Under the Mower

April 16, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

I was a little surprised when I spotted this Facebook advertisement last night. I was checking Facebook just one last time before heading into the land of nod and noticed the Alroh ad in the sidebar. Interesting.

I’m sure that they’re wonderful mowers, and I’d love to have one to replace the old clunker in our shed, but I have my reservations about what their advertisement suggests.

Alroh Mowers have been around for over 60 years and they’re a fine local product.

The first Alroh was designed and built by Alan Robert Hair in Perth, Western Australia back in 1951.

It was boom time in Perth, and the growing population and number of home-owners had led to a growing trend for carefully and lovingly tended back lawns.

Hair’s strong durable mower was built to be perfectly suited to Australian conditions.

The problem I have is the claim the Facebook ad makes of a ‘surgical cut’. Fortunately I’ve never had to wear one of those embarrassing hospital gowns and face any kind of surgery, but if I’m ever to end up on the operating table I don’t think I’d be keen on Dr Kildare wandering in with his Alroh.

We talk about people ‘going under the knife’ but how much more frightening would that be if you were to ‘go under the mower’?

I’d be very happy to have an Alroh for a quality, precision cut for my lawn, but I think I’ll pass on the surgical cut.



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The World’s Greatest Car Advertisment

April 14, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

If advertising is all about standing out and getting noticed, then the advertisement for a used Daihatsu car recently published on classified advertising website Gumtree should win a number of awards.

The Daihatsu Feroza may not be the most exciting car available but a certain South Australian seller has created a real buzz about their old 1990 four wheel drive which has already clocked up 24 000 kilometres since new. Their advertisement for the car is popping up all over the internet. If you want a super tough car this one will only cost you around $2 800.

Let me start off by saying this Feroza is only available for purchase by the manliest of men (or women). If it was possible for a vehicle to sprout chest hair and a five o’clock shadow, this Daihatsu would look like Tom Selleck.

It was never intended to drive to Rundle Mall so you can pick up that adorable Abercrombie & Finch shirt that you had your eye on. It wasn’t meant to transport you to yoga class or Home & Garden. That’s what your Prius is for. If that’s the kind of car you’re looking for, then just do us all a favour and stop reading right now.

This car was engineered by 3rd degree ninja super-warriors in the highest mountains of Japan to serve the needs of the man that cheats death on a daily basis. They didn’t even consider superfluous nancy boy amenities like navigation systems (real men don’t get lost), heated leather seats (a real man doesn’t let anything warm his butt), or Bluetooth (real men don’t even know what the hell Bluetooth is).

No, this brute comes with the things us testosterone-fueled super action junkies need. It has a 4cylinder 1.6L engine to outrun the cops. It’s got special blood/gore resistant upholstery. It even has a fire extinguisher in the back. You know what the fire extinguisher is for? Fire! The Feroza also has a removable roof so if you’re being chased by Libyan terrorists, you’ll still be able to shoot your machine gun out the back and drive with ease. It’s saved my bacon more than once.

My price on this bad boy is an incredibly low $2800, but I’ll entertain reasonable offers. And by reasonable, I mean don’t walk up and tell me you’ll give me $200 for it. That’s liable to earn you a Burmese-roundhouse-sphincter-kick with a follow up three fingered eye-jab. Would it hurt? Hell yeah. Let’s just say you won’t be the prettiest guy at the Coldplay concert anymore.

There’s only 240000km on this four-wheeled hellcat from Planet Kickass. Trust me; it will outlive you and the offspring that will carry your name.

Rock on.

Let’s hope that the seller’s creative advertising skills turn into a sale very soon. I’m wondering if their next job will be selling ice to Eskimos.



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Evidence for the Resurrection

April 12, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

Evidence is not necessarily proof. Evidence simply helps us establish facts to help us reach a verdict.

Some evidence can be so compelling that it is serves as proof but other times the evidence is like the pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, giving us a clearer picture with every piece we manage to place correctly.

When we talk about the Easter story we can think that the idea of Jesus Christ dying then being raised from the dead is either something you blindly believe or something you reject out of hand. We may think that with the events in question being so long ago that there’s no evidence to review to make an informed decision.

The fact is that if we look at writings from the time and at the Biblical records we can find evidence that needs to be taken seriously.

My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98.5 Sonshine FM is Rev Dr Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.

Yesterday we discussed five pieces of evidence that many Christians and sceptics agree need to be evaluated if we’re looking to come to a conclusion on the authenticity of the claims of Jesus’ resurrection.

If you’re serious about looking at the evidence just click the play button on the audio player below to hear our conversation.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/SPI120412_0927.mp3]

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Titanic Memorial Cruise

April 9, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

I see that a cruise ship carrying descendants of some of the people who died on the Titanic set sail from Southampton docks in southern England yesterday. The ship is retracing the doomed liner’s route on its maiden voyage 100 years ago. The Titanic Memorial Cruise is carrying 1,309 passengers which is the same number as were on the Titanic all those years ago.

Our voyage of a lifetime will sail from Southampton on 8th April 2012 the twelve night cruise on board the MS Balmoral and will follow the RMS Titanic’s original itinerary, passing by Cherbourg on the French coast before calling into the Irish port of Cobh.

Along the way they’ll visit the place where the supposedly unsinkable ship collided with an iceberg. Passengers and crew will pay their respects at a special memorial service to take place at the exact time the Titanic sank 100 years ago.

It’d be rather amazing to be on such a voyage but I imagine it’d feel a little bit eerie. I reckon everyone on board would take a little bit more notice than usual when the crew went through the safety and emergency demonstrations.

So do you think you would have joined the memorial cruise if you’d had the opportunity?



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