Difference between revisions of "V"

Revision as of 06:47, 5 November 2012

Vacuum
44; 155; 197; 356; 363; 428; 556

Vampire
425; Hungarian, 728

Vampyr of Covent Garden
117; Gothick novel Mason names to Maskelyne

116; English statesman who, between 1635 and 1637, was governor of Massachusetts; After returning to England, he entered the House of Commons. Along with John Pym, he played a major part in securing the execution of the First Earl of Strafford; 225; 226; MORE

The 1444 campaign the King of Hungary, Ulaszlo I, launched against the Turks (the "infidels") in an attempt to drive them out of Europe. The Christian army was utterly destroyed; lost by Caesarini, 591

Vasquez Brothers
477; have Marimba Quartet on M-D Line crew; 546

372; He actually did make a mechanical Duck that could eat and excrete. Perhaps his most significant automata were his automatic looms, because years later, Jacquard would invent the punched card so as to program Vaucanson's looms; 450; 668; See also Duck; More

Vector of Desire
96; how DePugh LeSpark describes a telescope; Eymological Musings

289; Cosmo & Damian, professional effigy-makers in Philadelphia; Yes, and what effigies, if they're connected, as one would assume, to the Catholic saints Cosmo (Cosmas) and Damian, twin brothers from 3rd century CE Asia Minor who were martyred. But the connection becomes clearer when one considers that St. Cosmo (Cf. Randolph St. Cosmo in Against the Day) became known as "the modern Priapus," the Greek god of sensuality, his symbol the phallus. The Fete of St. Cosmo and Damiano as late as 1780, was celebrated at Iserni, in Naples, replete with "ex voti" phalli, made of wax, which the women offer up, asking "Blessed St.Cosmo, let it be like this." And Cosmo, you see, is "a rare Wax Artist, our Cosmo is." Much more on this page on the Against the Day wiki...; And as far as "Veery," there's the bird:

The Veery, a secretive bird, lives in dense shade. The beautiful song of the Veery sounds best at dusk, as it echoes through the deepening gloom of the forest. The bird is rather difficult to see, but it can be lured into view by an imitation of the squeaking of a bird in distress. Its diet is evenly divided between insects obtained on the ground and fruit. It migrates at night, the flock keeping together in dark skies by means of a "contact call" characteristic of the species. Experiments on other thrushes show that their vision in shade or twilight is better than that of most other birds. [1]

Veevle
53; on crew of Seahorse; notorious for his reluctance to wake up for guard shifts

Vendue
511; an auction; 682

Venus
27; 137; 138; "from a Machine" 668

Verger
8; church caretaker

Vesuvius, Mt.
235

Vineland
633; 634

Vinovium
218

The Virginia Resolves were a series of resolutions passed [29 May 1965] by the Virginia House of Burgesses in response to the Stamp Act of 1765. The Stamp Act had been passed by the British Parliament to help pay off some of its debt from its various wars, including the French and Indian War fought in part to protect the American colonies.

The resolves claimed that in accordance with long established British law, Virginia was subject to taxation only by a parliamentary assembly to which Virginians themselves elected representatives. Since no colonial representatives were elected to the Parliament the only assembly legally allowed to raise taxes would be the Virginia General Assembly. From WIKI

prelude to, 395;

Vis centrifuga
555; Latin: "centrifugal force"

Vis Fulgoris
685; Latin: "power of lightning"

Vis Inertiae
708; Latin: "power of inertia"

Vis Martis
765; Latin: "power of Mars"

Visto
234; To facilitate sighting and marking, the surveyors employed axmen to clear a rough corridor, the Visto, "8 or 9 yards wide" along the points of their periodic observations and measurements; "Gravity along the Visto, is become locally less important than Rapture" 651; "upon the Atlantick Sea" 712

420, 518; Spanish: "The Widows of Christ"; See also Widows of Christ

321; "camp naturalist" & "Philosophical Operator" on M-D Line crew; FYI: In Pennsylvania and New Jersey there's an organization called VOAM Electric Cooperative Inc. — and VOM is the abbreviation for Volt-Ohm Meter; 425; 550; 619

V.O.C.
58; Dutch: "Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie" (Dutch East India Company); 69

Void
179; 183; 288; Vacancy, 709

Volcano, Captain
402; sobriquet of "Amy's" "Uncle"; in Montague's, 564

Voltaire (1694-1778)
372; one of the greatest French authors and embodiment of the spirit of the Age of Reason; "remark about Gas and As-tronomers" 385; "Thorns and Angels" 568; writing about the Mechanickal Duck, 668

Vongolli
707; Italian: vongole = clam; "French-Shawanese half-breed Renegado" who is M&D's "sidekick"; reminiscent of Von Göll in Gravity's Rainbow

Vortices
220; Vortices were an attempt by Continental philosophers and mathematicians to explain how space could be continuously occupied by solid matter (i.e. with no gaps) and yet allow movement. Atomic theories were deemed unacceptable because either they required space between atoms with nothing to fill it or they required solid atoms which interlocked and tesselated to fill space but thereby disallowed any movement; 556; Of Further Interest...

Vowtay Brothers
100; Company writers

Vroom, Cornelius
60; Dutch: "vroom" = "pious" or "godly"; patriarch of the 5-person Vroom family. Also similar to the name of a 15th century Dutch painter Cornelis Vroom

Vroom, Jemima ("Jet")
60; Dutch: "vroom" = "pious" or "godly"; 16-year-old daughter of Cornelius & Johanna; the three daughters are named after Job's three beautiful daughters in the Bible.

Vroom, Kezia ("Greet")
60; Dutch: "vroom" = "pious" or "godly"; middle daughter of Cornelius & Johanna; the three daughters are named after Job's three beautiful daughters in the Bible.

Vroom, Kerrenhappuch ("Els")
60: Dutch: "vroom" = "pious" or "godly"; 12-year-old daughter of Cornelius & Johanna; the three daughters are named after Job's three beautiful daughters in the Bible.

Vroom, Johanna ("Vrou")
60; Dutch: "vroom" = "pious" or "godly"; wife of Cornelius; ripping her bodice in front of Mason, 87