You're about to dive into a week of diary entries which ultimately record a moment that changed my life FOREVER! Those capital letters are warranted because this will be the week that a then 20 year old me will be introduced to the destroyer of lives, creator of vomit, inducer of sassy regretful remarks...a plastic garbage bin filled with party punch. This brutal yet beguiling concoction apparently required the opening of a few tins of bog standard fruit salad, then leaving it to stew in tequila FOR 3 DAYS!!! By the time I rocked up to the party, having helped myself settle in by annihilating half a bottle of vodka. So by the time I discovered the party punch, it would seem I was totes down with actually fisting handfuls of tequila soaked fruity mush into my face hole, so much so that I turned my face hole into an explosive vomit hole instead. It's a foggy memory, so I can't be sure if it's true, but I'm pretty sure that explosive vomit happened as I stood amongst a loose circle of 20-30 people I didn't really know, all grouped around a bin fire, exchanging party pleasantries. So it's safe to say I probably ruined that comfy gather round a bin fire vibe hehe. To help me work through that,  Brendan 'Jonesy' Jones and his wife Helen are back, they're my besties and former roomies from 1990 in Karratha. Together we'll work through upchuck central, plus diary entries recording the return of my depression once my mum and little bro are no longer around, but a special phone call helps reduce the meh feels. I’ve also had just about enough of a workmates bitching, moaning and complaining, so naturally I bitch, moan and complain about it in my diary. So it's same, same but the difference is I'm completely ignorant to my own hypocrisy. Also technology arrives into my radio world as computers start featuring in my daily work life and of course there's me being introduced to my first ever non alcohol tasting punch and it’s an actual disasteeeerrr, so get ready to get queasy, as we delve into the origin of me losing any interest in having abundant alcohol ever again.

<div>You're about to dive into a week of diary entries which ultimately record a moment that changed my life FOREVER! Those capital letters are warranted because this will be the week that a then 20 year old me will be introduced to the destroyer of lives, creator of vomit, inducer of sassy regretful remarks...a plastic garbage bin filled with party punch. This brutal yet beguiling concoction apparently required the opening of a few tins of bog standard fruit salad, then leaving it to stew in tequila FOR 3 DAYS!!! By the time I rocked up to the party, having helped myself settle in by annihilating half a bottle of vodka. So by the time I discovered the party punch, it would seem I was totes down with actually fisting handfuls of tequila soaked fruity mush into my face hole, so much so that I turned my face hole into an explosive vomit hole instead. It's a foggy memory, so I can't be sure if it's true, but I'm pretty sure that explosive vomit happened as I stood amongst a loose circle of 20-30 people I didn't really know, all grouped around a bin fire, exchanging party pleasantries. So it's safe to say I probably ruined that comfy gather round a bin fire vibe hehe. To help me work through that,  Brendan 'Jonesy' Jones and his wife Helen are back, they're my besties and former roomies from 1990 in Karratha. Together we'll work through upchuck central, plus diary entries recording the return of my depression once my mum and little bro are no longer around, but a special phone call helps reduce the meh feels. I’ve also had just about enough of a workmates bitching, moaning and complaining, so naturally I bitch, moan and complain about it in my diary. So it's same, same but the difference is I'm completely ignorant to my own hypocrisy. Also technology arrives into my radio world as computers start featuring in my daily work life and of course there's me being introduced to my first ever non alcohol tasting punch and it’s an actual disasteeeerrr, so get ready to get queasy, as we delve into the origin of me losing any interest in having abundant alcohol ever again.</div>

My name is Benjamin Wasley, you may remember me from my work as Giggling Ben on Hamish and Andy, or even Bad Boy Ben with the Vixen back in the 90's, but way before any of that, when I was 19, I moved from the seclusion of my bedroom at my parents house in Adelaide, all the way to the isolated Western Australian mining town of Karratha, to start work as a radio announcer for the very first time at a little radio station called 6KA. My Godmother gave me a diary to record every momentous occasion and now, 30+ years later, I'm going to find out how weird, arrogant, lame, self absorbed and closeted the teenage version of me was. To hold my hand while we revisit the end of the 80's and work our way through 365 days worth of embarrassing diary entries, I'll be joined by the people who've know me the longest, so we can have a giggle at the teenage version of me, and compare it with who I am now, and also revisit the world as it was at the end of the 80's, compared to how we're living right now.

Inside the Diary of a (Wannabe) Radio Announcer

19 in 89

You're about to dive into a week of diary entries which ultimately record a moment that changed my life FOREVER! Those capital letters...

Advertisement