Pages 63-87

Editors: Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel. And please pay attention to formatting and grammar. Preview your changes before saving them. Thanks!

Page 63 (cont'd)

G. Ford - early G. Bush
roughly 1974 to 1989

S.A.C.
Strategic Air Command

neutron
a subatomic particle with no charge

gamma-refractive
referring to a certain index of refraction, i.e., a measure of how much the speed of light is slowed down under certain conditions

lithium-adonized
made more beautiful with lithium

Page 64

cold annular fusion
Cold fusion is a low-energy nuclear reaction. That it is annual means it is ring-shaped.

Tableaux
This is the French pluralization of "tableau," a striking scene.

homolosine-cartography
This is map-making based on an equal distribution of land, created by John Paul Goode (1862-1932), an American geographer. Goode did this to replace the Eurocentric Mercator projection.

optative
expressing a wish or choice

U.S.T.A.
United States Tennis Assocation

après-garde
French for "rear guard," it's the opposite of avant-garde.

Endnote 24

Page 64 (cont'd)

Macdonald Chair
possibly named for Dwight Macdonald (1906-1982), American writer, editor, and social critic

Royal Victoria College of McGill University
now an all women's residence at McGill University in Montreal

Reflective vs. Reflexive Systems
These are two systems of cognition, the former is associative, rapid in processing, and subconcious, while the latter is rule-based and thus slower.

Personnes à Qui On Doit Surveiller Attentivement
French: People Whom We Must Watch Closely

Throppinghamshire Provincial College, New Brunswick, Canada
There is no such college, though New Brunswick is a province of Canada.

recondite
dealing with complex subject matter

mordantly
in a caustic manner

feck
efficacy; force; value

Page 65

F.C.
Perhaps "formerly Canadian"

A.E.C.
Atomic Energy Commission

ARPA-NET
The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, development by the U.S. Dept. of Defense, was a forerunner of the Internet.

L'Islet County
a county of Québec at the northern end of the Appalachian Mountains

hyperfloration
overgrowth of flowers or plants

festschrift
In German, a Festschrift is a celebratory monograph dedicated to a person.

anticonfluential
against things coming together

chiaroscuro
distribution of light and shade in a photo or painting

annulation
the formation of rings

hypertrophied
grown exceeding large

Page 65

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment

tacks
follows a zigzag course

Mile-High
the stadium in which the Denver Broncos play

100 meters over the 40
I.e., the 40-yard line on the football field. One hundred meters is slightly longer than the length of the field.

nongarish
not garish, i.e., not excessively ornate

Page 66

zither
a harp-like instrument, hand-held, associated with angels

water-drops
being dropped into water, presumably because the football team in Seattle is the Seahawks

Oiler
the former football team of Houston, now the Tennessee Titans

Brown
The Browns are the football team of Cleveland.

Page 66

organopsychedelic
a substance naturally producing a psychedelic effect

isoxazole-alkaloid
Isoxazole is explained here; an alkaloid is a naturally occurring, nitrogen-containing, plant-produced compound.

Page 67

methoxylated
Wikipedia redirects here or "methoxylation."

phenylkylamine
possibly a made-up substance

rock and bob Hasidically
A Hasid or Chasid is an Orthodox Jew who wears sidelogs, dark clothes, etc. The bobbing is a nod to what Hasidim do when praying or studying religious texts.

titrated
To titrate is "to ascertain the quantity of a given constituent by adding a liquid reagent of known strength and measuring the volume necessary to convert the constituent to another form" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary).

As used here, a doper expression meaning to try a bit of the drug to ascertain its effects before taking the whole thing (eg one hit of pot, half a tab of acid/LSD).

Page 67

Endnote 26

enkephalin
a type of painkiller

Page 67 (cont'd)

psychodysleptic
a drug that negative effects the take psychologically

in medias
Latin: in the middle of

oblique
neither perpendicular nor parallel

deliquesce
to become liquid by absorbing moisture from the air


Personal tools