Author Archives: gmcdavid

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About gmcdavid

Retired IT professional with a wide range of interests. Married. Three sons, two with autistic-spectrum disorders and the third being transgender with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. From Chicago but now living in the Twin Cities metro, Minnesota. Episcopalian. Carleton College (BA 1972, physics) and Stanford University (MS 1974, Applied Physics; MS 1976 Statistics).

Rang Gaeilge, 26ú lá na Márta 2024

Duinnín i Lios Dúin Bhearna (tuilleadh)

Dineen in Lisdoonvarna (continued)
  • Faoin am seo, bhí an Duinníneach imithe i dtaithí ar thaoide na n-imeachtaí ar an mbaile. Bheadh daoine ag bogadh síos go Teach an Chaidéil Uisce anois, féachaint an mbeadh aithne acu ar éinne den dream úr a bheadh tagtha isteach ar na cóisti. Chruinnigh Burr agus Laetetia chun imeachta. Ní raibh Gobnait fillte ó sheomra na mban. Lig an Duinníneach chun siúil iad agus nuair a bhí an áit socair arís agus an pianódóir ag iarraidh daoine a spreagadh chun válsa a dhéanamh, shuigh sé taobh le hEllie agus an buachaill rua agus lig sé osna.

    By this time, Dineen had become accustomed to the tide of events in the town. People would be moving down to the House of the Water Pump now, to see if they knew any of the new people to came in on the coaches. Burr and Laetetia assembled for departure. Gobnait had not returned from the women’s room. Dineen let them go and when the place was calm again and the pianist was trying to encourage people to waltz, he sat beside to Ellie and the red-headced boy and let out a sigh.

    taithí Frequentation, resort; Habit; practice, experience
    taoide tide; time, spell f
    imeacht Going, departure; … Course, passage m
    caidéal pump m gs npl caidéil
    dream Body of people; group, tribe, set; some m
    cóiste Coach; carriage m
    cruinnigh Gather; Assemble; collect; Draw together
    spreagadh Urging, incitement; incentive, encouragement; excitation, stimulus m

  • Léigh tuilleadh

Hitler, Mussolini, and Rommel

In Some of my summer reading (2020), when discussing James Holland’s The Rise of Germany, 1939-1941: The War in the West, Volume One:

…. while Italy was allied with Germany, it was a net liability rather than an asset. The Italians failed in North Africa and the Balkans, and so Germany had to commit substantial forces to bail them out.

Grant Piper makes the same point, arguing that The Real Reason Germany Lost World War II was that Italy was a German ally.

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St. Luke’s in February 2024

As Mia and I have done on other recent visits to Chicagoland, we left Capricon early on Sunday to go to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Evanston, which had been our spiritual home from 1977 until 1997. An unexpected treat was that the preacher that day was the Very Rev. Joy Rogers, retired Dean of St. James Cathedral. She began her ordained ministry at St. Luke’s while we were members and we remember her fondly. We also saw some other friends from our time.

Capricon 2024

Mia and I enjoyed Capricon 44. It was held at the Sheraton Grand Chicago, February 1-4, as it was when we attended two years ago. We were very happy to be at a con in downtown Chicago again, with an almost infinite supply of places to eat and drink in walking distance of the hotel. It is much more alive than downtown St. Paul or Minneapolis, and the people seemed friendlier. As happened in 2022, some of our Chicagoland fannish friends did not attend, but others did, and we enjoyed seeing them again.

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Where’s My Flying Car?

Notes from a panel at Capricon 44, Chicago, Feb. 3, 2024. Any mistakes are mine. The panelists are not responsible for any errors here.

Chris Gerrib, Bill Higgins, Mark Huston (moderator), Jeffrey Liss, Henry Spencer

Once upon a time, SF “promised” us all manner of wondrous thing that never came true. Flying cars. Rocket packs. Even aliens (maybe). What happened to these promises? Did something better come along? Were they not practical? Or are we still working to make them come true? How does our view of the future differ from what we once expected? Our panelists explore these questions and more!

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Lucy’s Tour of the Trojan Asteroids

Notes from a presentation at Capricon 44, Chicago, Feb. 2, 2024. Any mistakes are mine. The speaker, Bill Higgins, is not responsible for any errors here.

Bill Higgins

The two swarms of frigid Trojan asteroids, circling the Sun at the same distance as Jupiter, have never been visited by spacecraft. NASA’s Lucy mission plans to change that. Launched in 2021, Lucy’s intricate trajectory will eventually fly by eleven asteroids, including eight Trojans of varying size and composition far beyond the main Asteroid Belt. Passing through the asteroid belt on her way to the distant realm of the Trojans, Lucy’s first flyby this past November held surprises—and if all goes well, the best is yet to come.

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The Forever War at 50

Notes from a panel at Capricon 44, Chicago, Feb. 2, 2024. Any mistakes are mine. The panelists are not responsible for any errors here.

Shaun Duke, Jerry Gilio, Bill Higgins, Benjamin Wallin, Gary K Wolfe (moderator)

Since its release in 1974, Joe Haldeman’s Hugo and Nebula Award winning novel The Forever War has been assigned in college classes and hailed as a profound exploration of the dehumanizing effects of war. Now on its 50th anniversary, our panelists look back on the novel’s release, its impact, and its relevance today.

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