Dice game concert?

What do you do when you get to the entrance door to a free concert? Well normally you enter- except last night's outdoor "free" concert had a pleasant surprise for us. The story went like this: A polish singer named Timon is singing a free concert near the river. I thought well Polish music concert? Why not, I may not understand a word but it's cool to go to an outdoor event. In Beirut unfortunately most events are indoors, and the summer festival well are summer, and that means you are exposed to sometimes 30 degrees at night with up to 95% HUMIDITY. I had had enough of being in the smokey bar scene in Beirut, so I went. As we got to the door,( well it was more like a fence) ,two girls asked us to toss a dice. The lower you score the better; because it is simply how much you would pay. So the dilemma was that if in general you are an unlucky person, then you know at this particular game you will actually score as high as the max 12 points, and then you will pay 12zł the equivalent of 4$. Which is fair if you thought about the nice spot, and the music. But what itches you is the fact that you were told that it is a free concert. After not having much choice in the matter, and holding the line in front of about 17 Polish people. I tossed the dice on the tiny slippery table where they also had 2 plastic cups one for change and the other had paper money, a piece of paper on which they wrote the score which translated to money, but the dice fell straight to the floor. I go into this to explain that it is not like you are actually gambling on a nice green velour casino table. The next toss I score 3. "HIHAAAAAAAAAA". I pay 1$ for my entrance. Dominika was much luckier, she scored 12, and unfortunately payed the max amount the dice obligated of 12 big ones ( well it was 4 dollars).
Anyhow lovely experience, only to top it with a cherry, the band's van broke down 30-km outside Warsaw. So we waited in the cold for a good 2 hours. By that time the band showed up, quickly unloaded all their instruments, and the concert kicked off, with very little enthusiasm I am afraid. Thinking back about this situation, I believe it is really a great concept to gamble your way in for a concert which the artist is unknown to you, for once if the music was good, and your dice was bad, then it would have been a truly thrilling hand.

The chairman of Centrum.

Warsaw street musicians are not abundant in my opinion, but they are special. There are a few that have their usual spots- for instance there is an old men group who play old polish tunes and they are usually on Nowy swiat street where there are a bunch of tourists , also there is the guy who sits facing the palace who plays the tuba,and he blows fire from the top of its hole, yet none of them are as special as the "chairman" who plays percussion on the main centrum exit of the metro line. The reason this dude is special ,I think, is not because he does not really make any real percussion, or because he does not seem to enjoy what he is doing, but for the very fact that he is constantly coming up with new broken chairs.Why is that special? well I think it's an original kind of recycling, but also a decent way to earn money for someone who I assume is not a musician ( I mean really the guy does not make beats that make you groove). But let me explain for those who never been to Warsaw about this dude. This is a man who so far has not missed a day standing there beating the chair in front of him making some kind of noise to attract people. He is there for hours just beating on the chair. Man it cracks me up. Not that I intend to make fun of this man, it's just that the simple idea of that chair makes it funny. Imagine that this guy keeps beating on a chair until it brakes, because he then gets a new chair from who knows where. So the special part for me is that a chair that's been dumped is no longer an object used and thrown away. It has become a part of the act performed by this man. The chair then is abused by the man's arms for hours before it being replaced by another one. I am not sure why I find this so fascinating, maybe because I once saw a man in New York beating on some plastic pots, and containers, and this guy made amazing music. I mean there are musicians who can make nice sounds out of everything, but our dear chairman's redeemable value in my opinion is that he brings, without intention I assume, an irony to the meaning of a chair. I elect him the chairman of centrum.

Birds to watch dreams go by.

It was my first day back in Warsaw. I am lying in bed sick and tired. The amount of party, little hours of sleep, one meal a day, and the change of weather, have all finally caught up with me. Beirut can be a really exhausting vacation. Ironically the weather in Warsaw smells like autumn already. You can see tree leafs dead, and yellow blown in many directions by the wind. What I saw from our bed through the window, while half dreaming half awake, were the birds. They are flying back into the city. Dominika says she is never sure they ever left the city. The crows are back, and with them I imagine the months coming. However, I do not fear their arrival this time, nor my sickness, for to me it only means that the cycle is functioning. It reassures me even to fantasize that my health and the weather may have seasonal agreements.
Today,however I felt much better. I went to the center.My mind has not switched between the two cities yet. I like the fact that I feel at home now in Beirut, and Warsaw. Yet, with each step into familiar direction in Warsaw, my mind raced to the next without really being in the moment. For instance everything is there but to me it seemed more like I am watching through memory rather than consciousness. It feels good in a way because it is inspiring.
I always liked a record called " music to watch girls go by", I won't claim to be a music except, neither that I actually recognize all the tracks on this album. I liked it for its name. I've probably used the name in alteration before, but it is the first time when I felt it fits this piece. As the dreams go back to nocturnal stages, and the birds soar over the streets, watching anything at all may be what's real.

Welcoooooooooome:)

To those of you familiar with Le chef in Gemayzeh, I am sure you know charbel and his iconic WELCOME. I just got back from Beirut, where I felt truly welcomed again with all the friends and family. Now, I know this blog had been idle for sometime, but here I am back with energy and fresh new look I hope on warsaw.