“Danny, The Champion of the World,” by Roald Dahl

Dahl, Roald. Danny, The Champion of the World. Bantam, 1975: 198 p.

I think I read this once when I was small, but I read it again recently. For research for fiction, strangely enough—one of my characters is a Dahl fan. Dahl’s one of those few children’s book authors who never sells the children in his stories short—they’re fully as capable as adults—while not making all of the adults completely hopeless, either.

Dandyprat: OED tells me this is not a word. Poking about the internet, however, leaves me with the impression that it’s used to mean “a small, scrawny, worthless and/or insignificant person.”

“‘Cheating is a repulsive habit practiced by guttersnipes and dandyprats!’” (107)

Old Man’s Beard: “vigorous deciduous climber of Europe to Afghanistan and Lebanon having panicles of fragrant green-white flowers in summer and autumn” or “any of various plants having parts suggestive of a beard, as Spanish moss.” Here’s the former type in the winter, when it’s in seed pod form.

(Which leads to me looking up “panicle” – “a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes” — and then “raceme” – “an inflorescence having stalked flowers arranged singly along an elongated unbranched axis, as in the lily of the valley.” English, I love you. Those words are almost as good as “dehiscence” – which, I’ve just learned, can be used not just for a seedpod splitting open, but for “a rupture or splitting open, as of a surgical wound, or of an organ or structure to discharge its contents.” Mm. Pus!)

“In the fall she would pick branches of leaves, and in the winter it was berries or old man’s beard.” (123).

“Youth Without Youth,” by Mircea Eliade

Eliade, Mircea. “Youth Without Youth.” Trans. by Mac Linscott Ricketts.

The novella on which the Coppola film Youth Without Youth is based. After watching the film and grasping at the threads of plot that wafted by and then dispersed like artistically-shot smoke (which there was a fair amount of in the film), I turned to the text, to see if it could provide any clues to the intentions of what I’d just watched. No luck. Coppola manufactured something almost-but-not-quite-a-plot from source material that turns up its nose at narrative in favor of characters sitting down with Dominic Matais, an old man hit by lightning and turned miraculously young again, to talk about the mystic significance of James Joyce, the myth of the eternal return, the discharge of electricity by atomic bombs (did the translator mean “energy?”), and other esoteric and oddly-articulated topics, and to ask him for interviews. Coppola’s unclear use of the symbolism of the three red roses is even less clear in the text, and the “double” that haunts Matais in the film appears in the beginning of the novella but disappears in the latter half. I’m not sure whether to be bemused or impressed by the fact that Coppola must have read this piece and seen a narrative in it—he had his work cut out for him, manufacturing a movie from this scant and ill-suited material, and I don’t think he measured up to the task.

Quotes:

“You want to be what all those other people are: philologist, orientalist, archeologist, historian, and who knows what else. That is, you want to live a strange life, a different life, instead of being yourself, Dominic Matei, and cultivating your own genius exclusively.” (57)

“You learn well or with pleasure only that which you know already.” (99)

Words:

Narthex: 1. A portico or lobby of an early Christian or Byzantine church or basilica, originally separated from the nave by a railing or screen. 2. An entrance hall leading to the nave of a church.

“. . . the faithful who were waiting in the narthex of the church had seen the lightning as an endless incandescent spear . . .” (95)

n.b.: Short for “nota bene,” Latin for “note well.” Used to direct attention to something particularly important.

“The blessings that any cultural creation (n.b.: cultural creation, not only artistic) can afford are unlimited.” (99)

Anchorite: A person who has retired into seclusion for religious reasons.

“To the doctors he said that the young woman believed she was living in Central India twelve centuries ago and insisted she was a Buddhist anchorite.” (120)

Pandit: 1. A Brahman scholar or learned man. 2. Used as a title of respect for a learned man in India.

“Fortunately, in addition to Matei, a pandit from Uttar Pradesh familiar with the Madhyamika philosophy was at Rupini’s side when she awoke.” (121)

Metempsychosis: Reincarnation.

“‘But I don’t believe in metempsychosis,’ she whispered, frightened, one evening, taking his hand. ‘I never existed before! . . .’” (123)

Hebdomadal: Weekly.

“A week has passed, he said to himself, so this must be the rhythm, hebdomadal.” (127)

Ugaritic: The Semitic language of Ugarit, “an ancient city of western Syria on the Mediterranean Sea. It flourished as a trade center from c. 1450 to 1195 b.c. but was destroyed soon after by an earthquake. Excavation of the ruins (beginning in 1929) has unearthed important cuneiform tablets.”

Protoelamite: A still largely-undeciphered language, from the “Proto-Elamite period, the time of ca. 3200 BC to 2700 BC when Susa, the later capital of the Elamites, began to receive influence from the cultures of the Iranian plateau. This civilization is recognized as the oldest in Iran and was largely contemporary with its neighbour, Sumerian civilization, the oldest in the world, which began around 3500 BC.”

“After Egyptian and Ugaritic, there had followed, probably, a sample of Protoelamite and one of Sumerian.” (127)

Labial: 1. Of or relating to the lips or labia. 2. (Linguistics) Articulated mainly by closing or partly closing the lips, as the sounds (b), (m), or (w).

“. . . interspersed with short, labial explosions such as he would not have believed possible for a European to reproduce.” (128)

Climacteric: 1. a. A period of life characterized by physiological and psychic change that marks the end of the reproductive capacity of women and terminates with the completion of menopause. b. A corresponding period sometimes occurring in men that may be marked by a reduction in sexual activity, although fertility is retained. 2. A critical period or year in a person’s life when major changes in health or fortune are thought to take place. 3. A critical stage, period, or year.

“‘Perhaps it’s the nervous condition that precedes the climacteric in certain women.’” (129)

Senescence: The process of growing old; aging

“And since a more convincing argument could not be found—aside from a fatal accident or suicide—this way was chosen: a process of galloping senescence.” (130)

Irredentist: One who advocates the recovery of territory culturally or historically related to one’s nation but now subject to a foreign government.

“‘He was a poet and at the same time a magician and a revolutionary—or rather, an irredentist.’” (134)

Fragment: “To Market”

Words: 254.
Prompt: The Eastern Market, and Marjorie and Magister begin their first real date. I may continue this.

Marjorie had told him she had gotten tired of the museums and of listening to him expound on every antiquity and display; he had told her he didn’t expound, they just brought back memories. She didn’t want to hear him hyperdrive down memory wormhole again, then, she said. The Mobius was not a wormhole, he said. We’re going somewhere outdoors today, she said. Somewhere that’s only in the present. Oh, everywhere has history, he replied. Shut up, she told him. Eastern Market. We’re going to Eastern Market. Has that burned yet? he asks. It has, she said. They’ve set up in a temporary hall across the street. That’s a shame, he says, the fire. Adolf would hate to hear that that had happened to his building. Adolf? she queried. Cluss, he replied. Adolf Cluss. He designed the Market. He loved red brick, Adolf, I told him it was— No, she says. Ix-nay on the ostalgia-nay. We’re going to Eastern Market, and we are going to look at the crafts and the art and the vegetables and you are going to say nothing about the distant past or future. Is that understood? He shrugged at her, slipped his hands in his pockets, and leaned back against the pole he was using for balance as they rode, both of them standing. It’s relative, he said. Wrong answer, she said. Here and now, you and me, a farmer’s market, and that is all. I have my marching orders, he said, and she took that for agreement.

China Mieville’s “The Scar”

Mieville, China. The Scar. New York: Del Rey, 2002. 638 p.

Cover art’s by Ashley Wood — and a very nice atmospheric picture of the floating city Armada and its accompanying airships it is.  Go check out his website — he does kick-ass, grungy robots and human figures.  Some posing super-chicks, which I get a little tired of, but, ah, well.

Dambudzo Marechera: According to Wiki, Marechera (1952-1987) was “a Zimbabwean novelist and poet. ” The article says of his 1980 novel Black Sunlight, which Mieville quotes at the beginning of the The Scar: “Loosely structured and stylistically hallucinatory, with erudite digressions on various literary and philosophical points of discussion, it explores the idea of anarchism as a formal intellectual position.” This article from the Virginia Quarterly Review sums the novel up like this: “The book’s setting is not specified; the story roughly traces the fortunes of a group of anarchists/revolutionaries who are in revolt against, and finally lose out to, a military-fascist-capitalist opposition. The central character is a press photographer, Chris, whose camera lens becomes the device through which Marechera often cleverly unravels the story’s incidents; other important characters through whom the story is sometimes focalized are a group of young women, one being Chris’s blind wife.” Sounds rather Mieville like, don’t it? Though I’d link it up more with Iron Council than The Scar.

Disphotic: According to a glossary in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s website, refers to “the part of the water column that is barely illuminated by sunlight from above; the “twilight zone” between the photic and aphotic zones” — with the “photic zone” being “the vertical zone in the ocean extending from the surface to that depth permitting photosynthetic activity” and the “aphotic zone” being “that portion of the ocean where light is insufficient for plants to carry on photosynthesis.” So, it’s the murky area between full sunlight, supporting robust plant life, and no sunlight, where plant life cannot exist.

“To the left the slope falls away fast into disphotic water.” (3)

Slipways: “A sloping surface leading down to the water, on which ships are built or repaired.”

“The shoreline is punctuated with scores of shipyards, building slipways like weird forests of vertical girders.” (10)

Dolorous: “Marked by or exhibiting sorrow, grief, or pain.”

“The wind blew across the ship, and the deck’s periscopic cowls crooned like dolorous flutes.” (19)

Abaft: A nautical term, meaning “Toward the stern” (of a ship).

“Instead of heading abaft for the mess, she wound down side passages through dim space, past poky doors.” (27)

Chalkydri: According to the Old Testament apocryphal Second Book of Enoch, a form of angel “marvellous and wonderful, with feet and tails in the form of a lion, and a crocodile’s head, their appearance is empurpled, like the rainbow; their size is nine hundred measures, their wings are like those of angels, each has twelve, and they attend and accompany the sun, bearing heat and dew, as it is ordered them from God.”

Sardula: According to the Britannica Online Encyclopedia, a mythical Indian creature, with the body of a lion and the head of a “tiger, elephant, bird, or other animal,” which often appeared in art and architecture. It’s also called “vyala.”

“‘I’ve a foot-long gash where a sardula got nasty . . . a bite from a newborn chalkydri . . .” (30)

Piasa: According to Wiki, “a legendary creature that was depicted in a mural painted by Native Americans on a cliff above the Mississippi River.” The French missionary Jacques Marquette described the creatures in the murals: “They are as large As a calf; they have Horns on their heads Like those of a deer, a horrible look, red eyes, a beard Like a tiger’s, a face somewhat like a man’s, a body Covered with scales, and so Long A tail that it winds all around the Body, passing above the head and going back between the legs, ending in a Fish’s tail.”

Marichonian: Not sure; this term doesn’t appear in a Google search, and I don’t recall it being related to any of Mieville’s created places or races. My only thought is that it might refer to solely-homosexual (or perhaps transvestite?) pirates (as “maricon” or “maricone” is apparently a slur for “homosexual” or “transvestite” in Spanish). That’s going out on a limb, though.

“Shekel told him the rumors and fables that the sailors told each other — about the piasa and the she-corsairs, Marichonians and the scab pirates, the things that lived below the water.” (31)

Somite: “Any of the homologous segments, lying in a longitudinal series, that compose the body of certain animals, such as earthworms and lobsters.”

“Below the waist, the crays’ armored hindquarters were those of colossal rock lobsters: huge carapaces of gnarled shell and overlapping somites.” (43)

Kraal: “1. A rural village, typically consisting of huts surrounded by a stockade. 2. An enclosure for livestock.”

“They slide silently into the kraals.” (67)

Kree: Dunno. The only references I’m finding to Kree are to the Marvel comic’s alien race. Which is pretty patently not right.

“Fish and kree circled them and passed through them dumbly.” (75)

Corbita: A large, slow-moving merchant vessel, apparently — looks like particularly used of an ancient Roman type. This site has a definition and a picture.

“Beside the market was a corbita smeared with ivy and climbing flowers.” (80)

Whim: A use of the word to imply a fantastical type of ship, perhaps? “Whim” can also mean “A vertical horse-powered drum used as a hoist in a mine,” which sounds mechanism-y, but not, I’m guessing, relevant here.

“Out in the open water were fleets of fishing boats, the city’s warships, the chariot ships and whim trawlers and others.” (81)

Gessin: Can’t find a mythological/folkloric basis for this one. A Mieville creation?

Vu-murt: Defined in various bestiaries and folklore texts (give it a look-up on Google Books) as a European water-spirit (the word literally translates as “water-man”), which appears as a man (to women) or a woman (to men), sitting by the water, combing long black hair. Looks like it’s usually a malicious spirit.

“. . . surrounded by the women and men in lush, ragged dress, the street children, the cactacae and kephri, hotchi, llorgiss, massive gessin and vu-murt, and others.” (83)

Barquentine: “A sailing ship with from three to five masts of which only the foremast is square-rigged, the others being fore-and-aft rigged.” Pics at Wiki.

“She passed up onto the barquentine Lynx Sejant, its deck full of silk merchants selling offcuts from Armada’s piracy.” (84)

Entresol: “The floor just above the ground floor of a building; a mezzanine,” with “mezzanine” being “1. A partial story between two main stories of a building. 2. The lowest balcony in a theater or the first few rows of that balcony.”

“The man in gray straightened slowly and walked to the corner of the entresol.” (90)

Keragorae: Dunno. A Mieville created species?

“‘He’s seen keragorae and mosquito-men and unplaced, and whatever else you like.’” (93)

Hypnagogic: “1. Inducing sleep; soporific. 2. Of, relating to, or occurring in the state of intermediate consciousness preceding sleep.”

“‘He can make his voice hypnagogic if he wants, keep you totally drunk on it.’” (94)

Murrain: “1. Any of various highly infectious diseases of cattle, as anthrax. 2. Obsolete A pestilence or dire disease.”

“. . . but every batch of press-ganged was afflicted with fevers and murrains on its first arrival, and several of their number inevitably died.” (99)

Carrel: “A partially partitioned nook in or near the stacks in a library, used for private study.” I should have known this one.

” . . . with a sudden long sigh she deposited the monograph in the carrel beside the desk.” (110)

Oupyr: Looks like a Russian variant of “vampire,” according to a search on Google books.

Loango: An African term for vampire, apparently, though the Google search turns up no truly reputable sources to confirm this. It was also an African state, before colonialism run over the continent.

Katalkana: A 1988 play, The Vampyre, has a character claim that, on Crete, “katalkana” is a term for vampire.

“‘The Brucolac. He’s oupyr. Loango. Katalkana.’” (113)

Nauscopist: A term derived from “nauscopy,” “The power or act of discovering ships or land at considerable distances.” Here’s a link to a story about the Frenchman Bottineau, who named nauscopy in the 1700s.

“The city’s nauscopists watched the sky, and knew from its minute variations when vessels were approaching . . .” (115)

Whip-round: “(British) solicitation of money usually for a benevolent purpose.”

“When a dockside accident took off half a cactus-woman’s hand with a jag of glass, Tanner gave what eyes and flags he could spare to the whip-round.” (118)

Adumbrate: “1. To give a sketchy outline of. 2. To prefigure indistinctly; foreshadow. 3. To disclose partially or guardedly. 4. To overshadow; shadow or obscure.”

“What manner of things were those shadows he sometimes glimpsed, behind the tightly tethered guard sharks, unclear through what must be adumbrating glamours?” (118)

Taffrail: “1. The rail around the stern of a vessel. 2. The flat upper part of the stern of a vessel, made of wood and often richly carved.”

“Balustrades and taffrails buffeted in the cold wind by the ragged remnants of posters . . .” (120)

Concatenation: From the verb “concatenate,” meaning “1. To connect or link in a series or chain. 2. Computer Science To arrange (strings of characters) into a chained list. 3. Connected or linked in a series.”

“Such an intricate concatenation of narratives.” (127)

Biltong: “Narrow strips of meat dried in the sun.”

“. . . the only real trade they have is with the savages from the north, who turn up in coracles once a year, carrying stuff like biltong.” (131)

Catafalque: “1. A decorated platform or framework on which a coffin rests in state during a funeral. 2. Roman Catholic Church A coffin-shape d structure draped with a pall, used to represent the corpse at a requiem Mass celebrated after the burial.” So, Mieville’s appropriating it here to mean simply an ornamented platform?

“. . . great houses looming to either side on ornate catafalques. . .” (136)

Vambrace: “Armor used to protect the forearm.”

“. . . hardened cuirasses and greaves and vambraces and helmets with irregular edges and coloration . . .” (151)

Salp: “Any of various free-swimming tunicates of the genus Salpa, of warm seas, having a translucent, somewhat flattened, keglike body.” A”tunicate” is “Any of various primitive marine chordate animals of the subphylum Tunicata, having a rounded or cylindrical body that is enclosed in a tough outer covering. Tunicates start out life as free-swimming, tadpolelike animals with a notochord (a primitive backbone), but many, such as the sea squirts, lose the notochord and most of their nervous system as adults and become fixed to rocks or other objects. Tunicates often form colonies.” More on salps at Wiki.

“‘That tower there’–some irregular smudge–’was the skin library, and those were the salp vats.’” (165)

Binnacle: “A case that supports and protects a ship’s compass, located near the helm.” Picture and more on binnacles at Wiki.

“They sat with their backs to an overgrown stump, or perhaps the earth-smothered anatomy of a binnacle.” (165)

Mercus: Dunno. “Mercus” seems usually to just be a name, sur- or first, both, when I look it up using Google.

“‘There are fields of oil and rockmilk and mercus under the earth, Bellis.’” (175)

Euryhalinic: Derived from “euryhaline,” meaning “Capable of tolerating a wide range of salt water concentrations. Used of an aquatic organism.”

“‘They’re euryhalinic, the grindylow, happy in freshwater or brine.’” (177)

Cog: According to the OED, “A small ship’s-boat, esp. the small boat which is often towed behind a coasting vessel or ship going up or down river. Often used typically as the smallest or lightest of floating craft.”

“They dangled their legs like children over the side of a little cog, watching the cranes shift cargo.” (185)

Dinichthys: “A genus of large extinct Devonian ganoid fishes. In some parts of Ohio remains of the Dinichthys are abundant, indicating animals twenty feet in length.” I loved pictures of these in dinosaur books when I was little — they are nasty-looking buggers. Wiki has an article on the biggest variety, which includes mention of Mieville’s reference.

“He had never seen a dinichthys, a bonefish.” (187)

Atomy: I’ve seen this used to mean “tiny particle,” “tiny thing,” “mote” before, but Mieville may be using it in a different, less common sense here: The OED says the word can mean “An emaciated or withered living body, a walking skeleton” — and can be applied to skeletal, withered objects as well as living things.

“They pass beggars in the atomies of buildings.” (194)

Corokanth: Dunno again. It’s a sea-creature-ish thing, clearly. Maybe derived from a similar-sounding or -spelled word?

“The corokanth will not tell.” (196)

Gurn: “1. To complain in a whining voice. 2. To contort one’s face; grimace.”

“They bribe them, funneling tons of plankton in a panicked soup into the whale’s gurning grins.” (197)

Anophelii: A fantasy race name derived from “anopheles,” which is, according to OED, “A mosquito of the genus Anopheles, which conveys the parasite of malaria.”

“Kruach Aum is anophelii.” (201)

Mechonomy: A created word, I think, using the ending “nomy”: “A system of laws governing or a body of knowledge about a specified field.” So about machines, mechanics, or mechanisms?

“Shivering Wisdom publish in High Kettai: philosophy and science and ancient texts, gnostic mechonomy and the like.” (205)

Spillikins: Another name for the game of “jackstraws” — “A game played with a pile of straws or thin sticks, with the players attempting in turn to remove a single stick without disturbing the others” — or for the jackstraw sticks themselves. Pick-up sticks is another name for the same game.

“They shuffled and reshuffled them, dropped them like spillikins and watched how they fell.” (221)

Chatarang: The most likely definition I’m finding is an old Persian or Indian name for chess (or an ancestor thereof), on this site and mentioned in this book.

“. . . where their parents played their own games, backgammon and chatarang.” (237)

Tup: According to OED, “Of the ram: To copulate with (the ewe); also transf. (coarse slang), of a man: to copulate with (a woman).” So Bellis is claiming this word for the female gender. Go, feminist subversive Bellis ;P

“. . . she might even tup him again, she thought with an inadvertent smirk.” (238)

Pinchbeck: “1. An alloy of zinc and copper used as imitation gold. 2. A cheap imitation. 3. Made of pinchbeck. 4. Imitation; spurious.”

“There were rumors, in fact, that the Uroc was as counterfeit as a pinchbeck ring.” (246)

Gutta-percha: “A rubbery substance derived from the latex of any of several tropical trees of the genera Palaquium and Payena, used as an electrical insulator, as a waterproofing compound, and in golf balls.”

“There were vats of chymicals and resin and gutta-percha to seal the enormous gasbags.” (254)

Blodfrey: This doesn’t show up on a Google search.  And yet I feel like I’ve read the word before.  Frustrating.

“There were sacks of the distinctive yellow blodfrey that boiled up into the anticoagulant tea.” (255)

Corvette: “1. A fast, lightly armed warship, smaller than a destroyer, often armed for antisubmarine operations.  2. An obsolete sailing warship, smaller than a frigate, usually armed with one tier of guns.”  Here’s the Wiki article on ‘em.

“The Sculpture Garden took up the front of a two-hundred-foot corvette.” (256)

Sponson: “1. Any of several structures that project from the side of a boat or ship, especially a gun platform.  2. A short, curved, air-filled projection on the hull of a seaplane, imparting stability in the water.”

“Opposite him was the enormous sweeping curve of the Grand Easterly’s starboard sponson, the cover to the paddlewheel.” (263)

Freggio: I only find one mention of this as a real-world word, used in the sense Mieville uses it — to mean “A scar inflicted by a lover, to indicate possession (and to make the scarred party unattractive to *other* possible lovers).”  It appears in a caption explaining a painting by Christian Schad, here, and suggests the practice was once a Neapolitan one.  I’m be curious to know if there are any more reputable sources, further documenting this as a real-world practice and giving more context for it, out there.

“‘The scars: they’re called freggios.’” (282)

Flense: “To strip the blubber or skin from (a whale, for example).”

“‘Spent all his life on one or other of those little rocks, casting his nets and lines, gutting and cleaning and filleting and flensing.’” (283)

Boscage: “A mass of trees or shrubs; a thicket.”

“Beyond the boundary of the stringy boscage that edged the beach, the trails became more defined.” (290)

Precis: “1. A concise summary of a book, article, or other text; an abstract.  2. To make a précis of.”

“. . . it was only Aum she listened to, and she told Bellis to precis all other contributions.” (309)

Cincture: “1. The act of encircling or encompassing.  2. a. Something that encircles or surrounds. b. A belt or sash, especially one worn with an ecclesiastical vestment or the habit of a monk or nun.”

“. . . the cinctures have tightened, and the thing is trapped.” (411)

Osculum: “The mouthlike opening in a sponge, used to expel water.”

“. . . the toothed osculum a puncture-hole of dark. . .” (430)

Milliard: “Chiefly British The cardinal number equal to 10⁹” — that is, a billion.

“Countless trillions are possible, many milliards are likely, millions might be considered probable . . .” (435)

Mafadet: According to Wiki, “In early Egyptian mythology, Mafdet (also spelled Maftet) is depicted as a woman with the head of a cheetah. Her name means (she who) runs swiftly. She is present in the Egyptian pantheon as early as the First Dynasty. Mafdet was the deification of legal justice, or rather, of execution. Thus she was also associated with the protection of the king’s chambers and other sacred places, and with protection against venomous animals, which were seen as transgressors against Ma’at.”  She is sometimes depicted as a cat or cheetah.  So, Mieville is either using the word to mean “cheetah” or to mean a mythical feline predator.  Oh, that’s right, there was a mafadet in Perdido Street Station — I think it was a lion with a snake’s neck and head?  Can’t quite remember.

“. . . the gazelle, the wildebeest, the mafadet, and the lion.” (445)

Backstay stool: Well, a “backstay” is “1. A rope or shroud extending from the top of a mast aft to a ship’s side or stern to help support the mast.  2. A supporting device at or for the back of something else.”  And a “backstay stool” is defined as “A short piece of broad plank, bolted edgeways to the ship’s side, in the range of the channels, to project and for the security of the dead-eyes and chains for the backstays. Sometimes the channels are left long enough to answer the purpose.”  Here’s a dead-eye.  Still not sure how that connects with stools. . .

Coaming: “A raised rim or border around an opening, as in a ship’s deck, designed to keep out water.”

Pawl: “A hinged or pivoted device adapted to fit into a notch of a ratchet wheel to impart forward motion or prevent backward motion.”

Davit: “Any of various types of small cranes that project over the side of a ship and are used to hoist boats, anchors, and cargo.”

Cathead: “A beam projecting outward from the bow of a ship and used as a support to lift the anchor.”

“The cadavers of vessels incorporated. Backstay stools, coaming, pawls, davits, and catheads encased in salt-aged architecture.” (509)

Hakenmann: According to the Encyclopedia Mythica, “A malevolent water spirit in Teutonic folklore. His name means ‘Hook Man.’”  According to this book, it has the body of a fish and the torso and head of a man.  The word’s used, in the novel, in reference to the grindylows, if I remember right.

“What is it you propose, hakenmann?” (514)

Flitch: “1. A salted and cured side of bacon.  2. A longitudinal cut from the trunk of a tree.  3. One of several planks secured together to form a single beam.”  I assume Mieville’s using it in the third sense. . . ?  Seems not quite right, though. . .  The OED says it can also mean “the side of an animal” — like “flank,” I assume?

“The great flitches of the ships moved above and around them sedately. . .” (533)

“In camera:” According to Wiki, a Latin term translating as “in chamber” and meaning, in a legal sense, “in private” — as in, in private meetings which the public may not attend or witness.

“Even those other rulers who disapproved of the Lovers’ plans had given in, or only spoke their criticisms in camera.” (538)

Purulent: “Containing, discharging, or causing the production of pus.”

“There were great swathes of it ahead, a bobbing purulent mass.” (543)

Echurian: Well, Wiki says “echiurans” are “spoon worms, a small group of marine animals.  They are composed of a sausage-shaped, cylindrical trunk and an anterior proboscis. They are usually a drab gray or brown color, but some such as Bonellia, are green, and others are red or rose. A few are transparent. The proboscis is large, flattened projection of the head and cannot be retracted into the trunk.”

“Johannes saw the faint flickerings of blind, eel-like hagfish; squat echurians; thick, blanched trilobites.” (549)

Corium: “The sensitive connective tissue layer of the skin located below the epidermis, containing nerve endings, sweat and sebaceous glands, and blood and lymph vessels.”  Pretty sure Mieville’s using it to just mean “skin.”

“Quite suddenly the corium below them was precipitous, a callused dermal cliff into dense darkness.” (550)

Trimaran: “A fast sailboat with three parallel hulls.”

“Then he hurled himself toward the rear of an ancient war trimaran by the Grand Easterly’s side. . .” (563)

Trireme: “An ancient Greek or Roman galley or warship, having three tiers of oars on each side.”

“She stared at the trireme below her.” (565)

Prognathous: “Having jaws that project forward to a marked degree.” Rather redundant with “jutted,” isn’t it?

“They jutted prognathous jaws, their bulging teeth frozen in meaningless grimaces. . .” (571)

Pabulum: “1. A substance that gives nourishment; food.  2. Insipid intellectual nourishment.”

“‘We siblings cross from the dark cold of the lake, from pabulum towers and the vats, the algae palace, from The Gengris.” (572)

Parados: “An intercepting mound, erected in any part of a fortification to protect the defenders from a rear or ricochet fire; a traverse.”

“The hidden positions of The Gengris on the Cold Claw side; the paradoses and defenses; the traps.” (574)

Strath: “A wide, flat river valley.”

“A wide runnel scored at the bottom of a strath.” (575)

Bleb: “1. A small blister or pustule.  2. An air bubble.”

“As the day crawled on, the tens of frozen bodies became blebbed and misshapen.” (581)

Avanc: According to Wiki, the “afanc” is “a lake monster from Welsh mythology. Its exact description varies; it is described alternately as resembling a crocodile, beaver or dwarf-like creature, and is sometimes said to be a demon.” The article mentions Mieville’s appropriation and adaptation of the word.

Raymond Chandler’s “Red Wind”

Chandler, Raymond. “Red Wind.” Stories and Early Novels. New York: Library of America, 1995. 368-417.

I’m taking a class in detective fiction right now, for my Last English Requirement EVER (finally graduating, what a thought) and am very happy, because we’ve leapfrogged right into the hardboiled, noir-type stuff. And, boy, do I love that. All the silly similes and the cynical detectives with their go-it-alone codes of honor and ethics. Fun stuff, even though women never come off well in it — so it seems like I should mind it. But I don’t. Who cares if the detectives check out the mysterious dames’ legs? Hell, it seems to be the only perk they get in their noir-y lives — that, and the cheap booze.

Flossy: “Superficially stylish; slick.”

“I was getting one [a drink] in a flossy new place across the street from the apartment house where I lived.” (368)

Shamus: “1. A police officer. 2. A private investigator.”

“‘John Dalmas, huh? A shamus. You here on business?’” (372)

Fordham: A reference to either the private university Fordham University, in New York, or to Fordham Preparatory School, a private all-male high school, also in New York (and associated with F.U. — ah, good choice of initials, there, Fordham).

“And that smug-faced pansy in the barcoat that played left tackle for Fordham or something.” (383)

Nolle Prosse: A slang shortening of the phrase “nolle prosequi,” which means “A declaration that the plaintiff in a civil case or the prosecutor in a criminal case will drop prosecution of all or part of a suit or indictment.”

“‘Stooled on a bank job in Michigan and got me four years. Got himself a nolle prosse.’” (383)

Guinea: “Used as a disparaging term for a person of Italian birth or descent.”

“‘That guinea?’ he sneered. ‘To hell with him!’” (390)

Cabriolet: “An automobile with a folding top; a convertible coupe.”

“There were a lot of parked cars but she found a vacant space behind a small brand-new Packard cabriolet that had the dealer’s sticker on the windshield glass.” (391)

Nazimova: According to Wiki, “Alla Nazimova, born Mariam Edez Adelaida Leventon (1879–1945) was a Russian/American theater and film actress, scriptwriter, and producer. She is often known as just Nazimova, and was also known as Alia Nasimoff.” The article makes her sound interesting — I want to read more about her, now!

“‘Snap out of it, Nazimova.’” (399)

Gill: “1. A unit of volume or capacity in the U.S. Customary System, used in liquid measure, equal to 1/4 of a pint or four ounces (118 milliliters). 2. A unit of volume or capacity, used in dry and liquid measure, equal to 1/4 of a British Imperial pint (142 milliliters).”

“She took herself another gill without trimmings, wound herself back on the davenport.” (403)

Levantine: According to OED, “An inhabitant or native of Levant,” with “Levant” being “the former name for the geographical area of the eastern Mediterranean that is now occupied by Lebanon, Syria, and Israel.”

“The old Levantine had a shop in Melrose, a junk shop . . .” (415)

Four-flusher: “1. Games To bluff in poker with a four flush. 2. Slang To make empty claims; bluff.” And you really need to know what this phrase means, to get the ending. I thought this was probably the gist of it.

“‘To the memory of Stan Phillips,’ I said out loud. ‘Just another four-flusher.’” (417)

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”

Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” The Gold-Bug and Other Tales. Ed. Stanley Appelbaum. New York: Dover, 1991. 30-56.

Sir Thomas Browne: According to Wiki, “Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682) was an English author of varied works which disclose his wide learning in diverse fields including medicine, religion, science and the esoteric.” Here’s what Wiki has to say about his “Urn-Burial,” which Poe quotes at the beginning of “Rue Morgue”: “Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial, or a Discourse of the Sepulchral Urns lately found in Norfolk, is a work by Sir Thomas Browne, published in 1658 as the first part of a two-part work that concludes with The Garden of Cyrus. Its nominal subject was the discovery of a Bronze Age urn burial in Norfolk. The discovery of these remains prompts Browne to deliver, first, a careful description of the antiquities found, and then a careful survey of most of the burial and funerary customs, ancient and current, of which his era was aware. The most famous part of the work, though, is the fifth chapter, where Browne quite explicitly turns to discuss man’s struggles with mortality, and the uncertainty of his fate and fame in this world and the next, to produce an extended funerary meditation tinged with melancholia. The changes wrought by time and eternity, the fleetingness of mortal fame, and our feeble attempts to cope with the certainty of death are Browne’s subjects.”

Involute: “Intricate; complex”; also “inward-curling or coiled.”

“The possible moves [in chess] being not only manifold but involute, the chances of such oversights are multiplied. . . .” (31)

Whist: “A card game ancestral to bridge, played with a full deck by two teams of two players, in which the last card dealt indicates trump, tricks of four cards are played, and a point is scored for each trick over six won by each team.” If that’s about as clear as mud to you (which it was to me), head on over to Wiki and try to poke your way through that article. The most relevant point in relation to the “Rue Morgue” seems to be this: “Although the rules are extremely simple, there is enormous scope for scientific play; since the only information known at the start is the player’s thirteen cards, the game is difficult to play well.” Reading rules for games is a bugger; I think they only really make sense once you actually break out some cards and play.

“Whist has long been noted for its influence upon what is termed calculating power. . .” (31)

Quondam: “That once was; former.”

Pasquinade: “To ridicule with a pasquinade; satirize or lampoon,” with the noun version of “pasquinade” meaning “A satire or lampoon, especially one that ridicules a specific person, traditionally written and posted in a public place.”

“Chantilly was a quondam cobbler of the Rue St. Denis, who, becoming stage-mad, had attempted the role of Xerxes, in Crebillon’s tragedy so called, and been notoriously Pasquinaded for his pains.” (34)

“Et id genus omne”: Latin, meaning “And everything of the sort.”

“. . . who brought you to the conclusion that the mender of soles was not of sufficient height for Xerxes et id genus omne.” (34)

Stereotomy: “The science or art of cutting solids into certain figures or sections, as arches, and the like; especially, the art of stonecutting.”

“I could not doubt that you murmured the word ’stereotomy,’ a term very affectedly applied to this species of pavement.” (35)

“Perdidit antiquum litera prima sonum”: “He has ruined the old sound with the first letter,” which, according to this Book Notes Summary at Book Rags, is a Latin phrase referring to Orion — I don’t know what from.

“I mean the line ‘Perdidit antiquum litera prima sonum’.” (36)

Metal d’Alger: “Algier’s Metal,” which, according to this metal recycler’s site, is “A tin-antimony alloy. Composition: tin 90%, antimony 10%. Sometimes contains copper, also. It is white and takes a good polish.”

“Upon the floor were found four Napoleons, an ear-ring of topaz, three large silver spoons, three smaller of metal d’Alger, and two bags containing nearly four thousand francs in gold.” (36)

Supererogation: A noun from the verb “supererogate,” meaning “To do more than is required, ordered, or expected.”

“And, therefore, it was thought a matter of supererogation to withdraw the nails and open the windows.” (46)

Fulvous: “Tawny; dull yellow, with a mixture of gray and brown.”

“It was minute anatomical and generally descriptive account of the large fulvous Ourang-Outang of the East Indian Islands.” (51)

Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika”

Kushner, Tony. Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika. Revised ed. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1996. 155 p.

Perestroika: “The restructuring of the Soviet economy and bureaucracy that began in the mid 1980s,” “an economic policy adopted in the former Soviet Union; intended to increase automation and labor efficiency but it led eventually to the end of central planning in the Russian economy.” According to Wiki, the literal meaning of the word is simply “restructuring.”

Praxis: “1. Practical application or exercise of a branch of learning. 2. Habitual or established practice; custom” — that is, “translating an idea into action.”

“ALEKSII ANTEDILLUVIANOVICH PRELAPSARIANOV: . . . when the incredible bloody vegetable struggle up and through into Red Blooming gave us Praxis, True Praxis, True Theory married to Actual Life . . .” (14)

Bukharinite: Having something in common with the beliefs of Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (1888-1938), a “Bolshevik leader in Russia who advocated gradual collectivism of the farms; was executed in a purge by Stalin.” More about him at Wiki. I don’t know enough about the history of Russian political thought to know why he’s mentioned here in connection with weak capitalism — something about his beliefs and policies must have countered the revolutionary political action of the original Bolshevik Revolution — perhaps his support of the Stalinist idea that socialism did not have to spread beyond Russia to succeed. An emphasis on economic growth over political growth? Dunno.

“ALEKSII ANTEDILLUVIANOVICH PRELAPSARIANOV: Watered-down Bukharinite stopgap makeshift Capitalism!” (14)

Abstemious: “1. Eating and drinking in moderation. 2. a. Sparingly used or consumed. b. Restricted to bare necessities.”

“BELIZE: Miss Thing has been abstemious.” (19)

Grace Jones: According to Wiki, Grace Jones (1948-) is “a Jamaican–American model, singer and actress.” Belize may be referring to the fashion style Jones adopted in the 1970s and 1980s — which the Wiki article describes as “severe and androgynous with square-cut hair and angular, padded clothes” — when he suggests her as an “unconventional woman.” Check out her album covers (like this one) for examples. She’s rather striking.

“PRIOR: It was a woman.

BELIZE: You turning straight on me?

PRIOR: Not a conventional woman.

BELIZE: Grace Jones?” (19)

CTM: There are a ton of phrases out there that use this acronym as shorthand, but the ones I think seem most likely here are “certified medication technician,” which a Missouri job ad describes as a technician “specially trained to set-up medications, administer them to the proper patient/resident and document administration in the medical record, functioning under the supervision of a professional nurse within parameters of State approved credentialing,” or “care team member,” which the Health Care Partners Medical Group page defines as a support staff member in a small team of physicians and staff assigned to a block of patients. It might also stand for “combined-modality therapy,” which the Online Medical Dictionary defines as “two or more types of treatments used to supplement each other” (such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy), particularly in the treatment of cancer. And it may stand for something else entirely.

“HENRY: Start the drip, Gamma G and he’ll need a CTM, radiation in the morning so clear diet and . . .” (21)

Koch: One-time mayor of New York, whose sexuality was always a matter of public speculation. See my entry on Angels in America, Part One, for more.

“BELIZE: The Killer Queen Herself. New York’s number one closeted queer.

PRIOR: Koch?” (22)

Kwell: A brand name for a “preparation of lindane that is used to kill lice and itch mites; available in cream or shampoo.” Lindane, according to Wiki, is an “organochlorine insecticide that has been used in agriculture and in pharmaceutical products for the treatment of headlice and scabies”; it’s fairly harmful to the human body, and isn’t, I think, regularly used to treat casual lice cases any longer — in fact, the Wiki article says it’s being considered for worldwide banning.

“ROY: I got some kind of super crabs from some kid once, it took twenty drenchings of Kwell and finally shaving to get rid of the little bastards.” (25)

Mike Wallace: According to Wiki, Mike Wallace (1918-) is an “American journalist. who has been a correspondent for CBS’s 60 Minutes since its debut in 1968. Wallace retired as a regular correspondent in 2006.”

Ollie North: According to Wiki, Oliver North (1943-) “is most well known for his involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair. North was at the center of national attention during the Iran-Contra Affair, during which he was a key Reagan administration official involved in the clandestine sale of weapons to Iran. The sale of these weapons served both to encourage the release of US hostages and to generate proceeds to support the Contra rebel group. Vice Admiral John M. Poindexter and his deputy, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North secretly diverted to the Nicaraguan Contras millions of dollars in funds received from a secret deal – the sales of anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles to Iran – in spite of Reagan’s public pledge not to deal with the nation. Currently, North is an American conservative political commentator, host of ‘War Stories with Oliver North’ on Fox News Channel. He is a 1968 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and was a career officer in the Marine Corps, retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel after twenty years of service.” It also looks like there’s a still-running controversy over North’s involvement in U.S.-government-supported drug-running operations, also used to raise funds for the Contras.

“ROY: So send me my pills with a get-well bouquet, PRONTO, or I’ll ring up CBS and sing Mike Wallace a song: (Sotto voce, with relish) the ballad of adorable Ollie North and his secret contra slush fund.” (28)

Alphabetland: Appears to be a reference to a part of Manhattan, also called “Alphabet City.” According to Wiki, this area “is a neighborhood located in the East Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its name comes from Avenues A, B, C, and D, the only avenues in Manhattan to have single-letter names. It is bordered by Houston Street to the south and 23rd Street to the north where Avenue C ends. However, the historic boundaries of the Lower East Side—which transformed into the modern-day Lower East Side and Alphabet City—place the northern border at 14th Street.” Also according to the article, immigrant groups have often clustered in this area — including Eastern Europeans Jews, in the late 19th and the 20th centuries. In more recent years, though still densely-populated and troubled by crime, the area gained an image as the bohemian living place of poor young artists — the musical RENT is set in Alphabetland during these years.

“LOUIS: Alphabetland. This is where the Jews lived when they first arrived.” (28)

Nonoxynol-9: According to Wiki, “Nonoxynol-9, sometimes abbreviated as N-9, is a non-ionic nonoxynol surfactant that is used as an ingredient in various cleaning and cosmetic products, but is also widely used in contraceptives for its spermicidal properties. Although it was at one time widely promoted as a protection against sexually transmitted infections including HIV, subsequent studies have shown that it can in fact increase the risk of infection by damaging the physical barriers of the rectum or vagina.”

“LOUIS: We can cap everything that leaks in latex, we can smear our bodies with nonoxynol-9, safe, chemical sex.” (29)

“Ohblahdee, ohblahdah, life goes on”: A reference to the chorus lyrics from a Beatles song, “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” : “Ob-la-di, ob-la-da / Life goes on, bra.” The song’s actually about the happy romance and marriage of a couple, so Louis seems to be using the phrase literally (just to mean “whatever, life goes on”), rather than playing on the song’s content. Although there is a gender inversion at the song’s end (accidental, the Wiki article on the song says), in which the male lover’s name is substituted for the female, which could be considered relevant to the play’s themes; the full lyrics are here.

“LOUIS: Fine! Ohblahdee, ohblahdah, life goes on. Rah.” (29)

Estrus: “The periodic state of sexual excitement in the female of most mammals, excluding humans, that immediately precedes ovulation and during which the female is most receptive to mating; heat.”

“ANGEL: HOLY Estrus! HOLY Orifice!” (40)

Anomie: “1. Social instability caused by erosion of standards and values. 2. Alienation and purposelessness experienced by a person or a class as a result of a lack of standards, values, or ideals.”

“ANGEL’S VOICE: FOR THIS AGE OF ANOMIE: A NEW LAW!” (48)

Moonie: A slang slur term for members of the Unification Church — which, according to Wiki, “is a religious movement started by Sun Myung Moon in Korea in the 1940s. The beliefs of the church are explained in the book Divine Principle and draw from the Bible as well as Asian traditions and include belief in a universal God; in the creation of a literal Kingdom of Heaven on earth; in the universal salvation of all people, good and evil as well as living and dead; that Jesus did not come to die; and that the Lord of the Second Coming must be a man born in Korea early in the 20th century who must marry and have children.” Here’s some more on Sun Myung Moon, according to Wiki: “Undoubtedly the most controversial aspect of Moon is the extent to which he is fulfilling a messianic role. His followers regard him as the Second Coming of Christ, a claim that non-believers generally reject – often with vehemence. Moon is famous for holding interracial, interreligious and international mass marriage ceremonies (see Blessing Ceremony) since 1960. In the political and media world, he is well-known for founding The Washington Times newspaper in 1982. As the head of the Unification Church and a noted anti-communist, Moon has been among the most controversial modern religious leaders, and has been widely criticized.” The Unification Church (that is, Sun Myung Moon) is strongly anti-homosexual.

Rajnishi: According to Wiki, a follower of “Indian spiritual leader Rajneesh Chandra Mohan Jain (1931–1990), better known during the 1960s as Acharya Rajneesh, then during the 1970s and 1980s as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and later taking the name Osho. Rajneesh lived in India and in other countries including, for a period, the United States, and inspired the Osho movement, a controversial spiritual and philosophical movement that still has many followers.” Sounds like the movement was very open about sex — though whether it supported homosexual sex acts as strongly as it did heterosexual ones is not mentioned in the article. In the early ’80s, the movement was implicated in planning (and, in one case, carrying out) terrorist attacks.

“LOUIS: . . . and it turned out that you were a member of some bizarre religious sect, like a Moonie or a Rajnishi or a Mormon or something . . .” (52)

Lillian Hellman: According to Wiki, “Lillian Florence Hellman (1905–1984) was a successful American playwright, linked throughout her life with many left-wing causes. She was romantically involved for 30 years with mystery and crime writer Dashiell Hammett (and was the inspiration for his character Nora Charles), and was also a long-time friend and the literary executor of author Dorothy Parker. She was the first woman to have been nominated for an Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay.” Hellman was Jewish, a Communist supporter, and was brought before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1952 (along with many other left-wingers and supposed left-wingers).

“ROY: For all I know Lillian fucking Hellman is down in the basement switching the pills around–no, wait, she’s dead, isn’t she.” (54)

Dinge: According to the OED, “A derogatory term for an African-American. Also attrib. or as adj., esp. with reference to a jazz style developed by African-American musicians.”

“ROY: Mongrel. Dinge. Slave. Ape.” (57)

“Jack Mormon”: According to Wiki, “a slang term that originated in the nineteenth century. It was originally used to describe somebody who was not a baptized member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or LDS Church), but who was friendly to Church members and Mormonism, sympathized with them, and/or took an active interest in their belief system. In today’s Mormon culture, the term ‘dry-Mormon’ is its equivalent. Sometime in the early to mid twentieth century, the term changed culturally to refer to someone deemed by LDS adherents to be an inactive or lapsed member of the LDS Church who maintained good relations with and positive feelings toward the Church.” The exact implication of the phrase seems to vary from user to user — it seems like it can be used in a very negative sense or a more friendly sense. All depends on who’s using it and who it’s applied to. And exactly where the “jack” part of the phrase originated from seems quite debated.

“HARPER: Jack Mormon. It means I’m flawed. Inferior Mormon product. Probably comes from jack rabbit, you know, I ran.” (59)

“The Largo from Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony”: According to Wiki, “The Symphony No. 9, in E Minor, ‘From the New World’ (Op. 95), popularly known as the New World Symphony, composed by Czech composer Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) in 1893 during his visit to the United States from 1892 to 1895. It is by far his most popular symphony, and one of the most popular symphonies in the modern repertory.” According to the article, Dvorak claimed the piece was inspired by Native American and African-American music; and “the theme from the largo was adapted into a spiritual-like song, ‘Goin’ Home,’ by black composer Harry Burleigh, whom Dvořák met during his American sojourn, and lyricist William Arms Fisher.^“ A “largo” is a musical passage or movement “in a very slow tempo, usually considered to be slower than adagio, and with great dignity. Used chiefly as a direction.”

“The diorama comes to life. Sounds of a wagon train, the Largo from Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony.” (61)

Jesse Helms: According to Wiki, “Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr. (1921-) is a former five-term Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina, and a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.” Looks like he is/was strongly right-wing, anti-Communist, and guilty of using racist language and propaganda. Also relevant to the play’s themes and setting, the article says, “as a senator, Helms became one of the leaders of the increasingly influential conservative movement within the Republican Party, giving Ronald Reagan crucial support in 1976 in the pivotal North Carolina GOP primary that paved the way for Reagan’s presidential election in 1980.”

“LOUIS: But. . . . Wait. Oh God. But the Republican party. . . . Mmmmmmm . . . is. . . . I mean. . . . Newt Gingrich, Jesse Helms. . . .” (71)

The Hollywood Squares: According to Wiki, “The Hollywood Squares was an American television comedy and game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win money and prizes. The ‘board’ for the game is actually a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by an entertainer (or “star”) seated at a desk and facing the contestants. The stars are asked questions and the contestants judge the veracity of their answers in order to win the game.” It ran from 1965 to 1981, was revived from 1983 to 1984, from 1986 to 1989, and again from 1998 to 2004. According to this site, Ronald Reagan guested in a precursor to Squares, called The Celebrity Game, but I’m not sure if he was ever on Squares itself — it doesn’t show up on his IMDB credits.

“LOUIS: If he [Reagan] didn’t have people like me to demonize where would he be? Upper-right-hand square on The Hollywood Squares.” (71)

Balenciaga: According to Wiki, “a fashion house founded by Cristóbal Balenciaga, a Basque designer, born in Spain. He introduced couture shapes to the women’s world and was referred to as ‘the master of us all’ by Christian Dior. His bubble skirts and odd, feminine, yet ultra-modern shapes were trademarks of the house.” The official site of the design house is here.

“BELIZE: And everyone in Balenciaga gowns with red corsages, and big dance palaces full of music and lights and racial impurity and gender confusion.” (76)

Schultz: According to Wiki, “George Pratt Shultz (1920-) served as the United States Secretary of Labor from 1969 to 1970, as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1972 to 1974, and as the U.S. Secretary of State from 1982 to 1989″ (that is, he was secretary of state during the Reagan administration). Apparently, he opposed the Iran-Contra Affair dealings but supported invasion of Nicaragua. Looks like he was/is involved in the Bush administration and its formation of policy. Good going, thar, sir . . .

“ROY: If you want the smoke and puffery you can listen to Kissinger and Schultz and those guys, but if you want to look at the heart of modern conservatism, you look at me.” (79)

Nelly: “Used as a disparaging term for an effeminate homosexual man.”

“PRIOR: Mega-butch. He made me feel beyond nelly.” (90)

Hoss Cartwright: According to Wiki, “Eric ‘Hoss’ Cartwright is a fictional character, the middle brother on the classic 1960s TV show Bonanza. He was played by actor Dan Blocker (1928-1972)” Bonanza was a Western, o’course; there are pictures of Dan Blocker in the role in his IMDB gallery.

“BELIZE: You and Hoss Cartwright, it’s not a verbal kind of thing, you just kick off your boots and hit the hay.” (93)

Maria Ouspenskaya: According to Wiki, “Maria Ouspenskaya (1876-1949) was an Oscar-nominated Russian actress who achieved success as a stage actress as a young woman in Russia, and as an elderly woman in Hollywood films.” According to IMDB, Ouspenskaya had an “addiction to astrology and remained in nearly daily communication with L.A. Times’ astrologer Carroll Righter who would advise her on the best times to appear on camera along with when and where to travel.” She also played a mystic gypsy woman in The Wolf Man. Both could be reasons Prior sarcastically compares Joe’s mother to Ouspenskaya.

“PRIOR: A vision. Thank you, Maria Ouspenskaya.” (101)

Estoppel: “A bar preventing one from making an allegation or a denial that contradicts what one has previously stated as the truth.”

“JOE: We found for the guy again.

LOUIS: But but but! On an equitable estoppel.” (108)

Joseph Welch: According to Wiki, “Joseph Nye Welch (1890–1960) was the head attorney for the United States Army while it was under investigation by Joseph McCarthy’s Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations for Communist activities. This investigation (known as the ‘Army-McCarthy Hearings’) was underway when television was first becoming a common household product in the United States. It was the first time many people got a first-hand view of McCarthy.” And that first-hand view of McCarthy, being rebuked by Welch for his demagogical anti-Communist attacks, wreaked havoc on McCarthy’s public image and reputation.

Here’s the footage containing Welch’s famous line from the trials. My God, look at it. It’s dramatic as hell — much tension, very theatrical.

“LOUIS: JOSEPH WELCH. THE ARMY/MCCARTHY HEARINGS.” (109)

Glissando: “A rapid slide through a series of consecutive tones in a scalelike passage.”

“Hannah has an enormous orgasm, as the Angel flies away to the accompanying glissando of a baroque piccolo trumpet.” (118)

Curie: “A unit of radioactivity, equal to the amount of a radioactive isotope that decays at the rate of 3.7 × 10¹⁰ disintegrations per second.”

“RADIO: . . . releasing into the atmosphere fifty million curies of radioactive iodine . . .” (126)

Threnody: “A poem or song of mourning or lamentation.”

“AFRICANII: This Age is the threnody chant of a Poet, a dark-devising Poet whose only theme is Death.” (127)

Metier: “1. An occupation, a trade, or a profession. 2. Work or activity for which a person is particularly suited; one’s specialty.” Synonym of “forte.”

“ROY: Family court is my particular metier, I’m an absolute fucking demon with Family Law.” (140)

Ceaucescus: According to Wiki, this is a reference to “Nicolae Ceauşescu (1918–1989), the leader of Romania from 1965 until December 1989, when a revolution and coup removed him from power. The revolutionaries held a two hour trial and sentenced him to death for crimes against the state, genocide, and ‘undermining the national economy.’ The hasty trial has been criticized as a kangaroo court. His subsequent execution marked the final act of the Revolutions of 1989,” in which Central and European Communist states were overthrown. The reference is also to Ceausescu’s family, members of which, Wiki says, held power in Communist Romania.

“LOUIS: The Berlin Wall has fallen. The Ceaucescus are out.” (143)

Illustrations from Jack Williamson’s “Darker Than You Think”

Just thought these illustrations, which come from the interior of a 1979 edition of Jack Williamson’s pulpy-but-passable novel Darker Than You Think, were pretty neat, in a noir, adventure-hero kind of way. The back cover tells me they are “the original interior illustrations by the renowned Edd Cartier“; the book has several more, but these were my favorites. They make me want to go find old sci-fi pulp mags, see what the interior illustrations that accompanied the stories were like — websites tend to focus on cover scans, not interiors.

Apologies for the blurriness on the right edge of the first — it was going into the spine, hard to scan without book-squashage.

Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches”

Kushner, Tony. Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1993. 119 p.

As with Amadeus, some other dramaturgical folks have already done much of my work for me: Angels in America glossary online.

Flackman: According to the OED, “A press agent; a publicity man,” or “more loosely, an apologist or supporter.”

“MARTIN HELLER, a Reagan Administration Justice Department flackman, played by the actor playing Harper.” (4)

Roy M. Cohn: According to Wiki, “Roy Marcus Cohn (1927-1986) was an American lawyer who came to prominence during the investigations by Senator Joseph McCarthy into alleged Communists in the U.S. government, especially during the Army-McCarthy Hearings. He was also a key figure of prosecution in the Rosenbergs trial. A highly controversial figure, he wielded tremendous political power at times.” He was, as the play has him, disbarred, in 1986, for “unethical and unprofessional conduct, including misappropriation of clients’ funds, lying on a bar application, and pressuring a client to amend his will”; the article also says that he did indeed die of AIDS and was popularly rumored to be homosexual.

“Roy M. Cohn, the character, is based on the late Roy M. Cohn (1927-1986), who was all too real…” (5)

Stanley Kunitz: According to Wiki, an American poet who lived from 1905-2006; he was Poet Laureate in 2000. The full text of the poem Kushner quotes to forward the play, “The Testing-Tree,” may be found here.

“In a murderous time/the heart breaks and breaks/and lives by breaking. –Stanley Kunitz, ‘The Testing-Tree.’” (8)

Yarzheit Candle: A candle lit on the annual anniversary of the death of a family member, which then burns for 24 hours, according to Jewish mourning customs. More on Wiki. Apparently, they can be lit at funerals, too?

“A prayer shawl embroidered with a Star of David is draped over the lid, and by the head a yarzheit candle is burning.” (9)

Schtup: “Slang for sexual intercourse.” Not volunteering the obvious synonyms, eh?

“ROY: Tell her I’m schtupping the judge.” (14)

Emma Goldman: According to FreeDictionary, Emma Goldman (1869-1940) was a “United States anarchist (born in Russia) who opposed conscription; was deported to the Soviet Union in 1919.” She was born to an Orthodox Jewish family, and Wiki says her work experienced renewed popularity in the 1970s. Wiki’s got a lot more about her life.

“LOUIS: My grandmother actually saw Emma Goldman speak.” (19)

“Little Sheba”: A reference to a lost dog, “Sheba,” in Daniel Mann’s 1952 film Come Back, Little Sheba, based on the play of the same name by William Inge. Here’s one of IMDB’s plot summaries: “For two decades Doc and Lola Delaney avoided coming to terms with what Doc considered a “shot gun” marriage. Lola lost the baby and gives a lot of her affection to Sheba, a dog that disappeared a few months before the film opens. Doc blames Lola for having to drop out of medical school and not becoming a “real” doctor. Until joining AA a year ago, his escape was alcohol. Then college student Marie rents a room in their home. Doc feels passion for the first time in 20 years. But Marie has two suitors her age. Lola — unaware of Doc’s emotions –becomes as interested in Marie’s future as if Marie were her daughter.”

“PRIOR: Call an animal ‘Little Sheba’ and you can’t expect it to stick around.” (20)

Shirley Booth: According to Wiki, Shirley Booth (1898-1992) was an award-winning American actress. Among many other roles, she played the female lead in Come Back, Little Sheba – the disappointed wife, Lola Delaney, who keeps calling for her dog, Sheba, to come back. Thus Prior’s reference.

“PRIOR: I did my best Shirley Booth this morning, floppy slippers, housecoat, curlers, can of Little Friskies; “Come back, Little Sheba, come back. . . .” (21)

Conran’s: Hm, looks like a line of houseware stores run by British designer Terence Conran. The furniture looks like kind of modern, trendy, modular stuff — right angles, smooth lines, stark colors that kind of thing. I guess Harper associates Conran’s with yuppies/worldliness/urban living or something?

“We’ll forget church teachings and buy furniture at . . . at Conran’s and become yuppies.” (23)

Hegelian: Refers to Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), a “German idealist philosopher who interpreted nature and human history and culture as expressions of a dialectical process in which Spirit, or Mind, realizes its full potentiality. His major works include The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807) and The Philosophy of Right (1821).” More at Wiki, o’course.

“LOUIS: . . . maybe a person who has this neo-Hegelian positivist sense of constant historical progress towards happiness or perfection or something . . .” (25)

“I’m ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille”: One of the last lines of Billy Wilder’s 1950 film Sunset Blvd. Here’s IMDB’s synopsis of the film: “The story, set in ’50s Hollywood, focuses on Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), a silent-screen goddess whose pathetic belief in her own indestructibility has turned her into a demented recluse. The crumbling Sunset Boulevard mansion where she lives with only her butler, Max (Erich von Stroheim) who was once her director and husband has become her self-contained world. Norma dreams of a comeback to pictures and she begins a relationship with Joe Gillis (William Holden), a small-time writer who becomes her lover, that will soon end with murder and total madness.” The quote’s the end of a short monologue the delusional actress delivers to newsmen filming her as she’s being taken away (for murder, sounds like); in whole, the monologue runs: “And I promise you I’ll never desert you again because after ‘Salome’ we’ll make another picture and another picture. You see, this is my life! It always will be! Nothing else! Just us, the cameras, and those wonderful people out there in the dark!… All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.”

“PRIOR (Alone, putting on makeup, then examining the results in the mirror; to the audience): ‘I’m ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille.’” (30)

Lymphadenopathy: Literally, “disease of the lymph nodes,” often characterized by the swelling of the nodes. Wiki says generalized lymphadenopathy can be a first sign of HIV infection, prior to the onset of the actual full-blown immune-system failure of AIDS.

“HENRY: And you have pronounced swelling of glands in your neck, groin, and armpits–lymphadenopathy is another sign.” (43)

Candidiasis: “Infection by fungi of the genus Candida, generally C. albicans, most commonly involving the skin, oral mucosa (thrush), respiratory tract, or vagina; rarely there is a systemic infection or endocarditis” — that is, a yeast infection. Wiki says that life-threatening yeast infections usually occur only in severely immune-system-compromised patients — such as AIDS sufferers.

“HENRY: “And you have oral candidiasis and maybe a little more fungus under the fingernails of two digits on your right hand.” (43)

Walter Winchell: According to Wiki, Walter Winchell (1897-1972) was “an American newspaper and radio commentator who invented the gossip column at the New York Evening Graphic. He broke the journalistic taboo against exposing the private lives of public figures, permanently altering the shape of journalism and celebrity. He was a top gossip reporter, whose newspaper column and radio show could make or break a celebrity.” Also according to the article he was Jewish; associated with both major gangsters and J. Edgar Hoover; also (rather contradictorily) supported FDR; and (again contradictorily) supported McCarthy, McCarthyism, and the whole anti-Communist Red Scare shindig. Winchell’s gossip often, the article states, came from no credible source, and he carried on public feuds in his work; he faded into relative obscurity prior to his death.

“ROY: I’ve had many fathers, I owe my life to them, powerful, powerful men. Walter Winchell, Edgar Hoover.” (56)

Belle Reeve: Apparently a reference to the Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire. The protagonist, a mentally-disturbed, alcoholic Southern belle, loses her Mississippi familial estate, “Belle Reve,” and travels to New Orleans, where her breakdown progresses further. Haven’t read Streetcar yet, which makes me a very bad theater student — but, Lord, I am not a Williams fan. The man beats his dead thematic horses into a pulp, and I can only take so many messed-up insular Southern families and “fragile beauties.” If you want to see a great one-line sum-up of Williams’ plays, watch Jim Carrey’s costume test as Count Olaf on the DVD of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events: “It is hot, and I am lonely.”

“BELIZE: Not to despair, Belle Reeve.” (59)

Lability: According to Merriam-Webster Online, “1. Readily or continually undergoing chemical, physical, or biological change or breakdown : unstable. 2. Readily open to change.”

“PRIOR: This is a very strange drug, this drug. Emotional lability, for starters.” (60)

Concupiscence: “A strong desire, especially sexual desire; lust.” Wiki seems to suggest that there’s a whole theological debate over the meaning and religious appropriateness of concupiscence — which would fit in with all the religious imagery of the play.

“PRIOR: And would you deny me this little solace–betray my concupiscence to Florence Nightingale’s storm troopers?” (61)

Ed Meese: According to Wiki, Edwin “Ed” Meese III (1931-)”served as the seventy-fifth Attorney General of the United States (1985-1988),” that is, during the Reagan administration. He was apparently repeatedly investigated for and accused of corruption, though nothing definite was ever uncovered, and was extremely loyal to Reagan.

“MARTIN: And Justice is the hub. Especially since Ed Meese took over.” (63)

Brahmin: “A member of a cultural and social elite, especially of that formed by descendants of old New England families,” taken from the Indian “brahman” or “brahmin,” “A member of the highest of the four major castes of traditional Indian society, responsible for officiating at religious rites and studying and teaching the Vedas.”

“ROY: The disbarment committee: genteel gentleman Brahmin lawyers, country-club men.” (66-67)

Sabrett Wagon: A streetside food cart in New York that sells Sabrett brand hot dogs. They all have blue-and-yellow umbrellas. Here’s the official Sabrett page, with a picture of a cart.

“A Sabrett wagon is selling hot dogs.” (69)

Pentamidine: “An antiinfective used as the isethionate salt in the treatment of pneumonia, leishmaniasis, and early African trypanosomiasis.” Which probably means that Prior’s being treated for a severe form of pneumonia, called pneumocystis pneumonia, which primarily effects immune-system-impaired individuals — like those with AIDS. More about the drug at Wiki; it doesn’t look at all like a friendly drug — lots of listed side effects.

“Prior is at the outpatient clinic at the hospital with Emily, the nurse; she has him on a pentamidine IV drip.” (89)

Jeane Kirkpatrick: According to Wiki, Jeane Kirkpatrick (1926-2006) was “an American ambassador and an ardent anticommunist. After serving as Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy adviser in his 1980 campaign and later in his Cabinet, the longtime Democrat turned Republican was nominated as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and became the first woman to hold this position. She is famous for her ‘Kirkpatrick Doctrine,’ which advocates U.S. support of anticommunist governments around the world, including authoritarian dictatorships, if they were not totalitarian and went along with Washington’s aims– believing they could be led into democracy by example. She wrote, ‘Traditional authoritarian governments are less repressive than revolutionary autocracies.’”

“. . . you know, Jeane Kirkpatrick for God’s sake will go on and on about freedom and so what does that mean, the word freedom, when she talks about it, or human rights . . .” (89)

Annie Hall: An Academy-Award-winning 1977 Woody Allen film. Wiki’s plot synopsis: “The film is set in New York City and Los Angeles. Allen plays Alvy Singer, a comedian obsessed with death, attempting to maintain a relationship with the ditzy but exuberant title character (played by Diane Keaton). The film chronicles their relationship over several years, intercut with various fantasy trips into each other’s history (Annie is able to “see” Alvy’s family when Alvy was only a child, and likewise Alvy observes Annie’s past sexual relationships). In the flashbacks showing Alvy as a child, we learn that Alvy Singer grew up in Brooklyn. His father operated a bumper cars concession. He claims the family home was located below a roller coaster on Coney Island. After several years, many arguments and many reconciliations, the two realize they are fundamentally different and split up. Annie moves in with a Hollywood record company executive (played by Paul Simon). Alvy eventually realizes he still loves her and tries to convince her to return with him to New York. He fails and, resignedly, returns home to write a drama about their relationship. Later, after they are able to meet on good terms as friends, Alvy ends the film by musing about how love and relationships are something we all require despite their often painful and complex nature.” Seems like Kushner carefully picked films to reference with themes similar to Angels‘ own themes/plot.

Payess: Also “payot,” “peyot,” “payos,” or “peyes”; the sidelocks or sideburns worn by Jews in accordance with Judaism’s laws regarding shaving.

“LOUIS: . . . And I feel like Sid the Yid, you know I mean like Woody Allen in Annie Hall, with the payess and the gabardine coat . . .” (91)

Louis Farrakhan: According to Wiki, Louis Farrakhan (1933-) is “the acting head of the Nation of Islam (NOI) as the National Representative of Elijah Muhammad. He is also well-known as an advocate for African American interests and a critic of American society. Farrakhan has been the center of much controversy, and critics have, among other things, said that his views are racist, homophobic, and antisemitic. Farrakhan denies these charges, and frequently insists that his controversial comments are taken out of context by critics.” The article has a section devoted to these remarks.

Ed Koch: According to Wiki, Edward Irving Koch (1924) “was a United States Congressman from 1969 to 1977 and the Mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989.” Koch is Jewish, and his sexuality has been a matter of public curiosity throughout his life — he has never married and refuses to discuss the matter, denying claims that he is homosexual. (He’s a supporter of gay rights, looks like; though it also looks like he’s been criticized for not addressing the New York AIDS crisis of the ’80s directly or quickly enough.) I’m guessing that Belize is citing him as racist because, in 1988, he publicly criticized presidential candidate Jesse Jackson, saying that Jews, in particular, should not vote for the allegedly anti-Semite Jackson.

“Hymietown”: According to Wiki, in a 1984 conversation with a Washington Post reporter, Jesse Jackson, at the time a presidential candidate, referred to New York as “Hymietown” — “hymie” is a racist slur term for a Jew.

Rainbow Coalition: According to Wiki, short for “National Rainbow Coalition,” a political organization created by Jesse Jackson during his 1984 presidential campaign “to demand social programs, voting rights, and affirmative action” for segments of the population neglected by Reagan’s policies. The name came from the title of the keynote address which Jackson delivered at the 1984 Democratic National Convention, in which he called for “Arab Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, youth, disabled veterans, small farmers, lesbians and gays to join with African Americans and Jewish Americans for political purpose.” The Coalition still exists, as part of Rainbow/PUSH, an organization founded by Jackson which combines two social activism organizations — the Coalition and Operation PUSH.

“BELIZE: ‘Most black people.’ That’s rascist, Louis, and I think most Jews . . .

LOUIS: Louis Farrakhan.

BELIZE: Ed Koch.

LOUIS: Jesse Jackson.

BELIZE: Jackson. Oh, really, Louis this is . . .

LOUIS: Hymietown! Hymietown!

BELIZE: Louis, you voted for Jesse Jackson. You send checks to the Rainbow Coalition.” (95)

In Love with the Night Mysterious: A fictional (that is, not real) novel — Belize is being facetious, mocking Louis. “In love with the night mysterious” is also a line from the Cole Porter song “So in Love” from the 1948 musical Kiss Me, Kate. It’s a very simple love song, but some of the lyrics seem to resonate with Angels relationships and themes: “So taunt me and hurt me / Deceive me, desert me / I’m yours ’til I die.”

“BELIZE: I’d swear that’s a line from my favorite bestselling paperback novel, In Love with the Night Mysterious, except I don’t think you’ve ever read it.” (96)

Democracy in America: Belize may just be throwing another made-up title out to mock Louis, but there’s also the possibility he’s referring to a real book — perhaps Alexis de Tocqueville’s two-volume 1835 and 1840 Democracy in America (the translated title), in which Tocqueville described American democracy as he saw it and, it appears, suggested that it worked in the U.S. because of “unique” American conditions and values (though he saw and predicted problems with the system, as well). More on the book at Wiki: here and here.

“BELIZE: You ought to. Instead of spending the rest of your life trying to get through Democracy in America.” (96)

Aleph: “The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.” Wiki has pictures and more on its significance in Judaism; the most relevant here is probably that it is begins each of the three words that make up the name God gives for himself in Exodus, when Moses asks it — translated usually as “I am that I am.”

“The book opens; there is a large Aleph inscribed on its pages, which bursts into flames.” (99)

The Nation: According to Wiki, the Nation is “a weekly U.S. periodical devoted to politics and culture, self-described as ‘the flagship of the left.’” Here’s its official page.

“ROY: They say terrible things about me in the Nation.” (108)

Ex-parte: “1. Law From or on one side only, with the other side absent or unrepresented. 2. From a one-sided or strongly biased point of view.”

“JOE: Roy, you were the Assistant United States Attorney on the Rosenberg case, ex-parte communication with the judge during the trial would be . . .” (108)

Zaftig: “1. Full-bosomed. 2. Having a full, shapely figure.”

“ETHEL ROSENBERG: You were heavy back then. Zaftig, mit hips.” (111)

Martin McDonagh’s “The Beauty Queen of Leenane”

from www.gofish.com posted with vodpod

(Only clip of a production of this show I could find; I don’t know the details as to where/when/which company this is, unfortunately.)

McDonagh, Martin. The Beauty Queen of Leenane. New York: Vintage, 1996. 84 p. In the anthology The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Other Plays.

The Sullivans: An Australian soap opera that ran from 1976 to 1983, about a middle-class Melbourne family during World War II. More at Wiki.

“The TV is on, showing an old episode of The Sullivans.” (12)

Skitter: “Diarrhea; looseness or laxity of the bowels,” according to the OED, chiefly Scottish.

“RAY: Well, I’m not wading through all that skitter just to tell her.” (14)

Gasur: In the official language of Ireland, Gaeilge, “gasur” means “boy.”

“MAG: With no news. Sure, what news would a gasur have?” (20)

Complan: According to Wiki, a British brand of powdered milk drink, marketed as a nutritional supplement and health aid.

“MAUREEN switches off the kettle, pours a sachet of Complan into a mug and fills it up with water.” (21)

Kimberley Biscuits: Apparently a type of cake/cookie manufactured by the company Jacob’s; looks like it’s two ginger cake/cookies with marshmallow in between. Here’s a picture and a very grammatically-shaky review.

“MAUREEN sits at the table with a pack of Kimberley biscuits.” (24)

Mikado Biscuits: Another cookie by Jacob’s, and mind-bogglingly gross-looking: Ten blobs of marshmallow and raspberry jam on a flat vanilla cookie, sprinkled with coconut. Here’s Jacob’s official description, and that same grammatically-wonky blog’s take on ‘em.

“RAY: Or was it Mikados? It was some kind of horrible biscuits.” (29)

Tayto: A generic word for “potato chip” in some parts of Ireland, taken from the Tayto brand name — Tayto is a major manufacturer of potato chips, popcorn, and other snack foods in Ireland. More at Wiki.

“PATO: She had dropped some Taytos on her blouse, there, I was just brushing them off for her.” (34)

Delia Murphy: According to Wiki, “Delia Murphy (1902 – 1971) was a singer and collector of Irish ballads. Some knew her as ‘The Queen of Connemara.’”

“The Spinning Wheel”: A song by the Irish singer Delia Murphy (see above). Its lyrics describe a “young maiden” sneaking out to walk with her love, deceiving her dozing blind grandmother, who believes the girl is still sitting near her, spinning. Full lyrics can be found here.

“The song ‘The Spinning Wheel,’ sung by Delia Murphy, has just started on the radio.” (32)

Praitie: According to the OED, an Irish, Scottish, and Newfoundland regional word for “potato.”

“MAUREEN: I wash me praities in there.” (41)

Difford Hall: Seems to be an invented place, not a real one.

“MAG: And reminds you of Difford Hall in England, too, I’ll bet it does . . .” (42)

Doolally: According to the OED, short for the full phrase “doolally tap,” which means “Characterized by an unbalanced state of mind.” Wiki says it came from the “cabin fever” felt by British soldiers waiting at the Deolali British Army transit camp for ships home from India.

“MAUREEN: A lot of doolally people, aye.” (43)

Spike Milligan: According to Wiki, Spike Milligan (1918-2002) was “an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet and playwright.” The article also says that he suffered from bipolar disorder, and had “at least ten major mental breakdowns” during his lifetime.

“PATO: Poor Spike Milligan, isn’t he forever having breakdowns?” (43)

Gangerman: According to the American-British/British-American Dictionary, “the foreman of a gang of navvies” — that is, of unskilled laborers or construction workers.

“PATO: The gangerman does pop his head in sometimes.” (48)

Sons and Daughters: Another Australian soap opera, which ran from 1981 to 1987. Looks like this one focused on a man on the run from murder charges who falls in love with a woman who turns out to be his separated-at-birth twin sister. Sticky spot, that. More at Wiki.

“RAY: I do like Sons and Daughters, I do.” (52)

A Country Practice: Yup, another Australian soap opera/TV series, this one running from 1981 to 1993. According to Wiki, it “followed a medical practice in the small fictional New South Wales country town of Wandin Valley. The show’s stories focused on the staff of the practice and the hospital and their families, and through weekly guest characters – frequently patients served by the practice – various social and medical problems were explored. The series examined such topical issues as youth unemployment, suicide, drug addiction, HIV/AIDS, and terminal illness as well as Aborigines and their place in modern Australian society.”

“RAY: For God’s sake, A Country Fecking Practice’s on next.” (53)

Swingball: According to Wiki, a game somewhat like tetherball, but played using rackets and a tethered tennis ball. The full description: “An alternate version of the game sold as Swingball uses a smaller, softer ball that the players strike with racquets. It can be described as ‘tether tennis,’ and is more popular in the United Kingdom. Swingball has a shorter pole, is portable and the ball flies around the pole at a constant distance from the pole on a helical screw; the game ends when the ball reaches the top or bottom of the screw. Generally the ball used for these games is a tennis ball, and the racquets can come from ping-pong or games with similar paddles.”

“RAY: Didn’t she keep the tennis ball that came off me and Mairtin Hanlon’s swingball set and landed in yere fields and wouldn’t give it back no matter how much we begged and that was ten years ago and I still haven’t forgotten it?” (53)

Wine Gums: According to Wiki, a kind of firm, fruit-flavored gummy candy sold in Ireland and the U.K. (as well as elsewhere).

“MAUREEN: Didn’t I buy you a packet of wine gums last week if I’m so mean?” (61)

The Birmingham Six: According to Wiki, six men (Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Joseph Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker) who were sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1974 bombing of two British pubs (called the “Birmingham pub bombings”). The case was (and is still, sounds like) surrounded by controversy, with the men being beaten and abused throughout the proceedings and many charges of fabrication of evidence being leveled. In 1991, 16 years after the 1975 ruling, the men’s convictions were overturned.

“RAY: Isn’t that how the Birmingham Six went down?” (75)

Wagon Wheels: Another type of cookie sold in the U.K. and Ireland, manufactured by Burton’s (not Jacob’s); this one’s marshmallow coated by chocolate, though apparently they come in other flavors. Wiki’s got some info and here’s that goofy biscuits blog on these biscuits: take one (with a picture of the cookie) and take two (with the packaging).

Jaffa Cakes: If you don’t know what a Jaffa Cake is, go watch episode 5 of Spaced. Or even if you do know what a Jaffa Cake is. Hell, it’s the Shaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz team! JUST GO WATCH IT!

…It’s another type of cookie of British origin; Wiki says the leading brand is McVitie’s. Little bit of cake with orange marmalade and chocolate on top. Pretty good, actually. You can get things like ‘em in the States pretty easy, I think.

“RAY: I think Kimberleys are me favourite biscuits out of any biscuits. Them or Jaffa Cakes. Or Wagon Wheels.” (77)

Bosco: According to Wiki, an Irish children’s television show that ran “during the late 1970s and early 1980s.” It sounds a bit like Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood or Sesame Street (or, hell, Under the Umbrella Tree, if anyone remembers that one), something along those lines — with a main puppet character, various segments with other characters, and humans interacting with the puppets.

“RAY: Like the lass used to be on Bosco.” (79)

The Chieftains: According to Wiki, “a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1963, best known for being the first band to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.”

“MAUREEN starts rocking slightly in the chair, listening to the song by The Chieftains on the radio.” (84)