Escape From The Bronx March Madness

The next Escape From The Bronx bike ride is heading our way this March 28th. As always the ride is a come one, come all affair and the guys always have a really good time, and of course a good few beers at the end. Naturally. I’ve missed all the past rides, but I’m definitely attending this time guys.

The plan is to meet at Fratton Station at 9:30am, get the train to Chichester (£6.50 return), ride from there to Goodwood then Slindon, Fontwell, Bognor then back to Chichester station to get the train back to Fratton. There will of course be the usual pub stops along the way and then the traditional pint in LJR to finish off the ride. Good times for sure. The clocks go forward too. Winner.

Follow the event details HERE and take a peek at the route HERE

Pompey Trust

I always freely admit to not knowing a single thing about football, but everyone I know follows Pompey and shows great passion for them, which in turn makes me proud. I’ve even signed up to the Membership Trust and handed over my hard earned cash to help. You too can help by joining up HERE.

The following is a quick message from Ben Mills who words it much better then myself from a fans point of view. “Our aim is to bring about responsible, democratic representation at Portsmouth Football Club and so help promote the highest standards of transparent governance, accountability and embed Portsmouth FC deeper into its community through greater communication and co-operation with its fans.”

www.pompeytrust.com

Photo : Hellomatt

Omega Printmakers

I used to head over to the Omega Centre when I was at University. They had a great Restoration course, and at the time they were undertaking the mammoth task of renovating the New Theatre Royal, if memory serves.

They now offer Saturday Workshops in different print making disciplines like etching, and screen printing from £35. So wish I had my own screen printing set up at home. In addition there are FREE printing making classes start this month and you can sign up HERE

Make sure to sign up to the RSS news feed too. Lot’s of local information about upcoming exhibitions and gallery events.

Omega Printmakers is operated entirely by volunteers Pam Newick & Jenny Bullen. If you have printmaking experience and are interested in volunteering to help out at Omega Printmakers then please contact info@omegaprintmakers.co.uk

Who has desired the sea I – Chine colle print by Pippa Blake

Beats For Bowel Cancer

Friday 12th March at the One Eyed Dog sees a fundraiser for the charity Beating Bowel Cancer featuring DJs Gentle Bren, Tom Alex, Lucky Darren and Bill Eff. Entrance is only £1 and collection tins will be circulating all night to help raise important funds for the charity, plus all money raised will be matched by a donation from Barclays too. The night’s “fundraving” is is organised by Cass Gowing:

“On 1st December 2009, I lost my father to bowel cancer, just 6months after he was diagnosed. He was 51years old. I have decided to begin fundraising, because; if I save just one family from going through this then my job is done. This is all for dad.

Thank you for your support.”

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

Tonight is your last chance to catch the wonderful Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll staring Andy Serkis, who was nominated for the 2010 BAFTA Leading Actor award for his portrayal of Ian Dury. The film is on at No. 6 Cinema at 8:30pm and is a 15 classification.

For SALE, my Kona Dew FS £350

Excuse the cheeky post, but needs must. It’s a genuine reason for sale as I’m making room for a new road bike and my beloved and trustworthy Kona needs a new home. It’s the 2007 Dew FS model which retailed at £600. I’ve taken extremely good care of this bike and it’s always been stored indoors and had regular services at Cycle World in North End. The last being in May of 2009, and honestly since then it’s hardly been ridden due to getting the Schwinn shortly after.

In May I had the gearing converted to a 9 speed Shimano Tiagra chainset and Shimano Deore Rapid Fire shifters. She’s running on Continental City Contact Reflective tyres which have wear, but still have miles left in them. You can see the reaction to bright light in the photo below. Always been seen, safety first.

I’ve also added Nitto Riser Bars, Oury Grips (The softest grips ever), a San Marco Gold Rolls Saddle and BMX pedals.

She rides really smooth and is perfect for not only city communting and minor off road, but performed exceptionally well during the 115km Isle of Wight Randonnee last May as well as countless other long distant rides and is still runs like a dream.

The rest of the spec can been found HERE at the Kona website.

If you’re interested drop me an email at tristan@strong-island.co.uk and we’ll take her out for a test ride.

Tristan

Click on the images for a closer look.

West to East

Tom, Emo, Graham and crew went on a little mission for Skateboarding is Sundays to skate across the island from west to east, starting in Gosport, ending up in Eastney and hitting up all the spots in between. Awesome as always.

Does It Offend You, Yeah?

“If you can’t get past the name, get out of the way.”

DOES IT OFFEND YOU, YEAH? have taken the dance music blueprint laid down by Justice, The Neptunes, and DFA 1979 and have given it a … complete makeover. They sound dance. They act rock. DIOY,Y? have loaded up on Prodigy, Daft Punk, and Devo records, pulled an all nighter with some broken gear and turned out the dirtiest clean dancefloor track “Lets Make Out ” since Gary Numan made stoned Brit teens get all sweet and sour to ” My Shadow in Vain”.

Get your tickets HERE for the gig on Saturday 13th at The Wedgewood Rooms.

New Young Pony Club @ The Wedge

I’m pretty sure we saw New Young Pony Club at The Wedgewood Rooms a few years back. I’m sure of it. Hang on, yep, March 2007 at The Pyramids on the NME Tour. I’ve not heard any of their new stuff to be honest, but they were damn good back then. Get involved and find out for yourself at The Wedgewood Rooms this Monday 15th.

King Kong Wedge:One

You might remember the King Kong event at the skatepark back in the autumn of last year (our photos are here and here), it was really successful and raised a lot of money for the skatepark. On Friday 12th March the next King Kong event will this time be at The Wedgewood Rooms with a line up including music and an indoor mini ramp. Yes. Indoor. Mini ramp. Doors open 8pm-2am (U18s allowed 8pm-12). Tickets are £5, £6 on the door.

ROOM:ONE

The Ruskins
“a wonderful f**king band – like Jamie T on steroids” – Tom Robinson (BBC 6)
“Anyone who can stick the words ‘cycling proficiency’ in their song deserves to be on my show!!” – Steve Lamacq (Radio 1)

Milk Kan
Blaggers, chancers, punks and urban poets
“Milk Kan you rule. Somewhere between Bob Dylan and Mike skinner. Poets with Attitude, free-form, stream-of-consciousness blues-rapping with acoustic guitars…” – Steve Lamacq BBC Radio 1.

The Hit-Ups!
“…A hugely energetic mix of funk, ska and bruising hip-hop.” – Venue Magazine
“F**king awesome!” – live-music-scene.co.uk

Orange Blossom Specials
Fresh new addition to Southsea’s indie scene.

PLUS: AN INDOOR MINI-RAMP!!
A mixture of Bored & Herbal’s skateboard team & a handful of Southsea’s finest in-liners shredding it up throughout the night.

Plus DJs Fotza & Spikey Mark

ROOM:TWO

Durty Sound System
funk.hiphop.dub.rock.latin.jazz.reggae.soul

+ Skateboard, In-Line & BMX films screened all night

There will also be an afterparty too:

BREAKNECK & 10TON AFTERPARTY : SDM & CHARGE
drum&bass.dubstep.grime
Goes without saying these guys are top of the game and will be ending the night like no others can.
Midnight >> £1 OTD

Once again all profits made will be going to SOUTHSEA SKATEPARK

Ticket Outlets are:

Portsmouth
- Box Office, Albert Rd | 023 9286 3911 | tickets@wedgewood-rooms.co.uk
- Bored Skateboard Shop, Albert Rd | 02392 426 388
- Southsea Skatepark | 02392 295360

Southampton
- Reskue Skateboard Shop, 10 Bargate Str | 02380 710528
- Pijin BMX Shop, Above Bar Str | 02380 336777

Chichester
- E.S.P Skate/BMX Shop, Cathedral Courtyard | 01243 532828

Strong Island Bank Holiday Bike Ride

Roll up, roll up, it’s The Strong Island Bank Holiday Bike Ride. Numbers are looking pretty good and everyone seems to be talking about it. As with the last April ride numbers are sure to vary as it could be cold, rainy or amazing sunshine. Obviously it’s going to be sunny and an amazing day.

The general concensses is to keep everything the same as last year. Starting from The Bridge Tavern at 2pm the ride will take us along the seafront down to Eastney, then back inland slightly and along Highland Road and Albert Road taking us back towards Old Portsmouth and finishing up at The Point, Spice Island. It’s a very casual 8 mile ride that’s perfect for people of all ages, fitness levels and of course any manner of bike. As always a few of us will meet up early at The Bridge Tavern for pre game drinks and food at 12.00pm.

Last years Summer Bike Ride saw over 120 riders and all manner of bicycles in attendance including wheelie popping Chopper riders, Fixed Gear tricksters, Shoppers, Customs, BMX’s, Racers, Trick Bikes, Mountain Bikes, Cruisers and Old Schools, it really was a fantastic mix of two wheeled Strong Islanders. We even had some visitors from as far as Bournemouth.

Head over to the Facebook Events page for updates and to see who else is involved and check some of the images from last years ride over at My Flickr and the Strong Island Bike Rides Flickr

As always this ride is by no means a political statement, critical mass, reaction towards the council or statement of any kind and is by no means an event, just friends in Southsea getting together for a bike ride to the beach. All very innocent. It’s all about Sunday fun with friends and bikes.

See you all there…

Click on the poster for a larger printable version.

Click on the route map for a closer look or head over to Google Maps HERE

Strong Island Roundabout from Tristan on Vimeo.

Filmed by Paul Stone

And for all you COR fans out there it’s the Balearic Easter Space Bonnet Boutique with DJ ALFREDO!! This starts at 6pm, so those of you on the ride will have to put your drinks down early and get your best Easter Bonnet on for the evening.

Southsea Seagulls

How good was the weather on Sunday. Albeit cold, it was a belter for sure. Me and Liz hit up the seafront for fish & chips and inadvertently got involved with dive bombing seagulls. They love them chips…

Photography : Tristan

Love Your Bike Portsmouth

Following on with more Claire Sambrook activity, you may have heard the whispers and nudges regarding the upcoming event Love Your Bike Portsmouth on 30th May. Claire has been working her knitted socks off getting this together with some seriously heavy local contributors including design aficionados ilovedust, Bored of Southsea, Ian Parmiter, Haslemere Cyles, PCM, Josie Young, Sifer Design, not to mentioned such amazing contributors from further afield like Ben Wilson and Toyko Fixed Gear to name a few, and of course our good selves at Strong Island.

“Bike culture is an important part of cycling and regaining the streets. Love Your Bike Portsmouth aims to encourage participants to fully embrace the possibilities of connecting with their bikes and explore the many ways that they can improve it’s appearance and design.

As part of a day event and showcase you will be offered the chance to ‘Customise Your Bike and in turn ‘Love Your Bike’.
Demonstrations will be staged by local and national artists and designers who will offer sessions in customisation and collaboration. International designer Ben Wilson will be welding bikes at the skatepark and also showcasing some of his work. There will be a wide selection of bikes and accessories available for purchase to suit all budgets. Local artists and designers will be involved with helping paint frames and customise bike parts. Does your bike need a make-over?

Watch out for our Love Your Bike custom tags around the city. If you have been tagged then please send your pics to us and also turn up at the event to showcase your bike or have it customised.”

Check out loveyourbikeportsmouth.co.uk and Facebook for much more info.

Yarnbombing

Mixing up the knitting needles and the street art, yarnbombing involves using knitting and needlework to create art that envelopes street objects in a form of non-destructive, tactile graffiti. Claire Sambook (one of the queen bees of activity and creativity in Southsea) has been out and about with her own knitting needle spray cans, keep your eyes peeled for more in the coming months. And if your needles are getting the itch, get involved and be sure to send some photos our way.

Below are a couple photos, to see loads more check out Claire’s Flickr.

Charlies stolen bike makes it home…

Message from Charlie.

“So there I am standing on a cold and desolate Hilsea train station after a terrible day at work, when suddenly my phone starts going mental….Before I know it has been confirmed that it is in fact my bike! I walked home with the biggest grin on my face! Big thanks to Jane, Strong Island, Bored and the fine people of Southsea who look out for each other. Still can’t believe it…..”

Yesterday Tom from Bored dropped me a line saying Jane from The City Council popped in to the shop to let them know she has been handed over a fixed gear bike that was found dumped in a bush. She was only giving a couple of key features about the bike up. its a charge and has drop handle bars.

Well happy days it was claimed. And as we all thought and hoped it was Charlies Charge. Nice one. We posted about his bike being stolen back on 7th September and 5 months later it pops up. Crazy. The power of the interweb and the local jungle vine! It really works.

Mini Ramp Update

Went by the skatepark yesterday, the mini ramp is progressing and is estimated to be finished in a week or two. When it is open the skatepark will be hiring out skateboards and doing lessons in the morning sessions at the weekend, so a perfect opportunity for anyone of any age to try out skating. More news on that nearer the time.

Take my card…

Artwork : Tristan

Wheel of Four Tunes

Sorry, I forgot to get this up. Somethings slip, but this night will definitely not be slipping. Proper Southsea face Dave “Handsome Dave Rocker’ Morgan’s Wheel of Four Tunes returns. This time at The Little Johnny Russells. This promises to be a gaurenteed night of fun for sure, and if you like fun then this is for you…

“We get 1 huge wheel with 8 different types of music, supplied by the souths top djs. aka Southseas finest. then get a member of the paying public to spin the wheel and what ever it lands on we play for 4 tunes!!!!! Plus the added bonus of Handsome Dave Rocker dressed as a gorgeous assistant (lady) and we all have fun, then have a right old knees up for the last hour. Fancy it then get the hell down there.”

MJ COLE at the One Eyed Dog

The Legendary Genius behind tracks like ‘Sincere’ & ‘Hold on to Me’ is now making some of the best bass music you’re ever going to hear. We Welcome DJing in Portsmouth for the very first time…MJ COLE

Joe Loughborough’s New Blog

Southsea alumni and artist Joe Loughborough has just created a new blog featuring photos from his London studio, news, new pieces of art, links and other things. Joe is incredibly talented and we heavily recommend you spend a few minutes having a good look through.