Wigan Parish Church From The DW Stadium
I took this picture at half time of Wigan Parish Church from the DW Stadium.
Wigan Parish Church From The DW Stadium
It’s one of those times, that I wished I’d had a proper camera and a long lens with me.
The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
I’ve never actually seen the band, but I haven’t heard of them for years. So I was surprised to see this poster at the side of the road in Wigan.
The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
But like most bands of the 1960s, the The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown seems to keep going.
The Success Of Open House
Open House is an undoubted success, but is it both big and well-organised enough? There was a report of excessive crowds at Battersea Power station and as the queues at Canary Wharf station showed, the demand is very large.
The organisers need to rethink how Open House is organised.
Two of the places this year, that I visited were reasonably local and well-organised without queues. But obviously that can’t be said for the big set piece openings like Canary Wharf station.
Is This Enough Clocks?
The number of clocks here, showing the time around the world could be considered excessive.
Is This Enough Clocks?
But I think it’s a good display.
I took this picture from a 277 bus, which was easiest way to get back from Canary Wharf, as being Open House weekend, there was engineering works on the DLR and the Northern line.
Inside Canary Wharf Crossrail Station
This was one of the must-see events in Open House.
The areas we saw were the bottom levels of Canary Wharf station where trains and passengers go. On the top of these floors is a large retail mall.
This is the future, where stations are more than just means to access the trains. The new Birmingham New Street station has another large retail mall on top and the new Crossrail station at Woolwich, is underneath masses of flats, as is my local station of Dalston Junction. Land is expensive, but digging down or building in the sky only increases its value and hopefully gives benefits to all of us.
Going Underground
I saw this poster on the Undergound.
Going Underground
I think it will be worth seeing, as a glimpse into the future.
Are People Generally That Dim?
I was surprised that this poster for the film Le Weekend has a translation of that into English.
Are People Generally That Dim?
I do wonder how many wouldn’t have realised it was a French film about a weekend. I hope not very many.
Checking on Wikipedia, it’s actually a British fim, written by Hanif Kureishi
A Sad Clock
There is no other title to this picture.
A Sad Clock
I hope when the property is refurbished, they give the clock a makeover.
The Bunhill Energy Centre
I went to the Bunhill Energy Centre as it was one of sites in Open House.
This centre provides enough heat and electricity for 700 homes.
We shall be seeing a lot more developments like this. I’ve always felt that small versions of the same system, using the same principles of a gas powered engine driving a generator, could be used to power and heat larger houses and small industrial premises. In fact Tomorrow’s World showed such a system based on a Fiat car engine in the 1980s.
We are just too conservative about how we generate electricity and heat.
Strangely, I met someone here, who was just a couple of years ahead of me at Minchenden.
Annoying Smart Phone
Are smart phones all they are cracked up to be?
I’ve recently bought myself a Samsung S3 Mini smart phone, so how do I like it?
It does the three things that I want it to do, which is make and receive calls, send and receive text messages and check the weather, news and sport on the Internet to a good standard.
I quite like the text message interface, as it enables me to do things, like send long texts to Radio 5 Live with ease, by typing them on my computer and then sending them to the phone for forwarding.
I don’t use any Apps, as the sort of App-like applications I need, I do on my computer.
But it has two main faults.
Starting it up is a nightmare and usually takes more than a few seconds.
And then there is of course battery life.
It also tries to lead me to use applications and things I don’t want. I bought a phone not an advertising medium!
Touch the wrong place and you can get lost.
If I’d designed something as poor as that, I’d be disgusted with myself.
At least though, it’s better than a Junkberry.
But as has been said often about people. Must try harder!
I still keep swapping my sim into my Nokia 6310i, when that would be a better phone for the day.
The Anonymous Widower 