Ashfield Motors long stood as a derelict petrol station in the Jewelery Quarter. That special vintage kind with ye-oldee rusting  sqaut shaped petrol pumps that exude a psuedo Americana charm. That is until this year when it was flattened and construction is now in full swing on the site with only the original painted sign clinging on.

I’ve walked past it so many times but foolishly never took a photo and today realised was most likely the day that the sign, the final homage to the station, is about to be smothered up by breezeblocks for good. Sadly not being armed with my camera I was forced to take shots on my iPhone (note the stacked breeze blocks beginning to creep up from the bottom), although others have thankfully captured it better before.

But although its being bricked up part of me is consoled by the way its being secreted away. Like a time capsule. I’d like to imagine that at some point in the future people in silver unitards, operating their hover-bulldozer-laz0r machines will come along and take down the bricks and discover this unexpected gem, then hopefully spend a while cooing over the typography and remembering the history.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

What? Afternoon Play: boardgame larks in a lovely coffee shop
When? Sunday 7th November
Yes but when? 2-5:30pm
Where? Urban Coffee Company, 30 Church Street, Birmingham, B3 2NP

Inspired by our Midland neighbours over at Gambling Lambs we’ve decided it was high time to host a boardgame event of our own in the West Midlands so are pleased to announce our upcoming lazy afternoon of play on  Sunday 7th of November ‘Afternoon Play‘ (see what we did there ….. sigh* yes I know its not the best name, but we can work on that alright?)

We’ll be bringing along some German classics such as Catan & Carcassonne but you’re welcome to bring along your game of choice. Although we’re selling this as a boardgame afternoon if there is anything else you’re keen to play (safely) within the confines of a coffee shop then let us know.

You don’t need to sign up anywhere but as this is the first one (please note mild insinuation that if all goes well we might repeat said event) it’d be good to get an idea of rsvp numbers on this here facebook event page. So pack up your zocchihedron, bring your friends, meet some new ones and come join us on Sunday the 7th.

This event is brought to you in association with BARG http://barg.org.uk/

Secret Library Card. You have been summoned!

I’m finally putting my money were my mouth is and have organised a meeting to rally people around ‘Project Brutal’ an idea to create a series of events and projects that celebrate and capture Birmingham’s Brutal Library whilst we still have it. The initial meeting is being held on the 20th of April at the ever delightful Created in Birmingham shop and anyone with a passion for the library is welcome to attend.

Full information on the initial meeting can be found on the eventbrite sign up page… and there’s more info over on the tumblr I’ve set up to track the project.

Any questions then just drop me a line!

After ranting last November about the decision to not list the iconic Birmingham Library building, I’m back on the war path, albeit a creative and productive one. I won’t go into the full ins and outs on here, as I’ve set up a tumblr to help channel the project into one low monthly payment, or blog if you will.

Basically the idea at present is to find like minded people and creative networks/ groups keen to work together to organise a series of events and activities to celebrate, enjoy and capture the library before it potentially meets its maker.

I’m going to be joining the people dots with a meeting in mid-late March and will post the full details on here asap. So if you have any sense you’ll head over to the tumblr site and sign up!

pip pip

Whilst I don’t decry the need for something to be done about the interior, nor do I hold a grudge against the new building plans (minus the knocking down the old library part). But how can such a regionally iconic example of modernist architecture, designed by a local architect not be listed and have people rooting for its demolition? I rarely use these 3 letters but in this case I’ll make the exception…WTF?

I admit I’ve not always felt this way. 8 years ago when I used to live in Birmingham, I hated the library, I saw it as an obscure cement lump. But I’ve changed my mind. Shifts in my personal tastes aside I think the Southbank can take a lot of credit for this, having seen the way a similar space is appreciated and treated through art exhibitions and recreational uses has helped me cultivate an appreciation for modernist architecture.

Sadly in Birmingham I’ve never witnessed any attempt to work sympathetically with the design either internally and externally. From the hideously gaudy airport terminal inspired Paradise Forum that runs through it, to the incredibly ugly Copthorne hotel (and its twin, which I don’t know the name of) that create a claustrophobic view of the inverted step façade (to be more technical ‘inverted ziggurat’).

Its almost as if the building has been treated like a bastard child the city had in the 70s and would rather forget. Forget postwar architecture its not quite canonised enough for our tastes just yet, so lets just knock it down and build something we hope is just about bland enough to still be in favour in 40 years, and if not we can just repeat the cycle again.

I don’t know if there is any way the building will be saved, either as a library or in another guise and given a much needed spot of TLC. And so I wonder what ways there might be to both document, re-purpose and  celebrate the space incase/before its too late (photography, pervasive games, exhibitions, hmmmmm??). I guess its just down to finding  like minded people and the keyholders with the ability to say yes to a suitably fitting swan song before the wrecking ball strikes.

Image source: Created in Birmingham

Cake Orchestra (with additional percussion) from nikkipugh on Vimeo.

Its still early days for me in my move back to Birmingham since starting at Screen WM, so I’m keen to get out and about to see what geeky fun is to be had in the Second city and last night I popped along to fizzPOP in ‘Digital’ Digbeth.

FizzPOP in its own words is “a group of people with a wide range of skills and interests, bound by a common interest in tinkering with stuff to make something new. It’s a hackerspace.” this intro combined with videos (see above) of cake orchestras, knowledge of soldering and ‘Arduino’ (which I need to get my head around if I am ever actually going to build myself a Meggy Jr) was more than enough to get me along yesterday eve.

Although I have NOOOO techy or DIY skills I was warmly welcomed and in no time was soldering and data bending c/o the guys there. So anyone else interested in tinkering and hacking with tech in the midlands area should definitely get down to the next meet up in 2 weeks and I most certainly will.