Lev Lafayette's journal

COVID 19 Global Statistics of March show the rapid and global reach of the pandemic: On February 29 there were 86,504 confirmed cases and 2,977 people had died. On March 31st there are 856,356 confirmed cases and 42,086 had died. And the curve is still increasing just under 10% per day for new cases. I've been continuing daily updates on Facebook on the situation in Australia, which is beginning to show some effect. I am not at all confident that we are out of the woods yet, but the introduction of social distancing and self-isolation has had some effect. Of course, on Monday it was announced that as of midnight that day we were going to Stage 3, which is effectively stay at home, don't mix with anyone outside of your household, and only venture outside for essentials. Which curiously has assisted my general work productivity significantly; with minimal distractions I've been able to smash my way through various software installs at pace, and - appropriately on-topic - there has been a concerted effort in the service to get more storage and compute available especially for those engaged in COVID-19 research. It would be even easier if we had a proper NBN, which Kevin Rudd recently reminded us, which was killed by political partisanship on one side.

It has not all been work with no play; on Sunday run a session via video-conferencing of Eclipse Phase where the PC proxies and their sentinels, infected by a virus (reality imitating fiction) finished the final part of their perverse life-cycle on either side of an interstellar gate. A couple of days prior played in another session of Megatraveller using a different tool, and on Sunday will be playing RuneQuest. So far we've done all these either via Google Hangouts or Zoom, although recently I have installed the FOSS package Jitsi, and I'm keen to see how that goes. In addition to this, I sent out a newsletter for the Isocracy Network last night, outlining our various activities for the past couple of months (especially the Bramble Cay Melomys Memorial Day) and the many articles and posts by members and friends. I and will do the same again tonight for the Victorian Secular Lobby, which unsurprisingly will have a few articles on how a number of religious organisations have been in absolute denial of their requirements to engage in COVID-19 social protocols; Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius.

Sadly, I must announce the departure of the household fantail goldfish which was simply called "Big Fish". Whilst one does not generate a particularly strong attachment to a fish as a companion animal, Big Fish had kept us amused for close to ten years by its various antics and the place has lost that particular avenue of humour as a result. The fish had an infection ("drospy" is the informal name in the business), and by the time they're noticed it's usually too late. Anyway, fed the cadaver to the turtle who enthusiastically made quite short work of it. Thus the number of animal companions in the house is now down to two cats and a turtle; a far cry to what there's been in yesteryear and even a plausible number to think seriously about long-term international journeys - once all this pandemic is resolved, right?

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.