Sam Archer

  • Air Travel is Such a Trip, Man

    The past three months have been the most absurdly disorientating of my life. Dream-like in every sense of the phrase. Jubilant, enriching, surreal, discombobulating, glorious, and profoundly derealizing. Since March 10th, I have flown just over 170,000km. The three months… Continue reading

    Air Travel is Such a Trip, Man
  • You’re Doing So Good

    A child, named Tommy, sits on a step. Tommy is three. He likes dinosaurs and apples, and he is just learning to tie his shoelaces. As he does so, his inexperienced fingers get caught up in the loops he is… Continue reading

    You’re Doing So Good
  • Starting Over

    The English language is rich with idioms related to the process of starting over. Picking up the pieces. Getting back on the wagon. Getting back in the saddle. Turning over a new leaf. Getting back into the groove. The process… Continue reading

    Starting Over
  • My Life in 100 Songs

    The past is fascinating. It is the home of nostalgia, of infinite experiences, of different feelings, of different loves, selves, places and people. Since publishing My Life in 100 Films, I’ve been drawn again to collect experience under the umbrella… Continue reading

    My Life in 100 Songs
  • Trainspotting (1993, 1996): A Tale of Two Tastes

    In the landscape of cultural adaptation, few works demonstrate the metamorphosis of medium  as starkly as Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting and Danny Boyle’s cinematic interpretation. Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting was one of the 90s’ defining works of cinema: fresh, exhilarating, narcissistic and… Continue reading

    Trainspotting (1993, 1996): A Tale of Two Tastes
  • The Zero in The Gnarled Pine Hollow: An Appalachian Tale

    Featuring rolling, mist-covered peaks and breathtaking views, the Great Smoky Mountains straddle the border between North Carolina and Tennessee and include 71 miles of the Appalachian Trail. On  the 1st of March, with FreshGrounds’ breakfast in my belly and a… Continue reading

    The Zero in The Gnarled Pine Hollow: An Appalachian Tale
  • Burning Candles From All Angles

    Last Saturday, I reneged on the commitment I had made to write and publish an article each day. What had begun with determination ended not with decision, but dissolution. Not extinguished with an almighty breath, or a great gust of… Continue reading

    Burning Candles From All Angles
  • Sun-Drenched Driveways, Acid-Washed Lemonade, and Smoking Caterpillars: The Soundscapes of LSD, Pt. 2

    Welcome back to another episode of “The Soundscapes of LSD”. The previous edition looked at the phantasmagorical world of The Beatle’s Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Kenny Roger’s experience of having his sense of Self diced up and sent… Continue reading

    Sun-Drenched Driveways, Acid-Washed Lemonade, and Smoking Caterpillars: The Soundscapes of LSD, Pt. 2
  • Into The Big Forever Blue

    Heathrow this morning was shrouded in a shawl of grey. Sat in the cockpit, on a wool shag Boeing jump seat, behind the pilots as they propel more fuel into the engines. Faster, faster, faster, until the point of no… Continue reading

    Into The Big Forever Blue
  • Be Bold, Be Bald

    “Thsome men are blessthed with beautiful hair, and all othersth are blessthed with beautifully shaped headsth” Christopher Eubank … When I was sixteen, I had an issue that kept me up at night. I eventually booked myself a GP appointment… Continue reading

    Be Bold, Be Bald