Bury, Lancashire: A Slated Wall

When I lived in my hometown of Bury, Lancashire many moons ago, I would simply walk past something like the slated, rear-end wall above, which is near the top of Walmersley Road, without thinking about it.  However, when I go back to Bury now, having moved away from the place about 17 years ago, such distinct features as the slated roof above now stick out, as I now more recognise the uniqueness of my hometown, and start to value the place where I was brought up a little bit more.  Having said this, I'm not trying to say that Bury is a great place to have been brought up.

Warsaw Zoo: Early November 2013

Had a thoroughly enjoyable time at Warsaw Zoo on Saturday afternoon, although I never got to see some of the animals, such as the rhinos above (on a picture at the zoo entrance), because it was either too cold for them, or they had already retired sleepily for the day.  Indeed, somebody explained to me today that it's much better to visit a zoo in the morning when all the animals are more likely to be up and active, and I guess that this stands to reason. 

Anyway, the first thing you see as you enter the zoo are the pink flamingos:

After this colourful start, if you turn right, there is the exotic-bird section, where you can see quite a few different kinds of large 'parrot-type' birds (you can see that I'm no expert on birds):

Only caught glimpses of the monkeys; elephants;  and giraffes from a distance, and never got to see any of the big cats, but did manage to see several small kangaroos/wallabies, like the one in the picture below:

Also got a nice shot of the zebras as it started to get dark after 4pm, which was weird, almost safari-like, photographing such creatures in the dark:

Managed to get a nice shot of these storks in the darkness as well:

The storks are a celebrated bird in Poland, as in spring/summer, they fly in from Africa to resettle in their huge nests, which have usually been built on top of such things as telegraph poles.

However, the small (red) panda, advertised in the picture below, was the creature that really gave me the runaround, and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get a decent picture of the thing, so I guess that I'll just have to try again some time:

Anyway, there was a happy ending as I did manage to get some decent shots of the small sloth below, seeing this animal being the highlight of my visit to the zoo for me:

Up there, happy and comfortable on his perch, the small sloth reminded me of a wise little Buddah, as it was amazing how human he looked.

The Sloth at Warsaw Zoo

Spent a very pleasant late autumnal afternoon at Warsaw Zoo today, where I met my good friend, the sloth.  As expected, he was very tired and a little bit shy, but also very friendly towards all his visitors.  Of course, as usual, he was more than happy to keep still and pose for people's pictures:

Yes, must say that the sloth looks very wise in the picture above, giving people the really wise message to take things easy and not get stressed out.

Warsaw Powązki Cemetery on All Saints Day 2013

For the first time in a few years, I went for a walk round Warsaw Powącki Cemetery on All Saints Day this evening.  I would guess that the cannon-type grave above is that of an important soldier.  Love the Polish (Catholic) tradition of putting candles on the graves of the dead on All Saints Day.  Masses of people walk around the cemeteries remembering their dead relatives in a far from morbid way.

The grave above caught my eye, because the cross is very realistically carved like a tree.  In contrast, I was interested in the grave below, because breaking away from general Polish tradition, it's really colourful, so I guess that it must be the grave of an artist.

Galahad Live at Warsaw Klub Progresja 25th October 2013

Seen a few Prog bands up at the Klub Progresja in Stare Bemowa, Warsaw this year, including Threshold; Enochian Theory; Riverside; Pain of Salvation; Antimatter; Anathema; and, earlier this month, Fish.  Thus, seeing Galahad last night was a nice addition to this list.

About six months ago, I saw that Galahad were playing the Klub Progresja, and thought something like "Galahad?  I know that name but don't know their music, I think they came out of the early/mid-1980s Prog movement that included Marillion; IQ; Twelth Night; Pendragon; Pallas etc., didn't they?' Thus, I checked Galahad out on Youtube, and after listening to 'Empires Never Last' (below), decided to go and see them at the Progresja:

Seeing Galahad at the Klub Progresja last night reinforced my view that they are a slightly quirky but seriously underrated Prog band.  Lots of the tunes (predictably) go on for 10 minutes or so, but they never get dull or boring, as there are often nice changes of tempo.  Who would I compare them to?  Well, in their softer tender moments, they remind me a bit of IQ, while in their harder-edged moments, they may be a lbit like Threshold (who come along the Prog line a little later on than Galahad, of course). 

Besides the obvious, 'Empires Never Last', which was the third or so tune of the set, which other song really stood out for me last night?  Well, that would have to be the encore 'Seize The Day', a really good upbeat tune (with wise advice about doing the things that you need or want to do while you can):

Below the band are taking their fully deserved applause at the Progresja last night:

Also really liked vocalist Stuart Nicholson's turns of irony last night, for example, introducing the last track of the set by saying that it had to be the last as they didn't know any others.  Wonderful stuff but the irony was perhaps a little lost on a foreign audience.

Austra Live at Warsaw Basen 22nd October 2013

Saw Canadian electronica band, Austra, at the Basen in Warsaw last night, which turned out to be another cracking gig.  Seen some really excellent gigs at this place recently, including Coco Rosie and Mum in particular.  Was really impressed with Austra frontwoman, Katie Stelmanis, not only her polyphonic-type voice, but also her impish-type movements and compelling presence on stage.

As expected, the band came on with 'What We Done', the opening (and for me, best) track on their second album, 'Olympia':

Well done to the good person who recorded this from an Austra show in London.  True to form, the barnstorming tune of the night was 'Lose It' (below from a KEXP performance), especially the beautiful change of tone and melody in the middle of this track:

Must say that it was, at first, a bit disappointing to see that the backing singers, the Lightman sisters, who also have great voices, weren't there on stage (either this or my eyes didn't catch them), but, overall, this didn't detract from a great performance.

Especially loved the crescendo-type finale:  two encores, the lights went on and things seemed to have ended, but the crowd as good as demanded the band back on stage for a final number.  Seldom see this full kind of encore routine these days, used to be a kind of norm years ago, so it was great to see it last night.

So which other tracks stood out for me last night?  Well, I first discovered Austra on the KEXP music programme via Youtube about 12-18 months ago while looking for a Low performance there, and became familiar with tracks like 'Spellwork' and 'The Beat and The Pulse' there, so these tunes had a special kind of resonance for me (again the tracks below are from KEXP performances):

Finally, I rounded a very good night off perfectly by going upstairs and taking a few shots of the Austra keyboard equipment while nicely finishing off a pint:

But which track was echoing in my mind at the end of the gig?  Well, I guess that would have to be 'Home' (below, again from the KEXP music programme):

Ornate Streetlamps: An Endearing Symbol of Warsaw

The trio of ornate streetlamps above can be found at Ratusz Arsenał in Warsaw, you can see the tall glass building at Ratusz in the background.  Below, you can see just how wonderful one of the streetlamps looks close-up, really love what a zoom lens can catch:

For me, the streetlamp has become a central symbol or motif of Warsaw, as there are different kinds of ornate streetlamp dotted all around the city.  Of course, they brighten the place up, but, for some reason, it's easy to not give these beautiful objects the attention that they deserve.