I love Birmingham because…
I subscribe to the Guardian’s Tech Weekly podcast, one of many great audio offerings from the erstwhile Groiniad and listen every week to Aleks Krotoski’s slightly embarrassing puns and the rest of the team’s chatter about…stuff.
I like the show, but imagine my dismay when I fire up the iPod and hear that this week, they’re having a Manchester special and not only that, but apparently Manchester is now the UK’s second city.
I put this down to Alex not being from around these parts but besides being deeply patronising that is in fact irrelevant. Have I had my head up my arse for the past few years or so - yes, but that’s also irrelevant - or have we suddenly all decided that Birmingham, the second largest city in the UK is no longer thesecond city? Did I miss a meeting? Do I still get a vote? Can we bring in the Irish to sway the result on this one? [Little bit o’ politics there]
According to this BBC news article I’ve been pretty slow off the mark here; apparently this has been the case since 2002. Why wasn’t I informed? Ever since my 5th-year schoolteacher told me Birmingham was the UK’s “second city” that knowledge has been quite secure in my head, but now up is down, black is white, and I don’t know who I am anymore!
I don’t know if it’s possible to feel any sense of outrage or indignence about this because quite frankly, I can’t think of any great reasons why Birmingham should top Manchester if a new Mori poll were to be commissioned. Our biggest band is UB-bleedin’-40, the only reggae band notable for not playing any reggae. You might think that Black Sabbath are bigger: they’re not, it’s just that Ali Campbell doesn’t have his own reality show…yet. Perhaps the best thing we could say is - and perhaps this should form our new slogan - “Birmingham: at least we don’t have a congestion charge”.
I don’t want to get onto a downer here. I’ve been fighting a personal fight lately to be “interesting” and I think Birmingham needs to do the same. It’s a great place to live, a great place to work, there’s some good nightlife and a lot more greenery than anywhere else. And then there’s the canals. But I think maybe we need a big campaign. Nothing that says “we’re Birmingham and we’re better than them up north” but maybe something more akin to “there’s more to Ireland dan dis”.
This stuff is already happening. The Big Picture, Creative Republic, Fearce Festival and bags more. Indeed, the first Birmingham Bloggers meetup was fueled by a conversation about how Birmingham could become a stronger force for blogging. The thing is, how many people even inside Birmingham know that these things are going on, so that they can be proud of it? That’s how we become a city with power and influence: not by displaying billboards advertising a new exhibition, but by getting people talking about how great this place is, so that that message permeates through the walls and out into the open.
So here’s a thought. If you’re a Twitterer, why not write a new tweet starting with “I love Birmingham Because”? Iºll use Summize to gather them together and we’ll display them here at bloggingbrum.com.
Look out for mine: my username is marksteadman. What will you say?
