z praze: Rebelove, the Czech Grease

I have now been in czech school for one week and living that true definition of sophmoric in that I believe that I might understand some things, or be able to speak because it makes sense in books and in my head, but it comes out all spit, halt and blah when I'm trying to actually communicate. Luckily, I have made a friend - Lorenzo - who is good at just throwing things out there to see if they work, and it makes it easier for me to follow suit. Of course, Lorenzo speaks four other languages, so for instance when I am returning the impulse buy jacket because it has missing buttons and I say: rada vymenit bundu protoze tam chybi knofliky. Musim mit za novou?

Lorenzo says: oh yes, knofliky, it's the same in German.

Then I imagine his brain having these resevoirs of languages from which he skims vocab for a new pond: Czech. Me, I'm out here with a shovel in hand, digging for a dam. I'm about calf deep now.

Today starts my first day of *work* for Tamizdat, this fabulous online distro of independent Central European music. The guys I will be working with are both in bands but no one will tell me their bands' names. The shop and office is on the fourth floor accessed by an interior plaza behind a buzzer-only door advertised only by a sandwich board - how's that for exclusive? And, as mentioned in an earlier post, there are bowls around for various pets that follow their owners to work on occasion.

Meanwhile, I've been listening to a lot of Czech radio - last night was 'oldies' on Olympic radio - by oldies I mean Czech, American and British oldies, from early weird doo wop I've never heard through, well, through the Wings catalog. A lot of the Wings catalog. The Czechs are not afraid of the solo Beatles catalogs at all, and that means I have to not be either, I guess. "Jealous Guy" and beyond.

One other music-related tidbit: we've been listening to Rebelove in class, talking about case endings and what have you. Rebelove is a mid-70s soundtrack turned film about teenagers in love and all that claptrap set to Czech versions of such songs as Petula Clark's "Downtown" nebo "Pata" or Nancy Sinatra's "Sugar Town" nebo "S, S, S" (actually s hacek, shhh shhh shhh) done with much more false exhuberance than the original, even. Will likely send the latter to Ms. Sara Shurr who runs Sugar Town in Philly, and will get a huge kick out of the rendition.

PERSONAL NOTE:

Well, I've only been gone 8 days but I'm feeling a little homesick, can you believe it? Not just for Monster either, but for New York (was remembering that I hadn't seen any outdoor movies at Bryant Park, one of my favorite things) and all those things. I know, every silly publicist I email to say 'no I haven't listened to X because I'm in Prague" emails me back 'I'm so jealous' and I shouldn't write this, but I really miss being aroun people I love. No, it's not that I miss NY, it's that I wish there were some people to share my time with - thus the blog (ya, sentimental interlude). I, for instance, haven't been out at all past 8pm only to use the internet, which for me is downright criminal. I've also only had jedno pivo a neni absinthe. Eveyone in school is very serious I think, and I haven't even emailed my Czech contacts yet. Well, I should do that right now...

This weekend: going to Karel Capek's house and some mining museums and likewise 'real czech' type tourist activities, with the class, so will be gone. More gossip upon return.