Magazine

The drawn-out debate over whether Prague should build the Blob – an avant-garde design which was intended to house the National Library – has taken a strange and unexpected turn. After Prague appeared to lose interest in the design –which won an international competition for the National Library project – Brno has shown interest in building a smaller scale model that would serve as a bus stop. The initiative came from a 23-year-old student who sketched the blob and sent it to the Pepsi company which was running a contest for a new bus stop in the locality. The suggestion won hands down and Brno approached Kaplický’s widow Eliška who inherited the copyright to her late husband’s works. On the argument that a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush, she agreed to give the project the green light. By the end of the summer visitors will be able to admire the Brno blob – or mini-blob, one should say since it will only be big enough to accommodate a few bus passengers in the event of rainy weather. And –inevitably –as with all of Kaplický’s designs – the prospect has evoked mixed reactions. Some see it as sacrilege, others as crazy or tacky. And, some say it is a great idea. What no one knows is what Kaplický himself would make of the fact that the National library building he designed has suddenly shrunk into a mere bus stop.

Vuvuzela, photo: CTK “It’s an instrument but not always a musical one –an elephant trumpet, a swarm of angry bees - those and a thousand other descriptions of the vuvuzela have appeared in the world press these days. You’d find it hard to find anyone the world over who does not know the word or recognize the siren-like sound it produces. For some fans a blight on the World Soccer Cup, for others a revelation. In any case the vuvuzela has made it big and the sound of it could be heard floating up to the 4th floor offices of Radio Prague in the city’s Vinohrady district earlier this week – as enthusiastic football fans made their way to nearby Riegrovy sady to cheer their team on. Although Czechs have no one to root for –since their team did not qualify – it has not dampened people’s enthusiasm for the world cup – or the vuvuzela, for that matter. Sales firms astute enough to order the plastic instrument are selling them like hot cakes with demand far outstripping supply. Meanwhile Czech football clubs, which have not taken a fancy to the vuvuzela are keeping a worried eye on sales. A spokesman for Slavia announced this week that the owner of Eden stadium had introduced a new regulation banning vuvuzelas on the premises.

Photo: www.mestocheb.cz Big plans are afoot for the celebrations of Cheb’s 950th birthday next year. Some time ago the town’s inhabitants assembled for a group photo that will be used for postcards, billboards and invitations to events celebrating the anniversary. Those who arrived for the photo session stood so as to create the number 950 – while a photographer climbed up a fire engine ladder to snap the picture from a height of 30 metres.

Photo: CTK If you think that a group photo involving 950 people must have been quite a feat – consider what it would have been like to paint 54 people at the table. The biggest Rennaisance group painting in central Europe is to be found in the art gallery of the town of Polička. The painting, named The Hohenems Garden Party, was painted by Anthony Bays in 1578 and portrays a meeting of the European nobility. The painting depicts an outdoor banquet with the guests sitting around a richly laid-table, surrounded by servants, musicians and a court jester. The author has smuggled himself into the painting as one of the waiters. One of the preliminary sketches of this painting is in Italy – and several people who later appear in the painting are missing on the sketch. Art historians believe that these persons did not attend that garden party and were later added to the painting at the behest of the master of the house Jakub Hannibal who commissioned the work. The painting is over two metres wide and took several years to complete.

Nové Město na Moravě New towners from around Europe are heading for Nové Město na Moravě – New Town in Moravia. The town is currently hosting a get together of all European towns which have New Town in their name – and over a thousand people from thirty two new towns from Germany, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia have accepted. The event is conceived as a celebration of new towners, the start of new friendships, projects and cultural exchanges.

An anonymous survey conducted by an internet employment website indicates that one in two Czechs consciously stretch the truth in their CVs in order to improve their chances of getting a job. A third of respondents said they make small corrections like exchanging the word secretary for assistant or executive assistant in order to upgrade their position on the job market. Only a fifth of respondents said they would never doctor their CV and rely on making a good impression in person. The way Czechs write their CVs has changed over the years – with the boring essays about one’s life required under communism – replaced by Western-style CVs focusing on experience and acquired skills.