Kingdom's Blog

March 21st, 2009

What a week it has been on Breakfast! Friday saw chaos in the studio as the friendly and furry folk of Fife Animal Park called in to say hello.  While some of the animals were cute (like the piglet), there was general anxiety regarding the skunk, mouse and snake!  I was of course at ease with the animals, but Diane was a complete wimp!

This was ‘Jazz’ the cockatoo, who can say “hello” and likes a kiss - she was very friendly and I might hire her next time Diane is off!
As I said, Diane just screamed like a big girl everytime we were introduced to another animal - this was her reaction to seeing a mouse!

Of course, I was up for holding any animal that was offered, even including the snake. Here you can see me stroking this massive cockroach!

And here’s me again showing no signs of fear with a ferocious hedgehog!

And here’s the team from Fife Animal Park with Diane bravely (!) holding the piglet.

And before I go, here’s some more birds!…..the winner and the runners up with yours truly, from Wednesday’s Miss Kingdom FM 2009 held at Kitty’s in Kirkcaldy. (pic courtesy of ‘Yellow12 Photography’).

Have a good weekend!
Ian

March 19th, 2009

Like a whirlwind, Diane returned from her holiday in New York today, but wasn’t impressed to learn that I had been kept company by three women (and a man) while she was away.  Well that’s what you get for leaving the country and leaving me all on my own!

It has to be said Lee and Carrie, pictured above, did a great job yesterday (and thanks again Lee for my fab present - a spy pen!) but it was good to see the old girl again today.  However after the show I was ready for my bed after just a few hours sleep last night after being out at Kitty’s in Kirkcaldy, hosting Miss Kingdom FM 2009 - at  least it will soon be the weekend!

See you tomorrow for a special Spring edition of the Breakfast Show, together with some very special furry (and not so furry) visitors from the Fife Animal Park.

Ian

March 17th, 2009

As hard as it is to admit, I was really beginning to miss having Diane around after the first week of her holiday - so when Alison the taxi driver called and suggested I asked listeners if they’d like to come on the Breakfast Show and co-present with me, I jumped at the chance!
Friends often say to me that they think I’m mad to get up and start my day at 4.00am and that they couldn’t manage an early start. It came as a pleasant surprise then,when I asked for listeners to get in touch if they want to be guest presenters - in fact, it was almost getting to the point of needing to hold auditions!
So far this week Blue White from Glenrothes (that’s her stage name) was in on Monday.
She was a star, but did forget to put marmalade on my toast!
And today it was Jan Johnson’s turn from Dunfermline who works for HBOS in Edinburgh.  Despite foggy conditions she was at the studios nearly 30 minutes early - she must have been keen! We had a great time chatting about the good, and not so good things to come from Ireland - it being St Patrick’s Day!

 I’m sure Jan’s seven-year-old girl, Lucy would have been very proud of Mum’s efforts. Hopefully it was more fun than Jan’s last appearance on the radio when she took part in a school quiz - and came last!

Tune in tomorrow to see who’s next through the studio door - and standby for the return of Diane on Thursday!!!

Ian

March 16th, 2009

Word Is Out guesses are just below this post just in case you think they’ve vanished.

Anyway, back to the story and to the tenth week of the Wednesday Weigh In at the Weekend and confusion in the McLaren camp. If you heard the show on Saturday then you’ll have heard me being very confused about how my unladen (no clothes) weight was the same as the week before but the clothed weight was 3lbs up. I blamed everything I could think of including wearing heavy jeans but the truth is much more simple. A quick check of last weeks blog has revealed my mistake: I was mixing up the unclothed and clothed weight!

With the truth now out I need to find some excuses and I’ve opted for ignoring the large amounts of choclate biscuits, the Friday night beers and the King Rib supper that were consumed and have come up with the gym. Yes, I made it there this week and pushed myself a bit further than normal. As a result I reckon my body is storing more energy reserves and building up muscle. This is backed up (I think) by my overall body fat percentage being down. That’s got to explain it, surely? Self delusion is wonderful.

Anyway, the new weight is: 14st 12lbs.  Not long to go now!

March 14th, 2009

If you want to win lots of cash, have a think about the word that would fit in at the end of this sentence.

“My way to relax is to go ……”.

Here’s a list of the guesses that we have had so far…some fit better than others!!!

Shopping
Exercising
Fishing
Swimming
Cycling
Ironing
Snorkelling
Topless
Drinking
Skydiving
Gym
Commando
Skinny Dipping
Spa
Dancing
Bungee Jumping
Cemetery
Sleep
Jogging
Climbing
Driving
Bed
Sleeping
Shooting
Snowboarding
Golfing
Yoga
Bingo

You can play at 7.15 and 9.15 on Breakfast every weekday morning.
Call 01592 757 757 to register.

Good luck!
Ian

March 9th, 2009

I know it seems like I’m always asking for your help! What can I say? I’m very demanding!

On the show today I was talking about the online chart which lists UK radio DJs and their ranking as far as the social-networking-site-of-the-moment Twitter is concerned. The chart position is ranked by number of ‘followers’. Sitting proudly atop the list is Jonathan Ross with nearly 140,000 Twitter users who follow his online updates. That is a lot of people!

As you would expect a few of us here at Kingdom FM have Twitter accounts and accordingly are on the radio DJ chart. As I sit here and write this, Ali McLaren is ranked #213, Mike Pelosi is # 185, Barry Snedden is #113 and I am ranked #127. I can hear the cogs turning just now… you’ve already worked out what I’m asking you to do! If you have 5 minutes to spare, I would be most grateful if you could ‘follow’ me on Twitter; help me get ahead of Barry at #113. At the moment it looks there is about 35 or so more people following him than me… so let’s see if, with your help, I can edge ahead on the list!

You can follow me here > twitter.com/darrenstenhouse

March 7th, 2009

Oops, despite my best efforts we seem to have lost a week on the weigh in at the weekend although in my defence, I wasn’t well last week. Basically I’d had what one of my workmates dubbed vomitus spectaculous and only just made it in for the show after 2 days of being confined to the bed (or the toilet but you didn’t need to know about that). In the process I lost just under half a stone which was great but the problem with losing weight that fast and under those conditions is that you put it straight back on…… but have I?

WW@W is back this afternoon around 2.20pm and we’ll get the current position online before 6. Incidently it’s great to have a finish line in sight for no other reason than it’ll be nice to put the scales away again for a while.

Update (15:16) - So, amazingly, even without watching what I was eating or indulging in extra exercise I’ve put on…….. just half a pound! The current situation is:

Ali - Current Weight - 14st 9lbs. Weight Loss To Date: 7lbs 

March 4th, 2009

The first of April seems as good a date to stop the Wednesday Weigh In as any!

Back in January when Barry Snedden, Ali Mclaren and I decided to begin the Wednesday Weigh In we had in mind a date when we would finish; a definate end point. That date, at the time, was linked to our gym membership expiring. As it turns out, the gym that Barry and I had been training at has sadly closed, but we were undetered in our goals to shift a few extra pounds.

Having a goal in the form of an end date is important though, and we have agreed that our last Wednesday Weigh In will  take place on April Fools Day! Seems like a logical date to me!

For the record, here are the current stats as far as barry and I are concerned…

Darren - Current Weight - 13st 0lbs. Weight Loss To Date: 11lbs

Barry - Current Weight - 15st 7lbs. Weight Loss To Date: 11lbs

Will we make it to one stone loss by the time the 1st of April arrives? ….