Czechmatediary

I was thinking about making post about Czech jokes the other day, about how funny and yet so cruel they can be! The first google result brought me to the My Czech Republic forum where participants talk just about this particular topic. One of the participant’s response (Petr B) was especially helpful in forming these following ideas. He says: “About Czech jokes. I don’t think we have those “how many … takes to exchange a bulb”, “knock-knock” or “lawyer” jokes…”. He is right, I did not even realize that! Here are some of the categories that me and the forum guy came up with:

CZ: Chtela jsem napsat post o ceskych vtipech a pri svem googlovani jsem natrefila na forum My Czech Republic, kde se lide bavili prave o tomto tematu. Jedna osoba (Petr B) byla velmi dulezita pri formovani techto skupin:

1. Chauvinist/Feminist jokes

1. Feminists from all over the world are having a huge meeting. On the stage appears an English feminist and says: “I came home, I hit the table with my wrist and said to my husband:”I am not cooking from now on”. I see nothing the first week or the second week, but the first week I see my husband cooking dinner.” The hall vibrates with a great applause. The second guest speaker is a German feminist and says: “I came home, hit the table with my fist and said to my husband: ” I am not doing laundry from now on!”. I see nothing the first week or the second week. The third week, I see my husband doing the laundry.” Even greater applause came from the audience. Then the Czech feminist goes on stage and says: “I came home, hit the table with my fist and said to my husband: “From now on, I am not cooking or doing the laundry.” The first week I see nothing; the second week I see nothing; when third week rolls around I am starting to see with one eye.” (more…)

The Czech ZOOs in Usti had an interesting visitor for a few days. An exhausted albino doe was caught by the local cemetery where she was chased and finally bit by some dogs. She was moved to Decin and became part of the animal crew that represents the unique geographical region of so called Czech Switzerland.

Albino does are very unusual in nature. Unfortunately, their unique coloring brings them much trouble. Not only  they are not liked and trusted by other animals but their lack of eye pigment causes problems with their sight and they are also very sensitive to light.
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Tomorrow is the Three Kings day, which is celebrated all over Europe. The Czechs do not celebrate it too much (at least we didn’t when we were kids) but I just found out from my Czech friend - who is married to a Spanish guy - that this holiday is even more prevalent in Spain than Christmas. In fact, the Spanish don’t even celebrate Christmas! Crazy, huh?

Anyhow, this is what Wikipedia says about how is this holiday celebrated in Central Europe:

‘A tradition in most of Central Europe involves writing the initials of the three kings’ names above the main door of the home to confer blessings on the occupants for the New Year. For example, 20 + C + M + B + 08. The initials may also represent “Christus mansionem benedicat” (Christ bless this house). In Catholic parts of Germany and in Austria, this is done by so called Sternsinger (star singers), children, dressed up as the Magi, carrying the star and singing Christmas carols. In exchange for writing the initials, they collect money for charity projects in the third world.’ (Read more about this holiday here).

What probably all of the Czech/Slovak kids know is the Three Kings song (My tri kralove jdeme k vam), which is sang usually together with other Christmas carols during Christmas time. Below is the video as well as the words of the song (translation of the words was done by me so it may not be perfect). Let us reminisce about the times of our childhood!

CZ: Zitra je tu svatek Tri Kralu, tak vam preji to nej, nej, nejlepsi. Je na case si zavzpominat na tu nasi pisnicku o Trech kralich  a tady je k tomu take pekne detske video: (more…)

Earlier this weak died one of my favorite Czech actresses - Milena Dvorska. Her acting career began in 1954 when she was accidentally discovered by a famous Czech actor, Jan Werich. Her persona impressed Werich so much that he picked her to be a fellow actress in a famous Czech fairytale “Byl jednou jeden kral” (Once upon a time there was a king). The movie was an instant success and it did not take Milena long to say good-bye to her nursing career and devote herself to the life of acting. (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…)

A traditional 66-foot tall Christmas tree was  lit up today at the Old Town Square in Prague. The tree lights are blinking, moving up and down, changing colors….anything imaginable (you can watch it in action in the video below).  This year the tree is actually being guarded by a special security system so that half of the ornaments does not get stolen like it has happened in the past. The Christmas tree celebration also opened up the old-fashioned Christmas market where the visitors can buy home-made candles, wooden toys, svarak (sweetened hot wine with spices) and other traditional Czech goods. The market stands engulf a little podium which will be hosting many bands from all over the world, such as  from Singapore, South Africa or Germany. (more…)

Speaking of Washington, did you know that this city will be  soon a new home to 3 brand new Czech trams? The Inecon Group company in Ostrava is going to get 24 milion dollars in return. The same company delivered few trams to Seattle and to Portland as well. In Washington it will be proudly carying travelers from the south-east part of the city to the heart of Washington where the Department of Homeland Security is located. Check out the following YouTube video for a sneak preview: (more…)

This is a perfect Saturday leisurely post for kids as well as for adults. I also included a silent cartoon called Pat a Mat (A je to!) which should be a requirement at schools - in other words, it is SOOO good that everyone should see it!!!
CZ: Tady mame perfektni pohodovy post pro Sobotni (destove?) odpoledne - pohadky! Tak nohy na stul, otevrete si balicek bramburek a jede se na to…

1/ Ferda Mravenec
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‘Czech’ this out! If you:

• Have Czech or Slovak heritage
• live in Canada
• Are a pretty female

This YouTube video is for you! The Miss Czech & Slovak Canada regional contests registrations for 2010 have opened on June the 1st, 2009! Watch what is in stake for you right here:
For more information about the registration process, visit http://www.missczechslovakcanada.com. (more…)

Most of us who grew up in the Czech environment know great comics like Vlasta Burian or Voskovec and Werich. Today I want to concentrate on the contemporary Czech comedians whom I used to watch back in Czech when I still lived there. They are the phenomenal duos of Kaiser and Labus, Jirina Bohdalova and Vladimir Dvorak, Janzurova and others. Bellow are some of their greatest performances so get ready to laugh hard (sorry they are all in Czech):

CZ: Je na case si ale zavzpominat na neprekonatelne ceske komiky naseho mladi, jako je Keiser a Labus (jejich ‘Rodinka’ byl muj nejoblibenejsi radiovy program mimochodem) , Bohdalova a Dvorak, Janzurova, Jiri Wimmer a dalsi. Nize jsou uvedene jedny z jejich nejlepsich scenek - pripravte si nocnik, kdyby se vam nahodou pri tom zachvatu smichu chtelo curat (zejmena kdyz se Wimmer snazi ucit Cernocha na housle):

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