Strong Island Charity Raffle Prize Update

Excuse the really long picture post again. It’s another little update to keep you up to speed with our 2nd Birthday Party at The Belle Isle this Thursday 30th September and I thought you would like to know what’s on offer as the date gets closer.

The tickets will be £1 each or £8 for 10 and will be available on the door on the night only, so grab a strip with your FREE Strong Island Ice Tea (limited drinks so get there early). Pet Sounds will provide the background music with a Strong Island VS Pet Sounds Playlist to accompany this relaxed social.

We will call the winning numbers sometime around 10pm. Listen for the bell…

All the donations to the Raffle will be available to win on the night and all of the proceeds are going to The Portsmouth Autism Support Network and The Portsmouth Lifeboat Station.

We look forward to seeing you.

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Our Little Dinosaur

I don’t know about you but I’ve really grown fond our our little dinosaur. Through the summer months he (I’m assuming gender, but I’m no dinosaur expert) has become a landmark on Southsea Common and normally surrounded by people drawn to him and his wistful gaze out over the Solent…something we all probably do from time to time. Now with winter approaching our dinosaur will be moving home soon and I’ll be sad to see that empty space on the common. What’s your thoughts on his visit to Southsea? Good? Bad?

I took these photos on a rainy day, so grey that despite them being on a roll of colour film they look black & white. You can see more on Forever Circling.

Art on the Pier

Okay, I know it says Christmas on the flyer, but Art on the Pier are looking for people to join the exhibition in the Gaiety Suite on South Parade Pier in November. Okay, so November isn’t Christmas, but why not be ahead of everyone else and get some presents early.

Check out www.artonthepier.co.uk for more information and click HERE to register. be sure to get in quite as places will fill up.

Royal Navy Field Gun Competition

As a child my great aunt and uncle used to take me to the Royal Tournament every year up in that there London and the highlight was always the Royal Navy Field Gun Competition, possibly the toughest physical competition there was. The competition involves transporting a field gun through holes, over walls and across a chasm in the shortest time possible and was ran from 1907 through to 1999. The film below is from 1997 with the FAA vs. Portsmouth.

P.S. A family story says that one of my relatives participated in the competition sometime between the wars…after watching this and remembering the event itself I think I would struggle to run five feet with one of the wheels today.

What’s all this then?

Don’t adjust your browser. Nothing is wrong. We’ve just had a little polish for our 2nd Birthday and hopefully created a new and improved Strong Island for you. Nothing has really changed, we’ve just added a few extras to hopefully help keep you up to date. Not only with what’s happening right now, but with Features and Archives from past and present.

We’ve got a few little tweaks to sort here and there, and I’m writing this last thing on Sunday so hopefully it’s not too much of a ramble, but we hope you like the new layout and design and you will continue to help make Strong Island what it is.

Happy Birthday Strong Island

Tristan & Paul

The Old Portsmouth and The New Southsea

Gareth Colwell sent us these amazing scans from a vintage book called ‘The Old Portsmouth and The New Southsea. “It was an old book of my Grandads’ we found when going through some of his old stuff that had been packed away for years. I love the paintings and the written bits, especially describing Southsea Common as “a dismal spot in the old days. Footpads and cut-throats roamed at night, and a murderer hung in chains on the edge of the shingle”

A really interesting read so I won’t say anymore and let the book do all the talking. Check out the full set of scans over at Gareths Flickr.

Strong Island 2nd Birthday & Charity Raffle

We hope you can all make it along to our 2nd Birthday Party at The Belle Isle next Thursday 30th. It’s shaping up to be quite a nice evening with a few friends new & old, accompanied with some drinks and a cheeky Raffle.

All the donations to the Raffle will be available to win on the night and all the proceeds are going to The Portsmouth Autism Support Network and The Portsmouth Lifeboat Station.

Raffle tickets will be available on the door on the night only, so grab a strip with your FREE Strong Island Ice Tea (limited drinks so get there early). Pet Sounds will provide the background music with a Strong Island VS Pet Sounds Playlist to accompany this relaxed social.

Prizes have kindly been donated from the following people: The Belle Isle / Bored / Portsmouth University / Paul Gonella / Claire Sambrook / Desperados Beer / Ian Parmiter / Rob Trigg / Wallspace gallery / Head Hairdressing / FarkFK / Southsea Fixed Gear / James Weaver / Mikee Ayling / Matt O’Neill / Diana Goss / Caleigh Illburn / Cat Vaughan / Steve Bomford / Owain Harris / Miki Organic / Louise Bush / Nick Hicking / Candice @ Inksquatch / MyDogSighs / Paul Thurlow and more to come. Prizes include tee shirts, drinks, hair cuts, photo shoots, art, prints, meals, photography and more besides. Check the photos below for just a taster of what’s on offer.

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A Day and The Life – Chris Pulman

Almost 14 years ago (to the day) my friend Chris Pulman and I decided to go out and film a whole video part in just a single day. We started out skating at Southsea Skatepark at 9am and ended the long, sunny day skating around some of the street spots in Portsmouth. The next day I edited the footage together on two VCRs in the back of the then skateshop, Air Circus in Marmion Road. Chris sent the footage off to a few people and not long after got sponsored by Foundation and then not long after that turned pro for Heroin Skateboards.

Despite Chris recently retiring after 10 years of being pro for Heroin he still kills it on a skateboard, just like that day in Southsea 14 years ago.

Tommy (1975) at The Kings Theatre

This Saturday 25th September, in association with Portsmouth Film Society, The Kings Theatre are showing Tommy in the venue where it was filmed. The Who’s landmark Rock Opera was shot at a number of locations around Portsmouth and the classic Pinball Wizard scene with Elton John was filmed inside the Kings Theatre itself! The Portsmouth Film Festival brings ‘Tommy’ back to the Kings as part of this years event.

Portsmouth Film Festival are producing a short film which documents people who were involved in the making of Tommy at locations in Portsmouth featured in the Film including The Kings Theatre with their memories, their own films and photo footage of the time. This will be shown as a prelude to the main feature film Tommy. The film will then be followed by a live tribute band, ‘Who’s Next’, making this a fantastic live music and cinematic experience!

You can also view a short article about Tommy, South Parade Pier & other facts over at ITV Meridian Tonight HERE.

Tickets: £10, £5 for students, £2 off for Concessions, Box Office 02392 828282, www.kings-southsea.com

Illustration: Deep South

Healthy Pompey – Healthy Rides

Starting Saturday 25th September Healthy Pompey have launched Healthy Rides – a chance to ride your bike further, without taking on the Tour de France! The rides will be on different days and be of varying lengths and difficulties; something for everyone. Although you will be shown the best cycle routes, these are purely social and leisure rides – they’ll keep to the slowest in the group and keep everyone together, giving you a chance to chat. View the route maps HERE.

All rides are listed on the Pomey Bug website and can be viewed HERE. To receive a regular update on Guided Rides, or for further information please contact owen.devine@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

Family Fun: Picnic & Aquarium – 25 September
Farlington Marshes – 26 September
Tea @ Old Portsmouth – 6 Octpber
Portsmouth Cycle Forum: Langstone Harbour – 14 October
Metropolis Architecture – 26 October
Family Fun: Pirate Ride – 13 November
Tea @ Port Solent – 26 November
Family Fun: Santa Sleigh Run – 18 December
Round Portsea Island – 27 December
Tea @ Aspex – 16 January 2011
Picturesque Portsmouth – 22 January 2011

Photo: Tristan Savage

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