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NvB 3.0.1 (beta) Launch
Brno, Czech Republic &mdash for immediate release
Bored in Brno hoists a hearty "ahoj" to its readers today. Until now known as Nuda v Brně?, the blog will keep the NvB initials but relapse to the more English-friendly title Bored in Brno.
The new flagship (beta) version of Bored in Brno is being launched on the same day as the 216th anniversary of the U.S. Coast Guard. What does this coincidence portend? Who knows, but hopefully there is clear sailing ahead. In any case, the U.S.C.G. training cutter Eagle is a beautiful ship and will no doubt add a bit of elegance and pomp to the launch.
NvB 3.0.1 (beta) features:
- More iconically "Czech." In the background you see a rohlík, the Czech answer to sliced bread. These are actually manufactured in mass quantity by little machines that turn out one clone after another. Visit a Czech museum of food production, and you might see a very old, very stale rohlík demonstrating this fascinating process. Or, you could just go to a neighborhood bakery to pick up something more fresh.
From the header, you are greeted by that friendly, yet slightly disturbing, favorite of Czech gardeners: the inimitable red-capped garden gnome. He's Bub, short for his full German name, Bruder Brünn (Brother Brno). Bub's headshot was courteously lifted from the Tradition Shop, provider for all your central European kitsch needs.
The color scheme is inspired by the red and white stripes of the Brno city seal. The seal seems to commemorate Brno's colonial past as the Habsburg administrative capital for the Moravian province and shows a red and white shield imposed on the Austrian Double Eagle, a symbol of the Habsburg monarchy. The color scheme evokes the important but awkward relationship between Brno and Vienna. Despite the temptation, NvB executives decided not to adopt the slogan Brünn über Alles. - More fit. The new site condones healthy living through its design! The content of the site has been slimmed down into two thinner columns that promote easy reading. A healthy diet, of course, includes more than just a rohlík everyday, but nutritionists claim that carbohydrates are the basis of a healthy diet. The new look encourages readers to eat more bread than greasy festival sausages. As Bub says, "A rohlík a day keeps the paint from peeling."
- Family-friendly. Though many people found NvB by searching for "nuda" pictures, such serendipitous surfers rarely became return readers. Regrettably, the site won't be able to show off its new trim figure for the cameras.
- Inspired. The template was modified from one available through Gecko and Fly. The modifications took a lot of tinkering since NvB is a complete beginner with css. The design has only been tested in Mozilla Firefox.
NvB's new mascot is excited about the look. Says Bub, "It's a great pleasure to come on board with NvB. I've been following this blog for a while now from the hut in my rock garden, but since I only have dial-up it can sometimes take hours for a whole post to load! Joining as the Bored in Brno figurehead puts me at the fore of it all. I'm the first one to read everyhing!" Asked about his role, he says, "I'm quite pleased (and humored) by the new look, and I'm really looking forward to being at the head of this blog's future. The previous templates were nice, but and much more development and design has went into this new version. Join me and NvB as we sail into the future with rohlík in hand!"
No doubt NvB's future will feature an eagle (or two). Experts cannot decide whether the strange "double" eagle emblem is a result of local environmental hazards or a little bit of gnomic trickery.
Tags: blog, events
Posted 04 August 2006 at 16:13.
A graduate student in music and anthropology writing a dissertation about music in Moravia, the eastern third of the Czech Republic. At some point, the Czech Republic's "second city" (that would be Brno) captured my attention, and I've since been blogging about events, arts, music, and other stuff—basically whatever interests me in and around the cityscape. I'm not living in Brno now, but I keep up with the cultural pulse from afar as best I can.
Comments:
Nice new design. I like the rohliks and is the gnome from the border?
Be careful, after a few years a rohlik starts becoming tasty sounding - you'll know you've lived here too long when you wake up one morning and think, hmm...a rohlik steamed over a cup of instant coffee sounds just the thing right now!
10:51 PM, August 07, 2006
Thanks, I'll watch out for the rohliks! :-) The rohlik also played a key role in the Nuda v Brne movie, which has been a sometime inspiration for the blog. I suspect that the gnome is from the border (and probably one with Germany or Austria and not Moravia), but they're secretive creatures and you can never tell for sure.
The new design isn't working yet with Explorer, but I'm working on it and at least the front page is visible now.
Cau!
11:40 PM, August 08, 2006
My former roommate from Brno called me at 10:30 the other night to tell me about her new discovery - this blog. I looked up your design post in hopes of finding where I could get the picture of the rohlik. I've tried in vain to explain what a rohlik is to friends. I laughed myself silly as I read Bub's thoughts. Thanks for the laughs! I'll be checking back regularly.
6:29 AM, April 04, 2007
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