Difference between revisions of "Chapter 49: 476-483"

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'''"Pepinazos"'''<br>
 
'''"Pepinazos"'''<br>
Anthem of the Expedition.  There is a translation on [http://www.thomaspynchon.com/mason-dixon/alpha/p.html ThomasPynchon.com], that translates this as "Blows", however, I think the translation of "Bangs" is a bit better (as pepinazo is closer to an explosion or loud blast from a cannon, etc).  To me, "Blows" brings to mind punches which isnt in line with the word's meaning (also, I think I found a reference that "pepinazos" is the term used for a song, that in English we would call a "banger", ie. the bomb track).  I had other translation differences as well.  That in mind, the lyrics in English may read something like:
+
Anthem of the Expedition.  There is a translation on [http://www.thomaspynchon.com/mason-dixon/alpha/p.html ThomasPynchon.com], that translates this as "Blows", however, I think the translation of "Bangs" is a bit better (as pepinazo is closer to an explosion or loud blast from a cannon, etc).  To me, "Blows" brings to mind punches which isnt in line with the word's meaning.  I had other translation differences as well.  That in mind, the lyrics in English may read something like:
  
 
''Bangs, never''<br>
 
''Bangs, never''<br>
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''The Ba-ng-i-ng!''
 
''The Ba-ng-i-ng!''
  
Is the song is a play off of "Tree Hugger"?  In other words, the Vasquez Brothers' Marimba Quartet would never Bang on a Tree, they would only Hug one if they were in the mood; However, as the Line proceeds, they are surrounded by the Ax-men's Banging???
+
Is the song is a play off of "Tree Hugger"?  In other words, the Vasquez Brothers' Marimba Quartet would never Bang on a Tree, they would only Hug one if they were in the mood; However, as the Line proceeds, they are surrounded by the Ax-men's Banging???  Or maybe the Bangs are in reference to gun shots?  Or maybe this was simply a song influenced by the Lightning strikes a number of pages previous?
  
 
==Page 478==
 
==Page 478==

Revision as of 11:30, 15 October 2009

Page 476

York
See page 393.

Gunpowder Creek
The Gunpowder River is a river in Maryland, United States. It is formed by the joining of Big Gunpowder Falls and Little Gunpowder Falls. Big Gunpowder begins in the extreme southern part of Pennsylvania's York County. From there, the "Big Gunpowder" flows in a generally southeast direction through the length of Baltimore County until it reaches Joppatowne where it is joined by the "Little Gunpowder" and the Bird River becoming simply the "Gunpowder River" once it passes the Amtrak train bridge that runs from Chase to Joppa. From WIKI

Page 477

"Ensign Cheer."
Is this Dixon making a sarcastic remark, implying Mason is being pessimistic or discouraging about his Fire-flies plans?

Quartz-scryer
Jonas Everybeet, first on page 442.

Torpedo
See page 426.

marimbas
Folk marimba with gourds, Highland Guatemala

The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. Keys or bars (usually made of wood) are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys to aid the performer both visually and physically. From WIKI

"Pepinazos"
Anthem of the Expedition. There is a translation on ThomasPynchon.com, that translates this as "Blows", however, I think the translation of "Bangs" is a bit better (as pepinazo is closer to an explosion or loud blast from a cannon, etc). To me, "Blows" brings to mind punches which isnt in line with the word's meaning. I had other translation differences as well. That in mind, the lyrics in English may read something like:

Bangs, never
Hugs, If I
Wanna, Yes
For real
Listen!-
Let yourself
The Ba-ng-i-ng!

Is the song is a play off of "Tree Hugger"? In other words, the Vasquez Brothers' Marimba Quartet would never Bang on a Tree, they would only Hug one if they were in the mood; However, as the Line proceeds, they are surrounded by the Ax-men's Banging??? Or maybe the Bangs are in reference to gun shots? Or maybe this was simply a song influenced by the Lightning strikes a number of pages previous?

Page 478

Eyre Coote
Lieutenant-General Sir Eyre Coote, KB (1726 – April 28, 1783), was an Irish soldier who served time in India. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyre_Coote

Page 482

Epsilons usually. Miserable little sort of things. This exchange is a reference to mathematical analysis and the rigorous foundations of the calculus of limits. Typically epsilon denotes an arbitrary positive number which a certain quantity is shown to be smaller than, in order to show that this quantity is in fact zero. This allusion is anachronistic because this idea of a limit first appears only in the writings of Augustin Louis Cauchy in 1821, and was only formally stated by Karl Weierstrass some decades later. Any student of mathematics will no doubt fondly remember having to master the epsilon-delta argument.

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