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☽ Pre-dawn, May 1st, YDAU - Steeply & Marathe discuss possible contents of the Entertainment

Page 489

plexus
an intricate network, no doubt a reference to the solar plexus, a blow to which results in having "one's wind knocked out" because it temporarily causes the diaphragm not to function

confiscated from razzles...
(To find a useful note for this is a challenge. It occurs 4 times in the book, always in association with 'the entertainment' but its meaning is unclear.)

tête
French: head

Page 490

consummately
perfectly or skillfully

I/O
Input/Output

C'est ça
French: that's that

Page 491

ALGOL
an ancient computer programming language

Winter, B.S. 1963; Sepulveda, CA - Flashback to Himself's Childhood

Page 491

Endnote 208

Institut für Neutronenphysik und Reaktortechnik, Kernforschungszentrum
German: Institute for Neutron Physics and Reactor Engineering, Nuclear Research Center (a real organization)

Karlsruhe
a city in Germany about 90 miles south of Frankfurt (Main)

U.R.G.
probably United Republic of Germany

Y.T.M.P.

Springer-Verlag
one of the largest publishers in Germany

Wien
the German name for Vienna, capital of Austria

Page 491 (cont'd)

Bazin
André Bazin (1918-1958) was a French film theorist and director.

Page 492

Eureka
Ancient Greek for "I've found it," made famous by Archimedes

metastisate
He means "metastasize."

replete
full

gibber
to chatter unintelligibly

Page 493

Synchronicity
the state of happening simultaneously

Concord
agreement

field series generator
probably a shunt generator

leatherette
imitation leather

Page 494

declivity
downward slope or hill

precipitate
product of precipitation

Page 495

hypotenuse
the longest arm of a right triangle

right dihedral triangle
a right triangle is one whose largest angle is 90º. Dihedral means "having two faces," a three dimensional structure (a mattress) is under discussion. In architecture, the intersection of two planar walls is a dihedral angle.

toggle bolt
bolts with expanding wings used to fasten objects onto hollow surfaces, e.g., drywall

Page 497

ebullient
zestfully enthusiastic

caster
wheel

deep-pile
carpet with relatively long fibers

Page 498

Variety
a still-running entertainment tabloid magazine

cast
tinge of color

Page 499

rodential
OED: of or relating to rodents; resembling or characteristic of a rodent.

stalactite
the kind of V-shaped rock formation in caves that grows from the ceiling down; cf. stalagmite, which grows from the floor or ground of the cave upward

Page 500

carriage-head bolt
a bolt with a domed head not designed to be driven

attenuated
reduced

Page 502

magneto
a small generator using a permanent magnet to produce high-voltage pulses

Powell's Peeping Tom
Michael Latham Powell (1905-1990) was a British filmmaker, and Peeping Tom was one of his films.

hex
i.e., hexagonal, having six sides

cycloid
a curve traced by a point of a circle as it rolls across a straight line demonstrated here

L'Hôpital
Guillaume François Antoine, Marquis de l'Hôpital (1661-1704), was a French mathematician.

Bernoulli
Jacob Bernoulli (1654-1705) was a Swiss mathematician.

Brachistochrone
a reference to a brachistochrone curve

apposite
NOAD: apt in the circumstances or in relation to something

Page 503

minor-D
Musical works written in the key of D Minor tend to carry an ominous tone. SeeA Fugue in D Minor.

Wallace displays his familiarity with the subject of music by inverting its more commonly known name of D Minor to "minor-D." This is a habit of many professional musicians, because the fact that the composition is in a minor mode is more important than the pitch of its tonic (root) note.

Ken Erdedy & Kate Gompert go to NA

Page 503

anechoic vestry
Anechoic means "characterized by a low level of reverberation;" a vestry is where the priests' vestments (clothing for mass) are kept between ceremonies.

lassitude
weariness of body

catalepsy
suspension of sensation and consciousness, with bodily rigidity

circadian arrhythmia
sleep disturbance

Page 504

anhedonia
inability to feel pleasure

peristyle
a colonnade surrounding an open space, or the space so encircled

astrolabes
a type of navigational device used before the invention of the sextant

prickets
sharp metal points on which to stick candles

Knights of Columbus
a Catholic fraternal order

plasm
synonym of plasma, i.e., a state of matter most similar to gas

cordite
a smokeless explosive, see note to page 433

Motley
incongruously varied in character or appearance

sap
a bludgeon or club

Penn Station
the chief national train station in New York, at 34th Street and Eighth Avenue; a terminal for both Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR)

Page 505

morose
gloomy

styptic
contracting tissue

dis
act of disrespect

Page 506

anorak
a hooded pullover jacket

bonhommic
a neologism meaning "good-hearted"

Page 507

Keds
a brand of sneaker

parquet
wooden mosaic flooring

Steeply & Marathe discuss temptation to watch the Entertainment

Page 507

C'est la guerre
French: That's war

Perseus
the Greek hero who beheaded Medusa (cf. The Medusa v. The Odalisque) , using the head to kill others; compared here to the A.F.R. ("the legs ... were amputated") which steals the Entertainment and uses it to kill others

jongleur
a wandering minstrel

pantalone
a stock mime or Commedia dell'Arte character, often the butt of jokes

and a wearer of long trousers, to which he gave their modern French name pantalon. DFW’s use of the term in the context of amputated legs is certainly not a coincidence.

Hercules
the Greek hero who lost his mind, murdered his family, and was forced to suffer twelve labors as punishment, including calming a three-headed dog, clearing dung from the Augean stables, and stealing apples of infinite joy; compared here to Gately ("head was square"), who lost his mind as an addict and was forced into a twelve-step program, where he had to calm Pat M.'s dogs and clear shit from the Shattuck shelter (he previously stole the master to the Entertainment). Hercules also borrowed Athena's chariot on occasion; Gately borrows Pat M.'s car.

Castor and Pollux
stars in the constellation Gemini, named for twin sons of Zeus and Leda in Greek mythology

Page 508