Weird. Josh Groban, Westlife or Celtic Woman kicked ass with You Raise Me Up. Czech singer Josef Vagner did not.

There were numerous cases in the United States when movie premieres were postponed due to “bad timing”. Political thrillers and “disaster movies” coincided with 9/11 and other such events and the filmmakers decided that the audiences were not ready or in the mood for their movie…

The “swine” flu is spreading. A young girl died in Austria today, being the first victim in this country. The Czech Republic has one confirmed victim (see three posts below). And yet people in charge of programming in Nova Cinema feel it might be a good time for a movie about bird flu pandemic. It is like airing Dante’s Peak or Volcano one day after a major eruption.

In the Czech Republic it is quite common to make last-minute changes to programming. For example, if a well-known actor dies, the Czech Television often replaces the planned primetime movie with one where the deceased had a leading role. TV Nova also makes these changes occasionally.

Yes, it is life and it is fiction but the events surrounding the bird flu and the swine flu are way too “fresh” to be looked at from the “just TV fiction” perspective… And yes, all TV sets do have their remotes… and the best way to show disappointment is to change the channel… but still, there are some professional codes of conduct that regulate broadcasting (sometimes people do not even know the rules exist).

United 93 and World Trade Center premiered in 2006, i.e. five years after 9/11, giving the world (especially the United States) some time to recover. There are 2,993 reasons why nobody made a movie about the events in 2002.

This morning in Brno, around 7:00 a.m. CET. I don’t think I have ever seen snow in Brno on the third day of November…

(c) Petr Bokuvka

Some people in Tesco probably think that the first company or store that reminds people of the upcoming Christmas will win the most customers and have them spend money. Tesco in downtown Brno put up Christmas decorations this week, i.e. almost two months before the Christmas Eve and one month “before winter”.

The store even has a TREE in the lobby.

This particular store is an old-fashioned department store. It has aisles with Tupperware next to groceries or underwear. The goods are usually “no name” and the atmosphere is absolutely terrible… Especially the clothes are hideous…

Be it as it may, having a Christmas tree in late October is ridiculous. Of course, it is a business strategy but in terms of holidays and observances it totally destroys the spirit…

There are two ranches in villages in the northern part of Brno that are in fact Brno boroughs. Both of them are departure points for hiking trails. One of the ranches is in Oresin and one in Sobesice.

(c) Petr Bokuvka

The “CH” Ranch is the one in Oresin. It offers horseback riding lessons and it has its own restaurant. It is located on a hill overlooking Brno and it can easily be reached on foot (a paved road) from the number 70 bus terminus. The fee is CZK 300 per hour (Oct 2009).

Panska licha is the one in Sobesice, or between the boroughs of Sobesice and Lesna. Unlike the CH Ranch, Panska licha is also a club. It is significantly larger and it has huge meadows. Also part of the facility is a three-star hotel and restaurant. It can be reached by the bus number 57.

Unfortunately, it seems like employees of the ranches and horse owners like to use the marked hiking trails for their rides, so people (mostly families, as these trails are very easy even for children) must constantly watch where they are going…

(c) Getty Images

Twenty junior high school students and some of their relatives have recently been diagnosed with the “swine flu”, which means it is the first minor epidemic in the Czech Republic, as all the cases that have been reported so far are isolated (mostly individuals returning from Canada, Mexico etc.).

According to the Blesk daily eight of the students and one of their teachers caught the flu during a trip to Bavaria, Germany last week. All of them are at home, taking antibiotics. None of them has experienced serious complications that would require hospitalization. There are six more people who are waiting for their test results…

Last week a woman died from complications because she had one of her organs transplanted and her immunity was significantly affected by her “heart condition” as well.

October 28 is the “Independence Day” for the Czech Republic. In 1918 the former Czechoslovak Republic was founded as one of the successor countries of Austria-Hungary. It is a national holiday. Schools, offices, banks and similar institutions are closed. On the other hand, malls, movie theaters, pools etc. are open to accommodate people who want to enjoy their day off…

It should be noted that official ceremonial events take place. Politicians lay flowers to statues of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, the country’s first president. And they meet with several “guests of honor” who give ceremonial philosophical speeches that no ordinary Czech can understand…

In other words, Czechs do not celebrate their independence.

According to Wikipedia, here is what Americans do on the Fourth of July:

Families often celebrate Independence Day by hosting or attending a picnic or barbecue and take advantage of the day off and, in some years, long weekend to gather with relatives. Decorations (e.g., streamers, balloons, and clothing) are generally colored red, white, and blue, the colors of the American flag. Parades often are in the morning, while fireworks displays occur in the evening at such places as parks, fairgrounds, or town squares. (…) Numerous MLB games are played, too.

In the Czech Republic, people simply take advantage of the fact that they can have a day off. They go for a walk with their kids who have Fall Holiday, by the way (Wednesday to Sunday). Today I saw hundreds of people on bike trips, roller-skating, shopping…

There are of course numerous reasons why Czechs are not patriots in the “American sense”, one of them being the continuity of the republic: there was WW II, communism, the 1993 dissolution, dissatisfaction with politics, etc…

There is a very interesting building in the borough of Obrany. It is located right next to the Svitava River and across the street from a tram terminus, downtown Brno is a 15-minute ride…

I am sure there is a reason why no construction developer has turned the ruin into a trendy apartment building. Let’s start with the overall condition, which of course can be improved. But then there is the issue of heating, it is a well-known fact that rooms of this size are hard and expensive to heat, considering the technologies used in this country. Moreover, floods are also an issue…

(c) Petr Bokuvka

When it comes to lofts, experts argue that the target group (potential buyers) is also relatively small… these people would have to have the millions to invest and the guts to accept some aspects of life in such a house at the same time. I might be wrong but it seems to me that in the U.S. loft apartments are for singles — and once they have families or babies, they move into a picket-fenced suburb house. It would not work the same way here…

I think there is only one project when a former factory has been turned into an apartment building: the Moravan project (a former textile factory, I think…). Most of the units are small studios, or one-bedroom apartments… (more information on this project coming up…)

The Prague version of Google Street View was introduced a few weeks ago and it has caused several problems so far, the Denik.cz news server writes. Several people have been “caught” and the Google company had to deal with their complaints.

A Google PR manager told the daily that people are one click away from “Reporting a Problem” and they may have their photo removed from the database. This may interest the bus driver who was photographed resting in his bus shirtless, or students sunbathing in front of their dorms (see the photo gallery in the second article – link above).

(c) Google via Lupa.cz

According to the daily there was even a photo of the mayor of one of Prague’s boroughs – and his face was not blurred. His fellow citizens started to make fun of him, saying he must be a ghost because the system did not recognize him as a human being…

The Lupa.cz IT server has been urging people to send their own “discoveries”. This is what I found:

The license plate of this bike has not been blurred...

More coming up…

For decades the main square in Brno is the place where the city’s Christmas tree is erected. This year citizens of Brno may choose among four trees the one they like the most. They can vote on the website of the Tourist Information Centre – whether they like tree number 1, tree number 2, tree number 3 or tree number 4. The deadline is November 15.

Speaking of winter, it is only October 12 but according to the most recent weather forecast it should SNOW today… damn.