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Posts by JonnyM  

Joined: 9 Mar 2011 / Male ♂
Last Post: 15 Mar 2012
Threads: Total: 11 / In This Archive: 9
Posts: Total: 2607 / In This Archive: 2054
From: Warszawa!
Speaks Polish?: tak

Displayed posts: 2063 / page 18 of 69
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JonnyM   
24 Jan 2012
Travel / Warsaw's most beautiful disctrict or village [18]

Almost a small town rather than a big village, if there's a difference, but Przasnysz in the far north of Mazowsze is well worth a visit. Czerwinsk is a much smaller place, and no station you you have to go by car or bus. Both Przasnysz and Czerwinsk-nad-Wisla are hidden gems.
JonnyM   
24 Jan 2012
Travel / Warsaw's most beautiful disctrict or village [18]

Liw (with the castle) and Pniewnik are nice places - in fact there are a few nice villages along that same main road and all within 100km of Warsaw. They all have that 'eastern' feel that you don't get so much west of Warsaw.
JonnyM   
24 Jan 2012
Genealogy / Writing to the council (tracing for father's step sister) [14]

"Thanking you..."

That one sounds coarse, something a fat and sweaty fifty year old pub landlord from Wigan would say when you hand over a tattered banknote.

Z góry dziękuję.

"Thank you in advance"

Fine.
JonnyM   
23 Jan 2012
Life / Your favorite Chopin piece / Chopin Competition in Poland [23]

I like the Preludes. It's good to listen to all of them all in one go, in sequence, but 8 and 17 are my favourites.

10 and 21 are relatively easy; some of the others are most definitely not; 14 is quite a short one but none of them are long. The Polonnaises are great but challenging to play.

youtu.be/CVL4XPLluXk

Prelude no 4 might be a good one for a 16 year old learner:

youtu.be/HiwPzHJ-Pic

Also think about Mazurka 6/1 or Mazurka 68/3
JonnyM   
23 Jan 2012
Travel / Warsaw's most beautiful disctrict or village [18]

Podkowie Leśnej

I'm no great fan of the place but I can see why some people like it. For me, Góra Kalwaria and Serock (big villages really) are nice.
JonnyM   
23 Jan 2012
Love / Child support in USA order (child born in Poland) [56]

The point is the guy wants visitation. Why should he have to shell out a dime if not guaranteed his paternal rights.

It would be easier to say that if one knew the whole story, rather than just one side of it that has been spewed out on the internet.
JonnyM   
23 Jan 2012
USA, Canada / Can you BE Polish without SPEAKING Polish in the US? [256]

Yes, but it's formed by a constant impact of Polish culture, language, people's behaviour, various social factors, in other words mingling in Polish society

You've very much hit the nail on the head there - it's that constant, living contact - and the language is only part of that, but an essential part. Polonius3's

state of mind

is no doubt real, but a state of mind can so often be a deluded one - especially at a temporal or spatial distance. A

state of mind

that is concerned with an abstract idea of Poland, a 'disneyfication' of Poland, idealised to the point of mythology by people who happily fantasise about it but would hate to actually deal with the realities of life there.

Who would that be? The bitter British expatriates living in Poland talking through their hats by any chance?

I don't know about any 'bitter' expats, however those British-born people who have posted in this thread are far more credible on the matter of Poland than someone from a different continent who has never lived here and doesn't even speak the language. Immigrants not emigrants, talking from their personal experience rather than 'through their hats' (baseball hats no doubt with a slogan on about 'Casimir Pulaski' Day!)
JonnyM   
22 Jan 2012
History / Friedrich Nietzsche - Polish or German ? [73]

Amusing, but quite untrue. Nietsche was intelligent, but intelligence is only brilliant if one achieves something more than intellectual onanism. Nietsche didn't. For all his eclat, there's an absence of elan, and the pain of a troubled (and mentally ill) mind.
JonnyM   
22 Jan 2012
History / Friedrich Nietzsche - Polish or German ? [73]

You should read his autoiography

I have. Several times.

you are wrong.

No. For the following reasons, among many:

most Germans as boring clodhoppers

i.e himself, and most people around him.

He considered his own brilliance to be the result of him being the atavistic reoccurance of a Polish nobleman

His abstracted fantasies - a kind of displacement not uncommon among self-haters.

So much so that the latter had their family classified as "non-German" with the Prussian authorities.

During a period of documented mental illness.

Nietsche was one of those people who are deeply unhappy with who they are, who fail to engage with those around them, who just don't fit in and psychologically compensate for that in two ways - by pretending to themselves that they are somehow superior to those around them and by seizing on something like their ancestry from generations ago with which they don't have any contact except by DNA. Know anyone like that?
JonnyM   
22 Jan 2012
History / Friedrich Nietzsche - Polish or German ? [73]

Read some or ask someone to explain it to you - he had high opinions of Slavs, Jews and Chinese people and identified with certain ideals. But he was German. If I remember, we had this discussion before, sources and all.

Of course, anything Nietsche said has to be weighed against his mental illnesses and the fantasies they brought forth...
JonnyM   
22 Jan 2012
Life / Poles close to grandparents [32]

It's the same with everything: places, objects, style of a life. There is even a famous saying "starych drzew się nie przesadza" (the old trees shouldn't be moved).

That's quite normal - people, especially when they're getting older, don't always want change.

This Grandpa/Grandma's Day however is (in the US at least) entirely for the benefit of card shops and florists. Oddly enough, in Poland I've never come across anyone actually celebrating it.
JonnyM   
22 Jan 2012
History / Friedrich Nietzsche - Polish or German ? [73]

I would rather consider Shopenhauer as being polish, because He lived in polish city Gdansk for all his life

He didn't identify as Polish. Less even than Kafka saw himself as Czech.

F. Nietzsche

He had some Polish roots and wrote about that, but saw himself as German.
JonnyM   
22 Jan 2012
USA, Canada / Can you BE Polish without SPEAKING Polish in the US? [256]

Not born in Poland? Don't speak Polish? Not a child? If all three of those conditions exist then no, that person is not Polish and is not the essence of Poland either.

Very true.
JonnyM   
21 Jan 2012
Food / Cost of tobacco in Poland [17]

I've seen it on Warsaw station but it's usually old and dry. Not very expensive.
JonnyM   
21 Jan 2012
Love / Unmarried couples in Poland = pathology [310]

clever, crafty, subtle and often subliminal skills of highly paid propagandists (called advertisers, PR specialists, lobbyists, etc).

Such skills aren't either subtle or clever.

The manipualtion and exploitation of the public

You seem to have a negative view of the public - there are always people who will be taken in, hook line and sinker, by advertisers, religions etc but equally human nature has a very good bullsh1t detector.
JonnyM   
21 Jan 2012
Life / Poles close to grandparents [32]

Amongst the top values conveyed by Polish grandparents are moral principles and relgious faith.

That and the flat.
JonnyM   
20 Jan 2012
Love / Unmarried couples in Poland = pathology [310]

Before making false statements

Absolutely true.

Instead of relying on wikipedia and similar, check out the ongoing debate within Xtian churches in Africa.
JonnyM   
20 Jan 2012
Food / Krupnik recipe (soup, not wodka) [14]

Placki with floury potatoes could be interesting. For hash browns they absolutely must be waxy. I find Polish potatoes great for soups.
JonnyM   
20 Jan 2012
Food / Krupnik recipe (soup, not wodka) [14]

the more simple it is the better actually - so no mushrooms, no cream, no garlic

That's spot on. My neighbour (from £osice) used to make a nice Krupnik. Very few ingredients and a thin soup. She used one of the smaller types of kasza (maybe jaglana or similar) but used a diluted chicken stock. No leeks. Nice on a cold day.

English potatoes are strange in that that they fall apart very easily when cooked - at least those that I bought - maybe there are different varieties)

There are plenty, but two main types, 'floury' that fall apart and 'waxy' that don't. I prefer waxy, but for chips you need floury.
JonnyM   
20 Jan 2012
Food / Krupnik recipe (soup, not wodka) [14]

Heres one recipe.

The barley you mention is called kasza jeczmienna - pearl barley in English. You can use some of the other types of kasza, like kasza jaglana for a different (and in my opinion better) effect. I wouldn't use too much. Personally I woudn't use the mushrooms, sour cream or garlic at all and would grate the carrot. Instead of parsnips, I'd use pietruszka and not as much as in the recipe. This isn't a luxury soup - it's often made with very few ingredients.

3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb mushrooms, sliced (mix of wild varieties is best)
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 large celery stalks, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1-2 parsnips, diced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 leek choppped
3-4 teaspoons dried thyme
1 bay leaf
4-5 large dried mushrooms
1/2 cup pearl barley
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5-6 cups chicken stock
1-2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons sea salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup heavy cream (or 3/4 cup sour cream, or 3/4 cup plain yogurt)
Garnish: 1 tablespoon fresh dill or parsley, minced

VEGETABLE BARLEY SOUP DIRECTIONS
1. Clean and slice fresh mushrooms and soak dried wild mushrooms. Heat butter and olive oil till butter is melted. Add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, leek, and barley stir until slightly softened, do not brown.
2. Raise the heat to medium high and add fresh mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook 8 minutes until they are golden brown, stirring frequently.
3. Reduce heat and add thyme, bay leaf, and flour, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan for 5-8 minutes.
4. Add the stock and the rest of the ingredients, except the cream (or yogurt) and dill.
5. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer until slightly thickened for 30 minutes or until mushrooms and vegetables are tender. If too thick, add more chicken stock or water.
6. Remove the pot from heat and serve. Or, keep on low heat and add heavy cream (or sour cream / yogurt) to make a creamy krupnik soup. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding a few drops of lemon juice if desired. Cook for another 5-7 minutes.
7. Ladle into warm bowls and garnish with fresh dill or parsley.

JonnyM   
20 Jan 2012
USA, Canada / Can you BE Polish without SPEAKING Polish in the US? [256]

I'm sure Poles living in Britain who speak English well, have British friends, end up drifting away from their Polishness.

The huge influx since 2004 has changed all that. What it will do to the people's identity - especially the second generation - is anybody's guess. One big difference between them and the people who went to the US is that they can get Polish TV on cable and are only 2 hours from Warsaw. Also there's a fairly broad cross-section of Polish society from cosmopolitan sophisticates to rural people with a much more circumscribed outlook on life. Watch this space...
JonnyM   
20 Jan 2012
Love / Unmarried couples in Poland = pathology [310]

The entire continent of Africa allows the practise which is why I posted a third (land mass wise). Do you have any proof of what you say, I find it hard to believe any practising christian would condone polygamy. What other modern cultures practice polygamy?

Quite a lot more of the world, in the Arab peninsula, in the pacific Islands practise it. If you want links to Christian polygamy, there's plenty of sources about the debate on the internet. The Anglican Communion is trying to stop it among their members but the local bishops refuse. The RCC doesn't condone it but largely turns a blind eye.
JonnyM   
20 Jan 2012
Love / Unmarried couples in Poland = pathology [310]

I was pointing out that muslims are the only group that polygamy is an accepted pratice.

Actually quite a few groups, not just Muslims by any means practise it. Some other cultures practise polygyny instead. You might not know that there are Roman Catholics and Anglicans in Africa who practise it - with the blessing of their dioceses.
JonnyM   
20 Jan 2012
Love / Unmarried couples in Poland = pathology [310]

you mean in about a third of it and you are muslim.

Athird of the world is quite a lot of people - and worth mentioning that some practising Christians also have polygamy. And BTW, I'm not a Muslim.
JonnyM   
19 Jan 2012
News / Radek Sikorski, Polish Foreign Minister, tries to annihilate Polish Slavic identity [19]

.Sound good to you?

Better than the alternatives. It isn't self-sufficient like the US, it has too many neighbours to be in "splendid isolation" like the UK used to be (and too much of a ready export market for its products) and its eastern neigbour is too much of a loose cannon not to form a friendly alliance with its western one.
JonnyM   
19 Jan 2012
Love / Unmarried couples in Poland = pathology [310]

the perjurer, reneger, liar and faithless home-wrecker.

If it was as simple as that, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

ethical principles are never outdated

This isn't an ethical principle.

the inception of quick and convenient online, no-fault divorces does not make oath-breaking any more good

No, but it makes it far easier to bury a dead marriage without adding to the families' troubles.