Monthly Archives: October 2007

Record breakers

Not a good week for traditional record shops as not only do we hear that Andy Cash is to shut up shop, but the Reddington’s Rare Records musical has been canceled.

Mayor of Timbuktu in Birmingham « AerosolArabic: Urban Islamic Art The mayor of Timbuktu is in Birmingham… would I be able to meet and greet him!? No it wasn’t a practical joke, the mayor was actually in the UK as part of the twinning of the Welsh town Hay-on-Wye. So we didn’t get it, but he popped in anyway. Good on you Said Ould Mahmoud.

Review: Careless Talk By Michael Richardson

Careless Talk is the latest from Tindal Street Press, and is Michael Richardson’s follow up to The Pig Bin- an acclaimed comic novel set in Birmingham in the 40s. Morley Charles is a liar, not in the “attacks could be launched in as little as 45 minutes” sense – but in a more DC Thompson-esque way, fibbing and pretending to be foreign to battle the insecurities of starting secondary school. Although having the odd drink, and fantasising about seeing the next-door neighbour in the bath isn’t quite Winker Watson material. Careless Talk, his second adventure reads very much as a comic – apart from the undertones of self abuse and the way the insecurities of youth are a lot closer to the surface. The heroes of The Beano are a way beneath young Morley too, who prefers Huck Finn, even if he does know more about them from his encyclopedia than actually reading Twain. It’s doubtful that he has much knowledge of the Mississippi when even Nechells is a far off place to be thought of with a little wonder. Although the book is defiantly and actively set in Birmingham, in order to get past the Alton Douglas factor,...

Moseley Baths, 100 not out

It’s a long way from Victoria Square to Moseley Road Baths, but at noon today as part of the bath’s 100th birthday celebrations some daft sods will be walking “the route that the Deputy Mayor took in 1907 to open the Baths for the first time” – wearing swimming costumes from through the ages. To warm up, at this will be followed by a Edwardian Tea Dance organized by The Friends of Moseley Road Baths at the Methodist Church Hall opposite 2:30pm to 5:30pm. This is a free event with tea and cakes and a visit by Lord Mayor Randall Brew XI himself.

Emotional parkour

Via Brummie of The Year nominee Pete Ashton comes news of this K-Swiss (you know like adidas pumps but more stripes) sponsored freerunning competition. It involves you doing a bit of parkour in designated spots in Brum (by the Bank of Scotland is a favourite it seems), not killing yourself or any of the mini goths that hang around there, and uploading the videos. The prize is a trip to Lisses, Paris which is the ‘home of freerunning’, but a bit like winning a trip to Coventry (which I imagine is brill for this urban jumpy stuff), so I guess you’d really need to be into this to enter. The site has a nice map of good places to jump off, over and through around the city centre, and some video of peoples doing their things.

The biggest dog in the world

If there’s two things that we like to keep up to date on it’s Birmingham (obviously) and the world’s biggest dogs – for those reasons it seems that nothing Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham does will slip by under our radar. From considering trade unions an irrelevance, to opposing the minimum wage, to hinting that he’d quite like to be mayor of Brum. So in the flotsam of the interweb we learn that he’s to launch an infrastructure fund that plans to buy council offices and lease them back to them – and then give the profits to Simon Cowell and Alex Ferguson.

Save the Central Library, without really doing anything

Facebook | Save Birmingham Central Library from demolition! I think the link will only work if you have a Facebook account.

The Floozie in the Jacuzzi for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, originally uploaded by Steve Oliver. “in Birmingham City Centre on 26 October 2007, they coloured the water in the fountain pink. Trouble is it looked a bit like red and therefore blood, which I don’t think was the effect they were hoping for! Would have been more effective if the sun had shone. I only had my camera phone with me, so sorry the quality’s not up to standards.” Or bizarre tribute to Enoch Powell (4o years ago in April).

Doh

‘Walk of fame’ closed over safety We promise you’ll be able to walk all over the Bummie of The Year Award. Nominations close on Wednesday, so keep them coming.

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Monthly Archives: October 2007

Record breakers

It takes Timbuktu to tango

Review: Careless Talk By Michael Richardson

Moseley Baths, 100 not out

Emotional parkour

The biggest dog in the world

Save the Central Library, without really doing anything

The Floozie in the Jacuzzi for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Doh

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