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August 28, 2004

Asiana, Cone, Shoe box

Except for the BT ones - all the telephone kiosks in my North-West London neighbourhood are vandalised and non-functional. Instead they are used illigitimately by Asian media companies to promote Asian women's magazines, concerts or new "Bollywood" film releases. The features on the cover of the following magazine poster caught my attention as I strolled down my high street this morning.
"For the Asian woman who wants more"
Whilst you are reading this posting - why not listen to remix version of "Mujhe Tumse Mohabbat" Hai by Shreya Ghoshal and Shaan from the film "Tumsa Nahin Dekha". This song is going through a "saturation play" phase on the Club Asia radio channel as well as on B4U Music video channel. Click the play button in the media player to listen - it is encoded at a very low bitrate so even if you are on dialup it should stream fine. If you like it so much that you wish to hear it again - it will play from your computer's hard disk every subsequent time. Lucky you.
A bit further on down the high street - I notice something strange: there is a traffic cone on top of the bus shelter. I've seen a lot of strange things on top of bus shelters in my lifetime - like shoes etc. - but never a traffic cone.
Traffic cone on top of bus shelter.
And talking of shoes - did you know that shoes are recyclable? They most certainly are down my way. You have to make sure you tie them together in pairs - or stick them in a plastic bag - and then drop them through the flap. There is a notice just below the flap which says something like "Danger - do not enter".
Recycle your shoes.
WARNING: COMMENTS ARE WORKING - BUT YOU MAY GET AN ERROR 500 PAGE (Ignore the error - the comment will still be added - I just haven't got round to fixing the problem yet)

Posted by jag at August 28, 2004 02:43 PM

Comments

The textile and shoe recycling containers exist in Germany as well - and some people indeed put their small children into them so they can get clothes out of the containers. How they get the children back out of them, I don't know.

Posted by: Stefan at August 29, 2004 10:00 AM

Thanks for your comment Stefan! And thanks for the explanation regarding the "do not enter" signs on the shoes/clothes recycling bins. I can't believe that people actually try doing that!

Posted by: Jag at August 29, 2004 10:01 PM

Well, I've seen grown up people climbing into these skips. Couldn't believe it myself, but they get in and out through the flap!

Posted by: Ivan Pope at August 31, 2004 07:03 PM

Hello there Ivan: Long time! (Flashback to the heady days of early UK Internet: remember the famous naming committee showdown meeting in Cambridge all those years ago?)

I'm astounded that grown-ups try getting into those contraptions; there just doesn't appear to be the space to even try to get in! Amazed.

Posted by: Jag at August 31, 2004 09:00 PM

I've also noticed inside phone booths - esp in Central London - lots of posters and ads for sex services - massage, phone chats, "discreet hoime visits", the works... :)
also remember being impressed by the concept of organised recycling - degradable, plastics, shoes, clothes... found them in front of many large supermarkets in London....
amd Jag, you have a remarkable eye for quirky and interesting details - stuff we all see all the time and never think about.... great stuff... I love it :)

Posted by: Charu at September 2, 2004 04:54 AM

Hi Charu - yes the phone-booth cards are still there - despite many campaigns to get rid of them! And thank you for your kind feedback!

Posted by: Jag at September 4, 2004 01:56 PM

Funny you noticed the Cone on top of the bus shelter. I noticed the old lady picking her nose !!!

Posted by: Stephane at September 20, 2004 04:12 PM

Hi Stephane: It's even funnier because I didn't notice that until you pointed it out! :-)

Posted by: Jag at September 20, 2004 10:58 PM

Jag!
Wow! I just happened to return to this blog that I made a comment on in August (well, thanks to the amazing skill of Google really) and I find that it's your blog. Of course I remember you and the heady days of the naming committee. Who could forget. Now I'm going to find an email address and write to you properly. You can check my history blog at
http://www.themanwhoinventedtheinternet.com
Later,
Cheers,
Ivan

Posted by: Ivan Pope at January 3, 2005 12:15 AM

Hey Ivan - excellent. Happy New Year to you. I have read all of your manwhoinvetedInternet pages - ages ago! Am glad you remember the good ol days too!
Best email to get me on is jag.minhas@gmail.com
Cheers!

Posted by: Jag at January 3, 2005 12:29 AM

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