About Brum

With the temporary return of the Birmingham Big Wheel (hopefully without the Parisian commentary which made it all the more quirky the first time around), are we going to perhaps see a return of the Birmingham Big Screen?

For what seems like almost two years now, the Big Screen has remained resolutely dark, with nothing but a test pixel lit to show that it’s still got mains power. This is a real shame, as the screen’s a definite asset to the city centre; when I moved to the city in 2005 I enjoyed walking past it every day. I watched the news on it in the evening, I caught some short films and sometimes it even threw a few curveballs my way. As well as that, it screened the football and other major sporting events (drawing major crowds, not always without their own minor crowd control problems, but all in all well managed).

But then, one day, it went dark… Read the rest of this entry »

Can you name all the cities Birmingham’s twinned with? I could probably name one or two (Frankfurt springs to mind – if you’ve not been to the German Market at Christmas, you’re missing out!) Other cities include Johannesburg, Frankfurt, Milan, Lyon and, of all the places you’d never guess, Ramallah (intriguing choice, no?)… But Brum’s also been twinned with Chicago, the Windy City, since 1993.

How many did you get from that list? I’m somewhat reluctant to admit I didn’t even score three.

Every so often, there’s a bit of inter-city mingling, as one does when one is twinned with another city overseas, and this year Chicago’s come over to promote itself a little to the Brummagem population. They’re going stealth mode with this – and if you’re lucky, you might get a nice little treat to round off your weekend’s shopping There’s ten taxis (marked with special stickers and logos) that are pootling around the city centre for the next two weeks. The promotion’s been going on since the 15th of October, and it ends on the 15th of November – this last day is important, as on the 15th one of the ten taxis will be giving out free journeys to every passenger! The 15th is a Sunday, so if you’re lucky you might find yourself travelling home from a day of shopping at the Bullring for gratis – much nicer than the Number 11, no?

If you chance upon one of the ten marked taxis, there’s some paraphernalia inside on how to win two round trip airline tickets to Chicago. If you’re feeling lucky, you can enter a competition to stay at a four star hotel and also win a shopping trip which I would imagine works out at quite a decent value given the current £/$ conversion rate. Feeling lucky yet?

The cabs look like this, so keep your eye open for one…

 

And best of luck with the competition!

ArtsFest is this weekend – too many highlights to mention, but even the BBC are pitching up this year with their Bang Goes The Theory roadshow and there will be an attempt to set a new world record for Bhangra dancing - check out the events programme for full listings. The weather is set to be gorgeous throughout Saturday and well into Sunday, so get out of the house, go enjoy some free culture and enjoy the weekend!

Of course, if it is all a bit much for you and you do you fancy a nap tomorrow, I suggest that at midday you hang around Victoria Square in the vicinity of the fountains (by the floozy in the jacuzzi). Why? …Well, why not?

A sight you won’t see again… Over 130 years of history was obliterated yesterday due to an horrendous fire which swept through the former  premises of Langley Maltings Brewery in Oldbury.

The Express & Star reports that “More than 60 firefighters from stations across the Black Country and Birmingham battled through the night” after security guards first spotted the blaze catching hold inside the building at around 22:30 on the evening of the 8th. From there, it was more containment than prevention for the WMFS as the flames quickly spread to the entirety of the structure, causing massive damage and also causing its three characteristic towers to collapse into the structure.

 

Fortunately, the hobby of Urbexing (aka Urban Exploration; exploring buildings and the urban landscape, taking photos as you go for documentary purposes) is alive and well in the Midlands, and some good photosets have already been taken – in one case, less than a week before it was destroyed in the blaze. The photoset from adders0121 on flickr shows you what the Brewery was like inside prior to the blaze.

 

All this provides further evidence as to why Urbexing should become an officially-endorsed practice, supported by the local Government and associations like English Heritage! As a form of documenting the region’s past and its plethora of historical landmarks and buildings, it is almost unique in that just about everyone who Urbexes shares a similar attitude – do no damage, always be careful and be very thorough. Some people’s dedication verges on the obsessive, and I’ve seen people travel for hours just to visit a derelict building!

The saddest thing is that, aside from people who actively go exploring, the region’s industrial past is all around us yet much of it is simply being left to ruin, destruction or redeveloped into boring luxury apartments or offices… and most of us never even realise until it’s all gone. You may be surprised as to just how much you can see by simply opening your eyes and studying your surroundings a little more, so give it a try next time you’re out and about around the Midlands.

Just a quickie to remind you: the Moseley Folk Festival begins on Friday the 4th of September and runs over the course over the weekend. With a lineup including Beth Orton, Jethro Tull, Saint Etienne and El Perro del Mar (amongst many others), why aren’t you there already queueing up to get in?

I was recently reminded about this – on October the 3rd, the Town Hall is hosting a performance of Handel’s Messiah, which is also its official Birthday Concert. The piece will be performed by the Sixteen Choir and Orchestra along with what are billed as ‘world-class soloists’ (maybe we have to guess who they are? – Classic FM’s still running their competition to win tickets for the performance (competition closes 7th of September).

Along with other events surrounding the date, the Town Hall’s actual 175th birthday – the 4th of October – is marked with what the Stirrer describes as “a free, fun packed day of music and dance for all the family and a truly carnival atmosphere.” And if it’s free, where’s the harm in popping along? I’ll most certainly be going to the Handel concert regardless – I love the Messiah. I was also lucky enough to be able to sing Handel’s Messiah in a choir (at the Royal Albert Hall no less!) a few years ago, and it was truly exhilarating. It’s almost as fun to just sit and watch! The concert’s scheduled to begin at 7pm, and tickets are available (either online or via 0121 780 3333) from the Town Hall Box Office priced between £5 and £40. But act fast, they’re almost completely sold out!

With the next Brum Twestival fast approaching in September this year, the organisers have decided to hold a vote to find out which local charity is the favourite of the twestival-goers – and which will be supported at this year’s event. All the candidates are excellent charities in their own right, and I strongly urge everyone to vote for the local charity of their choice.

This year’s candidates are:

• Acorn Hospice
• Kidney Kids Appeal
• Birmingham YMCA
• The Conservation Trust
• SIFA Fireside Day Centre in Digbeth
• St Mary’s Hospice in Selly Oak

There’s more info on each of these charities on the Brum Twestival site.

Having had a good friend who died from advanced stage lung cancer spend his last weeks at the BSMH, I’m especially grateful to them for the wonderful care, attention and compassion they give to their residents and their families on a daily basis. They’re entirely funded by donations and the odd benefactor; to lose St. Mary’s Hospice - or indeed, any other Hospice – would be a tragic thing to happen and would drastically decrease the availability of quality palliative care in the West Midlands. Besides that, it would put an even greater strain on the NHS to provide the same level of extraordinary care.

So, please support your local Hospice – and indeed, support all of your local charities. If you can’t afford to donate to all of them at once, set up a rota system or donate to a number in turn, changing every couple of months. What’s £10 or £20 a month? It’s not much to you, but to them it means the world. Thank you

See you at the Twestival in September!

Yes yes yes people, once again it’s the most Bostin of days – Talk Like A Brummie Day! 2009 marks the third successful year in which TLABD has been held. It’s dead simple to take part in… Either do your best stereotypical Brummie impression, or just thicken the accent you already have

For some background info, including more on the culprits who set up the inaugural TLABD, head on over to TalkLikeABrummieDay.co.uk. There’s a section on the accent and even a quick ‘n dirty dictionary to help you get started. If you’re struggling to get started, whoohoo’s had an English <-> Brummie translation service up on the web for a good few years now. There are other translators and dictionaries up on the web too, but if I gave you all the links that’d take half the fun out of finding them now, wouldn’t it?

If you fancy giving it a go, don’t forget to RSVP to the Facebook group too so we can see the trend spreading!

Roll up, roll up – it’s the shiny new About Brum podcast, replete with delicious podcasty goodness and compatible with all half-decent media players and devices.

The inaugural episode features Nick Booth of Podnosh and Birmingham Social Media Surgery fame! Also, Birmingham- or West Midlands-based band? Get your music featured on the next instalment… Contact me for more details.

Listen in your browser:
 

Click here to download the podcast's audio file

Links to articles mentioned in podcast:

http://www.paradisecircus.com
Nick Booth: PodNosh.com
Nick Booth: BeVocal – Acock’s Green SMS

Intro music for this episode: Advantage – Never Say Never

If you think you deserve to be featured in a future podcast, get in touch - I look forward to hearing from you!

BP, bizarrely on a quest to help us save money on petrol (whodathunkit), are tooling round the UK with a specially modified Ford as part of their Fuel Efficiency Challenge. They’re giving people the chance to do a circuit around town and have their driving style analysed – they’ll be stopping by Millennium Point today, and hopefully (if it’s not too busy) I’ll get to have a go in the car.

Marketing and promotion aside, they do raise some very valid points. In all my driving around the city, I’ve noticed that there is some truly hideous driving going on (from myself included) – lots of leaden right feet and late braking abounds in the City centre. Hopefully I’ll learn something useful from this to take away and help improve my driving skills.

I wonder how we can make all road users in Brum adopt slightly more sensible driving styles? It might help a bit with the awful congestion too…

This is the final day the BP guys are in Brum, moving on to reading at the end of this month. AutoCar’s already blogged about what they’re doing, and hopefully I’ll see some familiar faces when I head down to meet them.