Review: Bringing Down the Mob

Normally, I’m not into the whole “true crime” thing. I’m not sure why; it’s just another form of history, my longtime paramour. Maybe it’s because I like to read more about things long in the past so I can get a broader picture of the impacts, or maybe I’m just more interested in sociopolitical and religious structures than single, small aberrations of morality.

Anyway, after a short junket of watching Scarfaceand a half-day of mob-themed shows on the History Channel before I left for Japan, not to mention surfing onto some organized crime pages on Wikipedia (I’m pretty sure I started out by looking up the name of Odin’s son in Norse mythology; wish I had the browser history so I could see how I ended up on La Cosa Nostra), I decided to check out a few books on the Mob. The first one I picked up, the only one Borders had at the time, was Thomas Repetto’s Bringing Down the Mob.

This book doesn’t cover the “Golden Age” of the mob, during prohibition and the like. Rather, this covers the period after the Apalachian Meeting in 1957, which ended in a police raid and proof of an organized crime syndicate operating in the USA. Repetto covers a history of the last 50 years of war against the Mafia, including topics like: the FBI’s pioneering “bug” operations, Bobby Kennedy’s crusade against organized crime, Jimmy Hoffa and his disappearance, establishment of the RICO act,  and other significant events, even up to current (as of 2006) movers and shakers on both the side of the law and the mob.

The book is well written, and Repetto knows how to keep things flowing and interesting. For a subject like this, I can imagine it must be hard to get a lot of details from both sides of the conflict, but the author manages to work more than enough hard info into this lengthy overview. I would have liked a few more details at some point, but perhaps they’re just not available. He splits a roughly equal amount of time between the movements of the mob, and the actions of law enforcement, so you get a good picture of what was going on at all times. And the author manages to keep things tied together, so in an underworld where change was often sudden and violent, you can see the downstream effects of major events. How the mob set up its structures and how the cops tried to tear them down receives some basic exposition, but the book is mostly focused on the personalities involved.

The people in this real-life drama are presented pretty much as they were, with little of the romanticism that many mob stories fall prey to. There is fair criticism of some law enforcement personnel, but mostly they are shown as men just doing their jobs. The mobsters are described pretty much as they were, some brutal and vicious, some outlandish, some still clinging to old-world traditions, but all well aware of their criminal enterprise. There’s a small photo section as well, mostly filled with B&W shots of important mob and police figures, as well photos of a few of the more famous (and gruesome) mob killings. It really helps to be able to put a face to many of these men.

I probably should have started with Repetto’s first book, American Mafia, but I think it bears mentioning that before I’d even finished Bringing Down the Mob, I’d already picked up the precursor and was planning to read it. So yeah, I really enjoyed it, and it’s a good read even if you don’t have any background.

Link to Amazon.

Welcome to Arkham, Enjoy Your Stay

Two things from the weekend.

Why so serious?

First, The Dark Knight. I was skeptical at first, with the amount of hype the movie was getting, especially how everyone was saying how phenomenal Heath Ledger’s performance was. It made me nervous, because it really seemed like Hollywood trying to pump up another flop with hyperbole.

But I was wrong. At least in this one case, they were right. Ledger’s performance was incredible. He managed to create a Joker that perfectly fit the gritty, realistic universe of Batman Begins. Rather than the affable Joker, portrayed by Jack Nicholson, who seemed a little too cheerful and comedic to be taken seriously, the new Joker was dark, psychotic and frightening. He still giggles inappropriately and cracks jokes, but now it’s more graveyard humor than bad puns. And yes, Ledger should definitely be in the running for an Oscar.

Which is not to say he was the only star in this movie. Everyone delivered a great performance, with Christian Bale showing more and more he was born to be Batman. Let’s hope he sticks around for another few movies at least. The only real sore spot was Gordon’s cheesy speech towards the end of the movie which had eyes rolling. Otherwise, a superb movie that I’m disappointed I’ll only get to see in theaters once.

Stay awhile, stay forever!

On the gaming side, finally got the gang together for a game of Arkham Horror. Since we’d never played before, we didn’t use any of the expansions, which is probably a very good thing. At first, this game is insanely complicated. The first turn alone took us about an hour. But like most games, with each turn that went on, we got better and better at it, until things became second nature. In no time we were slaying abominations, closing dimensional gates and reading ancient tomes like nobody’s business.

All in all, I enjoyed it. Though it became clear toward the end we were going to win, it didn’t feel like that for most of the game, and that was fun in an, “oh god we’re all going to die”, kind of way. There were some places were the rules did not seem very clear, so we had to make things up on the spot; I certainly hope they’re covered in a FAQ somewhere. Also, the event decks for the various neighborhoods seemed very small, but I know the expansions add more cards to them, which I think would keep things fresh. Right now, I just want to play again, and I’m sort of depressed I won’t get to for a long time.

Updates will be few and far between for the next few days or weeks, since I’m leaving on Thursday. Ave atque vale.

Review: Alestorm – Captain Morgan’s Revenge

I’m going to try to put up a few reviews of some music over the next year, as a way of practicing my writing, as well as telling people who probably don’t care about my passion for metal. So buckle up me hearties, ‘ere we go.

Alestorm is a band I stumbled on by accident one day while surfing Amazon. Metal isn’t that popular down in Northern Virgina, at least not like back home in Canada, so most of my purchases tend to be online. Anyway, when I first saw the title Alestorm: Captain Morgan’s Revenge, I immediately thought, “It’s Metal? It’s PIRATES? Why don’t I own this already?”. My fascination with piracy in the Age of Sail, both the romantic and the reality, is a matter of public record. As such, this was really an impulse purchase; most gimmick bands often turn out to be terrible. But that was not the case here.

Alestorm describes themselves as “Scottish pirate metal”, and while their genre name may seem overly specific, it is no less apt. Don’t be fooled though; despite the name, this is pure power metal, albeit with a definite Scottish flavor and songs focused almost exclusively on pirate life. The vocalist has an excellent voice, loud and powerful with just enough of the metal growl to keep things interesting, without becoming incomprehensible or painful to listen to. Lyrics are well written and appropriate to the style. Guitars are technically proficient and definitely ahead of the curve. They even managed to sneak a few non-traditional (i.e. not metal) instruments in here. I can recall hearing harpsichords, bagpipes and accordions at some points. These guys know their stuff, and they show it off with flair but without pretension.

A handful of songs stand out in my mind. The opening Over the Seas is quite good, and the title track Captain Morgan’s Revenge is just outstanding, recalling to mind classic tales of buccaneers like Barrett’s Privateers. The final song on the album, Flower of Scotland, breaks with the album’s theme, but is easily one of their best performances. I’m a bit of a sucker for metal versions of classic songs, like Apocalyptica’s version of Hall of the Mountain King, or Iced Earth’s stirring Star-Spangled Banner. The remaining songs all run the gamut from decent to good, with nothing that really sounds like filler.

A quite respectable debut, all things considered. The only downside is that they may have unintentionally set the bar a little high; any sophomore effort will be expected to top this otherwise excellent album, and that’s a hurdle which many bands fail to clear. All in all, if you enjoy metal, and have even a passing interest in pirates (and honestly, who with a Y chromosome doesn’t?), you should give Captain Morgan’s Revenge a listen. Personally, I’m looking forward to plunderin’ these lads’ next album, yar.

Many years have passed now
Yet the curse still lives on ,
And now we rot in a black prison cell
Waiting for our true calling in hell!