I am amazed by the mass corporatization of the future in this book. Everything seems embellished with advertisements. The statue of Liberty is now a lady that holds up a routinely changed product, companies with names like "Burger King's Pilsbury" or Pizza Hut's Pepsico pervade headlines, and the years are subsidized by major companies. What does this infatuation with products in the year 2009 say about our brand-touting tendencies?

I find it so interesting that these 100 pages are largely made of up of extremely long segments of certain scenes. Two of the longer ones, the Eschaton game and the Boston AA meeting, create a nice juxtaposition in the novel. The Eschaton game is clearly very rule oriented and players must memorize the long rule book and adhere to them to play the game correctly. However, as one notices, the players end up disrupting the clever rule system and all chaos breaks loose, just as Pemulis said it would. The AA meeting, on the other hand, prefers to stress that there are no rules. Gately is puzzled as to why "these AA meetings where nobody kept order seemed so orderly" (357).

Since we started reading these somewhat shocking encyclopoedic novels, I have read many hyperbolic, excessive segments that made me disgusted. However, I think today I was the most shocked ever. The ex- stripper and drug addict's story at the AA meeting was incredibly horrifying. The subject matter was bad enough, but David Foster Wallace's descriptive choices, i.e. words like "protozoan", "diddling", "blank soft cheese of its face" or thet horrid screaming of Raquel, make it much worse than the disgusting feces scenes of GR. The cleverness of the word choices and the interesting storytelling just made it worse for me.

Is anyone else confused by the titles of the sections in Infinite Jest? I have noticed Trial Size Dove Bar, Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment, to name a few. First, these names seem slightly incongruous with the content in their sections, (but maybe we just haven't read enough to appreciate them), but I also just don't understand their significance. The names, like some parts of the book, seem so random, but I know, that like the similar parts of the book, that they are quite the opposite. Still, I don't quite "get" them yet. Also, I don't really understand why there are some breaks, and then the same title...

On page 805 Nick mentions that "they are making synthetic feces in Dallas. They have perfected a form of simulated waste in order to test diapers and other protective garments. The compound comes in a dry mix made of starches, fibers,resins, gelatins, and polyvinyls. You add water for desired consistency. The color is usually brown". Earlier on the blogs we were talking about one's fecal matter being the most private, individual thing. We keep it secret because of what it says about ourselves. However, what does this mean about society nowadays if our most secret part of ourselves-- something that makes us us-- can now be made with powder and water?

I found the jello scenes with Erica, Eric's mom, very interesting. I thought it was very peculiar how she made so many molds, (and so many disgusting combinations). Making Jello improves her mood, and she makes it constantly, seemingly to soothe her frazzled nerves. She also loves the word "Jello" because it was so convenient, "The word went anywhere...it was a push-button word, ...they way the whole world opened behind the button that you pushed" (517). And then I thought about how Erica is scared of the Sputnik, and how she hates surpises and unpredictability and I realized! Jello is common-place, solid, and it is transparent.

Don't you like how the famous people from the introduction keep popping up in the actual story line? I believe we have seen two of the famous four, so far. We saw mention of J. Edgar Hoover when they take about that waste management enthusiast, Detwiler, who was arrested when he snatched J. Edgar Hoover's garbage from his house (286. We also have seen many reccuring mentions of Jackie Gleason as Nick Shay's mother watches Honeymooner's reruns. I love how that exhilarating introduction is becoming tied into the novel. I hope we see the other two, also!

When I was close reading the other day, I noticed how the pyramid symbol (or concept) kept popping up in the text of Underworld. For example, 1. "He imagined he was watching the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza..." (184)
2. "We built pyramids of waste above and below the earth" (106)
3. Also the reference to the pyramid with the eye on the dollar bill.
Does anybody know a certain cultural significance of pyramids that might pertain to this book? The only think I can think of at all is that a pyramid of waste is a metaphor-- saying that the waste is so wonderful and significant it is practically another wonder of the world.

I found a very interesting little quote on page 242, and I am going to expand upon this quote for my blog right now. "If you know you're worth nothing, only a gamble with death can gratify your vanity". This quote really seems to sum up some of the characters in the book and their actions thus far quite well. This quote kind of describes the crazy, reclusive Texas Highway murderer, who risks getting caught everyday simply to gain some control by killing someone else. This quote also pertains to Ismael, the AIDS stricken grafitti artist that Edgar deals with, and also, even, to Marian, Nick Shay's wife.

Wow, what an interesting group of people to attend a baseball game together! We have Jackie Gleason (actor, won a best supporting actor award for Hustler), Frank Sinatra (incredibly famous singer and actor), Toots Shor (a club owner), and J. Edgar Hoover (head of the FBI). This scene strikes me as so hilarious and interesting. We have paranoid, nervous Hoover just waiting for something bad to happen, and it does-- he receives information during the game! Jackie Gleason is entertaining adoring fans, playing the buffoon, throwing out jokes and bringing out some of his best characters. Frank Sinatra is incredibly uncomfortable with the fans pressed close around him and he gets more and more irritated as the scene gets on.