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Sometimes I am grateful that I mostly listen classical music where this sort of thing doesn't happen...

Pic of two musicians with three people blocking a view to film a song on their 'phones.

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I had a private bath at this place (because I am too cowardly to use a public bath!) It's a natural hot spring bath so you have the pool with the sulphurous water, a cold plunge pool & a slab which is heated with the overflowing water for shampooing etc.

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I'd forgotten some of the finer details of this one like they chucked a couple of metal rods down there, too. And the drill hit the live rail.

Two sections of auger became detached from the rig and fell onto
the track, coming into contact with the electrified third rail. The piling contractor
informed the RAIB that when drilling through hard ground or obstructions, the pins
that join sections of auger can become dislodged and auger sections can become
detached.
20 The piling team were unaware that they had penetrated a tunnel and attempted
to locate the missing sections of auger by dropping metal bars down the hole.
These bars also landed on the track

I haven't tried either of those. I think a lot of the upmarket Chinese places are only just getting round to doing vegetarian food. Though I have to say I'm not a fan of this sort of thing from Hunan. I hate telling chefs what I "like or don't like"!

Leave-it-to us menu
We have a ‘no menu policy’ and request diners to let us know what
they like or don’t like and to let our chefs do the rest. It’s that
simple!
The portions are small and varied with emphasis on trying lots of
different things. A typical menu will consist of 12-18 courses and is
tailored towards your likes and dislikes.
Established in 1982 we are the only Chinese restaurant in London to
specialise in this particular style of cooking.
Some of our dishes are a little fiery so please indicate to our staff
your non-spicy, mild, medium or hot preferences.
A vegetarian tasting menu is also available.
There is an extra £8.00 supplement per person if you have more
than 12 courses for lunch and 18 courses for dinner.
Lunch – £69.80 per person
Dinner – £119.80 per person (minimum 2 people)
Kindly note that we have a strict no food wastage policy and we do
not accept any request to take restaurant food off the premises.
Please note that some of the dishes may contain traces of nuts,
shellfish, milk and celery.
Please make any allergies known to the staff

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The instruments which really interested me where these harps called Changi in Georgia. This is a seriously ancient design: you can find examples in the Ancient Near East from c2,000 BCE. I had thought they had died out everywhere but apparently have clung on in Georgia (+ nearby).

Two boat harps with a flat resonator and then a decorative neck at 45º degrees wirh the strings going diagonally across them.

A similar harp but with the neck at an acute angle ao the strings run vertically.

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Jacob Gifford Head @giffordhead.co.uk · 02/10/2026

The State Museum of Georgian Folk Songs and Instruments is basically what you'd expect from a late-Soviet-era museum based around someone's personal collection. Really interesting selection of Georgian instruments, though and you can see how they picked up influences from a huge region.

Some of the displays showing a large brass trumpet, a couple of bagpipes and some reed flutes attached to a wall.

Another wall mounted selection of spike and other fiddles.

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Never quite seen a concert hall like the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra Auditorium before. Very few unraked seats with the orchestra in something like a bit top. And no bar (!!) I wonder if it was built as a rehearsal room? It feels like it would be good for that...

Pic of the outside of the building, concrete semi circular. Mostly quite dark.

Inside the concert hall, showing as described.

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Jacob Gifford Head @giffordhead.co.uk · 02/10/2026

Do we think that Georgian Blue Sky errupts every April with "well, he was actually born in Turkey and never visited Georgia"?

Golden statue of St George slaying the dragon from the top of the column in the centre of liberty square Tbilisi.

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Taking the opportunity to do a comparative tasting of Georgian mineral waters... Borjomi is the mostly boldly flavoured & was my favourite of all three. My second was Nabeghlavi: characteristic but more discreet. Likani is made near Borjomi & is like a toned down version.

Three plastic bottles of the different water.

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My talk: Jurisdictional Challenges & Dynamics of Dispute Resolution

Jurisdictional Challenges & Dynamics of Dispute Resolution

Selecting the appropriate forum·jurisdictional challenges·English court advantages·arbitration, mediation and litigation·parallel proceedings·enforcement·Q&A

Moderated by Irakli Adeishvili · 15 min

Irakli AdeishviliIrakli Adeishvili, Moderator
Barry CoulterBarry Coulter, Barrister
Jacob Gifford HeadJacob Gifford Head, Barrister

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My colleague from @thomasmorechambers.bsky.social, Barry Coulter, together with Ruslan Ughrelidze from LawLex Solicitors & George Symes of Goldsmith Chambers on English Law & Cross-Border Business in Georgia.

140

To the very impressive building of the Georgian Bar Association for a day of talks with many eminent Georgian lawyers.

English Law Forum · Georgia
Tbilisi
2026.

The next gathering of the English Law Forum comes to Tbilisi. One city. A world of perspectives.

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Favourite bassist? The answer is obvious...

171

Everyone generally thinks he got this wrong but there is no express decision saying so. As a result, the official form which you can use to enroll a deed poll evidencing a change of name in the High Court includes an endorsement saying “please ignore him”. I can’t think of any similar example.

Screenshot of page 2 of:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69bd2860b920af63be1c7572/LOC020_0326_save.pdf

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Taking this much further is difficult, though, since the numbers are so small and not considered statistically significant. Though I do think it is important that Government has noticed a particular problem with Deputy High Court Judge appointments and women. www.gov.uk/government/s...

But that is only part of the story. Not all barristers want to be a Judge and so some KCs have no intention of applying. A decent number of KCs are 65+ and so very unlikely to apply. They are likely to contain even fewer women due to the recruitment practices of the 1980s.

Jacob Gifford Head @giffordhead.co.uk · 23/09/2026

All of the current appointments are barristers and KCs (albeit one is currently a salaries Circuit Judge.) The Bar Standards Board thinks at least 21% of barrister KCs are women & 11% are from a minority ethnic background: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/static/dd916...

110

I like Quevedo: a newish independent Port shipper up in the Douro Superior by São João da Pesqueira. They do change their range constantly, so I think this "Claudia's Reserve" (named after the winemaker) is no longer made. A pity since this is excellent and was only about £10-15.

240

Jacob Gifford Head @giffordhead.co.uk · 23/09/2026

This is actually very straight forward for one reason wholly un-related to her premiership.

Screenshot of the web page of the “Prime Minister's statement on the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II” with disclaimer that it was published under the Truss government.

Jacob Gifford Head @giffordhead.co.uk · 21/09/2026

From this morning's liturgy: a thought for BlueSky. (I'm not entirely convinced it is a genuine quotation from Rabbi Nachman rather than being a assembly of various thoughts, but let us not worry too much about that!)

Remember that life is short, and that with every passing day you
are nearer to the end of your life. How can you waste your time
on petty quarrels and family discords? Restrain your anger; hold
your temper in check, and enjoy peace with everyone.
Nachman of Bratslav

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Jacob Gifford Head @giffordhead.co.uk · 20/09/2026

Far more trivially, there was no greater contribution to the field of public lectures than the Afternote to the Lecture on Nothing. If only everyone adopted this approach!

Afternote to LECTURE ON NOTHING

In keeping with the thought expressed above that a discussion is nothing more than an entertainment, I prepared six answers for the first six questions asked, regardless of what they were. In 1949 or '50, when the lecture was first delivered (at the Artists' Club as described in the Foreword), there were six questions. In 1960, however, when the speech was delivered for the second time, the audience got the point after two questions and, not wishing to be

entertained, refrained from asking anything more.

The answers are:

1. That is a very good question. I should not want to spoil it with an answer.

2. My head wants to ache.

3. Had you heard Marya Freund last April in Palermo singing Arnold Schoenborg's Pierrot Lunaire, I doubt whether you would ask that question.

4. According to the Farmers' Almanac this is False Spring.

5. Please repeat the question..

And again..

And again

6. I have no more answers.

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Jacob Gifford Head @giffordhead.co.uk · 18/09/2026

Reminds me of a little further South!

Pic from the top of Quinta do Vesuvio showing the terraced vineyards leading down to the Douro.

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Jacob Gifford Head @giffordhead.co.uk · 18/09/2026

Ok...I like musical instruments & I also like wine, so I do have some views on the article. (Though I have no opinion whatsoever this work was written with AI or not.) Firstly, I am afraid to say that it is a massive, huge cliché to compare things to a Stradivarius as a quick search would show.

“The vineyardis like a Stradivarius: it’s value lies in how it is played”. Aubert Dr Villaine, co-owner of Romanee-Conti