Looking Sideways: 10 Things
My book of the year so far, Kendal x Looking Sideways, and Talk Talk's peerless Spirit of Eden.
1. More exciting news! I’ve now also joined up with Kendal Mountain Festival as official media partner on their ongoing film tour! As with the Big Sea, this means my new trailer for The Announcement will be playing before every screening at locations across the country, from Edinburgh to my adopted hometown of Brighton.
Kendal honcho Steve Scott and friends have long been staunch Looking Sideways supporters, and Steve has been an especially vocal advocate for The Announcement after I sent him an early preview copy back in autumn 2024.
Huge thanks to Steve and the rest of the Kendal team for the ongoing support.
Click here for dates and tickets.
2. I first heard Spirit of Eden by Talk Talk back in 1995 when my pal Chris Adams, of post rock pioneers Hood, put I Believe In You on a mixtape he made me for my 19th birthday (possibly the most 1990s sentence I’ve written for quite some time, there).
I’ve been hooked ever since, so Guy Garvey’s new BBC documentary on this truly life-changing record could not be more up my duck pond. Listen here.
Use my code LOOKINGSIDEWAYS for massive ski rental discounts and snowboard rental discounts from my pals at Intersport.
3. Ian Leslie always reminds me of that perfect old ‘If he was made out of chocolate, he’d eat himself’ line. Here he is on classic contrarian form, discussing (and dismissing) the impact of Adolescence.
4. Timothy Snyder on what the Trump administration’s Greenland posturing means is a must-read.
5. My pal Aaron Schwartz is another of those multi-faceted creative talents snowboarding seems to churn out, and the latest iteration of his Tidal art show series kicks off in Laax this evening.
6. A few people shared this with me this week: is toxic run-off from the LA fires making the local surf community sick?
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7. Always nice to see a snowboard film with a different take on things. This reflective splitboarding short is very worth your time.
8. John Rattray has published a recent conversation with psychologist Alex Irvine as a new podcast and it’s a really interesting and worthwhile listen.
9. The New York Times on ‘the Gen-X Career Meltdown’. If that sounds like you, grab the popcorn and prepare to feel very ‘seen’ indeed.
Use my discount code LOOKINGSIDEWAYS for a whopping 20% on any Goodrays purchase.
10. Finally - this biography of Nietzsche is probably the book I’ve enjoyed the most so far this year. It’s beautifully written and very entertaining as Sue Prideaux has a lot of fun with some brilliantly neurotic and egotistical subjects. So much so that I’ve got a post in the works about Nietzsche and his pals.
(I am still keeping track of everything I read on an Instagram Highlight here, if you’re interested in what I’ve been reading, which apparently people are).
Oh man that New York Times article cut me to the bone, good find
The NY Times piece is something else! Thanks for sharing. I’m looking forward to watching Flipside too.