Rocket Science: Chapter 9 – In denialJune 13, 2021
Previous Chapter The VT was playing hits of the 2670s. Chuck Marley had fallen asleep. Gaston Dimble was relishing the opportunity to study a rare historical document. The closest he had come to anything like this was when the […]
Rocket Science: Chapter 8 – Man of perfect proportionsJune 12, 2021
Previous Chapter When Gaston Dimble stumbled into Marley’s condo, he immediately began tucking into the leftover popcorn chicken. Marley had ordered a bowl of all varieties to entice the historian. He could never work out […]
Rocket Science: Chapter 7 – No sleeping in the libraryJune 11, 2021
Previous Chapter He climbed the stairs, two at a time and hovered within the lobby. From here he could see the backs of people on the endless steps. Others stood with hand above head, blocking out the artificial sunlight. The […]
Rocket Science: Chapter 6 – A short history of the Orion ArmJune 10, 2021
Previous Chapter He preferred to think he’d consulted a prophet, not a psychiatrist. That’s what he told Elysia in Server Assembly. She had been quite surprised how quickly he wired cords to their correct patch […]
Rocket Science: Chapter 5 – A candle and the shadowJune 8, 2021
Previous Chapter A rising hum passed through his entire range of hearing, like the proposed Ravel-Class Dreamliner lulling passengers to sleep. He had a sudden vision that maybe he should have done Flight Attendancy. Bags flashed […]
Rocket Science: Chapter 4 – Update the PriMateJune 4, 2021
Previous Chapter The PriMate tried its best analysing Chuck Marley, but he hadn’t installed the recent updates. In fact he hadn’t updated it in quite some time. His room was stuffy, and dietary feedback had been […]
Rocket Science: Chapter 3 – Procrastinating at the barJune 2, 2021
Previous chapter Marley lifted his head from the desk and looked around the library. It was mid-evening and buzzing with students. He collected his laser stylus and fold-up tablet, or flablet, and headed to the Quasar Bar to […]
Rocket Science: Chapter 2 – A haircut, red dust and OctomaidsMay 31, 2021
Previous Chapter Marley had not taken Interspecies Liaison seriously. Presentation was important, so the first requirement – have a haircut. He recalled his visit to the Shabbylands. The hairdresser had asked, “Do you […]
Rocket Science: Tales from the Orion ArmMay 31, 2021
Chapter 1 – The Omniverse The Multiverse was in a particularly bad mood when it first noticed Chuck Marley. It had just snacked on Y77, a small test universe on the fringes of imagination. Y77 was a failed universe and the […]
Percy the Pianist: Canto 2, stanzas 1-May 25, 2021
1The phoenix got out of the bath, fresh theRose scent lingered, free of parabens. ThankGod there were organic soaps (allergy,Allergy, all is allergy). A spank,Some pats, a few more spanks. Yank, yank, yank, yankAnd he was dry. He […]
HMRC pour the Cup of PainMay 21, 2021
It must have been a cold day, greyer than usual for the London bureaucrats who are trying to chase down an alleged tax debt I accrued before I left Olde Blighty. As if Centrelink didn’t provide enough angst for me last […]
Sonnet 3 — After WSMay 20, 2021
Scatter my ashes in your vale of kings,Or by a pond secure from frosty wind;Or lake, perhaps, where yesterday’s tidingsBring repose and solace I might yet findFrom the harsh sun that burnt me brown as duskIn autumn. Winter […]
Percy the Pianist: Canto 1, stanzas 70-75May 18, 2021
Previous… 70One final vision before the “Begin-Ning.” A vast chambre-rouge was where he hight-Ed in the lower-deep — there was no sinHere, no sound, no voice of past and spite-Full present (the future […]
Percy the Pianist: Canto 1, stanzas 51-69April 14, 2021
Previous.. Invocatio: To its own substance; woven tracery ran Of light firm texture, ribbed and branching, o’er The solid rind, like a leaf’s veined fan— Of which Love scooped […]
Percy the Pianist: Canto 1, stanzas 42-50April 8, 2021
Previous… 42[This stanza has intentionally been left blank] 43He slunk into the bath after high tea,Bringing a wafer wiv ‘im. Today he’d sayGoodbye to innocence, as minstrelsyBeckoned – he hoped […]
Percy the Pianist: Canto 1, stanzas 31-41March 23, 2021
Previous.. 31Half a day before the gathering stormRose Percy, not Percival of Wagner’sDour overture, based on the French wormOf Tours – these were really snaky nagas,Like an open pack of Lady gagasBought from a small […]
Percy the Pianist: Canto I, stanzas 21-30March 4, 2021
Stanzas 1-20 21Next eve the band Toucani reconvened,A final chance to demonstrate the planTo put on stage was sound. Absent a fiendOr devilish surprise, the piano manPercy was full prepared, the billy canOf his musical ideas […]
The Multiverse – All you need to knowFebruary 22, 2021
The multiverse is the universe of universes. Its existence is postulated but not proven. Quantum physicists and philosophers are its most passionate advocates as well as its detractors. I’m a very passionate advocate: it […]
Digression after Bruce Acotyledon’s Seminar – Intellectual verseFebruary 19, 2021
The dear reader will forgive me, first if I address him as “dear”, when his acquaintance I probably have not made nor ever will. Secondly, for assuming that my reader is a ‘he’. The fact is, women do not […]
Percy the Pianist: A Byronic PoemFebruary 16, 2021
Take heed: nothing below is spoken seriously:No lasting harm has come from poetryExcept to the self-proclaimed poet’s dignity. 1Meet young Percy: our aspiring pianistWhose name has been sufficiently amended:He’s in […]
A strange vortex sucks in my landlord, Constable Sedgewick, myself, and a pigeonFebruary 11, 2021
The second instalment of a speculative account of the death of John William Polidori.Link to first instalment. The first thing that crossed my mind was that I might be dead. But I was patently still here. Although I might not […]
Polidori’s Date with Destiny: An Elaborate FictionFebruary 9, 2021
Beneath its weight man pauses in his willAnd crouches at the dark-robed phantom’s feet : The Fall of the Angels, To The Deity, John Polidori, 1821 My eyes struggled towards the lazy light from my half-open window. I rolled […]
The Temptation of Merlin: A Pre-Raphaelite compositionFebruary 7, 2021
Legend has it that one of Merlin’s protégés was Nimue, or Viviane, Lady of Lake. Merlin and Viviane were instrumental in King Arthur’s ascent to the throne and the formation of Camelot, gathering place […]
My Pet Insects, or Life without CatsJanuary 20, 2021
I grew up with cats. Don’t get me wrong, I like dogs too. But my family was a cat family and I guess that makes me a catman. Our first cat was Oscar. My Dad called him Oscar because … look at my last name! Then there […]
Living with Hearing Loss, the Invisible DisabilityJanuary 12, 2021
My hearing loss has had a profound effect on my life. The vast majority rarely encounter people under the age of sixty who have this disability. Those who live with it face a daily struggle. Others do not notice the struggle. […]
An Overture To His Coy MistressJanuary 4, 2021
My composing sessions extend to eight hours, with plenty of breaks for coffee and stretching, which is why I don’t compose when on contract. The title, To His Coy Mistress, entered my head because I’m a mid-forties […]
Becoming a full-time composerDecember 27, 2020
A month has passed since I last posted. I’m still learning Chinese and pondering the deep well of life, so 2021 should see more TV shows reviewed and more random posts from the fringes of consciousness etched onto this […]
Bountiful Blessings review – Quirky Chinese Singaporean sitcomNovember 14, 2020
Year: 2011Rating: MEpisodes: 20 x ~43minCountry: Singapore Bountiful Blessings has lost none of its charm on a second viewing. Learning Mandarin led to an unexpected attachment to the Singapore-Malaysia drama scene, starting […]
The Dream Job review – Singapore dramaOctober 16, 2020
A lot of effort has gone into this show, reflected in its high production values. The messy family drama pulled me in but the constant toxicity wore me down. Its greatest sin though is its ending: simplistic and maybe morally […]
Left out of the Federal Budget, still no job and a Centrelink catastropheOctober 11, 2020
The Federal Government’s 2020 budget released in October has a particular segment of the population worried, and I am in this segment: people over 35 years old. The government has incentivised employers to hire people under […]
Five great YouTube science channelsSeptember 18, 2020
In a quest to buff my sci-fi novels with more (ahem) science, I’ve been watching science-related channels on YouTube. The quality has been exceptional. I’ve given ample space on this site to Netflix, so hopefully […]
An open letter to my friends, from Mona ClenlowSeptember 4, 2020
Hi. How are you? Like how are you really? I’ve been thinking about you. I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch. I don’t know what to say really. I haven’t been doing anything much. Probably the same as […]
Ashes of Love review (2018) Season OneSeptember 2, 2020
Childlike innocence and first-love blended with dark magic and high fantasy is a staple in Chinese drama. Like Ice Fantasy (2016), Ashes of Love is also based on a novel, in this case, Heavy Sweetness, […]
Ice Fantasy review (2016) Season OneAugust 23, 2020
Let’s start by saying that Ice Fantasy, or 幻城 (Huànchéng), is a guilty pleasure. The sets are creative, backgrounds and special effects are impressive, and later there are some […]
Jenessa Abernathy on Quilting in the Time of CovidAugust 20, 2020
I’ve been sewing lately. It brings me peace. With all the hate and ignorance spouting forth I need to arm myself with knowledge and do things that make me calm and focused. I usually make dance costumes but lately […]
Tientsin Mystic review 河神 (Season 1) Make way for the River GodAugust 10, 2020
Fog swirls over a bridge in 1920s Tianjin. A well-dressed young man is fleeing a group of ruffians. He runs onto the bridge. He’s trapped. He jumps into the river. He struggles underwater, trapped by some seaweed. A […]
- Wanted: Communication skills, social responsibility, effective leadership
August 7, 2020
How to mitigate a covid crisis In Sydney we breathe a sigh of relief, having avoided a coronavirus second wave. Melbourne has not been so lucky. And at this stage of the pandemic’s development, “lucky” is not an […]
- Cosmogony 67: the Zentrians
August 4, 2020
It is believed the Zentrians tie in with the multiverse theory, although no one has been able to prove this. Indeed, there is no scientific proof that the Zentrians even exist. Whether they are a race, an entity or a collection […]
Robert Schumann: Advice to Young MusiciansAugust 1, 2020
The Gutenberg Project has made available to the general public many rare and obscure literary works. One such trinket is Advice to Young Musicians by composer and writer Robert Schumann (1810-1856). Schumann is an eccentric […]
Unpacking a Life – The Wanderer’s Art of Moving (Part 1)July 27, 2020
I’ve moved a lot over the years, maybe more than I should have. Perhaps this makes me a wanderer. I am less of a physical wanderer now, at least at the moment, but over fifteen years I lived in four different cities, often […]
Cosmogony 766: ShabbylandsJuly 25, 2020
Seventy kilometres north of Crete 581d’s capital, Reticulum, lie the Shabbylands. Most citizens avoid the Shabbylands. The Shabbylands became shabby when Phineas Guthrie founded Conscious Follicles. Since then, hairdressing […]
Cosmogony 1243: Binary LoansJuly 21, 2020
A money lending chain founded by Nostradamus Noke in 2910, in ninety years Binary Loans grew from a small payday loan business to a successful franchise operating on both Crete 581d and Crete 581f. It avoids the Cretan 581d […]
Sascha Percuoco on what makes a manJuly 13, 2020
A man comes in many forms, short, fat or tall. But is it his stature? Or the attitude? Or is it any of that at all? Because some men are crazy, they’re murderers and thieves, but in their minds they are men, for in god they […]
Reducing demand for Arts degrees is a step back for Critical ThinkingJuly 8, 2020
As you’re likely aware, the Australian Government recently doubled the cost of arts/humanities degrees. Its reasoning? Universities should focus on vocational degrees so students are job ready. I did a humanities […]
Thanks for the music: Canberra, Ornette Coleman, Brenton HolmesJuly 7, 2020
I spent five years of my life in Canberra. It was here I really began my journey into jazz. Having taken jazz piano lessons with Paul Dal Broi, I advertised in the classifieds as a pianist and received a response from […]
The Lost History of the Tablet – from Athens to the iPadJune 4, 2020
On October 17, 2011, I had a satirical piece published in the Sydney Morning Herald’s Heckler column. It can no longer be found online. Down with you Archivists! The article was a little nod to the great Steve Jobs who had […]
Modern mass surveillance as religious experienceMay 11, 2020
By Lindsay Winkler with Dave Singer “I will be the gaoler. You will see … that the gaoler will have no salary – will cost nothing to the nation” So said Jeremy Bentham in 1786 after visiting his brother […]
- Getting a handle on complex verbs in Mandarin Chinese – by Kurt Vall
April 27, 2020
Kurt Vall is a postgraduate student in International Relations and has completed undergraduate studies in linguistics and Chinese language. Here he presents his thoughts on Mandarin grammar, offering insights into the […]
Work, mortality and coffeeApril 14, 2020
It’s been several weeks since my last update and to be honest, Covid-19 has hit my motivation like a punch in the stomach. It’s a shock on a global scale, flooring health services around the world and sending […]
From the castle to the office – Charlene CatMarch 26, 2020
With the world shutting down as we navigate a viral menace on a scale not scene for generations, writing is still the go-to way to unveil our deep anxieties and inner struggles. For Charlene Cat, a young lawyer from Foshan […]
