A French pilot lands on a busy motorway near Brno. A Czech beauty queen shows off a dress made of plastic bottles and, and what do Czechs say when they smile for a photographer. Find out more in Magazine with Daniela Lazarová.
Photo: www.ct24.cz
A French pilot caused chaos on a busy motorway near Brno last week when he was forced to make an emergency landing on the road after running out of fuel. The incident happened after dark and the two-seater Piper plane clipped cars and power pylons as he struggled to land. Luckily the cars on the road all managed to swerve aside and make room for him as he brought the plane to a halt on the hard shoulder. No one was injured in the incident, but eyewitnesses say it was a terrifying experience to see the plane descend on them.
Photo: www.ct24.cz
Specialists at Prague’s Homolka clinic this week carried out a wide range of tests on the remains of the 16th century astronomer Tycho Brahe, including a tomography scan. Getting the computer to accept the patient’s data was not easy – it repeatedly refused his date of birth -1546 -and doctors were forced to “doctor” some of the information they fed it. Although patients that age are rarely registered at Homolka, Tycho Brahe is not the oldest patient to get a tomography scan at the clinic. Specialists say they have seen patients in worse condition – for instance 500 year old skeletons from the Great Moravian Empire. The tests on the astronomer’s hair are expected to provide a comparative study of the medication he took over a longer period and possibly confirm that theory that he died of mercury poisoning.
Photo: www.classicauctions.net
A hockey jersey worn by the famous Czechoslovak goalie Vlado Dzurilla –who was the star player of the 1976 Canada Cup – has been auctioned off for a record 9,663 dollars. The jersey in which Dzurilla fielded 29 shots in a game in which Czechoslovakia beat Canada 1:0 was in the possession of the Canadian goalie Roger Vachon. The two goalies swapped jerseys at the end of the match. Vachon is now auctioning off a lot of hockey memorabilia among them the jersey worn by the now deceased Czechoslovak goalie. No other item from the days of Czechoslovak hockey has ever been sold at such a price.
Carmen Justová, photo: www.missaquila.cz
Czech beauty queen Carmen Justová this week left for Vietnam where she will be taking part in Miss Earth at the start of December. The striking brunette is a looker and she’s got another ace up her sleeve in the environmentally-friendly beauty contest. Her dress –made to portray Venus rising from the sea – is made from discarded plastic bottles. Several thousand bottles were melted down into yarn and then spun into fabric, producing a ravishing and –according to Carmen – comfortable creation. The dress has just one tiny fault which you will not notice watching the contest on television. It has a strong and rather unpleasant odour – so Carmen says she’ll be airing it night and day in the hope of getting rid of the smell before the big day.
Although some time ago the city of Prague promised to scent its trams and busses –passengers in the Czech capital are still waiting to see the day it happens. And the town of Pardubice beat Prague to it. It’s city transport company has started scenting busses with spicy citrus scents – lemongrass, orange and grapefruit which are dispersed through the heating and ventilation systems. It plans to try a whole range of scents and eventually settle on the most popular. Though perhaps as of form of PR – it could also include the smell of gingerbread – for which the town located east of Prague is famous for.
The model saying 'ouistiti'
You know how hard it is to produce a natural smile for a photographer. Most nations have a magic formula to help them along –words where people form their mouths into what appears to be a smile-like shape. The British and the Czechs both think of cheese – although they make entirely different sounds – the Czech being sýr – with an extended vowel to stretch the lips. In Bulgaria they ask you to say cabbage, in China eggplant, in Denmark orange and in Germany spaghetti. In Spain it’s potatoes that make you smile, in Sweden an omelette – and in Latin American countries whisky is what does the trick. Now a Danish photographer has taken the trouble to find out which of these expressions produces the best and most natural looking smile – and the winner is France which uses the expression ouistiti – meaning marmoset – or little monkey. So the next time you smile for a photographer –forget about food and say ouistity instead. You’ll be surprised by the result!
