Life / Comparing Poland and Romania [108]


Clergy have also at times miscalculated. Some believe that religion in schools was one such miscalculation. They argue it's better to have fewer committed Christians than a motley mass of randoms pupils forced to be a captive audience duirng religon class.

But, all in all, nothing has pushed more young people away from religion, the family, ethical conduct and general human decency than COMMERPOP - that cheap, tacky commercial popculture that bombards us all 24/7.

It has replaced authorities with film and sport stars, assorted celebrities and other passing idols and replaced genuine traditions with passing fads and crazes. It has reduced culture to action films, sitcoms, soap operas, romantic comedies, tabloidised media and computer games and replaced music with various forms of pop-noise (metal, techno, hiphop, etc.).

Commerpop is so successful because few thinking people take the time to step back and view it all in broader perspective, analysing its causes and effects and weighing its pros and cons. Its biggest defenders, of course, are those who've got a finger in that multi-billion-dollar pie and totally disregard the damage commerpop has caused to individuals, their families, societies and human civilisation in general.

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]


Thanks to Warsaw Archbishop Cardinal Nycz we now have the Cavalcade of the Three Kings (Orszak Trzech Króli). Its a colourful family-religious pageant that wends its way through the streets of Old Town to a nativity stable for group carolling. Camels, horses, knigths and pages, marchers in paper crowns (that shoudl strike a respondent chord amongst Brits), even a creche-making contest. Watch for it on 6th January. By then even PF's Bacchic wing should be back in circulation!?

Food / Bologna & onions in Poland? [44]


It's closer to mortadela. Bologna & onions slathered with ketchup is typical American working-class fare.

Life / Comparing Poland and Romania [108]


Ceauşescu's Romania also succeeded in all but destroying religion, whilst Poland could boast the Soviet bloc's most flourishing Catholic faith.

Genealogy / BIALIK / Bialek, Kotecki, Witucki, Ezdebski Families - Jaslo and Poznan [17]


BIALIK: root-word biały (white); roughly translatable as Whitey, Whitely, Whitman, Whiting, etc. Of the some 1,700 Bialiks in Poland 38 now live in Jasło.

Life / Comparing Poland and Romania [108]


And theri knowledge of French far exceeds that of Poles.


In the most general of terms, Romanians are Romance-speaking Slavs. Bulgarians are Slavic-speaking Turks.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]


Son of Maniek. Maniek is one fo the hypocoristic (pet) forms of the first name Marian.Other common pet forms are Marianek and Maniuś.


SKARBICKI: root-wrord skarb (treaure, treasury ); probably a surname of toponymic origin traceable to such localities as Skarbiec, Skarbka, Skarbki or similar.
STARY: adjective old; also exists as a family name
YNTZ: ????????????????

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]


Except for Mańkiewicz, the others are Lithuanian in form. Mańkiewicz in Lithuania wouild be called Mankievièius.

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]


So am I. I'm talkingn about public decorations still not taken down in late February and even March. Also the Christmas lights on trees and shrubs outside private homes in Poland are not always turned off right after Candlemas.

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]


In Poland the figures of the Three Kings are also added on the 6th January but cribs and trees stay up till 2nd Feb. Municipal Christmas decorations often stay up far beyond that, attesting not to any tradition but only to the sluggishness or negligence of municipal services.

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]


What about the fabled British (12 Days of Chrsitmas) and Twelfth Night (we call it Three Kings in Poland). I know you don't inscribe the initials of the Three Wisemen over doorways in the UK (K+M+B - 2016), but aren't there any customs connecetd with it anymore?

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]


But when do you set it up? If it's on Christmas Eve, then that's not so long a period. In America some people set theirs up in late November right after Thanskgiving (4th Thursday in Novmeber) and chuck it out on 26th Dec. (no boxing day in the US).

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]


Before you chuck out your Christmas tree please remember that in Poland the Christmas season lasts from the start of Advent until Candlemas (2 Feb). The latter is known in Polish as Święto Matki Boskiej Gromnicznej (Our Lady of the Thunderbolt Candle). On that day the candles lighted at the bedside of the dead and dying are blesssed in church. The name of the candle stems from the folk belief that it protects the home from lightning bolts. Also wards off wolves. A well-known painting shows the BVM outside a cottage keeping a pack of wolves at bay with such a candle.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]


PRETL: no-one in Poland uses this German surname at present; it is probably derived from Brettel, from the German verb brettern (to speed, move or travel swiftly).

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Hey, it's Wigilia. No politics please. A time for love, reconciliation and forgiveness. We should all eagerly forgive PO for their 8 years of misrule and KOD for the whole rumpus they've been causing and the bad name there giiving Poland abroad.

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]


Wesołych Świąt!

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]


Did you perchance have to prepare Wigilia single-handedly?

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]


There are many beautiful and deeply moving Polish kolędy but at Pasterka this one stanza has been known to moisten many an eye. It combines Divine Providence, home, family and patriotic love of Poland -- the things most Poles cherish:

Podnieś rękę, Boże Dziecię
Błogosław ojczyznę miłą
W dobrych radach, w dobrym bycie
Wspieraj jej siłę Swą siłą
Dom nasz i majętność całą
I wszystkie wioski z miastami
A Słowo Ciałem się stało
I mieszkało między nami.


That's part of the magic of Wigilia -- everything must be different, unique and one-a-yearish so family members come scrubbed, groomed and decked out in their holiday best. Advocates of the slob chic (torn, faded jeans, scruffy sport shoes, T-shirts, baseball caps) might do well to experience something different from the run-of-the-mill booze-up just this once a year..


A while back there was this thing on TV about a British set of identical twins. One was a health and fitness nut, never smoked, drank lightly and only infrequently, watched his weight and cholesterol, worked out regularly and pursued an all-round healthy lifestyle. The other was the exact opposite: a greatly overweight couch potato who ate, drank and smoked heavily and avoided physical exercise like the plague. So what happened? The fitness freak died of a heart attack at 48 and the other twin lived well into his mid-70s.


Aside form herring, carp, mushroom and sauerkraut dishes, another sine qua non on the Wigilia table is kompot -- stewed dried fruit. It used to be a stewed fruit dessert served in a small bowl and eaten with a spoon, and some families still serve it that way. But after the war (maybe to stretch it in a war-torn counrty?) it somehow evolved into a watered-down drink with only some fruit in the glass to be eaten wtih a spoon.

Traditionally it should contain 12 different fruits in honour of the 12 Apostles, but how to come up with 12 dried fruits? Here is the answer (count htem!):

prunes, raisins, dried currants, dried cranberries, dried apples, cherries, apricots, pears, figs, dates, fresh orange and lemon slices.


Not a story. Santa was a corporate advertising gimmick designed to persaude people to part with their hard-earned cash and clutter their homes with loads of uneeded junk to make the banks and merchandisers even richer than they already are. St Nicholas really walked God's good earth, gave up his fortune to help the poor and always aided those in need. Today he serves as a symbol of disinterested altruism -- or in lingo you'll understand -- performing good deeds without waiting about to be thanked. We certainly could use more of that in our selfish, greedy, ego-indulging times.

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]

Tell it to the horse marines! But this is Wigilia so your ignorance is forgiven. Wesołych, bogatych, suto zakrapianych i pełnych nieprzyzwoitego obżarstwa Świąt oraz dużo bardzo drogich prezentów pod choinkę!

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


This was written abotu the US political a scene but it has universal application and explains the hysterical, ultra-toxic hate campaign of the Petrus, KODs, Michniks, Lises, Kaliszes, TVNs, Żakowskis, Wojewódzkis et al against Poland's democratically elected government. That is what PiS have long referred to as the hand-washes-hand "układ":

"It's about the unholy dynamics between big government, big business, and big media. They all benefit by the billions of dollars from this partnership, and it's in all of their interests to protect one another. It's one for all and all for one."

The Polish voter has overturned that "układ" and the consequwences thereof the oppostion cannot accept.


A woman has been appointed to head Poland's FBI -- CBŚ (Centralne Biuro Śledcze). She is Inspector Renata Skawińska, the first woman ever to hold that post. She replaces Platformerian appointee Igor Parfieniuk.


...Thanks to the hysterical rabble-rousers and anti-Polish slanderers. Your KOD creeps are even prepared to sully their own country's reptuation abroad just to vent their spite and revenge on Poland's democractically elected authorities.

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]


Of course, even earlier the carp swimming in the Chinese emperor's pond were once reserved for the imperial family. Any commoners caught poaching reportedly paid for it with his life. To this day various carp (common, silver, black, etc.) are regarded as delicacies in the Far East.


Youngsters often wonder how it's possible for Święty Mikołaj to bring gifts to kids the world over on a single evening. The answer is simple. Just tell them that St Nick has legions of little angel helpers to assist him.

Language / Short Polish<->English translations [1049]


But referral slip, sheet, document or what? The Polish medcial skierowanie is a slip of paper.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


So you're saying that thanks to such power-hungry subversives as KOD, Petru and PO poor losers Poland can look forward to constant mayhem, disruption, commotion, sabotage and instability. Also badmouthing the country by concocting black PR and passing it on to the EU and Western media.

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]


Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic are among Europe's biggest carp markets.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Your pocket is irrelevant in the overall scope of things. The main thing is that it hurts the pocket of the exploitative foreign banks, retailers and investors who want to avoid paying their fair share of taxes and keep Poland a cheap manpower and real eeistate country for their bloodsucking financial institutions, hypermarkets and toxic industries.

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]


TYPO: salting

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]


Poland's farm-bred carp are kept in fresh water tanks unfed for several days before being sent to market. In the States a black guy once told me you can get rid of the muddy flavour by alting and freezing the dressed fish, Never tired it, but who knows? Blacks are among America's biggest carp fanciers.

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]


ANY CARP KILLERS ON PF?
This year the Missus said she would get fillets but it tutrned out there was a huge queue for them and almost none for live carp so she got the latter. The fish was live so it was up to me to be the executioner. I don't relish the task but someone's go to do it. After bonking it several times on the head with a hammer I beheaded and gutted it and it was still twitching. Anybody ever do this?

A few years back we had Poland's most expensive karp for Wigilia. They are very slippery and when I swung the hammer it slipped and broke the ceramic bathroom sink which had to be replaced. This year I spread old newspapers on the kitchen counter to perform the deed.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Who ran this poll?

Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]


Gifts of the little Góral shepherds
Fout young Góral shepherds in highlander dress tending their flocks on a hillside have heard the angel voices calling them to Bethlehem. When they arrive at their destination, they approach the stable where they find Baby Jesus in a manger watched over by the Blessed Mother and St Joseph. A cow, a donkey and some sheep munch hay nearby. The shepherds remove their hats, fall to their knees and pay tribute to the Christ Child, placing gifts at the foot of the manger.

KUBA: I bring this small lamb, so soft and so sweet, so that it can warm the Christ Child's feet.
(Przynoszę Ci, Jezu, to miękkie jagniątko, by grzało Ci nóżki, Boże Dzieciątko.)
STASZEK: I give you, dear Jesus, my heart and my soul, and these góral mocassins for a nice mountain stroll.
(Składam w ofierze mą duszę i serce, a na górskie spacery -- góralskie kierpce.)
ANTEK: Dearest Jesus, if you please, do accept this gift of cheese.
(Kłania Ci się dusza szczera, przyjmij ten kawałek sera.)
MACIEK: I'm but a poor shepherd, and that must be said -- for the King of all Heaven I've only some bread.
(Jam biedny pastuszek, więc dla Króla Nieba mam jeno ten mały bochenek chleba.)
(Someone is heard faintly sobbing nearby.)
MACIEK: Who is that crying? Who is that boy? It's no time for weeping, we're all filled with joy.
(Któż tam tak szlocha? To nie czas żałości. Nadeszła pora wielkiej radości!)
ZBYSZKO: It's our youngest shepherd, and Toma is his name. He has nothing for Jesus and feels full of shame.
(To najmłodszy pastuszek, na imię mu Toma. Płacze bo przyszedł z pustymi rękoma.)
Toma: I've nothing for Jesus, with shame I turn red. I can't even give Him a small piece of bread.
(Podarku ja nie mam dla Jezusa z Nieba, nawet nie mogę Mu dać kromki chleba.)
KUBA: Well, tell Him a story or sing Him a song, say something funny - you can't go wrong.
(Więc bajkę Mu powiedz, a po twej kolędzie na pewno Dzieciątku przyjemniej będzie.)
ZBYSZKO: Whether sitting at home or walking along, Toma sings a most beautiful song.
(Czy chodzi po polu czy siedzi se doma, nikt z nas nie śpiewa tak pięknie jak Toma.)
ANTEK: Then sing, little shepherd, it's time that you start. That'll surely gladden the Christ Child's heart.
(Zaśpiewaj, pastuszku, widać po tobie, że uradujesz Dzieciątko w żłobie.)
(Toma begins singing the well-known Polish lullabye-carol 'Lulajże Jezuniu' in the most beautiful, clear soprano voice imaginable. Baby Jesus smiles, and raises His tiny hand as if bestowing his blessing. When the singing ends, the Blessed Mother breaks her silence.)

BLESSED MOTHER: If my Baby could speak, if His voice He could lift, he'd thank the young shepherd for his most splendid gift. Jesus loves presents from people sincere, and those who have brought them He'll always hold dear. But food will get eaten, gifts break, tear and rust. And all our possessions soon turn to dust. Only things of the soul endure truly long - a smile, a good word or this beautiful song.

(Gdyby Synek mój już mowę swą umiał kierować, za kolędę zapewne też jąłby dziękować. Bo dary wsze ceni gdy dane są szczerze, a ofiarodawców w opiekę swą bierze. Ale jadło się zjada, podarki się zedrą, i wszelkie przedmioty niszczeją i bledną. Jeno co z duszy trwać może lat wiele - z uśmiechem, dobrym słowem i pieśnią na czele.)

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