Route 79

Epilogue

Jag — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:44:30 +0000

(Turn up the volume and press the green button for a musical accompaniment to the narrative of this ending. Then fix your eyes and focus on infinity on the lights on the front of the bus for a moment.)

Route 79: Creeping through the night.
(Taken with my cameraphone in Kingsbury, London NW9.)

Standards deviate. Often. And especially this year. And when they do you carry on. As you do. And you do. Neglect is an accusation often aimed at the interlocutor, but in your case it’s me who bears the burden of lacking. For you’re always there when I look over my shoulder. And never there when I’m waiting in hope. In the dark, the wet and the cold. The last twelve months have had me dreaming too much and consequently I cannot account for any, nor much, of. It.

Is this how it’s destined to be now?

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Let’s hope that 2010 will last on the memory a little more than this year, and that loyalties return to those we care the most for once again.

(Music is Wonderland by London-born singer/songwriter Raissa Khan-Panni, a song with which I fell in love with in the serendipitous act of being kept on-hold for far too long on the telephone to a Customer Services helpline. Click here to find the track on Spotify.)

The best things in life are free

Jag — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:32:54 +0000

Oh my oh my, have you seen the weather?

Futures made of virtual insanity now always seem to be goverened by this love we have for useless, twisting of our then new technology, but if “manners maketh man” as someone said then you would know your history and you would know where you’re coming from. So have pity on those whose chances grow thinner, and just remember to always think twice. (Do think twice.)

When I walked out this morning, I don’t believe what I saw:

If you say run, I’ll run with you.
(Taken with my cameraphone in Kingsbury, London NW9.)

One hundred million bottles washed upon the shore. Where do we go? Where do we go now? None but ourselves can free our mind, because to the heart and mind, ignorance is kind:

Music makes the bourgeoisie and the rebels.

So let me take you to a place where membership’s a smiling face and if you want to make the world a better place then take a look at yourself and make a change …

Stuffed Peppers

Jag — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:33:22 +0000

There are some things in life that just have to be experienced. And in my opinion, roasted stuffed peppers is one of them. A perfect way of using up leftovers from your cooking the days before, especially if what’s left over is a spicy dish that is “dry” e.g. consisting of rice or mashed up potatoes.

Stuffed pepper. Yum.
(Taken with my cameraphone in my kitchen)

Click here for a brief description of what to do if you want to savour this wonderful dish. Enjoy!

Slough in Pictures Part 8

Jag — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:01:11 +0000

When the hinges of a door have not been oiled for long time, the sound that emanates can be incredibly jarring.

I just wish they would apply some oil to the hinges of this door.
(Taken with my cameraphone in the Observatory shopping centre car park in Slough.)

More of my Slough in Pictures here: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7.5

August happenings

Jag — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:44:05 +0000

Where did August go?

Some things that happened: I went to Westfield London shopping mall (and I actually liked it.) Our local Woolworths (Kingsbury Road) has become a fruit and veg shop called FruitAsia. And I travelled several times on the Jubilee Line from Kingsbury to Wembley Park. Click on a green button below to get some visual perspective into these events.

Some random happenings in August.
(All pictures taken in London with my cameraphone.)

Hace Madrid

Jag — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:27:17 +0000

Somewhere not too far South of London is a suburb called Madrid. Click on the green button below to travel there and back with a small selection of snaps from my mobile phone. Turn up the volume, close your eyes, and hope that this is just imagination.

Photo slide-show: Click on green button to load, and to step through pics.
(All pictures taken in London & Madrid – and with my cameraphone of course.)

Features images from Barajas Airport Terminal 4, Plaza de Castilla, Metro de Madrid and Telefónica’s Distrito C office complex.

Invincible rubbish

Jag — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 08:56:50 +0000

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)

Beautiful Slough redux

Jag — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 09:49:08 +0000

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

2 Meg vs 1 Gig

Jag — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:44:35 +0000

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)

The M1 & Pizza Dough

Jag — Sun, 17 May 2009 14:20:41 +0000

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.)

Planes, trains and mobiles

Jag — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:28:25 +0000

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.)

Like starting over

Jag — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:03:50 +0000

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 …

12 mins

Jag — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:24:30 +0000

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?)

Faith & Fiction

Jag — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:16:31 +0000

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.)

Moment in time

Jag — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:29:52 +0000

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!