Hot Source is in it’s 7th week at The Registry and seems to be going down a treat. Its a night Hip Hop/funk/soul/motown and reggae music intended to get people to listen to a few sounds outside of todays dubstep and electro scene.
Check out their Facebook page and also have a listen to their mis up on Soundcloud. Nice…
Now I never thought this is something that would be coming to town, but sure enough to my surprise it is. I’m no wakeboarder, but South Coast H2O is going to appeal to a lot of locals and draw lot’s of attention on the South Coast.
Completion is due this April 2012 and to help get things closer to the opening date on schedule South Coast H2O are offering FREE wakeboarding for volunteers to help clear the water of logs branches and whatever treasure they can find this weekend. Two sessions will run on both Saturday and Sunday 10.00 – 12.00 and 13.00 to 15.00.
Please email scott@cablewakeboarding.co.uk for more details. Your reward is 1hr Wakeboarding per volunteer session.
“Welcome to South Coast H2O, the Solent’s only dedicated Cable Wakeboarding and Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) Facility. Developed to introduce beginners as young as 8 years old to these exciting sports as well as providing professional coaching and competitions for the intermediate advanced and Pro participants.
Weather you are attending a taster, coaching or free ride session Cable Wakeboarding and SUP are great sport’s as an individual meeting new people or as part of a group – friends, family or co workers.
Cable Riders can look forward to 3 competition standard obstacles from Industry Wakeparks and a start dock from the internationally renowned Unit of Germany.
On the SUP side we will be stocking a range of boards for all standards from a local company Red Paddle Co who are gaining a strong international following for their innovative boards as well as boards from the worlds number 1 manufacturer Starboard.
We will be taking bookings from January and opening on April 1st – book early to avoid disappointment!
When we open we will be member’s of both the British Waterski & Wakeboard Federation and British Stand Up Paddleboarding Association ensuring the highest standards of safety and training.”
For all the details on times, prices, events and more please head over to www.southcoasth2o.co.uk and join their Facebook page for updates and competitions HERE.
South Coast H2O: construction episode 2 from South Coast H2O on Vimeo.
The New Theatre Royal are offering a fabulous Early Bird Family deal on Angel Exit’s THE SECRET GARDEN which will be bursting onto the theatre’s stage on Thursday 22 March.
Angel Exit Theatre is a contemporary physical theatre production company, founded in 2001 by graduates of the prestigious Ecole Lecoq school. To date, Angel Exit Theatre has produced and performed five brilliant completely fresh and original theatrical pieces, all of which have been critically acclaimed.
“Angel Exitis weaving stories with more than a little theatrical magic… There is so much vivid theatricality and inventiveness at work here” – The Guardian
The group’s latest production, a modern edgy retelling of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s ‘The Secret Garden’, celebrates the classic novel’s centenary using visually incredible costume and set pieces, alongside amazing puppetry and live singing with a unique and funky soundtrack.
Families who book their tickets to THE SECRET GARDEN before Monday 5 March will be able to take advantage of the great Early Bird Special Family Package, 4 tickets for just £32. At least one of these tickets must be a child’s ticket to qualify. For two adults and two children, that’s an incredible saving of £20!
To book this fantastic deal, call the Box Office on 0239 264 9000 and quote ‘Early Bird’ when booking tickets to THE SECRET GARDEN. Box Office opening hours are from 10am-3pm.
Portsmouth illustrator Owen Devine has become a published author at the age of 26. His first folio of cartoons aims to fill a gap in the market. The cartoons range from the whimsical to the dark and cover topics ranging from arachnophobia through to popular family word games. His work has been described as ‘sophisticated and professional humour worthy of any newspaper.
For more information and to view a selection of his cartoons, please visit www.devinecomedy.co.uk. The book, which sells at £6.99 is available locally at U-Need-Us, Southsea Gallery, Blackwells, Aspex, King’s Street Tavern and Like A Tea Tray In The Sky, or online at Amazon.
Huw Olesker is the first artist to sign to Turf Records. Huw is described on his website as “the witty, foul-mouthed youth of Portsmouth, commandeered by the mind of an ageing activist. He’s got the worldly views of a cynical punk with a cutting irreverent wit, masked by an appearance of adolescence.”
Huw performs with his band the Barebackers, Oskar Jeff (bass and beats), Toby Walton (melodica and flute) and Dougal Taylor (drums). Their influences include Joe Strummer, They Might Be Giants, The Cat Empire, Augustus Pablo, Gogol Bordello. As well as festivals they’ve played at venues across the south coast and has even played highly regarded venues like the Hawley Arms and Wheelbarrow in Camden.
The band are currently busy writing and rehearsing with a new drummer and plan to start playing live shows in May. There will also be an E.P release later in the year.
We first featured Huw on Strong Island in 2009 which you can see here, hopefully Huw won’t be too embarrassed by the photo?
You can find out more on the bands Twitter and Facebook pages.
Interesting! Not often that you hear about what is going on in your own backyard via the illustrious FACT Mag. But it seems like Southsea is set to welcome the UK’s first ever pie selling vinyl store! What a brilliant idea. Check out the full article here and be sure to follow them on their twitter. Am all over this.
Yarnbombing, yarnstorming, guerilla knitting, urban knitting or graffiti knitting is a type of graffiti or street art that employs colourful displays of knitted or crocheted cloth rather then paint.
Knit Pompey Exhibition is part of an ongoing project, the exhibition showcases the work of two local knitting groups The Art Stop Cafes Guerilla Knitters and LARKS founded by Ann Day.
There will be several events going on during the duration of the exhibition, including ‘Artist’s and Writer’s Knit Pompey’ and ‘The Lost Hour’.
Everyone is welcome to come along and get involved, there will be live music by Krystyna Jankowska with free refreshments.
Opening night Friday 2nd March 2012 6-9pm at 20eleven at the Art Stop Cafe, Eastney Community Centre, Bransbury Park, Bransbury Road, Eastney, PO4 9SU. Exhibition finale Friday 30th March 2012 6-9pm
Facebook group – http://www.facebook.com/events/275682652504582/
Strong Island has featured Yarn Bombing before on the site. Always great to see more of this spread across the city adding spots and dashes of colour and we look forward to seeing the exhibition.
Get yourself down to Room 237 next Wednesday night for the opening of Heroes. Heroes will be the first exhibition to take place in the space beneath Room 237, like some kind of underground amazing art cave. Not only will you be able to see new work created for the space but there will be free booze and food courtesy of Fezziwigs and a banging set from COR D.J Mark Persaud. Artist Jo Willoughby will be creating a blanket fort to serve as a guest photo booth for the evening and you will also be able to purchase exclusive tees, prints, stickers and of course some rad comics and books from Room 237. Hope you can make it!
Find the Heroes Blog here.
Facebook event here
Danny is passionate about his photography and takes his camera out wherever he goes. He credits Strong Islands own Claire Sambrook as one of his biggest influences.
His passion is photographing live music at the Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea Seafront, skaters at Southsea Skatepark and documenting some street photography at places like Albert Road. You can see his work on his website. Daniel has already promise to submit some photo’s to the Strong Island 2013 calendar soon.
He’s also currently working as a part Sock Puppet Productions, a small group of third year students who enjoy making all kinds of music videos for local talent. Our four members have all emerged as creative talents from the Creative & Cultural Industries Faculty at the University of Portsmouth, bringing a variety of professional skills together to offer the best creative services possible. I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about these guys through Strong Island.
You can follow Dan on his Twitter.
I’ve been spotting these stencils all around Southsea in the last few days. I don’t know who they are by but have a feeling they might be part of something that develops. If I find out more I’ll keep you posted.
I’m sure that a lot of you have seen the 100ft drilling rig currently in the Solent. If you didn’t know, it is preparing Portsmouth Harbour for the arrival of the Navy’s new aircraft carriers.
Fugro Seacore’s rig will be brightly lit and at work 24 hours a day every weekday for six weeks to drill 27 100ft bore holes in the harbour. Samples of the mud will be taken away ahead of dredging work in 2014 to make the harbour passage wider and deeper to accommodate the navy’s new carriers.
The work has to be completed before the first of the two supercarriers. HMS Queen Elizabeth arrives in Porsmouth in 2016.
The first photo was taken by myself and the second was taken by Pete Miles. If your into using Instagram and other phone camera apps take a look at PRIMARY here.
What can we say? Our new shirts went online on Thursday and four days later we have sold out. Stoked. Thanks for all your support guys, we really appreciated it. We put a little extra in to this round and it’s something we plan to continue…
“It’s been a while but we are finally proud to announce the latest Strong Island Logo Tee. This time however we’ve gone that little bit further.
Individually hand screen printed using soft touch inks means no two shirts are the same. Each one is unique, and the print finish is of the highest quality. Over time this process will make the design look better and better with age.
Each shirt also comes with it’s own personally hand stamped Mill Cloth Drawstring Bag. These bags are ideal to hold your phone and the lightweight Mill Cloth will protect it from scratches whilst still retaining any touch screen functions without taking it out. Don’t stop there though. It will fit almost all your small day to day bits and bobs. Money, keys, cards, smokes, even your treasured marbles….
Again, like the shirts, each bag is individually hand stamped making each one different to the last. And to seal the deal they all contain stickers and badges because, lets face it, everyone loves stickers and badges. Whatever their age.
Our first tee of 2012 sets the scene for Strong Island’s approach to our clothing offerings for the future, with careful consideration in the quality in production and design. As always we’ve only done a limited run so grab one whilst you can over at SHOP AHOY.”
All design work: Tristan Savage
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is pleased to announce a new event for this year that will celebrate the Diamond Jubilee – Victorious Vintage is the superb collaboration of Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Love Southsea, The Boutique Market and Little Johnny Russells.
2012 is going to be an amazing year for Britain. Not only is the country hosting the Olympics, but the Queen is celebrating her Diamond Jubilee – an incredible sixty year reign! To celebrate, the government has declared two extra bank holidays this year and Portsmouth is going to be making the most of them!
After a very successful collaboration with Portsmouth Historic Dockyard for the hugely popular Victorian Festival of Christmas, Louise Whitmore owner of Love Southsea and Abigail Pallant-Sidaway owner of The Boutique Market are joining forces once again for this brand new event – Victorious Vintage at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
Together with Ben Mills, James Ralls and Andy Marsh, owners of Little Johnny Russells, this vintage festival will take place over the Jubilee Weekend on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd of June 2012. This is the perfect time to have a wonderful celebratory fun-filled festival as there will be two bank holidays on the Monday and Tuesday straight afterwards. Not only that, but it is also half term for schools that week.
Entry onto the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard site will be FREE from 10am-10pm (standard ticketing to attractions will still apply).
During this time the public will have access to an array of beautiful vintage stalls throughout the Historic Dockyard, colourful characters from different eras, live bands on the main stage in Victory Arena, a secondary stage with acoustic acts throughout the day. On both evenings there will be a main headline act – names TBC but already include Dodgy, The Lightning Seeds, The Bog Rolling Stones, The Silver Beatles and Mark Morris from The Bluetones, plus other well-known bands from the region all compered by Nick Courtney.
More details will follow shortly but for now you can read the write up from today’s news HERE
As I’m sure you are all aware Portsmouth Football Club are in a dire situation. Again. The club entered administration again earlier in the week and are desperately trying to get their finances in order and seek out a new buyer in the hope of securing the clubs long term future.
The troubles are well documented and i’m not going to go into too much detail here, but not only for fans of the club like myself but for the city as a whole this would be a disaster if the club were to fold or liquidate. Local infrastructure would suffer greatly as well as thousands of loyal fans who would lose their Saturday afternoon ritual which is shared by families and generations alike. Portsmouth Football Club has been a huge part of this city for over 100 years with many successes along the way, recently most notably lifting the FA Cup in 2008.
To help try and secure the future of PFC they need every penny they can get. There are many great efforts being run by Portsmouth Supporters Trust, The 12th Man and the Pack The Park campaigns as well as the administrators themselves to help the situation. Everyone is urged whether they’re a long term fan or even if you’re new to Fratton Park to support the team over the next few games and even until the end of the season and beyond. In this case every little does help and it would be a huge loss to the city if the unthinkable were to happen. So come on people let’s pack the park! PLAY UP POMPEY!
Tickets are available from the PFC ticket office in Frogmore Road next to the ground.
I know I’ve been banging on about this for a while but Angelo Tirotto from Room 237 released his debut comic book on wednesday. Here’s a little message from Angelo himself:
Huge thanks to everyone who entered the competition, supported the book or visited the store over the last few days to pick it up. I was extremely humbled that so many of you took the time to pop in and offer some very kind words about the comic and just wanted to say that it’s very much appreciated.
I’m waiting for official word, but it looks like issue #1 has sold out and is headed for a 2nd print, but don’t worry we have plenty at Room 237 if you haven’t managed to get one yet. The comic is also getting some amazing reviews from industry defining websites and comic journalists, so the future of the book is looking pretty good.
I hope No Place Like Home doesn’t disappoint and that you’ll be back for #2 next month as there is so much more to tell. So, to each and every one of you, a very heart felt thank you!
The correct answer to the question posed by Angelo is: Silver.
In L. Frank Baum’s original novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy wore Silver Shoes. The movie’s creators changed them to ruby to take advantage of the new Technicolor film process.
The five lucky winners who will all receive a copy of the first issue are Tim Rogers, Rajdeep Singh Uppal, Sam Wilman, Claire Ancel and Marsten Eccleston. Angelo will email you all personally with information about how you can collect your copy.
The official No Place Like Home website is www.noonemournsthewicked.com. You can follow Angelo and Room 237 on Facebook, Twitter or just pop in the store and take a look around.
Last Saturday I went to see Blackfoot Circle headline the Wedgewood Rooms. I had a great time and the band were on form! The guys played some of my favourite tracks including 0704, Dance Little Sister and Scarlett. Unfortunately I managed to miss the supporting bands Gem and the Deadheads, Lucifers Gold and The Strange Royan but I heard good things about them from my more punctual friends who made it there on time.
The guys will also be supporting Sound of Guns at Unit, in Southampton on Saturday 24th March. Later this month you will also be able to purchase two new tracks on iTunes, “Racket Of The Records” and “Scarlett”.
You can keep up to date with them via their Facebook and Twitter accounts. You can hear more of their music on their YouTube channel and on their Soundcloud page. To sign up to their mailing list click here.
The pictures below were taken from the bands Facebook page. I’ve taken a few myself, you can see them on my personal Flickr.
The ever busy and fabulous Georgina Giles will be throwing a crafty Spring Tea Party at Like a Tea Tray in the Sky on Sunday March the 11th. Afternoon tea and hand stitched patchwork, what’s not to like if your a seasoned crafter or a total beginner?
Find all the details on Georginas blog.
Local photographer Emma-Marie Trinder got in touch recently about a photo shoot she worked on with the Belle Isle and Kiki J Styles which in part featured the Belle’s amazing suitcase wall. You can see some of the photos below and see more of Emma’s work at:
New local online shop Uniformes Generale shows a real eye for detail in their unique and varied products. Ranging from tees, candles, prints and engraved iPhone covers they have certainly put the time in to offer you something a little different.
The engraving on the iPhone covers is seriously detailed and at only £15 they’re incredibly well priced. Uniformes Generale also stocks wares by local designer Mikey Made. I’ve got one of Mikeys Wood Rule Key Rings not to mention a few of his prints. He even donated to both of our previous Charity Raffles so you may have one yourself!
Head over to Uniformes Generale and have a rummage around. I’m sure you’ll find something you like.
More brain munching madness from the Dead Coast for your cerebellum. Keep up to date with news about being extras on set and further web releases over at Facebook.
The annual graphic design & typography pub quiz and raffle returns! This fundraising night is organised by the students from the BA(Hons) Graphic Design at the University of Portsmouth and like previous years amazing prices will be up for grabs. From beautiful books to limited edition posters to meals to vouchers to t-shirts to much more. If you know what Wim Crouwel’s favourite colour is and you recognised the usage of Apex Sans in the thumbnail image then this evening is for you! Everyone welcome! Keep up to date over at their Facebook Page.
The new issue of Mayhem Magazine is all set to drop, this time with a St Patrick’s Day theme for March. The magazine will be in all of the usual places and as usual, free. Keep your eye’s peeled and pick one up.
Antony from A’Ok is a photographer that specialises in photographing couples, this includes portraits and wedding photography. Antony strives to capture natural images of his clients, who sometimes admit they might not feel particularly natural when they have their photographs taken but are always pleased to see the results.
Antony states ”most of my portraits are taken at a location that is special to the couple”. This makes a nice alternative to the normal studio shot photo’s you see. A portrait session is included as a freebie when booking a wedding through A’OK Photography. This helps build trust between them and helps clients become more comfortable in front of the camera before their big day.
You can keep up to date with Antony via his website, Twitter and Facebook.
Artist Jess Quinn crafts beautiful and original toys, art dolls and accessories and I am totally wowed by her work. It has certainly given me something to aspire to as a maker.
Its all thanks to lovely local artist Letty Clarke has taken over the curation of the aspex gallery shop and is focusing more on handmade and British designed pieces. Its also great to see a large section given over to a local artist and maker Josephine Philpott/Posy Illustrations who recently graduated from Portsmouth University. The shop will also be undergoing a refit by a local joiner.
Its always worth dropping regularly as artist and makers will change with the season in the shop space.
Posy Illustrations: Monsieur Garlic set
Jess Quinn: doll at aspex
We have some great news about our PRIMARY phonography exhibition (find out all the details here) that we can now announce:
- The deadline for submissions has now been extended to Wednesday 4th April. We have had some incredible submissions but want to set aside more time to make the exhibition something really special.
- The competition is now open to up to 10 submissions from each individual. With the ability to capture many photos on your phone over the next two months we we want you to not feel restricted to just three. The same rules apply about the photos conforming to compositions using the primary colours though. If you have already submitted feel free to send more photos over as and when you please.
- The exhibition will be hosted by Albert Road’s own Bonzo Studio who are also partnering up with us in the creation of the exhibition space. More news on this soon!
- Finally, we will be running a competition as part of the exhibition where the best three photos submitted will win some incredible prizes. We will be announcing the prizes available very soon but got to say, these will be the best prize haul we have ever offered.
- We will be putting together a poster for the exhibition that will be on sale on the opening night. The poster will feature some of the best submissions and all profits from the sales will go to a local charity (details to follow soon). Due to this we need to say that any photos submitted to PRIMARY will involve you giving us permission to use them for commercial purposes, if you do not want your photo used in this way simply let us know via email.
Well, that is it for now! We really hope to drum up as much coverage locally for PRIMARY in the next couple of months so if you could Facebook/Tweet/+1 about the exhibition we would really appreciate it. We would love this exhibition to be a real reflection of the whole population of Portsmouth with everyone taking part and feeling involved.
Righto chaps, it’s time to clean shave your boat race and get that mighty moustache on the grow in support of Movember for The Prostate Cancer Charity and the Institute of Cancer Research. For 30 days of November you can help support and raise awareness through selflessly parading your top lip for charity.
You can sign up yourself, as I’m sure many of you already have, or you can join the Strong Island team and seek out sponsorship as a team. Through the Strong Island Movember page you can ask people to join the group, make donations, upload photos and post updates via the MoSpace page, Facebook and Twitter.
Head over to www.mobro.co/StrongIsland if you would like to get involved and grow a Strong Moustache to help raise awareness, or simply head over to www.uk.movember.com and sign up to personally raise money.
The funds raised in the UK support the number one and two male specific cancers – prostate and testicular cancer. The funds raised are directed to programmes run directly by Movember and our men’s health partners, The Prostate Cancer Charity and the Institute of Cancer Research. Together, these channels work together to ensure that Movember funds are supporting a broad range of innovative, world-class programmes in line with our strategic goals in the areas of awareness and education, survivorship and research.
Poster: Tristan Savage
I’m really digging this Tea Towel they have for sale down Clarence Pier. Great little illustrations of some of our more recognisable landmarks and modes of travel. A great addition to any kitchen.
I took these photos the other week when the ash cloud was at it’s worst, there are more over at Forever Circling. if you have any photos online taken around the island effected by the ash cloud please pop a link in the comments and we’ll post some up later this week.
Following on again from the photos of the Seafront and the Paddling Pool after The Bandstand and Tennis Courts the previous week, here’s another scan from Khalid.
The Pavilion on Clarence Pier looks amazing. No more donkey rides though. Shame.
I’ve been holding on to these truly amazing vintage photographs that Simon Tiller kindly sent in as we went through a pretty heavy skateboard period and thought we should chill back a little. Loving the roller hockey team photos too. The 1978 trophies photo is a epic and they were British Champions in 1973 too. Belated congratulations to you all.
This is just a small picking from the Southsea Skatepark website www.southseaskatepark.com. Check them out and if you see anyone you recognise or want to bring something to our attention then remember to add your comments at the bottom of this post.
Special props to the final photo and all the Southsea boys representing ‘back in the day’. Some young looking faces there. Rippers.
Portsmouth’s Pounds scrapyard has been the final stop for the lives of many military vehicles over the years but most noticeable it has been the location for a submarine graveyard. So iconic was the sight of the submarines as you entered Portsmouth that they became the inspiration for the architect when designing the new swimming pool at the Mountbatten Centre.
Robin Hinson has a large collection of photos of the scrapped submarines here, with a few shown below.
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