O'Grady wins Paris-Roubaix

April 16, 2007
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

Well done Stuey.

Stuart O’Grady has become the first Australian to win the hellish Paris-Roubaix one day classic. He crossed the line almost a minute ahead of Juan Antonio Flecha of Spain and former winner Steffen Wesemann of Switzerland.

To some riders, a win in this event is more important than the Tour de France. While it’s called a road race, several sections of the classic take the riders over some fairly rough terrain with cobblestones and dirt making the going hard for competitors.

During the event O’Grady had to cycle for around a kilometre with a flat tyre until he could get a wheel from one of the neutral service bikes.

You can read more about the race by clicking here.

Australian cycling has come a long way over the past few years. It’d be wonderful to see Cadel Evans come into form in July and become the fist Aussie to take the Tour de France.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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Old McDonald had a stand

April 16, 2007
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

It was always going to be a tough game.

Swan Districts played Subiaco on Saturday after having played their last game on the Monday public holiday last week. That gave them a lot less time to recover and prepare to take on the WAFL‘s top side.

I took Emily and James to the game and watched as the black and whites were soundly beaten.

The high point of the day was being able to sit in the McDonald stand. The heritage listed stand has been closed for the last couple of years waiting for repairs. I’ve watched a fair bit of footy from the McDonald stand over the years so it was great to be able to introduce the experience to my kids. I remember the days when the stand would be a sea of black and white and opposition supporters wouldn’t dare take a seat in the impressive wooden grandstand. You would pity any opposition player who had to try to kick for goal in front of the McDonald stand.

Times have changed but there’s still something special about watching local footy, especially when you get the opportunity to jump on the field with your kids at half time and after the game and have a kick

I’m already looking forward to the next game down at Bassendean Oval in a fortnight.

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Technology withdrawals

April 13, 2007
by Rodney Olsen
9 Comments

I can go days without anyone phoning my mobile phone but it still seems a little strange not having it with me.

I realised a little while ago that I left my phone at home when I cycled in to work. It’s no big deal. It’ll be there when I get home this afternoon. It’s probably sitting next to my computer where I had it last night.

You might have heard stories of people becoming addicted to phones and other new technologies. Some people have panic attacks if they’re separated from their phones. I wonder how these people would cope with holidays to places that have no phone coverage. When I’ve cycled across Australia there’s about a week or so where there is no signal whatsoever and many other days where the coverage is very patchy. Strangely enough I manage to cope but it was interesting to see some of the team trying to come to terms with the fact that their phones wouldn’t work for long periods.

I suppose I have an advantage in the fact that I’m old enough to remember life before computers and mobile phones. I know that I was able to function without them in the past and can do so again when required. It’s nice to make use of new technology but I refuse to let it control me.

It’s good to be without certain things like mobile phones and computers every now and then just to see how dependant we’ve become on them.

What are you like when you’re separated from technology? Does life stop when your computer crashes. If the power goes out do you get a little anxious? If your internet connection goes down do you start suffering withdrawals?

It’d be great to get your perspective in the comments section of this post.

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That's Entertainment

April 12, 2007
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

Sorry for posting something that’s only of interest to readers in Perth but I’m trying to reach as many people as I can.

You may be unaware that for some time now I have been involved with Citizen Advocacy Eastern Suburbs (CAES). I am currently serving as a member of the management committee.

Citizen Advocacy has been promoting and protecting the welfare and interests of people with disabilities in Perth since 1980.

CAES has undertaken to sell the 2007/2008 Entertainment Book as a fundraising exercise and orders are now being taken. This is a great way to raise funds and at the same time reward you with some outstanding savings. If you took advantage of every voucher in the book you would receive over $10 000 in valuable offers. Even using just a handful of the vouchers will more than make up for the cost of the book.

The books are $60.00 each and if you’re interested you can email me and I’ll forward you an order form. (Click my Gmail address button in the left hand sidebar.)

Supporting this effort would be most helpful for CAES, and I’d be extremely grateful for your help. Please feel free to forward details to friends and family who may be interested.

I do hope you can help.

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300

April 12, 2007
by Rodney Olsen
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I’ve seen a number of advertisements and I’ve heard the hype but the idea of seeing the movie 300 still leaves me cold.

I really have no desire to rush out and see the movie but I’m sure that it’ll continue to be a big money spinner for the cinemas and producers. I was speaking to someone last night who has seen 300 and he can’t speak highly enough of it. He told me it’s a brilliant action flick that has you glued to the screen the whole time.

One of the segments on my morning radio programme at 98.5 Sonshine FM is a fortnightly look at what’s on at the movies.

Aaron Kamp has been reviewing movies for some time and he posts his reviews at Cinemaniacs, part of the YFC website. Every couple of weeks we look at what’s in the cinemas and what’s new on DVD.

Today we talked about 300.

The movie combines live action with a lot of CGI. It’s an action flick based on the graphic novel 300 by Frank Miller. The film is directed by Zack Snyder with Frank Miller attached as an executive producer and consultant, and was shot mostly against a bluescreen to allow the imagery to be added in later via computer.

Aaron was dissapointed that the redeeming themes of the original story had been lost in a effort to create the look and feel that the producers have created. The excessive violence and the nudity, as well as the deviations from the historical story, left him unable to recommend the movie.

You can listen in to our discussion by clicking here.

There is a whole range of audio options available now with 98.5 Sonshine FM’s Audio On Demand service. You can subscribe to a number of my regular radio features or simply look through the archives to find something that interests you.

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