Party On!

Well okay, so I’ve never been one to turn down an invitation (I’ll go to the opening of a bag of crisps if necessary) but last night I turned down an opportunity to go to the press launch of Anton Corbijn’s new film ‘Control’ which is a biopic of legendary suicide-singer Ian Curtis (Joy Division). The reason I turned down the invitation was because Wednesdays are the night for my Buddhism class, so I went there instead. However, on my way home from Buddhism (which was spiritually uplifting, by the way) I dropped into the Broadway for a quick drink and somehow got dragged along to the ‘after party’ for the film’s debut. This was a private function at Nottingham’s ‘Blue’ club where we were fêted and wined amongst the glitterati of Nottingham’s creative talent. The esteemed Sir Paul Smith (fashion guru - and I think he paid for the whole event) was there, as was Paul Fraser (co-writer with Shane Meadows of ‘TwentyFour Seven’ and his own 'Scummy Man') and lots of other charming and erudite people – all (like me) getting hammered on the free booze and complimentary fish and chips (no, really - there were these mini packets of fish & chips wrapped in faux newspaper; so chic) . What a night! Doctor Jim was holding court admirably as was a really charismatic and fascinating young film-maker called Richard Graham. We need people like Richard in this city – he represents the future for us all.

The problem is, I am due to attend a breakfast seminar in aid of ‘Creative Technologies’ at the Nottingham Playhouse tomorrow – it starts at 7:45 a.m. so I guess there will be a few bleary/red eyes staring down at the free bacon sandwiches in the morning. Strangely, I don’t care because this is what being a writer in Nottingham is all about. I even met a man who writes software – just like I used to do in my former life. He knows what a nested loop is, all right.