There’s a great clip over at Birmingham: It’s Not Shit in which none other than Telly ‘Kojak’ Savalas provides a commentary of the sights and sounds of Birmingham. This film was made before I was even born, so it’s quite scary that the sites featured in the video still haven’t changed very much at all. New Street station really is quite abominable!
Apologies for the lack of updates around here… World cup madness has meant that when I’m not at work I could usually be found glued to the TV, soaking up all the football I could find! But now that we’re down to the last 8 teams there’s a break for a few days until the quarter finals! ;-)
I would have posted this entry earlier today but it’s actually National Siesta Day, and so I did my part by having a good nap after work. And now it’s time for bed. G’night! :-D
A few weeks ago, me and my boyfriend went to Cannon Hill Park for a picnic. It was when it was realllllly hot, so I smelled very strongly of coconut (yuk!), a necessary evil when the factor 30 has to be brought out. It was really quite busy, partly because it was a lovely day, but also because there was a fun fair taking place at one end (the opposite end to the cricket ground; it was near the entrance by the Nature Centre). I meant to take pictures of the fair, but by the time we left I needed the loo, so the priority was to Get Home Quick.
Anyway, more food and drink related CHP goodness. Is anyone going to A Taste of Birmingham? We got free tickets through my boyfriend’s work, haven’t decided what day we are going yet, but I am always up for a free day out. I’ll definitely remember to take photos, I am hoping they have portaloos.
“Lid lifted on Birmingham massage parlour shame”, as reported by the Birmingham Mail, here.
I walk past it every day, the one they have pictured! I thought it was a crack den personally, but apparently it’s just a brothel. Just a brothel! I haven’t seen anything dodgy, but there’s always been more people than you would expect coming in and out of the house. And then there’s the CCTV cameras. Sometimes there’s a police car in the car park opposite, but I don’t know if they’ve done anything about it.
I received an email the other day from Chandrachoodan over in Chennai taking about the idea of “sister cities”. Quoteth Wikipedia:
Town twinning or sister cities is a concept where towns or cities from geographically and politically distinct areas are paired, with the goal of fostering human contact and cultural links. In Europe, such pairs of towns are known as twin towns, friendship towns or, in German, partner towns (Partnerstädte); in North America and Australasia, the term sister cities is used for the same concept; and brother cities (города-побратимы) is the term in the former Soviet bloc.
I am watching BBC News 24 - and breaking news! The big screen in the fan park has broken! Collapsed! First of all, the LED screen wasn’t functioning properly, so they were taking it down anyway, but then the wind caught the empty frame, and crash bang wallop! Nobody was hurt, though. Apparently they are trying to sort another one out. It’s being shown on the other big screen anyway, isn’t it?
Happy Birthday to our (well, my) favourite royal: the Queen!
80 years and still going strong! :)
Birmingham’s Irish Quarter is to be revamped, an exhibition of possible designs is being held by Birmingham City Council and MADE.
The exhibition, called “Building the Irish Quarter”, showcases plans such as wrapping Digbeth coach station in copper foil. Other plans include the building of 1500 new homes, presumably similar to the ‘luxury’ appartments already laying empty around the city centre.
So as you can’t failed to have noticed, the World Cup tournament is back, this time hosted in Germany, so be sure to keep an eye on the Berlin metblog for entries from the front lines!
Yesterday England played their first group match against Paraguay. I had to drive my missus to the airport before the game, but I managed to make it in to a packed Brannigans on Broad Street just before kick off. The atmosphere was typical for that of an England game: hundreds of sweaty men and women, all wearing an England top and most carrying an England flag. There were also a few more extravagent costumes, but the less said about those the better. ;-)
Read on for more details of my sunny afternoon in Birmingham!
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It has been reported that Birmingham drivers are spending an average of 21 minutes stuck in traffic jams every rush ‘hour’ each day. Only Cardiff has worse traffic problems. Many Birmingham commuters report that in the last few year the morning rush ‘hour’ has extended to stretch from 06:30 to 10:30 on many days.
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