b ooked holiday last year. Holiday postponed a week due to unimaginative end of days type scenario, holiday taken a week later, arrived home to colossal cold. Now three weeks or so behind with various projects. More later…

Meanwhile this looks to be of interest at the newly reopened MAC arts centre in Brum. I spent much of my youth watching films at the MAC [and the Triangle], I still can’t watch Apocalypse Now without remembering the Chinese lady who screamed, shot up in the air and all but landed on my mate Phil when the tiger appeared during the ‘never get out of the boat’ scene at a showing there. Also remember seeing Clive Barker do a very entertaining talk there which we skived school to see if memory serves.

More recently I seem to recall their film program becoming quite mainstream so I’m hoping we might see a return to showings of the occasional obscure gem, or at least that I might get to see the next Alex Cox film when/if it gets a UK release. Certainly great to have the centre back and I look forward to a visit in the near future, not too sure on the new website, looks nice but not that great at delivering useful information, time will tell I guess…

I’ll certainly be tuning in to have a listen though as I can’t resist things regard local talk radio, well, apart from the actual Talk RadioSport station. I can’t see me making it along to the show, or to be a ‘performer’ , given the work backlog and the fact I’m aiming to get to the Screamin Festival in Spain at the end of the month, but you never know…

I should add some details;

introduction

Radio Z is the last station on the dial before the static and the microwaves and pulsar radiation.

The hosts of the night time show Tuning Out know all about facing down the void. Each night they start the show blank, with nothing planned, armed with just a stack of charity shop records and six hours in which to calm the world’s chaos and settle its people down to sleep.

This is a theatre show, which is also a radio show. You can listen to Tuning Out at home on-line via our website but true excitement comes when you visit its extraordinary studio in the theatre and become privy to presenter’s deeply compromised off-mic World.

Improvised afresh each night the show relies on content in part from messages and fragments of writing sent in during the course of the show by its listeners and audiences, both live and at home.

mac’s new Media Studio will be open for visitors wishing to contribute to the show and wireless facilities will be available throughout the building.

More about Tuning Out with radio z, which is on 13-15 May, here