Who is my neighbour?

November 9, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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NSP.jpgDo you remember watching episodes of the old Batman series when you were a kid? I loved seeing Batman and Robin zoom towards the bushes that would drop down allowing the batmobile to enter the secret batcave. No one around knew what went on behind the hedge.

I reckon we’re all living more and more like Batman these days. We drive towards our homes, press the button on the garage door opener, and disappear to the rest of the world as the automatic door closes behind us. Everything we ‘need’ – computers, home theatres and all the rest – are waiting for us inside our secret batcaves. Even if we’ve met our neighbours it’s very rare that we interact with them.

A great new initiative may start to change things for the better as it encourages us to take the lead and start creating connections within our community. The National Street Party is part of Social Inclusion Week (23rd to 29th November) and it is hoped that it will be a catalyst in tackling isolation and loneliness. It’s being spearheaded by Dr Jonathon Welch AM.

While he has had a busy and celebrated musical career, Dr Jonathon Welch first came to prominence for most Australians as the Founding Music Director of the Choir of Hope and Inspiration, which started its life as the Choir of Hard Knocks. Last year he was a judge on Channel Seven’s reality show Battle of the Choirs. He’s been awarded many times by many organizations including being named as Australian of the Year – Local Hero for 2008. Jonathon has also been in great demand as a Performer, Guest Lecturer and Conductor around Australia and has toured Asia, New Zealand, USA and Canada. I spoke to him during my morning programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM today. You can hear our conversation by clicking the play button on the audio player atthe bottom of this post.

Do you interact with your neighbours? Do you even know them? What ways have you found to create community in your neighbourhood, workplace or city?

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/MOR110909_1316.mp3]

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Did You Know?

November 6, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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I posted one of these videos in December last year and asked the question So what does this all mean?

I spotted this latest edition on Hamo’s Blog yesterday and it is truly mind blowing. I’m not sure if anyone knows where we’re going but we’re sure getting there very, very quickly.



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Talking with Cadel Evans

November 5, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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Cadel.jpgI’ve interviewed dozens of ‘famous’ people but today’s chat with Cadel Evans was certainly one of the highlights of my radio career.

I’m a cyclist but Cadel is cycling royalty.

He started cycling when he was 2 on a 16” BMX bike. Began riding competitively in 1991 on a cross country mountain bike. In 1994 he started competing in criteriums and road races to help with his mountain biking. Since then he has become one of Australia’s greatest ever road racing cyclists.

He was the first Aussie to ever reach the podium in Paris in the Tour de France, coming runner up in 2007 and 2008 and he recently became Australia’s first world road race champion.

His book which describes his journey so far – Close to Flying – was released just days ago and it’s already being reprinted. Cadel Evans joined me live in the studio this morning at 98.5 Sonshine FM. You can hear our conversation by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

We spoke about the Tour de France, his move to BMC, his involvement in the 2010 Tour Down Under, the new book, Lance Armstrong and a few other bits and pieces.

Cadel was generous with his time and his answers were honest and informative. I only wish that I could have sat down with him for a couple of hours over a coffee rather than just conducting a quick radio interview in the middle of a very busy promotional schedule.



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Shaping up with Dicko

November 5, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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Dicko.jpgWe first met Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson when the first series of Australian Idol burst onto our television screens. Back then he was sometimes referred to as the nasty judge but the nation has since well and truly warmed to him. Dicko had worked in the record industry for 20 years and brings a wealth of experience to his role as an Idol judge.

Recently he has taken on the battle of the bulge and so far has lost 7kilograms at the half way point of his weight loss programme. he realised it was time to do something when a doctor told him that if he continued the way he was going he’d cut five years off his life.

I didn’t have concerns about my health at all. But when a medical professional tells you that you are obese and it will cut short your life you take it seriously.

Dicko has become the face of Jenny Craig’s Jen4Men programme, encouraging blokes to look after themselves and drop a few kilos. You can follow Dicko’s weight loss journey online.

It was my pleasure to talk to Dicko during my radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM this morning. You can hear our conversation by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

We talked about losing weight, getting in shape and the current season of Australian Idol. Dicko also gave his tip for who will win this season of Idol.

I’m thinking that I could do with following the Jen4Men programme for a while but I doubt that Jenny Craig will be calling me anytime soon to become the next face of Jen4Men. 🙂

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/MOR110509_1343.mp3]

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Trusting Strangers

November 5, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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cutthroat.jpgWould you let a complete stranger hold a sharpened blade against your neck? I did yesterday.

I was sitting in the barber’s chair considering what an odd thing hair cuts can be yesterday afternoon. We wander into a shop to let someone we don’t know take total control of our appearance. Sure we let the hairdresser or barber know what style we want but in the end we have to simply trust that they know what they’re doing.

It was the first time I’d been to this particular barber and he’s one of the old school guys who still uses the cutthroat razor to neaten things up. It struck me as rather odd that I had a person who I’d only set eyes on for the first time just minutes earlier, pressing a finely sharpened razor against my skin, yet I wasn’t at all concerned.

I suppose we have to trust strangers with our safety every day. For instance we get on busses or into taxis with drivers we don’t know without a second thought. We let pilots that we don’t even see take us soaring above the earth.

We teach our kids about stranger danger then teach them to trust certain strangers by our actions.

We obviously need to weigh up the risks. I would have run in the opposite direction if the same guy came towards me with the same blade in the street, but in a barber shop I can reasonably assume that he knows what he’s doing.

Can you think of other times that we trust our safety to people we don’t know? When was the last time you trusted your life to a complete stranger?



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