Compact archive May 2007

George Michael and My Chemical Romance already this weekend

Thursday 31 May 2007 16:56

The concerts of My Chemical Romance and George Michael are getting closer. This Saturday at 20:00 the T-Mobile Arena (instead of Strahov Stadium) will host one of the pop stars, British singer George Michael.

The American band My Chemical Romance will perform in the T-Mobile Arena a day later, on Sunday 3rd June. The organizers had to change the venue thanks to the big demand from their fans. The number of sold tickets was two times higher than the capacity of the first venue, Trade Fair Palace Tickets are still available via Ticketpro and Ticketportal between 495 CZK and 510 CZK.

The band My Chemical Romance was so enthusiastic about the reaction of the Czech audience that they bought an extra show device for about ten thousand dollars from their own honorarium.

Charles IV. will take the crown jewels from Prague to Karlstejn

Thursday 31 May 2007 15:09

Karlstejn Castle A big action is planned for the coming two days in Prague. The reconstruction of the true historical event that happened seven hundred years ago will show the Holy Roman Emperor and the King of Bohemia Charles IV taking the crown jewels from Prague to Karlstejn where the jewels used to be stored.

The entourage headed by Charles IV. (represented by Czech actor and moderator Vladimir Cech) will set out for the journey at the III. courtyard of Prague Castle at 12:00 on Friday. The “jewels” will be blessed by the Czech cardinal Miloslav Vlk.

Via Lesser Quarter and Charles Bridge the procession will continue to the Old Town Square to see a big tournament. After that the journey will continue to Smichov, Chuchle, Radotin, Cernosice and will finish in Dobrichovice. On Saturday the procession will continue from Dobrichovice to Karlstejn to place the crown jewels to its rightful place. Everyone can join the entourage at any moment of the journey.

'Women from Kibera' exhibition in Prague

Thursday 31 May 2007 13:31

Large photographs showing African women with AIDS and their hard life are displayed these days in the Louvre Gallery in Prague (Narodni 22 street). Their author, famous photographer Jan Sibik, called the exhibition Women from Kibera. The exhibition is open for free until 23rd June 2007 (open every day between 12:00 and 19:00).

The photographs illustrate difficult situation of African women living in large slums in Nairobi. Infected with AIDS, left by their husbands and making the living by being prostitutes just to be able to feed their (mostly also infected) children.

This exhibition is a humanitarian project of FOR AFRICA fund to help African women with AIDS. From money sent to the account 35-9248910287/0100 the African organization Kenya Women’s Centre buys medicaments, school uniforms and books for children of the infected women.

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Festival of Jewish Culture Nine Gates soon

Thursday 31 May 2007 12:15

The 8th International Festival of Czech-German-Jewish Culture NINE GATES will be held in Prague from 11th to 17th June 2007. The programme of the festival offers six concerts, four theatre performances, two literature evenings, a photographs exhibition and a public competition in photography. All the events are for free.

The main topic of this year’s festival is the 70th anniversary from the death of music composer George Gershwin. His compositions Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris can be heard on the concert in the Wallenstein Garden on 12th June.

The festival will be ended with Gershwin’s jazz opera Porgy and Bess in the area of Wallenstein Garden and with the concert of the main cantor of Saint Petersburg synagogue Baruch Finkelstein. Soon you can find more information about the festival at www.9bran.cz.

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American man with tuberculosis travelled from Prague

Thursday 31 May 2007 10:53

An American man infected with a rare form of tuberculosis travelled via Prague to Montreal with Czech airline company CSA and endangered the lives of his fellow passengers. Before that he took several flights within Europe. From Montreal he travelled to the USA by car. Right now he is in quarantine and his room is guarded.

The man knew about hill illness and he was said not to fly back to the USA with any commercial air carrier. He did it anyway. His drug-resistant form of tuberculosis is very dangerous and the fellow passengers are now being contacted to make sure they haven’t been infected as well.

According to Czech health official Michael Vit, the man didn’t cough much and he was wearing a mask over his mouth. The possibility of being infected is higher after eight hours in confined space with the patient.

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Jolie and Pitt's daughter celebrated her birthday in Prague

Wednesday 30 May 2007 17:02

Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt returned from Cannes to Prague to celebrate the birthday of their biological daughter Shiloh Nouvel. She celebrated her first birthday surrounded by many balloons in the villa in Charlese de Gaulla street last Sunday.

The star couple have four children, Shiloh Nouvel (1), son Maddox (5), son Pax Thien (3) and daughter Zahara (2). It is said the family was visited by Brad’s parents, brother Doug and Angelina’s brother James Haven.

Angelina Jolie is the main character of the new movie Wanted filmed in Prague at the very moment. iDNES brings several pictures (here) of their stay in Prague.

New camera system will monitor the statue of St Wenceslas

Wednesday 30 May 2007 15:20

Statue of St Wenceslas The Statue of St Wenceslas on the upper part of the Wenceslas Square has been always a meeting place of Prague citizens and tourists. Wenceslas I. was the Duke of Bohemia, later canonized and now commemorated on 27th September.

In two months the statue of St Wenceslas might be guarded by a security camera system, the same one that now monitors the statues on Charles Bridge. According to the councilman for culture Milan Richter, the damage caused by vandals every year reach 200,000 CZK.

Besides the security system, the city council wants to place information boards next to the statue on which tourists could read information about this monument made by Josef Vaclav Myslbek in 1912.

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New success in Prague Zoo: baby gorilla

Wednesday 30 May 2007 13:41

Prague Zoo can be proud of another success. Since last weekend you can see there two new babies tiger, from last night a baby gorilla. The baby gorilla is the second gorilla born in Prague Zoo. It was born today soon after the midnight and the birth was without any troubles or assistance of people.

The baby gorilla can be seen in the arms of its mother Kijivu online thanks to the web cams placed in their pavilion. It’s a part of the Czech radio’s project Odhaleni (The Revealed), that won ARKive Interactive Awards in the Wildscreen competition. You can see it online here. The beginning of the birth was reported to the health workers just thanks to the people watching the gorillas online.

The first gorilla in Prague Zoo is Moja, born in December 2004. Her mother is also Kijivu. The oldest gorilla in Prague Zoo is Kamba whose baby was born dead in April this year.

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17th Prague Writer's Festival this Sunday

Wednesday 30 May 2007 12:32

Dada East is the main topic of the 17th Prague Writer’s Festival that starts this Sunday and finishes on Wednesday 6th June. Many famous writers will come to Prague, let’s name American prose writer E. L. Doctorow, the author of Ragtime later directed by Milos Forman. Then Gary Snyder, Dutch writer Arnon Grunberg, James Meek, Peter Stephan Jungk, Elena Stefoi and many others.

The programme of the festival will be open by ‘The Art of Conversation: “Non-violence versus Terrorism“’ in Theatre Minor. Monday will be devoted to the main topic of the festival – Dada East, discussed by Tom Sandqvist, Ludvik Kundera and Miloslav Topinka.

Together with the festival you can visit an exhibition called Dada East? in Prague’s Gallery Smecky (Ve Smeckach 24). More information about the festival and the gallery can be found here.

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Vltava Marathon - in-line skating competition

Wednesday 30 May 2007 11:00

Adults, children and even parents with prams can compete in in-line skating in the Vltava Marathon on Saturday 9th June. Every participant will get a T-shirt. The winners will be given extra prizes and cups by Katerina Neumannova.

Adults can take part in the marathon or a half-marathon, children on the tracks either 2.2, 4.4 or 6.6 km long. Parents with prams can try to overcome the distance of 2.2 km. One of the competitors will be Martina Sablikova, the Czech best speed skater.

The in-line marathon starts in the Hamr sport area in Vltavanu street at 9:30. Competitors can register just before the contest. Helmets are required, but they can be borrowed at the venue.

New cafe in Prague where you'll be served in total darkness

Tuesday 29 May 2007 17:12

Have you ever been served in a restaurant in a complete darkness? No? You have a chance to try it soon in Prague. For eight days you can visit cafe POTME (translated as In the dark) in Ovocny trh in Prague, behind the Estates Theatre.

You will be served by blind people who will bring your coffee to the table. The sugar will be given into your hand and it’s up to you to put it into your cup. It’s not so easy as it seems. You can try what it means to do things in the complete darkness.

The cafe will be open from Wednesday 6th June until 13th June between 10:00 to 22:00. The price of the coffee is 70 CZK, but it also includes a souvenir in the form of a cup.

The project is organized by Svetluska fund which helps blinded people to have better life. The patron of Svetluska, Aneta Langerova, is the first winner of Superstar (the Czech version of the music talent competition Idols). She will be present at the opening of the cafe at 11:00 on 6th June.

Gwen Stefani from No Doubt will probably perform in Prague

Tuesday 29 May 2007 15:23

Gwen Stefani Successful Gwen Stefani, the singer from well-known music band No Doubt, announced at her web pages that she is going to perform in Prague during her solo tour. The concert should be in Sazka Arena on 20th October and Gwen Stafani will present there the songs from her second solo album The Sweet Escape.

The spokesman of Sazka Arena Zdenek Zikmund said that the concert hasn’t been confirmed yet, therefore there are no tickets on sale, even though Stefani’s pages claim that the tickets will be available from 22nd May.

Gwen Stefani visited Prague in 1997 with her band No Doubt. This music band has issued 6 albums and made several unforgettable songs, such as Don’t Speak and Just A Girl. Gwen Stefani said to MTV that she was going to return to the band again.

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People on wheelchairs can't visit the Bodies...The Exhibition

Tuesday 29 May 2007 13:56

Bodies... The Exhibition Even though the exhibition Bodies… The Exhibition in Palac Lucerna in Prague is largely discussed in media, nobody stressed that the exhibition is not accessible for people on wheelchairs or mothers/fathers with prams. That’s the experience of Gabriela Knapova who is on a wheelchair and who was not let in the hall by the guards.

The organizers claim that the exhibition is not customized for people on wheelchairs and therefore there are some exhibits they cannot see. The second reason is that the hall in Palac Lucerna is not barrier-free.

There are many dance balls in the Lucerna palace people on wheelchairs can attend with the help of their friends. Petr Novak from Interkoncert agency, that organizes the exhibition, says that they would do their best to solve the situation and to make the exhibition accessible to everybody.

Updated: the exhibition is already accessible for people on wheelchair with a valid ticket. They can be accompanied with two people to help them.

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The camera system on Charles Bridge functions well

Tuesday 29 May 2007 12:21

A statue on Charles Bridge The security camera system on Charles Bridge has already brought results. The system alarmed the police officers 311 times in the first two months.

The alarm was set off mostly by tourists who tried to climb to the pedestal of the statues in order to make the best pictures on the bridge. However, the police also caught several vandals who tried to damage to statues.

The system was installed on the bridge in April this year. The reason for an increased security reasons is the damage of the inscription on the statue The Crucifix and the Calvary in January this year, later found on the bottom of the river.

Prague Castle will be closed on 5th June

Tuesday 29 May 2007 10:57

Prague Castle before the storm The most popular monument in Prague, Prague Castle, will be completely closed to the public next Tuesday 5th June 2007. The reason for that is the visit of the American president George W. Bush. Bush will have most of this political meetings just at Prague Castle.

Together with the Prague Castle, the street around it will be closed as well. If the president decides to go for a walk, people will be advised not to open windows or do any quick movements. One of Prague streets, Evropska, the one that connects the Prague airport with the centre of the city, will be closed as well.

The 850 people around the president will be accommodated in Hilton hotel, the place where Bush will stay is due to security reasons secret.

German writer Dagmar Geisler in Prague tomorrow

Monday 28 May 2007 17:10

Wanda from the book cover If you or your children like children books by German writer and illustrator Dagmar Geisler, then you have a special opportunity to get an autograph from her. She will be available in the Palac knih Luxor in the upper part of Wenceslas Square tomorrow from 14:00.

Dagmar Geisler is known thanks to her popular illustrated books, in the Czech Republic especially thanks to Vanda – prisne tajne (orig. Wanda – Streng Geheim!) or Vandiny tajne zapisky (Wandas geheime Notizen).

The organizers promise not only an interesting meeting with the writer but also other surprises.

Scandinavian plane made an emergency landing in Prague

Monday 28 May 2007 15:23

A plane of the Scandinavian Arlines company with 118 passengers on board made an emergency landing in Prague International Airport Ruzyne yesterday. The pilot sent an emergency signal after a smoke was reported from the cabin.

The plane landed safely at 16:25 local time, nobody was injured, said the spokeswoman of Prague International Airport Ruzyne Eva Krejci.

The mechanics checked the plane immediately after landing but they found only a minor defect. There was no fire on board. 20 minutes after landing the pilot cancelled the emergency state.

Demonstration rehearsal in Prague

Monday 28 May 2007 13:41

According to the police, about 1,000 people came to the Wenceslas Square last Saturday to demonstrate against the possible U.S. radar base in the Czech Republic. From there the people marched towards Charles Bridge and Prague Castle accompanied with large banners and the sounds of sirens, whistles and yells.

The initiative Ne zakladnam has organized many demonstrations in and outside Prague. This one was, according to the organizers, the rehearsal before the visit of the U.S. president George W. Bush. Several demonstrations have been already announced for the time of his stay.

It’s said that during the president’s visit, more than ten thousand policemen will guard Prague, especially Prague 1, 6 and 8. Several street (such as from Evropska street to Vitezne namesti in Prague 6) will be closed.

Festival Farm 2007 in Prague

Monday 28 May 2007 12:02

Yesterday a unique drumbeat of the South Korean Dulsori opened the five-day festival Farma 2007 in Svandovo theatre (Stefanikova 57) in Prague. The festival is held within the project ‘Search for Message’.

The theatre studio ‘Farma v jeskyni’ invited many world’s best artists whose performances are on the edge of theatre and other art genres. The festival will offer e.g. the performance ‘The codes of life” by Charlotta Ofverholm from Sweden or Odin Teatret from Denmark.

The festival will continue until 31st May. Besides Svandovo theatre, it takes place in the nearby studio in Preslova 9 street or the nearby area of Prague 5. For more info click here.

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