Summary Blogging + New Website

Firstly I must apologise for not blogging sooner i've been held down by work for the past month or so, and haven't had the opportunity to get sat down to write something. So in true twitter style (I don't have twitter by the way, the main reason is i'm determined to not fall to another online communicating fad like i did with facebook, however i feel that i'm going to have to eat my words in one month, due to its easier to blog on a day to day basis. A anti-twitter revolutionary i'm not) i'm going to do a little summary of what i was supposed to blog to you.

The elections:
I voted, go me.
Hung parliament, WTF?
Coalition government, Yay.
New Government proposes more cuts...GOD DAMN IT!
Conclusion; we've got another 4 more years of this...bugger.

The Chelsea Flower Show:
Ooo Ahh Pretty Flowers
How much did they spend on that?!
How long did they spend on that?!
and they only got a bronse!!!???
Ooo more pretty flowers.
Conclusion: I now know what a Bonsai tree is.

General Observations:
Why is everything so god damn expensive!
I need a new job.
I have another pair of expensive shoes with a hole in...(lots of swearing)
The new Iphone 4 is seriously cool, although again expensive. doh.
my presentation evening is being missed
because of the england football match. again doh.
That reminds me...new things on tv to watch...last big brother
Conclusion: June is gonna be a fun month, nevermind. at least my birthday is soon.

Thats enough of my ranting for one day, anyway to finish off, i have my new website to show you, powered by carbon made...

http://www.mtomlinsonphoto.com/












I like it a lot.
And thats all folks (cue looney tunes theme music)
MT

Does it scare you that the kids are the future?

Yesterday when I was walking back from a fairground (I turned up late to take pictures as they were packing away and had to walk all the way back home again) and as I walked by I saw this...

I firstly walked past it think nothing of it, then in the back of my head I had an idea (Its one of those feelings you get when you know that you've walked past something that'll you'll never see again, one of my basic principles of taking pictures), so I took a photo of it for safe keeping.

But anyway when I got home, I started to think how that trolley got there. I mean it was obviously a bunch of kids (although i might be wrong I don't want to go all
Daily Mail on yo ass!) that'd thought it be funny to steal a trolley from Tesco's supermarket (yes i checked the label) and take it up the main road near my house. To think the effort that it must have taken to do that, you've got to go to the supermarket, put a pound to get the bloody trolley out, and then (like a fucking ninja) wheel it out of the supermarket without anyone noticing. only someone with the brain the size of a slight salted nut, could think that's fun. But i digress from the main point. I like to think that every person has some kind of purpose in life, now just remember that we are in a country where any person could do anything with a little hard work and determination. One of these small brain idiots could become a politician (god forbid) or someone more important like a Doctor or a Pilot (did you get the subtle hint there?). Sometimes it just scares even me (I'm only 18 after all and still a teenager Rebellious type in my own way) that these imbeciles that nicked a fucking trolley, could end up DUN DUN DUR RUNNING THE COUNTRY! However before society completely implodes, thankfully we have a measure in place to deal with anti-socials like these.

It's called an ASBO.

Your Honor, I rest my case.

MT

Indie music stores are best.

I find in day to day life that if you want something specific that you have to look good and hard, to find it. However when it comes to music, films and other media products, I find that shopping through chain stores, such as HMV and Virgin megastores, that this process can be quite tedious. Films for instance can become really quite annoying when shopping in these stores as they always have some kind of offer on them.
I'm not talking about sales, they're always good to find bargains, no i'm talking about the dreaded 3 for £15 offer. I would like them, however it just causes me aggrovation as when I see this offer I feel compelled to buy two more DVD's (I suppose thats why they do it) Its hard enough, to choose one dvd to buy without having to go around and find two others, but what gets me is the shopping assistants, do constantly remind you about these deals, it goes something like this...

From http://www.dollymix.tv/hmv.jpg

When you enter the store.

Assistant: Hi, there! (big fake smile included) we have some 3 for £15 deals on at the moment at the far end of the store (Just incase you couldn't read the mass overload of signs)

You: Errm thanks i'll have a look around

Later On.

Assistant: Hi again, have you seen anything you like? (big smile is still there)

You: I've got this one DVD, I think i'll just get this.

Assistant: Oh that one is part of the 3 for £15 deal.

You: Ok, i'll have a wonder round.

At the Till.

Assistant: Oh Hi there! (It's like that Smile is glued to their face)

Did you See our 3 for £15 deal, that one is on offer.

You: I just want to buy that one, thanks

Assisant: Also with that one you can get 25% off when you buy one other....

You: ...

At this point you just want to say

LOOK I JUST WANT TO BUY THIS ONE FUCKING DVD IF THATS OK!

So, I basically just leave that store and head straight for this lovely independant music/film/guitar shop.

Which is really what I should have done in the first place. I went into that store and bought that DVD plus two others plus some CDs, not from constant hassle from the shopping assisants but because I was free to browse I wished. Sometimes the hard sell isn't the way to go. The transaction went something like that.

At the Till.

Assisant: Hi there (nice smile, not a fixed false smile), Oh its a good one that one isn't it.

You: Yeah, I've wanted to buy it for ages (smile back)

Assistant: Well I hope you enjoy it, that £... please.

Leave Store.

Thats how it should have been first time around. Thats why indie music stores are best.

MT

It's that time again...and my opinion finally counts (sort of)

It is now 16 days away from the general election, and the electoral campaigns are well under way. Now I've always had a healthy interest in politics, and i feel that this year's vote will be more important than ever. If we look back at the last ten years, Britain has had a rough time, we are in huge debt, on the verge of social chaos and the public has been betrayed by the government.

This is what i saw (in fewer words) when i read the conservative manifesto today, Come on Cameron, Its not been so bad, we've managed to bring unemployment down significantly amongst other things. I've been a conservative supporter for a few years now, (since i gained a interested in politics, really) but sometimes i do think that i may be voting for the wrong party. but lets look at the alternatives. I took this photo on my way to college today (it's the main reason for me writing this post)



This is the sign for a local MP, Toby Perkins, Now considering that the Liberal Democrats, have been in power where i live for the past ten years it is unlikely now that Labour will win. So that leaves the Lib Dems and the Torys as realistic voting options (besides i really don't like Labour anyway), this i would like to think as applicable to the rest of the united kingdom, however Labour may actually still win the election, but i digress.

In my town the Lib Dems, probably won't go out of power, so voting for any other party is pretty pointless. however in the mass scale of things i believe that the conservatives have a good chance of winning as the Lib Dems still do not have enough power behind them to win the election this time around and Labour made a complete arse of the job since 2000. So I'm personally voting for The Conservatives (though i do not agree with their policies on nuclear and blended family units).

Who will win? only time will tell.
MT

Mac Vs Pc: The War of the Consumer (Coming Soon to a Conversation Near You) Supporting Act: Liam Gallagher Vs Peter Kay

I generally cannot go a week with hearing a Mac Vs Pc arguement. Its gone beyond a joke now, I really cannot take another lecture from certain un-named persons on how there mac/pc is better than the other, it is madness. I'm on neither side as i both think they have there faults and benefits, I sit on the technological fence as it were.


I think Mac are too blame for they're fancy design and ability to create great performance from programs such as photoshop and flash (come to think of it, any adobe software works well on a mac). However PC are too blame as well with easy to use interface systems and creating software for the little man such as solitare and minesweeper (for dull office days like today).


So i come to my point that the problem lies in the consumer. We as the "general" public are very diverse indeed always needing/wanting completely different things to the next person. So this is why we get this tension building up between those who own Macs and those who own Pc's, In a way this is what happens when irresistible force meets a immoveable object.


By this i mean Microsoft doesn't have much to worry about as most corporate company systems are run primarily on Windows as well as selling to the general consumer, so they'll never run out of business as long as Mac doesn't create a system that runs 10x faster than the current windows software, which will never happen (Not in my lifetime I hope, otherwise there will be madness). The Company known as Apple will never have to worry about competition from Microsoft as they currently sell two of the most popular products on the technology market, the Ipod and the Iphone, plus they sell Apple Macs to specialist buyers and the general consumer, so the equilibrium is maintained (thank god). This picture below I think sums up this general idea.



From http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~jshersh/index.html

Just before i go..I'd like to talk about good Ol' Liam Gallagher at the Brit Awards. (you can tell this blog is slightly late) Bless him being the true knobhead rockstar that everybody already knows he is, chucking his mic and award into the crowd (Best Album For 30 years : (Whats the Story) Morning Glory?). Then the next day, having a go at Brit Presenter Peter Kay, for calling him a knobhead behind his back. HE WAS ON THE SAME FECKING STAGE AS YOU. I think his twitter post could be somewhat ironic

From Liam Gallaghers Twitter Page
"Listen up fat fuck as a real northerner I was brought up 2 say shit 2 people's faces not behind their back. Live forever LG"

This isn't the first time either, R' Liam has been causing trouble at the Brits in previous years

In 2000, Robbie Williams challenged him to a fight after enduring months of insults from the Oasis frontman.

And in 1996, he accepted an award on stage from Michael Hutchence, only to humiliate the INXS singer by demanding: "Why is a has-been presenting to the gonnabes?"
(Extract from the Guardian)

Subsequently A Facebook group in support of Peter Kay over the matter attracted over 170,000 members

So Liam if your listening I know you love your fans and I like your music but...

(Picture from The Guardian)


Calm the Fuck down.

Live Forever
MT

Lets all console ourselves by going shopping

When the "credit crunch" began, I was un-interested in the economic change. my view was as long as it doesn't effect me, then it doesn't matter what my view is. In some ways I have managed to 'survive' this recession, I mean still have my job, meaning I still have a secure regular income, I'm fairly lucky compared to some of my peers. However I have been hit in my personal life, in my immediate family, so no-one really is really safe from the knock-on effects of the economic downfall. But enough about me.

I was surprised to find at Christmas that despite at the peak of our 'credit crunch' and the unemployment figures were at 2.46 million, people still shopped in their masses in the run up to Christmas. Then again I wasn't so surprised after 'encouragement' from the government to spend more with incentives such as car scrapping schemes and temporary reduced VAT throughout the UK. The public swarmed to these incentives like flies to shit. Despite the fact that a huge amount of the public are jobless and there is no employment to be found, the British public still manage to find the money to shop.

In my experience you can't stop tradition, Christmas will be one of those traditions that will be still here long after I'm dead.
I find this amusing however because of some people complain about the 'x-mas shop'. I mean who likes endless queuing and running around on Christmas eve like a madman (it's never a woman who's forgotten to buy presents) trying to find a thoughtful and 'quick' present.

Anyway i took this photo just after my x-mas shop and i decided to post it now, just to gain closure from the winter holiday



Ladies and Gentleman I rest my case.
MT

Self portrait in a security mirror

Last Friday evening I was milling about getting photos for the new project that I'm doing, i noticed the security mirror's in the local train station. I took this photograph just on a whim(mainly so I could get another Facebook photo out of it).



but then i started thinking, that i must have seen that mirror many times previous while traveling to and from my home town and the people sat in the security room in the station will have seen many people through it while on their shift. Now that is stating the obvious a bit, but i think that because we see so many security placements (cameras, signs of warning, etc) that we just tend to ignore the fact that we're being watched almost every time we step out of our front door. while in a public place we make 300 CCTV appearances a day, and that's a scary thought, we are told its for our own good. but is it really? i'm not here to make assumptions but i will say one thing that people should take more notice about WHO is watching them. i found this article that was quite interesting, have a read;

Britain is 'Surveillance Society'

MT