Pages 219-258
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Contents
☽ November 7th, YDAU - Joelle goes to Molly Notkin's party
Page 219
perfunctory
(of an action or gesture) carried out with a minimum of effort or reflection.
striated
marked with stripes or streaks
Cukor
George Dewey Cukor (1899-1983) was an American film director.
Murnau in Méliès's fiberglass lap
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (1888-1931) was a German expressionist filmmaker who later worked in Hollywood. He made the classic vampire film "Nosferatu" (1922). Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès (1861-1938) was a French filmmaker, famous for the 1902 silent "A Trip to the Moon" (featured in Martin Scorsese's 2011 film "Hugo").
cummerbund
the band of fabric worn around the waist with a tuxedo
M.I.T.-crested
see right
Page 220
low-pH chemist
i.e., he worked with acids
piebald
having patches of black and white
G.W. Pabst
Georg Wilhelm Pabst (1885-1967) was a Bohemian-born Austrian filmmaker.
sorghum
a type of grain used in the production of molasses, alcholic beverages, and animal feed
tumefies
swells
sororal
another word for "sisterly"
sub-rosa
From the Latin "under the rose," this word means secretly held.
Page 221
sienna-glazed
glazed with an earth-based pigment
polyresin
a resin compound used to make figurines, among other things
staccato
in music, notes that are sounded in a detached and distinct manner
cataract
In the non-ophthalmic sense, this word means "waterfall."
Page 222
NOTRE RAI PAYS
perhaps idiomatic French (literally "our spoke [or ray] country") for "our home away from home," indicating Québec's colonial status with respect to motherland France; potentially meant to be translated as "our shining land". [Or perhaps the V fell off from NOTRE VRAI PAYS, our true country, -different editor]
.473-liter
16 ounces, a pint
Big Red Soda Water
a real brand similar to cream soda, only red. This was originally only sold in Central/South Texas and Kentucky and is still popular in that region, though available elsewhere.
Chore Boy
a brand of scrubbing pads. The copper version of these pads can be used as a filter for smoking crack.
two-k. square
0.77 square miles
Disgorge
Eject
Monogram
a design consisting of two or more alphabetic letters combined or interlaced
selvage
the finished edge of a piece of fabric, so done to prevent fraying
Neonatal
of or relating to newborn children.
The afternoon's meshes.
recalls an experimental film by Maya Deren and her husband Alexander Hammid, Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
delimits
establishes the boundaries of
Page 223
Acetate
Rayon
Chronology of O.N.A.N.'s Revenue-Enhancing Subsidized Time™
Page 223
See Subsidized Time.
Endnote 78
G.F.R. Co.
perhaps Global Food Resources
Zanesville OH
a town 55 miles east of Columbus
Vienna VA
a suburb of Washington, D.C., about 15 miles due west of the city
Joelle, cont.
Page 223
Colonel Shaw and the MA 54th
Robert Gould Shaw was a Bostonian killed in the Civil War while commanding the all-black Massachusetts 54th Regiment. A relief sculpture memorial to him is located on Beacon Street (not Boylston Street) in front of the Massachusetts State House.
Page 225
tumbrel
a cart for hauling manure or for hauling victims to the guillotine during the French Revolution
imprecated
called down curses upon someone
Delphina
name of a beatified Catholic virgin
Endnote 79
Year of the Trial-Sized Dove Bar
Page 225 (cont'd)
Veedersburg, Indiana and Powell, Wyoming
Veedersburg is about 70 miles west-northwest of Indianapolis; Powell is about 90 miles south of Billings, Mont.
parallax
This is "the difference between the view of an object as seen through the picture-taking lens of a camera and the view as seen through a separate viewfinder" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary). "Difference or change in the apparent position or direction of an object as seen from two different points" (OED)
penultimate
next to the last
Page 226
8-gram
a bit over a quarter of an ounce
wildly carbuncular wife
This is a reference to Nancy Witcher Astor, Viscountess Astor (1879-1964), wife of Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor (the quote has also been attributed to Bessie Braddock)
P.M.U.K.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Lend-Lease
a program between the beginning of World War II and U.S. entry after the bombing of Pearl Harbor whereby the U.S. government provided materiel to Britain (and later the Soviets) in return for military bases
scopophobic
scopophobia is the morbid fear of being seen or stared at by others
he was indeed inebriated...while she...would tomorrow still be hideously and improbably deformed.
Many versions of this witty exchange between Winston Churchill and a woman have been propagated over the the years. It may or may not have actually occurred.
Helen P. Steeply's (putative) c.v.
Page 227
putative
supposed
curriculum vitae
résumé
1.98 M., 104 KG., A.B., M.J.A.
1.98 meters is about 6'4" tall. 104 kg is around 230 lbs. She's enormous.
A.B. is the older Latin equivalent (Artium Baccalaureus or Artium Baccalaureatus) of B.A., i.e., Bachelor of Arts. M.J.A. is Master of Justice Administration.
Decade Magazine
probably not a real publication
Southwest Annual
probably not a real publication
Ladies Day
also not a real publication
Erythema AZ
not a real town, but erythema is a real disease
Joelle, cont.
Page 227
A.B.D.
"All But Dissertation," a term used to refer to people who have completed their doctoral studies with the exception of their dissertations.
Homburg
A homburg is a stiff felt hat characterized by a single dent running down the center of the crown and a brim fixed in a tight, upwards curl. It is superficially similar to the trilby or fedora; trilbys and fedoras, however, have soft, "snappable" brims and can have various designs "pinched" into the crown, whereas the shape of a homburg is fixed. (see right) Wikipedia
Wiesbaden
a city of Germany above 25 miles west of Frankfurt (Main)
Page 228
the A.M.'s interruptus
Presumably this means the end of the morning, although the only common English usage of "interruptus" is in the Latin phrase coitus interrruptus, i.e., "pulling out." (See the Consummation of the Levirates.)
The A.M.'s interruptus could refer to her "quitting" her drug use that morning.
Maya Deren
Born Eleanora Derenkowsky, Maya Deren (1917-1961) was a Ukrainian-born American director [1].
Page 229
glycine
one of the 20 amino acids found in proteins; however, DFW probably meant to say 'glassine bags'
Rutherford Keck and Crosby Baum
These both seem to be invented people.... Continuing with the optics theme, Keck is a major observatory on the big island of Hawaii. Rutherford could refer to a British nuclear physicist who pioneered an erroneous model of the atom and discovered the concept of radioactive half-life.
Infernatron Viewer
A type of TP (Teleputer) as seen it Year of the Yushityu 2007 Mimetic-Resolution-Cartridge-View-Motherboard-Easy-To-Install-Upgrade For Infernatron/InterLace TP Systems For Home, Office Or Mobile (sic). Interlacing video makes it possible to cut the frame rate in half but can cause problems. The infernatron has to deliver the same "mimetic resolution" as the interlaced model at double the frame rate making it a very advanced television/telephone computer. If it's a portmanteau of infernal and electron that could be making a statement about DFW's TV addiction.
Smothergill
...as does this...
Miriam Prickett
...and this.
Franciscan bald spot
The Orders of Friars Minor were known to shave the tops of their heads in medieval and early modern times.
Page 230
paps
breasts or nipples
diphthong
In linguistics, a diphthong is a vowel combination involving a smooth transition from one vowel to another in the same syllable. "Splitting the diphthong" in "beautiful" is pronouncing it bee-yoo-ti-ful.
febrile
feverish
scopophiliac
An individual affected with the desire to look at sexually stimulating scenes especially as a substitute for actual sexual participation. From the translation of the Freudian notion of Schaulust, "pleasure in looking," in the sense of both seeing and being seen, as well as "curiosity." Freud distinguished between two frequently encountered forms of this partial drive: one active, "voyeurism," and the other passive, "exhibitionism," neither of which he would necessarily rank among perversions. [cf. scopophobic (p.226) & scopophilia (p.832)]
Boaz
the name of cities in both Alabama and West Virginia
Page 231
Vogelsong
"Vogel" = German for "bird", i.e. something like: bird song ("song" is not German)
Emerson College
a college in Boston
ectoplasm
the supposed emanation of the soul from the body; here used as a metaphor for vomit
afflatus
inspiration; a divine imparting of knowledge or power
aural
of or relating to the ear or the sense of hearing
dithers
behaves in a nervous or agitated way
jaundice
yellowing of the skin caused by liver disease
b & w
black and white
Bouvier
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's maiden surname
f-stop
The ratio of the focal length (f) of a lens or lens system to the effective diameter of its aperture" (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition). The higher the number, the smaller the aperture, and the greater the depth of field.
old super 8
They had a slow frame rate. Aperture is relative to shutter speed. The person speaking here seems very confused about everything they're saying. (This reader disagrees. The relationship of aperture to shutter speed is constrained by frame rate. So called super 8 differed in aspect ratio, but not frame rate, from 8 mm.)
Berliner
h
Technically, it's called the Berliner Pfannkuchen (doughnut). There was a misconception that JFK said he was a doughnut in his 1963 speech (see the next page).
vulgate
common or colloquial speech.
idiom
a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g., rain cats and dogs, see the light ).
Page 232
seminal
(of a work, event, moment, or figure) strongly influencing later developments.
Ich bein ein Berliner
Bein is the wrong word. It's a noun in German and means "leg". The first-person singular of sein ("to be") is bin. Still, the wrong spelling may be related to Kennedy's wrong pronunciation of this sentence.
Teutonic
The Teutons were a Germanic tribe or Celtic people.
TA
Teaching Assistant
Doubles the focal-length
Zooms the camera in.
À du nous avons foi au poison
French (roughly): We have faith in poison [the French or Québecois is itself quite rough]
Eve Plumb
She played Jan Brady on The Brady Bunch.
Henderson
Florence Henderson, who played Carol Brady
Davis
Ann B. Davis, who played Alice, the maid
Peter
the middle son, played by Christopher Knight
Greg
the eldest son, played by Barry Williams
raison
raison d'être - reason or justification for existence
ineluct-
ineluctable - not able to be avoided or changed
De gustibus non est disputandum
Latin: There's no accounting for taste (literally, "tastes are not disputable")
Eisenstein and Kurosawa and Michaux
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (1898-1948) was a Latvian-born Russian-Jewish filmmaker, famous for his film Battleship Potemkin. Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998) was perhaps the most prominent Japanese filmmaker of the twentieth century. Oscar Micheaux (1893-1951) was an African-American filmmaker.
tesseract
draw a bead
slang for taking aim at a target with a rifle
ten m.
Ten meters is equal to 32.8 feet.
Page 233
Heideggerian
Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) was a prominent twentieth-century German philosopher and proponent of existentialism.
a priori
From the Latin for "from what comes first," these are assumptions made before observations are made. In the context of Heidegger, it refers to things that can be known without any experience of the world, usually because they involve the structure of the mind or of concepts.
wraith
another word for "ghost"
labile
unstable
The Incision
I could locate no film by this name. (In my opinion, that is because it is a fictional film or cartridge, perhaps directed and produced by James O. Incandenza, and perhaps his son Mario is the cinematographer being sought in the conversation.)
- way it can be film qua film--answering their phone
this next paragraph is most likely about the movie Infinite jest. Sounds like porn. DFW speaks on the coming of virtual reality porn in a few 1996 interviews. VR headsets and porn will be released at the end of 2015.
qua
From the Latin ablative case of the word for "who," this word means "in the character or capacity of."
dopamine
dopamine is a neurotransmitter. It plays major role in arousal and sexual gratification
suprasubliminal
supra means above. so it's not subliminal... perhaps liminal
post-annular
after the onset of annular fusion (elsewhere discussed) [editor changes] see annulus - still the same meaning "ringlike". The inguinal ring is annular and at either end of the Inguinal canal where sperm is made. [editor changes] Sperm is not made at either end of the inguinal canal. It is made in the testes, which are located in the scrotum, below either end of the inguinal canal..
Scopophiliacal
Scopophilia is deriving pleasure from looking. As an expression of sexuality, it refers to sexual pleasure derived from looking at erotic objects: erotic photographs, pornography, naked bodies, etc.
blinis
Russian crepes
tartines
a type of French open-faced sandwich
sweetbreads
thymus gland or pancreas of young animals (calf or lamb)
glacé
French for "iced" or “glazed,” in the culinary not architectural sense
Morris Mini
another name for the Morris Minor a British car made from 1948–71.
Charles
Brandeis University, Harvard University, Boston University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are all located along the charles river
ipecac
derived from the ipecacuanha plant, a syrup produced to induce vomiting
clapper
little board at the beginning of takes that opens and snaps shut to sync video and audio. It also designates and marks particular scenes and takes
Dishmaster
see Subsidized Time
whorls
a pattern of spirals or concentric circles. A fingerprint is an example.
Makavajev
Born in 1932, Dusan Makavejev (probably misspelled) is a Yugoslavian-born film director.
Page 234
Shiny Prize, Kentucky
not a real town
1.7 meters tall
a little over 5'6"
48 kilograms
about 106 pounds (This makes her about 15-30 pounds below her ideal weight.)
volition
the faculty or power of using one's will.
wopse
to heap, wrap, or tangle in a disorderly way
phalloneurotic
a portmanteau of phallus and neurotic, probably intended to mean a mental disorder involving obsession with one's penis, or perhaps with penis more generally; uncertain as to which "phalloneurotic" New Yorker this refers
EZ-Widers
a brand of cigarette rolling papers
Cyrillic
employing the Cyrillic alphabet, as with Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian, Bulgarian, etc.
mollified
softened in feeling and temper
soft rock's grim dental association
which is to say, it's the kind of music you'd hear in a dentist's office
Kinski as Paganini
Klaus Kinski (1926-1991), Danzig-born German-American actor, played Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840), the Italian violinist and composer, in his final film, Kinski Paganini.
Léaud as Doinel
Jean-Pierre Léaud (born 1944), a French actor, played the fictional character Antoine Doinel in five films.
Peterson's The Lead Shoes
An 18-minute film by Sidney Peterson (1949), preceded by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's great The Red Shoes(1948) with Moira Shearer. (Cf. the color in the title of the fictitious monograph in endnote 81.)
pomander
This is "a mixture of aromatic substances, often in the form of a ball, formerly carried on the person as a supposed guard against infection but now placed in closets, dressers, etc." (Random House Unabridged Dictionary).
Page 235
elision
the process of joining together or merging things, especially abstract ideas
dicky
impaired
bathetic
appealing to bathos, i.e., insincere pathos (emotion)
neat bourbon
bourbon without ice
Vittoria
a reference to Santa Maria della Vittoria, where the mentioned work by Bernini hangs
recumbent
reclining
Gleem
a brand of toothpaste
NoCoat scraper
Presumably refers to NoCoat LinguaScrapers (tongue scrapers) mentioned on Page 151.
NeGram
a brand name of nalidixic acid, used to treat urinary tract infections
depilatory
for removal of hair
Monostat
brand name of a treatment for vaginal yeast infections
Parapectolin
a mixture of kaolinite and pectin, used to treat diarrhea
Diaphragm foam
Vaginal Contraceptive Foam
Page 236
Kodachrome
a brand name of camera film
Reynolds Wrap
a brand name of aluminum foil
baking soda
Joelle is making crack, as opposed to 'freebase cocaine' which requires ether. Crack production is procedurally distinct (and safer) from that of purer 'freebase cocaine,' but the freebase products are the same: the baking soda serves to free the cocaine base from the pure cocaine hydrochloride. Both methods produce crystals that can be smoked. The production method of Joelle's earlier "home made freebase cocaine" is uncertain, but conventional terminology suggests she makes the ether-based variety at home.
C knob
the knob for cold water
Page 237
Paducah
a city in Kentucky about 175 miles southeast of St. Louis, Mo.
Qantas
an airline serving Australia and New Zealand
Page 238
fillips
a sharp tap, "made by bending the last joint of a finger against the thumb and suddenly releasing it (so as to propel some small object, or merely as a gesture)" (OED)
mâché
French for "chewed" indicating here bits and pieces of the material. e.g., papier mâché
S.O.P.
Standard Operating Procedure
imperial
a case for luggage
"...darkness dance on the face of the deep..."
a play on Genesis 1:2
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
"...that skull fragment out of the Hamlet graveyard scene..."
i.e., "infinite jest"
Mad Stork
the nickname for former NFL linebacker Ted Hendricks
Page 239
banal
hackneyed or trite
Prettiest G.O.A.T.
Though G.O.A.T. stands here for "Girl Of All Time," it's an oxymoron, because "goat" is a slang term for an ugly person.
slew-footed
with the foot turned on the axis of the ankle
Page 240
white- party-noise
which is to say random noise generated by the party outside the bedroom
stretto
section at the end of a fugue in which successive introductions of the theme follow at shorter intervals than before, increasing the sense of excitement.
'We've Only Just Begun'
a song by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols first recorded by the Carpenters in 1970
mercuric red
red as the color made by MercuroChrome
☽ - Enfield, MA
Page 240
Note: Most of these places exist but there is no such town (anymore) as Enfield, Mass. The real town of Enfield, Mass, was one of four disincorporated during the construction of the Quabbin Reservoir in western Mass. The others were Dana, Greenwich, and Prescott.
Dicalced
Apparently there is a misspelling. The correct term would be Discalced Carmelites, which means they go barefoot or wear sandals.
Page 241
RCC
Roman Catholic Church
les trebuchets noirs
French: the black catapults
5 km
about 3.1 miles
brachiform
in the shape of an arm
75 hectares
almost 900,000 square yards
palisades
fences
guano
feces, particularly of birds or bats
four-km.
almost 2.5 miles
coaxial
coaxial cable
A type of cable that has an inner conductor surrounded by a tubular insulating layer, surrounded by a tubular conducting shield.
Sunstrand
not a real place.
Sundstrand Corporation makes Aerospace and Industrial Products.
ohm
unit of electrical resistance
Page 242
Ø's
This could refer to all the zeros in the presumably large number of amps in the warning signs, but it may also refer (in plural) to the internationally recognized graphic prohibition sign, i.e., the No symbol, although the graphic incorporates a red circle with a backslash (from top left to bottom right, rather than bottom left to top right), as for the zero symbol. The numerical symbol incorporates the forward slash to distinguish it from the capital letter O. Also a Scandinavian vowel letter.
A.D.E.
one of ATSHCME's Air-Displacement Effectuators
November 5th, YDAU - Hal and Orin discuss Himself's suicide
Page 242
Barry Loach is Head Trainer at E.T.A.
Endnote 82
Page 243
caroms
rebounds
1100 meters
a little over 3,600 feet
Superstition mountains
a real range east of Phoenix
precipice
a cliff with a vertical face
propitiate
to conciliate, appease or make peace with someone, particularly a god or spirit
apotropaic barn-signs
Hex signs commonly seen in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, ostensibly intended to ward off evil, but now probably used more as a decorative element
Popogatapec
probably a reference to Popocatépetl an active volcano, located in Central Mexico
Ahts of Vancouver
another name for the Nuu-chah-nulth, the indigenous peoples of Vancouver Island, Canada
Micturation
urination
Page 244
200-kilo
about 441 pounds
apposite
pertinent
Page 245
decamp
to depart secretly
domino-mask
This is "a large, hooded cloak with a mask covering the eyes, worn at masquerades" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary).
lacuna
a missing part
discursive
Digressing from subject to subject:
diorama
a model representing a scene with three-dimensional figures, either in miniature or as a large-scale museum exhibit.
frothy biblical saw
a trifling or empty biblical proverb
Page 246
rodneys
obviously some kind of impulse buy: cigarettes
refracted
bent or twisted by a change in medium. An optics term, so this is an oblique reference to filming.
Cardinal Stadium
The Arizona Cardinals now play in the University of Phoenix Stadium.
Page 247
Royal Victoria
The Royal Victoria College was a women's college created as part of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.
Lyle
The Sweat Guru
annulation
forming rings. Possibly a metaphor for having children.
Robinson annulation is used to make cortisone. Himself most likely had cortisone shots in his knees after his fall.
Page 248
Rog and Wilc,O.
"Roger Wilco, Orin" - Roger Wilco is a radio communication meaning Roger - "I received your message./" and Wilco - "I will comply."
'20 for 28 is what, 65%?'
It's a little over 71%.
Page 249
telemachry
Maybe not the word Hal was looking for, but Telemachus was a monk who tried to stop the Roman gladiator fights and told the Romans to stop worshiping false idols instead of Christ. He was stoned to death, though his death is sometimes said to have ended the Gladiatorial games. So, "telemachry" could be interpreted to be trust in a higher power.
telemetry
the transmission of something automatically and at a distance -- here, Hal's toenails to the wastebasket
Page 250
asphyxuated
There's no clear reason for Orin's mispronunciation of asphyxiated. Perhaps he's combining asphyxia and evacuated.
Page 251
magnitron
a misspelling of "magnetron," which is "a two-element vacuum tube in which the flow of electrons is under the influence of an external magnetic field, used to generate extremely short radio waves" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary).
kg.s.cm.
kilograms per square centimeter, as a measurement of pressure, like pounds per square inch; could just be a reference to kilogram-second-centimeter, or a form of the metric system (though the metric systems usually have 'second' last - as in CGS [centimeter-gram-second] or MKS [meter-kilogram-second]), though 'two sticks of TNT' doesn't really imply a system of units.
evince
reveal the presence of (a quality or feeling).
Page 252
synclinal
sloping downward from opposite directions to meet in a common point or line
Adriatic
the sea between the west coast of Italy and the Balkan peninsula
Page 253
StairMaster
a brand name of exercise machines
Kübler-Ross, Hinton
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D. (1926-2004) was a Swiss-born American psychiatrist and specialist on death and dying. John Hinton is a British contemporary expert in the field.
Kastenbaum and Kastenbaum
Robert J. Kastenbaum is another prominent scholar in the field of death and dying. I can't find another person by that name, so perhaps Hal is referring to multiple volumes by the same Kastenbaum.
Elizabeth Harper Neeld's Seven Choices: Taking the Steps to New Life After Losing Someone You Love
A real book, it's actually 343 pages. (The 1997 edition is 343 pages, but an earlier publishing may have been 352.)
Wyclif and 14th-century langue-d'oc French
John Wyclif was a 14th century English theologian. He made the first translation of the Bible into English, thus his importance to etymology in general. Langue d'oc is another name for the Occitan language. The OED actually dates the word's (acceptance) earliest usage to 1596 by Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice.
Hindi
a national language of India and one of the most widely spoken
Gila monster
a venomous lizard native to the Southwest U.S. and Mexico, known for its tenacious bite
hypertensive
having high blood pressure
Page 254
Leaves of Grass
the most famous volume of poetry by Walt Whitman. Whitman spent most of his professional life writing and re-writing Leaves of Grass, revising it multiple times until his death. This resulted in vastly different editions over four decades—the first a small book of twelve poems and the last a compilation of over 400 poems.
Page 255
unfazable
incapable of being disturbed
paroxysmic
characteristic of an outburst of violent emotion
Page 256
half a meter
about 1.64 feet
Page 257
dewlaps
loose flesh as under the jaw of a cow
"...when Luke removes his high-tech targeting helmet..."
Hal is referring to a scene from Star Wars; Luke is Luke Skywalker.
vestiges
a part or organ of an organism that has become reduced or functionless in the course of evolution.
atavistic
relating to or characterized by reversion to something ancient or ancestral.
coccyges
plural of coccyx, i.e., the tailbone
Page 258
jonquil-yellow
another name for the flower known as the narcissus or daffodil
