Eastside Gallery Launches One-Day Comic – The BIrmingham Mail announces a trat for the comic book fans: ‘FRIDAY 5th December sees the launch of a One-Day Comic at the newly opened Eastside Projects, a new artist-run space as public art gallery for the city of Birmingham. Conceived by Berlin based artist Henrik Schrat…has collaborated with twelve artists to create twelve comic books over the past six months. The original pages and completed comics will be presented in the main gallery at Eastisde Projects as part of an installation crossing genres from Schrat’s comic world into the wild west film sets of Shezad Dawood’s solo exhibition taking place in the gallery. Schrat will present large-scale drawings in the space and arrange the gallery as a whole into a reading room.’
WIN TICKETS – STARLIGHT – If you’re not old like me and the very idea of going to this doesn’t make your head hurt, take part in the competition for free Starlight tickets at the Custard Factory on Sat 20 Dec.
How do vegetarians get fat? – By eating like pigs, but not pigs, in the Friends of the Earth Warehouse Cafe on Allison Street, according to Paul Fulford in the Evening Mail.
Digbeth Olympics Ridiculous River Rea Raft Race – John Mostyn, Adam Crossley and some unconvincing-sounding Welsh guy travel down the River Rea in rubber dingies and manage to emerge with all their skin intact.
Gigbeth competition – This competition for free weekend tickets is such a fantastic idea: ‘Gigbeth is looking for entrants to create their own version of The Sugarhill Gang classic ‘Rappers Delight’ and post them on a specially created You Tube page. Entrants are invited to come up with the best and most original alternative music video to the ground breaking hit, or to produce their very own recorded performance of the song.’ If like me, you just fancy giggling at the entries rather than making one, all entries will be posted on Gigbeth’s YouTube.
Pub Crawl – The Final Leg – Bull Ring and Digbeth – A guy and his camera in the Bull Ring and ‘Digbeth, dusty, dirty, noisy Digbeth’. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, his camera died as soon soon as he hit The Dubliner. This may be a good time to tell you that me and Antonio Gould are planning to do a repeat of last year’s Digbeth pub crawl for our birthdays on Saturday 10th January 2009. We plan to make it bigger, better and bloggier, photographing and twittering our locations and drunkeness levels. All are welcome, especially if you’re wearing a flat cap – stick it in your diaries!
Plus International Design Festival – Now’s you last chance to make your application to exhibit, speak or run a workshop at the 2008 Plus International Design Festival. All proposals must be made via the Plus website (www.youplusus.net) by midnight Friday 17 October 2008. Rumour has it the festival will be held on Fazeley Street, but the venue has yet to be confirmed.
Connecting Digbeth – ‘Nicky is sort of the Hostess of Diggers, a cyber social networker if you will; keeping tabs on all of the goings on and her blog is like a drinks party (anyone for Pimms?) where you can find out about the recent Digbeth gossip and upcoming happenings.’ Flattery, my dear Melinda Schwakhofer, will get you everywhere!
The Dubliner pub in Digbeth refurbished after fire – Spice Girls covers act Spice Aloud joined landlord Patrick Finn in a pint of the black stuff to mark the refurbishment of The Dubliner in Digbeth. Woo-hoo!
Film Dash – On Friday 17 October at 6pm at the Old Library Theatre in the Custard Factory participating teams will be given a short briefing and the criteria for their films. At 7pm the teams will be set loose and will then have 48 hours to script, shoot and edit their films.
Fluid Design: Bleep Bleep – Fluid is starting a new night at The Sanctuary called Bleep Bleep playing techno and such.
Deritend Bridge, anyone know anything about it? – Situated between Digbeth High Street and Bradford Street, Deritend Bridge is a mixed use development comprising offices, shops, hotel and residential accommodation.
Last Round! – Melinda Schwakhofer bought a round of drinks with Art Money during her visit here, which got landlord John Tighe into the Birmingham Evening Mail for being the first Birmingham business to accept it as payment. I’m holding the cameraman’s flash for that picture. I’ve a great face for blogging.
IN BIRMINGHAM FREESPACEBRUM PRESENTS – The Common Place in Leeds ‘was recently attacked by authority, its entertainment and alcohol licence revoked in order to damage it financially. In solidarity, Birmingham’s autonomous social centres collective present an evening of radical films on the evening of Tuesday 14th October at The Spotted Dog pub Alcester/Warwick St.’
Birmingham St Patrick’s Festival History project to present a copy of ‘A great day: celebrating St Patrick’s Day in Birmingham ’ to Birmingham community libraries – The presentation will be made on Friday 10th October at 9am at Erdington Library. ‘ The book is a record of the voices of ordinary people in Birmingham , telling their stories, which could easily be disregarded or forgotten. In the course of the research for the project, the Festival discovered that Birmingham held the 1st St Patrick’s Day Parade in England on Sunday 16th March 1952.’ To help with this year’s St Patrick’s Day festival attend the public consultation meeting next Thurs 16th Oct at The Irish Club at 8pm.
Gigbeth Myspace marathon – Just like last year Birmingham it’s Not Shit do a Gigbeth Myspace trawl, ‘having a quick shuftee at the myspace page of every act that was listed, listening to what we found and “reviewing” the bands based on only that. Quickly — no second goes, no in-depth research.’
Animation Galore at Hello Digital festival – Michal Makarewicz, award-winning animator on Pixar features such as The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille and Wall-E will be ‘in conversation’ on 24th October as part of Birmingham’s Hello Digital Festival. The free event takes place at 3.45pm at Think Space at Millennium Point.