Looking Sideways: 10 Things
Here are this week's ten things I thought were worth sharing
1. “Fuck if you don’t feel like you fit in. Just do what you love.”
Words to live by from this week’s guest Christa Funk.
Listeners have been loving Christa’s brilliantly relatable story about overcoming your own demons and the preconceptions of others. Christa’s such a warm, hilarious character: click here to listen to our conversation.
And click the link above to see all of Owen’s joyful water portraits of Christa. These might be my favourites pics of a guest yet, from the regular collaborator and friend I’m privileged to work with on the podcast.
2. The LS x Db Fund has been live for around a week and we’ve already had some brilliant entries. If you missed it, the idea is simple: together, we want to find the next generation of creatives, and help them tell the tales the world needs to know. We’re also looking for ideas that aren’t the usual tried-and-tested action sports/outdoor industry tales.
If you’re a photographer, a writer, a podcaster, a journalist, an artist or a film-maker with a story to tell, we want to hear from you. And we want to help you get your project out there.
This year, we will choose two winners and help them tell their stories. These winners will receive mentoring, up to €5k, and the chance to be interviewed about their project on this very podcast.
The deadline for entries? July 31st 2022. To apply, click this link. Go questions? Leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer them.
3. Even after all these years, it’s still nice to get a new byline in a magazine I’ve long admired. For my first piece for Huck Magazine I wrote about the Colour Collective’s recent Peak District rideout, and how it is part of a grand tradition of questioning who the outdoors is ‘for’ that began with the Mass Trespass. Click here to read it.
4. OK, I’m about to recommend a politics podcast featuring ex-Manchester United footballer Gary Neville. But, as the Liverpool-supporting fan who recommended this to me said, Gary speaks much impassioned common sense about the absolute state of political discourse in this country, and makes the very obvious point that if the government was an ordinary business, the current leader and cabinet would have been fired a long time ago. Listen to it above.
5. It’s been fascinating watching the discourse around NFTs and crypto change over the last 9 months. Listening to my friends (who have subsequently all lost cash) earnestly talk about it in one of our WhatsApp groups always reminds me of this scene from Trading Places. Anyway, I’ve found arch crypto sceptic Molly White’s blog to be an interesting resource as I continue to try and get to grips with the whole thing. Click here to read it.
6. Last week I posted friend-of-the-pod Sean Ingle’s take on the latest developments in debate around trans women participating in female sport. For balance, here’s an alternative view from another of my favourite sportswriters Jonathan Liew.
7. Timeline cleanser from Torren and Ishka, above. Ah, just watch it.
8. Brands! My friend Fiona is organising Limitlass, a women’s only mountain bike event in Aberdeenshire this August and is looking for sponsorship and prizes. Fiona, Katie and Anna are working hard to progress women’s mountain biking in Scotland, and this is grassroots event well worth supporting. Contact Fiona here.
9. My pals at the London Surf Film Festival are hosting a very special filmmaking workshop with Stacy Peralta on July 22nd at the Genesis Cinema in London.
As Demi says, this workshop “is an incredible, once in a lifetime opportunity for filmmakers and storytellers to ask the critically acclaimed Director the real, burning questions exploring everything from the creative journey to the dark art of funding, distribution and beyond. As Stacy explains, this two-way conversation is set to ‘demythologise the mystery of filmmaking’”.
What are you waiting for? Book your tickets here.
10. Finally - thanks to everybody who left a comment on the Open Thread. There’s already a brilliant conversation taking place over there, and it’s been great getting feedback from readers and listeners. Click the button below to get involved
Is the Db x LS Fund limited to Britain/Europe or can anyone apply? I have a few ideas although I have to think about what is the most feasible to create into a book or webseries.
Love these emails Mat, thanks for taking the time to put them together.
Re: the NFT's. I have an interest from the photography perspective. There is an excellent 4 part series of articles from ex-long term photo editor Rob Haggart as he try's to dissect what they really mean in the photography world; the problems with copyright, the scramble for first mover advantage etc. Have linked to one of the below for you.
Peace, Chris weMove
https://aphotoeditor.com/2022/05/11/nfts-part-3-the-10k-project/