Automakers are collecting driving data from customers and quietly providing it to insurance companies, and the practice has resulted in some unassuming drivers seeing their coverage increased or even terminated due to the practice, a new report reveals.

The New York Times reported this week that car manufacturers like General Motors and Ford are tracking drivers’ behavior through internet-connected vehicles, and sharing it with data brokers such as LexisNexis and Verisk, which create “consumer disclosure reports” on individuals that insurance companies can access.

The consumer reports do not show where a driver has traveled, but they do provide information on length of trips and driving behavior, such as “hard braking,” “hard accelerating” and speeding. Insurance companies can use those reports to assess the risk of a current or potential customer, and adjust rates or refuse coverage based on the findings.

The Times highlighted the case of Kenn Dahl, the driver of a leased Chevrolet Bolt, who learned he and his wife's driving habits were being tracked when an insurance agent told him in 2022 that his LexisNexis report was a factor behind his insurance premium jumping 21%.

“It felt like a betrayal,” Dahl told the newspaper. “They’re taking information that I didn’t realize was going to be shared and screwing with our insurance.”

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this is 100% real and mechanics and service centers also report all your data to insurance companies

Automakers Are Recording Your Driving Habits & Then Selling Your Data To Insurance Companies Skyrocketing Your Insurance Rates

That’s Not The Worst Part, Report Shows “Smarter cars that have speakers and microphones, they collect your conversation data as well”

The guy in this article, Kenn Dahl, requested his repast and got a 258 page consumer disclosure report, which contained:

- Every time he drove somewhere

- How far he went - Where he went

- How fast he was going

- Hard breaking

- Sharp accelerations

- “And in smarter cars that have speakers and microphones, they collect your conversation data as well”

“Traditionally, the auto insurance industry would keep tabs on you based on the amount of accidents you had, the tickets you had, uh, Tesla did this recently where they would give you a different rate on a new vehicle based on how safely you drove the old one. But now General Motors, BMW, and a variety of other car companies are selling your driving data to data brokers so that they can make adjustments.”

https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/1768288984424394800?s=20

Your car is secretly spying on you and driving your insurance rates through the roof: report

New York Post By Ariel ZilberPublished March 12, 2024, 4:15 p.m. ET  Drivers of cars manufactured by General Motors, Ford, Honda and other popular brands say that their insurance rates went up after the companies sent data about their driving behavior to issuers without their knowledge. Kenn Dahl, 65, is a Seattle-area businessman who told The New York Times that his car insurance costs soared by…

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Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Automakers Are Sharing Consumers’ Driving Behavior With Insurance Companies (NYT) Kenn Dahl says he has always been a careful driver. The owner of a software company near Seattle, he drives a leased Chevrolet Bolt. He’s never been responsible for an accident. So Mr. Dahl, 65, was surprised in 2022 when the cost of his car insurance jumped by 21 percent. One insurance agent told him his LexisNexis report was a factor. LexisNexis is a New York-based global data broker with a “Risk Solutions” division that caters to the auto insurance industry and has traditionally kept tabs on car accidents and tickets. Upon Mr. Dahl’s request, LexisNexis sent him a 258-page “consumer disclosure report,” which it must provide per the Fair Credit Reporting Act. What it contained stunned him: more than 130 pages detailing each time he or his wife had driven the Bolt over the previous six months. It included the dates of 640 trips, their start and end times, the distance driven and an accounting of any speeding, hard braking or sharp accelerations. The only thing it didn’t have is where they had driven the car. According to the report, the trip details had been provided by General Motors—the manufacturer of the Chevy Bolt. LexisNexis analyzed that driving data to create a risk score “for insurers to use as one factor of many to create more personalized insurance coverage,” according to a LexisNexis spokesman.

Biden has huge leverage on Israel. He hasn’t really used it yet. (Washington Post) President Biden has become a vocal critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership of the Israeli war in Gaza. But there is one key area where the United States has not yet exerted its leverage on Netanyahu: Military aid. Throughout the war in Gaza, the United States has remained a vital military supplier to Israel. Bader Al-Saif, a professor of history at Kuwait University, told The Washington Post last week that the United States shouldn’t have to ask Israel to allow more aid to Gaza. “It should be a command,” Al-Saif said, as the United States was “financing the war” with its arms deliveries to Israel. The United States has quietly approved and delivered more than 100 separate foreign military sales to Israel since Oct. 7. The number is in addition to the $106 million worth of tank ammunition and $147.5 million of artillery shell components that were publicly announced, even as the Biden administration bypassed Congress with an emergency authority. The United States has long had a deep military relationship with Israel, which has received about $300 billion in combined economic and military assistance, adjusted for inflation, since its founding, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Even as Israel’s economy boomed and its need for economic assistance tapered off, military aid stayed at least $3 billion a year.

Haitian prime minister says he’ll resign, clearing way for new government (Washington Post) Ariel Henry, Haiti’s embattled prime minister, will resign once a transitional presidential council is established and an interim leader is selected, he said late Monday. The arrangement, announced by Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders after an hours-long meeting in Jamaica that included Biden administration officials and representatives of the United Nations, will clear the way “for a peaceful transition of power, continuity of governance, an action plan for near-term security and the road to free and fair elections,” according to Guyanese President Irfaan Ali, the chairman of the regional bloc. In a video address Monday night, Henry said he would step down “immediately after the installation of this council.” Haiti, which lacks both a president and a legislature, is suffering its worst violence and instability in decades. Armed gangs have tightened their grip on the country’s capital, attacked the international airport and main seaport, and threatened a civil war unless the prime minister stepped down.

Photoshop Can’t Erase Royals’ Latest P.R. Blemish (NYT) If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a digitally altered picture of an absent British princess is apparently worth a million. That seemed to be the lesson after another day of internet-breaking rumors and conspiracy theories swirling around Catherine, Princess of Wales, who apologized on Monday for having doctored a photograph of herself with her three children that circulated on news sites and social media on Sunday. It was the first official photo of Catherine since before she underwent abdominal surgery two months ago—a cheerful Mother’s Day snapshot, taken by her husband, Prince William, at home. But if it was meant to douse weeks of speculation about Catherine’s well-being, it had precisely the opposite effect. Now the British royal family faces a storm of questions about how it communicates with the press and public, whether Catherine manipulated other family photos she released in previous years, and whether she felt driven to retouch this photo to disguise the impact of her illness.

Wood (Bloomberg) Paris is hosting the Olympic Games this summer, and the city has taken the unique step of not squandering a fortune on a bunch of buildings that will never be used again and will languish into rust for decades following the Games. Indeed, 95 percent of the venues either already exist or are being built specifically so they can be dismantled for reuse after the event. The rest they’re building with wood, which is more sustainable than concrete or steel. The wood construction market in France is up 14 percent since 2020, and the number of new nonresidential buildings that have been built with wood is up to 18.3 percent.

As Putin orchestrates his reelection, a resilient Russian economy is a key selling point (AP) Russians are finding a few imported staples, like fruit, coffee and olive oil, have shot way up in price. Most global brands have disappeared—or been reincarnated as Russian equivalents under new, Kremlin-friendly ownership. Other than that, not much has changed economically for most people in President Vladimir Putin’s Russia, more than two years after he sent troops into Ukraine. That’s despite the sweeping sanctions that have cut off much of Russia’s trade with Europe, the U.S. and their allies. That sense of stability is a key asset for Putin as he orchestrates his foreordained victory in the March 15-17 presidential election for a fifth, six-year term. Inflation is higher than most people would like, at over 7. But unemployment is low, and the economy is expected to grow 2.6% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, double the previous forecast. That’s far above the 0.9% expansion predicted for Europe.

India’s new citizenship law that excludes Muslims has them worried (AP) India has implemented a controversial citizenship law that has been widely criticized for excluding Muslims, a minority community whose concerns have heightened under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government. The rules for the law were announced Monday. It establishes a religious test for migrants from every major South Asian faith other than Islam. Critics argue that the law is further evidence that Modi’s government is trying to reshape the country into a Hindu state and marginalize its 200 million Muslims. The Citizenship Amendment Act provides a fast track to naturalization for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to Hindu-majority India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan before Dec. 31, 2014. The law excludes Muslims, who are a majority in all three nations. It marks the first time that India—an officially secular state with a religiously diverse population—has set religious criteria for citizenship.

China Leads the US, Russia in Hypersonics, Pentagon Analyst Says (Bloomberg) China leads the world in developing, testing and deploying hypersonic weapons, beating out Russia while the US, having already spent $12 billion, has yet to field even one. The weapons can travel five times the speed of sound, making interception by existing defensive systems difficult at best. China, senior US defense intelligence analyst Jeffery McCormick told Congress Tuesday, has the world’s “leading hypersonic arsenal” thanks to Beijing’s two-decade long effort “to dramatically advance its development of conventional and nuclear-armed technologies and capabilities through intense and focused investment, development, testing and deployments.”

At least 50 hurt as LATAM’s Boeing 787 to Auckland ‘just dropped’ mid-flight (NYT) About 50 people were treated by emergency medical workers on Monday after a Latam Airlines flight bound for Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, experienced what the airline called “strong movement” caused by a “technical problem.” Twelve people, one of whom was in serious condition, were taken to three hospitals, Auckland’s ambulance service said. Latam, a Chilean airline, provided no specifics about the technical problem that it said had caused the disturbance. The plane made a “violent drop” for just a second or two, said Brian Jokat, who was on board Latam Airlines Flight 800. “The plane just dropped,” Mr. Jokat, 61, said. “It felt like coming over the top of a roller coaster and heading down—and then it straightened up immediately.” A jolt roused Mr. Jokat, who was wearing his seatbelt, from a nap, and in the next instant the plane was in what felt like free-fall. He saw the passenger next to him being thrown up to the ceiling of the plane, and then come crashing back down. “Anyone who wasn’t in a seatbelt was thrown,” he said. “You could not have not been thrown.”

Navigating Israeli Restrictions, Many Palestinians Find It Hard to Reach Al Aqsa (NYT) As the sermon about the Muslim holy month of Ramadan sounded over the speakers from Al Aqsa Mosque, 13-year-old Yousef al-Sideeq sat on a bench outside the compound’s gates. “Most Fridays they prevent me from getting in, for no reason,” the young Jerusalem resident said, referring to the Israeli police. Every Friday, Yousef visits Jerusalem’s Old City to pray at Al Aqsa, the third holiest site for Muslims and part of the compound sacred to Jewish people, who call it the Temple Mount. But since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks and Israel’s ensuing bombardment of Gaza, heavily armed Israeli police forces who guard many of the Old City’s gates have stopped him from entering the compound, he said. Muslim access to the mosque has long been a point of contention as Israel has exerted tighter control in recent years over the compound, one of many restrictions Palestinians living under decades of Israeli occupation have had to endure.

The Daily Hunt for Food in Gaza (NYT) For two million hungry Gazans, most days bring a difficult search for something to eat. Amany Mteir, 52, scours the streets north of Gaza City, where people sell or trade what food they have. Farther north, in Beit Lahia, Aseel Mutair, 21, said she and her family of four split one pot of soup from an aid kitchen twice last week. One day they had nothing but tea. Nizar Hammad, 30, is sheltering in a tent in Rafah with seven other adults and four children. They have not gotten aid in two weeks, and Nizar worked two days at a market to earn enough money to buy some small bags of rice from a street vendor. The war, including Israel’s bombardment and siege, has choked food imports and destroyed agriculture, and nearly the entire population of Gaza relies on scant humanitarian aid to eat. The problems are especially worrisome in the north, where aid has been almost nonexistent. U.N. agencies have mostly suspended their aid operations there, citing Israeli restrictions on convoys, security issues and poor conditions of roads.

[ad_1] Kenn Dahl says he has always been a careful driver. The owner of a software company near Seattle, he drives a leased Chevrolet Bolt. He’s never been responsible for an accident.So Mr. Dahl, 65, was surprised in 2022 when the cost of his car insurance jumped by 21 percent. Quotes from other insurance companies were also high. One insurance agent told him his LexisNexis report was a factor.LexisNexis is a New York-based global data broker with a “Risk Solutions” division that caters to the auto insurance industry and has traditionally kept tabs on car accidents and tickets. Upon Mr. Dahl’s request, LexisNexis sent him a 258-page “consumer disclosure report,” which it must provide per the Fair Credit Reporting Act.What it contained stunned him: more than 130 pages detailing each time he or his wife had driven the Bolt over the previous six months. It included the dates of 640 trips, their start and end times, the distance driven and an accounting of any speeding, hard braking or sharp accelerations. The only thing it didn’t have is where they had driven the car.On a Thursday morning in June for example, the car had been driven 7.33 miles in 18 minutes; there had been two rapid accelerations and two incidents of hard braking.According to the report, the trip details had been provided by General Motors — the manufacturer of the Chevy Bolt. LexisNexis analyzed that driving data to create a risk score “for insurers to use as one factor of many to create more personalized insurance coverage,” according to a LexisNexis spokesman, Dean Carney. Eight insurance companies had requested information about Mr. Dahl from LexisNexis over the previous month.“It felt like a betrayal,” Mr. Dahl said. “They’re taking information that I didn’t realize was going to be shared and screwing with our insurance.”In recent years, insurance companies have offered incentives to people who install dongles in their cars or download smartphone apps that monitor their driving, including how much they drive, how fast they take corners, how hard they hit the brakes and whether they speed. But “drivers are historically reluctant to participate in these programs,” as Ford Motor put it in a patent application that describes what is happening instead: Car companies are collecting information directly from internet-connected vehicles for use by the insurance industry.Sometimes this is happening with a driver’s awareness and consent. Car companies have established relationships with insurance companies, so that if drivers want to sign up for what’s called usage-based insurance — where rates are set based on monitoring of their driving habits — it’s easy to collect that data wirelessly from their cars.But in other instances, something much sneakier has happened. Modern cars are internet-enabled, allowing access to services like navigation, roadside assistance and car apps that drivers can connect to their vehicles to locate them or unlock them remotely. In recent years, automakers, including G.M., Honda, Kia and Hyundai, have started offering optional features in their connected-car apps that rate people’s driving. Some drivers may not realize that, if they turn on these features, the car companies then give information about how they drive to data brokers like LexisNexis.Automakers and data brokers that have partnered to collect detailed driving data from millions of Americans say they have drivers’ permission to do so. But the existence of these partnerships is nearly invisible to drivers, whose consent is obtained in fine print and murky privacy policies that few read.Especially troubling is that some drivers with vehicles made by G.M. say they were tracked even when they did not turn on the feature — called OnStar Smart Driver — and that their insurance rates went up as a result.“GM’s OnStar Smart Driver service is optional to customers,” a G.M. spokeswoman, Malorie Lucich, said. “Customer benefits include learning more about their safe driving behaviors or vehicle performance that, with their consent, may be used to obtain insurance quotes. Customers can also unenroll from Smart Driver at any time.”Even for those who opt in, the risks are far from clear. I have a G.M. car, a Chevrolet. I went through the enrollment process for Smart Driver; there was no warning or prominent disclosure that any third party would get access to my driving data.“I am surprised,” said Frank Pasquale, a law professor at Cornell University. “Because it’s not within the reasonable expectation of the average consumer, it should certainly be an industry practice to prominently disclose that is happening.”Policymakers have expressed concern about the collection of sensitive information from consumers’ cars. California’s privacy regulator is currently investigating automakers’ data collection practices. Last month, Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts also urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate.“The ‘internet of things’ is really intruding into the lives of all Americans,” Senator Markey said in an interview. “If there is now a collusion between automakers and insurance companies using data collected from an unknowing car owner that then raises their insurance rates, that’s, from my perspective, a potential per se violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act.”That is the federal law that prohibits unfair and deceptive business practices that harm consumers.‘Smart Driver’Mr. Dahl shared his experience on an online forum for Chevy Bolt enthusiasts, on a thread where other people expressed shock to find that LexisNexis had their driving data. Warnings about the tracking are scattered across online discussion boards dedicated to vehicles manufactured by G.M. — including Corvettes, a sports car designed for racking up “acceleration events.” (One driver lamented having data collected during a “track day,” while testing out the Corvette’s limits on a professional racetrack.)Numerous people on the forums complained about spiking premiums as a result. A Cadillac driver in Palm Beach County, Fla., who asked not to be named because he is considering a lawsuit against G.M., said he was denied auto insurance by seven companies in December. When he asked an agent why, she advised him to pull his LexisNexis report. He discovered six months of his driving activity, including many instances of hard braking and hard accelerating, as well as some speeding.“I don’t know the definition of hard brake. My passenger’s head isn’t hitting the dash,” he said. “Same with acceleration. I’m not peeling out. I’m not sure how the car defines that. I don’t feel I’m driving aggressively or dangerously.”When he finally obtained car insurance, through a private broker, it was double what he had previously been paying.The Cadillac owner, Mr. Dahl and the drivers on the forums had all been enrolled in OnStar Smart Driver. OnStar is G.M.’s Internet-connected service for its cars and Smart Driver is a free, gamified feature within G.M.’s connected car apps (all part of OnStar, but branded MyChevrolet, MyBuick, MyGMC and MyCadillac).Smart Driver can “help you become a better driver,” according to a corporate website, by tracking and rating seatbelt use and driving habits. In a recent promotional campaign, an Instagram influencer used Smart Driver in a competition with her husband to find out who could collect the most digital badges, such as “brake genius” and “limit hero.”In response to questions from The New York Times, G.M. confirmed that it shares “select insights” about hard braking, hard accelerating, speeding over 80 miles an hour and drive time of Smart Driver enrollees with LexisNexis and another data broker that works with the insurance industry called Verisk.Customers turn on Smart Driver, said Ms. Lucich, the G.M. spokeswoman, “at the time of purchase or through their vehicle mobile app.” It is possible that G.M. drivers who insisted they didn’t opt in were unknowingly signed up at the dealership, where salespeople can receive bonuses for successful enrollment of customers in OnStar services, including Smart Driver, according to a company manual.The Cadillac owner in Florida said he had not heard of Smart Driver and never noticed it in the MyCadillac app. He reviewed the paperwork he signed at the dealership when he bought his Cadillac in the fall of 2021 and found no mention of signing up for it.“When a customer accepts the user terms and privacy statement (which are separately reviewed in the enrollment flow), they consent to sharing their data with third parties,” Ms. Lucich wrote in an email, pointing to OnStar’s privacy statement.But that statement’s section on “third-party business relationships” does not mention Smart Driver. It names SiriusXM as a company G.M. might share data with, not LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which G.M. has partnered with since 2019.A driver who was surprised to discover that he was enrolled in Smart Driver posted a screenshot of his low score to an online forum for Corvette drivers in 2022.Credit...The New York TimesJen Caltrider, a researcher at Mozilla who reviewed the privacy policies for more than 25 car brands last year, said that drivers have little idea about what they are consenting to when it comes to data collection. She said it is “impossible for consumers to try and understand” the legalese-filled policies for car companies, their connected services and their apps. She called cars “a privacy nightmare.”“The car companies are really good at trying to link these features to safety and say they are all about safety,” Ms. Caltrider said. “They’re about making money.”Neither the car companies nor the data brokers deny that they are engaged in this practice, though automakers say the main purpose of their driver feedback programs is to help people develop safer driving habits.After LexisNexis and Verisk get data from consumers’ cars, they sell information about how people are driving to insurance companies. To access it, the insurance companies must get consent from the drivers — say, when they go out shopping for car insurance and sign off on boilerplate language that gives insurance companies the right to pull third-party reports. (Insurance companies commonly ask for access to a consumer’s credit or risk reports, though they are barred from doing so in California, Massachusetts, Michigan and Hawaii.)An employee familiar with G.M.’s Smart Driver said the company’s annual revenue from the program is in the low millions of dollars.LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which retains consumers’ driving data for six months, has “strict privacy and security policies designed to ensure that data is not accessed or used impermissibly,” the company said in a statement.Verisk provides insurers with trip data and a risk score “approved by insurance regulators in 46 states and the District of Columbia,” said a spokeswoman, Amy Ebenstein. Automakers that Verisk gets data from “provide their customers notice and obtain appropriate consents,” she said.Some drivers who had Smart Driver turned on, though, said they did not even realize they were enrolled until they saw warnings on online forums and then checked their app. They quickly unenrolled themselves by turning off Smart Driver in their car app.Omri Ben-Shahar, a law professor at the University of Chicago, said he was in favor of usage-based insurance — where insurers monitor mileage and driving habits to determine premiums — because people who are knowingly monitored are better drivers. “People drive differently,” he said. “The impact on safety is enormous.”But he was troubled, he said, by “stealth enrollment” in programs with “surprising and potentially injurious” data collection. There is no public safety benefit if people don’t know that how they drive will affect how much they pay for insurance.‘Real-World Driving Behavior’General Motors is not the only automaker sharing driving behavior. Kia, Subaru and Mitsubishi also contribute to the LexisNexis “Telematics Exchange,” a “portal for sharing consumer-approved connected car data with insurers.” As of 2022, the exchange, according to a LexisNexis news release, has “real-world driving behavior” collected “from over 10 million vehicles.”Verisk also claims to have access to data from millions of vehicles and partnerships with major automakers, including Ford, Honda and Hyundai.Two of these automakers said they were not sharing data or only limited data. Subaru shares odometer data with LexisNexis for Subaru customers who turn on Starlink and authorize that data be shared “when shopping for auto insurance,” said a spokesman, Dominick Infante.Ford “does not transmit any connected vehicle data to either partner,” said a spokesman, Alan Hall, but partnered with them “to explore ways to support customers” who want to take part in usage-based insurance programs. Ford will share driving behavior from a car directly with an insurance company, he said, when a customer gives explicit consent via an in-vehicle touch screen.The other automakers all have optional driver-coaching features in their apps — Kia, Mitsubishi and Hyundai have “Driving Score,” while Honda and Acura have “Driver Feedback” — that, when turned on, collect information about people’s mileage, speed, braking and acceleration that is then shared with LexisNexis or Verisk, the companies said in response to questions from The New York Times.Honda says driver data will not be shared without consent, but the user needs to read through a 2,000-word “terms and conditions” screen to see that the company is sharing data with Verisk.Credit...HondaBut that would not be evident or obvious to drivers using these features. In fact, before a Honda owner activates Driver Feedback, a screen titled “Respect for your Privacy” assures drivers that “your data will never be shared without your consent.” But it is shared — with Verisk, a fact disclosed in a more than 2,000-word “terms and conditions” screen that a driver needs to click “accept” on. (Kia, by contrast, does highlight its relationship with LexisNexis Risk Solutions on its website, and a spokesman said LexisNexis can’t share driving score data of Kia participants with insurers without additional consent.)Drivers who have realized what is happening are not happy. The Palm Beach Cadillac owner said he would never buy another car from G.M. He is planning to sell his Cadillac.How to Find Out What Your Car Is DoingSee the data your car is capable of collecting with this tool: https://vehicleprivacyreport.com/.Check your connected car app, if you use one, to see if you are enrolled in one of these programs.Do an online search for “privacy request form” alongside the name of your vehicle’s manufacturer. There should be instructions on how to request information your car company has about you.Request your LexisNexis report: https://consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/consumerRequest your Verisk report: https://fcra.verisk.com/#/Find something interesting, or know more about this? Contact me at [email protected] C. Beachy contributed research. [ad_2] Source link

Automakers Are Sharing Consumers’ Driving Behavior With Insurance Companies

Kenn Dahl says he has always been a careful driver. The owner of a software company near Seattle, he drives a leased Chevrolet Bolt. He’s never been responsible for an accident.

So Mr. Dahl, 65, was surprised in 2022 when the cost of his car insurance jumped by 21 percent. Quotes from other insurance companies were also high. One insurance agent told him his LexisNexis report was a factor.

LexisNexis is a New York-based global data broker with a “Risk Solutions” division that caters to the auto insurance industry and has traditionally kept tabs on car accidents and tickets. Upon Mr. Dahl’s request, LexisNexis sent him a 258-page “consumer disclosure report,” which it must provide per the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

for more trending news - https://nwoow.com/category/trending-news/

Automakers Under Scrutiny for Sharing Consumers' Driving Data with Insurance Companies | The Gateway Pundit | by Jim Hᴏft

Artist Research

John Tenniel was am english illustrator, graphic humorist and political cartoonist. I love his work for his mark making but more specifically his shading. In all of his work he uses an intence amount of cross hatching for shading. This is preferably how i would like to shade my work, but i would like to adapt it to my style. Furthermore, i like how detailed he can take a drawing with simply just lines. 

John Kenn Mortensen is a writer and film director. i fell in love with his work because of the imagery, the detail of the monsters, the story i feel behind the imagery, and the simplicity of lines that create such detail. Perhaps i won’t emulate the scary factor pf his work but i will definatly want to put that amount of detail into the creatures i create. 

Tsutomu Nihei is a japanese manga artist who was previously an architectural student. I have been a fan of his work for 4-5 years and since the beginning of finding his work i have been heavily inspired by its unique style, the concepts behind his work, and the architecture illustrated. From his work i hope to build worlds and concepts through my own illustrations like he does.

Komako Sakai is a japanese writer most popular for her illustrations in childrens books. i like that in her work she tends to use multiple mediums, and from the materials she has used i like the textured look it gives. I, in my own work would also like to explore different mediums. 

Endre Penovac is a serbian watercolourist. His work tends to concist of cats which in my personal opinion feels like chinese watercolour art, probably because of how he has mastered brush strokes. Of his work i admire how instead of using outright black to paint black cats, he uses a mixture of colours to create black, and then with the use of water and his brush stroke technique the colours flow outward. The flow of his work looks beautiful. In my work and in the future i would like to practice and eventually master brush strokes. 

Quentin Blake is an english cartoonist, illustrator and children’s writer, most wildly know for his work with Roald Dahl. His work has inspiered my love foe watercolour and with the help of his light box techniquei have adapted my own style and hope to adapt it further. His works fun to look at especially with all the fun colours he uses.

Iris Compiet is a traditional artist and illustrator from the netherlands. I love her concept art because of how outer worldly they all look, and it generates good ideas for the world they may live on and narrative. 

For your nightstand I've been enjoying his work on Facebook for awhile now and was excited to see he had a book available, so, I squealed and ordered it. Why this comes in a plain ole Amazon box instead of a container that hides a bursting-out-tentacle is just a reminder of the mundane world we live in. STICKY MONSTERS is a bit bigger than the size of your hand, square, slimmer than your pinky, and full of kooky goodness. Every page could hold it's own little story - if you dared imagine it. Any human featured must be experiencing trepidation, and every lurking menace nearby seems to have just noticed lunch has arrived. Since the pictures were originally on yellow stickies, they're reproduced in similar size - and you'll probably (like me) wish they were bigger, colorful, and even more revelatory. That's what makes them special efforts. This is sort of the perfect combination of Ed Gorey, Tim Burton, Roald Dahl, and Boris Karloff - whimsical, creepy, full of haunting whispers, and beautifully drawn. Go to Amazon

Delightfully Dark, but in Doses As a longtime follower of John Kenn's work online, I was pleased to see it all collected in one place. Full of fantastical creatures as it is, it seems fitting to be a physical object, to sit alongside dark, old fairy tales. It certainly conjures similar feelings of fear and danger. Go to Amazon

This book is so cool! My children love/ and are terrified of this book! My first grader keeps hiding it all over the house so it can't "get him", but then he wants me to read it with him. He does seem to be getting braver. Terrific art in the tradition of Edward Gorey! Go to Amazon

Yes, yes, yes! Get some Monsters! This is a great little book! I discovered this by accident, but when I saw his style, I thought it would be worth the low price. And I was not wrong! So fun and whimsical, but dark at the same time, I just love all the scenarios and creatures in this special little world he created. Funny, but the settings have a very European feel to me for some reason, I don't know why, but it just adds to the creepy, old movie, monster factor! Go to Amazon

Unbelieveable! This guy is the best! I have been following his blog forever and as soon as he made a collection available I bought it. I would love it if the book was the size of the sticky notes he draws on, that would really just push it over the top as far as awesome goes. John creates worlds. Go to Amazon

I can't believe these were all done on post its. I'll admit it, I like somewhat creepy things. This book is fantastic. It is just a series of pictures that Mr. Mortensen has drawn. His art is fantastic. It has texture and depth but is still far enough from reality that his images look as though they are there own, but real world. The most amazing thing about them is he did them all on post it notes (hence the term Sticky Monsters). Go to Amazon

A Joy of a Collection of Drawings Admittedly, Mortensen's drawings remind me of Edward Gorey's work, but I like the art of both of these guys! The book is small, 80 pages and not a full-size hardcover, but the drawings inside (with almost no accompanying text) are a delight to contemplate. The artist has a unique style that's fun and outrageous at the same time. The most frequent theme of his drawings are giant monsters of various types and appearances lurk near some unsuspecting little boy or girl, adults or groups of people much smaller than the monster(s). I really like this book and the art inside. I hope he does more as I'll buy it! Go to Amazon

A good read, but a little on the small side. Although this is a wonderful book that consists of only pictures (pictures that have given me GREAT ideas for my own works), it is much smaller than I thought it would be, denying me a chance to really look at the fine detail in this book. Aside from that small gripe, I still recommend you get this book if you like vexing pictures that you can carry around. Go to Amazon

Five Stars ... this as a present for my mom and she loved it. Love The Hecl Out Of This Book Great price for a great book. Five Stars Fabulous sticky monsters Totally worth it. Great Collection of Mortensen's Art Fun to flip through here and there Five Stars

Da es ab und zu passiert, dass Bücherdrachen aus ganz Deutschland in die Hauptstadt meines Vertrauens pilgern, gibt’s heute mal ein paar Tipps, in welche Geschäfte für englischsprachige Lesegelüste es sie unbedingt verschlagen sollte.

1. Dussmann/English Book Shop Friedrichstr. 90, 10117 Berlin Dussmann braucht eigentlich keine eigene Erklärung mehr oder? In dem fünfstöckigen Kulturkaufhaus gibt es eine riesige Auswahl an Büchern, Filmen, Musik, Schreibwaren und inzwischen auch endlose Massen an Fanartikeln. Das eigentliche Highlight befindet sich aber im hinteren Teil, dort gibt es nämlich den English Book Shop, um einiges kleiner als der vordere Teil, aber dennoch bietet er die größte Auswahl an englischen Büchern in Berlin, die ich kenne, schön sortiert nach Belletristik, YA, Children’s, Fantasy, Comics usw. Toll sind außerdem die Öffnungszeiten bis Mitternacht (Samstags bis 23:30).

2. Shakespeare & Sons Warschauerstr. 74, 10243 Berlin Ich nenne den Laden immer nur liebevoll Shakespeare Bagel, weil er neben einer schönen Auswahl von Belletristik (plus ein bisschen YA/Children’s und Fantasy) ein integriertes Café mit den besten Bagels der Stadt hat. Also erst eine Weile durch die meterlange Bücherwand stöbern (es gibt auch ein Regal mit gebrauchten Büchern) und dann niederlassen, um die selbst gemachten Bagels in den verschiedensten Sorten zu genießen. Der Kuchen ist übrigens auch geil.

3. Otherland Bergmannstr. 25, 10961 Berlin Das Otherland hat sich zwar nicht auf englischsprachige Literatur spezialisiert, aber ihre Auswahl ist trotzdem nicht zu verachten. Außerdem handelt es sich hier um eine reine Fantasy-Buchhandlung, in der auch die ein oder andere Lesung stattfindet. Generell ist die Gegend um das Geschäft (der Bergmannkiez) wunderbar zum Trödeln.

4. Love Story of Berlin Kastanienallee 88, 10435 Berlin Der Laden ist ziemlich klein, aber unheimlich süß aufgemacht. Draußen zieren Zitate von Roald Dahl und Harper Lee die Fassade und drinnen stecken in vielen Büchern kleine persönliche Empfehlungskärtchen in Herzform. Außerdem wirkt die Auswahl durchaus etwas spezieller und nicht einfach wie die Top 20 der Bestsellerliste wie man sie in vielen Bahnhofsbuchhandlungen findet.

5. Saint George’s English Bookshop Wörther Str. 27, 10405 Berlin Hier gibt es größtenteils gebrauchte Bücher, aber von denen eine eloquente Auswahl. Wer also mehr für sein Geld möchte, ist hier richtig. Und man kann auch direkt versuchen seine eigenen alten Bücher zu Geld oder Store Credit zu machen. Die Genres beschränken sich eher auf literary fiction und ein wenig Sachliteratur Es gibt aber auch (eine kleine undankbare) Kammer (wirklich, es ist wie bei Harry unter der Treppe) für Kinderbücher und große, vollgestopfte Regale mit Thrillern und Fantasyromanen.

6. English Books Berlin Unter den Eichen 62, 12205 Berlin Wer bei Saint George’s nicht fündig wird, kann sich durch diesen Laden stöbern. Auch hier sind alle Bücher gebraucht, allerdings mit einer riesigen Auswahl an Fantasyromanen (inklusive dieser alten, trashigen Cover). Der Laden ist lange nicht so schön wie die Love Story oder Dussmann, aber er hat irgendwie Charme mit seinen alten Regalen und den teilweise noch älteren Paperbacks.

Das sind meine 6 Hot Spots für englische Bücher in Berlin. Ergänzungen sind herzlich willkommen.

Tom Turner, Shall Seventy-Seven Bells Sing Struck

Tom Turner, Shall Seventy-Seven Bells Sing Struck

Tom and Kenne Turner (Tom would have been 77 today.)

POEM ON HIS BIRTHDAY

We are hairy men who may be thought of a “Twits,” but I dare say, are not. Why might you ask? If you  look closely, you will not see tasty morsels in our beards, while Twits upon close review will have tiny little specks of dried-up scrambled eggs.

So says Roald Dahl, and he should know of all the disgusting things found in the beard…

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Dezember 2018

Happy new year! Den Januar werde ich vor allem meinen ausstehenden Reviews vom Dezember und ein paar Rückblicken aufs letztes Jahr widmen. Mit dem ersten geht es heute wie gewohnt los, da erzähle ich, was ich im Dezember alles gelesen habe...

The Gloaming | Ich hätte nicht gedacht, dass mich ein Kirsty Logan Buch mal nicht vollends begeistern kann, aber hier ist der Funke irgendwie nicht übergesprungen. Dabei war der Roman stürmisch, verregnet und so magisch wie gewohnt. Review folgt.

Kleine Stadt der großen Träume | Ich kenne zwar noch lange nicht alle von Backmans Büchern, aber ich denke, das hier ist das mit Abstand mutigste, gewaltigste und beste seiner Werke. Es hat so viel gezeigt und ich habe so viel gefühlt und mehrmals eine Gänsehaut bekommen. Review folgt!

The Haunted Boy | Meine ersten drei Kurzgeschichten von McCullers fand ich gar nicht schlecht. Ich hatte noch ein bisschen etwas anderes erwartet, aber jetzt wo diese Haltung korrigiert ist, würde ich auch gern noch mal etwas Längeres von ihr lesen.

How To Be Both | Freiwillig lese ich so schnell nicht noch mal was von Ali Smith. Ich fand HTBB zwar kunstvoll gemacht, aber gleichzeitig sehr sperrig und nicht so, dass sich die ganze Mühe am Ende auszahlt. Selbst drei Unisitzungen später hatte ich nicht das Gefühl, nun mehr aus dem Buch mitgenommen zu haben (vielleicht war unsere Diskussion aber auch einfach schlecht).

Sleep No More | Diese Sammlung an feierlichen Mordgeschichten fand ich noch besser als The Mistletoe Murders, weil sie düsterer und süffisanter ist, manchmal in Richtung Shirley Jackson oder Roald Dahl. Und dabei ist das Ganze dann trotzdem erstaunlich gemütlich zu lesen und perfekt für die Weihnachtszeit.

Relax | Dieses Buch hat mich schon von der ersten Seite an mit seiner vulgären Jugendsprache fertig gemacht. Ich musste ständig lachen, weil so übertrieben derb, oft und bescheuert von Se. x, Masturbation und Drogen geredet wird. Dennoch liest es sich rasant runter und weiß mit einer gewissen Tiefe zu überzeugen, die eben bloß nicht direkt auf dem goldenen Pappteller serviert wird.

I Really Didn’t Think This Through | Eins meiner Weihnachtsgeschenke habe ich direkt gelesen und fand es sehr bewegend und ehrlich. Beth Evans erzählt in Worten und simplen, aber ausdrucksstarken Zeichnungen von ihren Depressionen, Zwangs- und Angststörungen und anderen Lebenshindernissen. Es birgt nicht allzu viel Neues, aber ist sehr lebensbejahend und ein positiver Motivator. Einzig die Aufteilung von Bild und Schrift hat mich oft genervt, weil sie nicht immer flüssig ineinander übergeht.

Tales From the inner City | Nicht nur ein Monats- sondern ein Jahreshighlight sind Shaun Tans kurze Geschichten und oppulente Zeichnungen über Tiere in der Stadt. Mit so viel Feingefühl und Melancholie beschreibt er wie Menschen Tiere behandeln, im Guten wie im (meistens) Schlechten, so dass es mir immer wieder das Herz umgedreht hat.

And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer & Longer | Die Novelle habe ich zwei Tage vor Jahresende noch schnell reingequetscht und es hat sich, wie immer bei Backman, gelohnt. Sie erzählt von Sohn, Vater und Großvater und dessen aufkeimender Demenz – sehr sanft und berührend, aber natürlich ebenso tragisch.

Vox | Ich füge dann auch mal meine überaus enttäuschte Stimme zur Mehrheit hinzu. Knülleridee, die gleich zu Beginn eindrücklich geschildert wird, nur um danach total im Sande zu verlaufen. Platte Figuren, unflüssige Handlung und so viel verschenktes Potenzial. Einfach ärgerlich.

The Singing Bones | Wirkt zwar so, ist aber kein klassisches Buch, sondern eine fotografische Sammlung von Tans Skulpturen, alle inspiriert von Grimms Märchen. Die Skulpturen sind spannend anzusehen, aber die kurzen Märchenzitate daneben fühlen sich entweder redundant an oder reichen, wenn ich das Märchen nicht kannte, nicht aus, um mir genügend Kontext zu vermitteln. Als Ausstellung hätte mir das Ganze sicher fabelhaft gefallen, aber so als Buch geht das Konzept nicht ganz auf.

Dumplin’ | Genau so mag ich meine YA Contemporaries: frech und lustig, aber auch mit ernsten Konflikten/Problemen, realistischen, verschiedenen Arten von Beziehungen (zur Mutter, zur besten Freundin, zu Jungs etc.) und einer gewissen Einzigartigkeit (hallo Besuch im Drag Queen Club ;). Auch hier schreib ich noch ein extra Review und ärgere mich nach wie vor, dass Netflix Deutschland den Film immer noch nicht freigeschaltet hat.

The Little Monsters Jump off The Page Go to Amazon

For your nightstand I've been enjoying his work on Facebook for awhile now and was excited to see he had a book available, so, I squealed and ordered it. Why this comes in a plain ole Amazon box instead of a container that hides a bursting-out-tentacle is just a reminder of the mundane world we live in. STICKY MONSTERS is a bit bigger than the size of your hand, square, slimmer than your pinky, and full of kooky goodness. Every page could hold it's own little story - if you dared imagine it. Any human featured must be experiencing trepidation, and every lurking menace nearby seems to have just noticed lunch has arrived. Since the pictures were originally on yellow stickies, they're reproduced in similar size - and you'll probably (like me) wish they were bigger, colorful, and even more revelatory. That's what makes them special efforts. This is sort of the perfect combination of Ed Gorey, Tim Burton, Roald Dahl, and Boris Karloff - whimsical, creepy, full of haunting whispers, and beautifully drawn. Go to Amazon

Delightfully Dark, but in Doses As a longtime follower of John Kenn's work online, I was pleased to see it all collected in one place. Full of fantastical creatures as it is, it seems fitting to be a physical object, to sit alongside dark, old fairy tales. It certainly conjures similar feelings of fear and danger. Go to Amazon

This book is so cool! My children love/ and are terrified of this book! My first grader keeps hiding it all over the house so it can't "get him", but then he wants me to read it with him. He does seem to be getting braver. Terrific art in the tradition of Edward Gorey! Go to Amazon

Yes, yes, yes! Get some Monsters! This is a great little book! I discovered this by accident, but when I saw his style, I thought it would be worth the low price. And I was not wrong! So fun and whimsical, but dark at the same time, I just love all the scenarios and creatures in this special little world he created. Funny, but the settings have a very European feel to me for some reason, I don't know why, but it just adds to the creepy, old movie, monster factor! Go to Amazon

I can't believe these were all done on post its. I'll admit it, I like somewhat creepy things. This book is fantastic. It is just a series of pictures that Mr. Mortensen has drawn. His art is fantastic. It has texture and depth but is still far enough from reality that his images look as though they are there own, but real world. The most amazing thing about them is he did them all on post it notes (hence the term Sticky Monsters). Go to Amazon

A Joy of a Collection of Drawings Admittedly, Mortensen's drawings remind me of Edward Gorey's work, but I like the art of both of these guys! The book is small, 80 pages and not a full-size hardcover, but the drawings inside (with almost no accompanying text) are a delight to contemplate. The artist has a unique style that's fun and outrageous at the same time. The most frequent theme of his drawings are giant monsters of various types and appearances lurk near some unsuspecting little boy or girl, adults or groups of people much smaller than the monster(s). I really like this book and the art inside. I hope he does more as I'll buy it! Go to Amazon

This is one of the most charming books I have ... This is one of the most charming books I have every bought. I gave it as a gift to my wife, and she loves all of the drawings. We have both revisited it on multiple occasions, and each read brings welcome whimsy and imagination! Go to Amazon

Five Stars Would be great if printed in bbigger format Great book from start to finish Gorey-tastic what a great illustration book of monsters and creatures my daughter, 31, wanted this book Three Stars Five Stars A good read, but a little on the small side. ... this as a present for my mom and she loved it.

The Little Monsters Jump off The Page Go to Amazon

For your nightstand I've been enjoying his work on Facebook for awhile now and was excited to see he had a book available, so, I squealed and ordered it. Why this comes in a plain ole Amazon box instead of a container that hides a bursting-out-tentacle is just a reminder of the mundane world we live in. STICKY MONSTERS is a bit bigger than the size of your hand, square, slimmer than your pinky, and full of kooky goodness. Every page could hold it's own little story - if you dared imagine it. Any human featured must be experiencing trepidation, and every lurking menace nearby seems to have just noticed lunch has arrived. Since the pictures were originally on yellow stickies, they're reproduced in similar size - and you'll probably (like me) wish they were bigger, colorful, and even more revelatory. That's what makes them special efforts. This is sort of the perfect combination of Ed Gorey, Tim Burton, Roald Dahl, and Boris Karloff - whimsical, creepy, full of haunting whispers, and beautifully drawn. Go to Amazon

Delightfully Dark, but in Doses As a longtime follower of John Kenn's work online, I was pleased to see it all collected in one place. Full of fantastical creatures as it is, it seems fitting to be a physical object, to sit alongside dark, old fairy tales. It certainly conjures similar feelings of fear and danger. Go to Amazon

This book is so cool! My children love/ and are terrified of this book! My first grader keeps hiding it all over the house so it can't "get him", but then he wants me to read it with him. He does seem to be getting braver. Terrific art in the tradition of Edward Gorey! Go to Amazon

Yes, yes, yes! Get some Monsters! This is a great little book! I discovered this by accident, but when I saw his style, I thought it would be worth the low price. And I was not wrong! So fun and whimsical, but dark at the same time, I just love all the scenarios and creatures in this special little world he created. Funny, but the settings have a very European feel to me for some reason, I don't know why, but it just adds to the creepy, old movie, monster factor! Go to Amazon

I can't believe these were all done on post its. I'll admit it, I like somewhat creepy things. This book is fantastic. It is just a series of pictures that Mr. Mortensen has drawn. His art is fantastic. It has texture and depth but is still far enough from reality that his images look as though they are there own, but real world. The most amazing thing about them is he did them all on post it notes (hence the term Sticky Monsters). Go to Amazon

A Joy of a Collection of Drawings Admittedly, Mortensen's drawings remind me of Edward Gorey's work, but I like the art of both of these guys! The book is small, 80 pages and not a full-size hardcover, but the drawings inside (with almost no accompanying text) are a delight to contemplate. The artist has a unique style that's fun and outrageous at the same time. The most frequent theme of his drawings are giant monsters of various types and appearances lurk near some unsuspecting little boy or girl, adults or groups of people much smaller than the monster(s). I really like this book and the art inside. I hope he does more as I'll buy it! Go to Amazon

Unbelieveable! This guy is the best! I have been following his blog forever and as soon as he made a collection available I bought it. I would love it if the book was the size of the sticky notes he draws on, that would really just push it over the top as far as awesome goes. John creates worlds. Go to Amazon

Great book from start to finish Gorey-tastic what a great illustration book of monsters and creatures my daughter, 31, wanted this book Three Stars Five Stars A good read, but a little on the small side. ... this as a present for my mom and she loved it. Love The Hecl Out Of This Book Fabulous sticky monsters

Two Hairy Faced Men, Twits Not

Two Hairy Faced Men, Twits Not

Tom and Kenne Turner (October 2009)– Image by Joy

We are hairy men who may be thought of a “Twit,” but I dare say, are not. Why you might ask? If you  look closely, you will not see tasty morsels in our beards, while Twits upon close review will have tiny little specks of dried-up scrambled eggs.

So says Roald Dahl, and he should know of all the disgusting things found in the beard of a twit, but, no need to…

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