19 February - Oscar Winners & Football Losers
We’re round a table, late dinner for Chinese new year, year of the Pig, should benefit all apparently. Now, that’s a bit of an impossible thing to believe, even by miss horoscope gullible like myself. Hope someone in Rwanda or Iraq knows that we’re all going to benefit and takes heart in the face of their daily misery. Then again knowing the Chinese (only a little) what they usually refer to is just money, they care a lot about it. Busy buying whatever they can, mineral, digital, bricks, mortar, washing machines, betting at the casino. Ok better not get into trouble here with my usual gross generalisations.
B. is waxing on about how all his friends are more successful than he’s been/is. But not us round the table, we hasten to point out. I guess he can take comfort in the fact that we, at least, will never make him feel bad. We’re equal non-winners. I wouldn’t use the word losers as I think we do fairly well, and we’ll have no trouble paying for the Sancerre (that J again, why waste such good wine to accompany Peking duck? But that’s how it is, mr. grand). We’re just not rich .. or famous and increasingly not able to say the ‘yet’ that would have made us feel better. I’m sort of ok with it but L. clearly isn’t. Three of us are over 40, three are well under but they’re similarly troubled.
Anyway, we briefly discuss some writer he knows, (I’ve never heard of her so she can’t be that successful I say loudly) and when pressed on who else would be his most successful friend he comes up with Rachel Whiteread. C. pipes up ‘She does inside out houses right?’ and I add ‘And giant sugar cubes’ And yes that would make you feel less than a true achiever having her as a friend, but… it’s not earth shattering and when asked if she’s happy he seems to think not terribly so which just goes to prove it’s all irrelevant. ‘Cheer up’ I say. But he’s got another one to add.
Last week he was at an Arsenal game (two around this table are big, big fans) and asked one of the possee who hang with them - but who they obviously don’t know very well - if he’s going next weekend to the game in Cardiff vs. Chelsea. The man says sadly and subdued ‘No, I can’t go…’ ‘Why not? Asks B. it’s a v. v. big game. ‘Can’t, gotta go to the Oscars’ comes the deadpan reply. ‘Er, why, or rather what do you do then?’ asks L with sinking heart ‘Er, I’ve got two films up for Oscars’ says the man with traditional British underachiever manner. He’s none other than one of the producers of ‘Notes on a Scandal’ and ‘The Last King of Scotland’.
I totally fall off my chair laughing at this point, just looking at L.’s face, after he’s given us the punchline. Yes, we have to agree, compared to this chap, we’re major non-winners here. At least at the time of his exchange L. had not seen either of these movies yet. We are happy to confirm to him that we enjoyed them both very much.
Am sure that if we went for a drink with this chap he’d underplay the Oscars to the point of saying he’d really rather be in Cardiff next weekend, it’s just the way Western life is. Never ecstatic about achievements and goal reaching so why feel so bad if you’ve aimed low in the first place or aimed high and just not got there because of whatever twists and turns? Easy for me to say. As the only woman round the table, I’m probably the most zen, indirectly and without trying to achieve that level. I just am. Then again, those around the table who are happily having sex at the moment seem less angst-ed than those who are not. There's a valuable and advisable strategy: sort out the bedroom and you'll feel like a winner. Always.
Oh and spare a thought for the producers of said movies if they come away with no Oscars and Arsenal loses as well. Woe? Yes?
B. is waxing on about how all his friends are more successful than he’s been/is. But not us round the table, we hasten to point out. I guess he can take comfort in the fact that we, at least, will never make him feel bad. We’re equal non-winners. I wouldn’t use the word losers as I think we do fairly well, and we’ll have no trouble paying for the Sancerre (that J again, why waste such good wine to accompany Peking duck? But that’s how it is, mr. grand). We’re just not rich .. or famous and increasingly not able to say the ‘yet’ that would have made us feel better. I’m sort of ok with it but L. clearly isn’t. Three of us are over 40, three are well under but they’re similarly troubled.
Anyway, we briefly discuss some writer he knows, (I’ve never heard of her so she can’t be that successful I say loudly) and when pressed on who else would be his most successful friend he comes up with Rachel Whiteread. C. pipes up ‘She does inside out houses right?’ and I add ‘And giant sugar cubes’ And yes that would make you feel less than a true achiever having her as a friend, but… it’s not earth shattering and when asked if she’s happy he seems to think not terribly so which just goes to prove it’s all irrelevant. ‘Cheer up’ I say. But he’s got another one to add.
Last week he was at an Arsenal game (two around this table are big, big fans) and asked one of the possee who hang with them - but who they obviously don’t know very well - if he’s going next weekend to the game in Cardiff vs. Chelsea. The man says sadly and subdued ‘No, I can’t go…’ ‘Why not? Asks B. it’s a v. v. big game. ‘Can’t, gotta go to the Oscars’ comes the deadpan reply. ‘Er, why, or rather what do you do then?’ asks L with sinking heart ‘Er, I’ve got two films up for Oscars’ says the man with traditional British underachiever manner. He’s none other than one of the producers of ‘Notes on a Scandal’ and ‘The Last King of Scotland’.
I totally fall off my chair laughing at this point, just looking at L.’s face, after he’s given us the punchline. Yes, we have to agree, compared to this chap, we’re major non-winners here. At least at the time of his exchange L. had not seen either of these movies yet. We are happy to confirm to him that we enjoyed them both very much.
Am sure that if we went for a drink with this chap he’d underplay the Oscars to the point of saying he’d really rather be in Cardiff next weekend, it’s just the way Western life is. Never ecstatic about achievements and goal reaching so why feel so bad if you’ve aimed low in the first place or aimed high and just not got there because of whatever twists and turns? Easy for me to say. As the only woman round the table, I’m probably the most zen, indirectly and without trying to achieve that level. I just am. Then again, those around the table who are happily having sex at the moment seem less angst-ed than those who are not. There's a valuable and advisable strategy: sort out the bedroom and you'll feel like a winner. Always.
Oh and spare a thought for the producers of said movies if they come away with no Oscars and Arsenal loses as well. Woe? Yes?
Labels: film
posted by Lisa Taylor @ 7:15 AM
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