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Showing posts from July, 2011

Who's Going to Spill the Beans?

 Given their profession, I suppose most of the alleged malefactors in the Murdoch implosion will write memoirs exculpating themselves and blaming others, a process that begins when a person is being interviewed under caution.  Brooks has been arrested today - by appointment, but arrested all the same, under suspicion of intercepting communications, and on suspicion of breaching s1 PCA 1906, which last is heavy, if it's true. You must wonder if anyone of those in trouble is going to make a clean breast of it, and dob everyone else in for good luck, in behopes of their remorse giving them a bit of credit when it comes to sentencing.  After all, these aren't people whose loyalty is likely to linger on once the legal shit hits their own liberty's fan.  The Daily Mirror 9/11 victim story does look extremely flimsy.  On the face of it, guy A in bar tells guy B that he's an ex copper PI, and some limey reporters rang him back in the day wanting to get 9/11 victims' nu

The Botanist; the ruinous cost of deving in Chelsea; more fun with flash and x-rays

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The doorman at The Botanist tonight wouldn't let me smoke a cigar outside the front of the pub because people didn't like the smell, "neither do I", he said, even though he'd just been smoking a cigarette himself.  I asked the two young Frenchmen standing there if they objected, and they seem nonplussed at the very idea.  He made me stand around the corner, where two City blokes seemed unhappy with the cigar, unlike the Frenchmen. It was annoying, but more interesting as an example of arbitrary use of power.  I think his accent was eastern European, and I'm normally resident in China, and we find our way to Sloane Square to have this dispute. At Snappy Snaps on the King's Road, I learned that it costs £9-something to dev a roll of 120, and the same again to scan it.  So the roll I've got in the camera will wait until I get back to Shanghai, as will any others I shoot here.  That roll in the camera has been through the x-ray on the Shanghai subway,

"The amazing News of the World team..."

There's a picture of them here .   And this is how those "amazing people" operate . 

Kuala Lumpur

The symposium ended at lunchtime on Friday, yesterday, and we were advised to head for the airport straightaway, even though our flight wasn't until 1am.  That seemed a bit overcautious, but we did go at 9pm.  And got straight there, the driver going very fast indeed.  The airport was like any other airport, late at night.  I'd been out for a dish of humus and a shisha pipe at the Egypt Cafe on Bintang Walk in the afternoon, walked there, and got the metro back to the hotel, and there was no atmosphere, just tourists.  But I didn't go anywhere else.  The night before, in the same street, there was some shouting, and some police showed up, but I couldn't see what was happening, and it died down. That area seemed to have a lot of Arab and some western tourists.  Friendly place, well, the Malaysians at the symposium, waiters and taxi drivers were all friendly.  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43694046/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/

Too loud, man.

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Getting There

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This is I took when I came out of the camera mart place with the new telephone-cord flash lead.  I have no idea what was going on.  Five lassies who looked like they'd been at some dream of a dressing up box, and a load of chimpers snapping them.  I don't know where the gadgie on the left came from, but I don't think he was as threatening as he looks.  The eyelines are a gift.  I'm not sure about the top third of it. This was early afternoon on a cloudy day.  There were other flashes going off, so it might not be a true indication of how this flash works.   But I'm happy if it's like this.  The furthest figure is about 10ft from where I was standing.  The nearest is about 4ft, and the light's a bit strong there.  Or is it? And this was 100iso, mind...  Difficult to draw any conclusions the noo but it's looking promising. This goes to show the received wisdom that xpro colour shifts are less pronounced with over exposure and with flash.  I don't