Mailbox
Today in Mailbox: Radio Prague monthly competition prizes; how to find programmes on our website; a recent poll on “what Czechs feel most ashamed of”. Listeners quoted: S. J. Agboola, Francesco Reda, Christopher Larkosh, Lynda Marie Hauptman.
We have had two complaints recently from the winners of our monthly competitions that their parcels never arrived. We are very sorry to hear that. All competition prizes are mailed to the winners immediately after their names are announced in Mailbox. So if the parcels have not been delivered yet, they probably got lost somewhere on the way – for which Radio Prague bears no responsibility. In the past, we tried resending the parcels but often with the same result.
Also on the subject of our competition prizes, this e-mail came from S. J. Agboola from Nigeria:
“I am a regular listener to this station. I once participated in the Mystery Person Contest of this station. Though I appreciate the gift/prize that you forwarded to me, I would like you to make a major change to the type of gift/prize that you give to the winners. For instance, sending an audio CD to a prize-winner [especially those who have no idea of the Czech language] is not proper. It is better if you can give such a person a video CD. At least, he would be able to enjoy it better than an audio CD.”
I hope everyone understands that the prizes Radio Prague gives out for the monthly quizzes are rather symbolic – T-shirts, music CDs, books and so on. Because the number of our listeners taking part grew so rapidly a few years ago and so many of you put a lot of effort into the answers, the English section increased the number of winners each month from one to four in 2006. So there is a quadruple chance a particular listener will win. I hope you understand we cannot increase the value of the goodies without further straining our budget. If you’d like to win something of a more substantial value, you can take part in our annual contest – but there are many more participants and the winner is carefully selected by a jury rather than drawn by chance.
Our listener Francesco Reda lives in Canada:
“Hello, I just listened to part of a broadcast on the Canadian CBC from Prague Radio about tramping. Is this broadcast on tramping available on your website and how do I access it? Please let me know.”
The programme, a Panorama by Rosie Johnston, is available both in audio and text at www.radio.cz/en/article/109381. If you want to look up a particular programme on our website and you don’t remember the name of the feature – that is whether it was a Spotlight or a Panorama or a Talking Point, for example, you can use the search box on the right hand side of the homepage www.radio.cz/english. For example, if you type in “tramping”, this particular article comes up on top of the list of the search results.
Christopher Larkosh from Rhode Island says he sent the following message using his BlackBerry:
“Just a brief note to express my appreciation for tonight's program. I enjoyed the report on the anniversary of Czechoslovakia and the visit to the town of Slavonice; not only was I not too familiar with it, but also learned about the town of Telč. Both sound like interesting places to visit. I used to listen to Radio Prague on shortwave and received QSL cards and even a magnet I still have on my refrigerator after all these years. Now I listen on satellite, which ensures perfect reception and allows me to enjoy your programs even more.”
“What I don't understand is why Czechs feel ashamed over the ‘surrender’ to Nazi Germany. From what my dad told me, and I have concluded from reading history books, Czechoslovakia DID NOT SURRENDER. Instead, Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, predecessor to Winston Churchill, HANDED the country over to Hitler, WITHOUT consulting with either the people of Czechoslovakia OR their legal, DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED leadership.
“Peace in our time’ – a cowardly weakling's concession to a terrorist. If ANYONE should feel ashamed, it is the leadership of the countries who thought that the ‘Appeasement’ was such a good idea, especially considering it wasn't their own territory they were handing over.”
Thank you once again for all your comments and reception reports that you’ve sent us from all around the world. All that remains today is to repeat our November competition question:
Which Czech composer came to be known as “Il divino Boemo” or “the Divine Bohemian”?
Please send us your answers by the end of the month to [email protected] or Radio Prague, 12099 Prague. Have a very good week and until next Sunday, take care.
