Warsaw Citizens Like Halloween

Polish Tradition?

Ghosts, vampires and skeletons were having fun all over the city. A few years ago Halloween evoked extreme opinions – the advocates of the Polish tradition perceived it as profanation of All Saints Day. Today it is popular and night parties do not interfere with celebrating the Polish tradition. “These two holidays do not rule out each other,” says Filip, an artist who went to a Saturday party in Warsaw. Halloween costumes were not obligatory but those who dressed up, got a discount at the entrance. Although it is cheap to buy a werewolf mask, Joanna prepared her own zombie make-up, which took her two hours to make. Some people decided not to dress up. “I have a great Halloween Red Riding Hood costume, but I did not put it on tonight. I thought that not many people would be dressed up,” said Bianca from London, whose eye was bleeding. The next day, those same club-goers went to visit cemeteries in their casual clothes. “I do not have any family members buried in Warsaw, but I want to visit my favourite writer’s grave. I do it every year,” says Jacek Meler, who also partied on Saturday. Warsaw citizens treat Halloween as a fancy-dress ball. However, the trick-or-treat tradition has not caught on in Poland. American children walk around their neighbourhoods collecting sweets; Polish children stay in bed. “I did not prepare any sweets and nobody knocked at my door anyway,” says Helena. “My children and I celebrate the traditional Polish holiday, not some monsters. It has always been like this and we will stick to it.”
Gazeta Wyborcza

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Dilmah to Open T-Bars

Poland - New Market?

The company Gourmet Foods, which imports and distributes Dilmah tea, will open a “t-bar” in Warsaw, the first outlet of a new tea shop chain. It is highly probable that the first t-bar will be opened in Warsaw this year. Gourmet Foods plans to develop the tea house chain under the name “t-bar”. “For the time being, we will establish only one tea shop and if customers like the idea, we will open other outlets. In the future, we would like to create a chain of tea houses in Poland,” says Mr Paweł Dudziak, communication coordinator of Gourmet Foods. If we manage to succeed, t-bars will be the first chain of tea shops in Poland, similar to those which already exist on the coffee market. As Ms Agata Zarębska, analyst of the food service market, notes, currently there are only independent tea houses or chains such as, Czas na herbatę (Tea Time) in Poland, which specialise mostly in selling tea to go. “In our shops, customers will be able not only to drink tea, but also eat and read, whilst the sale of take-away tea will just be an additional element of the business,” explains Paweł Dudziak. He also adds that the idea will most certainly turn out to be a success. “After analysing the hitherto sale of Dilmah tea, we are sure that t-bars will prove to be a success, especially since similar tea houses have already been operating in all the bigger cities in Europe, for instance, in Milan or France,” says Paweł Dudziak.
Gazeta Prawna

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Miss Poland Chosen

The Most Beautiful?

22-year-old Maria Nowakowska, from Legnica, is the new Miss Poland. She works as a sales representative in a pharmaceutical company and studies at the Witelon University of Applied Sciences in Legnica. She is interested in cinema, music, and tennis. Her biggest dream is to have a house by a lake and a family. Angelika Jakubowska, the former Miss Poland, crowned this year’s winner. Agata Biernat, from Zduńska Wola, was second and Katarzyna Suberska was third. The women taking part in the competition appeared on the stage dressed in local outfits, swimsuits, party gowns, wedding and evening dresses. Miss Poland apart from being deemed ‘the most beautiful woman in Poland’ also received a car and diamond jewellery. The final was held in the Biała Fabryka (White Factory) in Łódź.
Rzeczpospolita

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Michał Wiśniewski – King of Vice

Laughing Stock

Michał Wiśniewski is now world famous. The Polish singer, known for his red hair, garish clothes and ridiculous style hit the headlines on www.viceland.com. The British website enjoys making fun of random people and Wiśniewski just happened to fall into their path. However, Viceland was completely unaware of the fact that this ‘random’ fashion victim is a huge celebrity in Poland with thousands of adoring fans across the country. Viceland posted a picture of Wiśniewski with the title “Don’t” i.e. don’t do this, don’t look like this, don’t be anything like this.
Wirtualna Polska

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ShareTheMusic.com is Coming

Polish Attack on Online Music

Today ShareTheMusic.com, created by Desh – the music service, has its global première. It will compete with MySpace, Last.fm and Facebook. Tomasz Szladowski, the head of Desh and the owner of the service, described ShareTheMusic.com as a free, local and at the same time global internet portal. He adds that he wants to compete with other international services. At first ShareTheMusic.com will operate in eight languages but with time this will expand. The  Polish service will have to compete with global giants that offer wide access to music, e.g. MySpace – where one can check artist profiles; YouTube – where one can watch videos; and Last.fm – where one can listen to various radio stations. About 170 million people use MySpace and YouTube alone. ShareTheMusic.com should not forget about Facebook which is planning to sell songs on its website. Google also is not sitting on its laurels and is going to introduce easier access to music.
Dziennik

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Szyc Getting Married

No Longer Single

Borys Szyc is getting married very soon. Although the Polish actor has calmed down recently and for some time has been appearing in public accompanied by the same woman, Kaja Śródka, no one would ever guess that the famous womaniser wants to legalise their relationship. The engagement will probably take place in Hollywood, where in two weeks’ time Borys Szyc will start shooting a new film in which he will play alongside Bruce Willis. His beloved is going with him to keep an eye on him. According to Fakt the wedding ceremony is going to be very modest and closed to the public. After the wedding party, the newly-weds will go on their honeymoon trip. Such a quick decision about legalising the relationship is shocking not only because Borys Szyc is a womaniser but also because he has been with Kaja only for a short time. One of the reasons why Szyc has made such a decision may be the fact that Kaja became friendly with his 5-year-old daughter.
Dziennik

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Beautiful Girls And Coffins

Black Art?

.Zakład Przemysłu Drzewnego Linder (Linder Timber Company) in Wagrowiec Wielkopolski claims to be “the leading coffin producer in Europe” and has come up with the idea of publishing a controversial calendar featuring their products with models. “Beautiful coffins, great pictures and twelve gorgeous girls placed on the backdrop of wonderful Polish scenery,” say company representatives as they try to encourage people to buy their calendar. The purpose of the publication was of course publicity. In that regard the project may be deemed successful. The shocking calendar will be available for sale from next week, but it has become the talk of internet fora and some Pomeranian newspapers already. Few people had heard of the company before this. The idea is not new, as a similar calendar was published by an Italian coffin producer a few years ago. Their sales increased. Also, two years ago a similar calendar was published in the US. It was addressed to women, who could admire well-built male employees of morgues and funeral parlours. Opinions as to whether the calendar is too controversial are divided. Jan Kulas, a member of Civic Platform (PO) told Dziennik Bałtycki (The Baltic Daily) that “such a campaign must trigger objections and even outrage as it collides with human dignity and feelings that accompany the loss of a close one”. On the other hand, some people think the pictures are not noteworthy at all. “I’ve seen far more controversial pictures before. These do not deserve attention. In my opinion they are kitsch,” said Janusz Akermann, a graphic designer and lecturer at the Art School in Gdańsk.
Deser.pl

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Sexy Kaczyński?

Mmm...

Lech Kaczyński’s name, together with other presidents, prime ministers and kings, has appeared on a list of the world’s sexiest leaders. The Polish President was betaen by the likes of Barack Obama and Alexander Lukashenko but was ranked higher than Kim Jong-il and Raul Castro. The classification was posted on hottestheadsofstate.wordpress.com. Unfortunately, it is not backed by any poll or voting. The list was drawn up by the authors of the website who claimed Yulia Tymoshenko was the sexiest leader. Jens Stoltenberg, the PM of Norway, was ranked second and Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, King of Bhutan, was third. Lech Kaczyński was ranked 116, Alexander Lukashenko – 12; Barack Obama – 15; Vladimir Putin – 18; Nicolas Sarkozy – 28; Hamid Karzai – 41; Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – 48; Silvio Berlusconi – 65; Hugo Chavez – 97; Angela Merkel – 109; Benedykt XVI – 171.
Dziennik

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No Hollywood for Bachleda-Curuś

Not Hollywood-Bound

Alicja Bachleda-Curuś can stop dreaming about becoming a big Hollywood movie star. Everyone thought that a role in the movie Ondine would give her great fame. This would have probably happened if only the movie appeared on the big screen. According to Super Express no American film producers are interesting in Ondine. Bachleda must be upset because it was her big chance to become a Hollywood movie star. Polish fans are also disappointed as Alicja would be representing Poland in America. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Polański, whom we can no longer count on. The only person who seems not to be moved by the flop of the film is Colin Farrell. He has played in so many Hollywood productions, which were box-office successes, that this one does not make any difference to him.
Dziennik

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Camera in Bin, in Lublin

Bins Also Used in Germany

Polish Police have come up with a new idea – a speed camera hidden in a bin. Within two days it took photos of 1,300 drivers speeding in Lublin. “The bin camera was operative for two days in Lublin, at Sikorski, Witosa, Spółdzielczości Pracy and Kraśnicka Streets. It took around 1,300 photos, which are now being re-touched,” says Arkadiusz Arciszewski from the police department in Lublin. During the day the machine was working without a flash and so the drivers had no idea that photos were being taken – they will soon receive speeding tickets.

On average, drivers exceeded the speed limit by 30 to 50 km/h, which equals 6 to 10 penalty points and a fine ranging from PLN 200 to 500. “They only want to make money,” says Tomasz Kosmider, a driver from Lublin. “It is commonly known that nobody respects the 50km/h speed limit, especially on thoroughfares. Such guerilla warfare puts police to shame,” says Anna Pietrzyk from Lublin. Doubts concerning the idea have also been expressed by members of the Warsaw Police Department. Junior police inspector Marek Kakolewski stated that from the drivers’ point of view such action may be perceived as irritating. “It also exposes the cameras to damage, since someone may smash into the bin by the side of the road. I doubt whether concealing speed cameras allows them to fulfil their preventive purpose. Perhaps the area within its reach should be somehow marked with signs warning about electronic speed measurement, which is recommended (but not required) by the EU,” claims Kakolewski. Meanwhile, police from Lublin have announced that they are going to increase the number of hidden cameras. “It is legal and speed cameras force drivers to abide by traffic regulations; therefore, more hidden cameras may appear,” says Arciszewski.
Gazeta Współczesna

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