by Jon Bounds February 8th, 2010
10:00 am
One gets the feeling that there's something important going on here (as alerted yesterday to something that "is expected to happen in January 2010" from the city's 'consultation database') but I've read it over and over and can't really see any movement at all.
"Alongside the Core Strategy, work has been progressed on a more detailed plan for Birmingham City Centre – The Big City Plan. The original intention was that this would form a separate Area Action Plan for the City Centre, alongside the Core Strategy.
It has now been decided to incorporate some parts of the Big City Plan work into the Core Strategy, which will set a strategic framework for the city centre, as well as for other parts of Birmingham."
um… [link]
by Jon Bounds February 8th, 2010
10:00 am
The saga of the proposed Tesco at the Swan is still going on. "Jeremy Knight-Adams is a property developer and investor who was born and brought up in Birmingham. He has been responsible for a number of high quality retail schemes over the past three decades, in Birmingham and elsewhere." He's against the Compulsory Purchase Order for the Swan site so much that he's put up a website with his alternative plans on in.
Unfortunately I can't tell you about it as "It is not permitted to create a link nor to make any alterations or additions to the material on this website without JKA's consent." (oops) [link]
by Jon Bounds February 4th, 2010
12:00 pm
The Midland Arts Centre re-opens in a couple of months. I've heard about some of the stuff going on around that time already, and while I won't spoil the surprise it sounds like it'll be great. [link]
by Jon Bounds February 3rd, 2010
10:00 am
Sion, MP for Erdington and Minster for Culture Media and Sport is standing down. Tom Watson tells us: "My colleague Sion Simon thinks mayors are going to be introduced whoever wins the next election. So he’s standing down as an MP to put his name forward as Mayor of Birmingham."
Mayor Simon? It's got a ring to it, and he'd certainly be a more serious candidate than any other we've heard mentioned. [link]
by Danny Smith
February 2nd, 2010
1:01 am
Last Tuesday Jon sent me to cover the BBC WM public forum debate about the Kraft takeover of Cadbury, it was held in Bournville. Bournville, for those of you that don’t know, was built by the do-gooding Cadbury family who thought booze was the devil’s piss. Subsequently it’s dryer than Gandhi’s Black and Decker belt sander. Jon sent me for three reasons; one, Jon is a cruel bastard; two, he had a strong idea that I would find it a boring waste of time; and three, if he and Carl Chinn actually meet the universe will turn inside out and reality itself’ll get torn a new arsehole.
The reaction to the news across the the media has ranged from the predicable hysterical cloying nostalgia of ‘oh no they’re going to make wispas taste of Stilton and and shoot curly wurlys into space, how dare they mess with things from my childhood’. To the sort of surprising cynical capitalism normally reserved for European baddies in Die Hard. Myself, although concerned about the job losses, didn’t really give too much of a toss. Cadbury’s as a company has been floated as public stock since 1962 where it set about swallowing smaller businesses with almost religious zeal to, ironically enough, control the American market.
I was shocked when I arrived to find a grey horde — my presence bringing the average age down to about sixty. Seeing as, to me, the only real issue was the potential loss of jobs. There was a surprising lack of people who actually work there, as opposed to used-to-work-there or my-family’s-been-working-there-since-we-made-chocolate-from-pterodactyl-eggs.
I’d be hard pushed to call the meeting a debate as everyone in the room obviously agreed that the takeover was a Bad Thing. The main argument then came between the capitalist apologists personified by Eddie Large look-alike Lord Digby ‘biggest dog in the world’ Jones and Carl Chin, tonight looking like a Vulcan making a guest appearance in a Bristow cartoon. Carl stormed the platform with a series of terrific sound bites and gesticulations, he also managed to cover the first two rows in socialist spittle which is a clear sign you’re getting your moneys worth.
One woman stood up and said that she “didn’t want to see it [Cadbury] turned over to the yanks” as if they were going to force her to wear ten gallon hats and pitch baseball instead of knit. The banter between the panellists turned nasty when LDJ explained there was nothing the government can, or should do to stop overseas investment in this country anybody who said otherwise he said, referring to Comrade Chin, was offering ‘empty promises’.
It was was about then the atmosphere changed, before it had been one of pleasant — but excited — solidarity, like Marks and Spencer’s during a blackout, but as the feelings of betrayal came out people started to get upset. The man next to me sniffling in a touching but also gross and really really annoying way. These was no real argument, they just felt hurt, confused and while at a loss to understand the complexities of big business they understood also the inevitability of it. They had questions to ask but what they really wanted was reassurances and to be told it was all going to be all right.
It wasn’t a good way for the residents to express their feelings because the issues were complicated enough to leave no clear pariah to shout at. It wasn’t a good way of disseminating information because there wasn’t really any, and as representatives from neither Kraft or Cadbury turned up, and it wasn’t even a good way of finding out what your average Cadbury worker thought of it all because everybody that still works there was either there working or had an early night because they had to work there in the morning.
What does the future hold? Well, on the 2nd of Feb the votes will come in and the shareholders will have voted unanimously in favour of the sale. That’s seeing as almost 25% of the shareholders are hedge funds that stand to double the worth of their stocks.
Will there be great change? I don’t think so, well not immediately. You don’t borrow a huge amount of money to acquire a company like Cadbury without respecting it as a brand, a brand with an identity, a story, and an ethos. You don’t pay £11.9bn and start fucking with its soul.
If anything Kraft workers in Illinois should be out the front with placards because the money has got to come from somewhere.
The opinions of Danny Smith do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers of this blog, its affiliates, or any sane adult human beings. He currently lives in your cupboard, watching, always watching.
by Jon Bounds January 30th, 2010
6:03 pm
by BrumPlum
A group of homeopathy sceptics spent the morning outside Boots in town, attempting to overdose on the fake remedies sold therein. They all look line to me, well as well as they did before.
by Jon Bounds January 30th, 2010
6:00 pm
Russ picks out "lots of things", although nothing's striking me a brilliant — have a look and see if you think differently. [link]
by Jon Bounds January 29th, 2010
6:00 pm
A "public information exhibition on potential redevelopment options for Paradise Circus" at Paradise Forum
Tuesday 9th February 2010 12pm – 7pm
Wednesday 10th February 2010 7.30am – 2pm
not to be confused with paradisecircus.com
Paradise Forum ■ Birmingham B3 3HJ [link]
by Danny Smith
January 25th, 2010
2:30 pm
So I spoke to the Editor* about what to write about this week and he gave me this, probably to wind me up, which suggests that ten people are responsible for most of the graffiti in Brum. I knew my feelings on graff have been documented ad nauseum in other places. Also I find the weary ‘is it art?’ argument nonsensical and unhelpful and am at loathe to drag it out one more time. So, for once, I thought it would be good to give someone active in that world a chance to reply. The guy I spoke to didn’t want to be named so I haven’t.
What do you think of the thought that there only ten people responsible for the graffiti in Birmingham?
I doubt the council see it like this to be honest, I can imagine they have a wanted list a lot longer. But who knows. They will have probably whittled it down to their top ten targets who they have literally charted as the top ten. However what they don’t realise is that if your a “tagger” part of that concept is to get up. As many times as possible. More than anyone else. So in a way with this approach they may encourage some of them to go harder. Get to number 1. If they publish this list. Its possible there will even more tags on road then before… There’s so many factors involved its really hard to say.
Do you think you’re one of the ten?
No. I am probably about number 40. This might encourage me to work harder as I was just saying. No in reality I rarely “tag” these days and if I do I think about the size, the placement, the camera’s… The problem with a lot of the younger kids these days is they just write on anything, anywhere without thought. The whole problem with “tagging” itself, lies in there somewhere.
How about the fact that 10% of the city was ‘blighted’, is it a blight? Where do you think that figure comes from?
It’s a media figure. A bullshit figure. 10% of a city is a lot no? Maybe its 1% I just don’t really understand what they are trying to say there to be honest. It makes little sense. With regards the concept of “tagging” being a blight, in some respects yes it is, mainly due to what I was referring to in the previous question. A nicely placed, crafted, practices, hand-styled tag to me is beautiful. And people need to remember, all this scrawling and seemingly messy paint they see on the street are TAGS, Bombs… This is NOT “Graffiti Art” these are two separate entities. Although someone reading right now will cuss me for saying that.
Do you make a distinction between ‘good’ graff and ‘bad’ graff – where should toys learn if not on bus stops?
Good question. Half of the problem with “graffiti” in a broader sense is related to legal spaces and understanding of it as a culture. But hey, a bus stop is only a bus stop. It’s a public space. Its everyone’s isn’t it? Write what you want on it I say, but maybe just try and be positive with what that is. And maybe do write on a bus stop, but NOT on someone’s garage or garden fence, you know?
Is what you do an act of aggression against the city?
Not at all. Not for me. But for a lot of the angry youth of today maybe it is. Their way of marking their territory. But a lot of the tags in Brum, you might see in other places. Its not all about Brum, Its about the UK, the world for some of us. To a lot of older artists the street becomes their platform for freedom of speech. Sometimes that will be aggression towards an area, more often it will just be something they want to say. Anything from political messages about the system to a simple “I love you” to someone. We need some kind of freedom of speech out there. The street fills the gaps.
What would you suggest to answer the graff ‘problem’?
In Birmingham and in this current situation, the powers that be need to think about this whole thing in a bigger sense. They need to do their research; they need to watch films like Bomb It and Inside/outside. They need to communicate and reach out rather than trying to come down with an iron fist. With this heavy approach they will simply lose. Some of these younger writers (who I know will be in the top 5 say) some of them are angry young people with no other outlet. Like I said earlier a big top ten wanted list will probably just up the ante, up the potential fame. I remember years ago I “got up” on the front page of the local rag. I loved it. It was king of the town in certain circles.. top of the wanted list. I never got caught either. Fame.
Any thing else you want to add?
To all the bombers, taggers, dub writers, people, just try and think a little. Everyone gets drunk and smacks a tag where they shouldn’t sometimes, but just think a bit more about where your putting your name. And go paint a piece! A proper piece, somewhere out the way, take your photo’s and enjoy it. Its not all about getting up. Its much more fun than tagging a shop and running away from the police. To the establishment, as I said, do your research and try to understand this is a culture. Not just gang style youth’s going mental out there… for some of the kids, its all they have. A little empathy?
*when I say Editor, I of course mean Jon Bounds, but I like to think of him as my editor with a cigar in his mouth, cursing and shouting ‘GET ME PICTURES OF THE SPIDER-MAN’
The opinions of Danny Smith do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers of this blog, its affiliates, or any sane adult human beings. He currently lives in your cupboard, watching, always watching.
by Jon Bounds January 22nd, 2010
2:00 pm
Not to save or refurbish, but a step in the right direction:
"The Friends of Moseley Road Baths has been awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund Your Heritage grant of almost £48,000 to undertake a three-year project researching the history of the Edwardian Grade II* Listed
swimming baths" [link]
