Mailbox
In Mailbox today: the adventures of Lukas; listeners in Australia and New Zealand; the winner of Radio Prague's September competition. Listeners quoted: Marie Thereza Kosar, US; Mark Guy, US; Bob Boundy, New Zealand; Charles Konecny, US; John Sheppard, UK; Henrik Klementz, Sweden; Gina Cenkl, US.
Hello and welcome to Mailbox, Radio Prague's listeners' feedback programme.
Let's start off with an e-mail that arrived from Marie Thereza Kosar from the United States a couple of days ago.
"Where or when do you publish the name of your Mystery person?"
The name of the mystery person of the month along with the name of the winner of the competition is always announced in the first Mailbox of every month - which means... today. But we'll have to wait for that for a little while because there is other mail we need respond to.
In one of her recent Magazines, Radio Prague's Daniela Lazarova reported on a young Czech man called Lukas, who now faces eight years in prison for travelling around the world at the expense of the state. Pretending to be an assistant to a number of top politicians he commissioned expensive flights to attractive locations like Peru or Thailand and many of his trips actually passed undetected. Now this brilliant impostor stands charged with fraud, impersonating a government official and abuse of public funds. Mark Guy from the United States liked the story and has sent us this letter.
"Long time listener, first time to email. Last year, I read with amusement a number of your articles regarding Lukas's 'diplomatic' adventures. Earlier, I read the follow-up Magazine article. I want to say that the kid has style. Anyone that bold should be rewarded, not sent to prison. I regret not coming up with the idea myself. I wish him the best."
Thank you very much for that response and we hope that more of our long time listeners will sit down and drop us a line - so we know that you are out there and what you think of our broadcasts. On a related note, this e-mail has arrived from Bob Boundy who listens to us in New Zealand.
"I'm really enjoying listening to Radio Prague by the internet. I used to listen by short wave radio many years ago, actually in the 1960s, but I find the computer much better and there is no interference like on short wave. I also notice since I have resumed listening to Radio Prague, there don't seem to be many listeners to Radio Prague from down under. Am I right about this?"
Well, we do receive the occasional e-mail or letter from Australia and New Zealand, but there must be many more listeners in that part of the world, we are sure. So please, Australia and New Zealand, if you can hear us, let us know you are out there and tell us what you like or dislike about our programmes! The address is Radio Prague, 12099, Prague, Czech Republic or [email protected]. We are looking forward to hearing your comments and discussing them in Mailbox.
But now it's time to announce the winner of last month's competition. In September we asked about a woman who was born in 1965 in Czechoslovakia, her family left for Sweden when she was a child and she later became one of the world's most successful fashion models of the time.
With just one exception, all of the answers were correct this time. Let's now hear some of them:
This one is from Charles Konecny from the US:
"My answer to the September question is Paulina Porizkova. If you could get me Paulina's phone number, I could call to see if she would be interested in running off with me. Tell her I am 73 years old so I won't be able to run very fast. Also, I will have to get permission from my wife."
John Sheppard from West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom sent us this detailed information:
"Paulina Porizkova was on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in both 1984 and 1985, and she appeared in Playboy Magazine in August 1987. She married Ric Ocasek, a musician with the group The Cars in 1989, and they have two sons, Jonathan Raven Ocasek, born December 1993, and Oliver Orion Ocasek, born May 1998. Paulina appeared in the 1987 film 'Anna', and she was nominated for a Golden Raspberry for worst actress for her 1989 appearance in 'Her Alibi'. More recently, she wrote and directed the 2001 film in which she also starred, 'Roommates'. She turned down an opportunity to appear in 'Goldeneye', a James Bond film."
And Henrik Klementz from Sweden sent us an English translation of an article published in a Swedish paper on the re-uniting of the Porizek family in 1974 and this is his commentary:
"In a series of retrospective articles the Swedish tabloid Expressen published a short wrap-up of their articles published in 1971-1974. The Expressen reporter Christian Holmén probably is even younger than Paulina, and the article, which is very brief, has an unmistakable Swedish slant to it."
But as every month, there can only be one winner. And this time the lucky one is Gina Cenkl from Boston.
"Who could forget the beautiful supermodel Paulina Porizkova! She's been everywhere since 1980. Estee Lauder model, Playboy magazine, many talk shows, few movies ('Arizona Dream', 'Her Alibi', 'Anna', 'Covergirl', 'Portfolio'). She is semi-retired now."
Congratulations Gina and there's a CD of Czech music for you in the post. And many thanks to all of you who have sent us your answers and comments.
And the last thing on the agenda today is a new question for the month of October.
"We are looking for the name of a Czech-born rock musician - guitarist and songwriter. He was born in Prague in 1948 but in the 1960s he left for New York with his parents. At the legendary New York club CBGB's he met the ambitious and talented Patti Smith and the two of them started collaborating. Over the years, he played alongside some other influential rock artists, including Iggy Pop and John Cale. After the fall of the communist regime, he returned to his native Prague. At present, he is a songwriter, film composer and a sought-out producer."
Please, send us your answers by the end of October, to Radio Prague, 12099, Prague, Czech Republic or [email protected]. Till next time, bye-bye.
