I’m sorry I’m short - could you take one step to the right?

No! was the short answer from the tall person at the Bjork gig at Wolves Civic on Friday! 

Like him and his rather tall girlfriend - we had arrived earlyish and positioned ourselves quite near to the front of the gig (perhaps a quarter of the way back) so that we could see the brilliant Bjork when she came on.

However - I was foiled by the fact that said tall guy moved one step to his left just as Bjork arrived therefore entirely blocking my view.

Now this is not the first time this has happened - and usually I put up and shut up, or move. On this occasion I was aware that moving might not help and this guy was aware of me behind him - so I tapped him on the shoulder and politely pointed out that if he took one step back to the right (where he had been standing) I could see. 

He refused!

His girlfriend pointed the front of the crowd and said ‘there are some short people over there!’

Oooh - I was mad! I didn’t think my request was unreasonable. He was clearly about 6 foot and I’m 5′3″ - so his view was pretty assured wherever he stood - but mine - well it didn’t get any better let’s put it this way.

So - I’m wondering (I’ve already had some good responses on Facebook on this one) should I work out a way that short (and shortish) people can see at standing gigs at Gigbeth this year? 

Should we have designated areas for the 5′3″s and under - like you have Petite sections in the clothes shops now - for the very same reason that shorter women have to put up with nice clothes not fitting?

Or is there another way to skin the cat? Perhaps treat 6 footers to lessons in manners and consideration?

What goes around, comes around

I like to think that when I set off every day I try to spread a bit of good karma. There is nothing I like more than being in full on rush hour traffic and being nice to people by letting them in or out or whatever it is. I also must have one of those face because I can’t walk through town or a busy place with a lost person sniffing me out and asking for directions. Unfortunately for them I know Birmingham so well I don’t know or need to know road names I just get about visually - so I’m not always as helpful as I try to be!

Anyway a little piece of good karma came back to me yesterday when a nice man called Colin found my new purse (with all my worldly goods - access to them in it) and phoned my mobile so I could come and pick it up unharmed. I had dropped it under Hockley Flyover as I had spent a happy hour down there yesterday measuring up for a show I’m working on with Soweto Kinch in May (more on that later).

As a female on my own down there I had been on my guard - conscious that I had my laptop and handbag and everything in it and even when I found out that to get the other end of the measuring tape to stand still I needed the weight of my bag to hold it down while I measured the big spaces I was very careful…

Anyway clearly as I got to my car and pulled out my car keys my purse must have made a run for it - because that is where Colin found it. Thanks mate!

Being back on the Vale

For those of you who don’t know - in a former life I worked in community arts which in English basically means working with local communities and groups of people to plan arts activities that they might otherwise not get the chance to enjoy.

I think that many people think that this is some sort of middle class interference where people who are in the arts foist the activities they like onto those who don’t normally participate in a ‘it’ll be good for you’ type of way.

Well - that certainly is the case for some misguided projects - but the for ones I’m excited about it couldn’t be further from the truth. Many people in the community arts, like myself, discovered the arts themselves and found the experience to be transformational. I for one credit Birmingham Music Service, their free bassoon and some very inspirational music teachers for the career (and the life) I have today.

Therefore when you get people like me in a room we do get a bit evangelical about the power of the arts to change lives but our approach is one of working with communities as (quite frankly) we get out as much out of the experience as the people we are working with.

Take today for example. I was working with a group of what can only be described as ‘arts activists’ on Castle Vale. They have formed a group called Active Arts and are embarking on a planning process to ensure that they are setting the organisation up to succeed and continue for many years.

The group consists of residents, youth workers, arts workers, community workers, community volunteers and much more - but what unites them is their vision for how the arts can play a part in the continuing regeneration of Castle Vale. Some of them have seen the evidence with their children who have taken part in arts activities, others think that the arts makes the Vale a nice place to live and all of them are willing to put their own time in so that they can share their passion with others.

I came out of a fairly intense afternoon with this group - with my faith in human nature charged up. For those of us who are lucky enough to earn a living from the arts it is sometimes easy to forget how lucky we are. OK - so they pay is not always that great and the frustration of lurching from project to project and chasing funding in between can wear you down. But what working in a place like Castle Vale reminds you is that the arts (delivered well) is a bloody amazing day job.

It has been 3 years since I last did any work like this in Castle Vale and it is great to see that things have moved on, people have taken on new projects and made them work and new people have got involved and have a sense of ownership of the arts projects. It is also nice to be welcomed back like an old friend.

Abacus Residents like the Spotted Dog

News in today on the The Stirrer that John Tighe at The Spotted Dog has undertaken some research that indicates that the vast majority of the residents of the Abacus Apartments are happy with the level of noise from The Spotted Dog. It’s worth a read…I think that one of the biggest threats to Birmingham at the moment is the potential damage caused by problems with mixed use developments. Digbeth is (and is becoming increasingly) an important area for the city with the growing number of creative industries and venues of all kinds. If redevelopment of the area (the adding of apartments etc) leads to the shutting down of music venues and the moving in of chain pubs and eateries we will lose something special.We already have Brindley Place for that sort of night out. Digbeth is full of individually owned pubs and venues. I’m never scared of change and development - Birmingham has done well out of that in the last 20 years. However we should also learn from the mistakes of the past and not trash the treasures that are already there in the name of ‘progress’.We need more surveys like the one conducted by the Spotted Dog and then this information needs to be a welcome read for the Council who then have the power to stop the Noise Abatement nonsense and the power to make the most of Digbeth’s ‘grittyness’ as it grows into an even stronger creative quarter.Join the campaign here: www.keepdigbethvibrant.co.uk