Picnic at Hanging Rock, RPG Updates, AU Pandemic Updates

[tcpip]

Organised some time ago I had arranged for a visit to Hanging Rock (Ngannelong) for Damien B's birthday. Jac and Damien came around on Friday night and we watched the famous 1975 movie Picnic at Hanging Rock, which some kind soul had uploaded to Youtube. It really has stood the test of time with, a combination of implied horror, homoeroticism, and plenty of disturbing exploration of the Victorian social mores (the lines of Doctor McKenzie became a running joke for us). The following day we made our way to the namesake site and, naturally enough, had a picnic. It really is quite an astounding geological formation, a labyrinth mamelon columns made of soda trachyte. Afterward, we made our way to our overnight stay at an old cottage in nearby Gibsourne and had an afternoon meal of brie and Klein Constantia Vin de Constance which is, in my considered opinion a wine that is liquid gold (and with a price tag to match). Even the normally alcohol-free Damien had a glass. The owners of cottage also have a herd of alpacas (llama minimus?), which we took the opportunity to feed this morning.

That evening we played the dystopian SF game Paranoia, which certainly is one of the innovative roleplaying games of all time (The Computer says so, and The Computer is your friend), whose tropes have made there way into a number of cultural artefacts. In recent years, there has been an increasing trend to play it "straight" partially inspired, I believe, by the Paranoia comic, where it can go very dark indeed. We played it with a little bit of that orientation, but a more classic absurdist flavour. It is also worth mentioning that last week I finally finished everything for RPG Review Issue 45, which is almost three months late. My own contribution to this issue include reviews of Chivalry & Sorcery's Saurians, the three volumes of Role Aids' Monsters of Myth and Legend, GURPS Monsters, and Monsters and Other Childish Things. The next issue of RPG Review will be on FUDGE and FATE based RPGs.

Of other note, there is the continuing global pandemic. Last week Australia's DFAT issued their highest level warning to overseas Australians which was basically, "get out now" as countries start closing their borders which, without any sense of irony, coincided with the national carrier QANTAS (and its cheaper line, Jetsatr), canceling all its international flights. The result is a number of Australians are trapped overseas. My advice to anyone in this situation is beg, borrow, or steal (in that order - but ultimately your life is more important than their property) to buy your way home - and friends of those overseas should do everything they can to help those stranded. Which, I must mention quietly, is what I have done for my dear friend lei_loo. They were planning on returning to Melbourne, I noticed their flights were being cancelled, I sent a hurried message, and shortly later had them on the second last seat of the last plane leaving the country. One of the proudest moments of my life, really.

Not that Australia is doing brilliantly in the COVID-19 stakes. I was optimistic about when we would hit a thousand cases, and I should have followed the math rather than being conservative at potential new diagnoses. Incredibly, for a higher education institution, my workplace is still dragging its feet on the working from home option. At this rate they'll have to be directed by an external authority.

Comments

[catsidhe]

The teams in 11 Barry st have been put on ½ in-office, ½ WFH, but with the proviso that "if you are worried for your or your family's health, then just stay home."

And the understanding that WFH means working and being on the online chat programs and being able to do meetings over Zoom and the like.

And I've heard that there are quite a lot of disabled people on the socials who are quite annoyed about how WFH was quite impossible for them when they needed it, but it's amazing how easy it is now.

[tcpip]

Yes, we're supposed to be 50/50 as well. I don't recall hearing the proviso, otherwise I would make use of it.

My position was that we should all be working from home unless we had an essential need to come to the office.

I sure wouldn't want UniMelb management to be in charge during a war.

Oh wait..

[ecosopher]

There is such a lot of dragging of feet here in terms of shutting stuff down. We've kept the kids home, and all the local friends I told said they were still going to send theirs, and then the next day the school sent a message to ask parents to keep their kids at home if they could, so...

I don't know why Australians/our govt thinks that our situation is going to be any different from the rest of the world?! And I'm not sure what it will take to get them to understand.

[tcpip]

I think their concern was first "but the economy", and there was also a bunch of people aligned from their side of politics who were claiming it wasn't so bad. Because a few hundred at one point means that it stays at that number, and therefore snake bites are worst. Or that it only affects old people, and they're a burden on the economy anyway, etc. Or God will protect.

And all those are comments that have actually been used. Ugh.