BEg2 ch 21 welcome to the Johnsons / Pardaugava

[Michael Bailey]

Conkling comes back [from the bathroom]


         “Fascinating toilet. Not quite the complexity of a Welcome to the
Johnsons, say, but
            plenty of stories old and new.”


https://nymag.com/listings/bar/welcome-to-the-johnsons/

At first, Welcome to the Johnsons seemed like nothing more than a great
ironic joke. A theme bar for kids too cool for theme bars, it’s decked out
just like your parents’ rec room circa 1978 — *faux*-wood-paneled walls, a
vintage brown refrigerator, sports-league trophies, even a Ms. Pac-Man
game. But unlike certain other irony-tinged nightspots, there’s lots here
to keep you coming back even after the wink-wink factor has worn off.
Drinks are dirt cheap, including (during the summer) first-rate margaritas
as potent as the ones you used to sneak from Dad’s basement liquor cabinet.
And the crowd, still mostly locals, is filled with more than enough hipster
cuties to make you want to start a round of spin-the-bottle.




Earlier in the chapter as they first meet up with Conkling and his Naser,
pg 231 -


“Sting operation,” Conkling explains. “Truckful of Latvian counterfeit
product, we
            were supposed to make a buy, but it all went stinko.” He nods
at a forlorn trio of Pardaugava mini-mobsters semiconsciously collapsed in a
            doorway. “They’ll be OK, just aldehyde shock, caught ’em with
the main lobe, maximized
            the prewar nitro musk and jasmine absolute, right?”


         Pardaugava - neighborhood in Riga, Latvia

https://www.inyourpocket.com/riga/The-Left-Bank-Pardaugava_70355f

Riga’s visitors are happy to stroll through its medieval old town and
admire its stunning art nouveau city centre, but seldom do they cross over
to the River Daugava’s left bank, unless of course they’re on their way to
the airport. An odd combination of wide-open green spaces, Soviet housing
estates, charming 19th-century neighbourhoods and aging factories,
Pārdaugava, as it’s known in Latvian, or Over Daugava to translate
literally, is often a hard place to get your bearings. However, those
intrepid travellers who are brave enough to walk across a bridge or take a
short tram ride will discover a town within a city that has its own spirit,
history and traditions.



Aldehyde shock? - pynchonwiki has good notes -


*aldehyde shock*
Aldehydic, or modern, perfumes are those with significant notes of the
aldehydes which are synthetic compounds, with clean, diffusive, sparkling
notes and a family of chemicals. It appears the Pardaugava mini-mobsters
got too strong a whiff.

*prewar nitro musk and jasmine absolute*
Nitro musk is an aromatic synthetic musk (aka white musks, in the perfume
industry). These musks are a class of synthetic aromachemicals to emulate
the scent of deer musk or other natural musk. Wikipedia
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_musk#Nitro-musks>

Jasmine absolute is an essential oil derived from the flowers of the
jasmine bush, used for fragrance and skin care. Its properties are nervine,
antidepressant/euphoric, and aphrodisiac. Interestingly, it is mentioned in
Pynchon's _Mason & Dixon_ at pg 456.