Mirrorball Disco Lounge on New Years Day

A quick message from the Mirrorball Crew

“Dear Lizards, Hope you’re all enjoying a totally loungetastic Christmas and have been having big fun. We kick off on Friday, New Years Day at the upstairs bar in the Wine Vaults, Albert Road, Southsea and there is no admission charge. We will be having a number of our compadres from Civilisation of the Rough bringing their groovy tuneage along and as a special bank holiday treat we will now be kicking off at an especially early start of 4pm. We really hope you can get down to join us and enjoy the first of our weekly sessions. Keeping it real.”

Happy Christmas from Strong Island

Have a cracking Christmas everyone. We’ll see many of you over the following Christmas and New Years week for more than our fair share of drinks and food I’m sure. To anyone we don’t see have a banger what ever you’re doing and rave safe.

Family Frostbike Cycle Ride

The Portsmouth Cycle Forum have organised a Family Frostbike Cycle Ride on Tuesday 29 December to help work off some of the excesses of Christmas. Here’s the itinerary:

- Assemble at the Ferry Gardens in Gosport (next to the ferry pontoon) at 10am
- Travel using on-road and off-road cycle routes via Gosport Station, through Rowner, Stubbington and back roads to Hill Head.
- Refreshment stop (either Visitor Centre or Osborne View PH).
- Return along coast road to Lee-on-the-Solent (Solent Cycles on seafront for emergency repairs!).
- Carry on towards Stokes Bay but with optional loop to Gosport BMX track.
- Stokes Bay seafront then cycle path on old railway line back to South Street and ferry.

Aiming to finish between 1pm and 2pm. Ferries leave Portsmouth and Gosport every 15 minutes (www.gosportferry.co.uk)

“We hope you can join us!”

Chistmas Dinner at The King Street Tavern

Excellent. Sam, Nicky and the team really pulled out all the stops to provide an amazing dinner for us on Saturday. Due to a pretty epic work hangover I didn’t really take any photos of the spread, but believe me when I say it was exceptional on all counts. Big thanks again and also a congratulatory message to Abi and Mikey on announcing their step in parenthood. All the best and thanks for the Champagne. X

A last minute Christmas gift from Dan Tidbury

A little Christmas pressie from COR…

Just a quick one to past on a lil Chrimbo pressy mix from COR ressie Mark Persaud, to help get you warmed up for the big COR Boxing Day Bonanza on, well, Boxing Day! Pop over to the COR website and grab an earful HERE.

The Great Boxing Day Bonanza is shaping up to be another cracking Boxing Day blow out. If you made it along to our Boxing Day party last year you’ll know what to expect. Except this year we’ve gone even further! You won’t recognise the place!! The backdrops, the sound, lighting – I’m so excited about this one I could just burst as I write this! Have we got a party for you, I hope you can make it down! Oh and get down early to grab a COR badge while stocks last!

If you are planning on poppin along to our lil soirée but have yet to grab a ticket, you’re not too late! There are still a few left but you’ll have to be quick to snatch one. If you need a ticket pop in to Head (53 Albert Road) and pay a visit to Uncle Tim, or you can get in touch with the COR ressies. Just don’t sleep on it if you’re planning on popping down, really don’t want to leave anyone disappointed!

And remember all of the profit will go to the Hillside Youth Centre to buy DJ Equipment for the kids.

Oh, one last thing – If you were planning on giving a COR T-Shirt as a pressy this year but have yet to order, it’s still not too late!

From everyone at COR Towers, Have a wonderful Christmas and a Big Fat THANK YOU for your wonderful support over the past year, it really is super massively appreciated, without you lot COR would not be possible, it’s you who make it what it is and we thank you so much for that!

Have a belter, Hopefully see you Boxing Day!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Big Love.

Friends Vs Christmas

A few local bands have decided to throw a pre Christmas party at The Edge of the Wedge this Monday 21st. “All of us bands are good friends but rarely get to play together so we invite you to come and rock/drink with us…open to everyone and free entry! Ripping through the night will be…”

YOU’RE SMILING NOW BUT WE’LL ALL TURN INTO DEMONS – Lords of psyche/doom/rock, new album out and heavier than ever!

ATTACK! VIPERS! – Aggressive man band airingssssssss some new tunes before the year is out!

THE GOOD TIME CHARLIES – Kinda like the Ramones playing Kinks covers, great upbeat garage punk rock.

MANREADS – featuring ex Last Kiss/Pilger chaps, this new two piece on the block rule in a Big Black…errr rocking way!

Doors around 7.30pm, 16+ Bring ID! See you there!

Wallspace Gallery 10% SALE

My bad on this. Been a bit busy. Wallspace is having a 10% SALE this Saturday 19th. A few more hours left to get down there if you see this post.

Metropolis

Good friend of Strong Island Mark Persaud of COR fame and fortune is currently in his first year on Graphic Design (Communication Design) at Portsmouth University and has asked if we could kindly help put the word out about his current project in hope that people might pick up on it and join in.

“My focus for Metropolis is Journey’s through the city and how people move through and use space. As part of this I’ve printed 100 postcards, put a second class stamp on them all and spread them up and down the city. Well, that’s my task for today anyway. The experiment is completely anonymous, however, I’d like to raise awareness of these cards being out there so that if peeps see one they might be more inclined to post it back.”

Thanks for the parcel too mate. Always a pleasure. Shame I can’t make Boxing Day, it’s gonna be huge.

Christmas Eve Power Ballads at the One Eyed Dog

What better way to get ready to nurse an epic hangover on Christmas Day than to get involved down The One Eyed Dog for Portsmouth’s first ever fancy dress power ballad night. Free entry, air guitars, mince pie’s and Christmas tipple. Set to be the funniest night of the year- what better way to celebrate all things festive by going nuts to the cream of the crop of power ballads and the best songs ever written?! Expect snow and Christmas trees hanging around everywhere and the entirety of Bat Out Of Hell at least once (maybe even more if we can get away with it!) We’re putting in early measurements for our sexy Santa costumes, so it’d be amazing if all you guys got into the spirit and did the same too!

Check Facebook all the details HERE.

PRIMARY – A Phoneography Exhibition by Strong Island – Call for entries

This coming new year we will be proud to announce our latest exhibition PRIMARY, a Phoneography exhibition by Strong Island and we are even happier to announce that it’s open to you, the readers.

With the continuing increase in impressive camera technology in mobile phones and the ability to alter, tweak, post process and upload the photos to social media networks and websites like Instagram, the popularity of Phoneography has never been greater.

The ‘of the moment’ ability to take a photo at almost any time and any place by most people has really driven the fact that the camera does not make the photographer. By which I mean, you don’t need an expensive camera to take outstanding photos.

Agreed, the quality of the physical image may not stand up to the big guns, but new learnings in composition, style and aesthetic by a new generation of camera users via online media has really driven this popularity, and encourage people to go beyond a ‘quick shot’.

PRIMARY invites you to get out and about around Portsea with your mobile phone camera and take photos of anything and everything based around the three primary colours red, yellow and blue. What you photograph is entirely up to you, but submissions will only be accepted if they stick to the theme.

The call for entires has now begun and the deadline is the 31st of January 2012 with the exhibition being held in March of 2012. Photos can be taken on any mobile phone model and we ask that a maximum of 3 photos per applicant are sent in to primary@strong-island.co.uk.

Please submit along with your photographs your name, photo title, phone model, location of photo on the island and any post process apps you used, if any, to achieve the final shot.

We look forward to seeing all the entries, and the final installation will be something special using every photo submitted in a slightly different fashion from your average photographic exhibition. CLICK HERE TO PRINT YOUR OWN POSTER

Poster by Tristan Savage & Photo by Paul Gonella

It’s going to be a Strong Movember – Closed at £725

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