Strong Island

Rich Keam – Taste Master

Portsmouth musician and food lover Rich Keam, who will be playing at this year’s Victorious Festival on Saturday 24th August, has beaten off over 600,00 entries worldwide to make the last 25 applicants for the job of Taste Master, Western Australia, in Tourism Australias’ “Best Jobs In The World” competition.

He’s already set himself apart from his rivals by releasing the amazing single ‘Adventures of a Taste Master’-an ode to Western Australias’ culinary and geographical beauty and awesomeness, in aid of food charity The Trussell Trust.

Click here to listen to his song and follow his campaign on his Facebook and Twitter.  The more publicity he get’s then the better chance he has of winning the job.  Best of luck Rich!

Rich Keam Taste Master-500

 

Strong Island Ale – 1906 Dreadnought

It’s here.  We’re proud to present the third annual Strong Island Ale, brewed by Irving & Co. Brewers which will be hitting the pumps this Friday.  We’ll be launching it at The Belle Isle in Southsea on Friday night so pop down and join us for a jar or two!  This years Strong Island homebrew competition was won by Tyler Griffin from Ohio currently working over here in Hampshire.

Brewer Malcolm Irving said “The beer is a highly complex blend of subtle malt flavours from a combination of Malted Oats, Wheat and rare Special B and Aromatic Belgian Malt. These subtle malt flavours underpin the heady intense fruity hop flavours from American Citra and Amarillo hop varieties. This should prove to be a very exciting beer and well worth seeking out in pubs round the city and beyond”

The beer will also be appearing this weekend at The Leopold Tavern as part of their 2nd annual beer festival (we’ll be there Saturday!) and the Hole In The Wall amongst many other local pubs.

1906 FINAL ARTWORK-500

Strong Island X PFC Tee – Portsmouth Supporters Trust

Big shout to the guys over at the Portsmouth Supporters Trust for giving us an endorsement through their website for our Strong Island X PFC tee.  We’ve had a huge number of pre orders so far with many more coming in.  With £5 from each tee sold going towards Strong Island buying a community share, we’re well on track to achieve that.

If you haven’t ordered yours yet you can do so at strongislandclothingco.com

Screen Shot 2013-04-30 at 20.54.33-500

Strong-Island-Pompey-FC-Tee1

Leopold Tavern 2nd Annual Beer Festival

I can’t wait for this!  The second annual Leopold Tavern ale festival will be taking place this spring from April 26th until May 5th.  This year will have 70 real ales and 100 bottled beers over a ten day period with as many as 18 cask ales available at any one time.

The ale list will include all our local breweries from Irving, Oakleaf, Havant and Bowman as well as some extra special beers from far and wide.  In addition to the ales we will also have up to 10 real ciders available.

This is a FREE event (except the price of your beer!)

Leopold fest-500

Ibiza Rocks – Rob Troubadour

Local lad and fellow DJ compadre of mine on occasions, Rob Troubadour has produced a mix for a competition to win a residency at the world famous Ibiza Rocks.  Rob has been playing out around Portsmouth and the UK for a few years and now fancies taking on a bit of Europe, representing Portsmouth on foreign shores.

“This mix is to represent what Ibiza rocks is suppose to be, no monotony, just balls out indie/rock/dub/hip hop bangers from start to finish….And hey, there is even hiccups, because no set is ever perfect.”

You can have a listen here and then click the heart icon to vote for Rob’s mix.

Rob-500

 

3rd Annual Home Brew Competition – This Wednesday

This Wednesday 6th March we have the judging evening for the 3rd Annual Strong Island Home Brew Competition.  The event commences from 7pm at Little Johnny Russells on Albert Road in Southsea.  To read more on the competition click here.

3rd Brew Comp Poster

3rd Annual Strong Island Home Brew Competition

Just a reminder for all you brewers out there about our 3rd annual home brew competition. The judging evening will be Wednesday 6th March at Little Johnny Russells on Albert Road, Southsea. The evening will commence from 7pm with the judging expected to begin at around 7.30pm.

1st category will be the ale brew. Whether you already are a home brewer or you really want to go to town and build your own micro brewery this is the category for you. Designed to make no boundaries for the brewer, this category is made to really let the skills be shown of your home brewing talent. Any kit and brewing process is allowed so go for your life.

The 2nd category will be the ‘Other’ category. Lagers, Ginger Beers & Ciders for this one with same rules with the 1st category regards to unrestricted brewing rules.

If you need a reminder of all the rules you can read them here. We had a decent amount of entries last year so please remember if you’re entering to arrive promptly to register yourself in the competition. Even if you’re not entering we’d love to see you come down and spectate, you may even get a chance to sample some of the tipples too!

3rd Brew Comp Poster

Portsmouth Supporters Trust Bid Getting Closer

In the turbulent recent few months in the ever eventful history of Portsmouth Football Club, there has been a new development this afternoon.

The Portsmouth Supporters’ Trust is hopeful that its deal to buy the club out of administration will be concluded by Christmas, after signing a conditional agreement that raises hopes of an end to a tortuous saga for fans.

Ashley Brown, chairman of the PST, said he was “thrilled and proud” that it had reached an agreement with PKF (the administrators), while the chief administrator, Trevor Birch, said he was hopeful that it marked “the beginning of the end of the process”. However, the sale remains conditional on the administrator receiving permission to sell Fratton Park.

It’s by no means over yet, but it is a positive step for the PST in their bid to release the club from the grasp of a host of failed former owners.  You can find out more about the PST over at their website here.

To be continued……..

Belle to Belle – The Moustache Ride

Do your gentlemanly duty (ladies, that goes for you too…) and join us for a gentle ride from The Belle Isle in Chichester to The Belle Isle in Southsea on Sunday the 25th November, leaving at 1pm – Moustaches and Tweed are optional but highly recommended.

The ride is to raise awareness for Movember but also just a bit of fun. The journey itself is around 18 miles and at a very gentle pace and it can easily be completed in under two hours. All abilities welcome!

The Belle Isle at Chichester is 31-32 Chapel Street, just off West Street (by the Cathedral) only a couple of minutes ride from Chichester train station.  Of course how you ride is up to the individual but we do recommend being prepared for the journey by making sure you are well equipped with things you might need like warm clothing and helmets.  Let’s ride!

3rd Annual Strong Island Home Brew Competition

Right Ladies and Gents here’s a nice little project for you to get your teeth stuck into over the winter months.  The 3rd annual Strong Island Home Brew competition will see you have a bash at brewing your own beer to be entered into a competition which will be judged by a panel of experts with the winner potentially having their brew/recipe brewed by Irving & Co. Brewers and made for distribution around pubs in the Portsmouth, Hampshire and West Sussex areas.  This is all providing you have what it takes to be a brewing master of course!  Who knows, we may even coax a beer brewing superstar out of the woodwork!

This year we are opting for a 2 categories again.  1st category will be the ale brew.  Whether you already are a home brewer or you really want to go to town and build your own micro brewery this is the category for you.  Designed to make no boundaries for the brewer, this category is made to really let the skills be shown of your home brewing talent.  Any kit and brewing process is allowed so go for your life.

The 2nd category will be the ‘Other’ category.  Lagers, Ginger Beers & Ciders for this one with same rules with the 1st category regards to unrestricted brewing rules.

Rules

The categories to which your final brew will be judged on are -

  • TASTE
  • AROMA
  • COLOR
  • CLARITY
  • DRINKABILITY
  • NAME/PRESENTATION/LABEL

The judging panel will consist of Malcolm Irving from Irving & Co. Brewers in Portsmouth,  Stuart Ainsworth who is Landlord of the Leopold Tavern which is Portsmouth & South East Hampshire CAMRA pub of the year multi award winner, myself Ben Mills proprietor of LJRs and The Belle Isle and one other judge to be added for this year who will be chosen at a later date.

  • Any brew is welcome to enter be it Ale, Bitter, Ginger Beer, Cider, Lager etc. (Note the 2 different categories)
  • There are no limits on team numbers so you can enter as a solo brewer or as a team
  • Over 18′s only can enter the competition
  • Final entries are to be presented to the judges in bottles.  3 bottles are to be submitted to give a fair representation of your batch.
  • A list of all ingredients and a brief description of the brewing process MUST be submitted with your entry form on the night (for entrants of BOTH categories)

Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places as well as best in show.  Remember we won’t just be looking at the brew but also the presentation, name and label design of each entry and don’t forget the golden carrot if the winning brew’s up to scratch you could well see your recipe brewed up by Irving & Co. Brewers and distributed to pubs in and around Portsmouth as happened with previous years Strong Island Hopper and Dry Dock No.1 respectively.

The judging evening will be at Little Johnny Russells, Albert Road, Southsea in early March (we’ll announce a confirmed date in a few weeks).  Make sure your brew is ready for then along with all the requirements for entry.

Any questions or queries please email ben@strong-island.co.uk

We’ll post up further info as we go along but until then you can get brewing from now.  Get your friends or family involved, spread the word and good luck brewing!

Features

Southsea in an Instant, An Instant Photography Walk and Instant Exhibition

Strong Island & local artist When We Were Cows present ‘Southsea in an Instant’ an instant photography afternoon walk where anyone with a camera that uses Polaroid, Impossible Project or Fuji instant film are welcome to get involved. We will be exploring Southsea seafront from 1pm on 18th May with our instant photography cameras, starting off at The Bridge Tavern Pub at The Camber in Old Portsmouth. We’ll then make our way to The Hot Walls and then along the Millenium walk and then the Prom to South Parade Pier.

From the pier we’ll make our way to Albert Road and we’ll then be holding an instant, pop-up exhibition with the photos taken during the walk in Little Johnny Russells from 5pm to 7pm. We’ll then put the photos up on our upcoming exhibitions archive section of the Strong Island website soon after.

If you want to get involved simply pop along to The Bridge Tavern from around 12:30 to 1pm, the more the merrier and all that. Look forward to seeing you there!

Southsea in an Instant, An Instant Photography Walk and Instant Exhibition

Southsea in an Instant, An Instant Photography Walk and Instant Exhibition

Strong Island & local artist When We Were Cows present ‘Southsea in an Instant’ an instant photography afternoon walk where anyone with a camera that uses Polaroid, Impossible Project or Fuji instant film are welcome to get involved. We will be exploring Southsea seafront from 1pm on 18th May with our instant photography cameras, starting off at The Bridge Tavern Pub at The Camber in Old Portsmouth. We’ll then make our way to The Hot Walls and then along the Millenium walk and then the Prom to South Parade Pier.

From the pier we’ll make our way to Albert Road and we’ll then be holding an instant, pop-up exhibition with the photos taken during the walk in Little Johnny Russells from 5pm to 7pm. We’ll then put the photos up on our upcoming exhibitions archive section of the Strong Island website soon after.

If you want to get involved simply pop along to The Bridge Tavern from around 12:30 to 1pm, the more the merrier and all that. Look forward to seeing you there!

Southsea in an Instant, An Instant Photography Walk and Instant Exhibition

Strong Island Clothing Co X Portsmouth Supporters Trust T-Shirt Available for Pre-Order

As you are probably well aware from reading the news recently, the Portsmouth Supporters Trust succeeded in their bid to take control of Portsmouth FC making it the biggest community owned club in the UK. It is a long and hard fought victory by the fans that have endured years of bad fortune, bad news and bad performances and a couple of the SI crew have seen most of them! PST’s 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.

We contacted the PST back in November last year to put forward our idea of doing a Strong Island PFC edition T-shirt to raise money towards buying a share in the club. The PST warmly welcomed the idea and we are pleased to say we are now putting our plan into action.

Strong Island is keen to get behind the trust as are many others. We’re going to pledge £5 of every limited edition SI X PFC tee sold towards Strong Island buying a share of the football club, therefore financially helping PFC in it’s aim to become stable again and continue to be a hugely important aspect of the city.

The design itself is a re-imagining of the common elements from the iconic Portsmouth FC logo from the 1980s and the Strong Island logo, with two swords in place, each dated with the club’s FA Cup wins. The Strong Island Clothing Co. items are normally hand screened in East London but for this particular tee they are produced literally just down the road from Fratton Park and will be at a special price of £15 (plus P&P).

No matter if you are passionate about football or not, we hope this tee is a way of showing support for a club that is now a beacon to the rest of the country for a city and a community that strives to work together for the better.

To pre-order the t-shirt click on the link below. Tees will be back from the printers soon and we hope to have orders in the post by the end of the month, if not sooner.

Strong Island Clothing Co. X Portsmouth Supporters Trust T-Shirt

Anglepoise, Strong Island and The University of Portsmouth Present The Creating Balance Project

We are very proud to announce The Creating Balance Project, a new, collaborative project between Anglepoise, Strong Island & the University of Portsmouth to celebrate a design classic and local creativity in Portsmouth. The project aims to showcase the working studios and disciplines of artists and designers across the island and connect them to local photographers to capture, document and collaborate.

Anglepoise lamps have been given to each of the 10 participating artists/designers and the 10 photographers involved have used the lamps to light the photographs, give a sense of place and document the artist, where they work & how they create. During the collaboration sessions University of Portsmouth BSc TV and Broadcast students Massimo Marzullo and Jonas Jakunas have been documenting the project, producing short films for each collaboration.

Later this summer key images from each photographer will be printed and displayed with the films, lamps, photos and more in an exhibition in Portsmouth and one in London (TBA).

The collaborations are:

Andrew Whyte & Peter Clutterbuck
Matt Sills & Lorna Apps-Woodland
Paul Gonella & Tristan Savage
Russell Squires & Farkfk
Josh Knill & I Love Dust
Thor Haley & William Pounds
Rob Luckins & Roo + Barry Abrook
Cotton Candy & Neal Layton + Sadie Tierney
Matt Saxey & Deer Park Alpha
My Dog Sighs & Jack Daly

The project is progressing over the next couple of months and already two films are finished and many collaborations complete. Below are the completed collaboration films and we will be posting updates on The Creating Balance Project regularly here on Strong Island. To keep up to date with the project also please check the Creating Balance website where you can see loads of photos from behind the scenes of the collaborations.

creatingbalanceproject.tumblr.com

A huge thank you to Claire Sambrook, Simon at Anglepoise and everyone involved.

The Creating Balance Project

The Creating Balance Project (3)

The Creating Balance Project (4)

The Creating Balance Project (5)

The Creating Balance Project (1)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Spring 2013 Capsule Now Available

It’s been a while (apologies) but the Strong Island Clothing Co. spring 2013 capsule drop is now available and online in the Strong Island Shop Ahoy store! The drop includes some brand new Branded tee colourways, a new grey crew (highest quality, carefully selected and sourced) and a collection of accessories including new beanies, our seriously high quality Branded iPhone cases (4 & 5) from Etch and our hand crafted, leather coin pouch collaboration with Raw & Auburn.

To kick this capsule drop off right we visited the home of Portsmouth’s Eberhardt signwriters and neon sign specialists. Eberhardt are a true creative business gem of the city with a very long history and still produce hand crafted, carefully designed neon signs, a rare and special craft these days. Check the photos below and the behind the scenes edit too to see more. Photography principally by Jack Daly.

View the full lookbook HERE.

www.strongislandclothingco.com

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (1)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (1)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (2)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (3)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (4)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (5)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (6)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (7)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (8)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (9)

Opening Night of the My Dog Sighs Exhibition at The West Bank Gallery in London

Southsea and Portsmouth street artist (and Strong Island contributor) My Dog Sighs had the opening to his solo show in London last night and as expected, he killed it. ‘Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me’ opened at The West Bank Gallery and is home to not only the largest collection of My Dog Sighs’ work to date but also shows his work sparking off in to some new directions of creativity including the apples, collaborations with other artists and a room covered with paintings that can be cut out to reveal a painting underneath.

Word was that pre-opening sales had gone really, really well and there were people outside the gallery at 8am, ready and willing to wait the ten hours on the pavement to get their chance to have a look and buy some of My Dog’s work. Don’t take our word for it, below are the thoughts and opinions of the show by the people who experienced it and I think say all you might need to know…:

“I’ve been to several exhibition openings but none as been as warm as the one of MyDog. He was there happy to meet his fans and the staff was friendly, helpful and more than happy to introduce you to him. And about the art, what can I say; it’s truly sweet and inspiring. You have either the eyes that give an entire story in their gaze to the delightful stick men, all accompanied by simple but touching phrases”. – Dette Marhez

“I queued from 8 in the morning and throughout the day MDS popped out offering coffee and to talk to the brave hardy souls braving the temperatures. His whole manner on the run up and throughout the day and night is an example to any up and coming artist and artists in general. The gallery is a cracking space to show in and the work on show was of the highest order. MDS and the collabs were exhibited so well it was pleasure to wander around and warm up!” – Rob Pike

“The show promised big things and I was not disappointed. After an impressive 12 months from his first solo show at Pure Evil, I was looking forward to seeing how Can Man had progressed. There was not a bare wall in the gallery and the whole show felt like an art hunt with pieces hiding in every nook and cranny. With so many pieces to choose from MDS had taken his work to the next level and even managed to capture the innocent of a lost can on the street that you can take home and put on your wall. The hype is well deserved and things can only get better!” – Ryk Turner

“I loved it. It’s kind of like he’s brought life and beauty back to the discarded and neglected. Whilst other pieces capture solitude, loneliness and searching, leaving you topped up with that warm-glow of finally finding The One!” – Les Black

“Had a fantastic time. Just unbelievable what he’s managed to produce. Incredibly varied work. Totally stunning”. – Rick Christie.

The show is open to public until Sunday 31st March and there is also a bit of a special event tomorrow (Saturday) too. Gallery open daily 11am-7pm. Below are photos of last night’s opening by Strong Island homie Jack Daly.

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (2)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (4)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (5)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (6)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (9)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (10)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (11)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (12)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (3)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (16)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (17)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (18)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (20)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (22)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (23)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (24)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs