I cancelled all my lessons today, just felt like it and stayed at home. Watched a few DVD’s. Some film and then Catweazle. Yeah, I know I was too young for Catweazle, but he was here in Czechoslovakia and readily approved by the Communists. Exactly why, defeats all reason, possibly because he opposed William the Conqueror. Maybe because he kept a frog called Touchwood and did magic.
It’s sometimes strange to live in country that was until quite recently a communist dictatorship. When you look around, you’ll see much more advertising than in UK. In Britain it’s banned on motorways for example, here it’s everywhere on the roads. At least 30% of all cars have some kind of blatant advert it seems.
Dagmar, my girlfriend came home to make lunch, she’s fattening me up for Christmas I reckon. Down here in Brno, most people have a big lunch and then a light dinner. But for me it’s difficult to feel anything but sleepy after, so it’s loads of strong coffee and force myself out.
Czechs have strange ideas about England. They think English food is the most boring in the world, but they don’t what we eat, apart from Fish & Chips. They think all English beer is warm and flat, mm.. ok some is. They even ask if I have a bowler hat! They are also fascinated with the USA and especially with the Wild West. They watch an old western TV show called Vinnetou and his friend Old Shatterhand. I watched an episode, amazing Stewart Granger was in it!! But, the original language was German and it was shot on location in Yugoslavia. How did Stewart Granger manage to pull it off?
Their country music is just as interesting, I didn’t know that Kenny Rodgers made Czech versions of all his hits. My mum would be horrified!! She’s actually an Eagles fan.
When I was a kid, she made me take guitar lessons so I could try and play all her favourite numbers, well I didn’t have much choice.
Now she usually listens to the Eagles after a few in the pub. She sings along out of tune, much to her boyfriend Johnnie’s delight. Then she gets a word or two completely wrong, which has Johnnie bursting out in a fit of giggles.Mum texted me that she’d call tonight with a bit of news.
How funny, I have not thought about Caryfuk for ages!! Thank you for that reminder...I think I will link to you today..
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing about Vinnetou is that the author wrote it in a German prison in 19th century, never ever visiting America in his life.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of Catweazle. But then, I'm too young to have experienced much of life in communist Czechoslovakia, and we don't have a TV (by choice).
ReplyDeleteAnd for the record, the Vinnetou films are not a TV series but really full-blown films (produced by several companies, actually). Stewart Granger acted in two of them, some of those without Old Shatterhand, but he was allegedly so stuck-up about being an American star that all the European stars and crews hated working with him and he made no more than those two films. Lex Barker who played Old Shatterhand hit it off much better with them...