Those of you who missed the special screening of the Philip Donnellan piece on BBC1’s Inside Out on 8th March, which featured interviews with Filum fans at the Spotted Dog who’d just watched his documentary film The Irishmen, you can watch it again in the YouTube film above – sorry the sound is a little out.
Fans of Irish film might like to go along to the Spotted Dog tomorrow evening for an Irish Film Night from 6pm onwards as part of St Patrick’s Festival Birmingham. Landlord John Tighe is screening Everlasting Piece, The Informer and Dancing at Lughnasa. I can’t make this one because I’ll be chatting about Patrick McCabe at the St Patrick’s Literary Festival at The Old Crown Inn from 7pm. Go along to hear all about the darkly comic McCabe, poetical W B Yeats, avant-guarde Samuel Beckett, and modernist James Joyce.
Fans of Irish culture might also like to see the Irish storyteller Katrice Horsley weave her magic at The Irish Centre, 7pm this Weds 17th March (St Patrick’s Day), again as part of St Patrick’s Festival Birmingham. Irish film fans in particular would do well to check out the Flatpack Festival in Birmingham later this month. Highlights include:
Synth Eastwood’s Fast Forward Show on Fri 26th March, when Dublin collective Synth Eastwood will host a night of live music, animation and interactivity at The Rainbow.
The Secret of Kells at The Electric Cinema on Sun 28th March, ‘a stunning animation about how the Book of Kells was completed and survived to become one of Ireland’s national treasures.’
BBC One Programmes – Inside Out West Midlands, 08/03/2010 – The episode of Inside Out that features a report on film-maker Philip Donnellan, who bought real life to screen with films such as The Irishmen, which we held a special screening of in The Spotted Dog especially for this programme. It features interviews with members of Birmingham’s Irish community about their responses to the film. Inside Out is available to watch on BBC iPlayer until Monday.
Spotted Dog barmaid Katie is currently training hard in her bid to run the London Marathon this 25th April. All sponsorship money will be going towards the British Legion charity. If you’d like to sponsor Katie, pop into the Spotted Dog and make your support be known!
Talking of The Spotted Dog, landlord John Tighe asked me very nicely asked for the monthly archive to be put back into the sidebar, so I’ve popped it back in there near the bottom. If you’d like anything added or amended (within reason), let me know by commenting and I’ll try to do it, spare time and my sparse technical ability allowing. I’m hoping to change the template to something more suitable soon but life’s a bit busy and this is a voluntary venture, so please be patient!
BBC News – Does peace and quiet always take priority over loud music? – Problems encountered by the Ministry of Sound nightclub make the BBC look at the bigger British picture, which of course leads them to Digbeth’s The Rainbow and The Spotted Dog. John Tighe has dire warnings about where this might lead:
“They are going to close down Digbeth, the only area of Birmingham where live music is played.”
Last night was the special screening of the documentary film The Irishmen for BBC current affairs programme Inside Out, who are doing a documentary about film-maker Philip Donnellan, based in Birmingham in the 60’s and 70’s. Keeper of the Philip Donellan archive Dr Paul Long, of Birmingham City University, was kind enough to introduce the film and let everyone know about an opportunity for a freelance archivist – contact Paul Long (details at bottom of link) if you are interested.
Inside Out were keen to collect reactions from Birmingham’s Irish community about the documentary and they were not disappointed. Many regulars from the Irish Heritage Group showed up, including Douglas, who was kind enough to bring a souvenir of his early days in Birmingham with him.
After the screening the BBC interviewed a few people. They are not sure when the resulting show will be aired, but promised to let me know when it will be. The Irishmen is a really lovely film about the experience of Irish labourers in 1960’s Britain – why they came here and the culture-shock and back-breaking work they faced, with a beautiful soundtrack of live folk music to boot. If you get the chance to watch it, please do.
On Monday 25th January at 8pm in the Spotted Dog there will be an extra special screening of the documentary film The Irishmen for the BBC current affairs programme Inside Out. The Irishmen is a film about Irish railway workers in London in the 1960’s by Philip Donnellan, a documentary maker based in Birmingham in the 60’s and 70’s. Inside Out are making a film about Donnellan and are keen to collect reactions to this documentary:
We’d like very much to show the film to members of the Irish community here in Birmingham and then see what they think of it. Things like: Do they agree with what was being said? Does any of it still ring true? Should the film have been shown at the time or is it too one sided? etc.
So come along to the Spotted Dog for a great film, a nice drink and the chance to discuss it with the lovely chaps from the BBC afterwards. And if that weren’t tempting enough, there will also be free tea and buns in abundance.
As posted previously on here (and on The Stirrer and More Canals Than Venice), Birmingham City Council is holding a meeting on 24th November to discuss the issue of licensed premises and noise in the area, enabling some of the concerns raised about The Rainbow pub and the Spotted Dog to be discussed. However I’ve indirectly discovered the meeting is not open to anyone who would like to attend, as was previously stated here and elsewhere.
The initial invite from Birmingham City Council stated the meeting ‘is open to anyone from the pubwatch area’s, licencees or others that have an interest in attending’ but apparently this does not mean it is open toall who have an interest. Here’s an extract from an email sent by a council employee that was forwarded to me:
This presentation has been organised for Publicans, and those directly involved with licensed premises such as breweries, unfortunately a misunderstanding has arisen that has implied that anyone who is interested in the topic may attend the meeting, this is not the case.
Personal invitations have been sent to the chairs of all local pub watches within the whole of Birmingham and not just the Digbeth area. Therefore I would appreciate it if you could indicate in what capacity you would like to attend the presentation as numbers are limited.
There will be three presentations – from Environmental Health, Licensing, and the planning department – and the chance to quiz Council officers about future policy. Although publicans are the main target group of the evening, it is open to anyone who cares about the area. In an email to local residents, Spotted Dog landlord John Tighe has said:
This looks like it could be an important meeting. We do not want to let the Council get away with ticking a box saying that they’ve consulted everyone about noise issues, by hosting a meeting that no-one attends.
The meeting is being held by Regulatory Services at the Council House, Rooms 3 & 4, at 18:00pm on 24th November 2009. Anyone who wishes to attend should register in advance with Sophie.Mackay@birmingham.gov.uk. If you’d like to ask a question but can’t attend comment it and John Tighe will make sure it is asked.
The last post about my uber-busy Digbeth weekend. I started Sunday off in the Rhubarb Radio studio presenting Sunday Local with Michael Grimes. It’s a weekly show we do at 12-2pm every Sunday about all things local, be it news, events, music or whatever takes our fancy. John Mostyn popped by to fill us in on the imminent Digbeth O’Lympics, which cartoonist Alex Hughes, who likes to come in and document the proceedings, captured nicely.
Digbeth O'Lympics by Alex Hughes
Karen Strunks and Shona McQuillan also joined us in the studio. After the show we filled up on a nice big dinner at The Big Bulls Head before facing the games. The slideshow of Pete Ashton’s photos above documents our day, which was gloriously anarchic.
We missed the Opening Ceremony, so joined the fun at the Cardboard Coracle Race in the Custard Factory pool. Unfortunately, paint had been spilled into the water the day before so it looked like chemical waste, but at least it hid the fag butts, beer bottles and Christ knows what else was floating around in there.
From there we moved onto The Old Crown, where John Tighe was placed in the stocks for Noise Crimes, and pelted with water balloons.
We moved onto the Spotted Dog, where rumour reached us that someone had thrown an egg 60 feet in The Anchor’s Egg-a-thon and caught it without it breaking. In other news, children were seen running around in custard-filled wellies outside The Wagon and Horses. The Tug-of-War at The Fountain was sadly cancelled due to lack of rope.
Next came the Soapbox Race, which seriously surpassed itself this year for having the sheer gall to take place on Bradford Street, traffic be damned (to listen to their beeping, you’d have thought they were). There were some brilliant creations, such as the Penguin Carrier and a weird Grandad Armchair-Trike hybrid.
After that the children went off to enjoy a Snail Race at The Spotted Dog, whilst the more rebellious amongst us headed to The Rainbow for the Rock ‘n’ Roll triathlon of Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll. I couldn’t resist taking part in this one, which included necking sambucca, blowing up a sex doll and snorting a (legal) line before downing a pint. Unsurprisingly, I was crap. But the humiliation was worth it for the sheer satisfaction that is chucking a telly out of the window.
'Nicky Getgood Housekeeping' says Katchooo
It must of been even more satisfying for those who hit the bullseye target that was Martin Mullaney’s face.
The games ended back at The Spotted Dog with a bizarre Awards Ceremony (I haven’t a clue who won, or why John Tighe drunkenly beat up a penguin) and an extra-special announcement from John Mostyn:
The Free State of Digbeth has no constitution. It has no geographical boundaries. It is the most powerful of all states – a stare of mind.
Oh yes. The Free State of Digbeth is born. We are independent. These streets are ours. We are free. Free to use our roads to race sopaboxes down and throw tellies upon. Free to use our paint-filled pools to sail in boats that sink like lead balloons. Free to wang wellies. Free to lob eggs.
And the Digbeth O’Lympics has been updated with all the info, so go take a peek at the events timetable, FAQ (‘Digbeth O’Lympics is an ancient tradition…honest’) and a shop to buy tat (their description).
However, the blog gives details of the serious treat in store – The Rainbow are going to test your prowess in Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll. The Rock n Roll triathlon kicks off with Blow My Bitch Up, moves onto downing and snorting The 400 Mls, then ends on a high note with The TV Javelin:
Venting your frustrations on women and drink is no substitute for the real thing. There are times when nothing suffices quite like throwing your TV out of the hotel window. Your rockstar credentilas depend on how far you can hurl a TV from one of The Rainbow’s upstairs windows.This is the blue ribbon event of the tournament. (Rock n Rollnbow).
Join the Digbeth O’Lympics Opening Ceremony at 1pm in The Spotted Dog this Sunday 20th Sept to make sure you don’t miss a single second of the fun.
