Every society has elements in it that are destructive and lawless. In some places, this can be a local rebel group, but in Australia, and most other First World countries, these elements are organized into collectives whose purpose is to act outside the law to gain profit. We call it "organized crime", or the Mafia. Having a large Italian community, Australia is prone to this form of subversion.
Last year, Channel 9, an Australian television company, produced a series called Underbelly, based on events in Melbourne from 1995-2004. Essentially, it chronicled the gang war that led to the deaths of some 34 people in that time. While perhaps taking certain liberties with events, it is, on its basic elements, factual, and that's what makes it even more incredible.
I recently acquired the series and started watching it on my computer; I was immediately hooked. It starts by following the acts of Alphonse "the Dark Prince of Lygon Street" Gangitano as he gets out of prison and tries to rebuild his empire. Lygon Street is a heavily Italian neighbourhood in Melbourne. The narrator, officer Jacqui James, tells us that the gang war is said to have started on the night Gangitano killed a Mr. Workman over a $5 000 debt. The Dark Prince doesn't last too long and he is gunned down by Jason Moran, the son of Lewis Moran, another organized crime member.
From there, it follows the Moran Clan's fortunes and how one tactical mistake, the shooting of Carl Anthony Williams, who survives and forms a rival criminal organization, leads to the deaths of the Moran men, as well as several other gangland figures. The police, at first stymied by bad luck and corruption, eventually form Task Force Purana in an attempt to bring an end to the war by putting the key figures away. Although Jacqui James is the narrator, the protagonist is really officer Steve Owen who takes a personal, sometimes too personal, interest in bringing down Williams and the others. I won't say how it ends, only that I found the final climax particularly moving.
Underbelly was a ratings bonanza and has since spawned Underbelly 2: A Tale of Two Cities, the story of the heroin trade between Sydney and Melbourne from 1977-1986; a third series is in planning. Underbelly, though, was not without controversy as the violence, language and themes upset some parent groups. It was originally slotted at 20:30 which many parents believed was too soon for young, impressionable minds. I say, if you let your kids watch Loony Toons, they can handle anything. As well, Underbelly could not be released in Victoria as it was ruled by the courts that it could prejudice the juries in some upcoming trials. This meant, ironically, that the city most affected by the gangland war would not even get to see it. One of the players in this drama was Tony Mokbel who fled Australia but has since been extradited. With his sentencing and other trials pending, it doesn't look like the series will be released in Victoria any time soon; the DVD set is still unavailable in that state.
If you get a chance, watch Underbelly. I was completely enthralled and only stopped watching because I had to go to sleep. A little light on the dark parts of society is always a good thing.
Besides Underbelly, there has been celebration at Fenner Hall. Last Sunday, the annual interhall Trivia competition was held in the new Kinloch UniLodge. Although competition was fierce, Fenner came out on top again. I like to think I did my part, but everyone had a hand in our victory. We retain the trophy for the 3rd straight year and for next year I say, bring 'em on. On Friday, the boys cricket team managed to pull off an amazing victory after looking like we were down and out. It made up for the girls losing in a tight game earlier, not that they didn't give it their all as well. Suffice it to say, Fenner Hall has been rather jubilant lately.
The summer weather has returned and temperatures are back around 30C. I don't expect it to last too long, but it's pleasant nonetheless. It certainly makes university a little more tolerable. And tonight was the annual Skyfire event, a massive fireworks display in celebration of something or other; I really wasn't paying attention. I heard it was pretty amazing though.
On Friday, I also officiated my first aussie rules game of the season. It was only a practice match but there were some challenging moments, but nothing too stressful. All things considered, it was actually a fairly routine game. Because I'll be working at ACTTAB most weekends, I probably won't get many games but I hope to do at least a few this season.
An interesting news item cropped up this week and that was that the Australian government is cutting the permanent resident intake for skilled migrants in order to protect Australian jobs. Essentially, it is to keep foreign labour out of the market so Australians can get jobs in those sectors and keep down the unemployment figures. This really only affects trades and the way I read it, I'm still unaffected if I wanted to become a permanent resident. Reading the rhetoric, it really does smack of xenophobia and even racism. I say, there wouldn't be any trade shortages if Australians were doing the work but obviously they aren't. Many of the supporters of this move couch their language in terms of protecting Australian jobs from Asians and this is really where things get uncomfortable. Not to be too frank, but this plan doesn't really make sense and only serves to pander to the time-tested tradition of blaming immigrants when things get tough. Then again, I may be biased.
Finally, I want to report on something I call the "grandparent phenomenon". It seems that grandparents around the world share particular habits when it comes to visiting grandchildren, which I confirmed while conversing with a guy from India. Like myself, when he visits his grandparents he is immediately encouraged to eat as much as is possible for fear of starvation, even if already full. And this is not limited to one meal, but every meal of the day. Furthermore, the grandparents claim that since they don't know what the grandchild likes, they've just bought everything they could think of and that tell them to help themselves; that isn't a request. At each meal, the grandchild is forced to eat until everything is gone, or they insist that they cannot eat another bite. And what do the grandparents have? A small bowl of fruit topped-off with cottage cheese, or some other insubstantiality. I'm not complaining by any means; it's far better to be fed too much than too little. And furthermore, I think it speaks to the universality of the human condition. So to all grandparents on Earth, on behalf of all grandchildren, I say thank you for the food.
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