FROM THE DESK OF Roland Rocchiccioli – February 20, 2019

Honestly, I could not give a fat rat’s clacker what anyone thinks about me, personally; however, when it comes to my work, that is a horse of a totally different colour.

COLLECTIVELY, we are living in the most interesting of times. Social media has given everyone a megaphone – a platform to vent their spleen; an outlet for misinformation and disinformation. In times past vox populi was the exception, and not, as it is today, the rule. Vox Populi programmes were a novelty on television: the opportunity for the everyday person in the street to have their voice heard, publicly.

There is much store in the axiom: ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ – especially when they can’t cook! While I am interested in, and much attracted to, considered and informed opinion, I have no interest in pedestrian, ill-informed rant; the histrionics of the dull and the ignorant. I am very predisposed to a change of thought, and I love a good, solid, verbal stoush – an exchange of argument and persuasive polemic discourse. I consider myself fortunate in that I have worked with all the great writers down through the centuries. Contrary to public opinion, the majority of them had already died at the time!

My late mother, Beria, was a wonderful story teller. Every night when I was a child, and for the few years I lived with her, she told the most engaging bedtime stories – including the one about the three billy goats gruff and the troll who lived under the bridge. In the end the ugly, mean-spirited troll gets his well-deserved comeuppance. Tossed into the river to drown.

Trolls, and trolling (which in my youth was the pastime of the women-of the-night), has come to occupy a whole new place in the modern vernacular. Trolls are those breed of odious toads who, for their own perverse pleasure, cyberbully and viciously, persistently, and with intent, anonymously harass and attack other people on-line through various methods. I am no expert because I am a troll’s worst nightmare. I do not read comments of any kind which have not been monitored. Why would I?

I was born in 1947 – you can do your own maths and work-out my age – which means I have, at the most, about another 20-years plus on the mortal coil. That is a truly sobering and terrifying prospect. (I have been in Ballarat for 11-years and it feels like a month!) I turn-out the lights at night so the Angel of Death cannot find me! I have still have places to go, people to see, and my God, and a very longlist of things to do. I have just commenced a whole new chapter in my life. I am off to Sydney for the final workshop of my play ‘Letters From The Heart’. The director, Belinda Lang, is coming from London for the ten-days. After that, all things being equal – I shall be headed for London for the staging of the piece. I have no interest in sitting on a cloud playing a harp!

The editor of this paper, Alistair Finlay, is, by occupation of position, forced to read all readers’ comments, including those of a less kindly disposition – and even those posted anonymously. Alistair informs the odd one regarding me is of a less than flattering tone. My concern is for him: he has to wade through the muck. I do not!

Thanks to both my departed parents, Beria and Ginger, and a number of mentors who nurtured me, I am imbued with a balanced serve of self-worth, -regard, -esteem, and -value. I have a healthy view of my place in society; a recognition of my short-comings and traits; my strengths and weakness, and all the characteristics that make me the unique individual I am.

I am genuinely sorry for those trolls who live in the cowardly shadow of anonymity; who lack the courage to own their views; whose assessment of themselves is so disturbingly warped, their only contribution to our fragile society is a spiteful spewing of bitterness.

To those antisocial, destructive, and pathetic individuals who feel the need to post personal and insulting comments, and for whom I have absolutely no regard, I have only one thing to say: Get a **** life!

Roland can be heard every Monday morning – 10.30 – on radio 3BA and personally abusive emails can be sent to [email protected] where they’ll be deleted unread.