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Mors Vincit Omnia: A Spotlight On Sentient Ruin Laboratories, Part 2
Ryan Tysinger on May 9, 2019
Or so begin the always welcome mailing list updates from Sentient Ruin Laboratories with news on upcoming releases, sales, and the usual kind of information one would expect from an independent record label. I always liked this address; to me it reads like an exposé read by Peter Cushing or Vincent Price in the horror days of old, inviting us to witness what terrors lay ahead. I would like to extend the same invitation to you today, Dear Reader, as we take a peek into the corridors of Sentient Ruin and see what sorts of mad experiments they've been releasing this year upon an unsuspecting world.
Ahead you'll find portals to unfathomable inhuman states, light-devouring monstrosities designed to crush the spirit, worlds of disgustingly gory suffering, and nightmares crossing the plane of the conscious mind and into the physical world around us using nothing more than music and sound to manipulate your emotions and trigger the imagination. Some may click right away, others may test your limits as they seek to break barriers and worm their way into your subconscious. So I urge you, Dear Reader, to enter with an open mind, and prepare to have your senses utterly decimated, leaving your brain a quivering lump of mush in the living laboratory of Sentient Ruin. Transcend the world of life around you and remember, Mors Vincit Omnia:
Death conquers all.
Vessel Of Iniquity – Void Of Infinite Horror
Vessel Of Iniquity is an apt name for this black/death/noise terror abstract auditory ritualization and annihilation project hailing from Oxfordshire, England. As soon as the perverse Vessel is boarded for its journey through the Void Of Infinite Horror, it is instantly clear that this is going to be one hell of a punishing trip of aural exploitations of the senses. "Invocation Of The Heart Girt With A Serpent" bursts into full sonic warfare from the get go, busting through the sinister defenses with a Gatling gun firing shells of anticosmic energy the size of Long Island in the form of the overbearing drum machine blasts. While hints of the sound that lies beyond the hammering roar of the percussion penetrating the senses will come to fruition later in the album, the first track serves almost as a rite of passage into the deep, spacious, doom-heavy second track of "Babalon," which almost certainly owes a debt of gratitude to Triptykon with it's throaty, fuzz-drenched atmosphere of grief. The production is quite well handled, as the softer bits like the intro to "Void Of Infinite Sorrow" genuinely feel like they are occurring in some hollowed out bit of space, operating beyond the wall penetrated with the invocation of the first track. The Gatling gun of the heavily mechanized blast beats does pop up from time to time as needed to further mine deeper into the void, it becomes more and more subdued, as though succumbing to the vacuum that swallows it as the record progresses. By the time "Mother Of Abomination" arrives, it has found a place beneath the warped screams and hushed whispers, the frantic black metal riffs popping up between the layered synths and samples that paint a tapestry of indifference to anything human. Such is the very nature of Void Of Infinite Horror, as the final track itself begins to become lost in a fog of crushing darkness that has been suffocating the sound of the once powerful and unstoppable drums. Experienced best as a singular work, Vessel Of Iniquity delivers a voyage deep into a realm of malicious aural terror that gradually begins to swallow itself in its on its own weighted atmosphere.
Void of Infinite Horror by Vessel Of Iniquity
Release date: January 25, 2019.
Altarage – The Approaching Roar
One of the heavy hitters in modern black/death metal, Altarage have a history with Sentient Ruin, the label having released the cassette version of band's absolutely crushing 2016 debut, Nihl. The partnership returned earlier this year, with Sentient Ruin again releasing the cassette version of the band's third full-length, The Approaching Roar.
Black metal and death metal have had a love/hate relationship throughout their histories. While both tend to cite similar godfathers (coUGH Celtic Frost coUGH), a large part of the second wave in the early 90s was a reaction against what death metal was becoming, eschewing clean production and technicality for mood, atmosphere, and aesthetic.
Then, in 1998, Canadian technical death metallers Gorguts released Obscura, melding – most likely unintentionally – the modern aspects of the two, utilizing tech death (and staying firmly in that realm) to create an atmosphere of nightmares. If Portal are the modern day death metal descendants of Obscura, then Altarage represent the more black metal side of the same coin. Utilizing the clashing, dissonant anti-melodicism to create a sense of drowning in nightmarish horror, Altarage surround the listener in a haze of weighted despair only penetrated by the ever-present pulse of the drums as they blast, groove, or keep the labored pace of unending torment found at the end of tracks such as "Urn." "Cyclopean Clash" plucks at strings of discomfort as the bass-heavy rhythms collide with the discordant guitars in an epic, dirty, twisted warfare over the hallowed ground of the listener's synapses. With The Approaching Roar, Altarage have delivered yet another step forward for the more surreal style of black/death metal, burdened with the weight of cast iron bonds as they pull the listener deep into the unfeeling, inhuman nightmares they have created.
The Approaching Roar by ALTARAGE
Cassette ONLY on Sentient Ruin, LP/CD/digital available via Season Of Mist
Miscarriage – Imminent Horror
For a band that's only coming up on their third year of existence, Miscarriage have been extremely busy with four prior releases, three of them being the Homicidal Mania trilogy last year alone. Even in that short span of time, they have been evolving at the exponential rate of a mutant flesh-eating bacteria that develops resistance faster than antibodies can be produced. Going from the noisey, harsh death/grind approach of their Disposed Abomination debut, Miscarriage quickly doubled down on the more dissonant, chaotic elements and the benefits of a beefier production for the Homicidal Mania series – here it is apparent that the panicked walls of their sound are closing in. By the third installment, the band had notably slowed in areas, but the claustrophobic walls of their sound seemed to intensify—as though they were becoming further and further detached from any sense of melody or reality as the band painted their violent corridors of gut-wrenching terror.
Miscarriage embraced this claustrophobic feeling when they paired up with Sentient Ruin to release their latest offering, Imminent Horror. Abandoning the speedy, frenzied nature of their entire previous catalog, Imminent Horror embraces the slow, droning rhythms of sludge. This is not sludge in the sense of some over-fluffed, rebranded grunge, this is sludge pushing the aborted husk of a lovechild it had with Symphonies Of Sickness all over the record player as the thick, bloody, fetal juices warp the turntable to a crawling, unstable RPM. Clocking in at just over one hour, this abomination of perverted experimentation plays like an endurance test—the track numbers lose meaning as the impossibly dense sound closes around you, the wet gurglings of the vocals bubbling beneath the grating walls of inhumanity. There are riffs beneath it all, builds and changes and movements – and finding them amidst the onslaught of disgust makes for a rewarding listen for those patient enough to separate the layers of entrails that submerge Imminent Horror in total auditory gore.
Imminent Horror by Miscarriage
Release date: February 22, 2019.
Leather Glove – Perpetual Animation
It would be easy to just fill this blurb with Greg Wilkinson's credentials, both as a musician and a renowned sound engineer, but to do so would be a disservice to Leather Glove, Wilkinson's solo death metal project. Leather Glove deserves to be judged on its own merit as an excellent example of modernized death/doom with deep roots wrapped firmly around the grimy heart of the genre. The album opener for the debut full-length, Perpetual Animation, "The Sand Slips," comes out swinging for the knockout, battering through with a slew of fast and mid tempo riffs delivered beneath a drunken assault of noisy lead work that splashes feedback over the mix like blood spewn from a chainsaw ripping into the soft torsos of mindless human filth unworthy of its wasted life. The low rumble of the vocals will strike the bass frequencies in any self-respecting sound system, particularly on the more doom-heavy tracks like "A Cursed Role" or "A Viceral Notion Of Death." Tracks like "Embrace These Grim Decisions" (a personal favorite) or "Last Moment Of Fortification" lock into grooves like an anaconda the size of a 40-car freight train around a modestly sized apartment building as it squeezes out every last bit of auditory guts to be consumed by the serpentine ears of death metal aficionados.
While pure death metal may not always be the bread and butter of Sentient Ruin, when they put out anything in this realm it's a guaranteed win. With recent past releases including Petrification's Hollow Of The Void, Acephalix's Decreation, Necrot's Blood Offerings, and Noose Rot's The Creeping Unknown, Sentient Ruin's ability to not only release but curate a genre currently overflowing with talent is in itself a valuable tool for sifting through the unending onslaught of new death metal being released every week.
Perpetual Animation by Leather Glove
Release date: March 8, 2019.
Sutekh Hexen – Sutekh Hexen
Oakland's own Sutekh Hexen also have a history with Sentient Ruin, the label having released the cassette version of the band's 2014 EP, Become (the label's fifth release, SRUIN004), as well as their split with BLSPHM on 7" (SRUIN037) later that year. After five years, the static-wielders in the vein of artists like Paysage d'Hiver and Darkspace return to Sentient Ruin with a double LP (and naturally, a cassette) of their spaced out descent into a world that teeters between the fringes of raw black metal and the heart of charred, ambient noise. Distant, aggressive cries of an emotion that falls somewhere between anguish, aggression, and despair emerge from the razor-sharp fog of distortion as the listener is slowly hypnotized into a descent through the mad world of Sutekh Hexen on the first track of their self-titled album. The slow pace of the drums that doesn't even appear until the second proper track lulls the listener further down into the abysmal waves of sound as repetitive, doom-laden riffs are strummed in cohesion with the singed tongue of the inhuman terror that serves as the vocal component. The track shifts to a build of tension that stretches and pulls, tugging and generally elasticizing the atmosphere into a tension not unlike that of a suspension bridge where the steel cables are being plucked from miles away by the hands of an inconceivably unsympathetic inhuman god. Atmosphere is the name of the game here, and Sutekh Hexen manipulate it well—when they need to be heard, they are heard, when the need to retreat to the shadows of soft, lurking ambiance arises they do so with grace and without leaving their presence unfelt. The layering here is marvelous; more ambient tracks like "Elemental Uproar" seem to pull from a limitless bag of sample manipulation, in contrast to the abrasive, more dissonant fleeting of harsh, raw black metal. Sutekh Hexen proves to be one of those records that balances the two well, exploring and experimenting between various combinations of both, adjusting the mood and levels beneath a blanket of cohesive uniformity that eludes the grasp of so many other would-be successors to the delicate mastery of the manipulation of sound waves on the human psyche.
S/T by Sutekh Hexen
Release date: March 29, 2019.
Hold Me Down – Hold Me Down
While not an important character to the plot per se, one of the most iconic characters of Mad Max: Fury Road was undoubtedly Coma-Doof Warrior, the flame-throwing guitarist who wore the flesh of his mother's face as a mask as he performed the war marches (riffs) to rally Immortan Joe's army of Warboys to battle. He himself suspended by flesh to the backyard-welded machine body of the Doof Wagon, the self-described "sonic carmeggeddon" artillery truck bolstering stacks upon stacks of speakers upon speakers, all nestled haphazardly atop a serious set of desert-burnin' wheels. Now imagine all of this bursting through after the tone-setting, post-apocalyptic intro track of Hold Me Down's eponymous debut (self-released earlier this year and quickly scooped up for cassette release in April by Sentient Ruin) and you'll have an idea of what's coming into play here on "Strapped." The mechanical, industrial war drums beat beneath the riff before fading into an ominous sample that further paints the portrayal of the final days of resistance against Skynet—the futile days of resistance. The vocals and feedback splash against the unfeeling percussion like weak flesh and gore consumed by the programmed violent efficiency of the machines. Tracks like "Unknown Architect" are designed to build suspense, keeping the listener on their toes, fearing the presence of a patrol of life-annihilating machinery, while later tracks like "Spoils" play out like Ministry adding blast beats to The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste to keep the cybernetic deliverers of death entertained as they coldly transmit the final remnants of life on this planet to the great beyond. But there is no great beyond, because that requires hope. And there is no hope to be found on Hold Me Down, only senseless slaughter of a meaningless, organic existence.
Hold Me Down by Hold Me Down
Decoherence – Decoherence
Easily the shortest release examined here today, Decoherence's self-titled 7″ is a monstrosity, taking the relentless blizzard of sound of, say, Immortal's Pure Holocaust or Battles In The North and pumping it full of steroids, creating a massive, ornery abomination. The riffs on the first track muscle for space as their grip tightens, pulling and straining as tension builds across the soundscape. The vocals sound muffled and distant behind a wall of impenetrable, otherworldly fury as they scrape against their prison walls of sound. A short gasp of air is allowed in the form of a mid-tempo breakout: the blasting of the drums lays back into a groove as the guitars find an eighth note drive, providing a gasp of air before the listener is again plunged into the cold, inhuman hurricane of dread.
The second track allows the drums to play a bit with more space, accentuating the deep hits as they clamber on against disharmonic washes of guitar teetering on the realms of madness. The sound swirls down to an even deeper level of despair as the feeling of drowning increases twofold; the U.K. act have a knack for smothering their listeners in punctuated waves of thick static. An ominous feeling is kindled and fed in the breakdown section before again unleashing the fury of their full might. As a debut release, Decoherence serves well as an introduction to a band unafraid of exploring just how suffocating black metal can be while retaining the spirit of such a pivotal time in the genre.
Decoherence by Decoherence
Release date: April 5, 2019.
夢遊病者 – Ѫ
It's one thing to remember a dream, it's another to only be left with the residual experience of one. That's the best way I can think of to describe the music of 夢遊病者 (Sleepwalker). It exists outside the realms of genre classification, harboring production aesthetic and atmospheric ties to black metal, of course, but the instrumentation has drifted into much further territories since 2015's 統合失調症の飢餓 (Hunger For Schizophrenia) demo. While 2016's 5772 and 2017's 一期一会 (For This Time Only, Never Again) opened up and rapidly expanded on the band's sound to incorporate elements of jazz fusion, Middle Eastern melody, and the percussive pulse of world music under the cohesion of a dreamlike state, for the first time in the band's history it feels like they are moving laterally, at least stylistically speaking. For most bands, this would be registered as a negative, yet the contemplative nature of the band's latest EP, Ѫ (Yus) seems to play out like a reflection of where it has come from. Relatively shorter than the band's already concise LPs, it feels like an appropriate move for a band who has already said Never Again as they pause to consider which path to follow.
"First Utterance" is bookended with droplets of plucked notes amongst a humming electricity of free-form, lively musicianship blanketed in 夢遊病者's trademark hushed incantations. The layers of sound come to life over the syncopated drums, the tattoo of additional percussion flickering like sparks over the coals. The individual instruments fire like neurons, seemingly on their own path, yet working together to form a coherent thought. The entire first track feels relatively mellow for the band, urging reflection on the album's thesis of the revitalization of things once considered dead, or to perhaps never happen again.
The second, final utterance kicks off with the more panicked, confrontational side of 夢遊病者 before drifting off into the slower, more relaxed passages as the two begin to face one another in a waltz that feels familiar, yet different, seeing a story that's been told before in the band's previous effort (specifically "Never Ailment's On Oneself") told by different partners in the dance of the urgent, anxious night terror and the peaceful dream state that it disrupts. The question of re-purposing that arises from the EP – can something from a different time (a time thought to be the only time?) find a new interpretation – becomes the new purpose of the music; in essence Ѫ becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. But it can never work again.
Or can it?
Perhaps I'm grotesquely overthinking it, but that's the beauty of 夢遊病者. It always feels like there's more beneath the surface, just out of reach, like trying to remember the details of a dream after waking up in a cold, existential sweat.
Ѫ by 夢遊病者
Release date: April 19, 2019.
Suspiral – Chasm
While old sayings about judging books by their covers certainly can hold merit, one tried-and-true method of discovery is stumbling across some fantastic album art. Suspiral's upcoming full-length effort, and their first release with Sentient Ruin (with the European release handled in conspiracy with Clavi Secretorum), reflects their chosen art well—the nightmarish castle of the netherworld emerging from the realm of shadows, both daunting and somehow inviting to those who crave flirtation with madness and despair. The band reflects this in their overall style, utilizing more primitive, decipherable riffs chained together in hypnotic repetition amongst the suffocating fog of sonic shadows to entice the listener into a phantasmagoric dreamlike state, siphoning deep-seated fears from the subconscious to the conscious state of mind. For instance, the album's opener "Crown Of Chaos" begins with the aggression of an old school thrash record, with the second guitar emphasizing the accents of the main riff as the drums drive home the key points. Suspiral hold true to roots throughout, while shrouded in the noise and ambient elements – keys strike singularly on the build of the chanted "chaos… chaos…" whisper-by-way-of-scream vocals as the layers build over the blasting percussion, connected further by the entrancing bass betwixt the two – it somehow stays firmly rooted on the blackened side of more contemporary progressive black/death acts.
The layering on Chasm is marvelous, and credit is due to the production team on fitting everything just so to fully fill the sonic tapestry of horror. The noisy intro to "Boundless Waters," which paints vivid colors of drowning in swirling eddies of terror, feels coated in a lacquer of unease as the song builds through its caverns of doom as the suspense fully peaks into a chamber of divebomb soloing grooving, mid-tempo blasting before falling again to the pit of despair, the ever-present feeling of dread petering off with a death rattle before the subsequent horror of "The Antithesis Of Time" can rear its ugly head.
By the time the fourth and final track comes in, it is apparent that Suspiral has come into their own as a band, progressing substantially in scope and execution since 2016's still-noteworthy Delve Into The Mysteries Of Transcendence. They are further adding to their sonic palette and upping the intensity; the band is utilizing their full potential on Chasm as casters of cavernous cacophony nightmares to force the listener to reflect upon the deepest fears that dwell within the naturally anxious soul of those who seek a reflection of the darker realms of their own subconscious.
Chasm by Suspiral
Release date: May 10, 2019.
If you'd like to check out more of the label's past releases, most are available at their Bandcamp page (even if you don't want to pay $1,000 to get that lossless copy of Hell). A few that our esteemed staff here at Last Rites have reviewed include:
american – Coping With Loss
"This probably won't be the last you hear of american, or Sentient Ruin Laboratories, for that matter. Both entities represent all that's good in the US in terms of young talent working hard at delivering something new, noisy and worthy of attention. So if you're interested in jumping in on the ground floor, there's no time like [2014]." – Captain
Full review here
Necrot – The Labyrinth
"Still here? Or was your head nuked by the ruthless, mutilating, toxic, exterminating, voracious, calamitous, trampling, murderous, inhuman, ravaging, mammoth barbarism of Oakland, California's most unmerciful death metal battalion, NECROT." – Captain
Alaric – End Of Mirrors
"…a very appropriate end to a splendid slice of dismal gothic/post-punk/deathrock produced by a band whose members have been entrenched in the punk scene for many years. And lucky for them, they're delivering some of their strongest material right in the midst of a rabid gothic trend." – Captain
Cruz – Culto Abismal
"Like the straightforward death of a Dismember or latter day Bolt Thrower, this is a bulldozer beast of a record, filled with catchy riffs and relentless forward momentum, that one-two beat pushed to overdrive with gnarled guitar riffs on top." – Andrew Edmunds
Show Of Bedlam – Transfiguration
"…an oppressive sounding record, strongly aligned with the lyrical source matter, which often references uplifting topics such as mental illness, alienation, shame, and spending time in hospitals, among other things." – Old Guard
Hell – Hell
"The project is obscenely heavy – heavier than the 12" meatball parm' from Lucifer's Cosmic Subs sitting in God's stomach at 2am…" – Captain
Acephalix – Decreation
"Fans of old school death metal, riffs and slamming their head into a wall will be excited to spin this one relentlessly, letting the riffs, rhythmic vocals, precise guitar work and energetic drumming keep them awake for weeks." – Manny-O-War
夢遊病者 – 5772
"The fuzzy, lo-fi aesthetic works in the band's favor, blanketing 5772 in an atmosphere of mystery and warmth as the band navigates through beautiful dream states between barbarous, scathing nightmares." – Ryan
夢遊病者 – 一期一会
"Sleepwalker operate with skilled hands under the purpose of a singular mind as it explores wretched and beautiful corridors of the melatonin-soaked subconscious." – Ryan
Deth Crux – Mutant Flesh
"…the combination of both modern gothic touches and more vintage deathrock combine perfectly to create a timeless work of dark rock." – Manny-O-War
Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out our interview with the Sentient Ruin mastermind.
Category:Features, Reviews
Tag:Altarage, Avant-garde, Black Industrial, Black Metal, Death Metal, Decoherence, Hold Me Down, Industrial, Leather Glove, Miscarriage, Noise, Sentient Ruin, Sentient Ruin Laboratories, Sleepwalker, Suspiral, Sutekh Hexen, Vessel Of Iniquity
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Posted by Ryan Tysinger
I listen to music, then I write about it. On Twitter @d00mfr0gg (Outro: The Winds Of Mayhem)


text:
Sam Eifling, Bijan Stephen/ February 14, 2015
A Reporter Leaves His Beat
David Carr, 1956 - 2015
Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for Vanity Fair
Thursday evening, David Carr, the renowned reporter, collapsed in the newsroom of The New York Times and died a short time later at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital. He was 58 years old. As word of his death spread, his legions of readers, admirers, and the scores of journalists Carr mentored, cajoled, scolded, and adored remembered him as the most authoritative voice on media during one of its most precarious eras. He also knew addiction and pain. He clambered up from those depths, first to become the editor of the Twin Cities Reader and the Washington City Paper, and then a media reporter and critic in New York. He embraced the fullness of his life.
By every account—aside from his own, his 2008 memoir The Night of the Gun—Carr was an uncommonly decent fellow, whose interest in others was rooted in empathy and an abiding curiosity. He was a gossip and a schmooze who rarely came off as one, in part because his physical presence—gaunt, cancer-worn, with a voice made jagged by cigarettes—wasn't imposing, even as he was a commanding figure. Carr's analytical skills, his approachably clever prose, his dogged professionalism, and his reporting chops were all enviable. He made sense of an industry racked by layoffs, furloughs, bankruptcies and technical upheavals. Of course he was the perfect man for the job, in hindsight. But then, not every Minnesota-born recovered crack addict rises so high in the East Coast media ranks.
During Carr's dark times in the 1980s, he spent many nights tearing up the Twin Cities with Tom Arnold, the actor who would later become Roseanne Barr's husband and business partner. Arnold was an aspiring stand-up comedian; Carr was a journalist in the audience. The two men drank and used together, and were routinely the last to leave a party. That didn't stop them from physically scuffling once over an unsettled gram of coke. "He started arguing with me in front of a woman I liked," Arnold said Friday. "He said I owed him. I said, 'Dude, I'm going to punch you in the face, I'm just warning you.' And then that happened."
The men stayed close. Arnold went to California to build a career as an actor, and Carr would visit whenever he was in Los Angeles. Arnold, who has married four times, remembers going to the Nate 'n Al deli with Carr and pouring out how miserable he was in one of his marriages, but told his friend he was determined to persevere. Carr wouldn't have it. He told Arnold he wasn't leaving Los Angeles until Arnold filed for divorce. Then he dug in at the deli and sat. "That day," Arnold said, "after I waited him out for about eight hours, I called the lawyer."
The first time Ashley Groussman, Arnold's current wife, met Carr in 2008, she told her husband that she was worried about him—he didn't look good. "You live the life he's lived, that's how you look!" Arnold replied. "Brian Williams looks a certain way and has to make up stories about his life, because he didn't live the life that David Carr lived. You could see the stories on his face."
During those trips to California, Carr reveled in even the squarest aspects of being a suburban New Jersey dad—and Arnold, his TV-star friend and former party buddy, listened. As the thrills subsided, the joy increased. Arnold said he became a father two years ago, in part because he hoped for the same sense of calm.
In 2002 Carr was not an obvious addition to the Times. Howell Raines, who had been named executive editor the prior year, knew that the previous regime had passed Carr over. "One of the people who had interviewed him—a masthead editor—told me, 'I didn't understand a single thing he said,'" Raines recalled. Carr was surprised to hear back after that first rejection. "My biggest surprise with David was, he was such an iconoclast when I interviewed him, and I was amazed at how quickly he settled into the role as an establishment Times person," Raines said. "It worked for him very well. I didn't see that coming. After he'd been there only a few months, he was very much a believer in the Times's glorious account of its own existence."
His star rose sharply when he became—along with TV reporter Brian Stelter and their editor Bruce Headlam—a central player in Page One, the 2011 documentary that explored the workings of the paper via the media desk. The most replayed scene in that film was Carr's appearance at the offices of Vice Media, where he upbraided Vice co-founder Shane Smith for impugning the Times' news judgment. "Before you ever went to Liberia," Carr said, "we've had reporters reporting on genocide after genocide. Just 'cause you put on a fuckin' safari helmet and looked at some poop doesn't give you the right to insult what we do. So, continue."
"It was a very Times-ian decision to bring that kind of person and that kind of voice in," said Jack Shafer, Politico's media columnist. "It's not like he fought the Times to allow him to speak. The Times recognized the value of that voice." (Shafer wrote his own remembrance of Carr; you can read it here.)
"There won't be another David Carr," said Seth Mnookin, a science journalist who first met Carr while covering the 2000 presidential campaign for Brill's Content and who remained his friend for the next 15 years. Mnookin said Carr came to see his criticism of Vice as less than fair. But the vitriol sprung from a devotion to his fellow Times journalists. "That tribal loyalty was something he felt for employers, for friends, for colleagues, regardless of how close they were," Mnookin said. "If you're part of David's tribe, and you get fucked with, David is going to stand up for you."
Carr's tribe never stopped growing. Andrew Beaujon, now a senior editor at The Washingtonian, joined the Washington City Paper six years after Carr had left. But the former editor's presence lingered "like secondhand smoke" in phrases that remained in the office lexicon. "A long walk for a glass of water" was a story that didn't get to the point quickly enough. Talking to an unresponsive writer was "throwing ping-pong balls at a mattress." When Beaujon finally got to spend time with Carr, it was at a conference in Florida. Both were on the media beat. "We mostly just talked shop, gossiped about people. When he wanted me to tell him some tale out of school he'd say 'C'mon. Just between us girls.'"
Carr did impart one secret, the cure for writer's block: Keep typing. And: A good reporter always makes more phone calls. Goes out and asks someone to tell you something. When Carr wrote his memoir, he reported it out. "He questioned his primary source," said Beaujon. (As of Friday afternoon, Night of the Gun had jumped to #7 on Amazon, right after the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy).
"I met David my first day as an intern at the Washington City Paper when I was 20," Sridhar Pappu, a former media columnist with The New York Observer, wrote in an email. "He was definitely tough on me both at first and over the years. He would impress upon me the importance of being bold in my reporting and almost immediately gave me life lessons."
Carr essentially adopted Pappu. "I didn't know anyone in Washington and that summer he would invite me to the house," he said. "I got to know his family and established a relationship with them that has never gone away." Carr taught Pappu how to clean gutters. "The next day," Pappu wrote, "it would be how to build a fire the right way."
Carr was also known for his incessant advocacy, and he took a particular interest in young writers of color. "The thing to understand is that he did more than hire me," said Ta-Nehisi Coates, senior editor at The Atlantic. "He changed my life. He changed my life. There's no one, no man who had more of an effect on me than David Carr." Coates says Carr was one of the first people who believed in his writing. He hired the 20-year-old Coates as intern at the Washington City Paper. "He relentlessly believed in me. Relentlessly. Ridiculously. Like to levels I couldn't even understand," he said. "I'd been writing from a very, very young age, but it was never clear to me that that could mean anything," Coates said. "I had three college newspaper clips and some poetry, man. And he hired me." Coates said Carr was an important mentor for him. "In the field of journalism, that doesn't happen much anymore. But it certainly doesn't happen that some dude says, 'You know what, I'm gonna look out for you. I'm gonna look out for you.' David wasn't the sort of dude who'd read all this shit on intersectionality or something like that. He just got it. He just got it, man."
Jelani Cobb, Director of the Institute for African American Studies at the University of Connecticut and a New Yorker contributor, said much the same thing. "The Washington City Paper had very bad relations in the city—at least it had very bad relations with African Americans, at that point," Cobb said. "So one of the things [Carr] did was that he set out to diversify the publication. And he did it initially through the intern program." This was noteworthy because there were so few black people writing in D.C., for local or national publications. "Carr, without a lot of fanfare, just reached out and found people. He made a remark about it, that it wasn't difficult, it was easy."
Carr was a demanding and at times eccentric boss. "He was exacting," Cobb said. "And he could be harsh as hell if you fucked up." But Carr's was a toughness bred from his struggle with addiction. "He had this really well-cultivated sense of human fallibility," Cobb said. "If you sense a complete absence of judgment from this person, then you can tell them anything." He was there for his writers, long after they'd left their D.C. jobs.
"At one point I was really broke, and I needed to write an article when I was in graduate school, and I called him and I was like, 'I need an assignment, because otherwise I don't know how to pay my rent this month,' and he gave me an assignment," Cobb said. "And I was like 'Oh, do you also think you can expedite my pay?' and he was like, 'You're pushing it, but sure.' I don't know that I've had another editor that I could be that frank with about something like that."
"When I got the media beat at The Observer, he gave me advice on how to handle the beat," Pappu said. "When I had one professional setback, I remembered being upset. And he grabbed me and said, 'Look, that guy doesn't love you. I love you.'"
"That was my brother, man," Coates said. "That was my brother."
Ken Auletta, a New Yorker contributor and fellow media reporter, recalled a night he and Carr appeared together on PBS NewsHour, at a studio near Lincoln Center in Manhattan. "When you're doing something for them," Auletta said, "it's standard procedure they send a car to pick you up and take you back. David and I walked out together. And I said, 'Where's your car?' And he said, 'Where'd you get the car?' There was a certain innocence about him. I said, 'No, no, everyone does this.' It made me feel almost guilty. And you just watched him wander down the street toward the subway."
Additional reporting by Claire Groden.
Bijan Stephen @bijanstephen
In Memoriam, Culture, Media, David Carr, New York Times, R.I.P., Politics

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Takoma Police Accepted into Training Program to Reduce Misconduct, Mistakes
Mike Diegel | December 1, 2020 | Categories Takoma Park
The Takoma Park Police Department has been accepted into a program to train officers in strategies and tactics to help law enforcement officers prevent misconduct and reduce officer mistakes, among other goals, officials announced yesterday.
The Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement Project, an initiative of Georgetown University's Law Center, includes more than 60 other law enforcement agencies, along with statewide and regional training academies chosen to participate in the ABLE Project's national rollout.
"ABLE gives officers the tools they need to overcome the innate and powerful inhibitors all individuals face when called upon to intervene in actions taken by their peers," according to the announcement.
"We are very excited to have our staff participate in the ABLE training," said Chief Antonio DeVaul. "We always seek out training that will increase trust and transparency within our community."
Georgetown Law's Innovative Policing Program, in collaboration with global law firm Sheppard Mullin LLP, developed the program, which includes evidence-based and field-tested strategies. It is available to selected agencies at no cost.
"As we work to reimagine public safety and seek to rectify injustices in our institutions, we must also ensure individuals have the ability and skills to take action against bias and violence," said Mayor Kate Stewart in the release. "Our participation in the ABLE Project is an important step to ensure accountability and continue the culture change in our police department needed to serve every member of our community."
"Takoma Park, MD Police–New 2016 SUV" by Corde11 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
K&B Bridals to Open in Takoma Park


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Madonna to Perform at 2019 Eurovision Song Contest
Live Nation Israel has confirmed that Madonna will perform at the annual Eurovision song competition, which is set to take place this year in Tel Aviv on May 18. "The Material Girl" is expected to "perform two songs, including a new song from her upcoming album," according to Live Nation Israel representatives Guy Beser and Shay Mor Yosef.


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A Federal Builder's Remedy for Exclusionary Zoning
Eric E. Stern
This Note argues that when a local zoning body blocks construction of low-income housing in order to exclude the poor, courts should provide a constitutional remedy. After articulating a doctrinal path through the Due Process Clause, this Note makes the normative case for this "builder's remedy" for…
Pushed Out and Locked In: The Catch-22 for New York's Disabled, Homeless Sex-Offender Registrants
Allison Frankel
New York's poor, disabled sex-offender registrants are ensnared in a cruel catch-22: New York will not release them from prison without housing, but laws and policies make finding housing nearly impossible for this population. This Essay explores potential legal challenges to New York's harmful, cou…
Zoned Out: How Zoning Law Undermines Family Law's Functional Turn
Kate Redburn
A fatal conflict in the legal definition of family lurks at the intersection of family law and zoning law. Family law has increasingly embraced "functional families," those whose bonds can be traced to cohabitation, while zoning law has narrowed to restrict residency to individuals related by blood,…
Evicted: The Socio-Legal Case for the Right to Housing
Lisa T. Alexander
Matthew Desmond's Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City is a triumphant work that provides the missing socio-legal data needed to prove why America should recognize housing as a human right. Desmond's masterful study of the effect of evictions on Milwaukee's urban poor in the wake of the …
Legal Responses to the Crisis of Forced Moves Illustrated in Evicted
Laurie Ball Cooper
Matthew Desmond's Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City combines compelling narratives that illustrate many of the barriers to housing for individuals in poverty with quantitative data that speaks to the scope of the housing crisis in urban America. This Essay addresses what may be a lawy…
Exploiting the Poor: Housing, Markets, and Vulnerability
Ezra Rosser
Matthew Desmond's magisterial Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City is arguably the most important book about poverty in the United States in a generation. Just as Michael Harrington's The Other America provided the country with a necessary window onto the poverty lurking below the surfac…
In Defense of "Free Houses"
Megan Wachspress, Jessie Agatstein & Christian Mott
Eight years after the start of America's housing crisis, state courts are increasingly confronting an unanticipated consequence: what happens when a bank brings a foreclosure suit and loses? Well-established legal principles seem to provide a clear answer: the homeowner keeps her…
"We Don't Follow, We Lead": How New York City Will Save Mortgage Loans by Condemning Them
Robert Hockett
Introduction1 Many cities across the nation have begun to consider exercising their eminent domain authority to purchase, then write-down principal on, otherwise unmodifiable home mortgage loans facing foreclosure.2 I and several others have advocated this method and cognate uses of gover…
Sheltering Deprivations: FEMA, Section 408 Housing, and Procedural Redesign
Damian Williams
116 Yale L.J. 1883 (2007).
Tenant Screening Thirty Years Later: A Statutory Proposal To Protect Public Records
Rudy Kleysteuber
116 Yale L.J. 1344 (2007)
Most consumers learn about tenant-screening reports only when a landlord points to an item on such a report as the reason for rejecting an application and provides the tenant with a copy of that report as required by law. Legal scholars have criticized these reports for mo…
Living History: How Homeowners in a New Local Historic District Negotiate Their Legal Obligations
Tad Heuer
116 Yale L.J. 768 (2007)
American historic preservationists are increasingly emphasizing the need to preserve not only prominent landmarks, but also the vernacular architectural culture of "ordinary neighborhoods." Preserving such neighborhoods often requires convincing homeowners to agree to legal r…
Unpacking the Household: Informal Property Rights Around the Hearth
Robert C. Ellickson
As Aristotle recognized in The Politics, the household is an indispensable building block of social, economic, and political life. A liberal society grants its citizens far wider berth to arrange their households than to choose their familial and marital relationships. Legal commentators, however, h…
The Creation of Homeownership: How New Deal Changes in Banking Regulation Simultaneously Made Homeownership Accessible to Whites and Out of Reach for Blacks
The Federal Government, in creating the section 203(b) mortgage insurance program during the New Deal, transformed homeownership in America into the main way that middle-class households build wealth. In the first three decades of the program's existence, however, this wealth…
The Political Economy of School Choice
James E. Ryan & Michael Heise
This Article examines the political economy of school choice and focuses on the role of suburbanites. This group has re- ceived little attention in the commentary but is probably the most important and powerful stakeholder in choice debates. Suburbanites generally do not sup…
Connecticut Retrenches: A Proposal To Save the Affordable Housing Appeals Procedure
Robert D. Carroll


Jane's guest today is the fabulous Robin McGraw. Robin, a familiar face on every one of her husband, Dr. Phil's, afternoon talk shows, has an extraordinary fan base of her own. Millions and millions of women look to her for guidance and encouragement to overcome challenges to their lives freely with passion and purpose. A philanthropist, a two-time No. 1 New York Times best-selling author, and world-renowned media personality, Robin is also the Founder and CEO of Robin McGraw Revelation, a Luxury Skincare Collection featuring daily and nightly regimens along with innovative advanced treatments. She also created When Georgia Smiled: The Robin McGraw Revelation Foundation. Dedicated to her beloved mother Georgia, the Foundation promotes real change by creating and advancing programs that assist women and children children escape domestic violence and sexual assault. It includes, too, the Aspire Initiative, a free curriculum aiming to reduce the level of intimate relationship violence in the U.S. On the show today, Robin talks about the difficulties she faced during her own childhood and how the warmth and positive nature of her mother inspired her to become the woman, wife, mother and grandmother that she is today. She shares tips and tools on dealing with day-to-day stress and how to conquer adversity to achieve inner peace and tranquility. Listeners will learn that they deserve to embrace their own beauty, health and happiness, and know they must take care of themselves in order to take care of those they love.


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Allan Cup targeting a possible January re-start
In Hockey, Sports
Neil Becker
Hamilton Steelhawks veteran Cameron Sault celebrates after scoring a goal during regular season action at the Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena. Sault expressed surprise when notified by family members of the possibility that Allan Cup Hockey League was eying a possible January return. He believes that if there is hockey in January, that the Steelhawks have a strong chance to win the Allan Cup. Photo Taken By—Neil Becker
In early September, it was stated on the ACH website, that the Allan Cup Hockey League was targeting a possible January start. "I was pretty surprised to be honest," Hamilton Steelhawks forward Cameron Sault said. "I thought the season would end up a wash but it seems the league might happen after all. I actually
In early September, it was stated on the ACH website, that the Allan Cup Hockey League was targeting a possible January start.
"I was pretty surprised to be honest," Hamilton Steelhawks forward Cameron Sault said. "I thought the season would end up a wash but it seems the league might happen after all. I actually heard from one of my family members about the season possibly starting. The start of hockey season is always exciting, shortened or not."
Coming off a dominating 2019/2020 regular season, which saw Hamilton finish first, their quest for the Allan Cup picked up steam as they took the first two games in the Ontario finals against the Brantford Blast when things suddenly shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Leading the Ontario finals vs. Brantford two games to nothing, and having the season all of a sudden cancelled was tough to take," Sault said. Sault, who used to play at one time for the Brantford Blast went on to add,
"We had an Allan Cup contender of a team for sure."
Reflecting on what would be a shortened season, a confident Sault added,
"I think it'd be an advantage for a shortened season, especially for the players who are fresh off of playing professionally last season. It wouldn't take our top end guys long to get rolling."
Addressing the possibility of hockey starting up in January, Sault admitted that it would be different in terms of preparation but that he would be very excited. However, Sault hasn't decided if for sure he would be coming back if the season started.
"I'm usually on the ice at least once a week during the summer but obviously that didn't happen this year. So, it'll be different getting back on skates and getting game-shape ready."
With so much unpredictability going on in 2020, all Senior AAA hockey fans can do now is wait to see if there will be Allan Cup hockey this year.
"I haven't made a definite decision yet about playing another season," Sault said. "I guess I will see how I feel and make that decision when the time comes. I have a little bit longer to think about it."
Former Dallas Stars forward Vernon Fiddler gave young fan a thrill of a lifetime
Edmonton Oilers re-sign defenceman Ethan Bear to a two-year contract extension


Top movers of the day are Bitcoiin B2G and OneRoot Network. Since 6 pm Bitcoiin B2G has surged additionally 32.80% and OneRoot Network has increased by 5.27%. Although it is still the worst of all, Dentacoin has gained 27.84% in the same time. Most tokens and coins ended in the first day of February slightly in green. 2100NEWS Digital Assets Total Index (NWST1100) which measures the performance of top 1100 crypto assets by market capitalization ended up 0.25%. Bitcoin ended up 0.46%, Ether ended up 0.17%.
Top movers of the day at 18:10 are Bitcoiin B2G and Dentacoin. In the afternoon Bitcoiin B2G announced listing on LATOKEN and rose 12.63%. The others in the table did not change much, the same applies to the whole crypto market. Since 1 pm 2100NEWS Digital Assets Total Index (NWST1100) which measures the performance of top 1100 crypto assets by market capitalization has fallen 0.30% (-0.51% as of yesterday EOD). Bitcoin has fallen by 0.12%, Ether is down 0.83% as of 1 pm.
Top movers of the day at 13:10 are Holo and Dentacoin. Since 8 am Holo has increased by 9.07% while Dentacoin which is still dealing with stolen tokens has plummeted 44.81%. The biggest move up of 13.15% made OneRoot Network which released the new App Version. Generally, Friday morning brought us slight recovery on the crypto markets. 2100NEWS DA Indexes rose between 0.54% and 1.83%. Ether tokens represented by 2100NEWS DA Ethereum Tokens Index (NWSET100) rose by 1.81% while the tokens built on other platforms increased only 0.54%. Bitcoin and Ether are also higher: Bitcoin +0.78%, Ether +1.25% as of 8 am.
Top movers of the day are Btcoiin B2G and Optimal Shelf Availability Token. Since midnight Bitcoiin has increased by 9.76%. In the same time BLOCKv has made the biggest move up of 16.45%. Generally, the tokens and coins started the day lower. Since midnight 2100NEWS DA Indexes which measure performance of different groups of tokens and coins fell between 0.58% and 2.27%. 2100NEWS Digital Assets Total Index (NWST1100) which measures the performance of top 1100 crypto assets by market capitalization has fallen by 1.32%. Bitcoin is down 0.84%, Ether is down 1.83%.
BLOCKv provides a development platform with a complete set of APIs, robust tools and training that enable developers to create and emit digital objects on blockchain. These objects, called Vatoms, can be obtained and viewed across any mobile device. Vatoms are highly programmable, store and secure digital goods and move seamlessly between users. When combined with the creativity of the BLOCKv developer and partner community, Vatoms become the experience layer to the blockchain and present a new level of human engagement.


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1947 Loretta 2021
Loretta "Lorie" Waters
May 16, 1947 — September 17, 2021
Loretta "Lorie" Waters, 74, of Plymouth, died on Friday, September 17, 2021 at MercyOne Medical Center – North Iowa in Mason City.
A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, September 21, 2021 at 10:30 a.m., at First Christian Church, 318 North Adams, with Rev. Paul Boostrom officiating.
Interment will be held in Oakwood Cemetery, Plymouth.
Visitation will be held on Monday, September 20, 2021, from 4:00-6:00 p.m., at Major Erickson Funeral Home, 111 North Pennsylvania.
Memorials may be directed to the family of Lorie Waters.
Loretta Lee Waters was born on May 16, 1947 to her parents Chet and Ardith (Fitzgerald) Andersen in Charles City, Iowa. Lorie graduated from Charles City High School in 1965. She went on to attend NIACC graduated with a degree in Nursing. She worked as an RN for Mercy Hospital in Mason City for her entire career, and she retired in 2008.
Lorie was united into marriage to Junior Waters on May 8, 1972 in Joliet, Illinois. To this union, the couple was blessed with three children: Angie, Mark and Dan.
In her spare time, Lorie enjoyed reading books, cooking for her family and spending time with her cats. She was an active member of First Christian Church. Lorie adored time spent with her family, and often attended her children and grandchildren's events when able. Lorie was an amazing mother, grandmother, wife, and friend and she will be deeply missed by those who knew her and loved her.
Lorie is survived by her children, Angie Waters and Dan (Michelle) Waters; daughter-in-law, Oretta Waters; grandchildren, Coleman, Kenzie, Trisha, Hannah, Cayla, and Carter Waters, Alex Eischen, Megan (David) Studer, and Brandon (Abbie) McConnel; great grandchildren, Zira, Jack Arlo, and Max; and brothers, Mike (Sue) Andersen and Eric (Carol) Andersen.
Lorie was preceded in death by her husband, Junior; son, Mark; and her parents, Chet and Ardith Andersen, and in-laws, Frank and Mary Waters, and brother, Mark Andersen.
To send flowers to the family in memory of Loretta "Lorie" Waters, please visit our flower store.
Major Erickson Funeral Home
111 N Pennsylvania Ave, Mason City, IA 50401
318 N Adams Ave, Mason City, IA 50401
Plymouth Oakwood Cemetery
, IA


This week we'll be looking at the Angels' song in Luke 2:8-20. Gary Aston will be helping us think through what this passage teaches us about Joy.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Once in Royal David's City: A traditional carol narrating the Christmas story, pointing us to the hope we have in Jesus.


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"I have a similar question, please see the attached photographs, both of which were taken in the early 1950s.
"My late father, John Howling, is featured in both pictures, he is seated on the right in the first photo and he is standing in the second, wearing the heavy coat and holding my brother Steve, who is now 64 years of age.
"Returning to the first picture, this was my father's cycling club and I believe they were based somewhere near to Meersbrook in Sheffield.
"I would be interested to know if anyone recognises anyone in the photos?
If you spot someone,email julia.armstrong@thestar.co.uk or write to Julia Armstrong, Retro, The Star, The Balance, Pinfold Street, S1 2GU.
Still on a sporting theme, research in Buxton found that Canadian soldiers braved the worst the trenches could throw at them but found one thing about World War One hard to take - cricket!
By 1918, three large hotels and a hospital in the spa town were turned over to the rehabilitation of Canadian forces injured in the fighting. Sport played a great part in getting them back to fitness, research done in advance of Buxton International Festival's book programme has found.


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American Oligarchs
Joel Kotkin at American Affairs:
The ultrarich represent an emergent global aristocracy—or rather, a new oligarchy. Fewer than one hundred billionaires now own as much as 50 percent of the world's assets—the same amount that around four hundred billionaires owned a little more than five years ago. In the United States, the richest four hundred U.S. citizens now have more wealth than 185 million of their fellow Americans combined. The shift has been dramatic: the top 1 percent in America captured just 4.9 percent of total U.S. income growth from 1945 to 1973, but in the following two decades the country's richest classes gobbled up the majority of U.S. income growth.
Patterns of property ownership reflect the very same trends that anchored both the medieval aristocratic and ecclesiastical classes. The proportion of land owned by the nation's hundred largest private landowners grew by nearly 50 percent between 2007 and 2017. In 2007, according to the Land Report, this group owned a combined twenty-seven million acres of land, equivalent to the area of Maine and New Hampshire combined. A decade later, the hundred largest landowners had holdings of over forty million acres. Their holdings are now larger than the entirety of New England. Even in much of the vast American West, where much of the land remains in public hands, billionaires have created expansive estates that many fear will make the rest of the local population land-poor.
In the past, the oligarchy tended to be associated with either Wall Street or industrial corporate executives. But today the predominant and most influential group consists of those atop a handful of mega-technology firms. Six firms—Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Netflix—have achieved a combined net worth equal to one-quarter of the nasdaq, more than the next 282 firms combined and equal to the GDP of France. Seven of the world's ten most valuable companies come from this sector. Tech giants have produced eight of the twenty wealthiest people on the planet. Among the nation's billionaires, all those under forty live in the state of California, with twelve in San Francisco alone. In 2017, the tech industry produced eleven new billionaires, mostly in California. Only China, home to nine of the world's top twenty tech firms, presents any kind of challenge to their domination.
Labels: California, government, inequality, political science, politics, technology