Blog 4 – Friday 19th Feb 2010!
Rugby, Questions, Gym and why Everybody’s Talking About it!

Looking back, last week’s blog was a long one wasn’t it? I don’t intend them to be long or short, it’s more a case of starting to write and then see where I go – so here I go again, starting to write and seeing where I go.

WEEKEND
The whole week has gone really quickly and I’m sat here now in a great mood because I have a full weekend off. Whenever I tell people I work Monday-Saturday, the reaction is always the same: A sharp intake and breath and then puffing out their cheeks saying “Really? 6 days?”. I have to say it’s a really common thing in local commercial radio so it’s something I’ve always been used too. I’ve been in radio since I was 16 and over the year’s my “6th” shift has varied from Saturday Afternoon’s on Fusion 107.9 in Oxford, Saturday Breakfast on Star 107.5 in Cheltenham, Saturday Sport on Fusion 107.3 in scenic Lewisham and Sunday Mid-Mornings on Star 107.9 in Stroud. I actually quite like the balance I’ve got here at Radio Pembrokeshire now as my Saturday Sport Show allows me to indulge my passion for local sport, even it is now just as busy as hosting the weekday morning show. Typically I leave home at about 11:45am on a Saturday, go via McDonald’s for a cappuccino (weekend treat) and arrive in Narberth at about 12:30pm. I’m usually home by 6:40pm ready for whatever we have planned on a Saturday evening. So although it’s not a massive chore to work the 6 day week, it’s nice to know I’ve got a whole weekend ahead of me. What’s that? You work a 5 day week? “Really. 5 Days?” (Puffs out cheeks) ;-).

RUGBY
The other reason for looking forward to the weekend is that on Saturday I’m off to watch Narberth Vs Bedwas in the SWALEC Cup. I was kindly invited by the Chairman Jeff Jenkins after predicting on air the result of their local derby against Whitland a few weeks ago and I’m really looking forward to it. I was allowed to bring three guests so Mrs Stone, my Dad and brother will be coming and I’m confident Narberth could pull of a shock win. I love the atmosphere that goes with local rugby clubs in West Wales and I know the welcome tomorrow will be absolutely fantastic. I did a facebook status this week where I commented that I feel “Welsh” when it comes to rugby which, considering I’m a massive England supporter in just about every sport – was quite a claim! Before moving to Wales in 2006 I was a very casual rugby fan but that has changed and although football will always be my number 1 sport I am most definitely an adopted Scarlets fan. I also follow keenly the local rugby sides all around Pembrokeshire and I love the quirky grounds and the devoted supporters dotted all over the County. I don’t think Welsh rugby fans can be faulted for their passion and even last week against Scotland when the team played poorly, that passion in victory was worthy of a great triumph. I love it. By the way – Narberth to win tomorrow, you heard it here.

EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT IT
This week “Who killed Archie Mitchell?” has dominated people’s conversation! Crazy isn’t it? I walked into our office and an unnamed sales person had started writing odds up on the white board – he put me in at 6/1! I have to say though and I am the first to criticise when I think they aren’t giving us value for money with the license fee, the BBC have played this one absolutely brilliantly. In the technology driven world, it must be a nightmare to keep a storyline of this magnitude under wraps and to then deliver it during a live episode – challenging to say the least. It’s funny because people can be quite snobbish about the soaps; either admitting to loving them or deriding them saying there’s “no way I would watch that rubbish”. On the phones this morning even people who fall into the latter camp confided in me that they would watch Eastenders tonight just to find out who killed Archie. I didn’t like the newspaper articles that revealed the BBC spend £2,000 a piece on the Match of the Day team’s taxi’s...but on this Eastenders storyline, top marks, no question.

QUESTION TIME
I started this off last week, inviting 3 tweeters to ask me questions which I would answer here on the blog and I’ve had some good ones this week. So lets have a look...First up from @PembsViewMag – What’s the best thing about working in radio?I’ve been asked this question a lot of times and I guess it’s a common one for other people working in the industry. I have to say it’s the flexibility and the knowledge that no day is ever the same. When I’m on air a massive story could break in the County and we’ve got to react to it. A recent example would be the bad weather we had in the County and for days we had to provide a top quality service to our audience for 3 or 4 days on the trot. That was the most prolonged bad spell of weather I’ve known in my time in radio and for a week schools, roads, refuse collections and other services were just unable to function. To ease the flow of information I made my own personal mobile number available to all head teachers in Pembrokeshire and I was probably getting somewhere in the region of 100 phone calls between 6am-9am when the weather was at it’s worst. That’s not to say every day is like that, but I am lucky not to be tied to a desk, lucky to be able to speak to nice people every day and even on a bad day you’ve got to hold onto that. It’s a great job which can give you unbelievable highs without a doubt.

The second question this week is from...drum roll...@egfe and it’s simply What’s been your best moment working at Radio Pembrokeshire?I’m following on here from the above in many ways because as I’ve said, I love my job and there have been lots of great moments from handling snakes to simply giving away a competition prize. My favourite moment though is simply an annual event that happens every August and lasts for three days. I love the Pembrokeshire County Show at the Withybush showground and anchoring our live coverage for those three days is fantastic. I don’t know what it is about the County Show. I think it’s because I used to go when I was younger and stuff myself with the free samples! I’m a bit older now but still like the freebies (I went home with about 40 muller yoghurts on day 1 last year) but it’s the combination of the animals, the trade stands, the people young and old, the people who go every year and the special guests that make it a brilliant event. I love the feeling at 6.59am, just a few minutes before we go live on the opening day – then deep breath and away we go, we’re on air – can’t beat it.

Final one from @welshlesley – If money was no object, where in the world would you most like to go on holiday?I think everyone has had this sort of idea over the last week since the couple from Cirencester won themselves £56 million on the EURO MILLIONS draw last Friday. I love the Greek islands and am going to Skiathos for two weeks in June of this year. However is money is no object think Becci and I would probably head to an all inclusive resort, in the Maldives for two weeks of doing absolutely nothing. Sounds lovely.

Right then – more questions please either via www.twitter.com/benatbreakfast or by dropping me an email.I’ve resumed writing post Eastenders, having written the Eastenders section before it was broadcast – Stacey did it and I stand by everything I wrote in that section. I’ve also had a good gym week – been three times and enjoyed my workout tonight!

NEXT WEEK – Is a busy one as we gear up for Thursday’s Local Hero Awards – lots on the radio and on the blog about that. Have a great weekend!!