A mistake made by a civil servant sets in motion bankruptcy proceedings against all state institutions in the country, young Czechs have a pillow-fight on Old Town Square and why do the city’s saints need bodyguards? Find out more in magazine with Daniela Lazarova.
A mistake made by a civil servant recently started bankruptcy proceedings against all state institutions in the country, the internet server novinky.cz reported. The employee in question was meant to instigate the process against the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs over an unpaid debt of 26,000 crowns, but by a single click of the mouse he included all the ministries, the Office of the Government, both Chambers of Parliament and all the state firms in the country in the bankruptcy proceedings. His superior failed to find the mistake and the respective announcement went to all the institutions and firms in question late on Friday afternoon. Surprisingly no-one noticed this economic disaster until Monday morning when the Interior Ministry demanded an explanation for why its assets and accounts were to be frozen.
Czechs in the city centre could only dream of a white Christmas this year but a group of young people made up for it by having a pillow fight on Prague’s Old Town Square with feathers flying in all directions. The event was arranged on Facebook and although originally three thousand enthusiasts confirmed participation in the end only around 80 people turned up – each carrying a pillow or two. Even so, after a crazy pillow fight they left the square looking much whiter and more romantic – posting the fight on the web for others to enjoy.
Hrusice
Thousands of Czechs who still send their friends hand-written post-cards for Christmas will more than likely have sent one with an idyllic winter scene by the famous Czech writer and painter Josef Lada. The cards all depict happy village scenes from the beginning of the 20th century with children sledge-riding, skating or having a snowball fight, as grown-ups go about their business. Life in a snow-covered village as the painter recalled it from his childhood days in Hrusice – with Mikeš the tom cat, one of his popular storybook characters thrown in for good measure. The postcards are so idyllic that many Czechs, eager to experience this winter fairytale for themselves, have made a trip out to the village where Lada spent his childhood. However most are sorely disappointed. The village looks just like any other. When he moved to Prague, Lada missed his native village sorely and idealized it in his work. That, together with the passage of time, has made many of his views unrecognizable. While the church is still there only three of the authentic old houses remain, the snow-covered hilltop is overgrown with trees and bushes, the pond where Mikeš the tom cat learnt to skate has been transformed into an off-limits water reservoir and local kids are at home glued to their computers. Well, its lucky we have the postcards.
Photo: katyxcx, stock.xchng
As far as most Czechs are concerned a pig still belongs in the barn but some people have taken to the idea of keeping pot-bellied pigs as pets. This special breed is sold as a house pet –it is said to be intelligent, affectionate, curious, playful and –wait for it – clean. These pigs can be house-trained, leash trained and taught to obey basic instructions such as to sit, lie down or roll over. In the Czech Republic you can get one for 500 to 5,000 crowns – the smaller, the more expensive. People who have them say there is just one problem – small they may be but breeders forgot to “miniaturize” their appetite as well, so most of the time they are insatiably hungry and have been known to raid fridges, cupboards and larders in their unrelenting quest for food. On the other hand we humans do that as well – so it’s just another bond between us. Just don’t expect your pet to support you in your New Year’s resolution to go on a diet.
Photo: Kristýna Maková
The Sokolov town hall wants its dog-owners to make a new year’s resolution they will stick by – to clean up after their pets in the streets. Numerous appeals have failed and now the town hall is adopting more desperate measures – it has commissioned four video-clips to be shown in the local cinema house and on cable tv. Town hall officials said they asked for the clips to be as disgusting as possible and plan to run them as often as possible until dog-owners finally get the message.
Photo: Kristýna Maková
While Christmas is very much a family celebration, during which the streets of Prague are empty, New Year’s Eve has people out and about enjoying themselves and popping bottles of champagne in the streets. And on this night of the year it is the city’s saints who need guardian angels of their own – in the form of Prague officers. Many of Prague’s statues are annually vandalized by drunks on New Year’s Eve and the police are now taking no risks. This year every saint and statue on Charles Bridge was allotted his own officer –meaning that on that particular night there were twice as many figures dotting Charles Bridge –half of them stomping up and down to keep warm. St Wenceslas may be high up on his horse but he got protection as well – as the nations’ patron saint he got fifteen bodyguards for the night and Prague’s famous astronomical clock on Old Town Square got five – to prevent drunks trying to climb up to the clock –as happened a few years ago. Not an ideal way to see the New Year in – but I’m sure the saints were grateful.
