13th May: Daily news podcast and news

13th May daily news podcast and update now up on Insitelaw newswire.

Charon After Dark….

Charon After Dark - a series of podcasts.

AfterDark1 podcast

A bit of Pink Floyd, a visit to Geeklawyer’s website - PCSOs take my hedge into custody and other matters.

AfterDark 2 podcast

The audio version of West London Man (1) : The first hot weekend of summer.

12th May: Daily news podcast and news

Daily news podcast and news now up on InsiteLaw Newswire

West London Man (1): With the first hot weekend of summer…

And so… with the first hot weekend of summer… West London Man (WLM) has been to Sainsburys Homebase, purchased some charcoal, and a new barbecue. He has been to Macken Brothers in Chiswick for choice cuts of meat and sausages and he has petrol or firelighters. West London Man is also mildly inebriated and about to commit the first of many social atrocities of the coming summer.

Ordinarily, West London Man does not cook. He is a City professional or in Telly… somewhere. He eats sushi by day and M&S prepared meals by night - or eats out. It is possible that West London Man drives an Audi, BMW or Mercedes… anything is possible…. but not saloons, of course…. and he may well have paid more for a model with no roof… for better road visibility… of him.

It is curious how men who do not know how to cook, never cook at home, suddenly find themselves possessed of chef skills when the first hot summer sun appears. The barbecue is set up. West London wife / girlfriend looks on with mounting horror / amusement / disdain / love / adoration (*) as WLM puts a butcher’s apron on. WLM would never, of course, be so crass as to have one of those comedy aprons with an image of a woman in black underwear and stockings printed on it. He may well be crass enough, over the age of 16, to wear cut off trousers and be wearing a pink or pale blue polo shirt - but he does not wear comedy barbecue aprons. Barbecues are serious matters…. pour hommes.

(*) It depends on how long WLM and Mrs WLM have been married / going out.

He has injected his tiger prawns with Chili dip sauce purchased from a West London supermarket. He has marinaded his steaks in yet another sauce purchased from a supermarket and his sausages are made from very rare pigs and a herb mix designed to appeal to the West London palate by cunning ‘traditional’ butchers.

WLM is now ready to begin. With the panache of a conductor at The Proms - he ignites the coals, pouring petrol onto the charcoal. There is clapping from the assembled men who, like our ancestors when they first saw fire, marvelled. WHOOOOSH….. the barbecue is on fire… there is no escort of Chinese athletes in London this time. The light of cullinary freedom is lit. The music is .. Also sprach Zarathustra… The next thing WLM has to do is…. prepare the Pimms - another popular summer barbecue drink, conjuring up images of the Far East of Somerset Maugham.

Of course, West London Man is driven… he works in the City (or is something in Telly) and this particular one hasn’t got any idea at all about cooking. He cannot wait. On go the steaks, the prawns, the sausages… into the flames of Hades. The baked potatoes, salad and other additions to the meal have been prepared by Mrs West London Man or have been bought in from M&S… and, where necessary, heated up.

Unfortunately… WLM does not realise that one has to wait until the coals are very hot and the flames have subsided before cooking. Before you know it, City professionals etc etc… are eating sausages with the appearance of having survived a nuclear attack on the outside but are raw inside and the steaks have shrivelled to half the size. But all is well… this is man food. This is how our ancestors did it - before Delia came along.

West London Man and his guests were not able to concentrate on work fully the next day - the frequency of trips to the lavatory higher than for the usual Columbian ‘comfort’ breaks.

Tomorrow night, I am going to Kensington Place to write a review for LawandMore. I’m glad they know to cook there.

***

I have decided that West London Man will be doing The Season - Chelsea, Wimbledon, Lords, Glyndebourne, Ascot, Henley … he will be there… and I shall report on how he handles himself. See: Comments below for a foretaste.

***

And if you survived my rant… then go and read this… excellent stuff:

Seriously, you’re having a fucking laugh

Buona notte….. we shall meet again… on the field of the cloth of gold…. possibly. Cry God for Harry etc etc … unless you are a Dawkins fan…..

Weekend Review: 10-11 May

I happened to find myself, quite by chance, sitting in the garden at The Swan last night, talking to some good friends. As the wine flowed we started talking about Boris, advancing the proposition that he could well be the next prime minister of Britain - a view, amusingly, raised in The News of The World today. We moved on to say that recent political history seems to suggest that charismatic leaders tend to be followed by dull, and once the bloodlust of the electorate and the fourth estate is sated with charismatic leaders being put to the sword every eight to ten years or so, the boot goes in to the dull leaders who follow until they too are hounded from office. One of our number, a former political editor of a leading tabloid and Editor of a leading political journal, smiled benignly and enjoyed his wine. So… the question is, will Gordon survive his revolting backbenchers, will Cameron realise that he may not be able to control Boris and out do him on the charisma stakes….?

So… how has the Judiciary fared in irritating the tabloids this week?

Pretty well, as it happens. The News of The World expresses outrage at the activities of several judges. Earlier in the week The Daily Mail noted that Judge Nash branded three women robbers “over-the-hill slappers” in an astonishing courtroom attack as he sentenced them… and today we have Carole Mallone from NOTW ranting “HOW much longer are our batty, silly, out-of-touch judges going to be allowed to get away with decisions that, at worst, cost lives and, at best, make the law look a bigger ass than it already does?”

Given that a lot of people do not admit to reading NOTW, and to save your blushes, I quote from Ms Mallone’s excellent coverage: “Last week Judge Martin Picton allowed roofer Lee Jones—who’d repeatedly punched a policeman in the face—to suspend the conditions of his curfew to go on a Spanish golfing holiday. Then there was Judge Graham Cottle who listened to some cock-and-bull story from heroin dealer Andy Morgan (whose friend actually DIED after taking drugs supplied by him) about how his electronic tag didn’t look fashionable with his surf shorts then decided that because Morgan had actually got a job (selling surf boards) he should be allowed to take it off. Now we have Judge Robert Atherton who allowed paedophile Jon Dixon to walk free after he admitted attempting to rape an 11-year-old girl in her school lunch break, because, said the judge, the girl had “welcomed sexual activity”.

There is only so much one can take, so moving on…

And the bloggers? What have they been up to?

I cover the latest posts to quite a few blogs every couple of days or so in Insitelaw Newswire - so I am free to comment on Sundays on the more bizarre offerings. Let us pray… and, indeed, kick off with Geeklawyer’s latest competition (You may win a bottle of Whisky). Geeklawyer has found an example of artificial intelligence - ironically in connection with the rail sector. While I reported on this the other evening (infra) the coverage on geeklawyer’s site is rather more thorough. Inevitably, when I read that Geeklawyer was taking my niece, Sativa Charon, to the Natural History museum today, I had to investigate further.

John Bolch of Family Lore has a visitor.

Freed from the shackles of having to confine myself to reporting on the law in this place (because I have the other place for that) I would like to draw your attention to three or four non-legal blogs I enjoy reading. I’ll say nothing, save that they are all worth reading and may well become part of your own regular reading. In no particular order ; Ms R: A woman of experience | Knitting with only one needle | Nourishing Obscurity | Guido Fawkes. Well… I will say this - they are all amusing and, at times, controversial.

It is good to see that European politicians are still working in our interests….

PORKY Euro MP Tom Wise raises a glass to another rewarding day in Brussels—one spent shamelessly DODGING work and SCAMMING a fortune in expenses.

As he leaned on the bar guzzling beer Wise bragged to a News of the World investigator how he milks the taxpayer for THOUSANDS every week in dodgy allowances and travel claims. Full outraged story

I’m off to trough at a bit of scoff…. back later….

Podcast 55: Andrew Keogh, author, barrister and blogger…

Podcast 55: Andrew Keogh, author, barrister and blogger

Today I am talking to Andrew Keogh, a barrister in practice, author of Twenty Twelve and author of the White Rabbit Blog

We talk of many things - including, Andrew’s writing, practice at the criminal bar and pupillage and, of course, about blogging. We even shoehorn a bit of cricket in.

Listen to the podcast with Andrew Keogh

Are your trains overcrowded?

I returned to my Staterooms at 9.00 tonight to watch Have I got News For You, and then repaired to the bunker to visit the blogs.

Ineluctably (my word of the week), I found myself on Geeklawyer’s blog, as is often the case on a Friday evening when I am over refreshed. Tonight, it may interest you to know, I have not taken so much as a drop to drink. I have, however, now poured some Rioja into my new Bohemian glass vase, purchased when I found myself wondering uninvited onto BBC’s daytime television programme Bargain Hunt yesterday morning. It matters not why I was wearing a blue tracksuit top - but… I now realise that the seller of said vase may have mistaken me for a contestant on that programme - because of the blue tracksuit top.

Why was I wearing a blue tracksuit top and wandering around at a car boot sale? I don’t really know to be frank. I am over 50 and I had a phonecall from a call centre asking me if I’d like a conservatory. The blue tracksuit top came free with the conservatory.

As soon as I received the blue track suit top I felt a need to go to a car boot sale to see if I could buy some rubbish to recycle and get my money’s worth for my council tax when the binmen call next week.

I did explain to the call centre telephonist that I lived twenty feet above the ground in an apartment in West London - but this did not seem to trouble him. He took the details down and told me that a designer would come over to see me between 7.00 am - and midnight. He could not give me a more precise time. The blue tracksuit top arrived by courier as promised. I do hope the conservatory company are not too pissed off when they arrive next week to ‘price up at no obligation’ the conservatory and discover that I do, indeed, live twenty feet above the ground. I suppose that I will have to return the blue track suit top. What will be, will be…. perhaps it was all a dream?

I shall ask the Police Community Support Officers, who have now got a 24/7 surveillance team in the house opposite me watching my overgrown hedge, to ask the conservatory people ‘to move along’ if they cause trouble.

Well… there I was… on Geeklawyer’s blog and he has a new competition…. Geeklawyer introduces the matter with: “Master Cantrell has alerted Geeklawyer to National Rail’s hilarious experiment with Artificial Intelligence for train information. It/She is called Lisa.”

I have read, of course, Geeklawyer’s questions to Lisa. I just had to have a go. I asked Lisa some questions:

Charon: Lisa, you seem to have a lot of friends, judging by the picture of you. Are they all your friends?

Lisa: I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you mean. Could you please rephrase it for me? I find it easier to understand short sentences and keywords.

[It occurred to me that I may be trying to 'lead' Lisa - so I asked her a very simple question]

Charon: Who are those people in the picture?

Lisa: The lady in the picture above is me … I’m Lisa, the National Rail Enquiries Linguabot.

Charon: And what do you do? [I should explain that I was trying to arrange an inappropriate liaison. Needs must for the over fifties.]

Lisa: My job is to answer your questions as well as I can. [Most commendable. Even the most difficult judge could not complain about that answer]

Charon: Do you like doing this work?

Lisa: I think you’re asking me about service alterations or engineering work, but I’m not 100% sure I know what you want. Please choose from one of the following:

1 Current Engineering work or service alterations
2 Planned engineering work or service alterations in the future?
3 Engineering work or service alterations which occurred in the past and are now cleared?

***

It was at this point that I realised Lisa was not going to be a hot date… no matter how patient and subtle my questioning…. and that I should pursue my wish to meet Mrs C in more conventional ways. I am going to hold a “Britain’s Got Talent’ competition and see if I can meet the future Mrs C that way…..

And… on that note. I must go. Hat Tip to Geeklawyer for drawing my attention to Lisa…. I could have done something more useful had I not seen his post. It is quite possible, but improbable, that I may have written a sonnet, composed an aria, designed a building, written some music, painted a masterpiece or…. have finished building that bloody temple that has not been finished after all these years…. . Just can’t get the staff these days… all the masons have become police officers, judges or gone back to Poland.

Buona notte.

8th May: Daily news podcast and news

UPDATE: 11.00 am - Insitelaw Newswire: What’s on the blogs?: Updated as at 8th May (infra)
Quite a few more UK bloggers blogging this week.

Good morning… Daily news podcast and news now up on Insitelaw Newswire. I’m not sure there is much value to having a separate blog for the Insitelaw newswire - I think the discussion board would be a better forum for those who want to comment / run amok et al. A few bloggers have joined, including Geeklawyer. May I invite bloogers, readers to think about joining / joining the discussion board

A rather good story today…

YOU LOT ARE A BUNCH OF OVER-THE-HILL SLAPPERS
HH Judge Timothy Nash

Indeed… read about it on Insitelaw ( I am without shame at directing readers to the serious newswire!)

I have decided, with over 100 blogs to look at, that I can’t do it every morning - so plan to do updates every two days for what is on the blogs. Updating news, law reports, press releases and brief editorial (as well as the daily news podcast) is done… daily!

A Touch of Class…

So… Prime Minister Brown is going to listen following recent unfortunate events in elections and polls.

Let’s see how he is doing so far with his newly acquired listening skills:

(a) Didn’t really listen to his backbenchers on the 10p tax rate abolition

(b) Does not seem to be listening to law officers and sundry other experts on the extension of terror detention without charge limits from 28 - 42 days

(c) Didn’t listen to experts appointed by his government on the re-classification of Cannabis from Class C to Class B

(d) Didn’t listen to civil liberties people on the burgeoning use of CCTV cameras. They don’t seem to be working. Only 3% of crimes in London have been solved using CCTV and, apparently, policemen don’t like trawling through the pictures. It is hard work, said one copper, reportedly, in the press yesterday

(e) Didn’t seem to be listening to Wendy Alexander when she told him that she was going to press for an Independence referendum in Scotland to flush the SNP out and did not appear to be listening to himself when he, apparently, told Wendy Alexander to press on with her plan. All very puzzling. BBC story

WTF is Gordon smoking? Won’t be a spliff of course - not his style. I seem to recall some time ago that a substantial number of Labour politicians (and other politicians - but not Cameron) confessed to using cannabis in their youth.

I am, of course, not smoking a spliff in the picture above. I have perfected the art of rolling very large cigarettes since I took up smoking rollups. Practice makes perfect.

7th May daily news podcast and news

Daily news podcast

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Let us pray - there is to be a gathering of the blawgers….

I have just been to Geeklawyer’s blog to read of the news that there is to be a gathering of the blawgers. Not quite the glory of UK Blawgers 2007 - a more modest affair in a Temple of our craft.

At the moment plans are secret…  as befits our craft - but all, shall, no doubt, be revealed in time…. in the meantime you may care to read… of the following…

I’m now going to do a bit of opus dei and see what the day brings when I wake at 3.00 am this morning….

Muttley Dastardly LLP: Carbon footprint…

PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL

To: Partners

From: Matt Muttley, Managing Partner

RE: CARBON FOOTPRINT

Dr Strangelove, our new Director of Research & Education, has forwarded an email from The Law Society - a rare survivor of our new spam and junk mail filter systems. I was, of course, aware that polar bears are now floating around on small chunks of ice off the coast near Scunthorpe because of global warming, and, I am told, one has even passed the LPC and been admitted, but until I read this paper from The Law Society I had absolutely no idea that the legal profession was responsible for doing something about it. It seems that The Law Society is most active on the matter and that law firms must do their bit to promote and further global warming.

The task, fellow partners, is to reduce our carbon footprint. Apparently, according to The Law Society press release, “an alliance comprising law firms and organisations has announced plans to develop a carbon footprint measuring tool for firms across the sector.”

The news release states, solemnly: “The LSA Carbon Footprint Protocol is being developed by the sector for the sector in recognition of the fact that many law firms have not yet begun to measure their carbon footprint. Early results from an LSA survey reveal that many firms have not measured their carbon footprint because they do not know where to start.”

I enjoyed the bit where Law Society Chief Executive Des Hudson states: ‘You can’t manage what you haven’t measured, so calculation of your carbon footprint is absolutely crucial before you take action to reduce it.

He would definitely get three Yes votes on Britain’s Got Talent.

Dr Strangelove advises that quite a few serious law firms have already signed up for this alliance, so there must be advantage in this for us and I plan to see if we can jump on board as well. The good news, reading the small print of the press release, is that when (a) we have discovered what carbon foot print is in relation to the activities of this firm, (b) used the tool to measure it and (c) worked out a plan to reduce it, we don’t have to publicise our results - so no need to worry about implementation costs or engaging our clients to participate in this with us (by accepting our costs under disbursements) at this stage.

I would be grateful for advice on this issue at your lesure.

PS: Would you be kind enough to let my PA, Eva Braun, know how many of you want to go shooting in Scotland this year so that she can book the Lear jets and the fleet of Range Rovers. I know that some partners, because of our increasing presence in the lucrative Japanese market, are keen to sponsor a japanese whale fishing expedition but this may have to wait as costs to sponsor the Chinese athletes escorting the olympic torch around the world were rather higher than we anticipated. But… hey… Beijing… here we come!

6th May: Daily news podcast and news…

6th May: Daily news podcast and news…

While news is a bit thin on the ground after the Bank holiday - the daily news podcast and links to legal news stories is now up on insitelaw newswire. I’ll be updating the blogs section, law reports and legal round up sections as the day progresses.

I have set up a discussion board on insitelaw - if you would like to join - please do so here

A very British perspective….

The BBC reports that The threat of a nuclear attack on the UK in the 1950s caused concern over the supply of tea, top-secret documents which have now been released reveal. Government officials planning food supplies said the tea situation would be “very serious” after a nuclear war. “It would be wrong to consider that even 1oz per head per week could be ensured,” they stated.

The BBC has published a list of the Top 10 most complained about adverts. The most offensive was from the NHS for a ‘give up smoking’ advert and brought in a fantastic 778 complaints. Given that there must be countless millions of workshy daytime television viewers, coffin dodgers waiting for Countdown to come on and then, in the evening, a legion of takeaway eating couch potatoes watching TV - it seems we are a very tolerant nation. BUT… who are the 778 people who did complain? What sort of people are they? Why do they feel the urge to rush off and telephone or write in to complain?

At the risk of sounding like some old buffoon on BBC’s Points of View programme, I’d like to say that I am grateful to Ann Porter of Belfast for taking the trouble to write in to the BBC website and post this guff ” Well after reading this I have concluded that there’s not much point in having ASA. As far as I’m concerned all of these complaints should have seen the adverts banned, as should all adverts of female hygiene products. How standards have slipped with the passage of time. Bring back Mary Whitehouse, I say.”

And finally… before I metamorphose or transmogrify into an even grumpier old git…. here is Gordon Brown doing a cameo role on American idol. Mildly amusing if you like tedious videos.

And another thing…. Why do men over 40 with bad legs and mild or, in some cases, well developed pot bellies, wear trousers cut off to three inches below the knee in Chiswick High Road on the first hot day of the year and look smug about it…. as if it is a good look? Teenagers fine… grown men? Maybe I am being too harsh?

I even saw one guy wearing socks with sandals. Fortunately, it being Chiswick, there was a health food store nearby and I was able to go and get some homeopathic pills, sign up for some vikram yoga and an hour in a total immersion tank to sooth me. OK… OK… I didn’t do that… I ordered another espresso and wondered where I would take myself off to for a glass of vino at lunchtime.

And that… is how I lived on the edge today… apart from doing a bit of work.

Buona notte…. The Bank holiday is a goner…

Mayor Boris speaks to London:1

This section of my blawg is not political and is intended only to collect Borisisms as they arise in the Press. It is quite possible, of course, that there will not be many now that he plans to work night and day for London and be sensible. I am not being dog in the manger about it… but nor is Boris:

The Times reports: “In his first speech as mayor on Saturday, Mr Johnson signalled that he would not tolerate unsupportive officials. “If there are any dogs in the manger, then I will have those dogs humanely euthanased,” he said.”

De-contamination…?

Having joined WebCameron in my guise as “Charon QC” many moons ago (I saw his first vidcast) I was amused to receive a ‘temperate’ email from David. The subject line read ” Boris wins - exclusive David reaction video”

What was fascinating - post council / mayoral elections, reading The Observer editorial today (and Andrew Rawnsley), was the emphasis on qualifying comment; hedging about with ‘It is mid-term’, ‘Labour lost it, The Tories did not win it’ and the inevitable caveat that there are still two years to go before Brown faces the electorate - that is, if the Labour Men in Togas don’t decide to put on an impromptu production of Julius Caesar first.

The other amusing comment - by Alexander Deane, former Chief of Staff to David Cameron - was that David Cameron has succeeded in de-contaminating The Conservative ‘brand’ ( in the mind of the fickle, largely uninformed and apathetic British electorate - my addition). A turnout of 45% is hailed as a triumph. Christ on a bicycle… even Zimbabwe can manage a 120% turnout. A quick trip to Google revealed a number of entries about ‘de-contaminating the Tory brand’. I do wander how many people in Britain actually know what the political parties (a) are doing (b) what they say they will do in their manifestos and (c) care. I get the feeling down at The Bollo and other watering holes that quite a few people don’t give a damn about politics. Mind you… some of the people I tend to meet ‘of an evening’ are often so over-refreshed they can’t even remember (at that time, and only at that time) where their houses are, let alone if they have fallen into a ‘negative equity’ situation - and long may that continue. All is, after all, restored come the dawn.

Andrew Rawnsley’s article was interesting: He was honest enough to admit that the press will now take the Tories more seriously…. but then exuberance and enthusiasm took hold and readers were treated to a number of subtle gems in one beautifully executed sentence: “There will be bigger and more eager audiences for the speeches of the shadow cabinet. When David Cameron calls, people will come running. When he asks for a favour, it will be swiftly given. When he has a photo call, everyone will want to be in it. Keep an eye on Richard Branson. The more that David Cameron is regarded as a winner, the more likely he is to become one.

I, for one, cannot wait to see Richard Branson upending David Cameron and then squirting him with champagne or, being pictured on a foreign trip with David Cameron to advise on British business interests abroad

I do hope that Mayor Karloff will not become too sensible now that he is the most powerful Tory in the country. We have a hint that Boris may well revert to type with the immortal words, as reported by Rawnsley today … ” I was elected as New Boris and I will govern as New Boris,’ … he joked in the early hours of Saturday morning, trying to reassure voters and his colleagues that the chaotic and brick-dropping side of his character will be permanently suppressed.”

Weekend Review: 3-4 May (2)

“My duck confit definitely was a thing of beauty, a big alpha-duck leg, its skin crisp as Cellophane, the flesh poking out tiny, steaming fibrous fingers, the whole thing dotted with fat puy lentils and served on a creamy mash that curled round the leg like a persistent seducer.”

No… this is not an excerpt from my latest restaurant review. As I sat outside a Chiswick pavement cafe, watching the world go by and eating a plate of pasta that did not try to roger my leg or seduce me, I decided to see how real restaurant reviewers tackle their subject. I read a selection from various Sunday papers. The one above, written by John Walsh in The Independent yesterday - engaged me more than the others I read. I must ask for an alpha-duck breast or leg when I am next in a Chiswick bistro or gastrocaff. I may never eat mash again without thinking about seduction. This could be a handicap.

DOES THIS PHOTO OFFEND…. COULD THIS PHOTO BE OFFENSIVE FROM NEXT WEEK?

Well of course a picture of former Home Secretary David Blunkett is not offensive - but he is the man behind a law that comes into operation next week; a law which is not one of our proudest moments in legislative drafting and one certainly likely to be offensive to the many in this country who enjoy consensual kinky sex, Le Vice Anglais or a bit of rum, sodomy and the lash. I don’t actually care that much what people get up to in bed or in private provided their activities are consensual - but this government does and is about to intrude into your thoughts, rather than physical actions, in a particularly worrying way if you happen to be in possession of certain types of image. Shoddy drafting, misconcieved protectionism and a potential nightmare of interpretation for the courts. Par for the course?

My attention was drawn to the debate on a casual visit to Geeklawyer’s blog t’other night when one of the posters, in response to Geeklawyer’s intentionally provocative remarks posted as follows - rather well written, I thought!: “Also, if I were not so busy rubbing my firm young body (presently covered in oil) and nubile titties (also obviously covered in oil) against those of my similarly physiqued friends, I would be in your house all laced up spanking your very naughty misogynist bottom, HARD! Oh geeky I wouldn’t stop spanking until your cheeks were all flushed with remorse.”

I happened to ask the poster of this excellent response to GL if she had heard of Max Mosley. Another poster, Ms Hansen, picking up on the reference, asked for thoughts / comment on the new legislation about possession of offensive images. Her post is well worth a read - Helga Hansen “Giving kinky the boot”

Moving away from sex to other matters…. and inject some gravity into the proceedings. Here is a story from The Financial Times - a newspaper of gravitas.

Taiwan mislays $30m in foreign aid: “Taiwan’s government said on Friday that it had lost track of $30m in foreign aid after it handed the money to two men it barely knew hoping they could help establish diplomatic ties with Papua New Guinea. The case offers a rare glimpse on how Taiwan, struggling to maintain its few diplomatic allies in the face of China’s rising influence, conducts money diplomacy.”

WTF do they drink in Taiwan?

AND so it came to pass, this May Bank holiday, that I found myself on Friday night and yesterday late afternoon at a new establishment frequented by topers, binge drinkers and, it has to be said, some perfectly normal and sensible residents of Chiswick - The Duke of Sussex.

A very good friend, noting my absence from the Bollo (I have been working - and it seemed appropriate to moderate the juice consumption.) telephoned me yesterday afternoon to see if I fancied a quick one. With this particular friend, who interleaves the consumption of 12-14 pints of Guinness with coffees over a long session, the idea of a quick one is at best an oxymoron and at worst, misrepresentation. I agreed immediately - arriving, as requested, at 5.00. My friend arrived at 5.15, giving the appearance of a man who was in rude health. It soon became apparent, after he downed three quick pints of Guinness, that he had been at it with another friend of mine at The Bollo since 2.00. Before you could say Ali Baba and The Forty Pissartists, this other good friend of mine, face florid from giving a masterclass in drinking to the customers of The Bollo, arrived. I was well behind the curve, and had to leave them to it. It was good to see them. It was good to be ‘missed’. The fact they could barely see me was neither here nor there. The truth of the matter is, of course, that I had a later engagement and arriving for that ‘ROA’ or ‘roaring on arrival’ would have been a solecism. A very big solecism!.

***

My thanks to Nick Holmes of Binary Law for his kind words and, very much more importantly - for promoting UK Law Blogs and Blawgs!

Weekend Review: 3-4 May (1)

Well… the results are in…. Labour managed to lose 333 council seats, secured the worst poll result for Labour since the First World war, Boris is Mayor Boris now… his wife collected the newspapers in her dressing gown (a wonderful reprise of Cherie Blair’s similar antics 11 years ago), Gordon has made his phonecalls to Mugabe for advice, and is now attending coaching seminars on ‘listening’… but can he hear the sound of plotting and knives being unsheathed?

The next defeat for Gordon will be the vote on the extension of detention without charge from 28-42 days (apart, that is, from the Henley by-election when Boris resigns as an MP). He might like to practice his listening skills by listening to the DPP, the law officers, former A-G, former Lord Chancellor and sundry others who seem to know what they are talking about. There is some suggestion in the press today that he won’t have to listen to Chief London Plod Sir Ian Blair for much longer because Boris is no fan and may well be stacking the voting in the appropriate place to remove Blair.

My career as a restaurant critic may have survived my first review for LawandMore. I have been asked to do two further reviews: Kensington Place and Roussillon. The latter serves a famous 24 course gastronomique lunch experience. I can do no better than quote from the email I received from Sabreena at LawandMore to confirm that I did understand the nature of the commission!…. “Further to our earlier telephone conversation, I just wanted to make you aware that the lunch will be a four hour affair, is this ok?” Excellent! It is probably just as well I do not work for Allen & Overy or some other £600 per chargeable hour outfit. It falls to few in their lives to say these words… “I must do my duty for truth, justice and the people of our land.” I shall do my best to get through all 24 courses.

Inevitably, I was reminded of the famous Monty Python sketch: Mr Creosote

Off for a quick bite to eat…. more later….

Mayor, Mayor… off the wall… who’s the daftest of them all?

I’ve turned down the pleasures of life to watch television to see who will be Mayor of our great City tomorrow….

The money is on Boris…. but you never know… Cyclops could turn up, part the Thames, and lead his followers through to the promised land of milk and porridge.

I’m sorry… but I do find it rather funny that a man who waits 10 years to be Prime Minister, when all about him knew that he was not sufficiently shallow / articulate to be a truly great leader of the Britons, should now find that his party does not seem to run any local government at all in England, Wales or even in Scotland and may wake tomorrow to find that St Boris is running London.

This weekend… I shall be spending an inordinate amount of my bank holiday reflecting on matters…. I can hear the Newsnight music… must go…. I have not got any grand children - but I do want to be able to watch history in the making…

Insitelaw newswire… and discussion board

UPDATE: Insitelaw newswire is now updated fully - with latest posts from blogs included - and the daily news podcast | blog.

Visit the newswire

After 10 days, the insitelawnewswire is beginning to take shape with daily updates of legal news, a five minute daily (weekdays) news podcast, law reports, law round ups and developing editorial. The newswire is deliberately blog centric - to try and promote a wider circulation of the excellent content to be found on UK and overseas blogs.
Visit the newswire

Over the Bank holiday weekend I will be developing the newswire: We now have a discussion board. Would you like to register to use it? | We have a blog | and I am going to be producing a quick, concise, weekly email newswire from next week for those who wish to receive it by email.
Register for free weekly newswire by email (if you have not already registered!)