Last Friday and Saturday (November 10-11) my wife Mia and I went to Windycon, a Chicagoland science fiction convention that we have frequently attended since the 1970s, and which we went to last year.

This year the convention moved from Lombard to Oak Brook, also in Chicago’s western suburbs. The hotel was the Doubletree Oak Brook, a distinctly inferior venue compared to the Westin Lombard where it had been for many years. Parking was an issue at the Hotel and surrounding restaurants. It was possible to walk to the nearby mall, but it was far less pedestrian friendly than the Lombard location. I have always thought of Oak Brook as a playground for the rich, and this weekend did nothing to change that impression.

Friday night we went out to dinner at El Tapeo with two old friends. The company was delightful and the food was the best of the weekend. The only issue was navigating the streets and parking lots. Mia was driving, and at one point got some unnecessary advice from her phone’s GPS. She said “F— you!” to it, and the phone replied “I am only your digital assistant, but your words are very real.” It took a while for the four of us to stop laughing.

Some notes on special events and programming:

Moebius Theatre Presents – Big Orange Centipedes!
After a long absence, Chicago’s oldest science-fiction sketch comedy troupe Moebius Theatre returns to the Windycon Main Stage with their new show, “Big Orange Centipedes!” We’re looking forward to seeing what they’ve cooked up for us. It’s sure to be lots of fun!

We have friends in the troupe, so this was a must-see event for us, and it was fun.

Rockets, Telescopes, and the Space Program
Participants can ask questions and gain insights into the advancements in space technology, the challenges faced in space missions, and the significant role of telescopes in space research. This Q&A Session on Rockets, Telescopes, and the US space program will be an exciting and informative event that will touch on the fascinating world of space exploration with April Jennifer Choi, an engineering manager at Kennedy Space Center who has worked on the James Webb Space Telescope and is currently working on the Artemis Program, NASA’s return to the Moon.

April Jennifer Choi is a performance artist and also a NASA Ground Systems Engineer. The latter means that she is responsible for a spacecraft from when it arrives at the Kennedy Space Center until it is launched. “When it leaves the ground it is no longer my problem.” She encouraged questions and comments from the audience, saying it had about a thousand “years of space nerd knowledge” compared to her ten. Looking around the crowd I think the actual figure would be closer to 5,000.

Obviously they use a lot of computers, but AI systems are not allowed to be connected to the network. For her M.S. thesis April converted a large program from FORTRAN 77 to FORTRAN 95. Hearing this made me feel nostalgic. I used FORTRAN II in the ’60s, FORTRAN IV in the ’70s, and FORTRAN 77 in the ’80s.

Because of schedule conflicts I missed her presentation on the Artemis project, and her Sunday bullwhip demonstration. She is torn between her performance arts and her engineering. She is glad she accepted her current NASA position in March 2020, since COVID shut down all her possible performance opportunities at that time.

NASA’s Psyche Mission: Voyage to a Metal Asteroid
Join Bill Higgins for a look at the Asteroid Belt’s Latest Explorer.
Hunt program room 11AM Saturday Nov. 11, 2023
‘Psyche’ is the name of a new NASA spacecraft, launched in October — and also its destination, a large, dense asteroid that seems to contain a lot of metal. No spacecraft has yet visited any of the iron-rich asteroids that are parents of the metal meteorites in museums. NASA plans to use electric propulsion to fly to Psyche, enter orbit, and study it closely to learn whether it is the core of a larger, shattered proto-planet. Join Bill Higgins for a look at the Asteroid Belts latest explorer.

Bill Higgins frequently speaks about spaceflight and astronomy. He works as a radiation safety physicist at FermiLab. He volunteers in NASA’s Solar System Ambassador outreach program, and was Science Guest of Honor at Windycon 48.

I have been to a lot of Bill’s presentations over the years. They are always a high point in my SF convention experience, and this was not an exception. For some reason this event did not get listed in the program book. Fortunately, there were flyers (see above) for it posted around the convention, and I saw one in time to revise my schedule accordingly.

Bill has some general observations about the asteroid belt. In particular, there are a lot of collisions. At high speeds they can fracture the asteroids, replacing the one object with multiple smaller ones. But at slower speeds the two can merge, resulting in a single large asteroid.

Art Auction
The Art Auction will be at 8:00 p.m. Our illustrious auctioneers and their crew provide some of the best entertainment at the convention, so come to watch, come to bid, come to have fun, and don’t forget your wallet. You never know when something will strike your fancy…

This has been a regular event for us at Windycons and Capricons for as long as I can remember. As usual, Mia volunteered to serve as a runner. We have known some of the auctioneers for decades. A special treat this year was that one of them was accompanied by his teenage daughter, who also served as an auctioneer. She was great, capturing the spirit of these auctions perfectly and adding her own touch. Some light intergenerational banter added to the fun. These auctions are a feature of Chicagoland SF fandom that I have not seen elsewhere, and one of the reasons we drive to these conventions twice a year.

The art show had one exhibit of monochrome pictures of Quaddies embracing in various poses. It also had a sign saying “Banned in Glen Ellyn“. The artist won an award for best 2-D monochrome work.

Despite the difficulties we had with Oak Brook and the hotel, we had a good time. I expect we will be back next year.