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“Some confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about”*…
Louise Lawler, Does Andy Warhol Make You Cry?, 1988Critics mourn a bygone cultural era. But, as Audrey Wollen reminds us, nostalgia for the new isn’t new…
You could be forgiven for thinking things—art, books, music, clothes—were irretrievably dire. Almost a decade ago, Alex Ross wrote in The New Yorker that “culture appears more monolithic than ever. . . . Technology conspires with populism to create an ideologically vacant dictatorship of likes.” In a 2023 piece in The New York Times Magazine, Jason Farago claimed: “We are now almost a quarter of the way through what looks likely to go down in history as the least innovative, least transformative, least pioneering century for culture since the invention of the printing press.” A headline last year at The Atlantic read: “Is This the Worst-Ever Era of American Pop Culture?” New York recently released “The Stupid Issue,” asking, “Is 2025 the stupidest year on record?” and answering with “12 signs of a culture in decline,” in the same listicle format often blamed for dwindling journalistic standards.
Apparently, I’ve been living in this arid desert of innovation for my entire adolescence and adult life. In 2011, the year I turned nineteen, the music critic Simon Reynolds made the following diagnosis in his book Retromania: “Instead of being about itself, the 2000s has been about every other previous decade happening again all at once: a simultaneity of pop time that abolishes history while nibbling away at the present’s own sense of itself as an era with a distinct identity and feel.” In 2014, in the introduction to his influential essay collection Ghosts of My Life, the cultural theorist Mark Fisher wrote, “It’s clear to me that now the period from roughly 2003 to the present will be recognised—not in the far distant future, but very soon—as the worst period for (popular) culture since the 1950s.” (An odd claim, as the 1950s saw the birth of rock and roll in the United States, major breakthroughs in jazz, and Singin’ in the Rain.)
“Very soon” has arrived, the simultaneity of time notwithstanding, inaugurated by W. David Marx’s recent book, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century, which aims to historicize the years from 2000 to 2025 as a period of creative emptiness and stagnation so intractable that it will be remembered (or, rather, is being remembered, through the anticipation of remembrance) as voided time, a dark age. Blank Space offers 281 fast-paced, rollicking pages that provide an overview of an extraordinary number of cultural events—including the flourishing of reality television, Web 2.0 and social media, monumental social and political movements from Occupy Wall Street to MAGA—only to culminate with the bewildering conclusion that nothing artistically transformative has occurred.
In his closing chapter, Marx writes, “Culture has been central to the narrative of the last twenty-five years—but merely as entertainment, commerce, and politics. In reliving the first quarter of the century in these pages, we can feel what’s missing—there is a conspicuous blank space where art and creativity used to be.” It is, by its own admission, history presented as negative-space drawing: if you write down all the “entertainment, commerce, and politics,” the absent shape of “art” might become visible. Art evades definition—you’ll know it when you (don’t) see it.
No one could argue that people are making less of it, as this is also an era defined by unprecedented access to the tools of production and distribution. The means to edit a short film, design a poster, or record an album in your bedroom, and then publish that work directly to an audience, are newly affordable and widespread. For Marx, however, most of that creation (or should we call it content?) is not creativity; it is a surplus of material, propelled and inhibited by a wish to make money and gain attention. Poptimism—the idea that commercial pop should be accorded the same critical attention as traditionally “serious” genres such as rock or jazz—has wrenched away our critical ability to assess something’s worth outside of metrics defined by mass-market success: if it makes money, it must be good. (I would argue that the floundering of critical thinking in public life, and of criticism as a professional practice, is not due to the scholarly appreciation of Mariah Carey songs, but that is a minor point.)
According to Marx, nothing “feels new” or “radical enough to outmode the past,” resulting in a terrible state of affairs in which “Audrey Hepburn, Miles Davis, and Joan Didion remain iconic because no one has emerged who can compete with their cool.” Yet it is the narration and re-narration of Hepburn’s, Davis’s, and Didion’s “cool” that cements them so firmly in our firmament. Not only have all three appeared in mainstream fashion campaigns in the past twenty years (the Gap, Supreme, and Celine, respectively), but each has been the subject of a full-length documentary in the past ten (Audrey, 2020; Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, 2019; Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold, 2017), and at least one major book about each has been released in the past five (Intimate Audrey, 2026, by Sean Hepburn Ferrer and Wendy Holden; 3 Shades of Blue, by James Kaplan, and Didion & Babitz, by Lili Anolik, both 2024). To allow others to “compete,” the cultural historians of the recent past would have to find something to historicize other than the current generation’s perceived inadequacy.
History, as usual, presents a Goldilocks problem—never “just right,” it is always ballooning into overwhelming excess, filling up the room and weighing down the present, or deflating into a slippery pellicular film, impossible to handle or understand. Popular internet discourse delivers jokes about millennials “watching their 173rd once-in-a-lifetime historical event unfold,” as one recent meme put it, as though my generation suffers from too much history, a “too much” that also signifies the end of itself, like the home of a hoarder that has accumulated so many mountains of life detritus that it ceases to function as a place where a person can live. This surplus of past in our everyday lives, which Reynolds has dubbed our retromania, is eased by the flattened, instantaneous libraries of Babel in our pockets at all times, and causes what the Italian philosopher Franco “Bifo” Berardi described as “the slow cancellation of the future,” a feeling of time’s forward propulsion gradually decelerating until it barely moves at all. If the second half of the twentieth century was a rushing river of culture, many feel that the present has become a brackish wetland, a marsh. This is found in the ubiquity of reboots in our movie theaters, the diffuse archive-jumbling of our fashion trends, the collapse of unifying -isms in our contemporary art, the citational frenzy of our popular music, and, most nefariously, the conservative nostalgia that currently dominates Western politics.
And yet it is hard not to hear the claims of our missing originality as a kind of nostalgia in its own right, hearkening back to a semi-mythical past when artists were brave and fun, rent was cheap, and everything was new and meaningful. (Nostalgia for those material conditions, rather than a generalized haze of rebellion and inspiration, is well placed; as Fisher wrote, “If there’s one factor above all else which contributes to cultural conservatism, it is the vast inflation in the cost of rent and mortgages.”) On a rhetorical level, Marx’s sweeping judgment is very difficult to contest: either you dredge up a few artifacts of novelty that have gone ignored, which reads as a little pathetic (please, sir, what about hyperpop?), or you are forced to defend the material he has dismissed as worthless (Addison Rae, Paris Hilton, the Real Housewives; his harbingers of cultural apocalypse—my harbingers of a great night!), which reads as a naive defense of late-capitalist consumerism. It is true that we are a generation stuck in a loop: many tiny loops, looping at different speeds, looping into other loops, as if we were all wedged inside an undulating Ruth Asawa sculpture, but instead of wire it is made of time. Maybe we are living in a marshland. Many creatures do.
“What’s so bad about repetition?” the compulsion asks. But, no, really, what’s so bad about repetition? Or perhaps it would be better rephrased as: What’s so good about innovation?…
… It does not surprise me that millennials and zoomers might be wary, unconsciously or otherwise, of contributing anything “new” to a stretch of history that has voraciously eaten newness only to cough up suffering. What about the past fifty, seventy-five, one hundred years makes barreling toward the future seem like a good idea? The Doomsday Clock reads eighty-five seconds to midnight, and for many across the globe a more local apocalypse has already arrived. Some of the archive fever of the past twenty-five years might be a form of emotional anti-accelerationism, a generation desperately trying to produce a wind drag on the forward velocity powered by the deathly machinery of the twentieth century. To approach the world “anew,” we might need to embrace the word’s cyclonic strangeness, its inherent paradox, defined as “once again” (and again, and again, and again, and again, and again), “in a different way.”…
Read on: “Is the Twenty-First Century a Creative Void?” (a perfect example of Betteridge’s Law :-) from @yalereview.bsky.social
* W. H. Auden
###
As we rethink repetition, we might recall that it was on this date in 1955 that a man who used something old to make something new– and played a key role in transition from the blues to rock and roll– had his only #1 hit: Bo Diddley‘s eponymously-titled debut single reached the top of Billboard’s R&B chart.
Five months later– and five months before Elvis Presley’s first appearance– Bo Diddley, born Ellas Otha Bates, made his television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show… and introduced the mainstream American audience to the 4/4 wonder we would come to know as Rock and Roll. He performed his signature tune, “Bo Diddley”– which prefigured such classics as Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” and the Stangeloves’ “I Want Candy,” among countless others. In the kinescope of the show (below), the studio audience can be heard clapping heartily along.
Diddley later recalled that Ed Sullivan had expected him to perform only a cover version of “Tennessee” Ernie Ford’s “Sixteen Tons” and was furious with him for opening with “Bo Diddley”– so furious that Sullivan banned him from future appearances on his show. But the damage was done: as George Thorogood told Rolling Stone: “[Chuck Berry’s] ‘Maybellene’ is a country song sped up… ‘Johnny B. Goode’ is blues sped up. But you listen to ‘Bo Diddley,’ and you say, ‘What in the Jesus is that?’”
https://youtu.be/dLcYuuljrD4?si=K1VrJxXhHbO1aR7T
#blues #BoDiddley #creativity #culture #EdSullivanShow #history #innovation #music #originality #repetition #rock -
“Some confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about”*…
Louise Lawler, Does Andy Warhol Make You Cry?, 1988Critics mourn a bygone cultural era. But, as Audrey Wollen reminds us, nostalgia for the new isn’t new…
You could be forgiven for thinking things—art, books, music, clothes—were irretrievably dire. Almost a decade ago, Alex Ross wrote in The New Yorker that “culture appears more monolithic than ever. . . . Technology conspires with populism to create an ideologically vacant dictatorship of likes.” In a 2023 piece in The New York Times Magazine, Jason Farago claimed: “We are now almost a quarter of the way through what looks likely to go down in history as the least innovative, least transformative, least pioneering century for culture since the invention of the printing press.” A headline last year at The Atlantic read: “Is This the Worst-Ever Era of American Pop Culture?” New York recently released “The Stupid Issue,” asking, “Is 2025 the stupidest year on record?” and answering with “12 signs of a culture in decline,” in the same listicle format often blamed for dwindling journalistic standards.
Apparently, I’ve been living in this arid desert of innovation for my entire adolescence and adult life. In 2011, the year I turned nineteen, the music critic Simon Reynolds made the following diagnosis in his book Retromania: “Instead of being about itself, the 2000s has been about every other previous decade happening again all at once: a simultaneity of pop time that abolishes history while nibbling away at the present’s own sense of itself as an era with a distinct identity and feel.” In 2014, in the introduction to his influential essay collection Ghosts of My Life, the cultural theorist Mark Fisher wrote, “It’s clear to me that now the period from roughly 2003 to the present will be recognised—not in the far distant future, but very soon—as the worst period for (popular) culture since the 1950s.” (An odd claim, as the 1950s saw the birth of rock and roll in the United States, major breakthroughs in jazz, and Singin’ in the Rain.)
“Very soon” has arrived, the simultaneity of time notwithstanding, inaugurated by W. David Marx’s recent book, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century, which aims to historicize the years from 2000 to 2025 as a period of creative emptiness and stagnation so intractable that it will be remembered (or, rather, is being remembered, through the anticipation of remembrance) as voided time, a dark age. Blank Space offers 281 fast-paced, rollicking pages that provide an overview of an extraordinary number of cultural events—including the flourishing of reality television, Web 2.0 and social media, monumental social and political movements from Occupy Wall Street to MAGA—only to culminate with the bewildering conclusion that nothing artistically transformative has occurred.
In his closing chapter, Marx writes, “Culture has been central to the narrative of the last twenty-five years—but merely as entertainment, commerce, and politics. In reliving the first quarter of the century in these pages, we can feel what’s missing—there is a conspicuous blank space where art and creativity used to be.” It is, by its own admission, history presented as negative-space drawing: if you write down all the “entertainment, commerce, and politics,” the absent shape of “art” might become visible. Art evades definition—you’ll know it when you (don’t) see it.
No one could argue that people are making less of it, as this is also an era defined by unprecedented access to the tools of production and distribution. The means to edit a short film, design a poster, or record an album in your bedroom, and then publish that work directly to an audience, are newly affordable and widespread. For Marx, however, most of that creation (or should we call it content?) is not creativity; it is a surplus of material, propelled and inhibited by a wish to make money and gain attention. Poptimism—the idea that commercial pop should be accorded the same critical attention as traditionally “serious” genres such as rock or jazz—has wrenched away our critical ability to assess something’s worth outside of metrics defined by mass-market success: if it makes money, it must be good. (I would argue that the floundering of critical thinking in public life, and of criticism as a professional practice, is not due to the scholarly appreciation of Mariah Carey songs, but that is a minor point.)
According to Marx, nothing “feels new” or “radical enough to outmode the past,” resulting in a terrible state of affairs in which “Audrey Hepburn, Miles Davis, and Joan Didion remain iconic because no one has emerged who can compete with their cool.” Yet it is the narration and re-narration of Hepburn’s, Davis’s, and Didion’s “cool” that cements them so firmly in our firmament. Not only have all three appeared in mainstream fashion campaigns in the past twenty years (the Gap, Supreme, and Celine, respectively), but each has been the subject of a full-length documentary in the past ten (Audrey, 2020; Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, 2019; Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold, 2017), and at least one major book about each has been released in the past five (Intimate Audrey, 2026, by Sean Hepburn Ferrer and Wendy Holden; 3 Shades of Blue, by James Kaplan, and Didion & Babitz, by Lili Anolik, both 2024). To allow others to “compete,” the cultural historians of the recent past would have to find something to historicize other than the current generation’s perceived inadequacy.
History, as usual, presents a Goldilocks problem—never “just right,” it is always ballooning into overwhelming excess, filling up the room and weighing down the present, or deflating into a slippery pellicular film, impossible to handle or understand. Popular internet discourse delivers jokes about millennials “watching their 173rd once-in-a-lifetime historical event unfold,” as one recent meme put it, as though my generation suffers from too much history, a “too much” that also signifies the end of itself, like the home of a hoarder that has accumulated so many mountains of life detritus that it ceases to function as a place where a person can live. This surplus of past in our everyday lives, which Reynolds has dubbed our retromania, is eased by the flattened, instantaneous libraries of Babel in our pockets at all times, and causes what the Italian philosopher Franco “Bifo” Berardi described as “the slow cancellation of the future,” a feeling of time’s forward propulsion gradually decelerating until it barely moves at all. If the second half of the twentieth century was a rushing river of culture, many feel that the present has become a brackish wetland, a marsh. This is found in the ubiquity of reboots in our movie theaters, the diffuse archive-jumbling of our fashion trends, the collapse of unifying -isms in our contemporary art, the citational frenzy of our popular music, and, most nefariously, the conservative nostalgia that currently dominates Western politics.
And yet it is hard not to hear the claims of our missing originality as a kind of nostalgia in its own right, hearkening back to a semi-mythical past when artists were brave and fun, rent was cheap, and everything was new and meaningful. (Nostalgia for those material conditions, rather than a generalized haze of rebellion and inspiration, is well placed; as Fisher wrote, “If there’s one factor above all else which contributes to cultural conservatism, it is the vast inflation in the cost of rent and mortgages.”) On a rhetorical level, Marx’s sweeping judgment is very difficult to contest: either you dredge up a few artifacts of novelty that have gone ignored, which reads as a little pathetic (please, sir, what about hyperpop?), or you are forced to defend the material he has dismissed as worthless (Addison Rae, Paris Hilton, the Real Housewives; his harbingers of cultural apocalypse—my harbingers of a great night!), which reads as a naive defense of late-capitalist consumerism. It is true that we are a generation stuck in a loop: many tiny loops, looping at different speeds, looping into other loops, as if we were all wedged inside an undulating Ruth Asawa sculpture, but instead of wire it is made of time. Maybe we are living in a marshland. Many creatures do.
“What’s so bad about repetition?” the compulsion asks. But, no, really, what’s so bad about repetition? Or perhaps it would be better rephrased as: What’s so good about innovation?…
… It does not surprise me that millennials and zoomers might be wary, unconsciously or otherwise, of contributing anything “new” to a stretch of history that has voraciously eaten newness only to cough up suffering. What about the past fifty, seventy-five, one hundred years makes barreling toward the future seem like a good idea? The Doomsday Clock reads eighty-five seconds to midnight, and for many across the globe a more local apocalypse has already arrived. Some of the archive fever of the past twenty-five years might be a form of emotional anti-accelerationism, a generation desperately trying to produce a wind drag on the forward velocity powered by the deathly machinery of the twentieth century. To approach the world “anew,” we might need to embrace the word’s cyclonic strangeness, its inherent paradox, defined as “once again” (and again, and again, and again, and again, and again), “in a different way.”…
Read on: “Is the Twenty-First Century a Creative Void?” (a perfect example of Betteridge’s Law :-) from @yalereview.bsky.social
* W. H. Auden
###
As we rethink repetition, we might recall that it was on this date in 1955 that a man who used something old to make something new– and played a key role in transition from the blues to rock and roll– had his only #1 hit: Bo Diddley‘s eponymously-titled debut single reached the top of Billboard’s R&B chart.
Five months later– and five months before Elvis Presley’s first appearance– Bo Diddley, born Ellas Otha Bates, made his television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show… and introduced the mainstream American audience to the 4/4 wonder we would come to know as Rock and Roll. He performed his signature tune, “Bo Diddley”– which prefigured such classics as Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” and the Stangeloves’ “I Want Candy,” among countless others. In the kinescope of the show (below), the studio audience can be heard clapping heartily along.
Diddley later recalled that Ed Sullivan had expected him to perform only a cover version of “Tennessee” Ernie Ford’s “Sixteen Tons” and was furious with him for opening with “Bo Diddley”– so furious that Sullivan banned him from future appearances on his show. But the damage was done: as George Thorogood told Rolling Stone: “[Chuck Berry’s] ‘Maybellene’ is a country song sped up… ‘Johnny B. Goode’ is blues sped up. But you listen to ‘Bo Diddley,’ and you say, ‘What in the Jesus is that?’”
https://youtu.be/dLcYuuljrD4?si=K1VrJxXhHbO1aR7T
#blues #BoDiddley #creativity #culture #EdSullivanShow #history #innovation #music #originality #repetition #rock -
Wendy Williams’ Team Asks Court for All Proceeds From Lifetime Docuseries to Fund Medical Care
#Business #BusinessNews #WendyWilliams -
Wendy Williams’ Team Asks Court for All Proceeds From Lifetime Docuseries to Fund Medical Care
#Business #BusinessNews #WendyWilliams -
‘Where Is Wendy Williams?’ Producers Say They Were “Worried” About Her Care Under Her Guardianship
#TV #TVNews #AE #AENetworks #Lifetime #WendyWilliams #WhereIsWendyWilliams -
‘Where Is Wendy Williams?’ Producers Say They Were “Worried” About Her Care Under Her Guardianship
#TV #TVNews #AE #AENetworks #Lifetime #WendyWilliams #WhereIsWendyWilliams -
CANCER CARE: Double win for Swansea Bay’s NHS innovators — and a third award comes to Hywel Dda
Cancer teams from Swansea Bay have taken a double win at the awards celebrating the people transforming cancer care in Wales.
Swansea Bay University Health Board won two accolades at the third Moondance Cancer Awards — the only awards dedicated solely to cancer services in Wales, organised independently by the Moondance Cancer Initiative to spotlight the individuals, teams and collaborations leading the way across NHS Wales.
The health board took the Better Patient Experience award for its Radiographer-Led Late Radiotherapy Effects Service — which provides tailored support and timely specialist referrals for patients experiencing long-term complications after treatment, creating a more responsive model for cancer survivorship in Wales.
“It feels overwhelming to win, but it’s a great achievement for a brand-new service across Wales,” said Rebecca Lloyd, commenting on the award.
The board also shared the Working Together award — alongside Velindre University NHS Trust, Health Education and Improvement Wales and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board — for the Building a Multi-Professional Radiotherapy Workforce initiative.
The collaboration has strengthened radiotherapy workforce capability across Wales, developing a safe, standardised, multi-professional approach to radiotherapy target delineation — with a national training framework, shared learning resources and consistent assessment designed to reduce variation and support faster progression from diagnosis to treatment planning.
“It feels wonderful to have won this award tonight,” said Lucy Wills, chair of the Multi-Professional Radiotherapy Target Definition Group. “It’s really motivating to be recognised and appreciated for our work; this win will help us move forward with our objectives in the future.”
The team behind the Building a Multi-Professional Radiotherapy Workforce initiative — a collaboration between Swansea Bay, Velindre, HEIW and Betsi Cadwaladr — collect the Working Together award (Image: Moondance Cancer Initiative)There was a third win for the region too — with Hywel Dda University Health Board taking the Detection and Diagnosis award for its One-Stop Clinic for Post-Menopausal Bleeding, speeding the route to diagnosis for women across the health board area.
The winners were judged by a panel including Prof Isabel Oliver, Chief Medical Officer for Wales, alongside senior figures from across health, life sciences and innovation.
Wendy Evans, managing director at Moondance Cancer Initiative, said: “The Moondance Cancer Awards celebrate the individuals, teams and collaborations driving change across cancer services in Wales. This year’s winners demonstrate the impact of focus, creativity, joint working and shared ambition in improving outcomes and experiences for patients.
“Moondance Cancer Initiative is privileged to work alongside NHS colleagues and partners to support progress for patients. We look forward to continuing that work, building on the ideas, relationships and momentum reflected in this year’s awards.”
Moondance Cancer Initiative is a philanthropically funded not-for-profit which finds, funds and fuels ideas to improve cancer outcomes in Wales — with an emphasis on earlier diagnosis, reducing variation and equitable access to care.
The full list of winners is at moondance-cancer.wales.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
MORRISTON: The scrub nurse who has served the NHS for 52 years — and was handed her qualification by the future King
More than five decades of NHS service at Morriston Hospital.PARAMEDIC JOBS: Welsh Government to hold emergency summit after 82 newly qualified paramedics left with no posts
The NHS workforce pressures facing the new government.More Swansea Bay University Health Board stories
#cancerCare #cancerServices #HywelDdaNHS #MoondanceCancerInitiative #MorristonHospital #SwanseaBayUniversityHealthBoard
The latest health news from across Swansea Bay. -
"Baby I don't care" - Transvision Vamp
The band Guns n' Roses wanted to be, but couldn't quite hack. Fizzing bundle of energy, cracking guitar riff, great feminine vocal.
Wendy's in a beret, and a sparkling off-the-shoulder dress that's mostly rags beneath the waist. She finds the camera enough to tell us that she doesn't care, and makes sure she's in shot during the guitar solo.
Song of the night, obvs.
-
"Baby I don't care" - Transvision Vamp
The band Guns n' Roses wanted to be, but couldn't quite hack. Fizzing bundle of energy, cracking guitar riff, great feminine vocal.
Wendy's in a beret, and a sparkling off-the-shoulder dress that's mostly rags beneath the waist. She finds the camera enough to tell us that she doesn't care, and makes sure she's in shot during the guitar solo.
Song of the night, obvs.
-
Kilómetro Cero | Lo que tienes que saber antes dea salir de casa | Martes 07 de julio de 2026
SN Redacción
Ismael El Mayo Zambada decidió no ir a juicio y aceptó recibir cadena perpetua en Estados Unidos y solicitó al juez Brian Cogan cumplir su condena en una instalación médica apropiada, debido a la diabetes avanzada que padece. La defensa, encabezada por el abogado Frank A. Pérez, argumentó que, a diferencia de Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, Zambada aceptó su responsabilidad, renunció a su derecho de apelación y evitó un juicio prolongado, ahorrando millones de dólares al erario de Estados Unidos.
Antes de la guerra, el cártel de Sinaloa reclutaba jóvenes como halcones por un salario de entre 200 y 400 dólares al mes. Era un trabajo de bajo riesgo; vigilaban las calles e informaban sobre los movimientos de los «pixelados verdes» o los «grises»: el Ejército y la policía. La guerra lo cambió todo. Dos años después de que un hijo de Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán entregara a Ismael El Mayo Zambada a Estados Unidos –y se desatara una lucha por el control de la plaza–, los jóvenes tuvieron que convertirse en sicarios, pese a no tener adiestramiento. Los menores de 28 años representan 40 por ciento de los homicidios y la mitad de las personas desaparecidas en Sinaloa.
Los dos tenientes coroneles buscados por la Fiscalía General de República debido a su participación en el contrabando de combustible en la aduana de Matamoros, Tamaulipas, trataron de ampararse contra el bloqueo de sus cuentas por parte de la Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera de la Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público. Ninguno de los recursos judiciales, uno radicado en Ciudad de México y el otro en Tamaulipas, tiene sentencia definitiva. Este lunes, se publicó que estos dos militares de alto rango, junto a un elemento castrense más, forman la parte marcial de una conspiración criminal que con otros 10 funcionarios y empresarios introdujo 144 millones de litros de hidrocarburos entre el 1 de junio y el 22 de julio de 2025. Con esta acusación, el escándalo del contrabando de combustible en las aduanas de México llega ahora, tras la implicación de la Armada, a la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional.
“Juanita hermosa. Aquí viene la fecha de la semifinal y final. Para que busques hotel y vuelos para esas fechas”, escribió emocionado Gerardo González Valencia, uno de los líderes de Los Cuinis, el clan criminal que fue clave para que el Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) se convirtiera en una de las organizaciones de narcotráfico más grandes del mundo. En ese correo electrónico, el capo mexicano le pedía a su esposa, Wendy Amaral, que organizara un viaje familiar desde su escondite en Uruguay hacia dos de las sedes de la Copa del Mundo de Brasil 2014. Entre las opciones que le envió figuraban boletos que alcanzaban los 21.300 dólares, según un documento adjunto al mensaje. “Igual busca algún lugar donde quieras pasar tu cumple para que reserves”, añadió.
El millonario negocio del huachicol fiscal en México demostró no depender de un solo grupo criminal. La Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) detectó que en sólo 52 días ingresaron 144 millones de litros de combustibles, considerado el mayor caso de contrabando de Estados Unidos a México, ocurrido a mediados de 2025. El hallazgo confirma que este delito continuó expandiéndose con total impunidad a través de las aduanas, al mismo tiempo de que ya era perseguida la red de los hermanos Farías, los mandos de la Marina originalmente vinculados a estas operaciones ilícitas.
México afila de nuevo sus críticas contra Estados Unidos y su política securitaria en el exterior. Los últimos movimientos del gobierno de Donald Trump han molestado al Ejecutivo de Claudia Sheinbaum, en concreto los de una de sus patas del law enforcement, el FBI, que hace unos días anunciaba a bombo y platillo la instalación, en un museo, de la avioneta que trasladó a aquel país al narcotraficante Ismael Mayo Zambada, hace algo más de dos años. La extravagancia museística ha alimentado la idea en México de que el FBI planeó y ejecutó el secuestro del Mayo y su traslado posterior al norte de la frontera. Sheinbaum ha anunciado la presentación de un informe sobre el tema esta semana.
El gobierno de México decidió reservar por un periodo de cinco años la información relativa a la comunicación con autoridades de Estados Unidos respecto a la extradición del gobernador de Sinaloa con licencia Rubén Rocha Moya y del senador de Morena, Enrique Inzunza Cázares, ambos señalados de tener nexos con el Cártel de Sinaloa. Del mismo modo, el gobierno mexicano reservó por espacio de tres años las minutas de la reunión celebrada el 21 de mayo pasado, en Palacio Nacional, entre la presidente Claudia Sheinbaum, integrantes del Gabinete de Seguridad y el secretario de Seguridad Interna de Estados Unidos, Markwayne Mullin, en la que trascendió que el enviado estadounidense habría pedido la entrega de los políticos sinaloenses.
Mover petróleo sin dejar rastro, facturar miles de millones de pesos sin infraestructura, crear empresas que únicamente comercian entre sí y conectar toda la operación con compañías constituidas en Texas es la forma en que se constituye el mapa que dibujan las denuncias presentadas ante autoridades federales contra Gerardo Sánchez Zumaya. El empresario potosino es señalado como presunto líder de una organización que habría utilizado una red de compañías para lavar dinero, defraudar al fisco y ocultar la extracción, transporte y comercialización ilícita de hidrocarburos y productos petroquímicos desde instalaciones de Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex).
En Texas, desde hace 6 meses, la Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel (Grupo de Trabajo Conjunto Interinstitucional contra los Cárteles), tiene la encomienda específica de combatir en la frontera a grupos criminales mexicanos e identificar y apoyar en investigaciones sobre funcionarios que colaboran con el narco en tráfico de drogas, armas y lavado de dinero. Los reportes han derivado en cancelación de visas, aseguramiento de bienes y activos, así como incluir a políticos corruptos en la lista SDN (Nacionales Designados Especialmente o Personas Bloqueadas por Washingto
Óscar Luciano Martínez Larios, conocido como El Casco, es uno de los objetivos principales del Ejército y la Marina en Sinaloa. Las fuerzas armadas desplegaron al sur de la entidad un fuerte operativo para capturarlo durante el fin de semana. Este, no obstante, provocó un choque con hombres armados y al menos diez pistoleros de la facción de Los Chapitos fueron abatidos por los militares en las acciones. El saldo de un cruento fin de semana no se cerró allí. La Secretaría de Seguridad informó el lunes de la muerte de un marino tras una emboscada criminal en San Marcos, una comunidad de Mazatlán. Otros tres militares fueron heridos por los presuntos delincuentes. Las autoridades no han podido concretar la misión.
La teoría del «segundo tirador» en el caso Colosio volvió a fracasar ante la justicia federal. Tras casi ocho meses en prisión, un tribunal federal canceló el proceso y ordenó liberar a Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega, exagente del desaparecido Centro de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional (Cisen), señalado por la Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) como el segundo tirador en el magnicidio de Luis Donaldo Colosio, registrado el 23 de marzo de 1994. El Primer Tribunal Colegiado de Apelación de Toluca emitió el fallo con base en dos argumentos: que no había pruebas de un acuerdo previo entre Sánchez y Mario Aburto para asesinar al candidato presidencial y que el delito –el cual reclasificó– ya había prescrito desde 2014.
La defensa de Gilda Susana Lozoya Austin denunció actos de intimidación y amedrentamiento a su clienta por parte de autoridades federales, al «merodear» su casa y citarla el sábado pasado a las oficinas de la Guardia Nacional (GN) en Ecatepec, Estado de México, para practicarle una evaluación de riesgos. En una carta pública, el abogado Alejandro Rojas Pruneda acusó que tanto la Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) como la GN han cometido graves violaciones al debido proceso, la presunción de inocencia, la protección de datos personales y el derecho de defensa.
La Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) considera que Gilda Susana Lozoya Austin fue un «eslabón» con un peso específico para que su hermano Emilio Lozoya Austin cobrara un soborno de 3.5 millones de dólares y, al llegar a la dirección de Pemex, comprara con sobreprecio la planta «chatarra» de Agronitrogenados, informaron fuentes federales. En la teoría del caso de la FGR se considera que la mujer fue parte de esta supuesta maniobra con la que su hermano pretendió enmascarar el pago «corrupto» que presuntamente recibió de Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA), entonces propiedad de Alonso Ancira.
Frente al proceso que sigue la Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) en contra de Lozoya, hermana del exdirector de Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) Emilio Lozoya, y a la que se responsabiliza en operaciones irregulares, la presidente Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo solicitó a esa instancia informar con detalle la participación que tuvo la hermana del exfuncionario. A la vez, anunció que se reactivó la orden de aprehensión en contra del exdirector de Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) Alonso Ancira, involucrado también en el presunto fraude del que se señala a Lozoya.
La Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) revisará si los empresarios Miguel Alemán Velasco y Miguel Alemán Magnani pueden ser considerados responsables solidarios de un crédito fiscal por 689.3 millones de pesos derivado de impuestos retenidos y no enterados al fisco por ABC Aerolíneas (Interjet), de la que fungían como presidente y vicepresidente. Por mayoría de siete votos contra dos, de las ministras Yasmín Esquivel Mossa y Loretta Ortiz Ahlf, el Pleno determinó ayer, a propuesta del ministro Arístides Guerrero García, ejercer su facultad de atracción para conocer los recursos de revisión fiscal 205/2025 y 253/2025.
Un Juez federal de Control vinculó a proceso a Jesús Gabriel Pérez Rodríguez, señalado como presunto operador financiero del exsecretario de Seguridad Pública Federal, Genaro García Luna en el sexenio de Felipe Calderón y actualmente que está detenido en Estados Unidos cumpliendo una sentencia. De acuerdo con las investigaciones de la FGR, el detenido fue el encargado de participar en una ingeniería financiera creada por García Luna, compuesta por cuatro grupos de servidores públicos, personas físicas y morales para el desvío de recursos.
La Fiscalía General de la República obtuvo, en juicio oral, sentencia de tres años de prisión y el pago de una multa de 10 mil 374 pesos, contra José “N”, a quien se le acreditó su participación en el delito de portación de arma de fuego sin licencia. La Fiscalía, a través del agente del MPF inició las indagatorias correspondientes y reunió los medios de prueba expuestos al Juez de Control, adscrito al CJPF, quien dictó la sentencia referida.
Un Juez federal ordenó revisar la legalidad de la detención del ciudadano indígena Mauricio C. acusado del asesinato de la activista Gloria Cañez y su hija Sally, en la comunidad de la Yerbabuena, municipio de Balleza, Chihuahua. Así lo informó la defensa del imputado, quien detalló que al momento de la detención y luego de iniciado el proceso judicial, no tuvo acceso a un intérprete, por lo que el detenido no pudo comprender lo que estaba ocurriendo.
Ernesto Rafael N, El Sierra 1, fue vinculado a proceso por el homicidio de Sergio Rangel, reconocido productor y líder mezcalero en Michoacán, así como por lesiones calificadas en agravio de dos personas, entre ellas, la madre de la víctima. El juez de control consideró que el señalado tuvo una «probabilidad» de ser el autor material del crimen, por lo que dictó también prisión preventiva oficiosa y fijó un plazo de tres meses para la investigación complementaria. Durante la audiencia en la sala 1 de juicios orales del Poder Judicial, El Sierra 1 se desistió de su derecho a declarar, al igual que su defensa de aportar o controvertir algún dato de prueba aportado por la parte acusatoria. Esta decisión, según se explicó en entrevista a los medios, fue por mera «estrategia».
Mexicana de Aviación registra litigios por 15 mil 68 millones de pesos, de acuerdo a una auditoría externa como parte de la Cuenta Pública 2025, siendo el principal un conflicto con la empresa estadounidense SAT Aero Holdings. Sin embargo, pese a la cifra reconocida en la auditoría, registros públicos del caso en la Corte del Distrito Sur de Nueva York refieren que el monto reclamado en tribunales por la empresa fue corregido a 9.9 millones de dólares, equivalentes a alrededor de 174 millones de pesos.
La FGR promovió una demanda de extinción de dominio, para que el gobierno se quede en definitiva con un buque tanque asegurado en 2020, por uno de los primeros casos relevantes de presunto tráfico de combustible robado registrados en el sexenio pasado. Se trata del buque Blue Commander, valuado en 15 millones de dólares, que ha estado anclado en el puerto de Coatzacoalcos desde septiembre de 2020. Dicho buque es propiedad de la empresa «Blue Commander SAPI», que tenía al momento del aseguramiento como copropietario mayoritario a Unifin (de Rodrigo Lebois); el minoritario era Blue Giant SA de CV.
Un grupo de ciudadanos que promovió la demanda de acción colectiva contra la siembra de maíz genéticamente modificado en México denunció una serie de anomalías procesales en la segunda instancia del juicio y pidió al Poder Judicial garantizar que el litigio continúe sin más contratiempos. Según el Informe semestral de la demanda colectiva maíz número 26, emitido el 5 de julio, durante la segunda instancia (proceso que se sigue desde hace casi tres años) han documentado irregularidades atribuidas al primero y segundo tribunales colegiados de apelación, así como al Sexto Tribunal Colegiado en Materia Civil del Primer Circuito.
La violencia vicaria es parte de la realidad de muchas mujeres. Se trata de una forma cruel de violencia de género que suele utilizar a las hijas y los hijos con el único propósito de agredir a sus madres. Durante mucho tiempo, estas historias permanecieron invisibles. Fueron las propias mujeres quienes lograron nombrarla, documentarla e impulsar su reconocimiento en la legislación mexicana. Ese reconocimiento llegó a la Suprema Corte, donde hemos comenzado a responder algunas de las preguntas jurídicas más importantes que han surgido. Una de las más recurrentes era determinar si la ley discrimina al reconocer únicamente a las mujeres como víctimas. La respuesta ha sido clara: no.
Durante las últimas semanas, el Máximo Tribunal ha emitido fallos relacionados con leyes del Registro Civil en los estados de Yucatán, Aguascalientes y Jalisco, los cuales fortalecen derechos humanos vinculados con los apellidos, la identidad de género y la protección de datos personales en las actas de nacimiento. Los fallos representan un cambio importante en la manera en que el Estado mexicano regula la identidad de las personas y limitan la intervención gubernamental en decisiones familiares y personales.
La Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) desechó un recurso de revisión con el que la automotriz estadunidense General Motors (GM) pretendía librar un añejo adeudo fiscal que arrastra con el Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT). Por mayoría de ocho votos, el pleno del máximo tribunal del país respaldó el proyecto presentado por la ministra Lenia Batres Guadarrama, el cual frena de manera definitiva la estrategia jurídica de la corporación, que “intentó evitar desde al menos 2017” cumplir con el requerimiento de las autoridades hacendarias.
El Máximo Tribunal invalidó disposiciones de la reforma judicial del estado de Quintana Roo, , entre ellas las que ampliaban la estructura Judicial de manera indefinida, mediante cláusulas abiertas, las atribuciones dadas al Tribunal Superior de Justicia, a su pleno para determinar la conformación, integración, residencia y competencia de las salas que lo integran, así como los cambios de adscripción de personas juzgadoras; además del mecanismo de designación de presidencias del TDJ local y del OAJ también de Quintana Roo.
La SCJN invalidó diversos artículos de la Ley de Ingresos del municipio de Oaxaca de Juárez, entre ellos el que autorizaba cobrar 117.30 pesos por el acceso a las bibliotecas públicas, al considerar que la medida vulnera el derecho constitucional a la educación. Los Ministros resolvieron que el cobro resulta contrario a la Constitución y a los principios de seguridad jurídica. Además, advirtieron que no es la primera ocasión en que el municipio incluye este concepto de pago dentro de su legislación.
La SCJN rechazó atraer un amparo relacionado con una presunta infiltración estatal en el caso de Higinio Bustos Navarro, un defensor de derechos humanos indígena, catalogado como detenido de manera arbitraria. La Solicitud de Ejercicio de la Facultad de Atracción 517/2026, formulada y promovida por el ministro presidente Hugo Aguilar Ortiz. El propósito de la solicitud era que el Máximo Tribunal conociera y resolviera el amparo directo 26/2026, radicado originalmente en el Segundo Tribunal Colegiado en Materia Penal del Séptimo Circuito.
El Congreso del Trabajo, que agrupa a las principales centrales obreras del país, manifestó se reconocimiento a la Suprema Corte por su determinación de haber rechazado la intención de cobrar impuestos al fondo de retiro de los Trabajadores. El presidente del CT, Reyes Soberanis Moreno, declaró que la mayoría de las y los Ministros, al resolver una contradicción de criterios, analizaron si los recursos de la cuenta individual del sistema de ahorro para el retiro que reciben las personas beneficiarias de Trabajadores fallecidos están exentos del ISR. El sector de los Trabajadores, dijo el líder del CT, rechaza que haya intentos de dañar el proceso de recuperación del poder adquisitivo y espera que el PJF, en esta nueva etapa, resuelva en todas las acciones que le correspondan poniendo siempre el interés y sentido de Justicia para todos, que den certeza en el desarrollo de nuestra nación.
Para prevenir inundaciones en el oriente del Valle de México, el gobierno federal ha invertido 11 mil 200 millones de pesos, informó Efraín Morales López, director general de la Comisión Nacional del Agua (Conagua). Durante la conferencia mañanera, el funcionario comentó que el presupuesto fue destinado para la construcción de seis obras que se realizan de manera conjunta entre los gobiernos del Estado de México y de la Ciudad de México, específicamente enfocados en la alcaldía Iztapalapa y en los municipios de Nezahualcóyotl y La Paz.
Edomex. A un mes de avalarse la reforma judicial por la que se aplazó la elección de juzgadores para 2028, la bancada de Morena presentó la iniciativa que armoniza la legislación local con la federal. Se prevé que la propuesta sea votada el próximo 13 de julio, en periodo extraordinario de sesiones de la 62 Legislatura local. La Diputación Permanente recibió el proyecto legislativo, integrado por el presidente de la Junta de Coordinación Política (Jucopo) y coordinador parlamentario de Morena, José Francisco Vázquez Rodríguez.
La alcaldesa con licencia de Acapulco, Abelina López Rodríguez, libró ayer cualquier sanción por negarse a entregar información sobre el ejercicio de 898.6 millones de pesos de recursos federales a la Auditoría Superior del Estado de Guerrero (ASE), luego de que la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) determinó que ese órgano carece de facultades para fiscalizar dichos recursos. No obstante, el máximo tribunal aclaró que la resolución no impide que los fondos sean auditados e investigados por la autoridad federal competente. Por unanimidad, el pleno de la Corte concluyó que la fiscalización de los recursos federales ejercidos por el ayuntamiento de Acapulco en 2023 corresponde exclusivamente a la Auditoría Superior de la Federación (ASF). En consecuencia, invalidó los actos de revisión emprendidos por la ASE y cualquier sanción impuesta a servidores públicos municipales.
La inversión productiva en México creció en abril y rompió una racha de 19 meses consecutivos en contracción, impulsada principalmente por el dinamismo de la construcción, mientras que el gasto en maquinaria y equipo mantiene señales de debilidad. La Formación Bruta de Capital Fijo (IMFBCF) avanzó 5.1 por ciento anual, con cifras desestacionalizadas, y registró su primer crecimiento desde septiembre de 2024. A tasa mensual, la inversión aumentó 4.0 por ciento respecto a marzo, su mayor avance desde noviembre de 2020, de acuerdo con los registros del Inegi.
En abril del 2026 la formación bruta de capital fijo (inversión fija) que se efectúa en territorio mexicano creció 4.0% en comparación con marzo, con lo que tuvo su mayor repunte mensual desde enero del 2019 (+4.7%), sin considerar los rebotes atípicos del 2020 por la irrupción de la pandemia de Covid-19… Finalmente el pasado 1 de julio el gobierno estadounidense determinó no prorrogar el T-MEC 16 años más (hasta el 2042) y optó por la realización de revisiones anuales pues, desde su óptica, el tratado debe corregirse en algunos aspectos antes de renovarse. Por otro lado, persiste la cautela de los inversores ante el impacto en el clima de negocios de recientes reformas domésticas de gran calado, como la que instituyó el voto popular para elegir a jueces y magistrados o las aprobadas en materia de telecomunicaciones, competencia económica y energía.
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The End of Fake Spring Part Two
It was 60F /15.5 C a week ago and close to that on the day after! I even dried laundry out on the clothesline. Then fake spring the second came to a screeching halt last Tuesday night while James and I were out on neighborhood patrol. The wind was already gusting and then it started sleeting. If you have ever had sleet slamming into your face you are currently cringing and thinking, ouch! If you have never had the pleasure, perhaps you have had sand or small bits of gravel grit whipped against your bare skin? Now pretend they are ice instead. It’s a barrage of cold needle pricks. And when you think it can’t get any worse, one hits you in the eye.
We stuck it out a little longer because we had reported two ICE-y vehicles prowling the neighborhood and we wanted to be able to send an update if they slunk by again. But when you have to put your hands up over your eyes to protect them from the sleet, it is kind of hard to see what else is happening on the other side of your mittens. So we reluctantly called it a night and went home and crawled into bed early for a little relaxing reading time.
Minneapolis has dropped like a stone out of the headlines since the government announced the anti-immigration surge was over. But, while there are fewer Department of Homeland Security agents here—nobody knows how many, some report 180 and some 900 and both got these numbers from the government (my guess is closer to 900)—there are still abductions happening every day. Since Bovino and Noem have been fired the abductions have become quieter and more targeted rather than the in-your-face performances requiring tear gas thrown into peaceful crowds and gallons of pepper spray aimed at anyone who dares to stop and look and question what is going on.
But they are getting ready for something and we don’t know what, though there are guesses. Over the last several days ICE has taken delivery of over 100 new SUVs at headquarters. None of them have yet been driven off the base. I suspect they are planning on something for March 17th, the day the protected status for Somali refugees expires. Thing is though, something like 90-95% of Somalis in Minnesota are United States citizens, having either been naturalized or born here. However, according to the Star Tribune (local paper), there are 2,500 Somalis who currently have protected status in the United States and most of them live in Minnesota (gift link). If you have been paying attention, you know the disgusting things the President has said about Somalia and Somali people, including Ilhan Omar my Congressional Representative. Except none of this is about immigration to begin with, but rather a terror campaign conducted in an effort to consolidate authoritarian power.
Kind of like the war Trump started against Iran, which by a number of reports, appears that Trump was pressed into it by the Israeli government. Spend a little time thinking about what that means. And while you’re at it, take a look at some recent reporting about plans for Gaza. If those reconstruction plans go through some people will be making a lot of money and they won’t be Palestinian.
It’s hard to know what is going on with Trump these days, he is seriously boffo and even more incoherent by the second. He accuses people of covering up for Biden and his problems, I can only imagine how much is being covered up with Trump. Actually, I don’t want to try and imagine it because it is just too horrific. It will all come out eventually but by then it will be far too late. So we continue to suffer from his incomprehensible whims and desire for revenge and self-aggrandizement. We’re spending over a billion dollars a day on an unnecessary war but somehow have no money to fund health care or food stamps or anything for people who actually need help instead of billionaires whose only goal in life is to have the biggest bank account, everyone and everything else be damned. What sad, broken men they are, and they are pretty much all men.
I wish I could say fake spring part 3 or even real spring has arrived, but there is currently a blizzard going on outside my windows. We were on foot patrol Saturday afternoon and in an amazingly accurate for a change forecast, it began snowing only ten minutes before the winter storm watch went into effect. It’s been snowing since then, though I can’t tell how much has fallen because the 24 mph winds are whipping it all around.
I did a first round of shoveling early this morning after breakfast and there was about 6 inches/ 15 cm of heavy, sticky snow. I haven’t been out since, but will need to venture out at some point. Added to the insult of the snow and wind, temperatures by Monday night will be subzero F /-18 C.
Meanwhile, indoors, the seedlings are doing great. I have already had to raise the grow light above the tomatoes. It might not be spring outside, but it is spring in my kitchen and in my heart.
The seed sprouting setup. Tomatoes and peppers on the top shelf, herbs on the shelf below. You can see snow on the grapevine outside the window.One of the best things about getting connected with neighbors for ICE watch and mutual aid, is also finding other ways to connect. I am now part of a neighborhood garden group who will be raising extra veg for the purpose of donating it to the neighborhood food shelf. A couple folks have organized a seed swap for next weekend. Yesterday I went through all my seeds and made up quite a few envelopes of tomato, bean, squash, herb and flower seeds to share. In sharing my seeds I have no plans to bring home any new seeds. Does anyone want to wager on how many seed packets I come home with?
Life has gotten increasingly busier and rewarding, but I have also made sure to take time to rest. Some days I don’t feel like I have rested enough, but I do what I can. Yesterday, life was a pie full of cherries. Well, and today too because leftovers. Saturday was Pi Day y’all, at least in the weird way Americans write our dates. To celebrate the magic of 3.14, James made cherry pie. The cherries are from the garden cherry bushes and have been waiting quietly in the freezer since August. James also made vanilla ice cream. Not exactly ice cream weather as it turned out, but with hot coffee and tea and warm pie it was all perfect. And there is still some leftover so I will get to enjoy it a third time.
Take a gander at the cherry pie! James got fancy and cut hearts in the top crust.I’ve also been enjoying some great books. I am in the midst of Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor, and enjoying it immensely. Also reading Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times by Tracy K. Smith. I enjoy reading poets analyzing poetry and Smith is really good at it, meaning she doesn’t write in academic jargon but everyday language. The book is about overcoming the fear of poetry, which I don’t have but I know many people do, as well as a discussion about the importance of poetry, especially in uncertain times. It is a slim book that I am slowly savoring.
Then there is Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney and Mothers of the Novel by Dale Spender both of which I am reading because of Marcie at Buried in Print, darn her! I’m not far along in either book, but they are tickling something I need at the moment, and I find myself thinking about them and the novelists they write about even when I am not reading the books. I have already made a reading date with a friend to do a summer read together of Frances Burney’s Evelina. No doubt, there will be other novels sneaking onto my TBR pile.
As for poetry, I am reading June Jordan, Marie Howe, and Wendy Barker. All of them very different and all of them very good.
And with that, I have a few handwritten notes yet to write, some snow to assess, a couple chores to finish, some yoga to ease my tired muscles, and some books to fall into. And perhaps a second helping of pie.
Send warm, melty spring thoughts my way please!
#blizzard #cherryPie #fakeSpring #Gaza #ICE #Iran #PiDay #seedStarting #sleet #Somalia #winter -
The End of Fake Spring Part Two
It was 60F /15.5 C a week ago and close to that on the day after! I even dried laundry out on the clothesline. Then fake spring the second came to a screeching halt last Tuesday night while James and I were out on neighborhood patrol. The wind was already gusting and then it started sleeting. If you have ever had sleet slamming into your face you are currently cringing and thinking, ouch! If you have never had the pleasure, perhaps you have had sand or small bits of gravel grit whipped against your bare skin? Now pretend they are ice instead. It’s a barrage of cold needle pricks. And when you think it can’t get any worse, one hits you in the eye.
We stuck it out a little longer because we had reported two ICE-y vehicles prowling the neighborhood and we wanted to be able to send an update if they slunk by again. But when you have to put your hands up over your eyes to protect them from the sleet, it is kind of hard to see what else is happening on the other side of your mittens. So we reluctantly called it a night and went home and crawled into bed early for a little relaxing reading time.
Minneapolis has dropped like a stone out of the headlines since the government announced the anti-immigration surge was over. But, while there are fewer Department of Homeland Security agents here—nobody knows how many, some report 180 and some 900 and both got these numbers from the government (my guess is closer to 900)—there are still abductions happening every day. Since Bovino and Noem have been fired the abductions have become quieter and more targeted rather than the in-your-face performances requiring tear gas thrown into peaceful crowds and gallons of pepper spray aimed at anyone who dares to stop and look and question what is going on.
But they are getting ready for something and we don’t know what, though there are guesses. Over the last several days ICE has taken delivery of over 100 new SUVs at headquarters. None of them have yet been driven off the base. I suspect they are planning on something for March 17th, the day the protected status for Somali refugees expires. Thing is though, something like 90-95% of Somalis in Minnesota are United States citizens, having either been naturalized or born here. However, according to the Star Tribune (local paper), there are 2,500 Somalis who currently have protected status in the United States and most of them live in Minnesota (gift link). If you have been paying attention, you know the disgusting things the President has said about Somalia and Somali people, including Ilhan Omar my Congressional Representative. Except none of this is about immigration to begin with, but rather a terror campaign conducted in an effort to consolidate authoritarian power.
Kind of like the war Trump started against Iran, which by a number of reports, appears that Trump was pressed into it by the Israeli government. Spend a little time thinking about what that means. And while you’re at it, take a look at some recent reporting about plans for Gaza. If those reconstruction plans go through some people will be making a lot of money and they won’t be Palestinian.
It’s hard to know what is going on with Trump these days, he is seriously boffo and even more incoherent by the second. He accuses people of covering up for Biden and his problems, I can only imagine how much is being covered up with Trump. Actually, I don’t want to try and imagine it because it is just too horrific. It will all come out eventually but by then it will be far too late. So we continue to suffer from his incomprehensible whims and desire for revenge and self-aggrandizement. We’re spending over a billion dollars a day on an unnecessary war but somehow have no money to fund health care or food stamps or anything for people who actually need help instead of billionaires whose only goal in life is to have the biggest bank account, everyone and everything else be damned. What sad, broken men they are, and they are pretty much all men.
I wish I could say fake spring part 3 or even real spring has arrived, but there is currently a blizzard going on outside my windows. We were on foot patrol Saturday afternoon and in an amazingly accurate for a change forecast, it began snowing only ten minutes before the winter storm watch went into effect. It’s been snowing since then, though I can’t tell how much has fallen because the 24 mph winds are whipping it all around.
I did a first round of shoveling early this morning after breakfast and there was about 6 inches/ 15 cm of heavy, sticky snow. I haven’t been out since, but will need to venture out at some point. Added to the insult of the snow and wind, temperatures by Monday night will be subzero F /-18 C.
Meanwhile, indoors, the seedlings are doing great. I have already had to raise the grow light above the tomatoes. It might not be spring outside, but it is spring in my kitchen and in my heart.
The seed sprouting setup. Tomatoes and peppers on the top shelf, herbs on the shelf below. You can see snow on the grapevine outside the window.One of the best things about getting connected with neighbors for ICE watch and mutual aid, is also finding other ways to connect. I am now part of a neighborhood garden group who will be raising extra veg for the purpose of donating it to the neighborhood food shelf. A couple folks have organized a seed swap for next weekend. Yesterday I went through all my seeds and made up quite a few envelopes of tomato, bean, squash, herb and flower seeds to share. In sharing my seeds I have no plans to bring home any new seeds. Does anyone want to wager on how many seed packets I come home with?
Life has gotten increasingly busier and rewarding, but I have also made sure to take time to rest. Some days I don’t feel like I have rested enough, but I do what I can. Yesterday, life was a pie full of cherries. Well, and today too because leftovers. Saturday was Pi Day y’all, at least in the weird way Americans write our dates. To celebrate the magic of 3.14, James made cherry pie. The cherries are from the garden cherry bushes and have been waiting quietly in the freezer since August. James also made vanilla ice cream. Not exactly ice cream weather as it turned out, but with hot coffee and tea and warm pie it was all perfect. And there is still some leftover so I will get to enjoy it a third time.
Take a gander at the cherry pie! James got fancy and cut hearts in the top crust.I’ve also been enjoying some great books. I am in the midst of Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor, and enjoying it immensely. Also reading Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times by Tracy K. Smith. I enjoy reading poets analyzing poetry and Smith is really good at it, meaning she doesn’t write in academic jargon but everyday language. The book is about overcoming the fear of poetry, which I don’t have but I know many people do, as well as a discussion about the importance of poetry, especially in uncertain times. It is a slim book that I am slowly savoring.
Then there is Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney and Mothers of the Novel by Dale Spender both of which I am reading because of Marcie at Buried in Print, darn her! I’m not far along in either book, but they are tickling something I need at the moment, and I find myself thinking about them and the novelists they write about even when I am not reading the books. I have already made a reading date with a friend to do a summer read together of Frances Burney’s Evelina. No doubt, there will be other novels sneaking onto my TBR pile.
As for poetry, I am reading June Jordan, Marie Howe, and Wendy Barker. All of them very different and all of them very good.
And with that, I have a few handwritten notes yet to write, some snow to assess, a couple chores to finish, some yoga to ease my tired muscles, and some books to fall into. And perhaps a second helping of pie.
Send warm, melty spring thoughts my way please!
#blizzard #cherryPie #fakeSpring #Gaza #ICE #Iran #PiDay #seedStarting #sleet #Somalia #winter -
The End of Fake Spring Part Two
It was 60F /15.5 C a week ago and close to that on the day after! I even dried laundry out on the clothesline. Then fake spring the second came to a screeching halt last Tuesday night while James and I were out on neighborhood patrol. The wind was already gusting and then it started sleeting. If you have ever had sleet slamming into your face you are currently cringing and thinking, ouch! If you have never had the pleasure, perhaps you have had sand or small bits of gravel grit whipped against your bare skin? Now pretend they are ice instead. It’s a barrage of cold needle pricks. And when you think it can’t get any worse, one hits you in the eye.
We stuck it out a little longer because we had reported two ICE-y vehicles prowling the neighborhood and we wanted to be able to send an update if they slunk by again. But when you have to put your hands up over your eyes to protect them from the sleet, it is kind of hard to see what else is happening on the other side of your mittens. So we reluctantly called it a night and went home and crawled into bed early for a little relaxing reading time.
Minneapolis has dropped like a stone out of the headlines since the government announced the anti-immigration surge was over. But, while there are fewer Department of Homeland Security agents here—nobody knows how many, some report 180 and some 900 and both got these numbers from the government (my guess is closer to 900)—there are still abductions happening every day. Since Bovino and Noem have been fired the abductions have become quieter and more targeted rather than the in-your-face performances requiring tear gas thrown into peaceful crowds and gallons of pepper spray aimed at anyone who dares to stop and look and question what is going on.
But they are getting ready for something and we don’t know what, though there are guesses. Over the last several days ICE has taken delivery of over 100 new SUVs at headquarters. None of them have yet been driven off the base. I suspect they are planning on something for March 17th, the day the protected status for Somali refugees expires. Thing is though, something like 90-95% of Somalis in Minnesota are United States citizens, having either been naturalized or born here. However, according to the Star Tribune (local paper), there are 2,500 Somalis who currently have protected status in the United States and most of them live in Minnesota (gift link). If you have been paying attention, you know the disgusting things the President has said about Somalia and Somali people, including Ilhan Omar my Congressional Representative. Except none of this is about immigration to begin with, but rather a terror campaign conducted in an effort to consolidate authoritarian power.
Kind of like the war Trump started against Iran, which by a number of reports, appears that Trump was pressed into it by the Israeli government. Spend a little time thinking about what that means. And while you’re at it, take a look at some recent reporting about plans for Gaza. If those reconstruction plans go through some people will be making a lot of money and they won’t be Palestinian.
It’s hard to know what is going on with Trump these days, he is seriously boffo and even more incoherent by the second. He accuses people of covering up for Biden and his problems, I can only imagine how much is being covered up with Trump. Actually, I don’t want to try and imagine it because it is just too horrific. It will all come out eventually but by then it will be far too late. So we continue to suffer from his incomprehensible whims and desire for revenge and self-aggrandizement. We’re spending over a billion dollars a day on an unnecessary war but somehow have no money to fund health care or food stamps or anything for people who actually need help instead of billionaires whose only goal in life is to have the biggest bank account, everyone and everything else be damned. What sad, broken men they are, and they are pretty much all men.
I wish I could say fake spring part 3 or even real spring has arrived, but there is currently a blizzard going on outside my windows. We were on foot patrol Saturday afternoon and in an amazingly accurate for a change forecast, it began snowing only ten minutes before the winter storm watch went into effect. It’s been snowing since then, though I can’t tell how much has fallen because the 24 mph winds are whipping it all around.
I did a first round of shoveling early this morning after breakfast and there was about 6 inches/ 15 cm of heavy, sticky snow. I haven’t been out since, but will need to venture out at some point. Added to the insult of the snow and wind, temperatures by Monday night will be subzero F /-18 C.
Meanwhile, indoors, the seedlings are doing great. I have already had to raise the grow light above the tomatoes. It might not be spring outside, but it is spring in my kitchen and in my heart.
The seed sprouting setup. Tomatoes and peppers on the top shelf, herbs on the shelf below. You can see snow on the grapevine outside the window.One of the best things about getting connected with neighbors for ICE watch and mutual aid, is also finding other ways to connect. I am now part of a neighborhood garden group who will be raising extra veg for the purpose of donating it to the neighborhood food shelf. A couple folks have organized a seed swap for next weekend. Yesterday I went through all my seeds and made up quite a few envelopes of tomato, bean, squash, herb and flower seeds to share. In sharing my seeds I have no plans to bring home any new seeds. Does anyone want to wager on how many seed packets I come home with?
Life has gotten increasingly busier and rewarding, but I have also made sure to take time to rest. Some days I don’t feel like I have rested enough, but I do what I can. Yesterday, life was a pie full of cherries. Well, and today too because leftovers. Saturday was Pi Day y’all, at least in the weird way Americans write our dates. To celebrate the magic of 3.14, James made cherry pie. The cherries are from the garden cherry bushes and have been waiting quietly in the freezer since August. James also made vanilla ice cream. Not exactly ice cream weather as it turned out, but with hot coffee and tea and warm pie it was all perfect. And there is still some leftover so I will get to enjoy it a third time.
Take a gander at the cherry pie! James got fancy and cut hearts in the top crust.I’ve also been enjoying some great books. I am in the midst of Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor, and enjoying it immensely. Also reading Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times by Tracy K. Smith. I enjoy reading poets analyzing poetry and Smith is really good at it, meaning she doesn’t write in academic jargon but everyday language. The book is about overcoming the fear of poetry, which I don’t have but I know many people do, as well as a discussion about the importance of poetry, especially in uncertain times. It is a slim book that I am slowly savoring.
Then there is Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney and Mothers of the Novel by Dale Spender both of which I am reading because of Marcie at Buried in Print, darn her! I’m not far along in either book, but they are tickling something I need at the moment, and I find myself thinking about them and the novelists they write about even when I am not reading the books. I have already made a reading date with a friend to do a summer read together of Frances Burney’s Evelina. No doubt, there will be other novels sneaking onto my TBR pile.
As for poetry, I am reading June Jordan, Marie Howe, and Wendy Barker. All of them very different and all of them very good.
And with that, I have a few handwritten notes yet to write, some snow to assess, a couple chores to finish, some yoga to ease my tired muscles, and some books to fall into. And perhaps a second helping of pie.
Send warm, melty spring thoughts my way please!
#blizzard #cherryPie #fakeSpring #Gaza #ICE #Iran #PiDay #seedStarting #sleet #Somalia #winter -
The End of Fake Spring Part Two
It was 60F /15.5 C a week ago and close to that on the day after! I even dried laundry out on the clothesline. Then fake spring the second came to a screeching halt last Tuesday night while James and I were out on neighborhood patrol. The wind was already gusting and then it started sleeting. If you have ever had sleet slamming into your face you are currently cringing and thinking, ouch! If you have never had the pleasure, perhaps you have had sand or small bits of gravel grit whipped against your bare skin? Now pretend they are ice instead. It’s a barrage of cold needle pricks. And when you think it can’t get any worse, one hits you in the eye.
We stuck it out a little longer because we had reported two ICE-y vehicles prowling the neighborhood and we wanted to be able to send an update if they slunk by again. But when you have to put your hands up over your eyes to protect them from the sleet, it is kind of hard to see what else is happening on the other side of your mittens. So we reluctantly called it a night and went home and crawled into bed early for a little relaxing reading time.
Minneapolis has dropped like a stone out of the headlines since the government announced the anti-immigration surge was over. But, while there are fewer Department of Homeland Security agents here—nobody knows how many, some report 180 and some 900 and both got these numbers from the government (my guess is closer to 900)—there are still abductions happening every day. Since Bovino and Noem have been fired the abductions have become quieter and more targeted rather than the in-your-face performances requiring tear gas thrown into peaceful crowds and gallons of pepper spray aimed at anyone who dares to stop and look and question what is going on.
But they are getting ready for something and we don’t know what, though there are guesses. Over the last several days ICE has taken delivery of over 100 new SUVs at headquarters. None of them have yet been driven off the base. I suspect they are planning on something for March 17th, the day the protected status for Somali refugees expires. Thing is though, something like 90-95% of Somalis in Minnesota are United States citizens, having either been naturalized or born here. However, according to the Star Tribune (local paper), there are 2,500 Somalis who currently have protected status in the United States and most of them live in Minnesota (gift link). If you have been paying attention, you know the disgusting things the President has said about Somalia and Somali people, including Ilhan Omar my Congressional Representative. Except none of this is about immigration to begin with, but rather a terror campaign conducted in an effort to consolidate authoritarian power.
Kind of like the war Trump started against Iran, which by a number of reports, appears that Trump was pressed into it by the Israeli government. Spend a little time thinking about what that means. And while you’re at it, take a look at some recent reporting about plans for Gaza. If those reconstruction plans go through some people will be making a lot of money and they won’t be Palestinian.
It’s hard to know what is going on with Trump these days, he is seriously boffo and even more incoherent by the second. He accuses people of covering up for Biden and his problems, I can only imagine how much is being covered up with Trump. Actually, I don’t want to try and imagine it because it is just too horrific. It will all come out eventually but by then it will be far too late. So we continue to suffer from his incomprehensible whims and desire for revenge and self-aggrandizement. We’re spending over a billion dollars a day on an unnecessary war but somehow have no money to fund health care or food stamps or anything for people who actually need help instead of billionaires whose only goal in life is to have the biggest bank account, everyone and everything else be damned. What sad, broken men they are, and they are pretty much all men.
I wish I could say fake spring part 3 or even real spring has arrived, but there is currently a blizzard going on outside my windows. We were on foot patrol Saturday afternoon and in an amazingly accurate for a change forecast, it began snowing only ten minutes before the winter storm watch went into effect. It’s been snowing since then, though I can’t tell how much has fallen because the 24 mph winds are whipping it all around.
I did a first round of shoveling early this morning after breakfast and there was about 6 inches/ 15 cm of heavy, sticky snow. I haven’t been out since, but will need to venture out at some point. Added to the insult of the snow and wind, temperatures by Monday night will be subzero F /-18 C.
Meanwhile, indoors, the seedlings are doing great. I have already had to raise the grow light above the tomatoes. It might not be spring outside, but it is spring in my kitchen and in my heart.
The seed sprouting setup. Tomatoes and peppers on the top shelf, herbs on the shelf below. You can see snow on the grapevine outside the window.One of the best things about getting connected with neighbors for ICE watch and mutual aid, is also finding other ways to connect. I am now part of a neighborhood garden group who will be raising extra veg for the purpose of donating it to the neighborhood food shelf. A couple folks have organized a seed swap for next weekend. Yesterday I went through all my seeds and made up quite a few envelopes of tomato, bean, squash, herb and flower seeds to share. In sharing my seeds I have no plans to bring home any new seeds. Does anyone want to wager on how many seed packets I come home with?
Life has gotten increasingly busier and rewarding, but I have also made sure to take time to rest. Some days I don’t feel like I have rested enough, but I do what I can. Yesterday, life was a pie full of cherries. Well, and today too because leftovers. Saturday was Pi Day y’all, at least in the weird way Americans write our dates. To celebrate the magic of 3.14, James made cherry pie. The cherries are from the garden cherry bushes and have been waiting quietly in the freezer since August. James also made vanilla ice cream. Not exactly ice cream weather as it turned out, but with hot coffee and tea and warm pie it was all perfect. And there is still some leftover so I will get to enjoy it a third time.
Take a gander at the cherry pie! James got fancy and cut hearts in the top crust.I’ve also been enjoying some great books. I am in the midst of Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor, and enjoying it immensely. Also reading Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times by Tracy K. Smith. I enjoy reading poets analyzing poetry and Smith is really good at it, meaning she doesn’t write in academic jargon but everyday language. The book is about overcoming the fear of poetry, which I don’t have but I know many people do, as well as a discussion about the importance of poetry, especially in uncertain times. It is a slim book that I am slowly savoring.
Then there is Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney and Mothers of the Novel by Dale Spender both of which I am reading because of Marcie at Buried in Print, darn her! I’m not far along in either book, but they are tickling something I need at the moment, and I find myself thinking about them and the novelists they write about even when I am not reading the books. I have already made a reading date with a friend to do a summer read together of Frances Burney’s Evelina. No doubt, there will be other novels sneaking onto my TBR pile.
As for poetry, I am reading June Jordan, Marie Howe, and Wendy Barker. All of them very different and all of them very good.
And with that, I have a few handwritten notes yet to write, some snow to assess, a couple chores to finish, some yoga to ease my tired muscles, and some books to fall into. And perhaps a second helping of pie.
Send warm, melty spring thoughts my way please!
#blizzard #cherryPie #fakeSpring #Gaza #ICE #Iran #PiDay #seedStarting #sleet #Somalia #winter -
The End of Fake Spring Part Two
It was 60F /15.5 C a week ago and close to that on the day after! I even dried laundry out on the clothesline. Then fake spring the second came to a screeching halt last Tuesday night while James and I were out on neighborhood patrol. The wind was already gusting and then it started sleeting. If you have ever had sleet slamming into your face you are currently cringing and thinking, ouch! If you have never had the pleasure, perhaps you have had sand or small bits of gravel grit whipped against your bare skin? Now pretend they are ice instead. It’s a barrage of cold needle pricks. And when you think it can’t get any worse, one hits you in the eye.
We stuck it out a little longer because we had reported two ICE-y vehicles prowling the neighborhood and we wanted to be able to send an update if they slunk by again. But when you have to put your hands up over your eyes to protect them from the sleet, it is kind of hard to see what else is happening on the other side of your mittens. So we reluctantly called it a night and went home and crawled into bed early for a little relaxing reading time.
Minneapolis has dropped like a stone out of the headlines since the government announced the anti-immigration surge was over. But, while there are fewer Department of Homeland Security agents here—nobody knows how many, some report 180 and some 900 and both got these numbers from the government (my guess is closer to 900)—there are still abductions happening every day. Since Bovino and Noem have been fired the abductions have become quieter and more targeted rather than the in-your-face performances requiring tear gas thrown into peaceful crowds and gallons of pepper spray aimed at anyone who dares to stop and look and question what is going on.
But they are getting ready for something and we don’t know what, though there are guesses. Over the last several days ICE has taken delivery of over 100 new SUVs at headquarters. None of them have yet been driven off the base. I suspect they are planning on something for March 17th, the day the protected status for Somali refugees expires. Thing is though, something like 90-95% of Somalis in Minnesota are United States citizens, having either been naturalized or born here. However, according to the Star Tribune (local paper), there are 2,500 Somalis who currently have protected status in the United States and most of them live in Minnesota (gift link). If you have been paying attention, you know the disgusting things the President has said about Somalia and Somali people, including Ilhan Omar my Congressional Representative. Except none of this is about immigration to begin with, but rather a terror campaign conducted in an effort to consolidate authoritarian power.
Kind of like the war Trump started against Iran, which by a number of reports, appears that Trump was pressed into it by the Israeli government. Spend a little time thinking about what that means. And while you’re at it, take a look at some recent reporting about plans for Gaza. If those reconstruction plans go through some people will be making a lot of money and they won’t be Palestinian.
It’s hard to know what is going on with Trump these days, he is seriously boffo and even more incoherent by the second. He accuses people of covering up for Biden and his problems, I can only imagine how much is being covered up with Trump. Actually, I don’t want to try and imagine it because it is just too horrific. It will all come out eventually but by then it will be far too late. So we continue to suffer from his incomprehensible whims and desire for revenge and self-aggrandizement. We’re spending over a billion dollars a day on an unnecessary war but somehow have no money to fund health care or food stamps or anything for people who actually need help instead of billionaires whose only goal in life is to have the biggest bank account, everyone and everything else be damned. What sad, broken men they are, and they are pretty much all men.
I wish I could say fake spring part 3 or even real spring has arrived, but there is currently a blizzard going on outside my windows. We were on foot patrol Saturday afternoon and in an amazingly accurate for a change forecast, it began snowing only ten minutes before the winter storm watch went into effect. It’s been snowing since then, though I can’t tell how much has fallen because the 24 mph winds are whipping it all around.
I did a first round of shoveling early this morning after breakfast and there was about 6 inches/ 15 cm of heavy, sticky snow. I haven’t been out since, but will need to venture out at some point. Added to the insult of the snow and wind, temperatures by Monday night will be subzero F /-18 C.
Meanwhile, indoors, the seedlings are doing great. I have already had to raise the grow light above the tomatoes. It might not be spring outside, but it is spring in my kitchen and in my heart.
The seed sprouting setup. Tomatoes and peppers on the top shelf, herbs on the shelf below. You can see snow on the grapevine outside the window.One of the best things about getting connected with neighbors for ICE watch and mutual aid, is also finding other ways to connect. I am now part of a neighborhood garden group who will be raising extra veg for the purpose of donating it to the neighborhood food shelf. A couple folks have organized a seed swap for next weekend. Yesterday I went through all my seeds and made up quite a few envelopes of tomato, bean, squash, herb and flower seeds to share. In sharing my seeds I have no plans to bring home any new seeds. Does anyone want to wager on how many seed packets I come home with?
Life has gotten increasingly busier and rewarding, but I have also made sure to take time to rest. Some days I don’t feel like I have rested enough, but I do what I can. Yesterday, life was a pie full of cherries. Well, and today too because leftovers. Saturday was Pi Day y’all, at least in the weird way Americans write our dates. To celebrate the magic of 3.14, James made cherry pie. The cherries are from the garden cherry bushes and have been waiting quietly in the freezer since August. James also made vanilla ice cream. Not exactly ice cream weather as it turned out, but with hot coffee and tea and warm pie it was all perfect. And there is still some leftover so I will get to enjoy it a third time.
Take a gander at the cherry pie! James got fancy and cut hearts in the top crust.I’ve also been enjoying some great books. I am in the midst of Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor, and enjoying it immensely. Also reading Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times by Tracy K. Smith. I enjoy reading poets analyzing poetry and Smith is really good at it, meaning she doesn’t write in academic jargon but everyday language. The book is about overcoming the fear of poetry, which I don’t have but I know many people do, as well as a discussion about the importance of poetry, especially in uncertain times. It is a slim book that I am slowly savoring.
Then there is Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney and Mothers of the Novel by Dale Spender both of which I am reading because of Marcie at Buried in Print, darn her! I’m not far along in either book, but they are tickling something I need at the moment, and I find myself thinking about them and the novelists they write about even when I am not reading the books. I have already made a reading date with a friend to do a summer read together of Frances Burney’s Evelina. No doubt, there will be other novels sneaking onto my TBR pile.
As for poetry, I am reading June Jordan, Marie Howe, and Wendy Barker. All of them very different and all of them very good.
And with that, I have a few handwritten notes yet to write, some snow to assess, a couple chores to finish, some yoga to ease my tired muscles, and some books to fall into. And perhaps a second helping of pie.
Send warm, melty spring thoughts my way please!
#blizzard #cherryPie #fakeSpring #Gaza #ICE #Iran #PiDay #seedStarting #sleet #Somalia #winter -
Lazy Caturday Reads
Woman and Cat, by Koji Fukiya, 1936.
Good Afternoon!!
Yesterday, Dakinikat wrote about Trump’s crypto dinner, where he briefly spoke to the people who had spent the most on his personal memecoin. The “gala dinner” was held at Trump’s Virginia golf club. The attendees–mostly from foreign countries–had spent their money hoping to gain “access” to Trump, but that didn’t happen, at least at this event. Trump showed up on a “military helicopter,” spoke for less than half and hour and then did his YMCA dance. Then he left again without speaking to anyone personally. And the food was terrible.
Wired: A Helicopter, Halibut, and ‘Y.M.C.A’: Inside Donald Trump’s Memecoin Dinner.
Donald Trump left the stage at his golf club near Washington, DC, on Thursday night, he pointed to the crowd, brought his index finger to his temple—as if to say: You know what’s coming—then began to dance. To the beat of “Y.M.C.A” by The Village People, Trump shimmied, gyrated, and pumped his arms above his head.
Looking on were more than 200 people who had been invited to the Trump National Golf Club for a private gala dinner. They had won their seats by purchasing large quantities of Trump’s own crypto coin—TRUMP—some holding millions of dollars’ worth….
By late afternoon, the dinner guests had started to filter through the gates of the golf club. By comparison to Trump’s previous banquets, thronging with DC insiders and members of the Silicon Valley elite, the crypto dinner attracted a mismatched collection of oddballs: independent traders rubbed shoulders with crypto executives, die-hard Trump fans, and even professional sports stars—former NBA player Lamar Odom towered overhead. A handful wore bowties in Bitcoin orange; others sported gold Trump sneakers.
Just after 7 pm, the dinner guests gathered at the window to watch Trump descend in Marine One, his presidential helicopter. A short while later, he appeared from behind a blue velvet curtain to whoops and applause from the crowd. Had they seen the helicopter, Trump asked. “Yeah, super cool!” somebody yelled….
From behind a lectern at one end of the dining room, backdropped by four US flags, Trump delivered a characteristically winding and digressive speech that sources say lasted around 25 minutes. At some point, he got round to crypto.
“We’ve got some of the smartest minds anywhere in the world right here in this room,” said Trump. “You believe in the whole crypto thing. A lot of people are starting to believe in it … This is really something that may be special—who knows, right? Who knows—but it may be special.”
For some, the dinner represented a chance to network with other deep-pocketed crypto figures, and to hear directly from Trump about his plans to bring an end to the regulatory uncertainty that crimped the industry’s expansion under Biden.
“You don’t get to meet the president easily,” Vincent Liu, chief investment officer at trading firm Kronos Research, told WIRED a few days before the dinner. “To be able to hear his message on crypto directly—I’m definitely looking forward to that.”
Woodblock print from Tsukioka Yoshitoshi’s series One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (1885-1892)
No one got to meet the president, but I Wired says they also wanted to network with each other. On the general presentation and the food, served at circular tables
…each seating 10 people arrayed beneath a set of crystal chandeliers. Waiting on the chairs were gift bags containing Fight Fight Fight-themed hats and posters, and a collectible plastic card (some allege that they didn’t receive merch at their seats.) The four largest coin holders—along with two other attendees selected by raffle, sources say—received a gem-encrusted Trump gold watch.
Between mouthfuls, the attendees discussed trading and investment strategies—and Trump’s speech. “To feel his personal charisma to me was very inspiring,” says Liu. But others complained about the brevity of Trump’s appearance: After his speech, Trump had departed immediately in a golf cart bound for his helicopter. “Trump could have at least given the top people their watches himself,” says Pinto. “He didn’t.”
The food itself had left a bitter taste in the mouth, too. “It was the worst food I’ve ever had at a Trump golf course,” says Pinto, who added he left hungry. “The only good thing was bread and butter.” Another attendee described the meal as “OK, but not top-class.”
From Penn Live: Trump’s controversial crypto dinner ripped by attendee: ‘Trash.’
Donald Trump’s controversial memecoin dinner Thursday night was shrouded in secrecy, and while it still isn’t clear who all attended — the White House did not make the list public — we do have a report of how good the food was….
According to Fortune, 25-year-old Nicholas Pinto was one of those who attended. The site said he invested “more than $360,000 in Trump’s memecoin.
And for that, he told the site, the dinner that was served was “trash.”
“Walmart steak, man,” he texted Fortune.
The site said the menu for the included a “Trump organic field green salad” and an “entrée duet” of filet mignon and pan-seared halibut.
“Everybody at my table was saying the food was so of the worst they ever had,” Pinto said.
“I was hoping for Big Macs or pizza,” Pinto told Fortune. “That would have been better than the food that we were served.”
Trump is just raking in the dough as quickly as he can with the minimum effort.
The New York Times got the guest list: Who Won a Seat at Trump’s Crypto Dinner?
The invitees for President Trump’s private dinner for customers of his cryptocurrency business on Thursday included a Chinese billionaire fighting a lawsuit from U.S. regulators, a lawyer for Justice Clarence Thomas and a former basketball star, according to a guest list obtained by The New York Times and social media posts.
The dinner, at which Mr. Trump gave remarks, was an extraordinary moment in which the president leveraged his position to make money — for his crypto business and for his Virginia golf club, which hosted the event.
The event’s invited guests were not known publicly beforehand, even to each other. They were identified only by the pseudonyms they used on the electronic wallets where they kept their $TRUMP memecoins. Most had gained an invitation by becoming one of the top 220 holders of that memecoin over a certain period of time. The top 25 of those were given V.I.P. status and afforded a more intimate gathering before the dinner and an unofficial tour of the White House on Friday.
When they arrived at Mr. Trump’s club outside Washington Thursday evening, the digital world had become physical. The invitees’ names and contact information were delineated on paper lists, checked by staffers at the door. A Times reporter reviewed one of those lists, and used it to identify people who were present. Some other invitees self-identified on social media. A reporter and photographer from The Times also saw some $TRUMP crypto buyers enter and exit the White House on Friday.
Merchant’s Daughter by Mizuno Toshikata
Some top invitees:
Justin Sun, a Chinese crypto billionaire who was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission under President Joseph R. Biden Jr. for allegedly inflating the value of a cryptocurrency. Mr. Sun is a major investor in a separate crypto venture largely owned by a company tied to Mr. Trump, World Liberty Financial. After Mr. Trump took office, the S.E.C. asked a judge to put Mr. Sun’s case on hold….
Elliot Berke, a Washington attorney who has worked for congressional Republicans and Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court. The Times identified him because the invitee list included his email address at his law firm, Berke Farah. He was honored as “Republican Lawyer of the Year” in 2021 by the Republican National Lawyers Association….
Evgeny Gaevoy, the founder and chief executive of a digital-asset firm, Wintermute. The Times identified him because the list of invitees included his Wintermute email….
Anil Lulla and Yan Liberman, two co-founders of Delphi Digital, a Miami Beach firm that offers market intelligence for crypto investors. Their corporate emails were included in the list of invitees….
Cheng Lu, 32, a crypto investor from Shanghai, was observed by a Times reporter entering the White House on Friday. He said he did not have a chance to speak with Mr. Trump during the dinner on Thursday or at the Friday tour. “I just want to see President Trump,” he said.
Several more are listed at the NYT link.
Another big story today is Trump’s terrifying persecution of Harvard University. Here’s the latest:
From The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board: Is Trump Trying to Destroy Harvard? The order against foreign students turns away the world’s brightest.
The Trump Administration has frozen billions in federal grants to Harvard University, threatened its tax-exempt status, and sought to dictate its curriculum and hiring. Now the government seems bent on destroying the school for the offense of fighting back. And for what purpose?
That’s how we read the Department of Homeland Security’s move Thursday to bar foreign students from attending the world-renowned institution. That’s 6,800 students, or a quarter of Harvard’s student body, whose futures are suddenly in disarray. It’s also a short-sighted attack on one of America’s great competitive strengths: Its ability to attract the world’s best and brightest.
The latest assault began when DHS demanded that Harvard turn over sundry records on its foreign students, including whether any had participated in illegal activity or left the university owing to “dangerous or violent activity or deprivation of rights.”
Some of its record requests are reasonable, but some overreached by requiring private student information. DHS also gave Harvard all of two weeks to respond. If it failed to do so, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said she would “automatically withdraw” the school’s certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. “The withdrawal will not be subject to appeal.”
The SEVP program lets non-citizens enroll at universities on student visas. DHS can bar universities from the program if they fail to comply with “recordkeeping, retention, reporting and other requirements” on foreign students. Harvard says it responded with “information required by law” within two weeks and handed over more records on May 14.
Twin Guardians, by Hawse Sumi
That didn’t satisfy Noem and she banned Harvard from enrolling international students. Harvard soon got a restraining order from a federal court.
Most of Harvard’s foreign students are enrolled in graduate programs. Many assist with scientific research and teaching undergraduate courses. Driving them out of Harvard will disrupt research projects and might cause some professors in the sciences to leave for other universities. This seems to be a goal of freezing Harvard’s research grants.
Harvard sued on Friday, and a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against the student ban. The university rightly says the Administration’s actions are “clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students.”
The university seems likely to prevail on the law, but until courts settle the merits, thousands of students who have done nothing wrong will be in legal limbo. Some of them no doubt opposed the anti-Israel protests and may even hail from Israel. Why punish them? [….]
This will be terribly damaging to America’s ability to attract talented young people who bring their enterprise and intellectual capital to the U.S. Non-citizens accounted for more than half of doctoral degrees in AI-related fields in 2022. Many have gone to work at U.S. companies like Nvidia or started their own.
Clearly Trump hates Harvard, higher education, and education generally. But I’m coming to the conclusion that Trump’s goal is to destroy the U.S. in every possible way and at the same time enrich himself and his wealthy friends. He doesn’t even appear to care about the economy anymore. He wants Americans to be poor, ignorant, and isolated from the rest of the world.
The New York Times: Universities See Trump’s Harvard Move as a Threat to Them, Too.
The Trump administration’s surprising bid to end Harvard’s international enrollment put the higher education world on edge this week, looming as a larger threat against academic autonomy.
Well beyond the halls of Harvard this week, college leaders were shocked that one swift move by the federal government could eliminate their ability to serve students from abroad, a growing population that has infused their campuses with cachet and wealth.
“This is a grave moment,” Sally Kornbluth, the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote in a message to her campus.
More than 5,000 miles away, Wendy Hensel, the president of the University of Hawaii, said that it was “reverberating across higher education.”
President Trump has already unnerved universities this year by launching investigations, freezing grants, demanding changes in campus practices and attempting to deport international students. He has justified his punitive approach as a means to combat what he considers antisemitism. But he and his allies also have long resented a perceived liberal bias and racial diversity efforts at prestigious colleges.
The Trump administration said Thursday that it revoked Harvard’s international student certification because the university had failed to meet its demands, including a request for records of student protest activity dating back five years.
To many academics, that was a clear signal that Mr. Trump was prepared to use any federal mechanism as leverage if he did not get what he wants.
“While Harvard is the victim of the moment, it’s a warning and unprecedented attempt of a hostile federal government to erode the autonomy of all major universities in the U.S.,” said John Aubrey Douglass, a senior research fellow at the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley.
Yesterday, Trump and Marco Rubio began dismantling the National Security Council.
CNN: More than 100 National Security Council staffers put on administrative leave.
The Trump administration has put more than 100 officials at the National Security Council at the White House on administrative leave on Friday as part of a restructuring under interim national security adviser and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to two US officials and another source familiar with the matter.
Woman and cat, by Toyohara Kunichika
CNN previously reported that a significant overhaul of the body in charge of coordinating the president’s foreign policy agenda was expected in the coming days, including a staff reduction and a reinforced top-down approach with decision-making concentrated at the highest levels.
An email from NSC chief of staff Brian McCormack went out around 4:20 p.m. informing those being dismissed they’d have 30 minutes to clean out their desks, according to an administration official. If they weren’t on campus, the email read, they could email an address and arrange a time to retrieve their stuff later and turn in devices.
The email subject line read: “Your return to home agency,” indicating that most of those affected were detailed to the NSC from other departments and agencies….
With this happening on a Friday afternoon before a long holiday weekend, the official called it “as unprofessional and reckless as could possibly be.”
Those put on leave include career officials, as well as political hires made during the Trump administration….
Staffed by foreign policy experts from across the US government, the NSC typically serves as a critical body for coordinating the president’s foreign policy agenda.
But under President Donald Trump, the NSC’s role has been diminished, with the overhaul expected to further reduce its importance in the White House.
Axios says they are trying to purge the “deep state.”
President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have orchestrated a vast restructuring of the National Security Council, reducing its size and transferring many of its powers to the State and Defense departments.
Why it matters: Trump’s White House sees the NSC as notoriously bureaucratic and filled with longtime officials who don’t share the president’s vision.
- A White House official involved in the planning characterized the reorganization as Trump and Rubio’s latest move against what they see as Washington’s “Deep State.”
- “The NSC is the ultimate Deep State. It’s Marco vs. the Deep State. We’re gutting the Deep State,” the official said of the move, which will cut the NSC staff to about half of its current 350 members. Those cut from the NSC will be moved to other positions in government, officials said.
- “The right-sizing of the NSC is in line with its original purpose and the president’s vision,” Rubio told Axios in a statement. “The NSC will now be better positioned to collaborate with agencies.”
Zoom in: White House officials point to an NSC structure that’s filled with committees and meetings that they say slow down decision-making and produce lots of jargon and acronyms.
There’s a lot more a the link, but I think Trump is just trying to bring every part of the government under his personal control.
Finally, I want to look at what Trump and RFK Jr. are doing with Covid-19 and Covid vaccines.
More than five years after the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in the United States, hundreds of people are still dying every week.
By Utagawa Hiroshige, 1797-1858
Last month, an average of about 350 people died each week from COVID, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
While high, the number of deaths is decreasing and is lower than the peak of 25,974 deaths recorded the week ending Jan. 9, 2021, as well as weekly deaths seen in previous spring months, CDC data shows.
Public health experts told ABC News that although the U.S. is in a much better place than it was a few years ago, COVID is still a threat to high-risk groups.
“The fact that we’re still seeing deaths just means it’s still circulating, and people are still catching it,” Dr. Tony Moody, a professor in the department of pediatrics in the division of infectious diseases at Duke University Medical Center, told ABC News.
The experts said there are a few reasons why people might still be dying from the virus, including low vaccination uptake, waning immunity and not enough people accessing treatments.
Read more details at the ABC link.
So why is the government limiting access to Covid Vaccines?
Scientific American: What FDA’s Planned Limits on COVID Vaccinations Mean for Health.
Larry Saltzman has blood cancer. He’s also a retired doctor, so he knows getting covid-19 could be dangerous for him — his underlying illness puts him at high risk of serious complications and death. To avoid getting sick, he stays away from large gatherings, and he’s comforted knowing healthy people who get boosters protect him by reducing his exposure to the virus.
Until now, that is.
Vaccine opponents and skeptics in charge of federal health agencies — starting at the top with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — are restricting access to covid shots that were a signature accomplishment of President Donald Trump’s first term and cost taxpayers about $13 billion to develop, produce, and distribute. The agencies are narrowing vaccination recommendations, pushing drugmakers to perform costly clinical studies, and taking other steps that will result in fewer people getting protection from a virus that still kills hundreds each week in the U.S.
“There are hundreds of thousands of people who rely on these vaccines,” said Saltzman, 71, of Sacramento, California. “For people who are immunocompromised, if there aren’t enough people vaccinated, we lose the ring that’s protecting us. We’re totally vulnerable.”
The Trump administration on May 20 rolled out tougher approval requirements for covid shots, described as a covid-19 “vaccination regulatory framework,” that could leave millions of Americans who want boosters unable to get them.
Vaccine opponents and skeptics in charge of federal health agencies — starting at the top with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — are restricting access to covid shots that were a signature accomplishment of President Donald Trump’s first term and cost taxpayers about $13 billion to develop, produce, and distribute. The agencies are narrowing vaccination recommendations, pushing drugmakers to perform costly clinical studies, and taking other steps that will result in fewer people getting protection from a virus that still kills hundreds each week in the U.S.
“There are hundreds of thousands of people who rely on these vaccines,” said Saltzman, 71, of Sacramento, California. “For people who are immunocompromised, if there aren’t enough people vaccinated, we lose the ring that’s protecting us. We’re totally vulnerable.”
The Trump administration on May 20 rolled out tougher approval requirements for covid shots, described as a covid-19 “vaccination regulatory framework,” that could leave millions of Americans who want boosters unable to get them.
Read the rest at the link. You can also check out this article at Technology Review: The FDA plans to limit access to covid vaccines. Here’s why that’s not all bad.
Trump simply doesn’t care if Americans die. That’s obvious based on the way he dealt with Covid during his first term. He seems willing to let RFK Jr. do whatever he wants. So who can Americans turn to for guidance and access to vaccines and treatments?
That’s it for me today. What’s on your mind?
#CovidVaccines #Covid19Deaths #CryptoCurrency #FDA #HarvardUniversity #internationalUniversityStudents #KristiNoem #NationalSecurityCouncil #NSC #RobertFKennedyJr_ #TrumpCorruption
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The Satanic Temple has expert witnesses trained and ready for any trans member whose care the state took. Several qualified. More in training.
Nobody has called.
Greaves: "What do you have?"
#TransRights #QueerNews #LGBTQ #Skrmetti #Resist https://twp.ai/4hsils -
The Satanic Temple has expert witnesses trained and ready for any trans member whose care the state took. Several qualified. More in training.
Nobody has called.
Greaves: "What do you have?"
#TransRights #QueerNews #LGBTQ #Skrmetti #Resist https://twp.ai/4hsils -
16 states write trans people out of legal existence. 26 ban care for youth. A child should not have to be brave. That we ask it is the indictment. https://twp.ai/9OXOUf #TransRights #TransKids #LGBTQ #ProtectTransYouth #QueerSky #HumanRights #TransHealthcare
-
16 states write trans people out of legal existence. 26 ban care for youth. A child should not have to be brave. That we ask it is the indictment. https://twp.ai/9OXOUf #TransRights #TransKids #LGBTQ #ProtectTransYouth #QueerSky #HumanRights #TransHealthcare
-
Books: Favourite reads, June’26
It was a month of catching up on series (for someone who strongly prefers stand-alones, I follow a fair few) – Singing Hills, MurderBot, the Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi – plus the latest releases by a subset of my usual favourites – Caitlin Rozakis, Alexis Hall, KJ Charles, CM Waggoner. These were all great reads that I would happily recommend, but this month’s mini-reviews feature new-to-me and debut authors, plus non-fiction.
Fiction
Wine for Roses by Emily O’Malley Liu
A sweet romantic fantasy novella set in a modern world that has widely-accepted hedgewitch-type magic, it follows Ethan as he must go work in a cursed garden after his father steals a rose, and meets the troubled trustee of the wild estate. Somewhere between a Beauty and the Beast retelling and a cosy T Kingfisher. This is one of those times I would have liked it longer than a novella, as the romance felt a bit quick/underdeveloped, but it was lovely read.
Bad, Bad Place by Francis Crawford
Twelve-year-old Janey finds a dead body, and her attempts to cope with it draw her and her grandmother into the grimy criminal underworld of her Scottish town (but much less grim than that makes it sound!). I have a soft spot for prepubescent-girl-solves-murder subgenre of murder-mysteries1, two favourites being The Nancys (since republished under a slightly different title), and Martha Grimes’s Emma Graham trilogy (highly recommend the audiobooks), this is an excellent addition, funny and authentic, by a debut author in her 60s.
Before the Bomb by Bobby Gass
A medium must solve a wartime cold case (more accurate, unidentified murder) when the murdered woman starts haunting her four-year-old son, giving him nightmares and the sort of disturbed behaviours that might make an ex-husband call in protective services. It’s set in the 90s, mostly so it’s plausible that some witnesses would still be alive, and partly so they can’t just use ancestors.co.uk to do most of the legwork (they have to use a volunteer pensioner instead). I was very involved in this story, Lucy is an excellent, wryly funny narrator (what they’re calling voicy), and I especially appreciated that being a single working mum with a young child did impact her investigations (sometimes they might as well not have a kid, for all they have to struggle to find babysitters or do parent stuff).
The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan
Another debut author, this one from my hometown of Perth, and one of my rarest reads, a werewolf book – but not paranormal, a rich historical fantasy. It takes the original medieval French werewolf legend and gives its an extra supernatural twist involving demons and pseudo-saints. It is on the darker side, but is very well-told, and has great characters and a good voice. Would follow these characters into a sequel for sure.
Non-Fiction
Why Q Needs U by Danny Bate
These “history of the [English] alphabet” books seem to come along with regularity, and I always end up reading them. This one takes an appealingly broader focus, using some letters to expand on the history of English as a whole, and includes a passionate defence of English’s idiosyncratic spelling system at the end. I listened on audiobook, which was good for hearing all the pronunciations (but an occasional challenge for visual shapes).
True Color by Kory Stamper
Continuing the English-language theme, this book takes an in-depth look at the particular challenge of defining colour in words, through the lens of the personalities involved in this speciality area during the creation of the third edition of the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary. I went straight on to read Stamper’s first book, a part-memoir, part-treatise about the art and science of lexicography.
The Blood Countess by Shelley Puhak
In a whiplash from cheerful explorations of the English language, this is the real story behind the legend of history’s most prolific female serial killer and supposed inspiration for Dracula. Simply put, it’s a biography of Elizabeth Bathory placed into the context of a turbulent era of war, plague, sectarian violence, political treachery, climate emergency and fear of powerful women (haven’t we come a long way in 400 years). As a wealthy widow from a powerful family, Elizabeth attracted enemies, but instead of the usual accusations of incestuous adultery and witchcraft so often used to attack women in power, her accusers spun ill-founded rumours of abuse into a frankly unbelievable murder spree that saw her arrested and her servants tortured into making convoluted confessions that radiated out unchallenged for hundreds of years. The saddest thing (aside from torture, murder and betrayal, of course) was the perverting of her genuine care for her people into examples of her supposed abuse, similar to how the medical care often provided by minor noblewomen in early England was turned into witchcraft.
Dark Archives by Megan Rosenbloom
A boutique history of medicine through the lens of human-skin (anthropodermic) book binding, telling the stories behind some of the confirmed examples, from criminals to impoverished women to volunteers to fakes, with detours to a traditional tannery to explore contemporaneous book-binding methods and a tattoo parlour for the modern problem of preserving treasured tattoos. Any book that includes the line “corpse desecration is ultimately in the eye of the beholder” is certainly delving deep into ethics and consent. A fascinating read!
And
Final draft complete! I even have a blurb (read it on my Books page). Full steam into the editing stage, still looking good for August.
- As long as no harm comes to the girl, of course; some of these types of books mete out a very harsh punishment for tween meddling ↩︎
-
Books: Favourite reads, June’26
It was a month of catching up on series (for someone who strongly prefers stand-alones, I follow a fair few) – Singing Hills, MurderBot, the Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi – plus the latest releases by a subset of my usual favourites – Caitlin Rozakis, Alexis Hall, KJ Charles, CM Waggoner. These were all great reads that I would happily recommend, but this month’s mini-reviews feature new-to-me and debut authors, plus non-fiction.
Fiction
Wine for Roses by Emily O’Malley Liu
A sweet romantic fantasy novella set in a modern world that has widely-accepted hedgewitch-type magic, it follows Ethan as he must go work in a cursed garden after his father steals a rose, and meets the troubled trustee of the wild estate. Somewhere between a Beauty and the Beast retelling and a cosy T Kingfisher. This is one of those times I would have liked it longer than a novella, as the romance felt a bit quick/underdeveloped, but it was lovely read.
Bad, Bad Place by Francis Crawford
Twelve-year-old Janey finds a dead body, and her attempts to cope with it draw her and her grandmother into the grimy criminal underworld of her Scottish town (but much less grim than that makes it sound!). I have a soft spot for prepubescent-girl-solves-murder subgenre of murder-mysteries1, two favourites being The Nancys (since republished under a slightly different title), and Martha Grimes’s Emma Graham trilogy (highly recommend the audiobooks), this is an excellent addition, funny and authentic, by a debut author in her 60s.
Before the Bomb by Bobby Gass
A medium must solve a wartime cold case (more accurate, unidentified murder) when the murdered woman starts haunting her four-year-old son, giving him nightmares and the sort of disturbed behaviours that might make an ex-husband call in protective services. It’s set in the 90s, mostly so it’s plausible that some witnesses would still be alive, and partly so they can’t just use ancestors.co.uk to do most of the legwork (they have to use a volunteer pensioner instead). I was very involved in this story, Lucy is an excellent, wryly funny narrator (what they’re calling voicy), and I especially appreciated that being a single working mum with a young child did impact her investigations (sometimes they might as well not have a kid, for all they have to struggle to find babysitters or do parent stuff).
The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan
Another debut author, this one from my hometown of Perth, and one of my rarest reads, a werewolf book – but not paranormal, a rich historical fantasy. It takes the original medieval French werewolf legend and gives its an extra supernatural twist involving demons and pseudo-saints. It is on the darker side, but is very well-told, and has great characters and a good voice. Would follow these characters into a sequel for sure.
Non-Fiction
Why Q Needs U by Danny Bate
These “history of the [English] alphabet” books seem to come along with regularity, and I always end up reading them. This one takes an appealingly broader focus, using some letters to expand on the history of English as a whole, and includes a passionate defence of English’s idiosyncratic spelling system at the end. I listened on audiobook, which was good for hearing all the pronunciations (but an occasional challenge for visual shapes).
True Color by Kory Stamper
Continuing the English-language theme, this book takes an in-depth look at the particular challenge of defining colour in words, through the lens of the personalities involved in this speciality area during the creation of the third edition of the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary. I went straight on to read Stamper’s first book, a part-memoir, part-treatise about the art and science of lexicography.
The Blood Countess by Shelley Puhak
In a whiplash from cheerful explorations of the English language, this is the real story behind the legend of history’s most prolific female serial killer and supposed inspiration for Dracula. Simply put, it’s a biography of Elizabeth Bathory placed into the context of a turbulent era of war, plague, sectarian violence, political treachery, climate emergency and fear of powerful women (haven’t we come a long way in 400 years). As a wealthy widow from a powerful family, Elizabeth attracted enemies, but instead of the usual accusations of incestuous adultery and witchcraft so often used to attack women in power, her accusers spun ill-founded rumours of abuse into a frankly unbelievable murder spree that saw her arrested and her servants tortured into making convoluted confessions that radiated out unchallenged for hundreds of years. The saddest thing (aside from torture, murder and betrayal, of course) was the perverting of her genuine care for her people into examples of her supposed abuse, similar to how the medical care often provided by minor noblewomen in early England was turned into witchcraft.
Dark Archives by Megan Rosenbloom
A boutique history of medicine through the lens of human-skin (anthropodermic) book binding, telling the stories behind some of the confirmed examples, from criminals to impoverished women to volunteers to fakes, with detours to a traditional tannery to explore contemporaneous book-binding methods and a tattoo parlour for the modern problem of preserving treasured tattoos. Any book that includes the line “corpse desecration is ultimately in the eye of the beholder” is certainly delving deep into ethics and consent. A fascinating read!
And
Final draft complete! I even have a blurb (read it on my Books page). Full steam into the editing stage, still looking good for August.
- As long as no harm comes to the girl, of course; some of these types of books mete out a very harsh punishment for tween meddling ↩︎
-
Books: Favourite reads, June’26
It was a month of catching up on series (for someone who strongly prefers stand-alones, I follow a fair few) – Singing Hills, MurderBot, the Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi – plus the latest releases by a subset of my usual favourites – Caitlin Rozakis, Alexis Hall, KJ Charles, CM Waggoner. These were all great reads that I would happily recommend, but this month’s mini-reviews feature new-to-me and debut authors, plus non-fiction.
Fiction
Wine for Roses by Emily O’Malley Liu
A sweet romantic fantasy novella set in a modern world that has widely-accepted hedgewitch-type magic, it follows Ethan as he must go work in a cursed garden after his father steals a rose, and meets the troubled trustee of the wild estate. Somewhere between a Beauty and the Beast retelling and a cosy T Kingfisher. This is one of those times I would have liked it longer than a novella, as the romance felt a bit quick/underdeveloped, but it was lovely read.
Bad, Bad Place by Francis Crawford
Twelve-year-old Janey finds a dead body, and her attempts to cope with it draw her and her grandmother into the grimy criminal underworld of her Scottish town (but much less grim than that makes it sound!). I have a soft spot for prepubescent-girl-solves-murder subgenre of murder-mysteries1, two favourites being The Nancys (since republished under a slightly different title), and Martha Grimes’s Emma Graham trilogy (highly recommend the audiobooks), this is an excellent addition, funny and authentic, by a debut author in her 60s.
Before the Bomb by Bobby Gass
A medium must solve a wartime cold case (more accurate, unidentified murder) when the murdered woman starts haunting her four-year-old son, giving him nightmares and the sort of disturbed behaviours that might make an ex-husband call in protective services. It’s set in the 90s, mostly so it’s plausible that some witnesses would still be alive, and partly so they can’t just use ancestors.co.uk to do most of the legwork (they have to use a volunteer pensioner instead). I was very involved in this story, Lucy is an excellent, wryly funny narrator (what they’re calling voicy), and I especially appreciated that being a single working mum with a young child did impact her investigations (sometimes they might as well not have a kid, for all they have to struggle to find babysitters or do parent stuff).
The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan
Another debut author, this one from my hometown of Perth, and one of my rarest reads, a werewolf book – but not paranormal, a rich historical fantasy. It takes the original medieval French werewolf legend and gives its an extra supernatural twist involving demons and pseudo-saints. It is on the darker side, but is very well-told, and has great characters and a good voice. Would follow these characters into a sequel for sure.
Non-Fiction
Why Q Needs U by Danny Bate
These “history of the [English] alphabet” books seem to come along with regularity, and I always end up reading them. This one takes an appealingly broader focus, using some letters to expand on the history of English as a whole, and includes a passionate defence of English’s idiosyncratic spelling system at the end. I listened on audiobook, which was good for hearing all the pronunciations (but an occasional challenge for visual shapes).
True Color by Kory Stamper
Continuing the English-language theme, this book takes an in-depth look at the particular challenge of defining colour in words, through the lens of the personalities involved in this speciality area during the creation of the third edition of the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary. I went straight on to read Stamper’s first book, a part-memoir, part-treatise about the art and science of lexicography.
The Blood Countess by Shelley Puhak
In a whiplash from cheerful explorations of the English language, this is the real story behind the legend of history’s most prolific female serial killer and supposed inspiration for Dracula. Simply put, it’s a biography of Elizabeth Bathory placed into the context of a turbulent era of war, plague, sectarian violence, political treachery, climate emergency and fear of powerful women (haven’t we come a long way in 400 years). As a wealthy widow from a powerful family, Elizabeth attracted enemies, but instead of the usual accusations of incestuous adultery and witchcraft so often used to attack women in power, her accusers spun ill-founded rumours of abuse into a frankly unbelievable murder spree that saw her arrested and her servants tortured into making convoluted confessions that radiated out unchallenged for hundreds of years. The saddest thing (aside from torture, murder and betrayal, of course) was the perverting of her genuine care for her people into examples of her supposed abuse, similar to how the medical care often provided by minor noblewomen in early England was turned into witchcraft.
Dark Archives by Megan Rosenbloom
A boutique history of medicine through the lens of human-skin (anthropodermic) book binding, telling the stories behind some of the confirmed examples, from criminals to impoverished women to volunteers to fakes, with detours to a traditional tannery to explore contemporaneous book-binding methods and a tattoo parlour for the modern problem of preserving treasured tattoos. Any book that includes the line “corpse desecration is ultimately in the eye of the beholder” is certainly delving deep into ethics and consent. A fascinating read!
And
Final draft complete! I even have a blurb (read it on my Books page). Full steam into the editing stage, still looking good for August.
- As long as no harm comes to the girl, of course; some of these types of books mete out a very harsh punishment for tween meddling ↩︎
-
Books: Favourite reads, June’26
It was a month of catching up on series (for someone who strongly prefers stand-alones, I follow a fair few) – Singing Hills, MurderBot, the Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi – plus the latest releases by a subset of my usual favourites – Caitlin Rozakis, Alexis Hall, KJ Charles, CM Waggoner. These were all great reads that I would happily recommend, but this month’s mini-reviews feature new-to-me and debut authors, plus non-fiction.
Fiction
Wine for Roses by Emily O’Malley Liu
A sweet romantic fantasy novella set in a modern world that has widely-accepted hedgewitch-type magic, it follows Ethan as he must go work in a cursed garden after his father steals a rose, and meets the troubled trustee of the wild estate. Somewhere between a Beauty and the Beast retelling and a cosy T Kingfisher. This is one of those times I would have liked it longer than a novella, as the romance felt a bit quick/underdeveloped, but it was lovely read.
Bad, Bad Place by Francis Crawford
Twelve-year-old Janey finds a dead body, and her attempts to cope with it draw her and her grandmother into the grimy criminal underworld of her Scottish town (but much less grim than that makes it sound!). I have a soft spot for prepubescent-girl-solves-murder subgenre of murder-mysteries1, two favourites being The Nancys (since republished under a slightly different title), and Martha Grimes’s Emma Graham trilogy (highly recommend the audiobooks), this is an excellent addition, funny and authentic, by a debut author in her 60s.
Before the Bomb by Bobby Gass
A medium must solve a wartime cold case (more accurate, unidentified murder) when the murdered woman starts haunting her four-year-old son, giving him nightmares and the sort of disturbed behaviours that might make an ex-husband call in protective services. It’s set in the 90s, mostly so it’s plausible that some witnesses would still be alive, and partly so they can’t just use ancestors.co.uk to do most of the legwork (they have to use a volunteer pensioner instead). I was very involved in this story, Lucy is an excellent, wryly funny narrator (what they’re calling voicy), and I especially appreciated that being a single working mum with a young child did impact her investigations (sometimes they might as well not have a kid, for all they have to struggle to find babysitters or do parent stuff).
The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan
Another debut author, this one from my hometown of Perth, and one of my rarest reads, a werewolf book – but not paranormal, a rich historical fantasy. It takes the original medieval French werewolf legend and gives its an extra supernatural twist involving demons and pseudo-saints. It is on the darker side, but is very well-told, and has great characters and a good voice. Would follow these characters into a sequel for sure.
Non-Fiction
Why Q Needs U by Danny Bate
These “history of the [English] alphabet” books seem to come along with regularity, and I always end up reading them. This one takes an appealingly broader focus, using some letters to expand on the history of English as a whole, and includes a passionate defence of English’s idiosyncratic spelling system at the end. I listened on audiobook, which was good for hearing all the pronunciations (but an occasional challenge for visual shapes).
True Color by Kory Stamper
Continuing the English-language theme, this book takes an in-depth look at the particular challenge of defining colour in words, through the lens of the personalities involved in this speciality area during the creation of the third edition of the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary. I went straight on to read Stamper’s first book, a part-memoir, part-treatise about the art and science of lexicography.
The Blood Countess by Shelley Puhak
In a whiplash from cheerful explorations of the English language, this is the real story behind the legend of history’s most prolific female serial killer and supposed inspiration for Dracula. Simply put, it’s a biography of Elizabeth Bathory placed into the context of a turbulent era of war, plague, sectarian violence, political treachery, climate emergency and fear of powerful women (haven’t we come a long way in 400 years). As a wealthy widow from a powerful family, Elizabeth attracted enemies, but instead of the usual accusations of incestuous adultery and witchcraft so often used to attack women in power, her accusers spun ill-founded rumours of abuse into a frankly unbelievable murder spree that saw her arrested and her servants tortured into making convoluted confessions that radiated out unchallenged for hundreds of years. The saddest thing (aside from torture, murder and betrayal, of course) was the perverting of her genuine care for her people into examples of her supposed abuse, similar to how the medical care often provided by minor noblewomen in early England was turned into witchcraft.
Dark Archives by Megan Rosenbloom
A boutique history of medicine through the lens of human-skin (anthropodermic) book binding, telling the stories behind some of the confirmed examples, from criminals to impoverished women to volunteers to fakes, with detours to a traditional tannery to explore contemporaneous book-binding methods and a tattoo parlour for the modern problem of preserving treasured tattoos. Any book that includes the line “corpse desecration is ultimately in the eye of the beholder” is certainly delving deep into ethics and consent. A fascinating read!
And
Final draft complete! I even have a blurb (read it on my Books page). Full steam into the editing stage, still looking good for August.
- As long as no harm comes to the girl, of course; some of these types of books mete out a very harsh punishment for tween meddling ↩︎
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Books: Favourite reads, June’26
It was a month of catching up on series (for someone who strongly prefers stand-alones, I follow a fair few) – Singing Hills, MurderBot, the Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi – plus the latest releases by a subset of my usual favourites – Caitlin Rozakis, Alexis Hall, KJ Charles, CM Waggoner. These were all great reads that I would happily recommend, but this month’s mini-reviews feature new-to-me and debut authors, plus non-fiction.
Fiction
Wine for Roses by Emily O’Malley Liu
A sweet romantic fantasy novella set in a modern world that has widely-accepted hedgewitch-type magic, it follows Ethan as he must go work in a cursed garden after his father steals a rose, and meets the troubled trustee of the wild estate. Somewhere between a Beauty and the Beast retelling and a cosy T Kingfisher. This is one of those times I would have liked it longer than a novella, as the romance felt a bit quick/underdeveloped, but it was lovely read.
Bad, Bad Place by Francis Crawford
Twelve-year-old Janey finds a dead body, and her attempts to cope with it draw her and her grandmother into the grimy criminal underworld of her Scottish town (but much less grim than that makes it sound!). I have a soft spot for prepubescent-girl-solves-murder subgenre of murder-mysteries1, two favourites being The Nancys (since republished under a slightly different title), and Martha Grimes’s Emma Graham trilogy (highly recommend the audiobooks), this is an excellent addition, funny and authentic, by a debut author in her 60s.
Before the Bomb by Bobby Gass
A medium must solve a wartime cold case (more accurate, unidentified murder) when the murdered woman starts haunting her four-year-old son, giving him nightmares and the sort of disturbed behaviours that might make an ex-husband call in protective services. It’s set in the 90s, mostly so it’s plausible that some witnesses would still be alive, and partly so they can’t just use ancestors.co.uk to do most of the legwork (they have to use a volunteer pensioner instead). I was very involved in this story, Lucy is an excellent, wryly funny narrator (what they’re calling voicy), and I especially appreciated that being a single working mum with a young child did impact her investigations (sometimes they might as well not have a kid, for all they have to struggle to find babysitters or do parent stuff).
The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan
Another debut author, this one from my hometown of Perth, and one of my rarest reads, a werewolf book – but not paranormal, a rich historical fantasy. It takes the original medieval French werewolf legend and gives its an extra supernatural twist involving demons and pseudo-saints. It is on the darker side, but is very well-told, and has great characters and a good voice. Would follow these characters into a sequel for sure.
Non-Fiction
Why Q Needs U by Danny Bate
These “history of the [English] alphabet” books seem to come along with regularity, and I always end up reading them. This one takes an appealingly broader focus, using some letters to expand on the history of English as a whole, and includes a passionate defence of English’s idiosyncratic spelling system at the end. I listened on audiobook, which was good for hearing all the pronunciations (but an occasional challenge for visual shapes).
True Color by Kory Stamper
Continuing the English-language theme, this book takes an in-depth look at the particular challenge of defining colour in words, through the lens of the personalities involved in this speciality area during the creation of the third edition of the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary. I went straight on to read Stamper’s first book, a part-memoir, part-treatise about the art and science of lexicography.
The Blood Countess by Shelley Puhak
In a whiplash from cheerful explorations of the English language, this is the real story behind the legend of history’s most prolific female serial killer and supposed inspiration for Dracula. Simply put, it’s a biography of Elizabeth Bathory placed into the context of a turbulent era of war, plague, sectarian violence, political treachery, climate emergency and fear of powerful women (haven’t we come a long way in 400 years). As a wealthy widow from a powerful family, Elizabeth attracted enemies, but instead of the usual accusations of incestuous adultery and witchcraft so often used to attack women in power, her accusers spun ill-founded rumours of abuse into a frankly unbelievable murder spree that saw her arrested and her servants tortured into making convoluted confessions that radiated out unchallenged for hundreds of years. The saddest thing (aside from torture, murder and betrayal, of course) was the perverting of her genuine care for her people into examples of her supposed abuse, similar to how the medical care often provided by minor noblewomen in early England was turned into witchcraft.
Dark Archives by Megan Rosenbloom
A boutique history of medicine through the lens of human-skin (anthropodermic) book binding, telling the stories behind some of the confirmed examples, from criminals to impoverished women to volunteers to fakes, with detours to a traditional tannery to explore contemporaneous book-binding methods and a tattoo parlour for the modern problem of preserving treasured tattoos. Any book that includes the line “corpse desecration is ultimately in the eye of the beholder” is certainly delving deep into ethics and consent. A fascinating read!
And
Final draft complete! I even have a blurb (read it on my Books page). Full steam into the editing stage, still looking good for August.
- As long as no harm comes to the girl, of course; some of these types of books mete out a very harsh punishment for tween meddling ↩︎
-
The Grand Edinburgh Fire Balloon: the thread about James Tytler and the first manned aerial flight in the British Isles
This thread was originally written and published in August 2023.
Today is August 27th 2023. So what is special about this date? Well, it was today, 239 years ago, when the eccentric Edinburgh character of James Tytler ascended in his “Grand Edinburgh Fire Balloon” and flew the 3,000 or so feet from Comely Gardens to Restalrig on the outskirts of the city, thus making the first, manned aerial flight in the British Isles, immortalising himself in the process as Balloon Tytler.
A rather optimistic engraving of Tytler’s balloon flight, from “The Literary World”, 25th July 1840. In reality the bird-like gondola and the stove was absent during his flight and he sat instead in a small, wicker basketJames Tytler hailed from Fearn in Forfarshire, the son of a minister of the Kirk of modest means, who had been sent to Edinburgh to pursue and education and make a better life for himself. He was many things, but he was mainly persistently skint and in debt. Had he not been so, he may have been remember as a polymath. He had failed as a preacher, as a doctor as an apothecary and as a poet, but succeeded in scraping a living and keeping his creditors at bay as a pen for hire; he wrote much of the 2nd edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. But we are interested in him here as an aviator.
James Tytler, engraving of him as author of Encyclopaedia BritannicaIn September 1783, a “fire balloon1” constructed by France’s Montgolfier brothers successfully flew with a sheep, a duck and a rooster on board (the animals all survived!) In late November, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d’Arlandes were the first human passengers in one of the brothers’ machines. Tytler, reading of these endeavours in far away Edinburgh, was captivated and – like many of his contemporaries -caught the flying bug . Working on the second edition of the encyclopaedia at the time, he devoted a whole 8-page section of the Encyclopaedia to ballooning, writing “In future ages, it will be as usual to hear a man call for his wings, when he is going on a journey, as it is now for him to call for his boots“. “By this invention” he continued “the schemes of transporting people through the atmosphere, formerly thought chimerical, are realised”.
The first flight of a Montgolfier fire balloon from Versailles in September 1783, the passengers were a sheep, duck and rooster- At the time, hot air balloons were known as fire balloons and hydrogen balloons as inflammable air balloons ↩︎
It was around this time, late in 1783 or early 1784, that Tytler took the bold step of determining that he would not just read and write about ballooning, he would also build and fly one of his own. This whole scheme may have arisen as an after-dinner wager in one of the dining rooms of enlightenment Edinburgh, as a scrap of handwritten paper was kept by Professor Dugald Stewart, in the style of a newspaper advertisement, announcing the intention:
We have the authority to assure the Public that it is neither Mr Tytler of Woodhouselee nor Mr Frazer Tytler, Advocate and Professor of Civil History in the University of Edinburgh, that means to go up with the Air Balloon on the 7th of May, but Mr James Tytler an ingenious chemist and distant relation of the others, whose friends it is hoped will accept of this intimation of their having no intentions of going up with air balloons at present, what ever-malicious or interested persons may chuse (sic) to give out, or credulous people may believe.
Wager or not, Tytler certainly had the brains, the self-confidence and the ambition to see this project through, but there was a big stumbling block; he had not the money. Indeed, this lack of funding would plague the project from beginning to end and seriously compromised his results. But he pressed on with planning nevertheless. On June 19th he took out a front page advert in the Edinburgh Evening Courant newspaper announcing a public demonstration of a scale model hot air balloon, both for his own testing and to try and raise precious funds by charging an admission fee:
On Monday next, the 21st current, will be exhibited
Edinburgh Evening Courant, June 19th, 1784
AT COMELEY GARDEN
By JAMES TYTLER, CHEMIST
A FIRE BALLOON, of 13 Feet Circumference,
AS A MODEL OF
THE GRAND EDINBURGH FIRE BALLOON,
with which he intends to attempt the Navigation of the AtmosphereComely Gardens, if you didn’t know, was a Georgian pleasure garden between Holyrood and Abbeyhill, “a wretched imitation of Vauxhall“, where for a few pennies you could stroll the ornamental garden, take tea, and listen to whatever music or entertainment had been laid on. The gardens both offered shelter within their walls and trees, from (most of) the prevailing winds, and an ability to charge people for entry. This tethered exhibition was successful and enough money was raised to fund construction of the full-scale “Grand Edinburgh Fire Balloon“
1804 Edinburgh Town plan by John Ainslie, centred on Comely Gardens. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandJames got to work at once. The basic machine was quite crude – unlike the gaily decorated French contemporaries – limited both by his funds and his skills. The design was basically a 30 feet wide by 40 feet tall linen cylinder, lined with paper to make it “leak proof” and surrounded by ropes to attach a basket for the occupant and a stove to heat the air. Unfortunately, many of those gentlemen who subscribed to the scheme refused to part with their money until after the machine had flown (or at the very least risen from the ground), so he was caught in a Catch 22 situation, between having to follow through to prove himself to his sponsors, but also lacking the money or credit to actually do so.
Engraving of Tytler’s balloon from his own promotional tickets. The characters in the balloon are well out of scale. The “wings” projecting from the car were intended to “row” and “steer” it through the air but were entirely useless.There was also the threat of the Edinburgh Mob, there being rumblings that they would either destroy the balloon as some sort of affront to God before it could fly or destroy it in disappointment if it failed to fly. The authorities were nervous and made it be known they might forbid the scheme entirely on public order grounds. Somehow Tytler managed to scrape together enough funds to complete the basic balloon envelope and resolved to demonstrate a public inflation of it to try and confound his doubters and convince some of the sponsors to convert their paper promises into actual money. But he needed somewhere enclosed to trial the inflation of his fragile linen and paper balloon and there was only one building big enough in town; the incomplete shell of the Register House – “the largest pigeon house in Europe“, still incomplete after 10 years of stop-start construction and a lot of finance.
The Register House, partially complete, some time before 1787. Sketch by John Brown, Cc-by-NC National Galleries ScotlandAnd so an advert was placed in the Courant on July 17th 1784, requesting the presence of “the Gentlemen who have subscribed or intended to subscribe“. The reporters from that paper and its rival The Advertiser were also invited to help publicise the scheme. This demonstration was also a success – sort of… the balloon did inflate – but the stove was inefficient and smoky, it coated the inner walls of the envelope in soot and sent up sparks and cinders which burned holes in the paper and linen, causing it to leak like the metaphorical sieve and slowly deflate. Tytler put a brave face on things, but couldn’t afford to start from scratch or buy a better stove, so resolved to patch up the leaky balloon and go for broke. The week of the Leith Races commences on 2nd August and it would provide the crowds and occasion to launch a flight.
William Reed, the Leith Races, late 18th century or early 19th. © Edinburgh City LibrariesThere was a further reason to pick race week for the demonstration; it gave Tytler the perfect cover if things went wrong and the Mob was stirred. In this event, he could say it was the fault of the races for whipping up any trouble and not his flying machine. So the day after the test inflation at Register House he took out adverts across the local papers. In these, he announced the Edinburgh Fire Balloon would fly (tethered) after the first race, and every day thereafter, and that on the Friday it would be unleashed and might “cross the Frith (sic) of Forth”. He made yet a further appeal for financial support and made sure to note that Major Masters, commanding officer of the garrison at Edinburgh castle, had offered up his men to guard the balloon and any “Ladies and Gentlemen that may attend the different exhibitions“, lest the Mob spoil the occassion.
Tytler’s announcement in the Caledonian Mercury, 31st July 1784So in amongst the drinking, the gambling, the debauchery, the freak shows and the general chaotic merriment of the Leith Races, Tytler was going to fly across the Forth! He removed the balloon back to the Comely Garden and got to work at once. For the occasion, he had tickets printed up, which he signed and numbered by hand. He also scored out the printed line “Constructed by William Brodie“, being unable to afford to pay a subcontractor he would now be doing all the work for himself.
Ticket to the Edinburgh Fire Balloon, British Museum number C,2.11-28With what remained of his scant funds, he had constructed a mast 50ft tall, with a 64ft long arm at the top, to hold the envelope of the balloon as it inflated. But his relentless scrimping meant it was built too weak, and the day before race week began, Sunday 1st August, it collapsed under test. The crowd that nevertheless assembled at Comely Garden the next day to see the tethered flight was therefore denied such a spectacle. On each of the subsequent 3 days the west wind did blow – a direction from which the site was not sheltered – so disappointment prevailed again and again. Things were getting desperate for Tytler, he needed a success, and so he moved the balloon and the repaired mast to the most sheltered corner of the garden and on Friday 6th August – the date he had promised to fly across the Forth – he lit the stove and started inflating. But the wind again started to blow as the envelope filled and it strained at its mooring ropes. Tytler’s helpers struggled to contain it and it was only the ripping of the envelope and partial deflation that probably saved it from being blown clean away. The crowds left angry and dismayed. The Courant was scathing: “The Edinburgh Fire Balloon has been struggling hard to make its public appearance during the race week. Masts and yards and scaffolds and furnaces had lent their aid, but to little purpose. Its gravity and affection for the earth cannot be overcome“.
But Tytler was irrepressible, the winds dropped and the next day he tried again. This time the balloon inflated, but as he was about to clamber aboard the basket “a gust of whirlwind, as if send by divine command to blast the hopes of this devoted projector, attacked the Balloon, drove it hither and thither and by compressing it on all sides, soon reduced it to a state of flaccidity” and it once more deflated. The Mob had finally had enough; angry scenes followed this failure and Tytler fled before he could be accosted for any refunds. When the crowd could not find him they turned instead on his balloon, detached its basket and paraded it around the local streets in triumph before throwing it on the still-glowing stove and burning it to ciders. Their anger thus sated, they drifted home. Tytler was at rock-bottom and wrote about his feelings at this time:
I was obliged to hear my name called out wherever I went, to hear the insults of every black-guard boy, to hear myself called Cheat, Rascal, Coward and Scoundrel by those who had neither courage, honesty nor honour. I was proscribed in the newspapers and pointed out by tow of the Edinburgh News-mongers as a public enemy
His name may have been mud with the Courant and the Advertiser, but the Caledonian Mercury was more sympathetic about the failure, giving him the benefit of the doubt – he could after all not control the weather. It also pointed out that if more of his claimed backers would pay up, he might have the funds needed to succeed.
Perhaps encouraged by that forgiving take on events, Tytler soon slunk back to Comely Garden to examine the remains of his machine. The main flaw of his design was that it lacked a neck, so the wind easily blew or sucked the hot air out. About this he could do nothing, but he could at least try patch it up and get a new basket. The fragile paper lining was now covered in soot and full of cinder-holes and tears, so he painstakingly removed it, and instead varnished the linen to try and make it airtight. He could not afford to build a proper basket, and so one used to carry crockery was sourced as a passenger compartment. But this meant that the stove could no longer be carried. In fact this was probably a good thing as it weighed 300lbs and had a habit of mainly burning holes in the balloon. So he had to settle to try and fly without it, using only whatever hot air he could fill it with on the ground (and keep captive within it) to provide the lift for flight. His reasoning was simple, if he could make any sort of flight in the repaired machine, he should be able to raise the money for a full rebuild. In his own words it was “the resolution of a madman and which nothing but my desperate situation could excuse“.
And so the word went out that he would try again for a flight within a fortnight. Fortunately at this time, the attention of the public and of the press was drawn to the election of a new MP for Edinburgh, giving him some breathing space from both (even if there was only one candidate and the only electors were the Town Council!) Not wanting to incur the attention of the Mob again, the next attempted inflation on Wednesday August 25th had no crowd invited. The balloon was filled for over an hour to help dry out the varnish. At about 630AM, the fire was put out and Tytler climbed into his basket. The restraining ropes were cast away, the balloon floated, and then… nothing happened! Perhaps there was not enough hot air, or the morning was too cold, but at least there had not been a disaster and he had demonstrated “the practicability of the scheme“. The previously sympathetic Caledonian Mercury was not convinced however and under the title of “The Rise and Fall of the Edinburgh Fire Balloon”, they took a satirical imagination of his first flight,with it ending with the balloon pierced by a church steeple and its occupant being cast into a duck pond.
But success was in Tytler’s grasp and after a final few tweaks and another coat of varnish, he was ready to go again. It was Friday 27th August, 1784, 239 years ago today, it was about 5AM and the stove was once again lit beneath the envelope. An uninvited crowd had formed, either to be sure to see success or to be amused by failure. The balloon slowly filled, straining at its mooring ropes. Maybe Tytler – a deeply religious but unaligned man – said a prayer for success or salvation first, but he soon climbed into his basket again and the ropes were once more undone. And this time, to everyone’s surprise, up he went, eliciting a great cheer from them. Ascending rapidly, a loose rope caught a tree and the mooring mast, but such was the lifting force it simply snapped free of both. A height of 350ft was reached, the length of that loose rope, the crowd tried to grab it but it tore free from their grasp too. Up, up, and quite literally away he went! Carried on the western breeze, he drifted slowly eastwards and away from the city. The crowd gave chase, Tytler recalling afterwards that he was much amused by “looking at the spectators running about in confusion below“.
With no stove to keep the balloon hot, it rapidly cooled and the intrepid aviator was soon drifting back to earth. He came down about half a mile distant in the village of Restalrig, possibly in the minister’s glebe (but neither in a dung heap or a duck pond as his detractors had forecast). And for once, Tytler, the crowd, his supporters, and the press were all jubilant. The downtrodden little man with a moth-eaten coat, whose shoes were falling apart and who had a hole in his hat had succeeded! The previously hostile Advertiser declared him “the first person in Great Britain to have navigated the air“. The Courant were “amazed at the boldness of the undertaking” and made something of a mealy-mouthed apology for their previous scepticism. The Caledonian Mercury called it “a decisive experiment” and that Scotland could at last “boast of its aerial navigator“.
Filled with the confidence of success a 2nd flight – well advertised to the public – was planned for the 31st, the day of the foregone conclusion of the election of Sir Adam Fergusson as the city’s new MP. After completing the requisite formalities, the newly elected member and the Council committee hastily made their way to Comely Garden to join the assembled spectators. Once again the balloon inflated. Once again Tytler climbed bravely aboard and once again it took off. But it had been under-inflated and this time it rose to only about a hundred feet, coming down not far over the garden boundary wall. But it had still flown and it was enough to convince some of his backers to finally follow through financially and he was able to raise enough money to rebuild his basket properly and to have a new stove built for it. The clock was now ticking in the “Balloon madness” capturing the country and on September 15th Italian Vincenzo Lunardi made a balloon flight from Moorfield Barracks, in London. In Perthshire, an enterprising but unknown gentleman sent up a model balloon, 22 feet in diameter, which was seen to travel as far away as Moulin, some 25 miles, before being blown back on the wind almost to where it had lifted off.
Lunardi makes his first balloon flight in London. Note the different balloon design to Tytler’s, but that he too carries the useless oars and rudders © The Trustees of the British MuseumThe autumn weather delayed proceedings in Edinburgh, it rained or it was too windy, or both, for weeks for any inflation or flights. But on September 29th Tytler was ready to go again. And so the balloon was hoisted on the mast and the new stove was lit beneath. A huge crowd assembled, packing out St. Ann’s Yards (now part of Holyrood Park) and the slopes of the Calton Hill. The first attempt deflated and so it was hoisted and filled again. But once again a sudden and spiteful gust of wind caught it. This time the supporting mast broke, the balloon collapsed and the whole lot came crashing down. One helper on the mast leapt for his life and landed in a tree, another was badly injured in his fall. Tytler’s luck and popularity was now trickling rapidly away from his grasp, as was the support of the press, who once again took up their sceptical stances. But he was no stranger to this and refused to give up, and went back to his repairs and planning another attempt.
That day came on October 11th. Everything proceeded as before. When the balloon tugged at its ropes Tytler climbed aboard and cast off. Nothing happened. He climbed out again to see what was wrong and now it took off! The Courant described that the balloon “rolled about a short time like an overgrown porpoise“, reaching a height of about 300 feet before falling sideways back to the ground and landing heavily, destroying itself in the process. Excuses were made – the stove was too small, the calculations had been gotten wrong, but surely now it was all over? Indeed it was not – Tytler just would not give up. He tried to raise more money for repairs but by March 1785 he had fled to the debtors’ sanctuary of Holyroodhouse (to which he was no stranger). It may have been he was being sued by the proprietor of Comely Garden for damages caused. Amusingly, his entry in the Register of Protections in the sanctuary recorded him as “James Tytler, chemist and balloon maker“. In the sanctuary, he was safe from his creditors but could not work on his balloon, and he was not safe from the fever that incapacitated him for 6 weeks.
The Canongate looking towards the Abbey Sanctuary, by James Skene 1820. A debtor, his coat flying behind him, is chased by his creditors and their batten-wielding henchmen © Edinburgh City LibrariesBy the time he was free of debt and fever however, ballooning had moved on and a simple half mile flight wouldn’t cut it. He would – in his own estimations – have to fly at least as far as Dundee! A date was set of July 26th. And so once more, Tytler lit his stove. And once again it began to inflate. An ominous rumble of thunder was heard in the distance, the wind suddenly got up, the balloon was torn from its moorings and upended, the stove smashed to pieces and the envelope totally destroyed. And that was that. Tytler finally admitted defeat and gave up. He was consoled by kind words in letters from none other than Vincenzo Lunardi, now a national hero. In reply, Tytler composed a sad poem, including the couplet: “Lost are my wishes, lost is all my care, And all my projects, flutter in the air“. While the two were rivals they were so on friendly terms, Tytler beat Lunardi into the air, but it was the latter who made a success of it. Edinburgh satirist John Kay captured the two of them in a caricature entitled “Fowls of a Feather, Flock Together“, Lunardi holding out a conciliatory hand.
Lunardi, centre, holds out his hand to Tytler, 3rd left, in John Kay’s caricature of 1785, “Fowls of a Feather Flock together”Robert Burns corresponded with Tytler, and gives as a contemporary opinion of him:
An obscure, tippling, but extraordinary body known by the name of Tytler, commonly known by the name of Balloon Tytler, from his having projected a balloon – a mortal, who, though he trudges about Edinburgh as a common printer, with leaky shoes, a skylighted hat and knee buckles as unlike as “George-by-the-Grace-of-God and Solomon-the-Son-of-David”, yet that same unknown drunken mortal is author and complier of three-fourths of Elliott’s pompous ‘Encyclopaedia Britannica’, which he composed at half a guinea a week.
Robert Burns, describing James TytlerTytler very soon had to flee Edinburgh, on the run yet again from his creditors, apparently a method he had devised for bleaching linen, which could have made him his fortune, had been stolen from him by unscrupulous dyers. His wife sued for divorce in 1788 on account of him having taken up with another woman with whom he fathered twins. He returned to the city in 1791 to work again on the third edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica but he did not stay long; in 1792 he wrote a seditious pamphlet calling the House of Commons “a vile junto of aristocrats” and was outlawed. In 1795 he left for America, writing a further radical pamphlet en route, “Rising the sun in the west, or the Origin and progress of liberty“. He lived out his last decade in Salem, scraping a living from his writing and selling medicines. Turning increasingly to drink as a counter his disappointments in life, he left his house one day in January 1804, inebriated, never to return. The sea washed his body up 2 days later.
James Tytler, an 1804 portrait by American artist Hannah Crowninshield. Copy of a missing watercolour supposedly held by the Peabody Essex MuseumJames Tytler is long gone, but he’s not quite forgotten locally. On the 200th anniversary of his achievement, a hot air balloon meeting was held in Holyrood Park, over the wall from the location of Comeley Gardens, the largest balloon being decorated specially for the occassion
James Tytler bicentennial commemorative balloon in 1984Two modern streets are named for him in the vicinity of where the Comeley Gardens were located, Tytler Gardens and Tytler Court and there are two murals dedicated to his aerial adventures in Abbeyhill, the most recent by the Abbeyhill Colony of Artists in 2021 at the top of Maryfield.
The Colony of Artists mural to James Tytler at Maryfield. Note the map marks Tytler Court and Tytler Gardens.Note to readers: unfortunately in April 2026, a third-party plug-in more than exceeded its authority and broke many of the image links on this site. No images were lost but I will have to restore them page-by-page, which may take some time. In the meantime please bear with me while I go about rectifying this issue.
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Dolphin Whisperer’s and Ferox’s Top Ten(ish) of 2023
By Dolphin Whisperer
Dolphin Whisperer
I don’t remember anymore exactly when or how I stumbled upon Angry Metal Guy, but I know that I’ve been reading the site for fourteen years now. In that time I’ve gone from barely a student to a working professional who routinely feels the drain of a society sinking around him. But it’s ok because along the way I managed to find a partner who loves me for all my flaws and quirks (or at least that’s what she tells me).1 She wasn’t always there, though, nor was the comfort that we’ve built into our life. When she wasn’t there, and when human company could not provide for whatever reason, both Angry Metal Guy and the music world at large always existed to evolve around me and shine a path to work that saw where I was and reflected my pain. Or my happiness. Or the existential dread of another day. Or just comforted me with a warm bowl of guitar noodles with a side of riff salad.
You may not have seen my words pop around much over that time, but rest assured, I was there like all of you now, reading as AMG the Man validated my feelings or presented admiration for an idol I don’t worship or killed my darlings with questionable opinions. I was there when Steel was the new Ape on the block. I developed a taste for the cast who I agreed with most and scanned with ravenous eyes for the next 0.5 or 1.0 to watch a train wreck meet a car crash. I watched this community who knew nothing of me stand up for important and meaningful things all while staying steadfast to the goal of simply reviewing metal in all its glory.2 Then one day I decided to join the Discord group that had been advertising itself at the bottom of every article for I don’t know how long before I noticed. And in that feverish chatterbox of swirling opinions, I realized that this community meant so much to me that I wanted to give it a go behind the curtains.
I made friends—friends surrounding music whether I agree with them or not. That’s what it means to love music in my mind. Hate and love both ignite passion, and passion is what squirms the happy juice in our brains. I’m sure you, dear reader, will have thoughts about the below choices. And know that you are more than welcome to voice them in any way you see fit. Go ahead, recommend me something while you’re at it. If you do agree with these opinions, also know, then that you can click through to any of the associated reviews, Bandcamp pages, label links—any way that you can reward the artist with your hard-earned currency, if you’re able. Because remember, it’s people like you and me (nerds) who keep this silly business of music alive. Did you know you can click those links? On my reviews, on my buddy Ferox‘s reviews. Even on reviews that you don’t agree with! So read something, click something, support something, tell a friend, tell a partner… or just take whatever knowledge you gain and listen to some good music. If you continue reading, you will encounter my recommendations to fill that void of good music in your life. Above (or below, whatever the Editing Gods decide) Ferox has some recommendations for you too. Know that these two sets are the best recommendations you will receive this year. Live loudly, listen responsibly.3
#ish. Anareta // Fear Not – In a year with less to love, Fear Not could have placed higher, but the riches across different facets of my listening pleasures spilled forth in almost every possible way. Alas, this unique act couldn’t have come further out of left field when promos began to trickle in for 2023, and Anareta’s delicate precision with weeping string melodies against their brutish incisions of blood-curdling shrieks struck the tucked-away Grayceon bone in my body. Alongside up-and-coming act Exulansis out of Oregon, there’s a promising wave of chamber-informed bands growing in the wilds of niche-loving minds. As they say, it only takes two to tango…though “Omnicide” feels a little more like a foxtrot, right?
#10. Tongues // Formløse Stjerner – That I managed to cobble together words that described the mysterious air that surrounds this album baffles me. Countless listens later, I still get lost in the swaying vibrations of the tricky whammy-addled leads and layers of reverb decaying over a vast landscape. And even though all these forward choices usually spell a path down the intangible and incoherent, a lurking melody and grounded rhythmic performance seals the hypnotism that would feel just out of reach with a lesser performance. Your mind knows that each tone source here found its way to the recording behind closed doors, but the energy that emits throughout Formløse Stjerner casts like a sonic beacon through the dreariest of nights on the open, foggy sea.
#9. Vanishing Kids // Miracle of Death – The kids are gone!!! I wasn’t particularly a fan of their previous release so that Miracle of Death hooked me was a small miracle all in itself. I’m no stranger to enjoying shoegaze-y things, psych-rock-laden things, sinfully synthful things—the airy 60s era croons and shimmering Hammond shudders throughout this give me all kinds of shoulder-relaxing, neck-tingling goodies. You think that’d remind me of someone like The Mamas & the Papas, but my mind drifts toward the episodic, warble-clipped daze of the Cunninglynguists classic Oneirology. Funny how the mind works, innit? Regardless, the sheer beauty of sound on display throughout Miracle of Death is impossible for my sugar-starved brain to ignore. Vibe with me.
#8. Slumbering Sun // The Ever-Lasting Fire – I know the Rodeö entries provide a healthy serving of less-than-desirable releases, but if you’re skipping them entirely then maybe you missed Slumbering Sun when they dropped their debut LP, The Ever-Lasting Fire way back in February. You see, one of the reasons I’ve helped fuel the Rodeö is that bands like Slumbering Sun still exist out there, under the radar, largely unpromoted, with gem ideas. Leaning on the modern sadperson melodic doom angle pioneered by an early Pallbearer, this Texas troupe delivered a longing yet hopeful collection of tunes that never fails to stir the slow burn of teary-eyed smiles in my heart. If Patrick Walker (Warning) were younger when he found peace, perhaps 40 Watt Sun would have gone this direction.
#7. Jarhead Fertilizer // Carceral Warfare – I didn’t even think I was getting a Jarhead release this year, but the death metal overlords decided that 2023 hadn’t quite graced me yet with this extremely specific kind of deranged, violent, feral death metal that I crave. Samples and segues function like dim lights in a dive bar, masking the filth strewn about while the seedy world around you builds its slow assault on your senses. Carceral Warfare stinks, its riffs carved in cracked and corroded skin. There’s nothing acute about injuries that Jarhead seeks to afflict—the wounds Carceral Warfare doles out aim to fester and brim black with incurable disease.
#6. Gridlink // Coronet Juniper – I never expected my favorite power metal album of the year to be a grindcore album. Gridlink’s take on the punk specialty has always been a bit different though. Always fast, always pushing the treble ceiling, and always leading with melodies that don’t quit, Coronet Juniper highlights all the strengths that this outfit has always promised. As their last album, it functions as a tribute to themselves—their collective passions executed at ridiculous speeds and unadvisable levels of throat punishment. It may not be as groundbreaking as what came before it, but when you’re ten steps ahead of the pack, you can settle to simply show ’em how it’s done. And I got to use Gundam clips in the review. Win-Win.
#5. Wormhole // Almost Human – The formatting will get all weird if I only scream WOOOOOOOOOOOORMMMMMMMMM-HOOOOOOOLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEE like I want to, so here’s more. Ken and I don’t often end up hole-to-hole on an album, but when we do, you better bet that it’s great. When all that was out for Almost Human was the singles, I repeatedly binged those first two tracks as if they were a whole album to themselves. And that’s the magic of this bright and horrifying slamfest. It’s shiny, it’s punishing, and, most importantly, it’s relentless in worming its way into my gaping sound receptors.
#4. Anachronism // Meanders – I’ve been listening to this all damn year at this point. I was late to the Anachronism party with Orogeny, but not so with Meanders. Its uncanny ease in mood and brevity in run hold an important home in contrast to its finger-testing technicality and unparalleled rhythmic brutality. A natural but still unexpected successor to the post-tinged, brooding brutality that showed itself in flashes, Meanders rains textural and colorful in ways that other death metal simply doesn’t—all while still staying death metal. Oh, and Lisa Voisard has a piercing shriek to go with her scruffy bellow. Who would’ve guessed?
#3. healthyliving // Songs of Abundance, Psalms of Grief – I knew how much I loved this album before I realized it. When it dropped, I told all the writers, “I think I have my first TYMHM y’all.” But then I went and filtered it, which is no dishonor but doesn’t quite capture the intensity of what healthyliving has to offer on this debut outing. Building tension through an eclectic array of jangling chords and understated rhythms, the supporting cast sets the perfect stage for vocalist Amaya Lopez-Carramerro to absolutely shred with fearless virtuosic wail. Or she’ll sit back and set a slow burn with a restrained and emotive croon. Can I call her my favorite vocalist in metal right now? Is this even metal? Maybe. But I couldn’t care less. It’s damn good.
#2. KEN mode // VOID – NULL ended up on my top ten last year, and with the consistency that these angry Canadians provide, enjoying VOID came naturally, disarmingly so. What I didn’t expect, however, was that this act known for being noisy and rambunctious and pulverizing would be able to dial back the melancholy of previous works with an additional varnish of lived-in depression. A partner to what came before it, VOID captures the last spat of mania before an extended comedown and the dragging sorrow that follows. And yet somehow, though it hurts almost every step of the way, I feel just a little bit lighter after every listen. Get over yourself and listen if you haven’t bothered yet, if only for the buzzing synths and buttery, booming bass tones.
#1. Vvon Dogma I // The Kvlt of Glitch – You, the commentariat, had plenty to say about this album when it dropped. “I tried… No thanks.” — “I’m voting Dolphin Whisperer off the island. This is crap.” — “What the actual fuck?” All choice examples. Some of you also decided to write this off because of the AI-base of the cover art despite the artists involved self-funding this whole exploration and fully crediting the digital assistance. Your asceticism will go unrewarded. This is a humble reminder that you, the commentariat, do not influence my complete and utter enjoyment of this mad pairing of cyberpunk industrial, fanned-fret progressive, angelic electronic piece of edge-skirting metal. The spirit of adventure that graces every phrase throughout the Kvlt of Glitch stimulates the thrill-seeker, the floating spirit, the head-banging hooligan in me all at once, while lathering me with a fresh sense of dread for a technology-warped future. Maybe you never liked Genghis Tron before they disbanded after Board Up the House. Maybe you never liked Unexpect when they graced us with album after album of shrill and unfathomably progressive fantasy. Maybe you’ve got a shallow throat for multi-layered, programmed voices that fizzle the ears with rich harmony. But The Kvlt of Glitch is willing to welcome you whenever you choose to accept its power. I am God now!4
Honorable Mentions:
- World’s End Girlfriend // Resistance & The Blessing – WEG possesses the esoteric ability to manipulate time with beauty. Resistance & The Blessing continues to unravel itself before me as I tackle it as a whole, in chunks, in the narratives it allows you to build with each of its whispered ideas. Sadness, happiness, anger, frustration, longing, acceptance—this monumental offering has it all. I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s a lot to take in. But I’d also be lying if I said I didn’t love it.
- Angra // Cycles of Pain – What can I say, I love Angra. The Lione era is developing a thing for long albums, but at least it’s all good.
- Autarkh // Emergent – An album that loops with glitchy industrial and ethereal post-metal as well as this one does is dangerous. You could do a lot worse than hearing this three times in a row though.
- Aphotic // Abyssgazer – Blackened deathdoom? Funeral-tinged ritualistic black metal? Whatever you want to call this, there’s an alternate timeline where it’s on the list proper. It just goes.
- Horrendous // Ontological Mysterium – Progressive death metal ear candy. I could probably listen to this album all damn day if the last song didn’t dampen the mood a little.
- Pupil Slicer // Blossom – Metalcore with nu-metal tropes shouldn’t be as fun as this or the new Mouthbreather album, but those industrial grooves keep on giving. Start the album with the title track for an even better listen.
- Ok Goodnight // The Fox and the Bird – I take some issue with the proggy detours in this album, but its storybook charm holds more endearing than all of that.
- Maud the Moth + trajedesaliva // Bordando el manto terrestre – Chill-out album of the year. Meditate, read, relax… or just listen to the sultry whispers with your eyes closed. They tickle.
Disappointments o’ the Year:
Soen // Imperial Memorial – Let me level with you, Lotus is a fantastic album and the pinnacle of a career for Soen, a band that has grown further away from the flourishes that make their music interesting. Lush production? Humming Hammond overlays? Joel Ekelöf spreading sweet nothings over the course of an urgent and chunky build? Who needs any of that when you can write worse choruses over the same riff and people continue to latch onto it. Soen almost remembers their strengths (“Fortress,”5 “Tragedian,” “Vitals”), and it is admirable that Ekelöf tries to stretch his wings as a grittier vocalist while maintaining his Eurovision aspirations. But with a direction that’s even less dynamic than the uncharacteristically narrow master that Memorial shows, I’ve got little to reason believe that this is a direction that Soen should continue. Not good. Not good at all.
Einar Solberg // 16 – After Aphelion wiped away the hope I had left for Leprous, I looked to this solo outing from Mr. Solberg as a chance for him to find a way back to a good tune. It seems that it did help him reclaim a somber and less ahhAAAahhAAAaahaah character to his voice, and drummer Keli Guðjónsson (Agent Fresco, notable Leprous-like act) really helps a few bright moments shine (“Remember Me,” “Blue Light”). However, Solberg did not have to take his play at Jamiroquai (“Home”) nor include a guest rapper (also “Home”) nor include his sister (for what effect on “Where All the Twigs Broke”) nor include his brother-in-law for a growled guest spot on a trip-hoppy track (that’s Ihsahn on “Splitting the Soul”) nor give us seventy minutes of whatever you want to wrap this up as. Sadboi art pop perhaps? Skippable in any case.
Best Thing I Missed in 2022:
Polterguts // Gods Over Broken People – I haven’t heard an album this seriously fucking pissed off since Admiral Angry’s Buster, but the level of frustration here rings just a touch less sexual and frustrated—it’s defeated. The malaise that Gods captures renders itself in lyrics that spout from a voice fed on apathy and gravel: “I used to pray for my friends/I used to hurt when they hurt/I used to love without expecting any love in return” (“Skullbowl”), “I like it here at the bottom where they know me by name/I used to think I wanted out, but now I’m begging to stay” (“Buckle the Spine”), “I’m not strong enough to hold it together, but It breaks my heart to watch you struggle for air/I’m sorry I couldn’t get both of us out, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t there” (“Injury”). As harrowing as that is to read, it’s even more brutal to hear. And I suspect for those stuck in the same kind of recursive, small-town Midwest drain from which this attitude grows, this would hit even harder. One part Meshuggah, one part Chat Pile, and another part its own punished deathcore, Polterguts holds in one hand my aching heart and in another its own, stained and hollow.
Songs o’ the Year:
Why give you one when I can give you twenty-seven? Why twenty-seven? That’s my secret. Now, I’ve talked enough, go out there and enjoy some music, friends. And enjoy this photo of my dogs.
Kiwi (top) and Coconut (bottom).
Ferox
I got my own big boy list! AMG Industries: where doing an adequate job on the free work you’ve been assigned leads to opportunities for more free work. I wouldn’t have it any other way–I love this place, even if the prospect of making this list fills me with anxiety and imposter syndrome. I am generally not given to best-of lists, or year-end reflection. But we’ve got a fake job to do, so let’s get stuck in!
2023 was a weird one. It began with a case of long-ish Covid that saw me coughing uncontrollably every time I laughed, segued into a writer’s strike that shut down my industry for six months, and ended with a faint and collision between the Ferox noggin and a concrete floor. That last one put me in bed recovering for the better part of a month and seriously fucked with my workout goals. Despite all this, it was an incredible year! My family flourished, I snuck a couple of projects into production at my day job, and I had a blast writing here as much as I could. The only complaint I could possibly muster is that it’s all flying past way too quickly.
As for AMG… this is that rare place that improves the lives of all who touch it (Rodeö bands excepted). It did that for me when I lurked as a reader, and it continues to do so now that I cling to a staff position. How does a place this positive place exist? On the internet?! I’m grateful to Steel for providing real leadership at my fake job, to my fellow members of the AMG Class of ’21 for being good eggs and excellent writers, and to everyone I’ve met through a gig that makes life richer and more fun. Maybe the real 2023 was the bollocks we talked along the way.
#ish. Spirit Possession // Of the Sign… – Do you guys like Nifelheim? I sure as heckfire do, and this album that captures some of their defiant spirit stole my heart in the waning moments of 2023. The reprobates of Nifelheim aren’t the only point of departure here. Portland’s Spirit Possession is a borderline tribcore act that aims to capture the feel of an era more than the work of one particular band. Here you’ll find echoes of Bathory, Hellhammer, and Venom. Sometimes a project like this works so well that the music transcends the lack of originality baked into these sorts of things. Of the Sign… is one such album; it may well have landed in my top ten if I had had more time with it before Listurnalia.
#10. Horrendous // Ontological Mysterium – Horrendous, already on a very short list of the best metal bands so far this century, bolsters their legacy with the concise and intoxicating Ontological Mysterium. The quartet has carved out a take on progressive death metal that is entirely their own, one that is melodic, wonky, and sweeping all at once. They’ve never been more engaging than they are on Ontological Mysterium. The album wends its way through nine tracks in less than forty minutes–Ontological Mysterium defies its run time by taking you on a journey that feels epic, but releases you before fatigue sets in. Only closer “The Death Knell Ringeth,” an inexplicable dud that can scarcely walk and chew gum at the same time, keeps Ontological Mysterium from ascending to loftier heights.
#9. Wormhole // Almost Human – Wormhole’s take on brutal death metal is at once savage but cheerful, and stöopid without being remotely dumb. I am fully on board with any band that uses the low art of the slample to describe their own sound, as Wormhole does with a sunny interjection of “Tech Slam!” on the title track of their latest. The AMG staff would have you believe that it’s necessary to choose between Wormhole and Afterbirth, the band’s peer in innovative and excellent brutal death metal. That is nonsense; appreciate the Slam-aissance in all its glory, as these two remarkable outfits elevate one of metal’s least-loved subgenres to new heights.
#8. Sodomisery // Mazzaroth – Sodomisery makes life hard on themselves with an atrocious name that is way too persnickety about the respectable pursuit of sodomy. Some folks just need to play the game on difficult mode, I guess. If the hideous moniker is what it takes to spur Sodomisery to this kind of work, then the outfit should keep indulging themselves. Mazzaroth is an endlessly replayable slab of genre-bending excellence. Symphonic flourishes and well-placed clean vocals accent the band’s hybrid of black metal, death metal, and melodeath. Mazzaroth is big fun, an album that effortlessly synthesizes a cornucopia of influences into something that feels both classic and new.
#7. Xoth // Exogalactic – A late-in-the-game remaster unleashed the power of a fully operational Exogalactic. The album finds the pan-genre madlads of Xoth playing in the margins, expanding their sound here and there while defending their Party Lovecraft turf. Across eight engaging tracks, the excellent songwriting of Exogalactic is augmented by audacious technical what-the-fuck-ery. The album’s forty minutes fly past, and while Xoth’s sound might not be the revelation it was on Invasion of the Tentacube and Interdimensional Invocations, this Seattle quartet remains very much on top of their game. Play a song, any song, and joy will invade your earholes. That’s the Xoth promise, and Exogalactic delivers.
#6. Gridlink // Coronet Juniper – I could go on about the pleasures of Coronet Juniper, but chances are Dolphin Whisperer already has you cornered and is doing just that. My list buddy extolled the virtues of this grind funhouse to the point where I finally just pretended he was saying “BREEEEEEEEEEEEE” and tuned him out. Then I played the album a month or so later in the gym, and Gridlink rocketed me to a dimension of pure fun. Coronet Juniper is a grind joyride, so confident in its songwriting that the band includes a run of instrumental “karaoke versions” at the end of the album that is every bit as playable as the so-called official tracklist.
#5. Outer Heaven // Infinite Psychic Depths – Outer Heaven understands both the virtues and the confines of old-school death metal. Infinite Psychic Depths gives the subgenre a glow-up by taking us on a tour of everything that still works, while adding a few new wrinkles. The album never plays as mere pastiche; like some kind of Quentin Tarantino of death metal, Outer Heaven refreshes old tropes by building something new from a pile of familiar elements. I haven’t dug much into the high concept that underlies Infinite Psychic Depths, but that’s because I don’t need to. The music stands on its own. Already a highlight of 2023, Infinite Psychic Depths feels like one that could grow in esteem with time. It could well be underrated in my fifth slot.
#4. Tribunal // The Weight of Remembrance – Here’s one that roared out of the gate back in January and absolutely refused to cede any ground. The Weight of Remembrance runs classic doom through both an orchestral and a death metal filter. The various genre flourishes enhance the strong songwriting–“Of Creeping Moss and Crumbling Stone” is so incredible that it became a workout staple despite its plodding pace, and nearly earned a spot on this year’s Heavy Moves Heavy playlist. The highlights don’t stop there. They don’t stop until The Weight of Remembrance has run its course. The Debut o’ The Year also happens to be one of the very best albums of 2023.
#3. Warcrab // The Howling Silence – Warcrab boasts fighting spirit, sharp claws, and a crustacean shell that’s fitted for turret combat. They’re obviously game for a scrap, but–as Cherd pointed out in his review–the band doesn’t have much competition in their death-sludge niche. A relief, then, that Warcrab is anything but complacent on The Howling Silence. These seven tracks roar past, the stifling atmosphere pierced on occasion by icepick solos that showcase the Guitar Tone o’ The Year. This one was a grower for me. The Howling Silence initially did little to distinguish itself from previous slab Damned in Endless Night. But my lizard brain heard layers that my ears weren’t processing, and the album kept earning spins. Layers of excellence kept revealing themselves, and before I knew it this piece of heavy artillery blasted its way to the upper echelons of my list.
#2. Carnosus // Visions of Infinihility – This rollicking slab of tech death earned a 4.0 from me back in early February, and I do believe I sold these Swedes short by half a point. Visions of Infinihility was a mainstay of my 2023. The album remained close at hand throughout both a long strike and a stretch of vertigo-induced bedrest. If I’m not tired of it yet, I probably never will be. And what’s not to like here? Every one of the nine tracks on Visions of Infinihility stands up to heavy listening. The site’s top writer summed it up most precisely: “It doesn’t matter if you’re wearing four thousand dollar headphones or a bullet belt–Visions of Infinihility should appeal to wonks, diehards, and metalheads all across the spectrum.”
#1. Afterbirth // In But Not Of – Long Island’s Afterbirth crams an abundance of riches into a brutal death metal album that twists and transmutes as it goes. The first half of In But Not Of stays planted in the brutal death genre that Afterbirth had a hand in creating. The second departs for distant parsecs, fusing elements of post-metal, alt-rock, and even ambient music onto death metal songs. The experiments work seamlessly, and I continue to find surprises almost every time I revisit In But Not Of. “Devils With Dead Eyes,” “Autoerotic Amputation,” “In But Not Of,” and “Angels Feast on Flies” are the standout tracks–any one of the four could credibly lay claim to Song o’ The Year. Colin Marston’s production showcases and elevates the material. My favorite critic said it best: “This is music to concuss you and then heal your battered brain… [In But Of] is an album to savor and return to again and again, a companion piece to Four Dimensional Flesh that manages to equal if not surpass its predecessor.” Also: revel in that gorgeous album art by Alex Eckman-Lawn, a sci-fi Frankenstein’s monster that perfectly encapsulates the record. My top score of 2023 is an easy choice for Ferox‘s Album o’ The Year.
Honorable Mentions
- Autopsy // Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts– Ashes, Organs, Blood, and Crypts plays like Autopsy’s Basement Tapes, a collection of feral death metal songs that also somehow comes off as loose and ramshackle. It stands among the band’s best post-comeback work.
- Gorod // The Orb – The French masters of tech death hold serve with the predictably excellent The Orb.
- Convocation // No Dawn for the Caliginous Night – I came up with the genre tag “funereal doom” to describe Convocation’s latest to myself. The band accesses the majesty of funeral doom without the tedious repetition. It’s a potent approach that’s been honed to near-perfection on No Dawn for the Caliginous Night.
- Tomb Mold // The Enduring Spirit – The Toronto outfit pulled off a tricky shift, surprising fans of their inventive take on old-school death with this proggy slab. I sure wouldn’t have minded another Planetary Clairvoyance, but I wound up thrilled by this new direction.
- Serpent Corpse // Blood Sabbath – 2023 delivered an abundance of old-school death delights, but Montreal’s Serpent Corpse move to the head of the class with debut Blood Sabbath.
- Fabricant // Drudge to the Thicket – A trio of virtuoso musicians keep their debut album juuust barely on the “death metal” side of the prog-death divide. Drudge to the Thicket is a load of unpredictable fun from an immensely promising outfit.
- Omnicidal // The Omnicidalist – Omnicidal takes a huge leap forward with a sophomore album that injects hints of melodeath and black thrash into an already nasty cocktail. In spite of Gardenstale‘s rave, this excellent effort seemed to get lost in the 2023 shuffle. I kept it spinning all year.
- Gravesend // Gowanus Death Stomp – This second offering of urban nightmare deathgrind from Gravesend improves on Methods of Human Disposal. An album that conjures genuinely unsettling images and one that will leave its boot marks all over your body,
- Dripping Decay // Festering Grotesqueries— Another exceptional death metal debut, Festering Grotesqueries inspired an epic run of putrid imagery in Steel‘s review. These Portland knuckle-draggers are worthy of all the filthy poetry the Apeman can muster.
Song o’ the Year: Afterbirth – “In But Not Of”
Disappointment o’ the Year
- Immortal // War Against All – After the improbably incredible Northern Chaos Gods, I was PUMPED for Immortal’s Second Coming of Demonaz Era. Cue the record scratch, because the follow-up is generic and pretty much just sucks through and through.
#2023 #Afterbirth #Anachronism #Anareta #Angra #Aphotic #Autarkh #Autopsy #BlogPost #Carnosus #Convocation #DolphinWhispererSAndFeroxSTopTenIshOf2023 #DrippingDecay #EinarSolberg #Fabricant #Gorod #Gravesend #Gridlink #healthyliving #Horrendous #Immortal #JarheadFertilizer #KENMode #Lists #Listurnalia #MaudTheMothTrajedesaliva #OkGoodnight #Omnicidal #OuterHeaven #Polterguts #PupilSlicer #SerpentCorpse #SlumberingSun #Sodomisery #Soen #SpiritPossession #TombMold #Tongues #Tribunal #VanishingKids #VvonDogmaI #Warcrab #WorldSEndGirlfriend #Wormhole #Xoth
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Dolphin Whisperer’s and Ferox’s Top Ten(ish) of 2023
By Dolphin Whisperer
Dolphin Whisperer
I don’t remember anymore exactly when or how I stumbled upon Angry Metal Guy, but I know that I’ve been reading the site for fourteen years now. In that time I’ve gone from barely a student to a working professional who routinely feels the drain of a society sinking around him. But it’s ok because along the way I managed to find a partner who loves me for all my flaws and quirks (or at least that’s what she tells me).1 She wasn’t always there, though, nor was the comfort that we’ve built into our life. When she wasn’t there, and when human company could not provide for whatever reason, both Angry Metal Guy and the music world at large always existed to evolve around me and shine a path to work that saw where I was and reflected my pain. Or my happiness. Or the existential dread of another day. Or just comforted me with a warm bowl of guitar noodles with a side of riff salad.
You may not have seen my words pop around much over that time, but rest assured, I was there like all of you now, reading as AMG the Man validated my feelings or presented admiration for an idol I don’t worship or killed my darlings with questionable opinions. I was there when Steel was the new Ape on the block. I developed a taste for the cast who I agreed with most and scanned with ravenous eyes for the next 0.5 or 1.0 to watch a train wreck meet a car crash. I watched this community who knew nothing of me stand up for important and meaningful things all while staying steadfast to the goal of simply reviewing metal in all its glory.2 Then one day I decided to join the Discord group that had been advertising itself at the bottom of every article for I don’t know how long before I noticed. And in that feverish chatterbox of swirling opinions, I realized that this community meant so much to me that I wanted to give it a go behind the curtains.
I made friends—friends surrounding music whether I agree with them or not. That’s what it means to love music in my mind. Hate and love both ignite passion, and passion is what squirms the happy juice in our brains. I’m sure you, dear reader, will have thoughts about the below choices. And know that you are more than welcome to voice them in any way you see fit. Go ahead, recommend me something while you’re at it. If you do agree with these opinions, also know, then that you can click through to any of the associated reviews, Bandcamp pages, label links—any way that you can reward the artist with your hard-earned currency, if you’re able. Because remember, it’s people like you and me (nerds) who keep this silly business of music alive. Did you know you can click those links? On my reviews, on my buddy Ferox‘s reviews. Even on reviews that you don’t agree with! So read something, click something, support something, tell a friend, tell a partner… or just take whatever knowledge you gain and listen to some good music. If you continue reading, you will encounter my recommendations to fill that void of good music in your life. Above (or below, whatever the Editing Gods decide) Ferox has some recommendations for you too. Know that these two sets are the best recommendations you will receive this year. Live loudly, listen responsibly.3
#ish. Anareta // Fear Not – In a year with less to love, Fear Not could have placed higher, but the riches across different facets of my listening pleasures spilled forth in almost every possible way. Alas, this unique act couldn’t have come further out of left field when promos began to trickle in for 2023, and Anareta’s delicate precision with weeping string melodies against their brutish incisions of blood-curdling shrieks struck the tucked-away Grayceon bone in my body. Alongside up-and-coming act Exulansis out of Oregon, there’s a promising wave of chamber-informed bands growing in the wilds of niche-loving minds. As they say, it only takes two to tango…though “Omnicide” feels a little more like a foxtrot, right?
#10. Tongues // Formløse Stjerner – That I managed to cobble together words that described the mysterious air that surrounds this album baffles me. Countless listens later, I still get lost in the swaying vibrations of the tricky whammy-addled leads and layers of reverb decaying over a vast landscape. And even though all these forward choices usually spell a path down the intangible and incoherent, a lurking melody and grounded rhythmic performance seals the hypnotism that would feel just out of reach with a lesser performance. Your mind knows that each tone source here found its way to the recording behind closed doors, but the energy that emits throughout Formløse Stjerner casts like a sonic beacon through the dreariest of nights on the open, foggy sea.
#9. Vanishing Kids // Miracle of Death – The kids are gone!!! I wasn’t particularly a fan of their previous release so that Miracle of Death hooked me was a small miracle all in itself. I’m no stranger to enjoying shoegaze-y things, psych-rock-laden things, sinfully synthful things—the airy 60s era croons and shimmering Hammond shudders throughout this give me all kinds of shoulder-relaxing, neck-tingling goodies. You think that’d remind me of someone like The Mamas & the Papas, but my mind drifts toward the episodic, warble-clipped daze of the Cunninglynguists classic Oneirology. Funny how the mind works, innit? Regardless, the sheer beauty of sound on display throughout Miracle of Death is impossible for my sugar-starved brain to ignore. Vibe with me.
#8. Slumbering Sun // The Ever-Lasting Fire – I know the Rodeö entries provide a healthy serving of less-than-desirable releases, but if you’re skipping them entirely then maybe you missed Slumbering Sun when they dropped their debut LP, The Ever-Lasting Fire way back in February. You see, one of the reasons I’ve helped fuel the Rodeö is that bands like Slumbering Sun still exist out there, under the radar, largely unpromoted, with gem ideas. Leaning on the modern sadperson melodic doom angle pioneered by an early Pallbearer, this Texas troupe delivered a longing yet hopeful collection of tunes that never fails to stir the slow burn of teary-eyed smiles in my heart. If Patrick Walker (Warning) were younger when he found peace, perhaps 40 Watt Sun would have gone this direction.
#7. Jarhead Fertilizer // Carceral Warfare – I didn’t even think I was getting a Jarhead release this year, but the death metal overlords decided that 2023 hadn’t quite graced me yet with this extremely specific kind of deranged, violent, feral death metal that I crave. Samples and segues function like dim lights in a dive bar, masking the filth strewn about while the seedy world around you builds its slow assault on your senses. Carceral Warfare stinks, its riffs carved in cracked and corroded skin. There’s nothing acute about injuries that Jarhead seeks to afflict—the wounds Carceral Warfare doles out aim to fester and brim black with incurable disease.
#6. Gridlink // Coronet Juniper – I never expected my favorite power metal album of the year to be a grindcore album. Gridlink’s take on the punk specialty has always been a bit different though. Always fast, always pushing the treble ceiling, and always leading with melodies that don’t quit, Coronet Juniper highlights all the strengths that this outfit has always promised. As their last album, it functions as a tribute to themselves—their collective passions executed at ridiculous speeds and unadvisable levels of throat punishment. It may not be as groundbreaking as what came before it, but when you’re ten steps ahead of the pack, you can settle to simply show ’em how it’s done. And I got to use Gundam clips in the review. Win-Win.
#5. Wormhole // Almost Human – The formatting will get all weird if I only scream WOOOOOOOOOOOORMMMMMMMMM-HOOOOOOOLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEE like I want to, so here’s more. Ken and I don’t often end up hole-to-hole on an album, but when we do, you better bet that it’s great. When all that was out for Almost Human was the singles, I repeatedly binged those first two tracks as if they were a whole album to themselves. And that’s the magic of this bright and horrifying slamfest. It’s shiny, it’s punishing, and, most importantly, it’s relentless in worming its way into my gaping sound receptors.
#4. Anachronism // Meanders – I’ve been listening to this all damn year at this point. I was late to the Anachronism party with Orogeny, but not so with Meanders. Its uncanny ease in mood and brevity in run hold an important home in contrast to its finger-testing technicality and unparalleled rhythmic brutality. A natural but still unexpected successor to the post-tinged, brooding brutality that showed itself in flashes, Meanders rains textural and colorful in ways that other death metal simply doesn’t—all while still staying death metal. Oh, and Lisa Voisard has a piercing shriek to go with her scruffy bellow. Who would’ve guessed?
#3. healthyliving // Songs of Abundance, Psalms of Grief – I knew how much I loved this album before I realized it. When it dropped, I told all the writers, “I think I have my first TYMHM y’all.” But then I went and filtered it, which is no dishonor but doesn’t quite capture the intensity of what healthyliving has to offer on this debut outing. Building tension through an eclectic array of jangling chords and understated rhythms, the supporting cast sets the perfect stage for vocalist Amaya Lopez-Carramerro to absolutely shred with fearless virtuosic wail. Or she’ll sit back and set a slow burn with a restrained and emotive croon. Can I call her my favorite vocalist in metal right now? Is this even metal? Maybe. But I couldn’t care less. It’s damn good.
#2. KEN mode // VOID – NULL ended up on my top ten last year, and with the consistency that these angry Canadians provide, enjoying VOID came naturally, disarmingly so. What I didn’t expect, however, was that this act known for being noisy and rambunctious and pulverizing would be able to dial back the melancholy of previous works with an additional varnish of lived-in depression. A partner to what came before it, VOID captures the last spat of mania before an extended comedown and the dragging sorrow that follows. And yet somehow, though it hurts almost every step of the way, I feel just a little bit lighter after every listen. Get over yourself and listen if you haven’t bothered yet, if only for the buzzing synths and buttery, booming bass tones.
#1. Vvon Dogma I // The Kvlt of Glitch – You, the commentariat, had plenty to say about this album when it dropped. “I tried… No thanks.” — “I’m voting Dolphin Whisperer off the island. This is crap.” — “What the actual fuck?” All choice examples. Some of you also decided to write this off because of the AI-base of the cover art despite the artists involved self-funding this whole exploration and fully crediting the digital assistance. Your asceticism will go unrewarded. This is a humble reminder that you, the commentariat, do not influence my complete and utter enjoyment of this mad pairing of cyberpunk industrial, fanned-fret progressive, angelic electronic piece of edge-skirting metal. The spirit of adventure that graces every phrase throughout the Kvlt of Glitch stimulates the thrill-seeker, the floating spirit, the head-banging hooligan in me all at once, while lathering me with a fresh sense of dread for a technology-warped future. Maybe you never liked Genghis Tron before they disbanded after Board Up the House. Maybe you never liked Unexpect when they graced us with album after album of shrill and unfathomably progressive fantasy. Maybe you’ve got a shallow throat for multi-layered, programmed voices that fizzle the ears with rich harmony. But The Kvlt of Glitch is willing to welcome you whenever you choose to accept its power. I am God now!4
Honorable Mentions:
- World’s End Girlfriend // Resistance & The Blessing – WEG possesses the esoteric ability to manipulate time with beauty. Resistance & The Blessing continues to unravel itself before me as I tackle it as a whole, in chunks, in the narratives it allows you to build with each of its whispered ideas. Sadness, happiness, anger, frustration, longing, acceptance—this monumental offering has it all. I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s a lot to take in. But I’d also be lying if I said I didn’t love it.
- Angra // Cycles of Pain – What can I say, I love Angra. The Lione era is developing a thing for long albums, but at least it’s all good.
- Autarkh // Emergent – An album that loops with glitchy industrial and ethereal post-metal as well as this one does is dangerous. You could do a lot worse than hearing this three times in a row though.
- Aphotic // Abyssgazer – Blackened deathdoom? Funeral-tinged ritualistic black metal? Whatever you want to call this, there’s an alternate timeline where it’s on the list proper. It just goes.
- Horrendous // Ontological Mysterium – Progressive death metal ear candy. I could probably listen to this album all damn day if the last song didn’t dampen the mood a little.
- Pupil Slicer // Blossom – Metalcore with nu-metal tropes shouldn’t be as fun as this or the new Mouthbreather album, but those industrial grooves keep on giving. Start the album with the title track for an even better listen.
- Ok Goodnight // The Fox and the Bird – I take some issue with the proggy detours in this album, but its storybook charm holds more endearing than all of that.
- Maud the Moth + trajedesaliva // Bordando el manto terrestre – Chill-out album of the year. Meditate, read, relax… or just listen to the sultry whispers with your eyes closed. They tickle.
Disappointments o’ the Year:
Soen // Imperial Memorial – Let me level with you, Lotus is a fantastic album and the pinnacle of a career for Soen, a band that has grown further away from the flourishes that make their music interesting. Lush production? Humming Hammond overlays? Joel Ekelöf spreading sweet nothings over the course of an urgent and chunky build? Who needs any of that when you can write worse choruses over the same riff and people continue to latch onto it. Soen almost remembers their strengths (“Fortress,”5 “Tragedian,” “Vitals”), and it is admirable that Ekelöf tries to stretch his wings as a grittier vocalist while maintaining his Eurovision aspirations. But with a direction that’s even less dynamic than the uncharacteristically narrow master that Memorial shows, I’ve got little to reason believe that this is a direction that Soen should continue. Not good. Not good at all.
Einar Solberg // 16 – After Aphelion wiped away the hope I had left for Leprous, I looked to this solo outing from Mr. Solberg as a chance for him to find a way back to a good tune. It seems that it did help him reclaim a somber and less ahhAAAahhAAAaahaah character to his voice, and drummer Keli Guðjónsson (Agent Fresco, notable Leprous-like act) really helps a few bright moments shine (“Remember Me,” “Blue Light”). However, Solberg did not have to take his play at Jamiroquai (“Home”) nor include a guest rapper (also “Home”) nor include his sister (for what effect on “Where All the Twigs Broke”) nor include his brother-in-law for a growled guest spot on a trip-hoppy track (that’s Ihsahn on “Splitting the Soul”) nor give us seventy minutes of whatever you want to wrap this up as. Sadboi art pop perhaps? Skippable in any case.
Best Thing I Missed in 2022:
Polterguts // Gods Over Broken People – I haven’t heard an album this seriously fucking pissed off since Admiral Angry’s Buster, but the level of frustration here rings just a touch less sexual and frustrated—it’s defeated. The malaise that Gods captures renders itself in lyrics that spout from a voice fed on apathy and gravel: “I used to pray for my friends/I used to hurt when they hurt/I used to love without expecting any love in return” (“Skullbowl”), “I like it here at the bottom where they know me by name/I used to think I wanted out, but now I’m begging to stay” (“Buckle the Spine”), “I’m not strong enough to hold it together, but It breaks my heart to watch you struggle for air/I’m sorry I couldn’t get both of us out, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t there” (“Injury”). As harrowing as that is to read, it’s even more brutal to hear. And I suspect for those stuck in the same kind of recursive, small-town Midwest drain from which this attitude grows, this would hit even harder. One part Meshuggah, one part Chat Pile, and another part its own punished deathcore, Polterguts holds in one hand my aching heart and in another its own, stained and hollow.
Songs o’ the Year:
Why give you one when I can give you twenty-seven? Why twenty-seven? That’s my secret. Now, I’ve talked enough, go out there and enjoy some music, friends. And enjoy this photo of my dogs.
Kiwi (top) and Coconut (bottom).
Ferox
I got my own big boy list! AMG Industries: where doing an adequate job on the free work you’ve been assigned leads to opportunities for more free work. I wouldn’t have it any other way–I love this place, even if the prospect of making this list fills me with anxiety and imposter syndrome. I am generally not given to best-of lists, or year-end reflection. But we’ve got a fake job to do, so let’s get stuck in!
2023 was a weird one. It began with a case of long-ish Covid that saw me coughing uncontrollably every time I laughed, segued into a writer’s strike that shut down my industry for six months, and ended with a faint and collision between the Ferox noggin and a concrete floor. That last one put me in bed recovering for the better part of a month and seriously fucked with my workout goals. Despite all this, it was an incredible year! My family flourished, I snuck a couple of projects into production at my day job, and I had a blast writing here as much as I could. The only complaint I could possibly muster is that it’s all flying past way too quickly.
As for AMG… this is that rare place that improves the lives of all who touch it (Rodeö bands excepted). It did that for me when I lurked as a reader, and it continues to do so now that I cling to a staff position. How does a place this positive place exist? On the internet?! I’m grateful to Steel for providing real leadership at my fake job, to my fellow members of the AMG Class of ’21 for being good eggs and excellent writers, and to everyone I’ve met through a gig that makes life richer and more fun. Maybe the real 2023 was the bollocks we talked along the way.
#ish. Spirit Possession // Of the Sign… – Do you guys like Nifelheim? I sure as heckfire do, and this album that captures some of their defiant spirit stole my heart in the waning moments of 2023. The reprobates of Nifelheim aren’t the only point of departure here. Portland’s Spirit Possession is a borderline tribcore act that aims to capture the feel of an era more than the work of one particular band. Here you’ll find echoes of Bathory, Hellhammer, and Venom. Sometimes a project like this works so well that the music transcends the lack of originality baked into these sorts of things. Of the Sign… is one such album; it may well have landed in my top ten if I had had more time with it before Listurnalia.
#10. Horrendous // Ontological Mysterium – Horrendous, already on a very short list of the best metal bands so far this century, bolsters their legacy with the concise and intoxicating Ontological Mysterium. The quartet has carved out a take on progressive death metal that is entirely their own, one that is melodic, wonky, and sweeping all at once. They’ve never been more engaging than they are on Ontological Mysterium. The album wends its way through nine tracks in less than forty minutes–Ontological Mysterium defies its run time by taking you on a journey that feels epic, but releases you before fatigue sets in. Only closer “The Death Knell Ringeth,” an inexplicable dud that can scarcely walk and chew gum at the same time, keeps Ontological Mysterium from ascending to loftier heights.
#9. Wormhole // Almost Human – Wormhole’s take on brutal death metal is at once savage but cheerful, and stöopid without being remotely dumb. I am fully on board with any band that uses the low art of the slample to describe their own sound, as Wormhole does with a sunny interjection of “Tech Slam!” on the title track of their latest. The AMG staff would have you believe that it’s necessary to choose between Wormhole and Afterbirth, the band’s peer in innovative and excellent brutal death metal. That is nonsense; appreciate the Slam-aissance in all its glory, as these two remarkable outfits elevate one of metal’s least-loved subgenres to new heights.
#8. Sodomisery // Mazzaroth – Sodomisery makes life hard on themselves with an atrocious name that is way too persnickety about the respectable pursuit of sodomy. Some folks just need to play the game on difficult mode, I guess. If the hideous moniker is what it takes to spur Sodomisery to this kind of work, then the outfit should keep indulging themselves. Mazzaroth is an endlessly replayable slab of genre-bending excellence. Symphonic flourishes and well-placed clean vocals accent the band’s hybrid of black metal, death metal, and melodeath. Mazzaroth is big fun, an album that effortlessly synthesizes a cornucopia of influences into something that feels both classic and new.
#7. Xoth // Exogalactic – A late-in-the-game remaster unleashed the power of a fully operational Exogalactic. The album finds the pan-genre madlads of Xoth playing in the margins, expanding their sound here and there while defending their Party Lovecraft turf. Across eight engaging tracks, the excellent songwriting of Exogalactic is augmented by audacious technical what-the-fuck-ery. The album’s forty minutes fly past, and while Xoth’s sound might not be the revelation it was on Invasion of the Tentacube and Interdimensional Invocations, this Seattle quartet remains very much on top of their game. Play a song, any song, and joy will invade your earholes. That’s the Xoth promise, and Exogalactic delivers.
#6. Gridlink // Coronet Juniper – I could go on about the pleasures of Coronet Juniper, but chances are Dolphin Whisperer already has you cornered and is doing just that. My list buddy extolled the virtues of this grind funhouse to the point where I finally just pretended he was saying “BREEEEEEEEEEEEE” and tuned him out. Then I played the album a month or so later in the gym, and Gridlink rocketed me to a dimension of pure fun. Coronet Juniper is a grind joyride, so confident in its songwriting that the band includes a run of instrumental “karaoke versions” at the end of the album that is every bit as playable as the so-called official tracklist.
#5. Outer Heaven // Infinite Psychic Depths – Outer Heaven understands both the virtues and the confines of old-school death metal. Infinite Psychic Depths gives the subgenre a glow-up by taking us on a tour of everything that still works, while adding a few new wrinkles. The album never plays as mere pastiche; like some kind of Quentin Tarantino of death metal, Outer Heaven refreshes old tropes by building something new from a pile of familiar elements. I haven’t dug much into the high concept that underlies Infinite Psychic Depths, but that’s because I don’t need to. The music stands on its own. Already a highlight of 2023, Infinite Psychic Depths feels like one that could grow in esteem with time. It could well be underrated in my fifth slot.
#4. Tribunal // The Weight of Remembrance – Here’s one that roared out of the gate back in January and absolutely refused to cede any ground. The Weight of Remembrance runs classic doom through both an orchestral and a death metal filter. The various genre flourishes enhance the strong songwriting–“Of Creeping Moss and Crumbling Stone” is so incredible that it became a workout staple despite its plodding pace, and nearly earned a spot on this year’s Heavy Moves Heavy playlist. The highlights don’t stop there. They don’t stop until The Weight of Remembrance has run its course. The Debut o’ The Year also happens to be one of the very best albums of 2023.
#3. Warcrab // The Howling Silence – Warcrab boasts fighting spirit, sharp claws, and a crustacean shell that’s fitted for turret combat. They’re obviously game for a scrap, but–as Cherd pointed out in his review–the band doesn’t have much competition in their death-sludge niche. A relief, then, that Warcrab is anything but complacent on The Howling Silence. These seven tracks roar past, the stifling atmosphere pierced on occasion by icepick solos that showcase the Guitar Tone o’ The Year. This one was a grower for me. The Howling Silence initially did little to distinguish itself from previous slab Damned in Endless Night. But my lizard brain heard layers that my ears weren’t processing, and the album kept earning spins. Layers of excellence kept revealing themselves, and before I knew it this piece of heavy artillery blasted its way to the upper echelons of my list.
#2. Carnosus // Visions of Infinihility – This rollicking slab of tech death earned a 4.0 from me back in early February, and I do believe I sold these Swedes short by half a point. Visions of Infinihility was a mainstay of my 2023. The album remained close at hand throughout both a long strike and a stretch of vertigo-induced bedrest. If I’m not tired of it yet, I probably never will be. And what’s not to like here? Every one of the nine tracks on Visions of Infinihility stands up to heavy listening. The site’s top writer summed it up most precisely: “It doesn’t matter if you’re wearing four thousand dollar headphones or a bullet belt–Visions of Infinihility should appeal to wonks, diehards, and metalheads all across the spectrum.”
#1. Afterbirth // In But Not Of – Long Island’s Afterbirth crams an abundance of riches into a brutal death metal album that twists and transmutes as it goes. The first half of In But Not Of stays planted in the brutal death genre that Afterbirth had a hand in creating. The second departs for distant parsecs, fusing elements of post-metal, alt-rock, and even ambient music onto death metal songs. The experiments work seamlessly, and I continue to find surprises almost every time I revisit In But Not Of. “Devils With Dead Eyes,” “Autoerotic Amputation,” “In But Not Of,” and “Angels Feast on Flies” are the standout tracks–any one of the four could credibly lay claim to Song o’ The Year. Colin Marston’s production showcases and elevates the material. My favorite critic said it best: “This is music to concuss you and then heal your battered brain… [In But Of] is an album to savor and return to again and again, a companion piece to Four Dimensional Flesh that manages to equal if not surpass its predecessor.” Also: revel in that gorgeous album art by Alex Eckman-Lawn, a sci-fi Frankenstein’s monster that perfectly encapsulates the record. My top score of 2023 is an easy choice for Ferox‘s Album o’ The Year.
Honorable Mentions
- Autopsy // Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts– Ashes, Organs, Blood, and Crypts plays like Autopsy’s Basement Tapes, a collection of feral death metal songs that also somehow comes off as loose and ramshackle. It stands among the band’s best post-comeback work.
- Gorod // The Orb – The French masters of tech death hold serve with the predictably excellent The Orb.
- Convocation // No Dawn for the Caliginous Night – I came up with the genre tag “funereal doom” to describe Convocation’s latest to myself. The band accesses the majesty of funeral doom without the tedious repetition. It’s a potent approach that’s been honed to near-perfection on No Dawn for the Caliginous Night.
- Tomb Mold // The Enduring Spirit – The Toronto outfit pulled off a tricky shift, surprising fans of their inventive take on old-school death with this proggy slab. I sure wouldn’t have minded another Planetary Clairvoyance, but I wound up thrilled by this new direction.
- Serpent Corpse // Blood Sabbath – 2023 delivered an abundance of old-school death delights, but Montreal’s Serpent Corpse move to the head of the class with debut Blood Sabbath.
- Fabricant // Drudge to the Thicket – A trio of virtuoso musicians keep their debut album juuust barely on the “death metal” side of the prog-death divide. Drudge to the Thicket is a load of unpredictable fun from an immensely promising outfit.
- Omnicidal // The Omnicidalist – Omnicidal takes a huge leap forward with a sophomore album that injects hints of melodeath and black thrash into an already nasty cocktail. In spite of Gardenstale‘s rave, this excellent effort seemed to get lost in the 2023 shuffle. I kept it spinning all year.
- Gravesend // Gowanus Death Stomp – This second offering of urban nightmare deathgrind from Gravesend improves on Methods of Human Disposal. An album that conjures genuinely unsettling images and one that will leave its boot marks all over your body,
- Dripping Decay // Festering Grotesqueries— Another exceptional death metal debut, Festering Grotesqueries inspired an epic run of putrid imagery in Steel‘s review. These Portland knuckle-draggers are worthy of all the filthy poetry the Apeman can muster.
Song o’ the Year: Afterbirth – “In But Not Of”
Disappointment o’ the Year
- Immortal // War Against All – After the improbably incredible Northern Chaos Gods, I was PUMPED for Immortal’s Second Coming of Demonaz Era. Cue the record scratch, because the follow-up is generic and pretty much just sucks through and through.
#2023 #Afterbirth #Anachronism #Anareta #Angra #Aphotic #Autarkh #Autopsy #BlogPost #Carnosus #Convocation #DolphinWhispererSAndFeroxSTopTenIshOf2023 #DrippingDecay #EinarSolberg #Fabricant #Gorod #Gravesend #Gridlink #healthyliving #Horrendous #Immortal #JarheadFertilizer #KENMode #Lists #Listurnalia #MaudTheMothTrajedesaliva #OkGoodnight #Omnicidal #OuterHeaven #Polterguts #PupilSlicer #SerpentCorpse #SlumberingSun #Sodomisery #Soen #SpiritPossession #TombMold #Tongues #Tribunal #VanishingKids #VvonDogmaI #Warcrab #WorldSEndGirlfriend #Wormhole #Xoth
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I keep reading how so many feel a “disconnect” in their Paganism. They feel the Sabbats don't fully match the seasons, that they are going through the motions without deep sense, that the Gods are not listening or were never really there, that so many young ones coming up are fluffy or only attached to their phones.
Here's a thought. BE what you want Paganism to be. Set an example. Show them. Reconnect. Get your hands dirty, in actual dirt. Feel cold, wet, hot, shivery, feel UNCOMFORTABLE during the Sabbats. Be outside when it's cold, be sweaty when it's hot, pull that snow away from the first shoots in spring with your bare hands. Swim in the lake when it makes you gasp to get in that water. Sit among the fall leaves with your morning coffee. Dig in the garden in the heat of summer until you are running sweat and can't wait to strip off your clothes and shower naked outside. Build a bonfire in the snow and cook your food. Stand outside in the pouring rain after a month of drought and let the rain beat down on your face, run down the back of your neck and get your clothes soaked.
Roll around in nature with your old Gods and then tell me they aren't there. They ARE there. They are with you, all around you. They are waiting for you to get down and get real. They might want the stuff you make with your own hands, food you have grown, spirits you have brewed. Even if your stuff isn't pretty or perfect. Even if your outdoor shrines are rustic and weedy. Even if your garden is a jumble. Real isn't glitter in a bottle, or overpriced crystals, or a lofty bookshelf. It's doing, and feeling and thinking and living.
Get down, get dirty and keep at it for years and years. Some day in the future, you won't even care that others have problems Paganism. You'll have been doing it all along.
#witchcraft #witches #Pagan #paganism #TurnTheWheel #OldGods
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#CLCamp26 Erlebnisse und Erkenntnisse
Auf der Heimfahrt vom diesjährigen #CLCamp26 war ich so überwältigt vom Barcamp-Erlebnis vor Ort, dass ich, anstatt die sich schon verflüchtigenden Erinnerungen an meine eigenen Sessions zu notieren, ein schnelles Stimmungsbild tippte.
Am Wochenende danach fühlte ich mich erschöpft. Zwei übervolle Tage zollen ihren Tribut. Mittlerweile hat mich der Arbeitalltag wieder, aber der Vibe meines Heimfahrt-Beitrags ist nicht verflogen. Gerade in der täglichen Arbeit bin ich umso dankbarer, dass es die Corporate Learning Community gibt … über die ich immer wieder behaupte, dass sie mir seit 2017 neue Perspektiven auf und deshalb Freude an meiner Profession gegeben hat. Es ist unbedingt notwendig, zumindest einmal im Jahr die täglichen Berufs-Konstellationen und das eigene berufliche Wirkfeld gemeinsam mit Mitwirkenden nicht aus direkter Projekt- oder Vertriebs-Perspektive zu betrachten, sondern sich gegenseitig mit Überzeugungen, Zweifeln, Einsichten oder nur lose verpackten Kritik zu konfrontieren, die das grundlegendere Verständnis für unsere Branche und deren Spielregeln weiten. (Mehr dazu schreibe ich in meinem CLC-Buchbeitrag „Eine Verteidigung der Corporate Learning Community“).
Auch dieses Jahr wieder hatte ich Sorge, dass der zerstörerisch wütende „KI“-Bullshit die Sessions dominiert. Die Sorge war berechtigt. In jedem Slot gab es Sessions, in denen Grifter irgendwelche „KI“-Zaubertricks exerzierten. Dennoch schien es mir, dass der Begriff „KI“ in der individuellen Vorstellungsrunde deutlich weniger dominierte als noch letztes Jahr, und dass ich im direkten Gespräch Verbündete fand, die mit ähnlichem Entsetzen wie ich auf die Zerstörung blicken, die die gesellschaftlich-politischen „KI“-Narrative der Tech-Nationalist:innen, der LinkedIn-Bros aber auch der diese Narrative übernehmenden Anwender:innen weiterhin anrichten. „Ich hab mal die KI gefragt“ … diesen intellektuellen Offenbarungseid habe ich glücklicherweise seltener gehört als noch die letzten Tage. Und in den Pausengesprächen mit Community-Mitgliedern, die entsprechende Sessions besucht hatten und daraus berichteten, offenbarte sich, dass die Argumente der „KI“-Grifter immer fadenscheiniger und ihre Tricks immer durchschaubarer werden.
Die Barcamp-Magie des Zwischen-den-Sessions und Drumherum
Bevor ich einige der von mir besuchten Sessions rekapituliere, blicke ich auf meine Notizen, die ich zwischen den Sessions gemacht habe.
Die Hashtags der Vorstellungsrunde schienen mir so sehr geprägt von zwischenmenschlichen Anliegen, wie schon lange nicht mehr. Sind viele von uns der „Digitalisierung“ und des „KI“-Theaters müde? Sehnen wir uns nach Erfahrungen des situativen Spielraums und der Begegnung? (Ja, vielleicht bin ich gerade auch beeindruckt von meiner Anreiselektüre: „Situation und Konstellation“ von Hartmut Rosa.)
Drückt sich diese gefühlte Digital-Müdigkeit auch dadurch aus, dass die Vorort-Tickets des Barcamps endlich mal wieder ausverkauft waren und nicht annähernd so viele Online-Teilgebenden und -Sessions angeboten wurden wie vor Ort? Dass es einen beliebten „roten Raum“ ohne Technik gab, in dem ich mich so verbunden fühlte wie in manchen Sessions 2017 und 2018, die konsequent auf menschlich-körperlich-aufmerksames und ganz analoges Improvisieren setzten?
Der Ruf nach ‚echten Begegnungen‘ mag abgestanden klingen und in der täglichen Arbeit liegt es mir völlig fern, ihn unreflektiert nachzuplappern. Ich schätze es, nicht mehr für eine einstündige Powerpoint-Präsentation morgens um 5 Uhr von Berlin nach München und nachmittags wieder zurück fliegen zu müssen (was haben wir damit jahrelang angerichtet?). Ich respektiere gut organisierte Online-Meetings und sowohl aus privaten als auch aus dienstlich-ökonomischen Gründen ist es mir ein Anliegen, nicht unnötig Kraft und Geld in vermeidbare Reisetätigkeit zu versenken, die besser in die gute Konzeption und Moderation von Online-Events investiert wäre. Gute Begegnungen sind online möglich und erstrebenswert. Hybrid-Meetings sind im geschäftlichen Kontext oft ein sinnvoller Kompromiss, insbesondere dann, wenn dadurch die Beteiligung diverser Interessensvertreter:innen ermöglicht und erhöht wird. Im Barcamp-Kontext sehe ich das anders. Wenn es uns möglich ist, Barcamps in regelmäßigen Abständen durchzuführen, plädiere ich vehement für einen Wechsel zwischen Onsite-only und Online-only. Barcamp-Hybrid ist für mich weiterhin ein schlechter Kompromiss, der uns unnötig belastet und einhegt und mir auch rein ökonomisch wenig sinnvoll scheint.Trotz oder gerade wegen meiner Hybrid-Skepsis bin ich begeistert, wie wir es diesmal das erste Mal seit dem Twitter-Aus geschafft haben, wieder einen lebendigen, begleitenden und das Barcamp erweiternden semi-synchronen Digital-Layer zu weben – im Fediverse! Das Orga-Team und mehrere Teilgebenden haben sich sehr ins Zeug gelegt, schon im Vorfeld die Aufmerksamkeit auf Mastodon und insbesondere unsere eigene colearn.social-Instanz zu lenken. Vor Ort gab es eine Mastowall, Simon und Karlheinz haben eine Mastodon-als-Lernbooster-Session angeboten, auf Flyern und in regelmäßigen Hinweisen wurde auf das Fediverse hingewiesen und es wurde ein Beitrags-Wettbewerb ausgelobt. Während der Veranstaltung haben sehr viele Community-Mitglieder neue Accounts angelegt und die Timeline mit dem #CLCamp26 Hashtag war während des Events und ist auch jetzt im Nachgang noch lebendig. Harald hatte sogar den Community-übergreifenden #colearn Hashtag in selbst gesägten Holzbuchstaben auf die Bühne gestellt. Während letztes Jahr mehr LinkedIn als Mastodon genutzt wurde, hat sich das dieses Jahr erfreulicherweise gewandelt und auf LinkedIn blieb es dafür vergleichsweise ruhig. Ich habe Hoffnung, dass wir mit dem diesjährigen Engagement den Wechsel ins Fediverse wirklich vollzogen haben. Und vielleicht haben auch die Community-Mitglieder, die die letzten Jahre noch sehr sporadisch auf Mastodon posteten, diesmal Gefallen daran gefunden? Ich hoffe sehr, dass das Engagement auch zwischen den Barcamps aufrechterhalten wird.
Gute Veranstaltungen reichen über den eigentlichen Event-Zeitraum hinaus. Sie werden bereichert und bereichern die Vor- und Nachbereitung und alles, was sie ungeplant und unorganisiert anstoßen. Die Aufregung darüber im Netz, das kanalisierte Interesse der Teilgebenden schon lange im Vorfeld, die Inspiration, die sie den Teilgebenden für die Tage und Wochen danach mitgeben, das Sprechen darüber, die durch sie ausgelösten Begegnungen, all das, worüber ich hier schreibe (und dass ich überhaupt schreibe!). Der im letzten Abschnitt erwähnte digitale Layer trägt maßgeblich dazu bei.
Als ich nach Gabrieles und meiner Session zu „Lernressourcen“ (mehr dazu weiter unten) meine Mastodon-Timeline aufrief, stellte ich erfreut fest, dass die Session, während sie lief, durch mehrere Teilgebende aufmerksam dokumentiert und kommentiert worden war. Wenn Teilgebende während Deiner Session auf ihre Handys starren, ist das in der Corporate Learning Community ein gutes Zeichen! Eine Reihe an Beiträgen stach heraus: Markus Metz, der online zugeschaltet war und sich während der Session im Hintergrund hielt, hatte den Austausch aufmerksam verfolgt und ihn in der ihm eigenen kurzen, prägnanten und reflektierten Art in mehreren Beiträgen zusammengefasst und weitergesponnen.
Ebenfalls über Mastodon organisiert fanden sich Frauke, Christian Kaiser, Felix Harling und ich zu einem Austausch über Art of Hosting zusammen. Ich hatte Fraukes „Art of Hosting“-Erwähnung in der Vorstellungsrunde mitbekommen und dann auf ihrem Mastodon-Profil wiederentdeckt … und ein paar Nachrichten später hatte sich unsere kleine spontane Austauschgruppe gefunden. So funktioniert Peermatching im Fediverse! Und schon zu Beginn des Camps kam Felix auf mich zu: Er hatte mitbekommen, dass ich mich im Sommer für das Art of Hosting Training in Bad Boll angemeldet hatte … so wie er auch. Dort werden wir uns also wiedersehen. Ich freue mich schon jetzt darauf!
Kein Matching benötigte der Austausch mit Johanna Brühl. Ihre damals auf dem CLC19-Barcamp in Koblenz eingebrachte „Wandelgang“-Session hatte ich noch in guter Erinnerung … obwohl ich sie damals wegen einer parallel stattfindenden Session gar nicht besuchen konnte. Schon damals hatten wir uns zum Lernen beim Spazierengehen ausgetauscht, einer Leidenschaft, die ich mit ihr und anderen Mitgliedern der CLC teile. Sechs Jahre und eine spaziergangreiche Pandemie später konnten wir nahtlos daran anschließen. Besonders resonierte Johannas derzeitige Auseinandersetzung mit der „Lernenden Stadt“ in mir. Über (auch physische) Lernräume und -orte spreche ich z. B. regelmäßig mit Peter Überfeldt. Johannas Begriff „Lernende Stadt“ deute ich für mich einfach mal als antikapitalistische, psychogeographische Ausdehnung der „Lerndenden Organisation“ auf unsere Habitate in der Klimakrise … und weil ich den Begriff von Johanna im Zusammenhang mit Persönlichem Wissensmanagement hörte, packe ich mir gleich einen ganzen Rucksack weiterer Assoziationen hinein, über die ich nachdenken möchte: Kollektives Gedächtnis und kollektive Intelligenz, Stadt als Geschichtsschreibung und Museum, architektonische Wissensanker etc … . Ganz unabhängig von diesen Ideen, die der Austausch mit Johanna in mir angestoßen hat, haben wir uns zur Gründung eines Sketchnoting-lernOS-Lernzirkels verabredet. (Und mittlerweile habe ich einige dieser Gedanken auch in meinen regelmäßigen Austausch mit Peter übernommen … verbreite die Ideen aus dem #CLCamp26 also weiter …).
Am Wochenende nach dem Barcamp überraschte und erfreute Heidi Milke-Erlwein auf LinkedIn mit einer Sketchnote, in der sie die von ihr besuchten Sessions (unter anderem meine Sessions zu Lernressourcen und Informelle Lernräume) prägnant zusammengefasst und ebenfalls weiter verarbeitet hatte. Diese Sketchnote ist ein Fundgrube, die ich ebenfalls noch weiter erschließen möchte, sobald ich die Zeit dazu finde.Und am folgenden Montag schrieb Stephanie Reiner ebenfalls auf LinkedIn eine Verarbeitung ihrer Inspirationen aus unserer Lernressourcen-Session mit umfassenden Hinweisen zum Weiterforschen. Bisher waren Gabriele und ich ja ganz hemdärmelig unterwegs gewesen, während Stephanie zum Thema promoviert. Schon direkt nach der Session hatte sie wertvolle Quellenhinweise auf unserem Etherpad platziert, die sie nun im LinkedIn-Beitrag sortiert, aufbereitet und kommentiert hat.
Auf diesem #CLCamp26 ist meine Art, Notizen zu machen, völlig aus dem Ruder gelaufen. Ich manchen Sessions habe ich meine Notizen direkt auf Mastodon gepostet, in anderen in meine Notizen-App getippt, wieder andere als Sprachnotiz eingesprochen. Es ist ein Chaos, das es entdeckend zu ordnen gilt. Nein, keine „KI“ wird mir das abnehmen und ich freue mich darauf, auch wenn es vielleicht noch Wochen dauern wird.
Da meine Kolleg:innen Katharina Vögl-Duschek und Johannes Wendt mir mir an diesen Freitag in einem internen „Fridays for Learning“ unsere #CLCamp26-Eindrücke mit anderen Kolleg:innen teilen werden, dient mir dieser Blogbeitrag als Start, die von mir besuchten Sessions zumindest flüchtig zu rekapitulieren und festzuhalten. Wir gehen rein.
Die 16 Stellhebel erfolgreicher Learning Circles (Nele Graf und Carla Rockenstein)
Der Raum war überfüllt. Lernzirkel – ein alter Hut? Nicht für die Teilgebenden! Die Vorerfahrungen waren unterschiedlich. Einige Teilgebende waren mit Lernzirkeln noch überhaupt nicht vertraut, andere sind WOL-Pioniere der ersten Stunde oder bilden selbst Lernzirkel-Coaches aus. Nele und Carla gaben eine kurze Einführung in das Format und legten dabei passend zum CLC-Kontext besonderen Wert auf die Planung und Durchführung interner Lernzirkel in Unternehmen. Ihre Aussage, dass Lernzirkel viele Probleme anderer Formate lösen, kann ich besonders gut nachvollziehen … insbesondere dann, wenn sie integrativ in umfassende Lernkonzepte eingebunden sind und darüber z. B. eine zeitliche Struktur in den Lernprozess bringen und Austausch- und Reflexionsräume schaffen. Nele kritisierte, dass viele Lernansätze immer noch viel zu sehr alleinstehend konzipiert und angeboten werden. Gerade in der Verschränkung klassischer Angebote mit Zirkeln liegt die Musik!
Christian Kaiser betonte, dass Boxenstopps, in der die einzelnen Lernzirkel zusammenkommen und sich synchronisieren, bei der Organisation des selbstorganisierten Lernens helfen können … gerade dann, wenn das anwendende Unternehmen damit noch nicht vertraut ist. Aber zum Selbstläufer würden Lernzirkel dadurch leider noch nicht – dazu braucht es aktive Unterstützung.
Auf die Frage einer Teilgebenden, wer Lernzirkel leite, weist Nele hin: Facilitator sollten sich möglichst schnell überflüssig machen. Es gibt viele Möglichkeiten, Guidance zu geben … zu Beginn vielleicht noch über unterstützende Personen, später dann nur noch über den Lernzirkel-Leitfaden. Die Freiheitsgrade können immer weiter gesteigert werden.
Nele bestätigte viele Aspekte, die Claudia Schütze und ich in unserer LERNLUST-Podcastfolge #51 // Willst Du mit mir zirkeln? bereits besprochen hatten – z. B. dass ein überschaubarer Gesamtzeitraum von z. B. sechs Treffen in vielen Unternehmen passender ist als die vollen 12 Wochen, die meist für Verstetigung von Verhalten empfohlen wird. Bedenkenswert ist in diesem Zusammenhang auch Neles Hinweis, dass je nach Thema und Gruppe die Taktung der Zirkeltreffen unterschiedlich sein sollte: Für manche Themen und Gruppen sollte die Regelmäßigkeit der wöchentlichen Treffen beachtet werden, andere Themen und Gruppen benötigen ggf. längere Abstände zwischen den Treffen, um dazwischen praktische Erfahrungen zu sammeln.
Es gibt Lernzirkel, deren Mitglieder sich auch nach Ende des Zirkels als Freunde jahrelang regelmäßig weiter treffen und nie wieder mit Lernzirkeln aufhören. Ich kann das aus eigener Erfahrung bestätigen. Dennoch sei es für Lernzirkel gerade innerhalb von Unternehmen schwer, sich zu verstetigen, weil das Format leider immer noch dem verbreiteten Bild von „Arbeit“ entgegenstehe, berichtet Christian.
Bei Lernzirkel-Initiativen, die einen unternehmensübergreifenden Austausch anstreben (für mich einer der wertvollsten Aspekte des Zirkelns!), springt die Bedenkenträgerei leider noch viel schneller an. Die Vorstellung, dass sich Mitarbeitende aus ggf. formal im Wettbewerb zueinander stehenden Unternehmen vertrauensvoll treffen, scheint für viele Führungspersonen Geheimnisverrat gleichzukommen Auch fehle es an offenen Möglichkeiten, Mitzirkelnde zu finden, wird beklagt. Leonid Letzner hat den Peerfinder ja leider eingestellt. Wie könnten wir das Fediverse dafür nutzen, Lernzirkelwillige zusammenzubringen?
Volkmar Langer berichtete, dass sein Unternehmen bei einer großen Behörde Lernzirkel-Coaches ausbildet und Lernzirkel-Initiativen begleitet.
Es war ermutigend, in der Session so viele Stimmen und Praxisbeispiele aus Unternehmen zu hören, die Lernzirkel im Einsatz haben oder Interesse daran zeigen. In den vergangenen Jahren hatte ich hin und wieder die Befürchtung, dass das Format an Attraktivität verlöre. Zumindest in der Session war davon nichts zu spüren. Ich freue mich, dass auch meine Kolleg:innen und ich weiterhin entsprechende Initiativen bei Kunden und intern haben … und für demnächst planen wir auch, uns in einem „Fridays for Learning“ tief in Neles Buch „Die Kraft der Learning Circle“ zu vergraben … denn das ist ein wirklich umfassendes Manual!
Das CLC Buch: Was geht noch? (Jochen Robes)
Auf diese Session freute ich mich besonders, denn hier wollten wir ein Thema zum Abschluss und gleich in eine zweite Runde bringen, das mein vergangenes Jahr prägte: Unser 15-Jahre-CLC-Buch „Gemeinsam lernen, gemeinsam wachsen“. Vor einem Jahr auf dem #clc25 kamen wir zusammen, beschlossen das gemeinsame Schreiben eines Buches, arbeiten über das Jahr daran … und waren pünktlich zum nächsten Barcamp damit fertig.
Schon auf der Anreise zum #CLCamp26 verfolgte ich auf Mastodon, wie die Teilgebenden das Buch als Anreiselektüre im Gepäck hatten und darin lasen:
Zum Aufbau der Initiative an sich wie auch zu Arten, das Ergebnis multimedial weiter zu erschließen, habe ich so viele Ideen, dass ich ihnen einen eigenen Beitrag widmen möchte. Jochen Robes und ich haben dazu vor kurzem auch einen Beitrag für die Zeitschrift „Das kuratierte Dossier“ (Schwerpunktthema „Knowledge and Co-Creation“) der Gesellschaft für Wissensmanagement eingereicht, der Anfang Mai erscheinen wird.
Christian Kaiser meinte, ein bekannter Vorwurf gegenüber Barcamps sei, dass diese sich oft in Gequatsche ohne Ergebnis erschöpfen würden. Das Buch sei Beweis für das Gegenteil. Jochen meinte, Barcamp-Sessions sollten schon versuchen, mit einem Ergebnis zu schließen … warum das dann im Anschluss nicht aufgreifen und weiter daran arbeiten? Ich schließe mich Christian und Jochen an: Für mich ist so ein Buchprojekt ein Prototyp dafür, wie sich Wissensarbeit als Gruppenprozess zwischen zwei Fix-Terminen selbstorganisieren kann: Wenn wir uns in einer Barcamp-Session (oder einem anderen Veranstaltungsformat) sortieren und wissen, dass wir uns in einem Jahr wiedertreffen, lohnt es sich, die Zeit dazwischen zu planen. Wenn jeder auch nur einen Beitrag als ‚Zwischenbericht‘ und eigener Weiterverarbeitung schreibt, auf Video aufnimmt oder anderweitig veröffentlicht, lässt sich daraus ein gemeinsames, die Gruppe stärkendes, neue Beziehungen, Debatten oder Verbindungen schaffendes Ergebnis wie unser Buch erstellen. Damit wird aus unserem Buchprojekt eigentlich ein neues Großgruppenformat … eine Art Mischung aus Open Space, Barcamp und Community of Practice vielleicht? (Christian brachte auch noch das „Harvesting“ aus Art of Hosting ein … die gemeinsame Ernte aus dem Gruppenprozess. Darüber werde ich im Sommer in meinem Training mehr erfahren …)
Wie könnten wir diesen Charakter der gemeinsamen, aber asynchronen Arbeit zwischen zwei Synchronevents auf andere Lernansätze übertragen? Das interessiert mich sehr, darüber möchte ich weiter nachdenken!Was machen wir jetzt mit dem Buch-Ergebnis? Ideen haben wir genug. Tanja Laub schlug eine Art Community-Stammtisch vor, in dessen Rahmen die Autor:innen ihre Beiträge vorstellen. Stef Halimi betonte, dass wir die ursprünglich im Rahmen unseres Online-Booklaunch geplanten Kurzpräsentationen unserer Beiträge noch durchführen sollten (eigentlich wollte ich dazu ein kurzes Video aufnehmen … vielleicht mache ich das noch?). Ich würde gerne vertiefende Podcast-Episoden mit den Autor:innen aufnehmen, um ihnen ausreichend Raum zu geben, die Geschichten hinter ihren Beiträgen hörbar zu machen.
Im zweiten Teil der Session stellte Jochen seine Idee für das nächste Projekt vor: Ein Buch über persönliches Wissensmanagement. Dazu hat er mittlerweile auch einen Aufruf auf das Blog der Corporate Learning Community gesetzt. Natürlich werde ich wieder mitmachen und kann es kaum erwarten, mit der Arbeit loszulegen! Meine Ideen und Ansprüche sind wieder übervoll. Gerne würde ich diesmal auch mehr Energie in die Gestaltung stecken, als mir dies beim letzten Mal möglich war (ich bin immer noch beeindruckt von Buchkunstwerken, die ich auf der Leipziger Buchmesse in den Händen hielt …).
Jochen schlug vor, den Schreibprozess eventuell über konkrete Leitfragen zu strukturieren. Ich könnte mir auch eine Art Blogparade vorstellen (eine Idee, die ich schon das letzte Mal eingebracht hatte). Jochen verwies außerdem darauf, dass sich das Thema ideal eigne, um mehrere Communities zusammenzubringen – z. B. die gfwm und die loscon, die sich ja ebenfalls intensiv mit Wissensmanagement auseinandersetzen.Herwig Kummer brachte die berechtige Frage ein, wieso sich eine Community, die ja gerade vom Austausch und dem Wissen-Teilen lebt, ein Buch über persönliches und damit zunächst individuelles Wissensmanagement schreiben sollte. Jochen antwortete, dass gerade in Communities wie der unseren das individuelle, selbstorganisierte Lernen und Wissensmanagement eng verbunden sei mit dem Community-Lernen und -Wissensmanagement. Ich teile diese Idee … und denke zurück an meine zeitweilige tiefere Beschäftigung mit PKM-Ansätzen wie Zettelkasten etc., bei der mich gerade der Aspekt reizte, wie wir unser eigenes Wissensmanagement nicht nur nach außen transparent einsehbar machen, sondern wirklich öffnen und zu einem gemeinsamen Wissensmanagement machen können. Simon Dückert erwähnte die Verbindungen zum Personal Learning Environment (PLE) und Personal Learning Networks (PLN). Mir fällt die LERNLUST-Folge #40 ein, die ich mit Christian Huber und Claudia Schütze zu dem Thema aufgenommen hatte. Und mit Johanna Brühl sprach ich über ihre Themen „Lernende Stadt“ und Communities of Practice, und welche Beziehungen beides zum Persönlichen Wissensmanagement habe. Ich bin mir sicher, dass Rahmenthema unseres nächsten Buches ist wieder so konkret und offen zugleich, dass es einen produktiven Rahmen für unsere Autor:innen in 2026 schafft. So viele Ideen, wann legen wir los? Erste Session für das #CLCamp27 steht bereits … 😉
Lern-Ressourcen: Was verstehen wir darunter und wie erschließen wir sie? (Gabriele Schobeß, Johannes Starke)
Unsere eigene Session, radikal hybrid, wie Harald Schirmer bereits beim Pitch feststellte: Gabriele im Online-Raum, ich vor Ort. Eigentlich begann unsere Session schon im Vorfeld in unserem kooperativen Schreibprozess, der in unserem gemeinsamen Artikel mündete.
In der Session tauschten wir uns aus: Was sind Lern-Ressourcen? Welche gibt es? Wie können sie auf- und ausgebaut werden? Wie mache ich mir meine Lern-Ressourcen bewusst?
Online dokumentierte und reflektierte Markus Metz sehr aufmerksam und präzise in kurzen Mastodon-Beiträgen mit. Im Raum entwickelten die Teilgebenden konstruktiv aufeinander aufbauende Sichtweisen auf das Thema und brachten viele Beiträge ein, die ich leider nicht mehr alle aus dem Gedächtnis rekonstruieren kann, die aber die enorme Vielfältigkeit und das Potenzial des Themas greifbar machten.
Wir sprachen über Infrastrukturen, die aufgebaut werden und die Lernressourcen erschließen lassen und selbst Ressource sind … die aber auch davon bedroht sind, zu veröden, wenn sie nicht mehr aktiv gepflegt werden … im Unterschied zu einer Art Perpetuum Mobile des Lernens, das sich selbst Lernressourcen nutzend und dabei neue generierend antreibt und verstetigt.
Wie pflanzen wir Samen, die weiter und weiter wachsen, auch wenn wir selbst nicht mehr aktiv das Wachstum unterstützen? Ist das möglich .. und erstrebenswert? (Erinnerung an Neles Lernzirkel-Session, in der bemerkt wurde, dass Lernzirkel nicht von alleine viral gehen …).
Wir sprachen über Knappheit und über Verschwendung von Lernressourcen. Gerade die Verschwendung kann in Zeiten eines Überangebots an manchen Lernressourcen auch bewusst oder sogar lustvoll sein. Teilgebende berichteten aber auch davon, dass äußere Rahmenbedingungen (z. B. befristete Stellen) auch dazu führen, dass Lernressourcen nicht sinnvoll eingesetzt werden können.
Wir sprachen über gegenseitige Unterstützung, die Ressourcenvermehrung durch menschliche Beziehungen und den Möglichkeiten, auf diesen Beziehungen aufzubauen. In gewisser Spannung dazu stehen mögliche Expert:innen-Zuschreibungen, die Gabriele und ich anfangs spürten, die wir aber schnell auflösen und in das gemeinsame und miteinander stattfindende Erkunden des Themas überführen konnten.
Über Rückmeldungen z. B. auf Social Media (und sei es nur ein Sternchen …) als Ressourcen hatten Gabriele und ich bisher noch gar nicht nachgedacht. Thematisiert wurden auch die Bedingungen, unter denen bestimmte Ressourcen entstehen/aufgebaut werden: Welche Ressourcen stehen hinter den Ressourcen? Aufgeworfen wurde die Frage von Relevanz … ob Ressourcen dauerhaft bestehen bleiben sollten oder ob es auch gut sein kann, wenn Ressourcen vergehen.
Sehr viele weitere Ideen brachte Stephanie Reiner ein, die in ihrer Promotion eine Ressourcentaxononie entwickelt hat. Ich zitiere aus dem Text, den sie auf unser Session-Etherpad gestellt hat:
„Ich habe in meinem Promotionsprojekt eine Ressourcentaxonomie für den digitalen Arbeitskontext entwickelt, basierend auf der Literatur der Job Demands-Resources Modell/Theorie. Eine Ressourcentaxonomie ist ein Klassifizierungssystem (eine Art Ressourcenmodell), das dazu betragen soll, die Variation der Ressourcenausstattung übersichtlich darzustellen. Eine Ressourcentaxonomie findet insbesondere Anwendung (oder ist hilfreich) zum Erkennen und Aktivieren von Ressourcen (z.B. im Psychotherapeutischen Kontext, in der sozialpädagogischen Praxis oder im Coachingbereich).
Die entwickelte Ressourcentaxonomie umfasst folgende Ressourcendimensionen:- Personenbezogene Ressourcen (z.B. psychologisches Kapitel wie Hoffnung, Resilienz, Selbstwirksamkeit und Optimismus, aber auch Humankapitalressourcen, wie Fähigkeiten und Berufserfahrung)
- Arbeitsplatzbezogenen Ressourcen (z.B. lernförderliche Arbeitsgestaltung, wie Autonomie, Anforderungsvielfalt (Job Characteristic Model), aber auch Stärkeneinsatz und Ergonomie)
- Soziale Ressourcen (z.B. Ressourcenquellen, wie Führungskraft, Kolleg/innen, Freunde; Form der soziale Unterstützung, wie instrumenteller Unterstützung, informationaler Unterstützung, emotionaler Unterstützung)
- Organisatorische Ressourcen (z.B. Lernkultur, HR-Services, IT-Services, betriebliche Sozialberatung)
- Technische Ressourcen (z. B. Verfügbarkeit von digitalen Technologien und anderen arbeitsplatzbezogenen Werkzeuge, Datenschutz, Nützlichkeit der digitalen Technologien)“
Im Nachgang zur Session hat Stephanie ihre äußerst hilfreichen Hinweise in einem LinkedIn-Beitrag mit ausführlichen Hinweisen zu wissenschaftlichen Perspektiven ergänzt. Was für ein Geschenk! Tausend Dank auch an dieser Stelle, liebe Stephanie! Ich freue mich sehr, auch zukünftig weiter mit Dir und Gabriele an dem Thema zu arbeiten und werde mich bei Dir melden!
Ganz besonders interessiert mich der von Stephanie mit zwei Quellen-Hinweisen versehen Ressourcen-Kreislauf (oben bereits angesprochen), denn im klassischen Corporate Learning denken wir oft in Einbahnstraßen: Konsumieren gegebener externer Lernressourcen in Form von Lernmaterialien, die zum internen Aufbau von Wissen führen. Dabei können wir doch weiter handeln (z. B. während und auch nach dem Besuch externer Veranstaltungen das Reflektierte und Gelernte in einem eigenen Beitrag weitergeben, ganz nach dem Vorbild von Stephanie oder nach Seek>Sense>Share von Harold Jarche.)
Im letzten Absatz ihres LinkedIn-Beitrags schreibt Stephanie: „Lernressourcen verändern sich über Lebensphasen hinweg (z.B. verfügbarer Zeit). Soweit mir bekannt ist, fehlt hierzu bislang ein systematischer Überblick in der Literatur. Daher möchte ich die im Rahmen meines Promotionsprojekts entwickelte Ressourcentaxonomie nach Abschluss um lebensphasenbezogene Perspektiven erweitern.“ Hier denke ich an viele Hinweise, die ich mir vor Jahren beim Lesen von Teresa Bückers prägendem Buch „Alle Zeit“ notiert hatte, zuvorderst an die darin mehrfach erwähnte 4-in-1-Perspektive von Frigga Haug, aber auch weniger auf gesellschaftlicher Ebene, sonder deutlich konkreter am Arbeitsalltag in Unternehmen die Löffel-Theorie und damit verbunden das oft viel zu eng auf WCAG-Kriterien und gesetzliche Anforderungen reduzierte Thema Barrierefreiheit. Damit möchte ich auch weiterarbeiten …Vor kurzem habe ich mich mit Gabriele abgestimmt. Gabriele hat bereits ein Workshopkonzept entwickelt, über das sich Teilnehmende ihrer individuellen Ressourcen bewusst(er) werden und diese sichtbar machen können. Ich habe vor, das Thema aus organisational-struktureller Perspektive weiterzudenken und in einer Art Landkarte darzustellen, die die Analyse unterstützt (vielleicht berührt das dann auch Stephanies Taxonomie und ich stimme mich dazu mit ihr ab?) Und wenn wir dann beide an einem bestimmten Punkt sind, wollen wir unsere beiden Perspektiven wieder zusammenführen und … wer weiß … vielleicht in einer Nachfolgesession oder einem nächsten kooperativen Schreibprozess miteinander sprechen lassen?
Twin-Transformation als Default für zukunftsfähige und resiliente Bildungskonzepte (Henning Klaffke)
In dieser Session gab Henning einen Einblick in das Forschungsprojekt „Nachhaltige Bildung in der IT-Aus- und Weiterbildung (NABIT)“ zum Aufbau von Nachhaltigkeitskompetenz in der Lehre. Er berichtete von den drei Forschungszielen:
- Beratungskonzept für KMA: Praxisnahe Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe der Twin Transformation
- Kompetenzprofile entwickeln: Was muss IT-Fachkraft können, um nachhaltig zu handeln?
- Modulare OER-Bausteine erstellen: Freie Bildungsmaterialien für Berufsschulen und Betriebe
Harald Schirmer legte m. E. mit seiner Frage einen Finger in die Wunde der klassischen BWL-Ausbildung: Wie lehrt die Hochschule das Thema Twin Transformation, wenn Ressourcenverschwendung so grundlegend im BWL-Lehrplan verankert ist?
Mich lies die Session ernüchtert zurück. Die beiden grün-kapitalistischen Betrachtungsfelder „Green IT“ und „Green IS“ sind mir viel zu klein und zu isoliert betrachtet:
Applied Improv – ein Multitool für Embodied Learning (Frederic Gülbeyaz)
Meine schönsten Erinnerungen an vergangene Barcamps sind die, in denen wir unsere Körper zum Lernen einsetzten – denn unsere Körper sind eine Lernressource, die wir in der Wissensarbeit vielleicht besonders stark vernachlässigen? Ich schrieb darüber an vielen anderen Stellen ausführlich, z. B. hier. Durch das Hybrid-Setup ist Embodied Learning in den letzten Jahren vernachlässigt worden – aber diesmal hatten wir ja den roten Raum ohne Technik und mit der Möglichkeit, ihn ganz mit unseren Körpern zu bespielen … ohne Kamera.
In unserer Improtheater-Session ging es um das spielerische Feiern unerwarteter Entwicklungen, Ausprobieren neuer Handlungsweisen und Sich-Auffangen-Lassen in der Gruppe … im „Improtheater, das fremd geht“ AKA „Unternehmenstheater“ oder „Applied Improv“. „Raus mit den Ideen. als Gegenprinzip zur Scham“ – dazu ludt uns Frederic in seiner Session ein, die mir in Erinnerung ein Lächeln der Zuversicht für zukünftige Dramatisierungskompetenz auf die Lippen legt.
(Foto von Frederic Gülbeyaz)CLC goes Podcast (Giovanna Lo Presti, Katrin Zinke und Nicole Reese)
Der Podcast der CLC war in den letzten Jahren nicht mehr sonderlich lebendig. Zu den Barcamps erschienen viele Episoden mit Session-Reflexionen … ansonsten passierte nicht mehr so viel, wie in früheren Zeiten. Es gäbe doch so viele Möglichkeiten, die Wissens- und Erfahrungsvielfalt der Community hier hörbar zu machen! Ein gutes Podcastgespräch hat so viele Ähnlichkeiten mit einer guten Barcamp-Session, ermöglicht es, Menschen beim Denken zuzuhören und eignet sich einfach sehr gut als Lern- und Entwicklungsinstrument in Unternehmen, wie ich in diesem Blogbeitrag ausführlich beschrieben habe.
Deshalb möchte ich gerne zukünftig dazu beitragen, die Möglichkeiten des CLC-Podcasts experimentell zu entdecken, denn die Startchancen könnten für einen ‚offiziellen‘ Community-Podcast kaum besser sein.
In der Session gaben Giovanna, Katrin und Nicole einen Überblick über ihre Ideen für die zukünftige Ausgestaltung des Podcasts (z. B. mit Event-Begleitung/Auswertung, Interviews, Beiträgen aus den Regionalgruppen, Lernimpulsen oder Buch-Reviews) und befragten die Teilgebenden nach ihren Erfahrungen mit Podcasts. Viel interessanter als die formalen Fragen waren jedoch die kontroversen Debatten in der Session, was ein CLC-Podcast sein soll und welche Funktionen er erfüllen könnte.
Genannt wurden u. a.: Agendasetting und Reichweite (für unsere Themen austehen und ‚hörbar‘ werden), Lernmedium und Experimentierraum, Stimmen- und Expertise-Bibliothek, niedrigschwellige Dokumentation.
Besonders heiß debattiert wurde das Thema „Zielgruppe“. Hier gibt es stark auseinanderlaufende Sichtweisen, was ein Community-Format sein und liefern soll. Diese Diskussion hatten wir bereits beim CLC-Buchprojekt. Manche Teilgebenden plädieren für eine konsequentere Definition unserer Zielgruppen und bewusstere Ausrichtung an deren Bedarfen. Ich bin da ganz anderer Ansicht und stimme mit Karlheinz Pape überein, der die Grundidee der CLC betont: Teilen, nicht Senden! Wir sollten uns deshalb ganz bewusst nicht um Zielgruppen kümmern, sondern das, was uns in der Community beschäftigt und was wir erarbeiten, zur Verfügung stellen. Falls es außerhalb der Community Hörer:innen (oder Leser:innen) gibt, die das interessant finden, werden sie zu uns kommen. Wenn nicht, ist das auch ok.
Diese Haltung bestimmt auch die weitere „Formatierung“: Sobald wir unsere Medien als Medien des Teilens und nicht des Sendens begreifen, betrifft die Frage der „Taktung“ nicht mehr das ‚bedienen‘ einer Zielgruppe, sondern wird zu einer Hilfestellung für uns selbst … z. B. um uns regelmäßig daran zu erinnern, selbst an unseren Themen weiter zu arbeiten. Mir ist es völlig egal, welche Taktung Hörer:innen von uns erwarten: Wenn -wie im Nachgang zu einem Barcamp- in schneller Folge ein ganzer Haufen an Kurzepisoden erscheint und dann mehrere Wochen nichts, ist das völlig in Ordnung. Ich schätze viele Podcasts als eine Art „Bibliothek der Stimmen“, aus der ich mich gerade interessierende Themen oder Perspektiven auswähle und mich hineinhören kann, ganz unabhängig davon, wann die Episode ursprünglich erschienen ist. Auch ergänzend zu unserem Buch könnte ich mir vorstellen, dass wir parallel zu fast allen Beiträgen begleitende und vertiefende, Hintergrund schaffende Gespräche mit den Autor:innen aufnehmen und diese auf einen Schlag oder innerhalb kurzer Zeit veröffentlichen … Hauptsache ist, sind stehen online und können bei Bedarf parallel zur Lektüre aufgerufen werden.
Karlheinz, ich und weitere Teilgebende haben sich auch dafür eingesetzt, ohne zu große Überformatierung zu podcasten. „Einfach machen“, diese oft missbrauchte Forderung, ist im Podcast sehr zuträglich. Ein Handy reicht im Zweifel aus, geschnitten werden muss kaum. Es braucht m. E. keinen Jingle und keinen kreativen Titel, keinen Redaktionsplan, kein Zielgruppenbewusstsein, keine Längenvorgaben, keine allzu lange Vorbereitung. Eine kurze Vorabstimmung oder auch ein spontanes Gespräch sind genau richtig. Unsere Hörer:innen können ja selbst wählen, in welche Stimmen sie sich hineinhören möchten und was sie skippen. Jedes Ähm, jede Pause transportiert wertvolle Informationen, die erhalten bleiben sollten und die ein Transkript nicht enthält. Podcasts sind ein Medium, um Sprechdenken zu fördern und in Lernartefakte zu bringen. Lasst uns unseren Podcast als echtes Lernmedium nutzen, „Unfertiges“ teilen, mit seinen Möglichkeiten spielen!
In der Session wandert die Debatte leider immer wieder zu der Frage zurück, wie Zuhörer:innen gewonnen werden könnten. Diese Frage langweilt mich. Und selbst wenn wir den Podcast ausschließlich für uns machen sollten und keine Zuhörerschaft außer uns selbst haben: Das ist völlig in Ordnung! Diese Haltung versuche ich, mir auch für meinen Blog hier zu bewahren: Schön, wenn Du das gerade liest. Danke für Deinen Rückmeldung. Aber eigentlich ist es mir egal. Ich habe sämtliche Logs ganz bewusst abgeschaltet und nicht die geringste Ahnung, ob sich irgendjemand auf diesen Blog verirrt. Ich schreibe das hier, um meine eigenen Gedanken in eine für mich passende Ordnung zu bringen und einen Anlass zu haben, die vielen Ideen, Begegnungen und Notizen aus dem #CLCamp26 für mich zu rekapitulieren. Allein das Wissen, dass es jemand lesen KÖNNTE, gibt mir die nötige Disziplin, es zu tun. Allein das Wissen, dass mir jemand zuhören KÖNNTE, gibt mir die Disziplin, ganze Sätze zu formulieren (ich habe gemerkt, wie ungleich schwerer es mir fällt, meine Notizen zu einer Session im Nachgang als Sprachnachricht einzusprechen, als einfach kurz mit Gabriele zu telefonieren und sie gemeinsam Revue passieren zu lassen. Leider haben Gabriele und ich unser Telefonat nach unserer Session nicht aufgezeichnet … das wäre für meine Rekapitulation viel hilfreicher gewesen als meine eigenen Sprachnotizen.)
Die Vorteile des Sprechdenkens im Dialog mit einer Gesprächsperson betonte auch Sabine Stock und brachte ein, dass in Podcast-Gesprächen produktive Reibung entstehen darf. (Das Thema Konflikt und Reibung als Lernressourcen hatten wir auch in unserer Lernressourcen-Session besprochen!)
Bei einem geäußerten Ideenkomplex von zwei Teilgebenden hatte ich den Bedarf, ganz klar meine eigene Position auszudrücken: Es kamen die Vorschläge, „Dialoge“ mit KI-Bots zu führen bzw. aufgenommene Episoden in NotebookLM „weiterzuverarbeiten“. Falls der Podcast irgend einen dieser Wege einschlagen sollte, und sei es nur als „Experiment„, wäre ich definitiv nicht mehr beteiligt. Besonders irritert hat mich der Einwurf einer Teilgebenden, das Einspeisen von Folgen in NotebookLM könne ich sowieso nicht verhindern. Ich nehme das als Ausdruck vulgärer Machtdemonstration, dieses Silicon-Valley-„We don’t care“, die über das „KI“-Narrativ immer mehr Verbreitung findet (und die z. B. Jürgen Geuter hier sehr gut beschrieben hat). Leider wurden auf dem #CLCamp26 auch die Artikel aus unserem Buchprojekt entsprechend ‚verwertet‘. Als ich im Vorfeld meinen Protest äußerte, hat Simon Dückert immerhin meinen eigenen Beitrag aus seiner Web-Version des Buches entfernt und dementsprechend aus dem Datensatz, der in seiner Session verwendet wurde. Deshalb ist mein Beitrag also nur noch im Buch selbst, in der eBook-Variante und separat hier auf meinem Blog zugänglich. Durch das „KI“-Narrativ wird die ganze Welt nur noch auf Trainingsdaten für LLMs eingeengt. Die Achtung von menschlicher Ausdrucksweise, kreativem Schaffen, kulturellem Kontext und Entstehungsprozessen wird geschleift … und auch unsere Community trägt leider dazu bei. Ja, ich „kann das nicht verhindern“ … aber ich kann immer wieder dafür eintreten, dass wir einander mit Achtung vor unserer Arbeit (und ihrer Integrität) begegnen, und selbst wenn das ein Kampf gegen Windmühlen sein und bleiben sollte.
Nach der Session konnte ich nicht umhin, direkt ein paar Gedanken zur Session in einer Mini-Podcast-Aufnahme zu verarbeiten, zu der mich Ernst einludt. Bin gespannt, wann sie erscheint!
(Foto von Frederic Gülbeyaz)Vom Käfig zum Kompass (Felix Harling)
„Beyond Teaching ist einfach gesagt. Aber die Sinnkrise der Wissensarbeiter:innen ist real, auch unter uns, oder? Was passiert, wenn du nicht nur deine Formate, sondern dich selbst hinterfragst? Eine Session über Irritation als Wegweiser und das, was Brüche lehren, wenn man sie lässt.“ Schon diese Sessionankündigung von Felix hat stark in mir resoniert (aus vielerlei Gründen, die vielleicht auch hier in diesem Beitrag oder auch sonst in meinem Blog immer wieder anklingen?) … und umso mehr die Art, wie ich Felix schon vor seiner Session in unseren Pausengesprächen kennenlernte. Zudem fand die Session im geliebten ‚Roten Raum‘ ohne Technik statt .. also ein Pflichttermin für mich!
In keiner anderen Session habe ich so wertvolle Gespräche über unsere Professionen, unsere beruflichen Situationen und unsere Positionierungen gegenüber Branchenentwicklungen führen können. Auch methodisch war das schnell getaktete Vorgehen inspirierend und für mich ein kleiner Ausblick auf das, was ich im baldigen Art of Hosting Training erwarte.
Aber nicht nur für meine persönliche Entwicklung, auch für meinen professionellen Wertbeitrag bei meinem Arbeitgeber war diese Session inspirierend … und lässt mich an manches Denken, was ich in meiner Selbstberatung im Rahmen meiner Ausbildung zum Systemischen Organisationsberater über meine Arbeit herausgearbeitet habe.
Grob zusammengefasst (und damit all das ignorierend, was in den Brüchen und Zwischenräumen auch auf dieser Session wirklich stattgefunden hat), lässt sich Felix methodisches Vorgehen folgendermaßen zusammenfassen – und ich stütze mich hier auf das abfotografierte Flipchart:
- Aufstellung im Raum mit zwei Polen: „Ich weiß, wo ich beruflich hinwill“ <> „Ich habe mehr Fragen als Antworten“
- Stimmen im Raum zur eigenen Positionierung hörbar machen
- Irritations-Landkarte: „Was irritiert Dich gerade am meisten an Deiner Arbeit / L&D-Rolle?“ (in Zweiergruppen)
- Still schreiben > A erläutert, B hört zu > B stellt offene Rückfrage > A antwortet kurz > Rollenwechsel > abschließende Reflexion
- Der Bruch, der lehrt: „Welchen Bruch in Deiner Tätigkeit hast Du in der Vergangenheit erfahren?“ (in Dreiergruppen)
- A berichtet > B+C stellen das Gehörte pantomimisch dar (ohne Worte) > A reagiert ebenfalls pantomimisch > Rollenwechsel > abschließende Reflexion
- Harvesting: Wie war die Erfahrung für Dich? Was hast Du über das, was Dich irritiert, gelernt? Wie lässt sich das anwenden?
- Abschließender Austausch: Wie lässt sich das Erfahrene für die CLC anwenden?
Informelle Lern-Räume im Rahmen von IT-Einführungen (Johannes Starke)
Das Thema meiner zweiten Session, die ich selbst angeboten habe, beschäftigt mich beruflich gerade besonders intensiv. Gerade im Rahmen von IT-Einführungen passiert in Unternehmen und durch deren Mitarbeitende, die sich mit neuen IT-Prozessen konfrontiert werden, sehr viel geplantes und ungeplantes (… oder passiert eben gerade sehr wenig, je nachdem aus welcher Perspektive man es betrachtet). Ich war zunächst untröstlich, dass parallel zu meiner Session Trainerinnen des ADAC ebenfalls eine Session zum IT-Trainingsvorgehen anboten, auf der ich gerne aufgebaut hätte – und umso erfreuter, dass sich eine dieser Trainerinnen dann in meiner Session befand und dort sehr aktiv teilgab. 🙂
(Foto CC-BY von Martina Cervenkova)Die Idee und den Hintergrund zu meiner Session habe ich in diesem Blogbeitrag zusammengefasst, auf den ich bereits im Vorfeld erfreuliches Feedback erhielt. Ich hatte das Gefühl, dass ich mit dem Session-Thema ein äußerst wichtiges (und für viele schmerzvolles) Feld angesprochen habe.
Leider habe ich es als Sessionhost ohne zweite Person nicht geschafft, parallel Notizen zu machen, habe auch im Nachgang wenig Dokumentation zu meiner Session gefunden und mir zum Ende des Tages keine Zeit mehr genommen, meine Erinnerungen als Sprachnotiz aufzunehmen. Schade, da ist einiges verloren gegangen.
In Erinnerung ist mir, dass wir ausführlich über Workarounds und Umgehungstaktiken gesprochen haben, die Mitarbeitende an den Tag legen, um neu-eingeführte Systeme nicht zu nutzen .. und primär über formale Mittel, dem Einhalt zu gebieten.
Ein großes Thema war auch M365 und insbesondere die Einführung und Nutzung von Teams. Hier sprachen viele Teilgebenden ihre Erfahrungen an.
Ein Teilgeber berichtete von erfolgreichen Floorwalker-Initiativen, die regelmäßig anstupsen/erinnern und auf Angebote aufmerksam machen, ohne diese und die Beteiligung daran zu stark zu formalisieren.
Einigen konnten wir uns darauf, wie wichtig es ist, Balancen zwischen Formalität und Informalität herzustellen und auszuhalten … und dass diese Balancen in unterschiedlichen Bereichen immer wieder neu gefunden und hergestellt werden müssen. Es gibt keine Best Practice … und umso mehr motiviert mich diese Erkenntnis, auch zukünftig weiter intensiv an dem Thema zu arbeiten!
Physische Lernreisen für Kleingruppen (Julia Methe)
Diese ganz spontan zum Abschluss des Camps initiierte Session von Julia war für mich eins von vielen Highlights des Camps. Die spontanen Sessions sind oft die besten, weil sie nicht mit langen Präsentationen beeindrucken wollen, sondern eine Idee einbringen, die dann befragt, besprochen und weiterentwickelt wird.
Julia berichtete von einem Ansatz, den sie und ihre Kolleg:innen im Rahmen der Neueinführung eines IT-Tools in einem bundeseigenen Betrieb initiiert hatten … und den sie für uns auf ein irgendwo in der Hochschule aufgetriebenes altes Metaplanpapier scribbelte.
Der Ansatz bot einen Rahmen, um die neuen IT-Prozesse körperlich zu erfahren, erklärt zu bekommen und zu besprechen. Das lief ähnlich ab wie auf einer Schnitzeljagd: Kleingruppen von 4-5 Leuten wurden mit ausgedruckten Prozessbeschreibungen über den Betriebs-Campus geschickt. Die Prozessbeschreibung war gleichzeitig eine Wegbeschreibung. An bestimmten Stationen wurden die Gruppen von Mitarbeitenden empfangen, erhielten Instruktionen und Hilfestellung in der Beantwortung von Fragen auf dem Zettel. Die Gruppendynamik wurde u. a. durch wechselnde Verantwortung im Wegfinden und Fragenbeantworten aktiviert.
Im Folgejahr wurde der Ansatz weiter genutzt. Statt eines IT-Prozesses wurden Unternehmensstrategie und -aufbau vermittelt. Außerdem wurde HR mit dem Ziel involviert, den Ansatz auch für das Onboarding zu übernehmen.
Der Ansatz war eine Idee, die im Rahmen der „Campus Week“ eingebracht wurde. Jeder Bereich beteiligt sich dabei mit eigenen Beiträgen.
Julias Vorstellung stieß auf großes Interesse. Mehrere Teilgebende offenbarten, dass sie selbst davon träumen, so etwas in ihrem eigenen Unternehmen umzusetzen. Ich bin einer davon 😉 Eine Mischung aus Schnitzeljagd, Gallery Walk, Prozess-Simulation und verkörperter Intervention … mit Vernetzung und gegenseitiger Unterstützung, die im klasisschen Training ja oft in den Hintergrund treten. Grundsätzlich ließe sich das Vorgehen auch mit Action Bound oder Self-Service-Terminals umsetzten, würde dann aber einen anderen Charakter annehmen.
#51 #CLC25 #CLCamp26 #CLCamp26Nutzt #CLCamp27 #colearn #LearningCircle #lernOS #Lernzirkel #Lernzirkeln #Peerfinder