If you dress up as Michael Jackson, can I say I want to marry Megan Fox?

(c) Agence France-Presse

MOTTO:
I am quite certain that thousands of people whom Jackson helped the most (Third-World children) do not even know that he is dead because they do not own a TV set, or because they still have to work on their parents’ corn fields to feed younger siblings. Instead, we have thousands of weeping middle-class kids who listen to Jackson because it is a part of their musical taste and lifestyle they can afford. Kids who think that he “changed their lives” – whereas he had only brought them the music style he knew they would like…

Every death is a tragedy if a person does not die from natural causes. The death of Michael Jackson is a tragedy for the music industry because he did influence it a lot. But as for Jackson himself, his death was not tragic, it was unfortunate.

But the events surrounding the aftermath are tragic.

Hundreds of fans cried on the main square in Prague – and many of them were dressed as Jackson look-alikes. And we are shown old footage of his previous concerts with women yelling “I love you, Michael” over and over again.

I honestly think there is something very unhealthy (pathological, even) about dressing up as your favorite mass culture hero and meaning it (i.e. if we rule out costume parties), or about yelling “I love you” at them. I don’t think that it is that big a difference between cross-dressing to make yourself look like an opposite-sex music idol and actual stalking. Both is a display of affection towards a person you know you will never have (romantically, sexually). Only the latter is a potential felony that may result in a restraining order, though…

I am surprised that so far none of the media outlets that have been covering the frenzy has brought a psychologist to a TV studio and asked something along the lines of:

This is a product of popular culture we are talking about. It is business. Shouldn’t the people who can’t keep their personal distance between their private life and a product of mass culture they consume seek professional help, just like gamblers do when they lose control?

I am quite certain that thousands of people whom Jackson helped the most (Third-World children) do not even know that he is dead because they do not own a TV set, or because they still have to work on their parents’ corn fields to feed younger siblings. Instead, we have thousands of weeping middle-class kids who listen to Jackson because it is a part of their musical taste and lifestyle they can afford. Kids who think that he “changed their lives” – whereas he had only brought them the music style he knew they would like. And they “lost control” the minute they put on “his” sunglasses, hat and curls, the minute they convinced themselves that this made-by-Jones product of popular culture is everything to them…

Try to tell them that worldwide-famous Czech composer Bedrich Smetana or French writer Guy de Maupassant died of syphilis and their reaction will be “Who?” – because they haven’t seen them on MTV.

If any of the above is accepted as normal, I should be allowed to say on TV that I think that Megan Fox is the most beautiful woman (in showbusiness) that I have ever seen and that I will do anything (within the limits of the law) to get close to her – for example write her letters asking her the Howard-Stern-style questions (”shaved, or not”). But I won’t because I know she is a human being who happens to have a job of an actress.

The best way to show respect to an actor, singer or politician is to buy their products, i.e. go to see their movie, buy a new album, vote for them. And to support their activities, like charities. It makes much more sense than cross-dressing (after seeing a few female Jacksons I have to use this term).

The biggest irony is that the organisers of the Prague event played over forty songs; for which, I assume (according to the Czech Copyright Law), they will have to pay royalties to Jackson’s heirs. Plus, everything that has recently been said about money was always followed by the term “satisfaction of creditors”…

No business like showbusiness…

Summer jobs during crisis: one supermarket job, fifty applicants

(c) Getty Images

The economic crisis struck students. Last year there were thousands of summer part-time jobs to choose from. This year – almost nothing.

Last year agencies that seek part-time jobs for students had hundreds of “supermarket cashier” jobs and students didn’t want them because they had more lucrative offers. This year fifty students and more apply for one cashier job, the iDNES.cz news server wrote. Most companies that DO need part-timers of course offer the jobs to people who have recently been laid off, or to children of their own employees, so they do not need personnel agencies to do the search.

If you ask me, I think that students for whom the summer money is not a matter of pure existence (i.e. those who only need the job to make money they want to spend on booze and hobbies) should go for unpaid two-month internship programs in companies in their future line of work (i.e. the major they study) — to get some experience.

Not many companies are going to want a fresh grad who has had no “practical experience” because he/she spent summers working as a supermarket cashier to make “money to spend recklessly”.

I worked two summers in between college years in a TV news department and it was the most valuable experience ever…

The last day of school in the Czech Republic. Kids get their report cards

(c) CTK - Czech News Agency

The last day of June is generally the last day of school for elementary, junior high and high school students. Usually if the day falls on a Monday or Tuesday school principals may give their kids two days off (they have about 5 to 10 days per year to use up as they need), so that they get their report cards on Friday.

Accepting a report cards is a ceremony of some sort, even though it seems to be it is not that big a deal anymore. Students sit in their class and when their class teacher announces their name they go to the front of the class, shake hands with the teacher and receive their report card (note: sorry for the image quality):

(c) UIV

The report card is arranged by courses/subjects and for every course/subject the grade is stated in words. First-graders are an exception because their grades are expressed by numbers, which they understand more… And it motivates them to see “one huge number 1″ (as in “excellent”).

Today you can see hundreds of kids in the streets around 9 a.m. because the ceremony usually takes a few minutes and the kids can not wait to get the hell out of there…You can see that they do not treat their report cards with “respect”: some fold it into an oblong envelope, and some roll it into tubes…

Floods in the Czech Republic! Again. Twelve casualties reported so far

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Some parts of the Czech Republic were hit by storms on Thursday night. The resulting tidal bore, falling trees and floods damaged a large part of the Novy Jicin County. So far 10 people are reported dead: some drowned but some died of various health problems and they could not be reached by paramedics on time.

(c) Blesk.cz

People are encouraged not to travel to the affected parts of Moravia, as the main train track from Prague to Ostrava via Olomouc is damaged and even SuperCity express trains end half-way.

Storm/flood aftermath video:

And a photo gallery embedded into a news article…click on the arrow to view the photos…

TO BE UPDATED…

UPDATE JUNE 28: More regions were hit by the sudden floods over the weekend. In the South Bohemia Region several villages ordered evacuations. A tiny stream that is as wide as an elbow of an adult person became a river ten metres wide… No deaths are reported in this region, but the death toll is now 12. A volunteer fireman drowned in Moravia during the first stage of the floods…

Masaryk University: Plagiarists beware! Our new program will hunt you down

Masaryk Univesity in Brno has become a pioneer when it comes to fighting plagiarism. A while ago it introduced a program that can identify parts of texts that students have copied from previous works handed in at the university. Now it introduced a new web-based program called Odevzdej.cz (”Hand it in”) that goes even deeper, the iDNES.cz news server wrote.

The original program was called Theses and it could detect plagiarism in, well, theses. But the school officials found out that students cheat in minor works most often, the server wrote. However, the system will not recognize the entire Internet contents. It is impossible, MU experts say. According to TV Nova the system can check the authenticity before the assignment is handed in: students just copy their text into the system and their teachers receive an e-mail stating whether any part of the particular thesis has been “borrowed”…

Flash mob in a Brno park: bring your rubber duck to a fountain

A very interesting flash mob is being organized for the upcoming Sunday, June 28. People are encouraged to bring their rubber bathtub ducks and let them swim in a fountain in a downtown Brno park. The participants can also use the nearby artificial stream that runs down a staircase leading into a nearby street. After the event they can give their ducks to a child who arrives to watch the event, or they can save the toy for next time.

I think I will go and observe. I do not own a rubber duck, as I do not have a bathtub in my bathroom. And I am not allowed to bring the only rubber toy that I have in my household because the rightful owner said no. Plus, I am pretty sure it would A) scare the kids, B) sink to the bottom since it is not hollow… (Not the author’s note: That’s not rubber, silly.)

Brno borough mayor: the city should forbid drinking alcohol in public

(c) Getty Images

The Mayor of the Brno-stred (Brno-Center) borough Libor Stastka wants to do something about people who drink alcohol in public places. This activity is most often associated with the homeless people, some of whom spend the whole day in groups of five to ten in downtown Brno. They occupy many benches and bother people by begging for money.

According to the MF7 news server the mayor wants to define the radii of buildings within which alcohol consumption would qualify as a misdemeanor. However, this ban must be enacted by the assembly of the City of Brno, not the “small assembly” of the borough.

The radius of 50 meters shall apply to schools and school facilities, playgrounds and sports grounds, cemeteries, churches and healthcare institutions (”hospitals and policlinics”), the mayor argues.

The original radius was considered to be 20 metres, but that does not seem to be sufficient. Exceptions shall be granted to restaurants during their opening hours, if they run “gardens” (outdoor seating).

Some of the homeless people who frequent the benches on the main square in Brno have previously been quoted by some media as saying that they can always pour their alcohol into water bottles (water, or vodka? noone can tell). And that just sitting around is not against anything and it is unfair to judge by one’s clothes… “There is a girl who is dressed in GAP head to toe. It may bother me but I don’t ask her to leave,” one of them said…

Man’s got a point…

Czech Army to sell bunkers and other real estate for millions

(c) Getty Images

Do you want an old Czech Army armoured bunker or even a former armoured vehicle testing range slash proving grounds? The Czech Army is selling real estate it no longer needs, the iDNES.cz news server writes. One of the bunkers was on sale before but nobody wanted it for more than CZK 2 million.

How do you put a price on a bunker or a testing range? You can’t really discuss the real estate market because there aren’t that many bunkers offered. However, two million is insane. They should be glad that at least SOMEONE wants it and they should sell it to the highest bid (envelope-style).

These bunkers, if sold, are often renovated by military history fans, and there are some that have been rebuilt and people live in them…

This reminds me of an episode of The Simpsons where the family is trying to sell their house because the traffic from the local airport has been rerouted and the planes on final are right above the roof. Ralph Wiggum offers three crayons and a box of milk and the family is encouraged to take it…

The army should do the same…

Prague to give up 2020 Olympics. Too expensive in this crisis…

(c) Reuters via Google

Councillors of the City of Prague decided that Prague would drop out from the race to host the 2020 Olympic Games, the iDNES.cz news server wrote. Due to the ongoing economic crisis the city receives much less money from tax incomes. According to the news server it should be CZK 2.9 billion. Hosting the Games would be too expensive for the city.

VERY wise move. But it should be noted that “too expensive” does not cover the whole truth. The truth is that the city is FAR from prepared and it would have to build many stadiums and other venues. Not to mention the fact that due to the nature of the events many of them would have to be held in different parts of the country, i.e. in smaller towns that would have EVEN LESS money to contribute to the common projects of building, let’s say… greyhound racing grounds…

I know it does not match the principle of the Olympic Games, but I think it would not hurt anybody if the upcoming OG (the yet-undecided) were actually awarded to a city that does not need to spend billions, i.e. city that is “almost prepared”… i.e. a city that has hosted the Games before. The financial crisis is going to take some time and it does not seem like the Games are going to be profitable… “the cities that know” will have to deal with it…

Czech Billa supermarkets sell Austrian groceries. Without Czech labels

Billa is an Austrian supermarket chain owed by Rewe Group. There are more than one hundred supermarkets in the Czech Republic. And they seem to be selling groceries that are intended for the Austrian (German, Italian or Swiss…) markets – without Czech labels that define ingredients, content specification, expiry dates, etc…

Continuous-update post…
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The photo on the right is of a bottle of Rauch Ice Tea. First I was surprised to notice (as I was taking it from the shelf) that it would have a German SMS competition on the label but then I remembered that there used to be international shows and the labels displayed the instruction in multiple languages. But no, the label is entirely in German with some Italian pieces of information.

According to the Czech Consumer Protection Act products sold in the Czech Republic must have “instructions” in English. There are some rare exceptions applicable to products in case of which the use is obvious. I can imagine. Hammers, potato peelers and similar tools.

Sec. 9 of act number 634/1992 says:

The vendor is obliged to inform the customer accordingly of the characteristics of a product, its use and maintenance and risks that might arise out of improper use of the product. The vendor can not explain his failure to do so by arguing that the necessary information was not provided to the vendor by the manufacturer, supplier and the like.

And Sec. 11 of the said act says:

The vendor is obliged to make sure that the information referred to in Sec. 9, if provided in a written form, is provided in the Czech language.

Hier brauchen Sie ein Woerterbuch

Obviously there is some logistic mystery behind the Billa company. This batch was imported directly from Austria with no intermediary company involved. And naturally, the table of ingredients is, again, entirely in German – which I am sure must be a blatant violation of the law (Czech Consumer Protection Act). The “general tips for consumers” provided by the Czech Food Inspection Authority suggest the same.

Not listing the ingredients in Czech might be very dangerous. Of course, people who are allergic do not buy groceries they are unsure about, but there might be customers who assume that they understand what the label says and they may die from a specific form of “overdose” or food poisoning because they are something-intolerant.

UPDATE JUNE 18: I contacted the Czech Food Inspection Authority regarding the potential violation of the Consumer Protection Act. They have fifteen days to “investigate” and let me know… I am thinking of doing a guest-writer article for this weekly news-magazine that I have had professional contacts with…