Birmingham Mini-Meet Report
Created | Updated Apr 29, 2009
A while back Post Editor Skankyrich came up with a unique way to celebrate the 10th Birthday of h2g2, by dressing up as a Rhino and travelling the UK meeting up with Researchers along the way. Unfortunately, Rich couldn't find a suit, or time, but the Midlands-based Researchers still thought a Meet was in order. On Saturday 25 April, 2009, the h2g2 Birmingham Mini-Meet to celebrate 10 years of hootoo got under way with sedate eagerness. The following Researchers all met up at the Starbucks just up from Birmingham New Street Station:
Vip had brought along a friend and old h2g2 Researcher, Acid Override, which boosted our numbers, and Elentari translated for Hypatia (Acid tends to get excited easily, you see...). The President's T-shirt got a few comments, the bright Don't Panic lettering proving a calming effect, or was it Teuchter's Borg one that kept us all in line? Anyway, BB was going to give a running commentary online of the day, but as Murphy's Law would have it, his laptop battery died almost straight away! Phil said he'd post from his mobile, which got gasps of awe... The chessboard tables then very nearly prompted an impromptu game, but we (or Vip rather, who took on the role of Tour Guide - sans red umbrella) soon decided on another vague course of action, and we all wandered outside to Victoria Square past some Market Stalls where MC, Phil and BB were drawn towards offers of free alcohol...
St George Interrupts
Moving on quickly to the Square, an imposing pink blow-up dragon drew our attention away from some of the lovely architecture and monuments littered about the place. The BBC van nearly pulled us in so we could check if Galaxy Babe had written a new Entry, but a noisy crowd nearby again forced us to abandon this idea. There were a bunch of knights beating each other up, and they had horses, so this was something to enjoy! The St George's Day celebrations were in full swing, which further explained the surplus of Morris Dancers we had seen in the streets – or it went a long way into clearing up the confusion... At about 2ish though, some of us were getting a bit peckish, so we then made our way for a sandwich and a drink in the International Conference Centre (ahh, the irony...), passing by some gold-coloured statues. Comments were made as to what on earth they were all about, so Vip ran over to enlighten us. Apparently Mssrs Watt, Murdoch and someone else who escapes me were trying to figure out the best way of removing stains from their sheets using steam irons, or at least that's what me and ST concluded!
On sitting down for our munchies, Websailor distributed some lovely animal badges from her days as a WWF Freedom Fighter, and then we thought we'd go to the Sea Life Centre. We crossed the canal, forcing back the desire to swashbuckle our way onto a canal boat and play at pirates, and made our way to a lovely little square with fountains and sunlight. MC attempted to push me in to see how deep it was, but through force of will only I kept my footing. A passer-by was drafted in to take a group shot of us all, and then we rounded the corner to the Sea Life Centre. A quick glance at the prices, and an even quicker gasp of amazement, convinced us all to put our money away and take in the canal side (ST worked out for the 12 of us it would have cost about £210!!!). We passed a lovely little canal roundabout, then after some humming and hawing we all persuaded each other a canal boat ride might be a lark...
Mucking About In Boats
What an interesting hour's entertainment that was! We boarded the good ship Euphrates Packet (no, we couldn't figure that one out either!), and gave each sidelong glances as it rocked this way and that as others got on, but we distracted ourselves by making things out of paper. Our paper plane making skills turned out not be that much cop, and Vip's paper hat making skills weren't much better, so we settled in to our tour to learn about the wonders of "electrickery", the reason boats have "Eyes of Ossyrus", the birdlife of the region (ducks, geese, grebes, coots, kingfishers and a sole American Wood Duck called - wait for it - 'Woodie'), and how fantastic Birmingham graffiti and rubble is. The plexi-glass windows prevented me from seeing much of the sights, and while Vip almost wet herself at the fantastic canal side, I had to prevent myself from opening the emergency exits and drowning myself, such was the scintillating commentary1. scorpio_witch managed to convince me not to, promising I could tell the guide what I really thought of him - but I didn't have a chance, such was my great need for alcohol on disembarking! It seemed everyone else fancied a drink, so we made our way to one of the pubs on the canal side, called the Canalside from memory (whoever said people from the Midlands have no imagination?), where those of us who were keen on real ale or cider partook, while our honoured President tucked into the G&T's with lime (ice and a slice, please!).
Bottoms Up!
The interior was a bit squishy - but Vip found some intriguing reading matter and regaled us with tales of yore, while Phil conversed with the back of my head for a while, mostly about shaving, and Teuchter revealed she was in the mood for cleaning some teeth. We don't think this persuaded most of the clientèle of the pub to leave... but we soon managed to clear the place - giving us room to breathe! Toasts were soon made to 10 years of hootoo and absent friends (namely Pheloxi), and after some settling drinks Vip produced a quiz, which at the end made many of us agree that we really ought to read those funny Douglas Adams books again some time soon... After this some of us noted it was nigh-on 7 o'clock, and many had trains to catch and places to be! There was a brief contemplation in attempting to jump the canal, but unfortunately common sense got the better of us. Excuses were made and we all headed off to our own homes, hopefully to meet up again some time soon! A nice afternoon was had by all I believe - new friendships made, old ones re-affirmed - and a side of Birmingham revealed in a strange and quietly amusing way.
