Monthly Archives: May 2009

Friday Photo by Karen Strunks

This week’s Birmingham photo is brought to you from….Londonderry, N.Ireland! That’s where I am staying this week, visiting relatives. My dad mentioned that Birmingham and Derry had a history together. A company called Birmingham Sound Reproducers from Perry Park Road, Birmingham set up a factory in Derry many years ago. It produced turntables and decks used in record players and was one of the worlds leading suppliers of these. As well as a factory in Birmingham which employed about 14,000 at it’s peak, it was one of the biggest employers in Derry in the 50′s and 60′s. Hope you like my not-Birmingham photo this week! See you next Friday.

Brum news on Twitter

onBirmingham isTwitter generated breaking news about Birmingham. It works by using a network of “newsmakers” who can use the onBirmingham Twitter account to distribute local news as soon as they hear about it — they’ll likely be first on the scene and first with the news. Follow @onBirmingham on Twitter for news. Want to be a newsmaker? Follow @onBirmingham for news and then send us an @ message us if you want to be a newsmaker. I’m a newsmaker – how do I send news? Once @onBirmingham is following you any direct message that you tweet to is will be distributed as news. Direct message format: d onBirmingham message

There’s a, probably apocryphal tale, about a Soviet “long lasting lightbulb”being invented — it was a big splash story one day in Pravda, but from thereon in got less and less interesting, ending up with the tiny phrase ‘light bulb still on’ appearing every day in a tiny corner. And that’s how I felt about this story in the Birmingham Post this morning: Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch! The Lonely Planet says Birmingham is a “vibrant city”. Nice, but not new. Not “news”. Because they said that in 2005: Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch! and in 2007: Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch! and are saying at the moment (in the guide online — not updated yet): Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch! So, Birmingham still “vibrant” then, carry on, as you were.

Echoes and Ecentricity – Birmingham Post

Quick blog post in the Post about Echoes from the Edge and the Eccentric City – both Brum wonderfulness that you should be catching.

Brum is having a new Lord Mayor. Beowulf playing, hobbit fan (and Professor) Coun Michael Wilkes was “handed the chain” on the 19th. Previous Lord Mayor Coun Chauhdry Rashid is now deputy mayor. Coun Rashid, you may recall has a website — the wonderfully URL’d lordmayor.org — we were hoping for blogging from him, but sadly the site isn’t updated much (nor does it look to be council run, official stuff is here). Is he going to hand over the virtual keys, no sign yet? And while were at it Coun Wilkes, do you fancy setting up a blog? I’ve just grabbed birminghammayor.wordpress.com and you can have it whenever you like. Image from lolitics.

Where the streets have culturally, historically or geographically relevant names

The council has a competition going to come up with a street name (which, is either: culturally, historically or geographically relevant to the area in which you live). The pretty shonky example they give is: "Poets Corner in Small Heath, Birmingham is named so because the streets around it are all named after famous poets; Tennyson Road being one." – so a road is named after some other roads, great. "All suitable street names will be made available to developers who require a new street name. If your proposed street name is chosen by a developer, you will be contacted and invited to the unveiling of your street name plate being placed on the new street." So, what have you got? Does Small Heath need a Bluenose Road, or Edgbaston a LolDierdre Avenue? Have a go for all to see here, but don't forget to enter the serious ones first:

Save our pubs

“In Moseley and Digbeth, very small numbers of people who happen to live near centers of musical activity might be in real danger of closing down venues which are of benefit to thousands. Its an absurd situation, but all too real for those involved.” From Rich Batsford.

Danny Smith’s Guide to 2008 Pt2

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 Black Horse 22 Jennens Road, Aston, Birmingham, B7 4EH Tel, 01213597108 Kurt Cobain delivered the lethal blow to Heavy Metal in the early nineties; by all accounts it was a mercy killing. Just over a decade later every city harbours the refugees in little die hard pockets. One of these last bastions of the Metal subculture in Birmingham is relatively new and despite its unfortunate location – that’s quite a stomp away from the city centre- it’s thriving due to its community atmosphere, friendly staff, cheap prices and ongoing support for local music. For more detail we highly recommend you pop in for a chat. Vintage Clothing 82-85 Digbeth High st No where a satisfying, or as cheap, as rooting around a charity shop or car boot sale and finding cool stuff yourself, the imaginatively titled Vintage Clothes misses the half the fun of vintage clothes by offering exactly what your looking for at competitive prices. A short walk from the Bull Ring...

The Piccadilly Arcade is a shopping area based just off New Street and it is home lots of unique non-high-streety shops. I was having a stroll through the arcade and noticed for the first time, some beautiful murals on the ceiling. I’ve tried to do a bit of googling but couldn’t find any information about who is behind the artwork or how long it’s been there. I took a few pics, but there are far more murals than I have captured. They really seem to tell a story, a kinda dark story too if you look at the sample pics. Are those people standing over a grave? Someone seems to be making a panicked phone call. The skies are dark and stormy…… It’s all very intriguing. Next time you are walking along New Street, pop into the Piccadilly Arcade, have a look at the fabulous shops and don’t forget to look up!

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Is Brum Happy?

Birmingham's emotional wellbeing* on Friday 27th of January 2012 22:04: 61.2 % (okay)

Monthly Archives: May 2009

Friday Photo by Karen Strunks

Brum news on Twitter

Birmingham still “vibrant”

Echoes and Ecentricity – Birmingham Post

Mayor regenerates, website doesn’t

Where the streets have culturally, historically or geographically relevant names

Save our pubs

Danny Smith’s Guide to 2008 Pt2

Friday Photo by Karen Strunks

@onBirmingham – Breaking Brum News on Twitter