GR translation: Arab With A Big Greasy Nose

[Mark Kohut]

OK..Then I guess I do not understand fully Simon'e post or Pynchon's
sentence here....So be it, I got as
far as Gunga Din mentally, could not remember Sam Jaffe much, and don't get
the rest......
but I'm all ears.

On Mon, May 23, 2016 at 3:42 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> The wistful classic would have to have been somehow related to "preforming
> on" somebody.
>
> On Mon, May 23, 2016 at 2:38 PM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Can't remember anything else re Gunga Din....so, it just refers to the
>> movie?
>>
>> On Mon, May 23, 2016 at 3:35 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I don't think that fits.
>>>
>>> On Mon, May 23, 2016 at 2:27 PM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> And so 'the wistful classic know to every tommy' would be "You're a
>>>> better man than me, Gunga Din" ?
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, May 23, 2016 at 2:52 PM, Simon Bryquer <sbryquer at nyc.rr.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Being ill (dracunculiasis) and *to perform on* is vomiting on someone
>>>>> or something. Key :Army.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> As per the following:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Perhaps this has been answered before – we’re talking about Kipling
>>>>> here.  The *‘**Fuzzy**-**Wuzzy’ poem of 19th  century British soldier
>>>>> view of *Hadendoa warriors in Sudan.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Gary Grant and all that refers to the movie ‘Gunga Din’ (also a
>>>>> Kipling poem made into a movie) played by Sam Jaffe, who I vaguely recall
>>>>> could be described in that movie as ‘Arab With A Big Greasy Nose’
>>>>> though it’s all about India.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> BTW Sam Jaffe was great in the John Houston movie ‘Asphalt Jungle’
>>>>> ---- also I believe this was Marilyn Monroe first speaking role, though she
>>>>> did not get any screen credit. She plays a slightly mentally off babysitter
>>>>> --- and she was extremely good.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Maybe the key words here : dracunculiasis and elephant medicine
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> A parasitic infection caused by drinking flea invested water and
>>>>> causes one to vomit – to perform on here might be vomiting on one or many
>>>>> in the crowded army in battle.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I would conclude to perform on is vomiting on someone or many.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> *From:* owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] *On
>>>>> Behalf Of *Monte Davis
>>>>> *Sent:* Monday, May 23, 2016 12:30 PM
>>>>> *To:* Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
>>>>> *Cc:* Pynchon Mailing List <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>>>>> *Subject:* Re: GR translation: Arab With A Big Greasy Nose
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I take the "wistful classic" to be a comic song. I don't know the
>>>>> song, or know that Pynchon had any existing song in mind rather than a
>>>>> tease. So "perform" is wide open to your suggested definition... or to a
>>>>> musical performance (like squeezing a clown's rubber nose)... or to a
>>>>> sexual performance (details depending on culture, other organs involved,
>>>>> and how one feels about noses).
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Mon, May 23, 2016 at 11:54 AM, Mike Jing <
>>>>> gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Resurrecting this old post nobody replied to back in 2011. A search in
>>>>> the archives shows that this has been asked a few times, but no one
>>>>> had an answer. The problems is that I still have to figure out how to
>>>>> translate "perform on". From the OED:
>>>>>
>>>>> 6. intr.
>>>>> b. euphem. Esp. of a child or a pet: to urinate or defecate.
>>>>>
>>>>> Does this make sense to anyone else given the context?
>>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 4:19 AM, Mike Jing <
>>>>> gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> > P14.5-13   In 1935 he had his first episode outside any condition of
>>>>> > known sleep—it was during his Kipling Period, beastly Fuzzy-Wuzzies
>>>>> > far as eye could see, dracunculiasis and Oriental sore rampant among
>>>>> > the troops, no beer for a month, wireless being jammed by other
>>>>> Powers
>>>>> > who would be masters of these horrid blacks, God knows why, and all
>>>>> > folklore broken down, no Gary Grant larking in and out slipping
>>>>> > elephant medicine in the punchbowls out here . .. not even an Arab
>>>>> > With A Big Greasy Nose to perform on, as in that wistful classic
>>>>> every
>>>>> > tommy’s heard . . .
>>>>> >
>>>>> > What is this classic with "an Arab With A Big Greasy Nose"?  And what
>>>>> > do they want to perform on him?
>>>>> -
>>>>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20160523/f4d5a227/attachment.html>