Here's a few pictures of a large group of deaf people marching through Watsaw city centre today. Had earlier seen a huge amount of police vans in and around the city centre, thus, knowing that some kind of demonstration was about to take place.
Above, somebody is video recording the march as it goes past the Palace of Culture (in the background).
The other day, my small in-company CAE exam class asked me to write a model for a Job Application Letter on the board, so that's what I precisely did (above). There's only a couple of students in the class so it's always easy to just start writing and get the students to co-write it with me.
Of course, the idea is to raise the students' awareness of the external (4-5 paragraph) structure and the internal structure (use of linking devices; functional language; good vocabulary; use of rhetorical questions; formal versus informal social register etc.) of any CAE piece of writing. For me, the 20-minute co-construction process above is as good as any technique for doing this. Yes, it's primitive but for my situation it's perfect.
Above is the delicious vegan meal that I had on Sunday at a place called 'Vegan' in Warsaw (just down an alleyway on Jan Paweł II near the Jan Paweł II-Solidarnosć crossing).
Started using this vegan place and a vegetarian place near the city centre about 15-18 months ago when I had serious digestion problems, and now I'm thankfully off pre-meal medication, so I'm sticking faithfully to this kind of food, although I do eat a bit of meat once or twice a week (but stricyly no more).
Really find that the Polish oatmeal, at the back of the plate, is a much lighter and healthier alternative to either rice or potatoes. In the glass, there is a nice Polish 'kompot' (natural fruit juice) which sometimes has mint or ginger inside for their medicinal qualities.
Mention the 3rd Van Halen album, 'Women and Children First', and the chances are that most people only really know it for 'And the Cradle Will Rock' (below):
Earlier today, I gave 'Women and Children First' a first spin in what may be 30 years, and ended up reinforcing my feeling that it's probably the most underrated Van Halen album.
Only seen Van Halen once and that was back in early summer 1980 at Manchester Apollo, two days after seeing Rush at the same place on the 'Permanent Waves' tour (yes, they were truly the days, although I was still only a schoolboy back then).
So what was good about 'Women and Children First'? Well, after the sensational debut Van Halen album ('Runnin' with the Devil'; 'Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love' etc.) and what many people consider the disappointing follow-up, 'Van Halen II', 'Women and Children First' just sounded interestingly experimental.
So what are my favourite tunes off 'Women and Children First'? Well, over the years, the two tracks that have stayed in my mind (my mental jukebox) the strongest are probably the two Southern-sounding numbers: 'Take Your Whiskey Home' and 'Could This Be Magic?' (the latter being an incredibly experimental tune):
And what about the rest of the album? Well, I guess that the other two standout tunes for me would be 'Everybody Wants Some', and (especially) 'In a Simple Rhyme' (one of the most underrated Van Halen tunes):
While Youtube surfing today, I found the demo version of 'In a Simple Rhyme' from 1976/1977 below:
Finally, 'Tora! Tora!' and 'Loss of Control' have also somehow stuck in my mind for 33-34 years, so I guess that I like these two tracks too:
Had the pleasure of going to watch Gary Numan at the Warsaw Palladium last night, and I think I can safely say that its my favourite gig of the year so far. Really love Numan's recent album 'Splinter' album, which I rightly or wrongly view as being almost (Neo-) Prog, and last night's gig lived up to all expectations, not just for me but for the whole crowd from what could I see.
So what were my favourite tunes of the night then? Well, both 'Prayer for the Unborn' and 'Down in the Park' (below), my favourite 'old Numan tune', were spot on (of course, a massive well done to whoever is sharing their videos of last night's gig on Youtube):
However, my favourite tunes of the night were probably 'Love Hurt Bleed' and 'Metal' (below) as Numan and his slick tight band seemed to absolutely nail these:
Also, after more than a few failed attempts, I finally managed to get a shot of Mr. Numan in bowing motion (below):
Yeah, for a man getting on a bit, he sure does move around a bit.
Finally, when Are 'Friends' Electric? was being done near the end, as I was sipping a nice cold pint at the back of the hall, I couldn't help but feel some deep nostalgia, this tune having been a seminal tune of my early secondary school years (I hadn't really appreciated it back then, but sure did now):
Yes, it was a pleasure to spend the evening in the presence of a man who I now consider to be something of a genius.
This is probably my favourite shot of a gravestone from Park Chapel in Stubbins, Bury, Lancashire.
The flash from the camera seems to have lit-up the angel figure well while the background retains a dark Gothic-type atmosphere (it was the perfect time, sundown). Really love it when a shot turns out almost magical although this isn't often the case, of course.
For a couple of years I'd seen the structure of this new glass building sprouting up, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that the final product would be so modern-looking and yet beautiful.
This evening, I had to get off the tram a stop early to get a few shots of this incredible building, as it was just before sundown, the best time to get such shots.
The shot above is my favourite, as I just seemed to get the building at the right angle, by luck rather than design, of course.
The last pictures from my Christmas countryside walks in around my former hometown of Bury, Lancashire are from St. James (Anglican) church, Ashworth, near Norden (one of the more pleasant parts of Rochdale).
With only a few rural houses nearby, it's amazing that this church is open at all (I'm not an Anglican, but used to enjoy listening to Evensong in Canterbury Cathedral, Kent, when I lived down there - in my imagination, I kind of view Evensong as an Anglican attempt at Gregorian chant).
Love the light below at the top of the door:
There's also great poignancy here, such as the memorial to those who died fighting during the 1st World War below:
Every time I see such a memorial, I'm reminded of the 'Great War' poets (Wilfried Owen; Siegfried Sassoon; Isaac Rosenberg etc.) who my old friend Dave Dealy (who now lives in Ireland) used to read all the time.
Finally, I love the craftsmanship on the gravestone above, it just kind of points to this meaningless (post-) postmodern world that we inhabit having lost something (e.g. religious enchantment; the religious imagination; a sense of religious presence/significance; a sense of transcendence etc.) really quite valuable, irrespective of whether God exists or not.
Discovered Norwegian (Neo-) Prog band Airbag through checking them out on Youtube after seeing that they're playing Warsaw Progresja (which has recently moved from Stare Bemowo to Fort Wola) in May. It goes without saying that after checking out the 'All Rights Removed' album (especially liking the title track above), I didn't hesitate to get a ticket for the Airbag Progresja show. Like a lot of people, Airbag remind me of a later Pink Floyd, and this isn't a bad thing, of course.
On the Warsaw Progresja internet site, I also saw that another Norwegian Prog (ish) band Gazpacho are playing the Progresja, this time in early April. Only knowing the name Gazpacho in passing, I also decided to check them out on Youtube. With Gazpacho, I can hear such a diversity of things in their music that they really are impossible to categorise:
At first, I didn't quite know what to think of the lead vocalist Jan-Henrik Ohme's (for me, unusual) high-pitched vocals, but now, after a sustained listening of the band, the whole thing (including the vocal style) seems to gel together perfectly, and, consequently, I won't be missing them at the Progresja.
So what are my favourite Gazpacho songs then? Well, I really like 'Tick Tock Parts I and II' below:
So what can I say other than they must be putting something good in the water up in Norway, and I'm really enjoying my exploration of both Airbag and Gazpacho now.
Just finished teaching an in-company class on Friday morning and, at Warsaw Central metro station, I saw the opportunity to get a few interesting shots, as I was intrigued by the mechanical-looking light structure in the pictures above and below (sometimes the ordinary kind of looks or turns extraordinary due to the magic of the mind's eye):
At about 11 o'clock in the morning the Central metro station was a surprisingly calm and peaceful place, a far cry from the place at rush hour (in the morning or evening):
Above is St. James (Anglican) Church Hall in the countryside area of Ashworth, near Norden (near Rochdale) in Lancashire.
Despite not being Anglican, I love seeing such structures, especially in the countryside, as they remind me of a more noble pre-industrial England (e.g. one sketched out in Blake's epic poetry). Moreover, such places are often only 60-90 minutes walk away from (or a short bus ride away from) the modern politically 'correct' monstrosity of old mill towns like Bury and Rochdale (the PC social engineers have a lot to answer for here).
Really love the old leaded windows above and the old parish noticeboard below, as they once again point towards on older and more noble England, one that had some genuine cultural traditions that are still worthy of being preserved:
When I occasionally go back to Bury for a week or two, I quite naturally orientate myself towards the Lancashire moorland and countryside, as it offers such gems as those above, which are always waiting to be photographed.
Back to another one of my 'long walks' while staying in my hometown of Bury, Lancashire over Christmas: through the Burrs, Summerseat and Ramsbottom to have a look at Park Chapel in Stubbins on Boxing Day.
During this walk, I was lucky enough to catch the whisp-like smoke of a steam train (above), and to get a good shot of one of my favourite riverside spots nearing Summerseat (below):
Love the shot of the tree roots above, as they almost look alive. However, when I got to 'Rammy', all the shops were shut, it being Boxing Day after all:
So after having a quick cup of tea at my friend Simon's place, I made my way up to Park Chapel at the top of the Brow in Stubbins. Here, I discovered that the beautiful chapel had been renovated and cleaned up, as it was being/had been turned into new luxury flats (better than being turned into a mosque, I guess):
The block of stone below shows that many years ago, the chapel had had an accompanying Sunday School:
Here, I managed to get a shot of the chapel from the back of the building, as I was walking through the accompanying small graveyard:
It was sundown so it was the perfect time for getting shots of gravestones, such as the Celtic cross and gently elevated tomb below:
Think that Celtic crosses are incredibly beautiful, and can't resist taking pictures of them:
For me, 'On and On' (above) from the second MSG album is still the most interesting track that MSG have ever done: it just nicely combines a delicate 'winter-like' keyboard into with a solid guitar riff and surprisingly poetic lyrics (if analysed).
Remember seeing MSG with the classic (Schenker, Powell, Raymond, Glen, Barden) line-up on the front row at Manchester Apollo in 1981, as a young teenager at the time, not realising that being crushed at the front of the stage is no fun.
For the first time in say 25-30 years, I played the second MSG album recently, and while some of the tunes now sounded somewhat dated ('Attack of the Mad Axeman'; 'Never Trust a Stranger' etc.), like 'On and On', 'But I Want More' (below) seems to have a more long-lasting quality:
Really enjoy going back to albums that I liked donkeys years ago, to see which tracks have 'lasted the test of time' (don't sound 'dated').
Also saw MSG at Manchester Apollo in 1980 after they'd just released the first 'Michael Schenker Group' album, and, for a 13-year-old schoolboy, Schenker just looked like a magician, a deity almost, especially when doing the canonical UFO stuff ('Doctor Doctor; 'Love To Love'; 'Rock Bottom' etc.).
Having also played the first MSG album recently, the two tracks that have (for me) 'lasted the test of time' are predictably 'Lost Horizons' (probably Schenker's most canonised non-UFO tune):
and rather surprisingly the delicate acoustic tune 'Tales of Mystery' (had completely forgotten about this, but it in no way sounds 'dated'):
After the first two MSG albums and tours, I got to see MSG once or twice more (the memory really does fade) at Manchester Apollo, also in the early 1980s, but the only MSG track that I can now recognise or name after the first two albums is 'Captain Nemo':
Just think that MSG were a great band at the start of the 1980s, and, nowadays, some of what the band did back then is seriously underrated.
Love the fly poster above advertising the upcoming Gary Numan concert at Warsaw Palladium on February 20th.
Never seen Gary Numan live before so it'll be an honour to catch him on February 20th. Have really enjoyed listening to the mix of new and (towards the end) old canonical Numan stuff (especially 'Down in the Park') below in preparation for the Palladium gig:
Like a lot of people, I find the 'Splinter' material really dark and interesting, especially 'In The Dust'; 'The Calling'; 'Lost'; and 'My Last Day'. Guess that when I'm in the mood, I have some kind of soft spot for dark existentialism (read enough Sartre at university to kind of put me in tune with this sort of thing).
Never really liked Tubeway Army/Gary Numan in the late 1970s/early 1980s (when I was only a young teenager), but now it's a completely different story.
Been trying for a while and at last I've got a decenr shot of a modern yellow tram driving through the snow up at Stare Bemowo, a district on the outskirts of Warsaw where I teach twice a week:
Stare Bemowo is an area that contains a big army camp and soldiers can be seen walking around all day long, but this area also has some really pleasant and easily accessible woodland like above.
In the picture below, I'm trying to do what my Cornish artist friend Ross calls 'developing the abstract eye', as these footprints just seemed well worthy of an attempt 'to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary':
Quite bizarrely, mainly through having always lived 'on the wrong side of the Atlantic', it's only over the last few years that I've finally got round to having a proper look at some of the Don Kirshner Rock concerts, such as UFO above, through Youtube.
Think that the Don Kirshner concerts cover the years 1973-1981, for me, some of the greatest years in contemporary music, as this was when the different Rock bands around were both incredibly creative and unique (noticeably and positively different from each other), including the 1975 Black Sabbath below:
Love the way that Ozzy and Sabbath send an American audience almost completely delirious above.
Like with UFO and Black Sabbath above, while watching Bad Company below, it's fascinating to see how some of the great 1970s British rock bands were wooing American audiences in this truly golden age of music:
Having said this, my favourite clip from the Don Kirshner concert archives has got to be that of one of my favourite American bands Kansas doing 'The Pinnacle' (one of their most underrated tunes):
A massive thanks to the good people who have put such sublime archival material on Youtube, including the footage of Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush below:
Just wish that this era of music was still fully alive: I only caught it from about 1977 onwards as a young teenage schoolboy back then, but it was magical, full of meaningful enchantment.
Was up near Blue City again last week in freezing temperatures of about -10 or -15, but I could clearly see that the new metallic mosque up there was nearing completion, although it's still hemmed in with a fence full of modern-day advertisements (above).
However, this time, I really braved the weather conditions and took some shots of the metallic mosque close up:
What is noticeable is that the Islamic crescent has now been put in pole position at the top of the building:
Having finished taking close-up shots of the building and having moved a bit further up the road, I turned back to have a look at the mosque from the distance, and could see that the building looks quite fetching from here:
Just wonder how many Polish curiosity/religious seekers the new Warsaw mosque will attract.
After the Clannad concert on Friday night, I decided to get some shots of the incredible tables upstairs, near the balcony, inside the Stodoła.
My favourite is the fish design below, simple and yet really eye-catching:
Having said this, I also really like the martian-type thing below, whoever did this had a fantastic imagination:
Again, another fish below:
Some of the tables are quite long with artwork covering the whole length of them:
Finally, here's a shot showing just how effective the tables look together as a group, full credit to whoever had the idea of putting such a collection of colourful tables together:
Of course, no prizes for guessing that the Stodoła is a students' club.
