In Magazine: a street prostitute looking for clients unwittinglyy stops a police car, the Czech Pirate Party unveils a statue representing corruption, and Czech glass masters have produced a breath-taking life-size dress designed by Bianca Matragi.
Photo: Kristýna Maková
Street prostitutes can usually smell a cop a mile away and the police often have problems proving a girl is out working. However sometimes they just run out of luck. A twenty-three year old prostitute in Chomutov who was on the lookout for clients unwittingly stopped a police car. She not only failed to make any money but was fined on the spot.
Chinaski, photo: archive of Chinaski
A thief who stole a guitar belonging to the popular Czech band Chinaski failed to sell it along with the other items he’d nicked after hearing that the band had put out a reward on the instrument. The man turned up expecting to get the promised 5,000 crown award but instead fell into a trap set by police.
Photo: CTK
This week the Czech Pirate Party unveiled an invisible statue in Prague representing corruption. All that by-standers could see was a pedestal with a golden plaque saying the project had been co-financed by European funds. Its authors say that once the public has had its fill they will organize a transparent auction of the work of art on the Internet. Corruption in the Czech Republic is in the headlines every day –with a Slovak paper recently pointing out that a week did not go by without another Czech politician getting jailed.
The German company making the famous herbal liquor Jagermeister celebrated the end of the prohibition on spirits in the Czech Republic by taking out a full-page ad in the daily Lidové Noviny where its famous liquor was renamed to Heger-meister after the Czech health minister, Leoš Heger, who announced the prohibition. Minister Heger published his response in an open letter to the company in the same daily saying he was delighted to appear in their ad and he would welcome a sample of the new brew if it were available.
Illustrative photo
People have reported sighting all sorts of exotic animals in the Czech Republic this past week. A Kladno local called the police to report a crocodile on the loose and officers sent to check out the report did indeed find a 1.5 metre long crocodile hidden in the shrubs. An investigation revealed that a circus which had stopped in town had unwittingly left the animal behind. In the town of Olomouc –known for producing a very pungent-smelling cheese – a woman called up the police there was a black puma locked up in a street stand. This improbable story also proved to be true –the animal’s owner said he’d locked the puma in while doing a few errands because he’d found no one willing to puma-sit for a couple of hours. And finally in Zlín two students woke up after a party to find a big grey bear rambling around their garden. Unable to believe their eyes they took snapshots which later appeared in the local paper. They say that when they opened a window to take the pictures the bear sighted them and made off into a nearby forest. People in the vicinity have been warned not to let their dogs roam free and mushroom pickers have been advised to buy their mushrooms at the supermarket for a week or two.
Short of time? Czech Radio has started producing minute-long plays. A drama, tragedy or comedy in a nutshell presented by some of the country’s leading actors. The range of topics is extremely broad – a married couple having a fight, a parent having a conversation with their teenage son or daughter, an MP arguing with a traffic police officer or an interview with a celebrity. The producer of the series says they have become extremely popular and listeners who are too busy to tune in during the day often check them out on Czech Radio’s web page. This new radio format has a lot going for it – if you are bored – it only takes a minute and honestly – wouldn’t it be good if rows in real life lasted no more than a minute?
Blanka Matragi, photo: CTK
Czech glass makers from the Nový Bor Glassworks surpassed themselves last week by producing a breath-taking life-size dress made of the famous Bohemia glass. The dress was made according to a design by Bianca Matragi – the Czech-born haute couture fashion designer based in Beirut who sells her dresses to world celebrities and royals. The design was inspired by an orchid and Mrs. Matragi said she was delighted with the result. A second black dress in op-art style is now in the making and a third may be on the way. The unique creations can be admired at the Glassworks’ museum in Novy Bor.
Jan Saudek, photo: LIGLASS
The famous Czech photographer Jan Saudek has found new inspiration in an altogether different field. At the age of 77 he has started designing glass jewellery for the Liglass company from Železný Brod. The first limited collection of Saudek jewellery is designed for the Christmas market and the first pieces should be on sale in September.
