Last year on 09-09-09 we had Bostin Day, of which we will be having another one later this year, we thought of finally having an International Talk Black Country Day on 9th September 2010 to celebrate the first anniversary of this.

We have also been helping spread the Brummie and Black Country dialect indirectly with our very own graphic novel called Bostin Heroes, which has now been published in an English language text book in UK, USA and Canada for students to understand more the Black Country Dialect.

Where will this day be celebrated? Well, as many of us are all over the globe, we thought we could celebrate this via your Facebook Friends, on Twitter (with hash tag #ITBD2010), coffee shops, in your offices, or wherever you want to!

Do you have to be living in the Black Country to celebrate this? Of course not. Would love to hear our European, US, Aussie, Kiwi and other friends talk with a Black Country dialect.

Let’s have a Bostin Day!

Gemma is a second year student at Birmingham University and as part of her course they undertake a medical elective abroad.

Below are some of the amazing photos she sent in to us.

Gemma says “..as part of our course we undertake a medical elective abroad. I chose Arusha, Tanzania and worked in their local hospital for 3 weeks then worked with the Maasai tribes of Enguruka for 1 week. The most amazing experience I’ve ever had.”

All we can say is, well done Gemma and thank you for the amazing pictures!

If you have any photos of yourself in a Bostin tee, wherever you maybe, then we would love to hear from you.

Come and “Like” us on Facebook Bostin Group

Thank you Paul Newman for such a Bostin picture of you and your children!

Paul Newman & children

Bostin Heroes first came to life back in September 2008 after a lot of blood sweat and tears and thanks to some great work by Matthew Craig and Jack Davies.

We started as a blog as we had no money and one funding organisation refused us funding as we had no experience. I have always loved reading comics and as many of you who may be reading this, may have an idea of your own that could become a graphic novel.

So after almost a year online and first print of edition 1 for British International Comic Show in Birmingham, you may understand my shock when a publisher contacted me to use our novel to illustrate the use of local dialect in an English language text book.

The book is called Introducing English Language by Louise Mullany and Peter Stockwell

Last week i finally got my copy and below is a picture of part of that extract.

Bostin Heroes extract - Introducing English language

This book, which is a resource book for students, has already been published in UK, USA and Canada.

The extracts talks about the Black Country dialect and Dudley which is where one of the scenes from the novel is used with some activity tasks for the students along with how this can cause solidarity.

In our small way, we are getting our local dialect recognised around the world.

As you can imagine, we are all very exciting and just wanted to share that excitement with you!

Thank you to all our fans who have been with us from the beginning and all of those who continue to join us on Facebook here as without you, word would not of got out about our novel.

We are also pleased to announce that for the third consecutive year, we will be at the British International Comic Show at Birmingham this year with our next print edition for your collection and enjoyment. Look forward to seeing you there there on October 16-17 2010!

We don’t make a song and dance about it, we have just been getting on with it.

There has been a lot of recent press about difficulties students have getting jobs after graduating, mainly because of lack of work experience. Graduates face record unemployment. Not good news at all.

We have a number of opportunities available, irrespective of whether you are a student or not.

Although some of these positions are not paid, we have a wide range of opportunities to help develop your skills with real hands-on experience which will help with your career development.

So if you are a self starter, have some creativity and can work to schedules, then please contact us.

Below is a brief write-up of one guy who worked with us on very different projects and has gone onto bigger and brighter things with the experience of working with Bostin Group.

Andy Robinson – Web Developer

Andy first approached Bostin Group a little over 2 years ago in response to a newsletter about future website developments.

Andy is a student at Wolverhampton University studying Computer Science and is now undertaking his final year placement.

He did say he had been following the developments with Bostin Group and was impressed  with the work we had been doing and the brand values all about being Bostin.

First task was moving the old blog to a WordPress platform, which was a standard theme with some php amendments.

In addition to this, he helped add an online to store to the blog, and a translation service for Brummie and Black Country dialects.

As well as the Bostin Group work, he also helped with a number of Social Media applications, some of which have gone live and some which are still being developed.

Andy says: Over the past 2 years i have gained invaluable experience, which has helped me gain a 12 month head placement with QRky Ltd as a head developer. I have also gone on to start a number of rapidly growing online projects including Host My Portfolio and Gig Diary.

The experience gained from being involved with Bostin Group projects helped me to gain confidence in my abilities as a problem solver and developer. Working alongside Bostin Group I managed to rapidly develop web applications and learnt how to target them at the right market.

I will continue to work with Bostin Group on future projects and always enjoy meeting up with Donato to bounce ideas around. Although Bostin Group may currently not have any formal offices or studios for our development work, Donato Esposito provides is a wealth of experience and mentorship that has been invaluable to my work progressing.

We are very lucky here in the West Midlands to have such a rich diversity of Culture which brings with it so many different cuisines from around the world.

You can get discount tickets if you buy online before the event here>>

There is also a Business event on the Friday called Taste of Business

You can checkout all the details here at Taste of Birmingham website

Have a Bostin time and maybe see you there!

Many thanks for the pictures Chris and it looks like you had a Bostin time!

CJH at Expo 10 UK Pavillion

CJH Expo 10 China Pavillion

CJH at Expo 10 Aussy Pavillion

“Lead artists Sandra Hall and Mitra Memarzia have worked with communities to inform the design and creation of a powerful, interactive contemporary art installation.

In a climate where there is polarised media coverage about Islam, there is little opportunity to be both heard and seen.”

This may not be everyone’s cup of tea as any form of art can be very subjective, but it most certainly provokes a conversation.

All 6 installations are great, with our favourite being “Inside Out” where you go inside a Veil and listen to women’s stories about the veil.

You can also take part in facilitated discussions on Wednesdays , with details and booking form here

The exhibition can be found at Gallery 36 of the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery

Picture from Andrew Beswick at Alor Setar, Malaysia

Andrew Beswick, Alor Setar Malaysia

Thanks Bez and keep them coming!

Don’t be shy, feel free to send us your pictures and you can add them to our Facebook page here>>

A great night for the PARRYS International Wolves, Sqora scored a Bostin
11 points.

A SOLID team performance from every Wolf, Sqora had a great night with 3
wins and a second place where ALL of the fans there say that Adam passed
Hans Andersen on the line in a what was a fantastic race from start to
finish.  In heat 15, Adam and Freddie Lindgren were on a 5:1 but the
buckle on Adams race jacket caught the cut out and pulled it out which in
turn made the bike stop. For Wolves Freddie roared to a 15 point maximum
whilst his younger brother Ludwig got his first paid max.

Wolverhampton Wolves: 56
1. F. Lindgren (3,3,3,3,3) 15
2. T. Proctor (0,2*,3,2*) 7+2
3. N. Klindt (0,0,1,2*) 3+1
4. A. Skórnicki (3,2,3,3,0) 11
5. T. Woffinden (W,3,2,0) 5
6. M. Wethers (3,1,1*,0) 5+1
7. L. Lindgren (2*,3,2*,3) 10+2

Belle Vue Aces: 39
1. H. Andersen (1*,3,6!,2,2) 14+1
2. U. Ostergaard (2,1,1,0) 4
3. J. Wright (1*,0,1) 2+1
4. P. Hougaard (2,2,0,2) 6
5. P. Karlsson (2,1,4!,1*,1*) 9+2
6. J. Grajczonek (1,0,D,0,1,1*) 3+1
7. L. Lanham (0,1*,0) 1+1

Heat by heat:
1. F. Lindgren, U. Ostergaard, H. Andersen, T. Proctor 3:3 (3:3)
2. M. Wethers, L. Lindgren, J. Grajczonek, L. Lanham 5:1 (8:4)
3. A. Skórnicki, P. Hougaard, J. Wright, N. Klindt 3:3 (11:7)
4. L. Lindgren, P. Karlsson, L. Lanham, T. Woffinden (f) 3:3 (14:10)
5. H. Andersen, A. Skórnicki, U. Ostergaard, N. Klindt 2:4 (16:14)
6. F. Lindgren, T. Proctor, P. Karlsson, J. Grajczonek 5:1 (21:15)
7. T. Woffinden, P. Hougaard, M. Wethers, J. Wright 4:2 (25:17)
8. T. Proctor, L. Lindgren, U. Ostergaard, J. Grajczonek 5:1 (30:18)
9. A. Skórnicki, P. Karlsson (Joker), N. Klindt, J. Grajczonek 4:4 (34:22)
10. F. Lindgren, T. Proctor, J. Wright, P. Hougaard 5:1 (39:23)
11. H. Andersen (Joker), T. Woffinden, M. Wethers, U. Ostergaard 3:6 (42:29)
12. L. Lindgren, N. Klindt, J. Grajczonek, L. Lanham 5:1 (47:30)
13. F. Lindgren, H. Andersen, P. Karlsson, T. Woffinden 3:3 (50:33)
14. A. Skórnicki, P. Hougaard, J. Grajczonek, M. Wethers 3:3 (53:36)
15. F. Lindgren, H. Andersen, P. Karlsson, A. Skórnicki 3:3 (56:39)

Bostin Group are proud sponsors of Adam Skórnicki. Do you like his Bostin tara-a-bit logo?

Adam Skórnicki - Bostin kit