By 2pm we've left Harborne. It happens to us all eventually.After crossing Hagley Road (home to my old sixth form, St Philip's College), the number 11 saunters wistfully along the Bearwood High Street as another song comes to mind. This time, it's the sublime This is What She's Like from Dexys Midnight Runners' wilfully uncommercial and criminally underrated 1985 album, Don't Stand Me Down:On the album version of the song, The Little Nibble café on the Bearwood Road gets name checked during some pre-song banter (legend has it that Kevin Rowland and his bandmates used to meet there for tea-dinking [...]
Well we know where we're goin'But we dont know where we've beenAnd we know what were knowin'But we can't say what weve seenTalking Heads - Road to NowhereIt's about 1.50pm, Clare and I are still in Harborne and we're still sitting on the front seat of the top deck of Birmingham's legendary number 11 bus. We're sitting to the right of the bus, and - on Lordswood Road - a girl sitting to our left gets up and click-clacks her way down the steps in a pair of presumably-fashionable high heel plimsoles. This may seem fairly inconsequential to you, but [...]
Alright, I've been a bit sniffy about Zack Snyder's movie adaptation of my favourite goddamn superhero comic ever in at least one previous post, but - I must admit - the new trailer does look rather tasty:
At 1.43pm we cross the Bristol Road and head down Harborne Lane. From the front seat on the top deck of the number 11 bus you get a great view of the still-under-construction new Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The futuristic, super sleek tri tower structure already looks so impressive you could be forgiven for thinking that the builders cut corners and used CGI.Light dazzles my eyes, and I automatically reach up to pull down my sun visor. I remember that I'm in a bus and not a car, and realise that I now look like an idiot or, more worryingly, a [...]
Two days later and so far I've only covered the first two miles. Typical.We pass a fancy dress store in Cotteridge, where a plastic mannequin catches Clare's eye. A potential Christmas present? 'No,' says Clare, emphatically.We hook a right onto Watford Road and pass a shop called Vis a Vis. "So that's what David Brent did next," muses Clare. I respond with a good natured 'Heh.' In truth, I only actually get the comment once we reach Bearwood. Boost bars really slow down the speed of my basic cognitive functions.We're heading down Linden Road, now, and passing leafy Bournville. A [...]
A quick break from this bus route blather:I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to tampering with this particular fictional design classic, but at least it looks a damn sight better - and remains truer to the original concept - than some of the franchise's other misguided efforts...
