Tag Archives: Alabama

Chris and Frank are at it again

Posted on February 17, 2009 | Leave a comment

One day I’ll actually make their acquaintance and feel like I can use their first names (their last names are Hastings and Stitt in case you were wondering). This marks the second year in a row that both Birmingham, AL based chefs have made it to at least the semi-finalist round (here’s the list of contenders) of The James Beard Foundation Awards. Stitt (of Highlands Bar & Grill) is a potential contender for the nation’s best chef while Hastings (Hot & Hot Fish Club) is hoping to be a finalist in the category of best chef in the South.

The finalists will be named on March 23, with the winners announced on May 3 via a media event and the awards’ official website.

Leave a comment

Posted in food

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Imagicon fills a void

Posted on February 17, 2009 | 4 comments

Imagicon logo - courtesy of the websiteFans of last year’s OmegaCcon conference here in downtown Birmingham can breathe a sigh of relief…

That first year science fiction conference has been replaced by a new first year sci-fi conference, Imagicon. The conference will be a little later than last year’s, taking place March 27-29 at the Sheraton Birmingham at the BJCC. 

Their website appears to be receiving constant updates and it sounds like something that wants to be a part of the local scene for some time to come. It’s already got some folks excited, like Nicki.

Image: Courtesy of ImagiCon website.

4 Comments

Posted in Events

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Langford to suggest support for zoo expansion

Posted on February 17, 2009 | Leave a comment

Trails of Africa logoThis morning during Mayor Langford‘s  comments to the Birmingham City Council, he announced plans to present a proposed redevelopment agreement to councilors next week that would allow the Birmingham Zoo to begin work on its long planned expansion called Trails of Africa.

The mayor reported that the zoo, which is currently the state of Alabama’s #1 tourist attraction, has already raised more than $6 million for the 14-acre expansion but needs additional financial support to make it a reality. A report in The Birmingham News from September 2007 had zoo officials estimating the overall cost of the project at $15 million.

The City of Birmingham owns the zoo, but the property is operated by an independent 501©3 organization.

Image: Courtesy of Birmingham Zoo website

Leave a comment

Posted in On the agenda

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

McCafe is coming to Birmingham

Posted on February 16, 2009 | 5 comments

Driving down 1st Avenue North in Woodlawn away from downtown and looking off to your left just before you drive under I 20/59 will have you checking out the recently rebuilt McDonald’s (it’s been a while too since it re-opened, so don’t feel too bad if you didn’t notice it before).

mccafe-bhamWhat you may not have noticed was the signage on the building announcing that it would soon become one of the metro area locations for McDonald’s latest foray into staying relevant in the fast food world – McCafé. We’re not sure how many more locations are preparing to open in metro Birmingham, but just the fact that we’ve got one is pretty cool. If you do know of others, add their locations to the comments section.

Photo: bhamterminal.com

5 Comments

Posted in food

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

The train knocked out the cable… seriously

Posted on February 16, 2009 | Leave a comment

This morning we noticed a bunch of tweets from folks talking about the loss of their Charter services since last (Sunday) night, meaning some pretty upset folks if they were trying to watch Shaq and Kobe reunite during the NBA All Star Game or Kenseth finally win at Daytona.

While we thought it was rather weird timing considering they’d just announced that they’d be filing for bankruptcy protection in the coming weeks, we hoped it was a much simpler reason. Well, according to this report by the Birmingham Business Journal, it was simpler (though a lot more nerve wracking than we thought it was going to be for those folks down in Montevallo).

Leave a comment

Posted in Quirky

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Election ’09: City Council elections to be held in August

Posted on February 16, 2009 | Leave a comment

A media advisory just sent out this afternoon is sure to influence when additional candidates for Birmingham’s City Council elections announce. We’ve uploaded a PDF of the advisory as we received it earlier this afternoon from Mayor Langford’s director of communication, April Odom. The simple version is this year’s city council elections will most likely be held on August 25 instead of October 13. The change is to make sure that the elections are held in accordance with the Help America Vote Act of 2002. If a runoff is necessary in any council district, it would be held on October 6.

So far, Anthony Barnes and Howard Bayless have formally announced their candidacy.

Leave a comment

Posted in Election '09

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Sidewalk, Lipstick make changes

Posted on February 16, 2009 | 2 comments

While we first heard rumblings about the possible firing of Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival executive director Catherine Pfitzer on Wednesday evening, this post from Wade on Birmingham confirmed it on Saturday morning. Pfitzer had served as the executive director for the organization for approximately two years and had held other positions with the film festival. Wade’s post includes excerpts from the email announcement as well as one from Pfitzer thanking supporters and encouraging them to continue to support the festival. Entries are already being accepted for this year’s edition, scheduled for September 25-27.

The other surprising news this past week was of the shut down of one of Birmingham’s newest magazines, Lipstick, as confirmed on the Media of Birmingham blog. The March issue will be the publication’s last. The entire staff was laid off as of Friday and former editor Tina Hatch reflected on it via her blog.

2 Comments

Posted in Events, Media

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,