Warsaw: The Men Who Live in the Bushes

Since early Spring, from a distance, I've observed a small group of men living in some bushes not far from a buzzing underground station in Warsaw.

However, the weather is now definitely starting to turn towards winter so I guess that they'll (hopefully) be seeking somewhere warmer indoors for winter.

What I find fascinating about this group of men is that their small camp inside the bushes is incredibly well-organised and in its own way, neat and tidy:
 

Inside their camp, the men have made separate tent-like structures from big black bin  bags for themselves, and have a kind of table with a few small chairs where they eat and drink together.  In the picture above, you can even just about make out a frying pan hanging from the bushes.

In the picture below, you can see that the men have created their own kind of boundary blocking others from entering their camp inside the bushes:

However, now that the early winter snow is upon us, the men are seeking sanctuary in a local watering-place where they try to get a proper sleep during the day:

Have a lot of respect for these men.  They might sleep rough, but from what I've seen, they tend to keep themselves to themselves, and do no harm to anybody else.  I hope they're somehow warm and safe as winter more seriously takes its course.

Catching up with Staropramen Beer

Got a nice surprise with this Staropramen (Czech) beer recently.  It seemed to have a well-balanced bitter-sweet taste if this makes any sense.

Prior to this, the last time I'd drunk Staropramen was in a pub on the way down to Manchester Academy 2 to see Calexico in the early 2000s.  This pint had been lousy and had thus lead to my long-time reluctance to drink Staropramen.

But like I've just said, the can above was fine so I'll definitely be drinking Staropramen again in the near future.  Nice to have a story with a happy-type ending.

W.A.S.P. Live at Warsaw Progresja 25th November 2017

First saw W.A.S.P. at Manchester Apollo in 1986 and then again at Castle Donington in 1987 when Chris Holmes and Johnny Rod were in the band alongside the ever-present Blackie Lawless.  Enjoyed them a lot more than I'd expected on both occasions.

Then saw W.A.S.P. twice in 1992, again at Manchester Apollo and Castle Donington, on 'The Crimson Idol' tour (with Johnny Rod still being alongside Blackie Lawless in the band).

Thus, having not seen W.A.S.P. for 25 years, I thought it would be interesting to catch up with them again at Warsaw Progresja last night.

'The Crimson Idol' was done in full with a film backdrop.  As expected, my favourite tunes from this were 'Chainsaw Charlie'; 'I Am One'; and the Prog-type 'The Great Misconceptions of Me' (my favourite W.A.S.P. tune).

Then, afterwards, we got 'Love Machine'; 'Wild Child'; 'Golgotha'; and 'Wanna Be Somebody'.

'Golgotha' is a daring track and obviously reflects Blackie Lawless' Christian beliefs, and, for this reason, it was interesting to see the crowd's reaction to this tune and the crucifixion + white dove imagery on the backscreen.  Personally, I really liked it and thought it was possibly the tune of the night, although some in the crowd looked as though they might not have known what to make of it.

Not sure if it was me, but, at times, last night, the band sounded 'a bit flat'.  This could be just me as I'd had a flat day yesterday and may've projected this onto the gig. 

Kotek Sat in the Bin

For some reason, Kotek decided to climb in the bin.

Warsaw Arkadia: Christmas Decorations

Building work is still going on outside Warsaw Arkadia shopping centre, so the Christmas decorations seem to be going up more inside this year:

Still can't get over just how good some of the (post-) modern-type extension work looks at Arkadia:

Camouflaged Kotek

Here, Kotek is well camouflaged on a red and yellow coloured duvet.

Warsaw Arkadia: Tastefully Extended

The Warsaw Arkadia shopping centre has recently received a building extension, and I've got to say I'm rather impressed.  Absolutely love this UFO-type ceiling structure, and wonder how many people walk by without noticing it:

Also love the juxtaposition of the spiral metal pipe and unusual upper background below:

Have always had a soft spot for 'windowed' ceilings:

On the escalators, it seems a little like entering the sky:

The picture below gives a better view of the holistic effect:

Not usually a fan of (post-) modern-type art, but I definitely take my hat off to this.