Looking Sideways: 10 Things
An Announcement trailer, Actionism, and my favourite new Christmas song.
1. Earlier this week I shared the video trailer for The Announcement with my Insights community - now I’m sharing it here for everybody else. Click the link to check it out and find out more about my release plans for this series.
2. Ben Myers is one of my favourite novelists, and this tribute to his recently-departed hound Cliff brought a proper tear to my eye.
3. Word is spreading….brilliant to see Surfer Magazine acknowledge The Big Sea with this story (which is notable for SIMA yet again appearing to miss the point of the entire thing).
4. One for the Brits: an ace GQ interview with Danny Dyer.
5. Big up long term LS subscriber and supporter Scotty Naismith for bringing the latest Downdays Ski Stories Number 5 print annual to my attention. More here.
Use my code LOOKINGSIDEWAYS for massive ski rental discounts and snowboard rental discounts from my pals at Intersport.
6. New Ken Burns doc klaxon! One of our greatest living documentarians is back with this brilliant insight into the life of Leonardo.
7. My friend Calum McIntyre was recently hit with a large fine for protesting at a football match sponsored by Norwegian fossil fuel company Equinor. As he explains here, deterring acts of civil disobedience by imposing large fines is a key tactic right now. Which is why I have donated to the crowdfunder to help pay for these fines, and why I am sharing this here.
8. Every now and again the Football Weekly podcast does these brilliant, in-depth episodes on the intersection between football and geopolitics: as they have this week, on FIFA’s decision to award the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia, and why it matters.
Use my Stance discount code LOOKINGSIDEWAYS for a whopping 15% on any purchase.
9. “There are better places to look beyond the brands for change. The outdoor community is so centered around brands trapped in an extractive capitalistic system, and that will not deliver. There is change happening at ground level that needs championing. Citizens everywhere are mobilising and acting. I think that's where the focus and energy needs to go”.
A comment from Gavin Fernie-Jones of Re-Action in response to the Announcement bonus episode I shared this week. With that in mind, it seems fitting to share the trailer for Re-Action’s latest project: Actionism. Watch it above.
10. This David Berman tune is my favourite recent Christmas song. It’s a quietly devastating lyric that starts off being about a snowstorm in New York, but is really about the intensely personal act of creativity, and what it means to share your work with the world.
It’s made all the more poignant by the knowledge that he took his own life soon after it was released, and is beautifully covered here by Chilly Gonzales, Feist and Jarvis Cocker.
Enjoyed this week’s list? Anything you’ve seen the Looking Sideways community should know about?
The piece on Cliff had me in absolute floods, having lost our 16 year old Patterdale terrier last year! What a beautiful piece. Thanks for sharing Matt.
Reading the Ben Myers piece and listening to the new (to me) Christmas song. What a beautiful way to start the day. Thank you 🙏