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The number of obese Czechs is 3 to 4-times higher than it was around the 1850’s. This steady increase in weight stalled during the 1980’s and in the beginning of 1990’s when the price of food had increased considerably. After this stall, Czechs are currently happily gaining weight again because of:

1. cheap food, where the prices are increasing in a slower rate than the average wages
2. less physical activity (especially in the countryside where only the minority is currently involved in any kind of hard physical labor)
3. increase in number of automobiles (more…)
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The Czech Republic currently has about 340 Jewish cemeteries from which the largest ones are located in Prague-Josefov, Mikulov and Trebic. Prague also owns the oldest tomb stones made in the 15th century. What is so interesting about Jewish cemeteries? Compared to the Christian cemeteries, these, according to the Jewish rules, cannot be messed with at all. That means that if in the past there was a need for more space to bury their “new” dead people they couldn’t just enlarge or expand the already existing cemetery lot. The only thing one could do is to bury the old graves under a bunch of soil and start over again, with a new layer of graves on top of the old ones. The old tomb stones were pulled out of the “old layer” and put into the “new layer”(isn’t that wild??). The tomb stone writings were originally written only in Hebrew; at the end of the 19th century some Czech words were added in. In the 20th century the writings were written strictly either in Czech or German but most of the sentences would end with 5 characteristic Hebrew letters. (more…)

Do you wonder where your family came from? Are you looking for your ancestors who long time ago disappeared somewhere abroad? If that is your case and you are a beginner regarding the genealogy issues you can turn to the Czech Genealogy Institute (Ceska genealogicka a heradlicka spolecnost; www.genealogie.cz ) for help. You can also become a member. As a member you will be receiving a free Genealogy newsletter (4x/year), you can join various classes to teach you how to start your search (next class begins Sept.20th , in Prague Stodulky) and have access to various exhibitions. Martin Slaboch, an institute member, says:”If you get into genealogy, it will become your lifetime hobby “. When asked how should people start looking for their ancestors, Martin advises first to:

• talk to the oldest living relatives of yours and ask them where their grandparents came from
• search for old photos at home and look at the their back side to see if there is any other written info
• search for marriage/death certificates

Then you are ready to search in the “real” archives! (more…)

Czechs immigrating to America of course brought their traditional dances and music with them along with the more sophisticated forms of art such as classical music and Czech drama. Music had always played one of the most important roles in the life of Czechs, hence the saying “Co Cech, to muzikant” (Every Czech is a musician). Music styles that the Czech Americans would perform varied from polkas to hymns and church choirs, especially those belonging to Moravian brethren. The biggest popularity in America received a dance called Polka which was originally created to honor the Polish people. Who would have ever guessed that “Skoda Lasky” will be the most played Czech song of all time (in Czech and worldwide) and will also get it’s own American name, the “Beer Barrel Dance”! (Roll out the barrel…and we’ll have a barrel of fun…) Czech Americans also became quite known as performers in orchestral associations such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra or the Boston Symphony Orchestra. (more…)

An actor, writer and a poet George Voskovec, known as the “11th angry man“(from a famous American movie called “12 Angry Men“) definitely belongs to my favorite famous Czech American. He was born to a Czech father and French mother in Sazava in 1905 , went to high school in Prague, where he ended up meeting his best friend as well as the life-long acting partner Jan Werich. Together, while still university students, they joined the acting team at the Liberated Theater in 1927. Thanks to their wonderful acting and singing abilities the place soon became one of the most hip places in Prague. Even the German theater scene loved them until their performances became mostly anti-fascist which also led to closing the theater in 1938 and them immigrating to the USA in early 1939.

After the war both of them returned to Prague to their re-established Liberated theater where they again started happily performing until their humor became “not welcomed” by the communist party. Once again, Woskovec and Verich were under a political pressure. Voskovec did not feel like dealing with it anymore and went back to the United States, while Werich decided to stay in communist Czechoslovakia. (more…)

The sport arena in Brno filled with about 30,000 visitors last night to see a legendary British band, the Rolling Stones. They played 19 songs including the Honky Tonk Woman during which a humongous inflatable tongue - the symbol of Rolling Stones - overtook the stage. The band played first time in Prague in 1990 and has been back 5-times since then. Tonight was however their first concert held outside of Prague (do you think their buddy Vaclav Havel still drove to see them??). So as a gift of deep appreciation Rolling Stones received from the mayor of Brno an interesting gift: fancy metal walking sticks (!!). After this concert the band is heading to perform in Warsaw and St. Petersburg.

CZ: Brnenskou sportovni halu vcera zaplnilo 30.000 lidi, a to aby si vychutnali vystoupeni legendarni britske kapely Rolling Stones. Skupina odehrala celkove 19 skladeb, kde pri prvnich tonech Honky Tonk Woman se ze 30-ti metrove sceny vynoril obrovsky nafukovaci vyplazeny jazyk - symbol Rolling Stones. Kapela prijela do Cech poprve v roce 1990; od te doby byly v praze jiz petkrat, toto byl ale jejich prvni koncert v Brne (myslite, ze se na ne jejich kamos Havel stejne prijel podivat??). Za odmenu dostali od brnenskeho primatora zvlastni darek: kovove vychazkove hole (!!). Po koncertu v Brne kapela miri jeste do Varsavy a Petrohradu.

Source http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/magazin/hudba/index_view.php?id=263133

Did you ever think about how animals sound to the human ear in various countries and the influence the native language has on the ‘interpretation’ of an animal’s…words? I did some research on those differences between the USA and Czech and I have to say, they are DIFFERENT indeed! For instance, what about the rooster sound? Or the frog sound? Are we really talking about the same animal here? AND… do you think if an American frog were to meet a Czech frog they would be able to understand each other?? Now the Czech owl, on the other hand, would probably have much easier time to chat with her American cousin (see below). She may just be a little confused about her slight “accent”:

CZ: Premysleli jste nekdy nad tim, jak rozlicne zni zvirata v ruznych zemich? Zde je list americkych zvirecich zvuku, ktere se odlisuji od zvirat ceskych. Je to opravdu zajimave, zejmena jak “mluvi” kohout nebo zaba. Jsou to opravdu ta sama zvirata??? Myslite, ze by si americka zaba rozumnela se zabou ceskou, kdyby se stretly?? Ceska sova, na druhou stranu, by si asi dorozumnela lepe se svou americkou “sestrenici”; pouze by se asi divila jejimu podivnemu prizvuku:

1. Cow: MOO vs. BUU
2. Rooster: COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO vs. KYKYRIKY
3. Dog: WOOF vs. HAF (more…)
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Dill is not a common ingredient in an American kitchen. Yet the Czechs love to cook with it. And it smells sooo good!!! Dill Gravy is probably the most famous dill recipe from the “Czech pot”. So enjoy!!!

PS: the recipe comes from an old Czech cookbook so bear with my awkward translation at times…

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup fresh chopped dill
2. 2 Tbs. of butter
3. 1/2 onion, finely chopped
4. 2 cups of cold chicken stock
5. 1/2 cup of sour cream
6. 2 Tbs. of flour
7. 2 Tbs. of vinegar (or lemon juice)
8. salt, pepper, sugar to taste (more…)
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When W.W.II was over Americans were still the tallest people in the world. In the 60’s, however, they started to fall behind with the Western and Northern Europe taking the lead. Even the Czechs are now taller than the Americans with an average American measuring 178 cm tall, where as an average Czech male is 180 cm tall. And who are the biggest giants in the world now? The winners are the Dutch with males averaging 183 cm. Does it really matter if one is taller? Some economists claim that taller people tend to be wealthier, healthier and also live longer. Some scientists go as far as saying that taller people are also smarter (surely not because of their “bigger brains” though! :)). The researchers further explain that since the taller people tend to be richer (what about the 3-meter tall Ethiopian runners????) they can also afford better education. The height of an individual depends on the genetic predispositions (40% - 70%) as well as the environmental factors. The environment itself can influence the height as much as 12.7 cm! So why is it that the USA, the wealthiest country in the world, is not the tallest state anymore? Well, the answer is still being worked on…. (more…)

One of the hidden jewels of Moravia is definitely the Helfstyn castle, one of the largest fortresses of central Europe. This magnificent fortress is spreading through the forests of Moravia, overlooking the town Lipnik nad Becvou (by Ostrava). The castle was originated at the end of 13th century and its architectural development continued well into the 18th century. The name of the castle “Helfstyn” or “Helfen - Stein” (Helf’s Rock) comes from its founder, Mr. Fridusia Helf from Linava. This knight was known to become rich by stealing from others. Helfstyn castle became not only his residency but also the perfect “storage shed” for his stolen goodies. Initially, Helfstyn castle had an important military function as a military base of Hussites against the German catholic town of Olomouc and later also became the support of Jiri of Podebrad’s troops against the Hungarian king Mathias Corvin. It also played a huge role during the Thirty Year’s War, when the castle was taken by the Swedish army, and in the course of Turkish threat to Moravia(indeed, this castle had quite an adventurous past..).The tourist entrance fee for is today about 50 cents during off-season and about $1.00 during the summer. (more…)