warsaw and back again

not that long a drive actually.
even stopped at a mcdonalds.
i ate at mcdonalds in belgium too. mechelin was the name of the city actually. out side of bruxelles. i read in one of the exhibits at auschwitz that mechelin was one of the locations that some of the gypsies were held on the way to the 'work' camp.
anyways, it didn't make me ill.
the cheese at mcdonalds is most definitely not the real thing.
tea was good though. warmth to help with the cold and snow. of course with about 5 sugars.

^^^

parts of the city look like any other city. grey mostly. somewhat bleak and a bit dreary. huge neon signs and billboards advertising stores and and brand name items. publicity posters spread out over massive concrete constructs. almost want to obliterate them all, or else yank my beanie cap over my eyes and wish i was elsewhere.
i didn't take many photos of this part. i guess i was just unamazed. i wanted more BANG for my buck.


After getting into the city we headed over to our home for the weekend.
A club called TombaTomba. more like an oversized bar cafe on 3 floors or so. we stayed on one of the upper floors and though we could hear the music it wasn't that bad at all. oh, the club is 'heterofriendly' too btw. there was even some art on the wall of one floor just below ours.

^^^
The club serves food at 8am and at 11am for the guests that are still awake and present. eggs earlier and toasties later on.
the kitchen was on our floor.
piotr threatened me with a block of cheese.

^^^

after getting to the bar/home, we went to hit leMadame (another gay friendly place as evidenced by the name. well, either that or just bad grammar by someone who failed french). The clubs were owned by the same person too. i think they also owned the M25 venue where we were to perform as well.

we also stopped in to see M25. the downstairs was quite nice, though dark. red and concrete grey were the main colors. the doors were heavy metal and solid. loved those. oh and the wrought iron cages doors were nice too. i slept in one room where the bed hung from the ceiling. thick chains hung from hooks embedded inot the rock above. the photo i got was fuzzy though. grr darkness.
upstairs was one large space. all the sound and lights were controlled from the booth hanging above the floor. like two inverted pyramids side by side.one with just a skeleton frame and the other with it's sides punched through from the inside. the bars/veins of the thing splayed out.
got a pic. yup yup.


the area in which we stayed rocked. we walked out the front door and went up the stairs that lead to the back door of the club. then continued up just a bit more to a short little sidewalk that opened up to this view. too bad my camera is the suck at times.

^^^

it was completely the opposite from what i saw when we first entered the city.
it was more like the old area, only the area wasnt really that old considering it was rebuilt after ww2. the large open plaza was great. reminded me of the one i just walked thru a couple weeks prior in madrid. only colder, and with fewer vendors. of course there were tourists, but again, not as many.
i loved the fountain of the syren in the middle though.


lots more walking done and even more fotos taken.
must add more now.
finish up warsaw blathering later too before i forget.

all the pix that are up so far are here
http://kumimonster.blogspot.com

damn amster

hmmm

lucifire just posted a shot of what she was doing in amsterdamn last weekend.

wish i was there

more than one reason of course
:)

bull headed

for the_vet
bits n pieces


Before he ascended the throne of Crete, Minos struggled with his brothers for the right to rule. Minos prayed to Poseidon to send him a snow-white bull, as a sign of approval by the gods for his reign. He promised to sacrifice the bull as an offering, and as a symbol of subservience. A beautiful white bull rose from the sea, but when Minos saw it, he coveted it for himself. He assumed that Poseidon would not mind, so he kept it and sacrificed the best specimen from his herd instead. When Poseidon learned about the deceit, he made Pasipha, Minos' wife, fall madly in love with the bull. She had Daedalus, the famous architect, make a wooden cow for her. Pasipha climbed into the decoy and fooled the white bull. The offspring of their lovemaking was a monster called the Minotaur.

The creature had the head and tail of a bull on the body of a man. It caused such terror and destruction on Crete that Daedalus was summoned again, but this time by Minos himself. He ordered the architect to build a gigantic, intricate labyrinth from which escape would be impossible. The Minotaur was captured and locked in the labyrinth. Every year for nine years, seven youths and maidens came as tribute from Athens. These young people were also locked in the labyrinth for the Minotaur to feast upon.

When the Greek hero Theseus reached Athens, he learned of the Minotaur and the sacrifices, and wanted to end this. He volunteered to go to Crete as one of the victims. Upon his arrival in Crete, he met Ariadne, Minos's daughter, who fell in love with him. She promised she would provide the means to escape from the maze if he agreed to marry her. When Theseus did, she gave him a simple ball of thread, which he was to fasten close to the entrance of the maze. He made his way through the maze, while unwinding the thread, and he stumbled upon the sleeping Minotaur. He beat it to death and led the others back to the entrance by following the thread.

-----

The name 'sphinx' is derived from the Greek sphingo, which means "to strangle". In ancient Assyrian myths, the sphinx usually appears as a guardian of temple entrances.

-----

Philomela
and Procne were the daughters of King Pandion of Athens. Procne was married to King Tereus of Thrace (one of the sons of Ares), and had a son by him, Itys. Tereus conceived an illicit passion for Philomela and contrived to get her sent to Thrace; he raped her, and then cut her tongue out and imprisoned her so that she could tell no one of his crime. However, Philomela wove a tapestry which revealed the facts of the matter to Procne. In order to get revenge, Procne killed Itys and cooked him, so that Tereus ate his own son for dinner. When Tereus discovered the ghastly trick, he pursued the two women, trying to kill them. Before the chase could end, all three were turned into birds--Tereus into a hoopoe, Procne into a swallow, and Philomela into a nightingale. (Hence the nightingale is often called a "Philomel" in poetry.)

fireflies

more for the_vet
bits n pieces

Fireflies are not really "flies" as entomologists know them, but are beetles in the family Lampyridae. "Flies" have one pair of wings (like houseflies) while all other winged insects have two pairs of wings, or, four wings altogether. In general, when the common names of insects contain the word "fly" as part of a one word common name such as firefly, dragonfly or scorpionfly, the insects are not true flies and belongs to another order of insects.

Most firefly larvae are found in rotting wood or other forest litter or on the edges of streams and ponds at night. Some Asian species are fully aquatic (due to the presence of tracheal gills) and live underwater, feeding on aquatic snails.

Adult fireflies are found in the same general habitats as their larvae. Generally speaking, the highest number of firefly species are found in warm, humid areas of the world.

Firefly Larvae are predaceous and have been observed feeding mostly on earthworms, snails and slugs. Larvae can detect a snail or slug slime trail, and follow it to the prey. After locating their future meal, they inject an anesthetic type substance through hollow ducts in the firefly's mandibles into their prey in order to immobilize and eventually digest it. Multiple larvae have also been observed attacking large prey items, such as large earthworms. Other observations suggest larvae sometimes scavenge dead snails, worms and similar organic matter.

Adult Fireflies also have mouth parts suggestive of predation (long sickle-shaped mandibles). Although it is widely known that fireflies of a few species mimic the mates of other species in order to attract and devour them, observations of adults feeding on other prey items are practically non-existent. It is likely however, that adults might feed on plant nectar in order to sustain their energy requirements in the adult stage, which can last several months or longer).

Aggressive mimicry is a phenomenon where one organism (a mimic) tricks another organism (the dupe) into thinking it is another (the model), with the result being a negative outcome for the dupe, as well as the model. In the case of aggressive mimicry in fireflies, mated females that belong to a few species in the genus Photuris mimic the female responses of other fireflies in the same area in order to attract males of the mimicked species. When these males are tricked (or duped) into landing near these mimics to mate, they are pounced upon and eaten! Recent evidence also suggests that these female mimics are not only acquiring food but also defensive chemicals from their prey, which they themselves do not produce in large quantities

All known firefly larvae have photic organs and produce light. The behavioral function of the larval light has received considerable speculation and several plausible theories have been proposed. However, the most generally accepted hypothesis is firefly larvae use their luminescence as a warning signal (aposematism) that communicates to potential predators that they taste bad because they have defensive chemicals in their bodies.

Not all firefly species are bioluminescent as adults, but of the species that are, one or both sexes use a species specific flash pattern to attract a member of the opposite sex. These bioluminescent signals can take the form of anything from a continuous glow, to discrete single flashes, to"flash-trains" composed of multi-pulsed flashes .

In most species of North American fireflies, during a certain time of night, males fly about flashing their species specific flash pattern. Females of the same species tend to be perched on vegetation, usually near the ground, and if a flashing male catches a female's fancy, she will respond at a fixed time delay after the last male's flash. A short flash dialogue may ensue between the male and female as the male locates her position and descends to mate. The courtship patterns of Japanese fireflies seem to show many variations of this type of communication system, as well as courtship behaviors that include pheromones as well as photic signals. It is generally assumed that most non-luminous North American fireflies locate mates through the use of pheromones.

Aspects of male flash patterns are also thought to be affected by sexual selection. Female fireflies have been shown to prefer certain characteristics of a male's photic signal (such as increased flash rate) and respond preferentially to males that possess these "sexy" signal components.

london dinner

ok so the 22nd
tues nite.
i leave for san francisco on the 23rd. gahhh.

korean barBQ at RAN
58-59 Great Marlborough Street, London, W1F 7JF

nearest tube would be oxford circus
behind the big marks n spencer.

http://www.london-eating.co.uk/3103.htm

post in ynl's lj if u want to come
must make reservations

http://www.livejournal.com/users/ynl/232351.html


_yungfuktoi_
jaketherat
misstiamaria
wrong_monkey
craigclaire
?

who else?