Corporate Blawg UK: Blawg Review #116

08 July 2007

Blawg Review #116

Always one to cut the mustard, Corporate Blawg has gone against the grain and spiced up the Blawg Review #116 with a shake of poetic sauce. The inspiration for this perspiration was found between a sesame bun on July 4th, that most celebrated day in U.S. culture. Corporate Blawg had failed his driving test for the seventh time (for driving too slowly in a built-up area), and went to console himself with a very fast built-up burger. Whilst watching cars go by and chewing on cows' lips and nails Corporate Blawg realised that Thomas Jefferson was a poet, and "The Declaration of Independence" is an iambic pentameter. This was a very smart move by Tom, since the iambic pentameter is a rhythm that has resonance and impact, like a heartbeat. Inawed by this wise fellow's nous, Corporate Blawg attempted writing a Shakespearian sonnet about the law, using the iambic pentameter and variations of it.

Sonnet #1 - I Am An Iambic

As lawyers we swim through a sea of words
But most faced with a poem are set adrift
To fly through language like a flock of birds
Needs appreciation of Shakespeare's gift -
The iambic pentameter is no iamb itself
But central to inclusion in every great sonnet
It's the "dum-di-dum" of poetic health
That beats like your heart and keeps you on it!
With ceisures and breaks and cool rules and stuff
I wonder should poems be more oft in law?
I guess that lawyers don't decorate with fluff
But use highlighters, ribbons and typex galore.
This English Sonnet has worked better than most
And is the first flurry of this poetic post.

Naturally, Corporate Blawg must review this week's blogs in rhyming couplets... naturally.

Review of Blawgs - I Am Doggrel

The English Blawg is quite a peculiar fish
Each day is served a slightly different dish
Some Blawgs are steady and others more ready
To flow where they please in wake of an eddy.
You see, an English blawg will never bring clients
Even to the best Blawgosphere's blogging giants.
So why be anonymous for there's no fortune or fame
Is it an obsession with a linguistic game,
Or simply to be heard as a voice in the ether
A whip on society a crack of the leather?
This is where the English Blawg is its own,
A little subversive, and cynical prone.
Please sit back and enjoy the best of the bunch
Some are more sober but most out to lunch...

So first and most fitting is Lord Charon QC
Whose news reviews I read compulsively
Charon's a man who doesn't mince his words
But feasts on his subjects like lemon curd.
Geeklawyer is teamed-up with another fiesty chick
As ever he'll be on the end of her stick.
Nearly Legal is also a great favourite of mine
Whose sophistication is often sublime.
A brit with wit with a fairly new site
Is the Thousand Patterns who is "pliable and bright".
The Magistrate's Blog is always on key
And begs one to question "who can he be?"
Square Mile Law has a thoughtful tome
As he ponders the issues in amending a loan
With tenancy woes Pupilblogger goes on
But he's clearly so smart he'll soon be the don
And the LandlordBlog (of which I'm a fan)
Contemplates the effect of the smoking ban
And Head of Legal is definitely worth a mention
As he describes another constitutional tension
Diaries of UK Law Students well done!
I'm sure amongst study you also had fun!
And what UK review would be complete
Without Babybarrista from the broadsheets.
This is not exhaustive of the great and the good
Of bloggers that blawg like English blogs should
Apologies to those that aren't mentioned above
But it's there baby, it's there, feel the love.

And now 'cross the pond for other Blawgers out there
It's time to rhyme for you to get your share
Let's start with Trusted Advisor and his interesting post
Would you allow lie detectors to tell you the most
About what you need is it a foolpoof test?
Or is robust inquisition always the best?
Above The Law notes some lawyers want to quit
And tells them to stop "whining" - a bit harsh isn't it?
In every profession some will be sad and moan
But lawyers as a profession should look after their own.
And the Balanced Life Spa Blog would agree
That stressed lawyers have lower life expectancy.
Concurring Opinions pierces the blogger's veil
And debates anonymity and what that entails
Susan Crawford Blog looks at lawyers' visual identity
And the role of the internet in bringing serenity
The Editor of Blawg Review hits on July the fourth
With a useful round-up of blogs that go forth
And discusses the most momental time of the States
When the UK and US agreed to be mates.
Of these What About Clients makes a jovial stab
At the East London accent you hear in a black cab
And Simple Justice looks to the American dream
And hopes that it hasn't run out of steam
Quizlaw laughs at lawyers who represent themselves
And suggests they should get back to stacking shelves
Robert Ambrogi talks of Incisive Media's recent buy
Of U.S. legal journals for an expansion drive
Patent Baristas is academic at dizzying heights
And delves in deeply to "Prior User Rights"
Brett Trout on Patents is an interesting start
For those who confuse IP law with terms of art
Adam's Drafting takes a position that's clearly the best
Of what is the "reasonable endeavours' test".
Then Sox First reviews a paper on securities
And how growth and decay weans law of impurities
Simple Justice takes a very amusing look
At lawyers' dresscodes that rewrite the book.
Building a solo practice shares more wise advice
On being a solo practice and on being nice.

So that's the end of the reviews for this week
Hope you liked the poem - it was sleek
And though not sensitive or delicate or meek
It has a twist of mirth and a touch of cheek
And though some of the rhymes are quite oblique
Of Corporate Blawg's blogging it's at the peak.

Corporate Blawg is now thinking of changing his career to be a rap star along the same lines as Eminem, except as a bright and bushy lawyer he will be "Smar-Tee" (use the links to get the pun)... sign up here.

Austin Defense is next week's reviewer, and Blawg Review has information about next week's host, and instructions how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.

Posted at 10:10 PM | Permalink

Comments

A masterpiece... I was moved... I had to do an immediate oration and review of your review.

I shall savour the lemon curd almost as much as the peerage you bestowed upon my modest head. I see that you managed to find the envelope in the dead letter box before GCHQ got to it. Well done... your next mission, should you decide to accept it, will be more of a challenge.

I was minded to quote the famous... "Never in the field of human conflict" speech by Churchill (not the f*****g animatronic dog on TV... the greatest living Englishmen when he was alive) ... but I shall content myself with this... another Churchill quote which I have always liked:

"I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals."

Great blawg review... enjoyed it... and it saved me from having to watch Big Brother again... I even had to crack open another bottle of Rioja to enjoy the iambic pentameter. The balance of the bottle, lest our friends from across the water think we are are topers and drunkards.... will taste even better on the morrow... when we ride against the French.

Posted by: Lord Charon QC | 08 July 2007 at 11:14 PM

I am rarely lost for words, but I am left with only one... superb.

Posted by: Nearly Legal | 08 July 2007 at 11:46 PM

First rate, sir--we are speechless in any dialect. Blimey.

Posted by: Dan Hull | 09 July 2007 at 04:11 AM

Your blawg review, Sir, is truly sublime
And indeed your blog is a favourite of mine
Your insight on blogging in this English Isle
Is the best and the stylish I’ve read for a while
I am sure we are honoured, those of us few
Who appear in the 116 blawg review

Posted by: Tessa Shepperson | 10 July 2007 at 10:37 PM

wow.

Posted by: John Power | 04 October 2007 at 08:24 AM

Are you dead or just sleeping?

Posted by: Nick Holmes | 04 October 2007 at 06:58 PM

The best way to download psp games safely is by joining online membership sites. These websites are credible and there are a lot of things that you can expect from them. PSP owners could download full version psp games, music, movies, and many other stuff that are original and legal.

Posted by: L. G, | 13 August 2008 at 12:57 AM

The Corporate attorneys offer the variety of legal services and suggestion to the immigrants who are in need. These Corporate lawful service are fulfills the needs and demands of the individual customers. The lawyers are devoted to their works.
http://www.lawyersindemand.com/

Posted by: legal services | 06 February 2009 at 06:07 AM