Cancel my subscription to the AI revolution (for now)

Last month I had a go with the AI tools offered by Google (Gemini 1.5 Pro and Imagen 3), and was initially so impressed with the results that I decided to go for the full monthly subscription package. However, once I'd signed up, I soon came to realise that Google's AI offering was massively overhyped and still very much in a developmental phase.

Gemini was consistently unable to answer questions that really aren't particularly tough. The last straw came this morning, when I asked it to give me inflation and wage-growth figures for the UK for the past 20 years. After the boiler-plate apology ("I am still training etc") it offered me a list of the web addresses for pages I already knew. Yes, Gemini, I know where the data is – I was expecting you to extract it and save me about 90 minutes of research work*.

Earlier, I asked it to list me European cities and towns ending with the letters 'in', giving Berlin, Dublin, Lublin and Turin as examples. It couldn't. (At least it was honest about's its inability – Elon Musk's Grok AI offered me the following: "Here are several more European cities and towns that end in the letters "in": Århus (Denmark), Belfast (Northern Ireland, UK), Bergen (Norway); Birmingham (England, UK), Bratislava (Slovakia, but commonly referred to as "Pressburg" in German, which doesn't end in "in"), Cardiff (Wales, UK) followed by another 25 laughable attempts; the nearest match being Tallinn (Estonia)**. 

On images, with one or two exceptions, Gemini has failed me. All too often it comes up with a lame excuse for not even trying (prompt: "the politburo of the Chinese Communist Party laughing at CCTV images of London streets"; result: "Sorry, I can't help with images of people yet."). Grok managed extremely well here! My request to include a drummer in the post-apocalyptic image I prompted (for this post) could not be met, so again I used an image generated by Grok. Typically, when Gemini does a reasonably decent image in a first attempt, subsequent tweaks to the prompt result in a worse image than the first one. Grok, on the other hand, in its freeware version, offers you four images, all rendered simultaneously in real time before your very eyes. Pick the best of the four and prompt it to improve.

In all honesty, in a month of using Google Gemini 1.5 Pro, I could see absolutely nothing about it that's in any way better than freeware offerings from OpenAI or Grok (I have yet to try Claude by Anthropic and I won't be using DeepSeek). I had been using OpenAI's Chat GPT from shortly after its launch; that was groundbreaking (and free). A huge productivity benefit when used in the workplace environment, summarising reports, re-writing texts or drafting emails. But I have not been convinced in the slightest that a paid-for upgrade to a pro-version AI is worth it. On the contrary, I do not want to be paying Google to train its AI system, and so I have pulled the plug on Google Gemini 1.5 Pro.

Plus the price – in Poland it costs 97.99 złotys a month, which is double what I am paying Google for YouTube Premium, which is truly excellent value for money.*

* Postscript: After cancelling the subscription (which is due to run out on 21 January), Google offered me access to Gemini Advanced 1.5 Pro with Deep Research. Now this is better! Within minutes it had scoured the ONS website and dug out the relevant data that I had requested. I have three weeks to use this; if the advanced version shows a marked improvement in performance, I shall re-subscribe!

* Post-postscript: On the European towns and cities ending in the two letters 'in', Gemini Advanced 1.5 Pro is still unable to answer correctly: "I've compiled a list of European towns and cities ending in "in". Please note that this list may not be exhaustive, as there are many smaller towns and villages across Europe. Here are some examples: Esslingen, Göttingen, Ingolstadt, Tübingen... " It continues in similar vein across other European countries; most are laughably wrong "Debrecen, Győr, Kecskemét, Pécs..." In its favour, Gemini did dredge out Koszalin, Bodmin, Kolín, Litvín (both Czechia) and El Espín (Spain). Asking it to edit out all the names not ending in the letters 'in', I waited several minutes before receiving the news that 'something went wrong'. 

*** Post-post-postscript: Google informs me by email that the 97.99zł/month is for my old storage deal (100GB of data) as well as the AI. The former cost me 47.99zł/month which is entirely acceptable, so access to the AI actually costs 40zł/month. This reframes the question of utility cost. I have three weeks to reconsider...

This time two years ago:
Rational vs. magical thought

This time four years ago:
Longevity, telomeres and exercise

This time five years ago:
A day of most profound sadness

This time four years ago:
Vintage aerial views of the ground

This time eight years ago:
Adventures of a Young Pole in Exile - review

This time nine years ago:
Ealing in bloom

This time ten years ago:
Keeping warm in January

This time 11 years ago:
If you can't measure it, you can't manage it (health, that is)

This time 12 years ago:
Sten guns in Knightsbridge (well, Śródmieście Południowe, actually)

This time 14 years ago:
To The Catch - a short story (Part II)

This time 15 years ago:
Greed, fear, fight and flight - and the economy

This time 16 years ago:
Is there an economic crisis going on in Poland?

Winter work hastens spring

I let my garden grow wild, it let it flourish – grass grows high, flowers attract pollinators, a million leaves turn carbon dioxide into oxygen. During the vegetative season, which seems to start earlier each year, I cut only that which needs cutting to allow me access to important parts of the plot. So the bulk of the year's pruning I do in the weeks between the last frosts and the early spring when the sap starts to rise and branches are no longer crack crisply between the blades of my lopper.

So far this year, I've done three or four pruning/lopping/shearing sessions, but there's much land to cover (I have banned the use of power tools, especially fossil-fuel powered ones), so it's all done by hand. It's now late-January, and a little gardening work on dry, sunny days is in order.

Below: in the orchard. There will be few apples last year, as my unsprayed trees are biennial bearing; the next cider-apple harvest will be in 2026. But in the meanwhile, some tidying-up is due.

A walk is in order. I can sense that spring is on its way; winter might return for a few days yet, but there's something in the air that suggests an early rebirth; some subtle smells? The feel of the air on my face? When the sun pops out and the temperature rises into double digits, intimations of spring fill me with optimism. Today's walk was my first without a parka since late October, and gardening was done with just two layers (shirt + cardigan). Below: on the edge of Jakubowizna, border with Machcin II.

Below: the sun sets at quarter past four; between Węszelówka and Piekut. Lovely sky, like liquids of different viscosities being swirled about.

Below: double-decker train heading to Warsaw – one of two that don't stop in Chynów (much to my annoyance). These services (KM 21128 and KM 21130) for some reason skip almost all stations between Radom and W-wa Służewiec except Dobieszyn, Warka and Piaseczno. Passing through Chynów at around 16:30 and 18:20, both would be brilliant for getting into town quickly for an evening of culture or entertainment, rushing to town in a mere 20 minutes (to Służewiec) or half an hour (to Zachodnia).  

Below: Wenusia, a kitten in the process of becoming a cat. A joy to be around, the perfect feline companion. More on life with Wenusia in a week's time, a month after she followed me home.

This time last year:
Precognition – the future foretold

This time two years ago:
Levels of Detail, Applied
[More dreams!]

This time six years ago:
Dreams of birth?

This time seven years ago:
Foggy, icy, slippery day in Jeziorki

This time 11 years ago:
Hannah Arendt and the banality of evil

This time 12 year ago:
Snow scene into the sun

This time 13 years ago:
More winter gorgeousness

This time 14 years ago:
New winter wear - my M65 Parka

This time 15 years ago:
Winter and broken-down trains

This time 16 years ago:
General Mud claims ul. Poloneza

This time 17 years ago:
Just when I thought winter was over...

Further exploration of Sułkowice's wetlands

No ice this year thick enough to walk on; our winters are getting warmer and warmer. Today I decided to venture once more into the wetlands alongside the Czarna river between Sułkowice and Ławki from the south, walking along ulica Ogrodowa ('Garden Street'), then ul. Torowa ('Track Street' or 'Rails Street') up to the end of the asphalt. Below: looking along ul. Torowa, as an InterCity train from Kraków to Olsztyn via Warsaw hammers through. To the left, ul. Psa Cywila (Civilian the Dog Street) – a reminder that the national police-dog school is on that side of the road. No pavement as this is a no-through road with hardly any traffic other than that accessing the few houses along here. The road bears left then ends abruptly. From there I take a muddy footpath west through a small copse, which yields to the wetlands beyond.

Emerging from the trees, I spot something interesting – a footbridge made of two concrete posts. There's a similar arrangement upstream by the ford near Hipolitów; this one is on the water rather than over it, keeping the algae and surface scum from floating down the Czarna river. I cross over to the other side, but find it too boggy to progress any further in the direction of Budy Sułkowskie.

Below: view from the bridge, looking north-east (all that scum is behind me as I look). Walkable on the right bank, not walkable on the left bank.

Below: OpenStreetMap  shows the terrain nicely, even including the makeshift footbridge! Beyond the Czarna, the map suggests there is a footpath leading to (but not actually entering) Budy Sułkowskie. I have try to find it from the other side last year; nothing doing. And from this side – the land is waterlogged.

Below: it's clear that someone has been at work to ameliorate the terrain at least on this bank of the Czarna; note the drainage channel letting water into the main flow of the river.

Below: work of beaver or man? I noticed a felled tree earlier on, with characteristic gnaw-marks, leading me to suspect it is indeed a dam made by a Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber). Beavers, almost hunted to extinction at the end of the 19th century, have made a strong comeback and are good for the wetland ecosystem. 

Below: west of the railway line, north of the river, the terrain is boggy and impassible (if you wish to maintain dry socks). Last April, I waded across further to the north, by accident, it must be said. A southbound local train crosses the bridge over the Czarna. On this side of the river, the footpath is dry and passable (if you're wearing stout boots).

Below: east of the railway line, the Czarna has been rerouted through a man-made canal, which flows further north than the river's original course.

Below: from ul. Jeżynowa ('Blackberry Street') to ul. Spacerowa ('Walk Street' or 'Stroll Street'), there is now a proper pavement serving residents of ul. Podleśna in Sułkowice's north-east corner. Hurrah for road safety! This has become a vastly busier road now that there's a proper asphalt surface all the way up beyond Kiełbaska and Julianów to Czarny Las.

Below: sadly, the new pavement doesn't go all the way into the centre of Sułkowice, falling some 450m short. The picture below illustrates how necessary a pavement is on this stretch of the road (ul. Dębowa) from the point of view of road safety. I hope the relevant authorities get round to building one before there's a serious accident here. 

Walking home from here at dusk, I have several anomalous qualia-memory flashbacks; a splendid walk (13,400 paces) and plenty of qualia memories stored up for the future.

Reaching my działka, I hear the familiar call in the woods behind my house – which the Merlin bird app confirms is a tawny owl (Strix aluco). Hauntingly soothing. Soothingly haunting.

UPDATE SUNDAY 26 JANUARY: Walking past Krężel station, I could see a small aircraft approaching through an overcast and drizzling sky. Not your usual Cessna 172... something more interesting – a quick change of lens, and snap-snap! A North American Harvard of WW2 vintage!

This time last year:
Melting in the rain

This time ten years ago:
Winter woes and a crisis of creativity

This time 12 years ago:
Warsaw – the more it snows

This time 13 years ago:
"Get orf my lairnd!"

This time 14 years ago:
A Dream Too Far - part two

This time 15  years ago:
Electric in the dark

This time 17  years ago:
Elegant and proper

Warsaw city centre, dusk to darkness

To town for the leaving-do of a colleague (always a sad occasion when a excellent, competent and all-round nice person moves on) a beautiful cloudless sky brings on that 'crushed-velvet dusk in the city of my dreams' vibe again. Warsaw's city centre has developed fantastically over the past three decades, its skyline once dominated by Stalin's Palace of Culture slowly becoming crowded out by new skyscrapers. Little by little, Warsaw's central business district is shifting westward, its epicentre no longer focused around the axis of ulica Marszałkowska. Rondo ONZ ('United Nations Roundabout') and aleja Jana Pawła II now constitute the eastern edge of the CBD, and it's around here that I strolled yesterday evening.

Below: Rondo ONZ, an entrance to the Line 2 Metro station in the foreground. Note cycle path snaking round it. Two pizza delivery guys are setting off with their orders. To the left, the Ilmet building, completed in 1997, destined to be pulled down and replaced by a taller building in 2011, and still standing. The giant rotating Mercedes-Benz logo on the roof was taken down in 2021 (a shame!); demolition was postponed because of one thing after another, but as you can see, there are no longer any tenants in the building (no lights on) and new plans to dismantle it and build something new in its place were announced in 2023. Plans for building a 188m-tall skyscraper, Warsaw One, have been announced by developer Skanska, with construction due to start in 2026, which suggests that the Ilmet building will finally be torn down sometime this year.

Left: Rondo ONZ One stands on the south-east corner of the roundabout. It is 159m high (plus mast), so when built, Warsaw One across the road on the south-western corner will look down upon it. My favourite Warsaw skyscraper, its appearance in 2006 contributed hugely to cementing Warsaw's image as a modern city of business. As well as the metro station, Rondo ONZ is also well served by trams running up and down al. Jana Pawła II and (after modernisation) west along ul. Prosta. And Warsaw Central railway station is a mere seven-minute walk away.

Below: looking west along ul. Twarda ('Hard Street'); in the foreground, the Cosmopolitan tower, behind it, Spektrum tower. At the base of the former, a fine cafe called SAM where we had the leaving do. Spektrum tower boasts that it has "the highest-situated concert hall in the world" on its 28th floor, though this is contentious.

Below: Plac Grzybowski, looking west. Cosmopolitan tower in the centre, to the right, the Q22 tower, to the left Rondo ONZ One, and to its left, Warsaw Financial Center. 

Below: pl. Grzybowski looking southwest. In the foreground, the Church of All Saints (where, in 1923, my father was baptised); behind it from the left – the Intercontinental Hotel, the antenna topping Varso tower, Warsaw Financial Center and Rondo ONZ One. And shining brightly in the sky, Venus, the evening star (after whom my kitten is named).

After some decent food (and three glasses of surprisingly excellent Pinot Noir!), it's time to say farewell and set off to Młynów and thence to Chynów, accompanied by the strains of Yours Sinsoully in West Wilts Radio (for my weekly dose of finest soul and R&B). And there's a hungry kitten to feed!

Night falls. Below: a view of Warsaw largely unchanged since the 1970s, though with more (and bigger) cars. A reminder of the time when the Palace of Culture, seen here flanked by postwar apartment blocks, was the only tall building in Warsaw.

Below: and back to where I started – Rondo ONZ for the metro back to Młynów. Looking west towards the Warsaw's newest skyscrapers that stand around Rondo Daszyńskiego. The skyline will be filled out by the five towers currently under construction for the Towarowa 22 complex.

Warsaw is developing beautifully; a dynamic business hub, integrated into the European and global economies, with an excellent culinary and cultural infrastructure. May its growth be sustainable.

This time four years ago:
We live, we dream – what's all that about?

This time nine years ago:
Searching for growth

This time 12 years ago:
The more it snows - a decent snowfall in Warsaw

This time 13 years ago:
A Dream Too Far - short story

This time 14 years ago:
Compositions in white, blue and gold

This time 15 years ago:
Dobra and the road

This time 16 years ago:
Polish air force plane full of VIPs crashes on landing in bad weather

By tram out of central Warsaw

Into town for a couple of meetings, and to get me from A to B and back to the railway station for my return to Chynów – Warsaw's trams. So much better than driving, guys! No worries as to where you will park, or getting stuck in jams (of your own making). The back of the tram is a good place from which to observe Warsaw as it grows. Below: the tram stop by Warsaw Central station. Plentiful trams in both directions. The city skyline has grown beautifully.

Below: two stops south, and the skyline looks different – and older, with the two LIM towers (centre), Stalin's Palace of Culture to their right and Libeskind's Złota 44 tower to their left. The buildings on either side of Aleja Niepodległości were built before the war and would have been familiar to my father, who grew up less than a kilometre and half from here. If you click to enlarge, you will see the new branding of the former Marriott hotel, now the Presidential.

Below: on, on by electrical traction, southwards along al. Niepodległości as it bisects Pole Mokotowskie fields, the two halves connected by a foot/cycle bridge. Now the skyline is dominated by Varso tower, the EU's tallest building (if you include the mast, second tallest if you don't).

Below: Warsaw's tram network is being enhanced. This is ulica Batorego looking east, with Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) to the left. New tram tracks are being laid here, which will link al. Niepodległości to ul. Puławska and the recently opened tramline heading down along ul. Spacerowa towards Wilanów. And heading east along ul. Batorego the either way, the tram will go on to Warsaw West (W-wa Zachodnia) railway station.

Below: a headache for drivers for the time being, but a boon for public-transport users, as a third major east-west tramline south of the city centre will emerge, sometime this year (they say). By next year, this will connect W-wa Zachodnia with Wilanów.

Below: some modest modernism on ul. św. Andrzeja Boboli, shortly before it becomes ul. Wołoska. Overlooking some urban działki on the other side of the road. Let's hope these recreational plots don't fall prey to developers.

Below: this is ul. Woronicza, home of Poland's state-run television station, TVP (further along on the right). In the picture on the right you can see the spiral ramp of Poland's first multi-level car park, completed in 1958, and a listed building since 2023. Woronicza itself is an important east-west link in the tram network; behind me is the tram depot. Other than the horizontal road markings, the scene here pretty much unchanged since the 1960s.

Below: end of the line - the tram loop at Służewiec, where the 17, 18 and 31 routes terminate. Connecting with PKP W-wa Służewiec for Koleje Mazowieckie, SKM and InterCity trains (for Warsaw-Olsztyn, Radom-Kielce-Kraków, and now Radom-Rzeszów-Przemyśl). Passing overhead is the viaduct carrying ul. Marynarska over the railway line, where it becomes ul. Sasanki. Convenient interchange for local bus services. Note the road snaking round from the left; this is new and connects ul. Suwak (lit. 'slider' or 'zip' street) to ul. Cybernetyki ('cybernetic street'). Opened to traffic last month, the road is so new that neither OpenStreetMap nor Google Maps show a name for it yet. 

And here, at PKP W-wa Służewiec, I catch the train back to Chynów, just 33 minutes away on the normal all-stations stopping service, or a mere 21 minutes on the przyspieszony (accelerated) service that skips more than half the stations along the way. 

Below: on my way home. The Polish countryside today – it's good to know it's such a short way from town. I like it here.

This time last year:
Base Twelve (why decimalisation speeded up Britain's decline)

This time two years ago:
Memories of Seasons

This time three years ago:
Pictures in the Winter Sun

This time four years ago:
Magic sky

This time five years ago:

Too good to skip over

This time seven years ago:
The Hunt for Tony Blair
[Apologies to UK readers - the YouTube link is geo-blocked there]

This time nine years ago:
Lux Selene

This time 12 years ago:
David Cameron, Conservatism and Europe

This time 13 years ago:
Citizen Action Against Rat Runners

This time 14 years ago:
Moni at 18 (and 18 months)

This time 14 years ago:
Building the S79 - Sasanki-Węzeł Lotnisko, midwinter

Sunshine reminds me of spring

With the exception of Saturday, the rest of last week had been mostly overcast and/or misty. This morning, the fog lifted, the sun broke through and melted the ice on the trees and fences.

By midday, the remaining mist had burnt away and there was not a cloud in the sky. Today's sun did not need to shine for long to tempt me outdoors. Below: you can just about make out the house, in the distance and the solar panels in front, making electricity again.

Below: the orchard, with kitten. A few more days like this, dry and sunny, and it will be time to get the shears, secateurs, lopper and scythe out and start cutting and pruning, before the sap starts to rise.

Below: Wenusia loves the garden. She has a whole acre to explore. Her expression is focused. She is learning to hunt. Instinct, intention and attention. 

Below: chickens behind chicken wire; a free-range poultry farm, with chickens, turkeys and quails, alongside the footpath from Chynów station to Widok.

Below: the Lubomirski Zakopane-Szczecin express (at 1,153km, Poland's longest railway route) approaching Chynów station. Running to time. Note red headlamp, signifying that the train is heading up along the 'down' line, having just overtaken the local service on its way to Warsaw along the 'up' line.

Below: from ulica Spokojna towards ul. Wolska and the railway line beyond. All quiet in the orchards.

Below: looking back towards Chynów along ul. Spokojna, just after it enters the forest. The road loses its asphalt before the last house and continues as a dirt track upto the level crossing.

Today, the sun set at 16:01, the first time it has set later than four pm since early November. A month has passed since the earliest sunset. Spring may not be just around the corner, but intimations of its imminent arrival flash into being.

I am physically, mentally and spiritually lifted by a long walk in the winter sun.

This time last year:
Winter's wildness

This time four years ago:
Snow turns to slush

This time five years ago:
London in its legal finery

This time six years ago:
Winter walk through the Las Kabacki

This time eight years ago:

1967: The Year The World Started Turning To Colour

This time 11 years ago:
Rain on a freezing day (-7C)

This time 12 years ago:
Jeziorki in the snow

This time 14 years ago:
Winter's slight return

This time 15 years ago:
Unacceptable

This time 15 years ago:
Pieniny in winter

This time 16 years ago:
Wetlands in a wet winter

The use of English in Europe after Brexit

An comment on a post I wrote in September 2015 about the use of English in Poland (and indeed across the EU) has just popped up on my blog today. The anonymous commentators asks: "An interesting read after nine years – would be interesting to hear your thoughts on this now after Brexit."

The answer is simple – English remains the European Union's default language, as seen by the landing page of the EU's website, https://european-union.europa.eu/. And looking at the way the English language is used, it is clearly UK rather than US English. Why is the default official language of the world's largest and richest trading bloc that of a country that's no longer a member? 

In EU law, all 24 official languages of its member states are accepted as working languages, but in practice only English, French, and German are in general use across its institutions. Of these, English is the most commonly used, being the most widely understood language in the EU, by 44% of all adults.

Much as the French might strive to make French more popular, it will never overtake English. So given this fact, and the fact that the American variant of the English language is unlikely ever to become the dominant form in EU institutions, will a new, Euro-English variant likely to evolve? Possibly – though the divergence process would take centuries rather than decades. 

At the moment, the house style used on English-language pages of the EU website follows UK-English rules. Date formats ('25 March 1957', rather than 'March 25, 1957'); use of en-dashes rather than em-dashes; 'ise' is used rather than 'ize' in words like 'authorise'; US English words (sidewalk) and spellings (color) are avoided. The only deviation from standard UK English house style is number usage: the numerals 1-10 are used rather than spelling them out, there is no comma separator between numbers over 1,000 (5 000, 10 000 – in keeping with continental mathematical conventions).

Over my 20+ years editing texts written in English by Poles, I can see continual improvement. In recent years this improvement has been dramatic. I'd attribute this to machine translation (which itself has been improving), the increasing use of AI, as well as companies' awareness of the need for clear communication to global audiences. The articles I'm now editing have typically been proofread by a native speaker or at the very least been run through AI-powered software.

The way large-language models work is that they are trained on a vast corpus of works in a given target language. The more online content there is in a given language, the more accurate an LLM becomes in its predictive abilities. As long as you prompt the AI to output text in UK English, it will do so based on the scanning of billions of pages of input text written in English, from all corners of the world (wide web). It's worth remembering that Australian, New Zealand and Irish English usage are all close to UK English, while Canadian English is closer to US English.

However the future of English as a global language is more likely to incorporate more and more US English forms, idioms and styles, mainly as a result of US media output (movies, series, music). Looking at these Wikipedia glossaries (American terms not widely used in the UK and British terms not widely used in the US) it's clear than whilst those American terms are indeed not widely used in the UK, most Britons would probably know or can work out what most of them mean ('boondocks', 'laundromat', 'mailman' etc), the opposite does not hold true ('chinwag', 'faff about', 'mither' etc). The quintessentially (Northern) English Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl highlights this divide; Netflix execs were puzzled by the phrase "flippin' Nora", worried that it might be an expletive unsuitable for younger audiences.

As to the last word on the subject of how use of the English language will evolve across the EU, I shall leave that to Google's Gemini AI:

"Brexit has paradoxically strengthened English's position by removing the perceived bias towards a particular member state. It can now be seen as a more neutral language for intra-EU communication.

Examples of 'Euro-English' in the making:

Vocabulary: Adoption of terms from other European languages, such as 'dossier' (for a set of documents), or 'to control' meaning 'to verify', influenced by cognates in other European languages, like contrôler in French or kontrollieren in German, which carry this sense of inspection and supervision.

Pronunciation: Variations in pronunciation, with certain sounds or accents becoming more prevalent in specific regions or contexts.

Grammar: Simplification of certain grammatical structures, such as the use of the present perfect tense.

Pragmatics: Development of distinct communication styles and cultural norms in Euro-English interactions.

While it's still early days, the use of English in the EU is undergoing a transformation. The emergence of a 'Euro-English' is a gradual process, shaped by various factors and influences. It's crucial to recognize that this evolution doesn't diminish the importance of other European languages. Instead, it reflects the dynamic nature of language and its ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Ultimately, the future of English in the EU lies in embracing its role as a tool for communication and understanding while respecting and promoting linguistic diversity across the continent."

Below: a Lego set of the Tower of Babel (Pieter Bruegel the Elder), inspired by my brother's dream of an Airfix HO/OO-scale set of Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights (both rendered by Google Gemini Imagen)

This time two years ago:
The King's Horse (Short story, Pt I)

This time three years ago:
Hoofing it
(Not horses - Nordic walking!)

This time five years ago:
Signals from space - what's the meaning of 187.5?

This time six years ago:
Ice – proceed with utmost care

This time eight years ago: 
In which I see a wild boar crossing the frozen ponds

This time nine years ago:
Communicating the government's case in English

This time nine years ago:
Thinking big, American style. Can Poles do it?

This time 12 years ago:
Inequality in an age of economic slowdown 

This time 13 years ago:
The Palace of Culture: Tear it down?

This time 14 years ago:
Conquering Warsaw's highest snow mounds

This time 16 years ago:
Flashback on way to Zielona Góra

This time 17 years ago:
Ursynów, winter, before sunrise 

Week with new kitten

What a week! My routines turned upside down, but such newfound joy... Since coming into my life, Wenusia has quickly adapted to me, and I to her. 

She is clean and house-trained and not in the least bit clumsy, careful not to knock things off window sills, work-surfaces or tables, and she's not a furniture-scratcher. She is curious and intelligent; the heavy overnight snow delighted her. I can see from her paw-prints that she has ranged across the działka this way and that, crossing under the fence into the next-door forest, but always making her way back accurately to where she knows there's food, warmth and friendly human companionship.

Overnight, she sleeps in the bathroom (on my chair, on my cushion), and meows in the mornings when she hears that I'm up. Then it's time for food, and popping out into the garden for a wee and a poo, while I eat my breakfast. She will run back into the house when I call her (as long as she's had enough time outside – which usually corresponds to the time I need to prepare and eat my food in peace). However, Wenusia is a fussy eater – she won't touch poultry-based kitten food, but devours fish- and red-meat- based food from the same brand. (Incidentally, Whiskas, from by the Mars corporation, is on my Ukraine boycott list because Mars still has factories operating in Russia paying taxes to Putin.)

After a week with me, she has settled in; may she live long (until I'm in my mid-80s!) and have a joyous life in Jakubowizna.

Fate has brought us together; had I not decided to walk through Jakubowizna last Sunday night, the long way home from the railway station, we would never have met.

Observing my new companion brings on many thoughts about the nature of personhood and agency, about consciousness, inter-species communication, and about the Cosmic Purpose.

This time last year:
Warsaw railway interstitials
[an exploration of liminal spaces around W-wa Śródmieście and W-wa Centralna]

This time two years ago:
Qualia memories – snowy Greenwich, January 1970

This time four years ago:
Meagre, disappointing snow

This time 11 years ago:
The sad truth about Karczunkowska's pavement
[Sod that. I ran out of patience. Still no fucking pavement on Karczunkowska, despite the volume of traffic increasing tenfold because of the S7 junction. So I have moved to a village with vastly more pavement than Jeziorki will ever have.]

This time 13 years ago:
About Warsaw's kebab restaurants
[In 2012, a king-size lamb kebab in pitta bread cost 13zł, today it's more than double that.]

This time 15 years ago:
Making the most of winter

This time 16 years ago:
Progress along Ballay Street

This time 17 years ago:
Shortest, mildest, winter?

Music as a vector of civilisation

 [On waking at half past one am with Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' I'll Second That Emotion on my mind.]

– Civilisation came to an end a few centuries ago. Was it all-out nuclear war? Was it an asteroid strike? Various folk tales persist. The evil one, 'Shmumptin' was to blame. The rebirth of historiography as a profession is low on people's priorities as they struggle to survive...

If we are to look at those humans as they work hard to rebuild, based on little more than the myths and legends they tell one another, what feature of their future-primitive society would be most recognisable to us today?

It is music. 

Unamplified (electricity has not yet been reinvented), but played to an amazingly high degree of fidelity by competent musicians, who have had passed down to them tunes stored in the memories of survivors. Drums, wind- and string instruments, crafted with ever-greater care and precision, to make sounds that conjure up atavistic resurgences of emotion. Not only the tunes, but the lyrics. Passed down orally from generation to generation, sung to children, sung aloud, sung together. Language persists and evolves through song.

Men and women, young and old, gathering to make music, attract crowds of tired humans who have finished toiling to feed, clothe and heal the slowly growing population. They come to listen, to sing, to dance, to engage in the sense of shared culture and tradition.

Some anthropologists claim that singing predated speech, that songs encode information in a more memorable way that disseminates easier and deeper than spoken or even written instructions.

So, imagine the year 2175, a clearing in a post-apocalyptic glade; the harvest has just been brought in, flagons of fruit wine are passed around by people seated in a semicircle, and the musicians enter, taking their places on a raised platform with their hand-crafted instruments at the ready. To your early-21st century ear, the melody seems familiar – some of the lyrics even – could this be Bohemian Rhapsody evolved to fit post-apocalyptic social landscapes? [AI image by Grok – once again beating Google Gemini 1.5 Pro at the task.]

The first portent of civilisation's rebirth will be its music. The last will be streaming services to disseminate that music across humanity.

"Just be thankful for what you got."

{{ I dreamt of a German writer with the surname Ulitz, with connections to Poland, and wondered whether a street had been named after him, Ulica Ulitza. Turns out there was such a guy, though no street in either Katowice or Wrocław yet bears his name.  }}

This time five years ago:
The Inequality Paradox: a summing up

This time six years ago:
Familiarity, tradition and identity

This time seven years ago:
Black-hat merry-go-round 

This time eight years ago:
Skarżysko-Kamienna and Starachowice, by train

This time nine years ago:
The world mourns the loss of David Bowie

This time 11 years ago:
Where's the snow?

This time 13 years ago:
Two drink-free days a week, British MPs urge

This time 14 years ago:
Depopulating Polish cities?

This time 15 years ago:
Powiśle on a winter's morning

This time 16 years ago:
Sunny, snowy Jeziorki

Sleepy time, Christmas to Three Kings

Christmas Eve still isn't a public holiday in Poland, but Three Kings (6 January) is. Passed by Sejm (the Polish parliament) in September 2010 and a day off work since 2011, it pushes the number of statutory holidays in Poland up to 11 (compared to the UK's eight). The temptation to extend the bridge days between Christmas and the New Year right up to Three Kings means that far fewer people are working normally, hitting Poland's productivity and therefore GDP. 

And so my Facebook feed is full of photos of Bali, Hawaii, Turkey and Dubai – however, for those with an eco-conscience, the slack period is a good time for reflection and local walks. As I mentioned in my last post, I have been doing circular walks around Jakubowizna village checking to see if anyone has put up posters advertising a lost kitten (as yet, they haven't). Photos in reverse chronological order...

Around dusk (sunset is now quarter of an hour after the year's earliest; slowly we emerge from darkness). Pavement all the way from the edge of the village to the railway station. Yesterday's snow all but gone.

Below: approaching Jakubowizna from Machcin II. A recently completed house and one under construction to the left of the road. And other one under construction behind the new house, and a building plot advertised for sale on the other side of the road.

Below: the forest between Jakubowizna and Adamów Rososki, looking towards Jakubowizna. One of the XII Canonical Prospects.

Back to work today – I feel it will be a good year for Poland's economy nonetheless.

Bonus photos: the southbound InterCity Kolberg hammering through Chynów station along the 'up' (northbound) line. It is running precisely to time, and somewhere between Chynów and Krężel it will overtake the local southbound Koleje Mazowieckie service.

Below: the northbound InterCity San crosses ulica Spokojna on the border of Chynów and Węszelówka; the train (from Przemyśl to Warsaw) is running two hours late.

I hope for a year of interesting travels around Poland.

This time last year:
Trains in the snow around Chynów

This time seven years ago:
New football pitch for Jeziorki

This time eight years ago:
The Winter Sublime

This time 14 years ago:
Long train running

This time 15 years ago:
Most Poniatowskiego

This time 17 years ago:
Warsaw well prepared for winter