6/3/09

p 66-68

this section in 2 parts

p66-67
YDAU [presumably]
place ETA
narrated in third person

synopsis:

Pemulis is telling the younger kids at the pre-dinner "Big Buddy" powwow, about the organopsychedelic 'muscimole' which is 3 times as potent as psilocybin and causes any of the following semi-sleep-like trance with visions, synesthesia, increased strength, favorable distortions of body image, etc. He tells them that the drug comes from a mushroom revered by the aboriginal tribes of what's now southern Quebec and the Great Concavity.The kids try to stay focussed on his speech.

p 67-68
YDAU [presumably]
place ETA
narrated in first person [Hal]

synopsis:

This part is narrated in first person, presumably by Hal. He says that some players start using Bob Hope [pot] as early as 12, but he [not wanting to be like his father] didn't start until he was nearly 16 when Bridget Boone offered him a bong hit to help him with his insomnia. The low grade synthetic pot worked like a charm. He then describes a still recurring dream [presumably that he had after that first bong hit] where he is playing a competitive tennis match on a giant court whose baselines are 3 dimensional and very complex. The crowd is a tableau--silent, motionless and highly attentive in summer's citrus colors. The umpire, high overhead whispers play and Hal tries to figure out where exactly to direct his serve. He notices the Moms with her white sun umbrella, in a 'circle of a shadow, hair white and legs crossed and a delicate fist upraised and tight in total unconditional support.' The umpire whispers again to play, and they sort of play, hypothetically.


notes

the first part implies that perhaps Pemulis might have been an influence on Hal's drug use, although the second part traces the exact source. The dream implies a pretty heavily idolized view of the Moms, with her all white figure raised above the crowd and with her unconditional support.

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