Monthly Archives: February 2009

Tom Lennon on the Crown and Cushion, Perry Barr

"We're still on the number 11 bus, we're still in Perry Barr and we're now passing the Crown and Cushion pub. There's been a Crown and Cushion standing at the corner of Wellington Road and Birchfield Road for as long as I remember, although it hasn't always been this Crown and Cushion."

Flatpack Festival Programme Now Online

The Flatpack Festival programme is now online: "Hello there. If you were searching for furniture, this is probably the wrong place. But if you were after five days of unique film events in venues all over Birmingham from 11-15 March 2009, then make yourself at home."

Who’s What, Where? When, Why and How?

I’m never sure about farmers’ markets. Not only to they present yet another apostrophe conundrum — organised as they mostly are by local business associations, i.e. groups of grocers — but there’s a tendency for the same farmers to traipse around the “circuit”, so each market becomes as personality-less as the chain stores they’re meant to be an anathema to. So while I like fruit vodka and garlic olives as much as the next bohemian, I’ve taken to reacting much like Earl (of TV’s My Name is…): Get the Flash Player to see this content. But, why am I bringing this up (except as a glorious chance to use the six honest serving-men as a post title)? Well, because someone has nicked King’s Heath’s “Who’s What?”. When, Why and How are not known.

The headbanger's guide to Brum – The Independent

More Home of Metal coverage: "The trail is now working to get those plaques up and soon there will be a podcast that you can take from venue to ghostly venue, bringing alive the sounds of my heavy metal homeland, assuming it doesn't deafen you first."

A crucial part in many of the options in the Big City Plan involve the land currently occupied by the Wholesale Markets in the city centre. They would be moved out of town as we’ve mentioned before. It seems, according to Birmingham Central (who read Property Week with the tenacity of a planning bulldog) that the only viable site for this would be what they’re calling ‘Prupim’s Hub‘. Despite sounding like a statistical function akin to a bell curve and named after a tweedy Anglo-Finnish mathematician, that means ‘The Hub‘, formerly Holford Estates, formerly even to that the old IMI estate in Witton. Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch! Vaguely handy for the motorway (almost equidistant between Junction 7 of the M6 and Spaghetti) , it’ll be a fair trek across town for fruiteers, florists and fishmongers currently making the short hop across Upper Dean Street. It’s a long way to push trollies, spilling cabbages as you go.

It’s time for another Friday photo! All the photos featured here will be images of Birmingham; sometimes the city centre, other times, such as this, of the suburbs. It was early one morning and I was driving to Acocks Green along Broad Road on my way to my photography class. It was a very foggy morning, as you can see. As I was driving along I noticed a park that was particularly atmospheric and had to pull over to see what I could capture. Normally I go to great lengths to avoid ‘noise’ on photos. However, upon viewing the picture on my computer, and changing it to black and white, the picture just seemed to ask for some. I think with the added graininess the picture harks to another era. You may see more of my photos on my blog. Until next Friday…!

Or rather there must be lots of it, given how many people have taken to displaying signs asking for it not to be shoved through their crack. new folder on Flick has been collecting a wonderful set of the ways people are attemting to rid themselves of paper SPAM.

If you can’t Beat ‘em

Tom Lennon pulls a great anecdote out of this month’s Uncut (reading dad-rock magazines so you don’t have to) all about the fine brummie band The Beat: “It’s 1980, and The Beat are scheduled to play “Stand Down Margaret” on the early evening kids’ TV show, Cheggers Plays Pop. “We had to get the song on by stealth,” laughs lead singer Dave Wakeling. “Our genial old Jamaican saxophonist, Saxa, explained to presenter Keith Chegwin that The Stand Down Margaret was an old Caribbean dance. ‘Come now, Cheggers,’ he was saying. ‘Let me show you how to dance The Stand Down Margaret…’ and he invents some ridiculous little dance routine. Then we start playing the song and unzip our jackets and we’ve all got T-shirts emblazoned with pictures of Maggie Thatcher…” Tom’s also collected loads of Beat videos over at his blog.

Highbury Park Friends on the Highbury Park Trust

"the Chamberlain estate has been held in Trust by the Council since 1932, and that the Trustees have recently been making efforts to sell parts of the estate. We believe that any sale would have a very negative effect…" With full details on how to get involved in the consultation, this post is a good primer on the situation.

Page 3 of 4

« 1 2 3 4 »

Recent Comments

Archives

Is Brum Happy?

Birmingham's emotional wellbeing* on Friday 27th of January 2012 22:02: 60.3 % (okay)

Monthly Archives: February 2009

Tom Lennon on the Crown and Cushion, Perry Barr

Flatpack Festival Programme Now Online

Who’s What, Where? When, Why and How?

The headbanger's guide to Brum – The Independent

Wholesale changes?

Friday Photo by Karen Strunks

No Junk Mail in Selly Oak

If you can’t Beat ‘em

Highbury Park Friends on the Highbury Park Trust

@onBirmingham – Breaking Brum News on Twitter