NvB: Bored in Brno?

I have a very part-time translation and editing job that allows me to use my Czech and English skills once in a while. Today, after finished proof-reading a new report, I had this great idea: there's not much food in my fridge, but I can make leek and potato soup! I was very hungry on the way home, and for some reason (character flaw?) ate a chocolate bar on the way. So I was not very hungry by the time the soup was ready. Oops. But soup's never quite as nice for one as it is with friends (whether at a potluck or after a long walk by the river), and my limited array of spices didn't quite make it as savory as it should have been.

I should clarify that I've had a rather reduced appetite since I had some sort of stomach flu last week and now I have a cold (I must be getting old, talking about all my ailments). Instead of eating, I should have been working on my dissertation, but I'm using the cold as an excuse to take a break. And so I started surfing online. And then I decided to do one of those infamous link posts, and roll it into a long and discursive ramble all in one!

Doug Arellanes translated an article about the recent "Doležel scandal." I read about the scandal in the papers, but didn't really follow it—thanks for the translations! It seems that a group of politicians were plotting to kill the head of the police's anti-organized-crime unit (ÚOOZ). The ÚOOZ obviously needs to be scrutinizing high-level politics more. Of course, there were a bunch of other things involved, too, like wiretaps and special EU funds—all sounds a bit too much like James Bond, but that's what happens when people don't realize that Bond is fake and emulate him in real life—in later articles it seems that there was a cafeteria involved, too.

And in other quarters of the blogosphere—Julia posted an amusing story about Czech manners. Karla muses on Czech suicide methods. (I take it that she would prefer jumping off a building to slowly pickling oneself in alcohol.) Ovšem pozor! highlights a film about design available at Google about "American Look." (Of interest, since I've recently taken up documentarism—I'm definitely hiring an angel choir for my film about Moravian music.*) The film they link to is made for Alex, who posts a picture from our outing to Kyjov a week ago. Brian reveals what he's been up to all summer. Malý čtenář found some strange menus in Slavonice—to sample the local cuisine, just serve up a plate of piquant whiskers on a pig slice after flour-milling.

Speaking of taking a look-round and assessment—let me tell you what I'm up to. I'm going back home on 20 December. I will miss Brno, but in fact I actually need to write a dissertation and not just think about it. I would also like to see a few friends and family for a while. Plus, if you have a choice about when to move, why not do it in the middle of winter? I am actually already looking forward to the coziness of the U.P. around the holidays—the snow covers the pink flamingos, but there's nothing like a sauna up there.


And speaking of returns, it looks like Homer is waiting for Godot, or something like that. I always knew he was putting us on with that happy-go-lucky exterior. Or maybe he's just resigned to his new career as Jack's footrest.


*But there are other people out there who are ruining the reputation of documentary film makers, so I guess I won't have to worry about that anymore.

Tags: discursions, links

Posted 23 October 2006 at 19:53.