Looking Sideways: 10 Things
This week’s ten things selection is here.
Congratulations to listener and reader Clare Burrage, who is the winner of a care package featuring drinks, gummies, drops and merch courtesy of my friends at Goodrays following the recent Open Thread q&a about all our collective highlights of 2023. To catch up on that discussion, click here. Massive thanks to Owen and Henry for helping make that happen. Got an idea for an Open Thread topic or guest? Let me know.
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1. The Revelstoke leg of Natural Selection happened and it all came together: an incredible course, enough snow cover and some frankly terrifying snowboarding (along with the now obligatory judging controversies). The highlight? Travis Rice redefining what it means to send it with this line (above) in the final.
2. The Telegraph posted a story on diversity in skiing and, inevitably, the comment section blew a gasket. Even if you disagree with the viewpoint being expressed, why is it that people lose their shit so completely at the merest hint of an idea slightly outside their usual worldview? This is a question myself and Stan Evans explore in this Sunday’s forthcoming episode. In the meantime, answers on a postcard via the comment section below.
3. My pal Dave Mailman is a) a legend and b) has just launched a new show called Inside Surfing that ‘tells the stories, introduces the people & explores the places that make surfing so amazing, so inspiring, & so hard to define’. Watch the first episode above.
4. There’s still a few days left to contribute to the Big Sea Kickstarter - click here to do so. There’s also been a development in the story, with Denka now being sued by the US Department of Justice over the St John’s plant’s chloroprene emissions. More here.
One thing I have found interesting in the aftermath of this debate is the number of brands who, by their use of neoprene, are implicated in the problem; yet who despite this continue to loudly burnish their own environmental credentials: like Rip Curl, with their triumphant B Corps announcement this week. It got me thinking ….knowing this, does it impact your perception of brands in this position? Vote below!
5. I love sharing local UK surf scene films, and this one from Local Mag documenting a memorable recent week is very enjoyable indeed.
6. I also bloody love Arnie - and not just because I grew up watching all of his ridiculous 80s action films. His newsletter is great, and I like how he uses his platform and experience for punchy, I’ve-run-out-of-fucks-to-give messages such as this.
7. Seamus Carey’s The Reason Why, which explored the complex issue of Cornish nationalism and gentrification, was one of my favourite listens of 2022. Ahead of a new tour, he was profiled in the Guardian. Read it here.
8. Related, albeit tangentially: news from reader/listener Rosanne Abel, who alerted me to the local battle to save Whipsiderry Cliffs, an issue that seems to perfectly encapsulate local outrage at the way planning is chipping away at the character of the region, and eroding local chances of being able to afford a home in the area. Find out more here.
9. Anthony Pappalardo's ARTLESS INDUSTRIA® is one of my favourite things on here, and his interview with Clyde Singleton is great.
10. This is a great IWD initiative from Finisterre - a film competition ‘open to all filmmakers who identify as a woman’, with a £5k prize and a spot at the London Surf FIlm Festival up for grabs. Find out more here.
Hope you enjoyed this week’s selection. Leave a comment, or if you’re paid subscriber who has any feedback or questions about the newsletter or recent episodes of the podcast, you can contact me directly in the subscriber chat thread.
Arnold Schwarzenegger video is well worth the watch.
Chicken Sausages is the best surf flick I have seen in years. Four naturals from West Yorks go surfing. Reminiscent of trips done in yore.