Since their orders had come through, the "scuttlebutt" among the excited and curious crew had been of little besides the fabled "White City," its great Ferris wheel, alabaster temples of commerce and industry, sparkling lagoons, and the thousand more such wonders, of both a scientific and an artistic nature, which awaited them there.
* * * * * * * * * *
Just before beginning Against the Day, my best friend (I know he's my best friend because he once called me his best friend while on the phone with some other guy who thought he was his best friend and that guy was immediately saddened by the entire interaction. Aside from all that proof, all of my friends are my best friends so I just say "best friend" when I could easily just say "person whose balls I bust but they keep talking to me for some reason anyway") said, "You should re-read Jimmy Corrigan first!" And while I took that into consideration, I also didn't want to spend the next few days sobbing uncontrollably. But the suggestion was enough to get the point across: Against the Day was going to have something to do with the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago! Or it was going to have a three legged horse in it.
The event was such a tremendous success, such a humongous feather in the city's cap, that it was represented on the flag of Chicago as a gigantic asterisk.
The asterisks represent great moments in Chicago's history. In 1893 (when the flag was introduced for the Fair, I believe (I add "I believe" every time I comment on history because the only knowledge I'm sure of is my knowledge of Mirkwood)), Chicago only had two great moments: the Columbian Exhibition and a fire that destroyed most of the city. By 2020, the amount of things Chicago would be celebrated for (and thus represented by more asterisks) will have grown to four! Congratulations on being so historic, Chicago!
While researching this flag that most people would look at and forget about instantly, I discovered that people think it's iconic and often get it as a tattoo. I wonder what my tattoo would look like if I were proud of the city where I grew up?
Yeesh. This feels like something a bunch of junior high class officers would have come up with for their school flag. Why hasn't it been redesigned for the modern era? Maybe stick an Atari 2600 on it, for God's sake.
I apologize to Chicago for dumping on their flag. I appreciate the subtlety and the symbolism now that I've seen my city's flag and it's "Here's the name of our city! And the seal that again establishes the name of the city! And also that it's a city! And what state it's in!" At least it's got a picture of one of the buildings I used to grind my skateboard across as a kid.
This entry is really getting away from me! I'm sorry!
One of the important things we learn from this sentence is that the Chums of Chance receive orders from some organization or government or secret society. My guess is they work for the United States Government because they're all so patriotic.
"Scuttlebutt" is in quotes because Pynchon is using its slang meaning here which is "gossip" as opposed to the original meaning which is "office water cooler on a ship." It's also a funny word to say and would have been the name of my child if I'd ever had one. If I were willing to reveal my last name, I'd bet you'd really get a kick out of it! I bet my best friends are giggling a lot right now!
The rest of the sentence just tells the dimwitted readers of this Pynchon novel (who are dimwitted compared to Pynchon but probably brightwitted compared to people who don't read Pynchon, the dullards!) what to expect at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. So many wonders! I hope they miss out on the greatest wonder of them all: H. H. Holmes!
Get used to it. I'm going to keep bringing up that monster! He's got to make an appearance in this thing, right?! Or is that too easy a reference for Pynchon?!
