Nazca

I took this picture this spring during approaching to Munich airport. It just reminds me of an abstract painting. Kind of Nazca :-).


Foceno na jare pri priblizovani na pristani v Mnichove. Trochu jako abstraktni obraz. Neco jako Nazca :-).

Pics from Cyprus / Obrazky z Kypru

Corporate training in Cypurs which we prolonged a little bit in order to enjoy the end of summer there (or autumn?). Sea was warm enough for swimming. Meanwhile the temperature in Prague was round zero. That's the part of the value :-).
Firemni skoleni na Kypru, ktere jsme si trosku protahli, abychom uzili konce leta (ci podzimu?). Zatimco v Praze bylo kolem nuly, v mori se dalo krasne koupat. I to na tom bylo dobre :-).

At the hotel / U hotelu

Good for "Save as Desktop Background" / Dobre pro ulozeni na plochu

Pelican? / Pelikan?

Ruins of Aphrodite's temple (if I remember it right) / Zbytky Afroditina chramu (myslim)


Gusts

unnamed / bez nazvu

unnamed / bez nazvu

Choose / Vyberte si

After coming back home from Cyprus and Milan I started sorting all pictures I took this year. I chosed some I like most (which is not the same as picking "the best"). After all - I like most he two followin . Somehow I cannot decide which I like more - so would you help me?


V navaznosti na pobyvani a foceni na Kypru a v Milane jsem si prochazel a poradal fotky z tohoto roku a hledal ty, ktere se mi libi nejvice (chtel jsem napsat nejlepsi, ale tyhle dve mnoziny nemuseji byt totozne). Mezi vsemi to vyhraly tyhle dve. Ale nejak nevim, ktera je hezci. Co soudite vy?

Toilette at work

Just a reminder that people are mentally busy obviously even at the toilette.
Or is there anything more? Something that could really count?

• Even though drinking tea and peeing are in certain way related to each other they should not be done at one moment.
• Do what you do properly. And one thing at a time (unless you are a woman).
• Do what you do thinkfully. You may disgust other people.
• Use anonymous white cup instead of your personal ones which is easily recognizable - otherwise your absence of mind can be uncovered quickly.

Samota tizi

Odposlechnuto dnes v autobuse MHD kolem ctvrte hodiny odpoledni od dvou postarsich rybaru, kteri vystupovali na stanici Rasnovka. Tedy od jednoho, ktery del k tomu druhemu:
"Samota nemusi byt obcas vubec spatna.
Staci se nekolikrat ozenit.
A pak ma clovek na "samota tizi" z inzeratu uplne jiny nazor."

The King and the Queen / Kral a kralovna

The picture depicts two vases from a limited series of 999 pieces produced by Moser. I saw them last weekend at an exhibition in The Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague. Well if you just have some 30 minutes - it is really worth it.

Na obrazku jsou dve vazy z limitovane serie 999 kusu, ktere vyrobila sklarna Moser. Videl jsem je minuly vikend na vystav v Umeleckoprumyslovem muzeu - pokud mate aspon 30 minut, urcite to stoji za to.

God's Gonna Cut You Down

You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, The gambler, The back biter
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down

(no comment this time)

Points missed

Sometimes comments are what really counts... My dear anonymous contributor made me to use this comment as a starting point of another contribution. The original comments is written in italic.

Yet again there seems like a point is missed. A friend of mine always says "assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups"... Yes, there are many jokes on that. Especially related to economists. But of course: there is nothing wrong with assumptions. The problems always occurs when the assumption is uncoscious or well hidden. And that may be the reason why people uncovering assumptions are so interesting.

I am not saying that working in the private sector is not adding value to the society or is less efficient than the public. My point is aiming for a more general state of mind, how we look upon our surroundings and our being inside of that. I like abstract discussion. However sometimes it is also important to fully disclose the privat motivation or current circumstances which made us to open the respective topic. And I will try to do that later on.

Bells from Slovakia

I still have no conclusion but my question is more conretely (since I guess you want me to rephrase it): Is egoism really the answer to creating a good, valuable and if you want efficient society? Good question. My answer: to be honest, I dont know.

Not only because I would need a clear definition of egoism to be able to fairly answer the question. The other reason is that I dont know the other potential answers. This should not be regarded as opportunism ("if I dont have any other option I choose the one I have") but rather as an expression of real care. I am keen on contributing to the society. And it is really important to me. If I dont see other option I would probably vote for the proposed one even though I am not sure of that.

And I always become quite hesitating when being asked for support of any kind of collectivism - it is just a result of our historical experience which made for many people anything that could be marked as linked to collectivism highly suspicious. What is even worse is that the experience (and/or its consequences) are hampering us from objective reasoning on collectivism or egoism. Scandinavian experience is quite different I guess.

Second thing is that I do not call the will to work in the public sector, which to a great deal of people is not satisfying and enriching, egeoism/individualism. But ALWAYS putting your own will and needs in front of others is egoism but this is getting to far from the issue.

I dont think I understood the first sentence. So let me deal with the second one: to be honest I am convinced that most of things most people do is closely related to their satisfaction. Even doing something that can be valued as difficult, hard etc. can be satisfying. I dont think that there are many examples of deeds which would be done just on behalf of other without any sign of satisfaction. I even believe that such things happen only under really exceptional circumstances (e.g. you see somebody laying on a street and provide him with first aid - just automatically, without reasoning). This belief does not come from looking for arguments for egoism or so. And it even - at least in my eyes - does not decrease the value of work done by people in charity and the like.

I just wanted to point out that if you are really disappointed in how things you basically have these two options; 1. Complain about it and be angry and miserable, 2. Do something about it even if it will cost you a bit (maybe lower income???)

True. But let me add something: There is option 2a and 2b. 2a - do it immediately without thorough analysis. 2b - do it wisely. Example: my former co-worker become a deputy minister of the ministry of foreign affairs with 8-years experience in consulting including servic public sector clients including ministry of foreign affairs. This way he did not only enjoyed all the benefits of private sector but also is now in a position when he can really contribute to the ministry. Second example: if I am right Warren Buffet does not spend much on charity. He said that he would give most of his enormous wealth to charity after his death - this way the amount given to charity will the biggest possible.

Museum of Oravian village

So, if all the well educated people prefer to go for option one while they might have resources (physical, intellectual, charsimatical etc) to go for number 2 and make the foreign policy as Petr Robesjek would like them, then are they really the smart ones?
Or are they just shortsighted egoists not willing to work for change despite having the resources for it?
Here is maybe the crucial point. I dont think they would really have the resources: usually the public sector in the Czech republic (it could be different for instance in Nordic countries) is not ready for really exploiting the value of "young well educated". Usually if young people join public sector they work on stuff related to EU - which is usually managed by departments of mainly young people. So they are not hindered by all other rather older officers (this is sort of generalization but let's neglect it for the time being) who are afraid of their positions. One practical example: a friend of friend of mine joined one of Czech ministries (after his contract had been signed). It took 3 weeks to provide him with his computer and it took another 3 weeks to be told what he was supposed to do. When I joined my company I was given the computer in the morning of the first day and I jumped directly into a project. My contract was signed two weeks later... You may say that one should try to change the routines of the ministry - but my practical experience is that unless you are a deputy minister it doesnt made any sense.
So to conclude: I do believe that in general you are rather right. But the reality does not always look like "general".
I know why you prefer to work in the public sector and in your case I also think I understand why but I wont post it here in public....
Could you share it with me privately?
This is putting it quite harshly and I know it is not that simple in reality. What I want to say is that I prefer action to bitterness and counting the value of everyone and not only the assumed smart ones....

Everything counts...
I do what I can do. So that is why I was (and stil am) so much involved with ESN: I did something what I enjoyed and where I really could see some results. And one of the reasons I really enjoyed that was that the impact of what I did had quite broad scope - I did it on behalf of others.

PS Why then??? (they say curiousity killed the cat but luckily Im a bitch...)
You may guess. My personality is not that complex :-).

Hodnoty / Values

"The world as you can see from Rip" (mythical mountain/hill in Bohemia which is said to be the hill from which the mythical Czech grandfather oversaw the land and chose it as our homeland) is a book I read during my vaccation.

It is written by Petr Robejsek a political scientists with very sharp and clear opinions especially on foreign policy. Unfortunately it is all in Czech, however at least couple of thoughts or quotes from his book are worth sharing.
"Modern foreign policy must meet the highest requirements regarding its speed, adaptability and originality" (p.173). May seem obvious but making this dream come true is not that simple. For instance one of the obstacles which, in my opinion, especially post-communistic countries are facing is the fact that for such qualities of your foreign policy you need welel educated and smart people. But they usually prefer much better paid positions in the private sector.

However, the performance of foreign trade (which highly influences the output of the private sector) is quite affected by the foreign economic policy. Sort of vicious circle.

Talking about this foreign policy related issues always reminds me of the set of values of Estonian Ministry of Foreign affairs. And the interesting emotion I experienced when reading it for the first time - "God, this is the way the things should be".

Park v Ceskem Krumlove / Park in Cesky Krumlov

O dovolene jsem takrka jednim dechem prelouskal knizku Petra Robejska Svet videny z Ripu. Kdyz uz pro nic jineho, jsou v ni pekne citatky, alespon na ukazku:

• "V roce 1939 prohlasil admiral C.Woodward: 'Potopit lod pomoci bomby? To je proste nemozne.' Par mesicu na to se Americane u Pearl Harboru presvedcili o krute mylce cackeho generala." (s.49)
• "Pred lety visel na tabuli v budove varsavske univerzit nasledujici inzerat: 'Vymenim malo pouzivanou suverenitu za lepsi zemepisnou polohu.' " (s.53)
• "Nemame zadne vecne spojence a zadne trvale nepratele. Nase zajmy jsou vecne a je nasi povinnosti temto zajmum slouzit. Britsky ministr zahranici Henry Palmerstone (1784-1866)"

Ale vazneji. Libi se mi jeho slova o tom, ze "Moderni zahranicni politika musi splnovat nejvyssi pozadavky ohledne rychlosti, prizpusobovosti a originality" (s. 173). Pri tom si vzdy vzpomenu na "aha" moment, ktery jsem zazil, kdyz jsem se dostal na stranky estonskeho ministerstva zahranici. Vice bych to nerozvadel, protoze by mi zase stoupnul tlak a tak.
A tak aspon jedna tucne vytistena poznamka od Robejska sameho: "S jinymi staty spolupracujeme proto, ze mame (docasne) stejne zajmy, nikoliv proto, ze jsme cleny stejneho spolku. Spolek je pouze jeden ze zpusobu spoluprace, nikoliv jeji nutny predpoklad."

Krasa zkazy / Beauty of doom

Beauty and majesty can be found in various places. Especially when you know that no one was hurt. Reminder of lost fights of ancient giants...

Krasu a majestatnost lze nalezt leckde. Zvlaste kdyz nikdo nezemrel. Pripominka hrdinnych boju davnych obru...

Death's voice / Hlas smrti

I started using last.fm again recently. It is quite interesting how broad is my taste: from death metal (I especially like the vocal of Death's singer) to a style which name I don't know. Nevertheless Smog (or Bill Callahan) is something worth listening.
And a little funny musical disaster - No Limits in a slightly different way.
P.S. Well, it is not that bad with me :-). Here is a little proof: great music and movie. Leonard Cohen - In My Secret Life.


V posledni dobe jsem se vratil k poslouchani hudby na last.fm. Hle, muj hudebni vkus v cele sve siri: od death metalu (hlavne hlas, da-li se to tak nazvat, zpevaka skupiny Death je hodne zajimavy) ke stylu, jehoz jmeno mi je utajeno. Kazdopadne zpevak Smog (Bill Callahan) je rozhodne hoden aspon kratkeho poslechnuti.
A na zaver jedno lehce bizarni video - aneb No Limits trosku jinak.
P.S. Abyste snad neupadli v podezreni, ze to se mnou jde zu grunt, tak neco relativne normalinho s vytecnym klipem: Leonard Cohen - In My Secret Life.

Tisicihlava san

Kdysi davno jsem ucinil nekolik zkusenosti s Cizineckou policii na Olsanske. Zaver byl zhruba takovy, ze vedle Ceskych drah takovou instituci aby u nas pohledal. Jinak receno: kdyz u nas cizince nechceme (coz si lze dovodit ze zpusobu fungovani zmineneho), proste jim zakazme vstup smahem, a usetrime jim spoustu nervu a nam platy posuku z CP.
Zkratka: jestli jste se dlouho nestydeli, zajdete si na Olsanskou (nebo kam se to ted chodi) a budete se cervenat az na mistech, o kterych zatim nevite, ze je mate.

Tuhle erupci stareho vzteku ve mne vyvolal pekny clanecek popisujici souzeni jine obeti. Na ukazku vybiram:

"Je kupodivu že ani tak jednoduchou větu jako „Miss XXX XXXX does not have any criminal records and does not endangering peace and order in XXX" si cizinecká policie nepřeloží. K žádosti musí být přiloženy i takové ptákoviny jako nájemní smlouva mezi přítelkyní a mými rodiči jakožto vlastníky nemovitosti, výpis z katastru nemovitostí atd. "

"Pár rad na závěr:
1. Komunikujte s policii pouze písemně, jinak zapřou nos mezi očima.
(...)
4. Mějte za dveřmi připravenou násadu od krumpáče nebo psa bojového plemene, kdyby je náhodou v 7 večer napadlo přijít se bez soudního povolení podívat kde přítelkyně bydlí a dožadovali se vstupu do domu se slovy „Buď nás tam pustíte nebo budete mít problémy“.
5. Když Vám policista při vyřizování víza bude tvrdit „že je to složité“ a cpát Vám číslo na „agenturu“ která Vám za „poplatek“ vízum vyřídí, vězte že se dovoláte občanovi Ukrajiny, Bulharska nebo Albánie, bude vás to stát několik tisíc a v podstatě se jedná o úplatek, protože se kluci dobře znají a kredity si rozdělí. "

A jedna rada primo z komentaru (evidentne od praktika):
"Rada k nezaplaceni, ale dam ji zadarmo:Az pujdete ne CP neco vyrizovat, vezmete si tak 2 az 3 poradova cisla. Ono je to tak trochu loterie. Rozumny urednik vec vyridi, nerozumny zamitne nebo si navymysli blbosti a lejster az na pudu. Kdyz zamitne, jdete s dalsim poradovym cislem k nekomu jinemu. Dve tretiny jsou celkem vstricni, kdyz vidi, ze z veci nemuze byt pruser, tretina jsou paka neschopna ucinit jakekoliv vlastni rozhodnuti. Pravdepodobnost, ze narazite trikrat na blbce, je vcelku zanedbatelna. Jeste se to nestalo. V nejhorsim pujdete jeste jednou...."

Mame tohle zapotreb?

Butcher's hands / Ruce reznikovy

Firing people (or "downsizing") is also a part of consultant's work. Why are we doing this (and after all enjoying it)? The feeling of power is among the reasons. Hands covered with blood: some calculation is done and the workforce smaller by 20 %. A quick job. I am saying to myself that I save money of taxpayers (or shareholders, depends on the client). And that I am not taking someone's work, but that someone had a job he or she didn't have the right to have.

So this is what I am saying to myself. I am just afraid that I will change my opinion (or a feeling) one day and then it really won't be a nice day. One thing is what you are saying to yourself the other thing is what is happening to other people.
For the time being I am sort of cynically enjoying it. I am just wondering how would I feel if one of those fired would like to beat me up. As a mental exercise it is not bad after all - thinking of such hypothethical events.


I propousteni lidi je prace konzultantova. Proc tuhle praci delame? I pro ten pocit moci. Ruce od krve: trocha pocitani nad tabulkami a dvacet procent lidi je pryc. Raz dva. Rikam si, ze zefektivnuji organizace a setrim penize danovych poplatniku (nebo akcionaru, zalezi na klientovi). A ze to neni tak, ze bych snad nekomu bral praci, na kterou ma narok, ale ze dosud mel praci, na kterou narok nemel.

Tak takhle si to rikam. Jen se desim, abych jednoho krasneho dne svuj nazor (ci spise pocit) nezmenil, protoze z toho by mi pak dobre nebylo. Jedna vec je, co si rikam, druha, co se nekomu deje a jak se citi.
Prozatim z toho vseho nemam spatne pocity, naopak mam takov cynicky pocit z dobre vykonane prace. Jen me zajima, jaky bych mel pocit, kdyby si nekdo z tech propustenych nekde na me pockal a rozbil mi usta. Jako mentalni cviceni nejsou uvahy o takovych potencialnich udalostech vubec spatne.

Hodne stesti!

Hodne stesti, Martine!

Dojit

Tak tohle ("nemusi iba stale tahat kravske struky") se proste musi videt. Kdo jste sledoval Eso nekdy v prvni pulce devadesatych let, tak si vzpomenete. Unbelievable. :-).

Lidska dustojnost / Human Dignity

You may have noticed that under "REFLECTIONS" you can find links to various blogs. The true is that I read just some of them (well, mostly Idees Fixes unfortunately just in Czech). So the others were put there just to have a link there to a potentially interesting site.

So today I finally had time to read the Mart Laar's blog - he is a former Estonian prime minister. To encourage you to have a look on his contributions let me quote from his blog:

"I have never understood why the free World is still so much following the ideas of Karl Marx, which means that there are surprisingly lot of remnants of Marxism in the Western realities. One of them is progressive taxation. In their “Communist Manifesto”, first published in 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels demanded “a heavy progressive or graduated income tax”. For the founders of Marxism progressive taxation was so important that in their demands it was listed as second in importance only after the “abolition of property in land”. When the destructive nature of the first demands is largely recognized, then the nest main pillar of Marxist thinking is used in most Western countries. In long run the results of this can be very destructive too. Taking from human being one of the most valuable abilities: to make its own decisions, use its talents, to be creative and innovative, their human dignity is strongly endangered."



Asi jste si vsimli, ze pod "REFLEXTIONS" jsou umisteny odkazy na rozlicne blogy. Faktem je, ze ctu jen nektere (najme Idees Fixes). Ostatni jsou tam jen proto, ze jsem se nekde dostal k odkazu a proste ho dal na blog. A ted jsem se dostal k blogu Marta Laara, byvaleho estonskeho premiera. Jako drobne navnadeni prikladam preklad casti jeho prispevku.

"Nikdy jsem nechapal, proc svobodny svet stale tolik nasleduje ideje Karla Marxe, tj. proc je v zapadnim svete tolik pozustatku marxismu. Jednim z nich je progresivni zdaneni. Ve svem 'Komunistickem manifestu', ktery byl publikovan v roce 1848, Karel Marx a Bedrich Engels pozadovali 'silne progresivni dan z prijmu'. Pro zakladatele marxismu bylo progresivni zdaneni natolik dulezite, ze ho mezi svymi pozadavky umistili na druhem miste hned za 'zrusenim pozemkoveho vlastnictvi'. Zatimco skodlivost prvniho pozadavku je siroce uznavana, druhy pozadavek je hojne vyuzivan ve vetsine zapadnich zemi. V dlouhodobem casovem meritku mohou byt dusledky tohoto opatreni stejne nicive. Brat lidske bytosti jednu z nejdulezitejsich vlastnosti - delat vlastni rozhodnuti, vyuzivat sveho nadani, byt kreativni a inovativni - znamena, ze lidska dustojnost je ohrozena."

19. století v nás

Narazil jsem na pekny rozhovor o vyznamu 19.stoleti.

Co z toho? Nejspis ona struktura zivota, ktera je tak hluboko... Kultura v nejsirsim slova smyslu. Spolecny jmenovatel (koho?, v jake mire?) ?A jen velmi malo prilezitosti videt tyhle hlubsi veci jakoby zvenku. Priopit se, vycestovat, filosovat?

Drobny citat:
"Kdybych to měl říct jednou větou nebo jedním sloganem (za co muze 19.stoleti), tak řeknu, že za vznik občanské společnosti. A pod tím sloganem občanská společnost se skrývá obrovská škála procesů, kterými jsme si museli projít, někdy dobrovolně, někdy násilně, aby z nás bylo to, co je dnes. To znamená, že uznáváme v politické sféře jakousi zastupitelskou demokracii, že uznáváme, že práce je součást našeho života. Že uznáváme, že rodina (i přes to komunistické období, kdy údajně měla být zrušena i rodina) je opravdu základní kámen této společnosti, že uznáváme stát. A také je naše existence založena na faktech, která teď jsou běžná a předtím běžná nebyla. To bych demonstroval na tom, že existuje třeba jednotný čas, protože 19. století zavedlo jednotný čas, a my jsme se tady na fakultě mohli sejít přesně v tu hodinu, kterou jste řekl. Myslím, že nejzajímavější je to, že se práce stala základní náplní lidského života, že rozdíl mezi přírodními kmeny, mnohdy ještě ve světě existujícími, a námi spočívá v tom, že třeba nepracujeme jen tehdy, když máme hlad, ale práce je systematická, je nám náplní života, také nás uspokojuje, někoho až moc, až se stane workoholikem. Takže denní a životní rytmus, rozdělení privátní sféry, rozdělení pracovní sféry, to všechno přineslo 19. století. To znamená, že v šest hodin jdete do továrny, tam máte píchačky, ty vám dovolí odejít až po osmi odpracovaných hodinách a pak se věnujete něčemu jinému. To všechno souvisí s 19. stoletím."

Pravda

Pavel Kosatik ve svem textu v HN za Janem Benešem pouzil peknou formulaci: "Jenže o tom, kdo má nebo nemá pravdu, se nehlasuje; i když se to nezdá pravděpodobné, může být "mimo" drtivá většina lidí. Kdo vyhrál, se vždycky ukáže až dodatečně."

Kdo je nejdulezitejsi? / Who is the most important?

All criteria are relative...
However... (Central) Europen point of view can make the impression that here is the middle of the world. According to Sean Maloney Intel's vicepresident for Sales and Marketing the most important person is 20 years old Asian woman.
"Question: How did you come to the minimal size of the screen to be 5 inches? Did you use some tests?
Answer: "Yes. I personally even think that minimum is 7 inches. But that portable device must always fit in a pocket. I am always saying that a 20 years old Asian woman must be comfortable with it - that is the biggest target group. You must ask: will a Chinese woman round 20 carry this this phone or player with her?"
So who do you think is the most important?

Kazde kriterium je relativni...
Kazdopadne (stredo)evropsky pohled svadi k domnence, ze prave tady je stred sveta. Viceprezident Intelu pro marketing a prodej to vidi trosku jinak.
V rozhovoru v Hospodarskych novinach rika:
"Otazka: Jak jste přišel na tu minimální velikost obrazovky pět palců? Nějakými testy?
Odpoved: Ano. Osobně si dokonce myslím, že minimum je sedm palců. Ovšem musíte dodržet podmínku, že se to přenosné zařízení musí vejít do kapsy. Vždy říkám, že to zařízení musí vyhovovat dvacetileté Asiatce - to je největší cílová skupina. Musíte se ptát: bude ten telefon nebo přehrávač nosit čínská žena kolem dvacítky s sebou?"
Tak co, kdo je nejdulezitejsi?

70 km - 14 h

Such a distance, more or less that time (there is 1,5 h of breaks included). And more than a week of pain in some part of legs and feet.

Just a little explanation: the march to Prcice is one of the most famous touristic/sport events in the Czech Republic. It was already its 42nd round this year. There are several routes you can choose from - the shortest one is 14 km, the longest one is 70 km.

I've been interested in going to Prcice for two years alredy or so but always something hapenned what had prevented me from going there (i.e. I didn't have the gutts). But this time I had told about that to so many people that I was simply forced to do so (btw: this approach works quite well for instance when you want to break).

Here are some comments (just a random set):

• the main problem was not the problem of being tired but pain of joints and during last 10-15 km also blisters,
• the beginning of the road is interesting especially due to architecture of new suburbs (usually featuring lack of taste), later on the landscape is what attracts attention,
• during first 40 km people walk rather in groups later they split,
• last 10 km were really critical - one was not only tortured by pain in various parts of the body but also by groups of people who walked just the shortest parts: families with little screaming children or groups of drunkards,
• well, one quite useful and inobvious piece of advice: if you are about to walk/run long distance it is wise to lubricate the area between you buttocks - you would never believe how much it can hurt because of friction after tens of kilometers (this time I was fine); it is also good to seal up nipples (again friction - this time with shirt),
• some pain killers may pay off - it is sort of doping...but what can I do, without three pills I wouldn't have make it,
• regarding food - hard to provide any valuable advice, I didn't eat all sandviches I prepared, on the other hand I ate all chockolate bars I had, I had three glasses of beer during the brakes and even one pickled sausage.

One question remains: why? Hard to say. Most likely to get the feeling that am able to make it. And also to walk in the nature. And to become more interesting and have something to write about :-). Everything counts.

Takova vzdalenost, takovy hruby cas (ve 14 h asi 1,5 h prestavek). A dele jak tyden trvajici bolest v nekterych partiich nohou (k tomu mirna hypochondrie).

Do Prcic jsem chtel jit uz asi tak dva tri roky, ale vzdycky do toho neco vlezlo (cti: vymekl jsem). Ale ted jsem to inzeroval tolika osobam, ze nebylo lze couvnout (tohle inzerovani neceho za ucelem dotlaceni sebe sama funguje napriklad pri rozchodech...). Par poznamek k celemu spektaklu, jak mi prichazeji na jazyk:

• hlavni obtize nesouvisely s unavou, ale s bolestmi kloubu a na poslednich 10-15 km i s puchyri,
• zacatek cesty je zajimavy diky architekture okoloprazskych satelitnich mestecek, pozdeji vladne krajina,
• tak prvnich 40 km se lide jaks taks drzi pohromade, pak se to zacne dost trhat,
• poslednich 10 km bylo kritickych, protoze k telesnym utrapam se pridalo psychicke stradani z rodinek s urvanymi parchanty a particek pivnich skautu (obe slo kratsi trate, takze meli energie na rozdavani),
• je to trochu zinantni, ale pokud se chystate na nejakou podobnou akci, doporucuji si promazat nejakym kremem to...no, proste mezi hyzdemi - kdyz se rozedrou, je to silena bolest,
• z podobneho ranku je i prelepeni bradavek (to jsem nakonec neudelal, ale siklo by so) - pro neduvtipne: zpocenost a trvale drhnuti o triko dokaze udelat sve,
• neni od veci si vzit s sebou prasky proti bolesti - moralne je to trochu pochybne, protoze se tim devalvuje cela kalvarie, ale co nadelam - bez tri ibalginu bych to asi nedosel,
• co se tyce stravy po ceste a v prubehu prestavek, nemam jednoznacne doporuceni - peclive pripravene bagety se syrem a salamem jsem nesnedl, docela mi smakovaly ruzne sladke tycinky, na jedne prestavce jsem si dal utopence, po ceste jsem mel i jedno velky a dve maly piva (desitky), zkratka si myslim, ze telo si rekne.

V tuto chvili bych asi nerekl, ze pujdu i pristi rok - hlavne kvuli mnoha asfaltovym cestam, ktere jsou dost unavne.

A samozrejme se nabizi otazka: proc to? Tezko rict. Asi ziskat to vedomi, ze na to mam. A taky se projit. A byt necim zajimavy a mit o cem psat :-). Everything counts.

Nesnesitelna lehkost... II / Unbearable lightness... II

Originally this article's name was "Technology, fears, and good hopes". But then I realized that it has quite a lot of to do with ony of my previous contributions...
Two issues related somehow to the technology that may be invented in the future.

You may know that one of the arguments of those who are rather against global warming countermeasures is that there will be some technologies invented in the future which will allow the manhood to deal with some of the unpleasant consequences of global warming in much more effective way than the technologies we have currently. Therefore they suggest not to do much now but rather wait for the future (because using the current technology would be too costly).
Another story: a friend of mine got married and she started considering having a baby with her husband. And then she realized that her grandmother become blind probably due to pregnancy. According to doctors there is also certain probability that the same would happen to my friend. So now she is rether considering an adoption.
But what if the medicine/science comes with some "countremeasures" to her potential diseas? That was my first idea - but being "a consultant" in these matters is something quite different to being the one who has to make the final decision.
Honestly, I am not sure how (whether) these two stories are somehow strongly linked to each other. What probably connects them is technology, fears, and good hopes. And the unbearable lightness of being...


Puvodne jsem chtel tenhle clanek nazvat "Technologie, obavy a nadeje". Ale uvedomil jsem si, ze ma dost co do cineni s jednim prispevkem z minulosti...
Dve temata, ktera maji neco spolecneho s technologiemi, ktere mohou byt vynalezeny teprve v budoucnosti.
Asi jste zaregistrovali, ze jednim z argumentu, kteri pouzivaji ti, kteri jsou v zasade proti protiopatrenim proti globalnimu oteplovani (a veci souvisejicich), je, ze v budoucnu budou vynalezeny technologie, ktere lidstvu umozni vyrovnat s nepriznivymi dopady globalniho oteplovani. A to mnohem efektivneji, nez by to umoznily technologie, ktere mame k dispozici nyni. Z toho duvodu doporucuji nyni neprijimat zadna protiopatreni, alebrz pockat do budoucnosti (protoze vyuziti soucasnych technologii by bylo prilis drahe).
Jiny pribeh: ma kamaradka se vdala a zacli s manzelem uvazovat o diteti. Pak si ovsem uvedomila, ze jeji babicky oslepla pravdepodobne v dusledku tehotenstvi/porodu. Podle lekaru je urcita pravdepodobnost, ze ji se stane totez.
Ale co kdyz medicina/veda prijde s nejakymi "protiopatrenimi" na jeji potencialni nemoc? Tohle byla asi prvni vec, ktera me napadla. Ale v tomto pripade, vice nez v jakem jinem, je role "konzultanta" dost odliseno od nutnosti skutecne se rozhodnout a ucinit rozhodnuti, ktere vas sameho ovlivni.
Nejsem si uplne jist, co spojuje tahle dve temata. Videl bych to na technologii, obavy a nadeje. A nebo nesnesitelnou lehkost byti...

Halík@People’s Papers

I ja jsem se zapojil do diskuse o vystave Bodies, ktera probiha v prazske Lucerne. Vyprovokovala me k tomu Martinova korespondence s prof. Halikem. A proto jsem jsme prispel jednim komentarem.

Backgrounds / Pozadi

Of what? / Ceho?

Everything counts...even the backgrounds you set on your desktop in the computer. The only issue is that I don't know how does it exactly counts. But I don't think you really care.
On the other hand what you may take care of is what YOU have on your desktop. So here is a little set of pics which many of I took intentionally to be used as backgrounds - last weekend when we went to Prague Botanical garder - to be used by me but I also thought of my blog readers (given there are any).
Maybe this bunch of pictures here just means that I am lacking meaningful words I could write - or maybe it just means that sometimes it is preferable to talk by pictures, gestures or other means.
Nevertheless - I have been already talking pretty enough. So - enjoy.

Vse se pocita...dokonce i pozadi, ktere mate nastaveno na plose pocitace. Jen jeste zjistit, jak se vlastne takove vec pocita (do ceho?). Ale to vas asi nemusi zajimat. Co by vas ovsem zajimat mohlo, je pozadi - ted mam na mysli jen to, ktere mate nastaveno na plose.
Takze predkladam k posouzeni mensi sadicku fotek, z nichz jsem vetsinu udelal jiz s umyslem, ze by se daly vyuzit jako pozadi - na mem pocitaci, ale myslel jsem i na ctenare sveho blogu (jsou-li jaci).
Mozna, ze tahla hromada obrazku je jen trapnym dukazem nedostatku vhodnych prezentovatelnych slov - anebo je to jen dukaz, ze nekdy je lepsi se vyjadrit obrazkem, gestem nebo jinym prostredkem.
At tak ci onak, uz kecam docela dost, takze zkratka a dobre - at se libi.

Let me know if you use any of them.

Kdybyste nahodou nejake pouzili, dejte mi vedet.

Basnicka licence a intelektualni ego II

Ve svem nedavnem prispevku jsem se neprilis pochvalne vyjadroval o prvni dile serialu Silver A.
Slibil jsem, ze po shlednuti druheho dilu si bud prisadim, nebo se budu kat.
Nakonec udelam neco mezi (jen nevim, jake slovo se nachazi nekde na puli cesty mezi prisazovanim a (l)kanim).

Kratce k druhemu dilu
Tedy: zatimco prvni dil rozehraval situaci a byl naplnen jakymsi "tichem pred bouri", druhy dil predvedl tvrde dopady. Zatykani, vyslechy na gestapu (vcetne dosti verneho zobrazeni tzv. biografu - mistnosti, kde cekali vyslychani na vyslech), popravy...
Potud jsem si tedy spravil mineni, neb bylo ukazano, ze odboj nebyl prochazkou ruzovym sadem obcas spestrenou nejakym tim milostnym dobrodruzstvim, k cemuz prvni dil dosti silne inklinoval.

Kde je tedy problem
Cely problem se tak skryva zrejme v postave hlavnich hrdinek a Bartose a jejich zobrazeni a chovani - tihle tri predstavuji pater pribehu, ve kterem se micha nebezpeci odboje s pritazlivosti, laskou a milostnymi dobrodruzstvimi.
Jako namet je to samozrejme velmi atraktivni. Otazka, ktera zustava, zni: kde je hranice mezi tim, co lze z historie vzit a vyuzit, a tim, k cemu je potreba prihlizet a nezanedbat (a pri tom jeste vyuzit lakavy namet milostnosti v situaci vnejsiho tlaku).
Abych byl konkretnejsi: Jan Valcik, zde vyliceny jako docela prijemna, normalni postava, patril spolu s Janem Kubisem k jednem z nejhure postizenych (da-li se to tak vubec popsat, zde bezne pouzivana slova selhavaji). Mel sedm sourozencu, vsichni byli popraveni. Jedna z jeho sester, v dobe zatceni tehotna, mela popravu odlozenu: porodila ve vezeni a popravena byla pozdeji.
Ve svetle techto hruz je zamereni se na milostne aspekty, respektive prilisny duraz na ne bez dostatecneho zdurazneni ostatniho, pochybne. Zda se mi.

Jak asi hodnotit "kacirska" dila
Ale vratme se jeste k te nastinene otazce, protoze ta ma samozrejme obecnejsi platnost v techto zalezitostech, ktere by se daly popsat jako hra s myty nebo vybirani spolecensky dulezitych temat bez vyznamnejsiho prihlednuti prave k jejich dulezitosti. Uvaha by mohla znit asi takto:

• Zakladni predpoklady: Pro jednoduchost pominme brakova dila, kde jde opravdu jen o senzaci.
• Zakladni predpoklady: Pak predpokladejme, ze dilo pojednava o tematu zavaznem a majicim svuj urcity kanon - o dulezitych hodnotach ci priobezich, ktere maji nejak definovanou podobu (at uz v obecnem celospolecenskem povedomi, ci v historickych popisech).
• Hodnotovy predpoklad: celospolecenske hodnoty a pribehy jsou hodnotne proto, ze usmernuji chovani jedince i skupin tak, ze cini zivot jedince i skupin hodnotnejsim, bezpecnejsim, umoznuji mu lepe uvazovat, snad byt i stastnejsi.
• Zaver: pokud ztvarneni latky prispiva k rozvoji hodnotoveho predpokladu (tj. dale obohacuje vyznam hodnot a pribehu pro spolecnost), pak ho hodnotim kladne.

Konec abstrakce, zkusim to ted trosku aplikovat.

Silver A bych asi jako brakove dilo nehodnotil. Pojednava o dulezitych historickych udalostech, ktere byly jiz nejakym zpusobem historicky popsany. Hodnoty hrdinstvi a obetovani, ktere si muzeme vzit z techto udalosti (obecne: druheho odboje), jsou zrejme nasledovanihodne, to se mi ani nechce nijak vysvetlovat. Ztvarneni tyto hodnoty rozviji dosti nevyrazne, neb se zameruje na uplne jine aspekty... Cili hodnoceni v teto rovine: nic moc.

Co kdyz ale...?
Kdyz jsem tak dopisoval predchozi, napadlo me, jestli to neni cele prilis mentorske: "melo by se psat/mluvit/natacet tak a tak, protoze republiku/hodnoty/spravne videni sveta si rozvracet nedame".
Rekl bych, ze ne. Klicovy bod vidim v tom, ze zde neslo o rozbijeni nejakeho mytu, ale jen o vyuziti atraktivniho tematu pro pomerne jalove pobaveni. Jiste nelze na kazde dilo klast nejvyssi naroky - ale v predpokladech jsem si vyminil, ze nebudu zvazovat brakova dila. S trochou nadsazky - kdyby by byl podobny serial natocen o Masarykovi nebo Karlovi IV., zrejme bych se tak necilil. V takovem pripade by mohlo jit spise o tribeni mysleni.
A o to by asi nakonec melo vzdycky jit...

Chodte vpravo

Prechazel jsem rano prechod na Florenci: prechod siroky, pocet lidi znacny. Najednou jsem zaslechl takove polohlasne, neprilis durazne co do vyraznosti, ale presto jakoby upenlive: "vpravo, vpravo!". Chlapik sel po prechodu vpravo - protiproud sel (ze sveho pohledu) vlevo. Cili vcelku logicky se pan citil ponekud utlacovan.
Zajimalo by me, co bylo presne jeho motivaci - jestli to chvilkove nepohodli, nebo zoufalstvi (to je asi to, co bylo v jeho hlase slyset) nad tou totalni blbosti.
Nevim, jak to presne nazvat - slovo, ktere me napada, je ponekud neslusne: kokotismus.
Zazivam ho casto, kdyz vystupuji z autobusu na Florenci - od Rasnovky prijede poloprazdny, zatimco zastavka je pomerne plna. Jsem jeden z maximalne tri lidi vystupujicich, zatimco dovnitr se chce nahrnout minimalne deset kusu. A ne ze by udelali ulicku - postavi se do oblouku okoli dveri, snad aby nahodou nenastoupili o neco pozdeji. Uz delsi dobu zvazuji a sbiram odvahu k nejakemu vykriku ci aspon povzdechu ("Narode cesky, rozestup se!").
Kokotismus - asi jinak to opravdu nazvat nelze, vzdyt jde o vitezstvi takrka prvotniho instinktu ("rychle k mrsine, nez ji ostatni sezerou") nad zdravym rozumem a taktem.
A proto prosim: chodte vpravo.
Post scriptum snad prilis explicitni: Prechod, jakkoli v teto historce realny, lze chapat jako metaforu mnoha jinych deju...

Krajina a hodnoty / Landscape and values

Easters at a cottage in Northern Bohemia. Besides a wonderful company the nature. For me the typical Czech landscape will always probably be the one which surrounds our cottage.
I am just reading a book by Mr.Cilek - a Czech geologist who is also a prolific author of essays on the landscape and it deeper and related meanings.
This recalled me of a little "philosophical" exercise I did certain time ago.
I believe that every man keeps in his mind some ideas about what is and what is not right or what values are the right ones. And man identifies with those values according to which he lives.
I think that in reality the number of values our life is really compatible with is quite small - when compared with the number of values we trust in.
This kind of finding ("I believe in so many values but my life is compatible with just a few of them") was quite interesting for me - scary and relieving at the same time.
One of the values I am pretty fine with is something what one could call love to this country, to this land. It is probably based on what I know about history. But maybe it was lighted up when I realized for the first time the beauty of this land...

Velikonoce na chalupe blizko Albrechtic. Krom dobre party (vdecnost patri Kviteti) predevsim priroda. Pro me ceska krajina zustane asi navzdy takova, jaka se jevi u nasi chalupy (vzpominam na skoro az sok, kdyz jsem poprve videl homole v severnich Cechach).
Okoli Albrechtic mi prislo velmi podobne tomu, nac jsem zvykly a co mam zaryto nekde v hloubce. Trochu mi to ladi s knihou, kterou ted ctu.
Pred jistou dobou mi vytanulo na mysli takove filosoficko-hodnotove cviceni (da-li se tomu tak vubec rikat).
Kazdy clovek asi chova ve sve mysli predstavy o tom, co je a co neni spravne, nebo-li jake hodnoty jsou ty prave. A ztotoznuje je s temi hodnotami, za ktere by byl ochoten se brat, resp. podle kterych zije. Myslim, ze ve skutecnosti tech hodnot, podle kterych zijeme, byva v porovnani s temi, kterym verime, spise mene. Nekdy jich muze byt i podstatne mene.
Takove zjisteni ("verim v kde co, ale skutecne se popasovat muzu jen s tim a tim") pro me bylo zajimave - trosku strasidelne, trosku ulevne.
Jednou z hodnot, se kterymi jsem srovnan, je neco, co bych, snad ne prilis pateticky, nazval laskou k teto zemi. Vychazi asi z urcite znalosti dejin, mozna ale, ze prvni "zazehnuti" vzniklo pri prvnim pohledu do te krasne krajiny...

Normal frog eggs. New life of nice creatures.
Obycejna zabi vajicka v ryze vedle cesty. Novy zivot roztomilych zivocichu.

Well, the clouds were just beatiful. Maybe even too much :-).
Mraky byly toho dne citankove krasne a dramaticke.

You cannot see it that well on the picture. But I found the view over so many ridges in reality very charming. Unreachableness and prompt.
Na fotce to tolik nevynikne. Ale pohled do dali pres dalsi a dalsi hrbety mi prisel krasny. Nedosazitelnost a naznak.

Mr.Cilek would probably appreciate this picture (place). Spirit of the landscape. Might be that there was a stela standing there. And someone knocked it down, broke it into pieces and put it into foundation of a cottage.
Tak tohle by se Cilkovi muselo libit. Duch krajiny. Kdo vi, jestli tam pred tim nestala kamenna stela, kterou kdysi kdosi povalil, roztkloukl a pridal do zakladu nektere z chalup. Kdo vi :-).

Do you know the final part of Seventh seal?
Zaverecna scena Bergmannova filmu Sedma pecet. Tak trochu.

Just an edge of a water tank (I like edges).

Okraj vodni nadrzky ve svahu. Jeji ucel neni jasny, ale rekl bych, ze je v ni voda pro snezna dela.

I know that it is not recommended to take pictures against the sunlight. But I simply couldn't help myself. I was crawling, twisting over a plash - but I think it was worth it.

Ja vim, ze proti slunci se fotit nema, ale tohle mi proste nedalo. Plazil jsem se po zemi, kroutil se nad louzi, ale vysledek, myslim, stoji za to.

Or not?

Ne?

You could simplify it just into several lines and areas. Beauty of geometry?

Cele by se to dalo dat do nekolika car a ploch. Krasa geometrie?

Maybe the picture would be prettier without the wire. Maybe not. Nevertheless you must ask a question about taking picture of a landscapes without wires, chimneys, ...

Rikam si, jestli by to bylo tak zajimave i bez tech dratu. Mozna, ze ne. Ale casto jsem si rikal, jak by se fotila krajina bez dratu, kominu...

Just a picture.

Proste fotka.

Spirit of the country. Again.

To by bylo taky neco pro Cilka. Duch krajiny.

Fotecka / Picture

After so many pics of nature there is time for a picture of me. Why not?

Po tolika fotkach prirody je cas na jednu fotografii me malickosti. Proc ne?

Basnicka licence a intelektualni ego

S velkym ocekavanim jsem tuto nedeli na CT 1 shledl prvni dil filmu Silver A.
Dojmy smisene.
Pozitivum: tema me velmi blizke (ne nahodou jsem svoji diplomku venoval "Muzum zvlastni skupiny D", tedy vsem vysadkarum, kteri byli, nebo meli byt vyslani za 2. svetove valky do Protektoratu).
Negativum: zamereni se a vykresleni Alfreda Bartose jako, rekneme, nezdrzenlive osoby (cesky: holkare). Proto doufam, ze se mi podari zjistit, na zaklade jakych pramenu byl napsan scenar.
Na zaklade toho, co vim, byl Bartos prikladny vojak, mel vytecne osobni hodnoceni. Faktem take je, ze jen na zaklade jeho fotografii se da rici, ze to byl neobycejne pohledny chlap, ktery musel byt pro zeny velmi pritazlivy.
Chapu, ze film pracuje s urcitou "basnickou licenci " - vsimli jste si, ze se vysadkari predstavovali svymi pravymi jmeny?
Cili v cem je problem? Ano, sahli mi na nekoho, ke komu vzhlizim.
Takze pak me velmi rychle napadla otazka, jestli nejsem v situaci vsech tech, kteri protestuji proti filmum jako je Posledni pokuseni Jezise Krista apod. Ale zase jsem se nechtel dostat do pozice nekoho, koho povazuji za prilis, rekneme, zapskleho a ci nechapajiciho obcas kacirsky pohled na myty a uctivane hodnoty.
Rozhreseni pro me intelektualni ego: rozdil vidim v tom, ze Bartos a dalsi nejsou myty ani modly. Myslim, ze povedomi o techto lidech je mezi drtivou vetsinou lidi minimalni. V takovem momente neni "kacirska basnicka licence" na miste, protoze nebori ci nenapravuje nejaky prilis vznosny a pateticky obraz, protoze takovy obraz jednoduse neexistuje. Coz me mrzi.

Nezbyva, nez se kouknout na druhy dil. A pak si prisadit, nebo se kat.

Okolnosti k jazyku do te miry sugestivni...

Mam dojem, ze mnoha Cechum finstina moc nevoni. Ale po tomhle by mohli nazor zmenit. Asi dost zalezi kdo a jak tou ci onou reci mluvi. V tomto ohledu ma treba takova nemcina dosti zasadni dejinnou nevyhodu...

Nekolik cyklu / Several cycles

Evening at work.
Colleague #1 goes home. Me and colleague 2 are the last persons in the office.
Colleague #2: "Why it is always us being the last ones at work?"
Me: "Becuase we like it."
Colleague #1 (came back): "Becuase you want to be praised!"
Colleague #2 & me: "???"
Colleague #1: "You will be praised. When you are praised you are promoted. The one who is on the top does not do anything. If you do not do anything you cannnot make any mistake. If you do not make any mistake you are praised. If you are praised you are promoted. Several cycles like this and you fine..."

I wonder whether this kind of jokes are made also for instance in the US. Or generally in other countries with different working culture. Any idea? Feedback?

Vecer v praci.
Kolega c. 1 odchazi domu. Zustavam s kolegou c. 2 sam v kanclu.
Kolega c. 2: "Proc mi tady jsme vzdycky posledni!? "
Ja: "Protoze nas to tu bavi."
Kolega c.1 (vraci se): "Protoze chcete byt pochvaleni!"
Kolega c.2 & ja: "???"
Kolega c.1: "Budete pochvaleni. Kdyz jste pochvaleni, jste povyseni. Kdo je vys, nic nedela. Kdyz nic nedelate, nemuzete delat chyby. Kdyz nedelate chyby, jste pochvaleni. Kdyz jste pochvaleni, jste povyseni. Nekolik takovych cyklu a jste v pohode."

Kdo je autorem / Who is the author

Accidentaly two pictures come to my hands - and brought some thougths within.
The first one (quite abstract, isn't it?) comes from a webcamera in Helsinki South Harbour. I saved the picture in the evening. Obviously it was quite rainy... (btw: I have a "collection" of some 80 pics from this camera - anyone interested :-)?)
The second picture was taken during my holiday in the mountains - I think I like this most of those I took there.
Now there is a suggestion: what if the real authors of these pictures is the guy who installed the webcamera in Helsinki and the other one who erected the snow something (how is it called in English? the thing producing snow?) in the very place?

Dostaly se mi do rukou dva obrazky.
Prvni je z webkamery umistene v helsinskem jiznim pristavu. Ulozeno vecer, evidentne za destiveho pocasi (mimochodem: mam sbirku uz asi 80 obrazku z tehle webkamery).
Druhy obrazek pochazi z me horske dovolene. Libi se mi asi nejvice ze vsech obrazku, ktere jsem tam poridili.
A tak se mi do hlavy vkrada otazka: kdo jsou vlastne autori techto obrazku? Neni to ten clovicek, co na sloupu instaloval webkameru a ten, co na spravne miste umistil snezne delo?