Jacob Gifford Head
@giffordhead.co.uk
Barrister & mediator.
Things I like: legal history & legal oddities; music & musical instruments; Mesopotamian history; & Portuguese wine and Port.
My professional website is: http://www.giffordhead.co.uk
Please email rather than DM!
Forgive typos.
Things I like: legal history & legal oddities; music & musical instruments; Mesopotamian history; & Portuguese wine and Port.
My professional website is: http://www.giffordhead.co.uk
Please email rather than DM!
Forgive typos.
It looks pretty good before "tweaking"! But it's quite interesting to see the comparison. Thank you.
November 28, 2025 at 11:55 PM
It looks pretty good before "tweaking"! But it's quite interesting to see the comparison. Thank you.
Thank you! I'm not really into photography but I am always impressed by your still lives and curious about how hou take them.
November 28, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Thank you! I'm not really into photography but I am always impressed by your still lives and curious about how hou take them.
That's fantastic. How long is the exposure on something like that?
November 28, 2025 at 11:18 PM
That's fantastic. How long is the exposure on something like that?
Is the premise true? The Bank of England suggests that £4K in 1970 adjusted for inflation is £55.3K today. I appreciate that London property prices have been defeating inflation by some margin for years. But by that much?
November 28, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Is the premise true? The Bank of England suggests that £4K in 1970 adjusted for inflation is £55.3K today. I appreciate that London property prices have been defeating inflation by some margin for years. But by that much?
Do you first name him or her back? I feel like your should have slipped in one.
November 28, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Do you first name him or her back? I feel like your should have slipped in one.
They also played John White's 1968 "Drinking and Hooting Machine" which is a piece of "one neat trick" experimental music from the 1960s which I haven't heard before. It is infuriatingly effective.
November 28, 2025 at 9:28 PM
They also played John White's 1968 "Drinking and Hooting Machine" which is a piece of "one neat trick" experimental music from the 1960s which I haven't heard before. It is infuriatingly effective.
PS. This is also why I think the 50ish years up to the Judicata Acts are so interesting as lawyers, judges and politicians managed to wrestle all of this nonsense into a legal system that we'd still recognise today.
November 28, 2025 at 6:02 PM
PS. This is also why I think the 50ish years up to the Judicata Acts are so interesting as lawyers, judges and politicians managed to wrestle all of this nonsense into a legal system that we'd still recognise today.
Amazing. That's at least 100 years later than I'd have guessed. (Even allowing for Suffolk.) Wonder if @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social knows about that? Sort of thing that might interest him from both the Suffolk and witch angles.
November 28, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Amazing. That's at least 100 years later than I'd have guessed. (Even allowing for Suffolk.) Wonder if @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social knows about that? Sort of thing that might interest him from both the Suffolk and witch angles.
That's only for international law and resolving disputes with the French.
November 28, 2025 at 5:55 PM
That's only for international law and resolving disputes with the French.
A nice modern jurisdiction where burning had been abolished for...erm...35 years; trial by battle for 6; and the death penalty was still the punishment for theft (though I think the Judges had just been given the power to commute it...)
November 28, 2025 at 5:30 PM
A nice modern jurisdiction where burning had been abolished for...erm...35 years; trial by battle for 6; and the death penalty was still the punishment for theft (though I think the Judges had just been given the power to commute it...)
That's good trivia. I didn't know that. I'm surprised some of the German cities don't have longer ones.
November 28, 2025 at 4:05 PM
That's good trivia. I didn't know that. I'm surprised some of the German cities don't have longer ones.
If you ever get bored of swears, a series of pointless warnings carved into blocks of stone would be quite fun!
November 28, 2025 at 3:23 PM
If you ever get bored of swears, a series of pointless warnings carved into blocks of stone would be quite fun!
The fact that its formal name is the Civil Procedure Rule [sic] Committee indicates that it is beyond help, I think.
November 28, 2025 at 3:21 PM
The fact that its formal name is the Civil Procedure Rule [sic] Committee indicates that it is beyond help, I think.
I have theory that you can start hallucinating if you spend too long reading the CPR.
November 28, 2025 at 3:08 PM
I have theory that you can start hallucinating if you spend too long reading the CPR.
I always thought the current provisions for juryless trials on indictment in England should have required a panel of three.
Of course the precise number involves a bit of sticking a finger in the air—the Scots concluded they alone were right in having 15—but I feel like 5 is probably the minimum.
Of course the precise number involves a bit of sticking a finger in the air—the Scots concluded they alone were right in having 15—but I feel like 5 is probably the minimum.
November 28, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I always thought the current provisions for juryless trials on indictment in England should have required a panel of three.
Of course the precise number involves a bit of sticking a finger in the air—the Scots concluded they alone were right in having 15—but I feel like 5 is probably the minimum.
Of course the precise number involves a bit of sticking a finger in the air—the Scots concluded they alone were right in having 15—but I feel like 5 is probably the minimum.
I don’t agree with that since, save for the rarest of all possible cases—I’ve seen one in my career—the Judge has no way of knowing whether his conclusions are actually right or not.
Judges are good at giving and explaining their decisions but that doesn’t mean they get them right.
Judges are good at giving and explaining their decisions but that doesn’t mean they get them right.
November 28, 2025 at 3:01 PM
I don’t agree with that since, save for the rarest of all possible cases—I’ve seen one in my career—the Judge has no way of knowing whether his conclusions are actually right or not.
Judges are good at giving and explaining their decisions but that doesn’t mean they get them right.
Judges are good at giving and explaining their decisions but that doesn’t mean they get them right.
It's not just bias. Humans are very bad at the non-legal bit of judging which is working out who is telling the truth. Having a consensus of people is a key protection against a single person getting it wrong.
November 28, 2025 at 1:42 PM
It's not just bias. Humans are very bad at the non-legal bit of judging which is working out who is telling the truth. Having a consensus of people is a key protection against a single person getting it wrong.
Not going to fault your tastes in music then! 🙂
Incidentally, I'm always slightly surprised that it's possible to perform the Vingt Regards in concert: there aren't many other solo pieces that are quite so relentlessly musically and technically demanding for 2 hours or more.
Incidentally, I'm always slightly surprised that it's possible to perform the Vingt Regards in concert: there aren't many other solo pieces that are quite so relentlessly musically and technically demanding for 2 hours or more.
November 27, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Not going to fault your tastes in music then! 🙂
Incidentally, I'm always slightly surprised that it's possible to perform the Vingt Regards in concert: there aren't many other solo pieces that are quite so relentlessly musically and technically demanding for 2 hours or more.
Incidentally, I'm always slightly surprised that it's possible to perform the Vingt Regards in concert: there aren't many other solo pieces that are quite so relentlessly musically and technically demanding for 2 hours or more.
I remember listening to a programme about bingo and the surprising sums of money it makes. Needless to say the people who play it don't really regard it as gambling.
November 27, 2025 at 9:21 PM
I remember listening to a programme about bingo and the surprising sums of money it makes. Needless to say the people who play it don't really regard it as gambling.
It's also interesting how many concerts that I really remember I went to as a child. Those formative experiences are so important!
November 27, 2025 at 9:18 PM
It's also interesting how many concerts that I really remember I went to as a child. Those formative experiences are so important!
Quite a difficult exercise!
Would also add:
Last night of the Proms. I think the first I saw was 1993. And 2015 is memorable for personal reasons.
Turangalîla at the Proms, though I'm not sure if I first heard it in 1996 or 2001.
Few late night Proms with Oliver Knussen & the London Sinfonietta.
Would also add:
Last night of the Proms. I think the first I saw was 1993. And 2015 is memorable for personal reasons.
Turangalîla at the Proms, though I'm not sure if I first heard it in 1996 or 2001.
Few late night Proms with Oliver Knussen & the London Sinfonietta.
November 27, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Quite a difficult exercise!
Would also add:
Last night of the Proms. I think the first I saw was 1993. And 2015 is memorable for personal reasons.
Turangalîla at the Proms, though I'm not sure if I first heard it in 1996 or 2001.
Few late night Proms with Oliver Knussen & the London Sinfonietta.
Would also add:
Last night of the Proms. I think the first I saw was 1993. And 2015 is memorable for personal reasons.
Turangalîla at the Proms, though I'm not sure if I first heard it in 1996 or 2001.
Few late night Proms with Oliver Knussen & the London Sinfonietta.