BEg2 chapter 6 appreciations & a bit of research

[Michael Bailey]

March graduated from Kugelblitz herself.
Presumably, then, the school is part of the liberal faction & Maxine's
choice of it tells a bit more about her leanings.
The place reminds me a bit of Summerhill, only in that it has an eccentric
founder & is probably not wedded to the "No Child Left Behind" curriculum.

pari passu - from Investopedia: Pari-passu is a Latin phrase meaning "*equal
footing*." In finance, "equal footing" means that two or more parties to a
financial contract or claim are all treated the same. Pari-passu is common
in bankruptcy proceedings as well as debts such as parity bonds in which
each party gets the same amount.

If March's coolness is "pari passu" vis a vis her son-in-law Gabriel Ice's
rapidly increasing wealth i guess that means it's treated the same - the
wealthier he grows, the cooler she becomes to him. Unusual choice of
descriptor, isn't it? The allusion to bankruptcy proceedings makes "her
coolness" and "his increasing wealth" aren't just a twosome, but parties in
a larger context - which is, perhaps, the social context of the times as
parsed & criticized by March (&, perhaps, Mr Pynchon) - aka the
"decky-dance" from way back in V.

Carnegie Mellon - center of computing excellence. The Carnegie & Mellon
nexus (both were parties to the infamous Johnstown Flood, weren't they?)
conjures the Mellon-Scaife nexus, so with computer science, did Gabriel Ice
and Tallis imbibe horrid reactionary Mammon-worship as well?

Co-oping frenzy - co-op sounds so nice, like the ILGWU co-ops, but these
were evil co-ops where landlords didn't want to deal with rent control or
any other obstacles to maximizing profit. "Apartment doors removed for
'routine maintenance,' garbage uncollected, attack dogs, hired goons,
eighties pop played really loud."

still happening:
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-vote-that-made-new-york-city-rents-so-high
(this is re moving them out of rent-controlled spaces, but, same difference)

Inflatable rat -
https://www.npr.org/2021/08/06/1024315097/how-a-beloved-giant-rat-won-free-speech-rights

March was "slender, with shoulder-length red hair parted in the middle and
then pulled back into a snood"

Snood - Google images show a variety of thingies by this name, including a
bunch of things on gentlemen that look like neck gaiters.
Maybe something like this
https://garlandsofgrace.com/product/megs-stayput-snood-styler/

Picket line animosity "some, well, argumentative gesturing, extending to
casual contact which the Post may have amplified slightly in the story it
ran. Cops showed up. As light faded and deadlines approached, the crowd
thinned out."


"The nearest bar was the Old Sod, technically Irish, though an aging gay
Brit or two may have wandered infrequently in."
- Pynchon adds a connotation, actually kind of droll, or maybe a reference
to sodomy in conjunction with post-colonialism in Ireland? Since it's not
exactly topical for the story, it's even more interesting. Love this stuff!
There are a lot of Irish bars in NYC & some of the famous Irish attitude -
eg the Irish doorman at the Deseret "bidding them a peevish good day, the
gate clanging shut. When Irish eyes are *not* smiling, you should have a
better story or a pair of running shoes." - may stem from this history of
oppression. By introducing the element of "queering," Pynchon signals the
existence of possible Anglo-Celtic rapprochement through non-standard
sexual attraction, although it's "infrequent."

Papa Doble - big daiquiri with a lot of rum, maraschino liqueur, maraschino
cherry, sugar syrup, and some lime and grapefruit juice to keep it healthy


Eric Outfield gives Reg the CD or DVD - the scene segues *so* quickly from
Maxine's office to the bus & back to Reg handing Maxine the disc, it's like
those new ads on tv that cut in & you don't realize at first that it's an
ad (imho) -

"Today an insane white Christer at one end of the car was competing with a
black a capella group at the other. Perfect conditions. "Brought you
something," Reg handing over a disc.
----- to Maxine -----
"I'm supposed to tell you it's been personally blessed by Linus himself,
with penguin piss."

Penguin piss - penguin being the symbol or logo for Linux, so presumably
the closest thing to holy water ?


"...so many of (Eric Outfield's co-workers) spend their hours down in the
mainframe room snorting Halon out of the fire extinguishers that they may
lack some perspective."

Strong hyperbole!
Or so I thought:
https://www.kolotv.com/content/news/Huffing-The-drug-abuse-problem-hiding-in-plain-sight-372297412.html

Sheesh - what people won't do! Reminds me of V. where the sailors are
drinking aviation fuel.