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Thank you so much for your support so far.

We are looking for 15’000 names to give to the council. Please help make a difference.

Please invite all of your friends to join this group.

Thank you x
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Birmingham City Council EPU (Environmental Protection Unit), are today sat in session considering the serving of a noise abatement order against The Rainbow. 

This is the latest move in their wish to see a once vibrant Digbeth transformed into a souless artistic wasteland populated by Stepford wives and cultural pygmies, and where the only entertainment is watching tumbleweeds race down deserted back streets. 

This latest outrage is yet again the result of one – yes that is right ONE- resident of the Abacus flats complaining about a noise nuisance. This resident since occupying the flats has seen off the Spotted Dog (its nearest and most immediate target), is now close to achieving the same with The Rainbow, and will no doubt soon be turning their sights on The Rainbow Warehosue and The Custard Factory. Just how much devestation are they allowed to cause before someone has the wit to halt this senseless slaughter. Many of the councils own departments vaunt the vibrancy of Digbeth, and indeed the Planning office makes much reference to Digbeth’s unique ‘jewel in the crown’ potential as part of it’s big city plan. Just how much vibrancy will soon be left – perhaps just the vibarting echo of a hollow vaccum? Anyone who has followed this issue on line is aware of the strength of feeling it arouses, and the sheer frustration of how Birmingham seems determined to always be the ugly sister/poodle next to far more dynamic cities like Manchester, London and Liverpool who provide their cultural spaces with oxygen to breath and prosper as opposed to smothering them. No-one can underestimate the significance of art and cultutre on the desirability of a city to live and work in – and it is generally a city’s youth that are best placed to take a city’s cultural pulse. Increasingly Birmingham’s is flatlining. Just think how different it could be if institutions and organisations like The Rainbow were given support, and how much change they could effect in other people’s perception of the City.

THE FACTS ARE THESE 
Noise nuisnace is a totally subjective matter – it is not measured – it is all about a council officers ‘trained human ear’. There have been instances where even the EPU’s own officers have failed to detect a nuisance following a complaint against The Rainbow – but different day and different officer – different result.. There are residents on the same facade and elevation facing the Rainbow that maintain there is absolutely no nuisance at all and that far from having a problem with the Rainbow – the reason they moved in was to be close to such ammenities (this is similarly the overwhelming view of Digbeth’s Residents Association). The Rainbow’s own research from the Abacus rooftops indicates that yes a bass beat can be heard when there is a lull in background traffic noise – but would struggle to see how this was a noise nuisnace behind closed windows and doors and should certainly cause no problem when trying to sleep within a bedroom. Nevertheless accepting the views of the Council and having had a number of ‘noise nuisances’ subjectively witnessed againt them from one resident’s flat, the Rainbow has agreed to erect a roof on it’s courtyard area to prevent sound leakage. This in itself is a highly sensitive subject as the Rainbow is being made to pay the price of the council’s own negligence over the construction of the Abacus flats (which failed to comply with thier own rules on noise surveys). The Rainbow agreed to do this as soon as plans could be steered through the planning department – so completion would be around August. Meantime The Rainbow has regularly asked to negotiate/discuss with EPU/complainant it’s events over the ensuing 3 months, to try and ensure that everyone keeps a cool head, as we cannot afford to close for the period, and any suggestion of us playing music at an ambient level is just naive. This has included giving them details of what times events will start and finish, planning noisier events around times when they may not be in reidence (on holiday), offering to put them up at our expense in a hotel for the night if needed – even very simply getting them to phone us if the levels creep too high. REMEMBER this is just over a 3 month period until a roof prevents any further issues. Unfortunately EPU and the tenant refused to countenance such an initiative and have decided to simply stick to – ‘if you make what we consider to be a nuisnace meantime, we will act’ – this was even when informed we would need to hold some fundraising events meantime to ensure we could provide for the very solution to their problems.

Anyhow following another subjectively witmessed noise nuisance commieted before 11.30pm on Monday (hardly the middle of the night) we now are now awaiting a decision on an abatement order. Knowing what a ridiculous injustice this is and what the wider implications are for the area – we will fight it should we get it – to the bitter end if necessary – to the point we are physically ejected and the pub is boarded up. But we would like your help – sign up to the facebook group so we can present it to the council.

Thank you

Love 
The Rainbow Team

Operation Mousemat

Today in the Burnfm studio I came up with…an idea!

Basically in the OLRC (library on the Selly Oak campus) there are old mousemats next to every computer. These were sponsored by a now defunct computer company called DCS plc. My idea is to replace these mousemats with Burnfm.com mousemats. It’s a hugely ambitious idea, even if it doesn’t sound like it (I mean mousemats for goodness sake!) However mousemats are not posters – they are likely to last for a few years at least and remain where they are. They will be next to the computers, hopefully inspiring people to listen as they work and they will also imprint Burnfm’s name and image firmly in people’s minds. There are students who haven’t heard of us.

If we can get Burnfm mousemats into at least the Main Library and the OLRC then we will definitely be reaching out to people. Then if we can branch out to the other 7 computer cluster areas we’ll be getting somewhere.

If anyone has any idea who to approach about this, be it through printing or in terms of who to approach at the Uni (I really don’t know, but have tried emailing the IT services as a start…will talk to the Main Library staff in person as soon as I can.)

Budget wise I know that unless we get some kind of sponsorship, we won’t be able to get enough mousemats, but ideally I’d like to start at 500 and see where we can go from there…

Any ideas give me an email at frankiepromotes@googlemail.com or comment….

 

Thanks!

Frank x

Gearing up for Get Frank

The news in briefs (aka bulletpoints)

  • I’ve just finished my last bit of work for uni and now just have  a dissertation proposal meeting (weds) and a 9am-5pm audition on tues to go.
  • Am about to launch a podcasting project on Burnfm.
  • Have been offered (and taken) the position of Generation Next Future Media Production Assistant for Channel 4 (more on that later.)
  • Have a featured open mic slot at The Phoenix, Coventry on Monday
  • Am preparing for my first gig with a full band at The Rainbow on Friday 29th May…

So firstly the ‘big gig…’ I’ve been dreaming of playing The Rainbow in Digbeth for over a year. It’s literally my favourite Brummie venue so I can’t believe I’m getting to play there. I’m playing with the wonderful Dan Smith, who I played at the Yardbird with in March. You can check out my myspace or my youtube if you’ve not heard my music before. All tracks on myspace are available to download for free! I’ve got five extra people helping me so expect glockenspiel, keyboards, guitars, drums, bongoes and a saxophone…

Also big thanks to all the lovely tweets about the Channel 4 internship I was very pleased too! I’m going to be focused on the Big Brother website and a few others I’ve not been told about yet. It’s my first proper paid internship so hopefully I won’t be too overdrawn at the end of summer like I was last year.

 

Hope to see you at the Rainbow on Friday!

Frank x

 

Swine Flu – How to strike the balance between fear and ignorance

The current subject of major international focus is the Swine Flu.  Of course, you don’t need me to tell you that – it’s probably the most talked about thing on the internet right now, seemingly stealing the focus from the ever depressing recession. Being a student I’ve felt slightly cushioned from the talk of unemployment and bankers’ distress, preferring to concentrate on my deadlines and my final year of study before I’m thrown into a world of economic turmoil.

When I last checked today, just before starting write this article, it seems that there have been 91 cases of Swine Flu confirmed by laboratory testing in America (51 of those in New York) and sadly one death (a child in Texas.) There have been five UK cases affirmed, with one woman being treated from her home in Redditch. On the TV as I am currently writing a news anchor reports from outside a health centre in Northfield reporting that ‘we must hope that the threat in the West Midlands remains mild’ and that a victim’s uncle could not obtain tamiflu from 6 different pharmacies. If this was a confirmed case of tamiflu then I am sure that the patient would have been given tamiflu directly by the hospital so I’m not entirely sure what that victim was suffering from… (I’d been briefly watching Newsnight on the other side…)

The following was published from this article on the BBC news website:

The BBC’s Alex Bushill in Paignton, Devon

No school expected to be at the centre of a national media storm, but for the pupils of Paignton Community and Sports College in south Devon, there were to be even more shocks and surprises.

A little after 1300 BST this afternoon, the 2,000 pupils were told that one of their friends had contracted swine flu from a recent trip to Mexico. They did not know it, but already satellite vans and cameramen were gathering outside the school gate and the prime minister had announced on the floor of the Commons that a 12-year-old girl at the school was ill with the virus.

Although she is now responding well to drugs, there is a great deal of anger amongst parents and pupils alike that they were not told in advance.

In amongst the tears, parents came to collect their children as the school was closed. Reeling not just from the shock that swine flu had arrived on their doorstep, but in the manner that they had heard the worrying news.

It is the content of stories like the one above that make me worry about the way that the potential pandemic is being handled. The fact that 2,000 students and their parents reacted with hysteria surely reflects what a nation constantly accompanied by the media must be enduring. I myself have become uneasy this evening particularly after seeing footage of Dr Margaret Chan of the World Health Organisation officially raising the alert over the level of swine flu to 5 – one away from the level of ‘pandemic (human – human transmission in two countries.) This means that countries must ready their ‘pandemic preparedness plans.’ In Britain this appears to be stockpiling as many doses of tamiflu as possible (and hoping that the virus does not mutate to become untreatable.)

All of this is news that we, as members of the public are perfectly entitled to of course and most coverage by the media has been greatly informative, particularly by sites such as the BBC. However, for the next few weeks I would not even consider buying a tabloid newspaper for fear of seeing sensationalized pictures or ‘survivors stories.’ For example this story on The Sun’s website starts to read as a fairly factual piece until a silly picture of random people arriving at Heathrow airport is followed by text in bold to make you feel INDIGNANT AND BETRAYED BY THE GOVERNMENT the piece ends by saying that ’25 million could catch it here in months.’ Surely this is scaremongering? The content about the lack of masks is completely unnecessary, particularly as we have already been informed that masks are only useful to members of the medical profession as touching the masks after using them renders them pointless.

So what I have deducted from the oodles of internet, tv and print info is that people should carry tissues, get out the old festival anti bacterial gel and to not sneeze on people. To be honest I’m going to be doing this namely because I have a bit of a cold at the moment and my hayfever is rather chronic and is beginning to flare up.

Personally I am going to try not to worry; I have an exam tomorrow and an interview for an internship with Channel 4 as part of their Generation Next scheme next week. My exam is a practical performance of an Alan Aykbourne play called Invisible Friends. In it I play an angry middle aged dad and the voices of a tv, including a speech about rising inflation which suddenly feels all the more relevant!

The Channel 4 interview is for a new media post, as an assistant to the producer of the Big Brother website. When the program is on each Summer I’d say I probably visit the website more than I watch the program itself so therefore I’m quite excited about it! Aside from being keen generally my experience online and also through running Burnfm.com I’d say I’ve got as much a chance as any. As long as they don’t think I’m too young or don’t like that I’ve not finished my degree hopefully I’ll do well. The internship is from July to mid september and therefore I’ll be free to devote all my time to the job. (Put it this way; I really, really want to do it!) A task created video of Ulrika Johnson and Verne Troyer performing the Diana Ross and Lionel Richie duet, Endless Love from this year’s Celebrity Big Brother got over 81,000 views in a matter of days (the task was to get at least 10,000) which shows exactly how cross platform content is becoming increasingly popular amongst mainstream audiences. 

Hope you are all equally well and that this article hasn’t caused a panic!

Frank

Having Waterworks…

The other day I went to Sainsburys in Selly Oak and saw a man (in VERY unflattering leggings) and his son cycling down a path on the other side of the road so I thought, aha! Perhaps a shortcut! So shopping on my arm I followed and discovered that the path actually led to the Birmingham and Fazeley canal. 

Aha! (I thought again) I bet this takes me close to Raddlebarn road, which is close to the top of Heeley Road where I live. There was an exit where I expected, by the hospital but it was a locked gate and I couldn’t use it, therefore I had to walk a kilometer further to Bournville train station to find an exit from the canal towpath. This wasn’t an unpleasant walk at all, I loved the scenery, it was just the heavy shopping and the rather narrow towpath (with countless cyclists its quite hard to avoid falling into the water!) I’m also a bit nervous when I’m in an area where I can’t see an imminent exit and I’m on my own. I guess its a kind of claustrophobia.

I would love to use the canals more so I can get some exercise and walk more but I would also like to know where exits are. I know there’s one at Brindley Place and at The Vale student halls but apart from that I’m a bit stuck! I’d like to walk to Five Ways Station but I’m not sure where the nearest exit is! I’ve tried looking for pedestrian guides on the internet but all I can find is guides for boating and council re-developments. The Waterscape  site is meant to promote the canal to walkers but from what I can tell, it only promotes Brindley Place and the Mailbox.

If anyone can recommend me a decent resource or has had found the same issues with the canal then please comment!

Thanks

Frank x

In postscript I didn’t win Birmingham’s Got Talent, although it was a great night. The only problem I have is a problem that happens at lots of events, people talking REALLY loudly when you and/or other people are onstage trying to perform. When you’re on a stage trying to focus on two or three things at a time, (in my case singing, playing guitar, avoiding nerves but trying to acknowledge an audience it becomes very difficult to not stuff up!) There were certain performers yesterday who I feel deserved a bit more from the audience. But it’s in the past now. Big thanks to everyone who voted and helped raise important money for Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice. It will be very well recieved!

May I count on your vote?

Hey everyone,

As I’ve already posted today, I’m performing at the Jam House tonight at charity fundraiser for Birmingham’s Got Talent. If you can’t make it you can still make my day and donate money to charity by voting for me. To do this all you have to do is text  8 and 10.30 pm ‘talent b’ to 64343. The texts cost £1 with at least 60 pence of this going to Birmingham St. Mary’s Hospice. If I win I think I get a night out I’m not exactly sure, the prize isn’t too important to me, I’d just like to escape ‘nil point’ as the results are being displayed on a giant screen in the venue! There is potential embarrassment factor there, teamed with the fact that I don’t actually know if anyone is coming to watch me BUT… the main thing is to raise money for charity!

Thankyou!

Frankie x

It Runs in the Family (I think)

My family isn’t really known for being musical. My dad played trombone and accordion when he was younger (I don’t really know how well!) and my sister played alto sax for a while (and I don’t even know for how long!) I would say I’m probably the most ‘musical’ in my immediate family.

However, not so long ago I discovered my dad’s cousin, Graham Ward is a former child ‘drumming’ prodigy who played the drums in the movie of Bugsy Malone and owns a recording studio in LA. Nice huh?

Anyway my dad is going to LA (I think for work…this is a rather unsure blog!) and is hoping to pop by so he’s going to try and take a CD of my music along. I guess because we both record (him obviously having the upper hand of a luxury recording complex!)

dscf2770

This is the tracklisting for the CD I’m sending to LA via ‘Dad mail.’ Not all of these songs are on my soundcloud yet, but the ones that are you can download for free. I’ve been recording over the past couple of days so I’ll put them on my cloud soon. I would have put them up already however the Soundcloud site won’t let me upload more than five tracks per month. I have made all of the featured songs on my myspace downloadable so you can grab and go from there! I hope that people who like my music will pass it on and possibly blog about it, however I know my recordings are scrappy. I can’t quite capture my voice as I like it – I know that vocally, I’m much better live. The effects on my desk aren’t great and the reverb is rather difficult to program. I also have coined myself the phrase that ‘I haven’t the time for a metronome’ because none of my recordings are recorded to a click track. I record to literally keep a record of what I’m writing and creating and I like to be quick. If I was recording with other people it would probably be more fun and a more precise process.

In terms of uni work I’ve got a 1,000 creative analysis of a radio play I’ve produced and designed the sound for and I’m ready for the next semester. Hurrah!

Frank x

Birmingham’s Got Talent

I sent in a video entry for the Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice Birmingham’s Got Talent competition ages ago and got a phone call this morning to say I’m through to the final next wednesday at the Jam House. It was rather a shock I can tell you! I sent them a video of myself and Nick performing ‘Untitled’ but watching it back I realise it really wasn’t my best performance, hence why I really am surprised!

I don’t think I’ll be performing Untitled at the event as I’m not sure how long I’ll be playing for, I think with the short length of my songs probably two. I doubt Nick, the guitarist in the above video is going to be free to play so I might be on my own! If I am then I’ll probably play ‘Three Floors HIgh‘ because I feel that works on its own, just me.

Yesterday I did some work for Chris Unitt at Fazley Studios (the studios are amazing!) I basically tried to find as many dance focused companies as possible for Chris’ work with West Midlands Dance. The company that I’d particularly like to see after looking at over 100 schools, agencys and production companies is Blue Eyed Soul who are an inclusive dance company who involve anyone they can, no matter what ability or disability that one may have.

On my way home I popped into Mouldy Loaf, a shop in the Custard Factory that commissions local artists to create unique T-Shirt designs. It made me think of a slighty ‘grown up’ Lazy Oaf (who I absolutely love!) They have a couple of offers on at the moment and I couldn’t resist a tshirt with a cloud on it. (I like clouds. Especially ones that talk.)

Feeling considerably ‘arty’ I finally recorded some stuff in my room. I decided to rearrange a song called…’An Arrangement’ and here it is…

Unfortunately I mixed the bass too low and you can’t really hear it but ah well! Please download and pass on if you have time/like it. Stick it in a blog, twitter, facebook, myspace or even email! I do not mind, just as long as people know its me. I wrote, played and recorded the entire thing – hence its scrappy nature!!!