Czechmatediary

The first time I heard the song “Windows are open” by Amos Lee on the radio, my brain almost had a mini-stroke. At first it was telling me that’s the Czech singer Michal Tucny. But then, a few seconds later, the hard reality hit. “Wait, he is singing in English, that must be someone else!”. I restlessly waited for the end of the song to find out who the artist was. And that’s how I found out about Amos Lee.

The funny thing is that not only their voices are almost identical but the song has a very similar melody (especially at the beginning) when you compare it to Michal Tucny’s song called “Abych tu zil”. See for yourself and you will see! It’s amazing!!!!
CZ: Michal Tucny ma dvojnika!!!! Dokonce i ty jejich pisnicky (tedy alespon tahle) zni velmi podobne! Mrnete na vido Amose Lee a pak si poslechnete Michala Tucneho, pisnicku “Abych tu zil”. No nemam pravdu?



 

Do you believe in (Verite v nasledujci):

• Area 51?
• 9/11 terrorist attack was an ‘inside job’?
• 1969 Moon landing was fake?

Then you are not alone. One third of Czechs would agree with you on those (and other) issues.

‘The idea that the world’s largest public powers have reason to purposefully mislead and manipulate  societal opinion had strong support, with 39.1 percent saying “yes” and 34.8 saying “rather yes,” totaling 73.9 percent.‘

The whole article can be found at Czechposition.com.

Here are two the two most beautiful Czech and Slovak girls for 2011. Which one will you pick for Miss Universe (vote below)?

CZ: Dve nejkrasnejsi divky z Cech a Slovenska za rok 2011 jsou vybrane. Kterou byste vybrali vy jako Miss Universe (hlasujte v nize uvedene ankete)?

A 20-year-old Dagmar Kolesarova (for Slovakia):

An 18-year-0ld Jitka Novackova (for the Czech Republic):

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This is one of those sentimental posts again so get your handkerchiefs ready. Here are some of those top runners who back then broke almost every girl’s heart:

CZ: Pripravte si kapesnicky, jdeme si zavzpominat na hitovky z roku 1985. Kvuli komu ze budete v pristich peti minutach ronit slzy (nebo naopak dostanete zachvat smichu)? Tady je jen par jmen k pripomenuti:

• Pavel Hornak
• Karel Gott
• Michal David
• Elan
• and others…..

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Our buddy Jamie sent me yet another enticing news that I have to share with you..and it’s about CARPS again! The following video will seem to you like it is from a different planet. Perhaps it is a short glimpse of Czech heaven (especially during Christmas)? [continue reading…]

My daughter is all about Repunzel these days and that made me think of  ‘Zlatovlaska’ which would equal to  ‘Golden Hair’ in English? This is one of the most beautiful Czech fairy-tales so enjoy…in both languages!

CZ: Ma dcera Hancicka je naprosto zamilovana do Repunzel, coz mi pripomina nasi krasnou pohadku O Zlatovlasce a tak si pojdme zavzpominat na nase detska leta, kdy lide jeste rozumneli zviratum 😉

Once upon a time there lived a king who wanted to know everything. Old wisemen from all over the world came to teach him what they knew themselves. One day and old womant came to the king and brought him a snake in the basket. “If you eat him, you will be able to understand all of the animals in the world!”, says the old woman. The king liked the idea of knowing something others don’t. At once he ordered Gerge, the cook, to prepare the snake for lunch. He warned him, if George took even just a little bite, the king would kill him. George respected his king very much and promised the king he would not have even one bite. But since he was used to tasting all of kings food, he forgot all about his promise and tasted the snake. As soon as he swallowed the bite, he heard flies and birds talking to each other. George realized what he did and decided not to tell anyone. Then he took the meal to the king.

After the king finished his snake lunch, he took George out for a ride to make sure he did not take a bite of the magic meat. When their horses started talking to each other, George grinned. At that moment the king knew he wasn’t the only one who could understand the animals. Back at the castle, just when George was about to be executed for breakning the king’s orders, he saw two doves fighting over a lock of golden hair, which belonged to a beautiful princess. “Bring me that girl and I will save your life”, said the king. Although George didn’t know which way to go, he set off on a long journey to find Goldilocks – king’s new bride. [continue reading…]

This is amazing! Guess who won and an international contest for a project of a new skyscraper in downtown Manhattan? Marian Lucky from Slovakia! Considering that he was competing with other students from 19 countries and 45 universities, I think that is a pretty BIG victory, don’t you?

Here is a brief description of the competition itself:

The objective of the competition is to integrate a creative approach to the concept of energy-efficient construction at the passive-house level. Therefore, the task is to design or renovate a building according to the ISOVER Multi-Comfort House definition, which means that high thermal performance, acoustic comfort classes and fire protection requirements have to be considered.

In case you are interested in details, you can go here to see Marian’s complete presentation. It’s pretty neat! [continue reading…]

What is this? 6-meter tall statue of 2 Christian missionaries, Cyril and Methodius, made out of SAND !!!

Who made it? Radovan Zivny, Czech artist who lives in Portugal

Where? Svatopluk’s Square in Nitra

Why? Because an important anniversary of these two Christian missionaries is coming up. The statue will be uncovered July 3rd

Sand? From where? 145 tons of beach/sea sand from a secret European location (let’s hope it’s not from Prague beach!)

Source: http://magazin.ceskenoviny.cz/zajimavosti/index_img.php?id=180758

I am not sure if you are aware of the fact that  most Czech children songs and rhymes just don’t make any sense. To be fair though, I think the same goes for the English children songs such as “Patty cake”, “Cradle in the tree” or “Ring around the rosie”. They sound catchy and every kid knows them but when you actually think of the content, you find out that there is none. Or it is so philosophical that it goes way over my head ;). [continue reading…]