My essentials: Joe Azzopardi’s cultural picks

1. Book

Well, I spend most of my life reading script after script so books rarely make their way into my line of sight. Though I have recently picked up ‘The Dude and the Zen Master’ by Jeff Bridges and Bernie Glassman. It’s an entertaining, charming, inspiring look into the minds of two practising Buddhists through the lens of the Hollywood cult film The Big Lebowski.

2. Film/TV

I’ve strangely not really been impressed with the films up for the Oscar noms this year. ‘Tick, Tick… Boom!’ Has got to be my clear faverouit. I love Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musicals and I thought he smashed it with his directorial debut.

3. Internet 

Thought this was appropriate since we just legalised cannabis [see photo for meme.]

4. Music

‘Something by Alex Phillips’. Alex is one of my best friends and a sensational artist. His new EP ‘All I’ve grown’ is a real work of art.

5. Place

Since COVID hit I’ve really found the beauty in Sicily. That easy place to travel to which is just a ferry ride away and with so much to see. I also fund the love for Spain in 2021 visiting Madrid, Barcelona and Ibiza. Ibiza wins. It’s double the size of Malta with half the population and they absolutely embrace nature over there. Not like in Malta where we find any excuse to cut down trees and lay down some tarmac.