Chapter 1: Section 7: Page 64: Line 158 (1140)

 "Hold this a minute."

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Okay, this is it. The final corn grower of a short sentence because Merle transitions from a person learning a new thing at this moment to simply Roswell's assistant (as Roswell promised him, to be fair). "Here's the darkroom. Here's the ruby light. Here's the dry plate. Now focus your attention on holding this dry plate while I do a whole bunch of other shit that will make your head spin." Okay, maybe I've gotten a little too far ahead of the one line at a time context but remember Pynchon explained during the fire at Newburgh that the context of some lines together must be ascertained to appreciate what Pynchon's saying. It might seem a weird thing for Pynchon to clarify thousands of blog posts later but you need to remember: I'm still only on page 64! Pynchon's taking his time training me to read his book to the best of my ability! And by "Pynchon", I mean "the Pynchon that I made up in my mind to allow me to read his book as closely as possible and to get the most I can out of it." And while, overall, I think it's working, like understanding how all the displays at the Chicago World Fair weren't just appropriated cultures and people put up to gawk at but the natives taking agency over how they'd be presented by acting out and showcasing the moments in their peoples' lives where they defeated or humiliated the imperialists. That's just the one example that's at the forefront of my brain but I've noticed a lot more with the close reading. Other times, I'm just rambling. Like now where I'm taking a minute, standing here with a dry plate in my hands, to think through what the hell I'm doing here.
    I should probably just sit down and read this book already!

Chapter 1: Section 7: Page 62: Line 112 (1094)

 In late June, just about when Michelson and Morley were making their final observations, Blinky Morgan was apprehended in Alpena, Michigan, a resort town built on the site of an Indian graveyard.

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Even while Pynchon is finishing up the conclusion of Merle's theory with the knowledge that as the experiment was concluding and Æther was taking the first wound that would prove fatal, Blinky was captured (possibly proving that theory correct), he takes the time to remind everybody that one of the main themes of this novel is the rampant imperialism of white Europeans (and by obvious extension, being that they're a subclass of "white European", Americans). What better way to point out how shitty the Americans treated the indigenous population than by focusing on this one single aspect of the "resort town": it was previously an Indian graveyard.
    I think this is where my college professors would write a little note on my paper saying "EXPAND" but how much more can I say? Do I have to point out how a town based on vacation and luxury and relaxation is nearly the exact spiritual opposite of sacred burial grounds? That Pynchon has evoked an image of tourists walking around carefree without an important thought in their heads atop the corpses of the native Americans? Am I to assume that people reading whatever I write are dunderheaded nincompoops?! Hmm, I do that every day when I'm out and about in society, why shouldn't I do it while I'm writing?! Maybe my teachers had a point!

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 33: Lines 162-164 (534-536)

 "Lately he's been keeping those ideas pretty much to himself, like he's finally learned how much they might be worth. Seen that happen enough, Lord knows. This big parade of modern inventions, all spirited march tunes, public going ooh and aah, but someplace lurking just out of sight is always some lawyer or accountant, beating the 2/4 like clockwork and runnin the show."

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"like he's finally learned how much they might be worth"
See?! Loss of innocence! I knew S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders wouldn't steer me wrong! It's as if the Professor had found this new type of game that used cards which you purchased in packs with random cards inside. And when you play a game, you bet one of your cards against one of your opponent's cards. Whoever wins gets to keep both cards. And nobody even considered that maybe some of these cards might actually be worth more money than the entire pack was purchased for so nobody really cared much about losing this card or winning that one. But then some jerk whom you thought was your friend suddenly showed up with a magazine whose main reason for being published was to list the different values of all of these cards. And now suddenly Cheryl doesn't want to play for ante because she might lose her Shivan Dragon. Well la dee fucking dah, Cheryl! I guess we'll all just stop having fun then! And thanks a lot, Stephen, for bringing that stupid magazine into our midst! I haven't enjoyed anything since that day in the early 90s! Why even bother going on?! Nothing gold can stay!

"Seen that happen enough, Lord knows"
Me too! Remember that story I've told before and then just now about how fucking Stephen ruined Magic the Gathering for us?!

"This big parade of modern inventions"
This is one of the themes of this book! Look at how all of these modern inventions changed the landscape of our lives at the end of the 19th century! See how we reacted to them! See how they foreshadow the ultimate invention of the 20th century which isn't Magic the Gathering but nuclear weapons!
    Another theme is "See how, by trying to center the story around themselves, Europeans destabilized the center, bringing the entire world into themselves and changing themselves drastically while trying to outwardly control the rest of the world." The imperialist drive to control and dominate the world simply caused soldiers, refugees, and immigrants to bring back to the homeland all of the cultures the imperialists were trying to control and make more British (or whatever, depending on the European country. It's just easy to speak of Britain since they were the empire on which the sun never set or whatever) thus irrevocably changing British life forever, many times in the ways the imperialism was initially meant to prevent. The dumbies.

"beating the 2/4"
This means a beat of two quarter notes per bar. A quarter note is also known as a crotchet. The alternate definition for crotchet is "a perverse or unfounded belief or notion." I first learned that word from Gravity's Rainbow. It, along with Tristram Shandy's "hobbyhorse," are two of my favorite words to describe other people's arguments and motivations.

"like clockwork"
Clockwork plays a large part in Mason & Dixon! So think up something intellectual that compares the two novels here, email it to me, and I'll replace this sentence with that, taking full credit for it.

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 29-30: Line 81 (453)

 "Just missed you boys once, over there in the Khartoum business," the genial skyfarer informed them, "trying to make it out of town a couple steps ahead of the Mahdi's army—saw you sailing overhead, wished I could've been on board, had to settle for jumpin in the river and waiting till the clambake subsided a little."

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"the Khartoum business"
This would be the Siege of Khartoum from March 1884 to January 1885. The moment Ray is talking about must have been in January 1885 seeing as how he was trying to "make it out of town a couple steps ahead of the Mahdi's army." Which means the Chums of Chance were flying around the world eight years previously. Darby certainly wouldn't have been a member of the crew then unless they allow toddlers on board. Or unless, of course, the Chums are ghosts or angels! I'm still hoping for that to be true.
    What possible reason could the Chums of Chance have for involving themselves in Egyptian and Sudanese business? They could be mercenaries. They could be operatives for the interests of the United States. They could be angels ala Michael Landon in Highway to Heaven just going around helping make the world a better place. Or maybe they're more like Sam in Quantum Leap, flying about re-adjusting history like some omniscient autocorrect.
    We haven't learned much about Ray Ipsow yet so I'm not particularly interested in why he was in Khartoum. Unless it has something to do with rival aeronaut clubs trying to spread their influence across the globe in some kind of weird Earth-civilization manipulating game! Maybe they're playing real life versions of Diplomacy or Risk!

"the Khartoum business"
I know I just explained this but only in the perspective of what it meant to the Chums of Chance and Ray Ipsow. The real reason Pynchon uses it as a location is because it's another example of British imperialism across the world, especially of British Imperialist failures like all the best plays performed at the Chicago World's Fair.
    The Khartoum business and British imperialism across the globe is complicated by the fact that Britain was working on the behalf of Egypt, which wasn't a colony but a protectorate, to retreat from Sudan. I don't know how a protectorate really differs from a colony but I suspect it amounts to nearly the same thing. I suppose the only difference is that Egypt's interests paralleled British interests enough that Britain didn't have to set up a British government. But they still sent British administrators and leaders to accomplish British goals while working with the Egyptians. It's all too complicated for somebody who never bothered with history because he was reading every book written by Steinbeck, Kesey, Heller, and Vonnegut!
    Egypt was in control of Sudan when the Mahdi's army revolted. The British were all, "My, my, old chap Egypt. Perhaps you should just move along. Wouldn't want to get wrapped up in a war for that miserable place, wot?" And the Egyptians were all, "Well, I guess since we're your protectorate (whatever that means), we'll follow your advice and evacuate." And the British were all, "We'll send you our best man for the job, meaning a man we'd really like to separate ourselves from a bit so he's off to Khartoum to help you boys out! Cheerio!" Also the man they sent, General Charles George Gordon, had previously been Governor-General of Sudan. So see? More imperialism! No wonder the Sudanese decided the Mahdists were the team to follow. Who wants the British to set up control again? Or their lackeys the Egyptians?! Better to go with this new team, these Islamist guys!
    Gordon thought the Mahdists needed to be defeated so he sort of drug his feet on the evacuation thing and began preparing for battle. But Britain and Egypt were staunchly against supporting his fight and kept trying to remind him to evacuate the city. Eventually it was too late and the city was lying in siege by the Mahdi's army.
    Remember the Siege of Paris? I bet that's why all these balloonists and aeronauts were here. They were delivering messages and trying to provide aid for the people trapped within the city limits.
    Eventually, the British agreed to send help. But upon hearing of reinforcements on the way, the Mahdi's army pressed the siege and invaded the city. They killed every last soldier, many civilians, and, of course, Charles George Gordon. The success of the invaders rebelling against the British and their Egyptian protectorate, even if the Mahdi's regime was one of oppressive Sharia law, is almost certainly why Pynchon mentions this event. Like the plays at the Chicago World's Fair, this was a moment in history where the people oppressed by British colonialism rose up and scored a win.

P.S.
I do not claim to be a historian. If you want to know the intricacies of any historical event I reference and write about, please research it on your own terms! I'm lazy and tend to say things in my own words so much so that I'm probably completely bungling the explanation of events! I just want to explain enough so that one (that one being me, really) can get a sense of why Pynchon mentions any of the things he mentions. He doesn't just use mentions of historical events as filler or color. There's a reason for everything. He's building a sense of the world in 1893 in a way that allows the reader to absorb as much or as little as they choose.
    

Chapter 1: Section 3: Page 23: Line 31 (316)

 Tarahumara Indians from northern Mexico crouched, apparently in total nakedness, inside lath-and-plaster replicas of the caves of their native Sierra Madre, pretending to eat vision-producing cacti that sent them into dramatic convulsions scarcely distinguishable from those of the common "geek" long familiar to American carnival-goers. . . .

* * * * * * * * * *

One thing you'll notice when reading Wikipedia entries about non-European civilizations invaded by European civilizations is the use of words like "conflict" and "strife" and "rebellion" and "unrest." The phrases you don't see are "why couldn't they have left them alone" and "the foreign invaders were aggressive dillholes" and "you bet your ass they killed as many British/Spanish/French/German/Danish/Portuguese/Italian invaders as they could!" I'm sure the people writing the articles are merely thinking, "This is something that happened so I guess I'll just write about this moment as something that couldn't have been avoided by a lack of imperialist aggression and international theft and European arrogance that their perception of the world was the only one that mattered." But I'm also sure that I don't have to forgive those people for their laziness in conforming to the idea that the world should be viewed through a lens of white Western Civilization's conquests and aggression as "simply things that happened."

The 1893 Chicago World's Fair was simply a thing that happened. It couldn't be helped that the central structure was known as The White City not because it was full of white male modern inventions and white male claims of white male authority. It was called The White City because it was covered over by plaster of Paris, of course. Thinking it was the other way is unhelpful reconstructionism! The White City should be seen as an inspiring Mecca for middle class white people who would use the term "Mecca" in trivial ways like I just did. Why think about the negative? You should read things like "The World's Columbian Exposition defined American culture!" rather than things like "The whiteness of The White City became increasingly offensive to African Americans as plans for the fair unfolded." [Both of those quotes were taken from the online encyclopedia of Chicago history about the Chicago World's Fair.] I'm sure Pynchon didn't put all of these examples of the Midway Plaisance in the book to rock the American cultural boat! I'm sure he wasn't all, "You know, 1893 had a lot of great moments in the changing times of American culture and history. And what better place to start than the Chicago World's Fair which was a shining beacon on the hill of inequality on so many vectors and an example of how Americans embrace the illusion of who they think they are rather than who they really are." I'm sure he was just all, "A Fair! What a fun place to start a book about a bunch of boys in an airship that doesn't contain any subtext at all!"

"Tarahumara Indians from northern Mexico"
Well, geez, didn't I go off on a tangent! It happened because I began reading about the Rarámuri (that's what they called themselves; "Tarahumara Indians" is an exonym by the Spanish (although "Rarámuri" specifically refers to the men of the tribe so it's kind of sexist!)) and how they were never conquered by the Spanish or "fully" converted by the Jesuits. I suppose you have to modify the word converted in this context because those Goddamned Jesuits are absolutely going to convince at least a few people that Hell is real and Jesus is the only way to avoid it.
    Listing all of these various civilizations and their performances manages to highlight Western Civilization's imperialist wrongdoings. Pynchon manages to highlight even this highlight by narrating the scene through Lindsay's judgmental attitude toward the practices of the native populations put on display here at the Fair. "Look at how they act. This is why we needed to invade their countries and civilize them." And Lindsay looks upon the scene and readily agrees.

"pretending to eat vision-producing cacti"
Why pretend?! Were they not allowed to bring their drugs into the Midway Plaisance even though everybody else seems to be doing a shit ton of opium?! This is the most offensive bit to me!

"dramatic convulsions scarcely distinguishable from those of the common "geek" long familiar to American carnival-goers"
See? This is what I've been talking about! Pynchon shows how an act that is probably part of their tribal religion and almost certainly sacred to their traditions is merely seen by white American tourists as equal to a guy in a carnival biting the head off of a chicken. It's degrading! It's, well, um . . . it's America, I guess. Hooray?