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There is a new interesting Czech book out there called “The Czech scientists in exile” and Radio Praha just recently published a shortened version of couple of those people’s biographies. For the sake of space I shortened their already shortened version even more but it is still a VERY interesting reading…

Josef Michl (Boulder, CO)

Why do people call him the “renaissance chemist”? Because Josef excels not only in theory but also in hands-on research work. He is currently also the most cited Czech-born researcher out there, having been cited about 15,000 times in various research articles. Another reason why they call him that nickname is that he teaches in 6 different languages but can get by speaking Japanese as well. (more…)

So I learned something new! As we walked around town to see the 4th of July celebrations we stopped by a big stage where a large orchestra was playing the classic circus song of all times (click here to listen to it). Our friend, knowing that I am Czech, mentioned that the song had a Czech origin. “Really???” I couldn’t believe the fact that I didn’t know that! Such a famous song! Even some obscure tribe in the forests of Africa would recognize that tune. (more…)

I bet you didn’t know this one: the Wall Street Jurnal ranked Roman Sebrle, a Czech athlete from Lanskroun, the World’s Greatest Athlete of 2008. Not only that, as a winner of decathlon in 2004, he holds the same title from the Summer Olympics of that year (and has been holding that title for past 4 years). (more…)

Remember when I said in one of my recent posts that without Czechs people would be still living in caves? Here is yet another example. Eugene Cernan, the son of a Slovak father (from Kysuc) and a Czech mother (from Pisek), was a crew member of 2 of the most historical trips to the Moon: Apollo 10 (1969) and Apollo 17 (1972). Both times Eugene carried the Czechoslovak flag with him - not by accident. (more…)

One of the best goalies in the history of NHL ,Dominik Hasek, announced on Monday that we was retiring from hockey. He began to play for NHL (Chicago Blackhawks) in 1990 and over his 18-year long career Dominik managed to win the Stanley Cup (twice!), the NHL’s Hart Trophy (twice!), the Vezina prize for the best goalie (6 times!!) and other trophies. Of course, we cannot forget the fact that he led the Czech Republic to Olympic Gold at Nagano in 1998. I remember that year like it was yesterday. The streets of Prague were filled with thousands of drunk and ecstatic Czechs like never before - one would have thought that we had won the World War or something! (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…)

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…)

My life-long project is finally completed! Here is a pretty cool list of famous Czechs and Slovaks (full-blooded or partial) living abroad. Some of those names were quite the surprise! Did you know for example that there are currently 5 Czech Victoria Secret models? Most of these people live in America but that is where my Google search ended up leading me. What I am trying to say is that this list is far from including ALL of the celebrities but it is the best one out there. So enjoy it! And let me know if you can think of any other additions….MOVIES

1. George Voskovec (actor)
2. Lucky Vanous (actor)
3. Jon Voight (his grandfather, Mr. Voytka, came to the US from Kosice) (more…)
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The re-elected president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, was interviewed in March by the famous television host Glenn Beck on the issue of Global warming (see the YouTube video bellow). Whatever your conviction about this topic is, you have to admit that Klaus is pretty brave to be one of the “black sheep” and stand out against the mainstream opinion. Believe me, I do want to save the planet, but I agree with him on couple of things:

1/ there are not enough data to conclude that Global warming is caused by human activities (it may be a factor but not the main one) (more…)

An artist is someone who produces things that people don’t need to have but that he - for some reason - thinks it would be a good idea to give them.

(Andy Warhol)

Anyone who takes himself too seriously always runs the risk of looking ridiculous; anyone who can consistently laugh at himself does not.”

(Vaclav Havel) (more…)