Scammed

December 14, 2007
by Rodney Olsen
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From bogus lottery wins to helping Nigerian widows to move their millions around the world we’ve all encoutered emails or letters trying to entice us to part with our hard earned dollars.

Scamming is big business with people across the planet getting stung every day.  

We’ve known for some time that seniors in our community are often targeted with postal, phone and door-to-door scams but a new threat is emerging with the number of seniors going online. A lot of seniors are unaware of the many scams perpetrated through the Internet.

Thankfully ScamNet is a website that can help people identify scams and hold onto their money. ScamNet is a Western Australian website but it has helped people in dozens of countries because the same scams seem to find us no matter where we are in the world.

Many of ScamNet’s regular contributors, who send in postal and email scams, are seniors themselves who want to alert others to these scams.

This morning on 98.5 Sonshine FM I spoke to Brian Grindrod, Organisational Development Manager – Alzheimers Australia WA and Gay McNamara, a journalist with the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection about a joint project based on avoiding scams.

If you’d like to hear about how you can avoid being ripped off you can listen to our conversation using the media player below.



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Carols in the Park 2007

December 7, 2007
by Rodney Olsen
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This Sunday afternoon I’ll be heading to Len Shearer Reserve in Booragoon for Carols in the Park.

The publicity for the event says:

This Sunday, join 98.5 Sonshine FM and rekindle the true spirit of Christmas at Carols in the Park.From 4:30 p.m. there are activities for everyone. Carols begin at 7:30 p.m. hosted by Graham Mabury and Miranda Miller with music from Midland Brick Brass and the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

Bring a picnic dinner or grab something to eat from one of the food stalls.

98.5 Sonshine FM will be broadcasting live from 5:00 p.m. so come along and meet the team.

Carols in the Park, this Sunday at Len Shearer Reserve, Marcus Avenue Booragoon. Presented by Mt Pleasant Baptist Church and proudly supported by 98.5 Sonshine FM.

I’ll be one of the team broadcasting live for 98.5 Sonshine FM from the venue. I’ll be joined by Bevan Jones, one of our extremely talented weekend announcers from 5:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. From 7:30 p.m. we put the main programme from the stage live to air.

If you’re in the Perth area and thinking of being part of a Carols by Candlelight event this year, why not make it this one? It’s very professionally put together and there are lots of activities before the carols start to keep the kids entertained.

I especially want you to drop in and say hello. I’d love the opportunity to meet a few fellow bloggers. Just find your way to our broadcast area and introduce yourself. Don’t be shy. We know each other already through the blogosphere so wander up and say hello.



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What a day

April 20, 2006
by Rodney Olsen
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I had the most marvellous time yesterday.

It was wonderful to have Randy Stonehill drop in for an hour on-air during my radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM yesterday morning.

We chatted and played some of his music from just after 11:00 a.m. until midday. It was one of the highlights of my time working in radio.

He’s an incredibly nice guy and has a really weird sense of humour, so he fitted in just fine on my programme.
I really enjoyed getting the background on some of his music and his career which is now in its 36th year.

His concert last night at the Lakeside Recreation Centre was just incredible.
I had the pleasure of introducing Randy as he came onto the stage and so I did a quick poll to see how many people were seeing him perform for the first time. It seems that most of the audience were first timers which put a big smile on my face because I just knew that they were about to experience one of the most amazing performances of their lives. I was so very pleased to be able to take Pauline, Emily and James to their first Randy Stonehill concert.

The night began with a handful of songs by the very talented Kaylee Abbott, and in answer to the very many questions I was asked by audience members later, no she hasn’t released a CD yet.

Randy was just as funny as I remembered him from previous shows. He had people in tears from laughter. His vocals are still crystal clear and what he can do with just one guitar is sensational.

He can have people doubling up laughing and then minutes later the audience will be completely silent, hanging onto every word of a ballad. He’s a master songwriter and has released so many albums that he can’t even remember the lyrics from some of his songs.

I only hope it’s not another 16 years before he comes back to Perth.



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