I have always thought Halloween was celebrated in its true sense in the States..Then again they take every holiday and make a big yahoo of it..I have personally seen a great difference in the way of xmas and even halloween being celebrated here in UK. Now about my own home town….Halloween has started here on my street already…I am not talking about pumpkins being displayed or cob webs adorning the lamp posts…The gouls in our street are 15 - 20 yr olds knocking on the door and saying gruffly “Trick or Treat..Giz sum money or summat to eat” What they really want to say is “Give me money before i deck ya” ..Anyways checking before you open the door might be a very sensible thing to do….Hmm i wonder if the very same people will come around during Xmas to sing Xmas Carols….hmm

Aston Villa 1 - 0 Birmingham.

I think there’s gonna be some celebrations in town tonight. :D

Yes a tornado did hit birmingham…its strange like finding out that it had snowed in the sahara or something…A tornado dropped down in birmingham a couple of weeks ago..and now it happens again… It blew sum tiles off the roofs..and basically left a big mess in the street. and its almost in the same area too where the last one had happened.
Nothing ever happens in birmingham..and when something does..its like What the…?

Apparently there’s been another tornado in Moseley? The BBC’s being a bit vague.

It pissed down a lot here (Bearwood) but not much wind…

Edit: Yep.

I study at the TIC in Millenium Point (it’s a faculty of UCE), and as I was sat busy concentrating (of course) in my tutorial, the tutor stops mid sentence and stares out of the window.

In Aston, somewhere, is there a fireworks factory or store, or something? I think it may have been on fire. At first we thought someone hadn’t grasped the fireworks concept and was setting them off in daylight, but then we noticed a big cloud of smoke, so maybe it wasn’t so innocent.

I’ve quickly checked on the BBC Birmingham site, but this only happened about half 11 so they might not have updated yet.

But, it certainly made the lesson a bit more interesting. We also spotted a police speed checkpoint. It’s great studying in a building made mostly of windows. Not at all distracting, hahaha.

October is Black History Month in Birmingham, with events that talk about the history of Black people in Birmingham and the rest of the world. Events include films, music, spoken word productions and exhibitions, whilst some are by invitation only most are open to the public. A booklet detailing events can be found at most public libraries.

This week (7th to 14th October) is also the Orange Birmingham Book Festival. Events include poetry readings, readings by authors and advice sessions from professionals in the fields of writing and publishing on how to improve your writing and get it published. Some events are free but most have an entrance fee.

Finally, this Wednesday sees the Dignity At Work Now (DAWN) AntiBullying Conference at Carrs Lane Church. DAWN is an organisation dedicated to fighting workplace bullying and the effects of such bullying (including deaths). Bullying is a common feature of contemporary office work life where managers use bullying as a substitute for good leadership to drive their staff, instead of motivating them, to achieve unrealistic goals. The Health and Safety Executive recently launched their “Watch Your Step” campaign to get people to report unsafe workplaces. It is quite common for bullying managers to attack or marginalise employees who raise health and safety concerns so concerns are not reported and injuries or deaths occur. In my own workplace an employee who recently raised a concern about stacks of paper blocking walkways has been subjected to two separate extra-procedural disciplinary actions on spurious and unrelated grounds.

So, in the last month I’ve been in:

New York
Boston
Chicago
Colorado (Boulder, Grand Lake, Steamboat Springs and Denver)
San Francisco
Santa Rosa (Northern California)

…and got married.

On this basis I’ve not had too much to say about Birmingham.

I’m back now though, and despite the rain I’m enjoying this lovely autumn weather. So - brace yourselves - more in the series of “Birmingham - my favourite things” will follow…!

What the hell are they done to the Evening Mail?

And the little blue box things in town?

Suzanne Verdi read the headlines on BBC Breakfast today (where Moira Stewart usually sits).

Midlands Today not good enough for you, Verdi?

I once saw her having an argument with what I presume to be her boyfriend/husband in the Arcadian.

This weekend my girlfriend and I are escaping out of inner-city life to the (hopefully) peaceful recluse that is suburbia. Our new location will be in an area known as Pype-Hayes, just east of Erdington. We were originally aiming for Sutton Coldfield (north of our new home), but found it to be a bit too far of a commute from work. Sutton park is the perfect place to escape for a few hours, with acres of space to roam and explore. Alas, we’ll have to “settle” for Pipe-Hayes park which, although it isn’t the largest park, apparently puts on a brilliant fireworks show on Guy Fawkes night. So forgive me if i’m away for too long during the move. Goodness knows how long BT will take to sort out our new phone line + the time it’ll take an ISP to hook us up to t’Internet. Catch you on the flip side!

PS Anyone seen any of the other Birmingham metbloggers?!?! I could have sworn i’m not the only one around here…