Looking Sideways: 10 Things
This week: tickets for my London Creative Exchange, divestment protests, London Calling on film, and what the Nirmal Purjal story tells us about power dynamics.
1. The line up is in for next week’s Creative Exchange London double header, and it’s a big one.
I’ll be hosting two panels next Thursday June 13th at Hoxton Arches in London.
For first panel, How I Broke In, I’ll be interviewing photographer Ron Timehin, Db creative, producer, photographer and filmer Hallvard Kolltveit, and my close pal Lyndsay McLaren, brand expert, producer and the community actionist behind the brilliant Neighbourhood Skate Club, about how they carved out their unique careers.
This one kicks off at 12.30pm (we’ll lob in some food and drink), and as usual is free. Click here to sign up.
Later that day, for panel two, I’ll be hosting a discussion on Creativity and Community in the Age of AI with Run Dem Crew’s legendary Charlie Dark, Dan Adams, the man behind the forthcoming Read and Destroy book, brilliant photographer and creative Dani KM, and Db Art Director William Koitrand.
This session is also free and will kick off at 6.30pm (yep, there will be food and drink). Click here to sign up for that one.
Hope to see some friendly faces there.
2. My friends at Low Tide Heartbreak Club are doing some interesting stuff and I'm looking forward to next week's private view in Brighton. More on their Insta post above.
3. I thought this adidas Skateboarding short on Tyshawn, and the influence of his mum on his incredible career, was a really, really interesting take on the big hero brand film thing.
I was on a train in London this week, when a group of people came and sat next to me. I spent the next half an hour half listening to their very pleasant conversation about their work, and how much they were enjoying Welcome to Wrexham, and wasn't it mad that there was a community of Welsh speakers in Patagonia? At that point I almost joined in, as the latter is a big part of Bruce Chatwin’s In Patagonia, which is an old favourite and very worth a read. But I didn’t in the end.
Later that day, I got a random Instagram message from one of them saying, ‘Sorry we ruined your nice peaceful carriage earlier’. To which I replied: ‘You should have said hello!’ Then I thought ‘Hmm, and I should have piped up when I thought about it’. Cos perhaps that would have changed our day and made it slightly more interesting. I think I will next time.
4. A key theme of recent episodes with guests such as Calum McIntyre and Gavin Fernie Jones has been the effectiveness of different types of protests.
Which is why I found the ongoing saga of pressure group Fossil Free Books targeting Bailie Gifford sponsorship of the Hay and Edinburgh festivals to be so fascinating.
Is this a worthy target? Or is self-defeating and destructive, as some argue? Or are these the type of difficult conversations we need to be having in the age of the climate emergency? Click those links to get up to speed.
5. I just recorded a brilliant conversation with Dan Adams, Wig Worland and Paul Sunman about the forthcoming Read and Destroy book. Dan was fresh back from the skateboarding Hall of Fame event in LA, where the Brit contingent premiered the new London Calling film by Winstan Whitter which is now streaming here.
6. I think for me the most revealing thing about the ongoing Nirmal Purjai sexual harassment and assault story is how much of an open secret it appears to have been around the industry. Hell, even I'd heard rumours, and it was really striking how many people said ‘Ah yeah, I’d heard about that’ once The New York Times story came out.
In its way then, this story becomes a perfect demonstration of how power dynamics actually work. And it reminded me of an ongoing scenario in the UK industry: where some fairly high-profile individuals have been openly and notoriously engaging in shady practises for years, it is seemingly common knowledge; and yet nobody says anything because it either suits them, or they don’t want to rock the boat. And so the bad behaviour continues.
Plus ça change.
7. I started to watch this Netflix documentary about the 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche with no great expectations. But it is really well done, and as much as an examination of the growing pains of the US avalanche forecasting community as it is about the disaster itself. Recommended.
8. This interview with New Zealand’s new, hopelessly (and proudly) under-qualified Arts Spokesman is genuinely jaw-dropping.
9. If you’ve been a subscriber for a while, you may remember me covering the brouhaha around the fact that women weren’t allowed to ride Red Bull Rampage. To get up to speed, read this guest blog I posted at the time (above).
Anyway, Red Bull Rampage have now decided to let women ride at this year’s event, which is obviously really welcome and significant news. More here.
10. Finally, as I’ve mentioned before, for me Barnay Ronay is one of the football writing greats, and he’s on excoriating form here with his take on the latest twist in the Manchester City saga.
Plus! Welcome The Wave to HKC Discount Club! Yep, my close friends at The Wave have joined my other partner brands Finisterre, Stance, Albion, Vivo and Db to offer Looking Sideways listeners and readers yet another an exclusive discount code: this one offering 10% off ANY session at our favourite inland lake. Just drop the code SIDEWAVES10 at checkout to get the goods.
Plus plus! Today is the final day to apply for the vacant copywriter role at my agency
. To apply, click here.
The London Calling film was very enjoyable. I did not go to the event because I felt a little weird about reminiscing with a bunch of dudes I have never met. Seemed to work for a lot of many of them though.
This looks like an opportunity not to be missed, but the same day train ride from Paris to London is out of my budget range. If this would be recorder for later enjoyment, I would definitely do.