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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…)

The 43th Annual Film Festival in Karlovy Vary just started (where did that year go??). The Festival will show over 220 films and 60 premiers - all in 8 days (!!). And what celebrity is granting its presence to this year’s celebration? Last year we had Dany de Vito and Renee Zellweger and this year it is Robert De Niro himself! This will be his second visit to Karlovy Vary as he visited this town 18 years ago. (more…)

What Czech actor (dead or alive) has made the biggest impression on the Czech audience? The results are not surprising (at least for me):

CZ: Kdo je nejoblibenejsim hercem/hereckou vsech dob? Vysledky nejsou zdaleka prekvapujici…

• 1st place
  • Female: Libuse Safrankova (Three Wishes for Cinderella)
  • Male : Vladimir Mensik (more…)
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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…)

The legendary musician Bob Dylan is coming to perform to Ostrava in a couple of days (June 9th) and that will be his only concert in the Czech Republic this year (probably got sick of Prague..). His requests to create a comfortable, Dylan-like environment are not that bad. His dressing room has to have following items in it:

• carpet (hello!)
• sofa
• comfortable chair
• big mirror (??)
• 10 towels (why not go crazy and make it 11 towels?) (more…)
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The Czech movie called “Kraska v nesnazich” (”Beauty in trouble”) is definitely NOT in trouble. Starting June 13th it will be shown in a number of movie theaters all over US, starting in New York (Angelika in Greenwich Village) and the Landmark Theatre in Washington. Depending on the success (or no success) the story will receive there it will travel to other places in the United States. The reason why is this movie already so close to the American viewers’ hearts is because of two reasons: 1/ the movie did great at the 2 prominent US Film Festivals - one in Denver (CO) and the other one in Santa Barbara (CA) and 2/ the American public is already in love with Ana Gaislerova from the former role in yet another great Czech movie Zelary. (more…)

I was flipping the channels last night and guess who appeared on the screen: Vaclav Klaus! The C-span channel had him as a speaker to promote his new book called the “Blue Planet in Green Shackles” (see the whole speech by clicking here). Besides focusing on the environmental issues during his current visit to the US he is also going to meet with the vice-president Dick Chaney with whom he will be discussing the hot topic of Anti-missile radar base. Klaus is flying back home on Thursday afternoon. (more…)

The opening night of ex-president Vaclav Havel’s new play Odchazeni (Leaving) turned out to be a great success. It is a story of a prominent politician who is ending his term in the office and all of the drama that goes with it. In this particular play was Havel inspired by such masterpieces as Cechov’s Cherry Orchard or Shakespeare’s King Lear. The play preparations went very smooth until the lead actress, Dagmar Havlova (Havel’s current wife), quit due to health reasons. (more…)

The 70-year old Oscar-winning Czech director Jiri Menzel is going to be a first-time father. How is it possible, you ask? No, it’s not a miracle story like what happened to Abraham and Sarah; it’s just that his wife is 40 years younger then him. The 30-year old Olga Menzelova-Kelymanova claims that baby wasn’t planned, she never really wanted to have children, but “(this) baby didn’t ask for anyone’s permission, it just came“. She also told to the interviewing magazine Blesk that she was not planning on giving up her carrier once the baby comes an that she would definitely be using babysitting services on a regular basis. What other Czech male celebrities became fathers in their bachelor days (60+) ? (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…)