As you might have noticed, certain strange things started happening recently. For example, I was able to recognize the class and nickname (!) of a locomotive just by looking at it. Or I knew where you could get by train directly from Prague, and/or where you had to change trains in order to get somewhere around Europe. And few photos appeared on my facebook profile, and their only motive was a train (the description contained the class number and the nickname, of course). And, what probably most bothered you, I started talking to you about railways more and more often.
That sums up my new hobby: trains. It is as unexplainable as being a fan of a certain sport club - the less you know why you are doing it, the more enthusiastic you are about it.
It is quite possible I am growing crazy right now. Please keep a close eye on me and if I get too obnoxious or obsessed with it, tell me ASAP. But for now, there are very few things that got me away from my (very comfy, thinking about it now) computer chair in the last few weeks - a camera and a busy railroad within cycling distance is one of them. Expect more pics soon!
P.S. If any of you by some weird chance own a DSLR sensor cleaning set that I could borrow, please let me know.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
On an International Scandal
Sueddeutsche Zeitung (GER)
Le Monde (FRA)
Le Temps (CH)
MF Dnes (CZ)
F*** Paroubek, Communists, Tlusty, Schwippel and the two green b****es.
Le Monde (FRA)
Le Temps (CH)
MF Dnes (CZ)
F*** Paroubek, Communists, Tlusty, Schwippel and the two green b****es.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
On the Velvet Revolution
Hey! A post! It's been some time, hasn't it?
First of all, this post is intended mainly for my Czech readers, but actually I don't think I have any other than them, and I will also try to keep it comprehensible for everyone, even if the main idea might remain hidden for those who don't know what the Velvet Revolution is.
So. (If you don't have much time, skip the first paragraph (or leave it for later))
Our History lessons , as they proceed along the historical timeline on and on, entered the 20th century some time ago. Our teacher specializes in that part of history, and so she decided she will give us some individual homework for it. That way, I got to create two papers, or maybe reports or even essays, I am not quite sure what the English term for what the Czechs call "referat" actually is. One of them was about two people important for Czech history in the 20th century, and the other was supposed to be about some sort of unsolved but still important Czech problem from recent history, a so called skeleton in the cupboard ("kostlivec ve skrini" would be the Czech metaphor for that). The people aren't that important, but my choice of this "skeleton" turned out to be very inspiring indeed.
I wrote my paper about Ludvik Zifcak. He was a secret agent of the StB, the communist internal intelligence service which was infamous for various acts of terrorism, torture, political imprisonments and other nasty things. Now as I said before, I hope you know what the Velvet revolution is - in short, it is a revolution which took place in (former) Czechoslovakia in winter 1989 - spring 1990, and essentially changed this country from a communist and totalitarian regime to a democracy. And what do Ludvik Zifcak and the StB have in common with it? Probably more than you would expect.
The first and most important part of the revolution was a student demonstration on 17th November 1989, which was peaceful (even though not legal to the extent it was carried out to), but on "Narodni trida", close to Wenceslas Square, was stopped, surrounded by state police and brutally dissolved. That's the moment things started changing - more demonstrations, general strike, new government, another new government, new president, free elections, democracy.
The problem lies in the first demonstration. Some people say that the StB actually had reasons for letting it happen exactly the way it happened, that means leading the people to Narodni trida and beating them up (and even spreading a rumor about a student dying in the fray - that student was to be played on Narodni trida by Zifcak). Among these people is Vaclav Bartuska, a student who attended the demonstration and was later a member of a commitee that was supposed to supervise the investigation of the events of 17th November. And this guy has got some proof for that - if you want to learn more, just read his book "Polojasno" ("Partly Cloudy" or "Partly Clear", but I guess it wasn't translated to English anyway).
Of course you can choose not to believe that - but then you have to deal with some facts - for example photos of the demonstration which show Zifcak among the people leading the demonstration, or Zifcak's interrogation, in which he uncovered the whole conspiracy.
Now to the main idea. I do not want to force you to believe some conspiratorial theories. But two things are quite clear:
1) We will never learn the full truth about the revolution. There are so many questions to which answers are known only by people who will never share them - because it would harm them or someone else, like the Bohemian-Moravian Communist Party.
2)Perhaps more importantly - the Velvet revolution was not an idealistic peaceful change from dictatorship to democracy. It was not so that dissidents decided OK, let's do it, and convinced the people to demonstrate again and again and to go on strike. I would like to use a metaphor here:
I think people tend to believe that it was like a chess game between the good and the evil - the nation being the pawns on the good side, the dissidents among the other pieces (and Vaclav Havel being the good king). But actually, I think a more realistic chess game would be between the gray and the red, where all the dissidents and ordinary people are just like the queen on the gray side, but all the other pieces are someone else - the revolution could never take place without many other events and circumstances - such as political liberalization in Hungary, but also supposed internal communist disputes, or disputes between the USSR and Czechoslovakia. Of course, the red side couldn't be beaten without the gray queen (most probably), but the queen surely couldn't win alone. And it has not been the victory of the good side, it has been the victory of everyone who wasn't directly associated with the regime (therefore gray vs red). That's why we now have StB agents all over government institutions and offices, and communists aren't banned, and so on.
Had I been a student who took part in the revolution, with all my democratic ideals, I would have been extremely angry about that. The only reason why I am not is that for me, the Velvet Revolution is history. It is an event, an important one, but just as important to me as any other historical event of the same format, like, for example, the opposite of the Velvet Revolution, 25th February 1948, when the communists took over. It might seem frightening, as for people who did live through the revolution I can imagine that their view is completely different. But I suppose that is how the future generation will consider this revolution, and everyone will have to get used to it.
Wow, I actually managed to write down the idea I wanted to... but probably in an incomprehensible way. Anyway, if you are reading this, you must be a hardcore reader of my blog :-D Thank you for that.
P. S. my paper (in Czech) is available at http://uloz.to/1440400/zifcak.doc
If any of you actually read that, you win a free "kobliha" for being a super crazy maniac hardcore reader. Just let me know you did it.
First of all, this post is intended mainly for my Czech readers, but actually I don't think I have any other than them, and I will also try to keep it comprehensible for everyone, even if the main idea might remain hidden for those who don't know what the Velvet Revolution is.
So. (If you don't have much time, skip the first paragraph (or leave it for later))
Our History lessons , as they proceed along the historical timeline on and on, entered the 20th century some time ago. Our teacher specializes in that part of history, and so she decided she will give us some individual homework for it. That way, I got to create two papers, or maybe reports or even essays, I am not quite sure what the English term for what the Czechs call "referat" actually is. One of them was about two people important for Czech history in the 20th century, and the other was supposed to be about some sort of unsolved but still important Czech problem from recent history, a so called skeleton in the cupboard ("kostlivec ve skrini" would be the Czech metaphor for that). The people aren't that important, but my choice of this "skeleton" turned out to be very inspiring indeed.
I wrote my paper about Ludvik Zifcak. He was a secret agent of the StB, the communist internal intelligence service which was infamous for various acts of terrorism, torture, political imprisonments and other nasty things. Now as I said before, I hope you know what the Velvet revolution is - in short, it is a revolution which took place in (former) Czechoslovakia in winter 1989 - spring 1990, and essentially changed this country from a communist and totalitarian regime to a democracy. And what do Ludvik Zifcak and the StB have in common with it? Probably more than you would expect.
The first and most important part of the revolution was a student demonstration on 17th November 1989, which was peaceful (even though not legal to the extent it was carried out to), but on "Narodni trida", close to Wenceslas Square, was stopped, surrounded by state police and brutally dissolved. That's the moment things started changing - more demonstrations, general strike, new government, another new government, new president, free elections, democracy.
The problem lies in the first demonstration. Some people say that the StB actually had reasons for letting it happen exactly the way it happened, that means leading the people to Narodni trida and beating them up (and even spreading a rumor about a student dying in the fray - that student was to be played on Narodni trida by Zifcak). Among these people is Vaclav Bartuska, a student who attended the demonstration and was later a member of a commitee that was supposed to supervise the investigation of the events of 17th November. And this guy has got some proof for that - if you want to learn more, just read his book "Polojasno" ("Partly Cloudy" or "Partly Clear", but I guess it wasn't translated to English anyway).
Of course you can choose not to believe that - but then you have to deal with some facts - for example photos of the demonstration which show Zifcak among the people leading the demonstration, or Zifcak's interrogation, in which he uncovered the whole conspiracy.
Now to the main idea. I do not want to force you to believe some conspiratorial theories. But two things are quite clear:
1) We will never learn the full truth about the revolution. There are so many questions to which answers are known only by people who will never share them - because it would harm them or someone else, like the Bohemian-Moravian Communist Party.
2)Perhaps more importantly - the Velvet revolution was not an idealistic peaceful change from dictatorship to democracy. It was not so that dissidents decided OK, let's do it, and convinced the people to demonstrate again and again and to go on strike. I would like to use a metaphor here:
I think people tend to believe that it was like a chess game between the good and the evil - the nation being the pawns on the good side, the dissidents among the other pieces (and Vaclav Havel being the good king). But actually, I think a more realistic chess game would be between the gray and the red, where all the dissidents and ordinary people are just like the queen on the gray side, but all the other pieces are someone else - the revolution could never take place without many other events and circumstances - such as political liberalization in Hungary, but also supposed internal communist disputes, or disputes between the USSR and Czechoslovakia. Of course, the red side couldn't be beaten without the gray queen (most probably), but the queen surely couldn't win alone. And it has not been the victory of the good side, it has been the victory of everyone who wasn't directly associated with the regime (therefore gray vs red). That's why we now have StB agents all over government institutions and offices, and communists aren't banned, and so on.
Had I been a student who took part in the revolution, with all my democratic ideals, I would have been extremely angry about that. The only reason why I am not is that for me, the Velvet Revolution is history. It is an event, an important one, but just as important to me as any other historical event of the same format, like, for example, the opposite of the Velvet Revolution, 25th February 1948, when the communists took over. It might seem frightening, as for people who did live through the revolution I can imagine that their view is completely different. But I suppose that is how the future generation will consider this revolution, and everyone will have to get used to it.
Wow, I actually managed to write down the idea I wanted to... but probably in an incomprehensible way. Anyway, if you are reading this, you must be a hardcore reader of my blog :-D Thank you for that.
P. S. my paper (in Czech) is available at http://uloz.to/1440400/zifcak.doc
If any of you actually read that, you win a free "kobliha" for being a super crazy maniac hardcore reader. Just let me know you did it.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
On Healthy Society (Because It Is Inevitable)
Originally, maybe a few months ago, maybe a few years, "healthy society" had a very peaceful, harmless and let's say impersonal meaning. That meaning is now irrelevant - the reasons will be explained below.
Due to some unprecedented mistakes I have made, "healthy society" changed its meaning and became a very vague and probably useless term. It also became public for the first time. Apparently, that was one of the reasons for the downfall of that phrase. Later on, without any further interference of mine, "healthy society" shifted meanings over and over again. It started a life of its own. I cannot say all of the definitions were bad, but they were not even close to the original. There have even been attempts of some sort of rehabilitation, but still.
Nowadays, "healthy society" is quite peaceful again, but still does not resemble the original in any way. It has become very personal and describes things that have almost no connection to the first definition.
One more thing, which I need to mention in order to help myself calm down and get going:
"Healthy society" (the phrase itself, not the contents or any of the meanings it has gained over time) has been one of the reasons for the landing described in one of my older posts. And I have a reason to think it was also one of the causes of the takeoff itself (but in one of the older meanings). That is the main reason "healthy society" became a very personal and many times harmful thought. It is one of my greatest regrets - publishing the phrase, and letting it wander away from its original meaning.
(...)
January has been quite a nice month, with skiing, ice skating and some dancing as well. One would leave the school out, but you can't really do that, can you? :-/. And looking at the rest of the school year: end of February (three weeks) - a week long holiday, then one month till Easter, another one and we have a week of the so called "Sport Course" and the final exams week, and that's the end of May - that means summer and the main holidays are getting closer! W00t!
Due to some unprecedented mistakes I have made, "healthy society" changed its meaning and became a very vague and probably useless term. It also became public for the first time. Apparently, that was one of the reasons for the downfall of that phrase. Later on, without any further interference of mine, "healthy society" shifted meanings over and over again. It started a life of its own. I cannot say all of the definitions were bad, but they were not even close to the original. There have even been attempts of some sort of rehabilitation, but still.
Nowadays, "healthy society" is quite peaceful again, but still does not resemble the original in any way. It has become very personal and describes things that have almost no connection to the first definition.
One more thing, which I need to mention in order to help myself calm down and get going:
"Healthy society" (the phrase itself, not the contents or any of the meanings it has gained over time) has been one of the reasons for the landing described in one of my older posts. And I have a reason to think it was also one of the causes of the takeoff itself (but in one of the older meanings). That is the main reason "healthy society" became a very personal and many times harmful thought. It is one of my greatest regrets - publishing the phrase, and letting it wander away from its original meaning.
(...)
January has been quite a nice month, with skiing, ice skating and some dancing as well. One would leave the school out, but you can't really do that, can you? :-/. And looking at the rest of the school year: end of February (three weeks) - a week long holiday, then one month till Easter, another one and we have a week of the so called "Sport Course" and the final exams week, and that's the end of May - that means summer and the main holidays are getting closer! W00t!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
On the Absurdity of Dada
stream
parish
iceberg
bridge
drive
friends
byte
disease
XMAS
Japan
time
youth
castle
danger
grass
flood
ecoterrorism
snow
A Cliff, VII.B
parish
iceberg
bridge
drive
friends
byte
disease
XMAS
Japan
time
youth
castle
danger
grass
flood
ecoterrorism
snow
A Cliff, VII.B
Sunday, January 4, 2009
On Friends
Have you ever stayed up till quarter past five AM alone?
Have you ever gone ice-skating in the dark alone?
Have you ever asked a policeman stupid questions alone?
Have you ever taken funny pictures of yourself, posing with an apple, alone?
See what I mean? But sometimes you don't even need to do unusual things. For me, it's often enough just to sit down and talk and talk and talk... And I feel fine, I feel like it's the only thing I need.
What would my life be without that?
A big thank you to everyone who makes this world a better place for me to live in.
Have you ever gone ice-skating in the dark alone?
Have you ever asked a policeman stupid questions alone?
Have you ever taken funny pictures of yourself, posing with an apple, alone?
See what I mean? But sometimes you don't even need to do unusual things. For me, it's often enough just to sit down and talk and talk and talk... And I feel fine, I feel like it's the only thing I need.
What would my life be without that?
A big thank you to everyone who makes this world a better place for me to live in.
Friday, December 19, 2008
A Landing
Flying is nice, you know? But if you look on the other side, it's cold, windy like hell and the turbulence makes you feel sick. And when there's overcast and your view is obstructed by clouds, then nothing is there left for you to enjoy. And that, my friends, is the time to land. Refuel, wait for the clouds to break apart, and see if there are any places you could fly to next.
Overall, flying has been a very pleasant experience. I am grateful that everything worked out fine and that the flight was possible. And I am so glad the weather didn't get as bad as to cause an emergency landing or even force a pilot ejection and crash.
Overall, flying has been a very pleasant experience. I am grateful that everything worked out fine and that the flight was possible. And I am so glad the weather didn't get as bad as to cause an emergency landing or even force a pilot ejection and crash.
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