Czech Update
Death of former child star, a time to reminisce
Scottish Harvest in Bohemia Wins BCSA Prize
From a BCSA press release:
Czech Republic Enters the Year Presiding over the EU
Nobody described the challenges ahead than Radio Netherlands:
International news - Radio Netherlands Worldwide - English
Czech year in pictures
Czech online newspaper Aktuálně.cz published an excellent overview of the Czech political year 2008 in pictures. Including this picture of the Brother Mašíns' rehabilitation debate.
Books by Čapek out of copyright on 70th anniversary of his death
The title says it all really! Thanks to the people at the MobileRead forums. I assume this only applies to his works in Czech rather than the English translations which are more recent and carry their own copyright.
Learn multiple Slavic languages at once with NiceTranslator
Google Announces Czech<->English dictionary - Best Online Tool Yet for Learners
Google struggling to translate 'friends' into Czech
According to Zive.cz, Google.cz is asking the Czech internet community how they would like to translate the now ubiquitous word 'friend' into Czech. This is a real problem.
Google Czech live long, Google Prague, get rich
Resuming Czblogging after a hiatus with the amazing news that simply Googling Czech can have beneficial consequences. A new Google mashup StateStats shows correlations between US states' socioeconomic characteristics and the frequency of particular search terms originating from those terms.
Czech crooners (dead and alive) on YouTube
Czech president sulky over same sex unions
For an atheist and reasonably liberal country, same-sex unions are having a tough time in the Czech Republic. Finally, a new laws gives some rights to same-sex couples but it sent the president Václav Klaus into a tizzy. The president, as always happy to bolster his typical opportunistic populism with inherent homophobia, decided to signal his opposition by not signing the bill. Which under Czech constitution means simply that it becomes law. So now the questions is did he show principled opposition or just demonstrate that Czech presidents don't really matter?
Czech animation reviving rich history
Spread Bohemica.com with new widget!
Czech Worldmusic via Čankišou on YouTube
Czech folklore music often counts as World Music but this is Czech musicians having fun with what they perceive to be the music of the world. I found out about this video via an American friend who saw it on a World Music channel.
First Czech gay pride parade to take place in Brno
First Czech Gay Pride has Brno up in arms - Czechnews - Aktuálně.cz Brno - Southern Moravian capital will see the first gay and lesbian march ever held in the country.
The so-called "Rainbow Parade" event, planned for Saturday 28 June, has already caused controversies among far-right and Christian groups.
Škoda again heads list of top Czech companies
Masaryk's name not for sale
To have a glass of Masaryk? In ČR not possible - Czechnews - Aktuálně.cz Czechs are so proud of their first democratic president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk that they will not let anyone use his surname as a trade mark.
The name is considered a historical symbol linked to the Czech statehood and as such, private companies are not allowed to appropriate it.
Irglová: Czech singer and actress reaps fame rewards after Oscar win
People speaking Czech on YouTube 1: 10 Survival Phrases
Sometime ago I started a theme of Czech music on YouTube but never followed up on it. Here's an extension of it: People speaking Czech on YouTube. There are lots of people speaking Czech on YouYube, sometimes the clips are funny, sometimes interesting and informative, and sometimes obscene. The first example is a run down of top 10 phrases from travellinguist.
Strčprstskrzkrk.com launches
I've owned the StrčPrstSkrzKrk.com domain for a year but only now did I find a few minutes to make it live. All it contains is a video of me pronouncing the phrase. But with any luck, I will be adding more Czech tongue-twisters there, as time goes on.
Australians win award for Czech beer
At least if the judges of the Beer World Cup are to be believed. Czechs aren't always best at making Czech style beer. But it's not just the beer. It's the Czech pub atmosphere that makes the beverage so much fun. Living in the UK, I don't touch a drop of beer (or any other alcohol) pretty much all year round but whenever I go back home for a visit I end up drinking literally liters of the stuff. Hard to put a price on that hoppy bitter sweet taste of home.
How and where Czechs travel on holiday?
How Czechs travel seems to be impacting on where. The most popular destination for vacationing Czechs has been and still is Croatia. However, a recent Croat ban on importing certain kinds of foods has caused almost 10% of the 900 thosand Czechs planning a trip to cancel their holiday there (in favor of Italy or some other place). Why? Czechs like to save money when going on vacation by bringing their own food, typically in cans and other types of pre-packaged goods.