Mailbox
In this week's edition: Radio Prague's "One on One" jingle, "The Beer Barrel Polka", the Czech Republic's performance at the World Cup. Listeners quoted: Shirley Allan, Canada; Bob Boundy, New Zealand; Christoph Preutenborbeck, Germany; Malik Ameer Bakhsh, Pakistan; Ashik Eqbal Tokon, Bangladesh.
In last week's Mailbox we talked about Radio Prague broadcasts on FM frequencies on the CBC in Canada and we actually talked to one of our Canadian listeners who visited us here in Prague. Well, another one has written in since, Shirley Allan from Clifford in Ontario, Canada.
"Would you tell me what is the theme music that is used to close the One on One program as broadcast on the CBC Overnight service?"
We get asked that question quite often, so I hope you won't mind me repeating the answer once again. The One on One jingle is a song called "Crowns" by Money Mark from his 1999 album "Push the Button." Money Mark is also known for playing the keyboard with the Beastie Boys.
And staying with questions about music, Bob Boundy who listens to us in Christchurch in New Zealand, had this query:
"I have a question to ask. Is 'Roll out the Barrel' a Czech song or an English song? We had quite a difference of opinion with our Czech friends about this."
"The Beer Barrel Polka" is originally a Czech song, written by Jaromir Vejvoda. Radio Prague covered the story in one of our Spotlight programmes about the Prague district of Zbraslav where composer Jaromir Vejvoda was born in 1902 and where there is now also a restaurant named after his most famous song, "Zbraslavska polka" also known as "Skoda lasky" or "The Beer Barrel Polka".
And of course, a lot of beer is being drunk these days by football fans, who are watching World Cup games in bars and restaurants around the country. The Czech Republic got off to a phenomenal start on Monday when they beat the United States 3:0 in their fist match of the championship.
Christoph Preutenborbeck from Odenthal in Germany wrote to us as the game got underway:
"Dear friends, I am just watching the Fifa 2006 Mondial with the match Czech Republic versus the US in Germany: may it be a fair match."
Malik Ameer Bakhsh from Pakistan was quick to comment on the game:
Our regular listener Ashik Eqbal Tokon from Bangladesh sent us a text message from his phone:
"Dear Radio Prague, congratulations on the great win against the USA in soccer. We are waiting to see more."
Thank you very much for those words of support for the Czech Republics' team. Keep tuning in to our programmes for the latest news on how they are doing in the World Cup.
That leaves us just enough time for our monthly competition question. Your answers have been arriving for the last two weeks and you have another fortnight to answer the following question:
"Two dozen countries of the world use dollars as their national currencies, with the United States dollar being the world's most widely circulated currency. But not all of those who use dollars may be aware that there is a connection between the dollar and the Czech Republic. What is the connection?"
Please send us you suggestions by the end of June to Radio Prague, 12099, Prague or [email protected].
