My Favourite Gothic Church in Bury, Lancashire

This is Christ Church, Walmersley, my favourite Gothic church in my hometown, Bury.  Every time I pass this (Anglican) church, usually on a walk up to Ramsbottom, the sky always seems to be full of dark clouds, and the heavens ready to open, which adds to the atmosphere of this beautiful building:

Christ Church also has a beautiful entrance into its grounds as seen in the picture below:

Going back 30 years or so, I remember this spot being a favourite one for kids drinking cider.  I guess it's probably the same now.

Uncle Gordon's Garden Shed

This is my uncle Gordon's garden shed retreat up Walmersley in Bury, Lancashire:

Uncle Gordon is my (late) mother's oldest brother, and I visit him and his wife Mary whenever I go back to Bury.  From the picture below, you can see that he's enjoying his retirement now, and really loves his cosy garden shed retreat:

To be honest, Gordon is not much of a drinker, and only really collects the bottles of beer inside the shed as ornaments more than anything.  But, like the good uncle he is, he's always happy to offer me a bottle whenever I call round.

The Need To Have a Drink with Old Friends

This is my old mate, Daz George, who I met on Bell Lane/Rochdale Old Road while in my hometown of Bury, Lancashire recently.  I think it's fair to say that Daz is a bit of a character, and I hadn't seen him for years.  Thus, we ended up chatting for about 20-30 minutes on the spot, mainly about boxing and music, Daz's favourite topics. 

It was great to see Daz after many years, and I was glad that I got to chat with him, but regret not having got out for a couple of pints with him.  Thankfully, I escaped Bury over 15 years ago, but I still miss my old friends from years ago, like Daz.  Yes, as I get older, I feel the need to reconnect with old friends from the past, because none of us are going to be around forever.

Thus, it was good to meet up with one of my best mates from over the years, John Anthony, as we went to see Rush at Manchester Arena, then, at the weekend, had a drink in Bury town centre.  Below, John is with his girlfriend Stephanie at the Bury Wetherspoons next to the Interchange (an excellent pub for Real Ale):

Yes, I must get back to Bury later in the year to see (more of) my old friends again.

Coco Rosie at Warsaw Basen 26-06-13

Finished work at 6pm yesterday, and wasn't sure if I'd get to Coco Rosie  as I was absolutely exhausted, but I'm so glad that I made the effort.

This was my third visit to the Basen in Warsaw, and I'm really warming to the ambience and design of the place.  When I got there last night, I was relieved to see that I wasn't the only over 45 in the audience.  True, the audience was mainly young, but there was a healthy crop of older people there as well.

First up, I'd never heard of Nomi Ruiz but the taped backing music, flowery visual projections, and her hoarse and sensual voice all seemed to work well together:

Indeed, it was clear that her set had gone down well when Sierra Casady encouraged her to get back on stage to do a tune together as an encore:

As the visual projections were playing an interesting role in the evening's entertainment, I decided to move to a more central position further back to watch Coco Rosie (this also made it easier to get a beer later on).

As for Coco Rosie, well, they were colourful and, at times, sublime:  needless to say, Sierra Casady has a seriously beautiful high-pitched voice and plays the harp well, while, in contrast, sister Bianca half sings-half narrates in a mischevious Bjork-type voice.  Also loved the visual imagery behind the band, this worked really well:

Yes, there was a beautiful symmettry betweem music and moving image, it was a colourful holistic experience, and I'm so glad that I managed to get to such a sensuous gig.

In reality, I only really know of Coco Rosie in passing, and only 'Lemonade' enters my mental jukebox from time to time, but, today, I had to search Youtube to find tracks like 'Child Bride' and 'Harmless Monster', which, in their different ways, are incredibly beautiful (the videos below are from a gig in Paris in late May - well done to whoever put them on Youtube):

Thus, if you get the chance to see Coco Rosie live, don't pass it over, as they're seriously good, much better than I'd expected, it was an experience.

Sigur Ros at Warsaw Sowinskiego Park Amfiteatr 25-06-13

Was up in Wola last night to see Sigur Ros at the Sowinskiego Park Amfiteatr.  Despite finally getting to see Sigur Ros, and the pleasant setting of the Sowinskiego Park Amfiteatr, the (at times) shambolic organisation of the event almost detracted from the beauty of Sigur Ros' music. 

First, I got into the place at about 7.20 and ended up waiting till 9.00 for the band to get on stage, but, of course, this kind of thing can happen anywhere:

However, what seemed especially strange about the Sowinskiego Amfiteatr was that there almost appeared to be as many 'security' personnel as concert-goers, a little bit exaggerated for a Sigur Ros concert, I would suggest.  Indeed, dare I suggest it, the ticket price might've been a lot more reasonable without so many superfluous 'security'  staff hanging around. 

But the biggest 'piss take' was the beer stand with three people serving a multitude of thirsty concert-goers.  This inevitably lead to people waiting 20-30 minutes to get a 'pint', and then they weren't allowed to take their 'prize' into the Amfiteatr.  Yes, this was a full on 'taking the piss out of people' who'd paid 179 złoty a shot to get into the concert. 

Anyway, enough of the moaning, Sigur Ros were the melodic and crescendo-building dreamscape that I expected them to be:

Moreover, they did enough of the famous stuff (e.g. 'Hoppipolla', Svefn-g-englar' etc.) for me to recognise most of the set, so I was happy about this.  It's also great to see that people are already sharing  their filmings of the event on Youtube:

Yes, I enjoyed Sigur Ros, but I would seriously think twice about going to Sowinskiego Park Amfiteatr for another concert, as the place (as a concert venue) seemed somewhat deficient in organisational skill.  Still, at least the huge white canopy covering the place stopped people from getting drenched, as it was throwing it down:

'For Greater Glory: The True Story of Christiada'

VIVA CHRISTO REY! 

Yesterday, I got to see 'For Greater Glory:  The True Story of Christiada', and, as a semi-practising Catholic (I go to the Old Latin Mass about once a fortnight), I absolutely loved it, especially marvelling at how such a film could get past the politically-'correct' Nazi censorship in our sad and lost Western world.

Through having attended St. Pius X Society Masses many years ago (still go when I'm in Britain), I was already aware of the 1926-1929 popular Catholic uprising against the leftist dictatorship of the time  in Mexico, and knew the general storyline of how widespread Catholic resistance turned from peaceful to necessarily violent means, as the leftist dictatorship closed down the Catholic churches; executed priests; and hung members of the Catholic resistance movement from telegraph poles.  Besides this, I was also aware of how both American and Vatican diplomacy were complicit in pressurising the Cristeros into compromising with the leftist dictatorship rather than allowing them to fully rout their savage enemy.

Anyway, what can I say, I'm just amazed, it's a miracle that such a film has been made honouring the faith and bravery of the Cristeros:

Of course, the film itself has probably been/is probably being only shown in mainly underground cinemas throughout the Western world, as it will have been ideologically sidestepped away from mainstream cinemas (the politically-'correct' don't deal in getting people to think, only PC brainwashing).

Also love the opening (and ending) song from the soundtrack to the film:  'Entre La Luz I El Pecado': 

VIVA CHRISTO REY!

Entering Venice

Back in April, I arrived in Venice after a 24-hour coach journey from Warsaw cutting through both the Czech Republic and Austria.  Thus, I was far from fresh, but, as we approached Venice by boat, my eyes lit up as the great city came into view:

Soon after, I was strolling past Stravinsky's church, and briskly moving towards St. Mark's Cathedral:

Even though it was partly covered, St. Mark's Cathedral was incredible:

Some of the paintings on the Cathedral seemed to depict the city's heroic part in defending Christendom from Islamic expansionism:

At one point, as I turned back towards the waterfront, I could see a huge cruise liner breezing by:

Yes, already I knew that Venice was a magical place, full of history and enchantment.

Underrated Albums: 'Fear of a Unique Identity' by Antimatter

Up until a few weeks ago, I'd never heard of Antimatter, but now I just can't stop playing 'Fear of a Unique Identity'.  For me, the first couple of tracks 'Paranova' and 'Monochrome' are the best two tracks kicking off an album that I've heard in a long, long time:

After these two crackers, things are brought to a more relaxing pace with the title track.  Like many people, Mick Moss' vocals on the opening couple of tracks remind me of Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, while on the much slower title track, they seem to have a tinge of David Sylvian (one of my heroes) about them:

After these opening three tracks, the album then develops into a kind of beautiful dreamscape, or this is how it seems to me, as I'm often listening to it while tapping away on the computer.

So, how did the 'Fear of a Unique Identity' album cross my path.  Well, I saw that Antimatter are supporting Anathema at the Warsaw Klub Progresja on July 12th for an all accoustic show, and thought that I'd check them out through giving their most recent album a spin.  As a result, I'm now going to the Klub Progresja on July 12th, and more than anything, look forward to seeing Mick Moss/Antimatter live:

Yes, 'Uniformed & Black' is another of my favourite tracks from 'Fear of a Unique Identity'.

Who Said That Radcliffe Was a 'Shithole'?

As a rule, I wouldn't go out of my way to visit Radcliffe, one of the most socially deprived parts of Bury, Lancashire.  When I think of Radcliffe, the first images that spring to mind are the remnants of Blake's 'dark Satanic mills' and rows of red (or black) bricked two up-two downs:

However, when I was in Bury recently, I had to visit Radcliffe on one occasion, and found the area around Close Park genuinely endearing:

Indeed, there were a couple of things far more interesting than the metal dinosaur construction above.  First off, I loved the old Anglican church next to Close Park:

Yes, for me, this small church wouldn't be out of place in Canterbury (or one of the villages surrounding it), where I lived between 1999 and 2003.

Second, I was very lucky to run across the historically protected remains of the 15th century Tower, just round the corner from the front of Close Park:

Thus, it was great to find some enchantment in the most unlikely of places.

An Interreligious Sunday Morning at Wolska in Warsaw, Poland

Last Sunday, I ended up having a bit of an interreligious stroll through the Wolska area of Warsaw (about a 20-30 minute tram journey away from Warsaw city centre).

First off, I visited the LDS (Mormon) church at Wolska to attend their Sunday Sacrament meeting at 10.00am:

I genuinely like some of Joseph Smith's scripture especially 'Doctrine and Covenants' (for the 'outsider', a much more interesting read than 'The Book of Mormon') and the account of Smith's 1st Vision in 'Pearl of Great Price'.  Moreover, I also like some of Smith's lesser known writings such as the King Follet Discourse (King Follet Funeral Sermon) where he starts to spell out the LDS belief in Exaltation (the process of people becoming gods themselves).

However, as usual, at the Wolska LDS church, I found the tight social conditioning procedures a bit stifling.  In my experience, (American) new religious movements like the LDS; Jehovah's Witnesses; and Christian Scientists are more than okay if you agree with everything that they say, but less so if you're a fan of independent or lateral thinking.  Thus, after an hour with the Mormons, I was ready to move on.

Coming out of the LDS chapel, I walked to the tramlines, and turned right for a 10-minute walk up to the Mariavite (Old) Catholic church:

The Mariavites are a Polish (schismatic) offshoot from the (Roman) Catholic Church.  Moreover, the Mariavites are divided into a conservative movement with (married) priests who still say Mass with their backs to the people facing east, and a far more liberal movement with female priests.  I've only been to a Mariavite Mass once at the church in Wolska which was very reverently sung in Polish with a kind of Gregorian chant ring to it.  Besides this, as their name suggests, the Mariavites are kind of massive devotees to the Virgin Mary:

However, despite being a Catholic, I can't help but sense that the Mariavites may overdo the Marian devotion a bit.

After the Mariavite church, I walked back down alongside the tramlines, passed the LDS church, and had a quick look at the beautiful, steep grey Catholic church at Wolska:

This is more the form of religiosity that I feel comfortable with, where religious belief and experience are more of a privatised thing, and people seem to have more freedom to determine how much they believe or invest in their religion.  Yes, this is probably the sense that I get that makes me feel more comfortable with established religions than new religious movements.

Finally, I couldn't leave Wolska without visiting the amazing Eastern Orthodox Cemetery church:

Of course, if I'm passing by, I always go inside the church to catch the incredible Orthodox Slavonic Chant (liturgical music):

Yes, it is when I listen to Orthodox (or Uniat Catholic) liturgical music or Gregorian Chant at a Catholic Old Latin (Tridentine) Mass that I feel closest to God.