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).

The Forever War at 50

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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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Dust.. from… SPACE!!!

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

Bill Higgins, Henry Spencer

The OSIRIS-REx asteroid sampler has returned with a bounty of asteroid dust. Our panelists discuss what the findings have been so far, what is still to come, and what it all means.

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The Bible as Fantasy Novel

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

Janice Gelb (moderator); Jeana Jorgensen; Will Saddler, Lucy A Synk, Susan Weiner

The Bible uses fantastic elements in describing the inexplicable, prophecies, and fables. What elements of the Bible correlate to common tropes in fantasy literature? How have the fantasy elements in the Bible influence writers of fantasy?

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Rang Gaeilge, 30ú lá mí Eanáir 2024

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Duinnín i Lios Dúin Bhearna (tuilleadh)

Dineen in Lisdoonvarna (continued)

  • Tháinig deireadh leis an seisiún pianó. D’éirigh an bhean bheag dhubh, chuaigh sí caol direach chuig Burr agus sheas sí taobh leis, go sealbhach.

    ‘Nach í an óinseach í, a croí a bheith amuigh ar dhearna mar sin aici?’ arsa Gobnait. ‘Fan ansin, a Dhuinnínigh, agus tabhair aire do mo chuid balcaisí.’

    D’fhág Gobnait a cuid cniotála ar ghlúin an Duinnínigh agus chas sí i dtreo na ndaoine a bhí seasta thart ar an bpianó.

    The piano session ended. The little black haired woman got up, went straight to Burr and stood next to him, possessively.

    ‘Isn’t she the fool, her heart being out on her palm like that?’ said Gobnait. ‘Stay there, Dineen, and take care of my garments.’

    Gobnait left her knitting on Dineen’s knee and turned towards the people standing around the piano.

    caol díreach straight [motion]
    sealbhach possessive
    balcais Clout, rag; garment f

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Rang Gaeilge, 9ú lá mí Eanáir 2024

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Duinnín i Lios Dúin Bhearna (tuilleadh)

Dineen in Lisdoonvarna (continued)

  • ‘B’fhéidir go gcasfaidh bean a dhiongbhála air an uair seo,’ arsa an Duinníneach, mar a dhéanfadh iascaire agus cuil á cur amach ar an domhain aige.

    ‘Bhuel, a Athair, tá’s agat go bhfuil sé ráite nach bhfuil leigheas ar an mbás, ach pósadh arís.

    Gairmeadh isteach i seomra an dochtúra Duinníneach agus an nath sin le meabhrú aige.

    ‘Maybe the woman who is his match will meet him this time,’ said Dineen as a fisherman would do when he casts a fly out into the world.

    ‘Well, Father, you know it has been said that there is no cure for death, but marriage again.’

    Dineen was called into the Doctor’s room with that saying to meditate on.

    diongbháil Match, equal f diongbhála
    cuil fly
    tá’s agat = tá fios agat you know
    gair call v p aut gaireadh
    nath Proverbial saying, adage; epigram; saw, tag m

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Rang Gaeilge, 28ú lá Mí na Samhna 2023

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Duinnín i Lios Dúin Bhearna (tuilleadh)

Dineen in Lisdoonvarna (continued)

  • “Níl… ‘

    Bhí Mrs. Hudson ag faire amach don Dr. Bhatson agus don Duinníneach agus d’fháiltigh sí rompu le geallúint go mbeadh muifíní don tae.

    ”Bhfuil sé féin istigh?’ arsa Watson.

    “Tá. Agus é chomh sásta lena bhfaca tú riamh, ag ól a phíopa os comhair na tine agus ag gáiri ó am go chéile.’

    ‘Caithfidh gur aimsigh sé tuairisc bháis George Tavistock, mar sin,’ arsa an Duinníneach. ‘Agus san aige, ba leor, mar mhéar eolais dó, gur iarras air é.”

    ‘No…’
    Mrs. Hudson watching for Dr. Watson and Dineen and she welcomed them with the promise of muffins for tea.

    ‘Is himself inside?’ said Watson.

    ‘Yes. And he was as happy as you ever saw, smoking his pipe in front of the fire and laughing from time to time.’

    ‘Then it must be that he must have found an account of George Tavistock’s death,’ said Dineen, ‘And having that, it was enough, as a marker of knowledge for him, that he had asked for.’

    fáiltigh welcome
    geallúint = gealltanas promise n

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Alien technology found? Not so fast

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There has been some media buzz that some objects found on the ocean floor are evidence of alien technology. However, the Harvard astronomer’s “alien spherules” are industrial pollutants. For technical details see:

St. Luke’s again

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My wife Mia and I left Windycon about 9AM last Sunday, missing the con events of that day. It took about an hour, in perfect traffic conditions, to reach the east side of Evanston. Just like two years ago, our objective was St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. It continues to thrive. We were able to talk to some people we knew from of old. Mia and I were members there for 20 years. It is one of the key places that made us who we are. Though the buildings are very different, our present parish, St. Clement’s Episcopal Church in St. Paul, feels very much like St. Luke’s and we instantly felt at home there when we first walked into it on Maundy Thursday of 2019.

Rang Gaeilge, 24ú lá na Mí Dheireadh Fómhair 2023

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Duinnín i Lios Dúin Bhearna (tuilleadh)

Dineen in Lisdoonvarna (continued)

  • D’fhag sé slan ag Mrs. Brown. Ghairm sé Greta i leataoibh agus, ar seisean:

    “Cá bhfaighinn seoladh an tiarna talún?”

    ‘Leabhar na seoltaí — an leabhar dearg, sa halla.’

    ‘Breathnaímis air anois.’

    ‘Cogar, a Ghreta,’ ar seisean ar ball agus an Dochtúir Bhatson imithe amach an doras tosaigh, ‘tá sé in am agat post eile a lorg. Ní rófhada go mbeidh caint ar an teach seo mar theach ar deineadh beirt a dhúnmharú ann.’

    ‘Ar mharaigh seisean iad?”

    He said goodbye to Mrs. Brown. He called Greta aside and said:

    ‘Where can I find the landlady’s address??’

    ‘Address book — the red book, in the hall.’

    ‘Let’s look at it now.’

    ‘Whisper, Greta,’ he said at once as Doctor Watson went out the front door, “it’s time you looked for another job. It won’t be too long before this house will be talked about as a house where two people were murdered.

    ‘Did he kill them?’

    gairm call
    seoladh Sailing, sail;

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