God's Frozen People

June 17, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
3 Comments

Michelinman.jpgIt’s another spectacular winter day in Perth.

It was a very cool start but what a marvellous day. I do wonder sometimes how Perth people would cope in colder climates. I don’t think I’d do too well but I see some people who look like they’re ready for snow to start falling.

To put things in perspective, Perth’s coldest minimum in recorded history was on this day back in 2006. We got to a low of 0.7 degrees Celcius (33.26 Fahrenheit). I remember that morning well because I was on my bike at the time trying to ride fast enough to warm up. The low today was 4.7 degrees Celcius (40.46 Fahrenheit) around 2:30 in the morning. It never gets cold enough to snow.

I certainly put on an extra layer or two when I’m cycling to work on cold mornings but I see others who really go to town. I saw a guy this morning who was cycling in a huge puffy jacket that had him resembling the Michelin Man. He had a full balaclava under his helmet covering most of his face in wooly warmth. I reckon I’d be sweating buckets underneath all that lot. Maybe his internal thermostat wasn’t working too well.

I must say, that if this is winter in Perth, I have no desire to live anywhere else.



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Who's controlling your time?

June 15, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
2 Comments

email.jpgRemember when communicating with friends meant sitting down and writing a letter? You’d write your thoughts, hopes and questions, then pop them all into an envelope, lick the back of a disgusting tasting postage stamp and drop the lot into a mail box. (Now, I do understand that many readers don’t remember such times, but go with me on this one.)

A week later your friend would then find your letter amongst their bills and other mail in their letterbox. Some time within the next week or so they’d have the chance to read your ramblings and some time after that they’d start the whole process again by writing a letter back to you.

These days it’s all about email. You type your thoughts and questions and then hit send. If you haven’t got a reply within three or four minutes you start to wonder if your friend may have died without you knowing. Everything is instant and we expect immediate responses, even when we’re only sending the latest email ‘funny’.

Do you feel the need to reply to emails as soon as they hit your inbox? Emails call out to us with extraordinary urgency. We know that if we don’t attend to those messages now we’ll never get to them and we just know that the sender is sitting beside their computer, hitting refresh with one hand, operating a stopwatch with the other.

Have we allowed others to set the agenda of our lives? Would the world really fall apart if we took charge and decided to prioritise our own time? Would our friends and workmates really fall apart if they didn’t get an immediate response to their message?

Do you expect people to reply immediately to your emails? How long do you think is a reasonable time between sending an email and receiving a reply? Do you get annoyed when you don’t get an answer right away?

Are you letting other people control your time by feeling that you have to reply immediately to emails?

What are some of the other ways we let others control our time? Do you feel the urge to respond immediately to text messages? Will someone calling you on the phone take priority over someone you’re speaking with face to face?

Who’s controlling your time?



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Get naked for success

June 14, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
11 Comments

English actress and now film maker, Rachel Ward, says that young actresses should get their gear off if they want to be successful.

Breasts are sexy. I want to see them and audiences want to see them. I’ve certainly had to do my fair share of it. If you’re going to be an actress or a model, it’s usually part of the package.

She says that men’s private parts are ugly and we don’t want to see them, but that the girls are prudish if they don’t strip off in front of the camera.

Men don’t have to worry about the issue though because, well, their privates don’t make pleasant viewing.

So it would seem that she’s not only happy to see Hollywood’s double standard continue, she thinks that nudity isn’t a big deal. She believes that for the sake of entertainment, and to get backsides on seats at the cinema, young women should be prepared to bare all.

You’re in a movie because you’re appealing and because you represent the aspiration, the fantasy, the ideal. I resisted that but, when you’re in the business, when you’re making a film, one doesn’t have to take it all too seriously. We’re not curing cancer . . . it’s entertainment. We want to get people into theatres.

I’m sorry Rachel, but I’m not buying it.

According to an article at News.com.au, Rachel resisted calls to appear in films completely naked, but now she wishes that she had.

Yes, you’re more likely to get longer queues at the cinema if the latest hot celebrity is on a massive screen naked, but that doesn’t make it the right thing to do. Are we really that shallow that we just do whatever it takes to draw a crowd? Is modesty completely irrelevant?

I don’t care how ‘artistically’ a nude scene is shot, guys aren’t sitting there cheering at a cinematic and artistic triumph; they’re simply getting an eyeful of a naked woman. I won’t go into the full details of what may be going through a guys mind at that point but let’s get serious, it’s not about the beauty of the human form, it’s about sexual fantasy.

Yes Rachel, breasts are sexy and we do want to see them, but that doesn’t mean that it’s right and it doesn’t mean that we should. I purposely avoid watching television and movies that contain nudity and sex scenes, not because I wouldn’t enjoy seeing that kind of stuff, but because it’s not good for me. Does that make me prudish? Fine. I’m happy to wear that badge. I may be old school but I believe that if a film maker is good at their craft they won’t need to throw in a few naked bodies to sell more tickets.

In an over sexualised world I’m trying to keep the vows I made many years ago to “forsake all other women” and remain faithful to my wife. That doesn’t just mean physically and emotionally, it involves my thought life too. I don’t want my thought life to be taken captive by some naked, airbrushed 18 year old. I’m not prepared to throw away the serious promises I made to my wife for the sake of entertainment.

I know that means that I’m marching to the beat of a very different drum to most, but that’s what I will keep trying to do. It’s not always easy and I’m not always successful, but it’s the right thing to do.

The world doesn’t need more naked celebrities and actresses. The world needs more women to stand up and say, “My body is not just a tool to be used by lazy film makers to line their pockets with cash.”



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Come on in and look around

June 12, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
6 Comments

This is where I work. Enjoy looking around.

The video was put together by our Broadcast Technology Director, Ash Wright.



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Stop!

June 12, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

traffic_light.jpgIf you’re out driving today I’ve got a small piece of advice which may help you avoid some heartache. If you see a red light, stop. In fact, if you see an orange light and it’s at all possible, stop.

I know that that’s the law but a lot of people seem to have forgotten about what they should do at traffic lights.

I don’t know what it is but over the past year or so I’ve seen an increasing trend among some motorists to speed up and head through lights that have been orange for quite some time or even lights that have already turned red.

On my way home last night I saw a lady sitting in her little white car at a light which had recently turned red. A young guy driving a ute with a huge roo bar came hurtling towards her before slamming on his brakes at the last minute. It was wet, he was going too fast, it all ended very badly.

Both vehicles were still drivable but there was a fair bit of damage, especially the little white car that got hit.

I handed both drivers a business card in case they need a witness and cycled away.

You might save a couple of minutes by running an orange or red light but you also run the very real risk of losing more that a little time.



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