Pages 964-981
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November 20th, YDAU - Pre-Exhibition Fête
Page 964
claret-colored
A deep purplish red. Claret is also the name of a wine that is produced in the Bordeaux region of France and slang for 'blood'.[1]
fuller's earth or sawdust
Fuller's earth is an absorbent clay that is used in talcum powder. Sawdust and chalk (talcum) are used by tennis players to keep their grip dry.
[2]
Page 965
pigeon-toed
having toes that point inward, like this: / \
shifted antigens
An antigenic shift generally refers to the medical term that explains how two strains of the influenza virus join together to form a new subtype and, in turn, become more virile. The new subtype has a mixture of the antigens from the originals. An antigen is the substance that stimulates the immune system. [3]
It's used here to refer to rumors about severe weather and the Quebec Junior Team. These rumors undergo an antigenic shift as they circulate around the locker room. They combine and are reconstituted as a new, more virile, rumor before being returned to the rumor's originator.
the Csikszentmihalyi kid was doing a kind of piaffer
A piaffer is a trot in place where the legs are lifted high. This type of trot is usually done by a horse, but it's part of the 'Csikszentmihalyi kid's' pre-game ritual to stretch his hip flexors.
The name Csikszentmihalyi may be a humorous nod to the Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi who is noted for his work in happiness and creativity. He is known as the world's leading researcher on positive psychology and proposed the concept of Flow. Flow is the mental state whereby a person is fully immersed and focused on an activity (such as Tennis). [4]
hip-flexors
the muscles that move the hip
an ascot or a very fey tie
An ascot is a scarf or tie with broad ends typically worn for formal occasions[5]. If the tie very fey, it is excessively refined [6] or fancy to the point that it could be confused with an ascot.
invoking Camilla, goddess of speed and light step
Camilla of Volsci, a heroine from Roman Mythology, found in Virgil's prose and ancient pottery paintings. Virgil claimed Camilla was so fast that she could run across the ocean without wetting her feet and across fields of grain without bending the grass. [7] To 'invoke' is to petition for help with an incantation.[8]
As part of their pre-match ritual, the female players, Thode and Donni Stott, can be heard praying to or otherwise petitioning Camilla whose light footed speed may translate to success on the court.
Page 966
Frankenstein
or, more correctly, Frankenstein's monster
Hal
who is clearly not narrating anymore, unless he is speaking of himself in the third person
malleolus
a bony lump on the side of the ankle
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell (born Roberta Joan Anderson in 1943) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter and painter. Wikipedia Entry.
occluded
Closed off, shut in, or blocked off [9]
they all in here existed basically as Fourier Transforms of postures and little routines
A Fourier transform is a mathematical operation that transforms one function into another. This type of transform is named in honour of Joseph Fourier. [10] To exist basically as Fourier Transforms of postures and routines is to exist as an abstraction where a student is trained in postures and routines is transformed into tennis player capable of executing a variation of those postures and routines.
ingenuish
in the manner of an innocent young woman
moribund
nearing death or in a terminal decline [11]
Page 967
Y.T.M.P.
Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad
ciquatoxic
an alternate or mispelling of 'ciguatoxic'. Reef fish can carry ciguatoxins, which cause ciguatera food poisoning [12] in humans who consume the contaminated fish. These toxins may be specific to certain reefs, are concentrated up the food chain and as such are more likely to be present in larger reef fish, and cannot be destroyed by cooking and freezing [13]
P.O.
philharmonic orchestra
R.C. clergy
Roman Catholic priesthood
Jesuit seminary Theological training for the Society of Jesus Roman Catholic religious order of clerks, known as Jesuits. Jesuits are known for for their missionary work, social justice and human rights. [14]
Page 968
Sanger-Brown's ataxia
another name for Marie's ataxia
practicum
the student-teaching portion of a teaching education
spiritually necrotic
Necrosis usually refers to the localized death of cells within healthy tissue. To be spiritually necrotic is akin to having a dead spirit in an otherwise healthy body.
Jesuitical Endeavors
An endeavor is a purposeful undertaking that requires boldness. Jesuitical endeavors are those undertaken as part of a Jesuit ministry.
Numero Uno
Spanish for Number One, used here as an expression to mean concern about only oneself.
ineluctable
incapable of being avoided or changed
Apologia
An Apologia is a defense of one's beliefs, religious or other. Here, Barry is out of his league in his ability to put up a good defense of the religious beliefs that may help get his brother out of his own spiritual funk.
Page 969
self-mimetic
imitating one's self
...not that much unlike Alyosha and Ivan's conversations in the good old Brothers K.
The Brother's Karamazov is a novel by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881). Ivan and Alyosha, main characters in the novel, are siblings. Alyosha has a faith in God that manifests in a love of mankind and Ivan is a rationalist who is burdened by his inability or unwillingness to believe in a God that could preside over an unjust world. In the novel the brothers, Ivan and Alyosha, discuss their opposing beliefs.
erudite
scholarly
carcinogenic
causing cancer
acerbity
acidity
Ivan's Grand Inquisitor scenario
Read this portion here.
lumpen
disenfrancished
solar plexus
a complex of nerves in the abdomen
verminousness
resembling vermin
mufti
civilian dress - also a name for a type of Muslim scholar
Page 970
alms
charity
silt
very small grains of rock or sand
Page 971
fuliginous
smoky or sooty
50° C
122° Fahrenheit
Orin
Page 971
Page 972
'Do it to her! Do it to her!'
a reference to George Orwell's 1984. Winston Smith shouts 'Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia!' under similar circumstances.
ham
an actor who is bad by virtue of over-acting
Final Chapter
Page 972
confiteor
a prayer of confession of sins
Page 973
Endnote 385
gram-negative
this refers to a bacterium that does not show up in a violet stain using Gram's method - so in other words, the implication is that the doctor suspects Gately has a particularly resistant strain of bacteria within his body that previous antibiotics given to him have been ineffective in eliminating.
Page 973 (cont.)
"...look down her shirt and spell attic..."
and thus saying, "A-T-T-I-C" or "a titty I see"
Page 974
vertical hold
the control on a television that prevents the picture from rolling bottom to top
Page 975
Weejuns
a type of shoe, see here
Page 976
Jack Daniels
a famous brand of bourbon whiskey
Page 977
S&W
Smith & Wesson
2500-IU ampule
IUs are international units, which converts to metric depending on the substance.
transvestals
i.e., transvestites
Page 978
Endnote 386
Exocet
a type of missile
antagonists
a drug that acts against an agonist, i.e., a drug that stimulates a certain receptor
Page 978 (cont'd)
Linda McCartney
Linda Louise, Lady McCartney (1941-1998) was an American photographer and wife of Beatle Paul McCartney (born 1943).
Endnote 387
pentazocine
a synethetic opioid painkiller
Endnote 387a
dysmenorrhea
pre-menstrual syndrome and/or painful periods
PX
with a pharmaceutical as part of the name, it means it contains pentazocine
Page 979
hot shot
an injection intended to kill
Page 980
ditty
a little song
Page 981
"...the one about ultraviolence and sadism."
Gately is thinking of Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange