Chapter 29: “The Pre-game Ritual or: The Calm Before the Storm”

"In her office Dora poured herself one more, swallowed it and locked the drawer again. She fixed her perfect hair in the wall mirror, inspected her shining red nails, and went out to the bar..." (Steinbeck 165).

Photo of the bar in Doc's lab. The lab is currently privately owned and has been utilized as a social club for a group dedicated to the preservation of Ed Ricketts' legacy and to the preservation of jazz music in America. This group was instrumental (along with the late Dave Brubeck) in creating the Monterey Jazz Festival. While the bar is cool, it was definitely not part of Ed Ricketts' (Doc's) decor. I immediately thought "Bear Flag" when I saw it... 

Another photo of the model of Doc's lab (located at Doc's lab today). The right side is the front of the building that opens out to Cannery Row. The left side of the building opens to the bay.

Doc himself mindfully orchestrates a progression of music to fine-tune his mood. Starting with the Great Fugue by Beethoven, Doc listens to Pavana to a Dead Princess by Maurice Ravel, contemplates Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto, and ultimately “compromises” with himself by playing Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata to “snap him out of the sweet and sickly mood he was getting into” (Steinbeck 166). Quite the playlist!

The Great Fugue, Pavane to a Dead Princess, Daphnis and Chloe, The Brandenburg Concerto, Clair de Lune, The Maiden with Flaxen Hair, Moonlight Sonata (Link to music)