On January 4, 2011, following an inspection of our building, a “Rozhodnutí o zákazu užívání stavby” (“Ruling Banning the Use of a Building”) was issued. This ruling applies to the Roxy club and the NoD café. The NoD theatre and gallery, which adjoin the currently closed café, are not affected by this order and their programs will continue without change. The ruling cites unpermitted building work and some small problems regarding fire safety. The ruling’s specific complaints relate primarily to the new toilets and to the backstage area. The defects discovered would, however, in no way threaten the safety of our guests, as some media have reported. Speculation on the specific date upon which the Roxy club and the NoD café will reopen is, for the time being, premature. In this regard, our entire team is working intensively on the fastest solution to all the technical problems and, at the same time, the completion of the paperwork which the authorities require. In the following days we expect a further round of meetings with the relevant state authorities, which — we hope — will lead to a speedy reopening. We have been persuaded that this act wasn’t an expression of hostility on the part of Prague 1 district council and that its aim has only been to calm the situation following repeated noise complaints from homeowners on Rybná street. We will carry out all the organizational and technical measures in order that we cause no trouble to our fellow citizens in the future. We believe that it isn’t in the interests of the parties involved to draw out this situation, if only with regard to the reality that our cultural facilities generate up to 50 jobs which are, at this moment, under threat. We thank you for all the expressions of support and sympathy.
Jaroslav Stanko, director of 10:15 Management s.r.o.
Roxy
Dlouhá 33
110 00 Praha 1
From Thursday, December 16 until Wednesday, December 22, Palace Cinemas Slovanský dum and CineStar Anděl are showing English-language versions of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (in 2-D with Czech subtitles) at these times:
CineStar Anděl Radlická 3179/1E, Prague 5
11:20 — Saturday and Sunday only
18:30
—
From Thursday, December 16 until Wednesday, December 22, Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům and CineStar Anděl are still showing English-language versions of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (in 2-D with Czech subtitles) at these times:
From Friday, December 10 until Wednesday, December 15, CineStar Anděl is showing an English-language version of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, with Czech subtitles, at these times:
CineStar Anděl Radlická 3179/1E, Prague 5
14:30 — Saturday and Sunday only
17:00 — not Thursday
20:00 — not Thursday
Please note that this is a “Gold Class” screening, tickets for which cost 319 crowns.
—
From Thursday, December 9 until Wednesday, December 15, Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům is showing an English-language version of Megamind , in 3-D with no Czech subtitles, once a day:
From Thursday, December 9 until Wednesday, December 15, Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům and CineStar Anděl are showing English-language versions of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, with Czech subtitles, at these times:
9:25am: Journalist/blogger Grant Podelco (@grantpodelco) is snowed in at his home in the village of Černý Vůl, just to the north of Prague. (Source)
9:00am: Motorists are advised to avoid Kbelská street (Prague 14), Průmyslová street (Prague 10) and the Jižní spojka between Michelská street and the Lanový most bridge (Prague 4), all of which have been brought to a virtual standstill. Strahov tunnel should now be open again in both directions, however. (Source)
8:41am: Aktuálně.cz user Anna Bartošová reports major traffic jams in Horní Měcholupy in the direction of Skalka and Háje, and also says that trams aren’t running from Hostivař. (Source)
8:21am: Aktuálně.cz’s Pavel Tomášek says he had no problems using public transport in Prague 6 this morning. (Source)
8:05am: Strahov tunnel is currently closed in the direction of Prague 6, following a bus crash. No injuries reported. (Source)
8:00am: České dráhy, the Czech national rail operator, has extended its “state of calamity” until 10am. There are problems nationwide but the Liberec, Olomouc and Přerov regions in the north of the country are particularly badly affected. (Source)
7:37am: Trams and buses not running according to timetable this morning; metros running more frequently to compensate. Expect delays on the way into work.
DPP has a special phone line (Czech only, I’d assume) for information on disruption to public transport in the city: 296 191 817
Ruzyně airport was closed last night but has since reopened.
From Thursday, December 2 until Wednesday, December 8, Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům is showing an English-language version of Megamind , in 3-D with Czech subtitles, at these times:
From Thursday, December 2 until Wednesday, December 8, Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům and CineStar Anděl are showing English-language versions of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, with Czech subtitles, at these times:
Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům Na příkopě 22, Prague 1
12:15
13:30
15:30 — not Tuesday
17:00 — not Monday
19:00 — not Thursday or Tuesday
20:30
22:15 — not Monday or Tuesday
Following a record-breaking opening weekend, when it was seen by 246,180 Czech cinemagoers, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 remains a big draw in Prague movies theatres.
From Thursday, November 25 until Wednesday, December 1, Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům and CineStar Anděl are showing English-language versions of the film, with Czech subtitles, at these times:
Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům Na příkopě 22, Prague 1
12:15
13:30 — not Thursday
15:30 — not Sunday
17:00 — not Thursday or Sunday
17:30
19:00
21:00
22:20
CineStar Anděl Radlická 3179/1E, Prague 5
11:00 — Saturday and Sunday only
19:30 — not Wednesday
21:15 — not Wednesday
Czech surrealist artist Jan Švankmajer (born 4 September 1934 in Prague) won a lifetmie achievement award at the European film festival in Segovia, Spain yesterday.
Here’s a clip from his Alice:
Want another taste of his wonderful weirdness? Check out his Meat Love below:
The trial of Luboš Lacina began yesterday. He’s the driver from the incident a few months ago whereby he was caught on camera running another car off the road for driving too slow.
Here’s him in action:
Amazingly no one was seriously injured. To his credit, he stopped and called an ambulance, but the video shows his original intent.
On a personal note, I drive the Czech roadways often and on almost every trip i see drivers taking huge risks; putting many other drivers at risk to simply pass one or two cars (before they get stuck behind another truck.) Let’s hope the courts throw this guy in jail. The CR needs to address the problem with more police controlling the highways and taking away licenses from reckless drivers. Maybe they need better drivers education in general. Speeding is not the problem, stupidity is.
In 2009 there were 901 road deaths in the Czech Republic (source: DfT). This equates to 8.6 road deaths per 100,000 of population compared to the UK average of 3.6 road deaths per 100,000 of population in 2009.
From Thursday, November 18 until Wednesday, November 24, Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům and CineStar Anděl are showing English-language versions of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, with Czech subtitles.
The showtimes are:
Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům
Na příkopě 22, Prague 1
13:00
13:30
16:15
16:45
19:30
20:00
22:45 — Friday and Saturday only
CineStar Anděl
Radlická 3179/1E, Prague 5
11:00 — Saturday and Sunday only
19:15
21:15
Radio Free Europe has an interesting piece on the state of the Russian music scene with artists taking positions on both sides of the political divide. And some taking positions against the musicians themselves:
Forget the storm of controversy over the political activities of Russian musicians, they warn. There’s something far more distressing afoot — the mediocrity of the music itself.
Rock critic Artemy Troitsky, who has ruled over the Soviet and Russian music scene for decades, is sanguine to a point about Medvedev’s meeting with Grebenshikov and the other musicians. They can meet with whomever they like, he says — if only they would write better songs.
“I think that for every artist, their main goal is to write and record good songs. Songs with meaning, songs which can say something to people,” Troitsky says. “My main embarrassment is that most of the famous rock bands of the ’70s and ’80s here in Russia now are really kind of lazy, self-indulgent, soft, and boring. For me, this is more the source of disappointment about those guys. The fact that they met President Medvedev, I’m not too bothered about that.”
And on the new breed
Ivan Alekseyev, the 25-year-old rap artist better known as Noize MC, has gained the spotlight as the most searing of the young musicians. He gained instant fame in March with a song that detailed a head-on automobile accident involving the vice president of the LUKoil energy giant that left two women in the other car dead. The crash was quickly blamed on the car driven by the women, despite witness accounts that described the LUKoil official’s chauffeur-driven Mercedes as speeding through the opposing lane in an attempt to avoid midday traffic.
Alekseyev’s song, “Mercedes-S666,” which was accompanied by a video that included graphic footage from the crash site, tapped into rising public anger toward the Russian elite — and made an instant star of Noize MC.
Price of Travel has a comparison list of world taxi prices. Take a gander:
$3.53 – $5.88 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
$3.57 – $5.00 Sofia, Bulgaria
$3.68 – $6.25 Athens, Greece
$3.74 – $5.52 Moscow, Russia
$4.05 – $5.68 Santiago, Chile
$4.14 – $8.29 Tel Aviv, Israel
$4.93 – $7.04 Istanbul, Turkey
$5.28 – $8.80 Krakow, Poland
$5.33 – $7.99 Beirut, Lebanon
$5.35 – $8.92 Tallinn, Estonia
$5.45 – $7.92 Vancouver, Canada
$5.56 – $8.33 Lisbon, Portugal
$5.70 – $7.98 Prague, Czech Republic
$5.70 – $8.29 Budapest, Hungary
$5.75 – $7.90 Cape Town, South Africa
$5.91 – $7.88 Taipei, Taiwan
$6.25 – $9.72 Barcelona, Spain
$6.45 – $9.68 Edinburgh, Scotland
$6.94 – $9.72 Madrid, Spain
$7.00 – $12.00 New York City, USA
$7.50 – $10.00 Los Angeles, USA
$8.10 – $13.50 Reykjavik, Iceland
$8.33 – $13.89 Brussels, Belgium
$8.33 – $13.89 Paris, France
$8.91 – $11.88 Toronto, Canada
$8.91 – $11.88 Montreal, Canada
$9.00 – $12.00 Melbourne, Australia
$9.23 – $11.54 Auckland, New Zealand
Of course, these rates “reflect metered prices” so it’s doubtful they having any bearing when it comes to taking a late night, offbrand cab from the center.
From Thursday, October 21 until Wednesday, October 27, CineStar Anděl is showing an English-subtitled version of the new Czech comedy Občanský průkaz as part of its Gold Class programming. Tickets cost 319 CZK.
The showtimes are:
CineStar Anděl
14:00 — Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday only
17:00
20:00
—
From Thursday, October 21 until Wednesday, October 27, Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům is showing an English-language version of the 3-D animated feature Despicable Me (no Czech subtitles).
The showtimes are:
Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům
Na příkopě 22, Prague 1
12:40 — not Friday or Saturday
16:50 — not Friday
21:10 — not Friday
—
Slovanský dům is also still showing an English language version of the 3-D animated feature Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (no Czech subtitles).
The showtimes, from Thursday, October 21 until Wednesday, October 27, are:
Monster Ball, Prague’s largest and longest running Halloween extravaganza is coming up fast. Still trying to decide on your costume? If need some professional help, check out these costume shops and find the perfect fun fantasy.
Barrandov Studio Costume Rental
Excellent, almost unlimited selection. Not cheap and requires a cash deposit.
Kříženeckého nám. 5, Prague 5
Phone: (+420) 267 072 214
Prices: See below
Open: 7am-2pm Mon-Fri
From Thursday, October 14 until Wednesday, October 20, two Prague cinemas are showing the original, English-language version of Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole in 3-D:
Around 43% of Prague’s taxi drivers charged more than the legal limit for journeys from the city center to the airport, according to a Foreigners’ Police (Cizinecká policie) investigation reported on iDnes.cz.
Responding to frequent complaints from the public, undercover officers took 774 journeys during the month of January and were overcharged 333 times.
In some cases, taxi drivers attempted to charge the police 5,000 crowns for a journey which, according to city officials, should cost around 600 crowns.
As a result of the investigation, 255 taxi drivers were fined 133,000 crowns and another 78 faced legal proceedings potentially leading to tougher sanctions.
Airport and city officials were anxious to point out to iDnes.cz that the investigation related only to journeys to the airport and not from the airport, where taxi stands are more strictly regulated, and that it didn’t involve those taxi companies contracted to operate out of the airport.
