Perhaps it is the heat, perhaps it is just me, perhaps it is living in Britain in these credit-crunch times – but I have noticed that a number of really quite trivial and unimportant things irritate me. I do not get angry – I just get irritated. So… I thought I would start an ‘Irritation” section on my blog to share my ‘pet irritations’ and invite those of you who are so inclined – (a) to be irritating or (b) share your pet irritations when I publish “Irritation” posts.
1. The BBC weather forecast for London on the BBC website
I read weather forecasts regularly – it is a minor impediment to an otherwise relatively insane life. I don’t 
actually care what the weather is or does – but I do take the most irrational and grave exception when the BBC tells me that there is going to be rain and then we get a heatwave. I take an implausibly grave exception when the converse happens.
Today, the BBC has changed their assessment of the weather no less than five times; at times representing a forecast on their website at odds with the radio and television bulletins – and what is going on outside my window. I know – because, again, perhaps irrationally’, I have turned on the radio and television to check. This may well appear, to the casual observer, to be symptomatic of a mild form of obsessive compulsive disorder or the onset of some dementia bloggerensis and you may well be right. I will be on my roof deck tonight at midnight checking the sky, the web, the radio and the television to see if there is any accuracy in the BBC forecasts. I may well chuck a few chicken feathers and entrails about to do my own forecast. I appreciate that weather changes – but how can it go from a Met Office “Severe Weather” warning to heatwave in half a f*****g hour? This is the problem I have today. I am told that I will be OK once the pills kick in.
Frankly, I have a suspicion that the BBC just wait to see what the weather is actually doing outside the London office and adjust it… which is about as much use to anyone as a one legged pace bowler in a test match.
Please feel free to tell me your “irritations” in the comments section – I may well prefer yours to mine – in which case I may email you (but not if you are a barrister who is hostile to emails – see below) and propose a swap.
IRRITATION UPDATE / Wednesday 30 July 10.15 pm
It has been a rather irritating day for Cricket fans. Our batsmen decided that they did not know how to bat today.
I am grateful to The Chief, a visitor to this blog, for sending me an EXCELLENT picture of the weather forecast for Birmingham . It is from the BBC and gives me comfort both for the weather and the cricket. It is worth a look!
On a day when The Lords ruled that the Serious Fraud Office acted lawfully in halting the investigation into BAe and nearly forty years after the invention of email (which pre-dated the invention of the internet), the Bar Council has decided to harness the power of the digitial information era to communicate with members.
The newspapers stagger like binge drinkers on a hot Friday night in Brighton – some, it has to be said, from the white stiletto high heeled shoes school of journalism – between feeding on pictures of politicians on holiday to the frenzy about whether Gordon Brown should or should not stand down / be sacked as prime minister.
dark again from Primark in what appeared to be a pair of navy suit trousers, black brogues, an open neck shirt and a very beige jacket. Gordon was clearly at pains, or in pain, to demonstrate that he can look like a holidaymaker by demonstrating his rictus-like smile. I am certain, but cannot be sure, that he was saying ‘I want a gottle of geer’. It is said that MPs from Lancashire want Gordon Brown to fire himself.
gris, the Richard III of the Labour Party – Jack “The Lad Chancellor” Straw – to part the Red Sea and steer us to the promised land where all is good. Fortunately, I do not make my living from political punditry – so I am entitled to hold bizarre views of this nature without fear of having a pay cut…. and talking of which….
‘mature celebrities’ from a time gone by, who entertain the coffin dodgers in the late afternoon on Countdown, telling us that it was a ‘disgrace’ the way Ms Vorderman had been treated by Channel 4 and if she wasn’t going to be on Countdown…. then neither were they. Excellent – we need to encourage younger people – men and women in their early fifties. Our time has come. Jesus… it is only a bloody television programme and while I accept that it provided good and enjoyable entertainment for millions (well… under a million in recent months) – it is hardly deserving of all this pathos tinged, asininely British, coverage.
Regular readers may recall that 
I hasten to add… not me. There I was, this very afternoon just before 6.00, enjoying a glass of chilled Beaujolais and enjoying an exchange of nonsense with Infobunny on Twitter – when Infobunny sent me news of a CPS lawyer who is doing part-time work as a nude model. 
The News of The World continues with lurid coverage of the Mosley case
Vorderman has also resigned – although she says that she would do Countdown for free (Excellent bit of spin) she is, curiously for an expert mathematician, not prepared to do it for a 90% cut in her (reputed) £900,000 salary – which is, of course, more than ‘nothing / free’. All good things have to come to an end. Perhaps the Secretary of State for Pensions is behind this ? – get rid of Countdown, get the pensioners to exercise more so they can keep warm instead of worrying about their gas bills and get the work shy off their backsides. Who knows?
I am thinking of moving to Brighton… the sea air, different bars… and I shall be able to keep an eye on the French. Thirty years in London is quite enough…. and, after all, there is no need for me to be in London. It is not as if I am going to be helping Mayor Boris out, I don’t ever get invited to pop into the Palace and I can read the news each morning and blog just as easily in Brighton as I can from West London…. with the added advantage that I shall not ( I hope) have to endure the spectacle of men carrying their baby in a sling attached to their chests and couples being outraged when they can’t find a parking space for their shiny 4 x 4s. I shall
investigate the possibilities. I need to see the sea again…. and be by the side of the sea. My body is a temple… I am sure that I shall find it more satisfying to smoke in Brighton where the air has more ozone. I am also told that there are some very amusing people to be found in Brighton. Further, I would be able to indulge my nautical side. I have the perfect outfit. Yes… it could be most enjoyable… and… a plentiful supply of fish. I am very keen on Omega 3 at the moment.
So what are they up to?
standing on top of Mount Fuji holding what appears to be a World War II version of the japanese flag. He is wearing a balaclava to protect his identity. Rather implausibly, there is also a rear view of Geeklawyer praying at a shrine. To my jaded eye it looks as if he is helping himself to the Sake left as an offering to the gods. I could, of course, be wrong. I rely, however, on the developing law of privacy (and exceptions thereto) to intrude and investigate on grounds of responsible journalism and the public interest. The Geeklawyer harem are much in evidence on the comments section. There is talk of moobs, buttocks and going into saunas. But.. hey… that will not surprise regular readers of Geeklawyer’s blog.
White Rabbit is off for a few days but he is musing about
Today I am talking to Stuart Sime, Barrister and Director of the BVC at 
Today I am talking to Scott Vine, author of the 
There are men and women in Britain who, each day, go about their business unrecognised by the media and their peer group – the unsung heroes of our land. It is time, as Barack Obama would say, for us to recognise their heroism in making Britain a more interesting place to live. I have instituted a “For Idiocy” medal and, from this day, will award the medal where I find it appropriate to do so.
I am awarding my first “For Idiocy” medal to Ceredigion Council for fining a painter £30 for smoking in his own van. Decorator Gordon Williams was fined because council officials said it counted as smoking in the workplace. Gordon Willaims was ‘dumbfounded’, only uses the van to get to work, and said ” It is not my place of work. I paint and decorate houses not vans.” 
Today I am talking to Stephen Mason, barrister, author and expert on digital evidence – about electronic signatures.
Perhaps it was the image of Dawn Primarolo MP, Matron-in-Chief, in a newspaper today telling us that she is going to stop our world leading olympic medal winning binge drinkers from practising their craft – but I have decided that a bit of Omega 3 to supplement the beneficial effects of red wine is probably useful. I have decided to take up eating smoked mackerel. It is my new hobby. I have a fridge full of smoked mackerel. To ward off scurvy, I have also purchased some lemon and limes. There is more than enough water in wine and the odd glass of water to ensure that I am fully hydrated… tap water, of course..
Today I am talking to Richard de Friend, director of the Bloomsbury centre of The College of Law. Richard has had a long and distinguished career in legal education as pro Vice Chancellor of Kent University and, in recent years, with the College of Law.
Today I am talking to Jon McLeod, Chairman, Public Affairs – Weber Shandwick who acted for the Bar Standards Board in the recent report of the Working Group in relation to Review of The Bar Vocational Course.
Brutalisation of the human spirit by war? 
Charon QC 