Archive for the ‘Excursions’ Category
Mario
A Mario Bros figure adorns a desk at the MTV UK corporate offices. (Canon EOSD)
Also – I’ve gone back to the dark ages and purchased an old Pentax K1000 – just like I used at university from 1996-7. I bought one second hand at a New York market for $100 in 1999 and it lasted for about 100 rolls before finally giving up (it may well have had a problem that was easy to fix, but I left it at a relative’s place in Holland 4 years ago!), so I bought another one off eBay a couple of weeks ago for 65 pounds. I took few B&W photos at Southall (aka ‘Little India’) last weekend, so I’m waiting to finish the roll and see how those turn out! It’s a real ‘workhorse’ student camera, but takes great pics.
Department store shelves
Things I can’t afford – or, more to the point, simply things I think are overpriced for what they are.
Also: I THINK IT’S POLAROID TIME AGAIN!
Treehouse, Regent’s Canal
Another Regent’s Canal photograph taken last month. This one’s of a treehouse!
Little Venice
A bit of an overcast day – but aren’t they all these days? Little Venice, Warwick Avenue.
A London Canal walk
A photo tour along London Canals
Kensal Green to Camden Lock
Itis brilliant and invigorating to take a walk along Londonis quiet canals. We started out where the Grand Union Canal meets Kensal Green, just past the Sainsburyis supermarket.
Further along, you can see flats overlooking the canal n they begin to vary in quality, from council estates to private apartments. This particular shot (above)looks just like a quiet Venetian canal, particularly with the boat in view!
What you might not realise is how much wildlife thrives along the canals. You get all sorts of ducks, plus heron and mallards.
Further on, you see bits of community: the Meanwhile Gardens and more flats, as well as glimpses of streets that run along the canal. Eventually, you will get to Little Venice. Many people live on the narrowboats and you can see mini kitchens and bedrooms if you peek through the windows, and some have a table and chairs outside so you can enjoy the sunshine and have some friends over for a drink. More later. In the meantime, some sites to check out are the London Canal Museum and Jasonis boat tours.
Hula Dancers at MTV
Went to MTV Networks to take photos for a piece my colleague Chris is doing for our magazine on MTV’s online strategy. We got to wander around some of the MTV online team’s desks – they’re all very kitsch, full of plastic hula dancers, Potato Heads, plastic ducks, snow domes and other popular paraphenalia. One of the executive offices we went into had items like an MTV Awards statue on the desk, a framed article on Crowded House’s last gig in Sydney, photographs of pop stars like Kylie Minogue, a toy slot machine and so on. All the desks there have their own mini television hooked up to MTV, although the screens’ volume was on very low. The photo above is of what adorned the top of one of the “dividers” between the open plan desks.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
While I find the time to actually take some photos of London, an old one taken in New York back in 1999. Speaking of museums, we went to see the Lichtenstein exhibition at the Hayward Gallery last weekend…
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park, London
Barcelona Pics Part 1
There was snow in London today! Yes, I know what you’re saying; it was only a mere flurry, interspersed with a hell of a lot of rain (I had no umbrella on the way to work). But for someone who never saw snow fall until she was a week shy of 21 (an even briefer series of flurries during my second trip to London in the Christmas of 1997), this is good.
Ah, the photo. Excuse me while I get off the topic of London for a bit; because we’ve just been away from here on a brief holiday to Barcelona. Although it only takes about 2 hours by plane (including time spent on the ground) it can take about seven hours “door to door” if you include transport to and from the airports, check in times, baggage collection and inevitable delays. We weren’t even flying EasyJet! Anyway, this photo is from La Pedrera (Casa Mila), which was one of the several houses we toured while there last week.
It’s also known as the stone quarry because of its rock-like exterior and wrought iron balconies. Designed by Gaudi (of course), the tour of the building includes a great trapise through the odd chimneys, air vents and sculptures on the roof – so choose a day when it’s nice and cloudless! This is one photo I took while there which I quite like… mainly cos of the striking colours.
Blast from the not-so-distant past: Sealand
By Kim Gilmour
In August 2002, I took a day trip from London to visit the offshore “principality” of Sealand, a disused gun platform off the coast of Harwich to interview its Ryan Lackey, the founder of Sealand’s offshore hosting company HavenCo. The company claims to be able to host contentious content simply because it’s “outside” the UK. But is it really its own sovereignty?
Anyway, it was a very surreal place. You get winched up by a crane to get there! As we thought, Ryan has since left Sealand to pursue other dreams. I took loads of photographs which I’ve had on my other website for a while, but you can see some more of my Sealand photographs, and a copy of the whole article as it was published in Internet Magazine. By the way, HavenCo is now closed due to an acrimonious split between founder Ryan Lackey and Prince Michael. amid security fears. It’s an interesting story. But read on for mine…