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TURN AND FACE THE FRAME
Ch-ch-ch-checkout this terrible headline and intro! Still, don't let our considerable editorial failings put you off what's happening at St Paul's Gallery, in the Jewellery Quarter, where they've taken delivery of a selection of rare and original tour posters ranging from your man Bowie, to the Stones, to the Pistols. A quick scan of who played Meltdown 2002 reveals some absolute belters including the least Google search friendly band name in history: 'The The'. The poster pictured will set you back £250, but if you want it framed in art glass (non-reflective, dead fancy), that'll be £600. Rolling Stones posters include their Bridges to Babylon tour and 2003's Licks, while the Sex Pistols 1996 Finsbury Park-er (which, by all accounts, was not a classic) is also available. Even if you're not buying, St Paul's is a must visit for any music fan. And, if you hadn't noticed, you have a very long weekend to fill.
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THURSDAY NIGHT
CHORTLES
Our relationship with carousels has been mixed at best. Aged five, there was an incident, and actually that was it for us. Until The Glee's weekly Comedy Carousel came along and thwacked those pesky levitating horses straight between their unfeasibly dark eyes. A rollicking, reactive show, the line-up changes weekly, with a big screen on which to curate the bestest bits from the online world. And though the stand-up you'll see is always stellar, there's a particular crop of incredible coming up, which is demanding of your attention. Tonight, straight-talking Suzi Ruffell is it, while likeable everyman Steve Williams is in town in a fortnight. On May 18 get most modish Sofie Hagen — as well as Nathan Caton — a consummate gig smasher, who always delivers. Book
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FILM OF THE WEEK:
THE HANDMAIDEN
The 300th Fast and Furious film arrives this week, but if you’re on the market for something a tad classier – or sober – do check out this, one of the very best films of the year. An elegantly constructed tale of con and counter-con in 1930s Korea, a young thief infiltrates a Japanese aristocrat’s household – but not everything, of course, is as it seems. Full of games of perspective and power, this is a thriller that at once thrills and is genuinely erotic. Oldboy director Park Chan-Wook brings just the right kind of pervy eye to make things sing, but this is far from exploitative – the hottest scene is one of a tooth being filed. Amid all the sex dolls, torture and octopuses, however, it’s the genuine, sweet love story at this film's core that stays with you. Times
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Venue: The New Inn, 74 Vivian Road, Harborne; B17 0DJ; website
Choice: Pan fried chicken supreme (£14) Chooser: General Manager
What would win in a fight, a hippo or a hippo-sized lobster? This is the vociferous debate that took up much of the seven sun-blushed hours we spent in the New Inn beer garden, on Saturday. And though the highlight can only have been the weather, their new summer menu is really rather wonderful. The GM picked out two beautifully plated dishes — the saffron arancini with asparagus puree and poached egg (£12), and the chicken supreme with sautéed potatoes and pea emulsion — to duke it out. The winner was the chicken, but both were immaculate, show-stopping dishes that fit into that frustratingly bare middle ground of everyday eating that Jay Rayner rightly pointed out is a little lacking in this town. Wash whatever you choose down with Birmingham Brewing Company's Pale Brummie, which they now have on tap. And if the hippo debate has you flummoxed the answer is the hippo-sized lobster, on points. Menu
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