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piątek, lutego 23, 2007

Polbloglet: Fat Thursday!

Polbloglet: Fat Thursday!


"Polish Doughnuts" by Polska*ポーランド*Poland

For at least one moment in the dark days of winter, life is sweet in Poland. Marking the last Thursday before Lent, Tłusty czwartek (or, Fat Thursday) is a day of over-indulgence in sweets.

This past Thursday, in scenes disturbingly reminiscent of Communist days, the local sweet shops and bakeries were full of people, lining up to get their hands on the source of sweetness and symbol of this special day - the traditional Polish doughnut, or pączki. Unfortunately, by lunch break, our local bakery was sold out already!


Typical sight in Poland on Fat Thursday, Wikipedia

Interestingly, each country has its own way of marking the last day before Lent: in Greece, instead of sweets, they eat loads of meat on Tsiknopempti. In Latin and South America, they celebrate in a more dynamic way with the Carnival.

How does your country mark the start of Lent? Do you sit in a sweet shop and gorge yourself on baker's delights or do you take to the streets?


*This was cross-posted to Global Voices.

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FAIR USE NOTICE This article contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in the efforts to advance understanding of Poland's economic, environmental, human rights, political, scientific, and social justice issues, among others. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this article is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes.

niedziela, lutego 18, 2007

Polish Bards Unpoetic To Google

Polish Bards Unpoetic To Google

A group of Polish poets is standing firm against Google in a domain name dispute.

Google has launched legal action against a group of Polish poets, demanding that they give up their Internet domain name gmail.pl, a member of the cultural collective said.

Izabela Krawczyk of GMAiL -- the "Grupa Mlodych Artystow i Literatow," or Group of Young Artists and Writers -- told AFP that Google had turned to the country's IT and telecommunications tribunal to try to stop them using the Web site address www.gmail.pl.

There is quite an extended debate on Gazeta's forum site [PL] - with some subject headings like "Go to hell Google."

Are these poets in over their metaphorical heads?





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FAIR USE NOTICE This article contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in the efforts to advance understanding of Poland's economic, environmental, human rights, political, scientific, and social justice issues, among others. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this article is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes.

środa, lutego 14, 2007

Between a Hard Rock and Stalin's Place

Between a Hard Rock and Stalin's Place

The latest Polish mega mall, Zlote Tarasy, located in Warsaw and situated across from the Cold War Commie icon Palace of Culture and Science, has the first Hard Rock Cafe in Central Europe and the mall itself is said to have one of the largest glass ceilings in the world.

Reports Warsaw Voice:

The walls of the cafe display an original piece of work drafted by Jim Morrison when he was at high school, a shirt Elvis Presley wore in Jailhouse Rock, a postcard written by Janis Joplin to her friend, and a jacket that belonged to Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols. For the younger generation, there are the trousers in which Shakira performed her latest world tour. The Grammy statuette presented to The Eagles for the song "Lyin' Eyes" in 1975 is also on display.


And, they're hiring!

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FAIR USE NOTICE This article contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in the efforts to advance understanding of Poland's economic, environmental, human rights, political, scientific, and social justice issues, among others. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this article is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes.

wtorek, lutego 13, 2007

What's Shaking in Poland's Blogosphere

What's Shaking in Poland's Blogosphere

A rare bit of snow this winter brings families out for fun. (Warsaw)
Photo by Embe at warsawdaily

A week of intermittent snowfall broke a dry spell, drawing kids outdoors for some winter games. It will be a short-lived affair as the winter has been a let-down for some with warmer temperatures and, as Our Man in Gdansk suggests, indoor games are sure to be in fashion soon. One such game is a perennial favorite but with a twist from Poland, get your chips out for "Health Care Bingo."

Here I present a cut-out-and-paste version of office bingo to help you while away the hours of talking heads talking about why the Polish health service is in a jock. You have to choose just three of the following commonly proferred explanations of why the Polish health service is in a jock.

What happens when local authorities get to plan, but not pay for a highway to connect Helsinki and Warsaw? BINGO! An offer they can't refuse plus irreversible damage to numerous forests. But when the chips are down, bloggers become clicktivists. Varpho has set up a petition and encourages all to take action now:

By signing the list below you are protesting against routing Via Baltica through unique nature areas, such as the Augustów Forest along with the Rospuda River Valley, the Biebrza National Park and the Knyszyn Forest, and thus you are expressing your disapproval for the Białystok option of this road.


One refused offer however was greeted by collective sighs of relief by bloggers as a former Polish PM declined a top post at one of Poland's largest banks. Interestingly, the decision was announced on the former politican's personal blog (in Polish). According to Polish Matters, the news couldn't come soon enough as the whole idea seemed, literally, wrong-headed:

It's enough to say that Marcinkiewicz, a high school Physics teacher before his 9-month stint as Polish prime minister last year, had no experience in either banking or management.


Hold on though, experience doesn't always lead to wise decisions, according to the beatroot. Not only appearing wrong-headed, but donning a bad hair day icon, a Polish mayor decided to proclaim an alcohol curfew in one of Poland's hottest tourist spots.

You expect this kind of thing from the British, but a Pole banning drinking? Is the mayor of Sopot limbering up for a career in Brussels, perhaps?


Warsaw not to worry, boo provides some blogging about sans-curfew and trendy night spots, complete with a token communist pub, endearingly called The Red Pig. I wonder, do they serve Red Bull?

Staying with the educational angle, although a little textual bull, or embellishment, might implicate itself here, The Real Warsaw provides a post and response on life in Poland, by a USA student and an ex-pat resident of Poland. Watch this thread as opinions are exaggerated on both sides. Highlight for me: Buy real estate in Poland right now!

That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time - Do widzenia i powodzenia!

This post was originally written for the Global Voices site.

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Welcome to "Afterthoughts: Because thought should come before you blog!"

1) Our Man in Gdansk has missed the boat in the post we note above. Poles aren't so cheap as to be selfish about who should get care or not. In my discussion with Poles, they are very concerned about the prospect of many people losing out on adequate health care. Where did you get your info?

2) The Real Warsaw needs to get real! The comments about Poland are simply too rosy and do nothing to help the interested student to realistically understand everyday life in Poland. Will this student really be prepared to live in Poland after reading your Disney-esque piece on Poland?

3) Hey beatroot! Do you really give a shake about the actual sanity and safety of the community you implicitly mock in your post about Sopot's mayor?


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Know more...about Poland
PolBlog - News Poland, Local Voices East of the Elbe
Read the news - share your views on our new Blog Forums

technorati tags: , , ,


FAIR USE NOTICE This article contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in the efforts to advance understanding of Poland's economic, environmental, human rights, political, scientific, and social justice issues, among others. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this article is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes.

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