Bull Ring Market Week is a lovely buy on Ebay for short-term nostaligists. I know neither the Mail and the Council are known for their forward-thinking in design, but this looks a good deal older than 12 years.
“Birmingham’s Bullring shopping centre said it stopped a major ‘flash mob’ exercise involving dozens of people.” BBC “After reconvening at the infamous shitting bull, everyone in the group was in high spirits, the action had been a success, and it was agreed that a celebratory drink was in order. I saw a man in a suit talking to an older lady, who I recognised as being a member of the group. I approached them and listened in to their conversation. It became apparent that the suited man was the Bull Ring (TM) security manager and was complaining to the lady of the inherent dangers of “causing blockages” in the shopping centre (or perhaps the horrifying thought that corporate profit making was interrupted on his watch).” Indymedia The Birmingham ‘Freeze’ flashmob video is notable for the lack of engagement of the shoppers, the lack of wonder, the lack of reaction (contrast with the NYC version). The reaction of the Bullring killjoy-ish to say the least. It certainly wasn’t “prevented” (poor reporting from the Beeb), but neither does it seem to have been much fun – perhaps a more original idea might have been more exciting?
It’s that time of next year again, when in a flagrant attempt to pay for all the incidental costs of B:iNS we unleash the Birmingham:It’s Not Shit Calendar on the suspecting public. It is, we’ve seen calendars in the shops. As always it features 13 shots of real Brum, with no spin and only a tiny few adjustments in Photoshop to try and make it look warm in the summer months (well did you try getting pictures of the sun this year?). While it isn’t all pretty, it at least isn’t 12 shots of canalside living. It includes, the beach under Spaghetti Junction, Mr Egg, The Pantomime Horse Grand National and you can see tiny versions of the inside pictures here. We’ve got two versions for sale from Lulu.com, a full height version at £12.99 (cover pictured) and a slightly cheaper folded version at £7.99. Both include all your Bank Holidays, as well as a few special B:iNS chosen dates and anniversaries. (There’s also one in our Cafepress shop might be cheaper with the dollar exchange rate being over 2-1, have a look see what you think. This one doesn’t have special dates, just normal holidays.) It’s a perfect...