CATS in Perth

April 18, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
3 Comments

CATSIt sometimes takes a while for me to get around to catching up with the rest of the world. CATS first opened in the West End in 1981 and then on Broadway in 1982. Almost thirty years later I finally got around to seeing a production of the musical for the first time.

CATS is now showing at the Burswood Theatre in Perth.

Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, CATS is based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot and has won many awards, including both the Laurence Olivier Award and the Tony Award for Best Musical. The London production ran for twenty one years and the Broadway production ran for eighteen years, both setting long-run records. CATS has been performed around the world and has been translated into more than 20 languages.

I didn’t really know what to expect when Pauline and I turned up at Burswood last Tuesday for the opening night performance. I picked up our tickets at the box office and we were ushered to our third row seats. We were seated several minutes early which gave us time to appreciate the amazing set. In case you’re one of the few other people in the world who haven’t seen CATS I don’t think I’d be giving much away to tell you that the show is set in a massive rubbish tip. The designers have done an incredible job in creating a visually stunning backdrop for the show.

Once the show got underway we were captivated. CATS is incredibly physical and the performers combined extremely energetic dancing with challenging vocals and perfect timing.

I thought that as the night went on I might recognise a few of the songs, but in the end, it was only the wonderful Memory that I recognised. Mind you, that wasn’t really a problem. While some songs were more enjoyable than others, most generated an instant connection.

I don’t have the voice to sing the songs the cast sang. I don’t have the moves to dance like the cast can dance. I certainly don’t have the body to be able to wear the skin tight outfits worn by the cast. Thankfully the performers had it all.

While I considered that some scenes were a little over sensuous, the show overall is magnificent. If you get the opportunity, get out and see CATS so you can create a memory or two of your own.



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Visiting Fairbridge Village

April 17, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

Wolfe Cottage - Fairbridge, Western AustraliaYou may have noticed I’ve been missing in action for the last several days. I was spending some time away with my family in Wolfe Cottage at Fairbridge Village near Pinjarra.

Pauline and I took Emily and James to share a house with Pauline’s mum, Pauline’s brother and his four children, and Pauline’s sister, her husband with their two children. We had a great time sharing the cottage.

If you’ve never been to Fairbridge it’s well worth checking it out. The village offers a range of accommodation and all the money raised through hiring out the various cottages goes back into helping young Western Australians in various ways.

Fairbridge is a major youth charity in Western Australia and the only charity in Australia that owns a whole nationally heritage-listed town site.

Kingsley Fairbridge saw a dream in creating a nurturing and positive environment for young people to grow. He established Fairbridge Village (now nationally heritage-listed) as a world first, in 1912.

Fairbridge runs a myriad of programs and services for young people and has partnership agreements with dozens of other youth organisations. Fairbridge works with children with a disability, young people at risk, young people with drug problems, the unemployed, young people in our justice system, young people who are struggling with life, indigenous young people and refugees, through to gifted young people. Fairbridge helps young people reach their full potential and bring about long term positive sustainable change in their lives.

Fairbridge uses a holistic approach to working with young people and their families. Services provided range from mentoring, leadership development, life skills, interest free loans, accommodation, education, accredited training, employment opportunities and adventure camps.

I’ll tell you more about what we did over the past few days in coming posts.



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Save the Sheep

April 12, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
4 Comments

You’ve got to try this.

Let me know how you go with it.

I first linked to this about five years ago. Nice to see it’s still operating.

My best result so far is Rocketing Rabbit.



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Do you hate the 9 to 5?

April 7, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
3 Comments

Normally at this time of day I’d be rocketing towards work on my bike. I’d be enjoying the scenery of the Swan River as I pedaled along the bike path next to the freeway.

Today is different. In fact every day this week and next week will be different. I’m currently taking two weeks of my annual leave. I’m enjoying my break but it won’t be too much of a strain when I have to return to work. Seeing as no one has offered to pay me for 52 weeks annual leave each year I have to head back to work eventually but thankfully I enjoy my job. I wanted to work in radio from when I was very, very young and so I’m pretty much living the dream.

Unfortunately it’s not the same for everyone. There are millions of people around the world who dislike or even hate their jobs. I understand that in some places people need to settle for anything that puts food on the table for their family but there are many people, especially in developed nations, who could change their workplace yet don’t.

I wonder why.

What do you think? Why do people settle for jobs that don’t really thrill them?

Years ago there was a lot of talk about job satisfaction. Then there were many years of high unemployment and less talk about job satisfaction. People were encouraged to get whatever job they could and that was enough. Over the last couple of years we made our way through the global financial crisis and jobs were harder to find again. Thankfully, in Australia at least, employment opportunities are much better now.

Are you in a job that you enjoy? If you could do anything you wanted for work, what would you be doing? What’s stopping you from moving towards that goal? What did you dream of doing when you were young? Did that dream ever come true?

What do you think stops other people from pursuing a job they love? Let’s get some conversation going. I look forward to reading your thoughts in the comments section of this post.



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Australia’s Drug Habit

April 5, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
2 Comments

It seems we’re becoming a nation of druggies. If there’s a pill to fix what’s ailing us we’ll gulp it down and then we’ll reach for the pill that helps us overcome the effects of the first pill.

Modern medicine has come a long way over the last several decades but has our attempt to fight disease become a lazy way to maintain our unhealthy lifestyles? Are we too quick to reach for the latest wonder drug and not nearly as keen to start treating our bodies with a little more respect?

AUSTRALIA has a pill-popping obsession, taking more than 40 million pills per day – about two pills a day for every man, woman and child.

Our drug habit is costing us $14.2 billion a year – $6.5 billion of that directly out of our own pockets – and raising questions about whether we’re relying on pills rather than changing lifestyle to maintain health. – News.com.au

While the figures are talking about Australia’s obsession with the quick fix, I’m sure that the statistics would stack up in a similar way in many countries around the world.

I’m glad that there continues to be advances in medical science and that conditions which had no way of being managed in the past are now considered minor health issues. I’m very much in favour of using appropriate medicines to improve quality of life for many people but I wonder if we’re still too eager to reach for a blister pack rather than controlling some of the lifestyle issues that created our conditions in the first place.

It’s a concern that out of the current top ten prescription medications taken by Australians, three are cholesterol medications and three are blood pressure medications. While I’m sure there are many people with cholesterol or blood pressure issues that can only be helped with a pill, I’m sure that there are many thousands on such medications who could greatly reduce their dependence on drugs by living a healthier life.

I’m heavier than I should be and I don’t always eat the right foods so I know I could be doing more to stay healthy but I’m concerned that many people today are relying on pills and potions to allow them to live badly. I wonder what doctors and researchers could be doing with their time if each one of us took responsibility in maintaining our own bodies as much as possible. I wonder what serious health issues, diseases and conditions they would be able to conquer if they didn’t have to spend so much time, effort and money simply trying to manage our bad lifestyle choices.

What will it take for us to change our own attitudes towards health? I’m sure that someone’s working on a pill for it right now.



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