Oval balls and baps...

What better way to prepare for a play about rugby league than attend a game? So four of us headed to see Hull FC take on the less than mighty Wigan Warriors, a somewhat lop-sided affair that was over and done by the half-time hooter. Post-game I was interviewed about the play on Radio Humberside, although I had to make a last-minute dash up three floors via a spiral staircase and then run up several flights of terracing to join the show's host. Anyway, I think I did ok and, despite the audible breathlessness, managed to sound coherent, and trotted out cliches such as, "it's a great honour to be given the task of writing this story" (which, I should add, it is). Martin B, the co-director, was over at Craven Park enjoying a Hull KR victory over Halifax, and we were both on-air at the same time, engaged in an east v west Hull conflict like in the good old days, when rugby players were, on the whole, fat, slightly more accessible to the fans and there was none of the fancy seating you get at the KC. On the walk back to the car down Anlaby Road I found myself laughing out loud at the name of a cafe christened Jayne's Baps. I have never met Jayne but people talk of little else around these parts other than sinking their teeth into her baps. We rounded a very good day off by eating a ridiculous amount of Indian food and playing Trivial Pursuit at M's mums. Sadly, my board game skills failed to match the winning ways of the Airlie Birds.

Listening: Manic Street Preachers - Gold Against The Soul