Lev Lafayette's journal

"Jurgen Habermas is the most influential thinker in Germany today". Thus begins Thomas McCarthy's 1975 translator's introduction to "Legitimation Crisis" ("Legitimationsprobleme in Spatkapitalismus", 1973), and he wasn't wrong. Whilst he may have fallen a little off the radar a bit in the last decades (especially after his attempted "post-secular" rapproachment with religion), fifty years as Europe's most important and serious philosopher is a fairly good innings. Habermas dies last month, aged 96, and I was fortunate enough to be offered to give a presentation to the Existentialist Society this weekend on his philosophy of universal pragmatics and communicative action, which was both well-attended and had many excellent questions. The video, alas, missed the first couple of minutes, but everything is available in the transcript.

The weekend was not only an afternoon of deep and complex emancipatory German social philosophy in the idealistic tradition, however. Marc C., joined me for dinner on Friday before we ventured to The Old Bar to see some music; opening act "Trappist Afterland" was a subtle one-man band with Indian sub-continent backing tracks and songs about dogs, Star/Time provided quasi-improvised space-funk, and headline act The Gruntled accurately describe themselves as "avant-medieval psychedelic noise combo"; it all helps when you know several of the band members. The following night, I caught up with Liza D., and we made our way to "Impossiblistic: A Night of Surreal Performances, which was poetry, theatre, music, costume, puppetry, clown shows, and more. It was less surreal than enjoyable nonsense and was just fine.

Between all this, I also managed to visit the "Creative Antarctica" exhibition at RMIT on its last day, on Australian artists and writers who visited that grand continent. Of course, my own emotional and intellectual attachment to said continent is very strong; not too many people can say that they've spent New Year's Eve there. The exhibition was quite delightful. I really like Janet Laurence's "Ice Remembers" and Sally Robertson's "Atlas Cove". But the standout image for me was Frank Hurley's photograph of 1916 of Shackleton and Worsley leaving Elephant Island on a tiny lifeboat that would somehow make it to South Georgia Island over a thousand kilometres away and would lead to the rescue of the crew of the Endurance. It is one the greatest stories of survival against all odds and, for what it's worth, Elephant Island was the last location of my own trip to Antarctica this year. As Sir Raymond Priestley, Antarctic explorer and geologist, poetically put it: "For scientific discovery give me Scott; for speed and efficiency of travel give me Amundsen; but when disaster strikes and all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton."

Over the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to touch base with music, fine art, and film. In terms of music, I have been in excellent company with successive evening concerts and picnics at the Botanical Gardens, including Basement Jaxx, Leftfield, and Cut Copy, all of whom are significant international acts in the electronic dance genre. This said, all three bands played a number of their most well-known pieces (e.g., "Red Alert", "Romeo" from Basement Jaxx, "Open Up", "Release the Pressure" from Leftfield, "Time Stands Still" from Cut Copy") with great acumen and with surprisingly clarity, which is not always easy at an outdoor venue. It will make for multiple reviews on Rocknerd, even though I have reviewed a Leftfield concert in the distant past. Plus, in a completely different genre, I must also mention attending an EP launch for folkish performers Crittenden Tyndall with Jack Marshall.

Recently, I also have the National Gallery of Victoria for two special exhibitions. The first is the Westwood and Kawakubo fashion exhibit, with Westwood offering reinterpretations of British styles, especially in punkish tartan and flowing gothic gowns, whilst Kawakubo often presents extreme creations that remind me of the Bauhaus style. The latter is the 75 Years of Women Photographers, a magnificent 20th-century international and Australian collection that included the sort of flair that I normally associate with surrealist and abstract painting; Dora Maar, Lola Bravo, Annemarie Heinrich all caught my attention in particular. As an example of interactive art, I was also invited to a "Rats and Barbells" craft event, where I made Gandalf the Rat.

Moving on to film, Nitul (who was also with me at several of the aforementioned events) and I saw "I Swear" (hat-tip to Rade), a new film on the life of John Davidson. Funny, sad, and sometimes frightening, it was an honest and sympathetic view of people with the condition, with more than an inkling of hope. On a entirely different trajectory, I also attended of the opening of a science fiction film festival with the independent film, The Man Who Saw Them Arrive", mainly about Colin Cameron a UFO spotter who was based in Kew. The enthusiasm of other UFO spotters in the room required me to remind myself that this was a science fiction film festival.

Finally, and also on a related note, I attended some valedictory drinks for one John Atkinson, who recently died well before his time (thank you, Helen D, for organising the events). In his professional work, he was on popular Australian TV shows including "Chances", "Out of the Blue", "Home and Away", "McLeod's Daughters", etc., most of which I have little interest in, although the last episodes of "Chances" were hilarious . Personally, however, we got along quite well. He was one of my first flatmates in Melbourne, and we shared a mutual interest in French aesthetics, which definitely included red wine, cuisine, new wave movies, and fencing. Over the years, we managed to stay in touch after he moved interstate, and he could always entertain with stories of misadventures. Ever living the bon vivant lifestyle with passion, he was well-suited to his profession and would have done well in future years. Again, we are reminded of the shortness of life.

About a month ago, I decided to supplement my long-standing occasional activity as a music reviewer and critic (Metior, The Dwarf, Rocknerd) with actual practice. True, I touched the bass guitar when I was in my early teens, and four years ago, I started an online course from an Augsburg University lecturer. But these ventures were without much enthusiasm. This time however, I have practised daily and have completed the Duolingo Music course. Of course, I have reviewed the course on Rocknerd, doubling with a long-awaited review of Carbon Based Lifeform's studio album, "Seeker" (2023). Further, I have also joined the local Spanish choir "Sonidos del-Alma", courtesy of an old invitation from Liza D; partially because I have this mad idea in my head about taking an extended visit to South America in the latter part of 2025. Unsurprisingly, I've restarted the Augsburg course as well.

The inspiration for all this comes from my dear friend Mel S., who in a past life was the vocalist for the retro synth-pop band "The Greenmatics", with whom I'm forming a collaboration for a somewhat different sound and audience. To further help things on their way a couple of weeks back I attended two events from UniMelb's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, one evening after the other. The first was "The Glory of Venice" with Erica, which covered the Venetian school's polychoral compositions of the late sixteenth century. The second event was "A Touch of the Sacred" with Kayo, which included choral numbers by Bach, Puccini, Mascagni, Schubert, Mozart (Requiem, of course), along with several newer pieces. To add to the story, a few days later Nitul and I attended a performance of Reservoir Dogs in the style of Shakespeare; a clever musical of sorts and in Melbourne's historic Little Theatre.

Apropos, on Saturday, Mel, Erica, and I attended the opening of the City of Merri-Bek's annual Summer Show exhibition, which featured over one hundred visual artists at the Counihan Gallery, and what seemed to be at least five hundred people in attendance. I am unsurprised that at least two people I know (Elif Sezen and Diana Videka) had works displayed, so congratulations to both of you! I know that spending the time to convert a concept to an actual completed piece of work can (and should) take weeks of concerted effort. I am not quite in the right mind to pick up the brush just yet, let alone start a master's in fine arts, but neither is beyond my horizon. In the meantime, it is that famous month for novel writing and I have something quite different brewing in my mind. Dare I write a socially up-to-date version of a second-person multiple storyline romantasy? Of course, I do.

Despite my propensity to the Stoic, I do indulge in the more hedonistic Epicurean adventures at times; "Intimate Gatherings", the title of a delightful cookbook provided to me by one Robbie K, as she and Des J and Sim G joined me for a rather boisterous Saturday afternoon "linnering" of fine foods, plentiful wine, and quality conversation at The Rookery. Although I cannot help but think I was the subject of psychotherapy by three women who are well-versed in that literature! To be honest, it was quite welcome as it was the time prior with these Weird Sisters (I'm sure they will not object to the classic appellation) and as it will be the next time.

The Linner was placed in between other aesthetic events on the weekend. That day I also wrote a review for Rocknerd, namely the latest album by post-rock giants, Maybeshewill "No Feeling is Final" and on the following day I took Erica H and Mel S to the magnificent artists' community, Monsalvat where my dear friend Kirsten D had work as part of the 9 Lives exhibition. A sensitive soul, I admit that I was almost brought to tears with the beauty of the grounds, buildings, works, and general aesthetics. I am disappointed in myself for not visiting sooner, a most remarkable Melbourne institution.

Whilst on that topic, The Rookery is firmly in the midst of the arts precinct of Melbourne, and I cannot understand why any visitor or resident would not take advantage of that fact. On Friday evening I attended the opening of new works, "Beauty Lies", by Pakistani artist Rashid Rana the Fiona and Sidney Myer Gallery. The area itself is about to have a major uplift with the National Gallery of Victoria now earmarked for an astounding redevelopment. I think it becomes more of a feature of the area than some of the rather cheap and ugly skyscrapers nearby. Keep me closer to the ground, among the gardens and riverside, where there are still living creatures and wonderful street art like what has been nicknamed "Quarantined Love" across the road from me. I find many such artworks quite boring, but this one is notable enough for me to even write about; topical and well-executed, it deserves recognition.

Weekend was a full collection of various social activities, starting with attending an exhibition by old friends RJ Cameron and Denham Carr, At The Hard Edge exhibition (FB). Afterwards followed the lead of local artist Cameron Potts (former Sir John Sulman Prize winner) to their studio space in the back of a warehouse in Northcote, where there was also the tail-end and stragglers of a local indie gig. Dave Graney was in attendance, so I thanked him for all the music, and told him he was just too hip (referring to his 1993 hit). For a guy that's pushing sixty it's pretty good to see him make the effort to go out to see undergound indie gigs. Afterwards we stumbled back to Cameron's place for more music and conversation, and I finally decided to head home before the morning sun made an appearance.

Following day included an (thankfully) afternoon trip to Lachlan's Memorial Birthday gathering at the Imperial Hotel, which shows all the signs of becoming a nice tradition, and then on to the annual general meeting of Linux Users of Victoria, where xanni_au stepped down after four years as president, and imajica_lj returned to take up the role after ten or so years since their last tour in the role; not many people come back for a second bite of this cherry. I also announced that this would be my last year on the LUV committee, having held various roles since 2006. It's been a long and fulfilling trip, but with other items coming on my agenda it is about time I gave my activities on LUV over to someone else. Afterwards headed off to Brendan E's place where he showed us a good fan edit of a terrible film; 2012. Cut to around a third of its original length one still gets the main elements of the special effects and plot without loss of continuity. We also watched a few episodes of the dramatic thriller Utopia (not the Papers and Paychecks styled Australian show of the same name), which certainly is a captivating conspiracy.

On Sunday picked up several crates of RPGs which Ben Finney (aka Big Nose of Debian fame) was selling; some real classics in that lot. By the early afternoon caught up with strangedave who was visiting Melbourne, and discussed various matters regarding RuneQuest Down Under which I am pleased to see is doing quite well in terms of registrations. Because strangedave is on of the world's experts in matters RuneQuest and Glorantha he will be a key speaker at the panels planned for the conference. Afterwards I ran a session of Eclipse Phase, which followed on from the previous episode where the Sentienls saved several lobotomised bikini girls with machine guns from the insane L.R. Hobart and made their way to a re-sleeving facility in Belém, Brazil. It hasn't gone well for them as they are now trapped in the hospital's resleeving theatre with dozens of extractors and a hostile supercomputer wanting to make short work of them. Let's see how they get out of this one. After that was the RPG Review Cooperative committee meeting where we discussed various matters relating to the Con, but most importantly thrashed out our first draft of a Code of Conduct. As has been pointed out before, if you don't have one of these earlier, you will regret it later.

Emile Zola, in his classic novel Le Ventre de Paris, references quite heavily the smell of Parisian fish markets in the summer. Whilst I have managed to avoid such odours, as he describes in glorious detail, the alternating heat, humidity, and thunderstorms has turned the visit this city into a rather unexpected experience. Nevertheless, we were blessed on Sunday with a meeting with Gianna V., a local whom I've known online for several years with a mutual interest in Glorantha. Gianna took us for a walk along Le Petite Ceinture a former railline reclaimed public nature walk. The walk ended with a visit to a book market where I found myself in possession of several hefty art history tomes.

After that we visited Montparnasse Cemetery, final resting place of many famour people. We visited a good number of sites, but in particular I felt special respect for the sites of Simon de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, Alfred Dreyfus, Pierre Joseph Proudhon, and Jean Seaberg. Each of these are individuals who have had a major effect on my own intellectual and aesthetic development; I could write extensively on each. For now, just these words of recognition will have to do.

The work-week began with a visit with Loic N, at the L'Institut du Calcul et de la Simulation on their HPC operating environment and the impressive cross-disciplinary work that they do. The university was next door to the medieval Musée de Cluny so managed to get a good dose of that end of the historic spectrum as well. The following two days have been at the Conference Teratec at Ecole Polytechnique Paliasseau, some distance from the inner city. A good-sized (1300 attendees) the conference show-cased the major projects undertaken in France's HPC environment in their quasi-syndicalist approach (business, academia, and government working on mutual projects). With dusk not occuring until around 10pm or later, much of the evening has been spent on semi-random public transport trips, eating at simple restaurants, and just walking; an especially pleasant discovery was a large park and gardens, Parc Montsouris. It's good to know that the Parisians have dedicated a park to mountain mice.

On Sunday visited the Dunedin Art Gallery, which had a pretty average "Private Utopia" collection on display from the British Council, which did however include one amusing piece, a short film, "Human Report" (2008) by Marcus Coates, a pseudo-documentary of human beings by a sapient booby set in the Galapolas. Also of interest from the main 'Belonging' display was Charles Monet's, La Debacle (1880) which I connected with Emile Zola's novel of the Franco-Prussian War of the same name which included a scene reminiscent like the painting. Surely I am not the first to notice this? After the gallery made our way to the impressive Dunedin museum; their shipping, Maori and islander, and wildlife dispalys are particularly good.

The following day made our way to our secret South Pacific baseRavensbourne property and met one of the new tenants, who dutifully informed us that the main hall is now a regular practise haunt for various musicians on the Flying Nun label. As rocknerds we couldn't ask for better visitors; plus the tenants are keeping the place in very good condition, which is obviously pleasing. With some time to spare went down to Port Chalmers for viewing of their great little maritime museum before returning to the main city for lunch with our Ravensbourne neighbours, Heather and Mark (who keep an eagle eye on our property).

At this juncture, caseopaya and I went on our separate ways for a while. I had some enrolment issues to sort out at the University (when you have multiple birth certificates with different names etc this sort of thing happens), followed by a visit with Professor Kwok-Wing Lai the Director of the Centre for Distance Education and Learning Technologies to discuss my thesis, and then a catch up with David Eyres and Jim Cheetham where we discussed a variety of matters technological and the limits of human rationality. Meeting up with caseopaya again, we had a quiet night in as we prepared for the next leg of our journey into Southland and Fiordland.

Went to Liquid Architecture last week with _nightflower_, an interesting combination of video, sound, performance and installation art. On Saturday went with Karl and Liz to the to the Satirical Eye exhibition at the National Gallery (International) on Saturday; was particularly impressed by Rowlandsen's 'The Chamber of Genius', the content of Goya's Los Caprichos and the irony of Honore Daumier's Les Femmes Socialistes (genuinely ironic because Honoré was trying to ridicule socialist women but the arguments and presentation were actually supportive by contemporary standards). On Wednesday evening will be attending the Salvador Dali Liquid Desire at the same location. Also hoping to see the Light Years (photography and space) exhibition. Tonight will be attending The Comics Lounge with kremmen and caseopaya.

On Tuesday attended the Melbourne Atheist Society to listen to Silvio Bonazinga question 'scientism' in atheism. Meeting in the same hall on Sunday, Peter Abrehart, chairperson of the Melbourne Unitarian Church spoke pretty much in favour of scientism on a presentation entitled 'The Greatest Dissenters'; I took the service from this address and the reading was from Marx's A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, specifically oft-cited (and usually erroneously) comment on religion as the opium of the people.

RPG Review issue four has been released. Dennis Sustare's article on his life in gaming is particularly fascinating reading. Also some twit supposedly representing Barry Windsor-Smith studios is complaining about the article entitled Young Gods supposedly infringing trademark. Fun times ahead if they try to go through with that one.