Jake Malbasa

Remember there are those who grimace when they hear the city being spoken ill of but perhaps don't have the time nor the inclination to point a few things out. That we have one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, for example, and the busiest single theatre in the country. That we have the UK's first ever purpose-built repertory theatre, one of the most thrilling conductors on Earth steering one of the best symphony orchestras and a citizenship that is fighting tooth and nail to save the oldest working cinema. We have two of the best street food venues in the land, Michelin stars and the first and only non-London Indian restaurant to win not just one star, but two. The best gin bar in Britain and, coincidentally, one of the best bars in the country. The funniest and friendliest people you could ever want to meet. Almost 600 parks, 14 square miles of greenery, more than any other equivalent sized European city. The single best square half a mile of Indian subcontinental food. Two of the very best urban music festivals for miles and miles around. A gay village and a Chinese Quarter that mesh into the same outstanding suburb. The largest independent museums trust in the United Kingdom. An internationally acclaimed contemporary art venue that takes more risks than any gallery I experienced in 13 years in the capital. One of the most bohemian districts known to man and a hotbed for street art. Lycett. The only Baths in the country built before 1914 to have continuously hosted swimming since opening. Europe's largest concentration of jewellery traders and designers. An official gayborhood alongside the likes of The Castro, San Francisco and The Marais in Paris.The longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre companies and one of its most consistently innovative. Hammond. The first music school to be established in England outside London and still one of the best. Bonehead! One of the best athletics stadiums in the country and the largest facility of its kind in the UK. The National Sea Life Centre. The National Exhibition Centre. The National Indoor Arena and long memories. The social, cultural, financial and commercial centre of the Midlands.The largest public library in the United Kingdom and the largest regional library in Europe. Britain's most important Shakespeare collection. The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork yet found, anywhere, ever. Works by Constable, Van Gogh, Gainsborough, Hogarth, Monet, Turner, Bacon, Rubens, Degas, Renoir, Botticelli, Van Dyck, Gauguin, Whistler and countless more — all free to see. The first building to be purpose-built for the study of art history in the United Kingdom. One of the world's largest coin collections. Symphony Hall — the finest acoustics in the country. Snobs. Still. Somehow. Mr Egg. Still. Somehow. Cat Deeley!

ZEPHANIAH: "Concrete with a heartbeat" I was born where the Beorma people made home, Handsworth, in Brummagem. For many of my early years I thought this town to be a cold suburb Of Kingston, Jamaica. My then girlfriend Jasvinder Basra Thought it to be a cold suburb of Jullunder, India, And we were both right. We, in our puppy love innocence Knew that it was only a matter of time and space, We Dark Matter grew up holding hands Listening to Reggae and Bhangra Eating channa and ackee, And playing doctors and nurses somewhere in the future. Handsworth does that to you, Historic and progressive, It wakes but never sleeps Concrete with a heartbeat. A private space for all its children That is full of stars and it keeps expanding, It is where voices from the past speak to us Every day, lived in voices Of working class heroes reminding Us that we are all Brummies, But me and Jasvinder knew this anyway. I saw riots in Handsworth, I saw revolution loitering on the streets Where money had been thrown down drains In front of people who were needy, But I also saw energy laden creators Bringing hope, And building sites of new galaxies In Brummagem, the centre of it all. This is where I discovered the nature of the universe, This is where I realised That The Theory of Everything leaves a lot to be desired, This is where The postman taught me that everything needs poetry, And that it is not gravity that gives us roots But the things we do to ourselves. But it was me that said relativity needs to relate, Space stops everything happening to you, And in my humble opinion Faith and tradition will live next to progress For as long as it takes. Cosmology? Well that’s all about me and Jasvinder. It all started with us In Handsworth in Brummagem, Where the philosophers of Grove Lane And the great thinkers of Soho Road Now recite Alpha and Omega continually. Astrophysics? That’s about the nature of our celestial bodies The application of our physical policies And the intensity of our cultural intercourse, It’s about the way we greet when we meet And the exploration of possibilities, And it must be known That all scientific studies have shown that Brummies are at home with new horizons And a multi-layered concept of place. Time? Space? Time invented itself to stop everything Happening at once. Space was grateful It had been given room to manoeuvre. They remain good friends.