Random Thoughts

[defaux]

who the hell names their kid McGeorge?

Mr. Fly (senior). That was the alternate timeline though, when McMarty stepped on a butterfly.

 

[CatrionaGrace]

who the hell names their kid McGeorge?

They couldn't decide between naming him after George Washington or Douglas McArthur, so they compromised and named him McGeorge since Dougshington was just too weird.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

Fell into a bit of a JFK, LBJ, Vietnam era rabbit hole. I forgot about NSA McGeorge Bundy and, well, who the hell names their kid McGeorge?

McGeorge is certainly more familiar as a surname (The McGeorges are a branch of the MacFheorais family which moved from Ireland to Galloway, in southwestern Scotland).

But I looked up why his parents named him that. From Google:

"McGeorge Bundy was named "McGeorge" after his paternal grandfather, whose first name was McGeorge, as confirmed in biographical documents.

His father was Harvey Hollister Bundy, a prominent Boston lawyer and statesman, and his mother was Katherine Lawrence Putnam.

He was nicknamed 'Mac'."

Hope that answers that!

 

[Schism]

Fell into a bit of a JFK, LBJ, Vietnam era rabbit hole.

Don't forget Nixon.

 

[Homer Potvin]

Don't forget Nixon.

I find the Nixon/Kissinger era far less interesting. Goes for a lot of the 70s. Not sure why.

 

[Schism]

I find the Nixon/Kissinger era far less interesting. Goes for a lot of the 70s. Not sure why.

Can't go wrong with JFK of course.

It's interesting since I think a lot of discussion on presidents boils down to specific things like JFK's assassination, or Nixon's Watergate. Or at least that's how it generally seems.

 

[JLT]

Fell into a bit of a JFK, LBJ, Vietnam era rabbit hole. I forgot about NSA McGeorge Bundy and, well, who the hell names their kid McGeorge?

There are a lot of last names popping up as first names, often as the mother's maiden name. A common mistake is "John Hopkins"... the hospital and university...which is actually "Johns Hopkins."

NB: It used to be obligatory not to omit the "the" from "the Johns Hopkins University." I always thought they were trying to give a Sharper Image patina to their college. They don't seem to be as strict about that nowadays.

 

[CatrionaGrace]

Using mom's maiden name as a given name is a common practice in parts of the South. My son's middle name is my mom's maiden name.

 

[Rigor Mortis]

My son's middle name is my wife's surname.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

There are a lot of last names popping up as first names, often as the mother's maiden name. A common mistake is "John Hopkins"... the hospital and university...which is actually "Johns Hopkins."

NB: It used to be obligatory not to omit the "the" from "the Johns Hopkins University." I always thought they were trying to give a Sharper Image patina to their college. They don't seem to be as strict about that nowadays.

I'm not American, or ever been to America, and even I know the name "Johns Hopkins". (It doesn't make sense to me, but I know it's supposed to be that way).

Using mom's maiden name as a given name is a common practice in parts of the South. My son's middle name is my mom's maiden name.

That's all well and good, but if a boy's middle name can be a woman's maiden name, is it possible for that maiden name to be one that only women can have? That could be the case if the family is Scandnavian (e.g. Leifsdottir, etc.).

I find the Nixon/Kissinger era far less interesting. Goes for a lot of the 70s. Not sure why.

Maybe it's just me, but I've seen a lot more TV documentaries and "special features" about the Nixon/Kissinger years, far more than I've ever seen about LBJ. (JFK documentaries have been done to death - pardon the pun - but most of them concern his assassination, naturally).

Speaking of JFK, I wonder why no documentaries focus on his early years -- e.g. his childhood, his war service etc. I know he commanded a PT boat during WW2. I'd like to hear more about that.

As for LBJ, all I know about him is that he took over after JFK was killed, that he was extremely unpopular because of the Vietnam War, that he hated and envied Ho Chi Minh ... *shrug* and that he had a strange obsession with showing off his *ahem* organ in public. I wonder how he was never charged with indecent exposure, at least.

 

[Louanne Learning]

My son's middle name is my wife's surname.

My Irish brother-in-law was named for his mother's maiden name.

My Scottish brother-in-law was named for his mother's maiden name, too.

 

[JLT]

I'm not American, or ever been to America, and even I know the name "Johns Hopkins". (It doesn't make sense to me, but I know it's supposed to be that way).

You probably know it from the hospital, which has an international reputation.

Speaking of JFK, I wonder why no documentaries focus on his early years -- e.g. his childhood, his war service etc. I know he commanded a PT boat during WW2. I'd like to hear more about that.

They actually made a movie of his experience in the Navy, when he rescued his crew after his PT boat was rammed by a Japanese destroyer. Cliff Robertson played JFK with the approval of the president himself. It's about as accurate as a docudrama of that time was expected to be.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057393/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_5_nm_0_in_0_q_pt%20109

As for LBJ, all I know about him is that he took over after JFK was killed, that he was extremely unpopular because of the Vietnam War, that he hated and envied Ho Chi Minh ... *shrug* and that he had a strange obsession with showing off his *ahem* organ in public. I wonder how he was never charged with indecent exposure, at least.

LBJ was also responsible for pushing through a number of key civil rights bills, which he knew would antagonize southern legislators and cost his party the support of the South. I don't think that enough credit is given to him for that.

 

[CatrionaGrace]

LBJ was also responsible for pushing through a number of key civil rights bills, which he knew would antagonize southern legislators and cost his party the support of the South. I don't think that enough credit is given to him for that.

This. Part of LBJ's problem was the aura of Texas ranch after JFK's New England high society polish.

He enacted legislation for the creation of Medicare and for augmenting education with federal funds, (Johnson's Great Society is why my husband, scion of a dirt poor family, was able to attend college). He also strongly suppported NASA and provided the country with The. Best. First. Lady. Ever.

I lived in Texas when he ran for office in 1964. I am still half convinced my parents were the only two people in the state who voted for Goldwater. I wrote LBJ a letter when I was eleven. His secretary sent me a reply that was obviously not a form letter and one of his books as well. I still have both.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

This. Part of LBJ's problem was the aura of Texas ranch after JFK's New England high society polish.

He enacted legislation for the creation of Medicare and for augmenting education with federal funds, (Johnson's Great Society is why my husband, scion of a dirt poor family, was able to attend college). He also strongly suppported NASA and provided the country with The. Best. First. Lady. Ever.

I lived in Texas when he ran for office in 1964. I am still half convinced my parents were the only two people in the state who voted for Goldwater. I wrote LBJ a letter when I was eleven. His secretary sent me a reply that was obviously not a form letter and one of his books as well. I still have both.

OK, I didn't know that. Thank you. Didn't LBJ also push the Civil Rights Act through? I remember reading about the meeting between LBJ and George Wallace after the police's bloody attacks on the Civil Rights marchers to Selma.

Of course, Wallace's mantra of "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" sounds horrifying now. But when he made that speech in 1963, America was a very different place. :-\ And I won't get too deeply into that; I'm sure you know much more than I do!

Having said that, I've read deeply about America's history, simply because I find history fascinating, and like learning new things.

 

[JLT]

Having said that, I've read deeply about America's history, simply because I find history fascinating, and like learning new things.

From what I've read about Australian history, it's every bit as fascinating. And while slavery never seemed to be much of an issue, both countries have grappled with the results of their attempts to either "civilize" or obliterate the native population.

And it's perhaps worth noting that Britain looked toward Australia as a possible site for penal colonies only after the American Revolutionary War deprived them of Georgia.

 

[Schism]

Living life in a consistently structured way. Well, there are all kinds of brains out there, made for different things. I'm more the pie in the sky creative dude. And while I've written novels, is that really how I like to do things? I prefer to go off a stream of consciousness style, not just in writing, irl seemingly, and that's usually outside of my control unless I self-medicate with a lot of caffeine.

Creative expression, for me, goes off of a short fuse. It's much more of a non-linear process than is usually required for novel writing. Which, again, I've done several times. Still.

 

[Iain Aschendale]

I wonder what the vig is on loan words, and who's responsible for paying up?

Would hate to have something...happen to English, unexpected-like.

 

[JLT]

I compare the English language to a car crash involving the demolition of a number of vehicles, from which one attempts to reconstruct a working car from pieces of a Chevy, a Volkswagen, a Toyota, a Peugeot, and so on. The amazing thing is that it runs.

 

[Stuart Dren]

I just watched a video of a 1:1 scale drone recreation of the RMS Titanic leaving port.

It was beautiful, sad.

Of course, I don't know when it actually happened since currency is apparently irrelevant. Also the video had to have some music playing—can't let a sight speak for itself—and worst of all, I'm going to completely forget about the spectacle in probably the next 15 minutes because of the content hose and/or life in general.