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  1. Sky Dancing @[email protected] ·

    Wednesday Reads: Jesse Jackson’s Passing and Other News

    Good Afternoon!!

    It’s actually sort of a slow news day today. At least there isn’t a lot of stuff that I find interesting or exciting. I do want to address Jesse Jackson’s passing, so I’m going to spend some time on that. As JJ wrote yesterday, 

    It seemed like he was always there, everywhere…whenever there was injustice. And he spoke out! It wasn’t just a few words written in a tweet…and sent from wherever. Jesse Jackson went there…wherever the problem was and spoke out with the people in support. I just think that his on scene action of demonstration and protest, the act of showing up and being there…made a huge difference. And I feel that it is what is missing in the situation right now.

    Yes, he did, and he made a difference. He fought for so many issues, including immigration. He was often mocked for turning up whenever something was happening, but he persisted and I admired that. I wish we had someone like him here today to call greater attention to these issues.

    When Jesse Jackson ran for president in 1984 and especially in 1988, I watched his speeches on C-Span and found them thrilling. His manner of speaking was so unique, and I loved his signature saying “keep hope alive.” He truly paved the way for Obama’s win in 2008. Here is the platform that Jackson ran on, from Wikipedia:

    Declaring that he wanted to create a “Rainbow Coalition” of various minority groups, including African Americans, Hispanics, Middle Eastern Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, family farmers, the poor and working class, and LGBT people, as well as white progressives, Jackson ran on a platform that included:

    With the exception of a resolution to implement sanctions against South Africa for its apartheid policies, none of these positions made it into the party’s platform in either 1984 or 1988.

    A few interesting articles:

    Karen Tumulty at The Washington Post (gift link): I covered Jesse Jackson’s 1988 campaign. The racism he faced was undisguised.

    “Keep hope alive!” It was the signature line of Jesse Jackson’s second run for president. Euphoric crowds, numbering in the thousands, would chant it along with him.

    I was a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, and that 1988 presidential campaign was the first I had ever covered. Those months revealed to me many things about America. Not all were as uplifting as the optimistic spirit that propelled the civil rights leader to a second-place finish against the ultimate Democratic nominee, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.

    One day in particular stands out in my memory for what I saw of undisguised racism, and for what I heard from Jackson himself about the less visible barriers he believed had been put in his way by some in his own party.

    Jesse Jackson, then a Democratic presidential hopeful, with his wife, Jacqueline, at an Operation Push rally in Chicago on March 10, 1988. Fred Jewell AP

    It was May 9. The campaign had begun before dawn, as many days did with Jackson’s operation. We were in poverty-stricken Arnett, West Virginia, and a few curious neighbors had gathered outside the home of an unemployed White coal miner, where Jackson had spent the night. When one of them was asked how he planned to cast his ballot in that week’s Democratic primary, he retorted: “I ain’t voting for no damn n—-r.”

    The previous evening, the arrival of Jackson’s motorcade had been greeted with similar epithets, and someone in the crowd of about 200 appeared threatening enough that the Secret Service vetoed the candidate making his usual round of shaking hands.

    Jackson, who died Tuesday at 84, was usually too much on the move to indulge in introspection and reflection. But later that day, in a conversation with a few bleary-eyed reporters aboard his campaign bus, he did.

    In his view, Jackson told us, the most significant hurdles that a Black candidate had to overcome were not what we had seen in West Virginia. “Some people are very raw, very direct, [saying] ‘I would not vote for a n—-r.’ Other people are able to use sand to cover up their mess,” he said.

    Jackson was a spellbinder on the stump, but well to the left of most of the country. And he had never shaken his reputation as a self-promoter — or, as then-Vice President George H.W. Bush once put it, a “hustler from Chicago.”

    His candidacy had, from the outset, been “running against a headwind of culture and media and pundits,” Jackson said. “The party itself is using its strength to get the candidate it thinks can win.”

    He faulted the news media and the polls for constantly raising the question of whether Americans would vote for a Black man: “If I’m asked, ‘Why run?,’ the people are asked, ‘Why vote?

    Use the gift link to read more if you’re interested.

    Neil Vigdor at The New York Times (gift link): Seven Pivotal Moments in Jesse Jackson’s Life.

    Millions of Democrats cast primary votes for him, envisioning him as America’s first Black president.

    Along the way, there would be convention keynote speeches and, at times, self-inflicted controversy for the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died on Tuesday at 84. His life ran in parallel to the successes of the civil rights era, but it was at the movement’s lowest moment that he came to wider national attention: the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which he witnessed at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis….

    Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination

    On April 4, 1968, Mr. Jackson was in the motel parking lot, speaking with Dr. King, who was on the second-floor balcony above him, when Dr. King was shot by James Earl Ray.

    Jesse Jackson on the day of Martin Luther King’s assassination.

    “We hoped it was his arm, but the bullet hit him in the neck,” Mr. Jackson told reporters while visiting the motel, now a civil rights landmark, before Tennessee’s Democratic presidential primary in 1984.

    At the time of the assassination, Mr. Jackson was 26 years old and a protégé of Dr. King.

    “This is the scene of the crucifixion,” he said, taking reporters on a tour of Room 306, where the civil rights leader had been staying.

    1984 presidential campaign

    With his entry into the 1984 Democratic primary race, Mr. Jackson became the first Black candidate to seek a major party’s nomination for president since Shirley Chisholm, the trailblazing Brooklyn congresswoman who ran unsuccessfully in 1972.

    At a campaign kickoff rally, Ms. Chisholm introduced Mr. Jackson, who was then 42 and had criticized Democrats for what he described as their lackluster opposition to President Ronald Reagan.

    Mr. Jackson viewed his candidacy as inspirational to a rainbow coalition — Black, white and Hispanic citizens, women, American Indians and “the voiceless and downtrodden.”.

    He finished third to the eventual nominee, Walter Mondale, the former vice president, who lost the general election in a landslide…..

    1988 presidential campaign

    Building on his name recognition and base of support in the South, Mr. Jackson returned to the campaign trail emboldened in 1988. The clergyman from Chicago and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition made inroads with white voters, winning three times as many votes from them as he did four years earlier.

    Nearly seven million people voted for Mr. Jackson in the primaries and caucuses that year, delivering him victories in 13 contests.

    He finished a solid second to Michael Dukakis, the Massachusetts governor, who eventually lost the general election to George H.W. Bush, the vice president.

    1988 D.N.C. keynote

    In the spotlight of the Democratic National Convention, Mr. Jackson brought delegates to tears with his retelling of his upbringing in poverty and segregation in Greenville, S.C. He said he could identify with people watching his speech on television in poor neighborhoods.

    “They don’t see the house I’m running from,” he said. “I have a story. I wasn’t always on television.”

    He used his speech to press for social justice and action by Democrats in the general election, when he became a key surrogate for Mr. Dukakis, particularly with Black voters.

    He closed his remarks with a sermon-like chant, one that would echo in future campaigns, including Barack Obama’s in 2008, when Americans elected him as the first Black president.

    “Keep hope alive! Keep hope alive! Keep hope alive!”

    Use the gift link to read the rest if you’re interested.

    The Rev. Jesse Jackson delivered a speech at the Democratic National Convention after failing to secure the party’s nomination for president in 1984. Credit…Jim Wilson, The New York Times

    Jackson’s most important speech was probably his keynote presentation at the 1984 Democratic Convention in San Francisco. Jonathan Wolfe at The New York Times (gift link): The Jesse Jackson Speech That Helped Redefine the Democratic Party’s Base.

    In 1984 in San Francisco, Jesse Jackson delivered a speech at the Democratic National Convention that helped unify the fractured party and redefine the modern Democratic base. “The Rainbow Coalition” speech, as it is known, is regarded as one of the most significant addresses in the history of American politics and helped shape a progressive vision for the party.

    Mr. Jackson was coming off an unsuccessful presidential primary run when he delivered the speech, coming in third behind Senator Gary Hart of Colorado and former Vice President Walter Mondale, the eventual nominee. In his address, he urged the party to embrace a diverse, multiracial and multi-class alliance, encouraging the inclusion of marginalized groups, including the poor, workers and minorities.

    The speech, which was evangelical in tone and contained numerous biblical allusions, described the country as a patchwork quilt.

    “Our flag is red, white and blue, but our nation is a rainbow — red, yellow, brown, black and white — and we’re all precious in God’s sight,” he said. “America is not like a blanket — one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt — many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread.”

    He argued in the address that the party should expand its coalition and embrace his constituency: “The desperate, the damned, the disinherited, the disrespected, and the despised.” He also pushed for patience and understanding.

    “We must be unusually committed and caring as we expand our family to include new members,” he said. “All of us must be tolerant and understanding as the fears and anxieties of the rejected and of the party leadership express themselves in so many different ways.”

    Mr. Jackson used the speech to attack President Ronald Reagan’s “trickle down” economic theories and argued for a renewed focus on the poor and the marginalized. He recited a list of what he saw as Mr. Reagan’s offenses against his coalition, including attacks on health care, education and food stamps, and used the speech to put forward what he saw as the mission of the Democratic party.

    “This is not a perfect party,” he said early in the address. “We are not a perfect people. Yet, we are called to a perfect mission: Our mission, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to house the homeless, to teach the illiterate, to provide jobs for the jobless, and to choose the human race over the nuclear race.”

    We could use a voice like that today.

    One more on Jackson’s influence b Jennifer Rubin at The Contrarian: Jesse Jackson’s Passing Should Stir the Democracy Movement.

    With Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s passing, we lose one of the dwindling number of direct links to Martin Luther King, Jr. and to the mid-20th century Civil Rights generation. From the Lorraine Motel to stewardship of Rainbow/PUSH to his own presidential campaigns to his successful hostage negotiations to Barack Obama’s election to the Black Lives Matter movement, he was front and center in racial justice fights, a symbol of both the tremendous progress and the enduring, at times exhausting, presence of White supremacists who seek to erase history and undo decades of hard-won gains.

    While the country lacks a singular figure to lead the racial justice movement, the number of organizations and plethora of elected figures (including the likely next House Speaker) are part of Jackson’s legacy, a permanent army of civil rights activists who stand in opposition to the Make America White Again ideology at the heart of Trumpism. The challenge that was at the heart of Jackson’s work — the creation of a true multi-racial democracy — has never been more acute in the modern era.

    It is always worth recalling Jackson’s iconic lines from his speech to the 1984 Democratic Convention:

    Our flag is red, white and blue, but our nation is a rainbow — red, yellow, brown, black and white — and we’re all precious in God’s sight.

    America is not like a blanket — one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt — many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread. The white, the Hispanic, the black, the Arab, the Jew, the woman, the native American, the small farmer, the businessperson, the environmentalist, the peace activist, the young, the old, the lesbian, the gay and the disabled make up the American quilt. (Applause)

    Even in our fractured state, all of us count and all of us fit somewhere. We have proven that we can survive without each other. But we have not proven that we can win and progress without each other. We must come together.

    The Trump regime presents the greatest attack on that vision of pluralistic democracy and racial justice in the modern era. Should the MAGA partisan hacks on the Supreme Court succeed in eviscerating the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v. Callais, the political map will resemble the political landscape in the Jim Crow era in which Black and Hispanic voting power was minimal to nonexistent, representatives at all levels of government were overwhelmingly White, and one party rule prevailed in the South.

    Jesse Jackson as a young man.

    Jackson would certainly recognize The SAVE Act, which would impose onerous proof of citizenship requirements to vote, as the latest MAGA disenfranchisement project, part of the never-ending assault to deprive communities of color access to the polls. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and 130 organizations have decried the assault on voting rights as being driven by “unprecedented disinformation campaigns and intrusions on the ability of states to make sound decisions on how to run their elections.” The effort to now require a birth certificate or passport to establish qualification to vote would be the culmination of a voter suppression drive begun over decade ago:

    Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder (2013), 31 states have enacted 114 restrictive voting laws, which disproportionately burden voters of color. The harm has been palpable: Racial disparities in voter turnout have been increasing, particularly in areas formerly protected by the Voting Rights Act’s preclearance provision, which the Court dismantled.

    The object of the new burdens on voting is obvious. “Approximately half of American adults do not have a passport, and two-thirds of Black Americans do not.…Nationwide, 69 million married women do not have a birth certificate matching their legal name.” Transferring sensitive voter information to a federal database would only “increase the likelihood that citizens will see their registrations wrongly purged or their personal information compromised.”

    All of this smacks of the literacy and poll tests imposed in the Jim Crow South, a set of mechanisms designed to make the electorate unrepresentative of the general population in order to maintain white dominance.

    Even voter ID requirements amount to a poll tax.

    The rest of the news is not that inspiring, but here a few significant stories to check out.

    Odette Yousef at NPR: Extremist rhetoric is often found in government messaging. Who’s the target?

    A recent social media post from an account belonging to President Trump prompted enough outcry over its use of a familiar racist trope that the White House deleted it. The Truth Social post included an image of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes. Despite removing the post, Trump has deflected blame to an aide….

    For scholars and civil rights advocates steeped in the language and aesthetics of white nationalism, Trump’s post was remarkable only because of how overtly racist the trope is. But they say that it fits into a pattern of extremist rhetoric, visual material and other media that have overtaken public messaging from federal agencies over the past year. They say that much of that messaging may not have been detectable to most Americans who are not immersed in the study of extremism. But to those who are, the dog whistles and coded words have been unmistakable.

    “If this were just one racist image or one bad post, it wouldn’t matter much,” said Eric Ward, executive vice president of Race Forward, a civil rights organization. “What matters is that over the last year, the Trump administration [is] abusing federal authority, and the federal government has increasingly learned to speak in the emotional language of white nationalism.”

    While the latest controversy is over a post from a Trump social media account, Ward and others say the Department of Homeland Security has been behind the most, and the most notable, examples of extremist themes in federal messaging. In its effort to recruit large numbers of new immigration enforcement agents, the federal agency has generated a body of propaganda that has raised alarm over its echoes of extremist movements.

    “A lot of this was very much wrapped up in this kind of Norman Rockwell-style imagery of white Americana and … this idea that we need to ‘defend the homeland’ from migrants arriving from the Global South,” said Caleb Kieffer, a senior research analyst with the Southern Poverty Law Center. “And I think that one thing it’s worth noting, and what we really were alarmed by, [is] that we’ve seen this rhetoric for decades be prevalent in white nationalist circles, in anti-immigrant circles, claiming that there’s this migrant invasion happening and that we need to stop it.”

    Read the rest at the link.

    Kyle Cheney at Politico: DOJ acknowledges violating dozens of recent court orders in New Jersey.

    The Trump administration acknowledged violating court orders issued by New Jersey’s federal judges more than 50 times over the past 10 weeks in cases stemming from the Trump administration’s mass deportation push.

    Associate Deputy Attorney General Jordan Fox, who was tapped in December to help lead the Justice Department’s New Jersey office after temporary pick Alina Habba was forced out, said those violations were spread across more than 547 immigration cases that have flooded the courts since early December, straining both prosecutors and judges.

    The violations include a deportation to Peru that occurred in violation of a judge’s injunction, as well as three missed deadlines to release ICE detainees.

    A general view of the Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark on June 16, 2025, in New Jersey. Stefan JeremiahAP

    There were also six missed deadlines to respond to court orders, 12 missed deadlines to provide bond hearings to ICE detainees, 17 out-of-state transfers after judges had issued no-transfer orders, three instances of imposing release conditions in violation of court prohibitions and 10 instances of failing to produce evidence demanded by courts.

    “We regret deeply all violations for which our Office is responsible. Those violations were unintentional and immediately rectified once we learned of them,” Fox wrote in a letter accompanying the report. “We believe that [the Department of Homeland Security’s] violations were also unintentional.”

    Fox’s conciliatory approach stood in stark contrast with previous statements from the Justice Department and ICE that have blamed “rogue judges” for the administration’s noncompliance.

    DOJ produced the catalog of violations in response to an order by U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz.

    Derek Hunter at The Hill: Something is very wrong at the FDA.

    It’s not very often an editorial from anywhere, let alone the Wall Street Journal, stops you in your tracks, but one titled “Vinay Prasad’s vaccine kill shot” did just that for me. Not normally known for bomb-throwing, the Journal’s editors went in very hard against someone you’ve probably never heard of — the chief medical and scientific officer and director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

    The damning sub-headline reads, “Does the White House know the harm he’s doing to public health?” And no, this is not some random question based on spasmodic, Trump-deranged leftist opposition to everything going on in Washington. This is serious.

    The Journal editors write of Prasad — previously forced out of the FDA and then hired back within two weeks — that “it’s hard to recall a regulator who has done as much damage to medical innovation in as little time … In his latest drive-by shooting, the leader of the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine division rejected Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine without even a cursory review. This is arbitrary government at its worst.”

    But is it arbitrary? In 2022, Prasad tweeted that he was “a Bernie Sanders liberal” who has “been surprised by ad hominem claims I am right wing. I am pro-universal health care. Pro wealth tax. Pro choice. Etc. Read my books.”

    The same day as the editorial, the Wall Steet Journal reported on the FDA’s rejection of a new flu shot from Moderna for unclear reasons. Career staff reportedly objected and “argued that refusing to even consider the vaccine was the wrong approach to address any concerns about the product.” They were overruled.

    And other drugmakers reported multiple cases of surprising and seemingly arbitrary decisions by Prasad, many of them connected to treatments for rare diseases.

    Read the rest at The Hill.

    Megan O’Matz at ProPublica: Chlorine Dioxide, Raw Camel Milk: The FDA No Longer Warns Against These and Other Ineffective Autism Treatments.

    The warning on the government website was stark. Some products and remedies claiming to treat or cure autism are being marketed deceptively and can be harmful. Among them: chelating agents, hyperbaric oxygen therapies, chlorine dioxide and raw camel milk.

    Now that advisory is gone.

    The Food and Drug Administration pulled the page down late last year. The federal Department of Health and Human Services told ProPublica in a statement that it retired the webpage “during a routine clean up of dated content at the end of 2025,” noting the page had not been updated since 2019. (An archived version of the page is still available online.)

    Some advocates for people with autism don’t understand that decision. “It may be an older page, but those warnings are still necessary,” said Zoe Gross, a director at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a nonprofit policy organization run by and for autistic people. “People are still being preyed on by these alternative treatments like chelation and chlorine dioxide. Those can both kill people.”

    Chlorine dioxide is a chemical compound that has been used as an industrial disinfectant, a bleaching agent and an ingredient in mouthwash, though with the warning it shouldn’t be swallowed. A ProPublica story examined Sen. Ron Johnson’s endorsement of a new book by Dr. Pierre Kory, which describes the chemical as a “remarkable molecule” that, when diluted and ingested, “works to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.”

    Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has amplified anti-scientific claims around COVID-19, supplied a blurb for the cover of the book, “The War on Chlorine Dioxide.” He called it “a gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.”

    The lack of clear warning from the government on questionable autism treatments is in line with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s rejection of conventional science on autism and vaccine safety. Last spring, Kennedy brought into the agency a vaccine critic who’d promoted treating autistic children with the puberty-blocking drug Lupron. And in January, Kennedy recast an advisory panel on autism, appointing people who have championed the use of pressurized chambers to deliver pure oxygen to children, as well as some who support infusions to draw out heavy metals, a process known as chelation.

    Kennedy is almost as scary as Trump.

    That’s all I have for you today. What stories are you following?

    #Autism #DemocraticPartyHistory #extremistRhetoricInTrumpAdministration #FDA #immigration #JesseJackson #MartinLutherKingJrAssassination #Racism #RobertFKennedyJr #TrumpViolationOfCourtOrdersInNJ #VinayPrasad #votingRights
    #autism #democraticpartyhistory #extremistrhetoricintrumpadministration #fda #immigration #jessejackson
  2. (Roughly) Daily @[email protected] ·

    “The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest”*…

    Robert Beauchamp, owner of Sierra Cone, one of the largest cone collection contractors in the West, reaches for a red fir cone outside of Dorrington, California. Nina Riggio

    Dillon Osleger explains that, while the future of Western forests depends on professional pinecone collectors, they’re slowly being starved out of existence…

    High in the crown of a giant sequoia, the world becomes a cathedral of green and amber, hushed but for the creak of ancient wood and the sharp, rhythmic snap of cones being pulled from boughs. Dan Keeley, 31, moved around with a practiced, fluid economy, suspended by thin lines of high-tensile rope 200 feet above the ground on the western edge of California’s Sequoia National Park. To his left, the sequoia’s cinnamon-colored bark provided a steady presence as he leaned out over the negative space between branches.

    “There is a lot of trust that goes into this work,” Keeley said, speaking over the wind. He eyed a cluster of green, egg-sized cones. “Trust in the trees, predominantly, but also trust in the system — that I’m being sent to the right trees, at the right time, and for the right reason, not all of which are always the case.”

     Keeley, a lean, tanned former rock climber and arborist, is what some in the forestry industry call a pinecone cowboy, a freelance contractor hired to harvest the genetic future of Western forests. He climbs trees of important or threatened species to collect ripe cones for seeds intended to be used for reforestation. 

    Keeley is part of a specialized workforce that’s become the primary resistance against the rapid erasure of a Western landscape. As megafires — fueled by climate change and a century of heavy-handed forest management and fire suppression — incinerate millions of acres in the West, natural regeneration is failing. Cones from serotinous species, which open their scales and drop their seeds in response to low-intensity wildfires on the forest floor, are now incinerated in increasingly common crown fires — high-intensity blazes that leap into the canopy. Meanwhile, other species’ seeds, dropped into the soil by wind and animals like squirrels and birds, are choked underneath layers of ash or outcompeted by invasive shrubs. The future of a relationship between trees and wildfires that has existed for 350 million years now rests on the shoulders of rope-suspended climbers who collect the trees’ cones one 45-liter bag at a time…

    [The work, which dates back to the 1930s, is both arduous and precise; the workers, dedicated. But, as Osleger explains, a number of forces– main among them, Federal budget cuts, have taken a huge toll on the effort…]

    … The result is an annual reforestation shortfall that is compounding and transforming entire ecosystems. The Forest Service produces 30 million to 50 million seedlings a year, according to American Forests, a mere fraction of the 120-million annual seedling goal the REPLANT Act established. Roughly 80% of those seedlings will survive, while it takes about 220 trees to reforest each burned acre. Altogether, the agency meets just 6% of its post-wildfire planting needs annually, according to its 2022 Reforestation Strategy Report. 

    And that’s just on Forest Service land: Wildfires on both public and private lands have affected, on average, 7.8 million acres a year over the last decade, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. In California alone, current seedling production and planting rates mean that it would take 15 to 20 years to reforest what has already been lost, while each additional fire “puts us further behind,” said Kuldeep Singh, operations manager of seed production for CAL FIRE. While the Forest Service considers a tract reforested after seedlings survive their first five years, research says that a functioning ecosystem like the one the fire destroyed won’t return for several decades.

    When a forest fails to regenerate, either because it wasn’t replanted or because new seedlings didn’t survive, it often becomes scrub-land, in a permanent ecological shift known as type conversion. The new brush-based ecosystem creates a more flammable fuel bed that resists the forest’s return, effectively locking the land into a cycle of fire and scrub. In areas like South Lake Tahoe, California, for example, fields of 8-foot-tall manzanita and buckbrush now dominate hundreds of acres where conifers once stood. In Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming and throughout the Southwest, Forest Service research says that high-severity burn areas — which are difficult to regenerate regardless of human intervention — are increasingly repopulated by invasive grasses or the flowering plants called Brassicaceae, which store less carbon and prevent conifers from taking root. This process is permanently altering the hydrology, fire cycle and carbon-sequestration capacity of the West…

    More– and more photos– at: “The plight of the pinecone cowboy,” from @highcountrynews.org.

    Pair with: “Make Your Own Micro Forest” (“The Miyawaki method of reforestation inserts small, densely packed wild acreage into urban environs. It’s proving wildly successful.”)

    * John Muir

    ###

    As we treasure trees, we might recall that it was on this date in 1910 that Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana was established. The park encompasses more than 1 million acres and includes parts of two mountain ranges (sub-ranges of the Rocky Mountains), more than 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of trees and plants, and hundreds of species of animals. Its pristine ecosystem is the centerpiece of what has been referred to as the “Crown of the Continent Ecosystem,” a region of protected land encompassing 16,000 square miles.

    The park’s predominantly coniferous forest is home to various species of trees such as the Engelmann spruce, Douglas fir, subalpine fir, limber pine and western larch, which is a deciduous conifer, producing cones but losing its needles each fall.

    Mountain goats (the official park symbol) at Logan Pass (source) #culture #forest #forestManagement #forestry #forests #GlacierNationalPark #history #MiyawakiForests #pineconeCowboy #pineconeCowboys #pinecones #politics #Science #trees
    #culture #forest #forestmanagement #forestry #forests #glaciernationalpark
  3. (Roughly) Daily @[email protected] ·

    “The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest”*…

    Robert Beauchamp, owner of Sierra Cone, one of the largest cone collection contractors in the West, reaches for a red fir cone outside of Dorrington, California. Nina Riggio

    Dillon Osleger explains that, while the future of Western forests depends on professional pinecone collectors, they’re slowly being starved out of existence…

    High in the crown of a giant sequoia, the world becomes a cathedral of green and amber, hushed but for the creak of ancient wood and the sharp, rhythmic snap of cones being pulled from boughs. Dan Keeley, 31, moved around with a practiced, fluid economy, suspended by thin lines of high-tensile rope 200 feet above the ground on the western edge of California’s Sequoia National Park. To his left, the sequoia’s cinnamon-colored bark provided a steady presence as he leaned out over the negative space between branches.

    “There is a lot of trust that goes into this work,” Keeley said, speaking over the wind. He eyed a cluster of green, egg-sized cones. “Trust in the trees, predominantly, but also trust in the system — that I’m being sent to the right trees, at the right time, and for the right reason, not all of which are always the case.”

     Keeley, a lean, tanned former rock climber and arborist, is what some in the forestry industry call a pinecone cowboy, a freelance contractor hired to harvest the genetic future of Western forests. He climbs trees of important or threatened species to collect ripe cones for seeds intended to be used for reforestation. 

    Keeley is part of a specialized workforce that’s become the primary resistance against the rapid erasure of a Western landscape. As megafires — fueled by climate change and a century of heavy-handed forest management and fire suppression — incinerate millions of acres in the West, natural regeneration is failing. Cones from serotinous species, which open their scales and drop their seeds in response to low-intensity wildfires on the forest floor, are now incinerated in increasingly common crown fires — high-intensity blazes that leap into the canopy. Meanwhile, other species’ seeds, dropped into the soil by wind and animals like squirrels and birds, are choked underneath layers of ash or outcompeted by invasive shrubs. The future of a relationship between trees and wildfires that has existed for 350 million years now rests on the shoulders of rope-suspended climbers who collect the trees’ cones one 45-liter bag at a time…

    [The work, which dates back to the 1930s, is both arduous and precise; the workers, dedicated. But, as Osleger explains, a number of forces– main among them, Federal budget cuts, have taken a huge toll on the effort…]

    … The result is an annual reforestation shortfall that is compounding and transforming entire ecosystems. The Forest Service produces 30 million to 50 million seedlings a year, according to American Forests, a mere fraction of the 120-million annual seedling goal the REPLANT Act established. Roughly 80% of those seedlings will survive, while it takes about 220 trees to reforest each burned acre. Altogether, the agency meets just 6% of its post-wildfire planting needs annually, according to its 2022 Reforestation Strategy Report. 

    And that’s just on Forest Service land: Wildfires on both public and private lands have affected, on average, 7.8 million acres a year over the last decade, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. In California alone, current seedling production and planting rates mean that it would take 15 to 20 years to reforest what has already been lost, while each additional fire “puts us further behind,” said Kuldeep Singh, operations manager of seed production for CAL FIRE. While the Forest Service considers a tract reforested after seedlings survive their first five years, research says that a functioning ecosystem like the one the fire destroyed won’t return for several decades.

    When a forest fails to regenerate, either because it wasn’t replanted or because new seedlings didn’t survive, it often becomes scrub-land, in a permanent ecological shift known as type conversion. The new brush-based ecosystem creates a more flammable fuel bed that resists the forest’s return, effectively locking the land into a cycle of fire and scrub. In areas like South Lake Tahoe, California, for example, fields of 8-foot-tall manzanita and buckbrush now dominate hundreds of acres where conifers once stood. In Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming and throughout the Southwest, Forest Service research says that high-severity burn areas — which are difficult to regenerate regardless of human intervention — are increasingly repopulated by invasive grasses or the flowering plants called Brassicaceae, which store less carbon and prevent conifers from taking root. This process is permanently altering the hydrology, fire cycle and carbon-sequestration capacity of the West…

    More– and more photos– at: “The plight of the pinecone cowboy,” from @highcountrynews.org.

    Pair with: “Make Your Own Micro Forest” (“The Miyawaki method of reforestation inserts small, densely packed wild acreage into urban environs. It’s proving wildly successful.”)

    * John Muir

    ###

    As we treasure trees, we might recall that it was on this date in 1910 that Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana was established. The park encompasses more than 1 million acres and includes parts of two mountain ranges (sub-ranges of the Rocky Mountains), more than 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of trees and plants, and hundreds of species of animals. Its pristine ecosystem is the centerpiece of what has been referred to as the “Crown of the Continent Ecosystem,” a region of protected land encompassing 16,000 square miles.

    The park’s predominantly coniferous forest is home to various species of trees such as the Engelmann spruce, Douglas fir, subalpine fir, limber pine and western larch, which is a deciduous conifer, producing cones but losing its needles each fall.

    Mountain goats (the official park symbol) at Logan Pass (source) #culture #forest #forestManagement #forestry #forests #GlacierNationalPark #history #MiyawakiForests #pineconeCowboy #pineconeCowboys #pinecones #politics #Science #trees
    #culture #forest #forestmanagement #forestry #forests #glaciernationalpark
  4. (Roughly) Daily @[email protected] ·

    “The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest”*…

    Robert Beauchamp, owner of Sierra Cone, one of the largest cone collection contractors in the West, reaches for a red fir cone outside of Dorrington, California. Nina Riggio

    Dillon Osleger explains that, while the future of Western forests depends on professional pinecone collectors, they’re slowly being starved out of existence…

    High in the crown of a giant sequoia, the world becomes a cathedral of green and amber, hushed but for the creak of ancient wood and the sharp, rhythmic snap of cones being pulled from boughs. Dan Keeley, 31, moved around with a practiced, fluid economy, suspended by thin lines of high-tensile rope 200 feet above the ground on the western edge of California’s Sequoia National Park. To his left, the sequoia’s cinnamon-colored bark provided a steady presence as he leaned out over the negative space between branches.

    “There is a lot of trust that goes into this work,” Keeley said, speaking over the wind. He eyed a cluster of green, egg-sized cones. “Trust in the trees, predominantly, but also trust in the system — that I’m being sent to the right trees, at the right time, and for the right reason, not all of which are always the case.”

     Keeley, a lean, tanned former rock climber and arborist, is what some in the forestry industry call a pinecone cowboy, a freelance contractor hired to harvest the genetic future of Western forests. He climbs trees of important or threatened species to collect ripe cones for seeds intended to be used for reforestation. 

    Keeley is part of a specialized workforce that’s become the primary resistance against the rapid erasure of a Western landscape. As megafires — fueled by climate change and a century of heavy-handed forest management and fire suppression — incinerate millions of acres in the West, natural regeneration is failing. Cones from serotinous species, which open their scales and drop their seeds in response to low-intensity wildfires on the forest floor, are now incinerated in increasingly common crown fires — high-intensity blazes that leap into the canopy. Meanwhile, other species’ seeds, dropped into the soil by wind and animals like squirrels and birds, are choked underneath layers of ash or outcompeted by invasive shrubs. The future of a relationship between trees and wildfires that has existed for 350 million years now rests on the shoulders of rope-suspended climbers who collect the trees’ cones one 45-liter bag at a time…

    [The work, which dates back to the 1930s, is both arduous and precise; the workers, dedicated. But, as Osleger explains, a number of forces– main among them, Federal budget cuts, have taken a huge toll on the effort…]

    … The result is an annual reforestation shortfall that is compounding and transforming entire ecosystems. The Forest Service produces 30 million to 50 million seedlings a year, according to American Forests, a mere fraction of the 120-million annual seedling goal the REPLANT Act established. Roughly 80% of those seedlings will survive, while it takes about 220 trees to reforest each burned acre. Altogether, the agency meets just 6% of its post-wildfire planting needs annually, according to its 2022 Reforestation Strategy Report. 

    And that’s just on Forest Service land: Wildfires on both public and private lands have affected, on average, 7.8 million acres a year over the last decade, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. In California alone, current seedling production and planting rates mean that it would take 15 to 20 years to reforest what has already been lost, while each additional fire “puts us further behind,” said Kuldeep Singh, operations manager of seed production for CAL FIRE. While the Forest Service considers a tract reforested after seedlings survive their first five years, research says that a functioning ecosystem like the one the fire destroyed won’t return for several decades.

    When a forest fails to regenerate, either because it wasn’t replanted or because new seedlings didn’t survive, it often becomes scrub-land, in a permanent ecological shift known as type conversion. The new brush-based ecosystem creates a more flammable fuel bed that resists the forest’s return, effectively locking the land into a cycle of fire and scrub. In areas like South Lake Tahoe, California, for example, fields of 8-foot-tall manzanita and buckbrush now dominate hundreds of acres where conifers once stood. In Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming and throughout the Southwest, Forest Service research says that high-severity burn areas — which are difficult to regenerate regardless of human intervention — are increasingly repopulated by invasive grasses or the flowering plants called Brassicaceae, which store less carbon and prevent conifers from taking root. This process is permanently altering the hydrology, fire cycle and carbon-sequestration capacity of the West…

    More– and more photos– at: “The plight of the pinecone cowboy,” from @highcountrynews.org.

    Pair with: “Make Your Own Micro Forest” (“The Miyawaki method of reforestation inserts small, densely packed wild acreage into urban environs. It’s proving wildly successful.”)

    * John Muir

    ###

    As we treasure trees, we might recall that it was on this date in 1910 that Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana was established. The park encompasses more than 1 million acres and includes parts of two mountain ranges (sub-ranges of the Rocky Mountains), more than 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of trees and plants, and hundreds of species of animals. Its pristine ecosystem is the centerpiece of what has been referred to as the “Crown of the Continent Ecosystem,” a region of protected land encompassing 16,000 square miles.

    The park’s predominantly coniferous forest is home to various species of trees such as the Engelmann spruce, Douglas fir, subalpine fir, limber pine and western larch, which is a deciduous conifer, producing cones but losing its needles each fall.

    Mountain goats (the official park symbol) at Logan Pass (source) #culture #forest #forestManagement #forestry #forests #GlacierNationalPark #history #MiyawakiForests #pineconeCowboy #pineconeCowboys #pinecones #politics #Science #trees
    #trees #science #politics #pinecones #pineconecowboys #pineconecowboy
  5. (Roughly) Daily @[email protected] ·

    “The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest”*…

    Robert Beauchamp, owner of Sierra Cone, one of the largest cone collection contractors in the West, reaches for a red fir cone outside of Dorrington, California. Nina Riggio

    Dillon Osleger explains that, while the future of Western forests depends on professional pinecone collectors, they’re slowly being starved out of existence…

    High in the crown of a giant sequoia, the world becomes a cathedral of green and amber, hushed but for the creak of ancient wood and the sharp, rhythmic snap of cones being pulled from boughs. Dan Keeley, 31, moved around with a practiced, fluid economy, suspended by thin lines of high-tensile rope 200 feet above the ground on the western edge of California’s Sequoia National Park. To his left, the sequoia’s cinnamon-colored bark provided a steady presence as he leaned out over the negative space between branches.

    “There is a lot of trust that goes into this work,” Keeley said, speaking over the wind. He eyed a cluster of green, egg-sized cones. “Trust in the trees, predominantly, but also trust in the system — that I’m being sent to the right trees, at the right time, and for the right reason, not all of which are always the case.”

     Keeley, a lean, tanned former rock climber and arborist, is what some in the forestry industry call a pinecone cowboy, a freelance contractor hired to harvest the genetic future of Western forests. He climbs trees of important or threatened species to collect ripe cones for seeds intended to be used for reforestation. 

    Keeley is part of a specialized workforce that’s become the primary resistance against the rapid erasure of a Western landscape. As megafires — fueled by climate change and a century of heavy-handed forest management and fire suppression — incinerate millions of acres in the West, natural regeneration is failing. Cones from serotinous species, which open their scales and drop their seeds in response to low-intensity wildfires on the forest floor, are now incinerated in increasingly common crown fires — high-intensity blazes that leap into the canopy. Meanwhile, other species’ seeds, dropped into the soil by wind and animals like squirrels and birds, are choked underneath layers of ash or outcompeted by invasive shrubs. The future of a relationship between trees and wildfires that has existed for 350 million years now rests on the shoulders of rope-suspended climbers who collect the trees’ cones one 45-liter bag at a time…

    [The work, which dates back to the 1930s, is both arduous and precise; the workers, dedicated. But, as Osleger explains, a number of forces– main among them, Federal budget cuts, have taken a huge toll on the effort…]

    … The result is an annual reforestation shortfall that is compounding and transforming entire ecosystems. The Forest Service produces 30 million to 50 million seedlings a year, according to American Forests, a mere fraction of the 120-million annual seedling goal the REPLANT Act established. Roughly 80% of those seedlings will survive, while it takes about 220 trees to reforest each burned acre. Altogether, the agency meets just 6% of its post-wildfire planting needs annually, according to its 2022 Reforestation Strategy Report. 

    And that’s just on Forest Service land: Wildfires on both public and private lands have affected, on average, 7.8 million acres a year over the last decade, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. In California alone, current seedling production and planting rates mean that it would take 15 to 20 years to reforest what has already been lost, while each additional fire “puts us further behind,” said Kuldeep Singh, operations manager of seed production for CAL FIRE. While the Forest Service considers a tract reforested after seedlings survive their first five years, research says that a functioning ecosystem like the one the fire destroyed won’t return for several decades.

    When a forest fails to regenerate, either because it wasn’t replanted or because new seedlings didn’t survive, it often becomes scrub-land, in a permanent ecological shift known as type conversion. The new brush-based ecosystem creates a more flammable fuel bed that resists the forest’s return, effectively locking the land into a cycle of fire and scrub. In areas like South Lake Tahoe, California, for example, fields of 8-foot-tall manzanita and buckbrush now dominate hundreds of acres where conifers once stood. In Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming and throughout the Southwest, Forest Service research says that high-severity burn areas — which are difficult to regenerate regardless of human intervention — are increasingly repopulated by invasive grasses or the flowering plants called Brassicaceae, which store less carbon and prevent conifers from taking root. This process is permanently altering the hydrology, fire cycle and carbon-sequestration capacity of the West…

    More– and more photos– at: “The plight of the pinecone cowboy,” from @highcountrynews.org.

    Pair with: “Make Your Own Micro Forest” (“The Miyawaki method of reforestation inserts small, densely packed wild acreage into urban environs. It’s proving wildly successful.”)

    * John Muir

    ###

    As we treasure trees, we might recall that it was on this date in 1910 that Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana was established. The park encompasses more than 1 million acres and includes parts of two mountain ranges (sub-ranges of the Rocky Mountains), more than 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of trees and plants, and hundreds of species of animals. Its pristine ecosystem is the centerpiece of what has been referred to as the “Crown of the Continent Ecosystem,” a region of protected land encompassing 16,000 square miles.

    The park’s predominantly coniferous forest is home to various species of trees such as the Engelmann spruce, Douglas fir, subalpine fir, limber pine and western larch, which is a deciduous conifer, producing cones but losing its needles each fall.

    Mountain goats (the official park symbol) at Logan Pass (source) #culture #forest #forestManagement #forestry #forests #GlacierNationalPark #history #MiyawakiForests #pineconeCowboy #pineconeCowboys #pinecones #politics #Science #trees
    #culture #forest #forestmanagement #forestry #forests #glaciernationalpark
  6. ZODIAC CONFESSED! @[email protected] ·

    A.I. is now in control of all things. (Yours truly : Reddit)

    [youtube youtube.com/watch?v=6Q75BUg1ep]

    I’m ‘a gonn’a learn Reddit somm’a grammar and then somm’a forensic linguistics!

    https://www.reddit.com/r/ZodiacKiller/comments/1dukd3b/oh_theres_more_much_much_more/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

    I reckon if you folks can’t figure that the Zodiac disguised his handwriting, then y’all best jus’ go on an’a git!

    Eco on Echo Chambers

    MEME: When you come face-to-face with the realization and subsequent existential dread of having had a virtual (!) close-encounter with a horde of yobbos spawned from Woodstock ’99

    Like their M&D, they still doin’ it for the nookie! (but evidently frustrated they ain’t gettin’ any).

    I may expound upon the following draft points and additional ones, so be sure to check back!

    • Infinite Monkey Theorem irony in all the tap-tap-tapping, giddy-up, giddy-up, gish gallop, gish gallop, click-click-clicking out of words (hourly/daily) from these nameless keyboard Forensic Files Reddit warriors and holy sh*!, they can’t even see that the linguistic comparison of sequential lines between Allen and the Zodiac is very possibly not by chance – especially considering the limited linguistic corpus (read: non-boilerplate / non-form letter samples) available from Allen!

      Furthermore, in this example [Exhibit 9.0b], both Allen and the Zodiac are using the phrases “just pick up the kid” | “pick off the kiddies” with a parallel contextual tone as if the kid / kiddies are an afterthought, like baggage (and written only seven years apart). And don’t forget the ‘+’ sign that one noodle-brain redditor claimed I was using as my only rationale. Another slick we-don’t-need-no-stinkin’-sentence-diagramming redditor made up his own sample to challenge my exhibit, but in which he changed the noun kid to a verb. LOL! If he hadn’t done that and let’s presume, ceteris paribus, his hypothetical sentence was coming from the # 1 Zodiac killer suspect, then YES – it too would be worth linguistically considering! What’s up doc? Where do you catch-22 all these Ca’nyuk Nyuks from! Eh?
    • Note to these redditors: Just because it’s 2024 and you tap-tap-tap . . . gish gallop . . . gish gallop . . . giddy-up . . . giddy-up . . . durp-durp-durp. . . your bully-boy/girl/tweener sophistic prattle minute-by-minute, it doesn’t alter the fact that while my linguistic samples don’t prove (on their own) that Allen was the Zodiac [never said that they did, but do check out my other ample original research 😉 ] there is more weight to the comparisons of similar strings of diction and phraseology between both authors based on the limited amount of writings evidenced in the first place. Holy cow, you morons – you don’t even need to wait for the Forensic Linguistics departments to weigh in on that obvious fact. In other words, yes indeed there is something here non-“cherry-picked” and worthy of the professional linguists examining.
    • Having to repeat AT LEAST HALF A DOZEN TIMES (count them; EDIT: +1) in the same thread that I am researching forensic linguistics, NOT handwriting OR graphology. The sad thing is they weren’t even trying to punk or troll the O.P. on that! Their attention spans, focus, and reading comprehension are that bad. But hey, Reddit is perfectly suited for the Kool-Aid kid ADHD crowd. Do they ever go back and check out—perchance to correct and learn—the dumbest things they typed in a thread before that thread is banished to the Memory Hole while the same topic is regurgitated yet again, the following week? ¡¿Oye como va, Santayana?!
    • If you are unaware that the Zodiac killer changed his handwriting style in numerous letters he authored (look them up), which are widely accepted – if not fully authenticated by Law Enforcement – then you’ve got your homework, but please refrain from judging my research, which clearly, you are not qualified to do.
    • The r/ZodiacKiller redditors revel in pushing prove-a-negative defenses to their allegations about a person’s research on a particular suspect:

      The only reason that someone would investigate Arthur Leigh Allen now is because of Graysmith, his book, the movie; he was the most popular suspect . . . Today, there’s nothing worth an amateur investigating on Allen that a pro investigator wouldn’t have already discovered. What’s more . . . If your research findings dare to implicate a main suspect (Arthur Leigh Allen) then, that alone is proof that you are begging the question – petitio principii – from conclusion to evidence! [See the accusers’ recursive hypocrisy there? :-p Reddit indulges particularly in this logical fallacy.]

      These are actual beliefs repeated – unchallenged – on that sub by grousing knuckleheads who never had a creative or original thought, or considered hypothesis in their lives, and likely never will! Online Logic 101 isn’t one of their curriculum strengths either; and, good God! To think some of them will be going to the ballot boxes soon. (Btw, check out my Studebaker / Kaiser vehicle research as but one other of my original forensic examples).
    • Wait until I get to some of their own sample (il)logical arguments . . . 😉 Saved Reddit histories are a beautiful thing for the Big Men on Campus. I’m gonna make M&D so proud of their lil’ limp bizkits!

      • RefrigeratorSolid379: “This demonstrates nothing. Absolutely nothing…..”
        This is RefrigeratorSolid’s five-word knee-jerk reaction to my Reddit topic post. . . .1
      • SeoliteLoungeMusic: “This looks a lot like the sort of fixation schizophrenics often suffer from: some detail that screams with significance in the sufferer’s mind, but they can’t explain why, at least not in a way that makes sense to normal people. …”
        Oh, boy… have I found out a thing or two about SLiM shady . . . I can’t wait! I can’t wait! . . .2
      • Glasdwarf: “Can I ask if your credentials and experience top that of the many handwriting experts and linguists who have ruled Allen out as the Zodiac? …”
        Glasdwarf has made a total of three comments, all superficial, about the Zodiac killer on Reddit in the past twelve months . . .3

    • The Reddit posts (and site-wide histories) demonstrate abundant examples of the phenomenon of Reddit wannabe (or failed bar) “defense lawyers” [♫ dun-dun! ♫] Special Arguendo & Eristic Unit. Contrast these with the commenters who have little-to-no real interest in the Zodiac killer case or true crime in general. They signed up to that echo chamber of arrogance and inanity on a whim months or years ago, but stopped by to unload negative karma and a five-or-less-word quip because they were having a bad day with mummy and/or daddy. Did somebody say ‘Eco’ chamber? Rather than constructive criticism, they habitually find the need to dispense invalidation. Chronically, there are the many who will forever follow the rump in front like woolly-headed sheeple with a down-vote. [See A.I. essay results from Harvard Business Review, Psychology Today, and Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication]

    MEME: [In a voice and mannerism redolent of Restoration period fops, Lucien Callow and Fagan] Hello, I’m not a real solicitor, but I play one on Reddit. I am, however, a bona fide pseudo-intellectual. See, [points with closed Asian folding fan] it says so under my 50×50 pixel avatar featuring a real (!) photo of yours truly [Who does that?]. [In single deft motion of wrist, flicks fan open and begins fanning unctuous smiling face] Permit me to represent you and your fatherless child, M’lady.

    • Please tell me the majority of them are fellow Americans . . . I have to believe . . . you see, I expect more from the Asians & Euros . . . (except for that one overweening German nitwit who called my example poor, but then – get this – proceeds like Herr Hypocrite to make a post elsewhere offering the most unoriginal, weakest dross on suspect Allen that we’ve witnessed alongside that r/ZodiacKiller sub’s daily, also-ran, fatuous, repetitive lists. He couldn’t even manage a low-bar vault; and I’m the one he’s nicking site graphics from! [Shhhhh… (in a whisper) I think he may be “Angry-German-Kid” all grown up and new keyboard.]
    • The r/ZodiacKiller admin and mods are all too pleased to direct visitors to their prominently displayed sitewide rules of conduct, including dictums: “Subreddit for mature discussion” . . . “be nice,” while allowing rampant violations as long as their groups of mincing nancies do it in a passive-aggressive dialogue. By now this comprises premeditated, scripted open public phone calls between grrrlfriends – wink-wink, they’re not attacking the O.P. in O.P.’s own thread. Evidently, on an given day, this must fly over the head and multi-tasking abilities of one Canadian’s sensibilities when he’s averaging ~7 [edit: ~3 today!] visitors to his sub, like the German pole vaulter.

      (Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Redditors!)
    • I thought my generation was hard on our teachers. I genuinely feel so sorry for their teachers.
    • Additionally, there is a tendency for the maladjusted bully-boys to make sweeping declarations, fancying themselves speaking for the whole of Reddit (control & group validation issues?). Keep in mind that they are neither admin, nor mods, nor original poster, and hence, have no access to a specific thread’s comprehensive activity:

      “This might surprise you. But most people here just want the case solved. And don’t care who the killer ends up being.”
      “[W]e can ask no more.”
      “No one is impressed with your post.”

      “Only kings, presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial ‘we.'” —Mark Twain

      I genuinely feel so sorry for their counselors & therapists (the ones sadly, these pontificating know-it-alls will probably never see). [Get Charlie Brooker on the line! Boy, have I got a new Black Mirror script that just wrote itself!]
    • It speaks volumes as a sad commentary when a central forum aspiring to be an open clearinghouse for the exchange of facts and ideas on a true crime decides to direct visitors—via top-pinned post, no less—to a private members-only Discord. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose? Weeding out our embarrassing sandlot riffraff are we? I mean, why not. If a big problem on the main forum is a dearth of quality contribution, competent moderation and administration, hey, the solution must be to stretch human resources even thinner with redundant forums? 🤣
    • I am aware of two distinguished [ 😀 ] r/ members who remain(ed) conspicuously absent from commenting in my Reddit subject post. One is obvious because it is, after all, the r/ZodiacKiller sub; the other member would be most keen on a Zodiac killer linguistics topic inextricably related to their own field of specialty.

      I knew – actually, I’ve known well before the topic activity subsided – when the Reddit trolls (per character type & trait) refused to reciprocate my polite and constructive follow-up explanations and questions. They balked at expanding on their five-word sound/keyboard bites/bytes before being drawn via chronic ADHD impulses (incl. that unrequited nookie) to run off with trolling mates in toe. Off they go to the next random topic in the Reddit-sphere for a quick “karma” fix, like a daily self-affirmation boost of MMORPG first-person-shooter cosmetic self-esteem. Yes, I knew – that they remain ill-equipped on so many levels: from linguistics, to emotional maturity, to common decency in civil discourse to hold even a modicum of sensible opinion on my topic.

      KNIGHTS: Charge!
      [squeak squeak squeak]
      KNIGHTS: Aaaaugh!, Aaaugh!, etc.
      ARTHUR: Run away! Run away!
      KNIGHTS: Run away! Run away!…

      As to those two distinguished lurkers, specifically, I know why they stayed uncharacteristically out of the topic. It may seem like a safe choice hedge-bet, for now; but more on this . . . later. I keep all the receipts. 😉
    • I made my most recent post there because someone I do not know had already started a topic about my work: Zodiac’s Last Puzzle . . . Allen’s Final Written Confession; generally well-received I might add.
    • Shortly after I posted my own thread, a new topic popped up re: Allen and his wig that featured an image [with my own arrow graphic clearly visible] directly plucked from my WordPress site’s post: Facial Composites & Sketches, also displayed on my WP Home page. Go figure the cause and effect steps there, detective! 🔍🕵🏿🔎 Here, I thought German Internet & media (and the citizens they serve) were more serious than most countries about dodgy intellectual property behavior. 🤔
    • My only previous activity years ago—and the reason I requested activation of my account in the first place (literally, to protect my work!)—involved having to file (a successful) complaint with Reddit central admins because a member took one of my original research mark-up images from my site, sliced off my attribution banner on the bottom, and then proceeded to re-post it as their own.

      Suggestion for Reddit & Redditors: I have absolutely no desire to use any of your forums, so to paraphrase Will Smith (undoubtedly, one of your faves): Keep my WordPress research site out of your f—king mouths and off your f—king keyboards!

      Moreover, if the plagiaristic attempts resume from a couple of years ago, at which time I remained diplomatic, I will file an immediate, formal, and official complaint and provide all history on the matter.

      P.S. I keep all the receipts [and from Discord too. Peek-A-Boo! There are spies amongst you. Vee have vays! 🕵🏿‍♀️🕵️‍♂️🕵🏾‍♂️🕵️‍♀️]. 😉

    https://youtu.be/04clpd7h0b0?si=Z-Jf7iERUpXr2pR2

    The Emperor has no clothes!
    (and Snoo is nude, too!)

    I’ve got a little list, I’ve got a little list,
    of Reddit’s Finest:

    (Opera Slippers & Powdered Wigs)

    1. RefrigeratorSolid379: When asked, he refused to explain. [Did I mention those who feel threatened by further circumstantial evidence that may weigh against Allen?] His username has been around the r/ZodiacKiller for years. Could somebody inform me as to exactly what RefrigeratorSolid has brought to the table in all this time?

      CLICK HERE to learn of his profound “one bit of proof” contribution to the Zodiac killer research community.

      That’s right. According to RefrigeratorSolid, Graysmith is a demonstrable liar…. and thus, doubt is cast on Allen being the killer because when talking with a journalist in 2007, Robert Graysmith misremembered his reference to a secondary (or tertiary, etc.) hypothesis about the crime events on a calendar, and got the exact 1969 date for Columbus Day wrong.

      I’d like to give this nameless troll credit for his forensic magnum opus to Reddit, but while he prizes his own work so highly that he remains anonymous, one must refer to him as RefrigeratorSolid379, which I believe is trucker CB slang for a poopsicle. Now, you mean to tell me there are at least 378 more of these lying on ground between rest stops over the length of Interstate 80?

      “I am working on it.”

      This unfounded statement (five words, again – wouldn’t you know!), RefrigeratorSolid has repeated several times whenever the post topic of Who is Currently Working the Zodiac Killer Investigation comes up. Unintentionally ironic? Clueless? Both? It doesn’t take long, nor an algorithm to deduce that he uses Reddit login alts (mostly non-members to r/ZodiacKiller) to inflate his positive karma points on his ridiculously banal comments. Admin, doc_daneeka and his mod (u/Mrs_Daneeka with “her” all-time grand total of one comment to the sub) remain blissfully ignorant to all this, of course.

      YES, SENSEI !
      ↩︎
    2. SeoliteLoungeMusic: SLiM Shady is one of those r/ZodiacKiller redditors who attempts to exploit the aforementioned ADHD world of his and his peers. He stalks surreptitiously from the bushes until what he believes is just the right time to get his ad hominem zingers in – when he thinks a thread topic has been all but abandoned. [Not with me you don’t, bud. 😀 ] On average, judging by up/down voting, it’s patently clear that true crime redditors lose interest in any given thread topic after about the first parent post level. lol [insert animated gif image here of keys dangled in front of baby’s face.]

      Lounge boy sure came in for a hard landing on my post; it makes you wonder if he has a bias against Allen, and in favor of another suspect? You think? Wonder no longer – check these out:





      SLiM, when he’s not “fixated” on U.S. politics, is inclined to sadfish his mood disorders with Reddit therapy bots:

      The Eminent Dr. SLiM evidently believes his suffering over-share somehow qualifies him to diagnose someone whom he neither knows nor has ever met—me (and my work)—as not within the realm of normality, even potentially “schizophrenic.” I see… well here’s a tip for Lounge boy: Do watch out for those cooking plates! [You know, like “normal people” would do.] On second thought, you may want to opt for a microwave, reassured with the knowledge that you are wearing your alum-in-I-um foil cap.

      AGAIN! YES, SHIFU !
      ↩︎
    3. Glasdwarf: Tells us in one perfunctory comment that he’s watched the Fincher Zodiac film (his credentials and experience?), and in another – with nary a proof of critical thinking proffered – that, “It’s not him [Allen] 100%,” and “Not one of the known suspects is the Zodiac.” Really? To Glasdwarf: So where are your “facts”? Why bother wasting everyone’s time with disingenuous rhetorical questions when you already had your predetermined conclusion to drop a couple of lines later?:

      “I do not believe that your theory holds any water and adds nothing to the debate other than self promotion that this post was clearly designed to do.”

      You can believe whatever you want, but if you’re going to accuse me of self promotion (intended pejoratively as your post was clearly designed to do) you had best be prepared to back it up. By your reasoning, anyone who posts and is prepared to defend a forensic hypothesis online is guilty of “self-promotion.” What’s interesting is that there are monetized true crime self-promoters, tragedy profiteers to every degree (YouTube, Amazon book sales, or holiday cash grabs on original newsprint stories of dead victims, etc.) swirling about r/ZodiacKiller and other forums on a weekly basis – each with a different ‘suspect’ – and yet, our valiant social injustice warrior, Glasdwarf, combat(t)ing self-promotion at every turn is nowhere to be found!

      I explained the obvious to Glasdwarf: I’m not selling any books, running any pod/webcasts; and I use a free WordPress site. Glasdwarf chose to answer not. He did make haste away, while yea! Brave, Sir BlackLionYard, Ponce de Reddit, stepped in with some prattling interference, permitting The not-so-brave, Glasdwarf time enough to scurry to his next pub meet or game of CODpieceWarzone.

      Oh, and who are the “many linguists” you confidently assert have ruled Arthur Leigh Allen “out as the Zodiac”?

      [EXT. SOF. The soft repetitive ticking sound of bog bush-crickets in Dumfries and Galloway]

      AGAIN! YES, SIR TRAINSPOTTING ROD !

      more to come. . . Oh there’s more, much, much, more . . .℠ 😀
      ↩︎

    When you know the little men are second-guessing themselves, doing damage control, literally – hedging their bets:

    They start the serial murder suspect oddsmaking posts. What should they care, anyway? It’s not as if they are stepping out from behind their anonymous I.D. masks to own their claims – or their cash. 😉 Talk is cheap; but in in 2025 it’ll get you “karma” on Reddit!

    https://youtu.be/7hx4gdlfamo?si=eLfHgBV3TL1NPGox

    You boys best start ‘a runnin’ . . . Real quick like.







    © 2024 Robert P. Ackerman

    [youtube youtube.com/watch?v=6t6k9tehlv]

    zodiacconfessed.wordpress.com

    Related Posts

    Other Blog Topics

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    2024: The Curious Case of the Year in The Zodiac Killer Research

    #AI #allen #arthur #ArtificialIntelligence #bot #chatbot #diction #ForensicCriminology #grammar #handwriting #hooligan #hooliganism #horde #idiolect #lee #leigh #letters #linguistics #machineLearning #neuralNetwork #phraseology #primitive #Reddit #scrape #scraping #serialKiller #WebDataExtraction #WebHarvesting #WebScraping #word #ZodiacKiller
    #zodiackiller #word #webscraping #webharvesting #webdataextraction #serialkiller
  7. Your Autistic Life @[email protected] ·

    Alien 3: The Ultimate Cut, coming soon to a theater near you

    Photo by Олег Мороз on Unsplash

    The year is 1992. This year that saw the release of such seminal songs as Sir Mix-a-Lot’s Baby Got Back or Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy. More importantly, this is the year that saw the release of the third installment in the Alien franchise, Alien 3.

    Although Alien had been absolutely groundbreaking, and Aliens (the second movie in the franchise), while not as great as the first movie, was still interesting and had taken this franchise in new directions, Alien 3 was an abysmal flop. It was so bad that even the movie’s director, David Fincher, disowned it.

    In 2025, undaunted by the sheer turdity of the original cut, Robert Vance has taken upon himself to give moviegoers the movie they deserve. The Daily Isotope went to the premiere of Alien 3: The Ultimate Cut, and interviewed Vance ahead of the showing.

    DI: What prompted you to beat this dead horse?

    Vance: I felt Fincher was never given the opportunity to present the movie he wanted. Also, I needed money for a yacht. Come to think of it, the yacht was the main reason.

    DI: How did the editing go?

    Vance: The original cut had spent too much time on the xenomorph, character development, and the plot.

    DI: So, what did you do?

    Vance: I’ve cut a lot of the original material, and given the public what they wanted. The Ultimate Cut definitely won’t waste your time.

    After having seen the movie, The Daily Isotope can faithfully report that Vance has achieved his goal. Clocking at 35 seconds, this black and white, and silent movie will definitely not waste your time. However, if you are pressed for money, we do recommend waiting for streaming. You could also wait for it to be available on one of those services that are free but subject you to advertisements. The ratio of ads to movie might be irritating, however.

    #Alien #AutisticWriters #movies #satire #TheDailyIsotope

    #alien #autisticwriters #movies #satire #thedailyisotope
  8. Inside the Red Head's Head @[email protected] ·

    At work, my group has a quick check in meeting every day at 10:30am. As today’s meeting was wrapping up I almost said, “happy Friday, everyone.” (Pause while Robert stands up to flip the record*) I stopped myself just in time. At the last possible second I realized that today is Thursday, not Friday. Shit.

    I do that a lot. I can’t tell if I’m doing it more often now or if I just feel the heartbreak more acutely or what. I don’t know.

    Today hasn’t been the longest work day in history, but maybe it’s in the top 10? Nothing bad happened (except for my calendar snafu) but it’s just been… long.

    28 minutes until my shift ends. We started watching Goodfellas last night. I don’t know if we’ll finish it tonight, but either way we will be sure to constantly stir the gravy.

    *We’ve spun a couple of Rush records today, some Yes, some Genesis, some Pink Floyd, some Cream, some Jeff Beck, some Jimmy Page with and without Led Zeppelin (I forgot I found the Death Wish II soundtrack at a used record store at some point in the distant past and I don’t think I had listened to it prior to this afternoon). Currently we’re listening to Blind Faith. When I flipped the record it was from side one to side two (obviously) which means “Sea of Joy.” Good! It also means “Do What You Like.” Not so good. Oh well.

    https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/09/26/long-day-13/

    #calendar #daysOfTheWeek #Music #todayIsThursdayNotFriday #workDay

    #calendar #daysoftheweek #music #todayisthursdaynotfriday #workday
  9. Andy Arthur - Threadinburgh @[email protected] ·

    The thread about Old Edinburgh as it never was; the elaborately crafted fake for nostalgic Victorian spectators

    There’s a photo of “Old Edinburgh” that pops up now and again online that purports to show the City as it was back in 1886; usually from one of those context-less, “random old photos” social media accounts. But not all is quite what it appears to be with this image. It’s a fake! In fact it’s a very good fake.

    But it’s not a fake in the sense that the image itself has been doctored – it is the whole scene that is an elaborately staged Capriccio: a recreated tableau of various parts of Old Edinburgh, in no particular order, as they may (or may not) have been over a period of some three centuries. A 200 feet by 65 feet section of the City was recreated, loosely modelling parts around the old Netherbow Port but including interlopers from other parts. It contained 21 painstakingly recreated buildings, all of which had been demolished in the living memory of the time. The whole lot was an industrial-scale fantasia which was assembled for the the International Exhibition of 1886, located in a vast, temporary show-hall on the West Meadows.

    The 1886 pavilion of the International Exhibition on the West Meadows, a temporary building believe it or not! Peter Fletcher Riddell bequest to National Galleries Scotland

    The reconstruction was the idea of the Exhibition organisers who appointed a Committee to oversee it and who held a design competition in 1885. There was an increasing awareness at this time of just how much of Old Edinburgh was rapidly and unsympathetically being swept away and replaced by – what was then – modern architecture. As a result there was a growing nostalgia for what had been lost in recent memory and also a recognition of what a lot of those buildings had represented in the context of Scottish statehood and national identity. It was hoped that this revival of a semi-forgotten national architecture might go hand in hand with a revival of the country as a whole, on its own, distinct lines. The convenor of the Committee – John Charles Dunlop – said “I trust one of the early results of this first great Scottish Exhibition will be a return to a style of building at once suited to the varied scenery and the changeful skies of Scotland, and to the character and history of the Scottish people“.

    “Mercat Cross & Old Assembly Rooms”, Marshall Wane, 1887

    On 27th October 1885 the Old Edinburgh Committee picked its competition winner – Sydney Mitchell, a Scottish revival architect behind such vernacular style buildings as Well Court in the Water of Leith (Dean) Village, part of Patrick Geddes’ Ramsay Garden and the restoration of the old Mercat Cross to the city. Mitchell’s entry – entered under the nom de plume Tolbooth – featured twenty four “passed away” buildings and structures. The official handbook (which you can read at archive.org, here) commissioned by the Committee includes this helpful street plan of the buildings:

    Ground Plan of The “Old Edinburgh” Street, from “The Book of Old Edinburgh” published to accompany the exhibition

    These were picked from locations scattered across the city as can be seen on the map below, and the handbook pointed out that they were not from any specific period of time, stretching from those built in the 15th to the early 18th century, but “they had with each other a long contemporaneous existence“:

    The locations of “Old Edinburgh”, marked on the map of Edinburgh by James Gordon of Rothiemay in 1647, Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

    The installation was in a section of the exhibition hall that was open to the air and was constructed from wood, plaster and paint – with “realistic but illusionary finishes” to mock up age and weathering under the expert eye of Mr Smythe, the scenery artist at the Theatre Royal. The workmen were encouraged to add to the authenticity by chipping paint, cracking chimney pots, splintering wood, etc., so that the effect was not a “pristine original, but of undisturbed ageing: the illusion that the buildings had survived undisturbed into the present“. An electric arc lamp was installed to simulate moonlight in the evening, and weak incandescent bulbs simulated candle light behind the windows. Actors in period costumer were employed to add to the visual spectacle of the recreation.

    Actors hired to represent the “Old City Guard” at the entrance to “Old Edinburgh”. The uniforms and equipment are seemingly accurate for the 18th century when compared to some contemporary illustrations, although the size of the bicorne hats may be somewhat accentuated.

    Briefly, the chosen subjects, their location, relevance and when they had been lost were:

    Looking up the Old Edinburgh street to the Netherbow Port. The Earl of Hyndford’s House projects on the right, the tall turnpike stair tower of the “Black Turnpike” house is on the left. From the Illustrated London News, May 1886
    • Robert Gourlay’s House. An immense 16th century house that once stood on Old Bank Close which was swept away in 1834 for the construction of George IV Bridge. Gourlay enjoyed the patronage of King James VI.
    • Cardinal Beaton’s House. A 16th century house on the corner of Blackfriar’s Wynd where it met the Cowgate, it had been the residence of the Archbishop of Glasgow, James Beaton and then his nephew, Cardinal David Beaton, a prominent figure in 16th century Scottish history. It had a prominent octagonal tower projecting from its first storey and was demolished in 1874.
    • Twelve Apostles House and French Ambassador’s Chapel. A building demolished in 1829, named for the “apostles’ heads” that decorated its gable and reputed to have contained a chapel for the French Ambassador. Located on the Cowgate at the foot of Libberton’s Wynd and taken down in 1829 to allow construction of George IV Bridge. The gable, and other ornamental stones, were saved and incorporated in Easter Coates House where they remain to this day.
    The Twelve Apostles House (left) and French Ambassador’s Chapel (right). Marshall Wane photograph, © Museums & Galleries Edinburgh
    • House in Dickson’s Close. A 16th century house exemplifying the old style of a stone ground floor, with projecting timber and render upper stories and reputed to have been built by Robert Mylne, the Seventh Royal Master Mason.
    • Paul’s Wark. A 17th century workhouse built by the City at the foot of Leith Wynd, where it met the Calton, part of which later became a reformatory. It was demolished around 1844 to make way for the North British Railway.
    • Symson the Printer’s House. This early 16th century house, at the foot of Horse Wynd, was the oldest house in the Cowgate at the time of its demolition in 1871 to make way for Chambers Street. It took its name from its late 17th century occupant – Andro Symson – an Episcopal clergyman who had turned to poetry and printing.
    • Bowhead House. The archetype of the above style in the city, a sprawling building on the top corner of the West Bow whose tiers got ever wider and more precarious as they rose higher. It had been demolished in 1878.
    Bowhead House. Note the “Town Guard” standing in the bottom right of the image. Marshall Wane photograph.
    • Major Weir’s House. An early 17th century house that was located off of the West Bow, demolished when Victoria Street was constructed between 1829-34. The resident after whom it was named was the notorious Major Thomas Weir a soldier and “warlock” who was executed in 1670 for bestiality, incest and adultery.
    • Earl of Hyndford’s House – also known as the Earl of Selkirk’s House. A large and most impressive house in the Old Town which was demolished in the 1870s. It was accessed off of Hyndford’s Close and had passed into the hands of Dr Daniel Rutherford, credited with the discovery of Nitrogen and grandfather of Sir Walter Scott. This house had been a favourite haunt of the young Walter when he was at the High School.
    • Laus Deo House. A late 16th-century house on the Castle Hill at the head of Blyth’s Close, decorated with the legend “LAUS DEO” (Praise be to God) in large letters on its façade. This had been a focus of antiquarian interest in the first half of the 19th century when a stunning original ceiling was discovered hidden above a later one. There was a theory that this may have once formed part of the residence or “Palace” of the Regent of Scotland, Mary of Guise.
    • The CunȜie House. A purported one-time location of the old Royal Mint of Scotland in the 16th century at the head of the Cowgate, where it met Candlemaker Row, with a distinctive “timber-arched porch, outside stairs and ancient ballusters“. Demolished around 1870.
    • Mary of Guise’ Oratory. A private chapel situated on the Castle Hill on the east of Blyth’s Close, built some time after 1544 in connection with the residence (or “palace”) of the Regent of Scotland, Mary. It was demolished in 1845 when the New College of the Free Church of Scotland was being built.
    • The Royal Porch. An ornamental gateway to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, built around 1490 by Abbot Bellenden. It was demolished in 1753 by the hereditary keeper of the Palace, the Duke of Hamilton.
    • Assembly Rooms. Long before they were on George Street, Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms were on the Bow, the steep route up from the Grassmarket to the Lawnmarket. This was a “tall, picturesque building” that was demolished in 1836 when the street was remodelled as Victoria Street.
    • The Black Turnpike. A few doors up from the Tron Kirk, it was demolished in 1788 (along with parts of that Church) to form Hunter Square as part of the South Bridge development. A very large building for its time (15th century), it was a “sumptuous residence” for high status nobles. Access to its upper floors was by a prominent turnpike stairwell on its façade, hence its name.
    The “Black Turnpike” and citizens of Old Edinburgh. Marshall Wane photograph.
    • House Fornent the Mint Close. An old house on the Cowgate fornent (Scots – opposite) the Mint Close, the last site of the Royal Mint of Scotland, it was one of the last surviving examples of a timber-fronted building of a burgher, with a small piazza on its ground floor and an open gallery above it. This particular house was also opposite that of Cardinal Beaton (above) and cleared in 1874 at the same time to allow the Cowgate to be widened.
    • Parliament Stairs and Parliament Hall Gable. The “back stairs” led from the Cowgate up to the Parliament Close through the city’s Meal Market. At the head of the stairs was the south gable of the Parliament Hall of Scotland. The stairs were removed after the Great Fire of Edinburgh of 1824, and the gable of the Parliament Hall disappeared from view when the Outer House of the Court of Session was extended out from it.
    • Tolbooth. One of the best known of Old Edinburgh’s buildings, this ugly, multi-storey building adjacent to St. Giles cathedral performed a variety of civic functions from guard house to prison to council chambers, court room and even a meeting space for the Parliament of Scotland. It had stood on this spot in one form or another since the late 15th century and was finally demolished in 1817 to widen and improve the High Street.
    • The Mercat Cross. The ancient meeting point on the middle of the High Street, it had been taken down in 1756 and its stones scattered amongst other buildings and gardens, the cross and its shaft finding its way to Drum House, from where it was restored to the High Street in 1866. As a result of this, it was unique in being the only exhibit in the reconstruction that still existed (even though it was a restoration)
    Looking up the Old Edinburgh street to the Mercat Cross, with the Tolbooth behind it. On the left is the “Unnamed House from the Cowgate” and Paul’s Wark. From the Illustrated London News, May 1886

    The stunt was a roaring success. On June 5th 1886, the Dundee Weekly News described to its readers “A Saunter Round the Old Edinburgh Street” at night, in a long, 3-column report complete with in-depth descriptions of each building and illustrations. They said it was “A fine replica of early Scottish architecture – a group of ancient buildings with which are associated much of Edina’s romance and history” and that Mitchell was “worthy of all praise for the truthful representation he has given as of those historic edifices which have long since corroded under the rime of years“.

    Thank you to Alan Faichney for reminding me that I never wrote this thread up at the time, and for bringing it back to my attention 4 months later!

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  10. Andy Arthur - Threadinburgh @[email protected] ·

    HMS Fury: the thread about the short life of the first Royal Navy warship built in Leith

    This Leith local history thread is brought to you by chance of a couple of typos in a book, which meant I couldn’t find what I was looking for but instead found an altogether more interesting tale of late 18th century shipbuilding in Leith and naval affairs. The typo referred to the building of the first “ship of the line” in Scotland in Leith in 1750, a ship named Fury. However none of this stacked up, as the first HMS Fury wasn’t built until much later and wasn’t a ship of the line.

    HMS Melvlle in 1831, British School, Collection of the National Maritime Museum

    In the Royal Navy, a ship of the line meant a specific sort of ship – a 1st, 2nd or 3rd rate to be precise – and something much, much larger than I thought would have been getting built in Leith at this time. So I was pretty excited to think that Leith had built what at the time would have been one of the largest sorts of warships it was possible to build, especially as early as 1750.

    Although Newhaven, just along the coast, had built the biggest ship in the Christian World in the 16th century, this was a one off. By the mid 18th century Leith was a busy shipbuilding centre, but it built vessels of only 20-40 tons displacement usually, no larger than 70. All this took place in North Leith, at the time a separate place from South Leith. Indeed shipbuilding was the primary industry of North Leith and almost the whole river bank between the Abbot’s Bridge (now near Quayside St.) and the Sandport (now under the Custom House) was taken up by Carpenter’s Yards, carpenters being the shipbuilders’ incorporation .

    Alexander Wood’s 1777 Town Plan “To the magistrates, the commissioners of police and the four Incorporations” from the collection of the WS Society. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

    North Leith built two to four hundred tons of shipping a year. Most yards generally built two or three ships per year, and there were usually 5 yards in operation. Most of the timber, particularly the “crookit” wood for the ribs came in from Norway, but exotic and Scottish timber was also used. The Carpenter James Jamison died in 1749, and a younger man, John Sime (or Syme) takes over. At the same time he marries the widow of James Beattie, only a few months after the latter’s death and acquires that shipyard too. John had a son, John, by his first marriage, and together John Sime and Son begin to corner the Leith shipbuilding industry. Sime rebuilds a large tenement near his yard, builds himself a house, has a smithie and a square of houses for workers.

    Sime also buys over the burnt out remains of one of the first glasshouses (glass works) in North Leith and turns that over to shipbuilding when the latter business relocates to Salamander Street. In 1751, Sime successfully petitions the Edinburgh council for the “tack” (the tenancy) of the shore at the Sandport, the ancient sandy beach of North Leith long used by the fishermen and for small scale boat building . In 1770 the Simes build the first drydock in Leith . It was not 1720 as some sources say, therefore not the first in Scotland, as that honour goes to James Watt’s dock in Port Glasgow.

    Wood’s town plan showing the Simes’ “Carpenters’ Yard”. Their dry dock is that in the centre of the map above the “A” of the word Harbour. From the collection of the WS Society. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

    This dock is still there, by the way, it’s just filled in and you just have to look for the outline of the coping stones in the open grass area and on the quayside.

    Google Earth image showing the outline of the dry dock in the grass behind the gardens of the tenements at Sandport Street

    And look closely at the back of the tenement, you’ll see the tell-tale “Sandport Street Notch”, which allowed room for a docked ship’s bowsprit mast to penetrate the envelope of the much later Victorian building.

    The “Sandport Street Notch” © Self

    Anyway, moving on. By the later part of the 18th c., John Sime and Son had cornered almost the entire local industry, taking over the lease of the 2nd dry dock and having half the shipbuilding land in North Leith. Indeed other Carpenters complain of them acting as a monopoly. In August 1777, the burgeoning Simes get their best order yet, an order from none other than the Royal Navy for a warship. This would be the first (and only) warship built in Leith (and I think in Scotland) for the Navy in the 18th century. This ship is to be HMS Fury, a 16 gun ship sloop of the Swan class. These were typical small warships of the time for every sort of role apart from joining the line in major battles and with the American Revolutionary War raging far across the sea, the Navy was desperate for such vessels .

    Ship’s Crest of a later HMS Fury

    Even though it was small, at 300 tons burthen displacement, it was by far and away the largest thing built in Leith up to that time and the Simes had to build a special new construction platform for it on the Sandport as their existing yards were too small. This can be seen on Wood’s plan. Remarkably, the noted and prolific Scottish landscape illustrator of this time – John Clerk of Eldin – happened to sketch this yard in the late 18th or early 19th century, before the Custom House was built. Shipyards were really just open ground at this time, the huts would have been for stores or perhaps a smithy.

    Excerpt from John Clerk of Eldin’s illustration of Leith showing the Sime’s shipbuilding yard at the Sandport in the foreground. CC-BY-NC National Galleries Scotland

    We know almost exactly what Fury would have looked like, as the plans for the class survive and it’s become one of the most popular model shipbuilding kits of this sort of vessel.

    HMS AtalantaHMS AtalantaHMS PegasusHMS SwanModels of sister ships of the Fury, from AdmiraltyModels.com

    And here is a model of HMS Fly of this type from an auction sale. The ships were noted at the time for being particularly handsome and well embellished with decorations. They were built with 16 gun ports, but usually shipped 14 x 6 pounder main guns when built.

    Sale images for a model of HMS Fly

    And here are the period plans from the Admiralty archives and a model of the Kingfisher under construction (in reality she wouldn’t have had the guns at this time).

    (by “Jeff” on the Model Ship World forum)Admiralty drawingsHMS Kingfisher

    The Fury took about 18 months to go from laying down to launching, the longest of any of the 21 Swan-class ordered in 1775-1779, probably the result of Sime’s inexperience in building such large ships to naval standards. It is evident that the Admiralty were frustrated by the slow progress as there are letters between them and their Overseer in Leith – Mr Coleman – about delays to the launch. But launch she did, on the 5th March 1779. Alas, tragedy stuck, and after moving only 4 feet she “burst the ways because the dog shores were not knocked away in time” The dog shores are those timber braces seen in Jeff’s model above. A carpenter was killed in this calamity and she came to rest, upright and undamaged, but marooned above all but the spring high tide. And there she sat until March 19th when the state of the tide allowed her to be floated out.

    Back before launch, in February, the Admiralty had ordered her to be fitted out for Channel Service (against the French, who were waging a maritime war on Britain at this time in support of the American Revolutionaries). Her captain was appointed, Alexander Agnew of the Hazard. There’s a good chance this portrait in the Royal Museum of Greenwich shows a younger Agnew when he was a Lieutenant onboard HMS Pallas. The 45 year old Agnew had progressed relatively well in the Navy up to this point, although without major acclaim.

    Possible portrait of Agnew. © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

    Agnew proceeds to Leith to take charge of his new command when it was in the final stages of fitting out and there’s a flurry of correspondence in the archives from him arranging the more important crew positions. e.g. David Lesslie – Sailmaker, William Long (surgeon of the cutter Nimble), Alexander Robertson – master.

    From what the correspondence suggests, the Admiralty are clearly frustrated. They probably just want their badly needed new ship ready and launched as quickly as possible and nothing more to do with her troublesome Scottish builders. There are further dark omens for Fury however, as Sime senior passes away around this time and there are issues in fitting her out. There are “no gang boards for the gunnels“, the boats have no oars, she has not been rigged and Agnew is ordered to find a contractor to do this. The overseer at Leith complains that for lack of a carpenter the ship cannot be provisioned and will remain there at the government’s expense. Finally, James Patton rigs the ship and in June or July the Fury is able to leave Leith and head off on service. On July 13th 1779, Fury shows up in Whitby Roads with the armed tender HMS Advice, and they impress (i.e. press gang) the entire crew of the recently arrived whaler, Adamant.

    Illustration of press ganging

    At the end of July, Fury is back in Leith as she is reported leaving with the tenders HMS Africa and HMS Swan with 300 impressed men destined for the new 74 gun ship of the line HMS Edgar. Impressment was the horrible practice by which the Navy filled its lower decks, but some men were meant to have immunity. In 1780, John Sime, Fury‘s builder, successfully sued Captain the Hon. Charles Napier, for impressing his apprentices and taking them to London.

    Fury now heads for the Nore, the Royal Navy’s command in the Thames Estuary but within months is back in Leith Roads in a hurry, hot on the heels of the American swashbuckler John Paul Jones, in the USS Bonhomme Richard, who was rumoured to have just invaded Newcastle upon Tyne.

    British cartoon of John Paul Jones as a pirate

    That panic over, in January 1780 she arrives at Sheerness on the Thames with the “Beaver’s Prize” (no giggling at the back) to be fitted out for Carronades – a particularly short and heavy cannon – developed by the Carron company further up the Forth – perfect for giving small ships a hefty punch. Fury now joined a small squadron under Commander Matthew Squire of the “Ariadne“, along with Trotten’s HMS Queen and Raines’ HMS London and they went pirate hunting in the channel. On April 30th, the pirates (three French privateers) were sighted off Flamborough Head, where the pesky John Paul Jones had caused the senior service some embarrassment the previous year by refusing to allow them to beat him in battle.

    The Battle of Flamborough Head, John Paul Jones’ “Bonhomme Richard” tangles with the Royal Navy’s HMS “Serapis”. Richard Paton, 1780

    This would be a chance to right a few wrongs, however it all now went a bit wrong again. When Commander Squire gave the order to engage the privateers only Trotten in the Queen joined in. For whatever reason, Agnew in the Fury and Raines in the London refused. In doing so, Agnew and Raines broke two of the golden rules of the Royal Navy. Firstly, follow orders from your superior and secondly and more importantly, never ever never fail to aggressively engage the enemy.

    As a result of Agnew and Raines’ failure, the privateers were able to escape. A court martial was convened on board the frigate HMS Santa Margarita at the Nore under Vice Admiral Robert Roddham. Roddham honourably acquitted Commander Squire as “spirited, great, and highly to be recommended“, and threw the book at Agnew and Raines. Agnew and Raines were found guilty of “ignoring orders and failing to do their utmost” and sentenced to be broke, i.e. kicked out of the Navy dishonourably.

    Agnew was a man of independent wealth and standing from a landed family of army officers, but it is likely he ended his days as something of a social pariah for his crimes. As for the Fury she now had a spell of better luck under her new captain, Commander Thomas Totty (I said, no giggling at the back) and in July takes the French privateer Union Americaine and profits from the prize. The newspaper at the time report that Fury was in company with the other Royal Navy ships Imphigenia and Monkey Cutter (oh, come on!) Totty would go on to become a very respected and senior officer, praised by none other than Horatio Nelson in a letter between them “For believe me, my dear Sir, that with the very highest respect for your character, I feel myself your most obliged and affectionate servant.”

    In January 1782, Fury was taken over by Commander Thomas Wells and set sail under him for the West Indies. At the Leeward Islands the following year, Wells is promoted to full Captain and a bigger ship and Fury is taken over by Commander William Sidney Smith.

    Commodore Sir William Sidney Smith by Robert Ker Porter, 1802

    Smith had enjoyed a rapid rise through the ranks, being commended by Admiral Rodney at the battle of Cape St. Vincent and being promoted for his efforts beyond his age. After further meritorious conduct at the Battles of the Chesapeake and the Saintes 1782, he was given the Fury as his first command. Smith performed well in the Fury and was soon promoted full Captain and upwards to the frigate Alcmene. Later in a glittering career, Smith’s service at the Siege of Acre in command of the Royal Navy forces was instrumental in preventing Napoleon’s victory. Napoleon soon abandoned his Egyptian campaign and later said of Smith “That man made me miss my destiny“.

    Boney “misses his destiny” at Acre.

    As for the Fury she served a further year in the West Indies, under Commanders William Bentinck and then William Smith. She is noted to have taken the French ship Polacre in this period and returned to England in November 1784 and was “paid off“, i.e. taken out of service. She would never put to sea again, and in 1787 the Admiralty ordered her broken up, which started at Woolwich in April of that year.

    While most of her class were also paid off at this time as the result of the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary wars in 1783, and such a big Navy being too expensive to maintain during peacetime, she was gotten rid of unduly quickly so one wonders if she was in a particularly poor condition. The Navy was shortly at war again however and as soon as 1790 a new Fury was ordered, again a 16 gun sloop. But this time she was ordered from the Dockyard in Portsmouth, Leith (or Scotland) would not build another ship for the Royal Navy in the 18th century. One wonders if the frustration of the length of time it took to build Fury and the numerous mistakes made in her launching and fitting out put the Admiralty off Scottish shipbuilding altogether! indeed until the 20th century, Leith would only builds 2 other warships for the Royal Navy, the 12 gun sloop Earnest and the 12 gun brig Woodlark both of 1805. The unlucky Woodlark was wrecked off Calais under command of the inexperienced Thomas Innes only a few months later.

    Alexander Agnew died in obscurity in 1792 at the age of 58, somewhere unknown, having committed one of the ultimate sins for an officer and a gentleman.

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    #Lochend #Logan #Restalrig #StMargaret
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  11. Inside the Red Head's Head @[email protected] ·
    Daily writing prompt How do you balance work and home life? View all responses

    I often find myself thinking in song titles. Sometimes it is movies or TV quotes, but often it’s song titles. It just happened to me as I read today’s prompt. King Crimson has an improvised instrumental track on the Starless and Bible Black record called “We’ll Let You Know.”*

    When we figure out how to balance work and home life, we’ll let you know. When I am at work I am working. When I am at home I am not working. Does that make sense? That’s how it should be, shouldn’t it? Why is it so hard to do? Why is so much at home time spent thinking about work and so much at work time spent thinking about home? What’s the deal there, Robert?

    It’s a problem, but it’s more of an existential problem as one rarely gets in the way of the other when something important comes up. In priority situations I am able to keep the two separated. It’s the quiet, non-priority moments that the mind wanders across the divide.

    So like I said, if I figure it out… I’ll let you know.

    *Just noting that both the guitarist and the drummer on this song had birthdays this week.

    The song is an instrumental so there are no lyrics to tie into this discussion. Also, it was improvised on stage so they probably only ever played it once. There’s a moment in this when the bass and the drums lock together in one of the sickest grooves ever.

    https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/05/18/well-let-you-know/

    #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1942

    #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1942
  12. Inside the Red Head's Head @[email protected] ·
    Daily writing prompt How do you balance work and home life? View all responses

    I often find myself thinking in song titles. Sometimes it is movies or TV quotes, but often it’s song titles. It just happened to me as I read today’s prompt. King Crimson has an improvised instrumental track on the Starless and Bible Black record called “We’ll Let You Know.”*

    When we figure out how to balance work and home life, we’ll let you know. When I am at work I am working. When I am at home I am not working. Does that make sense? That’s how it should be, shouldn’t it? Why is it so hard to do? Why is so much at home time spent thinking about work and so much at work time spent thinking about home? What’s the deal there, Robert?

    It’s a problem, but it’s more of an existential problem as one rarely gets in the way of the other when something important comes up. In priority situations I am able to keep the two separated. It’s the quiet, non-priority moments that the mind wanders across the divide.

    So like I said, if I figure it out… I’ll let you know.

    *Just noting that both the guitarist and the drummer on this song had birthdays this week.

    The song is an instrumental so there are no lyrics to tie into this discussion. Also, it was improvised on stage so they probably only ever played it once. There’s a moment in this when the bass and the drums lock together in one of the sickest grooves ever.

    https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/05/18/well-let-you-know/

    #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1942

    #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1942
  13. Inside the Red Head's Head @[email protected] ·
    Daily writing prompt How do you balance work and home life? View all responses

    I often find myself thinking in song titles. Sometimes it is movies or TV quotes, but often it’s song titles. It just happened to me as I read today’s prompt. King Crimson has an improvised instrumental track on the Starless and Bible Black record called “We’ll Let You Know.”*

    When we figure out how to balance work and home life, we’ll let you know. When I am at work I am working. When I am at home I am not working. Does that make sense? That’s how it should be, shouldn’t it? Why is it so hard to do? Why is so much at home time spent thinking about work and so much at work time spent thinking about home? What’s the deal there, Robert?

    It’s a problem, but it’s more of an existential problem as one rarely gets in the way of the other when something important comes up. In priority situations I am able to keep the two separated. It’s the quiet, non-priority moments that the mind wanders across the divide.

    So like I said, if I figure it out… I’ll let you know.

    *Just noting that both the guitarist and the drummer on this song had birthdays this week.

    The song is an instrumental so there are no lyrics to tie into this discussion. Also, it was improvised on stage so they probably only ever played it once. There’s a moment in this when the bass and the drums lock together in one of the sickest grooves ever.

    https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/05/18/well-let-you-know/

    #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1942

    #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1942
  14. Inside the Red Head's Head @[email protected] ·
    Daily writing prompt How do you balance work and home life? View all responses

    I often find myself thinking in song titles. Sometimes it is movies or TV quotes, but often it’s song titles. It just happened to me as I read today’s prompt. King Crimson has an improvised instrumental track on the Starless and Bible Black record called “We’ll Let You Know.”*

    When we figure out how to balance work and home life, we’ll let you know. When I am at work I am working. When I am at home I am not working. Does that make sense? That’s how it should be, shouldn’t it? Why is it so hard to do? Why is so much at home time spent thinking about work and so much at work time spent thinking about home? What’s the deal there, Robert?

    It’s a problem, but it’s more of an existential problem as one rarely gets in the way of the other when something important comes up. In priority situations I am able to keep the two separated. It’s the quiet, non-priority moments that the mind wanders across the divide.

    So like I said, if I figure it out… I’ll let you know.

    *Just noting that both the guitarist and the drummer on this song had birthdays this week.

    The song is an instrumental so there are no lyrics to tie into this discussion. Also, it was improvised on stage so they probably only ever played it once. There’s a moment in this when the bass and the drums lock together in one of the sickest grooves ever.

    https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/05/18/well-let-you-know/

    #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1942

    #dailyprompt1942 #dailyprompt
  15. Inside the Red Head's Head @[email protected] ·
    Daily writing prompt How do you balance work and home life? View all responses

    I often find myself thinking in song titles. Sometimes it is movies or TV quotes, but often it’s song titles. It just happened to me as I read today’s prompt. King Crimson has an improvised instrumental track on the Starless and Bible Black record called “We’ll Let You Know.”*

    When we figure out how to balance work and home life, we’ll let you know. When I am at work I am working. When I am at home I am not working. Does that make sense? That’s how it should be, shouldn’t it? Why is it so hard to do? Why is so much at home time spent thinking about work and so much at work time spent thinking about home? What’s the deal there, Robert?

    It’s a problem, but it’s more of an existential problem as one rarely gets in the way of the other when something important comes up. In priority situations I am able to keep the two separated. It’s the quiet, non-priority moments that the mind wanders across the divide.

    So like I said, if I figure it out… I’ll let you know.

    *Just noting that both the guitarist and the drummer on this song had birthdays this week.

    The song is an instrumental so there are no lyrics to tie into this discussion. Also, it was improvised on stage so they probably only ever played it once. There’s a moment in this when the bass and the drums lock together in one of the sickest grooves ever.

    https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/05/18/well-let-you-know/

    #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1942

    #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1942
  16. cmrosens @[email protected] ·

    January 2026 Media Round-Up

    Here’s my January round up of all the media I’ve read/watched/listened to this month! I’m going to try and keep this to the highlights, but I usually DNF things I’m not enjoying and they don’t get counted. Positivity only in this space! …Although the content itself may be not so positive.

    As a bonus, I’m going to let you know my favourite song of the month too. I’ve just switched from Spotify to Qobuz, a music streaming service based in France, as Qobuz pays artists more per track while still costing the same, and also has a much better sound quality. Most of my playlist content has transferred over fine, but the one artist I was devastated is not fully on there yet is Felix Hagan.

    There is one song of his on there currently though: Happy Songs (2025), from the brand new album of the same name which smashed its goal on Kickstarter. I’m really hopeful that the whole album will drop on Qobuz as well.

    Happy Songs by Felix Hagan is definitely my favourite song from the start of the month. LISTEN ON QOBUZ

    As I go on my Qobuz journey, I’ll be looking for new music to replace the tracks I loved to listen to on Spotify but that aren’t on Qobuz yet, and finding (I hope) new obsessions. I’ll be adding this into my media round-up just for fun!

    On to the main event: books, shows, and films. This month I’m experimenting with highlighting my favourites, and listing everything else. I was off sick this month, so there’s a lot of them.

    Books, Audiobooks, Story Podcasts

    These are the highlights of what I’ve read/listened to this month. I’ve been really spoiled for ARCs! That’s one really lovely bonus of offering the author spotlights – the small presses that get in touch with me for their authors sometimes offer a reader copy for me to frame the interview questions around.

    (I never ask for this and I do not expect it, and frankly, I couldn’t ever read one per author! But for the small presses, I know they’re going to be in genres I already like and would want to read, so I often accept these if offered.)

    Best Friends Bury Bodies by C.M. Rosens.

    You know what, I’m counting this. I read this cover-to-cover for the revisions and edits, and it’s a 78K novel, so this is on my round-up.

    When their search for a missing music star leads to murder, how far will his old friends go?

    Midsomer Murders meets The Forty Year Kiss. A contemporary mystery with middle-aged polyamorous bisexual second chance romance.

    Sarah believes she’s happy with her life despite never really dealing with her partner’s sudden death six years ago; her job is fine, her friends are supportive, her girlfriend Sammie is amazing. But when her estranged soulmate, Bas, reaches out after a 12 year absence, Sarah’s carefully cultivated rut is thrown into chaos.

    Her best friends are all for tracking down the prodigal member of their close-knit group, who drifted away from them when he got famous, spiralled into addiction, then disappeared. But finding a long-lost 1990s rock star is the least of their worries, when it catapaults them into the middle of a murder investigation in the sleepy Surrey village where he’s been recovering.

    With skeletons falling out of every closet, and lives upended everywhere they turn, what will they do when another body shows up, and both Sarah and Bas are implicated?

    I got an ARC of Dianna Gunn‘s Gothic Fantasy novel, Woman of Sorrow and Blood. This is a sensuous, bisexual, sapphic vampire tale, set in richly built world of pleasure, pain, and power. I really enjoyed it, and read it fairly quickly; poor Alma is not very quick on the uptake, bless her, but there’s a decent climax and I was very satisfied with the ending. This one squeaked in right at the end of the month; I just finished it in time for this post! Read my full review.

    When 18-year-old Alma is invited to live with Nightfather and pursue the Pleasures of Power, she’s determined to win his affection and ultimate gift: eternal life.

    Yet life in the House of Night is not what she expected. Nightfather spends all of his time alone with Nightmother, leaving his second wife to rule with an iron fist. The servants brought from Alma’s home are hollowed out versions of their former selves. Others—including Alma’s own mentor—have disappeared entirely.

    Alma buries her suspicions and throws herself into attending to the Daughter of Night, an extraordinary woman who requires special care.

    When Nightfather calls upon Alma at last, she begins to see that his eternity is not a reward but a trap—and that it is not him, but the woman he calls his daughter, that her heart longs for. But tragedy lurks in every corner, and sometimes the only escape is death.

    Once Upon A Song by Nadine Bells – an ARC Read from Quill & Crow Publishing. I got into this book a lot more from the midpoint, and as it took off into the resolution and climax, I really enjoyed it. This Snow Queen retelling was fairly well done, although there were elements I personally didn’t vibe with. If you’re looking for a quick, lightweight and entertaining Gothic read, this is one to look out for and pre-order from your local store or library. Read my full review.

    Welcome to the Hôtel de Neige. Let yourself be swept away by its grandeur and glamor, but beware…the cold may swallow you whole.

    When lonely waitress Ana lands a job as a singer at the prestigious Hôtel de Neige, she believes it to be the beginning of her fairytale. Yet she soon finds that in those eerie halls, the line between Cinderella story and Gothic nightmare blurs. Sinister dreams cause her to sleepwalk, a ballerina makes ominous threats, and a phantom in white haunts the hotel—and Ana.

    As Ana discovers that the hotel’s last singer lost his life under mysterious circumstances, she needs to decide if happily-ever-after is worth it. She knows she cannot trust her secretive colleagues or the charming but elusive hotel manager, Dimitri. All Ana ever wanted was to belong, but at the Hôtel de Neige, that may mean never leaving again…

    The Dreaming of Man by Nikoline Kaiser. I got a copy from Neon Hemlock Press.

    I love “Innsmouth” stories, and this is one of the better ones for sure. It has a trans man protagonist and plays with Shakespeare as well.

    “An eerie, anxious read, crawling with tentacles of loss, regret, and uncanny coincidence. Nikoline Kaiser’s voice recalls the timbre of a rotting, bygone place and time while remaining fresh and crisp. A true joy for lovers of the weird!” —A.Z. Louise, author of Off-Time Jive

    After receiving a letter telling him terrible news, Doctor Lawrence Cooper visits the small harbor-town Osmund in search of answers. Though something is clearly wrong there, Lawrence keeps finding reasons to stay: the sake of a young girl he meets, and to get to the bottom of his one-time lover’s suspicious death.

    And the longer he stays, the more Lawrence is drawn into Osmund’s peculiar mysteries.

    Cover Illustration by JJ Epping.

    Death Valley Blooms by S.M. Mack is an interesting novella out with Neon Hemlock Press, a queer ecohorror about the inevitability of the landscape and the desert claiming its dues. It’s a tragic meditation on bodily autonomy and the survival of a landscape that uses humanity to thrive, but will outlast them.

    “Death Valley Blooms is a breathtaking, atmospheric novella that explores hard-hitting topics such as gendered inheritance, mourning, and sacrifice with an impressively light touch. S.M. Mack’s writing is full of humor and sobriety, which held my attention from start to finish. If you enjoy stories that bridge meditative, slice-of-life scenes with fast-paced action, this book will not disappoint.” — Liza Wemakor, author of Loving Safoa

    Every decade or so, vast quantities and varieties of wildflowers bloom all at once in Death Valley. But unbeknownst to the wider world, these super blooms are powered by a woman’s life. Mar Ramse lost her mother to Death Valley as a teenager and would give anything to break her family’s curse, but now the desert whispers its call to her. However, she still has a single ace up her sleeve: neither she nor her brother will ever have children. Is it enough for the desert to release its grip on her family? 

    Cover illustration by Rose Meyer. Cover design by dave ring.

    Some classics in here, and new content by narrator Ian Gordon. This is a compilation of a number of stories, and Vol 1 is available on YouTube.

    I have not finished this one yet.

    The HorrorBabble podcast is one I’m listening to a lot, just to get a short story fix as that’s all I can really concentrate on currently. I don’t enjoy every classic story they read out, but I really like the range of tales I’m listening to and the classic authors I’m able to access via their podcast. I usually listen before bed for an hour or two, or while I’m doing housework or something.

    Click for the list of HorrorBabble episodes I’ve listened to: short stories by classic horror and weird fiction authors, with their runtime (min:sec). I have highlighted my favourites.

    “Two Black Bottles” by H.P. Lovecraft & Wilfrid Branch Talman (29:51)

    “The Dance of Death” by Algernon Blackwood (25:04)

    “The House of Cards: A Thomas Chadwick Story” by Malcolm Ferguson (33:42)

    “The Red Room” by H.G. Wells (26:06)

    “The Spectre Priestess of Wrightstone” by Herman F. Wright (13:26)

    “A Ghost/The Tale of a Haunted Chateau” by Guy de Maupassant (16:47)

    “Mr. Hyde-and-Seek: A Thomas Chadwick Story” by Malcolm Ferguson (24:14)

    “Stranger at Dusk” by Malcolm Murchie (42:16)

    “The Mandrakes” by Clark Ashton Smith (17:13)

    “The Lurking Fear” by H.P. Lovecraft (54:44)

    “The Gateway of the Monster: A Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder Story” by William Hope Hodgson (51:20)

    “The Horror from the Mound” by Robert E. Howard (45:19)

    “The Thing from the Barrens” by Jim Kjelgaard (37:00)

    “Chickamauga” by Ambrose Bierce (17:31)

    “The Crawling Chaos” by H.P. Lovecraft (20:09)

    “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad”, by M.R. James (45:57) – listened to x2 because it’s so funny.

    “A Suspicious Gift” by Algernon Blackwood (26:38)

    “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (38:28)

    “Catnip” by Robert Bloch (27:06)

    “To Build a Fire” by Jack London (38:32)

    “The Hound” by H.P. Lovecraft (21:55)

    “An Unnatural Feud” by Norman Douglas (35:20)

    “Caterpillars” by E.F. Benson (19:23)

    “The Shining Pyramid” by Arthur Machen (52:30)

    TV Shows & Mini Series

    I’ve highlighted the shows I’ve really enjoyed this month, and listed the other shows I watched below the highlights. The highlighted ones are my favourite watches. Expand the details of my other watches below these, so you can see the other shows & random Marple/Poirot episodes I watched.

    Started the month catching up on Fallout (2024-), created by Geneva Robertson-Dworet
    and Graham Wagner, which I loved.

    Absolutely amazing. One of my oldest friends has been a massive fan of the games for years, and when we were housemates he had a display cabinet of the figures in our living room – those were my introduction to the games and the world! I’m not fully caught up yet.

    In a future, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles brought about by nuclear decimation, citizens must live in underground bunkers to protect themselves from radiation, mutants and bandits.

    Year of the Rabbit (2019) an 8-part mini-series directed by Ben Taylor and written by Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley that got cancelled over funding issues. It is a rewatch and a comfort watch, as it makes me laugh out loud every episode.

    Mabel (Susan Wokoma) demanding to be made a policewoman/Lady Fuzz: “When you adopted me you said you wanted the best for me!!”

    Chief Inspector (Alun Armstrong): “I was mostly thinking about hats!”

    Detective Inspector Rabbit, a dedicated, tough, thick, and oft-inebriated Victorian copper, sleuths his way across London with his two young partners: a doofy rookie and a brilliant Black policewoman no one ever believes.

    Haunted Hotel (2025-) is a rewatch, another comfort show! I hope there’ll be another season soon. Just a really fun cartoon, with lots of family scares.


    A single mom with two kids operates a haunted hotel, aided by her late brother’s ghost who believes they can have ingenious ideas despite his ethereal state.

    West Country Tales (1982-1983). I loved the 9 available episodes I saw on YouTube, I think these are the only ones left out of the 14 that were aired.

    This post, Remembering West Country Tales, has a full episode breakdown, including the missing episodes, courtesy of Steve Calvert.

    I’ve listed the 9 episodes below, with each title linked to the YouTube video! Click to expand.

    The Poacher – I liked how slow this was, just like you were listening to an older man in the pub tell you a story from his younger days. It did keep me interested all the way to the end, and I really liked the idea of meeting Pan/the Devil in the woods.

    The Breakdown – I switched my brain off for this one and didn’t try to guess where it was going, but just sort of let it carry me onwards. The twist is an obvious one, and it’s based on a fairly common/well-known urban legend (or rural legend?) but it’s one I liked. Not scary at all, just good company and a bit unsettling.

    White Bird of Laughter Tor – this is a sad one, based on another fairly well-told folktale (I think, or ballad – but anyway I’ve heard a few variants of this one before) of a poor girl and her ill-fated romance. You have the sense of sad dread as you know where it’s going.

    The Visitor – not a pleasant one, concerning two women and their competition for the life and love of a little toddler. A mother’s fear of usurpation, but also of the dangers posed by the people closest to you, regarding your child.

    The Beast – I watched this one first, and really enjoyed it. It was a great episode. It’s much more folk horror in essence, and has the elements of the Beast of Bodmin Moor about it, much more of a Creature Feature than the others.

    Miss Constantine – my personal favourite. This starts off with a dreamy vibe, where you meet an old lady who seems to be confused, perhaps has Alzheimers or dementia, and believes that she is being harrassed by ‘the young people from the Social’, who have moved into her home and refuse to leave. There is, of course, nobody there; at least, nobody the local vicar can see… or is there?

    With Love, Belinda – a very sad one about the loss of a child, and its impact on the parents and surviving sister, Belinda. The ghostly return of the little boy heralds a series of strange happenings and a change in Belinda’s behaviour, causing the mother especially great distress. The ending, however, is not tragic, and rather sweet.

    To Wit To Woo – a medieval tale of an unloved wife, who is tricked by a witch into various methods of making her husband love her. This one was sad and also funny, but I just felt really sorry for the poor woman.

    Ring a Ring a Rosy – a feral autistic-coded girl who likes to kill things occasionally, out of curiosity, gets herself a boyfriend, and her mother starts worrying about the lad’s safety after they appear to have an argument and he disappears. But is she worried about the right thing? I didn’t know how to feel about this one, but it’s another sad one.

    Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials (2026), created/written for the screen by Chris Chibnall and directed by Chris Sweeney, is a 3-part drama that just got released on UK Netflix, and I really loved it. In fact, it’s given me some thoughts about parent/child dynamics I’d like to write, or at least think about. It’s very silly fun, which I’m fully on board with.

    In 1925, a country house party prank turns deadly. Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent investigates the chilling murder plot. Lady Caterham and Superintendent Battle assist in solving the country house mystery that changes Bundle’s life.

    Miss Scarlet and The Duke (2020-) created by Rachael New, is a fun Victorian-era detective show I like to both rewatch and catch up on. I really love the period lady detective genre, like Miss Fisher, and Miss Scarlet has a few seasons under its belt to go through. S06 came out in December; I’ve watched up to S05.

    When Eliza Scarlet’s father dies, he leaves her penniless, but she resolves to continue his detective agency. To operate in a male-dominated world, though, she needs a partner – step forward a detective known as the Duke.

    Other Episodes & Mini-Series watched (click the + sign to expand)

    These aren’t all in the order I watched them; I’ve grouped the Marple and Poirot episodes together, bookending the list. It’s all a bit random but it made some weird sense to me when I was typing this up.

    • Miss Marple: The Body in the Library (1984) dir. Silvio Narizzano, screenplay by T.R. Bowen. I do love the old Miss Marple series with Joan Hickson, and this is one I’ve seen so many times. This was originally a 3-part mini-series, but it’s available now in one single feature. It’s not my favourite book either, but it’s one I’ve re-read a lot.
    • Agatha Christie’s Marple: The Body in the Library (2004) dir. Andy Wilson, dramatised by Kevin Elyot. They very bravely* changed the ending of this one, and departed from the original reveal to bring it up-to-date, but this just succeeds in falling into the ‘evil lesbians’ trope, preying on younger girls. Still, sapphics on screen in 2004… I don’t enjoy the Bantrys’ dynamics as much in this one, either. We can still be feminists looking for women to be their own people, and love our husbands very much. Overall, I think I prefer T.R. Bowen’s adaptation.

      *I am British, this is not a compliment
    • Miss Marple: A Murder is Announced (1985) dir. David Giles, dramatised by Alan Plater. I prefer the way the book character Mitzi is treated in this dramatisation, name changed here to Hannah which makes her not only Eastern European but Jewish-coded, although she is not explicitly Jewish in the text or in the episode. Even so, there’s a lot of anti-Eastern European prejudice in evidence. It’s a good adaptation though, and has one of my favourite lesbian-coded couples as ‘companions’. Also, so many autistic-coded women in this one. A village full of them.
    • Miss Marple: Pocket full of Rye (1985) dir. Guy Slater, dramatised by T.R. Bowen. The nursery rhyme one! Originally a 2-parter, and then shown as a single feature-length episode. It has one of my favourite character actors, Selina Cadell, as Mary Dove. Sadly, this one is really forgettable, except for the nursery rhyme killings.
    • Miss Marple: Nemesis (1987) dir. David Tucker, dramatised by T.R. Bowen. This is a good story, and one I haven’t seen a lot. I really enjoyed it, and it has a good few twists and turns. I love the three sisters, the random bus tour of historic homes and gardens, the locations used, and also Miss Marple having a nap on a bench. She’s elderly, let her sleep in a garden and stop bothering her with ice cream cornets.
    • Mrs Amworth (1975) dir. Alvin Rakoff. Based on the E.F. Benson short story, adapted by Hugh Whitemore. A good ’70s short, 29mins runtime. I really enjoyed this one! I do like the gnat plague heralding the vampire, which is a bit different to the usual vampire fare. I’m not sure what this was part of, I think it was part of a series or anthology originally, but it’s on YouTube as a standalone, courtesy of What the Folk‘s channel.
    • The Lost Will of Dr Rant (1951) dir. Laurence Schwab Jr., based on M.R. James’s story, The Tractate Middoth, and dramatised by Doris Halman. 30mins runtime. This is a US production, and possibly the first time that an M.R. James story was adapted for the screen! It was for the “Lights Out” series, and it’s pretty good. I really liked it, and it still stands up against the 2013 Mark Gatiss adaptation.
    • The Incredible Dr Baldick: Never Come Night (1972) dir. Cyril Coke. Another one courtesy of the What the Folk YouTube channel, this was the pilot of a series that never got aired/made, and is now a standalone feature. It seems that Terry Nation, its creator, wanted to replace Dr Who‘s Doctor with a folk horror version who went around the country in his steam train The Tzar, a mobile home and laboratory, solving paranormal mysteries. It stars Robert Hardy in the titular role, and I’m really sad this was never a series as planned. The pilot is really worth a watch.
    • Stones (1976) dir. Graham Evans. An episode of The Mind Beyond (BBC2 Playhouse), focused on the weird properties and then-shadowy history of Stonehenge. Available on YouTube via What the Folk‘s channel. This one is a full hour. Lots of stuff around ancient languages and the connection between written langauge and druidic power. It’s a bit dry for me, centering on a Tory minister’s scheme to move Stonehenge to London’s Hyde Park, and the subsequent discovery of an ancient language hidden on the spines of a 3-volume 17thC set of books about the stone circle. It has some positive Welsh rep in it, which is a nice change, and picks up towards the end with the involvement of the children.
    • A Place to Die (1973) dir. Peter Jefferies. This is a Thriller episode, Season 1 Episode 7, available on YouTube via What the Folk‘s channel. Creepy rural English village alert! This is a pre-Wicker Man folk horror, in which the lovely doctor’s wife, Tessa Nelson (Alexandra Hay), becomes the focus of the villagers’ obsession, and uncovers a sinister cult at work.
    • Poirot: The Adventure of the Clapham Cook (1989) dir. Edward Bennett, adapted by Clive Exton. I had no idea these were 1980s, I had them in my head as all being 2000s! But no – this is one of the much earlier episodes, and Suchet ran as Poirot for a hugely long time, 1989-2013. I enjoy the early series, for sure. I liked Exton’s original ghost story for Ghost Stories for Christmas, Stigma (1977), and this adaptation manages to be domestic and fun, and held our attention. This was a birthday watch since we were too ill to go and celebrate as planned. We stayed in and watched Seven Dials on Netflix, and then some Poirot. NOTE: Some very dated casual racism (towards Chinese immigrants).
    • Poirot: Triangle At Rhodes (1989) dir. Renny Rye, adapted by Stephen Wakelam. This plot reminds me of Evil Under the Sun, and I get it confused with that one all the time. That’s because, I guess, Evil Under the Sun is the full-length version, while this is a short story. There are the star-crossed couples and the domestic drama between husbands and wives in each, and so they are fairly easy to confuse!
    • Poirot: Problem at Sea (1989) dir. Renny Rye, adapted by Clive Exton. Some thoroughly unpleasant people having a terrible time on a cruise, with Hastings and Poirot along for the ride. This is another of the short stories adapted for the first season, which has that glossy bigger budget feel. I did really enjoy the two girls, they were fun.
    • Poirot: The Cornish Mystery (1990) dir. Edward Bennett, adapted by Clive Exton. I liked this one, it’s another short story adaptation, and it works well as a feature. Again, I really enjoy Exton’s scripts and the dynamics he writes, and how Christie’s characters come alive on screen. Poor Mrs Pengelley.

    Films

    My films of January 2026: the highlighted ones with posters are all my top rated watches. I’ve watched a total of 40 films this month, from 1933-2025, and a range of short films and feature-length ones. Letterboxd has counted the 5 Miss Marples I logged as films, but I’ve counted those in my TV show watches, so they don’t appear here.

    Expand the details below this highlighted list to see the full list of films I’ve seen this month! I’ve enjoyed all of them in some way. They aren’t in any particular order.

    Foxes (2011) dir. Lorcan Finnegan. 17mins runtime.

    I loved this little short, on YouTube via the Screen Ireland channel. It’s really atmospheric and unsettling, and I did like the ending. Also: some cracking fox shots, and lovely, eerie shots of the housing estate and its uniformity.

    A young couple trapped in a remote estate of empty houses and shrieking foxes are beckoned from their isolation into a twilight world – a world of the paranormal or perhaps insanity.

    The Sacrifice Game (2023) dir. Jenn Wexler.

    This is one of my favourite Christmas movies, which I didn’t actually watch over Christmas this year (boo to me), but was the first film I watched in 2026. I really love how it ends. If you want to know what I’m like as a person, this film contains most elements I enjoy to watch. Draw your own conclusions.

    This Christmas, raise a little hell.

    Christmas break, 1971. Samantha and Clara, two students who are staying behind for the holidays at their boarding school, must survive the night after the arrival of uninvited visitors.

    Strange Harvest (2024) dir. Stuart Ortiz.

    Mockumentary with interviews and found footage that I really enjoyed. Cosmic horror that is actually well done. New to me.

    He isn’t hiding, he’s waiting.

    Detectives are thrust into a chilling hunt for “Mr. Shiny”—a sadistic serial killer from the past whose return marks the beginning of a new wave of grotesque, otherworldly crimes tied to a dark cosmic force.

    Bring Her Back (2025) dirs. Michael Philippou, Danny Philippou

    I really liked Talk To Me by the same directors, and this one was a real mind fuck as well. Deeply upsetting in places. I had to fast forward scenes, literally can’t watch some of that. Next level diabolical. New to me.

    Family requires sacrifices.

    Following the death of their father, a brother and sister are sent to live with a foster mother, only to learn that she is hiding a terrifying secret.

    Clown in a Cornfield (2025) dir. Eli Craig.

    Based on the Adam Cesare novel. US-set Hot Fuzz with clowns and teen protagonists. Gay rep (yay). Only Black teen in the friend group is the first one to die (boo). Modern teens dying because they don’t know how to use a rotary phone or drive a manual (“stick”) vehicle is so funny to me. Teach your kids these basic life skills.

    Are you a friend of Frendo?

    Quinn and her father have just moved to the quiet town of Kettle Springs hoping for a fresh start. Instead, she discovers a fractured community that has fallen on hard times after the treasured Baypen Corn Syrup Factory burned down. As the locals bicker amongst themselves and tensions boil over, a sinister, grinning figure emerges from the cornfields to cleanse the town of its burdens, one bloody victim at a time.

    Morgiana (1972) dir. Juraj Herz.

    A rewatch for me – Morgiana is the name of the cat, whose fate is a major plot point. I really enjoy this one. We get a lot of cat-eye-view shots as well, moving around the house and seeing things from the cat’s POV.

    Jealous of her vapidly “good” sister’s popularity, poisonous Viktoria doses pretty Klara’s tea with a slow-acting fatal substance. As the latter grows hysterically weak, the former finds success increasingly compromised by guilt, blackmail, and the pesky need to kill others lest she be exposed.

    Dark Waters (1993) dir. Mariano Baino.

    If you enjoyed Soavi’s The Church (1989), this is definitely one for the watchlist. It goes harder in a few places. One of the most disturbing family reunions I’ve seen. New to me, but I’ve rewatched it 3x this month, once with the director’s commentary.

    A New Wave of Horror

    After the death of her father, a young woman travels to a remote convent on an island in the Black Sea to find out why her father funded it for years.

    O’r Ddaear Hen/From the Old Earth (1981) dir. Wil Aaron.

    LEAVE THINGS ALONE school of horror, which deserves its place here for its place in Welsh cinema history, as much as for its addition to the 1980s weird films, like the Tales of the West Country series. New to me.

    As William Jones digs in the garden of his council house he finds a strange looking stone head. During the night his wife has horrible dreams, forcing William to move the head out of the house. In turn, he takes the head to an archaeologist at Bangor University who is an expert on Celtic artefacts and trying to dig up the remains of the Celts elsewhere. In order to try and understand the head, he goes home with her but things start to go wrong at night there as well, bringing the horrors of a half-human half-animal creature to the housewives. One by one the archaeologist’s family is horrified leading to death and another sacrifice to the ancient gods of the Celts.

    The Endless (2017) dirs. Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson.

    I like this duo – I enjoyed Spring (2014), and I think this film is even better. It might be one of my favourite timey-wimey cosmic horror Sci-Fi films now. New to me.

    Time is a prison.

    Two brothers return to the cult they fled from years ago to discover that the group’s beliefs may be more sane than they once thought.

    King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) dir. Guy Ritchie.

    This is a comfort rewatch of my favourite Arthurian film. It has everything I enjoy about Ritchie films, plus it’s an action-fantasy. Arthur’s basically a gangster, which is all kings really are. This is actually my (almost) perfect fantasy film. Himself reckons Guy Ritchie should do a version of Preiddeu Annwn/The Spoils of Annwn, which is literally a heist story. That would be amazing.

    From nothing comes a King

    When the child Arthur’s father is murdered, Vortigern, Arthur’s uncle, seizes the crown. Robbed of his birthright and with no idea who he truly is, Arthur comes up the hard way in the back alleys of the city. But once he pulls the sword Excalibur from the stone, his life is turned upside down and he is forced to acknowledge his true legacy… whether he likes it or not.

    Underwater (2020) dir. William Eubank.

    Another comfort rewatch, which I really enjoy. This one did the deep sea walk across the seabed being attacked by monsters before Meg 2. This is a Cthulhu/Deep Ones mythos film, one of THE best entries into that subgenre made so far.

    7 miles below the ocean surface something has awakened

    After an earthquake destroys their underwater station, six researchers must navigate two miles along the dangerous, unknown depths of the ocean floor to make it to safety in a race against time.

    Crow Hollow (1952) dir. Michael McCarthy.

    A new-to-me British Gothic thriller, with a blushing bride (she’s known him a week), and three batty old aunts to contend with. My favourite genre of British Gothic is three old women up to no good. Available on YouTube.

    A new bride tries to survive multiple attempts on her life in a dark mansion, while her husband refuses to believe that she in danger.

    Panna a Netvor/Beauty and the Beast (1978) dir. Juraj Herz.

    A favourite comfort watch, and one I finally own on disc. I love it so much.

    I have so much to say about this, but I won’t do that here, I’ll save that for a full post or something.

    Julie, the youngest daughter of a bankrupt merchant, sacrifices her life in order to save her father. She goes to an enchanted castle in the woods and meets Netvor, a bird-like monster. As Netvor begins to fall in love with Julie, he must suppress his beastly urge to kill her.

    The Bench (2024) dir. Sean Wilkie.

    This is an indie Scottish film that took 17 years to make, and finally got snapped up by Amazon. I have to say, I really enjoyed it. It’s a good old-fashioned slasher, made by people who clearly like slashers, and there are lots of nice moments and meta nods in it.

    The twist is fairly predictable, but I don’t need it to be clever, I just want a fun 75mins of people having relationship drama then running around and screaming. Both our killer (Gareth Hunter) and my hero Tommy (Chris Somerville) were very Ricky-coded to me. Any film where I say “That’s my son!” twice gets an extra star.

    Over 300,000 people go missing in the UK every year. Most are never found.

    A breakdown. A kind invitation. A cabin with a bloody past. Alex and her newfound friends face a nightmarish reality as they are picked off one by one, drawn to the sinister bench below. Inspired by low-budget horror films of the 1970s.

    An Cailleach Bhéarra (2007) dir. Naomi Wilson. 8mins runtime. Available on YouTube via Screen Ireland’s channel.

    A lovely 8min folklore short, with a large scale puppet and some great animation.

    “The Cailleach was dependent on this one thing… every hundred years she must get back to the water and immerse herself so that she might become young again.”

    This film is an interpretation of fragments of the ancient myth of the “cailleach”, old hag, otherworld female, mother earth, sovereignty queen, or witch. Told using a large scale puppet and actors moving through real landscape.

    Other Films Watched

    Films and standalone shorts watched in January (click to expand)
    • Until Dawn (2025) dir. David F. Sandberg. It’s based on a video game I haven’t played but can see the appeal of. I really liked the aesthetics of the house, the monster design, and the concept. I also enjoyed the dynamics between the characters, but I lost interest in the middle.
    • It Feeds (2025) dir. Chad Archibald. This is like a darker, feature-length film version of the US show, Medium. It has a very strong mother/daughter relationship and a good ending, fine for an afternoon viewing, but I don’t think I’d watch this again.
    • The Wyrm of Bwlch Pen Barras (2023) dir. Craig Williams. 17min runtime, a really good short film. We don’t see the wyrm herself, but hopefully we all know what a wyrm/really big fucking snake-dragon looks like. I would watch this short film again.
    • The Innsmouth School for Girls (2023) dir. Joshua Kennedy. This is a rewatch, not a favourite or anything, but sometimes I get an urge to watch it again. It’s one of the better Deep Ones/Innsmouth entries, and I think it’s definitely worth a look.
    • Dark Light (2019) dir. Padraig Reynolds. This is a rewatch – again, not a highlighted favourite, but one I occasionally feel in the mood for. It’s a pretty competent Sci-Fi-Horror, with monstrous humanoids rather than aliens, and I do enjoy the central mother-daughter drama.
    • The Barbarians (1987) dir. Ruggero Deodato. A rewatch – accidental, I was doing stuff with the TV on in the background, this came on, and I didn’t turn it off and ended up watching the whole thing. As entertaining as the last time, not one I would ever dedicate my concentration to, but it’s ’80s Sword and Sorcery for comforting background company on a rainy day.
    • The Spiritualist/The Amazing Mr. X (1948) dir. Bernard Vorhaus. I liked this one; I watched it for Turhan Bey and Lynn Bari. It’s a good psychological, Supernatural Explained noir, although for goodness sake her husband has only been dead for two years and everyone is pressuring her to move on and remarry, leave her alone. Westerners not knowing how to process grief is not a 21stC phenomenon. Available on YouTube.
    • The Return (1973) dir. Sture Rydman. 30mins runtime, a made-for-TV British short; this is a pretty good Gothic ghost story, very atmospheric and melodramatic. It is based on stories by A.M. Burrage and Ambrose Bierce. A 2-person cast, which really works for the atmosphere and sense of claustrophobia in the house setting. Available on YouTube.
    • The Ghoul (1933) dir. T. Hayes Hunter. This one made me laugh, I did enjoy it for 80mins of excitable young people shouting at each other. Is it culturally sensitive to anyone? No, not in the least. I really liked the enemies-to-partnership thing the cousins had going on, though; Betty was great. This is what 1930s feminism looked like.
    • Moss Rose (1947) dir. Gregory Ratoff. An absolutely wild melodrama murder mystery/thriller, with Vincent Price as a policeman, and the worst faux-Cockney accents I have ever heard. Some fascinating class discussion though.
    • Darklands (1996) dir. Julian Richards. I watched this again for a review I’m writing for Divination Hollow, and to see how the Director’s Cut (6min shorter) fares against the original version I watched in 2023, the year the Cut was released. This is… something. I have a whole post on it already, where I missed the antisemitism of the Lilith imagery of a character called Rebecca, on top of everything else it’s doing. Anyway, the new essay on this will be potentially cross-posted, but Divination Hollow will get it first.
    • Deváté srdce/The Ninth Heart (1979) dir. Juraj Herz. The third Herz film I’ve seen this month, this is one I also own on disc (thanks to the Severin Films Folk Horror Compendium). I didn’t like this as much as Panna a Netvor, but the hair was amazing. I don’t think it was a highlighted watch for me, but I do think I’ll be watching it again, and maybe this will grow on me.
    • The Fall of the House of Usher (1960) dir. Roger Corman. I’m not a massive Poe fan but I do like his work, and I do like a few of the adaptations of it. This is much more of a comfort rewatch for me just because of Vincent Price. I know there are loads of versions of it and I haven’t seen them all, but this is not a bad film. It was written by Richard Matheson, and I tend to enjoy his scripts.
    • A Child’s Voice (1978) dir. Kieran Hickey. An Irish made-for-TV short, 29mins runtime. Very much in the vein of Ghost Stories for Christmas, and strongly reminiscent of Mark Gatiss’s original story, The Dead Room (2018) which has a very similar premise and main character. It was a one-off, not part of a series or anthology, and only shown on UK TV once in the 1980s.
    • The Circle (2017) dir. Peter Callow. I’ve seen this one before and I vaguely remembered it was low budget and not awful, and I fancied the folk horror feels. It’s a Scottish set one, and I want to watch more Scottish horror where possible, like The Isle, Get Duked!, Dog Soldiers, Outcast, and Little Bone Lodge. The Irish horror scene is really flourishing, but Wales and Scotland are behind. A lot of that is budget and investment, so I’m on the lookout for more films by Scottish filmmakers. I don’t know if Callow is Scottish, but it does make some good use of the landscape and isolation of the islands!
    • Tattiebogle (2017) dir. Douglas Kyle. Made for £101.99, this was the start of a rabbithole I fell into while looking for more Scottish Horror. Douglas Kyle seems to have a production company, ChaosBox Productions, which has a YouTube Channel. He has a 62-episode no-budget Sci-Fi series, The Pandora Men, and several features and shorts. This is one of the features, made over 8 days in the cast & crew’s spare time. I really appreciate no-budget / microbudget films made by people having a lot of fun, and this is absolutely that. It’s an ecohorror/folk horror slasher, made in Aberdeenshire.
    • The Ghillie Dhu (2024) dir. Douglas Kyle. His latest short feature, roughly 37mins runtime. This attempts to be about anxiety disorder and, I guess, the horror of being consumed by your traumas and disorders, married with the Scottish folktale of the Ghillie Dhu.
    • The Yird Swine (2020) dir. Douglas Kyle. This isn’t on Letterboxd yet, I need to add it. The link is to IMDB instead. This has the same core cast, with another cast member from The Pandora Men series, Myla Corvidae (he/they), originally from Cardiff! This was a fun one too. The pacing wasn’t as good as Tattiebogle, but I really liked it. Everyone was obviously really enjoying themselves making it. I think if you’re into this side of amateur indie filmmaking, you should check out these films.

    DID YOU MISS ANY?
    CLICK THE CATEGORY TAG (“Media Round Up”) TO SEE ALL THE POSTS, BEGINNING WITH NOVEMBER 2025.
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    December 2025 Media Round-Up

    My monthly media round-up for December 2025 – all the books, podcasts, tv shows, and films I read/listened to/watched this month.

    by cmrosensDecember 30, 2025December 29, 2025

    November 2025 Media Round-Up

    I’m starting a new monthly series where I post a round-up of all the media I’ve watched/read/listened to for the previous month. Here is November’s media round-up!

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    Subscribe to my newsletter to stay updated! I send newsletters around once a month. You can also subscribe to my site so you don't miss a post, but I also do a post round-up in my monthly newsletters, along with what I've been working on, what I've been reading, and what I've been watching. I will often update newsletter subscribers first with news, so stay ahead of the game with my announcements and discount codes, etc!

    First name Last name Email #BookReview #filmReview #mediaRoundUp #tvReview
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  17. Herr Irrtum! 🔊 @[email protected] ·
    You know who I've completely lost track about? Sivert Høyem, the singer of Madrugada. That unbelievable great band from Sweden, back in the 2000s. Madrugada is no more, so much I knew, because their founding guitarist Robert Burås died - already in 2007.
    But what I didn't knew: Sivert Høyem, that Nick Cave from the northern sphere, was the one who wrote almost all the songs back then. And did sing them, with his once-in-a-century voice.

    Naturally he continued.
    As I said I didn't know. My girlfriend however did. Tonight I saw him performing live. Boy!! What a voice, what a guy, what full of sorrow but also hope bearing heavy weighting music, that isn't embarrassing or dishonest after all this years in the slightest. Pure raw gold.

    All that thanks to my girlfriend who organized tickets for the show.
    She couldn't be there. She fell ill (a nasty virus) just 2 days ago (we live 45 minutes away from each other. I am NOT affected, no worries).
    Wished we could have shared that beautiful concert. Sometimes you simply can't have it all... So I'm here, back at home. Stunned, sad and happy in parallel. Just like a good old Madrugada song feels...

    #Madrugada #SivertHøyem #fate
    #madrugada #siverthoyem #fate
  18. Herr Irrtum! 🔊 @[email protected] ·
    You know who I've completely lost track about? Sivert Høyem, the singer of Madrugada. That unbelievable great band from Sweden, back in the 2000s. Madrugada is no more, so much I knew, because their founding guitarist Robert Burås died - already in 2007.
    But what I didn't knew: Sivert Høyem, that Nick Cave from the northern sphere, was the one who wrote almost all the songs back then. And did sing them, with his once-in-a-century voice.

    Naturally he continued.
    As I said I didn't know. My girlfriend however did. Tonight I saw him performing live. Boy!! What a voice, what a guy, what full of sorrow but also hope bearing heavy weighting music, that isn't embarrassing or dishonest after all this years in the slightest. Pure raw gold.

    All that thanks to my girlfriend who organized tickets for the show.
    She couldn't be there. She fell ill (a nasty virus) just 2 days ago (we live 45 minutes away from each other. I am NOT affected, no worries).
    Wished we could have shared that beautiful concert. Sometimes you simply can't have it all... So I'm here, back at home. Stunned, sad and happy in parallel. Just like a good old Madrugada song feels...

    #Madrugada #SivertHøyem #fate
    #madrugada #siverthoyem #fate
  19. Herr Irrtum! 🔊 @[email protected] ·
    You know who I've completely lost track about? Sivert Høyem, the singer of Madrugada. That unbelievable great band from Sweden, back in the 2000s. Madrugada is no more, so much I knew, because their founding guitarist Robert Burås died - already in 2007.
    But what I didn't knew: Sivert Høyem, that Nick Cave from the northern sphere, was the one who wrote almost all the songs back then. And did sing them, with his once-in-a-century voice.

    Naturally he continued.
    As I said I didn't know. My girlfriend however did. Tonight I saw him performing live. Boy!! What a voice, what a guy, what full of sorrow but also hope bearing heavy weighting music, that isn't embarrassing or dishonest after all this years in the slightest. Pure raw gold.

    All that thanks to my girlfriend who organized tickets for the show.
    She couldn't be there. She fell ill (a nasty virus) just 2 days ago (we live 45 minutes away from each other. I am NOT affected, no worries).
    Wished we could have shared that beautiful concert. Sometimes you simply can't have it all... So I'm here, back at home. Stunned, sad and happy in parallel. Just like a good old Madrugada song feels...

    #Madrugada #SivertHøyem #fate
    #fate #siverthoyem #madrugada
  20. Herr Irrtum! 🔊 @[email protected] ·
    You know who I've completely lost track about? Sivert Høyem, the singer of Madrugada. That unbelievable great band from Sweden, back in the 2000s. Madrugada is no more, so much I knew, because their founding guitarist Robert Burås died - already in 2007.
    But what I didn't knew: Sivert Høyem, that Nick Cave from the northern sphere, was the one who wrote almost all the songs back then. And did sing them, with his once-in-a-century voice.

    Naturally he continued.
    As I said I didn't know. My girlfriend however did. Tonight I saw him performing live. Boy!! What a voice, what a guy, what full of sorrow but also hope bearing heavy weighting music, that isn't embarrassing or dishonest after all this years in the slightest. Pure raw gold.

    All that thanks to my girlfriend who organized tickets for the show.
    She couldn't be there. She fell ill (a nasty virus) just 2 days ago (we live 45 minutes away from each other. I am NOT affected, no worries).
    Wished we could have shared that beautiful concert. Sometimes you simply can't have it all... So I'm here, back at home. Stunned, sad and happy in parallel. Just like a good old Madrugada song feels...

    #Madrugada #SivertHøyem #fate
    #madrugada #siverthoyem #fate
  21. Sky Dancing @[email protected] ·

    This drone photo of the vent area in Butler, Pennsylvania, shows the building in the upper left-hand corner where the shooter’s body was found.

    Dear Sky Dancers, this is not a good day for our Republic.

    Judge Cannon used this moment to distract the press from what I believe might be a staged coup attempt by Donald on Donald.  He golfed right after the shooting and had no bandages or marks to be seen. I have reached this theory of the case after spending a day and a half asking questions and reviewing materials with JJ, BB, and a friend of my friend PB from the late Fire Dog Lake site. The press is characterizing people like us as BlueAnon conspiracy theorists.  Frankly, I just have questions about things. I’m up to being proved wrong.  I’m just someone who has watched decades of Law and Order and Criminal Minds, and I’m also smarter than your average bear.

    The Cannon decision was based on the bone she was thrown by corrupt Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in the shocking presidential immunity case.  Human Rights Lawyer Qasim Rashid had this to say today on @Threads.

    Understand what Judge Cannon did. She saw the non-stop media coverage of the shooting, used that distraction to overturn decades of legal precedent without citing a single case in her ruling’s favor, & dismissed Trump’s classified documents case. This is how republics collapse.

    To be sure, Cannon’s absurd ruling is so extreme that only one of the MAGA justices supported it in his immunity decision (Thomas). Her decision will likely be reversed because it has absolutely zero basis in precedent whatsoever.But Cannon’s indefensible opinion still serves its purpose of delaying Trump’s trial long enough to prevent any form of accountability before the November election. That was the move all along. And the DOJ delayed & delayed & that helped Trump get away with this. Smh.

    Judge Aileen Cannon and Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images/USDC for the Southern District of Florida)

    This is from Eric Tucker at the AP. “Federal judge dismisses Trump classified documents case over concerns with prosecutor’s appointment.”

    The federal judge presiding over the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump in Florida dismissed the prosecution on Monday, siding with defense lawyers who said the special counsel who filed the charges was illegally appointed by the Justice Department.

    The decision by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, which can be appealed and may later be overturned by a higher court, brings at least, for now, a stunning and abrupt conclusion to a criminal case that at the time it was filed was widely regarded as the most perilous of all the legal threats the Republican former president confronted.

    …

    It’s the latest stroke of good fortune in the four criminal cases Trump has faced. Though he was convicted in May in his New York hush money trial, the sentencing there has been postponed following a Supreme Court opinion that conferred broad immunity on former presidents. That opinion will result in significant delays in a separate case brought by Smith charging Trump with plotting to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Another election subversion case filed by prosecutors in Atlanta has been delayed by revelations of a romantic relationship between the district attorney and a special prosecutor.

    I’ve been doing a bit of digging and found this article from Salon on May 7. “Judge Cannon’s secret right-wing getaway: Why didn’t we know about this? Federal judge in Trump’s documents trial didn’t tell us about those right-wing conferences at a Montana resort.”   It’s reported by columnist Lucian Truscott IV.

    Let me ask you a question: How many all-expenses-paid vacations at luxury hunting and fishing lodges have you enjoyed over the last few years? I’m not talking about a motel in the boonies of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan or a drafty log cabin on a lake in Maine or Minnesota. We’re talking about a luxury resort on 1,200 acres alongside the Yellowstone River just outside Yellowstone National Park. We’re talking about a lodge featuring rooms with stone fireplaces that go for upwards of $1,000 a night in high season, meals that include “house-cured meats from local ranches, garden-fresh produce from nearby farms, and, of course plenty of Northwest craft beers and spirits,” as the resort’s website describes the offerings.

    It’s called the Sage Lodge in Pray, Montana, and it’s where George Mason University sends gaggles of federal judges for a week-long “colloquium” every year or so. Paid for by the Law and Economics Center at the Antonin Scalia Law School, the “colloquium” held at the Sage Lodge in 2021, for example, featured lectures on such subjects as “Woke Law!” – and yes, the exclamation point is part of the lecture topic — by one Todd J. Zywicki, who is George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law at the Antonin Scalia Law School and a senior fellow at the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives of the Cato Institute. Another juicy topic covered at the Sage Lodge in 2021 was “Unprofitable Education: Student Loans, Higher Education Costs, and the Regulatory State,” also featuring a lecture by Zywicki, a topic that rings what we might call a rather different bell after the Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program last year.

    The Antonin Scalia Law School, by the way, was established and largely funded by the efforts of Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society, who helped put together $30 million from conservative donors, including Leo himself, to rename the law school after the late legendary right-wing justice, who it will be remembered died of a heart attack in 2016 at another luxury hunting lodge, that one in Texas, while on a trip paid for by wealthy conservative “friends of the court,” I guess we could call them. The other major donor to the Scalia Law School was the Charles Koch Foundation, which threw in a handy $10 million.

    Why are we talking about luxury hunting lodges and right-wing “colloquiums” for judges? Because one of our favorite federal judges, Aileen Cannon of Florida, currently presiding over the case against Donald Trump over the secret documents he kept at Mar-a-Lago, was a guest at that same 2021 “colloquium” at the Sage Lodge, and the one held in 2022 as well. The thing is, Cannon failed to file the form known as a Privately Funded Seminar Disclosure Report, which lists whoever paid for the judge to attend the seminar, who the speakers were and what topics were discussed. The form is supposed to be posted on the website of every federal court within 30 days of the time a judge attending such an all-expenses-paid seminar. Cannon, however, somehow forgot to do so, so anyone who might be interested in learning who was paying for Cannon’s vacations and the nature of her judicial education would have been  out of luck.

    So why do we suppose Judge Cannon was so shy about who’s paying for her luxury trips and what she might have learned there? Oh, I don’t know … might it be because she didn’t want anyone to know about her links to the Leonard Leo wing of legal theory? Could it have been that she didn’t want it known that she had taken money from an organization that was in large part funded by billionaires friendly to the man whose case she was presiding over?

    All these corrupt Republican Judges seem to lead right back to Leonard Leo, don’t they?  Something is very rotten here. Marcie of Empty Wheel reads the 93 pages, so we don’t need to.

    Procedurally, this may actually not help Trump in the way he’d like (because DOJ has the option of appealing it or having a US Attorney charge Trump).

    But it’s also hilarious, since Aileen Cannon has been treating herself like an Appellate Judge that she hasn’t been confirmed to be.

    Update: One thing Cannon appears upset about is Merrick Garland’s invocation of Section 533, which appoints FBI-like figures.

    Special Counsel Smith argues that Section 533(1) confers on the Attorney General the authority to appoint special counsels, specifically, constitutional officers wielding the “full power and independent authority . . . of any United States Attorney.” 28 C.F.R. § 600.6. After careful review, the Court is convinced that it does not. Congress “does not . . . hide elephants in mouseholes.” Whitman v. Am. Trucking Associations, 531 U.S. 457, 468 (2001). Special Counsel  Smith’s interpretation would shoehorn appointment authority for United States Attorney-equivalents into a statute that permits the hiring of FBI law enforcement personnel. Such a reading is unsupported by Section 533’s plain language and statutory context; inconsistent with Congress’s usual legislative practice; and threatens to undermine the “basic separation-of-powers principles” that “give life and content” to the Appointments Clause. Morrison, 487 U.S. at 715 (Scalia, J., dissenting). The Court explains below.

    33 Order No. 5730-2023 (appointing David C. Weiss); Order No. 5588-2023 (appointing Robert K. Hur).

    That is her only mention of Robert Hur, whose appointment would be unconstitutional under her theory as well. (I’m still trying to figure out whether Cannon will help Hunter Biden go free, too.)

    Update: Okay, I’ve read the thing.

    It’s hilarious.

    It’s hilarious, because it doesn’t create any delay that Cannon was not pursuing anyway. Indeed, Jack Smith could immediately appeal this and try to get her tossed, so it may hasten things (unless Trump wins!).

    It’s hilarious because it is unbelievably hubristic. The only credible future for Judge Cannon now is Trump’s first SCOTUS appointment in a second term.

    It’s hilarious because the way she did this, if it were upheld (not an impossibility given how nutty SCOTUS has gotten), it would be even more useful for Hunter Biden than Donald Trump (especially if Trump didn’t win reelection), because the statutes of limitation on Hunter’s alleged crimes have started to expire.

    So, back to Donald and his surprising recovery from a shooting that killed one and critically injured two. So my Nancy Drew senses started tingling when I saw how composed Donald was after the shooting; he was more worried about getting his shoes than leaving the scene. Posing for pictures all along the way.  PB first contacted me with this bit.

    Talked to a friend who’s a Psych and body language expert. 100% staged. Look at their unified messaging.

    All I could remember where all the times Trump on the last two campaign trails and seemed afraid of everything. This is from Chris Cizzilla and CNN from April 28, 2022.  “Donald Trump lived in fear of being hit by, um, ‘dangerous’ fruit.”

    Donald Trump feared being killed by thrown fruit.

    Yes, you read that right.

    In a recently released transcript of a deposition as part of a lawsuit filed by a group of protesters who alleged they were assaulted by Trump’s security guards at a 2015 campaign rally, the subject of fruit – and fruit being flung, in particular – came up.

    Here’s the full – and fully epic – back-and-forth between Trump and Benjamin Dictor, an attorney representing the protestors.

    Dictor: Okay. And you said that, ‘If you see someone getting ready to throw a tomato, just knock the crap out of them would you.’ That was your statement?

    Trump: Oh, yeah. It was very dangerous.

    Dictor: What was very dangerous?

    Trump: We were threatened.

    Dictor: With what?

    Trump: They were going to throw fruit. We were threatened. We had a threat.

    Dictor: How did you become aware that there was a threat that people were going to throw fruit?

    Trump: We were told. I thought Secret Service was involved in that, actually. And you get hit with fruit, it’s – no – it’s very violent stuff. We were on alert for that.

    Trump attorney Jeffrey Goldman: A tomato is a fruit after all, I guess. … It has seeds.

    Just enough time for a NAZI salute also, which is being used by the Press right now. They’re using the fist bumps. The campaign is now using for fundraising and political materials.

    And where did Donald get the idea to lead an assassination attempt on himself?  This is from Newsweek, May 3, 2023.  “Russia Staged Putin ‘Assassination’ to Justify Mass Mobilization: ISW” I know now about self-coups and staged assassination attempts as political tools of fascists. What a world!  Funny how Donald has disappeared from the campaign trail for a few weeks but suddenly was paling around with Viktor Orban last week, too.

    The alleged attempt to “assassinate” Russian President Vladimir Putin was likely staged by the Kremlin to justify a future effort to mobilize troops for the war in Ukraine, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

    The Russian government on Wednesday issued a statement alleging that two Ukrainian drones had been destroyed near Putin’s official residence in Moscow. The Kremlin said that the drones were attempting to carry out “a planned terrorist attack” by assassinating Putin just before “Victory Day” celebrations on May 9. Ukraine has denied any involvement.

    While video of the drones dramatically exploding over Kremlin grounds appeared online soon after the purported attack occurred, the incident immediately raised eyebrows, with a number of experts and commentators suggesting that it may have been a staged “propaganda” event intended to drum up Russian support for the war.

    ISW, the U.S.-based think tank, said in a report published on Wednesday night that the Russian government “likely staged” the purported assassination attempt “to bring the war home to a Russian domestic audience and set conditions for a wider societal mobilization.”

    And then there’s good old Alex Jones, the father of seeing everything as staged with crisis actors.  Listen to this. It’s from Patriot Takes.  This is a conversation with Ivan Raiklin, who calls himself Trump’s Secretary of Retribution.  Check him out on TNR: “Trump Ally Exposed for Horrific Hit List of Political Enemies. Donald Trump’s self-proclaimed “secretary of retribution” is even more bloodthirsty than the former president.” He’s an absolute skinhead. Both BB and I have posted on him before. Please follow the link to Patriot Takes and watch him talk. It’s bone-chilling.  BB found this one.

    5 months ago, Alex Jones and InfoWars guest Ivan Raiklin discussed how assassinating Trump would be beneficial, according to them, because it would lead to retaliatory “in kind” assassinations of a “deep state” list which includes President Joe Biden.

    Ivan Raiklin: “If they [assassinate Trump], option 2, behind Trump, is going to be so much better for us and so much worse them.”

    Alex Jones: “I was about as to say, If they kill him, that’s best case scenario from a sick level. From a sick level medium, ‘Oh, please kill him.’ I mean, it’s so good after that.”

    Raiklin: “Oh, it’s going to be the best cleansing and the fastest cleansing that we’ve ever seen in my lifetime. I guaran—, I access, with almost certainty, with the highest level of confidence, that if they assassinate Trump, it is so game over for them.”

    There’s no way to blame Biden for the shooter, given his personal history as a gun-toting right-wing Republican, either. “FBI probing motives, the background of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the Western Pa. gunman behind Donald Trump assassination attempt. Former classmates described Crooks as politically conservative and a “loner.” Authorities believe the AR-15-style rifle he used belonged to his father.” This is from the Philadelphia Inquirer,

    Authorities released few updates Sunday on the progress of their investigation into Trump’s would-be assassin, but a portrait of Crooks — a 2022 graduate of Bethel Park High School who worked as a dietary aide at a local nursing and rehabilitation center — began to emerge.

    He had no criminal history, almost no presence on social media, and lived in a middle-class suburb about an hour away from the site of the shooting.

    His political leanings were not immediately apparent. Though he was registered as a Republican, according to state voter rolls — and this year’s election would have been the first in which he was eligible to cast a ballot for president — campaign finance reports show a man with the same name gave $15 to a progressive political action committee in January 2021, on the day Biden was sworn into office.***

    Crooks’ father, Matthew, reached by CNN late Saturday, said he was trying to figure out “what the hell [was] going on” and declined to comment further until he had spoken with authorities. Attempts to reach other family members were unsuccessful Sunday.

    Kevin Rojek, head of the FBI’s field office in Pittsburgh, told reporters Sunday that agents recovered bomb-making material from inside Crooks’ car and his residence. The rifle he used in the attack, which was believed to have been purchased at least six months earlier by his father, as well as Crooks’ cell phone and other evidence had been sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Va., “for processing and exploitation,” Rojek said.

    Meanwhile, several former classmates offered conflicting characterizations of Crooks. Some described him as a loner who had been bullied during his high school years. Jason Kohler, who graduated alongside Crooks, told reporters that students had harassed him “almost every day” and that he often wore “hunting” outfits to class.

    “He was just an outcast,” Kohler said.

    *** Author note: There’s some evidence this was not the shooter but a 69-year-old man with the same name from Pittsburg.

    Here are some additional things I have questions about.  Most of these are based on photography at the scene.  For example, Kim Wexler’s Ponytail shows this TikTok of a New Angle of Trump at Rally shooting.  It basically shows either Donald’s bodyguards or the Secret Service moving photographers close to the stairs. Perhaps for a better shot of the exit act? The TikTok comes from

    Why was there such lackluster Security at the Rally?

    I had a lot of weird things from early on that I thought were just not right. One was the interview by an MSNBC reporter of a man who was supposed to be standing next to Donald at the podium from the onset. He told the reporter something to the effect that he got up there, introduced himself, and was then told by Donald to go ahead and come up to the podium, only to be quickly told, wait, let’s do that later, and shuffled him off to sit somewhere else.  I cannot find that clip by my neighbor across the street, who I had been with earlier for cocktails, who told me that she had seen it, too.

    I also heard Frank Figluzzi discuss the fact that it was odd that the roof wasn’t in the area where the check-for-weapons zone was.   He also said that on the other side was where the protestors were allowed to gather and even march.  My thought was, wow!  Sounds like a setup to blame a protestor and let the guy onto the roof. The fact that he was a right-wing Republican gun nut just really puts that on display as planning.

    One of the most questionable things is that photos of Trump show him looking in the direction of the building where the shooter was.  This is precisely when he turned his head to point to his whiteboard.   At that point, local police went to the roof, saw him, and went back down the stairs. There was also a hesitation by the Secret Service Sniper to shoot him. Acyn, the Senior Digital Editor for MeidasTouch.com, captured this on CSPN.  He’s looking directly at the shooter and then angling towards the White Board.  The shooter was only about 165ish feet away from Donald.  That’s definitely a distance that a good sniper could handle.

    So, several things I noticed from this bit.  First, when you speak to a large audience, you look straight ahead. You do not fixate on a spot to your right. Nowadays, politicians use teleprompters, but the ones that are guarded by the Secret Service have bulletproof shields.  Do you see one?

    I had another conversation with a neighbor this morning who has friends who have been military snipers, and their hypothesis on this I would put under the conspiracy theory.  They’re saying they think the Republican Party mainstream was working with the Secret Service to take him out. That’s pure speculation. It’s obvious, though, that there’s something wrong with the security there.

    This is from NPR. “The Secret Service is investigating how the man who shot Trump got as close as he did.”   House leaders have already ordered a full investigation and demanded the head of the Secret Service testify before them while they have already had a briefing.  It is already a bit of the usual zoo since Jim Comer is likely to lead the investigation.

    The U.S. Secret Service is investigating how a gunman armed with an AR-style rifle was able to get close enough to shoot and injure former President Donald Trump at a rally Saturday in Pennsylvania, a monumental failure of one the agency’s core duties.

    The gunman, who was killed by Secret Service personnel, fired multiple shots at the stage from an “elevated position outside of the rally venue,” the agency said.

    An Associated Press analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos taken at the Trump rally, as well as satellite imagery of the site, shows the shooter was able to get astonishingly close to the stage where the former president was speaking. A video posted to social media and geolocated by the AP shows the body of a man wearing gray camouflage lying motionless on the roof of a manufacturing plant just north of the Butler Farm Show grounds, where Trump’s rally was held.

    The roof was less than 150 meters (yards) from where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a decent marksman could reasonably hit a human-sized target. For reference, 150 meters is a distance at which U.S. Army recruits must hit a scaled human-sized silhouette to qualify with the M16 assault rifle in basic training. The AR-15, like the shooter at the Trump rally had, is the semi-automatic civilian version of the military M16.

    Some of the weirdest Republican attacks have been on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who is a 27-year-old veteran of the force. She is being called a DEI hire by really nasty Republican pols. She is the second woman to have the office.  Of course, these black faces and the woman who heads the agency are suspected of being in a “deep state.” I won’t go deeper into any of these cringeworthy moments.

    On Monday, Cheatle said in a statement: “Since the shooting, I have been in constant contact with Secret Service personnel in Pennsylvania who worked to maintain the integrity of the crime scene until the FBI assumed its role as the lead investigating agency into the assassination attempt.”

    She added that the Secret Service is working with other law enforcement agencies to “understand what happened, how it happened, and how we can prevent an incident like this from ever taking place again. … We will also work with the appropriate Congressional committees on any oversight action.”

    Neither Cheatle or the Secret Service’s communications office have weighed in on criticism of women in the agency more broadly.

    I have a few more weird angles from various drones and photogs that make me even more suspicious, but according to White Christian Nationalists, it’s all just a miracle.  I’m sticking with a staged attempt ala Putin because that seems more in line with Trump’s lack of anything decent.

    So, I’m open to comments and criticism, but this is my case so far.  I’m likely not going to leave this rabbit hole for a while.  Keep an eye on the things Republicans don’t want you to know.  And please, don’t take in any of the stupidity of the Republican Convention.  This one is going to be insane.

    What’s on your reading and blogging list today?

    Preview of the Republican Convention

    More Questions from Friends

    https://skydancingblog.com/2024/07/15/monday-reads-i-have-questions/

    #AlexJones #CannonDropsStolenDocsCase #CorruptingJudges #IvanLaiklinOnTheBenefitsOfAssassinatingTrump #JudgeLooseCannon #PutinStagedAssassination #republicanPolitics #TrumpStagedAssassination_

    #alexjones #cannondropsstolendocscase #corruptingjudges #ivanlaiklinonthebenefitsofassassinatingtrump #judgeloosecannon #putinstagedassassination
  22. Andy Arthur - Threadinburgh @[email protected] ·

    The Singing Street; the thread about skipping, hopping, dancing and birling through the backgreens and streets of 1950s Edinburgh

    This thread marks a milestone for Threadinburgh as WordPress tells me it is the 300th post since it first went live in September 2022 and it also informed me this afternoon that we just passed the 500,000th visitor! To mark this auspicious double-celebration it feels fitting to finally get round to something on my to-do list that has been there for far too long. As if by providence a little booklet recently came my way that proves to be the final piece of such a puzzle. Self-described as “a Merry-Ma-Tanzie1 of Skipping, Hiding, Hopping, Birling, Stotting, Playing and Dancing Rhymes“, The Singing Street was first published in 1951 to accompany an amateur film of the same title and will therefore soon celebrate its seventy-fifth birthday.

    A wonderful picture of Edinburgh – as true perhaps as has ever been put on the screen

    The Scotsman, February 1st 1952

    The film pops up not and again online, and if you aren’t already familiar with it then at the very least I’d certainly recommend a quick view of the below thirty second taster before reading on. Alternatively you can watch and listen to all eighteen-minutes of it at this link to the National Library of Scotland’s Moving Image Archive.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3KDVbKU7is

    It would be all too easy to treat such “astonishingly evocative scenes” as a pure nostalgia trip back to an Edinburgh which disappeared in living memory. But this was never the intent of the film and it is so much more than just a skip and a hop down memory lane. So let us therefore celebrate it by telling the tale of how and why it came to be and by recognising its importance as a much wider piece of archival work. Then, and only then, shall we step through it scene-by-scene and song-by-song, back to the streets of 1950s Edinburgh to compare them with the present day.

    1. Merry-ma-Tanzie, an ancient Scottish game related to “Here we go round the Mulberry Bush“. ↩︎

    The story of the Singing Street begins with Dr James (Jim) T. R. Ritchie in 1936. He was then a newly-minted teacher at Norton Park Intermediate School on Albion Road where he taught maths and science to reluctant eleven-to-fourteen year olds.

    A very young James T. R. Ritchie in 1929, cropped from a class photo outside the University of Edinburgh Chemistry Department in his final year of undergraduate study. CC-BY University of Edinburgh School of Chemistry

    This was, in his own words, a school that “had no Park but stood among tenements and a variety of industrial buildings which together covered the lands between the Canongate of Edinburgh and the Port of Leith“. He made a particular point that he taught science in Leith but mathematics in Edinburgh: the municipal boundary between these two formerly separate burghs ran right through the middle of the school and even after amalgamation in 1920 the two halves were referred to distinctly from each other.

    Official photograph of Albion Road School (as it then was known), taken to support the Edinburgh Boundaries Extension and Tramways Act 1920 which subsumed Leith (and other surrounding parishes) into Edinburgh. This highlights the rather ridiculous nature of the municipal boundary cutting through the middle of a school which served only one side of the line. © Edinburgh City Archives

    In his spare time Ritchie was a keen amateur poet and from a second-hand copy of Robert Chambers’ 1841 Popular Rhymes of Scotland and a 1931 reprint of Norman Douglas’ London Street Games, he began to develop a particular interest in the songs and rhymes that accompany children’s play. He recalled a particular day at work:

    One morning… I was teaching science in Leith, and finding the response on this occasion not very lively, I asked “Then what do you like doing?” The class answered: “We like playing games.” “What games?” They told me, and I began there and then to write them down… From then on I collected every sort of rhyme or playing jingle and my collection grew.

    James Ritchie, writing in 1965, quoted in “Golden City: Scottish Children’s Street Games & Songs”, Mercat Press, 1999

    Through his pupils, Ritchie was given access to a vast world of play songs and rhymes, which to which most adults was off-limits and of little interest, and found himself de facto official collector of them. He found they varied “from street to street” and changed “from day to day“. Tunes were at once familiar but their parts were endlessly broken apart and re-assembled in new orders into completely novel songs. Their words were “phrases of ancient ritual, myth, lost language” but that “there [was] always something new… the poetry is kept alive.” For instance, the girls liked to sing a song called “There came three Jews from the land of Spain“. When the century-old copy of Chambers was consulted it was found to be a direct musical descendent of “We are three brethren come from Spain“; the song had passed, unwritten, down through over a hundred years of Edinburgh children, evolving as it went. Other songs were found to be unique creations of the school, such as “O Alla Tinka“, an accompaniment to a “rumba ring” dance which was revered by the girls as if it was a “magic incantation“:

    O alla tinka, to do the Rumba; O alla tinka, do the; Rumba umba umba umba Ay!

    I paula-tay paula-tuska; Paula-tay, paula-toe; Paula-tay, paula-tuska; Paula-tay, paula toe.

    Its nonsensical second verse was later found by the Opies, prominent folklorists of childhood, to have been adapted from a campfire song popularised by the pre-WW1 Holiday Fellowship which included a line “Hi politi politaska, polita, polito”. It had been brought back by a child from one of those camps four decades before, had been entered into the playground lexicon and evolved from there.

    Girls skipping and boys playing with a ball in a back green. From “The Singing Street” by James Ritchie, 1964

    Over the next decade from this “narrow vineyard” Ritchie harvested a huge volume of material. Word slowly spread of the project and in 1949 the BBC’s Scottish Home Service commissioned a programme of some of the Norton Park pupils singing a selection of their songs, billed as “a microphone tour through the streets of Edinburgh.” Broadcast on August 3rd it was warmly received but criticised for having a late night timeslot which meant that children had missed it. Ritchie was therefore asked to re-write it for a younger audience and this version was broadcast for Children’s Hour. Radio broadcast was all well and good, but he was more than aware that the words and melodies did not exist in isolation, but were key components of a vast repertoire of obscurely-named games with labyrinthine rules; unwritten but carried around in the heads of every child and passed down from generation to generation. He was therefore on the lookout for a better medium to fully capture and represent the songs than just sound alone.

    Girls playing “One, Two, Three, A-leerie” in the playground of Norton Park. From “Golden City” by James Ritchie, 1965

    He had by the dawn of the ‘Fifties fallen in with a pair of younger colleagues at work; art teachers Nigel McIsaac and Raymond Townsend. The three shared progressive views on education, something encouraged by their headmaster Richard Borthwick, and had a common interest in the idea of creating a film of – and with – their students. After consulting with the artist William Geissler, then the head of the art department at Moray House College of Education, they recruited him too to form the Norton Park Group and set out with high ambitions but no funding for the world of cinematography. Meeting the £40 a week cost of hiring the 16mm ciné camera from their own pockets in early 1951 their first project was completed, a silent short called Happy Weekend. This documented their art pupils working together to paint a large mural which detailed their experiences of the world over a weekened and is particularly notable for a clever switch from black-and-white into full colour as the children begin to paint. As such it is a very rare piece of colour film footage of Edinburgh at this time.

    Colour still from Happy Weekend depicting the pupils at work on the mural. The film remains in copyright, still via National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive.

    Happy Weekend was silent as its makers had no familiarity with using sound, but the experience left them keen to have a go at it but they reached mutual agreement that it should be a main feature of the next project and not just a mere audio backdrop. Various scenes of the first film made considerable use of the children at play, both in school and in the surrounding streets, and so the idea presented itself that this was the perfect opportunity to bring the songs and their games alive, together as the centrepiece of a film. The children would provide the cast – playing their own games and singing their own songs – and the set would be their native environment of “back greens, under and over bridges, along the pavements, the causeways and the balconies“. Thus was born The Singing Street.

    A colour still from Happy Weekend with girls playing a skipping game in the playground at Norton Park as their teacher leaves work. The film remains in copyright, still via National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive.

    Jim recruited a cast of some sixty pupils for the project. They were mainly girls and as well as Peggie McGillivray his notes named Audrey Fraser, Harriet Sandison, Joan Grant, Hazel Agnew, Marjorie Lock, and Laura Gardner as singers. Together they worked out a representative selection of songs and games to feature and the order in which they should run. Over the following weeks McIsaac turned these into a storyboard from which timings and camera movements were worked out and a shooting plan was created. Townsend, who had started his working life as a set-designer for the film industry, and Geissler acted as cameramen. Donald Elliot of the Scottish Film Council and Denis Forman of the British Film Institute were credited as consultants and Alan Harper of Campbell Harper Films, a local commercial ciné studio, provided practical advice.

    And so it was that over a particularly cold and wintry Easter holiday weekend shooting took place. The weather was perhaps appropriate as the song The Golden City, chosen as the film’s leitmotif, begins with the line “The wind, the wind, the wind blows high; The snow comes falling from the sky“. The children sang on set but no audio was recorded, instead it was over-dubbed with recordings of them made at the BBC’s radio studio on George Street. Incidental sound for the transition scenes was provided by the poet Norman MacCaig, who whistled refrains of a variety of the songs. The film was then cut and edited by hand and the soundtrack overlaid to master the final production.

    Chalked titles, The Singing Street, © NLS Moving Image Archive

    Before it was even released, word of it had reached the ears of American archivist and collector of folk music Alan Lomax who happened to be in the UK at the time, along with the latest in portable recording equipment, on an expedition to record traditional songs sung by untrained voices. Two men were to become champions of the imminent Scottish folk scene revival, Ewan MacColl and Hamish Henderson, made it their mission to track Lomax down and ensure Scotland was “well represented” in his collection. Lomax soon found himself being taken on a tour of Scotland by Hamish Henderson, who introduced him to Jim Ritchie at Norton Park. Here he recorded some of the songs for himself and described being fascinated by how the whip of a skipping rope or the regular bouncing of a ball acted as percussion and provided the beat of the otherwise unaccompanied songs. He interviewed Ritchie and fifteen-year old Margaret Hunter (Peggie) McGillivray, one of the most prominent faces and voices in the film. Ewan McVicar, an authority on Scottish folk music history, would later write of her that she was “a wonderful informant and performer, she is melodic and confident in her performance and articulate and clear in her accounts of how the songs were used“. You can listen to Lomax’s recordings at Norton Park at the Lomax Digital Archive.

    Alan Lomax at the Mountain Music Festival, Asheville, North Carolina, early 1940s. US Library of Congress, PPMSC.00433

    While it is suggested that the film was shown at the 1951 Festival, The Scotsman reported that its public première was at the Film House on Hill Street on January 31st 1952. Their critic was full of praise; it was a “minor miracle… something exciting, valuable and entertaining, and as much a part of our own and our children’s living as the cobbles and causeys of our city streets“. Excusing the poor photographic quality on account of the weather when filming, everything else about it was “…first rate. The shooting has been done with imagination and artistry, and the voices of children singing their rhymes make the whole something for memory’s delight.” It was declared to be a “knock in the eye for the professionals“. The film went on to win the Glasgow Film Society prize that year and the British Film Institute chose it as one of four films to represent the country at the fourteenth International Amateur Film Festival in Barcelona.

    The Singing Street was the first film explicitly dedicated to depicting children’s song and games and John Grierson, the Scottish and father of British documentary film, considered it:

    …the best amateur film I ever saw… in some ways technically terrible but it was wonderful to me and quite unforgettable… The reason for it being wonderful was quite simple. Somebody loved something and conveyed it.

    John Grierson, speaking to BBC Scotland’s Arts Review in 1955

    The Scottish Group of Gramaphone Societies noted “the contrast of the greyness of ‘Auld Reekie’ and the young, fresh vitality of the singers gave hope that a depressing environment need not imply a repressed childhood“. The success of the Singing Street quickly inspired other films including Lewis Gilbert’s “Johnny on the Run” – partially set and filmed in Edinburgh – won the Grand Prix at the Venice International Festival of Films For Children in 1953. The Norton Park Group followed up with their third production, The Grey Metropolis, which mixed the verse of Robert Louis Stevenson with footage of the city’s streets. This won the Lizar’s Cup at the Scottish Amateur Film Festival in 1953.

    A still from Johnny on the Run. The homesick Janek, a Polish refugee, stares into the window of a travel agent on Princes Street longing to return to his homeland.

    Ritchie – anonymously at first – published the lyrics from The Singing Street in a 1951 pamphlet. He made very clear in the foreword that “none of the rhymes are from books. All have been taken down from word of mouth“. He would later expand this short work into a book of the same name, “a social and picturesque history of the century… sketched through skipping songs, singing games and rhymes“, published 1964. The legendary Glaswegian journalist and social commentator Jack House described it as “an absolutely fascinating book about the street games and songs and saying… a delight from beginning to end.” It was followed up the next year by “Golden City“, a continuation that elaborated more on the various games themselves.

    Playtime on Albion Terrace, the setting for much of “The Singing Street”, a staged photo from Ritchie’s book of the same name. Skipping, a ball game and chalking is seen in progress. In the smoky background can be seen the industries of the district and the faint outline of Arthur’s Seat, the ever-present backdrop to the film.

    Both books have become widely-referenced educational works but have taken on a particular importance as they recorded and described childhoods in Edinburgh and Leith at a critical – and irreversible – point of urban change. After a lull on account of WW2, the city centre was undergoing rapid and sever depopulation, particularly of school-age children, driven by widespread demolition of whole districts. Residents jumped or were pushed away, scattered to the vast new public housing schemes on the periphery. Those who did remain found their freedoms greatly curtailed, their playground of streets and pavements abandoned to motor vehicles. Instead, they spent more time in their homes, where children’s television beamed in from London took up an ever more prominent place in their lives. These were forces that their hyper-local songs, games and rhymes – unwritten and passed around only by word of mouth and relentless repetition – would struggle to long survive. Fortunately, Jim Ritchie was the right man in the right place at the right time to write down and record at least some of them.

    Stepping now into the film itself (here’s the link to it again so you can play through as you go), the booklet helps match the songs to the scenes and I have revisited nearly all of them to provide an image comparison (drag the slider to compare). If you are sitting comfortably, we begins with a rather low-key card announcing the feature presentation as the second production of the Norton Park Group. The numbers in bold are the running times for each scene.

    Norton Park Production No. 2. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    00:10-00:54. The card fades out to reveal a classic Edinburgh skyline viewed from East Princes Street Gardens; the camera pans from the North Bridge across to the National Galleries of Scotland. From here on however such a picture-postcard vision of the city is abandoned and instead we journey to the real Edinburgh of seemingly endless setted streets, tall, dark tenements and smoky factories. The song “The Golden City” begins and like many in the film, parts are instantly recognisable. A Northern Irish variation of this song is well known as “The Belle of Belfast City” or “I’ll Tell Me Ma”.

    00:55-01:04. A shot from the upper storey of Norton Park School looking down to Albion Terrace below and across the Crawford Bridge to Bothwell Street, a strip that provides the majority of the film’s setting. “The Golden City” continues.

    Looking down on Albion Terrace across the Crawford Bridge to Bothwell Street, where much of the action of the film takes place. Still from The Singing Street, © NLS Moving Image Archive

    01:05-01:15. The opening titles are seen chalked on a wall as “The Golden City” concludes.

    Chalked titles, The Singing Street, © NLS Moving Image Archive

    01:16-01:25. Looking down on Albion Road, a girl on the street is holding a skipping rope and calls up to her friend to come out and play with the calling rhyme “Weary, Weary, Waiting on You“.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    01:26-01:33. Looking along Albion Road, the girl is joined by her friend and they share the rope, skipping past a horse and cart and down to the shop on the corner with Albion Terrace. They are accompanied by the skipping and hopping song “Down to the Baker’s Shop“.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    01:34-01:56. Outside the corner shop, we see the reflection of a girl playing with a diabolo in the window. The camera pans to reveal a girl – Peggie McGillivray – singing “My Name is Sweet Jenny” as she looks at her reflection in the window and combs her hair: “I looked in the glass, I said to myself, what a handsome young lass.”

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    01:57-02:20. The skipping girls arrive and meet Peggie. All three skip away down Albion Terrace as the tune changes to “On The Mountain“. The trio meet other girls in the street, in the background is the Crawford Bridge and Albion Terrace. One girl arrives by bicycle and another plays a ball game off a wall.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    02:21-02:29. Fade to looking along Bothwell Street with Norton Park School in the distance. The girl with the Diabolo plays in the centre of the shot while the tune “In And Out the Dusting Bluebells” is whistled (by Norman MacCaig, unseen)

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    02:30-02:32. Silent transition scene looking down on the north pavement of Leith Street as people walk by.

    02:33-02:57. Looking down on the setts of Albion Road from above, the girls perform a ring dance to the accompaniment of “The Bluebird“. The camera then joins them down at street level, filming through the raised arms of the dancing girls, with tenements seen behind.

    A ring dance to “The Bluebird” on Albion Road. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    02:58-03:13. A skipping game filmed looking along Albion Terrace towards Bothwell Street, with Calton Hill visible in the distance through Auld Reekie‘s grimy skies. “Bluebells and Dummie Shells” is sung.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    03:14-03:33. At the foot of the Crawford Bridge, looking towards Bothwell Street, a ring of girls dance and sing the “O Alla Tinka Rumba” in a small space, then fenced off but now used for parking cars.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    03:14-03:37. Transition shot, the junction of a busy street with pedestrians and traffic passing by. Looking across the top of Leith Street from the end of what was East Register Street.

    03:38-03:49. At the foot of the Crawford Bridge again, with steam in the background from a passing train below, “The Little Sandy Girl” is danced around a girl in the centre who covers her face, pretending to cry, before following the command of “Rise up, Sandy girl, wipe your tears away“.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    03:50-04:14. Looking down from a tenement window on children at the foot of the Crawford Bridge, the camera pans to follow girls running across towards Bothwell Street. A refrain of “The Little Sandy Girl” is whistled before the singing of “There Came Three Jews” begins.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    04:15-04:47. The previous song continues, the camera looks down on the girls who had run across the bridge to join friends on the other side. On a balcony at the end of Bothwell Street, with the railway line beneath the bridge in the background, a girl dances back and forth towards her companions in a line. For the chanted bridge section of “My name is not Corkscrew, I stamp my foot, And away I go” there is a close-up shot of the game. This is repeated for the later bridge of “Ye dirty we rat, ye’ll no come out” before returning to the wider view for the end of the song and dance. The balconies are much reduced in size since, and are private.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    04:48-05:10. A refrain of “On the Mountain” is whistled as the previous dance ends. There is a montage of shots of other children before the camera returns to looking down on the girls again before panning up to the distant skyline of Salisbury Crags and the steeple of the Abbey Church (since demolished).

    05:11-05:27. The shot pans down from the view of the Crags back to street level but we are now at St John Street in the Canongate, looking towards St Andrew’s Episcopal Church (also since demolished). Girls in the street skip to “On The Mountain“, one assumes it was a deliberate choice to mix this particular song with the view of Arthur’s Seat.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    05:28-06:18. The camera moves to a new location as the previous song ends. After a brief close-up of younger children, nine older girls playing a dancing game on stone steps within the entrance to Moray House, whose gate pillars can be seen in the background, to the song “The Bonnie Bunch of Roses“. The entrance has since been made accessible and landscaped.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    06:19-07:10. A close-up shot of a ring of girls on a playground surface dance to the song “In and Out the Dusting Bluebells“. The camera moves to reveal they are in the playground at the Moray House Demonstration School, near to where the two previous scenes were filmed. The song and dance get progressively faster.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    07:11-07:15. Transition shot, the same location on Leith Street as previously seen with pedestrians and a bus passing by. The refrain of “The Dusting Bluebells” is whistled.

    07:16-07:35. The camera is now at Abbeymount, looking across Montrose Terrace towards the Regent Buffet public house. The shot angle changes slightly to show a bus coming over the hill from Easter Road. Beyond can be seen the chimney and rising clouds of steam from the Abbeymount public wash house.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    07:36-08:49. We return to the song “The Golden City“, the camera looks down on a ring of girls on the street dancing around one of their number in the middle. For the second verse the shot transitions to the lyrics chalked on a blackboard before returning to the street. The camera position then moves to reveal they are on Carlton Terrace, with Playfair’s grand terrace behind them.

    Looking down on Carlton Terrace on a ring dance to “The Golden City“. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    08:50-09:24. “The Golden City” finishes and two pairs of girls skip off down Royal Terrace towards Greenside Church and Blenheim Terrace to the song “When I Was Single“.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    09:25-09:30. The transition shot at the top of Leith Street, this time viewed from Leith Street Terrace, showing the busy scene beyond outside the GPO.

    09:31-10:09. The camera briefly looks up Calton Road towards Leith Street as a tram passes by, before moving to look down it towards the arches of the Regent Bridge. This is a film location forever immortalised by Train Spotting, but the Norton Park Group were there forty-five years before Danny Boyle. The shot drops to reveal three girls skipping to “Up and Down to London Town”. The rhyme repeats over different shots of the same location and then for a third time with a close-up of the skipping girl’s feet.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    10:10-10:29. The rhyme “Plainie Clappie” begins, initially looking down from the Regent Bridge to the previous scene but then moving to Abbeyhill and the steps at the head of Alva Place as a girl throws a ball against a wall in time to the actions of the song. Girls and boys watch on as traffic and people walk by beyond.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    10:30-10:36. The camera moves to show boys playing with marbles or counters on a chalked-out peevers grid (hopscotch) on the steps. An older girl’s voice is heard to say “Come on, away ye go, this is a lassie’s den” and she enters the shot to shove the boys over.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    10:37-12:00. The girls dance and play “Plainie Clappie” on the same steps while the four seated boys sing “I Merried Me A Wife“. Adults and passers-by look on, the bespectacled man in the hat is Councillor Pat Murray who would later become the founding force for the establishment of The Museum of Childhood. This is the only song in the film sung by boys and various angles are shown as they complete it – with some of the verses starting quite hesitantly at first but soon being belted out with gusto. They are chased away by a girl as they finish and run off.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    12:01-12:10. A line of girls dance in the street to a whistled refrain.

    12:11-12:30. Three girls play French skipping with two ropes to “Down in the Valley“, they are at West Norton Place outside the back wall of the Regent Road School (now Abbeymount Studios). A second vantage point looks down the top of Easter Road beyond with more girls playing behind them. The end of this scene is in slow motion.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    12:31-12:39. The final verse of “Down in the Valley” is sung as a girl rollerskates down the pavement on the opposite side of West Norton Place – much of which has since been demolished – past bemused onlookers.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    12:40-13:39. The camera pans across the top of Victoria Street to show Victoria Terrace in the background. A game of hide and seek begins with a girl counting up to 100 in fives as the other players run off to hide. In the background we can see the steel frame of the incomplete National Library of Scotland on George IV Bridge. Parts of the song “Water, Water, Wallflower” accompany various shots of this game, transitioning to a dance later on.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    13:40-13:48. A shot across the rooftops of the West Bow as the song “I’m A Little Orphan Girl” begins.

    13:49-13:12. The previous songs continue, the scene moves to the gates of the Eastern Cemetery at the end of Drum Terrace off Easter Road where sixgirls perform German skipping, over a rope laid on the ground. The scene ends to show the six little angels in the last verse of the song chalked on the pavement.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    14:13-14:20. A silent view across the smoky roofs of the Old Town.

    14:21-14:45. Girls skip in a street off the Canongate. The tune is “The Night Was Dark“. They skip of into the distance at the end.

    “The Night Was Dark” is skipped somewhere in the Canongate (probably!). Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    14:46-14:59. A whistled refrain looking from Victoria Terrace across to the incomplete frame of the National Library as the world passes by. In the far distance a girl (Peggie McGillivray) approaches, skipping down the pavement of Victoria Street.

    15:00-15:18. The song “I Once Had a Boy” begins. The camera moves to show a girl skipping towards it through the colonnade of Victoria Terrace. The shot changes again with the camera pulled further back to show both of the previous girls continue their skipping.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    15:19-15:48. As the song continues, Peggie skips down Victoria Street past the Bow Bar public house. The shot follows her down the West Bow and the scene ends with the girl on Victoria Terrace waving down to her before walking off.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    15:49-16:02. “Broken-hearted I wandered” is sung as the camera pans across the roofs of the West Bow, before dropping down to re-join Peggie as she heads towards the Grassmarket.

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    16:03-16:20. The song continues but there is a deliberate continuity error as skipping Peggie emerges not in the Grassmarket but from Burgess Street in Leith and onto the Shore, where she walks across the road. In the background we can see the Upper Draw-bridge over the river and St Thomas’ Church (now the Sikh Gurdwara).

    Move the slider to compare. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    16:21-16:45. A final reprise of “The Golden City” is sung as Peggie walks out of shot, listen carefully and the song’s name-check line has been altered to “Peggie McGillivray says she’ll die, for the want of the Golden City“. The camera pans across the bridge beyond before cutting to the end credits which have been chalked on a wall.

    The End. Edinburgh – 1951. Still © NLS Moving Image Archive

    While the above comparison photos show just how many of the locations are easily recognisable to this day, it is also obvious just how much has changed over time and the world is fundamentally unrecognisable even though there are familiar buildings, streets and stairs. These locations are marked on the map below if you fancy having a look for yourself:

    [googlemaps google.com/maps/d/u/0/embed?mi]

    James Ritchie went on to teach at Norton Park for over 30 years. In her harrowing childhood autobiography “The Step Child“, Donna Ford recalled him as “a relief from the unremitting cruelty for children like me… an incredibly kind man… he made me feel as if I was so important, the centre of the world at the moment he spoke to me“. As well as being a teacher and collector he was a poet and playwright, publishing titles such as A Cinema of Days, The Gay Science and The Ha’penny Millionaire. He died aged 90 in 1998. Raymond Townsend would go on to become a film-maker and visual arts lecturer at Moray House; he died in 1991, aged 69. Nigel McIsaac left Norton Park before the film was released and moved to the Royal High School where he rose to become head of the art department and Vice Rector. A stalwart of the Edinburgh Festival scene, he died in 1995 aged 84. Peggie McGillivray, later Peggie Hunter, died in 2022 aged 86.

    Jim Ritchie’s simple burial marker in Dalry Cemetery. Photo by EdiJakob via Findagrave.com

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  23. Angry Metal Guy @[email protected] ·

    Carcharodon and Cherd’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024

    By Carcharodon

    Carcharodon

    I’ve been writing here since 2018. This has been the hardest year to date. I feel like I say this every year right around this time but, for whatever reason, I’ve really struggled this year to find the motivation and inspiration to write. Indeed, I’ve often felt that I lacked the passion for the music. Rather than exploring the murkier depths of Bandcamp, I was often to be found in the company of old, non-metal friends like Nick Cave, 16 Horsepower and Tom Waits.

    Despite my disappointment with the world, most of which is on literal or metaphorical fire, and my disillusionment with people, whose choices have caused most of that, there were bright glimmers. The phenomenal response to our Gondor-esque call for aid, when Kenstrosity‘s life was ripped apart by Hurricane Helene, reassured me there are still a few good people out there, a good number of whom read this blog.

    Still, I managed to turn out a few reviews this year, including my first ever 5.0—more of which below—which was worth it for the Steel Ire it evoked alone. And there was the Fifteenalia, a celebration the like of which we will not see again (for obvious reasons), which I had the honour of steering from questionable inception to creaky delivery.

    Ironically, despite my struggles on the writing front, This Place has played a significant part in keeping me sane. It’s been tolerable to welcome a few new staffers—some even raised up from the awful Place Below—to our serried ranks, while the older hands feel almost like family at this point, with everything that that entails. As ever, particular thanks go to Steel Druhm for his tireless intimidation, which just about keeps us honest, while Dolph, Dear Hollow, El Cuervo, Grier, Maddog, Sentynel and Thus Spoke, among others, have proved adequate companions for banter and gigs.

    And with that, I wish you all the happiest of Listurnalias.

    #ish. Pillar of Light // Caldera – A very late entry to this list, Pillar of Light should be a cautionary tale to bands and labels: release your shit earlier! With more time, the stunning Amenra-meets-Cult of Luna post-misery of Caldera could easily have placed in the top half of this list. While I know this is an album I will come to love and fully expect to regret not placing it higher here, the reality is that other entries have had longer to sink their hooks into me. I will just say that, for me, the apparently divisive vocals are a perfect fit for Pillar of Light’s style.

    #10. Seth // La France des Maudits – Way back when,1 French black metallers Seth snuck onto my list of Honorable Mentions with La Morsure du Christ, a fantastic return to form after a lengthy absence. After a short gap, they’re back and this year’s La France des Maudits has cracked the list proper. Melodic, bordering on symphonic with the keys and choral arrangements, but also visceral and feral, Seth dropped an absolute banger. It doesn’t hurt that, as Thus Spoke pointed out in her review, it’s “downright impressive how rich and dynamic this sounds.”

    #9. The Vision Bleak // Weird Tales – The Vision Bleak is not, to paraphrase Dr Grier, a band that has ever ‘got’ me. Or perhaps, I’ve never got them. But Weird Tales resonated with me enormously. And perhaps that’s because it’s not really like anything The Vision Bleak has done before. Structuring their gothic black metal (or should that be blackened goth metal?) into a single, flowing song (albeit one broken into parts) got my attention. But they held my attention because they actually managed to pull off this very-hard-to-execute vision. Weird Tales’ Type O Negative / Moonspell-inspired blackened sound clicked into place almost instantly for me and now I need to go back to TVB’s discography with newly-opened eyes.

    #8. Necrowretch // Swords of Dajjal – The first 4.0 I delivered in an alarmingly high-scoring year, Necrowretch’s black-death fusion is something that I have returned to again. Hiding beneath the vicious, downright nasty surface of Swords of Dajjal, is a surprisingly subtle and well-crafted concept album. As I said in my review, there is zero bloat or filler on this record, which blazes with intensity, driven as much by the scything, razor-sharp riffs as the rasping, sepulchral vocals. The range of influences cited, both by me and by impressed commenters, shows how many different aspects there are to this killer record.

    #7. Panzerfaust // The Suns of Perdition – Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion – After Chapter III: The Astral Drain, I was worried that Panzerfaust were running out of steam and inspiration to close out The Suns of Perdition saga. Thankfully, my concerns were misplaced. To Shadow Zion reeks of doom and destiny. Huge, brooding and intense, it is a captivating listen, with the stunning “The Damascene Conversions” sitting at its heart. From the sulfuric vocals to the masterful drumming, this was a worthy final chapter for The Suns of Perdition, which must go down as one of the best executed, most consistent multi-album concept pieces in metal.

    #6. Spectral Wound // Songs of Blood and Mire – Spectral Wound just can’t miss. For a band that, superficially at least, plays fairly old school black metal, songwriting chops paired with brilliant execution mean these guys are anything but derivative. My favourite album of theirs to date, Songs of Blood and Mire is just tons of wicked, nasty fun. It’s hard to say exactly why, but I feel like everything Spectral Wound does has a slight knowing wink to it, which suggests that the band doesn’t take itself too seriously. For me, this is a huge positive, as a lot of black metal is so tediously earnest, where this is unflinchingly harsh, surprisingly melodic and drowning in swaggering groove. Great stuff.

    #5. Mother of Graves // The Periapt of Absence – I’m a sucker for death doom. And The Periapt of Absence is some fucking great death doom. Mother of Graves were unknown to me before I stumbled across this album but their blending of old school Opeth (think somewhere between Morningrise and Orchid) with early Katatonia and Paradise Lost, plus a sprinkling of Clouds is stunning. All wrapped up in a pleasingly tight package, Mother of Graves smother the listener in unflinching, heartwrenching misery. And I love every minute of it. It’s that Peaceville Three sound we love, but feeling fresh, vibrant and vital.

    #4. Devenial Verdict // Blessing of Despair – Me and death metal don’t always see eye to eye, and the last Devenial Verdict left only a passing impression. But Thus Spoke‘s tireless tongue-bathing promotion of Blessing of Despair convinced me to give it a chance. While I enjoy the stomping thuggery of Devenial Verdict’s dissonant death well enough, it’s the sudden mood swings into what TS described as “lethally graceful restraint” that really hooked me. Although worlds apart stylistically, on Blessing of Despair DV achieved what Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean did on Obsession Destruction: knowing precisely how far to push the suffocating, claustrophobic heaviness, before taking their foot off your throat for a minute. Then stamping on it again.

    #3. Julie Christmas // Ridiculous and Full of Blood – Maddog predicted that I would lambast him as an underrating bastard for the 3.5 he deigned to award Ms Christmas. And he was quite correct. He’s a charlatan of the highest order. However, even I’m surprised by how high Ridiculous and Full of Blood has landed here. But, as someone not given to overly emotional reactions to music, I’m continually stunned by the reactions Julie—Can I call you Julie? No? Ok—extracts from me. I’m often on the edge of tears by the end of “The Lighthouse,” just like that cad Maddog, while the likes of “Not Enough” and “End of the World” (the latter with CoL’s Johannes Persson) have a scary edge to them, with Christmas at her maniacal, crooning, possessed, unpredictable best.

    #2. A Swarm of the Sun // An Empire – Speaking of emotional responses, A Swarm of the Sun’s stripped back melancholy is right up there. If I say that An Empire is brighter and more uplifting than previous efforts The Rifts and The Woods, understand that this is a very relative statement. An Empire is drowning in sorrow and misery, and yet there is just a hint of brightness that shimmers and hovers around the edges, like a lunar halo. Slow and deliberate, haunting and cathartic, A Swarm of the Sun’s latest outing is just beautiful. End of. No discussion.2

    #1. Kanonenfieber // Die Urkatastrophe – Y’all know I dropped a 5.0 on Die Urkatastophe, so it’s no surprise to find it here, sitting pretty, atop my list. There’s not much more praise that I can heap on Kanonenfieber’s sophomore record than I already did in my review. For me, it has everything and is more than I dared hope for as a follow up to my beloved Menschenmühle (my album of the year for 2021). It is brutal and vicious (“Panzerhenker” and “Ausblutingsschlacht”), anthemic (“Der Maulwurf” and “Menschenmühle”) and more. Crafted—and yes, that is the correct word—with huge skill and attention to detail, it is the storytelling, based on original source materials, that elevates this record to the next level for me. And if you don’t speak German, or are simply not into narrative in your metal, just go bang your fucking head to “Gott mit der Kavallerie”!

    Honorable mentions In alphabetical order by band:

    • 40 Watt Sun // Little Weight – Little Weight actually carries a lot of emotional weight. Melancholic, beautiful post-doom and shoegaze, rife with a rough honesty.
    • Anciients // Beyond the Reach of the Sun – Long-form (arguably too-long-form in some respects) progressive death, which is wonderfully ambitious and overblown in its scale and delivery.
    • Crypt Sermon // The Stygian Rose – Fantastic trad doom, channeling heavy doses of Candlemass. Early in the year, I thought this was top-5 material but it’s uneven, with the back half much stronger than the front, and I’ve cooled on it a touch.
    • Nyktophobia // To the Stars – Just great, stomping melodeath. As I said in my review, it’s not massively original but it’s tight and well written, and easy to just kick back to. Sometimes, I don’t need more.
    • Silhouette // Les Dires de l’​Â​me – This fantastic post-black album had a place on the list proper until Pillar of Light bulldozed its way in there very late in the day. Haunting, harrowing and beautiful, Silhouette’s debut is Great!
    • Sumac // The Healer – Nothing about The Healer makes it an easy listen but Sumac’s fifth record is curiously beautiful for all its wandering, free-form abrasiveness.
    • Vorga // Beyond the Palest Star – While it’s hard to disagree with Kenstrosity‘s criticism of the production on Beyond the Palest Star, what can I say? I still love it. It’s chunky, well written, well paced and powerful.

    Surprises o’ the Year Ordered by most astounding first:

    • Opeth // The Last Will and Testament – It’s been a long time since I was last genuinely interested in an Opeth album (2005’s Ghost Reveries, in case you were wondering). But, wouldn’t you just know it, Mikael Åkerfeldt and co are back (roars and all). I’m not ready to commit to a score for The Last Will (though I think El Cuervo‘s was possibly a smidge high) as I’ve not been able to spend enough time with it. But the fact I want to spend more time with it is, after 19 years of having no interest in Opeth’s output, a surprise. And a welcome one.
    • Grand Magus // Sunraven – Another Swedish favourite of old, which I’d all but given up on, Grand Magus roared back this year with Sunraven. As an equally surprised Steel Druhm said in his review, this was the album he “feverishly hoped to get from Grand Magus … a grand return to prime form with the fire firmly back in the Balrog … the best Magus outing since 2012’s The Hunt”.

    Disappointment o’ the Year Limited to a single musical disappointment, to avoid submitting a lengthy thesis:

    • Zeal & Ardor // GREIF – I’m not angry, or even very surprised, just disappointed.3 While I accept that this is the album of a band in transition, there’s no getting away from the fact that it was a hugely disappointing album from a band that has abandoned the sound that made it what it was. And for what? They have not transitioned to something new and exciting, but with kinks to be worked out. Rather, on this record, Zeal & Ardor became something so pedestrian that any number of post-rock bands could’ve written it and, probably, done a better job. I may have overrated it.

    Songs o’ the Year

    1. Julie Christmas – “The Lighthouse”
    2. Kanonenfieber – “Der Maulwurf”
    3. Selbst – “The Stench of a Dead Spirit”
    4. Panzerfaust – “The Damascene Conversions”
    5. Kanonenfieber – “Gott mit der Kavallerie”
    6. Devenial Verdict – “Garden of Eyes”
    7. Spectral Wound – “Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal”
    8. Silhouette – “Les Dires de l’​Â​me”
    9. Blue Heron – “Everything Fades”
    10. Zeal & Ardor – “Hide in Shade”
    11. Glare of the Sun – “Rain”

    Cherd

    Twenty-twenty-four was certainly a year that followed previous years and will precede still others. When I look back, I’ll likely remember it as the year I discovered the wonders of ADHD medication after decades of non-treatment, the difficult transition my poor Cherdlet experienced from kindergarten to first grade, and the incredible bucket list trip my wife and I took to Toronto to watch our favorite TV franchise filming new content courtesy of my very important Hollywood connections. No, not Robert Downey Jr. Much more important and better-looking. Hmm? Margot Robbie? She wishes. I also had the pleasure of meeting several of my fellow writers in person, and they are all much homelier than they let on with the exception of Madam X, who is a goddamned ray of sunshine.

    On the musical front, I was able to check two bands off my “need to see live” list in Judas Priest and Archspire, whereby I discovered that Halford does exactly zero audience banter, and Archspire do nothing but. Fun shows, both. I didn’t listen to as much new music by volume this year than I have in previous years when I’d log between 200 and 400 releases, and that was largely due to my kid’s age and the level of interaction he needs. I have a feeling, however, that 2025 will see an uptick thanks to the new Heavys headphones I got for Christmas this year. As always, I want to thank the editors, particularly Steel Druhm and Doc Grier, for not sending me a mailbomb after all the late reviews I turned in (I’ll work on that in 2025), and the man himself, AMG, for building this community and for agreeing that Deep Space Nine is the best Star Trek show.4

    (ish) Chat Pile // Cool World – This is what it sounds like when Chat Pile make a “mature” record. As I noted in my October review, some of the most glaring weirdness and black humor the band is known for is missing in Cool World, which is why it’s here on my list instead of matching the lofty heights of my 2022 AOTY God’s Country. That said, this is consistently bleak in a way I like, and it boasts what are in my opinion the two best–if not most memorable–songs the band have written to date in “New World” and “Masc.” I’m a sucker for these Oklahomans and look forward to how their sound evolves from here.

    #10. Glacial Tomb // Lightless Expanse – I’ve had an up and down journey with Glacial Tomb’s sophomore record, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still view this as one of the best things I’ve listened to this year. To consider a record this closely means you have to listen to it a lot, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I logged more hours with Lightless Expanse than with any other album. I’ve made a big deal about the one-three punch of “Voidwomb/Enshrined in Concrete/Abyssal Host”, but it bears repeating since it’s my favorite consecutive stretch of death metal in 2024.

    #9. Replicant // Infinite Mortality – If you peel back the veneer of disso-death and blackened blasts on Infinite Mortality, you’ll find a pounding hardcore heart comprised of equal parts beatdown and Converge. As technical as this music gets, and there is a lot going on here, Replicant never forget their primary duty as a metal band: snapping necks. On their third album, they’ve exquisitely composed a missive to unbridled aggression. I completely missed their previous albums, so I’m glad our Kenfren wouldn’t shut his excitable yap about this one.

    #8. Spectral Voice // Sparagmos – “Alright skaters! This is the end of our free skate period. We’d like to once again thank you for spending your Saturday with us here at Family Fun Roller Rink and Arcade. It’s time to slow things down, down, way down, and you know what that means. That’s right, it’s couples’ skate. So, find that special someone you want to be interred on a cold stone slab with, gaze into each other’s empty eye sockets, and make your way around the rink as wave after wave of Spectral Voice’s death/funeral doom forcefully separates you from any light, hope, or happiness this wretched world might have accidentally given you. Remember, those who survive the next 45 minutes of tectonic plates colliding will get the chance to compete in roller limbo!”

    #7. Crypt Sermon // The Stygian Rose – Despite being one of the biggest doom apologists on this site, Crypt Sermon failed to grab me with their highly acclaimed debut nearly ten years ago. I chalk this up to my unfamiliarity with the traditional doom style at the time. In recent years, I’ve binged large amounts of Candlemass, Saint Vitus, Cathedral, Solitude Aeturnus et al., so I finally have the frame of reference to see just how well Crypt Sermon’s third LP captures the swagger, majesty, and grit of a style few contemporary bands seem interested in playing. After the growing pains displayed on The Ruins of Fading Light, these Philly natives have worked out the kinks and delivered an air-tight slab of doomy goodness.

    #6. Full of Hell // Coagulated Bliss – I regret waiving my seniority claim to Full of Hell releases, thus allowing Dolph to snap up review duties for Coagulated Bliss. It’s not that he did a bad job of reviewing the prolific experimental grind outfit’s latest. He did great, and he awarded it a deserved 4.0. But then he had the cheek, the nerve, the gall, the audacity, and the gumption to incorrectly lower his score. To make matters worse, it appeared nowhere on his year-end list. Not even a goll dern honorable mention. I’ve told him to his cetacean face that he’s wrong and I’m likely to do so again because this is Full of Hell’s best work since Trumpeting Ecstasy. In fact, it might be better.

    #5. Ulcerate // Cutting the Throat of God – For most of their existence, Ulcerate was a highly acclaimed band that I just couldn’t get into. That changed four years ago with the release of Stare into Death and Be Still. Little changed in their intricate approach to dissonant death metal, but there was something warmer and more human to what I had previously considered a rather detached style. That trend continues with Cutting the Throat of God. I find this record best when taken as a whole, letting the experience unfold over the full runtime, like dream-walking through a hedge maze or being trapped in a velvet sack and discovering it’s much larger on the inside.5

    #4. Thou // Umbilical – I waited a long time for a chance to review a new record by Thou, and when it finally came, they did not disappoint. As I said in my June review, “Like their chimerical American metal brethren Inter Arma, it doesn’t matter how many influences the band stuff into one album. They are all unified in sound under Thou’s banner. Bryan Funck’s acid-bit vocals are unmistakable and apparently unchangeable after 20 throat-shredding years. Also unchangeable? Thou’s ability to craft the most metallic-sounding guitar tone out there. As the standard bearer for…hell, as the entire sum of the second generation of Louisiana sludge, the sound they’ve forged isn’t the kind of sloppy muck you may associate with the term. It’s certainly thick, but it has a quality like two enormous steel I-beams violently striking each other.” If that doesn’t sell Umbilical for you, then here is where our paths diverge.

    #3. Devenial Verdict // Blessing of Despair – I didn’t listen to Blessing of Despair for several weeks after it came out in October despite the fact Devenial Verdict’s previous record, Ash Blind, made my year-end list in 2022. When I finally got around to it earlier in December, it threatened to blow the doors right off my still nebulous list, climbing fast and high until ultimately landing here at number three. There is more immediacy than on Ash Blind, which took me a while to warm up to. That doesn’t mean the band skimps on the kind of thoughtful transitions and atmospherics they’ve come to be known for. It’s just that Blessing of Despair HAZ THE RIFFS, including my favorite death metal riff of the year in “Solus.”

    #2. Void Witch // Horripilating Presence – When I revisited Horripilating Presence with the purpose of sorting out this list’s pecking order, I expected death-doomers Void Witch to fall mid-to-late top 10. Obviously, the opposite happened. For the life of me I don’t understand how this album didn’t gain more traction amongst the other writers and you, the unwashed commentariat. As I said back in July, “…the material on Horripilating Presence is Mohamed Ali levels of confident. The editing of ideas in each song and across the album’s taut 39 minutes is masterful, especially for a debut. No song hews too closely to any of the others, but all are of a piece, locking comfortably into place like an intricate puzzle box, and Void Witch have such sights to show you.”

    #1. Inter Arma // New Heaven – Inter Arma never miss. Aside from being one of the best live acts in metal, every album they’ve released going back to 2013’s Sky Burial has been one successful evolution after another. As a very wise reviewer once said, “They’re the same shaggy beast as ever, but beneath that matted, coarse coat is a rippling form mid-shape shift, stretching, pulling, and crossing back on itself constantly over the course of New Heaven’s shockingly concise 42 minutes…If being all over the musical map sounds like a negative, you’ve probably never heard an Inter Arma record before. It seems whatever they throw at the wall sticks, and the listening experience across their (usually much longer) records never feels uneven. This is because they play everything with the same smoldering intensity and volatile mean streak.” What a record.

    Honorable Mentions:

    • Convulsing // Perdurance – I like this quote from Dear Hollow‘s review, so I’ll let him do the talking: “…Convulsing explores every nook and twist of a rhythm and melody until its inevitable conclusion is happened upon in tragic and fatal fashion.”
    • Spectral Wound // Songs of Blood and Mire – Pound for pound, Spectral Wound are probably the most consistent no-frills black metal band currently in operation. Songs of Blood and Mire is another rager that’s as melodic as it is acidic.
    • Lord Buffalo // Holus Bolus – This record was one redundant instrumental away from landing higher on this list. Looking forward to where these gothic country rockers go next.

    Songs o’ the Year:

    In alphabetical order by band:

    #2024 #40WattSun #ASwarmOfTheSun #Anciients #BlogPosts #BlueHeron #CarcharodonAndCherdSTopTenIshOf2024 #ChatPile #Convulsing #CryptSermon #DevenialVerdict #FullOfHell #GlareOfTheSun #GrandMagus #InterArma #JulieChristmas #Kanonenfieber #Listurnalia #LordBuffalo #MotherOfGraves #Necrowretch #Nyktophobia #Opeth #Panzerfaust #PillarOfLight #Replicant #Selbst #Seth #Silhouette #SpectralVoice #SpectralWound #Sumac #TheVisionBleak #Thou #Ulcerate #VoidWitch #Vorga #ZealArdor

    #40wattsun #aswarmofthesun #anciients #blogposts #blueheron #carcharodonandcherdstoptenishof2024
  24. Angry Metal Guy @[email protected] ·

    Carcharodon and Cherd’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024

    By Carcharodon

    Carcharodon

    I’ve been writing here since 2018. This has been the hardest year to date. I feel like I say this every year right around this time but, for whatever reason, I’ve really struggled this year to find the motivation and inspiration to write. Indeed, I’ve often felt that I lacked the passion for the music. Rather than exploring the murkier depths of Bandcamp, I was often to be found in the company of old, non-metal friends like Nick Cave, 16 Horsepower and Tom Waits.

    Despite my disappointment with the world, most of which is on literal or metaphorical fire, and my disillusionment with people, whose choices have caused most of that, there were bright glimmers. The phenomenal response to our Gondor-esque call for aid, when Kenstrosity‘s life was ripped apart by Hurricane Helene, reassured me there are still a few good people out there, a good number of whom read this blog.

    Still, I managed to turn out a few reviews this year, including my first ever 5.0—more of which below—which was worth it for the Steel Ire it evoked alone. And there was the Fifteenalia, a celebration the like of which we will not see again (for obvious reasons), which I had the honour of steering from questionable inception to creaky delivery.

    Ironically, despite my struggles on the writing front, This Place has played a significant part in keeping me sane. It’s been tolerable to welcome a few new staffers—some even raised up from the awful Place Below—to our serried ranks, while the older hands feel almost like family at this point, with everything that that entails. As ever, particular thanks go to Steel Druhm for his tireless intimidation, which just about keeps us honest, while Dolph, Dear Hollow, El Cuervo, Grier, Maddog, Sentynel and Thus Spoke, among others, have proved adequate companions for banter and gigs.

    And with that, I wish you all the happiest of Listurnalias.

    #ish. Pillar of Light // Caldera – A very late entry to this list, Pillar of Light should be a cautionary tale to bands and labels: release your shit earlier! With more time, the stunning Amenra-meets-Cult of Luna post-misery of Caldera could easily have placed in the top half of this list. While I know this is an album I will come to love and fully expect to regret not placing it higher here, the reality is that other entries have had longer to sink their hooks into me. I will just say that, for me, the apparently divisive vocals are a perfect fit for Pillar of Light’s style.

    #10. Seth // La France des Maudits – Way back when,1 French black metallers Seth snuck onto my list of Honorable Mentions with La Morsure du Christ, a fantastic return to form after a lengthy absence. After a short gap, they’re back and this year’s La France des Maudits has cracked the list proper. Melodic, bordering on symphonic with the keys and choral arrangements, but also visceral and feral, Seth dropped an absolute banger. It doesn’t hurt that, as Thus Spoke pointed out in her review, it’s “downright impressive how rich and dynamic this sounds.”

    #9. The Vision Bleak // Weird Tales – The Vision Bleak is not, to paraphrase Dr Grier, a band that has ever ‘got’ me. Or perhaps, I’ve never got them. But Weird Tales resonated with me enormously. And perhaps that’s because it’s not really like anything The Vision Bleak has done before. Structuring their gothic black metal (or should that be blackened goth metal?) into a single, flowing song (albeit one broken into parts) got my attention. But they held my attention because they actually managed to pull off this very-hard-to-execute vision. Weird Tales’ Type O Negative / Moonspell-inspired blackened sound clicked into place almost instantly for me and now I need to go back to TVB’s discography with newly-opened eyes.

    #8. Necrowretch // Swords of Dajjal – The first 4.0 I delivered in an alarmingly high-scoring year, Necrowretch’s black-death fusion is something that I have returned to again. Hiding beneath the vicious, downright nasty surface of Swords of Dajjal, is a surprisingly subtle and well-crafted concept album. As I said in my review, there is zero bloat or filler on this record, which blazes with intensity, driven as much by the scything, razor-sharp riffs as the rasping, sepulchral vocals. The range of influences cited, both by me and by impressed commenters, shows how many different aspects there are to this killer record.

    #7. Panzerfaust // The Suns of Perdition – Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion – After Chapter III: The Astral Drain, I was worried that Panzerfaust were running out of steam and inspiration to close out The Suns of Perdition saga. Thankfully, my concerns were misplaced. To Shadow Zion reeks of doom and destiny. Huge, brooding and intense, it is a captivating listen, with the stunning “The Damascene Conversions” sitting at its heart. From the sulfuric vocals to the masterful drumming, this was a worthy final chapter for The Suns of Perdition, which must go down as one of the best executed, most consistent multi-album concept pieces in metal.

    #6. Spectral Wound // Songs of Blood and Mire – Spectral Wound just can’t miss. For a band that, superficially at least, plays fairly old school black metal, songwriting chops paired with brilliant execution mean these guys are anything but derivative. My favourite album of theirs to date, Songs of Blood and Mire is just tons of wicked, nasty fun. It’s hard to say exactly why, but I feel like everything Spectral Wound does has a slight knowing wink to it, which suggests that the band doesn’t take itself too seriously. For me, this is a huge positive, as a lot of black metal is so tediously earnest, where this is unflinchingly harsh, surprisingly melodic and drowning in swaggering groove. Great stuff.

    #5. Mother of Graves // The Periapt of Absence – I’m a sucker for death doom. And The Periapt of Absence is some fucking great death doom. Mother of Graves were unknown to me before I stumbled across this album but their blending of old school Opeth (think somewhere between Morningrise and Orchid) with early Katatonia and Paradise Lost, plus a sprinkling of Clouds is stunning. All wrapped up in a pleasingly tight package, Mother of Graves smother the listener in unflinching, heartwrenching misery. And I love every minute of it. It’s that Peaceville Three sound we love, but feeling fresh, vibrant and vital.

    #4. Devenial Verdict // Blessing of Despair – Me and death metal don’t always see eye to eye, and the last Devenial Verdict left only a passing impression. But Thus Spoke‘s tireless tongue-bathing promotion of Blessing of Despair convinced me to give it a chance. While I enjoy the stomping thuggery of Devenial Verdict’s dissonant death well enough, it’s the sudden mood swings into what TS described as “lethally graceful restraint” that really hooked me. Although worlds apart stylistically, on Blessing of Despair DV achieved what Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean did on Obsession Destruction: knowing precisely how far to push the suffocating, claustrophobic heaviness, before taking their foot off your throat for a minute. Then stamping on it again.

    #3. Julie Christmas // Ridiculous and Full of Blood – Maddog predicted that I would lambast him as an underrating bastard for the 3.5 he deigned to award Ms Christmas. And he was quite correct. He’s a charlatan of the highest order. However, even I’m surprised by how high Ridiculous and Full of Blood has landed here. But, as someone not given to overly emotional reactions to music, I’m continually stunned by the reactions Julie—Can I call you Julie? No? Ok—extracts from me. I’m often on the edge of tears by the end of “The Lighthouse,” just like that cad Maddog, while the likes of “Not Enough” and “End of the World” (the latter with CoL’s Johannes Persson) have a scary edge to them, with Christmas at her maniacal, crooning, possessed, unpredictable best.

    #2. A Swarm of the Sun // An Empire – Speaking of emotional responses, A Swarm of the Sun’s stripped back melancholy is right up there. If I say that An Empire is brighter and more uplifting than previous efforts The Rifts and The Woods, understand that this is a very relative statement. An Empire is drowning in sorrow and misery, and yet there is just a hint of brightness that shimmers and hovers around the edges, like a lunar halo. Slow and deliberate, haunting and cathartic, A Swarm of the Sun’s latest outing is just beautiful. End of. No discussion.2

    #1. Kanonenfieber // Die Urkatastrophe – Y’all know I dropped a 5.0 on Die Urkatastophe, so it’s no surprise to find it here, sitting pretty, atop my list. There’s not much more praise that I can heap on Kanonenfieber’s sophomore record than I already did in my review. For me, it has everything and is more than I dared hope for as a follow up to my beloved Menschenmühle (my album of the year for 2021). It is brutal and vicious (“Panzerhenker” and “Ausblutingsschlacht”), anthemic (“Der Maulwurf” and “Menschenmühle”) and more. Crafted—and yes, that is the correct word—with huge skill and attention to detail, it is the storytelling, based on original source materials, that elevates this record to the next level for me. And if you don’t speak German, or are simply not into narrative in your metal, just go bang your fucking head to “Gott mit der Kavallerie”!

    Honorable mentions In alphabetical order by band:

    • 40 Watt Sun // Little Weight – Little Weight actually carries a lot of emotional weight. Melancholic, beautiful post-doom and shoegaze, rife with a rough honesty.
    • Anciients // Beyond the Reach of the Sun – Long-form (arguably too-long-form in some respects) progressive death, which is wonderfully ambitious and overblown in its scale and delivery.
    • Crypt Sermon // The Stygian Rose – Fantastic trad doom, channeling heavy doses of Candlemass. Early in the year, I thought this was top-5 material but it’s uneven, with the back half much stronger than the front, and I’ve cooled on it a touch.
    • Nyktophobia // To the Stars – Just great, stomping melodeath. As I said in my review, it’s not massively original but it’s tight and well written, and easy to just kick back to. Sometimes, I don’t need more.
    • Silhouette // Les Dires de l’​Â​me – This fantastic post-black album had a place on the list proper until Pillar of Light bulldozed its way in there very late in the day. Haunting, harrowing and beautiful, Silhouette’s debut is Great!
    • Sumac // The Healer – Nothing about The Healer makes it an easy listen but Sumac’s fifth record is curiously beautiful for all its wandering, free-form abrasiveness.
    • Vorga // Beyond the Palest Star – While it’s hard to disagree with Kenstrosity‘s criticism of the production on Beyond the Palest Star, what can I say? I still love it. It’s chunky, well written, well paced and powerful.

    Surprises o’ the Year Ordered by most astounding first:

    • Opeth // The Last Will and Testament – It’s been a long time since I was last genuinely interested in an Opeth album (2005’s Ghost Reveries, in case you were wondering). But, wouldn’t you just know it, Mikael Åkerfeldt and co are back (roars and all). I’m not ready to commit to a score for The Last Will (though I think El Cuervo‘s was possibly a smidge high) as I’ve not been able to spend enough time with it. But the fact I want to spend more time with it is, after 19 years of having no interest in Opeth’s output, a surprise. And a welcome one.
    • Grand Magus // Sunraven – Another Swedish favourite of old, which I’d all but given up on, Grand Magus roared back this year with Sunraven. As an equally surprised Steel Druhm said in his review, this was the album he “feverishly hoped to get from Grand Magus … a grand return to prime form with the fire firmly back in the Balrog … the best Magus outing since 2012’s The Hunt”.

    Disappointment o’ the Year Limited to a single musical disappointment, to avoid submitting a lengthy thesis:

    • Zeal & Ardor // GREIF – I’m not angry, or even very surprised, just disappointed.3 While I accept that this is the album of a band in transition, there’s no getting away from the fact that it was a hugely disappointing album from a band that has abandoned the sound that made it what it was. And for what? They have not transitioned to something new and exciting, but with kinks to be worked out. Rather, on this record, Zeal & Ardor became something so pedestrian that any number of post-rock bands could’ve written it and, probably, done a better job. I may have overrated it.

    Songs o’ the Year

    1. Julie Christmas – “The Lighthouse”
    2. Kanonenfieber – “Der Maulwurf”
    3. Selbst – “The Stench of a Dead Spirit”
    4. Panzerfaust – “The Damascene Conversions”
    5. Kanonenfieber – “Gott mit der Kavallerie”
    6. Devenial Verdict – “Garden of Eyes”
    7. Spectral Wound – “Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal”
    8. Silhouette – “Les Dires de l’​Â​me”
    9. Blue Heron – “Everything Fades”
    10. Zeal & Ardor – “Hide in Shade”
    11. Glare of the Sun – “Rain”

    Cherd

    Twenty-twenty-four was certainly a year that followed previous years and will precede still others. When I look back, I’ll likely remember it as the year I discovered the wonders of ADHD medication after decades of non-treatment, the difficult transition my poor Cherdlet experienced from kindergarten to first grade, and the incredible bucket list trip my wife and I took to Toronto to watch our favorite TV franchise filming new content courtesy of my very important Hollywood connections. No, not Robert Downey Jr. Much more important and better-looking. Hmm? Margot Robbie? She wishes. I also had the pleasure of meeting several of my fellow writers in person, and they are all much homelier than they let on with the exception of Madam X, who is a goddamned ray of sunshine.

    On the musical front, I was able to check two bands off my “need to see live” list in Judas Priest and Archspire, whereby I discovered that Halford does exactly zero audience banter, and Archspire do nothing but. Fun shows, both. I didn’t listen to as much new music by volume this year than I have in previous years when I’d log between 200 and 400 releases, and that was largely due to my kid’s age and the level of interaction he needs. I have a feeling, however, that 2025 will see an uptick thanks to the new Heavys headphones I got for Christmas this year. As always, I want to thank the editors, particularly Steel Druhm and Doc Grier, for not sending me a mailbomb after all the late reviews I turned in (I’ll work on that in 2025), and the man himself, AMG, for building this community and for agreeing that Deep Space Nine is the best Star Trek show.4

    (ish) Chat Pile // Cool World – This is what it sounds like when Chat Pile make a “mature” record. As I noted in my October review, some of the most glaring weirdness and black humor the band is known for is missing in Cool World, which is why it’s here on my list instead of matching the lofty heights of my 2022 AOTY God’s Country. That said, this is consistently bleak in a way I like, and it boasts what are in my opinion the two best–if not most memorable–songs the band have written to date in “New World” and “Masc.” I’m a sucker for these Oklahomans and look forward to how their sound evolves from here.

    #10. Glacial Tomb // Lightless Expanse – I’ve had an up and down journey with Glacial Tomb’s sophomore record, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still view this as one of the best things I’ve listened to this year. To consider a record this closely means you have to listen to it a lot, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I logged more hours with Lightless Expanse than with any other album. I’ve made a big deal about the one-three punch of “Voidwomb/Enshrined in Concrete/Abyssal Host”, but it bears repeating since it’s my favorite consecutive stretch of death metal in 2024.

    #9. Replicant // Infinite Mortality – If you peel back the veneer of disso-death and blackened blasts on Infinite Mortality, you’ll find a pounding hardcore heart comprised of equal parts beatdown and Converge. As technical as this music gets, and there is a lot going on here, Replicant never forget their primary duty as a metal band: snapping necks. On their third album, they’ve exquisitely composed a missive to unbridled aggression. I completely missed their previous albums, so I’m glad our Kenfren wouldn’t shut his excitable yap about this one.

    #8. Spectral Voice // Sparagmos – “Alright skaters! This is the end of our free skate period. We’d like to once again thank you for spending your Saturday with us here at Family Fun Roller Rink and Arcade. It’s time to slow things down, down, way down, and you know what that means. That’s right, it’s couples’ skate. So, find that special someone you want to be interred on a cold stone slab with, gaze into each other’s empty eye sockets, and make your way around the rink as wave after wave of Spectral Voice’s death/funeral doom forcefully separates you from any light, hope, or happiness this wretched world might have accidentally given you. Remember, those who survive the next 45 minutes of tectonic plates colliding will get the chance to compete in roller limbo!”

    #7. Crypt Sermon // The Stygian Rose – Despite being one of the biggest doom apologists on this site, Crypt Sermon failed to grab me with their highly acclaimed debut nearly ten years ago. I chalk this up to my unfamiliarity with the traditional doom style at the time. In recent years, I’ve binged large amounts of Candlemass, Saint Vitus, Cathedral, Solitude Aeturnus et al., so I finally have the frame of reference to see just how well Crypt Sermon’s third LP captures the swagger, majesty, and grit of a style few contemporary bands seem interested in playing. After the growing pains displayed on The Ruins of Fading Light, these Philly natives have worked out the kinks and delivered an air-tight slab of doomy goodness.

    #6. Full of Hell // Coagulated Bliss – I regret waiving my seniority claim to Full of Hell releases, thus allowing Dolph to snap up review duties for Coagulated Bliss. It’s not that he did a bad job of reviewing the prolific experimental grind outfit’s latest. He did great, and he awarded it a deserved 4.0. But then he had the cheek, the nerve, the gall, the audacity, and the gumption to incorrectly lower his score. To make matters worse, it appeared nowhere on his year-end list. Not even a goll dern honorable mention. I’ve told him to his cetacean face that he’s wrong and I’m likely to do so again because this is Full of Hell’s best work since Trumpeting Ecstasy. In fact, it might be better.

    #5. Ulcerate // Cutting the Throat of God – For most of their existence, Ulcerate was a highly acclaimed band that I just couldn’t get into. That changed four years ago with the release of Stare into Death and Be Still. Little changed in their intricate approach to dissonant death metal, but there was something warmer and more human to what I had previously considered a rather detached style. That trend continues with Cutting the Throat of God. I find this record best when taken as a whole, letting the experience unfold over the full runtime, like dream-walking through a hedge maze or being trapped in a velvet sack and discovering it’s much larger on the inside.5

    #4. Thou // Umbilical – I waited a long time for a chance to review a new record by Thou, and when it finally came, they did not disappoint. As I said in my June review, “Like their chimerical American metal brethren Inter Arma, it doesn’t matter how many influences the band stuff into one album. They are all unified in sound under Thou’s banner. Bryan Funck’s acid-bit vocals are unmistakable and apparently unchangeable after 20 throat-shredding years. Also unchangeable? Thou’s ability to craft the most metallic-sounding guitar tone out there. As the standard bearer for…hell, as the entire sum of the second generation of Louisiana sludge, the sound they’ve forged isn’t the kind of sloppy muck you may associate with the term. It’s certainly thick, but it has a quality like two enormous steel I-beams violently striking each other.” If that doesn’t sell Umbilical for you, then here is where our paths diverge.

    #3. Devenial Verdict // Blessing of Despair – I didn’t listen to Blessing of Despair for several weeks after it came out in October despite the fact Devenial Verdict’s previous record, Ash Blind, made my year-end list in 2022. When I finally got around to it earlier in December, it threatened to blow the doors right off my still nebulous list, climbing fast and high until ultimately landing here at number three. There is more immediacy than on Ash Blind, which took me a while to warm up to. That doesn’t mean the band skimps on the kind of thoughtful transitions and atmospherics they’ve come to be known for. It’s just that Blessing of Despair HAZ THE RIFFS, including my favorite death metal riff of the year in “Solus.”

    #2. Void Witch // Horripilating Presence – When I revisited Horripilating Presence with the purpose of sorting out this list’s pecking order, I expected death-doomers Void Witch to fall mid-to-late top 10. Obviously, the opposite happened. For the life of me I don’t understand how this album didn’t gain more traction amongst the other writers and you, the unwashed commentariat. As I said back in July, “…the material on Horripilating Presence is Mohamed Ali levels of confident. The editing of ideas in each song and across the album’s taut 39 minutes is masterful, especially for a debut. No song hews too closely to any of the others, but all are of a piece, locking comfortably into place like an intricate puzzle box, and Void Witch have such sights to show you.”

    #1. Inter Arma // New Heaven – Inter Arma never miss. Aside from being one of the best live acts in metal, every album they’ve released going back to 2013’s Sky Burial has been one successful evolution after another. As a very wise reviewer once said, “They’re the same shaggy beast as ever, but beneath that matted, coarse coat is a rippling form mid-shape shift, stretching, pulling, and crossing back on itself constantly over the course of New Heaven’s shockingly concise 42 minutes…If being all over the musical map sounds like a negative, you’ve probably never heard an Inter Arma record before. It seems whatever they throw at the wall sticks, and the listening experience across their (usually much longer) records never feels uneven. This is because they play everything with the same smoldering intensity and volatile mean streak.” What a record.

    Honorable Mentions:

    • Convulsing // Perdurance – I like this quote from Dear Hollow‘s review, so I’ll let him do the talking: “…Convulsing explores every nook and twist of a rhythm and melody until its inevitable conclusion is happened upon in tragic and fatal fashion.”
    • Spectral Wound // Songs of Blood and Mire – Pound for pound, Spectral Wound are probably the most consistent no-frills black metal band currently in operation. Songs of Blood and Mire is another rager that’s as melodic as it is acidic.
    • Lord Buffalo // Holus Bolus – This record was one redundant instrumental away from landing higher on this list. Looking forward to where these gothic country rockers go next.

    Songs o’ the Year:

    In alphabetical order by band:

    #2024 #40WattSun #ASwarmOfTheSun #Anciients #BlogPosts #BlueHeron #CarcharodonAndCherdSTopTenIshOf2024 #ChatPile #Convulsing #CryptSermon #DevenialVerdict #FullOfHell #GlareOfTheSun #GrandMagus #InterArma #JulieChristmas #Kanonenfieber #Listurnalia #LordBuffalo #MotherOfGraves #Necrowretch #Nyktophobia #Opeth #Panzerfaust #PillarOfLight #Replicant #Selbst #Seth #Silhouette #SpectralVoice #SpectralWound #Sumac #TheVisionBleak #Thou #Ulcerate #VoidWitch #Vorga #ZealArdor

    #40wattsun #aswarmofthesun #anciients #blogposts #blueheron #carcharodonandcherdstoptenishof2024
  25. Angry Metal Guy @[email protected] ·

    Carcharodon and Cherd’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024

    By Carcharodon

    Carcharodon

    I’ve been writing here since 2018. This has been the hardest year to date. I feel like I say this every year right around this time but, for whatever reason, I’ve really struggled this year to find the motivation and inspiration to write. Indeed, I’ve often felt that I lacked the passion for the music. Rather than exploring the murkier depths of Bandcamp, I was often to be found in the company of old, non-metal friends like Nick Cave, 16 Horsepower and Tom Waits.

    Despite my disappointment with the world, most of which is on literal or metaphorical fire, and my disillusionment with people, whose choices have caused most of that, there were bright glimmers. The phenomenal response to our Gondor-esque call for aid, when Kenstrosity‘s life was ripped apart by Hurricane Helene, reassured me there are still a few good people out there, a good number of whom read this blog.

    Still, I managed to turn out a few reviews this year, including my first ever 5.0—more of which below—which was worth it for the Steel Ire it evoked alone. And there was the Fifteenalia, a celebration the like of which we will not see again (for obvious reasons), which I had the honour of steering from questionable inception to creaky delivery.

    Ironically, despite my struggles on the writing front, This Place has played a significant part in keeping me sane. It’s been tolerable to welcome a few new staffers—some even raised up from the awful Place Below—to our serried ranks, while the older hands feel almost like family at this point, with everything that that entails. As ever, particular thanks go to Steel Druhm for his tireless intimidation, which just about keeps us honest, while Dolph, Dear Hollow, El Cuervo, Grier, Maddog, Sentynel and Thus Spoke, among others, have proved adequate companions for banter and gigs.

    And with that, I wish you all the happiest of Listurnalias.

    #ish. Pillar of Light // Caldera – A very late entry to this list, Pillar of Light should be a cautionary tale to bands and labels: release your shit earlier! With more time, the stunning Amenra-meets-Cult of Luna post-misery of Caldera could easily have placed in the top half of this list. While I know this is an album I will come to love and fully expect to regret not placing it higher here, the reality is that other entries have had longer to sink their hooks into me. I will just say that, for me, the apparently divisive vocals are a perfect fit for Pillar of Light’s style.

    #10. Seth // La France des Maudits – Way back when,1 French black metallers Seth snuck onto my list of Honorable Mentions with La Morsure du Christ, a fantastic return to form after a lengthy absence. After a short gap, they’re back and this year’s La France des Maudits has cracked the list proper. Melodic, bordering on symphonic with the keys and choral arrangements, but also visceral and feral, Seth dropped an absolute banger. It doesn’t hurt that, as Thus Spoke pointed out in her review, it’s “downright impressive how rich and dynamic this sounds.”

    #9. The Vision Bleak // Weird Tales – The Vision Bleak is not, to paraphrase Dr Grier, a band that has ever ‘got’ me. Or perhaps, I’ve never got them. But Weird Tales resonated with me enormously. And perhaps that’s because it’s not really like anything The Vision Bleak has done before. Structuring their gothic black metal (or should that be blackened goth metal?) into a single, flowing song (albeit one broken into parts) got my attention. But they held my attention because they actually managed to pull off this very-hard-to-execute vision. Weird Tales’ Type O Negative / Moonspell-inspired blackened sound clicked into place almost instantly for me and now I need to go back to TVB’s discography with newly-opened eyes.

    #8. Necrowretch // Swords of Dajjal – The first 4.0 I delivered in an alarmingly high-scoring year, Necrowretch’s black-death fusion is something that I have returned to again. Hiding beneath the vicious, downright nasty surface of Swords of Dajjal, is a surprisingly subtle and well-crafted concept album. As I said in my review, there is zero bloat or filler on this record, which blazes with intensity, driven as much by the scything, razor-sharp riffs as the rasping, sepulchral vocals. The range of influences cited, both by me and by impressed commenters, shows how many different aspects there are to this killer record.

    #7. Panzerfaust // The Suns of Perdition – Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion – After Chapter III: The Astral Drain, I was worried that Panzerfaust were running out of steam and inspiration to close out The Suns of Perdition saga. Thankfully, my concerns were misplaced. To Shadow Zion reeks of doom and destiny. Huge, brooding and intense, it is a captivating listen, with the stunning “The Damascene Conversions” sitting at its heart. From the sulfuric vocals to the masterful drumming, this was a worthy final chapter for The Suns of Perdition, which must go down as one of the best executed, most consistent multi-album concept pieces in metal.

    #6. Spectral Wound // Songs of Blood and Mire – Spectral Wound just can’t miss. For a band that, superficially at least, plays fairly old school black metal, songwriting chops paired with brilliant execution mean these guys are anything but derivative. My favourite album of theirs to date, Songs of Blood and Mire is just tons of wicked, nasty fun. It’s hard to say exactly why, but I feel like everything Spectral Wound does has a slight knowing wink to it, which suggests that the band doesn’t take itself too seriously. For me, this is a huge positive, as a lot of black metal is so tediously earnest, where this is unflinchingly harsh, surprisingly melodic and drowning in swaggering groove. Great stuff.

    #5. Mother of Graves // The Periapt of Absence – I’m a sucker for death doom. And The Periapt of Absence is some fucking great death doom. Mother of Graves were unknown to me before I stumbled across this album but their blending of old school Opeth (think somewhere between Morningrise and Orchid) with early Katatonia and Paradise Lost, plus a sprinkling of Clouds is stunning. All wrapped up in a pleasingly tight package, Mother of Graves smother the listener in unflinching, heartwrenching misery. And I love every minute of it. It’s that Peaceville Three sound we love, but feeling fresh, vibrant and vital.

    #4. Devenial Verdict // Blessing of Despair – Me and death metal don’t always see eye to eye, and the last Devenial Verdict left only a passing impression. But Thus Spoke‘s tireless tongue-bathing promotion of Blessing of Despair convinced me to give it a chance. While I enjoy the stomping thuggery of Devenial Verdict’s dissonant death well enough, it’s the sudden mood swings into what TS described as “lethally graceful restraint” that really hooked me. Although worlds apart stylistically, on Blessing of Despair DV achieved what Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean did on Obsession Destruction: knowing precisely how far to push the suffocating, claustrophobic heaviness, before taking their foot off your throat for a minute. Then stamping on it again.

    #3. Julie Christmas // Ridiculous and Full of Blood – Maddog predicted that I would lambast him as an underrating bastard for the 3.5 he deigned to award Ms Christmas. And he was quite correct. He’s a charlatan of the highest order. However, even I’m surprised by how high Ridiculous and Full of Blood has landed here. But, as someone not given to overly emotional reactions to music, I’m continually stunned by the reactions Julie—Can I call you Julie? No? Ok—extracts from me. I’m often on the edge of tears by the end of “The Lighthouse,” just like that cad Maddog, while the likes of “Not Enough” and “End of the World” (the latter with CoL’s Johannes Persson) have a scary edge to them, with Christmas at her maniacal, crooning, possessed, unpredictable best.

    #2. A Swarm of the Sun // An Empire – Speaking of emotional responses, A Swarm of the Sun’s stripped back melancholy is right up there. If I say that An Empire is brighter and more uplifting than previous efforts The Rifts and The Woods, understand that this is a very relative statement. An Empire is drowning in sorrow and misery, and yet there is just a hint of brightness that shimmers and hovers around the edges, like a lunar halo. Slow and deliberate, haunting and cathartic, A Swarm of the Sun’s latest outing is just beautiful. End of. No discussion.2

    #1. Kanonenfieber // Die Urkatastrophe – Y’all know I dropped a 5.0 on Die Urkatastophe, so it’s no surprise to find it here, sitting pretty, atop my list. There’s not much more praise that I can heap on Kanonenfieber’s sophomore record than I already did in my review. For me, it has everything and is more than I dared hope for as a follow up to my beloved Menschenmühle (my album of the year for 2021). It is brutal and vicious (“Panzerhenker” and “Ausblutingsschlacht”), anthemic (“Der Maulwurf” and “Menschenmühle”) and more. Crafted—and yes, that is the correct word—with huge skill and attention to detail, it is the storytelling, based on original source materials, that elevates this record to the next level for me. And if you don’t speak German, or are simply not into narrative in your metal, just go bang your fucking head to “Gott mit der Kavallerie”!

    Honorable mentions In alphabetical order by band:

    • 40 Watt Sun // Little Weight – Little Weight actually carries a lot of emotional weight. Melancholic, beautiful post-doom and shoegaze, rife with a rough honesty.
    • Anciients // Beyond the Reach of the Sun – Long-form (arguably too-long-form in some respects) progressive death, which is wonderfully ambitious and overblown in its scale and delivery.
    • Crypt Sermon // The Stygian Rose – Fantastic trad doom, channeling heavy doses of Candlemass. Early in the year, I thought this was top-5 material but it’s uneven, with the back half much stronger than the front, and I’ve cooled on it a touch.
    • Nyktophobia // To the Stars – Just great, stomping melodeath. As I said in my review, it’s not massively original but it’s tight and well written, and easy to just kick back to. Sometimes, I don’t need more.
    • Silhouette // Les Dires de l’​Â​me – This fantastic post-black album had a place on the list proper until Pillar of Light bulldozed its way in there very late in the day. Haunting, harrowing and beautiful, Silhouette’s debut is Great!
    • Sumac // The Healer – Nothing about The Healer makes it an easy listen but Sumac’s fifth record is curiously beautiful for all its wandering, free-form abrasiveness.
    • Vorga // Beyond the Palest Star – While it’s hard to disagree with Kenstrosity‘s criticism of the production on Beyond the Palest Star, what can I say? I still love it. It’s chunky, well written, well paced and powerful.

    Surprises o’ the Year Ordered by most astounding first:

    • Opeth // The Last Will and Testament – It’s been a long time since I was last genuinely interested in an Opeth album (2005’s Ghost Reveries, in case you were wondering). But, wouldn’t you just know it, Mikael Åkerfeldt and co are back (roars and all). I’m not ready to commit to a score for The Last Will (though I think El Cuervo‘s was possibly a smidge high) as I’ve not been able to spend enough time with it. But the fact I want to spend more time with it is, after 19 years of having no interest in Opeth’s output, a surprise. And a welcome one.
    • Grand Magus // Sunraven – Another Swedish favourite of old, which I’d all but given up on, Grand Magus roared back this year with Sunraven. As an equally surprised Steel Druhm said in his review, this was the album he “feverishly hoped to get from Grand Magus … a grand return to prime form with the fire firmly back in the Balrog … the best Magus outing since 2012’s The Hunt”.

    Disappointment o’ the Year Limited to a single musical disappointment, to avoid submitting a lengthy thesis:

    • Zeal & Ardor // GREIF – I’m not angry, or even very surprised, just disappointed.3 While I accept that this is the album of a band in transition, there’s no getting away from the fact that it was a hugely disappointing album from a band that has abandoned the sound that made it what it was. And for what? They have not transitioned to something new and exciting, but with kinks to be worked out. Rather, on this record, Zeal & Ardor became something so pedestrian that any number of post-rock bands could’ve written it and, probably, done a better job. I may have overrated it.

    Songs o’ the Year

    1. Julie Christmas – “The Lighthouse”
    2. Kanonenfieber – “Der Maulwurf”
    3. Selbst – “The Stench of a Dead Spirit”
    4. Panzerfaust – “The Damascene Conversions”
    5. Kanonenfieber – “Gott mit der Kavallerie”
    6. Devenial Verdict – “Garden of Eyes”
    7. Spectral Wound – “Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal”
    8. Silhouette – “Les Dires de l’​Â​me”
    9. Blue Heron – “Everything Fades”
    10. Zeal & Ardor – “Hide in Shade”
    11. Glare of the Sun – “Rain”

    Cherd

    Twenty-twenty-four was certainly a year that followed previous years and will precede still others. When I look back, I’ll likely remember it as the year I discovered the wonders of ADHD medication after decades of non-treatment, the difficult transition my poor Cherdlet experienced from kindergarten to first grade, and the incredible bucket list trip my wife and I took to Toronto to watch our favorite TV franchise filming new content courtesy of my very important Hollywood connections. No, not Robert Downey Jr. Much more important and better-looking. Hmm? Margot Robbie? She wishes. I also had the pleasure of meeting several of my fellow writers in person, and they are all much homelier than they let on with the exception of Madam X, who is a goddamned ray of sunshine.

    On the musical front, I was able to check two bands off my “need to see live” list in Judas Priest and Archspire, whereby I discovered that Halford does exactly zero audience banter, and Archspire do nothing but. Fun shows, both. I didn’t listen to as much new music by volume this year than I have in previous years when I’d log between 200 and 400 releases, and that was largely due to my kid’s age and the level of interaction he needs. I have a feeling, however, that 2025 will see an uptick thanks to the new Heavys headphones I got for Christmas this year. As always, I want to thank the editors, particularly Steel Druhm and Doc Grier, for not sending me a mailbomb after all the late reviews I turned in (I’ll work on that in 2025), and the man himself, AMG, for building this community and for agreeing that Deep Space Nine is the best Star Trek show.4

    (ish) Chat Pile // Cool World – This is what it sounds like when Chat Pile make a “mature” record. As I noted in my October review, some of the most glaring weirdness and black humor the band is known for is missing in Cool World, which is why it’s here on my list instead of matching the lofty heights of my 2022 AOTY God’s Country. That said, this is consistently bleak in a way I like, and it boasts what are in my opinion the two best–if not most memorable–songs the band have written to date in “New World” and “Masc.” I’m a sucker for these Oklahomans and look forward to how their sound evolves from here.

    #10. Glacial Tomb // Lightless Expanse – I’ve had an up and down journey with Glacial Tomb’s sophomore record, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still view this as one of the best things I’ve listened to this year. To consider a record this closely means you have to listen to it a lot, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I logged more hours with Lightless Expanse than with any other album. I’ve made a big deal about the one-three punch of “Voidwomb/Enshrined in Concrete/Abyssal Host”, but it bears repeating since it’s my favorite consecutive stretch of death metal in 2024.

    #9. Replicant // Infinite Mortality – If you peel back the veneer of disso-death and blackened blasts on Infinite Mortality, you’ll find a pounding hardcore heart comprised of equal parts beatdown and Converge. As technical as this music gets, and there is a lot going on here, Replicant never forget their primary duty as a metal band: snapping necks. On their third album, they’ve exquisitely composed a missive to unbridled aggression. I completely missed their previous albums, so I’m glad our Kenfren wouldn’t shut his excitable yap about this one.

    #8. Spectral Voice // Sparagmos – “Alright skaters! This is the end of our free skate period. We’d like to once again thank you for spending your Saturday with us here at Family Fun Roller Rink and Arcade. It’s time to slow things down, down, way down, and you know what that means. That’s right, it’s couples’ skate. So, find that special someone you want to be interred on a cold stone slab with, gaze into each other’s empty eye sockets, and make your way around the rink as wave after wave of Spectral Voice’s death/funeral doom forcefully separates you from any light, hope, or happiness this wretched world might have accidentally given you. Remember, those who survive the next 45 minutes of tectonic plates colliding will get the chance to compete in roller limbo!”

    #7. Crypt Sermon // The Stygian Rose – Despite being one of the biggest doom apologists on this site, Crypt Sermon failed to grab me with their highly acclaimed debut nearly ten years ago. I chalk this up to my unfamiliarity with the traditional doom style at the time. In recent years, I’ve binged large amounts of Candlemass, Saint Vitus, Cathedral, Solitude Aeturnus et al., so I finally have the frame of reference to see just how well Crypt Sermon’s third LP captures the swagger, majesty, and grit of a style few contemporary bands seem interested in playing. After the growing pains displayed on The Ruins of Fading Light, these Philly natives have worked out the kinks and delivered an air-tight slab of doomy goodness.

    #6. Full of Hell // Coagulated Bliss – I regret waiving my seniority claim to Full of Hell releases, thus allowing Dolph to snap up review duties for Coagulated Bliss. It’s not that he did a bad job of reviewing the prolific experimental grind outfit’s latest. He did great, and he awarded it a deserved 4.0. But then he had the cheek, the nerve, the gall, the audacity, and the gumption to incorrectly lower his score. To make matters worse, it appeared nowhere on his year-end list. Not even a goll dern honorable mention. I’ve told him to his cetacean face that he’s wrong and I’m likely to do so again because this is Full of Hell’s best work since Trumpeting Ecstasy. In fact, it might be better.

    #5. Ulcerate // Cutting the Throat of God – For most of their existence, Ulcerate was a highly acclaimed band that I just couldn’t get into. That changed four years ago with the release of Stare into Death and Be Still. Little changed in their intricate approach to dissonant death metal, but there was something warmer and more human to what I had previously considered a rather detached style. That trend continues with Cutting the Throat of God. I find this record best when taken as a whole, letting the experience unfold over the full runtime, like dream-walking through a hedge maze or being trapped in a velvet sack and discovering it’s much larger on the inside.5

    #4. Thou // Umbilical – I waited a long time for a chance to review a new record by Thou, and when it finally came, they did not disappoint. As I said in my June review, “Like their chimerical American metal brethren Inter Arma, it doesn’t matter how many influences the band stuff into one album. They are all unified in sound under Thou’s banner. Bryan Funck’s acid-bit vocals are unmistakable and apparently unchangeable after 20 throat-shredding years. Also unchangeable? Thou’s ability to craft the most metallic-sounding guitar tone out there. As the standard bearer for…hell, as the entire sum of the second generation of Louisiana sludge, the sound they’ve forged isn’t the kind of sloppy muck you may associate with the term. It’s certainly thick, but it has a quality like two enormous steel I-beams violently striking each other.” If that doesn’t sell Umbilical for you, then here is where our paths diverge.

    #3. Devenial Verdict // Blessing of Despair – I didn’t listen to Blessing of Despair for several weeks after it came out in October despite the fact Devenial Verdict’s previous record, Ash Blind, made my year-end list in 2022. When I finally got around to it earlier in December, it threatened to blow the doors right off my still nebulous list, climbing fast and high until ultimately landing here at number three. There is more immediacy than on Ash Blind, which took me a while to warm up to. That doesn’t mean the band skimps on the kind of thoughtful transitions and atmospherics they’ve come to be known for. It’s just that Blessing of Despair HAZ THE RIFFS, including my favorite death metal riff of the year in “Solus.”

    #2. Void Witch // Horripilating Presence – When I revisited Horripilating Presence with the purpose of sorting out this list’s pecking order, I expected death-doomers Void Witch to fall mid-to-late top 10. Obviously, the opposite happened. For the life of me I don’t understand how this album didn’t gain more traction amongst the other writers and you, the unwashed commentariat. As I said back in July, “…the material on Horripilating Presence is Mohamed Ali levels of confident. The editing of ideas in each song and across the album’s taut 39 minutes is masterful, especially for a debut. No song hews too closely to any of the others, but all are of a piece, locking comfortably into place like an intricate puzzle box, and Void Witch have such sights to show you.”

    #1. Inter Arma // New Heaven – Inter Arma never miss. Aside from being one of the best live acts in metal, every album they’ve released going back to 2013’s Sky Burial has been one successful evolution after another. As a very wise reviewer once said, “They’re the same shaggy beast as ever, but beneath that matted, coarse coat is a rippling form mid-shape shift, stretching, pulling, and crossing back on itself constantly over the course of New Heaven’s shockingly concise 42 minutes…If being all over the musical map sounds like a negative, you’ve probably never heard an Inter Arma record before. It seems whatever they throw at the wall sticks, and the listening experience across their (usually much longer) records never feels uneven. This is because they play everything with the same smoldering intensity and volatile mean streak.” What a record.

    Honorable Mentions:

    • Convulsing // Perdurance – I like this quote from Dear Hollow‘s review, so I’ll let him do the talking: “…Convulsing explores every nook and twist of a rhythm and melody until its inevitable conclusion is happened upon in tragic and fatal fashion.”
    • Spectral Wound // Songs of Blood and Mire – Pound for pound, Spectral Wound are probably the most consistent no-frills black metal band currently in operation. Songs of Blood and Mire is another rager that’s as melodic as it is acidic.
    • Lord Buffalo // Holus Bolus – This record was one redundant instrumental away from landing higher on this list. Looking forward to where these gothic country rockers go next.

    Songs o’ the Year:

    In alphabetical order by band:

    #2024 #40WattSun #ASwarmOfTheSun #Anciients #BlogPosts #BlueHeron #CarcharodonAndCherdSTopTenIshOf2024 #ChatPile #Convulsing #CryptSermon #DevenialVerdict #FullOfHell #GlareOfTheSun #GrandMagus #InterArma #JulieChristmas #Kanonenfieber #Listurnalia #LordBuffalo #MotherOfGraves #Necrowretch #Nyktophobia #Opeth #Panzerfaust #PillarOfLight #Replicant #Selbst #Seth #Silhouette #SpectralVoice #SpectralWound #Sumac #TheVisionBleak #Thou #Ulcerate #VoidWitch #Vorga #ZealArdor

    #zealardor #vorga #voidwitch #ulcerate #thou #thevisionbleak
  26. Angry Metal Guy @[email protected] ·

    Carcharodon and Cherd’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024

    By Carcharodon

    Carcharodon

    I’ve been writing here since 2018. This has been the hardest year to date. I feel like I say this every year right around this time but, for whatever reason, I’ve really struggled this year to find the motivation and inspiration to write. Indeed, I’ve often felt that I lacked the passion for the music. Rather than exploring the murkier depths of Bandcamp, I was often to be found in the company of old, non-metal friends like Nick Cave, 16 Horsepower and Tom Waits.

    Despite my disappointment with the world, most of which is on literal or metaphorical fire, and my disillusionment with people, whose choices have caused most of that, there were bright glimmers. The phenomenal response to our Gondor-esque call for aid, when Kenstrosity‘s life was ripped apart by Hurricane Helene, reassured me there are still a few good people out there, a good number of whom read this blog.

    Still, I managed to turn out a few reviews this year, including my first ever 5.0—more of which below—which was worth it for the Steel Ire it evoked alone. And there was the Fifteenalia, a celebration the like of which we will not see again (for obvious reasons), which I had the honour of steering from questionable inception to creaky delivery.

    Ironically, despite my struggles on the writing front, This Place has played a significant part in keeping me sane. It’s been tolerable to welcome a few new staffers—some even raised up from the awful Place Below—to our serried ranks, while the older hands feel almost like family at this point, with everything that that entails. As ever, particular thanks go to Steel Druhm for his tireless intimidation, which just about keeps us honest, while Dolph, Dear Hollow, El Cuervo, Grier, Maddog, Sentynel and Thus Spoke, among others, have proved adequate companions for banter and gigs.

    And with that, I wish you all the happiest of Listurnalias.

    #ish. Pillar of Light // Caldera – A very late entry to this list, Pillar of Light should be a cautionary tale to bands and labels: release your shit earlier! With more time, the stunning Amenra-meets-Cult of Luna post-misery of Caldera could easily have placed in the top half of this list. While I know this is an album I will come to love and fully expect to regret not placing it higher here, the reality is that other entries have had longer to sink their hooks into me. I will just say that, for me, the apparently divisive vocals are a perfect fit for Pillar of Light’s style.

    #10. Seth // La France des Maudits – Way back when,1 French black metallers Seth snuck onto my list of Honorable Mentions with La Morsure du Christ, a fantastic return to form after a lengthy absence. After a short gap, they’re back and this year’s La France des Maudits has cracked the list proper. Melodic, bordering on symphonic with the keys and choral arrangements, but also visceral and feral, Seth dropped an absolute banger. It doesn’t hurt that, as Thus Spoke pointed out in her review, it’s “downright impressive how rich and dynamic this sounds.”

    #9. The Vision Bleak // Weird Tales – The Vision Bleak is not, to paraphrase Dr Grier, a band that has ever ‘got’ me. Or perhaps, I’ve never got them. But Weird Tales resonated with me enormously. And perhaps that’s because it’s not really like anything The Vision Bleak has done before. Structuring their gothic black metal (or should that be blackened goth metal?) into a single, flowing song (albeit one broken into parts) got my attention. But they held my attention because they actually managed to pull off this very-hard-to-execute vision. Weird Tales’ Type O Negative / Moonspell-inspired blackened sound clicked into place almost instantly for me and now I need to go back to TVB’s discography with newly-opened eyes.

    #8. Necrowretch // Swords of Dajjal – The first 4.0 I delivered in an alarmingly high-scoring year, Necrowretch’s black-death fusion is something that I have returned to again. Hiding beneath the vicious, downright nasty surface of Swords of Dajjal, is a surprisingly subtle and well-crafted concept album. As I said in my review, there is zero bloat or filler on this record, which blazes with intensity, driven as much by the scything, razor-sharp riffs as the rasping, sepulchral vocals. The range of influences cited, both by me and by impressed commenters, shows how many different aspects there are to this killer record.

    #7. Panzerfaust // The Suns of Perdition – Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion – After Chapter III: The Astral Drain, I was worried that Panzerfaust were running out of steam and inspiration to close out The Suns of Perdition saga. Thankfully, my concerns were misplaced. To Shadow Zion reeks of doom and destiny. Huge, brooding and intense, it is a captivating listen, with the stunning “The Damascene Conversions” sitting at its heart. From the sulfuric vocals to the masterful drumming, this was a worthy final chapter for The Suns of Perdition, which must go down as one of the best executed, most consistent multi-album concept pieces in metal.

    #6. Spectral Wound // Songs of Blood and Mire – Spectral Wound just can’t miss. For a band that, superficially at least, plays fairly old school black metal, songwriting chops paired with brilliant execution mean these guys are anything but derivative. My favourite album of theirs to date, Songs of Blood and Mire is just tons of wicked, nasty fun. It’s hard to say exactly why, but I feel like everything Spectral Wound does has a slight knowing wink to it, which suggests that the band doesn’t take itself too seriously. For me, this is a huge positive, as a lot of black metal is so tediously earnest, where this is unflinchingly harsh, surprisingly melodic and drowning in swaggering groove. Great stuff.

    #5. Mother of Graves // The Periapt of Absence – I’m a sucker for death doom. And The Periapt of Absence is some fucking great death doom. Mother of Graves were unknown to me before I stumbled across this album but their blending of old school Opeth (think somewhere between Morningrise and Orchid) with early Katatonia and Paradise Lost, plus a sprinkling of Clouds is stunning. All wrapped up in a pleasingly tight package, Mother of Graves smother the listener in unflinching, heartwrenching misery. And I love every minute of it. It’s that Peaceville Three sound we love, but feeling fresh, vibrant and vital.

    #4. Devenial Verdict // Blessing of Despair – Me and death metal don’t always see eye to eye, and the last Devenial Verdict left only a passing impression. But Thus Spoke‘s tireless tongue-bathing promotion of Blessing of Despair convinced me to give it a chance. While I enjoy the stomping thuggery of Devenial Verdict’s dissonant death well enough, it’s the sudden mood swings into what TS described as “lethally graceful restraint” that really hooked me. Although worlds apart stylistically, on Blessing of Despair DV achieved what Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean did on Obsession Destruction: knowing precisely how far to push the suffocating, claustrophobic heaviness, before taking their foot off your throat for a minute. Then stamping on it again.

    #3. Julie Christmas // Ridiculous and Full of Blood – Maddog predicted that I would lambast him as an underrating bastard for the 3.5 he deigned to award Ms Christmas. And he was quite correct. He’s a charlatan of the highest order. However, even I’m surprised by how high Ridiculous and Full of Blood has landed here. But, as someone not given to overly emotional reactions to music, I’m continually stunned by the reactions Julie—Can I call you Julie? No? Ok—extracts from me. I’m often on the edge of tears by the end of “The Lighthouse,” just like that cad Maddog, while the likes of “Not Enough” and “End of the World” (the latter with CoL’s Johannes Persson) have a scary edge to them, with Christmas at her maniacal, crooning, possessed, unpredictable best.

    #2. A Swarm of the Sun // An Empire – Speaking of emotional responses, A Swarm of the Sun’s stripped back melancholy is right up there. If I say that An Empire is brighter and more uplifting than previous efforts The Rifts and The Woods, understand that this is a very relative statement. An Empire is drowning in sorrow and misery, and yet there is just a hint of brightness that shimmers and hovers around the edges, like a lunar halo. Slow and deliberate, haunting and cathartic, A Swarm of the Sun’s latest outing is just beautiful. End of. No discussion.2

    #1. Kanonenfieber // Die Urkatastrophe – Y’all know I dropped a 5.0 on Die Urkatastophe, so it’s no surprise to find it here, sitting pretty, atop my list. There’s not much more praise that I can heap on Kanonenfieber’s sophomore record than I already did in my review. For me, it has everything and is more than I dared hope for as a follow up to my beloved Menschenmühle (my album of the year for 2021). It is brutal and vicious (“Panzerhenker” and “Ausblutingsschlacht”), anthemic (“Der Maulwurf” and “Menschenmühle”) and more. Crafted—and yes, that is the correct word—with huge skill and attention to detail, it is the storytelling, based on original source materials, that elevates this record to the next level for me. And if you don’t speak German, or are simply not into narrative in your metal, just go bang your fucking head to “Gott mit der Kavallerie”!

    Honorable mentions In alphabetical order by band:

    • 40 Watt Sun // Little Weight – Little Weight actually carries a lot of emotional weight. Melancholic, beautiful post-doom and shoegaze, rife with a rough honesty.
    • Anciients // Beyond the Reach of the Sun – Long-form (arguably too-long-form in some respects) progressive death, which is wonderfully ambitious and overblown in its scale and delivery.
    • Crypt Sermon // The Stygian Rose – Fantastic trad doom, channeling heavy doses of Candlemass. Early in the year, I thought this was top-5 material but it’s uneven, with the back half much stronger than the front, and I’ve cooled on it a touch.
    • Nyktophobia // To the Stars – Just great, stomping melodeath. As I said in my review, it’s not massively original but it’s tight and well written, and easy to just kick back to. Sometimes, I don’t need more.
    • Silhouette // Les Dires de l’​Â​me – This fantastic post-black album had a place on the list proper until Pillar of Light bulldozed its way in there very late in the day. Haunting, harrowing and beautiful, Silhouette’s debut is Great!
    • Sumac // The Healer – Nothing about The Healer makes it an easy listen but Sumac’s fifth record is curiously beautiful for all its wandering, free-form abrasiveness.
    • Vorga // Beyond the Palest Star – While it’s hard to disagree with Kenstrosity‘s criticism of the production on Beyond the Palest Star, what can I say? I still love it. It’s chunky, well written, well paced and powerful.

    Surprises o’ the Year Ordered by most astounding first:

    • Opeth // The Last Will and Testament – It’s been a long time since I was last genuinely interested in an Opeth album (2005’s Ghost Reveries, in case you were wondering). But, wouldn’t you just know it, Mikael Åkerfeldt and co are back (roars and all). I’m not ready to commit to a score for The Last Will (though I think El Cuervo‘s was possibly a smidge high) as I’ve not been able to spend enough time with it. But the fact I want to spend more time with it is, after 19 years of having no interest in Opeth’s output, a surprise. And a welcome one.
    • Grand Magus // Sunraven – Another Swedish favourite of old, which I’d all but given up on, Grand Magus roared back this year with Sunraven. As an equally surprised Steel Druhm said in his review, this was the album he “feverishly hoped to get from Grand Magus … a grand return to prime form with the fire firmly back in the Balrog … the best Magus outing since 2012’s The Hunt”.

    Disappointment o’ the Year Limited to a single musical disappointment, to avoid submitting a lengthy thesis:

    • Zeal & Ardor // GREIF – I’m not angry, or even very surprised, just disappointed.3 While I accept that this is the album of a band in transition, there’s no getting away from the fact that it was a hugely disappointing album from a band that has abandoned the sound that made it what it was. And for what? They have not transitioned to something new and exciting, but with kinks to be worked out. Rather, on this record, Zeal & Ardor became something so pedestrian that any number of post-rock bands could’ve written it and, probably, done a better job. I may have overrated it.

    Songs o’ the Year

    1. Julie Christmas – “The Lighthouse”
    2. Kanonenfieber – “Der Maulwurf”
    3. Selbst – “The Stench of a Dead Spirit”
    4. Panzerfaust – “The Damascene Conversions”
    5. Kanonenfieber – “Gott mit der Kavallerie”
    6. Devenial Verdict – “Garden of Eyes”
    7. Spectral Wound – “Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal”
    8. Silhouette – “Les Dires de l’​Â​me”
    9. Blue Heron – “Everything Fades”
    10. Zeal & Ardor – “Hide in Shade”
    11. Glare of the Sun – “Rain”

    Cherd

    Twenty-twenty-four was certainly a year that followed previous years and will precede still others. When I look back, I’ll likely remember it as the year I discovered the wonders of ADHD medication after decades of non-treatment, the difficult transition my poor Cherdlet experienced from kindergarten to first grade, and the incredible bucket list trip my wife and I took to Toronto to watch our favorite TV franchise filming new content courtesy of my very important Hollywood connections. No, not Robert Downey Jr. Much more important and better-looking. Hmm? Margot Robbie? She wishes. I also had the pleasure of meeting several of my fellow writers in person, and they are all much homelier than they let on with the exception of Madam X, who is a goddamned ray of sunshine.

    On the musical front, I was able to check two bands off my “need to see live” list in Judas Priest and Archspire, whereby I discovered that Halford does exactly zero audience banter, and Archspire do nothing but. Fun shows, both. I didn’t listen to as much new music by volume this year than I have in previous years when I’d log between 200 and 400 releases, and that was largely due to my kid’s age and the level of interaction he needs. I have a feeling, however, that 2025 will see an uptick thanks to the new Heavys headphones I got for Christmas this year. As always, I want to thank the editors, particularly Steel Druhm and Doc Grier, for not sending me a mailbomb after all the late reviews I turned in (I’ll work on that in 2025), and the man himself, AMG, for building this community and for agreeing that Deep Space Nine is the best Star Trek show.4

    (ish) Chat Pile // Cool World – This is what it sounds like when Chat Pile make a “mature” record. As I noted in my October review, some of the most glaring weirdness and black humor the band is known for is missing in Cool World, which is why it’s here on my list instead of matching the lofty heights of my 2022 AOTY God’s Country. That said, this is consistently bleak in a way I like, and it boasts what are in my opinion the two best–if not most memorable–songs the band have written to date in “New World” and “Masc.” I’m a sucker for these Oklahomans and look forward to how their sound evolves from here.

    #10. Glacial Tomb // Lightless Expanse – I’ve had an up and down journey with Glacial Tomb’s sophomore record, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still view this as one of the best things I’ve listened to this year. To consider a record this closely means you have to listen to it a lot, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I logged more hours with Lightless Expanse than with any other album. I’ve made a big deal about the one-three punch of “Voidwomb/Enshrined in Concrete/Abyssal Host”, but it bears repeating since it’s my favorite consecutive stretch of death metal in 2024.

    #9. Replicant // Infinite Mortality – If you peel back the veneer of disso-death and blackened blasts on Infinite Mortality, you’ll find a pounding hardcore heart comprised of equal parts beatdown and Converge. As technical as this music gets, and there is a lot going on here, Replicant never forget their primary duty as a metal band: snapping necks. On their third album, they’ve exquisitely composed a missive to unbridled aggression. I completely missed their previous albums, so I’m glad our Kenfren wouldn’t shut his excitable yap about this one.

    #8. Spectral Voice // Sparagmos – “Alright skaters! This is the end of our free skate period. We’d like to once again thank you for spending your Saturday with us here at Family Fun Roller Rink and Arcade. It’s time to slow things down, down, way down, and you know what that means. That’s right, it’s couples’ skate. So, find that special someone you want to be interred on a cold stone slab with, gaze into each other’s empty eye sockets, and make your way around the rink as wave after wave of Spectral Voice’s death/funeral doom forcefully separates you from any light, hope, or happiness this wretched world might have accidentally given you. Remember, those who survive the next 45 minutes of tectonic plates colliding will get the chance to compete in roller limbo!”

    #7. Crypt Sermon // The Stygian Rose – Despite being one of the biggest doom apologists on this site, Crypt Sermon failed to grab me with their highly acclaimed debut nearly ten years ago. I chalk this up to my unfamiliarity with the traditional doom style at the time. In recent years, I’ve binged large amounts of Candlemass, Saint Vitus, Cathedral, Solitude Aeturnus et al., so I finally have the frame of reference to see just how well Crypt Sermon’s third LP captures the swagger, majesty, and grit of a style few contemporary bands seem interested in playing. After the growing pains displayed on The Ruins of Fading Light, these Philly natives have worked out the kinks and delivered an air-tight slab of doomy goodness.

    #6. Full of Hell // Coagulated Bliss – I regret waiving my seniority claim to Full of Hell releases, thus allowing Dolph to snap up review duties for Coagulated Bliss. It’s not that he did a bad job of reviewing the prolific experimental grind outfit’s latest. He did great, and he awarded it a deserved 4.0. But then he had the cheek, the nerve, the gall, the audacity, and the gumption to incorrectly lower his score. To make matters worse, it appeared nowhere on his year-end list. Not even a goll dern honorable mention. I’ve told him to his cetacean face that he’s wrong and I’m likely to do so again because this is Full of Hell’s best work since Trumpeting Ecstasy. In fact, it might be better.

    #5. Ulcerate // Cutting the Throat of God – For most of their existence, Ulcerate was a highly acclaimed band that I just couldn’t get into. That changed four years ago with the release of Stare into Death and Be Still. Little changed in their intricate approach to dissonant death metal, but there was something warmer and more human to what I had previously considered a rather detached style. That trend continues with Cutting the Throat of God. I find this record best when taken as a whole, letting the experience unfold over the full runtime, like dream-walking through a hedge maze or being trapped in a velvet sack and discovering it’s much larger on the inside.5

    #4. Thou // Umbilical – I waited a long time for a chance to review a new record by Thou, and when it finally came, they did not disappoint. As I said in my June review, “Like their chimerical American metal brethren Inter Arma, it doesn’t matter how many influences the band stuff into one album. They are all unified in sound under Thou’s banner. Bryan Funck’s acid-bit vocals are unmistakable and apparently unchangeable after 20 throat-shredding years. Also unchangeable? Thou’s ability to craft the most metallic-sounding guitar tone out there. As the standard bearer for…hell, as the entire sum of the second generation of Louisiana sludge, the sound they’ve forged isn’t the kind of sloppy muck you may associate with the term. It’s certainly thick, but it has a quality like two enormous steel I-beams violently striking each other.” If that doesn’t sell Umbilical for you, then here is where our paths diverge.

    #3. Devenial Verdict // Blessing of Despair – I didn’t listen to Blessing of Despair for several weeks after it came out in October despite the fact Devenial Verdict’s previous record, Ash Blind, made my year-end list in 2022. When I finally got around to it earlier in December, it threatened to blow the doors right off my still nebulous list, climbing fast and high until ultimately landing here at number three. There is more immediacy than on Ash Blind, which took me a while to warm up to. That doesn’t mean the band skimps on the kind of thoughtful transitions and atmospherics they’ve come to be known for. It’s just that Blessing of Despair HAZ THE RIFFS, including my favorite death metal riff of the year in “Solus.”

    #2. Void Witch // Horripilating Presence – When I revisited Horripilating Presence with the purpose of sorting out this list’s pecking order, I expected death-doomers Void Witch to fall mid-to-late top 10. Obviously, the opposite happened. For the life of me I don’t understand how this album didn’t gain more traction amongst the other writers and you, the unwashed commentariat. As I said back in July, “…the material on Horripilating Presence is Mohamed Ali levels of confident. The editing of ideas in each song and across the album’s taut 39 minutes is masterful, especially for a debut. No song hews too closely to any of the others, but all are of a piece, locking comfortably into place like an intricate puzzle box, and Void Witch have such sights to show you.”

    #1. Inter Arma // New Heaven – Inter Arma never miss. Aside from being one of the best live acts in metal, every album they’ve released going back to 2013’s Sky Burial has been one successful evolution after another. As a very wise reviewer once said, “They’re the same shaggy beast as ever, but beneath that matted, coarse coat is a rippling form mid-shape shift, stretching, pulling, and crossing back on itself constantly over the course of New Heaven’s shockingly concise 42 minutes…If being all over the musical map sounds like a negative, you’ve probably never heard an Inter Arma record before. It seems whatever they throw at the wall sticks, and the listening experience across their (usually much longer) records never feels uneven. This is because they play everything with the same smoldering intensity and volatile mean streak.” What a record.

    Honorable Mentions:

    • Convulsing // Perdurance – I like this quote from Dear Hollow‘s review, so I’ll let him do the talking: “…Convulsing explores every nook and twist of a rhythm and melody until its inevitable conclusion is happened upon in tragic and fatal fashion.”
    • Spectral Wound // Songs of Blood and Mire – Pound for pound, Spectral Wound are probably the most consistent no-frills black metal band currently in operation. Songs of Blood and Mire is another rager that’s as melodic as it is acidic.
    • Lord Buffalo // Holus Bolus – This record was one redundant instrumental away from landing higher on this list. Looking forward to where these gothic country rockers go next.

    Songs o’ the Year:

    In alphabetical order by band:

    Show 5 footnotes

    1. Apparently it was only 2021 but my goodness that feels a lifetime ago. ↩
    2. Regrettably, I suspect this may be the perfect way to start a discussion. Sigh. ↩
    3. Can you tell I’m a parent? ↩
    4. How could anyone disagree? – AMG ↩
    5. Like a TARDIS. ↩

    #2024 #40WattSun #ASwarmOfTheSun #Anciients #BlogPosts #BlueHeron #CarcharodonAndCherdSTopTenIshOf2024 #ChatPile #Convulsing #CryptSermon #DevenialVerdict #FullOfHell #GlareOfTheSun #GrandMagus #InterArma #JulieChristmas #Kanonenfieber #Listurnalia #LordBuffalo #MotherOfGraves #Necrowretch #Nyktophobia #Opeth #Panzerfaust #PillarOfLight #Replicant #Selbst #Seth #Silhouette #SpectralVoice #SpectralWound #Sumac #TheVisionBleak #Thou #Ulcerate #VoidWitch #Vorga #ZealArdor

    #40wattsun #aswarmofthesun #anciients #blogposts #blueheron #carcharodonandcherdstoptenishof2024
  27. Andy Arthur - Threadinburgh @[email protected] ·

    The thread about the Edinburgh Police Box; architectural Time Traveller but no TARDIS!

    The year 2024 was celebrated as the 900th anniversary of the “foundation” of the city of Edinburgh and 2025 is also an important local commemoration; the centenary of the appointment of the wonderfully named Ebenezer James (“E.J.“) Macrae as City Architect. His twenty years of service was a time of great change in our built environment and his office was directly responsible for much of that, not without good cause has he been dubbed “the man who shaped modern Edinburgh“. His tenure is characterised by both the volume of public buildings and housing that was erected and also their distinctive style; at once both modern in form and function but also very sympathetic to tradition. A splendid example of that contrast is the Edinburgh Police Box; a mix of anachronistic classical styling and what was then the cutting edge of modern policing.

    Former police box at corner of Waverley Bridge and Market Street. CC-by-NC-SA 2.0, Ian T. Edwards via Flickr.

    The first police boxes with telephones were established in Chicago back in 1881, just 5 years after the unveiling of the telephone itself by a son of Edinburgh. In 1923, Chief Constable Frederick Crawley of Newcastle City Police instituted what would become known as the Police Box System to Sunderland and in doing so revolutionised British policing. He was looking to increase the efficiency of his his force and focused on trying to reduce time spent by officers walking to and from their beats; he estimated up to a quarter of each man’s time on shift was wasted in this manner. His solution was decentralisation. By placing many small, telephone-equipped police boxes at strategic points throughout the city, officers had shorter distances to walk and could devote more time to duty. Crawley recognised this would place the police more centrally within the communities they were expected to serve, creating a ready point of contact for the public – thus increasing the efficiency of reporting emergencies and also making it far easier for the police to contact and coordinate their own officers. Boxes could also be used as temporary lock ups for prisoners while transport was summoned, avoiding the long and often dangerous walks with them back to a police station. A final and significant attraction was that the increased efficiency also allowed the closure of most district police stations and therefore afforded a significant cost saving.

    Wooden police box of the type instituted by Crawley for Newcastle City Police. Note the public-facing telephone and first aid boxes mounted to the left of the door. From The Police Journal, vol.1, No.1, January 1928

    Police boxes soon spread across the country but Edinburgh, as is often the case, was rather slow to catch on. It was not until May 1928 that a deputation was sent by Chief Constable Roderick Ross from the Edinburgh City Police to inspect the system in Newcastle. This was at the insistence of the Scottish Office who refused to sanction an increase in headcount for Ross and instead wanted efficiencies. He submitted a strongly favourable report to the Town Council, which approved a box system for the city in 1929. Ross served as Chief Constable for the exceptional term of 34 years and it was towards the end of his long watch that his force would be wholly and rapidly modernised.

    Roderick Ross, when Chief Constable of Ramsgate Borough Police c. 1898

    The Edinburgh Evening News threw its editorial weight behind the scheme but also amplified significant local concerns that the appearance of boxes would have a detrimental effect on the city. As the system spread, there had been a plethora of different design styles before a utilitarian, standardised version was developed for the Metropolitan Police by the architect George Mackenzie Trench. Trench’s design is instantly familiar to generations of Dr. Who fans as the TARDIS. But “Cheapness has been obtained in England” wrote the News’ editor “by mass production, but Edinburgh has an architectural standard of its own, which the Cockburn Association endeavours to maintain.” The gauntlet was thus thrown down to the City Architect’s office that something altogether different and better was needed.

    George Mackenzie Trench standard police box at the National Tramway Museum, Crich. Note the light on the roof, which would flash to indicate an officer was required to attend the box. CC-by-SA 3.0 Dan Sellers via Wikimedia

    E.J. Macrae, along with his assistants Andrew Rollo and James A. Tweedie are credited with the design of the Edinburgh Box, with the signature of their colleague Robert Somerville Ellis on some of the drawings. The initial inspiration may have been taken from the barrel-topped box used in Sheffield which was used as an illustrative example by the Evening News. Two alternative designs were prepared and plans and models were put to the Lord Provost’s Committee in December 1929. The preferred option was then “submitted for the consideration of the Fine Art Commission“. After that a full-size wooden mock-up was erected on the corner of George Street and Frederick Street in October 1930 to test the practicalities of installing boxes and also to familiarise both the police and the public with the design.

    Sheffield City Police box, as used as an illustrative example by the Evening News. September 13th 1938

    The approved box was, dare I say it, an iconic piece of British street furniture design, unique to the city and instantly at home in its environment. It is described in architectural terms thusly:

    Rectangular cast-iron police box with classical details, 6ft by 4ft on plan, 2-bay pilastered long elevations, one of which contains door bearing City Arms. Painted blue. Single bay short elevations surmounted by open pediments containing ribboned wreath paterae. Saltire patterned glazing to all elevations. Low-pitched roof.

    Official description of the Edinburgh Police Box from Historic Scotland listing

    Each box was constructed of prefabricated cast iron panels produced by the Carron Company in Stirlingshire and tipped the scales at over two tons. The understated classical styling was decorated only with a small cast iron castle motif from the city’s coat of arms on the door and on each gable a wreath; symbolising power or triumph. Inside they were equipped with a desk, flip-down seat, telephone, sink and a small wall-mounted electric heater. There was shelving, pigeon holes and notice boards on the walls to accommodate items such as logbooks and forms and hooks were provided for hanging coats, helmets and capes. Hooks were provided for “beat keys”, premises officers on duty were expected to visit and check, or need access to, during their duties. An unofficial but entirely necessary function of the sink was an ersatz urinal; 8 hours in a district with few or no public toilets was a long time for a beat officer to spend without spending any pennies! (This was apparently best achieved by balancing on the stool and taking careful aim. Each box was provisioned with a supply of bleach to keep things as sanitary as possible.) All of this came at a price however; £58 per box (before foundations and services were laid), far more than the wooden hut type which had cost £13 each in Newcastle or £43 for a reinforced concrete standard box as used by the Metropolitan Police.

    Sketch design of the Edinburgh City Police Box, redrawn by self from a copy of the original in the Edinburgh City Archives. The original is signed RSE (Robert Somerville Ellis), 6th September 1928. From Dean of Guild Court of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Police Boxes, Lord Provost, Magistrates and Council of the City of Edinburgh, 26th August 1932.

    On the outside of the box were small doors that gave members of the public access to a Speakerphone that would connect them to police headquarters and another containing a first aid kit. The Speakerphone was a hands-free system activated upon opening of its door. It was felt at the time that the general public were not familiar enough with the use of telephones to provide a handset, and it was also harder to accidentally damage or vandalise.

    A police officer demonstrating the use of the Speakerphone unit. Opening the box door automatically connected the phone to the headquarters switchboard. Photo via Lothian & Borders Police WordPress.

    Despite the best efforts of Macrae’s office to produce a design that was sympathetic to Edinburgh’s built environment, not everyone was pleased. “W.M.H.” wrote to the Evening News that the box at the foot of Drummond Street by the old City Wall was a “case of outrageous vandalism and should be prohibited.” They questioned who in the authorities was responsible for such “outrages” and challenged the city’s heritage watchdog – the Cockburn Association – to “get busy!“. In Portobello, the Communist party had a particularly niche objection; it charged that the boxes were “designed for use in a rebellion” and that “the master class knew that they were driving the workers to desperation, and they were preparing in advance to deal with rebellion“.

    The police box at Drummond Street, immediately in front of the Flodden Wall. The photo dates from 1951 and the box still sports its white stripes applied during WW2 to make it more visible during blackout conditions. Records of RCAHMS, SC1164082. © Crown Copyright: HES

    Boxes were installed throughout 1932 and a considerable public relations exercise was undertaken to get the public to understand how to use them. The Evening News maintained a regular stream of editorials on the subject, Chief Constable Ross gave numerous lectures, model boxes were taken around schools to show children how to use them and Boy Scouts were encouraged to learn the location of as many boxes as possible as part of their Pathfinding badge. In the final run-up to commissioning, public demonstrations of the boxes in use were staged and the press cameras invited.

    Photograph showing a staged accident to demonstrate the use of the public call facility on the new police boxes, along with an operator of the switchboard at police headquarters on the High Street that received the calls. Scotsman, May 26th 1933.

    The box system and “a new era in the history of Edinburgh City Police” was inaugurated in its entirety on Sunday May 28th 1933 at 6AM. This was a year later than intended, a delay that the Lord Provost blamed on the General Post Office which had been slow to install the necessary telephony infrastructure (500 miles of underground and 23 miles of overhead wire).

    Bailie Rutherford Fortune places the first call on from a police box with Chief Constable Ross (dark coat and light hat, with moustache) and Mr F. J. Milne (light coat and dark hat, with umbrella) Secretary of the Post Office in Edinburgh.

    The boxes were only one part of a greater overall system; policing of the city was entirely restructured at this time. The boxes were allocated to four divisions, each with its own headquarters – A at Braid Place, B at Gayfield Square, C at Torphicen Place and D at Leith – and were numbered sequentially and by division. A map of the all their locations as installed in 1933 can be seen here. Each division had a dedicated pool of motor vehicles for response and prisoner transport and was supported by a non-territorial traffic and mounted division (E) based in the Cowgate. At the same moment that the boxes were first unlocked for duty, the doors of nine district police stations (at the Pleasance, West Port, Abbeyhill, Piershill, Stockbridge, Waverley Market, Morningside, Gorgie and Newhaven) and eighteen smaller sub-stations closed for the last time. Most of these sites were disposed of, leaving only the four divisional stations, a sub-divisional station for Portobello plus city police HQ on the High Street.

    The Leith Police. Relaxing on break time with tea and “pieces” at Leith Police station in 1930. Photograph by Photo Press Agency, CC-by-NC-SA via Thelma

    The reduction in manpower required by the box system saw fifteen open vacancies for constables written off, three inspectors and five sergeants made redundant and a further five sergeants demoted to constables. Overall the changes reduced the running cost of the force by £5,800 annually.

    Six or seven constables might be based out of a single box and would serve their entire 8-hour shift from it, returning after every half hour or hour long “turn ” of their beat to check in with base by phone, write up their logbook and take breaks. Check in calls were performed according to a strict timetable and if any officer missed one his absence would be noted and a colleague sent to investigate. Men on duty could expect a visit by a section sergeant once every shift. The boxes were accessed by a universal key, which each officer kept on his chain with his whistle. A blue light on the roof of the box would flash to let him know that there was a call waiting for him. Sometimes these lights had to be mounted on an extension pole to be better seen from a distance and in the case of the box outside the Tron Kirk on the High Street, it was a high-mounted “sky lantern” on the building on the corner with North Bridge.

    The High Street “sky lantern” is still in place on the corner with North Bridge, appropriately mounted next to a symbol of modern police surveillance, the CCTV camera.

    Commencing in 1938, air raid sirens began to be installed on top of the roofs of many of Edinburgh’s boxes as part of the city’s ARP (Air Raid Precautions) measures. By April 1939, thirty two sirens had been installed, all controlled from master switches at HQ on the High Street and tests of the system were under way, helping to familiarise the public with the sound. In May 1940, a writer to the Evening News’ letters page using the pseudonym Tenement Warden and Old Contemptible suggested that police boxes be used to store “machine guns, hand grenades, ammunition and rifles” to deal with enemy paratroopers and “Hitler’s Fifth Column and Fascists all over Britain“. I cannot see that this idea was ever taken seriously!

    Photograph of the type of air raid siren installed on the roof of Edinburgh police boxes. Evening News, 30th November 1938

    In 1939, the annual Estimates of Expenditure of the Town Council reported that there were now 143 police boxes in the city backed up by 40 telephone pillars. Running costs were £3,350, not including £250 for maintenance, £800 for electricity and £3,350 to the Post Office for telephony. The authorised strength of the force was reported as 871, comprising 688 constables, 91 sergeants, 30 inspectors and one each “woman sergeant” and “woman constable“.

    In practice the boxes proved to be stiflingly hot in the summer and bitterly cold in the winter; the issued heater was much to small and badly located, so boxes often sourced their own additional heaters to make them more habitable. On account of the metal structure they “sweated considerably” in damp weather as a result of condensation. The roof interior would eventually be insulated in 1956 to try and tackle this particular issue. All boxes were to have been provided with both electricity and a water supply but in the end economies meant only 86 of the 140 boxes were plumbed in. It was some time before enamel mugs, at 6d per unit, were issued from which the water could be drunk and it took until 1947 for the Town Council to approve an expenditure of £781 to equip each box with an electric kettle for making tea.

    “For Bobby’s Cup of Tea”, Evening News, 5th June 1947

    Uncomfortable they may have been, but the boxes proved to be immensely strong. This was demonstrated in November 1945 when PC John Anderson – on what was his last day of service of a thirty years police career – escaped with a fractured leg when a fire engine crashed into his box at the foot of the Canongate. In 1954, PC Donald Budge walked away from his box at Balgreen with only cuts and bruises after a two ton lamp standard, being installed nearby fell onto the roof of the box he was sitting in. The damage to the box was restricted to a cracked roof, a broken window and cracked sink. Also that year, two constables in the box at Murrayfield Avenue survived it being struck by lightning, although the interior lights, radiator and telephones were put out of service and the air raid siren on the roof activated itself.

    It took the public some time to get used to the new system. In 1936, three years after its institution, Chief Contable W. B. R. Morren lamented that there was a general ignorance, particularly on the part of grown ups, as to the location and facilities offered by boxes. Boxes were always subject to interference and vandalism throughout their working lives. The authorities were keen to make an example of anyone caught in such an act and the first prosecution came in November 1933 when 19 year old Colin Gosschalk was caught breaking into the first aid compartment of the box on Prestonfield Avenue. His defence that a friend had dared him to do it was not accepted and he was fined 10s (the maximum being £2).

    The system was not without its critics as evidenced in the columns of and letters to the Evening News – a particular but unfounded complaint was that constables were either never in the boxes when needed, or spent too much time sheltering within them rather than “on the beat” – a classic of the Schrödinger’s box genre! In an interview with the ‘News in 1946, Chief Constable Morren said that boxes “fulfilled and continues to fulfil a very useful purpose, but… did not develop that contact between the police and the public which was so desirable, and it had been proved that the system had not been the success in that direction that was anticipated”. Brigadier-General Dudgeon, HM Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland said that the box system had “proved to be of value to both the police and the public” but “the beat constable is the eyes and ears of the police, and be careful that the police box system is not overdone.”

    Post-war, policing would begin to change again, with smaller district police stations re-established for the new suburbs. As was the case after its 1920 expansion, it was found once again that the city had “more or less outgrown the numbered strength of the police force“. This was particularly felt in the extensive housing schemes been built since the boxes were introduced and where petty crime and antisocial behaviour were an increasing problem. After the initial roll-out of boxes, too few had been added. For instance, in 1946 just one was approved for the West Pilton housing scheme at the junction of Ferry Road Drive and West Pilton Avenue. The peripheral estates were harder to police on foot as they had a much lower housing density than the inner city, so officers had a far greater distance to cover.

    New council housing at the Inch, 1955, Dinmont Drive. Photograph by A. G. Ingram, © Edinburgh City Libraries

    These issues saw a move in the 1950s away from the “box and beat” approach to policing the suburbs to more mechanisation (cars) and technology (walkie talkies). They continued in use for the centre of the city however, but the last box installed in Edinburgh may have been that erected in Davidson’s Mains in 1958.

    It is all very nice to see policemen going their rounds, but in these days of radio telegraphy the greatly increased use of telephones and the system of 999 calls it is quite reasonable to expect that there should be some saving in the actual pedestrian work

    Bailie Matt A. Murray, Chairman of the Progressive Group of Edinburgh Town Council

    The air raid warning system was renewed and expanded in 1952 with 56 sirens refurbished, ten additional ones installed and the remote control system replaced. The signalling was replaced again in the 1960s and the sirens were replaced in the early 1970s. Just before 1pm on Thursday 5th June 1969, the air raid sirens sounded across Edinburgh as an engineer working at the city Police headquarters on the High Street accidentally activated the system. A similar incident occurred on August 1st 1986 when all sirens in the Lothian & Borders Police areas were accidentally activated at 7:30 in the morning due to a fault in the telephone system.

    Just as Edinburgh had been slow to catch on to adopting police boxes, it was also slow to let them go. While the Metropolitan police started removing boxes in 1969 and demolished its last in 1981, those in Edinburgh were still nominally in active service into the 1990s. After 1984 however the Chief Constable wanted all officers to have a daily briefing at a station before they came on duty and so after then they were more rarely used and many that were found themselves relegated to providing shelter and storage for traffic wardens. In 1993 the air raid sirens were deactivated by the Scottish Office and in 1995 the Lothian & Borders Police Board deemed thirty five of the eighty six remaining boxes were surplus to requirements and put them up for auction, seeking to save the £500 per annum per box maintenance costs of the increasingly dilapidated estate.

    Newspaper advert, Scotsman, June 13th 1995, advertising the sale of 35 surplus police boxes

    These were the first boxes maid available on the open market and generated much interest; a variety of proposals from public toilets to newspaper kiosks to air quality monitoring stations to removing the boxes entirely to install them as curios in pubs or people’s gardens were proposed. In 1990, the predecessor of Historic Environment Scotland listed thirteen boxes as Category B to protect them (there are now a total of seventeen) and the city’s Planning Convenor would issue guidelines requiring any changes to the boxes or their interiors needing planning permission.

    Former lawyer Gordon Thomson purchased eight boxes and, as American-style coffee drinking swept across the nation, established a small chain of bijou “cappuccino kiosks” called the California Coffee Company. Thomson may not have realised it, but his innovation was very close to recreating a street scene once common in 18th century Edinburgh. A 2000 attempt by Feyzullah Marasli to emulate this success by converting a box on Princes Street into a coffee kiosk came to nothing when it was discovered that despite him refurbishing the box, changing the locks on it, paying £400 to have an electricity supply installed and applying for the necessary Street Trader’s Licence, he neither owned nor leased the box in question and it was still in operational use by the Police!

    ‘A street coffee house Edinburgh’. Paul Sandby, 1750s, Royal Collection Trust RCIN 914503

    Lothian & Borders Police attempted to rehabilitate some boxes in the late 1990s by installing touch screen public information points with a video-link to a police station within them. The first such box was unveiled to the press on Princes Street in 1998 at a cost of £10,000. It had 61,000 “hits” during its first year of operation and was judged to have been a success, with two further such boxes converted, however funding never followed through and the innovation was allowed to lapse.

    Eleven more boxes were auctioned in 2001, advertised as “an exciting and unique opportunity to obtain a distinctive piece of cast iron street furniture with potential for a wide range of uses“. In 2002, the BBC successfully trademarked the London-style Police Box in connection with Dr. Who and the TARDIS, despite the Metropolitan Police contesting the application with the Registrar of Trade Marks. This did not apply to Edinburgh’s unique boxes, which are categorically not TARDISes, despite what some may say! From 2012 to 2013, the police box at Braid Hills Approach was restored to exhibition standard as a small museum by Angus Self, a great grandson of Chief Constable Roderick Ross. In 2014, fourteen of the remaining boxes were sold off, leaving just one in Police ownership.

    ‘SwimEasy’ Police Box Museum, Braid Hills Road. CC-by-NC SA 2.0, M J Richardson

    The boxes may now be entirely operationally defunct, but they remain throughout the city and many are in daily use. In fact I’m just back from visiting one this afternoon, It may not be a TARDIS but an architectural time traveller it was!

    Late night Brazilian crepes anyone? A police box has you covered… CC-by-NC 2.0, Joe Gordon via Flickr

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  28. Andy Arthur - Threadinburgh @[email protected] ·

    The thread about the Edinburgh Police Box; architectural Time Traveller but no TARDIS!

    The year 2024 was celebrated as the 900th anniversary of the “foundation” of the city of Edinburgh and 2025 is also an important local commemoration; the centenary of the appointment of the wonderfully named Ebenezer James (“E.J.“) Macrae as City Architect. His twenty years of service was a time of great change in our built environment and his office was directly responsible for much of that, not without good cause has he been dubbed “the man who shaped modern Edinburgh“. His tenure is characterised by both the volume of public buildings and housing that was erected and also their distinctive style; at once both modern in form and function but also very sympathetic to tradition. A splendid example of that contrast is the Edinburgh Police Box; a mix of anachronistic classical styling and what was then the cutting edge of modern policing.

    Former police box at corner of Waverley Bridge and Market Street. CC-by-NC-SA 2.0, Ian T. Edwards via Flickr.

    The first police boxes with telephones were established in Chicago back in 1881, just 5 years after the unveiling of the telephone itself by a son of Edinburgh. In 1923, Chief Constable Frederick Crawley of Newcastle City Police instituted what would become known as the Police Box System to Sunderland and in doing so revolutionised British policing. He was looking to increase the efficiency of his his force and focused on trying to reduce time spent by officers walking to and from their beats; he estimated up to a quarter of each man’s time on shift was wasted in this manner. His solution was decentralisation. By placing many small, telephone-equipped police boxes at strategic points throughout the city, officers had shorter distances to walk and could devote more time to duty. Crawley recognised this would place the police more centrally within the communities they were expected to serve, creating a ready point of contact for the public – thus increasing the efficiency of reporting emergencies and also making it far easier for the police to contact and coordinate their own officers. Boxes could also be used as temporary lock ups for prisoners while transport was summoned, avoiding the long and often dangerous walks with them back to a police station. A final and significant attraction was that the increased efficiency also allowed the closure of most district police stations and therefore afforded a significant cost saving.

    Wooden police box of the type instituted by Crawley for Newcastle City Police. Note the public-facing telephone and first aid boxes mounted to the left of the door. From The Police Journal, vol.1, No.1, January 1928

    Police boxes soon spread across the country but Edinburgh, as is often the case, was rather slow to catch on. It was not until May 1928 that a deputation was sent by Chief Constable Roderick Ross from the Edinburgh City Police to inspect the system in Newcastle. This was at the insistence of the Scottish Office who refused to sanction an increase in headcount for Ross and instead wanted efficiencies. He submitted a strongly favourable report to the Town Council, which approved a box system for the city in 1929. Ross served as Chief Constable for the exceptional term of 34 years and it was towards the end of his long watch that his force would be wholly and rapidly modernised.

    Roderick Ross, when Chief Constable of Ramsgate Borough Police c. 1898

    The Edinburgh Evening News threw its editorial weight behind the scheme but also amplified significant local concerns that the appearance of boxes would have a detrimental effect on the city. As the system spread, there had been a plethora of different design styles before a utilitarian, standardised version was developed for the Metropolitan Police by the architect George Mackenzie Trench. Trench’s design is instantly familiar to generations of Dr. Who fans as the TARDIS. But “Cheapness has been obtained in England” wrote the News’ editor “by mass production, but Edinburgh has an architectural standard of its own, which the Cockburn Association endeavours to maintain.” The gauntlet was thus thrown down to the City Architect’s office that something altogether different and better was needed.

    George Mackenzie Trench standard police box at the National Tramway Museum, Crich. Note the light on the roof, which would flash to indicate an officer was required to attend the box. CC-by-SA 3.0 Dan Sellers via Wikimedia

    E.J. Macrae, along with his assistants Andrew Rollo and James A. Tweedie are credited with the design of the Edinburgh Box, with the signature of their colleague Robert Somerville Ellis on some of the drawings. The initial inspiration may have been taken from the barrel-topped box used in Sheffield which was used as an illustrative example by the Evening News. Two alternative designs were prepared and plans and models were put to the Lord Provost’s Committee in December 1929. The preferred option was then “submitted for the consideration of the Fine Art Commission“. After that a full-size wooden mock-up was erected on the corner of George Street and Frederick Street in October 1930 to test the practicalities of installing boxes and also to familiarise both the police and the public with the design.

    Sheffield City Police box, as used as an illustrative example by the Evening News. September 13th 1938

    The approved box was, dare I say it, an iconic piece of British street furniture design, unique to the city and instantly at home in its environment. It is described in architectural terms thusly:

    Rectangular cast-iron police box with classical details, 6ft by 4ft on plan, 2-bay pilastered long elevations, one of which contains door bearing City Arms. Painted blue. Single bay short elevations surmounted by open pediments containing ribboned wreath paterae. Saltire patterned glazing to all elevations. Low-pitched roof.

    Official description of the Edinburgh Police Box from Historic Scotland listing

    Each box was constructed of prefabricated cast iron panels produced by the Carron Company in Stirlingshire and tipped the scales at over two tons. The understated classical styling was decorated only with a small cast iron castle motif from the city’s coat of arms on the door and on each gable a wreath; symbolising power or triumph. Inside they were equipped with a desk, flip-down seat, telephone, sink and a small wall-mounted electric heater. There was shelving, pigeon holes and notice boards on the walls to accommodate items such as logbooks and forms and hooks were provided for hanging coats, helmets and capes. Hooks were provided for “beat keys”, premises officers on duty were expected to visit and check, or need access to, during their duties. An unofficial but entirely necessary function of the sink was an ersatz urinal; 8 hours in a district with few or no public toilets was a long time for a beat officer to spend without spending any pennies! (This was apparently best achieved by balancing on the stool and taking careful aim. Each box was provisioned with a supply of bleach to keep things as sanitary as possible.) All of this came at a price however; £58 per box (before foundations and services were laid), far more than the wooden hut type which had cost £13 each in Newcastle or £43 for a reinforced concrete standard box as used by the Metropolitan Police.

    Sketch design of the Edinburgh City Police Box, redrawn by self from a copy of the original in the Edinburgh City Archives. The original is signed RSE (Robert Somerville Ellis), 6th September 1928. From Dean of Guild Court of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Police Boxes, Lord Provost, Magistrates and Council of the City of Edinburgh, 26th August 1932.

    On the outside of the box were small doors that gave members of the public access to a Speakerphone that would connect them to police headquarters and another containing a first aid kit. The Speakerphone was a hands-free system activated upon opening of its door. It was felt at the time that the general public were not familiar enough with the use of telephones to provide a handset, and it was also harder to accidentally damage or vandalise.

    A police officer demonstrating the use of the Speakerphone unit. Opening the box door automatically connected the phone to the headquarters switchboard. Photo via Lothian & Borders Police WordPress.

    Despite the best efforts of Macrae’s office to produce a design that was sympathetic to Edinburgh’s built environment, not everyone was pleased. “W.M.H.” wrote to the Evening News that the box at the foot of Drummond Street by the old City Wall was a “case of outrageous vandalism and should be prohibited.” They questioned who in the authorities was responsible for such “outrages” and challenged the city’s heritage watchdog – the Cockburn Association – to “get busy!“. In Portobello, the Communist party had a particularly niche objection; it charged that the boxes were “designed for use in a rebellion” and that “the master class knew that they were driving the workers to desperation, and they were preparing in advance to deal with rebellion“.

    The police box at Drummond Street, immediately in front of the Flodden Wall. The photo dates from 1951 and the box still sports its white stripes applied during WW2 to make it more visible during blackout conditions. Records of RCAHMS, SC1164082. © Crown Copyright: HES

    Boxes were installed throughout 1932 and a considerable public relations exercise was undertaken to get the public to understand how to use them. The Evening News maintained a regular stream of editorials on the subject, Chief Constable Ross gave numerous lectures, model boxes were taken around schools to show children how to use them and Boy Scouts were encouraged to learn the location of as many boxes as possible as part of their Pathfinding badge. In the final run-up to commissioning, public demonstrations of the boxes in use were staged and the press cameras invited.

    Photograph showing a staged accident to demonstrate the use of the public call facility on the new police boxes, along with an operator of the switchboard at police headquarters on the High Street that received the calls. Scotsman, May 26th 1933.

    The box system and “a new era in the history of Edinburgh City Police” was inaugurated in its entirety on Sunday May 28th 1933 at 6AM. This was a year later than intended, a delay that the Lord Provost blamed on the General Post Office which had been slow to install the necessary telephony infrastructure (500 miles of underground and 23 miles of overhead wire).

    Bailie Rutherford Fortune places the first call on from a police box with Chief Constable Ross (dark coat and light hat, with moustache) and Mr F. J. Milne (light coat and dark hat, with umbrella) Secretary of the Post Office in Edinburgh.

    The boxes were only one part of a greater overall system; policing of the city was entirely restructured at this time. The boxes were allocated to four divisions, each with its own headquarters – A at Braid Place, B at Gayfield Square, C at Torphicen Place and D at Leith – and were numbered sequentially and by division. A map of the all their locations as installed in 1933 can be seen here. Each division had a dedicated pool of motor vehicles for response and prisoner transport and was supported by a non-territorial traffic and mounted division (E) based in the Cowgate. At the same moment that the boxes were first unlocked for duty, the doors of nine district police stations (at the Pleasance, West Port, Abbeyhill, Piershill, Stockbridge, Waverley Market, Morningside, Gorgie and Newhaven) and eighteen smaller sub-stations closed for the last time. Most of these sites were disposed of, leaving only the four divisional stations, a sub-divisional station for Portobello plus city police HQ on the High Street.

    The Leith Police. Relaxing on break time with tea and “pieces” at Leith Police station in 1930. Photograph by Photo Press Agency, CC-by-NC-SA via Thelma

    The reduction in manpower required by the box system saw fifteen open vacancies for constables written off, three inspectors and five sergeants made redundant and a further five sergeants demoted to constables. Overall the changes reduced the running cost of the force by £5,800 annually.

    Six or seven constables might be based out of a single box and would serve their entire 8-hour shift from it, returning after every half hour or hour long “turn ” of their beat to check in with base by phone, write up their logbook and take breaks. Check in calls were performed according to a strict timetable and if any officer missed one his absence would be noted and a colleague sent to investigate. Men on duty could expect a visit by a section sergeant once every shift. The boxes were accessed by a universal key, which each officer kept on his chain with his whistle. A blue light on the roof of the box would flash to let him know that there was a call waiting for him. Sometimes these lights had to be mounted on an extension pole to be better seen from a distance and in the case of the box outside the Tron Kirk on the High Street, it was a high-mounted “sky lantern” on the building on the corner with North Bridge.

    The High Street “sky lantern” is still in place on the corner with North Bridge, appropriately mounted next to a symbol of modern police surveillance, the CCTV camera.

    Commencing in 1938, air raid sirens began to be installed on top of the roofs of many of Edinburgh’s boxes as part of the city’s ARP (Air Raid Precautions) measures. By April 1939, thirty two sirens had been installed, all controlled from master switches at HQ on the High Street and tests of the system were under way, helping to familiarise the public with the sound. In May 1940, a writer to the Evening News’ letters page using the pseudonym Tenement Warden and Old Contemptible suggested that police boxes be used to store “machine guns, hand grenades, ammunition and rifles” to deal with enemy paratroopers and “Hitler’s Fifth Column and Fascists all over Britain“. I cannot see that this idea was ever taken seriously!

    Photograph of the type of air raid siren installed on the roof of Edinburgh police boxes. Evening News, 30th November 1938

    In 1939, the annual Estimates of Expenditure of the Town Council reported that there were now 143 police boxes in the city backed up by 40 telephone pillars. Running costs were £3,350, not including £250 for maintenance, £800 for electricity and £3,350 to the Post Office for telephony. The authorised strength of the force was reported as 871, comprising 688 constables, 91 sergeants, 30 inspectors and one each “woman sergeant” and “woman constable“.

    In practice the boxes proved to be stiflingly hot in the summer and bitterly cold in the winter; the issued heater was much to small and badly located, so boxes often sourced their own additional heaters to make them more habitable. On account of the metal structure they “sweated considerably” in damp weather as a result of condensation. The roof interior would eventually be insulated in 1956 to try and tackle this particular issue. All boxes were to have been provided with both electricity and a water supply but in the end economies meant only 86 of the 140 boxes were plumbed in. It was some time before enamel mugs, at 6d per unit, were issued from which the water could be drunk and it took until 1947 for the Town Council to approve an expenditure of £781 to equip each box with an electric kettle for making tea.

    “For Bobby’s Cup of Tea”, Evening News, 5th June 1947

    Uncomfortable they may have been, but the boxes proved to be immensely strong. This was demonstrated in November 1945 when PC John Anderson – on what was his last day of service of a thirty years police career – escaped with a fractured leg when a fire engine crashed into his box at the foot of the Canongate. In 1954, PC Donald Budge walked away from his box at Balgreen with only cuts and bruises after a two ton lamp standard, being installed nearby fell onto the roof of the box he was sitting in. The damage to the box was restricted to a cracked roof, a broken window and cracked sink. Also that year, two constables in the box at Murrayfield Avenue survived it being struck by lightning, although the interior lights, radiator and telephones were put out of service and the air raid siren on the roof activated itself.

    It took the public some time to get used to the new system. In 1936, three years after its institution, Chief Contable W. B. R. Morren lamented that there was a general ignorance, particularly on the part of grown ups, as to the location and facilities offered by boxes. Boxes were always subject to interference and vandalism throughout their working lives. The authorities were keen to make an example of anyone caught in such an act and the first prosecution came in November 1933 when 19 year old Colin Gosschalk was caught breaking into the first aid compartment of the box on Prestonfield Avenue. His defence that a friend had dared him to do it was not accepted and he was fined 10s (the maximum being £2).

    The system was not without its critics as evidenced in the columns of and letters to the Evening News – a particular but unfounded complaint was that constables were either never in the boxes when needed, or spent too much time sheltering within them rather than “on the beat” – a classic of the Schrödinger’s box genre! In an interview with the ‘News in 1946, Chief Constable Morren said that boxes “fulfilled and continues to fulfil a very useful purpose, but… did not develop that contact between the police and the public which was so desirable, and it had been proved that the system had not been the success in that direction that was anticipated”. Brigadier-General Dudgeon, HM Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland said that the box system had “proved to be of value to both the police and the public” but “the beat constable is the eyes and ears of the police, and be careful that the police box system is not overdone.”

    Post-war, policing would begin to change again, with smaller district police stations re-established for the new suburbs. As was the case after its 1920 expansion, it was found once again that the city had “more or less outgrown the numbered strength of the police force“. This was particularly felt in the extensive housing schemes been built since the boxes were introduced and where petty crime and antisocial behaviour were an increasing problem. After the initial roll-out of boxes, too few had been added. For instance, in 1946 just one was approved for the West Pilton housing scheme at the junction of Ferry Road Drive and West Pilton Avenue. The peripheral estates were harder to police on foot as they had a much lower housing density than the inner city, so officers had a far greater distance to cover.

    New council housing at the Inch, 1955, Dinmont Drive. Photograph by A. G. Ingram, © Edinburgh City Libraries

    These issues saw a move in the 1950s away from the “box and beat” approach to policing the suburbs to more mechanisation (cars) and technology (walkie talkies). They continued in use for the centre of the city however, but the last box installed in Edinburgh may have been that erected in Davidson’s Mains in 1958.

    It is all very nice to see policemen going their rounds, but in these days of radio telegraphy the greatly increased use of telephones and the system of 999 calls it is quite reasonable to expect that there should be some saving in the actual pedestrian work

    Bailie Matt A. Murray, Chairman of the Progressive Group of Edinburgh Town Council

    The air raid warning system was renewed and expanded in 1952 with 56 sirens refurbished, ten additional ones installed and the remote control system replaced. The signalling was replaced again in the 1960s and the sirens were replaced in the early 1970s. Just before 1pm on Thursday 5th June 1969, the air raid sirens sounded across Edinburgh as an engineer working at the city Police headquarters on the High Street accidentally activated the system. A similar incident occurred on August 1st 1986 when all sirens in the Lothian & Borders Police areas were accidentally activated at 7:30 in the morning due to a fault in the telephone system.

    Just as Edinburgh had been slow to catch on to adopting police boxes, it was also slow to let them go. While the Metropolitan police started removing boxes in 1969 and demolished its last in 1981, those in Edinburgh were still nominally in active service into the 1990s. After 1984 however the Chief Constable wanted all officers to have a daily briefing at a station before they came on duty and so after then they were more rarely used and many that were found themselves relegated to providing shelter and storage for traffic wardens. In 1993 the air raid sirens were deactivated by the Scottish Office and in 1995 the Lothian & Borders Police Board deemed thirty five of the eighty six remaining boxes were surplus to requirements and put them up for auction, seeking to save the £500 per annum per box maintenance costs of the increasingly dilapidated estate.

    Newspaper advert, Scotsman, June 13th 1995, advertising the sale of 35 surplus police boxes

    These were the first boxes maid available on the open market and generated much interest; a variety of proposals from public toilets to newspaper kiosks to air quality monitoring stations to removing the boxes entirely to install them as curios in pubs or people’s gardens were proposed. In 1990, the predecessor of Historic Environment Scotland listed thirteen boxes as Category B to protect them (there are now a total of seventeen) and the city’s Planning Convenor would issue guidelines requiring any changes to the boxes or their interiors needing planning permission.

    Former lawyer Gordon Thomson purchased eight boxes and, as American-style coffee drinking swept across the nation, established a small chain of bijou “cappuccino kiosks” called the California Coffee Company. Thomson may not have realised it, but his innovation was very close to recreating a street scene once common in 18th century Edinburgh. A 2000 attempt by Feyzullah Marasli to emulate this success by converting a box on Princes Street into a coffee kiosk came to nothing when it was discovered that despite him refurbishing the box, changing the locks on it, paying £400 to have an electricity supply installed and applying for the necessary Street Trader’s Licence, he neither owned nor leased the box in question and it was still in operational use by the Police!

    ‘A street coffee house Edinburgh’. Paul Sandby, 1750s, Royal Collection Trust RCIN 914503

    Lothian & Borders Police attempted to rehabilitate some boxes in the late 1990s by installing touch screen public information points with a video-link to a police station within them. The first such box was unveiled to the press on Princes Street in 1998 at a cost of £10,000. It had 61,000 “hits” during its first year of operation and was judged to have been a success, with two further such boxes converted, however funding never followed through and the innovation was allowed to lapse.

    Eleven more boxes were auctioned in 2001, advertised as “an exciting and unique opportunity to obtain a distinctive piece of cast iron street furniture with potential for a wide range of uses“. In 2002, the BBC successfully trademarked the London-style Police Box in connection with Dr. Who and the TARDIS, despite the Metropolitan Police contesting the application with the Registrar of Trade Marks. This did not apply to Edinburgh’s unique boxes, which are categorically not TARDISes, despite what some may say! From 2012 to 2013, the police box at Braid Hills Approach was restored to exhibition standard as a small museum by Angus Self, a great grandson of Chief Constable Roderick Ross. In 2014, fourteen of the remaining boxes were sold off, leaving just one in Police ownership.

    ‘SwimEasy’ Police Box Museum, Braid Hills Road. CC-by-NC SA 2.0, M J Richardson

    The boxes may now be entirely operationally defunct, but they remain throughout the city and many are in daily use. In fact I’m just back from visiting one this afternoon, It may not be a TARDIS but an architectural time traveller it was!

    Late night Brazilian crepes anyone? A police box has you covered… CC-by-NC 2.0, Joe Gordon via Flickr

    If you have found this useful, informative or amusing, perhaps you would like to help contribute towards the running costs of this site – including keeping it ad-free and my book-buying budget to find further stories to bring you – by supporting me on ko-fi. Or please do just share this post on social media or amongst friends.

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  29. Andy Arthur - Threadinburgh @[email protected] ·

    The thread about the Edinburgh Police Box; architectural Time Traveller but no TARDIS!

    The year 2024 was celebrated as the 900th anniversary of the “foundation” of the city of Edinburgh and 2025 is also an important local commemoration; the centenary of the appointment of the wonderfully named Ebenezer James (“E.J.“) Macrae as City Architect. His twenty years of service was a time of great change in our built environment and his office was directly responsible for much of that, not without good cause has he been dubbed “the man who shaped modern Edinburgh“. His tenure is characterised by both the volume of public buildings and housing that was erected and also their distinctive style; at once both modern in form and function but also very sympathetic to tradition. A splendid example of that contrast is the Edinburgh Police Box; a mix of anachronistic classical styling and what was then the cutting edge of modern policing.

    Former police box at corner of Waverley Bridge and Market Street. CC-by-NC-SA 2.0, Ian T. Edwards via Flickr.

    The first police boxes with telephones were established in Chicago back in 1881, just 5 years after the unveiling of the telephone itself by a son of Edinburgh. In 1923, Chief Constable Frederick Crawley of Newcastle City Police instituted what would become known as the Police Box System to Sunderland and in doing so revolutionised British policing. He was looking to increase the efficiency of his his force and focused on trying to reduce time spent by officers walking to and from their beats; he estimated up to a quarter of each man’s time on shift was wasted in this manner. His solution was decentralisation. By placing many small, telephone-equipped police boxes at strategic points throughout the city, officers had shorter distances to walk and could devote more time to duty. Crawley recognised this would place the police more centrally within the communities they were expected to serve, creating a ready point of contact for the public – thus increasing the efficiency of reporting emergencies and also making it far easier for the police to contact and coordinate their own officers. Boxes could also be used as temporary lock ups for prisoners while transport was summoned, avoiding the long and often dangerous walks with them back to a police station. A final and significant attraction was that the increased efficiency also allowed the closure of most district police stations and therefore afforded a significant cost saving.

    Wooden police box of the type instituted by Crawley for Newcastle City Police. Note the public-facing telephone and first aid boxes mounted to the left of the door. From The Police Journal, vol.1, No.1, January 1928

    Police boxes soon spread across the country but Edinburgh, as is often the case, was rather slow to catch on. It was not until May 1928 that a deputation was sent by Chief Constable Roderick Ross from the Edinburgh City Police to inspect the system in Newcastle. This was at the insistence of the Scottish Office who refused to sanction an increase in headcount for Ross and instead wanted efficiencies. He submitted a strongly favourable report to the Town Council, which approved a box system for the city in 1929. Ross served as Chief Constable for the exceptional term of 34 years and it was towards the end of his long watch that his force would be wholly and rapidly modernised.

    Roderick Ross, when Chief Constable of Ramsgate Borough Police c. 1898

    The Edinburgh Evening News threw its editorial weight behind the scheme but also amplified significant local concerns that the appearance of boxes would have a detrimental effect on the city. As the system spread, there had been a plethora of different design styles before a utilitarian, standardised version was developed for the Metropolitan Police by the architect George Mackenzie Trench. Trench’s design is instantly familiar to generations of Dr. Who fans as the TARDIS. But “Cheapness has been obtained in England” wrote the News’ editor “by mass production, but Edinburgh has an architectural standard of its own, which the Cockburn Association endeavours to maintain.” The gauntlet was thus thrown down to the City Architect’s office that something altogether different and better was needed.

    George Mackenzie Trench standard police box at the National Tramway Museum, Crich. Note the light on the roof, which would flash to indicate an officer was required to attend the box. CC-by-SA 3.0 Dan Sellers via Wikimedia

    E.J. Macrae, along with his assistants Andrew Rollo and James A. Tweedie are credited with the design of the Edinburgh Box, with the signature of their colleague Robert Somerville Ellis on some of the drawings. The initial inspiration may have been taken from the barrel-topped box used in Sheffield which was used as an illustrative example by the Evening News. Two alternative designs were prepared and plans and models were put to the Lord Provost’s Committee in December 1929. The preferred option was then “submitted for the consideration of the Fine Art Commission“. After that a full-size wooden mock-up was erected on the corner of George Street and Frederick Street in October 1930 to test the practicalities of installing boxes and also to familiarise both the police and the public with the design.

    Sheffield City Police box, as used as an illustrative example by the Evening News. September 13th 1938

    The approved box was, dare I say it, an iconic piece of British street furniture design, unique to the city and instantly at home in its environment. It is described in architectural terms thusly:

    Rectangular cast-iron police box with classical details, 6ft by 4ft on plan, 2-bay pilastered long elevations, one of which contains door bearing City Arms. Painted blue. Single bay short elevations surmounted by open pediments containing ribboned wreath paterae. Saltire patterned glazing to all elevations. Low-pitched roof.

    Official description of the Edinburgh Police Box from Historic Scotland listing

    Each box was constructed of prefabricated cast iron panels produced by the Carron Company in Stirlingshire and tipped the scales at over two tons. The understated classical styling was decorated only with a small cast iron castle motif from the city’s coat of arms on the door and on each gable a wreath; symbolising power or triumph. Inside they were equipped with a desk, flip-down seat, telephone, sink and a small wall-mounted electric heater. There was shelving, pigeon holes and notice boards on the walls to accommodate items such as logbooks and forms and hooks were provided for hanging coats, helmets and capes. Hooks were provided for “beat keys”, premises officers on duty were expected to visit and check, or need access to, during their duties. An unofficial but entirely necessary function of the sink was an ersatz urinal; 8 hours in a district with few or no public toilets was a long time for a beat officer to spend without spending any pennies! (This was apparently best achieved by balancing on the stool and taking careful aim. Each box was provisioned with a supply of bleach to keep things as sanitary as possible.) All of this came at a price however; £58 per box (before foundations and services were laid), far more than the wooden hut type which had cost £13 each in Newcastle or £43 for a reinforced concrete standard box as used by the Metropolitan Police.

    Sketch design of the Edinburgh City Police Box, redrawn by self from a copy of the original in the Edinburgh City Archives. The original is signed RSE (Robert Somerville Ellis), 6th September 1928. From Dean of Guild Court of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Police Boxes, Lord Provost, Magistrates and Council of the City of Edinburgh, 26th August 1932.

    On the outside of the box were small doors that gave members of the public access to a Speakerphone that would connect them to police headquarters and another containing a first aid kit. The Speakerphone was a hands-free system activated upon opening of its door. It was felt at the time that the general public were not familiar enough with the use of telephones to provide a handset, and it was also harder to accidentally damage or vandalise.

    A police officer demonstrating the use of the Speakerphone unit. Opening the box door automatically connected the phone to the headquarters switchboard. Photo via Lothian & Borders Police WordPress.

    Despite the best efforts of Macrae’s office to produce a design that was sympathetic to Edinburgh’s built environment, not everyone was pleased. “W.M.H.” wrote to the Evening News that the box at the foot of Drummond Street by the old City Wall was a “case of outrageous vandalism and should be prohibited.” They questioned who in the authorities was responsible for such “outrages” and challenged the city’s heritage watchdog – the Cockburn Association – to “get busy!“. In Portobello, the Communist party had a particularly niche objection; it charged that the boxes were “designed for use in a rebellion” and that “the master class knew that they were driving the workers to desperation, and they were preparing in advance to deal with rebellion“.

    The police box at Drummond Street, immediately in front of the Flodden Wall. The photo dates from 1951 and the box still sports its white stripes applied during WW2 to make it more visible during blackout conditions. Records of RCAHMS, SC1164082. © Crown Copyright: HES

    Boxes were installed throughout 1932 and a considerable public relations exercise was undertaken to get the public to understand how to use them. The Evening News maintained a regular stream of editorials on the subject, Chief Constable Ross gave numerous lectures, model boxes were taken around schools to show children how to use them and Boy Scouts were encouraged to learn the location of as many boxes as possible as part of their Pathfinding badge. In the final run-up to commissioning, public demonstrations of the boxes in use were staged and the press cameras invited.

    Photograph showing a staged accident to demonstrate the use of the public call facility on the new police boxes, along with an operator of the switchboard at police headquarters on the High Street that received the calls. Scotsman, May 26th 1933.

    The box system and “a new era in the history of Edinburgh City Police” was inaugurated in its entirety on Sunday May 28th 1933 at 6AM. This was a year later than intended, a delay that the Lord Provost blamed on the General Post Office which had been slow to install the necessary telephony infrastructure (500 miles of underground and 23 miles of overhead wire).

    Bailie Rutherford Fortune places the first call on from a police box with Chief Constable Ross (dark coat and light hat, with moustache) and Mr F. J. Milne (light coat and dark hat, with umbrella) Secretary of the Post Office in Edinburgh.

    The boxes were only one part of a greater overall system; policing of the city was entirely restructured at this time. The boxes were allocated to four divisions, each with its own headquarters – A at Braid Place, B at Gayfield Square, C at Torphicen Place and D at Leith – and were numbered sequentially and by division. A map of the all their locations as installed in 1933 can be seen here. Each division had a dedicated pool of motor vehicles for response and prisoner transport and was supported by a non-territorial traffic and mounted division (E) based in the Cowgate. At the same moment that the boxes were first unlocked for duty, the doors of nine district police stations (at the Pleasance, West Port, Abbeyhill, Piershill, Stockbridge, Waverley Market, Morningside, Gorgie and Newhaven) and eighteen smaller sub-stations closed for the last time. Most of these sites were disposed of, leaving only the four divisional stations, a sub-divisional station for Portobello plus city police HQ on the High Street.

    The Leith Police. Relaxing on break time with tea and “pieces” at Leith Police station in 1930. Photograph by Photo Press Agency, CC-by-NC-SA via Thelma

    The reduction in manpower required by the box system saw fifteen open vacancies for constables written off, three inspectors and five sergeants made redundant and a further five sergeants demoted to constables. Overall the changes reduced the running cost of the force by £5,800 annually.

    Six or seven constables might be based out of a single box and would serve their entire 8-hour shift from it, returning after every half hour or hour long “turn ” of their beat to check in with base by phone, write up their logbook and take breaks. Check in calls were performed according to a strict timetable and if any officer missed one his absence would be noted and a colleague sent to investigate. Men on duty could expect a visit by a section sergeant once every shift. The boxes were accessed by a universal key, which each officer kept on his chain with his whistle. A blue light on the roof of the box would flash to let him know that there was a call waiting for him. Sometimes these lights had to be mounted on an extension pole to be better seen from a distance and in the case of the box outside the Tron Kirk on the High Street, it was a high-mounted “sky lantern” on the building on the corner with North Bridge.

    The High Street “sky lantern” is still in place on the corner with North Bridge, appropriately mounted next to a symbol of modern police surveillance, the CCTV camera.

    Commencing in 1938, air raid sirens began to be installed on top of the roofs of many of Edinburgh’s boxes as part of the city’s ARP (Air Raid Precautions) measures. By April 1939, thirty two sirens had been installed, all controlled from master switches at HQ on the High Street and tests of the system were under way, helping to familiarise the public with the sound. In May 1940, a writer to the Evening News’ letters page using the pseudonym Tenement Warden and Old Contemptible suggested that police boxes be used to store “machine guns, hand grenades, ammunition and rifles” to deal with enemy paratroopers and “Hitler’s Fifth Column and Fascists all over Britain“. I cannot see that this idea was ever taken seriously!

    Photograph of the type of air raid siren installed on the roof of Edinburgh police boxes. Evening News, 30th November 1938

    In 1939, the annual Estimates of Expenditure of the Town Council reported that there were now 143 police boxes in the city backed up by 40 telephone pillars. Running costs were £3,350, not including £250 for maintenance, £800 for electricity and £3,350 to the Post Office for telephony. The authorised strength of the force was reported as 871, comprising 688 constables, 91 sergeants, 30 inspectors and one each “woman sergeant” and “woman constable“.

    In practice the boxes proved to be stiflingly hot in the summer and bitterly cold in the winter; the issued heater was much to small and badly located, so boxes often sourced their own additional heaters to make them more habitable. On account of the metal structure they “sweated considerably” in damp weather as a result of condensation. The roof interior would eventually be insulated in 1956 to try and tackle this particular issue. All boxes were to have been provided with both electricity and a water supply but in the end economies meant only 86 of the 140 boxes were plumbed in. It was some time before enamel mugs, at 6d per unit, were issued from which the water could be drunk and it took until 1947 for the Town Council to approve an expenditure of £781 to equip each box with an electric kettle for making tea.

    “For Bobby’s Cup of Tea”, Evening News, 5th June 1947

    Uncomfortable they may have been, but the boxes proved to be immensely strong. This was demonstrated in November 1945 when PC John Anderson – on what was his last day of service of a thirty years police career – escaped with a fractured leg when a fire engine crashed into his box at the foot of the Canongate. In 1954, PC Donald Budge walked away from his box at Balgreen with only cuts and bruises after a two ton lamp standard, being installed nearby fell onto the roof of the box he was sitting in. The damage to the box was restricted to a cracked roof, a broken window and cracked sink. Also that year, two constables in the box at Murrayfield Avenue survived it being struck by lightning, although the interior lights, radiator and telephones were put out of service and the air raid siren on the roof activated itself.

    It took the public some time to get used to the new system. In 1936, three years after its institution, Chief Contable W. B. R. Morren lamented that there was a general ignorance, particularly on the part of grown ups, as to the location and facilities offered by boxes. Boxes were always subject to interference and vandalism throughout their working lives. The authorities were keen to make an example of anyone caught in such an act and the first prosecution came in November 1933 when 19 year old Colin Gosschalk was caught breaking into the first aid compartment of the box on Prestonfield Avenue. His defence that a friend had dared him to do it was not accepted and he was fined 10s (the maximum being £2).

    The system was not without its critics as evidenced in the columns of and letters to the Evening News – a particular but unfounded complaint was that constables were either never in the boxes when needed, or spent too much time sheltering within them rather than “on the beat” – a classic of the Schrödinger’s box genre! In an interview with the ‘News in 1946, Chief Constable Morren said that boxes “fulfilled and continues to fulfil a very useful purpose, but… did not develop that contact between the police and the public which was so desirable, and it had been proved that the system had not been the success in that direction that was anticipated”. Brigadier-General Dudgeon, HM Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland said that the box system had “proved to be of value to both the police and the public” but “the beat constable is the eyes and ears of the police, and be careful that the police box system is not overdone.”

    Post-war, policing would begin to change again, with smaller district police stations re-established for the new suburbs. As was the case after its 1920 expansion, it was found once again that the city had “more or less outgrown the numbered strength of the police force“. This was particularly felt in the extensive housing schemes been built since the boxes were introduced and where petty crime and antisocial behaviour were an increasing problem. After the initial roll-out of boxes, too few had been added. For instance, in 1946 just one was approved for the West Pilton housing scheme at the junction of Ferry Road Drive and West Pilton Avenue. The peripheral estates were harder to police on foot as they had a much lower housing density than the inner city, so officers had a far greater distance to cover.

    New council housing at the Inch, 1955, Dinmont Drive. Photograph by A. G. Ingram, © Edinburgh City Libraries

    These issues saw a move in the 1950s away from the “box and beat” approach to policing the suburbs to more mechanisation (cars) and technology (walkie talkies). They continued in use for the centre of the city however, but the last box installed in Edinburgh may have been that erected in Davidson’s Mains in 1958.

    It is all very nice to see policemen going their rounds, but in these days of radio telegraphy the greatly increased use of telephones and the system of 999 calls it is quite reasonable to expect that there should be some saving in the actual pedestrian work

    Bailie Matt A. Murray, Chairman of the Progressive Group of Edinburgh Town Council

    The air raid warning system was renewed and expanded in 1952 with 56 sirens refurbished, ten additional ones installed and the remote control system replaced. The signalling was replaced again in the 1960s and the sirens were replaced in the early 1970s. Just before 1pm on Thursday 5th June 1969, the air raid sirens sounded across Edinburgh as an engineer working at the city Police headquarters on the High Street accidentally activated the system. A similar incident occurred on August 1st 1986 when all sirens in the Lothian & Borders Police areas were accidentally activated at 7:30 in the morning due to a fault in the telephone system.

    Just as Edinburgh had been slow to catch on to adopting police boxes, it was also slow to let them go. While the Metropolitan police started removing boxes in 1969 and demolished its last in 1981, those in Edinburgh were still nominally in active service into the 1990s. After 1984 however the Chief Constable wanted all officers to have a daily briefing at a station before they came on duty and so after then they were more rarely used and many that were found themselves relegated to providing shelter and storage for traffic wardens. In 1993 the air raid sirens were deactivated by the Scottish Office and in 1995 the Lothian & Borders Police Board deemed thirty five of the eighty six remaining boxes were surplus to requirements and put them up for auction, seeking to save the £500 per annum per box maintenance costs of the increasingly dilapidated estate.

    Newspaper advert, Scotsman, June 13th 1995, advertising the sale of 35 surplus police boxes

    These were the first boxes maid available on the open market and generated much interest; a variety of proposals from public toilets to newspaper kiosks to air quality monitoring stations to removing the boxes entirely to install them as curios in pubs or people’s gardens were proposed. In 1990, the predecessor of Historic Environment Scotland listed thirteen boxes as Category B to protect them (there are now a total of seventeen) and the city’s Planning Convenor would issue guidelines requiring any changes to the boxes or their interiors needing planning permission.

    Former lawyer Gordon Thomson purchased eight boxes and, as American-style coffee drinking swept across the nation, established a small chain of bijou “cappuccino kiosks” called the California Coffee Company. Thomson may not have realised it, but his innovation was very close to recreating a street scene once common in 18th century Edinburgh. A 2000 attempt by Feyzullah Marasli to emulate this success by converting a box on Princes Street into a coffee kiosk came to nothing when it was discovered that despite him refurbishing the box, changing the locks on it, paying £400 to have an electricity supply installed and applying for the necessary Street Trader’s Licence, he neither owned nor leased the box in question and it was still in operational use by the Police!

    ‘A street coffee house Edinburgh’. Paul Sandby, 1750s, Royal Collection Trust RCIN 914503

    Lothian & Borders Police attempted to rehabilitate some boxes in the late 1990s by installing touch screen public information points with a video-link to a police station within them. The first such box was unveiled to the press on Princes Street in 1998 at a cost of £10,000. It had 61,000 “hits” during its first year of operation and was judged to have been a success, with two further such boxes converted, however funding never followed through and the innovation was allowed to lapse.

    Eleven more boxes were auctioned in 2001, advertised as “an exciting and unique opportunity to obtain a distinctive piece of cast iron street furniture with potential for a wide range of uses“. In 2002, the BBC successfully trademarked the London-style Police Box in connection with Dr. Who and the TARDIS, despite the Metropolitan Police contesting the application with the Registrar of Trade Marks. This did not apply to Edinburgh’s unique boxes, which are categorically not TARDISes, despite what some may say! From 2012 to 2013, the police box at Braid Hills Approach was restored to exhibition standard as a small museum by Angus Self, a great grandson of Chief Constable Roderick Ross. In 2014, fourteen of the remaining boxes were sold off, leaving just one in Police ownership.

    ‘SwimEasy’ Police Box Museum, Braid Hills Road. CC-by-NC SA 2.0, M J Richardson

    The boxes may now be entirely operationally defunct, but they remain throughout the city and many are in daily use. In fact I’m just back from visiting one this afternoon, It may not be a TARDIS but an architectural time traveller it was!

    Late night Brazilian crepes anyone? A police box has you covered… CC-by-NC 2.0, Joe Gordon via Flickr

    If you have found this useful, informative or amusing, perhaps you would like to help contribute towards the running costs of this site – including keeping it ad-free and my book-buying budget to find further stories to bring you – by supporting me on ko-fi. Or please do just share this post on social media or amongst friends.

    These threads © 2017-2025, Andy Arthur.

    NO AI TRAINING: Any use of the contents of this website to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.

    #architecture #CityArchitect #EbenezerJamesMacrae #Police #PoliceBox #Policing #RoderickRoss #StreetFurniture #Written2025

    #written2025 #streetfurniture #roderickross #policing #policebox #police
  30. Andy Arthur - Threadinburgh @[email protected] ·

    The thread about the Edinburgh Police Box; architectural Time Traveller but no TARDIS!

    The year 2024 was celebrated as the 900th anniversary of the “foundation” of the city of Edinburgh and 2025 is also an important local commemoration; the centenary of the appointment of the wonderfully named Ebenezer James (“E.J.“) Macrae as City Architect. His twenty years of service was a time of great change in our built environment and his office was directly responsible for much of that, not without good cause has he been dubbed “the man who shaped modern Edinburgh“. His tenure is characterised by both the volume of public buildings and housing that was erected and also their distinctive style; at once both modern in form and function but also very sympathetic to tradition. A splendid example of that contrast is the Edinburgh Police Box; a mix of anachronistic classical styling and what was then the cutting edge of modern policing.

    Former police box at corner of Waverley Bridge and Market Street. CC-by-NC-SA 2.0, Ian T. Edwards via Flickr.

    The first police boxes with telephones were established in Chicago back in 1881, just 5 years after the unveiling of the telephone itself by a son of Edinburgh. In 1923, Chief Constable Frederick Crawley of Newcastle City Police instituted what would become known as the Police Box System to Sunderland and in doing so revolutionised British policing. He was looking to increase the efficiency of his his force and focused on trying to reduce time spent by officers walking to and from their beats; he estimated up to a quarter of each man’s time on shift was wasted in this manner. His solution was decentralisation. By placing many small, telephone-equipped police boxes at strategic points throughout the city, officers had shorter distances to walk and could devote more time to duty. Crawley recognised this would place the police more centrally within the communities they were expected to serve, creating a ready point of contact for the public – thus increasing the efficiency of reporting emergencies and also making it far easier for the police to contact and coordinate their own officers. Boxes could also be used as temporary lock ups for prisoners while transport was summoned, avoiding the long and often dangerous walks with them back to a police station. A final and significant attraction was that the increased efficiency also allowed the closure of most district police stations and therefore afforded a significant cost saving.

    Wooden police box of the type instituted by Crawley for Newcastle City Police. Note the public-facing telephone and first aid boxes mounted to the left of the door. From The Police Journal, vol.1, No.1, January 1928

    Police boxes soon spread across the country but Edinburgh, as is often the case, was rather slow to catch on. It was not until May 1928 that a deputation was sent by Chief Constable Roderick Ross from the Edinburgh City Police to inspect the system in Newcastle. This was at the insistence of the Scottish Office who refused to sanction an increase in headcount for Ross and instead wanted efficiencies. He submitted a strongly favourable report to the Town Council, which approved a box system for the city in 1929. Ross served as Chief Constable for the exceptional term of 34 years and it was towards the end of his long watch that his force would be wholly and rapidly modernised.

    Roderick Ross, when Chief Constable of Ramsgate Borough Police c. 1898

    The Edinburgh Evening News threw its editorial weight behind the scheme but also amplified significant local concerns that the appearance of boxes would have a detrimental effect on the city. As the system spread, there had been a plethora of different design styles before a utilitarian, standardised version was developed for the Metropolitan Police by the architect George Mackenzie Trench. Trench’s design is instantly familiar to generations of Dr. Who fans as the TARDIS. But “Cheapness has been obtained in England” wrote the News’ editor “by mass production, but Edinburgh has an architectural standard of its own, which the Cockburn Association endeavours to maintain.” The gauntlet was thus thrown down to the City Architect’s office that something altogether different and better was needed.

    George Mackenzie Trench standard police box at the National Tramway Museum, Crich. Note the light on the roof, which would flash to indicate an officer was required to attend the box. CC-by-SA 3.0 Dan Sellers via Wikimedia

    E.J. Macrae, along with his assistants Andrew Rollo and James A. Tweedie are credited with the design of the Edinburgh Box, with the signature of their colleague Robert Somerville Ellis on some of the drawings. The initial inspiration may have been taken from the barrel-topped box used in Sheffield which was used as an illustrative example by the Evening News. Two alternative designs were prepared and plans and models were put to the Lord Provost’s Committee in December 1929. The preferred option was then “submitted for the consideration of the Fine Art Commission“. After that a full-size wooden mock-up was erected on the corner of George Street and Frederick Street in October 1930 to test the practicalities of installing boxes and also to familiarise both the police and the public with the design.

    Sheffield City Police box, as used as an illustrative example by the Evening News. September 13th 1938

    The approved box was, dare I say it, an iconic piece of British street furniture design, unique to the city and instantly at home in its environment. It is described in architectural terms thusly:

    Rectangular cast-iron police box with classical details, 6ft by 4ft on plan, 2-bay pilastered long elevations, one of which contains door bearing City Arms. Painted blue. Single bay short elevations surmounted by open pediments containing ribboned wreath paterae. Saltire patterned glazing to all elevations. Low-pitched roof.

    Official description of the Edinburgh Police Box from Historic Scotland listing

    Each box was constructed of prefabricated cast iron panels produced by the Carron Company in Stirlingshire and tipped the scales at over two tons. The understated classical styling was decorated only with a small cast iron castle motif from the city’s coat of arms on the door and on each gable a wreath; symbolising power or triumph. Inside they were equipped with a desk, flip-down seat, telephone, sink and a small wall-mounted electric heater. There was shelving, pigeon holes and notice boards on the walls to accommodate items such as logbooks and forms and hooks were provided for hanging coats, helmets and capes. Hooks were provided for “beat keys”, premises officers on duty were expected to visit and check, or need access to, during their duties. An unofficial but entirely necessary function of the sink was an ersatz urinal; 8 hours in a district with few or no public toilets was a long time for a beat officer to spend without spending any pennies! (This was apparently best achieved by balancing on the stool and taking careful aim. Each box was provisioned with a supply of bleach to keep things as sanitary as possible.) All of this came at a price however; £58 per box (before foundations and services were laid), far more than the wooden hut type which had cost £13 each in Newcastle or £43 for a reinforced concrete standard box as used by the Metropolitan Police.

    Sketch design of the Edinburgh City Police Box, redrawn by self from a copy of the original in the Edinburgh City Archives. The original is signed RSE (Robert Somerville Ellis), 6th September 1928. From Dean of Guild Court of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Police Boxes, Lord Provost, Magistrates and Council of the City of Edinburgh, 26th August 1932.

    On the outside of the box were small doors that gave members of the public access to a Speakerphone that would connect them to police headquarters and another containing a first aid kit. The Speakerphone was a hands-free system activated upon opening of its door. It was felt at the time that the general public were not familiar enough with the use of telephones to provide a handset, and it was also harder to accidentally damage or vandalise.

    A police officer demonstrating the use of the Speakerphone unit. Opening the box door automatically connected the phone to the headquarters switchboard. Photo via Lothian & Borders Police WordPress.

    Despite the best efforts of Macrae’s office to produce a design that was sympathetic to Edinburgh’s built environment, not everyone was pleased. “W.M.H.” wrote to the Evening News that the box at the foot of Drummond Street by the old City Wall was a “case of outrageous vandalism and should be prohibited.” They questioned who in the authorities was responsible for such “outrages” and challenged the city’s heritage watchdog – the Cockburn Association – to “get busy!“. In Portobello, the Communist party had a particularly niche objection; it charged that the boxes were “designed for use in a rebellion” and that “the master class knew that they were driving the workers to desperation, and they were preparing in advance to deal with rebellion“.

    The police box at Drummond Street, immediately in front of the Flodden Wall. The photo dates from 1951 and the box still sports its white stripes applied during WW2 to make it more visible during blackout conditions. Records of RCAHMS, SC1164082. © Crown Copyright: HES

    Boxes were installed throughout 1932 and a considerable public relations exercise was undertaken to get the public to understand how to use them. The Evening News maintained a regular stream of editorials on the subject, Chief Constable Ross gave numerous lectures, model boxes were taken around schools to show children how to use them and Boy Scouts were encouraged to learn the location of as many boxes as possible as part of their Pathfinding badge. In the final run-up to commissioning, public demonstrations of the boxes in use were staged and the press cameras invited.

    Photograph showing a staged accident to demonstrate the use of the public call facility on the new police boxes, along with an operator of the switchboard at police headquarters on the High Street that received the calls. Scotsman, May 26th 1933.

    The box system and “a new era in the history of Edinburgh City Police” was inaugurated in its entirety on Sunday May 28th 1933 at 6AM. This was a year later than intended, a delay that the Lord Provost blamed on the General Post Office which had been slow to install the necessary telephony infrastructure (500 miles of underground and 23 miles of overhead wire).

    Bailie Rutherford Fortune places the first call on from a police box with Chief Constable Ross (dark coat and light hat, with moustache) and Mr F. J. Milne (light coat and dark hat, with umbrella) Secretary of the Post Office in Edinburgh.

    The boxes were only one part of a greater overall system; policing of the city was entirely restructured at this time. The boxes were allocated to four divisions, each with its own headquarters – A at Braid Place, B at Gayfield Square, C at Torphicen Place and D at Leith – and were numbered sequentially and by division. A map of the all their locations as installed in 1933 can be seen here. Each division had a dedicated pool of motor vehicles for response and prisoner transport and was supported by a non-territorial traffic and mounted division (E) based in the Cowgate. At the same moment that the boxes were first unlocked for duty, the doors of nine district police stations (at the Pleasance, West Port, Abbeyhill, Piershill, Stockbridge, Waverley Market, Morningside, Gorgie and Newhaven) and eighteen smaller sub-stations closed for the last time. Most of these sites were disposed of, leaving only the four divisional stations, a sub-divisional station for Portobello plus city police HQ on the High Street.

    The Leith Police. Relaxing on break time with tea and “pieces” at Leith Police station in 1930. Photograph by Photo Press Agency, CC-by-NC-SA via Thelma

    The reduction in manpower required by the box system saw fifteen open vacancies for constables written off, three inspectors and five sergeants made redundant and a further five sergeants demoted to constables. Overall the changes reduced the running cost of the force by £5,800 annually.

    Six or seven constables might be based out of a single box and would serve their entire 8-hour shift from it, returning after every half hour or hour long “turn ” of their beat to check in with base by phone, write up their logbook and take breaks. Check in calls were performed according to a strict timetable and if any officer missed one his absence would be noted and a colleague sent to investigate. Men on duty could expect a visit by a section sergeant once every shift. The boxes were accessed by a universal key, which each officer kept on his chain with his whistle. A blue light on the roof of the box would flash to let him know that there was a call waiting for him. Sometimes these lights had to be mounted on an extension pole to be better seen from a distance and in the case of the box outside the Tron Kirk on the High Street, it was a high-mounted “sky lantern” on the building on the corner with North Bridge.

    The High Street “sky lantern” is still in place on the corner with North Bridge, appropriately mounted next to a symbol of modern police surveillance, the CCTV camera.

    Commencing in 1938, air raid sirens began to be installed on top of the roofs of many of Edinburgh’s boxes as part of the city’s ARP (Air Raid Precautions) measures. By April 1939, thirty two sirens had been installed, all controlled from master switches at HQ on the High Street and tests of the system were under way, helping to familiarise the public with the sound. In May 1940, a writer to the Evening News’ letters page using the pseudonym Tenement Warden and Old Contemptible suggested that police boxes be used to store “machine guns, hand grenades, ammunition and rifles” to deal with enemy paratroopers and “Hitler’s Fifth Column and Fascists all over Britain“. I cannot see that this idea was ever taken seriously!

    Photograph of the type of air raid siren installed on the roof of Edinburgh police boxes. Evening News, 30th November 1938

    In 1939, the annual Estimates of Expenditure of the Town Council reported that there were now 143 police boxes in the city backed up by 40 telephone pillars. Running costs were £3,350, not including £250 for maintenance, £800 for electricity and £3,350 to the Post Office for telephony. The authorised strength of the force was reported as 871, comprising 688 constables, 91 sergeants, 30 inspectors and one each “woman sergeant” and “woman constable“.

    In practice the boxes proved to be stiflingly hot in the summer and bitterly cold in the winter; the issued heater was much to small and badly located, so boxes often sourced their own additional heaters to make them more habitable. On account of the metal structure they “sweated considerably” in damp weather as a result of condensation. The roof interior would eventually be insulated in 1956 to try and tackle this particular issue. All boxes were to have been provided with both electricity and a water supply but in the end economies meant only 86 of the 140 boxes were plumbed in. It was some time before enamel mugs, at 6d per unit, were issued from which the water could be drunk and it took until 1947 for the Town Council to approve an expenditure of £781 to equip each box with an electric kettle for making tea.

    “For Bobby’s Cup of Tea”, Evening News, 5th June 1947

    Uncomfortable they may have been, but the boxes proved to be immensely strong. This was demonstrated in November 1945 when PC John Anderson – on what was his last day of service of a thirty years police career – escaped with a fractured leg when a fire engine crashed into his box at the foot of the Canongate. In 1954, PC Donald Budge walked away from his box at Balgreen with only cuts and bruises after a two ton lamp standard, being installed nearby fell onto the roof of the box he was sitting in. The damage to the box was restricted to a cracked roof, a broken window and cracked sink. Also that year, two constables in the box at Murrayfield Avenue survived it being struck by lightning, although the interior lights, radiator and telephones were put out of service and the air raid siren on the roof activated itself.

    It took the public some time to get used to the new system. In 1936, three years after its institution, Chief Contable W. B. R. Morren lamented that there was a general ignorance, particularly on the part of grown ups, as to the location and facilities offered by boxes. Boxes were always subject to interference and vandalism throughout their working lives. The authorities were keen to make an example of anyone caught in such an act and the first prosecution came in November 1933 when 19 year old Colin Gosschalk was caught breaking into the first aid compartment of the box on Prestonfield Avenue. His defence that a friend had dared him to do it was not accepted and he was fined 10s (the maximum being £2).

    The system was not without its critics as evidenced in the columns of and letters to the Evening News – a particular but unfounded complaint was that constables were either never in the boxes when needed, or spent too much time sheltering within them rather than “on the beat” – a classic of the Schrödinger’s box genre! In an interview with the ‘News in 1946, Chief Constable Morren said that boxes “fulfilled and continues to fulfil a very useful purpose, but… did not develop that contact between the police and the public which was so desirable, and it had been proved that the system had not been the success in that direction that was anticipated”. Brigadier-General Dudgeon, HM Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland said that the box system had “proved to be of value to both the police and the public” but “the beat constable is the eyes and ears of the police, and be careful that the police box system is not overdone.”

    Post-war, policing would begin to change again, with smaller district police stations re-established for the new suburbs. As was the case after its 1920 expansion, it was found once again that the city had “more or less outgrown the numbered strength of the police force“. This was particularly felt in the extensive housing schemes been built since the boxes were introduced and where petty crime and antisocial behaviour were an increasing problem. After the initial roll-out of boxes, too few had been added. For instance, in 1946 just one was approved for the West Pilton housing scheme at the junction of Ferry Road Drive and West Pilton Avenue. The peripheral estates were harder to police on foot as they had a much lower housing density than the inner city, so officers had a far greater distance to cover.

    New council housing at the Inch, 1955, Dinmont Drive. Photograph by A. G. Ingram, © Edinburgh City Libraries

    These issues saw a move in the 1950s away from the “box and beat” approach to policing the suburbs to more mechanisation (cars) and technology (walkie talkies). They continued in use for the centre of the city however, but the last box installed in Edinburgh may have been that erected in Davidson’s Mains in 1958.

    It is all very nice to see policemen going their rounds, but in these days of radio telegraphy the greatly increased use of telephones and the system of 999 calls it is quite reasonable to expect that there should be some saving in the actual pedestrian work

    Bailie Matt A. Murray, Chairman of the Progressive Group of Edinburgh Town Council

    The air raid warning system was renewed and expanded in 1952 with 56 sirens refurbished, ten additional ones installed and the remote control system replaced. The signalling was replaced again in the 1960s and the sirens were replaced in the early 1970s. Just before 1pm on Thursday 5th June 1969, the air raid sirens sounded across Edinburgh as an engineer working at the city Police headquarters on the High Street accidentally activated the system. A similar incident occurred on August 1st 1986 when all sirens in the Lothian & Borders Police areas were accidentally activated at 7:30 in the morning due to a fault in the telephone system.

    Just as Edinburgh had been slow to catch on to adopting police boxes, it was also slow to let them go. While the Metropolitan police started removing boxes in 1969 and demolished its last in 1981, those in Edinburgh were still nominally in active service into the 1990s. After 1984 however the Chief Constable wanted all officers to have a daily briefing at a station before they came on duty and so after then they were more rarely used and many that were found themselves relegated to providing shelter and storage for traffic wardens. In 1993 the air raid sirens were deactivated by the Scottish Office and in 1995 the Lothian & Borders Police Board deemed thirty five of the eighty six remaining boxes were surplus to requirements and put them up for auction, seeking to save the £500 per annum per box maintenance costs of the increasingly dilapidated estate.

    Newspaper advert, Scotsman, June 13th 1995, advertising the sale of 35 surplus police boxes

    These were the first boxes maid available on the open market and generated much interest; a variety of proposals from public toilets to newspaper kiosks to air quality monitoring stations to removing the boxes entirely to install them as curios in pubs or people’s gardens were proposed. In 1990, the predecessor of Historic Environment Scotland listed thirteen boxes as Category B to protect them (there are now a total of seventeen) and the city’s Planning Convenor would issue guidelines requiring any changes to the boxes or their interiors needing planning permission.

    Former lawyer Gordon Thomson purchased eight boxes and, as American-style coffee drinking swept across the nation, established a small chain of bijou “cappuccino kiosks” called the California Coffee Company. Thomson may not have realised it, but his innovation was very close to recreating a street scene once common in 18th century Edinburgh. A 2000 attempt by Feyzullah Marasli to emulate this success by converting a box on Princes Street into a coffee kiosk came to nothing when it was discovered that despite him refurbishing the box, changing the locks on it, paying £400 to have an electricity supply installed and applying for the necessary Street Trader’s Licence, he neither owned nor leased the box in question and it was still in operational use by the Police!

    ‘A street coffee house Edinburgh’. Paul Sandby, 1750s, Royal Collection Trust RCIN 914503

    Lothian & Borders Police attempted to rehabilitate some boxes in the late 1990s by installing touch screen public information points with a video-link to a police station within them. The first such box was unveiled to the press on Princes Street in 1998 at a cost of £10,000. It had 61,000 “hits” during its first year of operation and was judged to have been a success, with two further such boxes converted, however funding never followed through and the innovation was allowed to lapse.

    Eleven more boxes were auctioned in 2001, advertised as “an exciting and unique opportunity to obtain a distinctive piece of cast iron street furniture with potential for a wide range of uses“. In 2002, the BBC successfully trademarked the London-style Police Box in connection with Dr. Who and the TARDIS, despite the Metropolitan Police contesting the application with the Registrar of Trade Marks. This did not apply to Edinburgh’s unique boxes, which are categorically not TARDISes, despite what some may say! From 2012 to 2013, the police box at Braid Hills Approach was restored to exhibition standard as a small museum by Angus Self, a great grandson of Chief Constable Roderick Ross. In 2014, fourteen of the remaining boxes were sold off, leaving just one in Police ownership.

    ‘SwimEasy’ Police Box Museum, Braid Hills Road. CC-by-NC SA 2.0, M J Richardson

    The boxes may now be entirely operationally defunct, but they remain throughout the city and many are in daily use. In fact I’m just back from visiting one this afternoon, It may not be a TARDIS but an architectural time traveller it was!

    Late night Brazilian crepes anyone? A police box has you covered… CC-by-NC 2.0, Joe Gordon via Flickr

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    #architecture #CityArchitect #EbenezerJamesMacrae #Police #PoliceBox #Policing #RoderickRoss #StreetFurniture #Written2025

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