Ivan Klima’s Premier a Andel (The Prime Minister and the Angel) – a note at the end of the book tells us – was written between April 2002 and January 2003 but Klima writes with such ease that it gives the impression of having been written yesterday between a late breakfast and lunch with a […]
Another ad, this time for some kind of a quasi-bank offering loans. Among the lender’s selling points: no guarantor required no need to get permission from your spouse The Fatima Mansions used to sing “only losers take the bus.”
Some months back (March 28th — it fell down the back of the couch) Polityka had a promising article on the encroachment of public space by private property (“Wspólnie nie dla wszystkich”). It would be naive to think that the Polish reader would find in such a magazine anything about Reclaim the Streets – they […]
Anhelli by Juliusz S?owacki tells of a mystic journey undertaken by the eponymous hero and his guide, a shaman, around Siberia, to which many Poles were deported after their failed revolt in 1830. It’s an unintentionally hilarious classic of nineteenth century Polish romantic literature. At one point Anhelli and the shaman meet people carrying coffins […]
Here’s a sign I saw on a bus today: We will be buying hair on June 12th. Hair to be longer than 35 cm. Grey and dyed hair to be longer than 45 cm. Price depends on length of hair.
There’s an interview with Bronis?aw Wildstein, new chairman of the state TV company, in today’s Rzeczpospolita. Jaros?aw Murawski asks this champion of the citizen’s right – nay, obligation – to be well-informed about democratic society’s workings if Wildstein has not sacked certain people because they are protected by Samoobrona (coalition members). Wildstein fearlessly replies: “If […]
Today’s Gazeta Wyborcza has a full-page ad for a car on its front page. Above it are the words (I’m quoting from memory as I did not buy it) “This ad makes childrens’ dreams come true.” As the sound of vomit splashing into the bottom of sickbags dies down, may I remind you that today […]
This week’s Polityka has an ad for a cultural event called a “Gala of Film Music” to take place in the National Philharmonic in Warsaw on June 25th. There is a photograph of a concert hall and orchestra and another photograph of a cup of coffee. A caption tells us that “the gala is a […]
On the back page of today’s Dziennik is a short piece about the EU’s “You control climate change” campaign. The slogan is translated as “Kontroluj zmiany klimatu,” which means “Monitor changes in the climate.”
“Ambitny” is the Polish word used to describe art which is – well – ambitious, demanding, challenging. Powstanie Warszawskie (Warsaw Uprising) by Lao Che is most definitely “ambitny.” Over ten tracks it sets out to capture the doomed uprising that took place in 1944 and which was described by Miron Bia?oszewski in Pami?tnik z powstania […]
