The best thing about being a breakfast radio presenter? People throw free stuff at you for no apparent reason. Yes, I know it’s wasteful and pointless but, like any other human being in the early 21st century, I want what’s coming to me 🙂

I’ve always gotten free stuff – it’s the nature of the job. Certainly since I came to RTE 4 years ago I’ve almost never paid for a CD or to go to a gig and, as a night-time guy, I would have gotten the occasional free phone, hamper of stuff, promotional bottle of whatever.

But, like many others in the office, we all look with awe at the amount of free stuff that would come in for the breakfast show on a daily basis. I should have known that was going to continue when Kelkin sent in a gorgeous (and quite healthy as I remember) breakfast for Ruth and I on the first day of the show. There’s been a stream of stuff since then but yesterday it all took a turn for the fantastic. Got a mail from Hasbro saying that they’d heard me talking a lot about Star Wars and would I like one of the new Darth Vader voice changer helmets and a lightsaber to go with it…. Does the Pope S*%t in the woods!?!?!?

It is the single coolest thing ever.

I’d been in a toystore at the weekend (realistically I never gave up going when I “grew up” but with kids you have the perfect excuse!) and saw the helmet, saw that it was €45 and said to myself that there was no way I could justify paying that for something so frivolous just for myself. Day or two later and it’s all mine, guilt free and it meant I presented parts of the show this morning in the style of Darth Vader. Fantastic!

Spent a while in their forbidden toy room (it’s real ya know!) geeking with the lovely girl about editions of Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit I have and Mr Potato Head (they have a brilliant new Darth Vader MPH coming out called Darth Tater!!) until I realised I was scaring her a bit and broadcasting geek rays over most of Dublin 2. I backed off politely 🙂

SW Ep III is Saturday morning – the review to follow…

R