Capricon 45 schedule

Herewith is my semi-final schedule for Capricon 45 to be held in downtown Chicago February 6-9. I say semi-final because the scheduling email that just hit my inbox had a panel on Friday that was looking for a few good bloviators panelists and I nominated myself.

Chicago-SF Book Club
Lincoln • Literature • Discussion Group • Sat 2:30 PM–3:30 PM
Join with Chicago-SF for a discussion of Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. All are welcome!

Reading: Clumpner, Flynt, and Gerrib
Bridgeport • Reading • Reading • Sat 5:30 PM–6:30 PM
Greg Clumpner, Clif Flynt, and Chris Gerrib read from their works. I will have both One of My Spaceships is Missing and Strawberry Gold to read from and will put it to a vote (if we have any attendees).

Pirates! Pirates! Pirates! ARGGGG
Gold Coast • Fan Interest • Panel • Sat 8:30 PM–9:30 PM
The age of piracy lasted for 70 years during which about 5,000 historical pirates roamed the seas. Which, in the grand scheme of things, really isn't that many. Why do the legends of pirates and piracy still loom so large in our imagination? What purposes does it serve, and how has the legend been revised to tell new stories through time?

A Useful Reminder...

Found on one site and I just want to say "amen:"

In the 2024 Presidential election, more people voted for Donald Trump in Los Angeles than voted for him in Arkansas or Oklahoma. This nonsense about "red America" vs. "blue America" ignores the reality that we all live in purple America, a bit redder in some places and bluer in others, and when bad luck falls on Texas or New York, Oregon or Florida, it falls on millions of people who voted the same way you did and hold similar values, no matter how you voted or what policies you favor. We're all in the same box.

From the site which referred me to the above: Los Angeles County cast 1,189,862 votes for the Trump/Vance ticket last November, compared to 759,241 from Arkansas and 1,036,213 from Oklahoma. More people voted for Trump in the five boroughs of NYC than in the entire states of Kansas or Mississippi.