Posts Tagged ‘ showbiz ’

Brave Danny Smith battles on with Technical Difficulties

Exclusive Photos Despite being tragically struck down with a case of the sniffles, Brum’s newest radio phenomenon vowed to keep on with his own brand of talking between records. Danny, 30, dragged himself into Rhubarb‘s Custard Factory studios and struggled with his own head-cold and the soundcheck of a huge set of speakers on Saturday to deliver some witticisms and some music on his Technical Difficulties show. Danny has in the past been a controversial figure, his blogging on Created in Birmingham caused legal ructions, but his brave fight with a runny nose will surely win over the hearts and minds of people the World over. “I’d encourage everyone to get some lemsip in” said Brave Danny™.

So to Gigbeth on Saturday. The weather outside was frightful, was the line-up delightful? Well there were enough interesting-sounding acts, and seeing more than one band would be an improvement over yesterday. The 4Talent stage started with a bonus half an hour from Pete Ashton and The Thingamigoops, they’ve got one great song — don’t know the name, we’ll call it the one that goes “widdly widdly widdly weeeeep” — and it can sustain 30 minutes. I’m a big fan of the little one, he should go solo. Rich Batsford had the bonus of a crowd bolstered by people arriving to see the (metal, judging by the fans’ appearance) band on downstairs who were locked out of the room (and in a masterpiece of planning all of the blokes’ toilets in the building). He managed to captivate them with nothing more than his piano and good nature, despite the fact that contemplative and mellow probably wasn’t their reason for turning up. Bizarrely, one guy liked Rich enough to be intently taking photos, but not enough to listen — he’d got his iPod on and turned right up. Maybe he’s got a thing for beards. I hated Iain Woods and...

“This motorcycle runs on blood”

The Crescent Theatre is playing host to a production of ‘Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick’ (the play about the behind the scenes goings on – ooer missus – on Carry On films over the years) By Terry Johnson. They’ve been blogging, infrequently about it. The Crescent Theatre 15th – 29th March 2008

Back to reality

Spaghetti Gazetti with a timely list of “contestants from The Apprentice and Big Brother who came from the West Midlands”. So now. You. Know.

On BBC 6Music’s Breakfast Show they have a bit where someone has a few minutes to ‘big up’ (ahem) their local area – and play a tune associated with it. So, if you’re awake, DAB’ed up and not obsessed with Wogan, Humphries, or heaven forbid Moyles, then tune in tomorrow at about five past eight and you’ll hear me ‘toasting’ Brum. I won’t tell you tune that I’ve ‘picked’, but it wasn’t my favourite one of the two I asked for – that honour goes to Listening to Marmalade by Go Kart Mozart, the glam rock work of Lawrence ex-of Felt and Denim. I’ll post a ‘listen again’ link when there is one.

Basie, how low can you go

If you’d like to hear Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler talk about Count Basie’s influence on Sabbath, and some other stuff about ‘metal’, then you could do much worse than going round to their houses and asking listening to this documentary from Radio 4 – Metal at 40. Link comes from the brill Speechification blog, who point out all the little speech-based gems you may have missed on the radio. They also have a MP3 of the programme to download.

I spent this Sunday morning freezing cold and being threatened with arrest, and no it wasn’t another early morning kick-off down the Blues. I was being filmed for 21 Stories – the film about the Rotunda being made by Nic Gaunt – holding a placard (you can see it above) while all around me people got on with their Christmas shopping. I wasn’t called upon to act as such (which is a good job, my thespian skills are a little broad to say the least), but to walk up and down New St and stand still so Nic could film some slow shutter-speed stuff. It was, what we call in the trade, a long shot – which meant that I was standing about 100m or more from the camera. This meant I spent a lot of the time fending off comments from passers-by “who said it was” “it is” or more bizarrely “they are”. It also meant that every time (three in the space of half an hour) one of our boys-in-luminous-yellow trotted up to me I had to explain: that it was a film, that the camera was down the road a bit, that we had permission from...

Beeb tube

We mentioned that Big Screen Birmingham were to set up a YouTube Group for easy submitting. Well they have: From November 2007, Big Screen Birmingham will be situated in Victoria Square. Over the last three years it’s home has been next door in Chamberlain Square, and it has played host to over 800 short films. This is your opportunity to get your film seen in the centre of Birmingham. Your film can be about anything….drama, documentary, animation, experimental, anything….as long as it is suitable for a public space (i.e. no sex, no full frontal nudity, no swearing, no brutal violence). Upload your film here and the curator for the screen will be in contact if we have a slot for your film. nb. all copyright stays with the filmmaker, we just need your permission to screen the film. The filmmaker must also have full permission for any copyrighted material i.e music, used within the film. If you wanted your film on screen, but didn’t want to put it on YouTube I’m sure you can still contact the team directly.

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Posts Tagged ‘ showbiz ’

Brave Danny Smith battles on with Technical Difficulties

Thingamigoops can only get better

“This motorcycle runs on blood”

It should be a big one

Back to reality

Toast by DAB Multiplex

Basie, how low can you go

BiNS, mildly offensive since 2002

Beeb tube

@onBirmingham – Breaking Brum News on Twitter