Revision as of 06:47, 13 July 2010

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Gately and Fackelmann continued

Page 934

Page 935

recursive
capable of being used repeatedly

retsin
the supposed active ingredient in Certs breath mints

Ciao Bello
Italian: Goodbye, Handsome

Page 936

corrode
to eat away at; to rust

ICBM
intercontinental ballistic missile

boot
junkie slang for injecting drugs

Page 937

imprimatur
sanction or approval

bonded
Sorkin had put up Gately's bail.

ruddled
reddened

serration
notches in the edges

Page 938

belled
rang like a bell

Joelle Talks About the Entertainment

Page 938

Page 939

epicene
androgynous

bassinet
an oblong basket for a baby

catadioptric
produced by reflection and refraction simultaneously

Page 940

astigmatic
failing to have light rays converge on a single point

Page 941

Hal Narrates (Still)

Page 941

slight tremble of something hanging from the tip of a pipette
A pipette is a type of thin glass tube used in chemistry, and the something trembling would be a drop of some liquid, I suspect...

Thtithe fickn meth
Coyle is probably trying to say, "Stice fucking mess."

Page 942

panic-attack
another term for an anxiety attack

Page 943

Page 944

rank amateurs
complete/total amateurs

pernicious
harmful

Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (1898-1956) was a German playwright, poet, and director.

Glen Riddle, Pennsylvania
a suburb of Philadelphia, about twenty miles west

DeNiro
Robert Mario De Niro, Jr. (born 1943), is an Academy Award winning American actor, cast by Scorsese in Mean Streets and several times thereafter.

McLachlin
a misspelling of Kyle MacLachlan (born 1959), an American actor whose second film was Blue Velvet

Lynch
David Keith Lynch (born 1946) is an American filmmaker.

Allen to Allen
a reference to American director Woody Allen (born 1935 as Allen Stewart Königsberg), who casts himself in most of his films

temporal-lobe
the part of the brain involved in hearing, speeech, and vision

Page 945

familiar foil packet
i.e., a condom

ascot
a neck scarf

FDR and his filter

long white FDR-style filter
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States. He often used a cigarette holder as seen in the photo on the right.

canopied
framed with curtains

boudoir
a bedroom or private sitting room

ponce
an effeminate man

"...an old-fashioned one-sharp-sided razor..."

Page 946

Pheromonic Musk
a scent designed to emit pheromones, or a chemical that attracts the opposite sex

chartreuse
bright yellowish-green

500 seconds
8 minutes and 20 seconds

Page 947

conundra
insoluble questions

sinkhole
a depressed area into which waste collects

pratfall
a fall on one's rear

Page 948

two-meter
about 6.56 feet

Nor'easter
a type of storm common to the Northeast U.S.

snorkels
tubes for breathing

pugnacious
having a tendency to fistfight

Page 949

snifter
a glass with a wide bottom that narrows at the top, for drinking brandy

twidgeling
not a real word

Hancock tower
a skyscraper in Boston

mimesis
the imitation of aspects in the sensible world

Page 950

sinciput
the upper part of the skull

convolutions
folds on the surface of the brain

filigree
intricate ornamentation usually consisting of twisted metal wire/ribbons on, say, a fence

Lindisfarne Gospels
an Old English text of the Gospels found in England

hyperfertilized
given too much fertilizer

finial
an architectural device used to top a gable

defile
a narrow passage

neutered
castrated

topiary
a sculptured shrub or bush

gambrel
the hock of an animal, particularly a horse

Page 951

The photo of Fritz Lang directing Metropolis. Also appeared on the copy of The Cinema Book that Wallace owned[1][2], and was one of the photographs Wallace considered using on the cover of Infinite Jest (mentioned in Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself).

framed print of Lang directing Metropolis
See photo.

etagere
a stand with a series of open shelves

delfts
type of earthenware

claret
red wine

Page 952

Hagia Sophia and S. Simeon
Hagia Sophia is a mosque in Istanbul that had been a Byzantine basilica. S. Simeon refers to the ruins of a monastery named for Simeon Stylites.

Qal'at Si'man
Arabic for "Saint Simeon"

Levirates
men required to marry their brothers' widows

maniera greca
a style of Italian painting ("Greek style") popular in the early Renaissance

half a meter
about 1.64 feet

hyperemic
an unusual amount of blood in part of the body

seraglio
the living quarters of a Turkish harem

fieldstone
a type of construction material

Page 953

varicotic
having varicose veins

onyx
a deep black form of quartz

kyphotic
having abnormal curvature of the spine

Page 954

climacteric
A period of decrease in reproductive capacity; in women, menopause.

Infantilist
While the term can mean a type of paraphilia in which one dresses up like a baby, here Hal more likely means a pediatrician that treats patients like babies.

koans
in Zen Buddhism, statements that defy rational explanation upon which to meditate

Page 955

misnomer
a misapplied name or designation

The Green Door
The full title is Behind the Green Door.

Deep Throat
a pornographic film starring Linda Lovelace

jism
slang for semen

interrogatives
questions

Page 956

Page 957

expatriates
people living outside their countries of origin

Faulknerian
recollecting the style or manner of William Cuthbert Faulkner (1897-1962), American novelist

aspirating
inhaling

After the Interview

Page 958

She
i.e., Joelle

Hi, Mikey

Page 958

Page 959

the hook
presumably, the sister's hand

boatayouse
i.e., "both of you"

Page 960

a hundred m.'s
a little over 328 feet

The Assistant District Attorney

Page 960

easement
a convenience

Suffolk County
the county in Massachusetts where Boston is

McDonald's House
a reference to Ronald McDonald House Charities, which provides housing for the parents of children undergoing intensive medical care

Page 961

Tooty
apparently the ADA's wife

Fourth- and Eighth-Step
"Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves" and "Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all," respectively

Page 962

weal
welfare

peroxide
hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), used as a bleach and whitener

Page 963

Page 964

NoCoat LinguaScraper
not a real product, but there are such appliances that clean the tongue