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TRAINS OF THOUGHT Glossary Adjunct to Les routes de La Grande Odalisque (The Large Brain) 1980-87 (Updated 2012) Frederick Abrams Ablation: The removal of a portion of the body or brain. Abulia: Loss of will power. Advanced Memory Systems: Semiconductor chip supplier that went out of business rather than pay expenses to retool for production of a custom- designed chip required by Amdahl Corporation during the Silicon Valley boom in the late 1970's. Amdahl's chairman stated that his company's purchases of the custom chip would have equaled AMS' entire sales. A Japanese firm took advantage of AMS' lack of long-range vision. Alamogordo: The first atomic bomb was detonated in the New Mexico desert near Alamogordo. A sheet of glass 2,400 feet (800 meter) in diameter was formed from the sand by the bomb's intense heat. Alhambra: Literally “the red one’, is a 14th palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is also a suburb of Los Angeles. Artrex: Device which produces random ultrasonic frequencies above human and animal hearing ranges, designed to repel undesirable rodents and insects within a given indoor environment. It does not kill but emits an intense sound pressure which creates disorientation, driving rats from the sewers and subways into the streets. Artsem: George Orwell's term from 1984, short for artificial insemination, which was the approved technique for having children within the totalitarian system. Atomic Cafe: Post WWII coffee shop in downtown Los Angeles which during the '80s became popular with the art and punk crowd. Auto Suggestion: Suggestion arising from oneself, especially in the hope of changing one's behavior. Back Space: Command on a typewriter keyboard. Balloon Route: See Hollywood Subway Borderline Conditions: "A personality structure bordering on a severe condition known as 'pathological narcissism.' Such individuals may very well appear to function well socially and display no seriously disturbed behavior. However, there is a curious contradiction between a very inflated self-concept and an inordinate need for tribute from others. For them, emotional life is shallow. They envy others tend to idealize some people from whom they expect narcissistic supplies and depreciate and treat with contempt those from whom they do not expect anything (often their former idols). In general, their relationships with other people are clearly exploitative and sometimes parasitic. Behind a surface which is often charming and engaging the same person may be cold and ruthless. What separates them from the borderline personality is their 'pseudosublimatory potential,' meaning the capacity for active, constant work in some areas which permits them partially to fulfill their ambitions of greatness and of obtaining admiration from others. Narcissistic personalities are often leaders in industrial organizations or academic institutions; they may also be outstanding performers in some artistic domain. Careful observation, however, of their productivity over a long period of time will give evidence of superficiality and flightiness in their work of a lack of depth which eventually reveals the emptiness behind the glitter." - Otto F. Kerner, Borderline Conditions and Pathological Narcissism. Catastrophic Response: When stress becomes so great that an organism's normal repertoire of responses is not sufficient for demands that are placed upon it. (See Zone of Tolerance.) Circuit Grande Quatre: French for "grand slam home run," the highest scoring play in the game of baseball. City Rises: "The City Rises" (1910-1911), by futurist Umberto Boccioni, was his first painting through which he sought a "great synthesis of labor, light and movement." In their manifesto, the futurists proclaimed themselves "Lords of Light." Classic Confrontations: A terms used in sports to describe legendary match ups between two teams. (See Ebbets Field.) Clavesin Oculaire: Father Louis Bertrand Castel, a Jesuit philosopher and mathematician, demonstrated the world's first "color organ" (Clavisen Oculaire) in Paris, December 21, 1734, in what is known as the birth of "luminism." Castel wrote: "A clavesin...is a series of stretched chords which conform in their length and their thickness to certain harmonic proportions which...by moving the fingers as in an ordinary piano...make the color combinations which correspond precisely to those of music." Castel's harpsichord keyboard was connected to a set of transparent colored tapes, which were illuminated by candlelight. (See Light Cathedral and Tejas.) Condition Red: Activation of the "Doomsday Device" in Stanley Kubrick's film, "Dr. Strangeglove." (See Doomsday Device.) Convertible Debentures: Debt securities which are unsecured but may be exchanged for stock. Crime Passionnel: A crime of passion that touches a sympathetic chord which vibrates within us all, i.e.: a lover who murders from jealousy, as opposed to a violent crime for gain, which evokes no such comparable response. Da Capo: (Italian: "from the head.") An instruction, commonly abbreviated D. C., placed at the end of the second or other later section of a musical piece or movement, indicating that there is to be a recapitulation of the whole or part of the first section. Also the title of the second album by the '60s L. A. based popular music group "Love." Diamond Lane: a special lane on a street or highway that is reserved for specific types of traffic. This became a failed experiment of California freeway system during the late '70s, however, as traffic congestion continued to escalate, it was later revived. Disco Stewardesses: Porn film title seen on a cinema marquee across the street on South Broadway in downtown, L.A., during completion of Les routes de la Grande Odalisque (The Large Brain). The same cinema had once been famous for presenting Hollywood classics. Divestitures: In antitrust laws, the order of a court to a defendant to divest itself of property, securities or other assets. Doomsday Device: In Stanley Kubrick's film, "Dr. Strangelove," a secret Russian mechanism designed to destroy the world, which once activated could not be reversed. (See Natural Fluids.) Ebbets Field: Former home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team, which has long since been demolished. The last "Subway Series" between the Dodgers and the N. Y. Yankees was held in 1956 prior to the Dodgers' move to Los Angeles in 1958. Edsel: Son of Henry Ford. When Ford decided to build a car which contained the most popular features from all automobiles available up to that time, the assumption was that such a vehicle would be a runaway success and so Henry Ford named as a tribute to his son. The car was a dismal failure and in later years, Ford treated his son as a failure, at least within the corporate structure. Electric Flag: Name of the late '60s rock group, considered the "All American Band," with a big band sound, born in the San Francisco music scene and led by the late guitarist Michael Bloomfield. El Norteno: Mexican restaurant in downtown L. A. where many meals were eaten during completion of Les routes de la Grande Odalisque (The Large Brain). Epanouissement: French word for which there is no direct English equivalent, meaning blossoming or brightening up (of a face). Folie a deux: Idiomatic psychological term adapted to English terminology which has two related meanings: one, the presence of the same or similar delusions in the minds of two persons closely associated with one another, two, one's identification with the illness of another to the point of becoming equally ill. Fugue States: Hysterical amnesia, or a suddenly occurring loss of memory not attributed to physical trauma. This usually involves a flight from any form of threat. Problems are solved by escaping them via the complete erasure of one’s identity. Heterodontosaurus: Term reserved for the dictionary following the extinction of the human species. Hollywood Subway: Built by Pacific Electric, the mile-long double track from Beverly and Glendale Boulevards into the basement of the Subway Terminal Building at 417 South Hill Street in downtown L. A. first began operation on December 1, 1925. Plans were completed for construction of the tunnel and terminal on February 11, 1924. The original plan was for a four track system west to Vermont Avenue, branching to Vineyard, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and elsewhere. However, its fate was to become connected with above-ground commuter trains known as the “Big Red Cars,” with maximum operation during WWII, when 65,000 passengers entered and left the Subway Terminal daily. (See Red Car.) Five rail lines used it then: the Glendale- Burbank Line, Santa Monica Boulevard-West Hollywood Line, Van Nuys Line, Hollywood Line and Venice Short Line. There was also a line known as the “Balloon Route,” a luxurious sightseeing rail excursion from downtown to the ocean and back. With the eventual demise of the Red Car came the end of the underground system. The subway ceased operation in 1955 and the last “Red Car” ran in 1961. The first physical destruction of the subway tunnel took place in 1967 when a portion was filled in for construction on Bunker Hill. The tunnel was declared unsafe and lacking steel reinforcement, contradicting studies of the U. S. Army and state engineers, who determined that it was so strong that the Harbor Freeway, a defense system highway, was built directly over the tunnel, requiring no bridge structures. Demolition showed that a great deal of steel reinforcement had in fact been incorporated into the tunnel design and construction. Joint Ventures: An association of persons who jointly undertake some commercial enterprise. Requires a community of interest in the performance of the enterprise, an equal right to direct and govern policy and a sharing of resulting profits and losses. Last Chance Mission: Small chapel in a shack in Venice, California. Lead Came: Strips of lead used between pieces of stained glass to hold them together as a window.

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