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Wednesday 17th July 2008
Dr Horrible
Dr Horrible is a three part story from Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's a kind of musical super-villain love story, as far as I can tell, and worth checking out. Part 1 (14 mins) is out today. The first minute or so looks very boring, but stick it out. You'll be back for episode two. Dr Horrible
Tuesday 16th July 2008
Carey Marx and Glenn Wool
It's Edinburgh preview time, and tonight I wandered down to the Old Joint Stock to catch Carey Marx and Glenn Wool trying out their new Edinburgh shows. I enjoyed them both in Edinburgh last year so I was keen to see what they're planning for this year. Carey is a thinker, and gave us his top 10 of topics which audiences find offensive, and discussed why they do, and whether they really should. Oh, and he was pretty funny too - and not very offensive, at least to my ears! Glenn was about 45 minutes late, due to being caught in the tailback from a crash on the motorway. Luckily he phoned in and offered to buy drinks for the whole audience! Can't say fairer than that. Last time I saw him, he was telling stories about his relationship with "drunk Glen". This year, he's focussing on relationships again, but more of the d.i.v.o.r.c.e. variety. Mixed in with a lot of stories, including his near death from holding in the worlds biggest laugh. Check out some videos to see them in action: I could only find one video of Carey Marx online, it's just 30 seconds, but here it is: There's more previews this week, including Reg Hunter and Jason Cook this Friday. Should be a stunning show. See the Old Joint Stock Theatre Website for details.
Tuesday 8th July 2008
Alan Barnes Quartet, Hotel Du Vin
Alan Barnes on sax, supported by an excellent Trio, are the highlight of the festival so far for me. His easy manner, inter-song banter and great technique made for a lovely, (though long - 3 hour) afternoon. The central courtyard of Hotel Du Vin (the former Midlands Eye Hospital) was packed and the sliding roof was open to let in the sun. It's a pretty venue, though the beer prices are a little steep - £3.50 for small bottle of London Pride and £6.50 for my delicious Belgian Kriek. See this video of Alan mentoring a young band to get some background, or this one of him performing live to get an idea of his style.
Monday 7th July 2008
The Tomorrow Band
The bar at the Rep, otherwise known as WineREPublic (geddit) had The Tomorrow Band on today. They're a Birmingham based band, with a new CD out - this was effectively the launch party. Oddly, this was one of the few Jazz Festival events which aren't free, I'm not sure why this one was paid in whilst some of the nationally recognised players are free. Actually, scrub that - what do I know about the UK Jazz scene! Though friends tell me they've seen several of the other bands playing elsewhere. Still, pay or no pay, it was a good gig, though I must admit I preferred the second set of standards to the first one of originals. The drummer, whose talent showed through in the 2nd half, just seemed to use every drum, symbol, cowbell, stick and brush in every song of the first half, and there did seem to be some competition as to who played the last sound in each song, generally with the drummer winning. You can see a video of them performing live courtesy of YouTube.Sunday 6th July 2008
Jazz at the Green Room
Birmingham Jazz Festival is underway, and tonight I saw Saxophonist Carol Sudhalter at the Green Room. Also performing was Poetry in Motion also known as Dr Teeth who gave us some beat poetry.
After this, I headed up to the Living Room to see Simon Spillett and the John Patrick Trio. Poetry in Motion appeared here too, and did the same poems - probably they're the best ones.
Saturday 5th July 2008
Soho Road
Soho Road is on my list of places to visit in Birmingham, though I haven't been there for a while. It has a high Sikh and Hindu population compared to the rest of the city, some interesting shops and some great food. Today I was shopping for clothes suitable to wear to a Hindu wedding, but managed to fit in some great snack food and sweets too. This street stall sells sweetcorn (with optional chilli) and pan puri, with sauces, sev (is it sev?) and chickpeas (channa). Very tasty and a bargain at £1.50 each.
London Sweet Centre provided me with some much needed Lassi and Kulfi after a hard days shopping, and they had the most amazing sweets.
It's not all from the indian sub-continent either. There's a lot of grocerystores offering Russian, Eastern European, Persian and other foods, and you can also get this to take away:
The Asian Rationalist Society
were also out on the street, with a stall full of information on fake astrologers, people who can cast spells etc. Good on 'em.
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