Czechmatediary

I have been lately into listening to Karel Kryl’s songs. This guy was such an interesting person! He died quite young at the age of 49  but his songs are going to be cherished by the Czechs and Slovaks forever. By the way, his music skills are just one slice of the Kryl-pie. He was a great poet and a painter as well.

CZ: Posledni dobou se mi nejak zalibily Krylovy pisnicky a dosti casto je ted posloucham. Nic moc jsem o Krylovi pred tim nevedela, pouze ty zaklady, tudiz jsem se rozhodla udelat jakysi Krylo-vyzkum, co se tyce jeho zivota a dila. Pro zmenu to byla opravdu velmi zajimava a dobrodruzna osubka. Nejen ze byl nadany na poezii a hudbu, byl take vybornym malirem. Zbytek textu je v anglictine, protoze na cesky preklad uz jsem nemela cas ani silu. Sorac.

Karel Kryl was born and raised in a Moravian town called Kromeriz, where his grandfather established a printing business, one of the best ones in pre-communist Czechoslovakia. Thanks to this book-friendly surrounding Karel was in love with literature ever since he was a little boy. When he was just 5 years old the communist party won the elections and few months later he was forced to watch, while the communist army destroyed all of his family’s printing machines. That was the end of prosperous times at the Kryl family. His father had to start working at the local factory and Karel later followed his footsteps. (more…)

Slavonice is a quaint little town of 2,500 inhabitants, just a few miles away from the Austrian border. Normally quite the quiet place, the town is now buzzing with excitement since the Slavonice choir was chosen to compete at the international music festival in Canada.

More of this exciting news (and how you can help) can be found here (click here).

CZ: Slavonice je malinke mestecko lezici na hranicich Moravy a Rakouska, ktere obyva kolem 2500 obyvatel. Normalne tu panuje pokoj a klid, ale v posledni dobe tu panuje naprosta vzrusuici atmosfera. Slavovnicky detsky sbor byl totiz vybran, ze bude reprezentovat Ceskou Republiku na Mezinarodnim hudebnim festivalu v Kanade.

Vice si o teto vzrusujici zprave prectete v blogu Zuzany Kulhankove (kliknete zde).

Also, here is a neat YouTube video which introduces the kids choir as well as the town of Slavonice:
(more…)

It’s the beginning of a new year and it is time to crunch up some numbers: statistics, people, statistics!! What are we, the readers of Czechmate Diary, like? What do we hate? Find out more about yourself right here:

CZ: Je tu zacatek noveho roku, tak se pojdme podivat jak to vypada se statistikou. Jaci vubec ctenari Czechmate Diary jsou? Co mame radi? Co nesnasime? Naucte se o sobe neco noveho:

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Christmas is just around the corner so let’s review some of the most popular Czech Christmas carols and their actual words. I don’t know how about you but it is really hard for me to figure out the words just from listening to them on a CD . The angelic voices are so high that I get to catch only a few in each songs.

CZ: Jezisek uz skoro tuka na dvere, tak je na case zopakovat si nejake ty ceske vanocni koledy. Ja nevim jak vy, ale pro mne je hrozne tezke rozpoznat jednotliva slova poslouchanim CDcka. Ty detske hlasky jsou tak vysoke, ze vetsinou pochytim jen par slov.

Rolničky, rolničky (Jingle Bells)

Rolničky, rolničky, kdopak Vám dal hlas?
Kašpárek maličký nebo děda Mráz?
Rolničky, rolničky, co to zvoní v nich?
Maminčiny písničky Vánoce a smích.

Sláva už je sníh, jedem na saních,
kluci křičí, zvonek zní, jenom táta ztich.
Kouká na syna, uši napíná,
co to slyší v rolničkách, na co vzpomíná? (more…)

The Czech Daily Word wrote yesterday about the famous singing competition – the Czech Idol (Czechs call it Superstar). This time the producers decided to put Slovak and Czech competitors together so there is a lot of talent. And as Peter Boruvka remarked, they are all very good looking! What made my brain hurt (since I am not used to it) is when I was watching the black guy  singing in Czech! How amazing that the Czech Republic has become so multicultural!

CZ: Czech Daily Word se vcera zabyval svetoznamou peveckou soutezi Idol, ktera je uz take v Cechach a na Slovensku. Tento rok se producenti show rozhodli dat ceske a slovenske zpevaky dohromady, takze to bude tezka bitva – talentu je tam tento rok hodne. Co me mile prekvapilo je, ze jeden ze soutezicich je velmi vzhledny cernoch a Cech! Takze mluvi a zpiva perfektne cesky (coz je samozrejme, protoze v Cechach asi vyrostl)! (more…)

Hi folks,

So we have got another addition to our family of Czech gifts. This time they are CDs with wonderful traditional Czech music recorded by ME!! Just kidding…I wouldn’t do that to you. Here are the choices:

PS: Don’t forget that e-mail subscribers get a 10% discount!!

CZ: Tak mame prirustek do rodiny! Je ted mozne si objednat CDcka ceske  tradicni hudby, nahrane a nazpivane kym jinym nez MNOU!! Ne, kecam, to bych vam neudelala. Vyber je nasledujici:

PS: Nezapomente, ze e-mailovi registranti maji 10% slevu!!

(more…)

This is a special month for Czechs and Slovaks because it marks a 20-year anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. That’s right, although Czechoslovakia does not exist anymore both countries have been enjoying 20 years of freedom! Most of the events bellow commemorate just that:

CZ: Tento mesic je pro Cechy a Slovaky velmi vyznamny, nebot 17. listopadu obe zeme slavi 20. vyroci (!!) sametove revoluce!! Ceskoslovensko sice jiz neexistuje, ale obe zeme si jiz 20 let uzivaji nadherne svobody. Vetsina zde zminenych akci si pripomina prave toto datum:

1. Baltimore, MD

What: Slavic food festival

When: Nov. 21 (more…)

The calendar of Czech events for October is up so dig in!

CZ: Calendar ceskych aktivit je hotovy tak se do neho s chuti zakousnete!

1. Lutherville, MD

A. What: Concert – Celebration of Czech music

When: Oct. 7

B. Annual Czech and Slovak Festival

When: Oct. 25

2. New York, NY

A. What: Czech Street Festival

When: Oct. 3

B. Gathering of Czech Drummers (music performance)

When: Oct.27 (more…)

I know I have already wrote about this awesome website ( called Cesta Slunce) but that was a long time ago. Since then my daughter and I have been listening to their GREAT (contemporary and traditional) Czech songs almost every day. I urge you to download these hits – for free - and sing your heart out! Click here and start downloading…

PS: You can also donate a financial gift to promote their great cause.

CZ: Uz jsem sice o webovkach zvanych Cesta Slunce jednou psala, ale od te doby jsme si s Hanickou tak oblibily jejich pisnicky, ze to nadsene musim vsem maminkam doporucit znovu. Stahnete si desitek modernich i tradicnich detskych pisnicek  a to zdarma! Pokud mate zajem tak udelat, kliknete zde.

PS: Muzete  na jejich stankach take pomoci  jejich slechetne kauze a to jakoukoliv financni castkou.

I ADDED COUPLE MORE EVENTS INTO THE CALENDAR (HIGHLIGHTED IN BLUE) )

Wow! What a busy month! We have about billion Czech/Slovak Festivals coming up as well as the US/Canadian tour of Karel Gott and a Czech band Druha Trava!

CZ: Jezkovy oci! To je ruchu, to je ruchu! Tento mesic se muzeme tesit na miliony roztodivnych ceskych/slovenskych festivalu, ale take na turne Karla Gotta a Druhe Travy!

USA

1. Bohemian National Hall, NY (Czech Center)

A. What: Solo System Band concert (Jiri Stivin)

When: 9/8/2009

B. What: Czech movie showing: Ene Bene

When: 9/3/2009

C. Czech benefashion show

When: 9/12/2009

2. Chicago, IL

What: Karel Gott concert (more…)