by Karen Strunks July 31st, 2009
11:35 am

Hey Ho, Let’s Go….down to the Epic Skate Park!
Now the kids are on their summer holiday and some of the grown ups too….dust off your skateboards and skates and have a ‘wheelie’ (sorry) fab day out!
The park is housed in a former bus garage and attracts skaters from all over the country. It has plenty of half pipes, bowls and rails for everyone and it’s suitable for novices and the more advanced skaters.
I spent a day at the park (taking photos, not skating!) and it was great to see the more advanced skaters helping out and teaching less experienced ones.
The Old Bus Depot, Alcester Rd, Moseley B12 9AA
0121 442 2425
by Jon Bounds July 26th, 2009
1:46 pm
Don’t be put of by the almost-enyaesque tunes, a view inside the Battery in Selly Oak is well worth the trip. Cheers Kingdale
by Jon Bounds July 26th, 2009
12:00 pm
A Supersonicy special plus news of other stuff going on in and around Brum, minus cartoon-dog vocals, with all the usual stuff – Northern Soul, Sweary News and the Tiiiiiiiime Tunnel:

by Jon Bounds July 25th, 2009
4:17 pm
Cliff Richards is no doubt upset, as the “Cliff Richards’s Millennium Flame” has been pulled down so they can build the underground library in Centenary Square.

Photo by davidsesa
by Harry Palmer July 25th, 2009
12:59 pm

Upon examination, Harry Palmer’s recent discussion with a health care professional regarding his scent related survey to battle swine flu was treated with what was described as ‘open-mindedness’.
I don’t wear perfume. The idea of applying pollutant glue that ‘sticks’ to my skin doesn’t appeal to me. Nonetheless, I do wear some medical non-chalk talc that works well for what it needs to do – preventing body odour and sweat from presenting an unpleasant reaction on skin and in public. Equally, my non-chalk-talc doesn’t present a potential heath hazard as traditional talcs do. Chalk, I believe, once inhaled, sits on the lungs…not good! So why do I whiff like a scented women (or man, I’m unsure) when out and about and not wearing perfume?
Just the other day, I was popping home when I noted that once more a perfume scented fragrance was on my hands, around my coat and spread across my jacket. Unclear exactly how this happened, I reasoned to think that I had been in contact with another person or a series of objects in which scent was transferred. Last night, I used the central library computer service and upon utilising the headset to listen to a friend’s communication, the smell of strong scented perfume was not only present but now lingering around my ears. The smell had attached itself to me once more. Incidentally, and unsurprisingly, the keyboard seemed to have a whiff of the fragrance too.
This is not the first time that I have had the unfortunate scented experience such as this. Without being able to recall the exact times and locations in which scented transfer has happened, I do feel that it is happening more regularly. Perhaps more cosmetic perfume increasingly popular – with male and female users applying the trick of (hopeful) attraction!?
Read the rest of this entry »
by Jon Bounds July 25th, 2009
12:43 pm
The Guardian asked me to write about Brum, so as it needs all the support it can I did a bit on Digbeth. They subbed out a clever line about the Rainbow that I'll now save for something else — but did keep the words "pimply bosom". [link]
by Jon Bounds July 25th, 2009
12:43 pm
Neil Houston has analysed every parking ticket issued in Brum from March 2008 to April 2009 and the Council-run pay-and-display by Snow Hill is a nice little earner in more ways than one. A scandal? Perhaps. [link]
by Danny Smith July 25th, 2009
12:37 pm
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):
Q Club
212 Corporation St
Birmingham
B4 6QB
Tel: 0121 212 1212
With a cavernous main room and labyrinthine corridors that turn even the most mundane club night into a drug fuelled weird fairytale adventure this has to be one of the most surreal clubbing experiences in Birmingham. There can be anything up to 10 rooms and 6 bars open at once which means that there is always something to discover and you will lose your friends in seconds flat. The venue has everything from kickboxing matches to Cream, art exhibitions to Dancehall soundsystems so you really don’t have an excuse for not going.
www.queclub.co.uk for details
Baguette Du Monde
Various locations in the city centre
“What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?” W. H. Davies. Stop and stare?! Lets face it most of us don’t even have a chance to sit and eat, let alone stop and bloody stare. Luckily cheap food on the go is available throughout the city centre, and the baguette is the perfect shape for eating on the move because of the way it is packaged it becomes its own tasty handle. There are, admittedly, cheaper places to buy your baguette, but none have the range of fillings or the same value meal deal.
Any chicken Baguette, crisps or fruit, 330ml soft drink or mineral water or Tea – £2.99
Check out The Shouting Gypsy – Danny’s ‘wordcast’
by Jon Bounds July 24th, 2009
8:00 pm
Nice history of the Library and asks of the Government: "Will it support great architecture, or a group of powerful officers and councillors, lobbying hard, and bent on destroying it?". [link]
by Karen Strunks July 24th, 2009
11:21 am

Made in Birmingham:
The 1886 Exhibition of Local Manufactures and Natural History
Centenary Square
Birmingham
20 June – 31 August 2009
Free
The Birmingham City Council’s Website says:
The Made in Birmingham exhibition celebrates one of the most important public demonstrations of Birmingham’s commercial and industrial prowess: The Exhibition of Local Manufactures and Natural History held at the Bingley Hall in 1886. This exhibition of photographs and related material, drawn from the collections of Birmingham Library and Archive Services, provides a unique opportunity to explore the spectacular shop window which the 1886 show provided for the huge variety of goods – ranging from heavy engineering and machinery to furniture, to decorative and domestic wares – made and sold in Birmingham during the late 19th century.
Pop along some time. It’s well worth a look!