Skip to main content
The largest online newspaper archive
A Publisher Extra® Newspaper

The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 43

Publication:
The Agei
Location:
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Issue Date:
Page:
43
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

3 PREVIEWS II i tt TT1T1 .4 S11(D) mnvil CfflMSE as John Laws's World: Deadly Harvest, on Channel 10 at 7.M pm tonight (18 February). 5 in Asian stalag, the same authorities knowingly sanction bumper opium harvests in the north in return for quasi-military security provided by the hill people and nationalist Chinese along the northern border. But Thailand's "leading man" in this treacherous scenario of duplicity was, according to McLean, the CIA. Dr Alfred McCoy, whose book documenting CIA activities since 1971 was threatened with suppression, claims the agency was up to its neck in several stages of drug trafficking, including refinement at a laboratory in one of its own Laotian compounds. Dr McCoy, recognised as a specialist in Asian history, is a lecturer at the University of NSw.

He has written two books, Drug Trafficking, Narcotics and Organised Crime in Australia and The Politics of Heroin in South-East Asia. The UN and the King of Thailand are trying to sponsor crop replacement schemes, which, it Is claimed, are ac-' tually more profitable for the hill people. But while the key characters continue to amass almost incomprehensible fortunes, the opium stranglehold looks like tightening, not loosening, for decades to come. Almost as an after-thought, the producers included interviews with the three Australians found guilty of major drug offences and sentenced last year to lengthy Thai jail terms: Hayward, Fellows and Sinclair. Guilty or otherwise, their present circumstances must approximate the living hell which pushers sentence their victims to.

Deadly Harvest presents a picture so shocking 1 wish someone would denounce it as a pack of lies. But I won't hold my breath. Apart from the introductory music, which smacks of a grade Clockwork Orange, the documentary is extremely well put together, well written and packed with horrible, horrible information. BARBARA HOOKS IT MAY seem contradictory to recommend watching a documentary which takes such a cynical, depressing and pessimistic approach to this century's most horrifying epidemic drug addiction. But watch it you should, if only to appreciate the enormity and hopelessness of this slow holocaust.

Deadly Harvest, a one-hour documentary produced by John McLean, Charles Stewart and John Everingham, doesn't deal with, the haggard wretches at the needle end of the heroin syringe. Instead, it examines authoritatively and for the most part with a chill calm, the politics of the mega-million dollar drug empire of South-East Asia's Golden Triangle. The 10,360 square kilometre area, where the; borders of Laos, Burma and Thailand converge, produces two-thirds of the world's opium. It is also a theatre of corruption, anarchy, mercenary and separatist warfare, untold wealth and power. According to McLean and Everingham, the cast runs to thousands and the plot is as stewed and seamy as any jail swill.

There are the hill people who cultivate the oozing opium poppy and trade with the Chinese, who in turn ensure that by providing luxury consumer goods, the hill people will be forever pilloried in debt. Then there are the nationalist Chinese, those who fled to the Shan States of Burma and were armed by the CIA, but used their weapons to force the hill people to increase opium production, and the CIA itself which sanctioned the industry in return for anti-communist loyalties; the communist officers and soldiers of Laos, the Shan State Army, one of the largest Burmese separatist groups, Khun Sa, the triangle's most powerful warlord who carries a US bounty of $25,000 dead or alive. And worse. While we naively applaud the Thai Government for sentencing drug offenders to a life of despair in some stinking Lee Majors in his new role as The Fall Guy. Bionic Lee turns to stunting The Fall Guy, on Channel at 7.3 pm on Tuesday 23 February.

illp Jtli 1 An Akha tribesman smoking heroin. The hill tribes of the Golden Triangle.who grow the opium, are just as much victims of the ruthless narcotics industry as the urban addicts. JBL PROFESSipriAL moniTORS. fit Pssrny Lane, JBL ftlbnsfor Imms its pluce. -zrr AFTER the 6 million bionic r.

an, Lee Majors emerges as a victim of more bone-crunching mayhem a Hollywood stuntman in Channel 9's new family series, The Fall Guy. "I am not a star," he explains to a member of the crew after being yanked off his motorcycle at high speed during the filming of a TV show. "Stars get a lot of money, we get a lot of pain." Someone else might develop a chip on the shoulder if forced to earn a living like this. But not Lee manages to ham his way through the remainder of the hour-long show at a bone-cracking pace. The Fall Guy (a movie length instalment was shown last Tuesday) begins as an hour-long "drama" next Tuesday night.

Lee Majors stars as the stuntman-bounty hunter Colt Seavers, who, when not earning his living as a Hollywood "fall picks up pin-money by working as a sort of amateur law of fleer. It sounds too good a formula to be true and it is. The show works as a send-up of all the Hollywood drivel that has been inflicted on Australian audiences since 1956. Next week, Colt and his colleague Howie Munson, played by Doug Barr, ake a break from risking their lives on the TV set. They manage to get themselves Incarcerated in a maximum security jail in an (unpaid) attempt to save a friend from being framed on a robbery charge.

Colt and Howie stage a fight in the prison mess to get packed off to solitary. There they meet Animal "I don't like room mates. The guard broke my shoulder, but I can kill you with one hand" whom they reasonably suspect of having framed their friend. Animal who looks and behaves a bit like The Munsters' Lurch is, however, capable of contributing to the cute dialogue and tricks which the trio use in their escape attempt. There are plenty of good car chases and other well-designed stunts.

Some of the supporting actors and actresses leave a lot to be desired, although the script does make up for them a bit. Now the only person needed is a really strong and healthy female lead character. Olivia Newton-John would be just right. MARK DANDO II liStlv A studio monitor is a 9 listening tool. It is not supposed to jm m.

DENNY change.add to.subtract from or in any way modify original sound. That's why BL Monitors are in thousands of recording and broadcasting studios around the world. According to the Recording Institute of America, BL's were used to make 30 of last year's top 50 albums. A JBL Monitor plays what it's told. Nothing more.

Nothing less. If that sounds good to you, come and hear a demonstration at Penny Lane. GET IT ALL. BETTERPRODUCTS, BETTER PRICES. 412 Toorak Road, Toorak Village.

Tel: 241 5222. Cash, Bankcard, Amex, Diner, Finance available. Lay By. na a ia E3 a a ca ca tCTtrrairF-art- ycuciunuii iuuu splutters ior xue listening cti imersouna pi Bp jj mm fSSBSm mm 1 i HB MPiij mm aQE Cs) I I SASTANA2 One of the most popular Altec" Di. 0 speaker systems ever made.

MODEL From the same family ties as the Altec "Voice of the theatie' systems, this Altec has a lot to live up to and it does so, easily. A 12" 3-way system, its warm bass blends beautifully with controlled mid range and Mantaray horn, its automatic power control can tailor the rne santana 12 2-way is reminiscent of Altec's nrnfaacinnnl mivJsl. MODELS A 10" 3-way loudspeaker system boasting Altec's Mantaray horn, automatic power control on both mid range and horn. Anechoic damping material on the front of the enclosure to absorb sound rather than relied it. The enclosure is precision tuned for the maximum in performance.

That's Altec technology working lor you. MODEL 4 This computer tuned 2-way speaker system is finished in hand rubbed Endriana timber veneer. The 10" bass driver has a die-cast alloy frame with territe magnet structure, automatic power control for the Mantaray horn which gives excellent top-end dispersion. Impressive performance for an equally imptessive low price. MODEL WW Spend less, get more that's Altecs philosophy in this 10" 2-way loud speaker.

Using the sound prism which is liquid tilled tweeter with louvred slots, spectral guides to evenlydisperse the high frequencies, with automatic power control, suitable for ampliliers with 15150 watts. Gieat sound-lordollars. MODEL W12 The big brother to the 1010 the Altec 1012 is a i2" 3-way system, with acoustic output in excess of lOOdB. utilising automatic power control and the liquid filled tweeter. This speaker offers great value to the audio enthusiast, operating from 15 watts nqht through to a staggering 150 watts.

Sound Value. ATLANTIC This speaker is Uuly tailored for the audio enthusiast with a budget in mind The Atlamc is a (rue descendant hom the famous line of Altec Lansing speaker systems An 8" bans driver with two tweeters 15 tdegrees) oltset tot grealei top-end dispersion Excellent Value smooth sound together with an excellent hand-rubbed 0 veneer rrnrsn mane wismtec sound for your room or studio, great listening. Ijrafersoand mm impressive penormance ior an qually impressive low price ilbWhitehorseHd. Balnvn hi Ihidttip, 9 9 ca ca ca ca ca wSI E3 C3 E3 B3 B3 ESI E31 E3 C3 tea ca ca ca ca ca E3 ca ess.

Get access to Newspapers.com

  • The largest online newspaper archive
  • 300+ newspapers from the 1700's - 2000's
  • Millions of additional pages added every month

Publisher Extra® Newspapers

  • Exclusive licensed content from premium publishers like the The Age
  • Archives through last month
  • Continually updated

About The Age Archive

Pages Available:
1,291,868
Years Available:
1854-2000