Pages 964-981
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964 · Pre-Exhibition Fête
Contents
Page 964
Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment
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 therefore 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]
In this section, it's rumors about severe weather and the Quebec Junior Team that combine and are reconstituted as a new 'sub-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 <i/>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
fey
effeminate
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. [5] To 'invoke' is to petition for help with an incantation.[6]
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.
ingenuish
in the manner of an innocent young woman
Page 967
ciquatoxic
referring to a poison produced by certain fish
P.O.
philharmonic orchestra
Page 968
Sanger-Brown's ataxia
another name for Marie's ataxia
practicum
the student-teaching portion of a teaching education
ineluctable
incapable of being avoided
Apologia
in this sense, not an apology but a defense
Page 969
self-mimetic
imitating one's self
Brothers K.
The Brother's Karamazov, a novel by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881), Russian novelist
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
Page 970
alms
charity
silt
very small grains of rock or sand
Page 971
fuliginous
smoky or sooty
50° C
122° Fahrenheit
Page 972
ham
an actor who is bad by virtue of over-acting
972 · Final Chapter
Page 972
confiteor
a prayer of confession of sins
Page 973
"...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).
Page 979
Endnote 387
pentazocine
a synethetic opioid painkiller
Endnote 387a
dysmenorrhea
pre-menstrual syndrome and/or painful periods
hot shot
an injection intended to kill
PX
with a pharmaceutical as part of the name, it means it contains pentazocine
Page 980
ditty
a little song
Page 981
"...the one about ultraviolence and sadism."
Gately is thinking of Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange