Holy cow, Otway for an Oscar?

Keep the weekend of the 19th and 20th May open, we all going to Cannes for the launch of the campaign to secure John Otway an Oscar. They said we could not get one of his lyrics into the Top 10 lyrics of all time, they were wrong, they said we could not get him a Top single for his 50th birthday, they were wrong, they said he would not be able to make a film and premiere it at the Odeon, Leicester Square, they were wrong. They also said we could not get 150 of his fans to pay £3000 each to go on a world tour, and they were right, we only got 100. This however, is the ultimate challenge.

A much smaller challenge will be getting Mr Otway to open his account at Currencies Direct. He will be needing to send a lot of euros down to Cannes to cover the costs. The things I have to do in order to secure another customer for this excellent foreign exchange service.

The campaign will be  launched at the Cannes Film Festival and you could be there. Details are available on the website for Otway The Movie. I particularly like the idea of the 100 Otway walk. 100 people dressed in his trademark black trousers and White shirt and wearing an Otway mask will be marching up the Croisette and it will all be filmed for a YouTube clip. The weekend starts on Friday 17th May with the Otway Big Band will be playing somewhere on the Saturday night. I have a picture taken in Cannes recently as my photo of the day.

Modern art in Cannes. How to fool most people most of the time…

To celebrate finalising these plans, the finishing touches to which were applied in the Kings Arms at Arundel earlier in the week, we went next door to the White Hart for their sushi night. I had a long discussion with Desperate Dan the landlord about the relative merits of Harvey’s bitter and the best beer in the world, London Pride and believe I have persuaded him to try it out in the summer. I like a pint of Harvey’s but I love a pint of London Pride.

The sushi was a triumph apparently, but they did not seem to find it amusing when I asked for mine to be cooked properly. I went for the seared scallops and yakatori chicken, both of which were excellent, and beautifully cooked. It seems to me to be a bit of a swizz being presented with a meal that has not been cooked. It is why I have an aversion to salads unless it is hot outside. As Peachy Butterfield would say, a salad dodger.

This morning the weather has reverted to type. Drizzle, My least favourite weather phenomenon, so walking on the South Downs looks unlikely. You must not consider that the banging hangover, created by an over exuberant consumption of an excellent 2009 St Emilion, newly available from the pub, has anything to do with it, nor the awful taste in my mouth following a very late and unwise decision to smoke one of my Sancho Panza cigars. Oh no, it just that old war wound playing me up again.

This afternoon I may pop next door to watch the minor players in the 6 nations championship, but the real game, England versus Ireland, will take place tomorrow and I feel sure that I shall be in the pub watching an England triumph and then planning a trip to France to collect my 10 euro winnings from John “800 years of repression” O Sullivan.

Chris France
@Valbonne_News