The demand for Portuguese water dogs has gone through the roof, the town of Trutnov is preparing for its annual Dragon Celebrations and a Czech woodcarver opens a gallery of devils. Find out more in Magazine with Daniela Lazarova.
Czech artist David Černý who created a stir in Brussels with his controversial artwork Entropa to mark the beginning of the Czech EU presidency has said he is so angry over the fall of the Czech government that he plans to get Entropa dismantled in a show of protest. Černý said the fall of the Topolánek government had effectively ended the Czech EU presidency and there was no reason why Entropa should remain in place. He claims to have consulted the matter with the Deputy Minister for European Affairs Alexander Vondra and got his approval. The dismantling process is to start on May 11th, just two days after Jan Fischer’s caretaker government is due to take over the Czech EU presidency.
Photo: tenakawho, CC BY 2.0 Generic
The Obamas' Portugese water dog is causing a revolution among Czech dog owners. Dog breeders say that ever since news of Bo’s arrival at the White House got out their phones haven’t stopped ringing. Zuzana Kubičova, who has been in the business for years says interest in the Portugese water dog has gone through the roof. She and other breeders have had to introduce waiting lists and the thirty or so owners of Portugese water dogs in the Czech Republic have suddenly found themselves at the centre of interest. People stop them when they take the dog out for a walk, ask about their pets and even beg to get a puppy. Meanwhile, there has been speculation in the papers as to whether Bo is eating out of a designer dog bowl from the Czech Republic. When President Obama and his wife Michelle visited the Czech Republic recently the Czech prime minister presented them –among other things – with a personal gift –a luxury dog set : a dog basket with blue velvet lining, and a collection of designer porcelain dog bowls decorated with Swarovski crystals. It was the last thing the famous Karlovy Vary Porcelain Works produced before falling victim to the global economic crisis.
Photo: CTK
Czech children get to meet the devil at a very early age. From the age of two or three the devil comes to visit them every year precisely on December 5th. On St Nicolas’ Day – the popular trio - St. Nicolas, an angel and a devil make the rounds in order to find out who’s been naughty and who’s been nice in the course of the past year. While St Nicolas comes laden with gifts the devil has a bag of coal for those who have been naughty – and threatens to carry naughty children off to hell. While this age-old tradition leaves many foreigners horrified at the trauma Czech children are exposed to, most kids take it in their stride and look forward to dressing up as one of the three figures just as soon as they are old enough to wander around the neighbourhood in the dark. This may explain why most Czech children have their own idea of what a proper devil should look like – and have often sat down to draw one. All this may explain why a woodcarver in the town of Uštek thought it a good idea to establish a gallery of devils. The gallery, which opened last year, is largely a collection of his work – devils in all shapes and sizes, devils as he envisages them and devils as they appear in famous Czech fairytales. The gallery also displays a collection of children’s drawings – on the same theme – offers puppet plays for children – and organizes a summer carnival of devils and witches. Jaroslav Stejný is hoping to attract at least 10,000 visitors to the gallery this summer – if for no other reason than that you will not get to see anything like it in all of Europe.
Meanwhile, the town of Trutnov is preparing for its annual Dragon Celebrations. This may sound more like a Chinese tradition, but the town of Trutnov really has a dragon in its heraldic sign. Legend has it that the town was long terrorized by a dragon which was eventually slain by a brave warrior by the name of Trut and the town of Trutnov took his name in gratitude. The Trutnov dragon appears in several places in town – you will find him depicted on the facade of the town hall as well as on the fountain on the town’s main square – however he was more or less dormant for centuries. Four years ago the town councilors decided a dragon was just what the town needed to bring in more tourists and set about reviving him. With every passing year the dragon celebrations gained in popularity and every year the town plans more and more events. The Trutnov Dragon Celebrations take place from May 5 to 9th, and will include outdoor theatre performances, live music and a dragon procession through the town.
Petr Kocián, photo: CTK
Ice is not just for cold drinks. Forty-seven-year-old Petr Kocián from Hronov is convinced about the benefits of ice-therapy and he’s not just putting ice-packs on aching joints or a sprained ankle. He immerses his whole body in a tub of melting ice so that all his organs can benefit. Last week he made an attempt at breaking his own record at how long he could stay in an ice-packed bath. The first quarter of an hour was fine as he joked with TV crews and onlookers but after about twenty minutes his body started shaking uncontrollably and he focused inward, closing his eyes and concentrating on his breathing. After 51 one minutes and 31 seconds doctors measuring his heart rate ordered him out. He failed to set the one hour record he wanted – but he says every additional minute counts. Clearly though he has reached his limit because he said he would not be attempting to do better than that.
