BACK AND BRUMMIE

IT'S been a while since my last post which was probably when I was living in London; since then a lot has happened - good and bad things - but now I finally feel comfortable enough to take to the page again and let you know my views on what's been happening during my time in BIRMINGHAM [glad to be back babez] this year:

ONE] Take Me Out has finished for another year: I'm not even sure how this passed me by to be honest, but in
         some stroke of cruel order of nature Take Me Out has been and gone [much like the fame of whoever last

         won The Voice].

I'm not even sure what's going on here but I love it. Thanks Grace Dent

           I didn't think i'd be able to get through this Take Me Out-empty time without constant re-runs on ITV

           Player, but miraculously 'Kirsty', a Brummie contestant on the last series of the programme, ensured me

           that I was not alone and that we'd get through this together with a cryptic 'favourite':

That's her favouriting one of my work Tweets - standard

           

            I'm not entirely sure when the programme is due to air again, but I can say that whenever it is I'll be

            ready for it: hopefully in the audience, probably eating pizza.

TWO] Vintage markets in Birmingham are not full of tat: About five years ago I went to a vintage market in the
          custard factory. One room filled with tables and tables of vintage jewellery, fur coats and dresses from

          the eighties. Yesterday I went to the B2B Antiques and Vintage Bazaar which is essentially the same

          event, only this time the Custard Factory appears to have tripled in size and the stalls aren't aimed solely

          at eighteen year old girls. Our first stop was [of course?!] McTunneys Sweet Shop where we seemed to

          get 'a bag of everything' plus an Irn Bru lollipop:

A wonderful looking bag

Sugary, fruity sweet pips. YEAH

          

          We then wandered round until we spotted a stall with badges, jewellery and two BEAUTIFUL RESCUE

          DOGS, one of which had been saved from a home where young boys used him as a football; as a

          result he almost constantly shakes due to damage to a nerve in his brain. I wanted to take them both

          home but they weren't for sale sadface:

Apparently the Great Dane looks after the little brain-damaged dog.

TOO CUTE.

         After we managed to separate ourselves from this stall [and believe me, it took a while], we turned around
         and in front of us was an original 1970s [working] guitar on sale for an already silly price that we managed
         to haggle down a further £10:

I'm using larger font to show how amazing this purchase was. AMAZING.

          So as you can see, the Vintage Market in Digbeth can give you doggies, sweets, guitars, a LOT 

          of furniture and real-life armour. Sound up your street? Keep checking the Custard Factory website for

          for a full list of what's on.

THREE] Birmingham has changed MASSIVELY: A self explanatory sentence really, but during the year and nine

             months that i'd been living in London, it's as though someone injected Birmingham with a dose of truth

             serum, listened to the results and actually did something about it. One of the main issues I used to

             have with city was that there was a limited amount of things to do of a night out. Our routine was mainly

             dinner at one of two restaurants, pre-drinks at the vic and out at the Rainbow. Now it's more like, 'How

             do we choose where to go?!' and 'Let's try somewhere new'. So for every post i'm going to try and do a

             'Here's-something-new-i've-found-in-Birmingham-which-is-probably-only-just-new-to-me-as-i've-been-

             away' section, starting with this new[ish] restaurant I found:

                   Fleet Street Kitchen: Situated pretty much opposite Mechu (length ways, where Blu Bar used to

                   be) is Fleet Street Kitchen, a refreshingly new restaurant/underground bar showcasing fresh food

                   with great service, complete with low-hanging lighting, chalk boards and splatterings of reclaimed

                   wood style benches:

     Obviously it's not all about decor [it helps], but the food is also very good. We ordered calamari,

                  burger sliders, salmon, belly pork, veggies and chips, all of which were full of flavour and cooked 

                  well. It's kind of an Italian-British bistro amalgamation that seems to work very well. The wine

                  selection is pretty reasonably priced too an caters for all budgets. It is very refreshing to come to a

                  place that looks great, doesn't just serve either Michelin star food or microwaved burgers and has a

                  hidden-away space that hosts bands every Friday [you can also hire this space]. If this is the start
                  of a new wave of affordable restaurants in Birmingham i feel prettyyyy prettyyyy good

               

Enjoy your Sunday, kids

STANLEY