Portola IV: Ch 19-p 143

[Bekah]

Thanks for putting it so succinctly.   Yes,  it really does and   
Crocker emphasizes that a bit later in the chapter.

Bekah


On Jan 4, 2010, at 10:18 PM, Joseph Tracy wrote:

> 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
>>
>

My little reading habit:
http://tiny.cc/gQ72E