You might have heard that there’s been a security threat in Birmingham and that the city’s been evacuated – 20,000 people have been sent out of the centre of town tonight.

We’re about a 20 minute bus ride out of the city and only heard about it because we saw it on telly.

Our friends Sam and Anna-Louise are staying with us and they were in there at the time (7.30pm-ish) and ended up having to walk for close to an hour before they could get any transport.

They heard a controlled explosion and apparently there have been a few of those – but nothing too disconcerting. The police say there’s nothing to suggest this has anything to do with the London bombings, but they are taking it all very seriously, naturally.

I’d be very surprised if anything actually happens tonight… but I’m considering using this as an opportunity not to go into work this week and just stay at home in bed – just to be supersafe, you understand…

In the meantime, we’re channel surfing between Mad Max (“Hey fulla – you’re a turkey!”) and BBC 24hr News.

As it happens, we had a beautiful day in Birmingham City. Dragonboat races complete with Chinese dragons, jugglers, free tablesoccer (at which I ruled), a live R&B band and a jazz combo, fire-eaters, a good bit of sun, and a long walk along the canals.

Jake even got to find out that plate-spinning’s not as hard as it looks, and I got brainfreeze when I stole a large swig of his chocolate frescato. That’s the stuff I’m taking from my Saturday.