Quantum of solicitors

Whatever you may think of the latest Bond film Quantum of Solace (I found it somewhat short on action with too many soliloquies and Bergmanesque reflections on the meaning of life) the main body of music is fantastic. So it was a genuine pleasure to attend an evening reception hosted by Collyer Bristow last week in honour of David Arnold, the Bond composer.

Arnold is a long-time Collyer Bristow client and was warm in his praise for the support that the firm had given him as his career progressed from somewhat naive novice to the seasoned composer for Independence Day, Little Britain and now consecutive Bonds. His journey from Luton to Los Angeles is a modern epic in which, for once, the lawyers have been the good guys.

Everyone threw themselves into the spirit of the occasion with evening dress and dry martinis de rigueur. The only blot was a minority of rude guests who insisted on chattering away in the background drowning out some of Arnold’s excellent talk. M only knows what Bond might have done in the face of this quantum of provocation.

Copy cats

One person who would like to meet David Arnold is Sacha Wilson, a trainee solicitor at Olswang, who features as a resident legal expert on the new Copyright Clinic at www.copyrightaware.co.uk

Sacha dresses in a black T-shirt and looks exactly like a young, hip, film-music writer. He admits that was his career aspiration but he got waylaid into becoming a lawyer instead. So rather than composing he hands out legal advice on common questions about copyright.

Sacha sits alongside Tom (who is also a DJ), Amy (whose aunt is a children’s book illustrator) and Anna (who has lots of friends in the entertainment biz) as they embark on their mission to “counter public confusion” about copyright theft wearing that special “Olswang look” learnt in cool school. But not, I suspect, in Luton.

Duck soup

Did someone say that the Carry on . . . series is about to be revived? If so they have a perfect plot in what is turning out to be the Carry on Cooking saga in which Davenport Lyons has been instructed by Chinese restaurants in Chinatown and Queensway to save the traditional ovens in which crispy duck and other dishes are prepared.

On the other side is Westminster City Council, which is intent on turning off the flames in a variety of appliances, such as tandoori ovens and Korean table burners. This battle between small restaurateurs and bureaucrats has all the ingredients for a comedy classic with the modern twist that the fight has moved to Brussels. Someone should start writing the theme tune — Ovens Are Forever — now.

Duck shot

Meanwhile, photos of crispy ducks can be sent to The Times/Walker Morris/Saatchi photo competition at timescompetition@walkermorris.co.uk

edward.fennell@yahoo.co.uk

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