Oscar Night

I thought I’d add a few posts as I haven’t updated the site for nearly a week.

Last night, we were invited a lovely Bar Mitzvah and my cousin promised that he would pop in to see what I was up to here. If you’re reading this J, welcome!

The venue was a Gentlemen’s Club. Now before any of you get the wrong idea, there was a nary a scantily dressed woman in sight. No, this was an old fashioned “women are barred from so and so room club”, you know, the kind you see in films like “Around The World In 80 Days”.

Sitting at a table with relatives, my eyes were drawn to a glass cabinet lining the wall. To my surprise, I spotted an Oscar statuette. I went over to have a look and lo and behold, their found myself staring at the genuine article; a real Academy Award. It had been presented to famed British director Emeric Pressburger for “best writing of an original story” in relation to ‘The Invaders aka The 49th Parallel’ in 1942. He was a member of the club and when he passed away, he bequeathed all his trophies to the institution. It was sitting next to a BAFTA too (but that’s not nearly as exciting as the Oscar).

I wandered around and couldn’t help but imagine this group of crusty old men reading The Times, smoking their Havana cigars with a glass of brandy in their right hand.
It really was a different world.

When I left the club and re-entered 2006, I could almost feel the ghosts of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells accompanying me through the cold night air of London town.