Farwewell Bud Tingwell

May 15, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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Bud.jpgMuch loved Australian actor Charles “Bud” Tingwell passed away from complications with prostate cancer this morning. He was in a Melbourne hospital with his son and daughter by his side. He was 86.

His death is a sad loss to the Australian entertainment industry.

From serious film roles dating back to the mid 40s to his work in a number of television and movie comedies, he was a well known face both in Australia and around the world.

In the later 1960s, he performed various minor voice roles for the Gerry Anderson shows Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet as well as appearing in the first series of cult television show Catweazle.

Among credits too numerous to mention Bud appeared in over 100 films. He was well known as Inspector Reg Lawson on the long running Australian television series Homicide. After Homicide he took on a number of small roles in major Australian films, such as Breaker Morant, Puberty Blues and All The Rivers Run.

He will be missed by several generations of Australians.



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The world's greatest inventions

March 9, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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world.jpgI saw a news article today talking about the world’s top ten inventions. It displayed a number of inventions which the story claims have changed the world.

The internet, television, computers, telephones, they were all there. I decided to look for a few other lists of the world’s greatest inventions and found several. Not many of them agreed with each other. I certainly liked the English list that put the bicycle at the top of the list. After all, there is no more energy efficient mode of transport in the world.

So what do you think are the greatest inventions? What do you think has changed the world we live in?

What would be in your list of the world’s greatest inventions? The printing press? Has there been a particular breakthrough in medical science that would be on your list? What about aircraft or the automobile? Would you choose the microchip? How about the camera or the light bulb? What else is there that I haven’t even mentioned?

Whether you think there’s just one invention that you think should be on the list or you want to try to come up with your own top ten, I’d really enjoy getting your point of view. Add your favourite invention or inventions in the comments section of this post.



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Oprah’s Sprirituality

August 21, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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tv.jpgI must admit that I haven’t seen a lot of Oprah over the years but what I have seen just serves to confirm that she’s the ultimate television professional.

Her programme, The Oprah Winfrey Show, has earned a number of Emmy Awards and is the highest rating talk show in the history of television.

According to Wikipedia, she has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, the most philanthropic African American of all time, and the world’s only black billionaire for three straight years. That’s an amazing achievement for someone who has battled the odds to be where she is today.

Born in rural Mississippi to a poor unwed teenaged mother, and later raised in an inner city Milwaukee neighbourhood, Winfrey was raped at the age of nine, and at fourteen, gave birth to a son who died in infancy. Sent to live with the man she calls her father, a barber in Tennessee, Winfrey landed a job in radio while still in high school and began co-anchoring the local evening news at the age of 19. Her emotional ad-lib delivery eventually got her transferred to the daytime talk show arena, and after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place, she launched her own production company and became internationally syndicated. – Wikipedia

More and more these days Oprah’s programme has focused on spiritual themes that have found a very welcome audience amongst her millions of fans. Many say she is the most influential woman in the world, so when Oprah endorses something, millions around the world not only listen, they act on what they hear.

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

This week we looked at the kind of spirituality that Oprah endorses and the latest author to have received a massive career boost via Oprah’s television show, Eckhart Tolle. Tolle’s brand of new age spirituality has been embraced by millions since attaining Oprah’s endorsement.

Oprah rejects any idea of there being one pathway to God as being unthinkable. She seems to be on a spiritual search, earnestly seeking answers and taking her vast international audience on the journey with her.

If you’d like to hear what Ross had to say about Oprah and her thoughts on spirituality, just click play on the audio player at the bottom of this post.



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Access 31 Closed Down

August 7, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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access31.jpgWhile their website is still trumpetting the secure digital future of Perth’s Access 31, the TV screen last night told a different story. I’m sure that the website will soon catch up with the news that Perth’s community television station has officially closed.

The difficult decision to shut down Access 31 was apparently made at a board meeting yesterday. At five o’clock yesterday afternoon normal programming made way for a “thank you and goodbye” message.

18th JUNE 1999 – 6th AUG 2008

ACCESS 31 THANKS ALL OUR LOYAL VIEWERS, SPONSORS & PROGRAM PROVIDERS FOR YOUR SUPPORT.

The station had secured half a million dollars in a rescue package from Perth businessman, Garry Baverstock, only a month ago but it is believed that after reports of Lotterywest withdrawing a $250 000 grant, Baverstock also decided to withdraw his offer.

It’s been reported that a number of Access 31 staff have recently resigned as the writing on the wall became clearer. CEO Andrew Brine revealed last week that he had also resigned for personal reasons after leading the station for 11 years.

I must admit that I wasn’t a big viewer of Access 31 but I did switch on every now and then and it’s a shame to see the station disappear. It’ll be interesting to see if any other community groups are able to resurrect the station.

Unfortunately television, even community television, is an extremely expensive business and it isn’t an easy task to fund such a costly venture.



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The Dream is over

May 22, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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royhg.jpgI’m now even less interested in the upcoming Olympics.

I really haven’t felt much excitement about the Beijing Olympics but now News.com.au tells me that The Dream is over for Roy and HG.

The Dream has been a great show, helping to inject some humour into the endless hours of sporting action.

The show is being replaced by a morning programme titled Yum Cha, hosted by Kylie Gillies and Andrew Daddo. I really enjoy watching Andrew Daddo but it just won’t be the same.

The satirical late-night program that helped Seven rebrand itself as a cheeky yet competent network is a victim of time zones and Beijing security.

Beijing will be two hours behind the east coast of Australia, with many event finals stretching into late night, which is when Rampaging Roy Slaven and HG Nelson won fans during the 2000 Sydney, 2002 Salt Lake City and 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

I’m sure I’ll still keep an eye on some of the results, specially the cycling, but without Roy and HG to spice things up a little there seems even less reason to get excited about the games.

What about you? Are looking forward to spending hours in front of the box to watch all your favourite events?



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