
>>>>>
>>> some
>>>
>>>>> private portal -- in effect becoming an auxiliary
>>>>>
>>> member of
>>>
>>>>> the Golden Fang by doing business with them, even
>>>>>
>>> if it's to
>>>
>>>>> save a life?  Also, I've never understood Doc's
>>>>> personal zealotry in protecting Coy and his
>>>>>
>>> family.
>>>
>>>>> Stealing heroin from and negotiating with the GF
>>>>>
>>> seems an
>>>
>>>>> excessively dangerous and risky undertaking to
>>>>>
>>> protect
>>>
>>>>> someone Doc barely knows, and a pretty morally
>>>>>
>>> compromised
>>>
>>>>> person at that.
>>>>>
>>>>> Laura
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>
>>>>>> From: Robin Landseadel <robinlandseadel at comcast.net>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Doc is as struck [in his way] by this painting
>>>>>>
>>> of the
>>>
>>>>> commencement of
>>>>>
>>>>>> the Portola Expidition as Oedipa was struck by
>>>>>>
>>> Varo's
>>>
>>>>> indices of
>>>>>
>>>>>> tears. Again and again throughout the story
>>>>>>
>>> our stony
>>>
>>>>> hero asks
>>>>>
>>>>>> questions about what might have been if only .
>>>>>>
>>> . .
>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://tinyurl.com/ydeg347
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     The Portola expedition, led by
>>>>>>
>>>>> Gaspar de Portolà from July 14,
>>>>>
>>>>>>      1769 to January 24, 1770,
>>>>>>
>>>>> was the first known recorded
>>>>>
>>>>>>     attempt by Spain to explore Alta
>>>>>>
>>>>> California by land.[1] The
>>>>>
>>>>>>     purpose of the expedition was to
>>>>>>
>>>>> secure bases in Upper
>>>>>
>>>>>>     California before the Russians.[2]
>>>>>>
>>>>> The plan was to establish a
>>>>>
>>>>>>     base in the Port of Monterey (now
>>>>>>
>>>>> Monterey, California) as
>>>>>
>>>>>>     described by Sebastián Vizcaíno.
>>>>>>
>>>>> The expedition consisted of
>>>>>
>>>>>>     64 men in all, and approximately 200
>>>>>>
>>>>> horses and mules. The
>>>>>
>>>>>>     expedition started at the Presidio
>>>>>>
>>>>> of San Diego on July 14 and
>>>>>
>>>>>>     returned on January 24, 1770 —
>>>>>>
>>>>> failing to recognize Monterey
>>>>>
>>>>>>     Bay.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portola_expedition
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
> My little reading habit:
> http://tiny.cc/gQ72E
>