Lots Of Things To See And Do In The West Midlands: June 2009 by Russ L
Russ picks out the highlights for June (that's Birmingham Music Month), UFO, The Sweet, BB King and other rock dinosaurs included… [link]
Birmingham: It's Not Shit
Mildly Sarcastic Since 2002Danny Smith’s Guide to 2008 Pt4
Danny Smith was writing lots of guides to Brum for the Itchy guide, last year. It never happened, so we present his guide to the past in a number of parts (see all the parts):
The Rectory Bar and Restaurant
50-54 St Paul’s Square,
The Jewellery Quarter,
Birmingham, B3 1QS
+44 (0)121 605 1001
“Can we have some bread while we decide?”
“We don’t do bread”
“You don’t do bread”
Confused
“No?” walks away,10 minutes later
“Yeah we do have bread but you have to pay for it”
Fixed Dinner – £17 (2 courses) to £20 (3 courses)
Mon – Fri, 12pm–2.30pm, 5pm–10pm; Sat, 12pm–10pm; Sun, 1pm – 8pm
Revolution Vodka bar
Five Ways Broad Street
Birmingham
B1 2HF
Tel: 0121 665 6508
Fax: 0121 665 6507
When Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels sat down in the 19th century and thrashed out The Communist Manifesto as a way of inspiring future generations I’m willing to bet neither of them imaged that nearly 200 hundred years later what they have actually inspired was a series of failed totalitarian regimes and a chain of vodka bars, Where the proletariat go after a hard week of work and be sick on each other. It’s a shame that this place is generally full of the usual Broad Street crowd because, the drinks are tasty, if a little pricy, nicely decorated, with an inclusive music policy. Nice in the day though, with free WiFi to boot.
Mon – Sun. 11.30am-2pm
Vroom, vroom, watch me zoom
’scuse me while I churn this:
Timed to coincide with the official Le Mans 24 Hour race, Stan’s Café have converted their factory Headquarters into the site of a major scalextric track on which six teams will do battle in a gruelling 24 hours of slot-car racing. Running alongside the race will be a weekend of activities.
SATURDAY 13th JUNE
Doors open 13:00 Race starts 14:00
Family arts activities 14:00 – 17:00
Film screenings curated by 7 Inch Cinema & Outer Sight 14:00 – 22:00
Le Mans French Cuisine 18:00 – 20:00 from the Kitchen Garden Café
Venue closes to the public 22:00
SUNDAY 14th JUNE
Venue opens to the public 10:00
Brunch at the Pit Stop Café 10:00 – 13:00
Race Finish and Trophy Presentation 14:00
Throughout the event:
• Watch the racing from the grandstand
• Pit Stop Cafe for drinks and snacks
• Scalextric Test Tracks for public use
• Surprise guests
• Listen to race commentary provided by Craig Stephens & James Yarker live or streamed on the web.
Entrance charge – £3 Adults/£2 Children
Weekend tickets – £5/£3
Venue: @ A E Harris, 110 Northwood Street,
Birmingham B3 1SZ
And if you’re in the Coventry area Stan’s are also doing the very exciting Spy Steps at Warwick Arts Centre.
Digbeth Area Noise and Nuisance Study – the results | Rich Batsford
Rich summarises the AWM report into noise in Digbeth, it's not particularly heartening reading – but there's a hint of optimism. [link]
The Big City Plan, it’s what gets decided while you’re looking the other way
While we wait for the results of the Big City Plan consultation, for the new report and it’s follow-on consultation, and its passing by central government for approval, it seems that decisions are dripping out. Here’s a round-up of things announced and “happening” that I’d have considered to be still part of the consultation process:
“The council has given the nod for Birmingham Wholesale Markets to relocate to a site three miles from the city centre near the M6 in Witton and has appointed property firm Prupim as preferred bidder.” Birmingham Post
“The relatively unsung – and unexploited – “gay village”, five minutes from the Bullring and next to the Chinese Quarter, is in line for some upgrading.” Birmingham Post
“Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter is in line for a £1.5 million makeover with the creation of a “Golden Square” chosen by the public. Local architects Capita Lovejoy beat off competition from five rivals to secure the contract for the new space, which is designed to provide a focal point for visitors and shoppers. It will also accommodate ad hoc events including markets and exhibitions.” The Stirrer
“Digital transport project to be rolled out in Birmingham, for an integrated transport information system that would combine data such as traffic congestion, car parking availability and bus scheduling to provide live real-time information for individuals to plan journeys by computer, mobile phone or GPS.” Birmingham Central
Have you spotted any more? We may be able to piece together every bit of the plan before it’s decided upon.
Police verses cyclepaths
Whilst going through the park behind the Ackers in Small Heath this week a cyclist was punched in the face by one of a gang. He suspected he was about to be mugged, but fortunately two other cyclists turned up and they ran away.
He reported the incident to the police, who advised: “always cycle on the roads, and not along paths in parks”.
Those paths are part of the official cycle routes promoted by the council in this excellent map (order at the bottom of the page), but according to the police these places are no-go areas?
Hustle worth the hastle?
Back in March we mentioned that the next series of Hustle was to be filmed in Brum — the man from UNCLE is thinking about living in the Rotunda. It’s now official, as Screen West Midlands are announcing it and their involvement/investment in making it happen.
Whether they need to pay to make things like this happen is up for discussion, if major drama series can’t survive without “funding” what hope for any television production? But it is important where telly happens — even if it really shouldn’t matter were programmes are located.
Take The Gadget Show for example, a show about gadgets, it doesn’t matter a jot for the content of the programme but place does influence attitudes and the Birmingham-ness of the Gadget Show does seep out. When demonstrating video blogging the slightly odd older bloke ranted about how nice Central Library was, ELO is used on the soundtrack a little more than it probably should be and when they do little location pieces it’s often Brum in the background. Good for us, good for the city’s self image.
We want “the con” to be “on” in Mr Egg.
Friday Photo by Karen Strunks
Old Pubs of Digbeth by Karen Strunks
Eight photos for the price of one today! 
From top left: The Anchor Inn, Bradford Street. Big Bulls Head,Digbeth High Street. The Old Wharf, 21 Oxford Street (I *think* it may have closed down recently). The Eagle & Tun, 12 Banbury Street. The Spotted Dog, 104, Warwick St, Digbeth. TJ’s (formerly the Spotted Dog), 21 Bordesley Street. The Woodman, Albert Street. The White Swan, 116 Sherlock Street.
These are just a few of the old pubs of Digbeth. There are many more spotted around the streets. Lots of them provide food, live music and some offer bed & breakfast too.
I hope when visitors come to the city they know about these treasures. You could easily spend a day visiting them, enjoying a few drinks and soaking in the atmosphere. When more and more older pubs are closing down, it’s important to support these gems and to help keep them going before they are part of history.
See you next Friday 
The Big Paws – Brum Music Month Special
The Big Paws radio show in June — as part of Birmingham Music Month — will be a Birmingham Music only special. We’re going to turn half the show over to you — to pick your favourite Brum bands and songs.
You can suggest anything you like, but we’ll not be deviating too far from the Big Paws policy of playing brand new tunes and obscure classics — so try and think of something that we and our audience might not have heard before. [link]
If we say “new mac” it’s good for SEO
Dreadful stock music accompanies a 3D rendering of the new mac. It seems lively with transparent, if static, punters.
