Magazine Magazine

Do Czechs have sex in the kitchen? The Swedish furniture giant IKEA has been conducting international surveys to find out what different uses its furniture serves. After a peek into people's bedrooms, IKEA has now focussed on the kitchen in order to find out whether it needs to make kitchen furniture sturdier and more comfy. The survey involving 24,000 people from 28 countries suggests that it is the Swedes, the Japanese, the Belgians and the Danes who like to make out in the kitchen - between stirring the sauce and preparing the salad. The French, the Germans and the Brits are more conservative and only four out of a hundred Czechs have enjoyed sex in the kitchen. Malaysians figure at the bottom of the list with 0 points in "kitchen sex". On the other hand they are at the top of the list in the bedroom sex survey - so it's just a question of preference. However one wonders just how reliable the mentioned survey is. A survey in the on-line edition of the daily Pravo - launched in response to this article - indicates that 50 percent of Czech respondents occasionally have sex in the kitchen and 31 percent are dying to try it.

Czech Airlines was forced to cancel a scheduled flight from Frankfurt to Prague last week after a cat boarded the plane overnight and hid somewhere in the luggage compartment. Attempts to capture the stowaway failed as the cat retreated further into the bowels of the aircraft. In line with Czech Airlines regulations the flight had to be cancelled. Passengers boarded another plane while Czech Airlines sent out a special crew to bring the plane with the stowaway cat home. The cat thus enjoyed a VIP flight to Prague as the only passenger on board. On her arrival in the Czech capital the tabby was finally captured and handed over to a vet for a medical check up.

Photo: www.cmmj.cz The Czech Republic has a brand new European champion. Josef Kapras has just won the European Championship in imitating an elks' bugle call held in Bratislava. The specific elk call echoes and is heard over long distances, attracting members of the same breed. The human version of the sound is almost identical and is created with the help of a bugle, but perfecting it requires hours of practice. Josef Kapras -the European champion in this discipline - is so accomplished that it's practically impossible to distinguish him from an elk. Well, hopefully, his wife would know him.

Does you dog chew all your shoes to bits when left in the house alone for a couple of hours? If you live in Prague you can now take him or her to a dogs' day nursery. The dogs' nursery school is the first of its kind in Prague - indeed the Czech Republic - and it has evoked plenty of interest. For those who want to give their dog a real treat, while they are out getting a haircut and massage, they can book their pet for the same treatment - well almost -in the dog's salon which is located on the grounds of the dogs' nursery. That is located near the Pankrac metro station.

"Miss" contests have become extremely popular in the Czech Republic. Dozens of them are held every year - Miss Wet T-shirt, Miss Beer and many others, depending on the occasion. But there are two main ones which claim to produce the Czech beauty queen. One is called Miss Czech Republic and the other is called Czech Miss. Miss Czech Republic has been around for years, the Czech Miss contest was held for the first time this year by an ambitious former Miss Czech Republic. The controversy may well end up in court and newspaper journalists are having a field day printing the photographs of both beauty queens next to headings such as "Which miss is the right miss?

Czech MissMiss Czech Republic

Someone in the Czech Republic hit the jackpot last week winning a mind-boggling 103 million crowns in the lottery. In the entire history of Czech lottery only four people have ever got lucky enough to cross the magic million crown mark. Although the person wants to remain anonymous the papers are already advising him or her what they can do with his money. For 103 million crowns they could build a small village from scratch, buy 100 Mercedes cars, build twenty luxury villas or spend four years at one of the most expensive hotels in the world - at the Emirates Palace in Dubai.

The best snow boarders from around the world wowed the crowd in Prague last week with a day of snowboarding acrobatics. They brought their own snow and performed in several parts of the city centre. From Prague they moved on to other European capitals, where they are to give similar performances.

Photo: www.pipeworldcup.com The Czech Republic has a new champion in pipe smoking - or, I should say, slow pipe smoking. The idea is to smoke a pipe filled with three grams of tobacco -in this case Celtic Talisman - and make it last as long as possible. The contest is an annual event and this year the winner is 31 year old Ales Korger from Sumperk. He savoured his three grams of tobacco for a full 2 hours and 45 seconds, setting a new Czech record. He took a full 32 minutes longer than last year's winner. The conditions are the same for everyone - two matches, three grams of Celtic Talisman and you can use your own pipe. So if you are a pipe smoker yourself - it's easy to find out whether or not you could beat the Czech record. Good luck and let us know if you do.