BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL & ROCKET SCIENCE!

An unlikely combination some might think but last Saturday BCC and Rocket Science came together in a spectacular yet unpredicted fashion – well by BCC anyway.

These chaps are orbiting the Earth in the International Space Station:

Saturday night I’m in Centenary Square watching The CBSO as part of Artsfest when a fine chap in the crowd with an app on his iPhone that tells him where the I.S.S. is over Earth at any given time says ” In a few minutes the International Space Station will be visible as it crosses the sky over Birmingham from West to East”. So we carry on enjoying CBSO when the conductor announce that they are going to play a couple of great movie themes. Off they go into the theme from ‘Star Wars’ when lo and behold! Over the top of the Rep building, 200 miles high comes the Space Station! Only visible for a couple of minutes but very clear on a perfectly clear night. I told a couple of neighbours in the crowd but they thought I was barking. Six of us saw it though and I’m not going to forget that musical/technology interface for a long time. Now M.M. is Minister for Culture etc we can expect more breathtaking interfaces between BCC and Space?

Photo Star- One

From comments: here is Chris who introduced me to Matthew who showed us the way . Thank you Gentlemen.

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1. 1 Chris September 14, 2009 at 2:44 pm

   That fine man was Matthew Somerville. http://www.heavens-above.com/ has the info about orbital passes and here’s what Matthew very cleverly did with it http://www.dracos.co.uk/play/above-brum/

   It was a very lovely moment!

   Reply
2. 2 Matthew September 14, 2009 at 3:30 pm

   Thanks (No iPhone though, a nice Nokia). We were extremely lucky with the weather and synchronicity.

   To make it even crazier, the bright dot in the sky behind the fireworks when the CBSO were playing Jupiter was – Jupiter

Some Festival!

Dave Harte after reading my last post said that he “wouldn’t mind having my life for a while sometimes” Well he wouldn’t have wanted it on this weekend in August. Off with James Hunter and the chaps again to the Rhythm Festival Bedford. You haven’t heard of it? Keep it that way. We arrive at a disused Second World War airfield just north of Bedford where the event is held. Lots of original buildings still there including the control tower. The promoter shows me the control tower pointing out that “That’s the door Glenn Miller walked through to catch the flight that he disappeared on:

So that cheered me up.

The whole festival was themed around ….well camouflage I suppose, check the main stage:

Looking for some light relief from the Camouflage theme I ask him what the only modern building in sight is. “Oh that’s the Immigrant Detention Centre” he says, Here’s the front of it:

Photo by Dan Chung from The Guardian

Having my new phone with me I thought I’d see what went on there and found this in The Guardian.

Frankly a long time since I wanted to get out of a gig so fast.

A great summer

500 miles from end of 3 week tour

Having whizzed around Europe in May I was thinking that England might be a little dull in June but – wrong.

I took James Hunter and his fine band to Glastonbury to play on the Park Stage on Friday afternoon. Great set as always and lovely to see Emily Eavis dancing along to them.

(Jim Dyson/Getty Images)

Whilst Glastonbury slept I took the boys back to London and got them checked in at Heathrow at 5.00am for Finland then dropped tour bus and caught train back to Glastonbury for 2 days r and r.

(Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Worked there lots before but never had a couple of days to wander with no responsibilities.

Our tent was unbelievably placed almost on its own in a field of Clover – pure luck.

(Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)

I enjoyed a couple of the main stage artists but by far most fun was had wondering the fringes from one gentle adventure and chance meeting to another.

(Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

I know it’s a pricey event but it really does sit as a great example of what can be done with a good heart and great production values.

(Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)

Above is Robin Pecknold from the Fleet Foxes at Glastonbury.

I was lucky enough to catch them last year on their first UK tour when the played in Space 2 next to the Custard Factory in Digbeth.

Coming back from Glastonbury I got stuck back in with the Rainbow Supporters – just a few of them here below and everyone else who can see what Digbeth might be to this city.

The noise abatement row rumbles on but the City is really missing a major opportunity here. Digbeth is currently the home to more than 20 venues, it’s full of galleries, creatives of all sorts and some fine engineers and metal bashers – a unique environment.

People shouldn’t have to wait a year for for the chance of a festival to share good music and good company – in a city as big as this there should be somewhere where you can do that anytime and Digbeth is the place. It has buildings and space that aren’t going to be used for anything else in the next decade or so. We should have all the creatives and promoters in the area working with the City Council and land owners to plan a quarter mile wide party zone for the people of taste of the West Midlands and further afield – now.
Let’s not build more apartments that lead to everything being quietened down, let’s build budget hotels to house the people that would come from around Europe to this cultural quarter. When Supersonic is on later this month look at where their audience comes from and what they bring into the City as an example of what can be done – currently against the odds.

Digbeth – Could be the jewel in the City’s crown said Professor Michael Parkinson. Could be an Urban Glastonbury all year round say I.

I’m back

Look it was hard work OK!

Where’s Mostyn? Somewhere around here

View Larger Map
Click ‘larger map’ for tour route – back May 22 but checking mails along the way.

On the road again

Yep, I’m off with the wonderful Mr James Hunter and his very fine band for a little Spring time jaunt around quite a lot of Mainland Europe. That’s May sorted then.

Cheer within

So lucky the last 2 nights to be laughing so hard. Last night thanks to Barbara Nice at the Bear in Bearwood, just across the road from the now deceased off-license where I saw Christine McVie and Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys hanging out way back. Anyone who gets 100 people letting off helium balloons on Bearwood Hight St whilst singing ELO tunes is fine with me.

I think it was only the second time that Barbara has done this show. Here’s a review from when she premièred it in Leicester last year.

Tonight it’s been on line humour. Jon Bounds seems to have launched the Birmingham end of the Meaning of  Briff on Twitter and I don’t know if it works if you don’t know the City but if you do then please go read, enjoy and add.

I’m thrilled to be invited to contribute next week to the Digbeth is Good blog. Mentioning to Barbara last night, post balloons, the proposed Beorma Buiding in Digbeth she mentioned that she had written a play about the Beorma people some time ago, reminding me the name ‘Birmingham’ comes from “Beorma ingas ham”, meaning “home of the people of Beorma.

So hoping Nicky Getgood gets well quickly and catches some of the weekend and that everyone else has a fine St Patrick’s time wherever you are, including you lot in Texas.

Dubber the Outrageous!

All cool here with lots of interesting little jobs for both agencies – worked with our first contortionist last week at an office party in the Jewelry Quarter!

Meanwhile have been horrified and amused at some of the comments on Andrew Dubber’s New Music Strategies blog which I am sure is his intention however I’ve risen to the bait and proposed that the next major public event for Creative Republic should be a debate around some of the issues that Andrew raises in this particular post. He has accepted the invitation to debate, to my delight and I’ll be posting details soon for what should be a lively yet hopefully informative and entertaining evening in town – around the end of Feb.

First vote of the year

Happy New Year All,

Birmingham is developing a fine tradition in having some of the best blogs and bloggers around. This one clearly being an exception! In order for this to be recognised nationally it would be fab if you would take a brief moment and go to vote for the Created in Birmingham blog in the 2008 weblog awards. We are up against the Daily Mail so all hands to the pumps or all fingers on mouses, whatever just go do it – every day as surprisingly you can vote every 24 hours!

Lots of good stuff

Another couple of busy winter weeks some highlights being:

Michael Wolff workshop hosted by
Creative Republic at Fazeley St Studios

Michael Wolff gives a workshop in charm without trying before he starts on the subject at hand.

Creative Republic guests gather at Fazeley St Studios

The Lunar Society Annual Dinner at The Council House with guest Sir David Arculus who turned out to be a local chap done extremely well. Diplomat in the extreme but had a lucky break way back when chairman of IPC magazines which during his period started a mag called Smash Hits which went from 0 to 1m copies a week within a year!

Nutcracker at The Hippodrome, finished now but can’t believe how much I enjoyed it. Brilliant inspirational dancing to great tunes you know played really well. BRB in full effect.

Intense impromptu birthday partying at The Spotted Dog with some fine musicians in the house Irish music in Spotted Dog from Nicky Getgood on Vimeo.

Mama Matrix at The Rainbow were a joy too. As above we can’t host the video on this version of WordPress but for a Gypsy punk folk psychedelic treat just click here

And not forgetting the Custard Factory team who lured those Fleet Foxes to their first ever Birmingham gig. It was a blinder and if you missed them here’s a hint via Letterman of what a top live show they do: