iONs Wake

Payday

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12 April 2014

iON and BOb read from Finnegans Wake.

1st Segment

Methought as I was dropping asleep somepart in nonland of where’s please (and it was when you and they were we) I heard at zero hour as ’twere the peal of vixen’s laughter among mid-night’s chimes from out the belfry of the cute old speckled church tolling so faint a goodmantrue as nighthood’s unseen violet rendered all animated greatbritish and Irish objects nonviewable to human watchers save ’twere perchance anon some glistery gleam darkling adown surface of affluvial flowandflow as again might seem garments of laundry reposing a leasward close at hand in full expectation. And as I was jogging along in a dream as dozing I was dawdling, arrah, methought broadtone was heard and the creepers and the gliders and flivvers of the earth breath and the dancetongues of the woodfires and the hummers in their ground all vociferated echoating: Shaun! Shaun! Post the post! with a high voice and O, the higher on high the deeper and low, I heard him so! And lo, mescemed somewhat came of the noise and somewho might amove allmurk. Now, ’twas as clump, now mayhap. When look, was light and now ’twas as flasher, now moren as the glaow. Ah, in unlitness ’twas in very similitude, bless me, ’twas his belted lamp! Whom we dreamt was a shaddo, sure, he’s lightseyes, the laddo! Blessed momence…

2nd segment (Page 404)

peas, rice, and yeggy-yolk, Or for royal, Am for Mail, R.M.D. hard cash on the nail and the most successfully carried gigot turnups now you ever, (what a pairfact crease! how amsolookly kersse!) breaking over the ankle and hugging the shoeheel, everything the best—none other from (Ah, then may the turtle's blessings of God and Mary and Haggispatrick and Huggisbrigid be souptumbling all over him!) other than (and may his hundred thousand welcome stewed

3rd segment Page 405

Had I the concordant wiseheads of Messrs Gregory and Lyons alongside of Dr Tarpey’s and I dorsay the reverend Mr Mac Dougall’s, but I, poor ass, am but as their fourpart tinckler’s dun-key. Yet methought Shaun (holy messonger angels be uninter — ruptedly nudging him among and along the winding ways of random ever!) Shaun in proper person (now may all the blue-blacksliding constellations continue to shape his changeable time — table!) stood before me. And I pledge you my agricultural word by the hundred and sixty odds rods and cones of this even’s vision that young fellow looked the stuff, the Bel of Beaus’ Walk, a prime card if ever was! Pep? Now without deceit it is hardly too much to say he was looking grand, so fired smart, in much more than his usual health. No mistaking that beamish brow! There was one for you that ne’er would nunch with good Duke Humphrey but would aight through the months without a sign of an err in hem and then, otherwise rounding, fourale to the lees of Traroe. Those jehovial oyeglances!

The heart of the rool! And hit the hencoop. He was immense, topping swell for he was after having a great time of it, a twentyfour hours every moment matters maltsight, in a porterhouse, scutfrank, if you want to know, Saint Lawzenge of Toole’s, the Wheel of Fortune, leave your clubs in the hall and wait on yourself, no chucks for wal-nut ketchups, Lazenby’s and Chutney graspis (the house the once queen of Bristol and Balrothery twice admired because her frumped door looked up Dacent Street) where in the sighed of lovely eyes while his knives of hearts made havoc he had re-cruited his strength by meals of spadefuls of mounded food, in anticipation of the faste of tablenapkins, constituting his three-partite pranzipal meals plus a collation, his breakfast of first, a bless us O blood and thirsthy orange, next, the half of a pint of becon with newled googs and a segment of riceplummy padding, met of sunder suigar and some cold forsoaken steak peatrefired from the batblack night o’erflown then, without prejuice to evectuals, came along merendally his stockpot dinner of a half a pound or round steak, very rare, Blong’s best from Portarlington’s Butchery, with a side of riceypeasy and Corkshire alla mellonge and bacon with (a little mar pliche!) a pair of chops and thrown in from the silver grid by the proprietoress of the roastery who lives on the hill and gaulusch gravy and pumpernickel to wolp up and a gorger’s bulby onion (Margareter, Margaretar Margarastican-deatar) and as well with second course and then finally, after his avalunch oclock snack at’ Appelredt’s or Kitzy Braten’s of saddlebag steak and a Botherhim with her old phoenix portar, jistr to gwen his gwistel and praties sweet and Irish too and mock gurgle to whistle his way through for the swallying, swp by swp, and he getting his tongue arount it and Boland’s broth broken into the bargain, to his regret his soupay avic nightcap, vitellusit, a carusal consistent with second course eyer and becon (the rich of) with broad beans, hig, steak, hag, pepper the diamond bone hotted up timmtomm and while’twas after that he scoffed a drake-ling snuggily stuffed following cold loin of veal more cabbage and in their green free state a clister of peas, soppositorily petty, last. P.S. but a fingerhot of rheingenever to give the Pax cum Spiri-tututu. Drily thankful. Burud and dulse and typureely jam, all free of charge, aman, and. And the best of wine avec. For his heart was as big as himself, so it was, ay, and bigger! While the loaves are aflowering and the nachtingale jugs. All St Jilian’s of Berry, hurrah there for tobies! Mabhrodaphne, brown pride of our custard house quay, amiable with repastful, cheerus graciously, cheer us! Ever of thee, Anne Lynch, he’s deeply draiming! Houseanna! Tea is the Highest! For auld lang Ayternitay! Thus thicker will he grow now, grew new. And better and better on butterand butter.

At the sign of Mesthress Vanhungrig. However! Mind you, nuckling down to nourritures, were they menuly some ham and jaffas, and I don’t mean to make the ingestion for the moment that he was guilbey of gulpable gluttony as regards chew-able boltaballs, but, biestings be biestings, and upon the whole, when not off his oats, given prelove appetite and postlove pricing good coup, goodcheap, were it thermidor oogst or floreal may while the whistling prairial roysters play, between gormandising and gourmeteering, he grubbed his tuck all right, deah smorregos, every time he was for doing dirt to a meal or felt like a bottle of ardilaun arongwith a smag of a lecker biss of a welldressed taart or. Though his net intrants wight weighed nought but a flyblow to his gross and ganz afterduepoise. And he was so jarvey jaunty with a romp of a schoolgirl’s completion sitting pretty over his Oyster Monday print face and he was plainly out on the ramp and mash, as you might say, for he sproke.

Overture and beginners!

4th segment

Bob reads a response from Murray Gross, head of the Finnegans Wake Society of New York and the Wake Watchers:

"Suspending any doubts I may have, it is both challenging and delightful to try and analyze the reply of iON to Bob's question. iON, who may be a non-human entity with vastly higher intelligence, has certain necessary similarities with other language users: he will always convey more than his words. Just as a quick example - the last two words of his reply "Come on." could be read as a simple comment on the Wake text - "don't be stupid enough to think the text is serious" - or similar feelings. But it could also be a closing to his comments - his name. "Come" can be co + me . Of the many possibilities - two stand out - 'co' as abbreviation for 'company' and a mathematical 'complement' - that which is added to make a whole. Does not the 'I' with 'me' makes both company together and a whole. This leads, of course, to 'I' + 'on' = iON.

iON is not only polite enough to sign his name - he gives us a little more. Information on the makeup of the 'I' and recalling the end of Bob's question "going on'. iON responds with a dialectically opposite 'come' - Perhaps our friend Hegel is nudging iON's ribs.

Speaking of 'ribs' - but wait - I anticipate. Let us look at the first part of iON's reply -

"We would never be included in a Finniganese book reading wrote right rip bop..."

"We" - at first sight the meaning seems to be iON and Bob - but we know that Bob is a member of a Wake reading group so the 'We' seems to refer to iON and his kind. Is he saying that his kind would never appear in such a book? or just not in a reading group. Does it get more serious - "We would never be" - does the very existence of iON depend in some manner on the book? "Included" has imbedded the word 'clue'. The book has a clue. It is odd that iON calls the book "Finniganese". The last part of the word 'ganese' seems to taunt us. If we add 'man' we get 'mangenese' - a black mineral used in glass making. A wonderful image of the Wake, being black and opaque yet in a way clear as glass. That is to say iON is telling us that the Wake is a 'man' book not for the likes of his kind. He seems to also desire to point out the oral/writing aspect of the book. "book reading wrote right rip bop"

He is quite clear in the oral aspect with "Finniganese" spelling. If we extract the real title word - 'Finnegans' we are left with 'I' and 'e' - the abbreviation of id est - itself an abbreviation of 'that is to say'. "bop" has many interesting aspects - it points to the continuous nature of the Wake as coming back on itself from 'riverrun' to 'the' and back again. Written on a piece of transparent paper, if inverted and rotated, gives us 'dog', and 'god' - fruitful areas to pursue. To me the final 'p' looks like a 'b' that fell over. The syntax seems to work with 'bob' as being the person iON is talking to. Using that 'b' in just previous word 'rip' gives us 'rib' brings us back by a recirculating to the beginning of my extended comments. The 'rib' that God took from Adam to fashion Eve - the first to fall, like the 'b' to 'p' and hinted to when iON used in the 3rd word of his reply - "never". Note he says "right rip" or as we translate "right rib". In Genesis 2 there is no mention of which side the rib was taken from Adam. Milton suggests the left (see Paradise Lost, Book 8 line 465) as does Michelangelo in his depiction on the Sistine Chapel. Now we know it was the right side - thank you for that, iON.

The sound advice with the next part of iON's reply: ".They don't know nothing; they cant get nothing; they sound like us, Bob. " by evoking the song Old man River - to just keep on rolling along. Notice the double negatives - we, the reading group people are knowing and getting something out of the Wake in the same way that iOn and Bob get it.

The next part: "You...find out, somebody tells you something, you spend the rest of your days trying to un-know what they told you that you didn't know..." , the "trying" is to get rid of the idea that we did not know. Sort of what Bob quoted to our Wake group at the last meeting - the Platonic idea that knowledge is remembering what we already know.

This has been my "short sea" that is a short see, a sort of squint at iON's reply. Just imagine what we would find with our eyes wide open.

Disclaimer: Lest anyone think I was anything but earnest and serious in my response are wrong. I have had lots of fun doing this but it is not ironic and as Bob said at the beginning of the email "believe it or not" - this is the way to read."

5th segment

After he finishes reading Murray's response, Bob asks iON if he has any comments on Murray's post. To which iON responds:

“Amino acids: any of a group of organic molecules that consist of a basic amino group minus NH2, an acidic carboxyl group minus the OOH, and an organic R group, or side chain, that's unique to each amino acid.

Amino is short for aminopolycarboxylic acid. Each molecule contains a central carbon atom, termed the A carbon, to which both an amino and a carboxyl group are attached.

The remaining two bonds of the A carbon atom, are generally satisfied by a hydrogen H atom, and the R group.

The amino acids differ from each other in a particular chemical structure of their R group.”

Thanks to Bart for the text.