The Chameleons (Vox) Live at Manchester Ritz 21st December 2013

So what was my final gig of 2013?  Well, it was The Chameleons (Vox) at Manchester Ritz on December 21st. 

I was already over to see Black Sabbath at Manchester Arena on 18th December so me and a good friend from my earliest schooldays decided to catch The Chameleons a few days later at the Ritz (thankfully, having an eclectic taste in music allows me to enjoy many different kinds of bands)

Despite having only known The Chameleons in passing (back in the 1980s), I really enjoyed the gig at Manchester Ritz, especially as the band did the electric version of 'Tears' (my favourite Chameleons' track which always makes me feel kind of homesick for my native Lancashire, it just has that kind of effect, it has a canonical quality).  Was also pleased and somewhat surprised to see that I knew most of the tunes (albeit not many of them by name) in the near enough two-hour set, such as 'Paper Tigers' (one of the few Chameleons' tunes I know by name - an inevitable effect of ageing process and liking hundreds of different bands, I'm afraid).

Also great to see people sharing their videos of the Manchester Ritz show on Youtube ('View From a Hill' below), as this helps us all to not only remember but also relive the gig:

Above all else, it was great to see my good mate from my schooldays enjoy his first concert in quite a while (hopefully, on the road to full recovery after a serious health problem).

Black Sabbath Live at Manchester Arena 18th December 2013

Decided to stay in my hometown of Bury, Lancashire from 18th-29th December, flying from Warsaw to Liverpool early in the morning on the 18th so I could catch Black Sabbath at Manchester Arena in the evening.

With my small, limited mobile phone, I tried to capture some of the pure ethnography of the event, starting with the crowd gathered round the merchandise stall above, and ending with a shot of one of the (it must be said) rather expensive bars inside Manchester Arena below:

I just took the shot above randomly, but it was very nice of the couple in the middle, who I didn't know from Adam, to strike such a nice pose for it (a magical piece of ethnography, I think).

About the concert itself:  Sabbath, with three-quarters of the classic line-up (Ozzy; Tony Iommi; and Geezer Butler, of course), were much better than I'd expected (my main reason for going was pure nostalgia).  For me, the two tunes of the night were 'NIB' and rather surprisingly 'Children of the Grave' (far from being my favourite Sabbath song, this was magic on the night so to say):

Of course, well done to the great people who've put the videos of the Manchester Arena gig on Youtube so that we can all relive the great gig.

From the '13' album, the two tracks that stood out for me were 'God Is Dead?' and 'Into the Void':

Yes, the Sabbath show was a nice balance of tracks from the '13' album and older classical stuff. 

Also thought that Ozzy's voice was nicely on form, although it would've been nice to see if he could've pulled off more up-tempo tracks like 'Symptom of the Universe' or 'Never Say Die!'.  Regarding this, I think it may've said something when the band did a few chords of 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' and then directly ran into 'Paranoid'.  Still, this is just my own nitpicking, and doesn't in any way detract from a great evening of entertainment.  Seen Sabbath twice before, once with Ronnie James Dio (RIP) on the 'Mob Rules' tour, but never with Ozzy, so it was an honour to finally catch the latter experience.

My nostalgia for Black Sabbath, where does it come from?  Well, as a 12-year-old schoolboy, I remember getting the 'Never Say Die!' album on tape when it came out in 1978 and just thinking 'WOW!!!'.  Still think that 'Never Say Die!' is a great and heavily underrated album that competes with 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' and 'Sabotage' for being the best Sabbath album with Ozzy. 

My favourite tune off 'Never Say Die!'?  Well, maybe it's the title track or maybe it's the incredibly melodic and underrated 'Junior's Eyes' below:

Wind Turbines on the Owd Betts

Just back from a  Christmas trip to my hometown of Bury, Lancashire, which took in Black Sabbath at Manchester Arena on December 18th and The Chameleons (Vox) at Manchester Ritz on December 21st in the run-up to Christmas. 

But how did I occupy my time for the rest of the trip?  Well, basically, through doing lots of walking in the countryside around Bury.  Especially enjoyed a walk up to the Owd Betts yesterday, and was honoured to witness the onset of sunset with the wind turbines up there (pictured above and below):

Of course, I took the opportunity to have a nice swift pint of Real Ale in the Owd Betts' pub, where I occasionally used to go drinking while camping in Deeply Vale many moons ago.

In the picture below, I'm looking beyond the top road reservoir towards Peel Tower on Holcombe Hill in the distance:

Also got to see Noah Hill, surrounded by wind turbines, in the distance:

Have fond memories of walking up to Noah Hill with my family as a child.

Warsaw Old Town: Christmas 2013

Still a week or so away from Christmas Day, but I went to immerse myself in the vibrant Christmas atmosphere at the Old Town in Warsaw yesterday.

The place was just full of magical light and good vibes.

The ornate streetlamps were also bathed in light and colourful Christmas bulbs:

Decided to enter into the Old Town proper, crossing the Old Town Main Square (below) and beyond the Barbican, towards the New Town Square.

What a nice surprise there was at the New Town Square, near the Dominican church, as this too was beautifully lit-up:

Yes, the drum and rocking horse above were incredibly beautiful, but everybody seemed to be more intrigued by the lit-up (and speaking) Teddy Bear (below)

Here, there was a wonderful sense of Christmas, as some of the youngest children seemed to think that the 'speaking bear' was real.

Warsaw Zoo: Some More Characters

Here are some more interesting characters from my Saturday trip to Warsaw Zoo, starting off with the incredibly friendly-looking llama below:

Next up, it's the pensive-looking otter below who at one point was eating some kind of small chicken lunch, not fish as I'd expected:

Felt some sympathy for the buffalo/bison below, as such a magnificent creature belongs on the plains somewhere:

However, the two courting polar bears seemed to be having a better time below:

Yes, and finally my patience and stoic discipline were finally rewarded as I managed to get a decent picture of the red panda in a tall tree.  For me, it just looks like some kind of teddy-bear in a tree, I was really lucky to get such a shot:

And there was another nice surprise:  at first, there was neither sight nor sound of the seals, but after a few minutes, they came to the surface of the water, being purely curious about the voices they could hear:

Yes, you'll meet quite a few interesting characters if you take a late morning/early afternoon stroll round Warsaw Zoo.

Two Swans Together at Warsaw Zoo

It's very rare that a picture comes out 'almost perfect', but I was very pleased with this effort taken at Warsaw Zoo on Saturday afternoon.  The two beautiful swans thought it was feeding time so they came close to the fence, and after 5-6 unsuccessful attempts, I finally managed to catch them together.

The Sloth in Athletic Mode at Warsaw Zoo

As you can see in the picture above, one of the sloths was in athletic mode at Warsaw Zoo yesterday (the other one was happily sleeping in one of the top corners of the room).  Yes, for about 20-30 minutes, I enjoyed watching one of the sloths doing a variety of climbing and gymnastic-type moves.  Of course, all of this seemed to be in slow motion, but this didn't make it any less interesting.

Finally, the athletic sloth looks really proud of himself/herself in the picture below, and I felt kind of honoured to have been able to witness his/her gymnastic display:

The Meditative Gorilla at Warsaw Zoo

Last time I visited Warsaw Zoo a few weeks ago, I missed the gorillas, but I managed to put this right this afternoon.  Was absolutely amazed to see how human-like the above gorilla was as it seemed to sit in some kind of deep meditation (or sulk).

Discovering the Music of Agnes Obel

Yesterday, I got a ticket to see Agnes Obel at Warsaw Palladium on 11th January, but how did I discover her music?

Well, some time last year, I was Youtube surfing with my favourite Polish band (and, for me, one of the best Prog bands around anywhere), Riverside, and, by chance, I came across the song 'Riverside' by Agnes Obel (above) and really liked it, but, afterwards, didn't think anything more of it. 

However, a few weeks ago, seeing that Agnes Obel was playing the Palladium in January, I decided to give her music a proper spin, and have found the perfect (interesting but unobtrusive) music to accompany my proofreading work in Warsaw, which can be attritional.  Yes, this is riveting therapeutic music that softens the tedium of being on a computer for hours on end:

Really like 'The Curse' (above).  And about Agnes' piano-playing, well, at times, it just reminds me a bit of the tide slowly rolling in or out at the seaside, as with 'Falling Catching' below::

As for 'Close Watch' below, I was almost certain I'd heard this tune somewhere before, and then discovered it was a John Cale song (saw John Cale about seven years ago in Warsaw):

All in all, I'm really happy that I've started to check out Agnes Obel's music properly.

Teaching CAE Writing the Traditional Way in Warsaw

The drawing above (click on the picture to make it bigger and clearer) shows how I teach CAE writing the tried and trusted traditional way of providing the students with the security of a parallel model to guide them through their own writing.

The CAE writing model above is a CAE review (compare and contrast type) of two British soap operas, 'Eastenders' and 'Coronation Street', with all the linking devices and other good functional language expressions useful for this task being highlighted in red.  Thus, the students task will be to write a review about two Polish soap operas (or other Polish TV programmes)

Love creating CAE writing models spontaneously on the whiteboard in the immediacy of the classroom, as this convinces students that the writing tasks can be done easily within the time allocated.  The pure spontaneity of it also seems to have a much heavier impact than just bringing in a few pre-meditated models drawn up on the computer.

Truth be known, half the time, the students don't bother doing their CAE writing assignments, but my build up of a collection of CAE writing models gives them something concrete to try and memorise during their revision for the CAE writing exam.

Warsaw: The Winter Snow Arrives

The pictures above and below, showing how the snow finally arrived in Warsaw today, are a bit blurred as they were taken on a small mobile during a bit of a blizzard, as it was going dark.  Thus, today, it seems like Poland has been getting some of the storm that has been ravaging northern Europe, including my homeland Britain, over the past few days.

The Big Christmas Tree Being Decorated with Lights in Warsaw Old Town

On Tuesday this week, I was lucky enough to see the big Christmas Tree at Castle Square, next to Warsaw Old Town, being decorated with Christmas lights. 

Also really like the way that the ornate streetlamps, such as those below, are being dressed up for Christmas:

For me, coming from Britain where vile forms of political 'correctness' have contrived to destroy not only the religious but also the basic seasonal enchantment of Christmas, it's just nice to be in a country like Poland where people are still free to celebrate Christmas in a traditional and dignified way (long may this continue!).

Early Winter Frost in Warsaw

Got my first taste of early winter frost last Wednesday while going to work beyond the Młociny distrct in north Warsaw.  The silver birch trees look particulary beautiful covered in the early morning frost:

As can be seen in the picture below, the small pond in front of a small Catholic shrine is lightly frozen over:

These small Catholic shrine buildings are a common thread all over Poland, and, as external symbols, help to give the country some kind of Catholic identity, although the latter will inevitably become weaker with EU secularisation and de-christianisation process:

Thus, long since gone are the yellow flowers of October, for me, the last remnant of summer in a Polish autumn:

Still, at least we haven't had any snow yet, as, last year, the snow came really early in mid-October and didn't go until mid-April.