Author Archives: Douglas Arellanes

I was just checking out Radio Free Europe’s website, and saw that my friend Ron Synovitz is one of the 400 “embedded” reporters on the Iraq-Kuwait border. He’s with the 3rd Infantry, and if you check out the RFE/RL website (http://www.rferl.org) you’ll see his articles. (http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2003/03/17032003170529.asp) This is all getting pretty weird. The other thingContinue reading “Ron in Kuwait”

Had a pretty good night last night DJing at Palac Akropolis. Played a six-hour set that ranged from Brasilian techno to nujazz for a small but appreciative crowd. What’s great about the Akropolis – besides being a great crowd – is the space; because it’s got wood walls, the acoustics are wonderful. I DJ usingContinue reading “Last night’s DJing”

Much respect is due to Erik Best and his team at the Fleet Sheet, for putting out the Final Word, a daily e-mailed commentary on a single Czech news item. I look forward to its insight every morning, and you should too. Best – along with Sabrina Slonkova and Hana Lesenarova at MF Dnes –Continue reading “The Final Word”

I don’t know about you, but there are certain phrases or words that just crack me up whenever I hear ’em. In Missy Elliot’s “Work It”, for example, the phrase that always cracks me up is “gadong-a-dong-dong”. In today’s The Mirror, they have one of those phrases: In an effort to appear alluring, the bustyContinue reading “Review of the day”

It looks like Vladimir Spidla’s government made it through the vote of no confidence by what appears to be a very thin margin, 101-99, but that’s also the way the parliament is divided. It’s not like he had a huge majority to begin with. The good news in all this is that the party whipsContinue reading “Confidence”

Tomorrow afternoon (1400 CET/1300 GMT) the Czech parliament will vote on a no-confidence measure proposed by Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla. The vote should be close, with both the Civic Democrats and Communists openly saying they will vote against the somewhat shaky coalition. Considering that Klaus won by a pretty slim majority last week, party unityContinue reading “Vote of No Confidence”

Vaclav Klaus gave his first televised address to the Czechs as their president tonight, and while he didn’t say much in his 10 minutes, one point was interesting: he said that people shouldn’t be angry at their fellow citizens who have become wealthy since the revolution. But corruption is still rampant, and when people becomeContinue reading “Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Rich”

Test test test.

Testing again. Test test test.