Happy Birthday to me...

Considering I was at work yesterday I had a really rather nice birthday.

I got some good books:

Andrew Davies's "The Gangs of Manchester";
Tom Robb Smith's "The Secret Speech";
Neil Shubin's "Your Inner Fish";
Ian Hough's "Perry Boys";
David Kynaston's huge "Family Britain 1951-57" which was chosen on the way home from the beer festival, which probably explains the slight over-ambition!
Thomas Cook Rail Map of Europe.
Plus The Human League's "Travalogue" as I'm trying to catch up on all those LPs I should have bought in the '80s.

And some Irish linen sheets I'd ordered also turned up, so they felt like a birthday present to me, from me!

Although I was in work, I didn't do very much yesterday afternoon because Chris Evans and a sidekick were having a go on the Skeleton training track for some sporting challenge that they're doing on his radio show. So we decided to go over and "help out" despite neither of us actually being interested in Mr Evans or his antics (my colleague has spent most of her adult life outside the UK and had to have Mr Evans and his cultural significance explained). We took an auditor over there with us too, as he was just finishing up and decided that he didn't want to be locked in the office.

The producer (or maybe she was a representative of his agent*) was getting a bit skittish when we arrived - she didn't seem to have much of a sense of humour and what there was seemed to be exiting rapidly. So my colleague volunteered to watch the gate for 'intruders' and keep an eye on the local press photographers at the far end of the track. I baby-sat the auditor at the top of the track and kept him out of everyone's way, as they were filming the event for the radio show's website as well. This strategy was going quite well until Mr Evans found our hidey hole and insisted on shaking hands and asking how we were. I've got to say that I responded with grace and aplomb whilst the auditor went into, "I'm your biggest fan" mode. A short while later the stars were coming into the shed to change into their lycra suits ('sperm suits' one of our coaches calls them) at which point I decided that the auditor was big enough to fend for himself and I volunteered to relieve my colleague guarding the gate - middle aged men, commando under lycra are not my idea of a happy viewing experience.

Actually, she didn't want to be relieved 'cos she was having great fun chatting to the photographer and scribe from the Chron. and the photographer from a Sunday tabloid. It turned out to be quite a good vantage point as it's just where the bungee rope stops the sled from flying off the end of the track, and instead flicks it and its passenger back up the track. I've got to say that Mr Evans' face was a picture on the first practice run, not quite, 'Ooo, I'm enjoying this adrenaline rush as I hurtle toward the trees on a bit of plastic 2 inches above the concrete'. It was more the face of a man pondering how much stainage shows up on lycra and resolving to check his employment contract and medical insurance cover once he got back to London. If he got back to London. I bet they never asked Wogan to do this...

He looked far happier on subsequent runs and the Chron got some cracking shots - click here and search on 'chris evans'. Our photos are in the album over on the right. After the two stars had done their training runs and then their 2 final 'competition' runs, the crew were allowed to have one run each (not in lycra, but they did have crash helmets!). All of them were very quick and one of the lads was really good - there were a couple of half-jokes from us to him about whether he'd like to come to a talent id day. The auditor left early, shaking hands, waving and doing the thumbs up to Mr Evans as if he was his new best friend. Well, I suppose accountants don't get out much.

I've got to say that Chris Evans turned out to be a very nice chap. He even came over to us to say good-bye and when I asked if he'd enjoyed it said he had, but that he was a bit miffed that ALL the film crew had beaten both his and Jonny's times hands down! It's probably because all the crew had an average age of 12 and were probably 8 stone wet through. He'd come down to Bath in the van with the crew but him and Jonny were picked up by a helicopter for the return journey. The official video and photos are here.

So we had a lovely day sitting in the sunshine, chatting with some friendly journos and watching lunatics whizz by on sleds (I say 'lunatics' 'cos after the stories I've heard about the track there's no way you'd get me on that thing!). They were so lucky with the weather as it has hammered down all day today.

Jon and I left work early and went to the cinema to see Tom Ford's 'A Single Man' staring Colin Firth, which was brilliant. The attention to period detail was fantastic. Then a take-away Thai meal. All in all a very pleasant day.

*(I found it interesting to watch a video being made and how the 'star' is perceived through the people around him. For example the producer/agent told the scribe from the Chron. that "Mr Evans has refused all interviews, so he won't be speaking to you", although she would be allowed to stand behind the TV crew from the local BBC news when they asked their questions. But when the scribe went up there Chris said, "Do I talk to you first?" only to get a sharp 'NO!' from the producer/agent and get dragged off to see the TV crew. It's easy to see how stories of difficult celebs can get around when they've not actually done anything wrong.)