Birmingham Post - Lifestyle Blog

Hi-de-hi ... No-de-no

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:37:05 +0000

I stared into the gates of hell and this is what I saw:

Reporting duties took me to the National Exhibition Centre for the grand opening of the National Caravan, Boat and Outdoors show. My (almost) full take of the event is featured in the Birmingham Post tomorrow (Feb 20) but I held back this shocking image for fear of scaring the children.

What is, and what isn't, a Telecaster Custom?

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 11:27:33 +0000

This should be written as a comment to my previous entry ("And he's buying a stairway to heaven"). Cunningly, however, the system won't allow me to post a comment. So I'm doing it as a new entry.

I need to clear up the Telecaster conundrum and am having sleepless nights over Sid's comment.

For those about to hock ... We salute you

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:22:02 +0000

My foray into guitar playing (see previous) inspired me to compile a Recession Rock Top Ten.

These are tunes to chime with our credit-crunched times. I'd love to know your suggestions. Puns please (i.e Broke on the Water) rather than literals (i.e. Money for Nothing). Incidentally, Dire Straits nominations/fans are banned. Here's my list:

And he's buying a stairway to heaven

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:12:13 +0000

It's been a long time, been a long time, been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time. But it's all over now.

As I shuffle inside, trying to look cool, inconspicuous, one of the boyz, I am struck by an overwhelming sense of wonder.

Desert storm over Sticklebrick Tower

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 11:24:33 +0000

It's not so much a dog's breakfast as a sheikh's breakfast.

Because you'd need an eye seduced by the crass architecture of Dubai and those other desert places to see any merit in the building proposed by Salhia Investments for a plot of land near Selfridges, just off the Bull Ring.

The blog is dead. Long live the blog

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:50:47 +0000

I've been bad but now I'm back. Blogging, that is.

You won't want to know why I haven't been and the excuses are pathetic, along the lines of the dog ate my homework.

Time to cherish Ron Sexsmith

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:23:41 +0000

An intimate gathering at Birmingham's Glee Club was treated to a superlative set by the best singer/songwriter you've probably never heard of.

Toronto's Ron Sexsmith has clocked up nine albums of melody-packed, foot-tapping pop joy and barely registered a ripple on the UK charts.

His current European tour is ostensibly to promote his latest album, "Exit Strategy of the Soul." Put it on your Christmas list and pour yourself a glass of dandelion wine.

How to calculate the cost of good publicity - Step 1: find back of envelope

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:47:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I wrote a column in The Post casting doubt on claims that events in the city actually generate the money which they are purported to generate.

It was claimed, for example, that the Tory conference at the ICC would bring £20 million into the local economy. Still not noticed the boom in sales of Ferraris in the city? No, me neither.

I don't doubt that big events raise a company's/city's/person's media profile but I remain sceptical about the level of economic largesse.

Stevie Wonder funks Brum on final night of European tour

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:07:26 +0000

Soul legend Stevie Wonder ended his European tour in Birmingham last night in infectiously good humour.

Wonder returned to the NIA, where he kicked off the tour last month, and turned in another remarkable two-and-half hour show.

As his band gathered around him front of stage before the final number, "As," the 58-year-old was cracking jokes and giggling like a "litte nappy headed boy."

David Cameron's wonderful lack of soul

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:12:24 +0000

I am sure David Cameron shone at chamber ensemble while studying at Eton but the Tory leader has betrayed an embarrassing lack of scholarly awareness when it comes to soul music.

Cameron's showpiece address to the party lap-dogs at Birmingham Symphony Hall struck a bum note when he referred to himself as being a "man with a plan."

I know Cameron is dogged with the notion that he is out of touch with the common man, by virtue of his minted background, but I find his lack of awareness about the great Stevie Wonder's lyrical output truly shocking.

Birmingham is not on trial, Mr Cameron. You are.

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 11:51:36 +0000

Aren't we lucky? The Tories are in Brum.

It appears that we have arrived on the political stage, able to hold our collective head high with the mighty conference towns of Blackpool and Bournemouth, two destinations that people respectively go to for binge-drinking and to die.

But a word of caution: Tory leader David Cameron says Birmingham is on trial as a conference destination. If we foul it up, he's naffing 'orf back to the seaside.

Birmingham cathedral graffiti

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:08:54 +0000

The graffiti louts have been at it, leaving their grotty mark on the side of St Philip's Cathedral in Birmingham city centre.

I've probably led a sheltered life, but this is the first time I have seen such a prominent place of worship debased in such a manner and it is abhorrent.

If this was a mosque, the local imams would be all over the local radio station, rightly voicing their indignation.

An arresting problem with a Birmingham paedophile

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:51:29 +0000

A paedophile has been targeting schoolgirls in south Birmingham and parents rightly want as much information as possible.
Thank goodness then for clued-up headteachers because if it was left to West Midlands Police we'd all be in the dark.
I happen to have two daughters at schools in the area. I heard about the series of sexual assaults via a third school and, whilst driving home on Wednesday, the first day I became aware of the attacks, saw police patrolling outside a fourth school. Clearly, this was no minor offender on the loose.

I hope you like jamming, too

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:44:43 +0000

What a brilliant idea to carry out engineering works on Birmingham's road tunnel network on the night of the city's biggest gig of the year.
If you were at Stevie Wonder's sell-out opening night at the NIA you may well have been among the 13,500 fans who found their evening's enjoyment somewhat curtailed by the whopper of a traffic jam that ensued.
I am told that tunnels were closed because of maintenance work. I hope Stevie and his sparkling band weren't waylaid, or they may think twice about re-visiting Birmingham in October.

I just called to say I blog you

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:51:18 +0000

There are two days to go before I take my family to see the greatest, most influential figure in black music and the big question is this: do I wear the Stevie Wonder T-shirt?
The man that is a star that is a legend that is a hero kicks off his European tour at the NIA in Birmingham on Monday and I am tickled pink to be going.
Obviously I'm not tickled pink that the tickets cost £65 and it's setting me back a fair whack for a family of four. (We'll be taking our own Thermos and Battenburg cake.)