Warsaw: Mazurek (Traditional Polish Easter Cake)

A shot of a mazurek, a traditional Polish Easter cake, that I've received over this Easter.

The mazurek was made of pastry with a wonderful plum jam covered with sticky toffee and tasty nuts.

My Mental Jukebox Part 8

Really happy I found this great video of The Scorpions doing 'We'll Burn the Sky' on Youtube.

Saw Uli Jon Roth (Ulrich Roth) at Warsaw Torwar last week and he did 'We'll Burn the Sky', dedicating it to his brother, Zeno, who recently passed away.

'We'll Burn the Sky' is far and away my favourite Scorpions tune, and especially love the version on the 'Tokyo Tapes' double live album.

The opening two lines of 'We'll Burn the Sky' are always near the forefront of my mental jukebox:

      I'm in love with the sunshine
      I'm in love with the fallin' rain

And the next few lines more fully reveal just what a meaningful song this is:

      Everything seems to call your name
      Yesterday you were leavin'
      Leavin' life and all your pain
      Everything wants you back again

Yeah, as you can guess, the rest of the lyrics are well worth a look too.

Kotek and the Pizza (Box)

Nice shot of Kotek having a rest inside a pizza box. 

Think he was interested in the feta cheese on the pizza (a delicious one with aubergine and green and black olives too).

Joe Satriani Live at Warsaw Torwar 19th March 2018

Also with Joe Satriani, before seeing him at Warsaw Torwar on Monday night, I'd only ever listened to him in passing.

The song that really blew me away was 'Cherry Blossoms', what a wonderful, classy tune this is.

So, like with John Petrucci, I really enjoyed checking out Joe Satriani live.

John Petrucci Live at Warsaw Torwar 19th March 2018

Went to the recent G3 concert at Warsaw Torwar mainly for Uli Jon Roth (Ulrich Roth), and through never having properly listened to Dream Theater, I didn't know whether I was going to like John Petrucci or not.

As things turned out, I really enjoyed the John Petrucci set.

Really liked 'The Happy Song',  and rarely have I seen somebody with such a strong but friendly stage presence as John Petrucci.

Also really liked the visuals that accompanied the music, especially near the end of the set:

Found myself with a pint of beer in hand trying to work out exactly what such a great visual could mean:

Therion Live at Warsaw Progresja 17th March 2018

Have now seen Therion twice, both times at Warsaw Progresja, on Saturday night and two years ago in 2016.  Must confess that on both occasions, I went mainly to see Russian band, Imperial Age, but each time, I ended up really enjoying both bands.

Not that familiar with Therion to be honest, but on Saturday night, from the older stuff, I really liked 'Cults of the Shadow', and from the recent album, 'Bring Her Home'.

Like Imperial Age, Therion have a winning formula that combines good music with incredible male-female harmonies which sends serotin to the listener's brain.

Uli Jon Roth Live at Warsaw Torwar 19th March 2018

It had been a long time coming, but at long last, almost 40 years to be precise, I finally got to see Uli Jon Roth (Ulrich Roth):

First came across Roth's genius guitar work when I got 'Tokyo Tapes', the classic Scorpions double live album, on vinyl back in the late 1970s.  Can still recall being enchanted by 'Speedy's Coming'; 'Fly to the Rainbow'; 'Steamrock Fever'; 'We'll Burn the Sky' etc.

Despite the Uli Jon Roth set being a truncated one at the G3 concert last night (with John Petrucci and Joe Satriani on afterwards), it was a pleasure to hear old Scorpions tunes like 'The Sails of Charon' and, of course, 'We'll Burn the Sky' being done live by Roth.
 

Saw The Scorpions six times between 1980 and 1988 but, of course, this was in post-Ulrich Roth times.

Can also recall having the Electric Sun albums with 'Firewind' probably being my favourite.

So, despite the truncated set, it's a relief to say that I've finally seen the great Uli Jon Roth (Ulrich Roth) live.

Imperial Age Live at Warsaw Progresja 17th March 2018

Thoroughly enjoyed the Imperial Age set from start to finish.

The new material in particular worked a treat, especially 'The Monastery'; 'Domini Canes' and 'And I Shall Find My Home'.

Love the great, harmonious melodies, something that Imperial Age obviously specialise in.

First saw Imperial Age two years ago (also at Warsaw Progresja).  Would love to see them doing a longer, headlining set.

Lauren Southern: Victim of Politically-'Correct' Demonisation Process

Have just read on one of the Western, politically-'correct' propaganda, mainstream media websites that the free-thinking, libertarian, ethnographic-type news reporter, Lauren Southern has been barred from entering the UK.

Of course, the Western, politically-'correct' propaganda, mainstream media website in question has conveniently labelled and stereotyped Lauren Southern as a 'far-right activist' as part of its demonisation process against her.

Have seen quite a bit of Lauren Southern's ethnographic-type reporting, and she comes across as being nothing more than a libertarian-(quite gentle) conservative-type in ideological outlook.  For me, this shows that old-school, classical liberal-types will be the next people to be targeted on the politically-'correct' hitlist for being demonised as 'far-right extremists'. 

Like one of my students said the other day: the situation in the Western politically-'correct' dystopias is getting so dire that anybody to the right of Bernie Sanders is being condemned as a 'far right activist/extremist'.

Yes, the mind really boggles, poor Britain seems to be further slipping down a vile, ugly slope towards politically-'correct' totalitarianism.  This is a really sad, tragic state of affairs. 

Tęskno Live at Warsaw Niebo 28th February 2018

Couple of shots of Tęskno opening for Vök from Wednesday last week:

This was another case of it being well worth getting down in time for the opening act.  Not quite sure how I'd describe Tęskno but found them interesting.

Warsaw: The Niebo Bars

Only been to the Niebo three times for concerts.  Generally speaking, it's a young person's place rather than my kind of thing (I'm 52 years old).

However, some of the decor is quite interesting, such as in the bar area that greets you before you enter the concert room, as shown in the two pictures above and below here.

There's also a bar in the concert room, and when I looked back at this while watching Icelandic band, Vök, the other week, I saw just how interesting this looks from a distance:

Couldn't help but zoom in on this bar to get a better view of it:

John's Pictures of Lake Como

A couple of pictures from Lake Como in northern Italy that my friend John sent to me recently:

Certainly looks a fresh and mystical-looking kind of place.  John says that he has to get to these kinds of places quite often to get the drabness of Bury (Lancashire) out of his head for a while.

Warsaw: The Georgian Flag

Came across this wonderful Georgian flag, advertising a Georgian restaurant, while walking up from the Cafe Niebo, near Nowy Świat, to the central underground station in Warsaw:

Of course, what I love about the Georgian flag is the unashamed Christian symbolism, something that Western European countries could learn from, I think.

Vök Live at Warsaw Cafe Niebo 28th February 2018

Got down to the Cafe Niebo to see Icelandic band, Vök, last night.

Was down near the front of the stage for the first half of the set, then went near the back for the second half to watch the show more comfortably with a glass of beer in my hands.

Really enjoyed 'Waterfall' and 'Before' near the end of the set.

Always enjoy watching Icelandic bands, they're always interesting in a good, quirky kind of way.  Think what I particularly like about Vök is the way the saxophone occasionally comes into play, rarely have I heard a saxophone have such a soothing, transcendental-type sound.

The Cafe Niebo isn't exactly my kind of place, but the bar in the concert area looked interesting from a distance: