SolarPlexus

I took some time yesterday to cycle around Birmingham’s Kingfisher Project - some 7 miles or so of ‘country’ path that tracks the River Cole. Together with Sheldon Country Park, and The Shire Country Park it forms a circuit of hidden greenery, where there’s plenty of opportunity to suspend reality, and pretend you’re not in Britain’s second largest city.

I joined the route by first getting onto the canal that runs from Olton to Hay Mills (near the Ackers recreation ground), then hoiking across Hay Mills roundabout to the beginning of the Kingfisher Project. By this point light but persistent rain had soaked my lightly-garbed form, but it was warm-ish so no problemo. The rain continued until I’d got around to Stechford.

To this point I noted that much of the path was well-paved and allowed for rapid transit. From Stechford on, however, the path become gravel, grass, and rutted mud, by turn. My steed was a Dawes mountain bike but shod with narrow rubber - a combination that only just worked on the rough stuff. Some of the more downhill stuff near the Ackers, and the rough scrub leading up to Kingshurst would’ve justified a full suspension mountain bike with knobbly spud tyres. And that’s the only time you’ll be hear me say that in an urban context!

There was too much to see to describe here, but I photographed a couple of things…

Could I be forgiven for saying I like the design of these houses? The fact that they’re nestling into the side of a green ribbon around the River Cole does add a great deal to the equation. The unconventional shape, three storeys and the balconies all add up to something that puts me in mind of The Urban Ideal we were all promised in the 1960s - all that’s missing are the elevated walkways and the glass plazas floating in the sky - and the odd electric car or two…

Just around the corner, most walls were festooned with graffiti (or, for the most part, mere tagging). If we must have graffiti (and I’m not sure anyone can argue for it in a suburban context) then perhaps it should look like this…

…and not this…

Shooting out through the top end of the Kingfisher path would take the keen cyclist under the M6 and onto Coleshill - that’s for another day, as I ran out of time. I elected to zip back down through Marston Green, past the threshold of BHX, and onto Sheldon - largely the cycle route through Sheldon Country Park.

Some 20 miles in total were covered, but not at a great lick due to the terrain, though the journey was made softer by following a nearly flat river course. Next time I’ll take some butties and coffee ;)

I went to the Brum Flickrmeet last Sunday, with photochum Andy, to view the Chinese New Year festivities at The Arcadian precinct. It was our first such trip, and we’ve since discussed a few points, which I’ll share with all three of my readers…

• The Flickrmeets are useful in helping to find something different, colourful and interesting to take photos of.
• Being surrounded by people with cameras gives more confidence, especially when photographing other people - something we’re all becoming very wary of. Andy was still uncomfortable taking photos of the crowd when kids were involved, but long lenses help to mask the actual intent. I think this says more about our newest cultural norms, rather than any issues Andy may have.
• At some points we felt like we were “taking photos for taking photos’ sake”, which you could argue is the objective. My guess is that this was heightened by being hemmed into one spot, and unable to move due to the crowd. Or, at least, feeling very inhibited about moving. Next time we need to move around to get different perspectives. Our site was initially very good, but soon turned into a liability.
• Andy was happier photographing the crowd, I felt the same at the time but felt completely different when processing the pics. I feel my performance ones are stronger.
• I was a bit deflated as I knew I was taking blurred shots (slowish zoom lens; forgot to take protective filter off; a monopod or IS lens would’ve been the cure). However, I felt better later when cropping for composition.
• Preparation is key with this stuff - particularly as far as location is concerned - a recce beforehand and a clear idea of the running order and location of the various events would really help.
• Due to the day’s schedule we couldn’t hang around to chat properly with the FlickrMob, though we hope to rectify that in due course.

Pictured: a house on my wife’s route home from work, Brays Road, Birmingham…

Some people just haven’t got a clue, have they? Now, normally you’d witness me banging on about carbon footprints, excessive electricity use and light pollution - and you’d expect me to say, “bah, humbug!” to boot.

But, come on! It’s November the 8th for crying out loud! Just because the shops have had Christmas tat on display since June, doesn’t make it right to deck your halls with holly just yet. I’m all for Christmas being special, but extending the lighting-up period to around a fifth of the year makes it proportionately less special. Nutters.

Accompanied Jez, The Baron and Lady Baron to the Academy 2 last night, and met RussL briefly (who’d valiantly retraced his journey due to a forgotten ticket). We’d gone to see a certain Mr Dolby on the Brum leg of his UK tour. As noted by Jez, there were a heckuva lot of chaps in the queue sporting smoking blazers, bald patches and practised stoops. I guess that goes with the territory when you’re off to visit an artiste who’s been active from around the late 70s.

By going I was attending to a part of my personality formed in my teens. If I’ve got one thing to say to Thomas it’s that he was probably responsible for me getting some good beatings at school: when my peers at a Scottish secondary school were sporting white socks, drainpipe trousers and donkey-jackets, I was garbed in a smoking jacket, waistcoat and baggy flannels, oh, and the round specs. Thanks Tom, no really, it didn’t hurt at all - I could’ve conformed but I decided to stay a RetroNerd against all odds ;)

I’ve not witnessed much live music in recent years, but clearly the days of leaving a venue with ringing ears are gone to a certain extent? I guess the more accessible venues are strictly governed by health and safety legislation. Volume was good, the bass was deep but the lighting rig in the room had trouble dealing with some frequencies, and resonated quite badly.

The music? Well, I’m a fan so I loved every minute. It was interesting to hear him build up the loop layers, presumably rendering them subtly different with every performance. When your music relies on electronics it’s good to see performers at least trying to inject some craft back into the live set. It’s certainly not a new technique, and indeed stems from very early electronic music performances, but it does set apart the musicians from the karaoke brigade.

Like many in the audience I feel he could’ve spun out a few more tracks from The Golden Age of Wireless, but instead he decided to play the crowd with more funked up stuff from Aliens Ate My Buick. The encore of May The Cube Be With You was infinitely better live than on vinyl: it’s a track I’ve never really enjoyed, like Bowie had the Modern Love album, Thomas Dolby had the Cube EP. Finally, Hot Sauce was as squirmy and dirty as the lyrics demanded. Nice.

A suitably quirky and intelligent performance, solid groundwork for the promise of a new album next year and another tour.

I had the bonus of being ‘razzled’ by a hoodie on the way to the choochoo station, who ran up behind me and advised me several times to ‘never look back man’, daring me to start something I’d hazard. In situations like this I’m quite a low-reactor, and I think my lack of response started to make him more agitated, but fortunately my purposeful gait won the day and he opted not to follow me into the station. What a tool.

I noted with some interest this recent blog from Brum Blogger Extraordinaire, Pete Ashton. In it he mentions an old concrete shopping ‘quadrangle’ in Birmingham. I remember gaining access to the roof of Littlewoods way back in 1986-ish. Littlewoods department store forms part of this garrison, and afforded a different perspective to the norm.

If you look carefully at the big version of this picture you’ll see that the mid-eighties timeframe is confirmed by the ladies’ footwear - calf-enhancing heels all the way ;)

Took a trip to The Black Country Museum with Mrs Delete and MiniDoc yesterday. I’ve been before, I reckon around eleven years ago, and I guess there’s been development in that time but I really can’t recall what it was like.

It’s a worthwhile experience, probably best contemplated on a quietish day. The visitor really needs to take their time over the reconstructed streets in order to get a feel of what life was like. Of course, without smoke belching from heavy industry and poverty-stricken denizens, how life-like can this experience be?

One thing that certainly didn’t occur waybackwhen was an hour-long queue for ‘traditional’ fish and chips! Nor was the asking price of around £4.50 per portion a historical norm. Mind you, as a percentage of the current average weekly income, that’s probably incredibly cheap compared to yesteryear.

We resisted the urge to join the queue, opting instead to visit a quiet alternative cafeteria. The people in the chip line were entertained in turns by a chap riding a classic Sunbeam motorcycle, and a large lady in period costume yelling, ” ‘Av yow gorenny chips for the babbies? They’m ain’t eaten for a wik.”

Returning to the issue of costs: a chap we kept bumping into complained about the price of the whole visit. He wasn’t impressed that once inside more money had to be found for canal trips, fairground rides and the like. He stated that he would never come back - and was generally pissed off with everything. We thought it was good value, especially as we had a 2-for-1 ticket! At an entrance fee of £11 per adult head the place certainly doesn’t buck any trends - though I’d personally prefer this to be a little cheaper. Mrs D and I often whinge about the price of entrance to family venues. We stall our whinging with a “we’re living in the past” comment. How appropriate that we were out-scrooged by a Black Country chap visiting his own Past? Nice bloke though. Earthy, with his head screwed on.

Overall, a recommended place to see. Couple this with a follow-up trip to nearby Brummagem’s Think Tank - replete with exhibits from the old Birmingham Science Museum.