Spring in the City

In Portsmouth we mark the beginning of Spring with a series of cultural events across the city.

As we lost an hour to our day, we add a new festival to our calendar. The Lost Hour has proved to be a popular event in the city and long may it continues.

At the moment, students are enjoying their Easter Break and probably thinking about how many chocolate eggs they can eat in one sitting. While there are Easter egg hunts organised in woods and gardens, churches spring into wonderful concert venues.

Florilegium who played at the last Music in the Round concert has their diaries full of concerts, the biggest being the St Matthew's Passion at the Royal Festival Hall. Historically, the church used to be a big patron of music and that is why some of the greatest compositions are of church music.

For me, I'm still hunting for the Golden Egg; the how do we tell the world about the treasure trove of culture we have in Portsmouth?

My hunt, so far has led to a meeting with our Creative Technologies Department at the end of March when they told me about their wonderful project. This might be the Golden Egg.

Students studying Television and Broadcasting have been busy producing a TV programme to promote Portsmouth to the world. Eye on Portsmouth has been created as part of their course, and they are keen to get the local community involved and watching. Take a look the programmes made so far on http://vimeo.com/album/2809004

By joining forces with the local community, the university staff and students can make this project a success. There is so much for everybody to learn; students about the city, and the community about what university life is all about.

If anyone would like to get involved, or has a story to tell, please get in touch. My number is 023 8284 3757 or through Twitter @maricarjagger

In the meantime, Shakespeare's birthday is on 23 April and Christine Berberich from The Centre for Studies in Literature has put together a programme of events to showcase the expertise we have at the university. So look out for the Shakespeare Festival events happening near you.

I’ve also been busy producing the programme of events for the next few months and the list will be made public at the end of April. Look out for it.

This article is as it appeared in the Portsmouth View, April 2014 edition.

Comments

Delicious thinly sliced pork in Korean marinade

Sometimes you found a recipe and wrote it down on a piece of paper to try it out. Having done that, you forget where the recipe came from. Likewise this Korean recipe for pork, which turned out to be so delicious we have cooked it for everyone. The marinade is simple to make and yet really packed with flavours. For the Korean marinade you need 3 garlic cloves 1/2 brown onion 1/2 a pear or apple Blitz these ingredients together and then add 5 tablespoons soy sauce (I use Kikkoman) 3 tablespoons caster sugar 2 tablespoons sesame oil 3 tablespoons mirin black pepper For dinner for 2 people, 200g pork tenderloin is enough. Slice this thinly, and bash it to an even thinner piece with a meat mallet. Marinade in the sauce and leave it in the fridge for an hour. Then heat a frying pan on medium heat with a teaspoon of vegetable oil and fry the thin pork pieces until browned. You want some of the edges of the meat to be dark brown and caramelised, if you can. Don't cook too many pieces or ...

‘Southsea dinosaur’ returns

Luna Park 2021, an eagerly anticipated new public artwork for Portsmouth designed by internationally renowned artists Ivan Morison and Heather Peak of Studio Morison will be launched on 2 October 2021 on a celebratory day in Southsea Common. The 1.4 metres bronze sculpture is a tribute to the original 53-foot high 2010 artwork Luna Park, which tragically burned down on Southsea Common. The artists will unveil a new sculpture that responds to ten years of public demand to ‘bring back the Southsea Dinosaur’. The new public artwork will be located within a direct sightline to the position of the original Luna Park sculpture. It will sit on top of a fossil Portland stone plinth with a QR code which when scanned with a smartphone will connect to an Augmented Reality experience. People will be transported to a digital rendering of the original artwork, seemingly standing life-size in front of them on Southsea Common. Viewers will also be able to use their mobile devices to visit a...

Indonesian fried spring rolls (Lumpia Goreng)

I don't often make Indonesian food because the ingredients are hard to find, but our local supermarkets are getting better at stocking ethnic ingredients. In the frozen section of Tesco, near the samosas, you can find the spring roll pastry. Don't bother asking the branch in Chester. I was laughed at by the cashier when I asked for spring roll skin, because 'skin' is what we call the wrapper in Indonesian. Her more helpful colleague offered me filo pastry instead, which can be a good substitute. I'm afraid no one in Chester has yet to taste my amazing spring rolls as a result. Friends in Southsea are luckier! Here are the ingredients to make 30 spring rolls (the packs come in 30 or 40 pieces) 1 medium head of cabbage, thinly sliced 2 carrots, julienned 1 red or yellow pepper, julienned 1 medium onion, thinly sliced 1 medium courgette, julienned 1 tablespoon of Oyster sauce (omit if cooking for vegan) 2 tbsp soy sauce salt and pepper to taste 1 tbsp vegetable oil f...

SouthseaScene

Search This Blog