Townsville Dreaming, Pubs and Games, Einstein and Cooperatives

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Spent the better part of three days this week in Townsville at the Australian Institute for Marine Science helping their researchers and sysadmins work with their new (albeit small) cluster. Whilst I don't mind the heat I think my body had a bit of a shock going from my evenings that were around 3-5 degrees to 18 degrees; my first night there I had a fitful sleep, dreaming that I was running a course back in Melbourne where - in my role as building warden - I had to evacuate everyone due to a fire, except a former co-worker (originally from Townsville) wouldn't leave; in my dream-world it turned out to be a false alarm. I woke from that thinking it was a bit odd, and eventually falling back asleep I was woken again a couple of hours later by a booming message over the hotel speakers Evacuate Now... Evacuate Now with the tell-tale woop-woop sound. Stumbling down the six flights of stairs at 5 am in the morning, it turned out to be a false alarm. I made my way back to bed, thinking "Did I just predict that was going to happen?". I think I could do without the madness of cryptic subconscious prophecy.

In a different type of madness, caseopaya spent an evening with old-Perth friend Julie A., at the psychobilly-themed Bendigo Hotel just prior to this trip. It was a very silly and fun evening with just a little too much to drink and some comically bad pool games. I've noticed that evenings with Julie end up like that! It was also after spending the day with the newly-graduated Dr. Karl and already-entitled Dr. Liz on a day of drinking various whiskies in celebration. In lower key activities, caught up with Tom S., today whom I hadn't seen since Murdoch University days in the early 1990s. He's now very dedicated to Green political activities, town planning (a local councillor), and various environmental pursuits. We had a great deal to catch up on and gave him a tour of the asylum and the bat colony in between games of Chez Cthulhu and Cheaty Mages.

I have written an article suggesting the political ideas of Albert Einstein were closely aligned with that of the Isocracy Network; there is more agreement in the core political positions of Einstein and the Isocracy Network than there is with any other political ideology. Next week the Isocracy Network is having a meeting at Trades Hall; the speaker is the secretary of the Earthworker Cooperative discussing the use of worker cooperatives and environmentalism. On topic, I must also mention convening The Philosophy Forum meeting last Sunday with Rohan McLeod presenting on Political philosophy and Nihilistic Self-Responsibility