Pages 470-489

2015-01-05T23:18:55Z

SteveMacGee: /* Page 481 */

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=Pre-dawn, May 1st, YDAU - Steeply & Marathe on the Pleasure Center=

==Page 470==

'''stereotaxy''' 
also known as "stereotaxis," this is three-dimensional brain imaging

'''Elder, Elders''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Olds James Olds], co-discovered the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasure_center#Experiments_on_rodents "pleasure center"]

'''plutonium-239''' 
a fissile isotope of plutonium

'''ablative surgery''' 

a treatment for neurological disorders involving freezing or burning of brain tissue

==Page 471==

'''Q-dopa''' 
not a real neurotransmitter

==Page 472==

'''MK-Ultra''' 
an actual [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_MKULTRA CIA mind-control experiment] starting in the 1950s and continuing well into the 1960s and possibly 70s

==Endnote 198==

'''''Orlikow et al. v. United States of America''''' 
This was a real case, and you can read the proceedings [http://www.randomcollection.info/mcf/orli-01.htm here].

==Page 472 (cont'd)==

'''G.C.''' 
Government of Canada, perhaps. It may also mean some type of transmitter that can interfere with a pacemaker (which Marathe's father has).

'''M.M.P.I.''' 
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, a commonly administered psychological test designed to give an overview of personality, neuroses, etc.

==Page 473==

'''Millon's''' 
the [http://millon.net/instruments/MCMI_III.htm Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III], another psych inventory

'''Approception''' 
apparently not a real test

'''shiatsu''' 
a type of Asian massage

'''weal''' 
well-being

'''Turner, Bush, Casey''' 
Admiral Stansfield Turner was head of the CIA from 1977 to 1981. George H.W. Bush (later President) was CIA head from 1976 to 1977. William J. Casey was head from 1981 to 1987.

'''Langley''' 
the town in Virginia where the CIA is headquartered

'''pernicious''' 

subtly harmful

==Page 474==

'''divans''' 
couches or sofas

'''rutting''' 
heat, i.e., sexual excitement

'''N.S.A.''' 
National Security Agency

'''C7''' 
The C7 is a modified version of the American M-16 combat rifle. It's implied here that C7 was some kind of security apparatus, but there is no evidence that such a body existed.

'''emery board''' 
nail file

==Page 475==

=Gately Driving / Antitoi Brothers=

==Page 475==

'''princess-and-pea''' 
a reference to the fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea," wherein despite several mattresses, a princess can still feel a single pea below her

'''cluster migraines''' 
Cluster headaches and migraines are actually two distinct syndromes.

'''quiche''' 
a baked flan or tart with a savory filling thickened with eggs

'''feldspar''' 
a rock-forming mineral

==Page 476==

'''E.R.''' 
Emergency Room

'''Rebel Yell''' 
a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebel_yell battle cry] used by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War

'''CITGO''' 
one of the [http://www.citgo.com/Home.jsp major oil] companies. The neon [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citgo_sign#The_Citgo_sign Citgo sign] described here is an iconic landmark in Boston.

'''70 kph.''' 
about 43.5 miles per hour

'''Father & Son Market...Riley's Roast Beef''' 
all of these are references to actual stores and clubs in Allston/Brighton, though many have closed or been renamed and some are on nearby streets and would not be visible to Gately as he drives down Comm. Ave.

'''CVS''' 
a large chain of [http://www.cvs.com/ drugstores]

'''75 k''' 
about 46.6 miles per hour

'''ς''' 
the Greek letter ''sigma'' as it appears in lower case at the ends of words

'''mysticetously''' 
in the manner of a baleen whale

'''cognomen''' 
a descriptive nickname

==Page 477==

'''tallboys''' 

16oz cans of beer

'''80 kph''' 
almost 50 miles per hour

'''Berklee School of Music''' 
a real school, one of the highest-prestige [http://www.berklee.edu/ music schools] in the U.S., though it has been named Berklee College of Music since B.S. 1970

==Page 478==

'''tonic machines''' 
"tonic" is a (rapidly disappearing) Boston area term for carbonated soft drinks.

==Endnote 202==

'''argot''' 
slang, jargon

'''Escherian''' 
referring to the work of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._C._Escher Maurits Cornelis (M.C.) Escher] (1898-1972), a Dutch graphic artist famous for his illustrations of repeated patterns and impossible structures. "Escherian signs" would seem to indicate signs that are confusing or impossible to follow.

==Page 478 (cont'd)==

'''Bread & Circus in Inman Square''' 
a real health food store on Prospect Street in Cambridge between Central and Inman Squares. The Bread & Circus chain was bought by Whole Foods, so this store is now operating as a Whole Foods.

'''microbiotic''' 
probably an intentional misspelling of macrobiotic; a macrobiotic diet primarily consists of whole grains, beans, and vegetables based on the Taoist principles of yin and yang

'''slalom''' 
to zigzag between obstacles

==Page 479==

'''madonnas''' 
statues of the Virgin Mary

'''bodegas''' 
small grocery stores, usually in Spanish-speaking neighborhoods that are also usually owned and operated by Spanish-speaking people

'''crèche''' 
a nativity scene

'''propinquous''' 
Probably what's intended is "propinquitous," meaning "proximal" or "nearby."

'''Chickens Fresh Killed Daily''' 
a reference to the prominent 'Live Poultry Fresh Killed' sign of the [http://bostonist.com/2007/09/07/mayflower_poult.php Mayflower Poultry Company] at 621 Cambridge Street, East Cambridge, about a half a mile from Inman Square.

'''Ryle's Jazz Club''' 
a reference to [http://www.rylesjazz.com/ Ryles Jazz Club] (no apostrophe) in Inman Square, Cambridge, at 212 Hampshire Street.

'''briar pipes''' 
a type of [http://www.tinderboxinternational.com/briar.htm pipe] for smoking

'''tympanum''' 
a, usually decorative, semicircular or triangular wall face above an entrance

'''Sancta Something''' 
perhaps a reference to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sancta_Sanctorum Sancta Sanctorum], a famous Italian side chapel

'''finials''' 
decorative ornaments placed on the apex of roofs

'''60 k''' 
about 37.3 miles per hour

==Page 480==

'''MF''' 
Millennial Fizzy

'''aerodyne''' 
a heavier-than-air aircraft deriving lift from motion

==Endnote 203==

'''solecism''' 
nonstandard or ungrammatical usage

==Page 480 (cont'd)==

'''viz.''' 
abbreviation for ''videlicet'' (Latin), meaning "namely" or "specifically" or "in other words"

'''CQBC''' 
not a real entity, but probably here denoting a French-Canadian radio station

'''sterno''' 
a fuel made from denatured and jellied alcohol burned directly from the can

'''hobnail boots''' 
heavy-duty boots with hobnails, short, thick-headed nails used to protect footwear, on the soles to provide durability and traction on unfavorable terrain

'''monomitotic''' 
"Mitosis" is cell division, and Wallace is playing with words again: "monomitosis" could be the one-time-only splitting of a cell; in this case, the "cell" is a group of insurgents rather than the biological unit, and "monomitotic" might imply that once it splits (i.e., separates to accomplish its targeted task), it dissolves or disbands.

'''Gaspé Peninsula''' 
a [http://www.great-adventures.com/destinations/canada/gaspe.html region] in northern Québec

'''U.S.A. Civic War hero's Boylston St. statue''' 
probably a reference the Robert Gould Shaw statue that Joelle van Dyne passes on p. 223. DFW appears to have moved the Shaw memorial from Beacon Street to Boylston Street.

'''''chiens-courants''''' 
French: running dogs, hounds

==Page 481==

'''interdicted''' 
prohibited with official authority

'''Van Buskirk of Montreal''' 
Bacon & Van Buskirk is a glass company in Wallace's home town of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.

'''Provincial Autoroute 55''' 
Quebec north-south highway that runs from Shawinigan to Stanstead at the US border, where it connects with...

'''U.S.A. 91''' 
Interstate 91, which runs from New Haven, Conn, to Derby Line, Vt., at the Canadian border

'''Bellow's Falls VT''' 
a town off Route 91, about 70 miles west of Manchester, N.H.

'''credulous''' 
gullible

'''paisley''' 
a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paisley_%28design%29 popular design] originating in Scotland

'''Nehru jacket''' 
A collarless jacket named for Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), first Prime Minister of India and father of Indira Gandhi. Nehru jackets were popular among hippies in the B.S. 1960s

'''''école-spéciale''''' 
French: special school

'''Ste.-Anne-des-Monts''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainte-Anne-des-Monts,_Quebec city] on the north shore of the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec

'''''Va chier, putain!''''' 
French: Piss off, whore!

'''trop formidable''' 
French: too strong

==Page 482==

'''Basel''' 
a city of Switzerland about 50 miles north of the capital of Bern

'''''tu-sais-quoi''''' 
French: you know what

'''impost''' 
something imposed, as a tax or duty

'''notions''' 
miscellaneous small, useful items

==Page 483==

==Endnote 204==

'''Saprogenic''' 
of or pertaining to putrefaction or rotting

'''treacly''' 
sweet or sentimental

==Page 483 (cont'd)==

'''illicit''' 
illegal

'''IL NE FAUT PLUS QU'ON PURSUIVE LE BONHEUR''' 
French: It is no longer necessary to pursue happiness. Note: "on", translating as the pronoun "one", is often used in colloquial Québécois to replace "nous" ("we"). Also, "il ne faut pas", translating word-for-word as "it is not necessary", is very often used imperatively to mean "one should/must not" or "do not". So, the line on the cartridge could also translate as "we must stop pursuing happiness".

==Page 484==

'''domestic''' 
a person hired to perform household tasks, e.g., cleaning

'''125-kilo''' 
about 276 lbs

'''variegated''' 
streaked or patched with multiple colors

'''defile''' 
a line of soldiers

'''ROPAS''' 
Portuguese: CLOTHES

'''glyph''' 
a symbolic figure that is usually engraved or incised

==Page 485==

'''union-suit underwear''' 
one-piece long undergarments

'''chiens''' 
French: dogs

'''stelliform''' 
in the form of a star

==Page 486==

'''transperçant''' 
French: "stabbing or piercing," but also "transfixing"

'''baguette''' 
a long roll of French bread

'''cerise''' 
deep red to purple in color

'''teratoid''' 
resembling a monster; monstrous (from Greek teras, terat- "monster.")

'''supplicant's''' 
beggar's

''''''n soir, 'sieur''''' 
an elision of ''bon soir, monsieur,'' i.e., "Good evening, sir" in French

''''''Malhereusement, ton collégue est décédé. Il faisait une excellente soupe aux pois.'''''' 
French: Sadly, your friend is dead. He made an excellent pea soup.

on p. 425, Marathe outlined a hypothetical in which two people both wanted a Habitant ''soupe aus pois'' that belonged to someone who had recently died

''''''Non? Ou c'était toi, faisait-elle?'''''' 
French: No? Or was it you that made it?

==Page 487==

'''wangs''' 
slaps or bangs against

'''''frère''''' 
French: brother

'''sphincter''' 
Any muscle in ring form, here it means the anus, which has failed Lucien by allowing him to soil himself

'''''ne pas plaisanter''''' 
French: not pleasure

'''''iront paître''''' 
Frennch idiom: They'll pack up and head out.

'''''entend-il?''''' 
French: Does he hear?

'''repast''' 
meal

'''maxillofacial''' 
relating to the jaw and face

==Page 488==

'''''inutile''''' 
French: useless

'''leonine''' 
resembling a lion

'''natal''' 
like a baby's

'''aphonia''' 
loss of or inability to speak due to damage to or disease of the larynx

'''aphrasiac''' 
the inability to speak words in intelligible order

'''half-cellular''' 
half consisting of living cells, i.e., half-dead

'''Chic-Choc lakes''' 
the Chic-Choc mountains are in the Gaspé Peninsula

'''Cap-Chat''' 
a town in the Gaspé Peninsula

'''culcate''' 
neologism perhaps stemming off of inculcate, here meaning implanted. Another similar word is "calcate", meaning "To trample or stamp under the heel" (OED). So he might have intended it to mean "stamping".

'''inguinal canal''' 
a passage in the lower front part of the abdominal wall

'''sigmoid''' 
the sigmoid colon is the part of the large intestine closest to the rectum

'''muskie''' 
short for "muskellunge," a type of fish

==Page 489==

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