Lev Lafayette's journal

Last Saturday was my last day in Melbourne for the next two weeks, and it witnessed four significant events. The first was the Isocracy Annual General Meeting discussing the rather extraordinary results of the Federal election. Our guest speaker, John Bade, is a former Liberal Party member of some note (branch president, state council delegate etc) and spoke on how the party really has been taken over by extreme religious activists who think the rest of Australia must move to them, a major factor in that party's decline. Afterwards, I went to the Effective Altruism conference, which concluded with a public lecture by famous ethicist Peter Singer. I spent a bit of time in the company with Adam Ford, who was the official photographer for the event, and then conversed a bit with Prof Singer about his earlier publications and rats (he's a rat fancier himself and speaks highly of them as animal companions). To conclude the evening I went to final session of "Notre Dame After Dark" at the Immigration Museaum, because the opportunity to hear some fine music in such surroundings was quite enticing.

The next morning, Erica and I ventured out to the airport to take the big silver bird to China, where we are staying for the next ten days. The first day was pretty much entirely in transit, first to Shanghai, then taking a connecting flight to Beijing. There is not much to report on this, except to say that the flight was tolerable, the food fine, the staff excellent, and the in-house entertainment limited. "Sirrocco" is a surreal children's animated film of escapism of sisterly love which can appeal to adult viewers with good characterisation and plot, but the animation, whilst creative, lacked a little in technique; 4/5. "Dune 2" was well produced with a good soundtrack, but I felt no sense of appeal with the plot and characters all based around violence and machismo. I am tempted to give it another viewing as I was surprised by how bad it was; 2/5. "Solitude" started slowly, but developed into a grim and tragic tale of loneliness, generosity, and an intergenerational friendship with an ambiguous ending; 3/5.

The first day proper in Beijing started with a visit to Tian'anmen Square, which, of course, is flanked by several important national buildings (e.g., the parliament). The square itself is just a vast courtyard, and it's fascinating in its blandness, even if, with all the usual connotations of Chinese geomancy, it represents the head of the city's land dragon. After that, we went to Qianmen Avenue (the body), which has some rather charming alleyways running parallel to the main drag. In the evening, we were treated to a rather extraordinary theatrical piece, "The Golden Mask", a legendary tale. This show has, in my somewhat considerable experience, the most extraordinary set and costumes, including several performers with actual live white peacocks as part of their costumes and a literal flooding of the stage. Two more days in Beijing are planned, including an excursion to The Great Wall, an evening in the Old City, and finally a morning in the Museum Palace (aka the Forbidden City). But all that will have to wait for the next post on this adventure.

It appears my birthday week really did extend out the full seven days, albeit I was assisted by Kayo's birthday falling on the 25th, so I took her and Lani out to see "Raiders of the Lost Ark" accompanied by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Ever a classic pulp adventure film and the very large audience (around 5,000) cheered at the appropriate moments, e.g., when Nazis were being punched, which is, of course, an honourable and appropriate greeting. In many ways, it is quite a silly film (the French rival speaks with an English accent), but the MSO played the John Williams popular score with notable competence. It certainly looks like they've hit a winning formula here.

The following day, I hosted a modest gathering, nominally for my birthday and nominally on the theme of extra-terrestrial intelligence (a matter I have taken with seriousness and humour for many years), and a few did dress in theme. It was a carefully curated invitation list designed for people to attend at sext, vespers, or compline. It turns out I really can fit 25 people into my apartment with such an organisation. Anyway, it turns out I have amazing and talented friends (Angela's late-night operatic karaoke was something to behold) who provided excellent conversation and company all through the day, and I've been told in no uncertain terms that I must host more events.

The final event was an invitation from Liza D., to see "A Body at Work" at TheatreWorks, a performance by sex worker (stripper, masseuse plus) Frankie van Kan where she tells an autobiographical tale of her navigating the experiences and internal conflicts (queer, feminist, exhibitionist, and her desire for matrescence). There was excellent insight on the differences of clients in the different locations and, unsurprisingly, our protagonist was certainly able to perform on the stage, although it must be said if you are uncomfortable with nudity in performance, this probably isn't the show for you. If I were to give a single adjective to the story and performance, it would be "beautiful", and I took the opportunity to tell Frankie just that at the end of the show.

"And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.", wrote T.S. Eliot in "Little Gidding" (1942). Curiously appropriate, for the end of 2024 and the start of 2025, I had the privilege to attend two valedictory partings, one in person for my neighbour Rachel E-M. (where I spent a good part of the day in the company of Jon M) and the other for Peter Lyons back in Perth. Both events were touching, dignified, and honourable. True to her style, Rachel's was quite colourful and celebratory of a life where her chronic illness was utterly dwarfed by the enormous personality of love and wit that she carried. For Peter, his quiet charm and great intellect carried through; as one speaker observed, Peter was such a goth his life ended on Friday the 13th! I will miss both these brilliant and lovely people so much, and they will remain forever dear to my memory.

But one's own life does go on. As is appropriate for that arbitrary marker of the new year in the Western calendar, I have been engaging in a lot of projections of what comes in the year ahead. Certainly, in my workplace, this is required. My superiors want to know! And as much as can be determined, there will be trips and presentations to Aotearoa, New Zealand, for eResearchNZ and one to Brisbane for eResearchAU. Study-wise, I will be putting in a lot of effort for my doctoral studies in climatology at Euclid University, but I also have several academic papers to co-author this year, with other publications planned and in progress. Studies will also be supplemented by language classes in Chinese, Spanish, and some Portuguese as I will be taking international trips to both China (perhaps two), and then an extended trip to South America later in the year. My music project with Mel S., continues to develop on a daily basis, and a new artistic project has begun with Liza D., both of which should witness productions by the end of the year.

There is a lot more that can be said about these and other future plans or past events. But the present should not be ignored. I've had a relaxed and interesting introduction to the new year. The evening itself was spent quietly in the company of Erica H., having escaped my inner city pad as the noisy hordes descended. A gathering more to my style was hosted a few evenings later by Fiona C. at the peninsula, a "Casual Not-NYE" party, where I knew nobody but the host encountered thoughtful, considerate, and open-minded people, and found some new friends as a result. Finally, I have to mention to events at Federation Square's open-air evening cinema, which I attended with Nitul D., screenings of Nolan's mind-bending films "Inception" and "Interstellar", both very satisfying stories and performances, and with excellent scores. Both were delightful events with delightful company.

I sometimes like to journal capsule movie reviews (and occasionally long-form reviews). Whilst I have been to several in recent weeks, the opportunity hasn't really provided itself to mention these in-line with other posts. The following includes movies watched on flights travelling to and through China ("A Million Miles Away", "Peter Rabbit 2", "Ravi and the Last Dragon", "Barbie", and "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish"), a visit to iMax with Ruby ("Gravity 3D"), and two visits to the Astor Theatre with Erica ("The Third Man") and Erica and Julie ("Megalopolis"). I must, as always, mention the deco glory that is the slightly dilapidated and Heritage-listed Astor Theatre, Melbourne's iconic 1936 single-screen cinema with dress circle and stalls. The place could only be improved by having a house cat again; Marzipan and Duke both were such a presence in the place and certainly left their mark, literally and metaphorically. On to the reviews - in reverse order of experience.

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For the past two months, I have not been engaged in any study, an itch that my brain cannot tolerate for too long. Some consideration has occurred over the past week about applying for doctoral studies and, hedging my bets, I've put in two applications one in the UK (quickly accepted) and one in Aotearoa New Zealand (several weeks for evaluation). The former is fee-based, the latter there is a fair possibility for a scholarship, although there is normally an expectation that one is actually in New Zealand and not employed full-time. I have, of course, mentioned in my application that I have completed seven postgraduate degrees now on a full-time basis whilst employed so maybe that will weigh in my favour. For the former course, I will probably do studies on quality assurance in information systems using COBOL transitions as a case study, and for the latter, expanding on my previous research on climate impacts and the use of international torts to fund adaption technologies. Meanwhile, on the other side of the divide, I've spent a bit of time marking assignments for the Cluster and Cloud Computing course and next week I have another round of workshops to conduct. I must confess I am a little surprised by the fact there are a few students who, at a master's level, have chosen not to submit a required assignment. There are undoubtedly good reasons for dropping out of a unit at times, but it is an expensive decision these days.

But it is not all work and study for me and at times I do have a pretense of a social life. Over the past two evenings, I've prepard "double faux canard" dinners for Liana F., and Erica H., respectively at Maison de Lafayette. In the first instance, I made a massaman faux canard curry and the latter a Venetian faux canard ragu with pan-fried gnocchi. The third faux canard dish awaits! On the receiving end, Chiara and Adrian C. hosted a dinner with Simon S. and Justine M., which was quite an elaborate spread with such sharp minds around the table. I also apparently made a new friend in the form of Mogwai the tuxedo cat. As an evening out, Martin P., organised a comedy festival event with myself and NinjaDan to see Melanie Bracewell who told quite an amusing story around tracking her missing AirPods - highly recommended. Our delicious dinner prior to the show at Roue Galette; it's nice to have a little bit of Bretagne in Melbourne. Also recommended is the current screening of Deep Sky, the story of the James Webb Space Telescope which I watched with Ruby M., at IMAX. Space documentaries (and realist movies) are so delightful on a massive screen. Finally, I must mention that I attended (thankfully alone) the concert Clocked Out and Myriad which was experimental percussion with a bit of theatrics. I don't mind experimental of course, but the lack of rhythmic consistency put me off. Still, one less-than-perfect event after a week of good events is not bad going.

With a temporary respite from the rigors of full-time and full-time study, I engaged in a very social weekend. On Friday night I hosted an "Elder Perth Migrants Dinner" with Liana F., Julie A., Erica H., James N., Simon S., and Justine Mc (not a Perth migrant). Dinner consisted of "Pasifika Gnocchi", including various sweet potatoes from the region, and an "Australian mess" (an Eton mess on a pavlova). For entertainment, I constructed an appropriate playlist of our favourites from 1977 to 1994, taking us back to the days of the Red Parrot and The Firm, with a couple of fairly obscure Perth bands (And An A, Accelerated Men) being included. Whilst far from all the "Perth goth migrants" that I know in this city, it was pretty much the capacity I could fit around this dining table and certainly acts as inspiration for further events. It was certainly a very animated evening and I think we finally finished up around 3 am.

The following day was the RPG Review Cooperative Annual General Meeting at The Rose Hotel (not on Rose Street) with Andrew D., Charmaine D., Penny D., Liz B., Karl B., Rodney B., Michael C., Tim R., and Andrew Mc with Jay P., Adrian S., and Andrew P online). It was a good year for the Cooperative with improvements in membership, finances, and activities, even if our flagship webzine had only a single issue in the year. There was an excellent discussion about the use of AI-generated material in publications; we've decided to accept it as long it is credited as such. Afterward, I visited Brendan E., with Kerrie H. arriving later, and watched a few episodes of the WWII drama "The Liberator", based on the extraordinary journey of the 157th Infantry Regiment in Italy and beyond. After that, had dinner with Anthony L, Robin M, Sara, and Matthew W., where there was a fair bit of discussion around the recent fire at the See Yup Temple.

For Sunday, the big event was the Melbourne Drone Orchestra at the Mission to Seafarers. The building has been an oddity that I've observed for more than twenty years, so it was quite an adventure to step inside this old-world and quirky Spanish mission-styled building. The Drone Orchestra event was held in the Nora Dome, originally a gymnasium for sailors, and with the shape providing superb acoustics. The event itself consisted of some experimental-industrial musicians, including my dear friend Carla L. who played a combination of bass and theremin. Other musicians turned it up a notch and by the end, there were people performing drums and sax, and even drums, guitar, and vocals simultaneously. The evening also witnessed the opportunity to catch up with folk musician Penelope S., whom I haven't seen in many years, and also Liana F., who invited me along in the first place. At the end of the evening a few of us (Erica H., Sophie P., Shane decamped to The Rookery for late-night kir royale cocktails and discussion about Australian arthouse films.

Excluding wild speculations of reincarnation, we have but one life, and what we make of the opportunities given to us is ultimately a test of our character. It is with this consideration that I must thank Rade V., who kindly gifted me a ticket to see the film "One Life" at the Village Rivoli. It was a conventional and aesthetically unchallenging film in many ways but tells the truly remarkable story of the efforts of Nicholas Winton, who spearheaded the rescue of hundreds of (mostly Jewish) children from Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II. As can be expected, the film also included the iconic and touching moments when Winton is re-united with a number of the survivors many decades later. It was a story that rather reminded me of Hannah Arendt's semi-biographical essays with the evocative title "Men in Dark Times".

If I may turn from people to small non-human animals, some of you may know that approximately 18 months ago I had my first tattoo etched on my skin, partially in honour of my favoured animal companion of many years, rattus norvegicus, and partially in remembrance of the rats that were killed in Dr. Curt Richter's brutal experiments on psychological resilience. "Forced swim tests" of various forms have still been in practice in Australian universities. But thanks to the lobbying efforts of many (and thank you Robin M), the National Health and Medical Research Council, the statutory authority in Australia for such matters, has effectively banned the practice: "the forced swim test in rodents cannot be justified in accordance with the Australian code for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes and must not proceed."

In other rodent-related small victories, there are now hydrogen-powered rodents for immortality, not a phrase I ever expected to type. Chinese researchers have developed an anti-aging hydrogen therapy that has anti-inflammation and anti-senescence effects through a consistent therapeutic delivery of hydrogen. It adds to research published a few years ago where protein modification of cells restored sight in mice to a more youthful age. How far are we from immortal mice (and by extension, immortal humans)? Probably a very long time yet, although I am fairly certain that scientific discoveries such as these will certainly lead to ever-increasing lifespans for our species and others. Small victories, incremental steps with lasting effects in the pursuit of science, justice, and for a more beautiful world, stand in contrast and in conflict with the triviality of obsessive hedonism or the escapist withdrawals of refined epicureanism. We only have one life; make use of that opportunity.

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.

This past weekend was so busy, I suspect I must have been trying to catch up for lost evenings and events from the past month, or in preparation for an upcoming busy week study-wise. Either way, it started on Thursday night with dinner with Anthony and Robin and with the discovery of some rather remarkable (even by my criteria) political machinations occurring among some neighbouring states; the sort of skulduggery that you hear about from investigative journalists, back when that was an actual profession. The following night was dinner with dear Liza and Ev, and whilst that was absent of such revelations the quality of conversation was just as good. Plus, there was a new adorable Russian blue cat to make friends with.

The big event the following night was going to see comedian Daniel Sloss at Plenary Hall. He's certainly rocketed in popularity in recent months; a year ago I reviewed a show at Hamer Hall which fills at 2500; this was almost at capacity of 5500. Aided by a quality support act, Sloss was able to provide a certain edginess, outrage, explanation, and ventured heavily into his absurd and disturbed observations as a new father. I'm rather keen to write another review perhaps in the coming week (you know, with all my spare time).

The following day I joined a special gaming day organised by Tim R at uni; we played "Noir", a rather good simulation of the film noir genre, which works quite well. As a related bonus, today I received a small delivery of old RPGs including a very early (1975) edition of "Empire of the Petal Throne", another copy of "Bunnies & Burrows", and a third edition of "Call of Cthulhu". Wrapping up the weekend, on Sunday evening I went out with Liana to the Astor Theatre to see "Beau is Afraid", which is almost certainly destined to become a bit of an arthouse classic, crossing absurd horror and gore with comedy with troubled psychologies. Somehow, this all seemed quite appropriate in the context of the wider weekend.

For the past fifteen years or so, I've attended the same general practice, Swanston St Medical Centre, and they've been pretty good. Alas, their parent organisation has closed its doors permanently, so I've been on the quest for a new GP. My initial consideration was a place literally across the road from me, where I received my fourth COVID shot a few weeks back. The fact that they joyously advertised that they had a chiropractor onsite however put me off; apart from being based on several utterly nonsense ideas, it just doesn't work. Anyway, I have chosen a new practice literally around the corner from me, Southbank Medical Clinic, and I've had a general checkup (largely OK) and have had my records transferred. Blood tests for cholesterol etc are pending.

The past few days have witnessed a couple of social occasions, including a regular movie night visit with Brendan E. We like our war films and this one was "Fury" which falls under the category of "realistic fiction", following writer and director David Ayer's reasonable association with the topic. The following night was a big dinner with Simon, Justine, Anthony, Robin, and Erica. Whilst readers will know I am not a big fan of the consumption of mammals, it's hard to take thriftiness out of me - when Aldi had a post-Xmas sale of a triple-smoked leg of ham from $72 to $18, ethics went out the window (at least the pig didn't die in vain) and the production of pineapple ham steaks with cherry glaze was on the agenda (Erica, sticking to her guns, opted for faux canard), and Robin provided a lovely cheesecake which saw the addition of buttermilk ice-cream and berries. Needless to say with such clever and politically astute people it was a wonderful and invigorating intimate evening. I have also been blessed by the company of Erica for several days and we've marched our way through the series, "Lucifer", which is pretty good light entertainment.

There has been some progress in my academic life as well. I'm mostly through the second-last course for my Psychology degree with a dive into EEG and fMRI this week, finally getting into the technology side of things which I have been craving for some time. In a more analytic and personal manner, I have written a few notes on the abusive use of the silent treatment in relationships following a good article in The Atlantic on the subject and being on the receiving end of it myself in the past. Finally, I have picked my courses ("papers" in Kiwi parlance) for my next degree starting next month in Climate Change Science and Policy.