Weekend round-up

On Saturday afternoon, Cambridge Rugby Club played top of the table Esher, and were well and truly trounced 15-53, and to be fair, Esher not only looked as if they deserved their position in the table, but would fare well when they return to the division above us. We wish them luck. John Inverdale spoke on behalf of the club, and made his views clear on the future of rugby. He said unequivocally, that we have to understand we're in the entertainment business and England are currently the most boring team on the planet. He'd rather lose 27-35 and have everyone leave Twickenham feeling it was worth the £200 they'd spent, than win 11-9 to a silent, nonplussed crowd. I totally agree with him. Esher went on to prove they also agreed with him because they never stopped throwing the ball around, which is how they got 53 points.

In the evening, Mary and I attended a concert by the Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra, where they were presenting the prize winning pianist, Mateusz Borowiak. His performance of Chopin's Piano Concerto no.1 was so good that he had to play two encores, not the customary one. I had the privilege of meeting him after the show, but didn't tell him of the time I sat next to Clifford Curzon at a dinner party when the great man told me he practiced 8 hours a day, adding, "If I take a day off, I know; if I take two days off, the critics know; if I take three days off, the public know". Clearly if Mateusz Borowiak wishes to attain such dizzy heights, he has a life of dedication ahead of him that few of us would even begin to understand.

On Sunday, I returned to London to do an auction for SCOPE, a charity which supports those living with cerebral palsy, and their families and carers. The auction at the RAC raised £15,350, which included over £1,000 in fines for people who kept interrupting me. While I left, the other lunch guests entered the backgammon and bridge tournament which is the background of the fundraising event. I went on to the cinema to see Crazy Heart, and it certainly didn't come as a surprise to learn this morning that Jeff Bridges had won the Best Actor Oscar. It was a consumate performance given by an actor with forty years of experience, and displaying every one of his skills as a clapped-out country and western singer. I didn't think the film was that good, indeed the cinema was half empty, but if you enjoy seeing an actor at the peak of his career, giving one of the best performances of his life, it's worth every penny. It brought to mind the performances of Jack Lemmon in Glengarry Glen Ross, and David Niven in Separate Tables, when an actor is lucky enough to get part which allows him to show you just how good he is.