Leviathan's Underbelly: TV

I've mentioned John Birmingham's book Leviathan* (Assorted links) before (5 June, 2005). Here's one of the chapters, expanded and filmed. Also see the works of Rupert Kathner

Underbelly: Back where it all began - SMH TV & Radio - Entertainment:
"Sydney had been corrupt since the Rum Corps, but in the 1970s it exploded. A cell of bent detectives effectively franchised crime using 'pet' criminals. People such as Lennie McPherson, a safebreaker but no mastermind, became a Mr Big after police gave him the 'green light'. Arthur 'Neddy' Smith, a violent thug, became a protected mob leader. The smooth George Freeman made millions — so brazenly he was once photographed at Randwick races with the chief magistrate.

But there were a few honest police — and they had to break the law to prove it..."

* Leviathan: The Unauthorised Biography of Sydney A RIVETING HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY OF A REMARKABLE AUSTRALIAN CITY “Combining intensive research with the pace of a techno-thriller, John Birmingham creates a rich portrait of a city too dazzled by its own gorgeous reflection to care much for what lies at its dark, corrupted heart. … Birmingham drills beneath the cover story of a successful multicultural metropolis and melts the boundaries between past and present … Beneath the shining harbour, amid the towers of global greed and deep inside the bad-drugs madness of the suburban wastelands, lies Sydney's shadow history. … Illuminated by wild flashes of black humour, violent, ghoulish and utterly compelling, Leviathan is history for the Tarantino generation.” ISBN: 0091842034; ISBN: 9780091842031; ISBN: 0091832616

Life (sort of) Imitates Snow Crash

Pizza man fined for delivering very fast fast food
September 17, 2008, 3:29 am
(Reporting by Pauline Askin, Editing by Michael Perry and Miral Fahmy)

SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian pizza delivery man gave fast food a new meaning when he was caught, and fined, for driving 53 km (33 miles) over the speed limit.

The 20-year-old man, driving on a provisional driver's license, said he was speeding because he was 20 minutes late with his delivery in the tropical northern town of Townsville.

Police clocked him driving at 131 kph (82 mph) in an 80 kph (50 mph) zone on Saturday, but waited for him to deliver his pizza before booking him.

On his return journey to the pizza shop, he was caught speeding at 133 kph in the same zone.

Police sergeant Brendan White said on Tuesday the delivery man, who was not named, was fined AU$1,520 (US$1,226) and lost his license for 15 months.

Lake George in Others' Eyes

Lake George. A popular name. There are a number around the world. We have a few (4) in Australia, but I think the most famous, or notorious, is the one in NSW, near Canberra. Tho' as one of its photographers on Flickr says: "traditional definitions of 'lake', 'river', and the like don't really hold in Australia".

Lake George's Geomorphology; A brief but clear description down near the end, around Figure 7. (In the context of the detailed broader geological area). Also (cautiously) check out the Wikipedia article. From the Sydney Morning Herald:

Getting to the bottom of the Lake George mystery
by James Woodford
November 30 2002
www.smh.com.au/ articles/ 2002/ 11/ 29/ 1038386313869.html

People's Pictures of Lake George

LAKE GEORGE

LAKE GEORGE
Originally uploaded by fotonchop

This lake has a fence in it. An old photo, with water.


Lake George NSW Australia

Lake George NSW Australia
Originally uploaded by sandown

Lake George around 1980, wet version. A now-rare photo of Lake George with water — quite a substantial amount of it too.


lake george

lake george
Originally uploaded by omnia

Sunrise behind the wooded ridge.


Australia - Lake George

Australia - Lake George
Originally uploaded by Celeste33

Lake George isn't in official "big sky country", but sometimes it's just there anyway.


Lake George from its western shore 180d panorama

Lake George from its western shore 180d panorama
Originally uploaded by robt

Panorama and an indigenous opinion, driving north from Canberra


Golden Summer, Lake George

Golden Summer, Lake George
Originally uploaded by carlmonus

Art & Life. This lake has livestock.


Lake George (dry lake) just outside Canberra

Lake George (dry lake) just outside Canberra
Originally uploaded by Aschaf

Mmm. Brings back some of my favourite memories travelling along the border of the lake towards sunset. Just gorgeous.


lake george, canberra

lake george, canberra
Originally uploaded by tEE.bEE

Another enduring memory, the pale straw colour of the broad flat grassy plain.


LakeGeorge

LakeGeorge
Originally uploaded by totalisator

How lovely it is to watch the clouds come and go, and the shadows and light changing across the 'lake bed' and mountains.


Lake George in sombre mood

Lake George in sombre mood

A very dramatic version of Lake George by Chris Lane, used with a newspaper story about conflict in the area. 'Gales buffet turbine project', by Wendy Frew in April, 2006



PoD — Lake George

PoD
Originally uploaded by The Department

Lake George under fluffy clouds in a high clear sky


DSC_0016 - Lake George mistier, greyer

DSC_0016
Originally uploaded by DC Maggie

This lake has a road across it. Lake George under a mistier, greyer kind of cloud.


Lake George - dry and sheep grazing in distance

Lake George - dry and sheep grazing in distance
Originally uploaded by China Shutter Bug

Even more livestock on the lake.


I tried to make a Flickr set out of other people's Flickr photos, couldn't work it out. Tried to set up a link for a search for "George" in my Favourites set, but that only works for me and when I'm signed in. Can't just put in the general "Lake George" and Australia search unless you too want to sort through the hundred or so.

So I'm trying to set up a type of set (heh) by making an entry here with thumbnails of my selected images, which I can link to. An advantage is that I can include non-Flickr images. It'd be nice to have it as a table with 3 or 4 thumbnails across, but for now I'll just have to go with the standard image uploads that Blogger has.

Lipidoptera

This sounds like an example of Lipidoptera, from the ABC Canberra site »
Would you like bogong moths with that? (by Caroline Salisbury, Friday, April 20, 2007)

"The high fat content of bogong moths – 38.8 grams of fat for a 100g portion, more then [sic] three times that of a hamburger, provide an energy dense food for indigenous groups in cold climates".

100g (nearly 4 oz) is the standard amount used on food packaging here to list the amount of things like sodium, fats, sugars, kilojoules, etc. I think you'd need a fair amount of moths to make that up, but in season there'd be feasts.
(Bogong's behaviour is the reason I know the words aestivate, and estivation.)

The rest of the article is quite interesting, about getting standards for eating bush tucker during kidney disease, and the problem of good food in remote areas.

According to Don Herbison-Evans, "a Bogong was unjustly blamed for embarrassing Yvonne Kenny while she was singing the Olympic Hymn in the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, as it landed for a while on her [dress]. In fact there were several moth species including Bogongs attracted to the brilliant arena floodlighting that evening, and the one on Yvonne's dress appeared actually to be a hawk moth of the species Hippotion scrofa."

List of Links
Factsheet: www.csiro.au/ resources/ ps1qn.html
CSIRO pic: www.ento.csiro.au/ ecowatch/ Primary/ butterflies/ pages/ bogong_cluster.htm
Basic Entomology (Sydney Uni): bugs.bio.usyd.edu.au/Entomology/ importance/ imagePages/ bogongMoth.html
Family info fr CSIRO: www.ento.csiro.au/ ecowatch/ Lepidoptera/ noctuidae.htm
ABC scribbly gum on Moth migration: www.abc.net.au/ science/ scribblygum/ november2002/default.htm
page on Unique Australian Animals site: home.iprimus.com.au/ readman/ bogong.htm
Almanac, a big page with assorted November information: www.wilsonsalmanac.com/ book/ nov26.html
short piece from Wildlife of Sydney site: www.faunanet.gov.au/ wos/ factfile.cfm?Fact_ID=204

Gashlycrumbs & Ghastly Ghosts of True (Sydney) History

The Gashlycrumb Tinies by Edward Gorey ( www.wishville.co.uk/gorey) An Alphabet Book of Twisted Tales, by an author with an apposite appellation.

Leviathan: the Unauthorised Biography of Sydney
by John Birmingham
www.abc.net.au/arts/books/stories/s424252.htm
[Recorded at the 2000 Brisbane Writers Festival and broadcast on Radio National's Books and Writing program, 2001. Also used at
www.abc.net.au/arts/headspace/rn/booksw/leviathan/default.htm]

ISBN: 0091842034
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 563
[An] epic tale of a city with a cold vacuum for a moral core. John Birmingham drills beneath the cover story ... Combining intensive research with the pace of a techno-thriller, [he] creates a rich portrait of a city too dazzled by its own gorgeous reflection to care much for what lies at its dark, corrupted heart ... Leviathan is history for the Tarantino generation.

At Seekbooks.com.au.

At Dymock's Bookshops;
At The Well Bookshop