Warsaw: The Men Who Live in the Bushes

Since early Spring, from a distance, I've observed a small group of men living in some bushes not far from a buzzing underground station in Warsaw.

However, the weather is now definitely starting to turn towards winter so I guess that they'll (hopefully) be seeking somewhere warmer indoors for winter.

What I find fascinating about this group of men is that their small camp inside the bushes is incredibly well-organised and in its own way, neat and tidy:
 

Inside their camp, the men have made separate tent-like structures from big black bin  bags for themselves, and have a kind of table with a few small chairs where they eat and drink together.  In the picture above, you can even just about make out a frying pan hanging from the bushes.

In the picture below, you can see that the men have created their own kind of boundary blocking others from entering their camp inside the bushes:

However, now that the early winter snow is upon us, the men are seeking sanctuary in a local watering-place where they try to get a proper sleep during the day:

Have a lot of respect for these men.  They might sleep rough, but from what I've seen, they tend to keep themselves to themselves, and do no harm to anybody else.  I hope they're somehow warm and safe as winter more seriously takes its course.

Catching up with Staropramen Beer

Got a nice surprise with this Staropramen (Czech) beer recently.  It seemed to have a well-balanced bitter-sweet taste if this makes any sense.

Prior to this, the last time I'd drunk Staropramen was in a pub on the way down to Manchester Academy 2 to see Calexico in the early 2000s.  This pint had been lousy and had thus lead to my long-time reluctance to drink Staropramen.

But like I've just said, the can above was fine so I'll definitely be drinking Staropramen again in the near future.  Nice to have a story with a happy-type ending.

W.A.S.P. Live at Warsaw Progresja 25th November 2017

First saw W.A.S.P. at Manchester Apollo in 1986 and then again at Castle Donington in 1987 when Chris Holmes and Johnny Rod were in the band alongside the ever-present Blackie Lawless.  Enjoyed them a lot more than I'd expected on both occasions.

Then saw W.A.S.P. twice in 1992, again at Manchester Apollo and Castle Donington, on 'The Crimson Idol' tour (with Johnny Rod still being alongside Blackie Lawless in the band).

Thus, having not seen W.A.S.P. for 25 years, I thought it would be interesting to catch up with them again at Warsaw Progresja last night.

'The Crimson Idol' was done in full with a film backdrop.  As expected, my favourite tunes from this were 'Chainsaw Charlie'; 'I Am One'; and the Prog-type 'The Great Misconceptions of Me' (my favourite W.A.S.P. tune).

Then, afterwards, we got 'Love Machine'; 'Wild Child'; 'Golgotha'; and 'Wanna Be Somebody'.

'Golgotha' is a daring track and obviously reflects Blackie Lawless' Christian beliefs, and, for this reason, it was interesting to see the crowd's reaction to this tune and the crucifixion + white dove imagery on the backscreen.  Personally, I really liked it and thought it was possibly the tune of the night, although some in the crowd looked as though they might not have known what to make of it.

Not sure if it was me, but, at times, last night, the band sounded 'a bit flat'.  This could be just me as I'd had a flat day yesterday and may've projected this onto the gig. 

Kotek Sat in the Bin

For some reason, Kotek decided to climb in the bin.

Warsaw Arkadia: Christmas Decorations

Building work is still going on outside Warsaw Arkadia shopping centre, so the Christmas decorations seem to be going up more inside this year:

Still can't get over just how good some of the (post-) modern-type extension work looks at Arkadia:

Camouflaged Kotek

Here, Kotek is well camouflaged on a red and yellow coloured duvet.

Warsaw Arkadia: Tastefully Extended

The Warsaw Arkadia shopping centre has recently received a building extension, and I've got to say I'm rather impressed.  Absolutely love this UFO-type ceiling structure, and wonder how many people walk by without noticing it:

Also love the juxtaposition of the spiral metal pipe and unusual upper background below:

Have always had a soft spot for 'windowed' ceilings:

On the escalators, it seems a little like entering the sky:

The picture below gives a better view of the holistic effect:

Not usually a fan of (post-) modern-type art, but I definitely take my hat off to this.

Thomas Hardy: Michael Henchard's Psyche

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been lucky enough to see the 1978 BBC mini-series production of Thomas Hardy's 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' with Alan Bates playing the central role of Michael Henchard:
 

During this time, I also read the section on 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' in Geoffrey Harvey's fantastic 'Thomas Hardy: Routledge Guides to Literature' (2003: 71-76) which enhanced my understanding of and sympathy for Henchard's psychological state during his decline and fall in the novel:

Now, I just want to reflect on how much I've learnt about Michael Henchard's psychological disposition through having watched the 1978 BBC production of 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' and especially through having read Geoffrey Harvey's commentary on it.  I read the novel itself back in the mid-1980s when I was 20 or 21 and could only grasp a miniscule of its deeper meaning.

(i) Aristotelian Tragic Form:
First, the novel may be viewed as a relentless pattern of natural retribution which follows the tragic Michael Henchard around.  It records the rise of a hay-trusser to the top of the Casterbridge community after committing the unforgiveable act of selling his wife and young daughter to the sailor, Newson, at Weydon Priors Fair where he had drunk a spirit-laced furmity drink.  At a surface level, Henchard's decline, with the loss of his social standing and worldly goods, is precipitated by him firing the highly talented Donald Farfae; subsequent economic mismanagement of his agricultural business which would've been avoided with Farfrae on board; and the public revelation of his past, unforgiveable act.  At a deeper, personal level, Henchard's deepening remorse, longing for reconciliation with people he has wronged, and the news about the death of his real daughter (making the adult Elizabeth-Jane he has got to know and love his step-daughter) eat away at him and lead to his tragic death on Egdon Heath.

(ii) Michael Henchard's Tormented Psychology:
Henchard's complex, volatile nature covers a wide range of both positive and negative emotions, as love, generosity, frustration, and outright aggression are mixed together like in a cauldron in his psyche.  In this sense, Henchard's complex character may be viewed as the seed of his self-destruction process.  Through the more positive side of his nature, he attempts to repair the damage he has committed in the past to his wife Susan and Elizabeth-Jane (plus his former lover Lucetta), but his efforts are blocked, to some degree by cruel chance and coincidence, but mainly by his own inappropriate, impulsive responses to people and key events.

Hence, 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' may be viewed as the psychological study of a tormented character who is haunted by guilt and driven towards self-destruction, which leads to him becoming alienated from the people closest to him, including the ultra-loyal Elizabeth Jane.  Despite his moral crime and flaws of character, Henchard attains the reader's sympathy through not just his personal suffering, but also his 'real man' nature being pitted against his more superficial and less manly rival, Donald Farfrae.

(iii) The Henchard-Farfrae Rivalry:
The reader naturally feels sympathy for Henchard due to his loss of former lover (Lucetta), business, and position as the Mayor of Casterbridge to Farfrae, as well as the potential loss of Elizabeth Jane.  Here, the reader can see that Henchard's old rural values are being usurped by Farfrae's more modern ideas better-suited to an urban environment (similar to an old king being cast out of his empire by a young hero), with the story being set in the first half of the 19th century when many agricultural communities were moving towards urbanisation.  The tragedy is that the brusque determination of Henchard just cannot cope with the slick intelligence of Farfrae, so an authentic and proud countryman is systematically humbled by an intrusive outsider who represents the forces of modernity and change in an agricultural community dependent on successful corn and hay harvests.  Indeed, Hardy records the decline of Henchard and corresponding rise of Farfrae through the latter taking Henchard's dwelling-place, possessions, and (former) lover, Lucetta.

(iv) Wheel of Fortune Symbolism:
All of Henchard's main moral betrayals of Susan (selling her and his daughter); Elizabeth-Jane (not telling her that Newson is her real father); and Newson (telling him that Elizabth-Jane is dead) precipitate his decline and fall, completely undermining all his efforts at reparation and reconciliation with those he has wronged.  Tied in with this, the novel contains a sense of the circularity of events, especially with the reappearance of the furmity woman who informs the Casterbridge court room presided over by Henchard of his wife-selling act at Weydon Priors Fair all those years ago.  Here, there is a sense of people not being able to escape their worst actions from the past, no matter how much they develop as people afterwards, as the wheel of fortune makes sure that they pay for their previous serious wrongdoings.

(v) Hardy's Humanising of Henchard
The reader's sympathy towards Henchard seems to be based on him renouncing strong drink, disciplining his character, and energising himself towards gaining economic/social success in Casterbridge after his moral crime at the Country Fair.  Hence, it is naturally tragic to see him leaving Casterbridge (due to Newson's return) in tattered shape to revisit the scene of his moral crime against his wife and young daughter, and then experience a poor, lonely death on Egdon Heath. 

(vi) The Symbolism of the Bull-Subduing Episode
Finally, I believe that much of the tragedy in 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' simply revolves around Henchard being an inwardly aggressive person, who demonstrates this with occasional aggressive turns of action, with the better part of his nature wishing that he didn't have this aggressive-type disposition.  In this respect, the episode where he subdues a bull that endangers Lucetta and Elizabeth Jane may be symbolic of him engaging in an inner struggle with his own aggression-driven inner-self.  How many men know of this struggle if the truth be known?

My Mental Jukebox Part 6

These two songs, 'Northern Sky' by Nick Drake (above) and 'Lucky Man' by The Verve (below) automatically start playing in my mental jukebox around Crewe train station when I'm heading back from somewhere like Thomas Hardy country (Dorset in south-west England) to Manchester Piccadilly train station towards my ultimate destination, my old hometown of Bury, Lancashire.

When I used to live in Canterbury, Kent, now over 10 years ago, the same two songs used to always start playing in my mind (my soul) around Crewe train station.  There's just something magical about Crewe train station, it's like a gateway from Cheshire to Lancashire while travelling northwards from somewhere in the south on the trains in England.

Unfortunately, my final destination on these journeys (which are becoming increasingly rare), Bury, Lancashire, often struggles to live up to the beauty of the two above-mentioned songs.  Having said this, some of the countryside and moorland around Bury, especially Deeply Vale; Cheesden Valley; up on the Owd Betts etc., is absolutely stunning.  Really miss walking to some of these places.

Public Service Broadcasting Live at Warsaw Hydrozagadka 17th November 2017

Really enjoyed Public Broadcasting Service at Warsaw Hydrozagadka last night.  After a hard working week, I was well up for this gig.

Really like the band's recent album 'Every Valley' (about the rise and fall of the Welsh coal mining industry) so last night's gig was a real treat.

It was also great to listen to other PSB tunes I like (especially 'Spitfire'; 'Everest' and 'Gagarin') live.

Being English/British myself and living abroad, this gig was just like visiting a big piece of English/British culture for the evening.

My favourite tunes of the night?  They would have to be 'The Pit' and 'All Out' from 'Every Valley':

I was 18-19 when the big miners' strike took place in mid-1980s Britain.  Can still recall the rucks and scrums between masses of police and striking miners.

My Mental Jukebox Part 5

Remember hearing 'Video Killed the Radio Star' by The Buggles back in 1979 when I was still a 2nd or 3rd year at secondary school in Bury, Lancashire. 

Think this was a song that everybody loved to hate but secretly admired.  I just thought that something unusual was going on in the song, and that both Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn had something, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was exactly. 

At the time, nobody could've imagined that just a short time after 'Video Killed the Radio Star', both Downes and Horn would join Yes for a short while with the resulting (in my opinion, great) Yes album, 'Drama'.

Moreover, time has shown Geoff Downes to be an accomplished keyboard player with Asia and back again with Yes (saw Downes with Yes a few years ago and with Asia in 2010, both times in Warsaw), and Trevor Horn a highly respected record producer. 

And when I saw Asia at Warsaw Stodola seven years ago, they did 'Video Killed the Radio Star' with the late great John Wetton handling the vocals:

Kotek Waking Up

A nice shot of Kotek waking up after a snooze on top of the wardrobe.

 Below, he seems to be using a pile of books as a kind of pillow or head rest:

Warsaw: A Courtyard Restaurant

Came across this (almost hidden) courtyard restaurant/bar on the way down to the Cafe Niebo (near the Nowy Swiat) from Warsaw Central metro station last Friday.

Mastodon and Russian Circles Live at Warsaw Progresja 11th November 2017

The Progresja was packed out for Mastodon last night so I didn't fancy jostling about trying to take shots near the front of the stage.

Thankfully, the band had a great stage show with ever-changing, strange shapes on the back screen so this turned out a good gig to watch from the back of the crowd:

Have listened to Mastodon for a few years in passing and have never really been able to make my mind up about them, viewing them as some kind of half Metal-half Prog band.

So last night, I went to see the band out of pure curiosity, and I've got to admit that I enjoyed them more than I expected.

I just sensed that they had far more strings to their bow than I'd previously realised, as I really enjoyed the kind of faint psychaedelic stream that they sometimes fuse into their Metal Prog/Prog Metal kind of music.

My main memory of the night is going to the bar downstairs for a nice Czech beer, and coming back to the gig to see waves of hands responding to 'Show Yourself'.

Was also curious to see Russian Circles last night.  Watched the first 2-3 tunes not that far from the front, but just found it too loud, I was genuinely worried about my ears (even with some ear protection).

Still, as expected, the drummer was amazing (like Mastodon, I only know Russian Circles in passing):

Mikromusic Live at Warsaw Cafe Niebo 10th November 2017

Love dreamscape-type concerts so I was always going to enjoy watching Polish band Mikromusic last night.

Started giving Mikromusic a sustained listen a few months ago, and found that their brand of (kind of) Trip-Hop meets Jazz was perfect music for working on the computer with.

Last night, I recognised about 50% of the set (famous tunes like 'Bezladnie' and 'Takiego Chlopaka'), but the best tunes of the night for me were the first three or so ones that the band came on with that I wasn't familiar with.  At times, these first few tunes almost had a Prog-type feel to them.

Was also nice to see a band using a really creative/imaginative and ever-changing back screen.

 

This made the concert every bit as enjoyable to watch from the back of the hall:

It was also fascinating to see the back screen gradually changing for 20-30 minutes before the band hit the stage:

Tired-Looking Kotek

A tired-looking Kotek jumped up on the wardrobe to catch forty winks.

'Thomas Hardy' (Routledge Guides to Literature) by Geoffrey Harvey

Find it difficult to convey just how much I'm enjoying and getting out of reading this truly fantastic book.  Thought it would be just a light-type introduction to or summary of Hardy's work, but it really is much, much more.

The book is divided into three sections about Hardy's life; his well-known and lesser-known fiction and poetry; and how different schools of literary criticism approach and view his work.  In other words, the book offers a wonderfully balanced view of Hardy.

When I saw how the book was structured, I immediately headed for the third and last section on different critical approaches to Hardy's work.  This section summarises how different authors have approached Hardy's work from liberal humanist (traditional 'lit-crit'); structuralist; deconstructionist; psychoanalytic; marxist/materialist; feminist and gender study perspectives.  Needless to say, I found the liberal humanist; psychoanalytic; and structuralist perspectives most interesting as they most closely correspond to how I tend to approach, interpret and understand Canonical Literature as offering a thorough examination and exploration of the complexity of the human condition.  However, I also surprisingly got something out of reading the feminist and gender study perspectives on Hardy which often go into depth about the systematic oppression against and suffering of Hardy's main female characters, especially Tess, of course.

I'm now reading the part of the second section that deals with Hardy's more famous work, and I can already see that there's a chronological development from a kind of compromised maintenance of the pastoral idyll (against outsider intrusion) in 'Under the Greenwood Tree' to a louder celebration of the survival of an ideal-type rural setting (against more robust outsider opposition) in  'Far From The Madding Crowd'.  From here, outsider interference in local rustic matters intensifies in 'The Return of the Native' and seems to reach a peak in 'The Woodlanders' and 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' where rural communities can now be seen to be coming under increasing threat (and even being broken down and potentially destroyed) by outsider intrusion.  Also love the sub-section on 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' which points towards an individual's character being as much responsible for his/her fate as any external forces (a person's character = his/her fate).  Indeed, what is becoming clearer for me through reading Harvey's book is that 'The Mayor of Casterbridge'; 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles'; and 'Jude the Obscure' may be viewed as case studies in (tragic but probably avoidable) individual self-destruction process.

The picture below shows that Harvey's book is never far from my hand at the moment, as my understanding of Hardy thankfully becomes more lucid through encountering detailed insights into the work and complex ideological outlook (e.g. Hardy being an agnostic humanist who couldn't emotionally let go of the pastoral brand of Anglicanism that he had been brought up on as a child, and who also had some kind of fetish for pre-Christian, pagan beliefs and customs/rituals that often lay beneath the surface of 19th century, Wessex, agricultural life) of Thomas Hardy.

Can't wait to find the time to delve some more into this wonderful book.