Strong Island

Books & Magazines

No Place Like Home Competition Winners

Last week we asked you to answer the follow to win a copy of Angelo Tirotto’s debut graphic ‘No Place Like Home‘.

Q: In the movie, The Wizard of Oz, what was the name of the head winged monkey?
A: Nikko

The three lucky winners selected at random are Michael McCreadie, Luke Carroll and Jamie Pembroke. If you send Angelo your addresses by emailing to oz@noonemournsthewicked.com then he’ll post them out.

You can collect a copy of your own for £7.50 by visiting Room 237 on Elm Grove. The Shining themed store is more than just a comic shop! As well as stocking the largest range of American comics and graphic novels in Portsmouth, they also specialise in books on cult film, TV, art, design and illustration. You’ll even find books on tattoos and skateboarding!

If it’s posters, statues, t-shirts or anything comic related you’re looking for then Room 237 is the place for you and, if they don’t have what you’re looking for in stock, they can order it, super quick.

Print

No Place Like Home vol 1

No Place Like Home Vol 1 “Home Again” Competition

Regular Strong Island followers will know all about local writer Angelo Tirotto’s debut graphic novel ‘No Place Like Home‘.

In L. Frank Baum’s classic “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” the displaced Dorothy clicks her red ruby slippers three times and gets transported back to her home, surrounded by loved ones and people who care about her.

Dee, the star of Angelo’s “No Place Like Home,” isn’t quite so lucky. Instead of finding herself in a magical land of munchkins, witches and jitterbugs, Dee struggles to make ends meet while living in Los Angeles. She does, however, return home, but it’s not thanks to magical footwear. Her parents’ death in a tornado takes Dee back to Emeraldsville where natural disasters aren’t the only things causing the townspeople to expire. As people begin to die mysteriously, the events of a night in 1959 lead to some truly horrific events.

The graphic novel features artwork from local artists Joe Loughbrough, Paul Tinker, Dani Green, Paul Taylor Ed Snyder, Dean Beattie and Simon Jacob.

Angelo is offering three Strong Island readers the chance to win a copy of the first novel. All you have to do is answer the following question by emailing Angelo at oz@noonemournsthewicked.com. The deadline is Monday 29th April.

Q – In the movie, The Wizard of Oz, what was the name of the leader of the winged monkeys?

Good luck.

No Place Like Home vol 1

Book Club

Book Club starts tomorrow Thursday the 28th March and is curated by Chris Hilson. It will be hosted at The Gold Room at Room 237 on Elm Grove from 7.30 – 9pm.

The idea of Book Club is to start an underground reading group that explores not only classic literary figures like Hemingway and J.D Salinger but also alternative and unknown authors. The group has a no nonsense attitude to reading and this can be anything from graphic novels, pulp, art zines to un published works.

If your expecting a typical reading group then this probably isn’t for you, if you are however open minded and enjoy a beer, coffee and good conversation then come and join us.

The first session will be exploring short stories so no need to bring anything with you. The group has a BYOB policy so bring some refreshment although tea and coffee will be available.

 

Portsmouth Cafe’s – Your photographs needed

Local creative Jonathan Ring is putting together a small zine of Portsmouth Cafe’s. Jonathan’s work has been featured before on Strong Island in relation to the Portsmouth on Film and Family Archives book.
If anyone has photos of any cafes they love in Portsmouth and/or photos of food then please contact Jonathan below. These photos can be any quality – film is also accepted. Unfortunately he cannot offer any money, but he can include your name in the zine. The zine will be free and available to download.

Email the photos to jonathanring@btinternet.com

Harbour View

Harbour View Cafe

Issue 14 Of Mayhem Magazine Out Now

The latest issue of Mayhem has dropped, be sure to pick up your free copy at many local bars, restaurants, shops, etc.

Mayhem Magazine Feb 2013

Toy Confidential: The Secret Life of Snarky Toys Now Available To Buy

You may remember recently I posted an article about the new book ‘Toy Confidential: The Secret Life of Snarky Toys’ by locally born Aled Lewis. This creative and very funny book is now available to buy from Amazon and other major retailers.

The Toy Stories book showcases 100 original images of plastic toys interacting in unusual ways including conceited unicorns and dinosaurs, ponies that looked bigger on eBay, Lassie negotiating for a bigger bed, a sad pinata and pugs snorting cocaine.

You can view some of the images included on the Toy Confidential’s Facebook page. I genuinely recommend you taking the time to look at the page and getting the book as I promise it will literally have you laughing out loud.

This will make a great stocking filler for Christmas! Hint hint mum.







The Spear by Angelo Tirotto

After the success of No Place Like Home author Angelo Tirotto and artist Richard Jordan are now working on their second comic book The Spear. For more information be sure to check out The Spears Facebook page.

Upon it’s release Strong Island will be sure to feature a post where you will be in with a chance to win a copy of issue 1.

Angelo’s is based in Room 237, Elm Grove, Southsea. You can keep up to date with all the goings on at the shop on Facebook and Twitter.

Nervous Comics

Portsmouth based artist and illustrator RJ James aka freakSTATIC has recently broken many taboos by producing ‘Nervous Comics’. As a sufferer from mental illness since my teens and in recent times crippling anxiety I can only describe the comic as  a relief.

I feel empowered reading it that I am not alone, weird or in some way broken. I think ‘Nervous Comics’ will help so many people and they will be able to identify with the situations and feelings it illustrates. The web comics creator declares:

I hope to raise awareness of Anxiety and related issues by producing some relevant material on the subject of Anxiety that both sufferers and anyone in a supportive position can relate to.

You can also find a blog post by RJ on the Time to Change site where she describes coping with a diagnosis of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) accompanied by one of her illustrations.

An excellent creation that I urge you to explore and share, you never know who it may help/inspire.

 

Mayhem! Magazine seeking Marketing and Sales Assistant

The role is part-full time and involves many aspects of digital and traditional marketing and sales, to include:

Social Media – Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Issuu. Face to face networking and socials. Promotions and campaign building. Copywriting and PR. Recruitment. Advertising Sales…plus more

Involvement in the magazines production. Contributions to the magazine editorially. Opportunities to write and conduct interviews and reviews…plus loads more

Be an integral part of our very small team. You will need to be computer savvy and have the ability to adapt quickly. The role involves far more than the above, we are looking for someone friendly, outgoing and well up for tackling anything that lands on the desk! We are based in SOUTHSEA. 2 Minutes from the seaside and 5 seconds from the PUB!

A little bit about Mayhem! Magazine. Mayhem! was launched in September 2011 and has become the #1 FREE Glossy Lifestyle Magazine in Portsmouth. We print 10,000 copies every month and have a target audience of 18 to 50 year-olds. The magazine is FREE so we rely on the revenue of the advertising sales to keep it going every month. We have just reached our first year and produced our 12th Issue. We distribute to more than 500 locations every month. We all chip-in.

You need to be prepared for Mayhem! to become your life and to believe in it. We have big plans! Obviously there’s more to it, but If this tickles your fancy, PLEASE apply ASAP. We look forward to hearing from you. Apply with your CV to: daniel@mayhemmagazine.co.uk

Toy Confidential: The Secret Life of Snarky Toys

Toy Confidential: The Secret Life of Snarky Toys is the new book from Aled Lewis. Aled was born in Portsmouth but moved to London in 2005 and has been having great success as a designer and illustrator.

The Toy Stories book showcases 100 original images of plastic toys interacting in unusual ways including conceited unicorns and dinosaurs, ponies that looked bigger on eBay, Lassie negotiating for a bigger bed, a sad pinata and pugs snorting cocaine.

You can view some of the images included on the Toy Confidential’s Facebook page. I genuinely recommend you taking the time to look at the page and getting the book as I promise it will literally have you laughing out loud.

This would make an ideal christmas gift for a loved one, well, after a Strong Island 2013 Calendar that is! The book is released on the 27th November and is currently priced at £6.99 on Amazon if you pre order it now. The RRP is £9.99.







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