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Posted on June 27 2009 by Jag @ 8:56 am
When you see bits of litter in the street being blown around by the wind, there is nothing of consequence to ponder. But when someone places their fast-food rubbish on the floor in the middle of a busy railway station concourse, it really stands out. And although the place might be teeming with people, everyone just carefully walks around it, making otherwise inconsequential rubbish become stronger and more invincible by the minute. When you’re waiting 20 minutes for a train, you can’t help but be captivated by the magnificence of it.
Rubbish standing out, and being walked around.
(Taken with my cameraphone in London’s Paddington Station)
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Posted on June 14 2009 by Jag @ 9:49 am
It’s been over five years working in Slough for me. And like many, I try my hardest to be a transient in this town; rarely venturing out for a walk at lunch times. However, on the occasions that I do, I really quite like it. Slough is blonde. And Slough is beautiful. And when blonde and beautiful are multiple, they become so dull and dutiful. Click on the green button below, wait patiently, turn up the volume and take a walk through the Queensmere shopping mall in Slough one weekday lunchtime.
Mingling with the citizens of Slough.
(Taken with my cameraphone in Queensmere Shopping Centre, Slough) Examine closely every single person you see in the video loop. Imagine. Be them. There are an infinite number of stories in there. Music is Rotterdam by The Beautiful South, released 1996. More of my Slough in Pictures here: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
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Posted on June 7 2009 by Jag @ 2:44 pm
Way back in January, the UK government produced an interim report titled “Digital Britain” which sets out some “actions” that the UK authorities should take in order to deliver state-of-the-art communications facilities to the citizens of the nation. What astonished me was that inside, this report (action number 17 on page 12 to be precise) talks about ensuring that everyone in the UK has access to at least 2Mbps Internet by the year 2012. Astonishing because almost the very next day, the Korean government announced that their citizens will have access to 1 Gigabit per second Internet by 2012. It’s often all too easy for some people over here to dismiss the significance of this by arguing along the lines of Korea (like Japan) being some far off place where things are somehow different and don’t really apply to the rest of the world. Easy until you see that one of our closest neighbours, France, already leaves us way behind in today’s connected world. However, walking down my local High Street the other day I saw something that made me realise that it’s not just massive government commitment and spending that’s gonna speed up our Internet connections in the future. It’s going to be about finding solutions to practical all-too-common problems like this:
A kerbside cabinet used to deliver communications to people’s home. Vandalised.
(Taken with my cameraphone on Kingsbury Road, London NW9)
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Posted on May 17 2009 by Jag @ 2:20 pm
There is a motorway that heads north out of London called “the M1“. It stretches almost 200 miles into the northern suburbs. It can be quite frustrating when you’re crawling along in a major traffic jam on this road. It’s frustrating because you know you could be doing up 70mph instead. However, even when you’re doing speeds like that it can be quite stressful. Because unlike bus travel, you can’t just relax and admire the view; you have to stay alert and have your wits about yourself. Music with some solid Rhythm, Dohl and Bass will keep you awake. It’s in between times like that, that I like to de-stress by doing something theraputic. Cooking is theraputic. It’s creative, harmonious and sensual. Nothing epitomises the theraputic nature of cooking than the making of pizza dough. It is an act that can only be performed gracefully and lovingly. Driving up and down the M1 to the making of pizza dough is like what bhangra is to a filmi love song. Making pizza dough is an extremely theraputic act.
(All clips taken with my mobile phone on the M1 and in my kitchen.) The M1 music is Desi Jatt by the fabulous Miss Pooja (and Harjit Heera). The pizza dough music is the track Silsile Mulaqaton Ke from the 2004 film Bardaasht. (You can hear the full song from an old article on these pages from ages ago.)
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Posted on April 12 2009 by Jag @ 4:28 pm
My mobile phone’s an accumulator of moving-image junk. But string’em together, speed them up, upload them to Flickr and you’ve got something like a “day in the life” in 90 seconds. Add some punchy music and you have a home-made rush. Turn it up and click on the arrow in the middle of the pic below: Planes, trains and automobiles
(All clips taken with my mobile phone on, above or below London’s public surfaces.) In order: Blackwall Tunnel, Oxford Street tube station, Tower Bridge from a plane coming in to land at London City Airport, Baker Street (Bakerloo Line platform), Canary Wharf from above, Jubilee Line arriving at Kingsbury Station, The O2 from above Docklands, exiting the barriers at Kingsbury tube station, Ms.79 making fresh roti (chappati), driving around Francis Road in Leyton, East London. Music is Aag (fire) by Ms Scandalous and the Punjabi Hit Squad featuring Alyssia. Ignore (and please try to forgive) the desperately cheesy rap, it’s the headbangingly, leg-twitchingly, addictive beat that gets you, plus of course the audio cameo of Alyssia’s beautiful singing voice. If you have the excellent Spotify player (the best music app on Planet Earth at the moment) then simply click here. If you haven’t got Spotify then GET IT NOW! It’s ace. (Apologies in advance; Spotify might only be available to some European users only.)
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Posted on April 10 2009 by Jag @ 9:03 pm
The train took far too long to arrive. So please accept our apologies for the delay. In return for the long wait turn up the volume really loud and click on the green button below:
Enjoy (Just Like) Starting Over by John Lennon, released October 1980. Picture taken with my cameraphone on the Jubilee Line southbound/eastbound towards Docklands early one morning in March 2009. Yes, it’s rather depressing sometimes to realise how much “work” can eat into the limited and precious time we have left to spend with friends and family. People tell me that we should be lucky we have a job, but I often wonder …
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Posted on February 17 2009 by Jag @ 5:24 pm
This is what happens when you forget to pick up a Metro on your way into the tube station at 6.30 in the morning. Waiting a long time for a train to arrive
(Taken with my cameraphone at Kingsbury Station; Southbound Jubilee Line platform.) In case you hadn’t been drawn to it automatically, click on the green button in the picture and turn up the volume. (Music is extract from The Lonely Shepherd by Gheorghe Zamfir. Remember the ending of the movie Kill Bill Vol 1?)
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Posted on January 25 2009 by Jag @ 11:16 pm
Imagine that there is a library in a deeply religious institution that promotes understanding of multiple faiths. Fiction?
No, fact.
(Taken with my cameraphone inside the Havelock Road Sikh Temple in Southall, West London.)
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Posted on December 31 2008 by Jag @ 8:29 pm
I did exactly 4175 cameraphone web-uploads in 2008. By far the majority are mundane in subject, and mediocre in quality. But every one of them tells a story. Especially if you stare at them hard enough. I didn’t know with which one to close out the year, so I chose the one that sits closest in time to the the middle-most point of the year:
Every picture tells a story if you stare at it hard enough.
(Taken with my cameraphone at almost the exact mid-point of 2008.) Wishing everyone who lands here all the best for the New Year!
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Posted on December 10 2008 by Jag @ 10:40 am
Waiting around in the DARK, WET and COLD – waiting for the 79 to turn up. I guess I should be grateful for the quality thinking time that I get to myself. But I can dream about being elsewhere. If you stare at the approaching 79 bus in the picture below hard enough I’m sure we can elevate ourselves into the same plane of thought …. Wishing I were somewhere else
(Taken with my cameraphone whilst waiting for a Route 79 bus home at Alperton, West London.)
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Posted on November 16 2008 by Jag @ 5:59 pm
A collection of some of my favourite images from over the last few months. Click on the green button below. Music is a dance number called Galang, by MIA (Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam) – A sometimes-controversial West London-born, Sri Lankan artist. (You can watch the video of this track at YouTube if you click here.)
Photo slide-show: Click on green button to load, and to step through pics.
(All pictures taken in London – and with my cameraphone of course.)
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Posted on October 30 2008 by Jag @ 11:35 am
Returned from a weekend away in the outer Western suburbs of London earlier this week. Although Vancouver is a very pleasant place, and Los Angeles International Airport is a humdrum of a place to connect, neither accept Oystercards yet. For my return bus journey I like to get an “F” seat, as most flights on final approach into Heathrow approach from the East, and if you’re lucky to have a cloud-free sky, you’ll get a great view of the Docklands, The City and West End as the plane tracks the river westwards. Unfortunately for me this time I could only get an “A” seat, which means a great view of South London’s .. er .. suburbs and … er … Croydon. And it was cloudy. But, my luck was in when as my plane undertook some manoeuvre that involved descending by heading South-Eastwards over the city first, and there it was as we popped out from just under a cloud:
A rare Eastward view over the City of London.
(Taken with my cameraphone aboard a 777 coming in to London Heathrow.) You can clearly see St.Paul’s Cathedral, The Barbican, Tower 42, Swiss Re, Tower Bridge, and more. Fascinating. You can explore the original-size view of this pic here. And there is another shot I took a moment later where Docklands comes into distant view.
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Posted on October 19 2008 by Jag @ 8:15 pm
The rapidly darkening evenings tells us that it’s that time of year again. For all those celebrating a little light, hope and optimism: a very happy Diwali!
Happy Diwali 2008 from London’s Trafalgar Square.
(Pictures taken with my cameraphone at the Mayor of London’s “Diwali in the Square” event.) In these forever uncertain times, wishing peace, good health and good karma to all those who click-through to here from wherever you come from.
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Posted on October 7 2008 by Jag @ 8:01 pm
I love that word, it’s so descriptive. Almost onomatopoeic.
Rammed.
(Taken with my cameraphone at Liverpool Street tube station Eastbound platform.) Yet more waiting. Central Line Westbound at Liverpool Street. Although I am told that in Mumbai it could it be worse. A part of me finds that hard to believe. I waited for three trains to pass before I managed to (only just) squeeze on. Silly me; should’ve known that most of the East End heading west would not necessarily get off at Liverpool Street during the morning rush hour. A face full of hair-gel later I was at my destination in the City. It would’ve been faster to walk it, but something willed me to persist in the quest to squeeze in, get on, and get there.
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Posted on September 29 2008 by Jag @ 4:45 pm
I find myself doing it a lot lately.
Waiting for a train.
(Taken with my cameraphone.) Whilst waiting for a southbound Metropolitan Line train at Wembley Park, I find myself wondering how much time in our lives we spend waiting. For something. Or something to happen.
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