West Midlands Blogs

"The huge scale of the retrenchment that the government wants to implement, and the decision to cut the fiscal deficit at an accelerated pace, will inevitably increase dangers of double-dip recession... In spite of the relatively strong recent UK performance in the second quarter, the recovery is still fragile and risks of a relapse are high.” David Kern - economist at the British Chambers of...

from Brumblr, the scrapbook of Brum web ephemera: Soho Foundry handsworth (by ☆eightbaII☆)

Odd thing, that while the media can find pages of space to discuss the fact that an unknown advisor has resigned and a senior minister is not having a gay affair, few can find any space to mention the New York Times and their story about Andy Coulson, who remains the media supremo in Downing Street, but was the editor of the News of the World when various reporters were illegally accessing mobile...

William Hague's statement yesterday, following years of innuendo and snide comment, was as unequivocal as you could want Any suggestion that his appointment was due to an improper relationship between us is utterly false, as is any suggestion that I have ever been involved in a relationship with any man. He is either possessed of steel cojones or is telling the unvarnished truth, for I have no...

David Cameron is taking paternity leave so I’ve sent the attached letter to Deputy PM, Nick Clegg. This episode needs clearing up, once and for all.

Listing if the free things going on next weekend from English Heritage. [link]

from Brumblr, the scrapbook of Brum web ephemera: Produced by EC-Arts, 48 Sheet aims to test the result when artists are given the opportunity to present their work on equal terms with the advertising messages that dominate our cities. Artists. Harry Blackett. Robin Kirkham. Lucy McLauchlan. Ian Richards. Elizabeth Rowe. 48 Sheet is an experimental art installation project using advertising...

Here’s a pretty great opportunity for some free incubation space at the prestigious address of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce. BXL are offering free desk space in a fully networked office, along with access to a vast database of schools and businesses in Birmingham and Solihull. What’s that? Nothing comes for free? Okay, in return for [...]

Live Art Speed Dates « Stan’s Cafe Theatre Company “coming to the West Midlands on 25th September as part of Fierce Festival’s fun and games” Artists wanted for smoke-free project Suggest an idea. A group of young people may choose to apply for a grant (up to £2000) and commission you to deliver it. Interesting [...]

Here are some of the things I’ve been reading August 31st from 14:24 to 22:49: Facing up to the financial facts | birminghamnewsroom.com – Birmingham City Council's Chief Exec Stephen Hughes: "The truth is, that if we are to protect the public from the consequences of these spending reductions, we [...]

Little Chris is pulling together a series of three podcasts of music from the Supersonic festival — that's taking place at The Custard Factory, Digbeth, Birmingham 22-24 Oct. [link]

A Press Release we can’t be bothered to rewrite, but that might interest you: We would like to invite you to Smileymics live set at The Free Love Club, The Yardbird, Birmingham on 5th September 2010 from 6.30pm – 10pm. The set will be filmed for use as his promotional video. Smileymic is a modern day one man band, creating his loops live on stage by beat-boxing, triggering samples and...

Simon Gray looks at the fruit and veg market in town and says that it's likely the drop in quality rather than town planning that will kill it. [link]

In the latest Monocle (the monthly with the unhealthy obsession with airport lounges and a design sensibility that Unhappy Hipsters would adore) there’s a look at ‘Rebranding Britain’. As you’ll see from the slightly grainy pic above, there’s no mention of Birmingham (although they found twelve other cities worth naming), just a pointer in the general [...]

Nigh on a year ago Kate Cooper walked into a social media surgery here in Birmingham and started talking about a book she was going to publish. She had, she told me, persuaded 80 or so scientists from the West Midlands to write a few hundred words in response to [...]

DanceXchange have announced their Autumn 2010 performance season, which starts from 30 September at The Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome. Thu 30 Sep: The Featherstonehaughs – Edits. This highly anticipated new work translates the convention of film, photography and painting into dance. Fri 1 Oct: The Featherstonehaughs – The Featherstonehaughs draw on the sketchbook of Egon [...]

The issue of local TV has cropped up again recently. A couple of weeks back Will Perrin put some thoughts down, responding to government plans to encourage the development of up to twenty new local TV stations by 2015. The general gist of his post (although I’d encourage you to read it) was that there’s no [...]