James O'Brien

It’s been another day of television catchups for me.

Most significantly, I’ve watched a few episodes of Underbelly (the second series).

I didn’t really see the first series, although I’m not sure why, though I suspect it’s the advertisements that turned me off.

Thanks to internet downloads all the ads are removed, and thus commercial television becomes emminently more watchable.

I’m not convinced by Matthew Newtown portraying a major drug dealer, though I do love the bloke who plays Bob Trimbole. He really looks the part, and you have a real sense that’s probably what Bob Trimbole was like.

The whole Donald Mackay murder thing has fascinated me for many years. I remember hearing about the story as a child, and for whatever reason I was quite enthralled by the story.

And then when I lived in the Riverina for a few years in the early 1990s, I learned a little more about the story, and in particular the impact all of this had on the town of Griffith.

I think Griffith is a great town, by the way. Every time I’ve been there I’ve had a great time. The people are very warm. The food and wine the town offers is excellent. And there’s just a good lively buzz about the place.

Sadly for the years the town has had to live with a “reputation” for what happened back then. Every time something appears in the media you just know a lot of people hang their heads low, hoping this part of their history could just disappear.

But it is part of the town’s history and there’s three or four family names which continue to be associated with the drug trade, and interestingly enough they’re all buried close to each other in Griffith’s cemetery. It’s well worth a look if you ever visit the town, thanks to the large headstones and mausolea.

Having some knowledge of the town and the people, it’s been interesting to watch this series of Underbelly.

So yeah, Bob Trimbole believable, but some of the others not.

I also watched a bit of the Little Britain in the USA marathon on Foxtel, and a few episodes of The Simpsons.

That’s enough effort for the day, I’m sure…