Not that it matters.

Anyway, as you can see from the image at the top of this blog, we have a nice view of the cathedral up here on the 7th floor. However, there are a block of flats being built by the river, and I can see it going up brick by brick.

Already, we can’t see the charming high-rise student dorms “pencil” and “coloured pencil.” And quite soon, the cathedral will be completely obscured by this new block.

Alas!

I haven’t been very productive lately, and I’m a bit angry at myself for procrastinating. I think I’m looking forward to a change of environment, going back to Perth.

Some of the small things I have done over the last few weeks were to introduce SBP datalog support to GPSBabel, post a tiny tiny patch to librsvg (needed for something else), which is of course being ignored by the maintainers (usually a little prodding is needed), and do a little OpenStreetMapping.

On Sunday, on the way to the zoo, I went to the islands on the river and traced their borders with my GPS. This operation involved potential risks, such as slipping into the river, stepping on numerous dog poos hidden in the grass, and looking like a wierdo with GPS and pencil and paper. It needs to be done this way because the freely licensed satellite imagery is too low-res to get a decent outline. Anyway, I think the two islands that I traced look pretty nice, even if the osmarender map looks crap in general. After Thursday you can view the Mapnik render, which has a neater appearance.

View Larger Map

You can see the tram lines as well. I think I have mapped about 50% of the tram stops in Wrocław. I have a little program which tracks the status.

Anyway, the zoo was nice enough. Though I think the mournful look of this giraffe sums up the general mood of the animals that day. The kangaroos did seem to accept their situation and not let it affect them too much. They were just sitting in the sun. The sloth was my favourite animal. He hung from the roof of the monkey enclosure building, but wasn’t in any cage.

The sloth is called “leniwiec” in Polish, and it comes from the word leniwy which means lazy, and which also describes my recent approach to learning the language. I have learnt shamefully little since coming back from tour. So I might go and open the Polish book now.

Or not…

Two Sundays ago, Magda and I went to Wielka Parada Rowerowa (The Big Bike Parade), which was held as part of European Mobility Week in Wrocław.

The “happening” was basically a planned and legitimised version of Critical Mass. I’m not sure what the official goals were, but for me the action served as a reminder of how awful it is to cycle in Wrocław.

Earlier I prepared a lengthy and partially researched discourse on why cycling more would be good and driving cars is bad, especially for a city like Wrocław. However I realised this is obvious to all sensible people, and if it’s not clear then you’re stupid or dishonest and you wouldn’t understand or care for my argument anyway. So I deleted it.

Nonetheless, here is one good reason why driving cars is bad. Motorists kill kittens. It’s true, I have seen them flat on the road. This isn’t even counting other animals dead due to the environmental effects of motorists. About the worst damage you can do on a bike is to kill a few insects, maybe an unlucky rat. Pretty bad if you believe in reincarnation, but nothing compared to little dead kittens.

Anyway, the parade was fun, and even though it was cold and drizzly, lots of people showed up. I was recording a GPS log until my GPS stopped working. There should be some of a route on the above map, however it looks like there is a problem with OpenLayers and the map is showing nothing.

Inside the psyche of every cyclist there is a small exhibitionist. I am not an exception to this rule, and therefore I decided to bring my bike fully loaded with panniers and tent, ready for touring. There were other crazier bikes such as a “chopper” bicycle, long bikes, tandems, etc.

So a nice day, fun, interesting. I hope the action helped to make it easier for cyclists in the city, but I’m not optimistic about that. So in the near future at least, this is the reality in Wrocław (and most other cities probably).

I have been a little bit slow in learning essential elements of the Polish language. For example cardinal numbers (and their female and neuter forms), days of the week, and months.

This month is Listopad, and it only recently dawned upon me the reason why a jazz festival in WrocÅ‚aw for November would be called “Jazztopad.”

Anyway, two Fridays ago was the opening night of IV Festiwal JAZZTOPAD, and so I went to the concert hall to hear Adam Makowicz play piano with the Wrocław chamber orchestra.

On the programme this evening were jazz improvisations of Chopin, and some of Makowicz’s own compositions, all with string accompaniment. However, to start the concert, the chamber orchestra played a suite by Edvard Grieg. This piece was just beautiful and a pleasure to listen to. After this very enjoyable introduction, the pianist came onto stage amid enthusiastic applause from the audience. Everyone seemed to be looking forward hearing him play, myself included.

First song was Chopin’s Prelude no. 4, Op. 28. I have to say I was quite overwhelmed by Makowicz’s version of this piece. To me it seemed like the orchestra and the pianist were playing completely different music at the same time. It was all a bit above my level and, because I don’t know much of Chopin’s music, I didn’t recognize which pieces he was improvising over, until he gave the game away and played most of the prelude pretty much as it was written.

Thankfully, the programme became more accessible to me after their first song. The Chopin improvisations mellowed out a little and Makovich’s own songs “Sunsets Over the Hudson”, “Sky High in Manhatten”, “A Song From My Past”, “Central Park”, were lovely and excellent, and he is really a magical pianist.

The concert ended with a surprising gag. Throughout the night the orchestra’s cellist had been receiving a prominent part in the compositions — since of course they were playing jazz music. So during one section when the cellist (or was it a double bass? Let’s call it a cello) and pianist were jamming away, the conductor and rest of the orchestra sauntered off the stage, chatting with each other, one viola player talking on his phone, etc, leaving the two of them to finish the song. Very amusing. He was quite a funny guy, though his other jokes he told in Polish, so I didn’t understand them. The only other one I got was the old classic… putting his music on the piano upside down.

Of course the crowd called the orchestra back to the stage for an encore. In fact Adam Macowicz was called back a further three times to play, and did he play some wonderful solos! During one song it definitely seemed like the poor cellist was struggling to keep up with the pianist, much to the amusement of the 3rd violinists sitting opposite.

Finally the lights were turned on and we were thrown out of the concert hall… after all the dude was playing the next night, this time duets. It would have been awesome but unfortunately I missed it due to the Poland vs Belgium euro cup qualifier.

Classic Goes Swing

Last Friday I was back in the same place to hear the concert Classic Goes Swing. As the title suggests, this was pieces by Vivaldi, J.S. Bach, and others, played by a string quartet plus a jazz quintet. The quintet including a clarinetist (mastermind of the ensemble) and vibrophonist, as well as piano, bass, drums.

The formula for this evening was to pick a song, for example a movement from The Four Seasons, have the string quartet play the introduction more or less as it usually sounds, then at some point have the drummer and the rest break in with a swing beat, to play the song in a swing fashion. Sometimes they would take turns soloing. Then to end the song the string quartet would rejoin and play the conventional ending.

The result was superb, the melodies were catchy, and the music had a very “cool” sound (but not cool as in “Birth of the Cool”). Crowd favourite was the vibrophonist Karol Szymanowski. He played with three mallets in each hand, which I suppose is unusual. Apparently he has just written a book about his technique. To me it looked like a six-legged spider dancing on the vibrophone. During one of his solos he started comping with his left hand as a jazz pianist does. It was a good sound but led me to the thought that perhaps it would be easier if he just bought an electronic keyboard with a vibro sound, then he would have 10 fingers at his disposal and it would still sound exactly the same. Though it wouldn’t look nearly as spectacular.

The night was capped off by a lively finale. Actually I can’t remember what it was but it involved a some impressive note bending on the clarinet.

After about an hour’s driving, during which I was reaquainted with the thrill that is Polish country roads, we arrived in the little town of Srebrna Góra (the silver mountain). Martin dropped us off more or less at the bottom of a big hill.

We walked to the top of the hill, where there was a fort called the “Donjon”. There was a lot of information printed on various signs about silver mining in the town, and the history of the fort, the napoleonic war, etc, etc, and it was all helpfully translated into German and English. However I neglected to educate myself, so unfortunately I can’t share the facts with you.

We had a look around some of the rooms in the fort, then took the rampart walk. Alas, it was so misty that day you couldn’t see any of the view.

Martin came and picked us up, with his friend, and then we went to look at some blocks that he was interested in. On the way, we passed by a town called ZÄ…bkowice ÅšlÄ…skie, formerly known as Frankenstein. Occurences in this town, according to Marcin’s guide, formed the basis of Mary Shelley’s novel.

The three legends he told didn’t exactly correlate with the historical authorities and repositories of truth that are Wikipedia and Other Websites Found by Google. But they are interesting nonetheless:

1. A particularly glum looking abandoned cottage in the middle of a field was the former residence of a mentally retarded man who was much taller and stronger than normal. Though stupid, he was a good worker and kind in general, even though the villagers weren’t particularly nice to him. Then one day something snapped in the head of this gentle giant and he went on a murderous rampage. Eventually the townsfolk caught him and burnt him.
2. Some enterprising grave diggers in the town decided to drum up business by infecting most of the town with the plague. Their method was to make a powder from corpses and spread it to where people would touch it. Justice prevailed in the end, and they were caught, punished, and burnt.
3. A scientist in the area was notorious for his experiments on bringing creatures back to life using electricity. After some success with frogs legs, he moved onto people’s legs, raiding the local cemetry for experimental materials. I wasn’t told what happened to this man, but you could safely assume it involved burning…

My mind was on fire so to speak with thoughts about the gruesome history of this town. However I quickly forgot all of that when we arrived at Martin’s guide’s wooden cottage to have tea, coffee, and cake with his family. After that we looked at more blocks, and for refreshments went to a pub and had pizza, beer, and grzaniec. They put peas and corn on the pizza. (!)

On the way home we stopped at a cemetry for a squiz. Nov 1 is the day of the dead in this very catholic country. So on this day traditionally Polish people go to the graves of their relatives and place there flowers and candles, etc etc. This looks very spectacular at night — like as if the cemetry is on fire.

You can see a few more photos from the day in my gallery.

This weekend the LeÅ›nica “castle” centre of culture hosted Muzyki Akordeonowej Harmonia Viva, some sort of accordion music festival, with workshops, a competition, and concerts. For some reason I have a special soft spot for accordion music.

So yesterday evening I took the tram out to the end of the line — LeÅ›nica, to hopefully listen to some accordion music in the closing concert of the event.

In my ignorance, I was expecting a band with two or more accordions, perhaps some singing, and German style folk music ala Oktoberfest, or polkas. Actually, we received Klezzmates.

These guys are supercool. For a start they all wear red tinted glasses. They are totally relaxed on stage. Not to mention the music. It seemed to me like Klezzmates were sent here from some exotic and far away Balkan capital or perhaps outer space to demonstrate to the world how their music sounds.

They were masters in creating a mood. To the accordion’s drone and a steady line plucked on the double bass, the clarinetist added shrieks and wails, and the violinist interspersed scratchy string noises. The drummer posessed an arsenal of tom toms to hit, lots rattly things to shake, and a tiny cymbal that went ¡ding! They would build up like this and then suddenly explode into the refrain. The noises that came out of the clarinet and violin were a controlled chaos.

I was surprised at how understated the accordion’s part was, considering that they were playing at an accordion event, and the accordionist was also the band leader. However I think the accordion was the most important piece of this band, and its subtlety is the key to their success. The accordion provided an additional bass line and rhythm, making the sound full, and then was also a solo instrument or accompaniment. Of course it’s not as versatile as a keyboard but being a wind instrument it has a lot of expression. And a special sound. The lowest notes on an accordion sound pretty phat.

I’m glad that Klazzmates were my introduction to this genre of music. I recommend listening to the MP3s available on their website.

It’s a 5L vessel for beer and it has its own tap down the bottom (not visible in photo). Apparently they are also quite common in Poland but I’ve never seen it.

Also very popular is warm beer (grzane piwo) with cloves and raspberry syrup mixed in and hot red wine with cinamon (grzaniec). The warm beer isn’t that good but the wine is heavenly and you get drunk really quickly off it. The beer is served in regular pint glasses but with a straw so you don’t eat the cloves. The wine is served in ceramic mugs which reminded me of sake cups but bigger. Considering the weather it’s no wonder they are popular.

Here are a few photos from Wrocław. As you can see, some buildings are very beautiful and stately, particularly the ones in the Rynek, but of course there is an ugly side also (not that I mind!).

To have a look, click the following link¹:

There are good stories behind a lot of the photos. For example the little dwarf statues celebrate the protests of the Orange Alternative group in the late 80′s. The statue of a woman holding books was a thankyou to the citizens of WrocÅ‚aw who helped save the books from the university library during the flood in 1997.

This dude is a favourite of mine. The following text is from WrocÅ‚aw — History of the City by Beata Maciejewska².

[simage=40,288,y,right]

This bronze statue of “Champion” (swordsman or fencer), standing on a plinth in the centre of a round marble bowl, was unveiled on 26 November, 1904. The bowl is decorated with men’s faces, their mouths spouting water. The creator of this fine work was the renowed sculptor Hugo Lederer.

The fencer, apparently, symbolized the artist’s penance for his youthful mistakes and served as a warning to university students. Supposedly working in his studio in Dresden and other cities, to penetrate the secrets of the sculptors’ art, Lederer passed much of his time exploring the low-life both in the arms of local beauties and at the gambling table. But he had better luck with love than with gambling. Once, being down on his luck, the carefree student first rid himself of the contents of his purse, then followed with his clothes, “unmentionables” included. What was left to him was only his sword, for a gentleman may lose his “unmentionables” but must not, at any price, be parted from that symbol of honour, his weapon. Maybe just a libellous legend; maybe, in fact, Lederer was leading the life of a monk, horrified by the licentiousness of his fellow students. Whatever the case, the naked Champion was erected at the University and the student community sensibly acknowledged that when auctioning your garments you must not go below the waist, for not everyone can boast such a fine figure.

Student legend has it that, if ever a virgin walks past the statue, he will raise his sword…

1. I took quite a lot of photos, so I have uploaded them to Picasa to save disk space and bandwidth on Bur.st
2. Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie, Wrocław 2004

Thought I would write a weather post. You would think this is scraping the bottom of the barrel for material but honestly there’s more to come. There was some snow three weeks ago but that was more slush than snowflakes. Yesterday it snowed properly for the first time this season.

Today is a national holiday in Poland. Around here it’s not common to see flags flying. However today and yesterday people have put flags out everywhere. Our apartment block scored a flag.

Yesterday I went to Hala Targowa to buy a birthday present for a friend. It’s a lovely old building by the canal next to the university. Inside on the floor are fruit & veg markets, florists, butchers, etc. Then there is a mezanine level around the walls of the building with clothes shops, shops for household items, a stationery shop, gift shops, and other random things. To go shopping there is far more relaxing and interesting than any “shopping mall” but of course you can’t really buy all the things you need there.

Today it started snowing in the morning then continued for most of the afternoon. This was classic snow, coming down thick with nice big flakes. When it finished there was about an inch of snow on the ground.

This is a picture of the church near our flat. The architecture style is called post-Egyptian Vegas ecclesiastical. At night they switch on the lights on one of the crosses.

On this evening Christoph Titz and his band were playing. I hadn’t heard of them before so we had a little listen on MySpace. I have to say I was a little bit apprehensive about the electronic samples and drum loops, and the trumpet sound not quite fitting in with them, thinking OK this might be a little boring or too avante garde.

But happily my doubts we unfounded and it sounded excellent. Perhaps the performance was marred by technical details. For example they repeatedly asked the sound guy for more monitor volume, the microphone didn’t work when he wanted it to, and during the middle of a particularly captivating space dream vibe soundscape, the dude sitting next to me spilt his drink all over the floor and the people sitting in front of us.

Another source of distraction was this shiny white Powerbook:

When on his break during the song Christoph started fiddling with it to change the volume or programme or whatever he was doing. But there is a little MIDI keyboard next to it with keys, buttons, and knobs, so I thought they could have set up that to control everything. Also in the rig is some Roland keyboard with two MIDI cables coming out of it (so perhaps using softsynths on the powermac), and a nice big board, sounded like a Yamaha DX7.

The solos were great, in particular the dummer soloed like a crazy man, but there was no bass solo. I was disappointed by that because he looked a little bit like Charles Mingus.

After the band finished and walked off stage, it took the crowd a little while to cry for more. The RURA crowd seemed a little bit more reserved and quieter than other jazz club audiences I have been in. Perhaps they weren’t rowdy because it was so packed down there that no-one could get to the bar. After the fabulous and well received encore we ascended the staircase out of the basement and into the smokey top bar, put on coats, then stepped out into the wind-chilled night and walked home.