Hi to all friends of CMD,
I want to wish you all a happy Mother’s Day weekend! That’s a great thing about the United States - you get to really celebrate moms! Many of you know that we, the Czechs, have Mother’s Day as well but for some reason it seems to be the least celebrated holiday ever. It gets overpowered by the Children’s Day which is held also in May. I used to love Children’s Day though…
Every 2 years the EU commission assesses the situation of those countries of EU which in the future are planning to use the Euro currency system. The criteria range anywhere from the proper rate of inflation, share quotations to the rate of interest and other financial measurements. The Czech Republic for example does not fulfill the required inflation rate (in 12 months the IR = 4.4% with the EU limit being as low as 3.2%). Besides the CR other European countries such as Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Sweden, were going through a similar scrutinizing investigation. (more…)
I was listing through the magazines the other day and found a a small article on Paulina (really “Pavlina”) Porizkova, the 80’s hottest model ever, and the fact that she is currently featured on one of the worst shows ever - the America’s Next Top Model. As I was reading the article, I thought to myself:”Hmmm, she would fit into my Famous Czechs/Slovaks category!” and decided to put her in the CMD Hall of Fame.
CZ: Tak jsem si pred nedavnem v cekarne prohlizela magaziny a natrefila jsem na kratoucky clanek o Pavline Porizkove (pracuje ted na dosti trapne reality show America’s Next Top Model). Jelikoz byla v 80tych letech jednou z nejpopularnejsich modelek na svete, rozhodla jsem se ji za tento modelovy “ulet” udelit pardon a zaradit ji na list Znamych Cechu a Slovaku zijicich v zahranici:
Paulina was born in Prostejov (former Czechoslovakia) in 1965. Three years later her parents emigrated to Sweden, leaving 3-year old Pavlina behind. For 4 years it was Pavlina’ grandmother who took care of her until her parents finally managed to bring her over to Sweden. (more…)
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I am really starting to think that without Czechs people would be still living in caves. True, I may be a little biased since I am Czech myself, but still…Here is yet another proof: It turned out that the all-mighty Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi wrote yet another opera which had been missing for quite some time. (more…)
Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is going to be famous. The biggest known forgery painter Daniele Donde is planing to build a museum of False Art there. Similar museums are currently located only in Moscow ans Switzerland. Donde himself is an interesting case: he never studied art, his falsification skills were learned from people that used used to sell his father fake art - without his father’s knowledge. Donde explains:”I gave those crooks a choice, either I was going to call the police on them or they will teach me how to paint like they do.” (more…)
Here is a fun way to educate yourself about the Czech Republic. I promise you, this history lesson will not bore you for sure…
CZ: Mate chut na pikantni zajimavosti o Ceske repulice? Nize uvedena lekce v historii vas urcite nudit nebude….
Satelite View
The Czech Republic is one of the few inland countries whose borders can be seen from satellite photographs. The location of the Czech Republic can be best recognized by its border mountains on satellite photos made from a height of 900 kilometers.
Bohemia
According to Roman reports, the Latin name of the Czech lands Boiohaemum (Bohemia) is derived from the name of the Celtic tribe that settled on the territory of today´s Czech Republic. (more…)
The Museum of Curiosities in Pelhrimov is quite the happening place these days. The 29-year old fakir, Petr Fiedor is planning on overcoming his past record of laying on hundreds of glass shards for 72 hours (His record from the year of 2000). This time he is hoping to lay unharmed on his “comfy” bed for 10 days. For 8 out of those torturous days (literally) is Peter going to be kept alive and well only via the means of IV - no food or drinks allowed. And why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone (or 2 flies with 1 swap, as the Czechs say) and make it a scientific experiment as well? (more…)
Ahoj!
Here is the Calendar of Czech activities for May 08 (click here). What can you look forward to this month? How about a concert of Marketa Irglova? Or the traditional Czech “Houby” festival? The list offers something for everyone….
I also added couple of activities for Czechs/Slovaks living in the UK (couldn’t find anything for our folks living in Australia or New Zealand :-((
Na co “ceskeho” se muzete testit tento mesic? Co treba koncert Markety Irglove? Anebo tradicni Houbovy festival? Posudte sami…. Take jsem tentokrat pridala nejake ty ceske akce konajici se v Anglii - bohuzel jsem nenasla zadne ceske akcicky pro ty, co ziji v Australii nebo na novem Zelandu :-((
If you liked this post buy me a coffee! (Suggested:$3 a latte $8 for a pound) Thanks!
The communist era in the Czech Republic ended almost 20 years ago, yet the country seems still quite unsettled about this issue. Many political groups keep “acting out” for the public to pay more attention to this unresolved issue. A lot of people are angry because the individuals who went over to the “dark side” and joined the party during communism had much easier life back then: they could travel, had better jobs, their kids were allowed to attend universities….. (more…)
My parents were avid tennis players so we used to watch Lendl play on our black-and-white TV, the one where you had to painfully twist the buttons to get somewhat of a clear picture. The image was never great but good enough for us to see the moving tennis ball….and the dazzling Ivan Lendl. Ivan was born in 1960 to a couple of prominent tennis players from Ostrava, Czech Republic. Ivan became a professional tennis player at the age of 18 when he won both the French open as well as the Wimbledon and was ranked no.1 junior player. In 1981 he managed to emigrate to the US where he lived for a while with his lifelong coach, the famous polish tennis player, Wojtek Fibak. It was Wojtek who introduced him to his current wife, Samantha, a friend of Fibak’s family. (more…)
