Snow Art

 A bit of snow art that I passed in the Wolska district of Warsaw the other day.

Kotek and Emilia

 Kotek and his female admirer, Emilia, separated by a window in Eastern Poland.

Boxing Day Curry

 

Hadn't made curry in a long time, but got round to making some today. 

As can be seen above, I put some broccoli pierogi (dumplings) in the curry.

The other ingredients were made up of carrots, potatoes, broccoli, courgette, sweet potato, brown lentils, and onions.

To liven the rice up a bit, I poured some olive oil over it.

Christmas Day (2021)

 Woke up this morning, Christmas Day, and was relieved to see that the snow was still with us.

Have been ill for a week or two, so it was great to finally get out into the fresh, crisp air, to make my way to the Old Latin Mass:

The Gregorian chant was amazing today, highly befitting of celebrating Jesus Christ's birthday.

After Mass, I really enjoyed a five or six-mile walk back home in the fresh cold air, passing, amongst other things, an eye-catching mural:

Plus a patriots' shop:

And a red-and-white museum wall:

How I needed such a walk, with the relief of exercise it brought.

Good Tenczynek Beer

 

Was well impressed with both these beers that I've recently tried, made by the Tenczynek Brewery, which, by the sounds of things, is located in the small village of Tenczynek, about 25 kilometres from Kraków in southern Poland.

 Also tried the Pils from the Tencynek Brewery:

The Pils is 5.4% which, nowadays, is a bit too strong for me so I mix it with the 4% barley beer in the green can below:

Yeah, I'll be having some Tenczynek beer over Christmas/New Year, that's for sure.

Wolska Marian Statue

 

Quite often see this Marian statue in the Wolska district of Warsaw, especially after concerts at the Progresja Club.

Mikromusic - Warsaw Stodoła (12-12-21)

 My highlight of last weekend, seeing Mikromusic at the Stodoła in Warsaw:

This was the third time I'd seen Mikromusic, they really are a top notch band, they have so many different styles (Dream Pop; Trip-Hop; Jazz; Folk; mild Prog etc.) in their music.

In early July, I saw Mikromusic at an outdoor amphitheatre in Warsaw when everybody looked elated with concerts starting to open up again, but last weekend, there seemed to be a more sombre atmosphere as we approach Christmas and, unfortunately now, go deeper into the Covid winter season.

But still, it was nice to relax, have a couple of beers, and watch Mikromusic again:

This time round, 'Operacja na otwartym serce' was the standout tune for me, really like the highly melodic and harmonious outro.

A week or two before the concert, it was also nice to be able to physically buy a ticket from the Stodoła box office:

This was the first time that I'd been able to do this in the Covid era, it was a refreshing change from having to buy tickets online.

However, just got a bad feeling that this concert will be last gig in a good few months, let's hope not.

Kotek's Girlfriend

In Eastern Poland, Kotek seems to have a female admirer who, yesterday, was looking to get in through the window to see him:

This beautiful female cat was a stray who now lives next door.

Kotek's Swivel Chair

 I'd been working at the computer for a few hours, so it was no surprise that Kotek took the opportunity to get a kip on a warm swivel chair. Of course, cats are in no way daft.

Pole Mokotowskie Sculpture

 

Coming back from the Proxima after a concert last Wednesday, I walked through Pole Mokotowskie Park and saw the kind of strange sculpture above.

Have passed through Pole Mokotowskie Park many times, but I'm not sure if I've seen the structure above before or not.

Eivør at Warsaw Proxima (8-12-21)

 When this gig got put back a few weeks, I thought that it might never happen, but thankfully, it did.

First time I've seen Eivør and enjoyed the gig from start to finish.

Think that Eivør has got an incredible voice which shone out during Lívstræðrir in particular, which has got me curious about The Last Kingdom, of course.

The other highlight of the night was Falling Free, have had this swirling round my mental jukebox ever since the gig.

And below, Eivør and her band are taking in the massive, thoroughly deserved applause at the end of the set:

Yeah, really enjoyed Eivør at the Proxima last Wednesday, think it was the first time I'd been to the Proxima in over two years, with Kurt Vile having been the last occasion.

Lentil Mush Meal

 

This is what I call my lentil mush meal: mushy lentils with carrots, potatoes, sweet potato, and a soya cutlet hiding somewhere underneath, all threaded together with melted cheese, absolutely delicious.

What I really like about the yellow lentils is that they remind me of mushy peas.

Drinking Zubr Classic

Despite not being a fan of the Zubr beer which is sold in a green can with a big picture of a bison on it, and can be seen almost anywhere in Poland, I thought that I would give the Zubr Classic below a try:

 

Zubr Classic is only 4.1% in alcohol strength, far weaker than the green-canned Zubr, so it has a significantly milder taste which, for me, was well-appreciated. So, as it turned out, Zubr Classic was a nice, subtle drinking experience.

And another nice touch was that a bison head logo could still be discerned on the bottle label:

Like it when some thought goes into the design of a beer bottle label, it kind of enhances the drinking experience.

Pierogi Ruski with Grated Courgette

 If in need of a quick meal, this nicely fits the bill: pierogi ruskie (cheese and potato dumplings) with shredded courgette sprinkled over.

The good news is that the pierogi only needs about five minutes to simmer, then Bob's your uncle.

A Convent Garden

 

A month or two ago, I had a quick look at the convent garden inside St. Faustina's compound in the Wolska district of Warsaw.

While I was in the convent garden, a friendly young nun came out to chat, and she was surprised to find that I was an Englishman. She smiled when I told her that the garden had a nice, calm atmosphere.

I've popped in St. Faustina's compound several times while passing by, but as yet, haven't been inside the church there:

Must remember to have a look inside the next time I'm passing by.

Halloumi Cheese Meal

 

My wife made this quite simple but very effective halloumi cheese meal with fried eggs, boiled potatoes, and pickled cucumber the other week.

Have only recently started eating halloumi but I love the salty kind of taste.

Charles Taylor's A Secular Page - Three Quarters Through

      Taylor (2007) records the massive changes that have occurred in Western religious practice from pre-Reformation, medieval times up to the modern-day, with a fall in Western religious practice and rise of (materialist/humanist) unbelief narratives being clearly visible, especially over the past 200-300 years. In great detail, Taylor (2007) discusses the many complex twists and turns of the latter phenomena, with it being far from a straightforward linear process of scientific discovery and technological innovation making religious practice redundant, as the latter mutates and survives, albeit in shrunken form. Moreover, Taylor (2007) repeatedly points towards a pro-secularist ideological outlook which denigrates religious practice having been necessary, alongside scientific discovery, technological innovation, mass movement to big urban environments etc., to make religion less meaningful in many people’s lives and minds. Interestingly, the upshot of all this is what Taylor (2007) refers to as a “super-nova” effect through which most people in the West are now exposed to almost limitless amounts of belief and unbelief systems, which increasingly makes a traditional handing down of a particular religion from generation to generation more difficult and increasingly a thing of the past.

      In Taylor’s (2007) account, some of the many significant historical processes, situations, and episodes that he deals with include:

- pre-Reformation/pre-Counter Reformation Catholicism

- 16^th century Reformation/Birth of Protestantism (Anglicans, Calvinists, Lutherans, Anabaptists etc.)

- 16^th/17^th century Counter-Reformation (e.g. the Catholic Church shaking off local, folk-level superstitions)

- 17^th century: European Catholic-Protestant religious wars coming to an end; Descartes (1596-1650) opening the way for the Enlightenment

- 18^th century: Kant (1724-1804) pushing the Enlightenment forward; the French Revolution (1789) destroying the idea of national monarchy; the 1789 American Constitution allowing greater individual liberty and less state interference than European political formats; the Industrial Revolution and mass movement from the countryside to towns/cities; and the birth of smaller Protestant denominations (e.g. Methodists)

- 19^th century: Ongoing development of Romanticism (Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge etc.); Second Great (Protestant) Religious Awakening and Birth of Mormonism in early 19^th century; Darwin’s (1809-1882) theory of evolution and Karl Marx’s (1818-1883) egalitarian socio-economic theory prompting accelerated growth of unbelief options etc.

- 20^th century: 1917 Russian Bolshevik Revolution (birth of state communism); the mass death of the First (1914-1918) and Second World Wars (1939-1945); Bloomsbury Group and Frankfurt School (critical theory) attacking Classical ideas in Western academia; post-War questioning of ideological and religious meta-narratives; the 1960s Cultural/Sexual Revolution, Second Vatican Council, and ongoing rebellion against traditional moral/religious values.

- 21^st century: the accelerated spread of woke/globalist ideology and ideological attacks against the remnants of Christianity; an attempted push-back against woke/globalist ideology.

While reading this great book, I continually find myself using a pen to focus my attention better and do the book justice:

I also tend to read the book just after midday, while I'm cooking dinner, when my mind is usually at its sharpest.