Famous Poles die - your memories

Felicjan Andrzejczak - the vocalist of cult group Budka Suflera in early 1980s.

One of their hits when he was the singer is The Night of the Comet - the catastrophic message in the lyrics was a bit disturbing. We listened to it with masochist pleasure coz it was such superb musical artistry.

Visions come to me close, closest
Stay in my head, wildest dreams
This is your stage, spotlight below
The procession of my dreams is spinning you
Where did this snow come from In the middle of summer?
Where does this saxophone come from that plays under the skull?
The mirrors of the whole world are already exploding
And time is pulsating infinitely slowly

The night of the comet is coming,
Fiery meteors are raining,
You won't find out from the newspaper
who will survive his death.

The glow, the reflections, the flood of gilding,
the Southern crosses and the stardust,
the piles of diamonds which will burn with
a cold light, until the end of days.

I commented on Feniks` post in another thread and immediately recalled that a few days ago Leszek Moczulski had died at 94. He was one of the main anticommunist opposition activists in late 1970s and 80s. I admired him, just like most of my family for his guts and perseverance in his open stubborn rejection of communism. He established the party Confederacy of Independent Poland whose radical programme included the collapse of the communist regime and taking power by democratic forces in result. That is why communists hated him the most and altogether, after several convictions as the enemy of the communist state, he spent 6 years in prisons. Can you imagine that even Soviet Union leaders like Brezhnev demanded his incanceration???

My aunt called him a veritable pistol which in her opinion meant he was indomitable in his struggle against the system. At least at the time which I remember well.

Moczulski and Pres Bush:

• 
  a
  
• 
  Leszek_Moczulski_197.jpg
  

I forgot to say that it was the first openly anticommunist party set up in Eastern block since WW2. It happened in 1979. That is why my aunt called Moczulski a pistol.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederation_of_Independent_Poland

Now when I read the progamme of his party I must say he was a visionary coz he predicted the collapse of the communist system due it its economic inefficiency.

The unofficial program of the KPN was Leszek Moczulski's work Revolution without revolution, published in 1979. In this document, Leszek Moczulski called Poland "a form of Soviet rule". He predicted that the country was on the verge of a spontaneous outburst of social anger caused by the collapse of the planned economy. He claimed that in the perspective of the time in which this social explosion would occur, Soviet intervention was unlikely. This enabled the implementation of the independence program by the method of "constructive revolution", "which is nothing more than a Polish national revolution". The author postulated the gradual construction of the "Third Republic" and emphasized that it was realistic and that it could be achieved without bloodshed. "The whole point is to transform the provoked social explosion into mass actions based on three principles: an occupational strike instead of street confrontation, a universal strike in all regions and economic sectors, and self-organization" .

It all happened throughout 1980s and the system eventually collapsed in 1989.

Jadwiga Barańska, a popular actress, died at 89. She is best known for her role of wife and mother in communist era film and then TV series Nights and Days from mid 1970s. Both productions were acclaimed and received many awards.

• 
  a
  

And she was fantastic in it!

Yes, but the plot is depressing coz they have so many problems with everything. While I was born with a silver spoon you know where and raised in greenhouse environment so their life difficulties were so shocking to me that I didn`t derive any pleasure from watching it. :):):)

A few days ago Elżbieta Zającówna, a popular actress died, she was only 66. I have always liked her facial features with those conspicuous teeth like a rabbit. I find such women extremely sexy. My wife has similar looks.

And she played nice roles in cult Polish comedies which I watch two dozens of times each year, e.g, Vabank.

• 
  dybk9kuTURBXy9jY2JiZ.jpg
  

Certainly very attractive beauty until old age, and the teeth...well, they match the name.

Here we can watch her singing and playing a Polish country style song from 1970s.

No, it's a Polish cover of the Hank Williams song Jambalaya (and later covered by many different artists from different genres including rockers Creedence Clearwater Revival and the smooth pop duo the Carpenters).

I remember around 1980-81 an American news report about Poland and at one point they showed university students singing Jambalaya.... in impeccable British English... which was surreal. The song is not meant to be sung in the usual country music dialect but in a version of Cajun English (from Louisiana).

Here's a video of the original (with lyrics, which you can see are.... a little weird). Nb Jambalaya is a seafood rice dish from Louisiana.

Also, it was sad to hear about the death of Zającówna a gifted character actress who made lots of movies and tv series better.

A real loss. My fave comedy actor, Stanisław Tym, died at 87. He played the main role in the cult comedy Teddy Bear, made in 1980, which mocked communist ideology, economy and social relations. It is the best Polish film which I would take with me onto a desert island if I had to stay there forever. The film contains scenes and quotes which have become the cultural heritage of the nation.

I have mentioned the film and some cult scenes dozens of times in the forum.

See how the director Bareja mocks handing over passports in communist Poland. With Eng subs:

• 
  a