Birmingham takes to the Silver Screen – Well, Maybe

Latest thing to go viral on Twitter? Yes, it’s Brummie movie titles. Richard Lutz takes The 3.10 to Yardley.

2011- Year of the Jerk

This website commissioned Richard Lutz to look over his shoulder at 2011. Here is his shortlist of the men who really should be banished from this planet

And Here Is The News…If You’re A Student

Richard Lutz asks his students, “Where do you get the news from?” and notices an interesting trend in the replies.

Of Death and a Friend

from Richard Lutz Forty five minutes of the funeral service and I say good bye to my friend Jan. There are songs, memories, eulogies and fine little speech from a vicar who ties it all up with a final sermon about a woman who helped others- not in a big way shouting-headline sort of way…

Albert and His $250m Red White and Blue Pay Cheque

American baseball’s biggest star has signed one of the largest athletic contracts ever in the States. Richard Lutz explains what it means

Tough Guy Robin Hood Meets His Match in Marion In a Five Star Production

“Well, how do you like your Robin Hood?”, asks Richard Lutz

Health Warning: Don’t Read Health Stories

For the past month Richard Lutz has collected news stories about what to do and not do to improve his health. He’s more confused than ever. Warning…this story could either cure your troubles or make you ill from worry. And that’s because, I have been manically collecting health cure/ scare stories from the wonderful…

Review: Measure For Measure

Richard Lutz at the RSC’s Swan Theatre in Stratford This is a play about, among other things, sex and the law. And these are two forces that are very much still in fashion these days. The liberal Duke of Vienna decides to retreat under a friar’s cloak and retire from the fraught world leaving a…

99 And Counting

Richard Lutz heads north- on a mission. The Gaelic names tumble from the tongue- Carn a Coire Boidheach, Sgurr Gaibhre, Liathach and Schiehallion. Those and about 280 others that collectively are the Munro mountains of Scotland. As Nigel said last month: ‘Climbing them all isn’t a hobby- it’s a sickness.’ I went up my 99th…

Review: Don Giovanni

Richard Lutz takes his seat at the Birmingham Hippodrome for this Mozart classic about love, sex and, inevitably, death

Central News: The Editors’ Merry Go Rouond

ITV’s Central News has hired its fifth editor in five years. She is Liz Hannam whose previous job was head of news in Bristol.

Review: Written on The Heart at The Swan, Stratford

There seemed to be a lot of earnest and frantic rustling through the programmes just before the curtain went up for Written on The Heart.

Glen Campbell – His Farewell Tour

Growing up in New York, we were drawn more to The Beatles or the Stones than to Glen Campbell

Gentle On Our Minds: Glen Campbell Comes to Brum

Let’s see. There’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”, “Wichita Lineman” “Galveston”, “Rhinestone Cowboy” and ‘Gentle on My Mind.’ They’re songs that rumble and twang through your head as you’re driving, cleaning up the kitchen or letting your brain circle aimlessly in the late afternoon. You can love them or despise them. But they’re…

Birmingham Director Jumps First Hurdle on the Road to the Oscars

Well, it is November so I guess it’s time to crank up the old Hollywood machine and get stuck into who gets the Oscar for this and the Oscar for that.

Review: One Man, Two Guvnors

Richard Lutz takes in One Man, Two Guvnors at The New Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham starring tv comedian James Corden

Kindle: We’re All Suckers Now

Richard Lutz asks if the Kindle e-book is the best thing since sliced bread or just a slick nasty marketing tool.

Of Scotland, The Riots and England

Richard Lutz is in Scotland- land of vicious football violence, demented sectarianism and an escalating murder rate. But no riots. He finds out why. North of the border then for a Scottish break. And as I pass Carlisle, things change. The air is sweeter, the accent sharper, the weather…well, the weather gets, shall we say,…

London Riots: A View from the 42nd Floor

Sheilagh Matheson finds a huge gap between the two Britains as she travels home to Tyneside from a riot torn capital The 42nd floor of the NatWest Tower in London is a champagne bar called Vertigo, entry by reservation only, breath-taking views. It’s early evening and small groups of 20-30 year olds chat and laugh, sipping…

Of Birmingham and the Crazies

From Richard Lutz It’s an eerie feeling to walk up to your high street to see if it stills exists. With Birmingham city centre being trashed, 130 arrests (and rising), clashes in Brindley Place and Soho Road under siege , would my own local shops be destroyed? Would I be walking over glass and remains…

Review: Midsummer Night’s Dream

Richard Lutz enjoys the classic forest comedy by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford: ‘Finally…’ my companion said to me, ‘a Shakespeare comedy that’s funny.’