It's been dubbed the little Czech Pisa, but its days are numbered. Are women in Jihlava just too sexy? And, a 15th century Prague Bible has unexpectedly come to light. Find out more in Magazine with Daniela Lazarova.
Hockey-players and sexy models regularly fill the pages of the Czech tabloid press. But now it is not just the models who show off sexy, tanned bodies. The Pardubice HC Moeller hockey players have just given some of their fans a treat by revealing all - or almost all - in sexy photos for a popular magazine.
The trend of sportspeople posing nude or near-nude for magazines and calendars is fairly new in the Czech Republic but it has definitely caught on. Four years ago the Girls' Hradec Kralove Football Team broke the taboo and stripped down for a sexy calendar that sold like hot cakes. So are they doing it for the money or the publicity? Hockey player Petr Koukal says he only posed in sexy underwear for the fun of it - no nude acts for the present - but if the money was good who knows, he says.
Photo: CTK
However not everyone appreciates the sight of sexy young bodies. A Czech citizen who works in the town of Jihlava recently complained to the town hall that the town was full of brazen women wearing deep cleavages and short skirts. The letter writer said he had been brought up in the Christian spirit and would avoid this unhealthy environment were it not for the fact that he had to commute to Jihlava to work. He suggested that the town hall seriously consider introducing a strict regulation on how women should dress. The town hall promptly turned down the idea, saying that it would be in violation of the Covenant on Human Rights and Freedoms.
Martin Bursik, photo: CTK
Environment minister Martin Bursik of the Czech Green Party has set himself a new goal - he wants to replace all government vehicles with environmentally friendly cars. Mr. Bursik has promised to replace his BMW as soon as possible. The Green party currently has several Skoda Octavias that run on rapeseed oil. "Ministers for the Green Party will set an example and we hope our colleagues in government will follow suit," Mr. Bursik told reporters. So far none of the other ministers have shown great enthusiasm about trading in their luxury cars. Agriculture minister Petr Gandalovic said the idea was good but it would have to wait. His government cars did not yet have enough mileage to be replaced.
Klinovec watchtower, photo: Zdeňka Kuchyňová
The Klinovec watchtower is now attracting tourists from far and wide - having got the reputation of being the Czech Pisa. The 24 meter-high tower is leaning precariously to one side, its base construction having been undermined by water. The tower was built in 1884 and up until 1998 it was the tallest watchtower in the Czech Republic. It served the public for more than 120 years without undergoing a single re-construction. The ongoing one had to be stopped when the tower started leaning sideways and getting worse by the day. Architectural experts say there is no solution but to take it apart, stone by stone, and re-build it. Having given "too little too late" for maintenance it now remains to be seen whether the local authorities will find the 8 million crowns needed to save the Klinovec watchtower. If they don't all that will be left will be the hundreds of pictures that visitors are now taking of it.
Sixty-two year old body builder Bob Divilek and twenty two year old gymnast Marketa Svobodova have just set an amazing record. They managed to squeeze themselves into an aquarium measuring 76 x 46 x 57 cm. Bob set his own record with a smaller aquarium 40 x 46 x 58cm a few years ago, but Marketa is entirely new to the art. "I was looking for a partner and then I saw Marketa performing.
Photo: Blesk
She was so flexible that I knew we could do it - if only I managed to persuade her," Bob says. He did and the two are expected to give a public performance soon. For the time being Marketa is not crazy about the idea - "I have mixed feelings - I was scared and breathing was very difficult in there because you are all cramped and twisted," she told reporters.
Nearly fifty five-year-old children attending kindergarten in the town of Ricany near Brno had a miraculous escape this week when construction workers dug up a fully functional artillery grenade from the Second World War just meters away from where the kids were playing. One of the workers simply picked it up and put it on a tree stump before calling the police. Explosives experts who arrived at the scene said it was a miracle the grenade had not exploded - first when the bulldozer dug it up and then when the worker moved it. Had it exploded it would have devastated an area of 400 square meters. The police evacuated the area and the kindergarten teachers belatedly led the children away from the danger to a distant park telling them it was all an exciting game. This is the second time in the past month that a Second World War grenade has been found in the town.
If you work in a museum - it might be a good idea to occasionally look through the museum's warehouse. The museum in the town of Jicin has just found that it's most precious possession spent years gathering dust in an old banana crate in the cellar. One of the employees was sent down to try and bring some order to the piles of old books sitting in the warehouse when he discovered a precious 15th century Prague Bible. The bible still had its original bookmarks and must have passed through the hands of various clergymen because it had lots of Latin notes penciled in next to various passages - such as "if you are giving a sermon on this passage - don't forget to say so and so.
Experts say it is a priceless find, and despite the fact that there are pages missing the bible is in very good condition. The most likely reason why it was lying around forgotten is that at some point it was given new covers. The book is now locked in a safe and very few people are allowed to see it. The public will allegedly have just one opportunity to get a glimpse of it - the museum plans to exhibit it for a mere eight hours on June 2nd of this year.
