One for the Birmingham Uni Alumni this, specifically those of the BA variety. Did you know the Muirhead Tower is being re-up-done-holstered? Check this out:



That's not the crumbling health hazard I remember from 1995-8!

The image comes from Nikki Pugh who nabbed it from this PDF.

Muirhead (which, in an I-did-not-know-that moment, is named after the Uni's first Philosophy professor) had a number of urban myths and frightening truths connected to it. One of my favourites was that it was designed to work with the prevailing winds of South Birmingham in a quite innovative manner, like an aerodynamic fin of a building. Unfortunately it was built at the wrong angle so the wind battered it like an abusive husband causing it to shake and the windows to occasionally fall out and crash onto students walking below.

This could, of course, be bollocks but if you'd ever spent any time in there it rang pretty bloody true.

The Mighty Martin M on Kings Heath Square

Custard Factory!

by dan-ish.

Up Your End - the lastest project from Jon Bounds which takes blog posts and Flickr photos and places them delicately on a map of Birmingham.

Someone get this boy some potatoes!



(Mashup... potatoes... I'll get my coat.)

Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray are... Heavy Trash!

On stage and in the studio, Jon Spencer, has destroyed and rebuilt American roots music with such ferocity and wild abandon it is hard to believe that there is anything left.
The trail of musical destruction in the wake of his groovy hate-fuck combo Pussy Galore still smolders with the stench of avant punk trash and nasty garage ooze and grind, while his towering work with the Jon Spencer Blues explosion remains an indelible totem to his enormous mojo spirit and red-hot power of deliverance.
He is Daddy Boss Hog! He is the Blues Exploder and Microphone Destroyer! A Gibson Brother! The man who shared a Chicken Dog with Rufus Thomas, got Soul with R.L. Burnside, and enjoyed a greasy Lap Dance with Andre Williams! He is The Man Who Loved too Much!!!

And while the Blues Explosion is on a rock'n'roll holiday, Jon has not rested! He has not worked on his tan, he has not read the latest summer blockbuster!! NO!! Jon Spencer has chosen the righteous path, and got Way Out with his pal Matt Verta-Ray and the Heavy Trash!!!

Matt Verta-Ray grew up in the loving arms of left wing parents who would take him to folk and blues shows long before he sprouted sideburns. (His mother passed away in the '90s, still angry that Dylan had gone electric, despite the fact - Matt is quick to point out - that she owned tons of Sun rockabilly 78s, which he very gratefully still has.) In the late '70s, young Matt found himself one of only twelve people who went to see Bo Diddley at a Canadian fairground. After the show, Bo came out and preached to Matt for an hour about the dark secrets of rock'n'roll.
And the rest, as they say, is history - from sitting on the edge of the stage with Bo, to thumping bass for Madder Rose, and then onto his hard-wired decontructionist rootsabilly band Speedball Baby, where he developed his slashing-dagger guitar style - to forming Heavy Trash with his friend Jon Spencer. Matt is also the mad scientist behind the jungle of tube amps and old-school echo machines that form the mutated nucleus of his analog cave, world-class recording studio NY Hed, where musicians come from all over the galaxy to get... Way Out!!!


HEAR THE UPCOMING HEAVY TRASH ALBUM!

Blast - Hot Pipe Organ

by H4NUM4N.

Birmingham airport

by lateralasaurus.

Blast

by Matt Murtagh.

You have to see this tonight. It takes place behind Curzon St Station from around 8.30. Do not miss it. Here's my review and another from BiNS. There'll no doubt be more.

A Birmingham bus driver is blogging. He's just passed his test and is about to go out on the road. This could be very interesting indeed! via Podnosh

Clean Medina is the blog for the forthcoming Jihad on Litter in Small Heath on September 23rd that has so captured the imagination of those of us who didn't realise exactly what "jihad" means.

Inner city Muslims and friends will be taking to the streets of inner city Birmingham on 23rd September to launch a jihad (struggle) against waste. Rappers, drummers, flag wavers with litter pickers to hand will converge on Small Heath’s Somerville Road to clean up the district.

Tired of rubbish-strewn streets, Muslims have decided to clean up and recycle, going from mosque to mosque, starting with Noor ul Uloom mosque, Birmingham’s oldest. The Clean Medina Campaign will be launched with a big push, a shout (Allahu Akbar!) and a (movie) shoot (cast of thousands, mujahidin all). We’re also making a film: Smallywood Heath in Brum!

via Podnosh.

Andrew Dubber has consolidated his various personal blogs.

Some things that caught my eye on the Birmingham Comedy Festival listings:

Saturday 6 October 2007
Josie Long's Electric Adventure Club

Edinburgh Fringe's 2006 If.commeddie Best Newcomer Josie invites you to a very special 'electric' version of her popular London night, The Adventure Club, set within the swish art deco surroundings of Brum's fantastic Electric Cinema. The evening will come complete with homemade badges, amateur craft and some of Josie's very special comedy friends. You might even get a biscuit. Bourbon Creams and everything!

Electric Cinema, 47 Station St, Birmingham B54DY. Tel: 01216437879. £7. 3pm

Wednesday 10 October 2007
Ted Chippington

Championed by Stewart Lee, Phill Jupitus and a hoard of contemporary comics, Ted returns from self-imposed retirement to present his unique brand of stand-up. Welcome back a post-punk West Midlands cult comedy legend!

Atticus Bar, 113-114 Three Shires Oak Rd, Bearwood, Smethwick B67 5JG. Tel: 0121 429 9423. £5. 7.30pm.

Thursday 11 October 2007
Stewart Lee: 41st Best Stand Up Ever

An official Channel 4 survey in March named Stewart (Fist Of Fun, Jerry Springer - The Opera) the 41st best stand-up ever. If you only see fifty stand-ups in your lifetime, make him your 41st. A welcome and all too rare return of a West Mids comedy king.
"One of the top three or four living stand-ups" - Time Out

The Glee Club, The Arcadian, Birmingham B5 4TD. Tel: 0870 241 5093. £10-£15. 7.30pm.

And there's lots more including Sean Hughes, Marcus Brigstocke, Mrs Barbara Nice and many names I recognise from the world of Radio 4 panel games.

Birmingham awakes

by cactusinthesea.

Ingmar Bergman's Seventh Seal is being shown at Light House in Wolverhampton on Thursday 13th Sept at 6.30pm.

Wifi News.

A couple of places in Kings Heath with free wifi. Haven't tried them yet as I live in Kings Heath and like to escape the computer when I go out.

The Hare and Hounds pub advertises it clearly on the tills.

I'm informed the Kitchen Garden Cafe on York Road has it and they're open quite late too.

Jez previews the Open Weekend stuff

Baby Born After Ten Years In Freezerby Pete Ashton.

Birmingham City Library - Future under discussion

Some genius left this in this CiB thread.

Cafe Soya is a Vietnamese restaurant in town that comes recommended by both Andy Pryke and Stef Lewandowski both of whom are cultured gentlemen of taste.