1. If the leaves are falling, it means it’s almost Kendal Mountain Festival time. And I’m happy to be doing a few bits this year, as usual.
First up, on the Thursday, I’ll be hosting a panel on activism and effective storytelling at the new Outdoor Connections event, which is this year making its Kendal debut. I’ve got Finisterre CMO Bronwen Foster-Butler and Re-Action’s Gavin Fernie-Jones confirmed so far, with more to come.
Then, on Saturday, I’m hosting another Creative Exchange: this time with Oscar-winning documentary film-maker Orlando von Einsiedel, which I am very much looking forward to.
Finally, on the Sunday, we’ll be doing the now traditional live Looking Sideways session to round things off. I’ll post the ticket links when I have ‘em.
2. It is twenty years since we lost Gus Gillard, one of UK snowboarding’s early pioneers; and a lovely, kind man who welcomed me with open arms to the British snowboarding community when I was a young idiot trying to make my way.
Now a group of Gus’s friends are raising funds to give Gus’s gravestone a much-needed makeover. Find out more and donate here.
3. Belated congratulations to my friend CJ Mirra on the release of his original soundtrack to The Big Sea. As you’ll know if you’ve seen the film, the soundtrack elevates the documentary to another level entirely. Get involved above or - even better - support independent artists by buying a copy here.
4. There’s almost too much commentary around the current febrile atmosphere in the UK to digest. But I tip my hat to this typically brilliant and perceptive Barney Ronay piece on what football is ‘telling us’ about the country’s current political situation, and especially our current ‘age of flags’.
My code LOOKINGSIDEWAYS10 will get you 10% off any order from Finisterre.
5. A new discovery: the BBC’s outstandingly good Artworks series, which I have been binging over the last week.
There’s too much good stuff to get into, but the shows about the issues with Paul Simon’s Graceland, and a farmer’s take on Orwell’s Animal Farm, and Guy Garvey on Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden are especially good, and a brilliant place to start.
6. Wuthering Heights gets the Saltburn treatment. The comments (“what book did y’all read?”) are great.
7. Kevin Kelley has written a remarkably generous and essential piece about the mechanics of every publishing and distribution model which I think every creative person should read.
Use my code LOOKINGSIDEWAYSDB for 15% off anything from Db.
8. Who Owns The River Dart? asks this fascinating post on Guy Shrubsole’s Who Owns England? website.
9. Absinthe TV, surely one of the most important archives in sideways history, is now available in 70 different countries. More here.
10. Next week’s episode is a brilliantly revealing conversation with Yi-Wo director Thomas Campbell about the ten years it took him to make the film, why the role of art is to challenge, and how the film (and soundtrack) is reflection of his own growth. It’s a good one.
In the meantime, I enjoyed Big Sea writer Chris Nelson’s take on the film for Huck. Read it here.
Thanks for reading and supporting Looking Sideways! If you have any thoughts about any of the stories I discuss this week, let me know: