Peter Bargh

Sights & Sounds
May 31st, 2008 by Peter Bargh

Exploring Denbigh’s lunatic asylum

Today is a beautiful sunny day, so why am I in a dingy corridor in the depths of ruin? Simple, I am stepping totally out of my comfort zone following the footsteps of the Urban Explorers with Tom(?), William Cheung and Tony Dudley.

I’m in a Victorian Asylum, the air is acrid, the floor below my feet precarious and the light spilling from holes in the roof is creating huge contrast problems for photography.

The building, Denbigh’s lunatic asylum, was closed in 1995, and when we visited it was in a bad shape but still worth photographing. Since our visit it’s been vandalised much more, looted and set on fire and is now beyond renovation.

I climb the clock tower on a very iffy circular stair case seemingly held together with pigeon poo and wandered around many areas of the site, at the time guarded but he must have been asleep!

The potential health risk from the pigeon poo, asbestos and flaking lead paint compete with the risk of being arrested for being in a building I’m not supposed to be in, but the thrill to explore and, in my case, the last chance to see and record some amazing architecture in its sad final state of dilapidation, tips the balance.

A fabulous experience and I can see why so many people enjoy the hobby of urban exploration.

Here’s a selection of photographs documenting the visit.

May 23rd, 2008 by Peter Bargh

Camera Rumours – the next generation Digital SLRs

It’s quite funny looking around at blog posts from photographers who let slip the next model from Nikon or Canon etc. It doesn’t take a genius to work out the route of most manufacturers, yet the bloggers pump out some fluff about the XXX or YYY, some even go to the trouble of spoofing up a design from an existing model.

Well here you are. No need to go anywhere else – here’s the rest of the cameras that will be launched at Photokina 2008.

Canon EOS1 MkIV
Canon EOS 500
Canon 50D
Nikon D90
Nikon D4
Olympus E4
Olympus E-530
Olympus E-430
Pentax K300D
Pentax K30
Pentax K5 or Pentax K1
Sony Alpha 400
Sigma SD16
Samsung GX30

It’s going to be a busy Photokina…wonder how many I can tick off my list at the end of the year. Anyone want a bet? 😉

May 21st, 2008 by Peter Bargh

Olympus E-520 Launch

Olympus launch the E-520 Launch in London. We met at the Amber Bar, Baltic Restaurant 74 Blackfriars Road SE1 8HA and then headed over to the Gerkin to eat on the 38th Floor  30 St Mary Axe London

Host
Jermome Demare, Mark Thackara, Greg Connell, Harjit Sohotey

Press
Peter Bargh, Ian Farrell, William Cheung, Rachel D’Cruze, Bob Martin, Terry Hope, Jamie Harrison, James Mansfield

May 19th, 2008 by Peter Bargh

Nominated for Princeton Premier Business Leaders and Professionals Honors Edition

Wow I cannot believe it Peter Bargh has reached the dizzy heights of being considered for inclusion into the 2008-2009 Princeton Premier Business Leaders and Professionals Honors Edition section of the registry.

The what?????

After a quick Google search it seem that half the internet has also been considered for inclusion into the 2008-2009 Princeton Premier Business Leaders and Professionals Honors Edition section of the registry.

Oh well it sounded good for about as long as it does to hear you’ve won the European Lottery, a holiday in two to Nigeria or a deluxe penis enlarger.

Walks off singing a well know Monty Python song…

May 19th, 2008 by Peter Bargh

Sorry, that key does not appear to be valid – WordPress error

If you get this error when requesting a new password it looks like you won’t be the only one. I wasn’t!
So I upgraded to WordPress 2.5.1 and then deleted my cache which lost my password that I didn’t write down. So usual simple thing request a new one…only this time the system didn’t work. The email arrived with the message:

To reset your password visit the following address, otherwise just ignore this email and nothing will happen.

I clicked the link and got the Sorry, that key does not appear to be valid message.

Thankfully there is a solution that I found on doing a search using Google. It’s in the WordPress forums and asks you to: Download the ZIP file with those two changed files here:
http://trac.wordpress.org/changeset/7837?format=zip&new=7837
Unzip it using WinZIP or something, then upload those two changed files to your site.
There is one change to make to the code

Just above that code it gives in wp-login.php is a line that read like this:
if ( empty($key) ) {

Try changing it to this:
if ( empty($key) || preg_match('/[^a-z0-9]/i',$key) != 0) {

Check out the full thread here
May 16th, 2008 by Peter Bargh

65th Anniversary of the Dambusters

I went to Derwent Dam in Derbyshire to witness the RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s (BBMF) Avro Lancaster fly over the reservoir to commemorate the 65th Anniversary of the Dambuster raids.

Lancaster Bomber over Derwent

I didnt get the best viewpoint and my best pics are ones with the plane flying away from me from north to south over the reservoirs. I wish I’d been on Derwent edge like those you can see in the photo. I’d have used a long lens and got it flying over the dam wall.

Messed around in Lightroom for this one

The Lancaster was followed by a Spitfire XIX (PS915) and Hurricane IIc (LF363 YB-W) for three fly-pasts.

May 13th, 2008 by Peter Bargh

The Office Dare email – fun in the office

This office dares email has been doing the rounds for years, so just in case you missed it. Here it is again. See who can score the most point in your workplace.

ONE-POINT DARES

  1. Ignore the first five people who say ‘good morning’ to you.
  2. To signal the end of a conversation, clamp your hands over your ears and grimace.
  3. Leave your fly open for one hour. If anyone points it out, say, ‘Sorry, I really prefer it this way’.
  4. Walk sideways to the photocopier.
  5. While going in an elevator, gasp dramatically each time the doors open..
  6. When in an elevator with one other person, tap them on the shoulder and pretend it wasn’t you.
  7. Finish all your sentences with ‘In accordance with the  prophecy…’
  8. Don’t use any punctuation.
  9. Interrupt your conversation with someone by giving a huge dejected sigh.
  10. Use your highlighter pen on the computer screen.

THREE-POINT DARES

  1. Say to your boss, ‘I like your style’, wink, and shoot him with double-barreled fingers.
  2. Kneel in front of the water cooler and drink directly from the nozzle.
  3. Shout random numbers while someone is counting.
  4. Every time you get an email, shout ”email”.
  5. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has got over his or her caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.
  6. Keep hole punching your finger. Each time you do, shout, ‘dagnamit, it’s happened again!’. Then do it again.
  7. Introduce yourself to a new colleague as ‘the office bicycle’. Then wink and pout.
  8. Call I.T. helpdesk and tell them that you can’t seem to access any pornography web sites.


FIVE-POINT DARES

  1. At the end of a meeting, suggest that, for once, it would be nice to conclude with the singing of the national anthem (extra points if  you actually launch into it yourself).
  2. Walk into a very busy person’s office and while they watch you with growing irritation, turn the light switch on/off 10 times.
  3. For an hour, refer to everyone you speak to as ‘Dave’.
  4. Announce to everyone in a meeting that you ‘really have to go do a number two’.
  5. After every sentence, say ‘Mon’ in a really bad Jamaican accent. As in: ‘The report’s on your desk, Mon.’ Keep this up for one hour.
  6. In a meeting or crowded situation, slap your forehead repeatedly and mutter, ‘Shut up, damn it, all of you just shut up!’
  7. At lunchtime, get down on your knees and announce, ‘As God is my witness, I’ll never go hungry again!’
  8. Repeat the following conversation 10 times to the same person: ‘Do you hear that?’ ‘What?’ ‘Never mind, it’s gone now.’
  9. Present meeting attendees with a cup of coffee and biscuit; smash biscuit with your fist
  10. During the course of a meeting, slowly edge your chair towards the door.
  11. As often as possible, skip rather than walk.
  12. Ask people what sex they are. Laugh hysterically after they answer.
  13. Hump the photocopier. When someone spots you, stop and cough embarrassingly, then lean in to the machine and whisper loudly, ‘I’ll call you tonight’.
May 5th, 2008 by Peter Bargh

LocalGame Shop – avoid – scam

Interesting?

So I post a thread uncovering a scam. It gets to number one in Google Search. And then disappears. Now I am not even listed in the search for this post. What happend? Are Google supporting crooks, has it been reported? All my other blog post are unaffected. What’s going on?

Incidentally I’ve also start getting lots of spam – all on that one post. Well just to clarify LocalGame Shop offering four super console deals is not legit and you WILL lose your money. This will get to the top of search engine…how long will it stay this time I wonder?

The company are still appearing on price comparison stores as incredibly good value. Just to repeat this is not a good deal. You WILL lose your money. See my previous blog post for full details.

Of course If I’m wrong please post in this thread, I’d love to hear from someone who has got their goods

April 28th, 2008 by Peter Bargh

LocalGame Shop – AVOID!

Well following my recent post about being scammed by a web site that appeared offering superb deals on Nintendo Wiis and XBoxes, it looks like the crooks who operated recently as rapidgamingstore are back again with the same scam. Different web site, but same stock, same convincing deals, same convincing service, trusted money back offers etc, and same town, but a different address.

LocalGame Store offers New Nintendo Wii “Ultimate Gaming Pack” Video Game System comprising

Nintendo Wii Console
Wii Stand
5 Wii Sports Games: Baseball, Bowling, Boxing, Golf, and Tennis
Remote and Nun-Chuck
Sensor Bar
Power and AV Cables
User Manual

Along with 10 games including:

Wii Sports
Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
Marve: Ultimate Aliance
Need for Speed: Carbon
SD Gundam: Scad Hammers
The Legend of Zeda: Twilight Princess
Tony Hawk?s Downhill Jam
Metal Slug Anthology
Trauma Center: Second Opinion

All for just £106 – the catch is you have to buy 5, well the real catch is they will not turn up, and in a couple of months when they’ve fleeced enough suckers the site will disappear along with any form of contact and any sign of your gear.

April 18th, 2008 by Peter Bargh

Black Nab shipwreck

I was over at Saltwick Bay on the North Coast last weekend photographing the wreck near the Black Nab Rock. It made me wonder if there was any history surrounding the boat. Sadly little information seems to be around the web on the subject. A couple of people have mentioned patchy details about it on the ePHOTOzine site. And there’s even a shot taken just three years after the boat capsized here.

The most information I could find was on the Whitby Lifeboat Station History page which states that a
Silver Medal awarded to Coxswain Robert Allen and the Bronze Medal awarded to Helmsman Richard Robinson for rescuing a survivor of the fishing vessel Admiral Van Tromp, which was wrecked after grounding on the Black Nab Rock in thick fog, an easterly wind, and a heavy breaking sea on 30 September 1976. When a survivor was seen on a rock Helmsman Robinson drove the D class lifeboat in at full speed, onto a ledge, and the man was grabbed just as a large sea broke over the rock and washed the boat back into the sea. 

Black Nab at Saltwick Bay is well worth a visit, but watch for the tide. It comes in fast and you can easily get trapped!