Lev Lafayette's journal

With a history and continuing engagement in the political process and with formal work and study firmly based on the sciences, my aesthetic side has usually been one of an amateur critic. True, there is something like forty years in this role with my considerations of music, film, theatre, comedy, literature, painting, and (especially) games making their way across a variety of publications; "Metior", "Phantasmagoria", "Mimesis", "Festivale", "RPG.NET", "RPG Review", "Ticonderoga", "The Dwarf", "Rocknerd", even "The Polish Journal of Aesthetics", and probably several more if I put my mind to it. I've even made an effort to compile the reviews, but with the numbers in the hundreds, I still have quite a long way to go. Despite all this, my own contributions to the aesthetic world have been quite modest. I think there's a couple of awful youthful-goth poems somewhere in Metior, but more substantially a publication from Iron Crown Enterprises, "Rolemaster Companion VI" (it sold 10,000 copies and has become something of a collectable), "Papers and Paychecks" and "Cow-Orkers in the Scary Devil Monastery" (with a resistentialist setting), and a rather dry and factual chapter of "Fox Magic" (Japanese kitsune). This is perhaps unsurprising given my interests, but it also comes with more than a hint of theoretical grounding; Murdoch University was flexible enough that, as an undergraduate, I was able to engage in my own accredited research project ("Independent Study Contract") as a course, on roleplaying and simulation games.

In the past season, however, I have started to engage with more standard aesthetic theory, including the Augsburg University course on Udemy and now the University of Edinburgh's courses on music theory. Simultaneous to this, there have also been studies in "Modern & Contemporary American Poetry" from the University of Pennsylvania. The practical grounding of such theory has, I will now admit, led to recent practice. I have submitted poetry and prose to a few US and UK journals, dealing with delightful subjects like violence against children, cancer and suicide, parochial loyalties with genocide and such topics. Further, I have started writing a collection of Gothic Nursery Rhymes, including "Three Tough Rats" (piano) and the beginnings of Edward Gorey's "The Gashlycrumb Tinies" (piano and cello). Because I'm close to mad and love working with text, I've been working heavily through MusicXML files directly. It's the way of the future. All of this is, of course, a precursor to the larger and more serious scientific-music project I have in mind with Mel S. But that's for the second half of the year.

Putting a more practical hat on, I've had a recent discussion and decision with my old friend Liza D., (goodness, it's been around 25 years!) and agreed to act as the producer for an upcoming comedy show she wishes to perform. Liza has a long history in this artform, decades even, whereas I've decided that the similarities between production and project management are simply too great to ignore. Liza has also been kind enough to give me her old set of Casio CTK 2100 keyboards, which really is just for fun. I have minimal skill in such a thing (scales using passacaglia form is my beginner's work), but I've never intended to be a performer. Or, for that matter, to even consider making a living from such activity. Information technologies and market structures are not friends of the artistic community, and dare I suggest anyone who thinks otherwise is almost certainly destined for a lifetime of a meagre income at best

Following my return from the tragically sad events in Perth, I have found myself attending a variety of aesthetic events. This started when Erica H. saw the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Fine Arts put on an opera "Hänsel und Gretel" at the rather impressive new Union Theatre. Sung in German (with subtitles), with a set and costuming that was both minimalist and complete, Lisette Bolton (as Gretel) and Metehan Pektas (as The Witch) were especially excellent performers. Two nights later I was taken out by Fiona C., to "The War on 2024 Annual Comedy Gala" at Hamer Hall. The comedians included Australia's best, led by Mark Humphries, with all providing a thorough satirical and scathing review of the major political news headlines of the past year. Political comedy always has been among the bravest of its art because it channels the discontent of the people as ridicule to those with power, and this was no exception.

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) has been hosting a series of events relating to Icelandic performer Björk. After spending a day out with Mel S., and Erica H., I ventured to the venue to drift off into another world, with Björk’s narrating the documentary "Fungi: Web of Life 3D" where the information, filmography, and narration were all of excellent quality. On Monday, I repeated a visit with Erica H. and Angela M. to see Björk in a starring role for the peasant-class medieval drama "The Juniper Tree" which came with a challenging realistic portrayal of a low-fantasy story. I note with some excitement that ACMI is also currently hosting a "Future Fictions" exhibition, which includes set items and art from "Cyberpunk 2077" and "Blade Runner 2049" and, to stay on theme, more content from Björk, this time in the form of her clothing from "The Gate".

Between this, I ventured out to see "The Garbage and the Flowers", a low-key alternative rock band, at the Tramway Hotel. In the process, I caught up with Guy B., an old Perth friend (and friend of Peter Lyons), and briefly with Ruby M. Last year's EP by said group was sufficiently good that this caught my attention, and I've composed a review covering both the EP and the live show on Rocknerd. Afterwards, I travelled to Springvale to attend the 30th Anniversary Gala Dinner of the Fujian Chinese Association. Attended by around 500 people, the event included a delegation from said province, several state and Federal MPs, and a former Australian ambassador, a notable juxtaposition from the previous event. In my role as ACFS (Victoria) President, I gave a short speech. It must be said that in my experience, these associations really know how to put on an event; the endless stream of superb performances, dancers, singers, etc, was only matched by the equally endless stream of culinary delights.

To finish it all off (temporarily), last night I had Maggie S., over for dinner. Maggie, now long retired, has a rich history in journalism through ABC (where she had a major role in the famous music show "Countdown") and as the Melbourne editor of the magazines "Cosmopolitan" and "Vogue". She entertained me with stories of her interviews and the often challenging chaperoning of various musicians from the 1980s, including Deborah Harry, Andrew Ridgeley, Billy Joel, Boy George, and many others. We spoke a great deal of the notorious wildness of mind common among those with aesthetic inclinations and the problems this may cause, and yet also recognition that art has a healing power. For all the losses of those dear to our hearts, there is still the hope of beauty, justness, and truth in this world - and that is worth fighting for.

It appears that I have landed in Sydney to attend a particularly important nerd-fest, Supercomputing Asia 2024. I'll be giving two, thankfully short, presentations at this event: "HPC Certification Forum & Skill Tree: An Update" and "HPC Training Generates HPC Results". In accordance with my tastes, I'm staying in a budget hotel (Siesta Sydney) which is close to the conference and has good amenities, albeit with a bed that's far too soft. Today was spent entirely with the IBM Storage Scale User Group which discussed the many complexities involved in having storage that's big, fast, and robust. It all dovetails quite nicely with a visit from HPC sysadmins to our workplace from Princeton University, with whom we shared information about implementations of Mediaflux. Supercomputing is a curious profession I have fallen into for the last 17 years; it comes across as rather niche, at best. But it touches and improves our lives in so many ways across healthcare, materials, engineering, and more. The return - almost entirely externalities - is an extraordinary $44 per dollar invested. Supercomputing is perhaps the most remarkable form of social infrastructure that we can invest in and yet is also so indirect and distant from most people's lived experience.

Before my departure I managed to get a few social events in; Erica H., joined me on Saturday for my third visit to Triennial at the NGV, and I still think I could go again. On Friday, I was party to a delightful sunset dinner evening with Julie A., and Liana F. (Julie's cake was quite impressive!), and we ended up playing "Munchkin" until the small hours. Apropos such events, last Saturday week enjoyed a games-day with Chester and Balaram for the amusing and high-speed "silent cooperative" game, "Magic Maze". Further, this coming Saturday is the Annual General Meeting of the RPG Review Cooperative, Inc., at the Rose Hotel in Fitzroy; our AGMs are short, the social event is always enjoyable.

Late last week I took a couple of days off work (they keep telling me to reduce my outstanding leave) to go on an Avatar Mountain business planning session with Anthony L., and Robin M., at the RACV Country Club in Healesville. We explored a number of the immediate environmental issues facing Pacific island states as well as longer-term projects, noting how the latter seems to have some fairly interesting players engaging in what appears to be a bit of a land grab under the supposed marketing of environmental protection. But of course, imperialism has always pretended that it was for the benefit of the colonised. The resort itself was of very good quality and in pretty nice surroundings; the bed came with its own tribble, and I was pleased to be woken by a baby magpie on the balcony. The following day was the AGM of the ACFS, where Anthony and Robin stepped down from their many years of service as president and secretary, respectively, and I had the opportunity to give a presentation on last year's conference in Suzhou, but also extend discussion to the much wider issue of China and the global climate which generated a lot of interest. I took the opportunity to suggest that the "Two Mountains Theory" of environmental protection coupled with economic development, also needed to be extended to a "Two Roads Theory" for international trade and infrastructure.

Outside of such formal activities, on Friday night Liana F., took me out to the "Motley Bauhaus Burlesque". The style was more arthouse burlesque, as fitting the venue and clientele, although I must say that the MC's outfit of an almost square-shouldered suit jacket, ruffle shirt, and giant red beret was getting pretty close to the classic Bauhaus clothing style and their sense of performance. The following night Julie A., who has just finished her psychology degree and was feeling in a celebratory mood, invited us out to Creature Bar, which has a good sense of horror-movie aesthetic and plenty of board games. We ended up playing Scrabble over a couple of wines; Liana, whose life has been associated with this game (her mother was a state champion), managed to score more than both Julie and I put together. Tonight Erica H., visited for dinner and a quiet evening of "Star Trek: Enterprise", which we have been slowly working through together. Although it is a bit of a middling series and story, and terribly socially anachronistic, one cannot help but be impressed by Jolene Blalock's performance and style as the Vulcan science office, T'Pol.

Several years ago I watched the modern science thriller "Gravity (2013)" on the small screen as in-flight entertainment and thought how wonderful it would be to see it on the big screen. Well, this evening I had that opportunity with Martin P., as we saw it at iMax in 3D. It really was everything I hoped for; hard science, the beauty of space, and the absolute disorientating terror of the environment. It follows another evening of aesthetic entertainment, as Liana F., and I visited Connection at Lume for the second week in succession with its rather amazing collection of immersive indigenous art and music. This time we also dined at the in-house restaurant, Mirri.

Last weekend I attended the Voice rally in Melbourne, an optimistic and powerful march of some 30,000 people. Meanwhile the cooker-wing of the "No" campaign had their own rally in the city today, attended by a few hundred conspiracy theorists and Neo-Nazis. In a much less partisan position, the ABC has produced a really simple handy guide on what the constitution and the referendum actually is (it's a handy response to my own survey that more than 97% of "no" voters, didn't know what the amendment was.

This week I have also received some feedback from the first round of assessment in the second trimester for my climatology degree. My paleoclimatology essay on the Younger Dryas and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) received a B - the content was A grade, and the writing was a C - it's not the first time I've encountered an academic assessor who has struggled with my style. On the other hand, my annotated bibliography for climate change mitigation in the Pacific received an A+. I am still waiting for the results of international climate change policy, and climate adaptation. Hopefully these will be received soon.

With the final grades received for the final course (with a solid B), I am now a GradDipAppPsych, I just have to wait for the stiff piece of cardboard. I rather wished it had delved more into neurology rather than organisational, developmental, and social psychology, but that's fine. Results are also coming in for the first trimester of my Master's in Climate Change Science and Policy and thus far I received two "A" grades for the final assignments in Climate Pricing and Political Ecology and also (based on my calculations) for the courses overall, with Environmental Law and Physical Basis for Climate Change still pending. It's somewhat amusing to think that I've finally found my life's calling this late in life, but I should have a few decades left and will hopefully make a difference.

With these results and with no essential study to carry out, I've spent the past few days engaging in some aesthetic pleasures because I do love beauty for its own sake. It a sense this little adventure started about two weeks ago when I ventured to see the Rembrandt exhibition with Alison B; I am not overly-enamoured by Rembrandt's style or technique in painting but do recognise his truly impressive contribution to etching technologies. Whilst we were present we caught a presentation on "Pierre Bonnard: Designed by India Mahdavi", which led to a visit last night with Liana F. whose intimism transitioned from impressionist to modern styles. Mention must be made of Mahdavi's excellent design for the extensive exhibition.

Betwist of these events, I also had a visit from Lara D., who is visiting Melbourne for family reasons. "I knew to see you for cultural events", she opined. On her suggestion, we went to the "Shadow Spirit" First Nations art exhibition at the beautifully dilapidated old Flinder's St Station ballroom, which was truly evocative through mixed media. After that we ventured to "Lightscape" at the Botanical Gardens, which was a lovely walk in the park, coupled with wonderment and, it must be noted, attention to detail by the designers. Finally, on Thursday night I was taken by Maggie S., to Graham Geddes Antiques in the sprawling showroom for their recent Italian shipment, which was rather like a well-catered and visually impressive gallery opening (as the invite said, "bevande i divertamento pur tutti"). Plus, I suspect we made two new friends there.

My birthday weekend was a very pleasant one, and I deeply appreciate the messages, phone calls, etc from the c250 people who contacted me (as is my want, I responded individually). The day itself started with cat rescue; Erica H has been visiting for a few days and her cat Eadrick decided to leap from the balcony to the apartment patio directly below - which is very rarely occupied. I managed to work around the fence from a kind neighbour and rescue the wayward feline. Later in the day we went to the Monet and Impressionists Lume exhibition and spent quite some time there. It was, of course, very beautiful as the style of the Impressionists. It is especially notable how dependent even art is on technology; the Impressionists simply wouldn't have existed without the invention of the paint tube; it was this that allowed them to directly engage in nature and pain "en plein air". Much of Saturday was in the company of Brendan E., where we watched the Chinese action film, Operation Red Sea, loosely based on the evacuation of foreign nationals from the Yemeni civil war. There wasn't much in terms of character development, and there was some light propaganda, but mainly it was action and technology, both of which it did very well at. Yesterday I further engaged in similar activities with a visit to the NGV with Dr Bec, whom I had hitherto not spent much time with in the past and really enjoyed our conversation on data science, among other matters.

It is now, of course, the LNY which is either a rabbit or a cat, with the latter for the Vietnamese communities. It does make me wonder about calendaring systems in general. It would delightful if our planet had a neat 360 day year, with four seasons and the solstice and equinoxes fitting into a nice 90 quadrant, and the moon going through a neat 30-day cycle twelve times a year. As an young adolescent I even played around with the notion of 12 30-day months and a five day festive holiday (equivalent of Glorantha's "Sacred Time") as an alternative calendar (and, of course, with the additional leap-day as appropriate). Earth and the moon are not, of course, so exacting. The orbital period of the Earth is 365.25636 solar days, and the synodic lunar month is 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes and 2.9 seconds. It's all a bit of a delicious mess with many attempts over the course of human history. Even with our advanced technologies, there is still variation between Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and International Atomic Time (TAI). What is the time? Imperfectly defined, but "vivre sans temps mort" should be an aspirational motto.

During the last trip to Aotearoa New Zealand, I stayed a couple of nights in Cambridge with a certain Matthew Simmons, whom I've known since he was CEO of a GPU-based storage company called Nyriad. Prior to that he had his own audio engineering business, mainly for high-end speakers, which is still doing plenty. And he even had the opportunity to do a TED talk on the subject of infrasound applications. Following this, I have started the actual content for the final unit in my psychology degree and it also, in the first week of readings, also includes a couple of very interesting TED talks. One is James Flynn on why our IQ levels are so much higher than our grandparents (he blames the increased prevalence of abstract reasoning). The second one is Lera Boroditsky explaining on how language really does alter thought-processes, now that the data is available. It's not quite a strong Sapir-Whorf hypothesis on a deterministic level, but it's certainly among the stronger arguments I've encountered.

The past few days have not been all work and study however; I was delighted to receive a message from my old friend Des J. on Saturday and we decided to venture to the National Gallery of Victoria; not that there was anything special on, we just want to look at art. The pair of us, both prone to a sense of the absurd, started describing the motives of characters in various artworks and it wasn't long before we'd gone completely Pythonesque in our assessments. Today, in a different manner, I was joined by Erica H., for a few episodes of The Sandman TV series. As an old fan of the comics ("graphic novels") from the late 1980s, I was, of course, concerned that a mess could be made of it, and thankfully it is doing very well so far. I think it's fair to say that The Sandman series, having been part of popular culture for over thirty years, looks destined to enter the realm of high culture as well. And no, I don't think it's a contradiction to say that something can be "popular" and "high" culture simultaneously.

The past weekend was very much in the aesthetic dimension. Starting with an (eventual, brief) visit from Wajeeha K to see the "Beauty Lies" exhibition by Rashid Rana on Saturday, and then immediately afterward to the NGV Queer Exhibition with Vanessa and Mel S, two exhibitions that I had already been to and was quite happy to see again. Vanessa is visiting from Aotearoa New Zealand, so a trek afterward to the various opportunity shops along Clarendon Street once was both necessary and quite a delight with various discoveries and insightful conversations with store staff; it is always the perfect way to engage in retail therapy. Immediately afterward that I had Chiara and Adrian C visiting for dinner. Chiara is a former fine artist in her own right, to stay on topic, and it was quite a boisterous evening of animated conversation (the two bottles of New Zealand white that Vanessa purchased for us were quite welcome.

The following day Erica H., came over for a couple of episodes of the fourth season of "Stranger Things", a series that continues to engage on a delicious mix of a 1980s adolescence retrospective with supernatural horror derived from Dungeons & Dragons and Cold War plot elements. The attention to subcultural detail is truly impressive; they even made a subtle Head of Vecna reference. One cannot be helped but be charmed by the "mad revival" of Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill', a song (like many of her works) that is haunting, beautiful, and just a little sad. I am further impressed by the narrative continuation of the thematic juxtaposition between cooperative (D&D group) and competitive (basketball) groups, with the latter going quite psychotic. It is providing a rich motivator for my continuing consideration following "in-group vs out-group" psychology and the proposition that competitive communities, from war to sportsball, are inevitably toxic and destructive. To follow a classic saying from the period ("War Games", 1983): "The only winning move is not to play".

It seems that I have some ink permanently etched in my skin, specifically on the inner-right forearm, a rattus norvegicus with a mathematical flowchart following its body. My interests this body art are, as always, multi-layered and complex. Firstly, rattus norvegicus is pretty obvious; I had some twenty-two pet rats from around 2003-2014, and I loved each of these clever, emotional, and deeply empathic creatures dearly. Once I gave a presentation where I tried to cram in as much of my knowledge of these amazing creatures. This is my tattoo in memory of my animal companions. As companions, I am deeply saddened that rattus' are subject to often cruelty in experimentation. Kristin Andrews' essay, "Rats are us" points this out in some detail and is a very worthy read.

In particular the equations I use on rattus represent a mathematical flowchart of particular experiments that are as significant as they are uncaring. It involved dropping rats into water and seeing how long they would swim before they drowned. The domestic rats would swim for an hour or more, whilst their wild cousins, just as competent swimmers if not more so, died within minutes. The difference? The domestic rats believed in their human carers. Too strange? Well, then another set of domestic rats were tested, and then rescued at the last moment. Once they recovered, they were put in the water again. This time they would swim literally for days, obviously terrified for their life, but desperate with the hope that they would be rescued a second time. They weren't, of course. Science must progress and who cares about a drowned rat? So this is also my animal welfare tattoo. Rats are us.

Also, I love mathematics; it is the language of nature, so to speak, and carries great beauty and elegance in its abstract simplicity and rigorous logic. This is also my mathematical naturalism tattoo and thus the equation; a beginning (alpha, the nose of the rat), exists with a finite time series (∃t=0..n<∞) of life that is confronted by normal distribution challenges that are increased with time (time wounds all heels ) and are reduced through resilience (inner strength, hope, etc) (Cn=𝒩 (µ, σ²)+(t-r)). If the value is too great it comes to a full stop resulting in the end (omega). Otherwise, there is a continuation, which continues the alpha-cycle. The rats, like people, can overcome many challenges if there is even a glimmer of hope, it spurs their inner strength to reach out for support. Rats are us.

The location is also important. I chose the right arm because if I ever do encounter a challenge that is greater than my hope and resilience, it will be with my own hand that I make the final decision (unfortunate accidents withstanding). I know that some prefer the semi-colon, and I respect that. But I have chosen a continuation sequence instead. For me (being mathematical rather than literary in this instance) it represents that almost every single day I have the question of continued existence confronting me without respite, an eternal recurrence. So far, I have followed the continuation sequence, a sequence of semi-colons if you like. And almost every day? Yes, there have been times of very notable exceptions, and perhaps one day I will explain - but the time is certainly not right at the present. For today, I have a math rat tattoo. Rats are us.