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Clanek v CESTINE dole (Kliknete na “Read the rest …”)

Last week famous Czech models got together to promote a fashion show, which started a new project named “Teribear.” The project is organized by a Czech model Tereza Maxova and her foundation together with an advertising agency Fabrika and a department store Interspar which focuses this time on the development of foster care and reduction of the number of children in institutional care. People will be able to purchase products with a symbol of a teddy bear and a certain amount from the sale will be used for these charitable purposes.

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Clanek v CESTINE dole (Kliknete na „Read the rest …”)

 How many times have you heard the name Harry Potter? Probably many times, because the books about Harry Potter, by J.K.Rowling, are successfully marketed throughout the world, including the Czech Republic. This Thursday, however, a new book is to be released by the same author named “The Tales of Beedle the Bard” and Czech versions will be published by Albatros. What does this book has in common with Czech children? All of Rowling’s royalty and net profits from publishers and retailers will be devoted to the organization named The Children’s High Level Group (CHLG), which helps children in Romania, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and the Czech Republic.

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Clanek v CESTINE dole (Kliknete na ”Read the rest …”) 

On Saturday, November 22^nd, Vaclav Havel was written into the history of Slovakia. That day the Slovak National Theater presented his new play Odchazeni (Leaving). Havel’s last plays were introduced in Slovakia more than 40 years ago. The theater also could have been the first place in the world to introduce this play, but ultimately it was premiered in Prague first. Havel’s play was also unique in a way since the author started writing it before the Velvet Revolution in 1989, but completing it just last year (2007). Odchazeni was not only interesting for its creative development throughout Havel’s life, its own story with a political focus, but also the circumstances under which it was presented to the public.

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Clanek v CESTINE dole (Kliknete na “Read the rest …”)

You have probably heard many times that Slavic girls are the most beautiful. The same is being said in the United States as well. Czech model Karolina Kurkova was just named the sexiest woman in the world. Are the Czech models something unique then? We guess so, because the Czech Republic, a country with only 10 million residents, is represented surprisingly by many Czech successful models in the world.

Only a few hours ago Karolina Kurkova was elected as the world’s sexiest woman, a result of a of the U.S. television station E! Entertainment. Twenty-four years old Kurkova comes from Decin, but works as a model for the Victoria’s Secret brand in the United States. Kurkova is said to be one of the highest paid models in the industry according to Forbes. One of the interesting parts of her appearing in underwear is her mysterious bellybutton, which many people comment on due to the near absence of a navel due to a childhood surgery. She even outran Israeli model Bar Rafael and American actress Angelina Jolie. The full list of most sexy women is at the end of the article.

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Clanek v CESTINE dole (Kliknete na “Read the rest …”) 

Do you know Karel Gott? K. Gott, or Sinatra of the East, is still the most popular Czech pop singer. He won many prizes in the Czech Republic and abroad, such as Luxembourg, Germany, Cannes, Tokyo, etc. While he is in show business for 50 years, he is still very active. If you plan to visit the Czech Republic or Slovakia in the near future, do not miss his 2008 tour, or visit his museums and villa near Prague.

So where Gott sings right now? His tour started on the 5th of November in Plzen; then he sang in Ceske Budejovice. His next concert will be on the 10th of November in Ostrava. The tour will continue until December 3rd. You can find our detailed list of his concerts with the web information at the end of the article. Read the rest of this entry (Čtětě více ZDE) »

Clanek v CESTINE dole (Kliknete na “Read the rest of this entry”)

Have you seen the film All My Loved Ones? If so, you could see Sir Nicholas Winton. Sir Nicholas George Winton, born 19th May 1909, saved 669 Czechoslovak Jewish children from death in the World War II. The operation was known as “Kindertransport.”

Winton had a special relationship with the Jewish children because he was a Jew, who was baptized and raised a Christian. While Winton saved many children, he never applauded himself for this act or shared details about this operation. His wife actually found detailed information on the Kindertransport late in the 90s.

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Clanek v CESTINE dole.

Almost two weeks ago, the Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg presented sixteen individuals and three organizations with the Gratias Agit award in appreciation of promoting the Czech Republic abroad. The award was given in a form of a crystal globe.  One of the recipients was Paul Rausnitz, a Czech citizen living abroad but always proud of his country.

Paul Rausnitz was only 11 years old when he was put in prison in Ostrava, North-East of the Czech Republic. It was right after the occupation of the Sudetenland in 1938 by Germans. Then he was thrown to Poland, where he was waiting, along with his parents and two brothers, for visas to America. During that time the war broke out and instead of traveling to the United States, he continued to move the opposite direction - to the Eastern part of Poland.

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Our October calendar lists all activities for Czechs and Slovaks around the world. One of them is a concert of a Czech band called Plastic People of the Universe (PPU). We have to admit, at the time we were preparing our calendar of events, we did not know the band or its contribution to the freedom of all Czech and Slovak citizens.

A couple of days ago we decided to find articles about the band and to watch their video clips. What we found was great music and a remarkable life story of their pride and resistance to the Czechoslovakian Communist party.

The band was formed by bassist Milan Hlavsa right after the Soviet invasion on August 21^st, 1968 in attempts to stop the Prague Spring, a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia. The name was taken from Frank Zappa’s song entitled Plastic People. The same year Russians initiated a “normalization” program to reestablish moral and social behavior to make it more appropriate for a Communist country.

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Clanek v CESTINE dole.

On September 4^th, our Czech Ambassador in Washington, D.C. Petr Kolar, held a ceremony at which Dagmar White, daughter of General Antonin Hasal (1893 - 1960), donated her father’s WWII uniform to the permanent collection of the Military History Institute in Prague. This generous gift showed how much this family is still connected to the Czech Republic, Antonin Hasal’s home country.

General Hasal was born in 1893 in the Austro-Hungarian town Nova Hut pod Nizborem. During World War I, he was called to serve in the Austro-Hungarian Army but he decided to volunteer for the Czechoslovak legion in Russia. He returned to Czechoslovakia as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1920 and later he became Lieutenant General.

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