Posts Tagged ‘ media ’

Post Relaunch Launched

So today I read a paper version of the Birmingham Post for the second time in a week. Last Wednesday I picked up a copy before going on a plane and it was almost impossible to read, I couldn’t fold it into a readable shape without punching the bloke next to me (it was Ryanair and there’s about an inch between your nose and the seat in front). Today saw the paper relaunch at half the size — tabloid you’d call it, but there are connotations to that word that the people behind the paper wouldn’t like. It’s a sirius paper. And it now looks like this: And it looks nice, clean and spacious despite the drop in size. I’ve not tried reading it on a plane, but I did get the other half to drive me round and around the Robin Hood Island while I sat in her corsa — seat pulled right forward — and it was easy enough. I’m not taken with the lighter blue for the masthead (than has previously been used on the website) — it works better online, but is a little dull on paper. Any darker and it might have looked like...

Toast for breakfast

If you missed me on 6Music this morning but would like to hear what I got up to: ToastTheNation

Falling in love with Spaghetti Junction

BBC Four are showing a doccumentary about ‘The Secret Life of the Motorway’, the first episode features the building of the first Motorway in Britain, the M6 Preston by-pass, and Spaghetti Junction. There’s archive and public information films as well as interviews with “the engineers, the builders and the people who drove on them”. It’s on at 10pm on Sunday (18th), but as it’s on digital it’ll no doubt be on again.

Timbuktu News

Ages ago (I was reminded when I was swapping the site about) we made a preposterous attempt to get Birmingham twinned with Timbuktu. Turns out we needent have bothered according to Birmingham News editor Ross Crawford: “The difficulty in covering a city the size of Birmingham, is that many of the suburbs have little in common. If you live in Acocks Green, for instance, Great Barr is as remote as Timbuktu.” Having lived in both Acock’s Green and Great Barr, I wish I could have had that quote to excuse why I never got round to visiting my mum – but what he’s on about is the weekly free paper being rebranded this week as seven local newspapers. A total of 25 people, who will be paid lineage rates, will file copy and pictures from their own communities – although they’re still calling them “citizen correspondents”. Sounds like a plan, and I’m sure there are some great “citizens” out there. It sounds even more like a structure for a network of blogs, but the icbirmingham site isn’t up to that at all. Are any of our local bloggers involved? If not they maybe they’ve missed a trick. Via

Switch off your TV

and do something less boring instead. D’log has news of grants for people between 13-19 of £100 to £80,000 to make creative media projects for film, television, radio, online, print and multimedia platforms. Who I wouldn’t have killed for that when I was kid.

Prat Nav

The Times reports that “Officials will fit sensor equipment to Birmingham’s fleet of 70 dustcarts so they can pinpoint their location every minute of the working day.” The paper claims that this is because the binmen are “taking unauthorised breaks”, which is probably not the whole story – it might have more to do with efficiencies of routes and planing and that. But as an aside, it’s possible that it’s to track the workers. Gone are the days when workers would be trusted to do their jobs without ‘tagging’, it would seem. Perhaps if workers weren’t outsourced, messed around and were safe in their jobs this sort of monitoring wouldn’t be necessary (but that’s just a personal rant, so please ignore).

Eat the menu

The food critic from the Guardian didn’t enjoy the Taste of Birmingham festival, and was moaning at the lack both of vegetarian dishes and of good grub in general. I’ve never heard of half the restaurants that she slags off, so I can’t comment – but shouldn’t the Taste of Birmingham festival have had included some proper baltis rather than the new wave stuff? And where was Mr Egg, or Dad’s Lane chippy – or the Silver Hake in Fox Hollies’ representative?

If you see Paul Henry around Brum – but you might mention that there are now five classic Crossroads episodes online to watch.

since i’ve been away, you’ve been hanging on out

and might of missed these things: UK Transportation Chief rides a scooter, tells others to ride the bus Chineese – or American in this case – make Mullaney 2.0 seem a little more important than he is. Nice Lambretta, even tho I’m a Vespa man Nice new statalite pics on Windows Live Maps & Google Earth Birmingham: City of the Future Is it Rag Week? Video by Brum medical students that owes a huge debt to Telly Savalas, Monty Python, and er me if i do say so myself. without the irony. Brum notes The Guardian run a guide to Britain. We wrote the Brum bit – heavily edited as it was I’ll post the full version up here later.

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Birmingham's emotional wellbeing* on Saturday 11th of February 2012 08:02: 54.6 % (average)