My Blog

Wireless Mouse Infestation

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 16:35:54 +0100

This morning I was shopping in Wilkinsons’ in East Street in Barking and spotted their interesting solution to a wireless mouse infestation.

Panic in Asda (Barking)

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:17:04 +0100

On 9th August, the day after the riot in Barking, I needed to stock up on essentials and headed off to Asda (Walmart) in Vicarage Fields shopping centre. I had just filled my basket with all the necessary items to see me through any possible siege during the troubles, when a message came across the Tannoy PA asking customers to drop their shopping and leave the building immediately. I stood for a moment in bewilderment as I observed the vast majority of customers panic and run from the store.

It soon became apparent that there was no fire or emergency. The Asda manager had thoughtlessly allowed his paranoia to get the better of him and decided to close the store. The way this was handled was a disgrace and could have caused injury to the customers. He should have closed the store to new customers and allowed those that were shopping to check out. If he felt it was really necessary to clear the store immediately, he should have ensured that the message on the Tannoy PA explained that the store needed to close due to the current troubles and apologised for the inconvenience.

A lady told me that the manager was saying to people they should not be running and that they were stupid. If true, the only stupidity was on the part of the Asda manager on a very ill thought out evacuation that caused his customers to panic.

Redesigned the Website 2

Thu, 27 May 2010 06:36:36 +0100

When I started the Gemini’s Photo Blob website, I was in a bit of a hurry, and as I knew there was a lot of work ahead, I rushed in to it using a standard iWeb template. It looked okay, but it didn’t exactly stand out and was some what cluttered.

So I decided to give the site a complete makeover and even complete it. I’m relatively happy with the way it’s going and I hope you find some pleasure or interest in the site.

Work still continues and lots of tweaking is in store.

Site plans:
• More photo galleries
• More photo art galleries
• Regular photo blog posts
• iPhone version of the site (work has commenced)
• Photograph a day for a year
• A visitor’s gallery (visitor uploads)

I hope you will take the time to post a comment and tell me what you think and anything else you care to. I would love to hear from you.

Donations

Thu, 27 May 2010 04:28:04 +0100

Why donate?

Donating is not necessary, but certainly helps. I don’t have much of an income and I’m not one for living beyond my means with little interest in monetary wealth. Expeditions in to the city cost me £6.90 a day for a 4 zone travel card, not to mention the cost of sundries, like sandwiches and tea.

It would be nice to be able to visit locations like the Tower of London, the palaces, the London Eye and other places that charge a high admission fee, but would make great locations for shots. So any little would be of great help and very much appreciated.

Donators may request locations in London to photograph and may have full res copies sent to them. If you wish me to go further afield, drop me a line.

Graffiti

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 06:16:20 +0100

At the Urban Summit 2002, Tony Blair, the then UK Prime Minister, proposed tough new laws, including banning the of sale of spray paints to under-18s, to stamp out graffiti. At the same summit, delegates heard from other speakers who encouraged embracing graffiti as an art form. In the same year, we heard how graffiti was costing London over £100 million to clean up.

Fact is, graffiti, from the Italian word graffiato ("scratched"), is as old as man, from the cavemen paintings, the Catacombs of Rome or Pompeii, street gangs marking territory, gormless hoodies scrawling senseless tags, to artists like Banksy, it’s always going to be there. Mostly an eyesore blighting the urban landscape, wherever you go, you can not escape it.

Pictured above is a memeber of the graffiti removal team in Barking on the Gascoigne estate.

A View to Die For

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:16:15 +0000

One of the advantages of living on the 10th floor with a 180° panoramic view of London, is the multitude of things going on. I’m constantly looking out at the view and every now and then I see something unusual, so I always have my camera handy and ready to flick the window open and start snapping away. There have been a few occasions where my surprise and awe made me forget to take some shots, although I’m more determined now not to get caught out.

My First photo Blog blob

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:31:53 +0000

Welcome to the first post in the blog section of Gemini’s Photo Blob. I will endeavour to blog, or blob, comments on new photos, news, interesting articles I stumble upon whilst surfing or whatever tickles my fancy at the time.

I welcome comments on the posts and/or photos published on this site, and if you enjoy them I call on you to comment on them. Each photograph has a comment link on the lower left of the page.

I plan to add a gallery where you can upload some of your own photographs should you wish to share. Stay tuned for that.

Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed on the main blog page.

ENJOY!