Something unknown is doing we don't know what ....

2005-09-10T19:06:00.000+02:00

Summer break lasted longer than it probably should have. Lots of toing-and-froing between Prague, Geneva, Saarbrucken for work reasons. Next week it's France at a conference then back to Prague for the last week before full-time Geneva. Slightly glum about the thought of leaving Prague, so here's a misty Autmunal Charles Bridge from this morning.

2005-07-19T16:59:00.000+02:00

Even in central Prague there are places with something of the Euston Road about them. The area around HLAVNÍ NÁDRAŽÍ, the main railway station is one such. Sandwiched between motorways (after some '70s "improvements"), the old entrance was essentially replaced by a concrete bunker and the old Art Nouveau structure more or less left to rot. Some pics taken before Saturday's expedition.

The old ticket hall is now a fairly poor cafe, it's hard to get a feel for the demi-dome that's above.

Outside, it's all roaring traffic. Attempt at an action shot taken during an interval whilst at the nearby State Opera a couple of weeks ago.

The state opera has apparently suffered some slings and arrows over the past few years but things are on the up. The renovation of the hall continues, but it's not too shabby.

2005-07-18T14:10:00.000+02:00

Konopiště on Saturday, erstwhile home to Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Not so spectacular on the outside as some of Bohemia's castles, things are remedied inside which is essentially as it was since 1914. Unfortunately no photos allowed inside, so the exterior will have to suffice; a sprinkling of peacocks livened things up, nice gardens too.

2005-07-13T15:41:00.000+02:00

Some musical treats for the fast-approaching silly season.

http://www.ukuleledisco.com/jake

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4670009.stm

An organist has a bad day at the office:

http://www.btinternet.com/~tim.johnson77/rambler/Messiahorganistoncrack.mp3

Quite a lot of legit mp3s out there, but they're often a whole to-do: windows popping up and registration and all that. Some useful reviews summarising things a little:

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article_center.php?in_type=110

2005-07-11T17:29:00.000+02:00

Saturday turned out to be not so bad weather-wise after all, some pics from strolling around Prague in the evening.

Just behind Staroměstké náměstí, once away from the tourist areas, Prague can be quite quiet at the weekends.

Getting lost in Malostranska; looking back from a dead-end.

The sudetenland issue has been rumbling on and off the last few months here. A new statue of Beneš outside the foreign ministry has been a bit controversial.

Summer and tacky tourist things are inseparable.

2005-07-08T12:16:00.000+02:00

Snippets from this week's Nature, might require a subscription.

Quite enjoy scribbling in my lab-book, but times are a-changin' (at least in the bio-sciences). http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v436/n7047/full/436020a.html

Oddly enough some relevant papers to our work; normally our stuff (semiconductors and doping etc) are too grubby and, frankly, old to deserve space in the premium journals, but some interesting work on the doping of nanocrystals; Gibbs' free energy calculations are pretty long in the tooth now, interesting to try a new approach based on the surface morphology, assuming you can control the surface of course.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v436/n7047/full/436032a.html
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v436/n7047/full/nature03832.html

the supplementary information on PL is also useful,

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v436/n7047/suppinfo/nature03832.html

2005-07-08T11:41:00.000+02:00

Lá fliuch báite atá ann inniu, ARÍS!!!!

God's been kicking over buckets the past few days here, although things are currently not so bad: something of a Salthill drizzle. The předpověď počasí (e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?world=0055, not very encouraging) is for this to continue over the weekend so it looks like it'll be kino time. Prague is still equipped with some decent indo-kinos, probably the best of the bunch is Kino Světozor (http://www.kinosvetozor.cz/index.php?lang=en) which has good prices, a decent cafe and english subtitles on Czech films for us inept monoglots. The next week or so is inspired by the recent Karlovy-Vary film festival and the program (http://www.kinosvetozor.cz/program/filmy/?&lang=en)looks quite promising. If you need me, you'll know where to find me.

2005-07-08T10:04:00.000+02:00

The difference a day makes,

Perhaps it's that it happened on what I still consider "home turf" or that it's exactly what one always fears but tries not to contemplate, but yesterday's events have hit quite hard. Most friends who would normally be in that area appear ok, although not all replies received yet: perhaps they stayed at home. As anybody who's familiar with the tube knows, it's a fairly tight unpleasant space at the best of times, a bomb doesn't bear thinking about.

However, Londoners are a resilient lot, judging from the press and world service coverage things are getting back to some sort of normal today. Hardened over the years by IRA scares (and worse) they're a tough old lot. Interesting that something like this brings out the "chin-up, carry on" attitude whereas an event like Diana saw large portions of the populace lose the run of themselves altogether. Wonder how things will have recovered when I'm over there at the end of the month.

2005-07-06T13:50:00.000+02:00

Well well well ...

The Chirac anti-midas touch continues, the 30th olympiad goes to the rosbifs.

2005-07-06T11:59:00.000+02:00

~~Hmmmm, can't seem to upload pictures today. Yesterday's lazy snap of a wet and cold Prague will have to wait so.~~ Today is Jan Hus day, yesterday was St Cyril and Methodius (Slavic apostles), more or less the ČR equivalent of St. Patrick's day. Weather was certainly reminiscent of St Paddy's, lashing rain and freezing too (well, 10C) to boot. Bad day for the tourist hordes, especially the sandal wearers.

In the absence of pics some links:

Decision day for the 2012 olympic; bound to be Paris, but could be the old stamping ground of Stratford. Result due at the oddly precise time of 1346 CET. Live coverage on http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/index.shtml?logo

Science magazine celebrates 125 years with some unanswered questions, http://www.sciencemag.org/sciext/125th/

Tough times for Victorinox: http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1521345,00.html

Something odd with blogger today, slow and not behaving as it should, so that's enough for now.

2005-07-04T16:31:00.000+02:00

To cheer ourselves up, a couple of pics from Prague's aquarium, Mořský svět. Relying heavily on the Finding Nemo bounce there are loads of clown fish, which is fine by me. Tricky blighters to snap unblurred though.

2005-07-04T15:07:00.000+02:00

Falling foul .....

Prague as we know is a city of beauty and charm; around every corner a wonderful surprise awaits. Evening things up are its constabulary, around-every-corner-lurking they can equally surprising but in a less pleasant way.

Getting the week off to a bad start, there I was crossing the road on the way to work. The street was deserted of vehicles (today has become an unofficial holiday, two national holidays follow tomorrow and Wed) so across I went. Paying keen attention to this manoeuvre was one of the city's finest. Apparently, insufficient attention had been paid to the fact that the little red man was on display, regardless of the lack of vehicular activity. A brief discussion about the dim view taken of this flagrant behaviour followed and a fine of 200 KC was levied (about EUR 6.50, could have been 1000 KC). Sometimes Prague is like being in a foreign country.

2005-07-01T18:54:00.000+02:00

The revival of Her Majesty's Plate?

Odd story on the Turbidy show --- http://www.rte.ie/radio1/story/1052921.html --- (proving to be not as appalling as was feared) this morning. Gavin Duffy, erstwhile of LMFM, and well-known to Boynesiders, discussing the potential arrival of QEII to Ireland next year. Being fond of the geegees, herself was apparently keen to sample the turf while ~~here~~ there, tsk must remember that I'm away.

The Curragh is still considered a little sensitive so an option has turned out to be Bellewstown, http://www.bellewstownraces.ie/. The course is relatively famous as being probably the oldest in the world be it from ancient Celtic times, or pre-dating the likes of Ascot by about 80 years. It's also a hill in Meath not regarded by the NRA, which could be notable in itself in time to come. There's always been a Royal connection, King GIII sponsored a plate there a long time ago which continued till things got edgy around the late '70s. The intention seems to be the revival of this race --- and possibly increasing the GBP 100 prize money.

Personally, never quite got the whole racing thing, nights at Bellewstown were a chore when young, the appeal of glorified donkeys tramping around was always limited. A good area for camping though, the scout troop spent some time there. GD was talking things up splendidly this morning, as he's always been able, but it seems a long shot from this vantage.
Still, at least it woke me up with a double take: July 1 or April 1?

2005-07-01T14:12:00.000+02:00

Sometimes it rains during the Czech summer upsetting some alfresco entertainments. One such casualty recently was Abdullah Ibrahim (and his trio). However, not too much of a hardship as we were shipped off to the Spanish room in the Castle. Slightly blurred image (unsteady hands and digital zoom, sorry) of the man himself.

2005-07-01T14:05:00.000+02:00

Million dollar view from the Czech Technical University main building, just behind the Rudolfinium on Jan Palach náměstí, scene of a recent PhD defence.

2005-07-01T14:02:00.000+02:00

Might have to reconsider blogger's being sensible about photos, things seem to float about a bit and are a little mixed up upon clicking, but still an improvement on the previous arrangement.

2005-07-01T13:37:00.000+02:00

What might be considered unexpected sights from the East Sussex countryside: veritable hosts of Alpacas grazing happily away and the sudden appearance of one of the finest opera houses in the world; Cenerontola at Glyndbourne. Glyndebourne always feels a little eccentric, swanning around London in dinner wear at 10 in the morning can provoke some strange looks, but is one of the more pleasant ways to spend a summer afternoon. The weather was poorish so the picnic was under cover (table being set above). The critics had been oddly cool, but it was splendid to these eyes and ears. Next up is Giulio Cesare at the end of July (as you'd expect); hopefully more pics then when the weather should be a little more summer-like.

2005-07-01T13:25:00.000+02:00

Snapshots from Litomsyl, birthplace of Smetana. A fine big renaissance palace is the main reason for making the schlep from Prague. The central courtyard is just about the right size for hosting opera festivals, annoyingly photos weren't allowed inside.

Otherwise, lots of Smetana-related things including the odd staute of the man himself.

2005-07-01T13:11:00.000+02:00

Now that blogger is sensible about photos, some samples from the last month or so. Kutna Hora, an old mining town, once a rival to, now just a small little wee half-Prague. Pics from the Ossuary in Sedlec; the decoration is largely the work of the peculiar Frantisek Rindt in the 19th century. A strange place which can obsess, www.ludd.luth.se/users/silver_p/kutna.html