142/365: Carving workshop

142/365: Carving workshop, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 22nd

A year ago, on Palm Sunday (photoset here), I met mr Staśkiewicz, a folk artist. He promised to make me a hurdy-gurdy.

A year is a long time to wait, but I caught him at a folk picnic in the park- what luck that I was in Warsaw that weekend. He promised he'd get to my dream drehleier as soon as possible. But he's so busy with workshops and fests...carving saints and birds...repairing basolias and surdinkas and countless other folk instruments I've never even heard of.

But I won't stop whining about my hurdy-gurdy until I'm turning the crank.

127/365: A lovely day

127/365: A lovely day, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 7th

This is Źródliska Park, across the street from my old university and just behind the Cinematography Museum. We went there to see a collection of autochromes shot by the Lumiere brothers. They were amazing, and so was the weather.

We stopped at the park because my flatmate had some video art project she wanted to shoot using my other flatmate's Cheburashka doll:

And here is a tiny sample of the autochromes:

203/365 Nowhere

203/365 Nowhere, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

July 22nd

Waiting for the bus after work. There was lightning all around, but no rain.

187/365: Weeping willow

187/365: Weeping willow, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

July 6th

On the way to work. Not quite the photo I wanted this to be, but I suppose I can always try again on another morning when I'm not running late. They are rare, those mornings.

130/365: On the way home

130/365: On the way home, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 10th

One of the best things about my new job is that the easiest way to get there and back is to ride through the biggest park in Lodz, formerly a forest- and in most places, still as wild and natural as it once was. I see such pretty things on my way to work.

125/365: Dandelions in the garden of Isengard

125/365: Dandelions in the garden of Isengard, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 5th

Okay, not really- it's a monument from the seventies. This part of Poland used to lie under tzarist Russia and this field was where they buried the revolutionaries executed between 1905 and 1907 .

The monument has an interesting history. It was erected in the early 1970s to replace a different monument to the Revolutionaries dating back to 1923- that one had been destroyed by the invading Germans in 1939. Since then the pillar has been modified to replace the Soviet soldiers sculpted at its base with proletarian workers. Guns were turned into hammers, helmets into haircuts. This was meant to restore the sculpture's original meaning.

The author of the changes was the same artist who designed the monument in the first place. His original design was an arc, a rainbow- but soon after construction began the site was visited by a delegate from the Central Committee of the Communist Party. The official reviewed the plans and declared that the design must be changed.

Why?

Because "the socialist ideal ever rises, but never falls".

124/365: Ślimak, ślimak...

124/365: Ślimak, ślimak..., originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 4th

Ślimak, Ślimak, pokaż rogi,
Dam Ci sera na pierogi.

A Polish nursery rhyme, imploring the snail to show his stalks and promising him cheese in exchange- cheese which he may then stuff into pierogies. Obviously this particular gastropod was not hungry.

122/365: I wanna dance with somebody

122/365: I wanna dance with somebody, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 2nd

There is a place in Berlin called the Mauerpark, a bit of green on what used to be the Death Strip just by the infamous Wall. There is a flea market there today, and music, and song, and waffles and beer. There are performers, picnics, swings, a stadium, and just by what is left of the Wall, a little stone amphitheatre which is host, every Sunday, to the Bear Pit Karaoke.

As my German friend linlen aptly put it, spending an afternoon in the park was like walking into a perfect Nokia commercial. An impromptu gathering of people of all races, ages and backgrounds dancing and singing together, with a crowd of hundreds to cheer them on no matter the quality of their performance. Magical.

111/365: Fake Carnations

111/365: Fake Carnations, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

April 21st

Flowers pinned to a makeshift chapel in the forest. I've written about these kind of chapels before on my blog.

110/365:Zdrowie park

110/365:Zdrowie park, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

April 20th

Spring has definitely come this week. This is a little canal running through the largest city park in Łódź, officially the Piłsudski Park, but commonly named after the area it lies in- Zdrowie. And 'zdrowie' means 'health', which is a very good name for this complex. The park area used to be a proper forest- it was trimmed in the early XXth century and has since acquired a sports centre, swimming pool, botanical garden, zoo, amusement park and several artificial ponds. A portion of the original forest remains fenced off as a natural preserve.

It's an odd place- it can be at once refreshing, if you wander down to the wilder forest and walk the flowered paths, or depressing if you stay close to the decrepit Zoo. The amusement park is a rusted and creepy structure, though many people visit it in the summer, while the botanical garden is full of colour.

And conveniently, the quickest path to my new job lies directly across the park. That's a lot more fun than riding my bike in the streets.

63/365: Birches in Arkadia

63/365: Birches in Arkadia, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

March 4th

I've already put a picture of birchwood in my 365 this year, but the sun was so fantastic today I just had to do it again. Spring is coming. Despite this sunny proof there is no doubt we will have snow again this March, as previous years have proven, somewhere towards the end of the month. My mother tells me it was snowing on my birthday, 27 years ago, and my birthday is in March.

There is a saying that goes "W marcu jak w garncu", and I call upon it every year: it means "March is like a pot of broth", ergo there will be sunshine in March, and snow, and rains, and whatever you please save any semblance of meteorological sanity. Furthermore there will be no respite come April, as folk wisdom gives that month just as bad a reputation: "Kwiecień, plecień, bo przeplata, trochę zimy, trochę lata", which in English renders: "April weaves summer and winter together."

In any case, it is nice to see some sunshine, and the birches look their best when bathed in it. The Silver Birch (Betula Pendula) is the most popular birch in Poland, and something of a symbol for that; whenever I see white bark I know I am home.

Here are some more. From January this year, birches in winter:

A birch in autumn:

Birches in spring:

And birches in summer:

24/365: Goodnight, forest

24/365: Goodnight, forest, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

January 24th

The Łagiewnicki forest is named after the XIth century settlement of Łagiewniki which supplied the nearby court in Zgierz with vessels of wood, clay and hide. Such a bowl or flagon was called 'łagiew' and the craftsman who made it a 'łagiewnik'. Hence the name.

Today the forest is a natural preserve covering almost three thousand acres. Almost half of it is composed of oak trees- a good twenty percent is birch, which you can see in the photo.

It is a lovely place to visit at any time of year. Unfortunately it's very cold right now, so cold that when I got off the bus I almost wanted to get right back on it again. Which means I was a bit careless with my photos. The thing is, when you've got a long walk ahead before you get out of the woods, night is falling quickly and your fingers are frozen stiff, you really don't feel like messing with the tripod and the f-stops.

I think I will try putting on more clothes sometime this week and going back for another shot.

15/365:Carousel

15/365:Carousel, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

January 15th

Not a very good photo, I'm afraid, but the most interesting one I came up with today. This is the local amusement park, shut down for the winter of course.

I love the snow but I hate the weather right now, the sky is nothing but white all day long, with no sunshine or good clouds to make the light interesting. >:(