Monthly Archives: January 2008

You’ve got Mail, dot net

Interesting interview on journalism.co.uk with Steve Dyson, editor of the Birmingham Mail, where he makes some points about the future of local journalism – more of that later I’m sure – but the main thrust for us now is the launch of a new Mail website BirminghamMail.net. So, set AdBlock to stun, and let’s go and have a look: I think it’s universally accepted that the icbirmingham (and other ic.. sites) are pretty poor, for navigation and layout at least, even if the content is there – so it’s nice to see a fresh screen layout with obvious catergories and – which comes as a shock – pictures! Yes, there are quite large banner ads, but so far I’ve not seen any that pop-up over the text – that’s admirable restraint, far more than The Guardian, for example, shows. Good going. One problem that illustrates the peculiarity and the difference about content online is the journalists/subs use of “today”, “tomorrow” etc. in headlines – we don’t have the context online that we have with the physical copies “is that today’s Mail?”. Use of airy times online, where content can stay on a page for longer, means that “FOUR unsigned...

Global city with a local bar

Vale Mail reports on the criterion for becoming Birmingham’s best bar – in the “pub oscars”, Best Bar None – “Birmingham organisers are setting their entrants an extra task… landlords have to explain, in no more than 250 words, how their establishment contributes to Birmingham’s vision of being ‘a global city with a local heart’.” What an awful lot of shite, guaranteed to produce all entries with some variation on “welcoming to everyone, beers from around the globe, we watch villa when they’re on sky”. Applicants will also be assessed on “door and security policies, first aid, how they deal with abusive customers and how they deal with alcohol related crime”, be nice if there was an award for cleaning their pipes too.

Seventies Brum Film Double Header – and Telly on the Radio

On Wednesday Feb 13th at the Library Theatre (more details at the end) there’s a fantastic double bill of our favourite Brum films of the seventies – Take Me High and Telly Savalas Looks At Birmingham: TAKE ME HIGH gives us a glimpse of Birmingham when it was booming in the 1970s. New buildings were springing up all about and there was a confidence in the air. Even though Birmingham had the reputation for being the “workshop of the world” and therefore a dirty and industrial city, in the film TAKE ME HIGH we see Birmingham as an improving and booming place – a place to stay and enjoy. The film is also a hilarious romantic comedy! The showing will be preceded by the short cinema feature TELLY SAVALAS LOOKS AT BIRMINGHAM, which has proved popular with audiences not only for its now ironically funny commentary by the great American actor – but also for showing Birmingham as a clean bright sunny place. But that’s not the best bit – a special message will be announced before the screening of ‘Take Me High’ for the event sent direct from Sir Cliff Richard himself! And even more – BBC Radio...

I always feel a little sorry for Bearwood (despite its European-style-cafe-bar), it sits a little uneasily between the Black Country and Birmingham, and I definitely feel sorry for Dexy’s Midnight Runners – who seem to slip down the cracks of music history despite being one of the most wonderfully constructed bands ever. Two reasons then, to mourn the closing of ‘The Little Nibble’ – the café on Bearwood High St – which is given a , ahem, ‘shout out’ in “This is What She’s Like” from Don’t Stand Me Down (the name-check even more wonderful when you consider the band were all Wall Street in look by that time). Independent cafés are being squeezed out by development and chains across the country, but it will be a shame if it is replaced by “mobile ‘phone shop, Poundland or ‘Amusement’ Arcade.” Photo snaffled from The Hearing Aid, where we first heard the sad news.

Destination is a board game based on the idea of being competing black cab drivers around a city. The first , the London version, was pooh-poohed on the first series of Dragons Den – but it’s obviously done well enough to expand as along with Dublin, New York, Paris and erm Norwich comes Destination Birmingham! (their exclamation point). The makers have done a good job on the box – see Brasso, a TWM bus and I’m assuming that the bizare and dangerous looking flyover was always based on the Queensway. Inside – as for destinations that people may want a taxi to it’s not quite as well done: Minories Shopping Centre? Caxtongate? not to mention that it’s nigh on impossible to get a taxi anywhere near most of the city centre attractions. They should have cast the net a little wider, part of the game could of been how to make excuses that you can’t drive over to Great Barr at this time of night, extra points for stifling heat and magic tree air freshener. I think I’ll hold off for Perry Barr Cars the boardgame – the only taxi firm to ever send me a Christmas card. D’log...

Brummie of the Year 2005 Babu the red panda is off to Scotland. He’s had his head turned by a woman, Tensing is to be joined at the Nature Centre by a panda called Raka. Sniff.

We always thought it was Tony Butler who said “on yer bike”. Stuck In The Middle starts on The Politics Show, BBC One and continues throughout the week on Midlands Today – it’s all about how difficult it is to get to work around the midlands – and will feature lots of shots of Nick looking as uncomfortable.

The writing is on the wall*

*obvious headlines dept. This is c’n'p-ed from Cllr Mullaney’s posting to the Moseley Yahoo group: ” An event has been organised, where Birmingham’s graffiti artists will explain the difference between graffiti art and graffiti tagging, and how they as artist can help reduce the level of nuisance graffiti tagging. Graffiti – is it Art or Vandalism? Event – Thursday 31st January 7pm 9pm. Venue: Moseley CDT, 149-153 Alcester Road, Moseley, Birmingham B13 8JP (entrance to the side of Moseley Post Office) Residents complain about graffiti blighting their neighbourhood, but if we want to tackle this issue we need to understand the modern origins of graffiti, why teenagers graffiti tag, and how we can harness that energy and creativity and move it into something more positive and legal, namely graffiti art. This event will explain the modern origins of graffiti from the New York hip-hop scene (including the first recorded graffiti tagger Taki 183). It will explain the difference between tagging/vandalism and the legal side of graffiti art. This will be an opportunity to meet and talk to Birmingham based graffiti artists (both teenagers and older) who want to help reduce the level of tagging by providing ‘managed’ legal graffiti...

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Monthly Archives: January 2008

You’ve got Mail, dot net

Global city with a local bar

Seventies Brum Film Double Header – and Telly on the Radio

Don’t Close Me Down

Taxi, rank?

Hughes in Pictures

Firefox off

I were right about that saddle tho’

The writing is on the wall*

@onBirmingham – Breaking Brum News on Twitter