Not without my daughter is probably the most famous story about how a “non-Moslem” woman lived and then fled from a Moslem country.

For those who haven’t read the book, here’s the story in (very) short: A US-citizen Betty Mahmoody married Iranian “Moody” and they had a daughted called Mahtob. Moody decided to stay to live in the USA and according to the book he seemed to be happy with his life, he worked as a surgeon (if I remember correctly) and had many American friends. Moody’s behaviour changed as the USA-Iran relationship got worse and that’s why he decided to take “a little vacation” in Iran and to take his wife and child with him. After 14 days there he told Betty that they were going to stay in Iran forever. Of course, Betty couldn’t do anything about it and according to the local law she became an Iran citizen by marrying an Iranian, so she wasn’t allowed to leave the country (and with the child) without her husband’s permission. Moody didn’t agree with going back to the USA, not even for a visit and moreover, he started being aggressive - he hit his wife, kicked her, threw her down the staircase, this all was silently witnessed by Moody’s relatives. He vented his anger on his wife even when the USA-Iran relationship worsened. Betty tried to assimilate as much as possible after some time - from learning the language to the Koran lessons but despite this her husband didn’t spare her more fractures and bruises. Betty managed to flee Iran with her daughter after a very complex process and thanks to some nice people.

One of my first impresses after I read the book was - this lady is a little spoilt. Betty was too much horrified because not all was the same in Iran as in the USA. Would you so terribly mind that your hosts are sitting at the table right on the carpet or that everything isn’t shining like a mirror? On the other hand, I would mind, too, if my child was forced to yell “Death to the USA!” at school before the beginning of the class, if the religious police threatened me because my thick black stocking rolled down a bit and if my husband’s answer to why he has just broken my arm was “This is what you get when that fucking government of yours does what it does”.

I read some internet discussions where women of different age - some of them married to Moslems - were talking about this story. And I was unpleasantly surprised by some responses. Of course, some may think that Betty Mahmoody made her story up and I wouldn’t blame anyone for this opinion. Albeit I don’t understand why she’d live under cover for such a long time.

“She deserved it.”
Sensible people please excuse but if we’re working with that the story’s true then only a really stupid person can excuse Moody’s violence with “She deserved it”. How did she deserve the beating, throwing down the stairs, the insults? Because she trusted her husband? Because she tried to assimilate? Because she refused to follow the pack calling “Death to the USA”?

“She should’ve been more interested in her husband’s culture, it was too late to start with it in Iran.”
I don’t understand this either. That someone lives in a multicultural marriage doesn’t mean they have to take extrem interest in their spouse’s culture of origin. Of course, people should know what cultural background they come from, but why should an American Christian living in the USA and consent to that her Iranian husband wants to live in the USA, too, understand Persian and know what’s written in Koran? And the fact that she was willing to learn Persian in Iran and get to know what Islam is about should be considered as a good thing and not be responded to with words like “Well, it was still too late”. 

“Every spoilt American bitch deserves to have her arm broken.”
Yes, someone was even able to say this. I’ve read this exact sentence in an internet forum few years ago after I read the mentioned book. The one who wrote it was a Czech Moslem woman. I’ve been regretting since then that I didn’t remember the webpage and the name of that woman. I believe this person is a monster and it’s a pity because she surely ruined someone’s opinion about the Moslem women in general and they don’t deserve it. Now after these years I’ve been asking why this woman was so full of hatred. Was it because Betty Mahmoody was an American or because she was a bit spoilt? One or the other, I doubt that she deserved maltreatment.

I believe that every one of us is able to change their story a bit sometimes, even if unwillingly. Like Betty Mahmoody maybe exaggerated when she wrote about some cultural differences, her husband may have written something different. Naturally, he probably wouldn’t have written how he forced his wife to stay in Iran, how he hit her and threw her down the stairs. But I don’t understand people, who excuse this violence with words like “She deserved it” or “She should have been more interested in the culture”. If a non-Moslem freely decides to live in a Moslem country then of course he/she should assimilate. However, people with these radical opinions should realize that Mrs. Mahmoody was held in Iran against her will, she had never thought of living there, so of course, she didn’t learn Persian and she wasn’t a Moslem, so naturally again she didn’t read Koran and couldn’t pray in the Moslem way. And finally, I believe that people who excuse Moody’s behaviour would speak differently if they became victims of home violence and moreover, were held somewhere against their will and forced to listen to other people wishing death to their home country.

Last but not least, I must write this: No, I don’t think that all Moslems are tyrants, I don’t believe that all Moslem women spend their lifes in fear of their husbands. This article is just about this one story and besides, the main think isn’t that there was a Christian-Moslem marriage, the issue is the behaviour of the husband and his relatives and some other crazy people as well as some people’s unbelievable opinions that someone deserves to be tortured just for having different customs and opinions and coming from a different cultural background. Nevertheless, I’m sure there are some stupid people who will “forget” to read this last paragraph and will call me a racist xenophobe who hates Moslems. No matter if I say that it isn’t true.

Just ask yourselves this question. What would you do, if your husband or wife would force you to live in a different country where you had just few rights and you were told that you can never see your home country and your family again. I bet you wouldn’t just say “Ok, cool, whatever”. And do you think you’d deserve to have your arms broken for not willing to give in?

If you haven’t visited these markets yes, if only this year or never ever, hurry up. In Vienna, you’ll be impressed by the real Christmas atmosphere. If you prefer Christmas decorations or sweet pastry, colorful or one-color decoration, you will like the markets in Vienna.

This beauty will welcome you right after the arrival:

There are several tens of Christmas markets in Vienna. The most famous one is called Christkindlmarkt and can be found in fromt of the Vienna city hall. Another big one is between the nature-historical museum and the art museum and you can get there easily by foot from the city hall. We spent most of the time at the city hall market and we don’t regret it.

The market gets in full swing between 9 and 10 am and you can have there fun for several hours. Everything’s decorated to the last detail, ever the trees around the city hall.

As for the goods, there are all possible Christmas things - food, drinks, decoration and gifts. The prices are not high.

- pastry

- pastry

- pastry

- miniatures

- toys

- paraffin candles

- paraffin candles

- gel candles

- sbee wax candles

- sheet products

- ceramic

- ceramic and glas

- wood

- Christmas tree decoration

- Christmas tree decoration

- Christmas tree decoration

- Christmas tree decoration

- smoked meats

- gingerbread

- honey of all kinds

Our hit of this year’s markets was the fruit punch. We forgot about the mull wine and started choosing betweem strawberry, raspberry, cherry, blueberry and forest fruit punch. We tried 3 kinds and all were delicious.

- raspberry and cherry punch

- this year’s Christkindlmarkt cup

There were children workshops inside the city hall, like every year. The kids could do the baking, painting and make some presents.

There was a café next to the workshop. Four older and not very nice waiters were doing the service. They didn’t have much work during the day and were mostly just standing there. They let us wait for 15 minutes without asking what we’d like to dring (but they knew we were there) and when they started to serve people who came after us, we left for a nice café across the street and had great Vienna Melange. This was the only minus of Christmas Vienna for us.

Another great thing which I’d like to recommend is the big hot potato, which you can have for 4 - 5,50 Euro with the filling you choose.

- hot potato with tzatziki and ham

- You’d like some, wouldn’t you?

Unfortunately, I can’t avoid comparing the markets in Brno, my hometown. Our Christmas markets are bad every year, in fact, they’re becoming worse. The most of the few stands are selling curtains and pyjamas, Christmas products can be hardly found. There’s a podium on which are mostly places only the loudspeakers and I can’t say that they’d produce music often. I dare to say that the podium is good for almost nothing, especially this year. The worse thing which could happen to the market happened - there are trams goingt through it. I understand that there has to be a detour due to the works on the streets but I don’t understand why the councilmen of Brno - centre needed to place the market to the trams on the Namesti svobody square instead of placing it on the Moravske namesti square where everything would be fine and without the danger that someone will end up under the wheels of a tram. There’s a lot of unused space on Moravske namesti and these few stands which are there look rather pitiful. To put it simply, the Christmas markets in Brno have hardly anything to do with Christmas - no atmosphere, totally bad placing and many 3rd-cathegory-market products instead of typical Christmas things.

We’re lucky to have Vienna so near. The markets in Vienna are beautiful, stunning and really Christmassy. So if there’s no Christmas market in your city or if you’re from Brno like me and have at least one free day, go to Vienna to take up the real Christmas atmosphere.

- passage at the Vienna city hall

- carousel in front of the city hall

- “heart tree” at night

Photo: Petra Holubová and juroo

V roce 2003 zavraždila Patricie Delongová (tehdy Patricie Odleváková) svou kamarádku Danielu Taslerovou. Soud ji k nevíře mnohých osvobodil, odvolací soud osvobození potvrdil. V roce 2008 promovala na Lékařské fakultě Masarykovy univerzity, změnila si příjmení a odešla údajně do Severních Čech. Jednou možná bude chtít být Vaše lékařka. Nebo Vašich dětí.

Myslím, že nemá cenu opakovat všechny podrobnosti ani citovat všechny, kteří se k případu vyjádřili. Ale rozhodně k této vraždě chci něco napsat. Na konci tohoto článku najdete odkazy na další články, kde jsou nejen citace, ale také další popis událostí.

Co se tedy stalo? Daniela Taslerová byla podle společných známých sebe a své vražedkyně přátelská a oblíbená. Vše se jí dařilo, měla přítele, studovala. Patricie Delongová byla tak trochu její opak - neoblíbená, intrikánka, náladová, zlostná. Daniela byla její jediná opravdová kamarádka. A Patricie se jí “odvděčila” nožem v srdci. Doslova.

Daniela a Patricie si domluvily společnou večeři 29.5.2003 na kolejích Vinařská v Brně a při této večeři zasadila vražedkyně své oběti několik ran nožem. U soudu se bránila, že byla pod vlivem prášků a alkoholu a byla tudíž nepříčetná, neměla ponětí o tom, co dělá, nevěděla, že vraždí. Nikdo nepochyboval o tom, že Danielu ubodala právě Patricie, řešilo se především to, zda to udělala úmyslně nebo v nepříčetnosti.

Známí ji popisovali jako zlostného člověka, psycholožka jako osobu sebestřednou, chladnou, hysterickou a psychicky labilní. Delongová (Odleváková) vystupovala u soudu naprosto sebevědomě, svého činu nelitovala a již měsíc po vraždě se rozhodla uspořádat u sebe doma večírek. Neustále se odvolávala na to, že u ní kombinace alkoholu a léku Tramadol způsobila nepříčetnost. Samozřejmě, člověk, který se opije a zfetuje, běžně odpovídá za své činy. Delongová však tvrdila, že jí lék do pití pravděpodobně dala Daniela, ona (Patricie) si ho prý sama nevzala. Dále tvrdila, že nikdy nebrala žádné jiné léky než antikoncepci a paralen.

Jsem překvapená, že jí soudce uvěřil, přestože několik známých vypovědělo, že Patricie již dříve brala nějaké prášky a bývala hysterická a také že nevzal v úvahu zmiňovanou možnost, že lék Tramadol dostala až od pracovníků ambulance a v době vraždy byla tedy jen pod vlivem alkoholu. Zarážející je především to, že ačkoliv se odvolávala na nepříčetnost a také na to, že si vlastně nic nepamatuje, dokázala většinu večera (včetně doby, kdy už měla být pod vlivem léků a alkoholu) popsat naprosto přesně a do detailů. No není tohle divné?

Delongovou tedy soud osvobodil a nejen to. Osoba, která podle mě lhala u soudu, nelitovala toho, že někoho chladnokrevně zavraždila, mohla naprosto v klidu dostudovat vysokou školu a stát se lékařkou. Sice její studium mohlo být poprávu, ale asi většina z nás cítí, že to prostě není správné. Ze strany univerzity se této zbabělé vražedkyni dostala i jakási ochrana - z informačního systému zmizela fotografie z jejího profilu (asi aby ji lidé náhodou nemohli poznat z fotek z novin) a také nepřišla na svou vlastní promoci. Ano, asi by jí nikdo netleskal. Hned nato si změnila příjmení z Odleváková na Delongová a prý odjela vykonávat lékařskou praxi do Severních Čech. Upřímně, dokážete si představit, že máte za doktorku ženu, která vraždila a je jí to úplně jedno? Já tedy opravdu ne.

Tak si říkám, co si máme myslet o onom osvobozujícím rozsudku? Ano, neprokázalo se, že by si lék vzala sama, ale čím poslouchal pan soudce? Delongová v jedné chvíli tvrdí, že si na nic nepamatuje a pak popíše průběh celé tragédie detail po detailu a to je vše normální? Věřil snad více Delongové, která tvrdila, že žádné prášky nikdy nebrala, než znaleckému posudku, který tvrdil, že mimo jiné brala léky, které jí pomáhaly déle se učit? Soud tímto vyslal jednoznačnou zprávu. Nesnášíte někoho? Dejte si s ním schůzku, pořádně se “nadopujte”, nezapomeňte tvrdit, že jste si sami nic nevzali a vše bude v pořádku, nic se vám nestane.

Já to vidím takto: poznala jsem v životě několik málo lidí, kteří proti mě něco měli jen proto, že jsem na sobě pracovala, něco dokázala a byla prostě v něčem lepší. Příliš jsem si to nebrala, protože za takové věci může člověka nenávidět jen naprostý chudáček. Nyní ale přesně takoví “chudáčci” jako Delongová, kterým by se náhodou zachtělo vraždit, mají celkem zaručenou možnost, jak to provést.

V našem státě je zkrátka možné vše. Jeden vrah dostane za vraždu trest odnětí svobody na tři roky a za dobré chování je propuštěn po roce a půl, jiný vrah je zase osvobozen.

ODKAZY:

Co vím o vražedkyni, která se stala lékařkou

Byly nejlepší kamarádky. Než jedna druhou zabila.

Medička kamarádku nezabila, rozhodl podruhé soud

Smrt studentky na kolejích zůstává bez trestu

Studentka, která zabila svou kamarádku, je volná

Bude léčit, i když zabila kamarádku

Karl Jenkins - Adiemus

Adiemus is a total classic. Even those who don’t know Karl Jenkins or the Adiemus music project know this song. Every work by Jenkins is worth mentioning but it’s for a much longer post.

Anastasia Volochkova

I’ll mention the song Adiemus once more but this time because of the talented and beautiful ballerina. You can watch her in several videos on Youtube but this one’s the most impressive.

Kiri Te Kanawa - Antema Africana

All the good things are three, so here’s one more work by Karl Jenkins, this time sung by the New Zealand soprano Kiri Te Kanawa. The clip is nice, too, even here are some ballerinas.

Daniel Tammet - wonder child

Daniel Tammet isn’t a child anymore but he’s still a wonder. He solves all mathematical problems just in few seonds, he can continue reeling off the pi number several hours and he needs only a week to learn fluent Icelandic. The video has 5 parts, here you can watch the first one.

Rallia Christidou

Rallia is my favourite Greek singer. She’s not one of those wannabe singers who take up this career just to make videoclips where they’re just lying half-naked on the beach. Not that she couldn’t do that, she’s pretty enough but what I like about her is that she really has talent and a beautiful voice. Hear for yourself. The two songs here are called Eisai Makria (You’re far away) and Kripsou (Hide).

Ishtar - Saidi, dance with cane and a drum solo

The dance with cane and drum solo belong to my favourite oriental dance style. The quality of this video isn’t very good but in spite of that it’s clear what it “is about” and moreover, I like Ishtar’s performance.

Viktoriya - Baladi with cane and drum solo

This is an amusing performance of another great dancer. I’d just not wear the heals:D

Sadie

Everyone can say what they want but Sadie’s the best oriental dancer I’ve ever seen. And this drum solo has really won me over.

Rachel Brice

Rachel Brice is an oriental dancer, her branche is Tribal Fusion, a specific style and in my opinion a very difficult one, too, but in Rachel’s interpretation it seems an easy thing:) The last video isn’t Tribal Fusion but it’s worth watching, too.

Jillina - Drum solo

Jillina is another popular oriental dancer and this is one very nice drum solo and choreography. The Czech Miss Orient 2006 winner performed an even better choreography which you can watch on the missorient.cz webpage.

Bobby McFerrin - Ave Maria

You don’t hear such an Ave Maria every day! It’s almost unbelievable what this man can do with his voice.

Fairouz - Ya Tair

Fairouz is a Lebanese singer, so in our corner of the world only those are aware of her name who are interested in oriental music and/or dance. .

Ofra Haza

Ofra may be the most famou singer from the East . Although she’s not alive anymore, her legacy can be found almost in the whole world even if many people aren’t aware of it. E.g. she sang the song of the mother of Moses in the movie Prince of Egypt in ca 16 languages including Czech (anyway she worked on a big part of this movie’s soundtrack). Her most famous song’s called Im Nin’Alu.

Purple and Brown

These plasticene guys are the right amusement for the boring whiles.

Mr.Bean

He’s a sex symbol, no doubt:D

Zinedin Zidan - Pantaghana

This is a very good political dictature paraphrase by a Croatian band. I can recommend this.

Issam Houshan in Taipei

Issam Houshan is one of the most famous oriental drummers. On this video he’s performing one drum solo I like with his colleagues in Taipei.

Despina Vandi and Jorgos Mazonakis - Amanes

Once upon a time a popular Greek singers decided to make an entertaining song and videoclip about how she wants to get married while he doesn’t. And so this “funny thing” was made. Even those who don’t understand Greek might like it.

Ganz Schön Feist

I recommend this band to everybody who can speak German. Superamusing lyrics, good choreography and especially great talent (difficult trios sung like it was nothing), this all are Ganz Schön Feist.

Punjabi MC - Jogi

Simply an interesting Indian-modern music mix.

Lagaan

A great bollywood movie with great music, it’s Lagaan. In the video you’ll see and hear one of the soundtrack songs and then another, just not by the leading hero Aamir Khan but by Raja Hasan Sagar, an Indian singing contest contestant who can equal Khan in singing.

All X

The coolest Czech X Factor contestants!

Few days ago - in connection to a pupil who attacked his teacher - I heard about an “interesting” idea of the members of the school labour union - they want the teachers to become public servants.

Their argument is that if the attack on a teacher was viewed as the attack on a public servant, the wrongdoes could be punished harder. I think this is a bad idea. Why do some people want the wrongdoers to be punished harder only for attacking certain people instead of punishing them harder for attacking anyone? If the teachers were classified as public servants, so should be all clerks, lawyers, doctors, cleaning ladies, shopkeepers and all citizens. Is there anyessential difference whether a 15-year-old adolescent attacks you with a baseball bat on a street or at school? In my opinion this person should be punished hard in both cases, there’s no reason for changing the law only to the teachers’ benefit. I vote for punishing the minors harder for physical attacks no matter who they attack.

Other think I’d like to mention is my experience with violence in the schools. It hasn’t been such a long time since I went to the high school and I can recall the elementary school experience very well, too. Older people often talk about how young people are “going bad”, how rude and uneducated they are. Yes, in our schools you can find many rude and spoilt brats who can’t behave because nobody has taught them this. However, many pupils/students are not like this and it’s pity that people aren’t also talking about those teachers who are trying to heal their complexes in the schools. If you read an internet article about how a parent complained about a teacher’s behaviour to a child and then you view the discussion, you can read things like “If the child can’t put it’s hand in front of the mouth while caughing, the teacher has right to hit it,” or “He surely was rude to the teacher, it’s good he got hit”. I think this is horrible, if somebody thinks so narrow-minded when he/she is reading an article where the situation hasn’t been described at all and you don’t know who did what to whom, just that the kid got hit. If somebody is convinced that the child is always guilty no matter what happens,it’s either a teacher with a mental complex or somebody who doesn’t remember the time he/she was going to school.

When I went to elementary school, the opinion was already widely spread that the youth is spoils and that we all are brats. Such kids really were among us but I as well remember some teacher with sadistic streak but nobody was talking about them. It’s interesting that they all were women. I respected some of my elementary school teachers but I simply feared the most of them. I feared because I saw how they treated other children. They left the worsthooligans alone because the parents of the worst-behaved kids were often doing scenes at school and the teachers then let their anger out on the others. And so we were hit to the face, to the back and more for things like yawning without the hand in front of the mount or just if we hadcurved edges drawn in our notebooks (note for foreigners - the pupils and students in the Czech republic have to draw edges in their notebooks, so that they can’t write to the very end of the paper. We used to make tiny holes in all the papers at once, so that we didn’t have touse the ruler on each page but some teachers didn’t like that and then we had to draw 2 points on every page and them connect them - so you get the edge. And we had to do this on hundreds of pages. If the teacher didn’t like the edges enough, she just teared the notebook and we had to draw again). I remember one teacher who was looking after us after school and she was especiallygood at punishments for anything and at making this after-school-time a real hell.

I also remember some high school teachers who had some problems in my opinion and who tried to solve these problems in a wrong way. It is also true that our teachers were under the pressure of the directors and parents of some student, these parents caused a lot of troubles to all teachers who dared to give their “brilliant” kids a worse mark than A. I’m on the teachers’ side in this and I wonder why some parents were willing to show how much spoilt their children were. However, I’ll never understand those teachers who always left the worst-behaved and most spoilt alone and then punished the others for really silly things.

I must say, except some cases I had luck on my high school teachers, I really liked them, many of them were not only great teachers but also our friends. On the contrary, I don’t like remembering the elementary school. I got there the impression, that the most cruel ladies get to the smallest children. I can remember a scene when a teachergrasped a kid by the hair, trailed it on the floor through the classroom and when the kid was crying hysterically, she threw it in the corner and hit it several times. And what was the cause? The kid whispered something to it’s neighbour in the class several times. I understand that the children should be taught some discipline at school (and at home above all), but they are no robots and those who think that the children at the age of 6 or 7 would be disciplined like soldiers and quiet like robots, should not be in education at all. And teachers who can’t punish the pupils proportionally to the wrong should be punished as hard as pupils who attack their teachers. Actually, as anyone who attacks anybody.
 
EDIT: I have to share my experience from the school kitchen, too. The teachers never controlled if we got the food we paid for but they always controlled whether we were waiting totally quiet in the row. They forced us to eat everything we had on our plates, including the fat meat. There were some weird practices in our school. If there was meat for lunch, the cooks gave only fat meat to many kids. Sometimes they “forgot” to give them meat at all and so we got only dry potatoes. If we had buchticky s kremem (small pastry pieces with cream), we often got plain cream, no pieces in it. If we were still hungry, we couldn’t get more. Our teachers sawall this but never said anything, never did anything because they knew that after school the cooks would share with them all they’ve stolen. Bags full with lunch meals, sugar, butter, flour….does it sound familiar? As far as I’m concerned, these practices still work in many Czech schools. And these people want to tell the kids how they should behave.

CANE CORSO ITALIANO
- http://SaNNaS.deviantart.com

Where’s the truth about the so called fight breeds
(sorry for the bad text format, the blogging system doesn’t work very well)

„Punish the deed, not the breed!“ - that is the message I’d like to pass on you. We can feel the crazyness about the so called fight breeds in the whole world already and since several years in the Czech republic as well. Unfortunately, some people are convinced that there are dogs which are bad and aggressive since they were born and my effort to explain that the aggressivity is rather a matter of training and in some cases of breeding as well goes in vain. The aggressivity is not a „prerogative“ of some breeds.

I’m not a professional cynologue but I’ve trained my dogs more or less successfully for almost 7 years and I’m interested in dogs and their training since I was a child and that’s why I believe I have something to say to this topis. If you manage to read this article to the end, a real expert will be given the floor.

- http://portokali.deviantart.com

Why exactly „fight“ breeds? And which ones are they?

The name „fight breeds“ is actually a nonsense. Someone would reply that the name has been derived from the former usage of these dogs in the dog fights but this isn’t apt by far. For example Rhodesian Ridgeback – today featured on some lists of fight breeds – was used to hunt animals and according to this criterion even Beagle or Weimaraner could be included on these lists.

To get to the point which breeds are considered to be the figth breeds. Every country has a bit different opinion, the lists (official or not) differ in different corners of the world. The bull-type dogs are in general considered the fight breeds – Bullterrier, English Bulldog, Bullmastiff, Stafordshire Bullterrier, American Pitbullterrier – and further American Staffordshire Terrier, Kerry Blue Terrier, Dogo Argentino, Dogue de Bordeaux, Fila Brasileiro, English Mastiff, Dobermann, Cane Corso Italiano, Mastin Napoletano, Rottweiler, Shar Pei, Perro de Presa Mallorquin, Tosa, Rhodesian Ridgeback, mongrels of these breeds and some more.

        
PERRO DE PRESA MALLORQUIN      DOGO ARGENTINO
- http://SaNNaS.deviantart.com           - http://xoss6.deviantart.com
        
ENGLISH STAFFORDSHIRE TERRIER  MASTIN NAPOLETANO
- http://anxietypatient.deviantart.com      - http://SaNNaS.deviantart.com

I believe that it’s bad to try to put together any official list of the so called fight breeds because such arguable lists have only one impact – they artificially arouse fear in people who are not acquainted with dogs. Fear of breeds which do not deserve this because they’re not only no more aggressive that other breeds but also they did not choose to be used in the illegal dog fights. And it is most odd that people are now punishing the dogs for what people themselves did to these animals.

- http://stampsbysassawj.deviantart.com

Vain fight against BSL

- http://tevy.deviantart.com

BSL (Breed Specific Legislation) is an English short for which is called „dogs’ laws“ in the Czech republic. The objectors of this legislation sometimes explain it as „Bull Shit Law“ and I have to agree. Our lawmakers rather restrict the held of certain breeds, condition it by some kind of examination etc. instead of thinking about how to punish people who do not train their dogs, don’t socialize them and who – by a completely unappropriate approach – make unmanageable creatures of them.

Maybe after some time another law will ban these breeds completely. And when they’re finished with these dogs, it will be other breeds’ turn. In the end, it can be your dog if your lawmakers decide so. No matter that many of them don’t even own a dog, no matter that they don’t care about the real experts’ opinions.

- http://stampsbysassawj.deviantart.com

What’s with the aggressivity?

A big part of the public has already been formed by the media which often claim that the dogs „tagged“ as the fight breeds are bloodthirsty beasts whose only joy is to attack everything alive and that everyone who has such a dog is a wretch with some terrible complex. Of course, this is a pack of lies which have been told by the media for a long time and if you repeat a lie for hundred times it becomes truth for many people. Many of the so called fight breeds are energetic and dominant as well as other „non-fight breeds“. Energy and dominance are distinct attributes of other breeds such as Hovawarts but here they’re (for now) not being mistaken for something bad.

- http://stampsbysassawj.deviantart.com

Every man who has a dog should spend time with it and give the dog exactly what it needs. These breeds need especially a consistent training and enough occupation for the body and mind. For example American Pittbullterrier is a very intelligent breed and that’s why it needs to strain not only the muscles but also the head.

AMERICAN STAFFORDSHIRE TERRIER
- http://gimmixx.deviantart.com

It’s for sure that these breeds are not for those who are complete beginners with dogs and don’t even have anyone to help them with the training and to give some advice for the beginning. In my opinion, the dominance is not a bad thing, like people even the dogs are born with certain qualities such as dominance or submissivity. The dominance has to be controlled and the dog has to respect it’s master as the leader of the pack.

 
DOGUE DE BORDEAUX                                       ROTTWEILER
- http://SaNNaS.deviantart.com                             - http://timosetae.deviantart.com

Why many like these dogs

If you really devote yourself to the dog and train him well, your effort will be rewarded. Did you for example know that American Pittbullterrier is an excellent life-saver? And only for it’s stamina but also because for it’s big love to human beings. Anyway, those who have ever seen them with the children (who this dog likes especially), knows, what I’m talking about. Tosas can be as much gorgeous, if you meet these dogs, the likening „lovely giant“ must occure to you. English Bulldog, Staffordshire Bullterrier and other breeds are devoted to their masters, cuddly and the most of them have the advantage of being able to follow their masters on long trips and take part in interesting events such as the Pittbull shows, where you can see almost unbelievable performances.

   
CANE CORSO ITALIANO             ROTTWEILER
- http://SaNNaS.deviantart.com    - http://timosetae.deviantart.com

RHODESIAN RIDGEBACK
- http://leaversdance.deviantart.com

Attacking dogs

I’m not going to pretend that I know the cause of every dog attack but I’m 100 % sure that it’s not a matter of the breed. There’s no such thing as good and bad dog breeds, only good and bad owners and the circumstances that can provoke the attack even by a very calm animal.

Newspapers love especially dogs’ attacks on children, then you can read about „a furious dog“, „a defenceless child“ and „scared parents“. It can be true in some cases, I don’t deny it but it would be interesting to ask about the causes of the attack by an animal that has never attacked before and has never caused any problems. I’ll share with you my experience with a situation which I have witnessed several times: the child finds out a new „game“ - torturing the neighbour’s dog. It throws stones at the animal and every time the dog gets near the fence the child tries to stab it with a wire or hit with a piece of wood etc. The dog has nowhere to escape because if it goes to the furthest corner of the garden, the child keeps throwing stones at it at least. If the child’s parents see this, they no more than tell the child to stop which won’t help, of course. The dog remembers very well who tortured it and if it descovers an open door, a hole in the fence or manages to sap the fence after several months of the torture, it will revenge. Even a calm flegmatic dog can do that, not even a Leonberger would stand an unbearable torture. And we should be honest, who would not do anything in this dog’s shoes? This absolutely isn’t about aggressivity but about the behaviour of many people (unfortunately also children) who can be really cruel. And the consequences are usually fatal for the dog, while the tormentor becomes the victim, the dog – although it was only defending itself – often pays for this with it’s life.

Other causes for aggressivity can be incorrect training and insufficient activity. However, there’s no difference between the so called fight breeds and other breeds. If you don’t train a Golden Retriever, it could „backslide“ as well as a Dogue de Bordeaux could. This is why I believe that for a dog’s bad behaviour only it’s owner should be punished, not the dog and not the whole breed at all.

Interview with Mrs. Gabriela Pavlickova, expert on the training of dogs and owner of one of the most successfull European kennels of Tosa and Fila Brasileiro

What do you think about the Czech bill restricting the held of the so called fight breeds and the foreign laws restricting or banning the held and breeding of these dogs?
It has something to do with me because I’ve been involved in the breeding of these breeds who have been included in the so called fight breeds. It’s a mystery for me who thought up the name „fight breeds“ and what are the criteria for including dogs, my mind boggles at this!

Why do you think do these breeds have their ill fame?
I think that the media contributed to their “ill fame”, you know, it’s not so interesting and sellable to write about the attacks by Golden Retrievers’ as by „pitbulls“.

Are the figh breeds more dangerous than other breeds in your opinion?
People should buy these breeds after reading carefully about their nature and history, the most of them were used to hunt animals, for example Rhodesian Ridgeback – lions, Dogo Argentino – wild boars…These breeds have a high limit of soreness and inclination to dominance, their training should be consistent since early age.

Do you think it’s true that the so called fight breeds commonly attack other animals and humans without any reason?
A dog which has been trained and treated well never attacks without a reason…..

For how long have you been training dogs?
I’ve been involved in the training of dogs for 16 years.

What is your experience with the training of the so called fight breeds? Is it more difficult to manage them than to manage other breeds?
There are several dogs of these breeds which are attending my school, we try to train them consistently from the courses for puppies and to suppress their inclination to dominance but it’s of course especially up to their owners.

Which breeds do you usually get for re-education and which are their usual problems?
Maybe you’ll be surprised but my most often clients are the owners of smaller breeds – Cocker Spaniels, Malteses, also Labradors and German Shepherds. The small breeds’ problems is the aggressivity to their masters and other animals and the issue of Labradors and shepherds is their very lively and wild nature. People tend to think that Labrador – as an usual guide-dog breed – doesn’t need any training, however, the opposite is the truth.

You breed two of the so called fight breeds in your kennel. How did they win your heart?
The breeds Tosa and Fila Brasileiro won me over for their frain nature, unrestrained love and devoteness to the family, moreover, Filas are uncorruptible watchdogs.

You can read more about the breeds Tosa and Fila Brasileiro at the web page of the Birengo kennel on http://www.birengo.info

FILA BRASILEIRO
- http://gordoxa.deviantart.com

What’s left to say

Finally, I’d like to say that people who so badly wish the so called fight breeds to be handicapped should look more around themselves. They would see that the dogs can be aggressive no matter to which breed they belong, that the aggressivity isn’t more distinct at any breed and maybe they would realize that the behaviour doesn’t (mostly) depend on genetics but on the training. I’d also like to tell the journalists that they have obviously forgotten to be unbiased. And I want to let all the scared readers know that sometimes it would be good to think about why the „bloodthirsty beast“ actually attacked. Was the attack caused by bad training, by an illness or maybe by the victim who, in reality, is no victim but the one who provoked the attack?

MONGREL OF SHAR PEI AND AMERICAN PITBULL TERRIER
- http://paleypeach.deviantart.com

More pictures

   
CANE CORSO  ITALIANO         AMERICAN PITBULL TERRIER
- http://SaNNaS.deviantart.com  - http://anxietypatient.deviantart.com
    
CHOW CHOW                                                                               ENGLISH MASTIFF
- http://delmuro.deviantart.com                                                     - http://deefilly.deviantart.com
     
RHODSIAN RIDGEBACK             CHOW CHOW
- http://SaNNaS.deviantart.com   - http://petrius.deviantart.com
  
CANE CORSO ITALIANO               DOGUE DE BORDEAUX
- http://SaNNaS.deviantart.com      - http://SaNNaS.deviantart.com
    
ROTTWEILER
- http://voidcontext.deviantart.com    - http://stampsbysassawj.deviantart.com
 
CANE CORSO ITALIANO
- http://SaNNaS.deviantart.com

ROTTWEILER
- http://timosetae.deviantart.com

Links

Many thanks to all great photographers and artists who allowed me to use their works in this article. There’s a link to the author’s web page under every picture and here I bring them again in the alphabetical order:

http://AnxietyPatient.deviantart.com
http://Bunnybunbunbunee.deviantart.com
http://deefilly.deviantart.com
http://DelMuro.deviantart.com
http://gimmixx.deviantart.com
http://gordoxa.deviantart.com
http://leaversdance.deviantart.com
http://paleypeach.deviantart.com
http://Petrius.deviantart.com
http://SaNNas.deviantart.com
http://StampsBySassawj.deviantart.com
http://Tevy.deviantart.com
http://Timosetae.deviantart.com
http://voidcontext.deviantart.com
http://Xoss6.deviantart.com

Thanks also to Mrs. Pavlickova for giving me an interview:

http://www.birengo.info

More interesting links:
- An Open letter to the deputies, senators and the media (in Czech)
- Web against BSL
- Pit Bull Informational Pages

Valencia, the Don Quijote school and some useful information

Introduction

It sure is important which people you meet in a certain place if you want to evaluate this place. I was very lucky because I met great friends in Valencia and I had a lot of fun with them. Also the city itself has enchanted me and the school Don Quijote as well.

Some useful information

Valencia is situated on the eastern cost of Spain on the river Turia and it’s the third biggest city of Spain. The population of the capital city of the community of Valencia and the Valencian province was more than 1 700 000 inhabitants in 2007. The climate is characterized not only with the high temperatures but also by the high humidity.

You can read more on Wikipedia and the official web page of Valencia.

A bit of culture

There’s a lot to see in Valencia but before one of ours (I mean the Czech, possibly Middle European people) work one’s way through to the sightseeing, the first thing to catch the attention will be the omnipresent greenery. The palm trees and cactuses are almost everywhere, if there’s at least a little space for it, e.g. on the roundabout. If I compare the industrial and busy city of Valencia to similar Czech cities, I’d say that we have much to learn.

- “overgrown” roundabout

After you absorb the first impressions from the exotic look of the city, I recommend you to go sightseeing. And if you’re not exactly the sightseeing-type, never mind because I’m sure that there at least some sights that can attract you.

The first stop could be the colosseum on Plaza de Toros (Xátiva stop, metro line 3) and from here it’s better to walk. The post office has it’s seat in a opulent building just a few streets northern and you can admire the city hall right next to it on Plaza del Ayuntamiento. If you squirm your way through the streets even more on the north, you get on the square Plaza de la Reina, from which you can go e.g. to the market Mercado Central, the building of Lonja de la Seda (Lonja de los Mercaderes) and other sights.

- Plaza de Toros

- Lonja de la Seda

Many tourists are interested especially in the museum complex Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències by the architect Santiago Calatrava. The museums are situated on the south and you can get there by the bus 40 (bus stop Plaza d’Europa). I personally think that I would’ve enjoyed the museums more a few years earlier but I don’t want to discourage you, especially if you have children, they’d enjoy it very much.

If you are curious, like to play ore are a comic fan, the Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe would be the right place for you. You can try the merciless laws of physics or your own strength and balance. My favorite place is the corner of super heroes. Spiderman hanging from the ceiling or giant Hulk, that’s only a part of what you can see here.

If you are rather a nature fan, you’d like the aquarium L’Oceanogràfic, which is divided into several sections according to the areas on Earth or the species. And in every section, there are information about the history and animals typical for the areas. You can also watch the dolphine show in the dolphin pavilion at certain hours (14:00, 16:30 and later). And if you have a spare hour, you can go to the movies in the cinema called  L‘Hemisféric.

- L’Oceanogràfic

If you want to visit all three “museums”, the best way is to buy the overall ticker for the museum, aquarium and cinema for ca 24 Euro (student discount). You can split the visit in more days and you have to specify them before you buy the ticket. You also have to pick the movie you want to watch right away. 

You can get more information about Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències on Wikipedia or the oficial webpage.

- L’Hemisfèric

Next place I want to mention is Palau de la Música and the open air cinema next to it. You can get there from the metro stop Alameda (line 3), from which you go to the channel-park Jardín del Turia, in which both Palau and the cinema are situated. The ticket to the cinema costs 3 Euro and you have to be there on time (the movie usually starts at 21:00) because they close the entrance one minute after the beginning and after that you won’t be able to get in.

I’ve already mentioned Jardín del Turia, which is former irrigation channel, today a beautiful park, in which you can find not only a lot of nice plants but also some football pitches and a giant statue of liing Gulliver. The channel stretches along the whole city and if you want to walk somewhere, the best way is to take the channel. You can get out of it at many places and I recommend to take a look in it once in a while because it hides pleasant surprises sometimes. We were surprised by a gorgeous medieval market incomparable to anything I’ve seen in the Czech republic. Not only that the market was really medieval and there was no stand with socks and curtains but also the vendors were dressed up according to the period style, the medieval music was wafting everywhere and there were conjurers, clowns, pirates and a man on the stilts in the narrow paths between the stands. The most common stand inscription was “artesanal” which means “hand-crafted”, referring to giant loafs of bread, cakes or leather products.

Read more about Jardín del Turia on Wikipedia.

- view from the hill in Jardín del Turia

The last place I want to write about is the botanical garden, where the entry fee is really symbolic - 1 Euro. However, Valencia itself must seem as a botanical garden to a person from the Middle Europe.

- botanical garden

Let’s go shopping

Bakers, chemists, paper shops, of course you can find all this in Valencia, however, it’s sometimes better to look for one of these “a-bit-of-everything” shops, where the prices are lower. If you are looking for a shopping center, you won’t be looking too long. The best-known center is called El Corte Inglés and you can find several in the city, one e.g. near the metro stop Reus – line 4. The best known “shopping” street is Colón, you can find it easily from the square Plaza de Toros, or by the metro line 3. You can find many specialized shops in the side streets, for example a small shop in the flamenco style (fans, scarf) or the Etnia shop near Plaza de la Reina.

Let’s go back to the fans for a while, they are almost indispensable in Valencia in summer. There’s one in the hand of almost every woman, the heat would be unbearable without it. The underground metro stops are usually even hotter than the direct sunlight.

Transport

Valencia has a well-developed city transport, you can get easily almost anywhere by bus, metro and tram (elevated metro lines). You can buy the tickets in the machines at the stops (these machines often don’t work), from the bus drivers or the vendors at the undergrounds metro stops and in some stands. One ride by bus costs 1,20 Euro and by metro 1,30 Euro. Therefore it’s better to buy the BONOBUS card (ca 5 Euros, 10 rides), BONOMETRO card (6,10 Euro, 10 rides) or the overall ticket for bus and metro for 35 Euro. If you’re changing the lines or getting out of the undergroung, you have to stamp your card again but don’t worry, the machine won’t stamp it twice if there wasn’t an inadequate time gap between the first and second stamp.

The buses and metro go until ca 23:00 and then there are the night buses marked with the letter N. Unfortunately, they don’t go everywhere in the city, on the other hand, you can make use of the taxi services which are comfortable, fast and cheap in comparison to the Czech republic (and you don’t get the impression that they charge you double because you are a foreigner).

More information about the Valencian metro here.

How to get to the school/residence

You can pay for the school transfer or a cab but the city transport is much cheaper and easy to use.

Metro from the airport - The metro line 3 goes from the airport and the airport stop is the first station, therefore you won’t take the wrong direction. You get off at the stop called Benimaclet, go out of the underground and change to the line 4 (direction Dr. Lluch) or line 6 (direction Maritim-Serrería) and get off at the stop Tarongers. The residence building is right opposite to the stop.

Metro from the bus station - You walk from the station to the metro stop Reus and from there take the metro line 4 or 6 (see the directions above).

Bus - The bus stops are less than 5 minutes walking from the residence, after you get off, you just turn right and go straight. You can tak the bus 9, 18 or 29.

ATTENTION! If you want to get off, you have to push the button on time (if you’re at the stop, just wave your hand). It shouldn’t be a problem in the metro because the next stop is always announced and in bus you have to count the stops or ask the driver to lePokud chcete vysedat, musíte v autobuse i metru včas zmáčknout tlačítko (pokud čekáte na zastávce, musíte mávnout na řidiče). V metru by neměl být problém, protože nádledující zastávka je s dostatečným předstihem ohlášena, v autobuse musíte zastávky buď počítat, nebo poprosit řidiče, aby Vás vysadil na správném místě.

- metro stop Tarongers and the residence building Galileo Galilei

School and residence

There’s nothing negative I could say about the school Don Quijote. Nice atmosphere, lessons which really give you something and above all great and friendly teachers, that’s the reason why I believe that I chose right.

To describe the school in short: You write an entry test on your first school day, then a teacher talks to you and evaluates your speaking and after your test is corrected, you will be put into an appropriate group A1 - C2. The courses Intensive (the most common type) are from 9:00 to 13:00 or from 15:00 to 19:00 and there are two teachers for every group, they change after two hours. You can also write a test at the end of your stay, this test is optional. After that you receive a certificate.

There were mostly Dutch and Italian students during my stay and also quite a lot of Germans and people from English speaking countries. I met also surprisingly many people from Belgium and France.

The most comfortable accommodation is without doubt in the so called residence (Galileo Galilei) but the other types also have some advantages. Some people living with families complained about the big distance from school and about that there often were no families, just one person taking care of 6 foreign students. Of course, there were also students who were satisfied with their families. The next possibility is a shared students’ flat, in which you have the biggest freedom for sure. The advantage of the residence is especially that it is situated in the same building like the school and also quite near the beach (10 minutes by tram, 20 minutes walking). A disadvantage at the time of my stay was first the presence of many children who lived in the residence during their summer camps. These kids used to scream and throw things on the floors after midnight (and you don’t go out every night and sometimes even want to sleep) and second the unwillingness of the people from the reception to do something about it. The biggest disadvantage was the food at the residence about which almost everybody complained. There were some very strange rooms like “If you take a pear, you’re not allowed to take a yoghurt, if you take some water for breakfast, you’re not allowed to take a glass of juice,” which seems like an impudence to me when I think about the price. The food wasn’t very good - greenbrown bananas, bruised pears etc. If someone would eat only there, then he/she would have to think - because of the absence of salt, spice or any taste at all - that the Spanish food is bad (of course, it isn’t). So my recommendation is - if you want to stay in the residence, pay just for the breakfast or no more than half-board.

The accommodation itself is very good and could be competition to many Czech hotels. The rooms are spacious, nicely equipped, with small balcony and a bathroom. The cleaning service was good, too, there were several shops, a cafeteria, a pizzeria and a laundry on the ground floor and the living area beginns on the first floor. The big living room is equipped among others with table football, a television and four computers with the internet access.

- in the residence

Let me go back to the school for a while, exactly to the afternoon programme. There’s a welcoming dinner called “Tapas de bienvenida” for the new students. And you can go to the cultural lessons every evening at 19:00. These lessons are focused on different topics every week - slang, turism, poetry, dance etc.

- Tapas de bienvenida

Read more about the school on the webpage of the Don Quijote school and the information about the residence are to find  here.

Fun, especially at night

An outgoing person will not get bored in Valencia, you just have to look around and see how much this place offers.

The beach isn’t unbearable messy but I was surprised why the local people can’t value their beach and sea. You meet a Valencian smoker almost everywhere and you can watch these people throwing the cigarettes to the water and sand. But in spite of that you can spend a good time on the beach, especially with friends and a lot of sunscreen.

You can visit many cafes and restaurants during the day, eat excellent ice cream (1,50 Euro and the portions are incomparably bigger than in the Czech republic) and head for a club at night. There are a lot of them in Valencia and it’s not just the classical discos, they often have an interesting programme like a brasilian party or salsa night. Turists will probably be interested in the club L’Umbracle (in the complex of Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències, entry 15 Euro, one drink included). Next interesting places are e.g. Café del Duende, where you can see a flamenco concert, or many bars on the beach. There are some clubs close to the beach, Luna Rosa, Cha-cha and Las Animas are just some of them. There’s usualy an entry fee but if you bring a flyer advertising the certain event, you can enter for free (the flyers are to find almost everywhere, even on the beach). The coctail are usualy 7 Euro and more and they’re mixed really fairly. While you can’t try hard enough to taste at least a little alcohol in a Czech coctail, a Valencian vodka with juice (cola with Malibu atc.) will be at least 50:50 and even the more complicated coctails don’t taste like the barman is trying to save some money on your drink.

- View from Las Animas

- club Cha-cha

The Locals

I haven’t found out much about the Valencia inhabitants in those 4 weeks but I would describe them with the same word like the teachers from Don Quijote – friendly. Just imagine that you need to recharge your cellphone credit and you can’t find the paper with our new phone number. Many Czech shopkeepers would start to tap impatiently, to grin and would probably say something like “You’re not the only client here,” but this doesn’t happen in Valencia:)

I was also captured by the appearance of Valencians. You can see people who obviously have some Arabic ancestors, people with pale skin and dark hair and also people with light hair, very exceptionally even red hair. There are also quite many black people and people with exotic Asian or South American appearance, they all live here together and create a very interesting population mix.

Feel like having a bit to eat?

The most popular Valencian speciality is paella. Albeit it is a delicious meal, it’s not very exotic for Czech people because it’s almost the same like our rizoto. The only difference is the color of the rice and also the paella ingredient may be various - rabit or chicken meat, sea fruit and more.

You sure do good if you go to a restaurant to have tapas – small delicacies. Finicky tongues may be enchanted by tortilla – pieces of potatoes baked with eggs - or patatas bravas or the ham jamón serrano. You can get various bocadillos in many bars or restaurants, it is bread (or rather a roll or bagel) with any filling you wish. And I can’t forget the sweet “snail-formed” pastry ensaïmadas and the salty filled pastry empanadillas.

The best known drink is the rice milk drink called horchata (or orxata). It’s very sweet, has a specific smell and I think that many foreigners would need some time to get used to it, like many of them need some time to get used to Czech kofola.

Language barrier

There’s just one disadvantage in Valencia if you want to learn Spanish - the Valencian language, a strain od Catalan which looks like a Spanish-French mix in written form and sounds like something incredibly difficult to understand when it’s spoken. Just for the information - the “right” Spanish is called Castellano.

The End

I believe that four weeks in Valencia aren’t enough. If you have friends and good mood, you will need more time. I don’t regret my decision to go exactly to Valencia, I even hope this wasn’t my last time. Someone may be attracted more to Barcelona, Madrid or on the contrary to some smaller place but for me Valencia has the greatest charm. It’s a place worth to come back to.

Photos

You can view more of my photos here.

I’m not going to convince anyone that he/she should support street art, I just want to point out how nonsense the hate to it is. I’ve chosen the Brno city as an illustrative because you can find here pretty much good street art work as well as enough paradoxes which accompany the persecution of street art.

First I must make clear what exactly street art is. It’s a kind of art which decorates the streets above all and the work itself may be created or directly on the wall or e.g. on a wooden desk or a piece of polystyrene. It may be a sprayed picture, a stencil, a sticker or other. Albeit I don’t like it when someone wants to determine what the art is and what not, I think that in some cases we can pretty clearly say what it isn’t at all. Like the pile of poop - which the “young artists” left in the National gallery and thought that it was a great idea - was not a piece of art, neither is this:

So when I’m writing about street art, I’m not writing about the poor tags sprayed on historical buildings, family houses or anywhere else. Those are rather a display of some mental complex like the product in the National gallery. [EDIT 14.7.08 - I didn't want to say that every spray signature is poor but these squiggles surely are.]
To get to the point: if you walk down the street, do you look around? More exactly, do you look a bit higher than your eye level? If yes, you may have already noticed that even in your city the art from the street can be seen. In our country the street art is becoming well-known, it wins new supporters and enemies. Of course, those ones are right who claim that the street artists “stick” their art on walls which are not theirs or which belong to all of us (= the city). I’m not going to analyze the correctness or incorrectness of their action but I’d like to comment on how nice street art can be and to draw your attention to other things which “decorate” the the streets but people don’t get it, the policemen don’t mind.
For example, how much are the enemies of street art annoyed by the illegal poster pasting? It can be seen on every corner in Brno luring to different events, often to some techno parties or events arranged by certain radio station. I wonder if all those “rightfully disgruntled” fight these illegal pasting so anxiously, too.

 
- This is just a small illustration of illegal poster pasting

- street art and advertising posters in one place - you can judge by yourselves what you like better

Have you ever noticed the dirt on the walls of the houses in Brno? The plaster which is flaking off and the spider webs which haven’t been cleaned up for so long that they create black spots on the walls? You can see all this in our beautiful city, directly in its centre. And the street artists choose such places quite often. The horrible places are being snugged by this I think but I understand that not everyone shares my opinion. I’m rather surprised that the people who make the effort to rip off the stencil posters and polystyrene do not think more about the walls which they decided to free of “the filth”. They usually don’t get it that the wall would also need some washing or re-plastering. They don’t get it even if the wall is in the very heart of the city.

- before and after - Do you think that the man who decided to “tidy” the wall focused on the right thing?

Another decoration which our city can be “proud of” are the omnipresent dog droppings and tinkled corners. Whilst you can be given a fine by the police (under the motto “to help and to protect” - the motto of the Czech police) for peeing behind a tree (because there is lack of public WCs in Brno - Mr. city mayor just had to build a WC with heated floor near the reservoir, the WC cost 11 million crowns so there was no money left for WCs in the centre), the dog owners without basic hygienic habits and with no intelligence to clean after their dogs are being overlooked by the “right protectors”. And if a person dares to point that out in a funny way, he/she should be really careful because he/she (unlike the dog owners) could get accused of a crime.

- Would you prefer a dog or some dog urine on your wall?

However, it’s not always dogs who carry out a “specific street art” created with the body fluids. The tram stations at the train station have become a place where members of a certain ethnic minority and several drunks urinate and defecate every night and sometimes even in the daylight. It’s interesting that this place is full with policemen all the time and they see all this. The train station building is a similar case. Look closely at this photo:

Do you see the dry stains? It’s exceptionally no body fluids. Just an employee who is supposed to mop the floor poors the dirty water out of this window right on the street. And sometimes it runs down the wall…