• Four picnics in three locations on two days

    From Keith F. Lynch@kfl@KeithLynch.net to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Sun Sep 28 18:24:17 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    Two weeks ago, I walked to my high school class reunion picnic at
    Nottoway Park. It was 50 years since my graduation. About 50 of my
    classmates (out of a total class size of about 500) were there. Those
    who remembered me were surprised to hear about my wrongful conviction
    of 48 years ago.

    I had only been to one previous class reunion, the 20th anniversary.

    I heard about the new reunion only from my classmate Rex, who wasn't
    able to attend. I'm easy to find online or in person, but the
    organizers only searched for classmates on Facebook, which I've
    never been on.

    Rex also didn't attend the 20th anniversary. Instead, he was
    mistakenly listed in its "in memoriam" list.

    As the picnic was coming to an end, at my request one of my
    classmates, Trent, drove me to another picnic, a few miles away.
    It was also a 50th anniversary picnic -- the 50th anniversary of
    Dunn Loring Park, the park it was held in. And there were also
    about 50 people there.

    On that trip, he just happened to drive, first right past where I
    lived while going to high school then right past where I live now.
    That wasn't my doing; he was following his GPS.

    When that picnic ended, I walked home.

    Yesterday, I once again walked to Nottoway Park. This time it was for
    the local ham radio club, VWS, which I had been a member of, on and
    off, since even before I graduated high school, despite my not having
    had a ham radio license since my wrongful conviction. It was in the
    same place as the reunion exactly two weeks earlier. Once again,
    there were about 50 people present. I arrived early after walking
    briskly, hoping to beat the predicted heavy rain. (The picnic shelter
    had a roof.) But the rain ended up not happening. The picnic
    included a "fox hunt." No animals were harmed; in a ham radio context
    a "fox hunt" means a search for a hidden transmitter.

    By prearrangement, I was picked up there by Fred, a friend who is a
    member of PRSFS. He drove me to the semi-annual PRSFS "picnic" in
    Loudoun County. I put "picnic" in quotes because it was held indoors,
    unlike the other three events. Everyone calls it a picnic because it
    that regular event started years ago outdoors. And because they're
    different from our regular meetings which consist mostly of people
    taking turns reviewing books. Only about a dozen people were present.

    Fred had also picked me up at a VWS picnic four years ago to take me
    to the PRSFS picnic in Loudoun County. Both Loudoun County picnics
    were in the same place, but the VWS picnics were in different parks.
    (Last time it was in Glyndon park. Both parks are in Vienna. Neither
    should be confused with the best-known park here, Foxstone Park, which
    is famous for being the site of FBI mole Robert Hanssen's dead drop.)
    However, my within-park directions to Fred were the same in both
    cases: From the parking lot you can see a bathroom structure, and
    from the bathroom structure you can see the picnic area.

    (There's a book about Robert Hanssen titled _The Spy Next Door_. He
    didn't literally live next door to me, but I had walked past his home
    and his dead drop numerous times. Amusingly, he had been put in
    charge of finding the FBI mole, but he failed to report himself.
    He was sentenced to life, and has since died in federal prison.)

    In both cases, Fred drove me home from the PRSFS picnic.

    The weather was perfect at all of the outdoor picnics. The indoor
    picnics were too cold, but I had the foresight to bring a jacket.
    (I'm almost always too cold when indoors.) There was good food,
    good company, and good conversation at all of the events.

    At first, Fred thought he wouldn't be able to attend PRSFS this time,
    as it conflicted with a "Longship Company event." But that event was
    canceled due to expected rain.

    A Fred-related coincidence is that two years ago, the day after Fred
    was discussing his NS Savannah restoration project at a PRSFS party
    which I attended, I happened to watch a random Canadian YouTube
    channel, "Our Own Devices," at which Fred was announced as the grand
    prize winner.
    --
    Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
    Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Cryptoengineer@petertrei@gmail.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Sun Sep 28 19:50:04 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 9/28/2025 2:24 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
    Two weeks ago, I walked to my high school class reunion picnic at
    Nottoway Park. It was 50 years since my graduation. About 50 of my classmates (out of a total class size of about 500) were there. Those
    who remembered me were surprised to hear about my wrongful conviction
    of 48 years ago.

    Sounds like Keith had a great weekend.

    I, too, attended my 50th high school reunion a couple weeks ago, but
    had to travel a bit further - it was held in London, at the East India
    Club.

    About 30 people were there, including one who tried to revive a dispute
    dating back to when we were 12 years old. Keith isn't the only one who
    can hold a grudge.

    pt
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From djheydt@djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Mon Sep 29 00:58:12 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10bchjc$2m34g$2@dont-email.me>,
    Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 9/28/2025 2:24 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
    Two weeks ago, I walked to my high school class reunion picnic at
    Nottoway Park. It was 50 years since my graduation. About 50 of my
    classmates (out of a total class size of about 500) were there. Those
    who remembered me were surprised to hear about my wrongful conviction
    of 48 years ago.

    Sounds like Keith had a great weekend.

    I, too, attended my 50th high school reunion a couple weeks ago, but
    had to travel a bit further - it was held in London, at the East India
    Club.

    About 30 people were there, including one who tried to revive a dispute >dating back to when we were 12 years old. Keith isn't the only one who
    can hold a grudge.

    [Hal Heydt]
    I did my best to make sure that my high school lost track of me,
    and I aim to keep it that way. No way in hell am I going to go
    to a high school reunion, and besides, the 50th would have been
    over a decade ago.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From kludge@kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Sun Sep 28 21:13:03 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

    About 30 people were there, including one who tried to revive a dispute >dating back to when we were 12 years old. Keith isn't the only one who
    can hold a grudge.

    It's a common problem. Norman Kreuger got my glue confiscated in second
    grade.
    --scott
    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Keith F. Lynch@kfl@KeithLynch.net to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Mon Sep 29 02:19:31 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    Dorothy J Heydt <djheydt@kithrup.com> wrote:
    Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:
    I, too, attended my 50th high school reunion a couple weeks ago,
    but had to travel a bit further - it was held in London, at the
    East India Club.

    About 30 people were there, including one who tried to revive a
    dispute dating back to when we were 12 years old.

    My high school is in the sort of area that successful people move to,
    not the sort of area that successful people move away from.

    That being said, Trent, the classmate who gave me a ride, had long
    since moved to British Columbia, where he's working as a pharmacist.
    I can understand why people would want to leave the US.

    Keith isn't the only one who can hold a grudge.

    As a reminder, my wrongful conviction isn't something that happened 48
    years ago. It's something that started 48 years ago and is ongoing.
    It still has major effects on me. In some ways it gradually gets
    better -- I got my right to vote back in 2016. In other ways it
    gradually gets worse -- I was able to go to Canada for Worldcons
    in 1994 and 2003 but not in 2009.

    I have no grudges against anyone in my high school class. Indeed, it
    was several of my classmates who actually investigated and ultimately
    proved my innocence.

    After talking with those classmates during at least two visits, the
    crime victim was convinced of my innocence, for three reasons:

    * The burglar climbed in through the ceiling. At the time I was
    obese and not at all athletic. (I lost the weight in the '80s,
    and have kept it off ever since.)

    * The burglar wrote something on the wall. They proved that was not
    my writing by showing him letters I wrote them from prison. The
    content of those letters also told him of my character, interests,
    and skills.

    * There was a third identical burglary the following weekend, by which
    time I was in jail, so I obviously couldn't have done that one.

    Don Reisler agreed to hire me to be a computer programmer, sight
    unseen, directly out of prison, if I made parole. I was able to
    inform the parole board of this at my parole hearing.

    Reisler hired a lawyer to get my conviction overturned. This lawyer
    informed us of Virginia's notorious 21-day rule. If you were
    convicted of murdering me in the Old Dominion, and I were to show up
    alive and well 22 days later, they'd go ahead and execute you, as
    proof of innocence is irrelevant after three weeks.

    It could be worse. Texas is scheduled to execute Robert Roberson next
    month even though he was proven innocent. There's no legal route to
    overturn his wrongful conviction or to not execute him. In Texas,
    unlike most states, the governor does not have the power to pardon
    convicts.

    I worked at DBS for a year. The writing was still on the wall. It
    wasn't my roommate's writing either. I have no idea whose it was. I
    remained friends with Reisler for the rest of his life. (He died in
    2012.)

    After a year at DBS I went to work for SAIC, a defense contractor,
    with the help of a friend (another high school classmate) who worked
    there. I got a security clearance. On my SF-86 form I explained the circumstances of my wrongful conviction. The federal government
    accepted my explanation after interviewing Reisler, my friends, my
    parents, and others.

    I'm still officially a convicted felon. But I think being viewed
    as innocent by the crime victim, by the federal government, and by
    everyone who knows me well is pretty persuasive, as is the fact that
    my record is otherwise perfectly clean before and since. Nor have I
    ever in my life been fired, sued, committed, or had anyone ask for a restraining order or protective order against me, nor have I ever been
    on any form of public assistance.

    I've check with a lawyer -- a different one each time -- about once a
    decade. They all agree that there's not yet any way to overturn my
    wrongful conviction. Perhaps it will happen eventually. The last of
    the executed Salem witches was officially exonerated in -- looking it
    up -- 2022. A mere 329 years after her execution. I'm sure that was
    great consolation to her ghost and the ghosts of everyone who ever
    knew her. I'm looking forward to my full exoneration in 2306.

    [Hal Heydt]
    I did my best to make sure that my high school lost track of me,
    and I aim to keep it that way. No way in hell am I going to go
    to a high school reunion, and besides, the 50th would have been
    over a decade ago.

    My reunion was actually in two parts, one of which would have cost
    money. I only went to the free part. And I only did so because it
    was within walking distance, the weather was nice, and I had nothing
    better to do that day.
    --
    Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
    Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Steve Coltrin@spcoltri@omcl.org to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Mon Sep 29 09:50:23 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    begin fnord
    djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) writes:

    [Hal Heydt]
    I did my best to make sure that my high school lost track of me,
    and I aim to keep it that way.

    Mine has never reached out to me asking for $$$, so they have either
    lost track of me, researched me and found that I never became rich, or
    remember that I viewed graduation as akin to being released from prison.
    --
    Steve Coltrin spcoltri@omcl.org
    "A group known as the League of Human Dignity helped arrange for Deuel
    to be driven to a local livestock scale, where he could be weighed."
    - Associated Press
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From prd@prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Mon Sep 29 16:54:40 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10bbugh$e7c$1@reader2.panix.com>, kfl@KeithLynch.net (Keith F. Lynch) wrote:

    Two weeks ago, I walked to my high school class reunion picnic at
    Nottoway Park. It was 50 years since my graduation. About 50 of my classmates (out of a total class size of about 500) were there. Those
    who remembered me were surprised to hear about my wrongful conviction
    of 48 years ago.

    I had only been to one previous class reunion, the 20th anniversary.

    It's now 55 years since the end of my secondary education. No graduation
    from English schools. More a case of we don't want you here anymore,
    bugger off. I did go back to visit my teachers after my final exams, but nothing formal. There was a speech night some months later at which I
    got a prize, as did everyone else from my year.

    Lynne Murphy, who does the Separated by a Common Language blog did a post
    a while back about this. Murphy is American by birth but has married an Englishman and teaches at a UK university. She has a daughter and the
    pair of them went to US when the daughter left school. She had great
    trouble explaining to relatives that the daughter had not graduated, as
    that is not a thing. (You graduate from university.)
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Keith F. Lynch@kfl@KeithLynch.net to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Mon Sep 29 17:04:33 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    Steve Coltrin <spcoltri@omcl.org> wrote:
    Mine has never reached out to me asking for $$$, so they have either
    lost track of me, researched me and found that I never became rich,
    or remember that I viewed graduation as akin to being released from
    prison.

    My understanding is that colleges repeatedly beg their alumni for
    donations. High schools don't. Or at least public high schools
    don't. Since I never went to college, I've never been guilt-tripped
    into donating to any university. (Well, except for the MIT Museum,
    which requested donations from any visitors who were not affiliated
    with MIT.)

    High school reunions are arranged by classmates, not by the schools
    themselves. Or at least that's my experience.
    --
    Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
    Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Cryptoengineer@petertrei@gmail.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Mon Sep 29 13:55:35 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 9/29/2025 11:53 AM, Paul Dormer wrote:
    In article <10bbugh$e7c$1@reader2.panix.com>, kfl@KeithLynch.net (Keith F. Lynch) wrote:

    Two weeks ago, I walked to my high school class reunion picnic at
    Nottoway Park. It was 50 years since my graduation. About 50 of my
    classmates (out of a total class size of about 500) were there. Those
    who remembered me were surprised to hear about my wrongful conviction
    of 48 years ago.

    I had only been to one previous class reunion, the 20th anniversary.

    It's now 55 years since the end of my secondary education. No graduation from English schools. More a case of we don't want you here anymore,
    bugger off. I did go back to visit my teachers after my final exams, but nothing formal. There was a speech night some months later at which I
    got a prize, as did everyone else from my year.

    Lynne Murphy, who does the Separated by a Common Language blog did a post
    a while back about this. Murphy is American by birth but has married an Englishman and teaches at a UK university. She has a daughter and the
    pair of them went to US when the daughter left school. She had great
    trouble explaining to relatives that the daughter had not graduated, as
    that is not a thing. (You graduate from university.)

    My high school (Millfield, an "English Public School" - ie, private
    and expensive) didn't have a graduation ceremony either - you
    could leave as soon as you finished your last A-Level.

    My college (King's College London) did have a ceremony, but it was
    held the next fall, when I was already in the States. My sister's
    graduation from Cambridge did include a ceremony with some pomp and circumstance, but Oxbridge is different...

    The University of London has never reached out to me. Millfield
    has an active alumni group, with multiple facebook private groups,
    email lists and occasional regional get-togethers. I literally own
    an 'Old School Tie', and the FB groups are used for networking and
    nepotism, along with reminiscence and news. The school is legally
    a charity, and does solicit donations from wealthy alumni.

    pt
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From prd@prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Tue Sep 30 16:11:40 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10bee70$1vm$1@reader2.panix.com>, kfl@KeithLynch.net (Keith F. Lynch) wrote:


    My understanding is that colleges repeatedly beg their alumni for
    donations. High schools don't.

    Probably the same in the UK. Never heard anything from my secondary
    school, but plenty from Leeds University.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From prd@prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Tue Sep 30 16:11:40 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10beh6n$35nur$1@dont-email.me>, petertrei@gmail.com (Cryptoengineer) wrote:


    My high school (Millfield, an "English Public School" - ie, private
    and expensive) didn't have a graduation ceremony either - you
    could leave as soon as you finished your last A-Level.

    I went to a state school. Started as a grammar school but became a comprehensive.


    My college (King's College London) did have a ceremony, but it was
    held the next fall, when I was already in the States. My sister's
    graduation from Cambridge did include a ceremony with some pomp and circumstance, but Oxbridge is different...

    Quite a ceremony at Leeds. Only time I wore a gown, and men didn't wear headgear in the hall so I was lent a mortarboard for the graduation
    photograph.

    The Chancellor of the University, the Duchess of Kent, gave me my degree.
    She died recently. She had converted to Roman Catholicism late in life
    and it was the first Catholic royal funeral for some centuries.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From prd@prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Tue Sep 30 16:23:40 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10beh6n$35nur$1@dont-email.me>, petertrei@gmail.com (Cryptoengineer) wrote:


    My college (King's College London) did have a ceremony, but it was
    held the next fall, when I was already in the States.

    Incidentally, my degree ceremony was held just after the end of term. I
    can't remember when I had my final exam, but the ceremony was 20th July,
    1973, two days before my 20th birthday. That was very young for getting
    a degree.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Keith F. Lynch@kfl@KeithLynch.net to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Tue Sep 30 15:46:01 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    Paul Dormer <prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:
    The Chancellor of the University, the Duchess of Kent, gave me my
    degree. She died recently. She had converted to Roman Catholicism
    late in life and it was the first Catholic royal funeral for some
    centuries.

    Didn't Richard III get a Catholic royal funeral in 2014?
    --
    Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
    Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Tim Illingworth@tim@smofs.org to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Tue Sep 30 13:52:20 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 9/30/2025 11:46 AM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
    Paul Dormer <prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:
    The Chancellor of the University, the Duchess of Kent, gave me my
    degree. She died recently. She had converted to Roman Catholicism
    late in life and it was the first Catholic royal funeral for some
    centuries.

    Didn't Richard III get a Catholic royal funeral in 2014?

    No - a funeral mass was celebrated at Holy Cross Priory Church in
    Leicester on 23.March.2015, but the funeral and interment as in
    Leicester Cathedral (which is Anglican) on 26.March.2015.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhumation_and_reburial_of_Richard_III_of_England#Reburial_and_commemorations

    Tim

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Cryptoengineer@petertrei@gmail.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Wed Oct 1 11:50:08 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 9/30/2025 11:22 AM, Paul Dormer wrote:
    In article <10beh6n$35nur$1@dont-email.me>, petertrei@gmail.com (Cryptoengineer) wrote:


    My college (King's College London) did have a ceremony, but it was
    held the next fall, when I was already in the States.

    Incidentally, my degree ceremony was held just after the end of term. I can't remember when I had my final exam, but the ceremony was 20th July, 1973, two days before my 20th birthday. That was very young for getting
    a degree.

    Cool! I finished at Kings about a week after my 21st birthday.

    In the US, that's still sounds impressive, but in Britain at the
    time, you got your undergraduate degree in three years. You put
    your major down on your application form, and studied little else.
    None of this 'spend a year or two finding your joy' stuff you get
    in the US, with its four year degrees.

    Frankly, I'd have preferred the four year system.

    pt
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From prd@prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Wed Oct 1 17:28:40 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <memo.20250930161028.6180C@pauldormer.cix.co.uk>, prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) wrote:


    The Chancellor of the University, the Duchess of Kent, gave me my
    degree.
    She died recently. She had converted to Roman Catholicism late in
    life
    and it was the first Catholic royal funeral for some centuries.

    Incidentally, she was born Katherine Worsley. Her father was a
    descendant of one baronet, and her mother was born Joyce Brunner, whose
    father was Sir John Brunner, 2nd baronet. No idea if he was related to
    the author but I remember a friend saying he'd got on a train once where
    the locomotive was named Sir John Brunner.

    For that matter, no idea if the duchess was related to Lucy Worsley, the
    TV historian. But I did read that she was a talented musician who taught
    at a primary school under the name Mrs Katherine Kent.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From prd@prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Wed Oct 1 17:43:40 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10bjijg$ekqc$2@dont-email.me>, petertrei@gmail.com
    (Cryptoengineer) wrote:

    n the US, that's still sounds impressive, but in Britain at the
    time, you got your undergraduate degree in three years. You put
    your major down on your application form, and studied little else.
    None of this 'spend a year or two finding your joy' stuff you get
    in the US, with its four year degrees.

    The idea of doing a major was unknown to me. At the time, you went to university to read a subject, physics in my case. I recall that some
    people did switch subject in mid-stream, but it was rare.

    Also in my case, I was part of an experimental group at my secondary
    school. Primary school was 5-11. Secondary school was 11-18. But at
    the end of the first year the school took the best students from all the
    first forms and put them in an express stream. Normally, students would
    spend five years studying for what were then called O-levels, then two
    years in the sixth form studying for three A-levels, then going to
    university. I was selected for the express stream, so I took my O-levels
    a year early. My birthday is late July, which meant I was still 14 when
    I took my O-levels, and 16 when I took my A-levels. So I was still 17
    when I started university. (Drinking age is 18 in the UK, incidentally.
    Plenty of student bars.)
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From djheydt@djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Wed Oct 1 17:46:35 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10bjijg$ekqc$2@dont-email.me>,
    Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 9/30/2025 11:22 AM, Paul Dormer wrote:
    In article <10beh6n$35nur$1@dont-email.me>, petertrei@gmail.com
    (Cryptoengineer) wrote:


    My college (King's College London) did have a ceremony, but it was
    held the next fall, when I was already in the States.

    Incidentally, my degree ceremony was held just after the end of term. I
    can't remember when I had my final exam, but the ceremony was 20th July,
    1973, two days before my 20th birthday. That was very young for getting
    a degree.

    Cool! I finished at Kings about a week after my 21st birthday.

    In the US, that's still sounds impressive, but in Britain at the
    time, you got your undergraduate degree in three years. You put
    your major down on your application form, and studied little else.
    None of this 'spend a year or two finding your joy' stuff you get
    in the US, with its four year degrees.

    Frankly, I'd have preferred the four year system.

    [Hal Heydt]
    In the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley, your first two
    years are all manner of different engineering courses (plus math,
    physics and chemistry). It's after that that you specialize in
    particular branch, EE, ME, IE, etc.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Evelyn C. Leeper@evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Wed Oct 1 14:36:02 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/1/25 1:46 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
    In article <10bjijg$ekqc$2@dont-email.me>,
    Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 9/30/2025 11:22 AM, Paul Dormer wrote:
    In article <10beh6n$35nur$1@dont-email.me>, petertrei@gmail.com
    (Cryptoengineer) wrote:


    My college (King's College London) did have a ceremony, but it was
    held the next fall, when I was already in the States.

    Incidentally, my degree ceremony was held just after the end of term. I >>> can't remember when I had my final exam, but the ceremony was 20th July, >>> 1973, two days before my 20th birthday. That was very young for getting >>> a degree.

    Cool! I finished at Kings about a week after my 21st birthday.

    In the US, that's still sounds impressive, but in Britain at the
    time, you got your undergraduate degree in three years. You put
    your major down on your application form, and studied little else.
    None of this 'spend a year or two finding your joy' stuff you get
    in the US, with its four year degrees.

    Frankly, I'd have preferred the four year system.

    [Hal Heydt]
    In the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley, your first two
    years are all manner of different engineering courses (plus math,
    physics and chemistry). It's after that that you specialize in
    particular branch, EE, ME, IE, etc.

    I am reminded of a friend who was explaining why he didn't know
    something one would learn in a world history course (maybe about the Protestant Reformation or something), and said it was because he went to
    a trade school. When asked what school it was, he said, "MIT."
    --
    Evelyn C. Leeper, http://leepers.us/evelyn
    Don't ever save anything for a special occasion.
    Every day you're alive is a special occasion. -Ann Wells
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From kludge@kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Wed Oct 1 14:53:57 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    Paul Dormer <prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:
    In article <10bee70$1vm$1@reader2.panix.com>, kfl@KeithLynch.net (Keith F. >Lynch) wrote:


    My understanding is that colleges repeatedly beg their alumni for
    donations. High schools don't.

    Probably the same in the UK. Never heard anything from my secondary
    school, but plenty from Leeds University.

    I went to two high schools inside the US, one private and one public, and
    one private high school outside of the US. My parents moved around a lot.
    The US private school hunted me down and is asking for money, the other
    two have not.

    I went to one college for both undergraduate and graduate work, although
    I did some additional graduate work at another college. Both colleges have tracked me down and are begging for money.

    When I was an undergraduate, nearly every penny I earned went to the institution. I survived off of cheap food and off of scamming free
    food. They took everything I owned and I have no intention of ever
    giving them any more. But I'm willing to donate money to their student
    short term loan fund (which helped me immensely when I could not come up
    with tuition in time for many quarters) and I am willing to donate money
    to an endowed chair in my old department. But I want to make sure not a
    penny of my money ever goes to the football program.
    --scott
    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From kludge@kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Wed Oct 1 14:58:02 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    Evelyn C. Leeper <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:

    I am reminded of a friend who was explaining why he didn't know
    something one would learn in a world history course (maybe about the >Protestant Reformation or something), and said it was because he went to
    a trade school. When asked what school it was, he said, "MIT."

    MIT used to do a somewhat abbreviated version of the Great Books program,
    but that kind of ended with WWII, I think.

    In four years you can't really teach someone to be a good engineer, you
    can only teach them the things they need to know in order to learn to be
    a good engineer. There's not much time to teach them the things they need
    to know to be a good person.
    --scott
    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Gary McGath@garym@mcgath.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Wed Oct 1 15:11:14 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/1/25 2:58 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
    Evelyn C. Leeper <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:

    I am reminded of a friend who was explaining why he didn't know
    something one would learn in a world history course (maybe about the
    Protestant Reformation or something), and said it was because he went to
    a trade school. When asked what school it was, he said, "MIT."

    MIT used to do a somewhat abbreviated version of the Great Books program,
    but that kind of ended with WWII, I think.

    In four years you can't really teach someone to be a good engineer, you
    can only teach them the things they need to know in order to learn to be
    a good engineer. There's not much time to teach them the things they need
    to know to be a good person.

    When I went to MIT, there was a humanities requirement, but it was
    rather minimal. The freshman year there was something called "Conflict
    and Community in America," which consisted of rather unfocused
    discussions of recent books. After that I took mostly music courses when
    I could. The one-semester course on opera crammed the entire nineteenth century into the last day.
    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Keith F. Lynch@kfl@KeithLynch.net to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Wed Oct 1 19:27:12 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    Gary McGath <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:
    The one-semester course on opera crammed the entire nineteenth
    century into the last day.

    That might be just barely possible if it's a 24-hour day and if
    Wagner's ring cycle is played at 2X.
    --
    Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
    Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From djheydt@djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Wed Oct 1 19:58:37 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10bjuci$ifl2$1@dont-email.me>,
    Gary McGath <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:
    On 10/1/25 2:58 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
    Evelyn C. Leeper <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:

    I am reminded of a friend who was explaining why he didn't know
    something one would learn in a world history course (maybe about the
    Protestant Reformation or something), and said it was because he went to >>> a trade school. When asked what school it was, he said, "MIT."

    MIT used to do a somewhat abbreviated version of the Great Books program,
    but that kind of ended with WWII, I think.

    In four years you can't really teach someone to be a good engineer, you
    can only teach them the things they need to know in order to learn to be
    a good engineer. There's not much time to teach them the things they need >> to know to be a good person.

    When I went to MIT, there was a humanities requirement, but it was
    rather minimal. The freshman year there was something called "Conflict
    and Community in America," which consisted of rather unfocused
    discussions of recent books. After that I took mostly music courses when
    I could. The one-semester course on opera crammed the entire nineteenth >century into the last day.

    [Hal Heydt]
    When I went to UC Berkeley, the College of Engineering had a
    requirement to take a 2-quarter sequence in the humanities.
    There was a list of choices, with things like English 1A, 1B.
    What I took was one quarter of Archaelogy and one quarter of
    Physical Anthropology. Hey...from an engineering perspective,
    those both involve people, so Humanities.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Robert Woodward@robertaw@drizzle.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Wed Oct 1 22:00:39 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10bjuci$ifl2$1@dont-email.me>,
    Gary McGath <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:

    On 10/1/25 2:58 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
    Evelyn C. Leeper <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:

    I am reminded of a friend who was explaining why he didn't know
    something one would learn in a world history course (maybe about the
    Protestant Reformation or something), and said it was because he went to >> a trade school. When asked what school it was, he said, "MIT."

    MIT used to do a somewhat abbreviated version of the Great Books program, but that kind of ended with WWII, I think.

    In four years you can't really teach someone to be a good engineer, you
    can only teach them the things they need to know in order to learn to be
    a good engineer. There's not much time to teach them the things they need to know to be a good person.

    When I went to MIT, there was a humanities requirement, but it was
    rather minimal. The freshman year there was something called "Conflict
    and Community in America," which consisted of rather unfocused
    discussions of recent books. After that I took mostly music courses when
    I could. The one-semester course on opera crammed the entire nineteenth century into the last day.

    The university I attended (c. 1970) had a Basic Education Requirement.
    As an engineering student, I had the math and sciences covered several
    fold. As for the hours of humanities and social sciences, I did most of
    them in the first quarter of my freshman year and the last quarter of my senior year. I remember a classical mythology course, an introduction to
    logic (which included Boolean Algebra), an introduction to Economics,
    and an overview of Japanese history (mostly pre-19th century). I managed
    to get credit for World History without taking the class.
    --
    "We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
    Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_. rCo-----------------------------------------------------
    Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From prd@prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Thu Oct 2 16:50:40 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10bjsai$h48j$1@dont-email.me>, evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) wrote:


    I am reminded of a friend who was explaining why he didn't know
    something one would learn in a world history course (maybe about the Protestant Reformation or something), and said it was because he went
    to a trade school. When asked what school it was, he said, "MIT."

    Now, that's the sort of thing you'd learn in secondary school in the UK. Ancient Egypt, Greece, Roman empire etc. Then a gap for the Dark Ages
    and history really started with the Norman conquest. I don't remember
    much of what was taught about the War of the Roses and the Civil Wars.
    Then glories of the British Empire, the minor kerfuffle involving the
    American colonies. But because of my accelerated stream, we then jumped
    to European history, 1870-1939.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From prd@prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Thu Oct 2 16:58:40 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <t3Gs1n.G6F@kithrup.com>, djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) wrote:


    [Hal Heydt]
    In the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley, your first two
    years are all manner of different engineering courses (plus math,
    physics and chemistry). It's after that that you specialize in
    particular branch, EE, ME, IE, etc.

    In the UK, doing a physics degree, in the first year we also did maths
    and a choice of several other subjects, in my case, Psychology. Maths
    carried over to the second year. Final year was all physics.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From kludge@kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Thu Oct 2 15:02:48 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    Gary McGath <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:
    When I went to MIT, there was a humanities requirement, but it was
    rather minimal. The freshman year there was something called "Conflict
    and Community in America," which consisted of rather unfocused
    discussions of recent books. After that I took mostly music courses when
    I could. The one-semester course on opera crammed the entire nineteenth >century into the last day.

    Well, I like Purcell and Monteverdi myself but it didn't get crazy and
    silly for quite some time after that. And what I like about opera is
    mostly the craziness and silliness.
    --scott
    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Evelyn C. Leeper@evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Thu Oct 2 16:50:33 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/2/25 11:49 AM, Paul Dormer wrote:
    In article <10bjsai$h48j$1@dont-email.me>, evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) wrote:


    I am reminded of a friend who was explaining why he didn't know
    something one would learn in a world history course (maybe about the
    Protestant Reformation or something), and said it was because he went
    to a trade school. When asked what school it was, he said, "MIT."

    Now, that's the sort of thing you'd learn in secondary school in the UK. Ancient Egypt, Greece, Roman empire etc. Then a gap for the Dark Ages
    and history really started with the Norman conquest. I don't remember
    much of what was taught about the War of the Roses and the Civil Wars.
    Then glories of the British Empire, the minor kerfuffle involving the American colonies. But because of my accelerated stream, we then jumped
    to European history, 1870-1939.

    When I was in secondary school, the students in the "college track" had
    to take World History, but the students in the "scientific track" did
    not. (We had plenty of things we had to take that they didn't.) Not sure
    what it covered. The US History course (which everyone had to take)
    never managed to get past the Spanish-American War.

    And no one can remember what was taught about the Wars of the Roses. :-)
    (For example, that it is the *Wars* of the Roses; the *War* of the Roses
    was a film with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.)

    As I wrote in my review of Dan Jones's THE PLANTAGENETS:

    "And there are so many defections and deceptions that keeping track
    of who is on which side almost requires a scorecard. As Josephine
    Tey has her narrator in THE DAUGHTER OF TIME say, 'Every schoolboy
    turned over the final page of Richard III with relief, because now
    at last the Wars of the Roses were over and they could get on to
    the Tudors, who were dull but easy to follow.'"

    I'm pretty sure that my current knowledge of world history would match
    anyone in my secondary school who actually took the course, because I've
    been reading history books and watching historical films for the last
    fifty years (and constantly sending in Goofs to the IMDb about the
    films, so yes, I realize one doesn't learn history from them--one is
    driven to go read the actual history and then yell at the screen).

    And as I observed on another list just recently, when I was in secondary school, girls took home economics their sophomore year, and boys took
    shop. But because I was taking Algebra II in addition to geometry (and drafting), they couldn't manage to fit the home economics course in, so
    I was the only girl who never took home economics. Senior year all the
    girls took the Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow test. Guess who came
    in first.

    (I just bought ten Great Courses history courses at a used bookstore,
    mostly for $5 each, and am currently bingeing "The Foundations of
    Western Civilization". Even in this the professor makes at least one
    mistake; he claims Sophocles's "Oedipus" trilogy is the only Greek
    trilogy to survive, completely forgetting about Aeschylus's "Oresteia".)
    --
    Evelyn C. Leeper, http://leepers.us/evelyn
    Don't ever save anything for a special occasion.
    Every day you're alive is a special occasion. -Ann Wells
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From djheydt@djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Thu Oct 2 22:08:52 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10bmi8o$gml$1@panix2.panix.com>,
    Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:
    Gary McGath <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:
    When I went to MIT, there was a humanities requirement, but it was
    rather minimal. The freshman year there was something called "Conflict
    and Community in America," which consisted of rather unfocused
    discussions of recent books. After that I took mostly music courses when
    I could. The one-semester course on opera crammed the entire nineteenth >>century into the last day.

    Well, I like Purcell and Monteverdi myself but it didn't get crazy and
    silly for quite some time after that. And what I like about opera is
    mostly the craziness and silliness.

    [Hal Heydt]
    Dorothy used to remark that a typical opera scenario is when a
    man and woman spend the night together in bed and he doesn't
    recognize her the next day because she's wearing a different
    outfit.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Keith F. Lynch@kfl@KeithLynch.net to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Fri Oct 3 01:38:38 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    Paul Dormer <prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:
    I don't remember much of what was taught about the War of the Roses
    and the Civil Wars.

    I've long thought it odd that in a UK context, "Civil Wars" refers
    only to the wars between the Cavaliers and the Rounheads, although
    England has had many others, including the aforementioned War of the
    Roses. And the so-called Anarchy (Stephen vs. Matilda). And the
    time a bastard successfully invaded. And the Peasants' Revolt. And
    Peterloo. And Boudica vs. the Romans, though strictly speaking there
    was no England then.

    I also think it's odd that "Edwardian" refers only to the reign of
    Edward VII, so called because his name was Albert and there had been
    nine (!) previous kings named Edward. (The first three Edwards
    weren't given numbers, but were called the Elder, the Martyr, and
    the Confessor.)

    It's also odd that British people are honorored, not by naming things
    for them but for naming things for their *titles*. ObFandom: I've
    been to Worldcons in cities named for Cecil Calvert, William Lamb,
    and (virtual only) Arthur Wellesley. I've never been to any of the
    Worldcons in the city named for King James II. Good luck trying to
    figure out what cities I'm referring to.
    --
    Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
    Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Tim Illingworth@tim@smofs.org to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Thu Oct 2 21:57:46 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/2/2025 9:38 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
    It's also odd that British people are honorored, not by naming things
    for them but for naming things for their *titles*. ObFandom: I've
    been to Worldcons in cities named for Cecil Calvert, William Lamb,
    and (virtual only) Arthur Wellesley. I've never been to any of the
    Worldcons in the city named for King James II. Good luck trying to
    figure out what cities I'm referring to.
    Baltimore, Melbourne and Wellington. Plus New York NY.

    It's always been confusing:
    "The abolition of slavery all over the world was a cause which very
    early enlisted his sympathy, and he used to tell, with grim humour, how,
    when, after he had become Lord Shaftesbury, he signed an Open Letter to America in favour of emancipation, a Southern newspaper sarcastically inquired, "Where was this Lord Shaftesbury when the noble-hearted Lord
    Ashley was doing his single-handed work on behalf of the English slaves
    in the factories of Lancashire and Yorkshire?""

    from Collections and Recollections, by G.W.E. Russell

    Tim

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Evelyn C. Leeper@evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Fri Oct 3 06:51:51 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/2/25 9:57 PM, Tim Illingworth wrote:
    On 10/2/2025 9:38 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
    It's also odd that British people are honorored, not by naming things
    for them but for naming things for their *titles*.-a ObFandom:-a I've
    been to Worldcons in cities named for Cecil Calvert, William Lamb,
    and (virtual only) Arthur Wellesley.-a I've never been to any of the
    Worldcons in the city named for King James II.-a Good luck trying to
    figure out what cities I'm referring to.
    Baltimore, Melbourne and Wellington. Plus New York NY.

    Any fan of the Sharpe series would know Wellington, even without the (giveaway) "virtual" clue.
    --
    Evelyn C. Leeper, http://leepers.us/evelyn
    Don't ever save anything for a special occasion.
    Every day you're alive is a special occasion. -Ann Wells
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Steve Coltrin@spcoltri@omcl.org to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Fri Oct 3 09:00:01 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    begin fnord
    "Evelyn C. Leeper" <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> writes:

    [De Bellico Rosis]

    As I wrote in my review of Dan Jones's THE PLANTAGENETS:

    "And there are so many defections and deceptions that keeping track
    of who is on which side almost requires a scorecard..."

    Doesn't help at all that everyone involved is named either Margaret,
    Edward, Anne, Henry, Elizabeth, or Richard.

    And as I observed on another list just recently, when I was in
    secondary school, girls took home economics their sophomore year, and
    boys took shop.

    My secondary school didn't teach either shop or home ec. We were
    expected to grow up to be rich and have servants. (In kollidge, my
    second semester of physics had a month of what was essentially shop. I
    would not have minded having more. As far as home ec is concerned, I
    have always been like a player character in _Twilight: 2000_: last communication from HQ was "Good luck. You're on your own now.")
    --
    Steve Coltrin spcoltri@omcl.org
    "A group known as the League of Human Dignity helped arrange for Deuel
    to be driven to a local livestock scale, where he could be weighed."
    - Associated Press
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Gary McGath@garym@mcgath.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Fri Oct 3 11:27:04 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/2/25 9:38 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
    Paul Dormer <prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:
    I don't remember much of what was taught about the War of the Roses
    and the Civil Wars.

    I've long thought it odd that in a UK context, "Civil Wars" refers
    only to the wars between the Cavaliers and the Rounheads, although
    England has had many others, including the aforementioned War of the
    Roses. And the so-called Anarchy (Stephen vs. Matilda). And the
    time a bastard successfully invaded. And the Peasants' Revolt. And Peterloo. And Boudica vs. the Romans, though strictly speaking there
    was no England then.

    I also think it's odd that "Edwardian" refers only to the reign of
    Edward VII, so called because his name was Albert and there had been
    nine (!) previous kings named Edward. (The first three Edwards
    weren't given numbers, but were called the Elder, the Martyr, and
    the Confessor.)


    Another oddity is that the Regency, when George III was stripped of his
    royal powers in favor of the later George IV, lasted only from 1811 to
    1820, but the "regency period" is generally considered to have lasted considerably longer on both sides.
    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Gary McGath@garym@mcgath.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Fri Oct 3 11:27:21 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/2/25 3:02 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
    Gary McGath <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:
    When I went to MIT, there was a humanities requirement, but it was
    rather minimal. The freshman year there was something called "Conflict
    and Community in America," which consisted of rather unfocused
    discussions of recent books. After that I took mostly music courses when
    I could. The one-semester course on opera crammed the entire nineteenth
    century into the last day.

    Well, I like Purcell and Monteverdi myself but it didn't get crazy and
    silly for quite some time after that. And what I like about opera is
    mostly the craziness and silliness.

    Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and Monteverdi's L'Orfeo each took up a couple
    of classes. Dido and Aeneas is pretty silly; some fake gods intimidate
    Aeneas and tell him he has to abandon Dido and found Rome. The
    professor's favorite line was "And let forsaken Dido die," which could
    almost fit into a square dance call.
    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Evelyn C. Leeper@evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Fri Oct 3 12:43:52 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/3/25 11:00 AM, Steve Coltrin wrote:
    begin fnord
    "Evelyn C. Leeper" <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> writes:

    [De Bellico Rosis]

    As I wrote in my review of Dan Jones's THE PLANTAGENETS:

    "And there are so many defections and deceptions that keeping track
    of who is on which side almost requires a scorecard..."

    Doesn't help at all that everyone involved is named either Margaret,
    Edward, Anne, Henry, Elizabeth, or Richard.

    Excellent point! Now we know where the Pythons got the idea for the
    Bruces sketch.

    England/UK is also where one "Bertie" became King Edward VII, and
    another King George VI, and David became King Edward III.

    OTOH, French kings seemed to all be either Louis (eighteen or nineteen, depending how you count them, plus one or two Louis Philippes) or
    Charles (ten of them).
    --
    Evelyn C. Leeper, http://leepers.us/evelyn
    Don't ever save anything for a special occasion.
    Every day you're alive is a special occasion. -Ann Wells
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From djheydt@djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Fri Oct 3 18:09:50 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10boug8$1th5q$1@dont-email.me>,
    Evelyn C. Leeper <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 10/3/25 11:00 AM, Steve Coltrin wrote:
    begin fnord
    "Evelyn C. Leeper" <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> writes:

    [De Bellico Rosis]

    As I wrote in my review of Dan Jones's THE PLANTAGENETS:

    "And there are so many defections and deceptions that keeping track
    of who is on which side almost requires a scorecard..."

    Doesn't help at all that everyone involved is named either Margaret,
    Edward, Anne, Henry, Elizabeth, or Richard.

    Excellent point! Now we know where the Pythons got the idea for the
    Bruces sketch.

    England/UK is also where one "Bertie" became King Edward VII, and
    another King George VI, and David became King Edward III.

    OTOH, French kings seemed to all be either Louis (eighteen or nineteen, >depending how you count them, plus one or two Louis Philippes) or
    Charles (ten of them).

    [Hal Heydt]
    During both world wars, the king of Denmark was Christian X. The
    current king is Frederick X. And there have been two reigning
    queens, both named Margethe. The Christians and Fredericks have
    tended to alternate.

    Way back, the Danes had kings with more colorful names, like Gorm
    the Old and Harald Bluetooth. (And, yes, the BT communications
    protocol is named after Harald.)
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From djheydt@djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Fri Oct 3 18:12:29 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <t3KIGE.IuJ@kithrup.com>,
    Dorothy J Heydt <djheydt@kithrup.com> wrote:
    [Hal Heydt]
    And there have been two reigning
    queens, both named Margethe.

    [Hal Heydt]
    Damned typos... Margrethe.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Keith F. Lynch@kfl@KeithLynch.net to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Fri Oct 3 19:56:05 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    Gary McGath <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:
    Another oddity is that the Regency, when George III was stripped of
    his royal powers in favor of the later George IV, lasted only from
    1811 to 1820, but the "regency period" is generally considered to
    have lasted considerably longer on both sides.

    ObFandom: In some SF cons it's still going on, given that they still
    have Regency dances.

    I could have also mentioned that "the regency period" only means that
    one, although there have been other regencies in British history.

    And that the Georgian period refers only to the reign of Georges
    I through IV, never Georges V or VI. Similarly with Elizabethan
    referring only to the reign of Elizabeth I, never Elizabeth II.

    Also, there's a seven-year gap between George IV and Victoria, which
    apparently doesn't have a name. There also seems to be no name for
    anything since the Edwardian period ended.

    Also, "Georgian" probably isn't the right term anyway, or at least
    we're not pronouncing it right, given that the first two Georges
    were German, hence would have pronounced their names as "Gay-org."
    --
    Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
    Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Keith F. Lynch@kfl@KeithLynch.net to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Fri Oct 3 20:07:14 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    Steve Coltrin <spcoltri@omcl.org> wrote:
    "Evelyn C. Leeper" <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> writes:
    As I wrote in my review of Dan Jones's THE PLANTAGENETS:
    "And there are so many defections and deceptions that keeping track
    of who is on which side almost requires a scorecard..."

    It's difficult enough that I've never been tempted to also try to
    memorize GRRM's fictional version of it. But I did enjoy his
    _Tuf Voyaging_. That was actual science fiction, not fantasy.

    Doesn't help at all that everyone involved is named either Margaret,
    Edward, Anne, Henry, Elizabeth, or Richard.

    It's worse than that. For nearly 400 years, from John's death in
    1216 to James's accession in 1603, every English king, 16 in total,
    was named Edward, Henry, or Richard.

    Earlier, there was nearly a century when every English queen was named
    Matilda. There were even two Matildas on opposite sides of the
    so-called Anarchy.

    And three of Henry VIII's six wives were named Catherine. Two others
    were named Anne.

    There was a severe name shortage in the old days.

    In kollidge, my second semester of physics had a month of what was essentially shop.

    I have an ancient version of the CRC handbook which contains
    instructions on how to waterproof leather book bindings.
    --
    Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
    Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Evelyn C. Leeper@evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Fri Oct 3 16:43:30 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/3/25 3:56 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:

    Also, "Georgian" probably isn't the right term anyway, or at least
    we're not pronouncing it right, given that the first two Georges
    were German, hence would have pronounced their names as "Gay-org."

    But the English people probably all pronounced it the way we do.

    But let's not get started on English (British) pronunciation, e.g. "St.
    John" is "sin-jin", and "Worchestershire" is "wus-ta-sheer".
    --
    Evelyn C. Leeper, http://leepers.us/evelyn
    Don't ever save anything for a special occasion.
    Every day you're alive is a special occasion. -Ann Wells
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Evelyn C. Leeper@evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Fri Oct 3 16:45:54 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/3/25 4:07 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
    Steve Coltrin <spcoltri@omcl.org> wrote:
    "Evelyn C. Leeper" <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> writes:
    As I wrote in my review of Dan Jones's THE PLANTAGENETS:
    "And there are so many defections and deceptions that keeping track
    of who is on which side almost requires a scorecard..."

    It's difficult enough that I've never been tempted to also try to
    memorize GRRM's fictional version of it. But I did enjoy his
    _Tuf Voyaging_. That was actual science fiction, not fantasy.

    Doesn't help at all that everyone involved is named either Margaret,
    Edward, Anne, Henry, Elizabeth, or Richard.

    It's worse than that. For nearly 400 years, from John's death in
    1216 to James's accession in 1603, every English king, 16 in total,
    was named Edward, Henry, or Richard.

    Willie, Willie, Harry, Ste,
    Harry, Dick, John, Harry three;
    One two three Neds, Richard two,
    Harrys four five six, ... then who?
    Edwards four five, Dick the bad,
    Harrys (twain), Ned (the lad);
    Mary, Bessie, James the vain,
    Charlie, Charlie, James again.
    Will and Mary, Anna Gloria,
    Georges four, then Will, Victoria;
    Edward seven, George and Ted,
    George the sixth, now Liz instead.

    I have suggested replacing the last two lines with:

    Edward seven, George was coronated;
    Edward eight who abdicated
    George the sixth and Lizzie two
    Now it's Charles and now we're through.
    --
    Evelyn C. Leeper, http://leepers.us/evelyn
    Don't ever save anything for a special occasion.
    Every day you're alive is a special occasion. -Ann Wells
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Kerr-Mudd, John@admin@127.0.0.1 to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Fri Oct 3 21:51:45 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On Fri, 3 Oct 2025 16:43:30 -0400
    "Evelyn C. Leeper" <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 10/3/25 3:56 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:

    Also, "Georgian" probably isn't the right term anyway, or at least
    we're not pronouncing it right, given that the first two Georges
    were German, hence would have pronounced their names as "Gay-org."

    But the English people probably all pronounced it the way we do.

    But let's not get started on English (British) pronunciation, e.g. "St. John" is "sin-jin", and "Worchestershire" is "wus-ta-sheer".


    Point of order: it's not even spelt that way.

    Worcestershire (pron 'Wustasha' by me).
    --
    Bah, and indeed Humbug.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Keith F. Lynch@kfl@KeithLynch.net to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Fri Oct 3 21:22:17 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    Evelyn C. Leeper <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:
    Keith F. Lynch wrote:
    Also, "Georgian" probably isn't the right term anyway, or at least
    we're not pronouncing it right, given that the first two Georges
    were German, hence would have pronounced their names as "Gay-org."

    But the English people probably all pronounced it the way we do.

    The right way to pronounce a name is how the person whose name it was pronounced it. George I always saw himself as primarily the Elector
    of Hanover. Being king of some island off the coast was just a minor
    side gig. But he was pleased to learn how gullible those islanders
    were -- falling for his South Sea Company scheme.

    As for George II, he's such a non-entity that he's best known for
    rating a passing mention in the One Hoss Shay poem.

    George III lost America then went mad. (I get mad too when I lose
    valuable things.)

    George IV got fat, and disinvited his wife from his coronation.

    George V got Britain into WWI.

    George VI got Britain into WWII.

    I notice there's another George in the line of succession, right after
    William. Will he get Britain into WWIII?
    --
    Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
    Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From djheydt@djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Fri Oct 3 21:47:46 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10bpchi$2364v$1@dont-email.me>,
    Evelyn C. Leeper <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 10/3/25 3:56 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:

    Also, "Georgian" probably isn't the right term anyway, or at least
    we're not pronouncing it right, given that the first two Georges
    were German, hence would have pronounced their names as "Gay-org."

    But the English people probably all pronounced it the way we do.

    But let's not get started on English (British) pronunciation, e.g. "St. >John" is "sin-jin", and "Worchestershire" is "wus-ta-sheer".

    [Hal Heydt]
    Or the street address in "The Sorceror", as rendered by W. S.
    Gilbert... 70 Simmery Ax.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Steve Coltrin@spcoltri@omcl.org to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Fri Oct 3 16:11:21 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    begin fnord
    "Evelyn C. Leeper" <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> writes:

    Now it's Charles and now we're through.

    A prediction?
    --
    Steve Coltrin spcoltri@omcl.org
    "A group known as the League of Human Dignity helped arrange for Deuel
    to be driven to a local livestock scale, where he could be weighed."
    - Associated Press
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Evelyn C. Leeper@evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Fri Oct 3 19:48:47 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/3/25 6:11 PM, Steve Coltrin wrote:
    begin fnord
    "Evelyn C. Leeper" <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> writes:

    Now it's Charles and now we're through.

    A prediction?

    Well, for now, anyway.
    --
    Evelyn C. Leeper, http://leepers.us/evelyn
    Don't ever save anything for a special occasion.
    Every day you're alive is a special occasion. -Ann Wells
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Cryptoengineer@petertrei@gmail.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Sat Oct 4 10:42:47 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/3/2025 5:47 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
    In article <10bpchi$2364v$1@dont-email.me>,
    Evelyn C. Leeper <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 10/3/25 3:56 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:

    Also, "Georgian" probably isn't the right term anyway, or at least
    we're not pronouncing it right, given that the first two Georges
    were German, hence would have pronounced their names as "Gay-org."

    But the English people probably all pronounced it the way we do.

    But let's not get started on English (British) pronunciation, e.g. "St.
    John" is "sin-jin", and "Worchestershire" is "wus-ta-sheer".

    [Hal Heydt]
    Or the street address in "The Sorceror", as rendered by W. S.
    Gilbert... 70 Simmery Ax.

    Neat. I've never studied the written lyrics, and had always
    misheard that as 'Slippery Axe'. Turns out that 'Simmery Axe'
    is the archaic pronunciation of 'St. Mary Axe'

    pt
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From prd@prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Sat Oct 4 18:15:40 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10bmoip$1868a$1@dont-email.me>,
    evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) wrote:

    when I was in secondary
    school, girls took home economics their sophomore year, and boys took
    shop

    At my school in the sixties, it was domestic science for girls, woodwork
    and metal work for boys, but in the sixth for, cookery and metal work was taught to both.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From prd@prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Sat Oct 4 18:16:40 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <memo.20251004181404.6456A@pauldormer.cix.co.uk>, prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) wrote:

    the sixth for,

    the sixth form,
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Tim Merrigan@tppm@rr.ca.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Sat Oct 4 10:35:32 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/3/2025 9:43 AM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
    On 10/3/25 11:00 AM, Steve Coltrin wrote:
    begin-a fnord
    "Evelyn C. Leeper" <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> writes:

    [De Bellico Rosis]

    As I wrote in my review of Dan Jones's THE PLANTAGENETS:

    "And there are so many defections and deceptions that keeping track
    of who is on which side almost requires a scorecard..."

    Doesn't help at all that everyone involved is named either Margaret,
    Edward, Anne, Henry, Elizabeth, or Richard.

    Excellent point! Now we know where the Pythons got the idea for the
    Bruces sketch.

    England/UK is also where one "Bertie" became King Edward VII, and
    another King George VI, and David became King Edward III.

    OTOH, French kings seemed to all be either Louis (eighteen or nineteen, depending how you count them, plus one or two Louis Philippes) or
    Charles (ten of them).


    You mean Louis Rey wasn't the title of the French kings?
    --

    Qualified immunity = virtual impunity.

    Tim Merrigan
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From kludge@kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Sat Oct 4 15:20:00 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    Paul Dormer <prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:
    In article <10bmoip$1868a$1@dont-email.me>,
    evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) wrote:

    when I was in secondary
    school, girls took home economics their sophomore year, and boys took
    shop

    At my school in the sixties, it was domestic science for girls, woodwork
    and metal work for boys, but in the sixth for, cookery and metal work was >taught to both.

    I got kicked out of woodshop for making obscene carvings and so I was not permitted to take metalwork or small engine repair. This was a terrible
    thing.

    I think shop and home ec classes should both be required for everyone
    because they are skills that people just plain need in the modern world.
    I have worked with so many engineering graduates who didn't know how
    to pick the right size screwdriver for a screw just because nobody ever
    told them it was important and why.

    My third high school had an auto shop class, and when I asked about it
    I was told that college track students weren't allowed to take that,
    and that it was just for the most stupid kids. Now, a few decades later,
    my mechanic has retired and couldn't find anyone smart and skilled willing
    to take over his business.
    --scott
    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Gary McGath@garym@mcgath.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Sat Oct 4 15:40:12 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/3/25 4:43 PM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
    On 10/3/25 3:56 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:

    Also, "Georgian" probably isn't the right term anyway, or at least
    we're not pronouncing it right, given that the first two Georges
    were German, hence would have pronounced their names as "Gay-org."

    But the English people probably all pronounced it the way we do.

    The German name is spelled "Georg." His birth name was most likely
    Georg, but if you spell it as in English, it should be pronounced as in English.

    If I saw "George" as a German name, I'd have to pronounce it "Gay-org-uh."
    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From djheydt@djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Sun Oct 5 03:06:25 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10brt6s$2m3um$1@dont-email.me>,
    Gary McGath <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:
    On 10/3/25 4:43 PM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
    On 10/3/25 3:56 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:

    Also, "Georgian" probably isn't the right term anyway, or at least
    we're not pronouncing it right, given that the first two Georges
    were German, hence would have pronounced their names as "Gay-org."

    But the English people probably all pronounced it the way we do.

    The German name is spelled "Georg." His birth name was most likely
    Georg, but if you spell it as in English, it should be pronounced as in >English.

    If I saw "George" as a German name, I'd have to pronounce it "Gay-org-uh."

    [Hal Heydt]
    Or, if you are taking German, there is that English playwrite... Shock-ess-pay-are-a.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From prd@prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Sun Oct 5 17:06:40 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10brs10$io1$1@panix2.panix.com>, kludge@panix.com (Scott
    Dorsey) wrote:


    I think shop and home ec classes should both be required for everyone because they are skills that people just plain need in the modern
    world.

    Things have changed in the UK since I left school in 1970. And as I said,
    in the sixth form in 1968-9, boys did cooking and girls did metalwork.
    My sister was only two years younger than me and went on to get a degree
    in civil engineering, the only woman on her course.

    I am reminded of the story told by Peter Maxwell Davies on being told
    when he asked to do music at school, the headmaster said that it was not
    a girls' school. (He went on to be the master of the Queen's music.)


    My third high school had an auto shop class, and when I asked about
    it I was told that college track students weren't allowed to take
    that,
    and that it was just for the most stupid kids. Now, a few decades
    later,
    my mechanic has retired and couldn't find anyone smart and skilled
    willing
    to take over his business.

    I've never heard of UK schools doing anything like auto shop. Nor the
    idea of sport-orientated courses. I don't think driver ed is a thing
    either. If you were still at school when old enough to drive, you'd be studying for your A-levels.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From prd@prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Sun Oct 5 17:06:40 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <t3n1yp.1A8x@kithrup.com>, djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
    Heydt) wrote:

    [Hal Heydt]
    Or, if you are taking German, there is that English playwrite... Shock-ess-pay-are-a.

    Reminds me of taking a train from Stockholm to Copenhagen and wondering
    why the in-carriage announcement was talking about Schopenhauer. Turns
    out that was a pronunciation of Copenhagen.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Gary McGath@garym@mcgath.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Sun Oct 5 13:21:59 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/5/25 12:05 PM, Paul Dormer wrote:
    I am reminded of the story told by Peter Maxwell Davies on being told
    when he asked to do music at school, the headmaster said that it was not
    a girls' school. (He went on to be the master of the Queen's music.)

    The Queen's music? That just proves the headmaster's point.
    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Gary McGath@garym@mcgath.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Sun Oct 5 13:26:14 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/4/25 11:06 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
    In article <10brt6s$2m3um$1@dont-email.me>,
    Gary McGath <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:
    The German name is spelled "Georg." His birth name was most likely
    Georg, but if you spell it as in English, it should be pronounced as in
    English.

    If I saw "George" as a German name, I'd have to pronounce it "Gay-org-uh."

    [Hal Heydt]
    Or, if you are taking German, there is that English playwrite... Shock-ess-pay-are-a.

    Shakespeare is popular in Germany, and they have good translations of
    his work. "Sein oder nichtsein, das ist hier die Frage." They follow the
    rule of pronouncing the name in the language in which it's written, or
    at least giving it their best effort.
    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From djheydt@djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Sun Oct 5 19:26:40 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <memo.20251005170516.7756A@pauldormer.cix.co.uk>,
    Paul Dormer <prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:
    I've never heard of UK schools doing anything like auto shop. Nor the
    idea of sport-orientated courses. I don't think driver ed is a thing
    either. If you were still at school when old enough to drive, you'd be >studying for your A-levels.

    [Hal Heydt]
    Contrast California... For many years California required all
    high school students to take Driver Ed. What triggered that
    requirement was a EdD dissertation on comparative accident rates
    between trained and untrained drivers. The author of the
    disseration was Wallace A. Jones... Dorothy's father.

    Dorothy never had a drivers license... no instructor was quite
    ever good enough in her father's eyes. See old adage about
    cobbler's children and shoes.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From djheydt@djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Sun Oct 5 19:29:18 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10bu9nm$3jndk$2@dont-email.me>,
    Gary McGath <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:
    On 10/4/25 11:06 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
    In article <10brt6s$2m3um$1@dont-email.me>,
    Gary McGath <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:
    The German name is spelled "Georg." His birth name was most likely
    Georg, but if you spell it as in English, it should be pronounced as in
    English.

    If I saw "George" as a German name, I'd have to pronounce it "Gay-org-uh." >>
    [Hal Heydt]
    Or, if you are taking German, there is that English playwrite...
    Shock-ess-pay-are-a.

    Shakespeare is popular in Germany, and they have good translations of
    his work. "Sein oder nichtsein, das ist hier die Frage." They follow the >rule of pronouncing the name in the language in which it's written, or
    at least giving it their best effort.

    [Hal Heydt]
    What I cited was from a high school German student, not a native
    speaker.

    And, of course, Felix Mendelsohn was quite taken with Shakespeare,
    writing an overture for "Midsummer Nights Dream" when he was 17.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Gary McGath@garym@mcgath.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Sun Oct 5 17:01:33 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/5/25 3:29 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:

    And, of course, Felix Mendelsohn was quite taken with Shakespeare,
    writing an overture for "Midsummer Nights Dream" when he was 17.

    Later he wrote incidental music for the play, including a song with both English and German texts.
    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From prd@prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Mon Oct 6 16:55:40 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <t3oBCG.1JAA@kithrup.com>, djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
    Heydt) wrote:

    [Hal Heydt]
    Contrast California... For many years California required all
    high school students to take Driver Ed. What triggered that
    requirement was a EdD dissertation on comparative accident rates
    between trained and untrained drivers. The author of the
    disseration was Wallace A. Jones... Dorothy's father.

    I read a news report a few years back that people were putting off
    learning to drive until their mid-twenties. (The minimum age for having
    a licence is, I believe, 17. I think I knew only one person at
    university who owned a car (and it was an old banger). My father, who
    never went to university, was in his thirties before learning, and that
    was probably because we moved to the north-east where there was less
    public transport available. My mother never learned. I certainly never
    needed a car living in London (and before my recent accident, walking
    around Guildford was not a problem).

    Conversely, of course, the minimum drinking age is lower here.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Cryptoengineer@petertrei@gmail.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Tue Oct 7 12:26:56 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/6/2025 11:54 AM, Paul Dormer wrote:
    In article <t3oBCG.1JAA@kithrup.com>, djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
    Heydt) wrote:

    [Hal Heydt]
    Contrast California... For many years California required all
    high school students to take Driver Ed. What triggered that
    requirement was a EdD dissertation on comparative accident rates
    between trained and untrained drivers. The author of the
    disseration was Wallace A. Jones... Dorothy's father.

    I read a news report a few years back that people were putting off
    learning to drive until their mid-twenties. (The minimum age for having
    a licence is, I believe, 17. I think I knew only one person at
    university who owned a car (and it was an old banger). My father, who
    never went to university, was in his thirties before learning, and that
    was probably because we moved to the north-east where there was less
    public transport available. My mother never learned. I certainly never needed a car living in London (and before my recent accident, walking
    around Guildford was not a problem).

    Conversely, of course, the minimum drinking age is lower here.

    The environment does have an effect. I learned at 17, but that
    was in the 70s, and I was living in the suburbs.

    I didn't have or need a car when at university in central London,
    nor for a decade afterwards in Manhattan. I actually let my
    license lapse, and had to take paid lessons to get it back The
    lesson on highway driving ended in five minutes, when the
    instructor said 'Oh, you really do know how to drive, don't you.'

    Since, I've lived in rural MA, and a car is pretty much a
    necessity. I'd really hate to be unable to use one as I get older,
    but the "(Supervised) Full Self Driving" in my car is
    pretty damn good (though not perfect), and I have strong hopes
    that by the time I can't drive, the car will actually be able
    to do it for me.

    If fully autonomous cars are available, I can see *many* people
    forgoing learning to drive by hand, just as few Americans
    learn to use a manual transmission.

    pt
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Tim Merrigan@tppm@rr.ca.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Tue Oct 7 13:47:07 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/7/2025 9:26 AM, Cryptoengineer wrote:
    If fully autonomous cars are available, I can see *many* people
    forgoing learning to drive by hand, just as few Americans
    learn to use a manual transmission.

    One of my few objections to electric cars (as I understand, the motors
    in EVs drive the wheels directly, with no need for a drive train or transmission). I learned to drive, at both my and my father's
    insistence, with a manual transmission, and have been driving one for
    most* of my life since.

    * I've owned one automatic, and all IC rentals are automatic.
    --

    Qualified immunity = virtual impunity.

    Tim Merrigan
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From kludge@kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Tue Oct 7 19:37:30 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    Tim Merrigan <tppm@rr.ca.com> wrote:
    On 10/7/2025 9:26 AM, Cryptoengineer wrote:
    If fully autonomous cars are available, I can see *many* people
    forgoing learning to drive by hand, just as few Americans
    learn to use a manual transmission.

    One of my few objections to electric cars (as I understand, the motors
    in EVs drive the wheels directly, with no need for a drive train or >transmission). I learned to drive, at both my and my father's
    insistence, with a manual transmission, and have been driving one for
    most* of my life since.

    Morgan was talking about making an electric car using an induction motor
    with a relatively narrow speed range, replacing the engine in a 4/4 but
    keeping the rest of the drive train including the manual transmission.
    I love the idea; it is so British.
    --scott
    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Cryptoengineer@petertrei@gmail.com to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Wed Oct 8 09:17:56 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    On 10/7/2025 4:47 PM, Tim Merrigan wrote:
    On 10/7/2025 9:26 AM, Cryptoengineer wrote:
    If fully autonomous cars are available, I can see *many* people
    forgoing learning to drive by hand, just as few Americans
    learn to use a manual transmission.

    One of my few objections to electric cars (as I understand, the motors
    in EVs drive the wheels directly, with no need for a drive train or transmission).-a I learned to drive, at both my and my father's
    insistence, with a manual transmission, and have been driving one for
    most* of my life since.

    * I've owned one automatic, and all IC rentals are automatic.


    In my Tesla, I understand that the motor has a 3:1 reduction gear
    before reaching the wheels. There are no other gears. At least one
    EV (Porsche??) has gears, but I think they're automatic.

    For me, the 'lack of control' over the gear ratio is more than
    made up for by the instant torque. Even in the slowest model, I can
    leave 95% of other cars in the dust, and pass with ease at
    speed.

    pt
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From prd@prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) to rec.arts.sf.fandom on Wed Oct 8 17:01:40 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

    In article <10c3u8b$16itg$1@dont-email.me>, tppm@rr.ca.com (Tim Merrigan) wrote:

    One of my few objections to electric cars (as I understand, the
    motors in EVs drive the wheels directly, with no need for a drive
    train or transmission). I learned to drive, at both my and my
    father's insistence, with a manual transmission, and have been
    driving one for most* of my life since.

    My memory is that when I took lessons back in 1974, the driving school
    car was manual and taking a test in a manual allowed you to drive an
    automatic, but taking a test in an automatic, you were not allowed to
    drive a manual.

    My father took his test in 1960 (and immediately drove the family 250
    miles to London). This was on a manual but he bought a few automatics
    over the years and picked up some bad habits. He once bought a DAF
    variomatic which didn't have gears at all but used some sort of
    centrifugal device to change the gear ratio continuously.

    Me, when I tried to learn, I kept confusing the gear lever and the hand
    brake.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2