I’ve had a stunning weekend of doing very little. Weekends like that are few and far between – we seem to have so much on this year. We were supposed to be out for a birthday on Saturday night but we were both feeling pretty burnt out from work and family stuff and just life so we made the decision to stay home for some much needed R&R. It was a good decision.
Here’s a pictorial round up!
Baked lamb with potatoes and stilton – I’ll post up a recipe for this, it’s so so good.
Breakfast on the balcony
Enjoying the view
Reading chick lit in the sunshine
Still on the balcony, even in the dark, just add hoodie and burner!
Popping to the local shops, wearing straw and stripes
Owl spotting – check out the Big Hoot (most of the owls are in the city centre and I haven’t had chance to get there yet but there are the odd few dotted around on the outskirts, these are in Kings Heath).
Sunday papers (yes I read the tabloids, no I’m not sorry – it’s all about trash and escapism at the weekend!)
Pruning my bushes (fnar!) – a bit of a tidy up of my balcony pots which I’ve shamefully neglected somewhat this year
Birmingham bashing is such a cliché. It’s not even funny. Small minded, regurgitated bullshit, usually from people who’ve never been here (or certainly not for many years).
Want a fresh look at the City? This is a great article – a real visual treat.
Birmingham is buzzing right now. There’s a whole heap of redevelopment in the city; from the refurb of the high end Mailbox shopping centre, to the new train station, John Lewis department store and shopping/food area, to The Cube (love it or hate it, it’s certainly iconic). We have theatres, great restaurants, museums, cathedrals, concert venues, street markets, food and more. We have a world famous cricket ground. We have premiership football clubs. We have miles of canals. We have the oldest working cinema in the UK.
Here are just some of the great things I’ve done in Birmingham so far this year.
Moseley, just outside Birmingham, has a private park. To use the park you need to buy a key. It’s only around £45 a year, so is pretty good value.
You wouldn’t know the park existed if you were just walking through Moseley. The main entrance is down a little alleyway. There are also 2 other gated entrances, on other roads.
The great thing about it for me, apart from the fact that it’s hidden and you have to pay, is that it’s wild. No carefully manicured flowerbeds. No children’s playground. Just expanses of green, a massive pool, wildlife and trees that are hundreds of years old. It’s a proper little oasis.
Twice a year Moseley holds 3 day festivals in the park. Jazz, funk and soul in July, and folk in September. This weekend just gone was the turn of funk soul and jazz.
We had no intention of going as musically it’s not really our thing, until we heard that the original Friday night headliners had pulled out, and Public Enemy had been booked in their place. Public Enemy! American Hip Hop Royalty, playing right in my hood! Well that was one not to be missed.
So glad we went along. The park was set up beautifully; with bars, food stalls, face painting, stalls selling hats, glasses, guitars, dreamcatchers, vintage clothes and more.
The trees were strung with fairy lights and people came armed with deckchairs and rugs to sit in the chilled out surroundings and soak up the gorgeously sunny day and amazing atmosphere.
I bought some new sunglasses.
And also a dreamcatcher.
How good is this mural of Public Enemy? My shorts are from F&F; they’d only arrived that morning.
The only disappointment of the day was the food. With so many great street food vendors in and around Birmingham I had high expectations. But choice was limited to about 6 or 7 stalls, and the quality wasn’t that good. I had some lukewarm noodles and a greasy burger which I left half of. At £13 for two things I didn’t really enjoy, the concensus was “could do better”.
I threw myself into the spirit with some glitter facepaint and crystal bindis.
We watched beatboxing and breakdancing.
As dusk started to fall the atmosphere turned into a big full on party as Public Enemy came on stage and absolutely stormed it.
By Saturday morning I regretted only having bought a day ticket, as I could hear goings on from my balcony. Even with a lot of the music not being my thing, I’d have been happy to just chill in the park and let the fabulous atmosphere wash over me.
Yesterday finished with Gregory Porter. What a booking for a little surburban festie! I’m told he was fabulous.
Here’s a funny story about The Ramones (actually it’s mainly about me).
Up until about 10 years ago I’d never heard of The Ramones. Sure, I knew some of their songs (Baby I Love You, Blitzkreig Bop – which I actually thought was called “Hey Ho, Let’s Go” until last night) but I didn’t know who sang them. I certainly didn’t know they were an iconic group with a cult following. So much so, that when Ramones t-shirts started appearing in High Street fashion stores like Primark about 12 years ago, I actually thought they were a new band…
Fast forward to the present day, and years of musical education and appreciation mean I know a lot more now than I did back then. I know, for example, that there are no surviving members of the original group. I know that Richie was the drummer from 1983 and also wrote some of the songs. And I also know, thanks to the power of Youtube, that his solo album is an absolute corker.
Which is why I found myself at new-ish Birmingham venue The Oobleck at the Custard Factory in Digbeth last night. The Oobleck and Alfie Birds are sister venues – the former being the gig space and the latter being the bar/food area (although they do also have bands playing upstairs sometimes).
Together they used to be the Medicine Bar, legendary for dance music all nighters and world famous DJs, but that incarnation came to an end around 10 years ago. Sometimes, they used to drain the pool on big event nights. I thought the floating lilies were a nice touch.
The Oobleck/Alfie Birds has just celebrated it’s first birthday, but this is the first time I’ve been to the gig space.
Starting with a (very) brief mention of the second support band – Venrez. They’re just alright. Bit of an Alice in Chains vibe going on musically, but a poor man’s version. I’ve actually seen them supporting other bands before, about 18 months ago, and the best I can say about them is that they sounded better this time around. But the singer has no charisma or stage presence, and is also a pretty unpleasant dude – on the wrong side of arrogant and cocky when he really has no cause to be.
Having already proven myself to have no musical qualifications to even justify talking about anything Ramone-ish, here goes.
Wow (profound, I know). Richie loped onto the stage with menace; he’s a hulk of a man in the height department with the shoulder width of two men.
Splitting his time between vocals and drums he never missed a note or a beat – snarling and growling out the songs with real punk passion. He has a great voice, wasted purely as a drummer, so it was great to see him front of stage, engaging with the crowd, telling everyone to come forward to the barrier and reaching out to them. His drumming, too, was amazing (as you’d expect) – really passionate and loud and noisy and energetic. Because the focus was on him, the kit was further towards the front of the stage than is usual at a gig, which gave a great opportunity to properly watch his performance. His energy never faltered from beginning to end.
Lead guitarist Alex Kane, who I’m told is something of a legend who has worked with a multitude of the greats including Slash and Alice Cooper, was really fun to watch.
Jumping about like a lunatic, crazy blond and black hair flying, he thrashed his guitar like he was trying to pull the strings off – darting around the stage, playing up to the crowd, posing for great camera shots and basically loving every minute. His lust for the performance really came through and he looked like he was having an amazing time, as well as banging out riffs like it was the last gig of his life.
Clare Misstake – bassist and all round cool mo’fo’ – skinny as a rake, shaved side of head and a glow in the dark quiff at the front of her ponytail, wow was she into it or what? Counting in at the start of each song, her vocals were strong and fearsome and her dexterity with the bass was amazing. Such punk attitude and delivery, she was great to watch.
Finally, Ben Reagan on rhythm guitar and drums (I had to Google him – he was at the other side of the stage and much less visible, both in terms of distance and presence, than the rest of the band) but, needless to say, when Richie was doing vocals only, Ben’s drumming was superb, the passion and pace never faltered.
It’s fair to say I enjoyed the gig massively – I don’t have the fancy words and eloquent review patter to articulate just how good the music was. A combination of Ramones songs and Richie’s own stuff, it was superb from beginning to end. I didn’t stand still for the whole time and was left wanting more (the only criticism is that the set felt too short and there was no encore, but that’s just me being greedy!)
It may only be May, but it’s already a contender for gig of the year.
Here’s a taster from his current album.
How I wish I was seeing more dates (or going to Camden Rocks this weekend, where Richie, Ginger Wildheart and so many others are playing).
Check out more about Richie on his website http://www.richieramone.com/
Quick word about the Oobleck – the venue space has that urban gritty feel – nothing shiny or fancy about it – which I quite like in a gig venue, and the toilets are unisex (just FYI).
The sound was very good; no complaints there, but the lighting was AWFUL (a photographer friend of mine who was getting some shots said the same) and what was with all the smoke? Way too much, obscured the view of the stage (you can get a feel for it by the clarity of my photos and I was right at the front!), and made the place smell like a 90s nightclub. Sort it out!
(On the plus side the drinks prices are good – £3.50 for a pint, £3.50 for a vodka and mixer).
Oh, and it has made me realise that I definitely want to go and try some food at Alfie Birds next door – menu looked fab! Review to follow as and when!
This has been in my life for as long as I can remember. As a kid, going into town on the train with my Mom to purchase fabric for curtains (she was a keen seamstress), as a teenager buying clubbing clothes from some of the independent traders, and into my 20s buying antique and vintage jewellery from 2 kooky old ladies.
I haven’t been to the market for quite a while. It’s rare I shop in real life any more! And the only chance I get to go into town is on Saturdays and Sundays – the market is closed on Sundays and Saturday are just hellish – why would you?!
Anyway, I digress. The rag market is still a hive of tatt and treasures. Hats, masks, bargain branded make up, fancy dress, sparkly jewellery, cheap shoes, patterned tights, bright coloured fabrics, vintage clothes and mobile phone accessories sit alongside each other seamlessly.
There’s always a gem to be had if you’re patient. I wasn’t in the market (geddit!) for anything, but the key is having an open mind.
So, what did I score?
Some costume jewellery – £1 each!
The red one looks like a jewelled fruit depending which way you wear it, and the “pearl” one has a petty diamante trim. I can’t get a good close up of the black one, but it has marcasite effect hearts on the side.
I spotted a rail of 70s looking leather and suede jackets on one of the vintage stalls. I’ve wanted a 70s tan jacket for a while, and never found the right one. This looked like it might fit the bill.
But it was ever so slightly too small and wouldn’t fasten. 70s women were a lot smaller(and I’m not the waif I once was…) Despite the stall owner telling me I could have it for £15 (a tenner discount from the marked up price of £25) I decided not to impulse buy.
However, after thinking about it all day (and seeking the husband’s opinion via the medium of picture message) I decided to go for it. After all, who wears their jackets “done up” anyway?
Here it is; a total bargain and a great shape/colour combo.
And I’m pretty happy with myself!
Time for some street food now; review to follow. Happy Friday!
We drove to Clent Hills for some sunshine and fresh air and beautiful views.
BUT…
The rest of Birmingham had the same idea and it was manic. No parking spaces and an impatient husband conspired against us.
So we came home and went out locally.
We watched great blues and jazz music c/o Moseley’s best pub on a sunny day, The Prince of Wales.
Hannah Johnson and The Broken Hearts are a great Country band with a sweet female vocalist, a cool steel guitarist, an amazing lead guitarist and a double bassist. Double bass is my favourite instrument.
So cool.
So we drank some cocktails (an Old Fashioned for him and a hmm.a.hmm.aaaa.hmm for me…I can’t remember the name, but it contained gin and elderflower).
And then went for Moroccan food, starting with mussels with chilli which, I am so hooked on, I can’t have anything else when I eat here.
On Tuesday night I went to see a production of Saturday Night Fever at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham. I was surprised to see that the chararcter playing Tony Manero had tattoos on his back during one of the scenes where he took his top off, and also that the (female) club singer character had a full sleeve and back tattoos.
Why was I suprised? Well, firstly, because it doesn’t fit in with the 70s timescale of the production – especially not for the female actor. I guess I’d have thought they would be covered with make up. Or, maybe the actors would have been overlooked for the part because of their tattoos not fitting the character they were auditioning to play. Which, quite frankly, I’m very annoyed with myself for even contemplating.
I have tattoos. They’re mainly covered up and I planned them that way. I have a wrist cuff that is generally on show and I don’t even think about it anymore as it’s been there for so long, although in the beginning I was very conscious of it. Occasionally I’ll catch someone looking at it when I meet them for the first time. Not judging. Just looking. I work in a stuffy corporate environment which is very male orientated and I’m aware that most of the people in my office would think differently about me if they knew the extent of my tattoos. Which is really unfair. Yet here I am doing the same about the actors from the show.
I’m not entirely sure what I’m trying to say here. I guess it just shows that tattoo acceptance is still a long way off. That appearance is still the very first thing we see and that we make a judgement – even if it’s not a negative one – without even realising. I certainly wasn’t upset that the actors had tattoos. Surprised, yes, and even impressed. I think it’s fantastic that the show producers didn’t try to cover them in spite of the fact there would be people in the audience who would see it as a negative and judge their appearance accordingly. It’s fabulous that they were up there performing based on talent. I’m conscious that I will cover my wrist for upcoming interviews. I wish I didn’t feel I had to, but if I were to miss out on a job role a little part of me would wonder if that was anything to do with it. Yet there are circumstances where I wear my tattoos with pride; where I will dress to show them off.
Society is still such a judgemental place, and we have to be so many things to so many people that we often can’t be 100% true to ourselves all of the time. Rare is the person who’s worklife mirrors their homelife mirrors their social life. Maybe it’s just part of being an adult. Or maybe it’s part of being an individual – refusing to comply just because we should. Sticking two fingers up to the norm, so that we can be our own norm when the time is right.
Interestingly, when you search Google images for tattooed professionals in the workplace, there are barely any photographs of women.
By the way, the show was really good. Very talented crew – live musicianship on stage incorporated as part of the story gave it a different spin, stunning voices, and some really great dancing (as you’d expect). Considering they’ve been touring since December they were as fresh and sharp as if it were their first ever performance. The Alex is a joy; still having that olde worlde intimate feel due it’s relatively small size.
Isn’t this a cool pic? I was wondering what the actors see when they’re looking out at the audience looking at them.
Out of curiosity I googled the female actor. Her name is Cici Howells and she plays numerous instruments including flute, clarinet, sax, oboe, guitar and trumpet. Her talent far far outweighs her physical appearance. Here’s a photograph of her in action in another production; playing classical music with her tattoos proudly on show. Brilliant.
Her online casting profile mentions her tattoos and that they can be covered up easily. Making it even cooler that the producers of the show chose not to.
