135/365: Bryll w Teatrze Nowym

135/365: Bryll w Teatrze Nowym, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 15th

My dad speaking at the theatre around the corner.

60/365: Not 77

60/365: Not 77, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

March 1st

This morning, at breakfast, dad suddenly stopped eating, his face frozen in an expression of shock.

"Wait...wait a minute. It's not 2012 yet! I'm...I'm only seventy-six years old today!"

Well, true. But we didn't have any other candles.

The cake was made by my mum and was a big hit. It's flourless- all ground nuts to make the base. And the cream is coffee.

There was also some singing by Marcin and Orzełek.

And it wouldn't have been a proper birthday without Dad giving numerous speeches:

352/365: Bryll&Styczeń on stage again

352/365: Bryll&Styczeń on stage again, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

December 18th

A while back, a young man came to visit my dad and said, sir, I'd like to put some of your poetry to music. Now the two of them are excellent friends and they do several performances a year- the set is Marcin singing, with or without his band, and dad reading poems and telling anecdotes from when the world was young. The dynamic between them is great, despite the 40 year age difference. I can vouch that the audience has just as much fun as they do. :D

I've covered it on the blog before. More photos there.

66/365: Bryll&Styczeń in concert

66/365: Bryll&Styczeń in concert, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

March 7th

In celebration of Women's Day (which was the next day) my dad (right) and Marcin Styczeń gave a concert of songs and poems. It usually goes like this- Marcin sings, dad reads something, then they say something funny...but sometimes dad joins in on the choruses:

Lots of fun. Happy Women's Day!

60/365: My dad's 75th birthday

60/365: My dad's 75th birthday, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

March 1st

This year, my dad told my mum: "Let's not invite anyone. We'll see who shows up."

Well, about thirty people passed that test. :D It's a good thing we prepared some food just in case. ;)

I could say a lot about my dad (that's him in the centre of the photo). I could tell you he's a poet, a writer, an author of musicals and songs, a man with a hundred stories to tell. I could link you to his poetry- but most of it is in Polish. Instead I am going to give you a tiny little glimpse of how he celebrated his birthday last year.

And more photos from this year's most excellent party follow:

My sister lights the candles on the cake as my mother tries not to get burned- and dad's great-grandson, who is exactly 70 years and one day younger than him, looks on.

Dad singing 'Happy Birthday' for my mother- whose birthday is on March 6th.

Saying hello to the youngest in our family, his great-granddaughter who is just eight months old.:) By the way, the hat was a gift, and dad liked it so much he refused to take it off all evening.

58/365: The website

58/365: The website, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

February 27th

I finally finished reworking my dad's website from ugly, table-based html 4.0 (sic!! it was really old...) to a lovely and easily updateable mix of php, css and mysql. My dad turns 75 this monday, and his skills with the computer are rudimentary at best, so it was somewhat of a challenge to make him understand just why this new website is so much better and easier to update. I finally ended up saying "Adding anything to the old website was like woodblock printing. This is like movable type."

He understood that analogy :)

Here he is in the photo with my mum, looking at the site. He even promised to start writing articles for it again. I'm pleased.

A dla polskich czytelników informacja: pojutrze urodziny Brylla, nowa strona www.bryll.pl ruszyła dziś, i będzie od tej pory działać na zasadzie bloga. Kto chce posłuchać prawdziwych (nie takich licealno-czyściutkich) opowieści o tym jak hulali poeci i artyści w latach 60 ubiegłego wieku...zapraszam do czytania 'Zapisków'. Będzie wesoło.

 A, no i Bryll jest także na Facebooku. Zostań fanem!