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1988: P.R.E.S.T.A.V.B.A.

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Re: 1988: P.R.E.S.T.A.V.B.A.

#51

Post by smcl »

inglor_cz wrote: post #38

There is a lot left of the 1980s spirit in Czechia. * Willingness to do things by hand (such as sewing improvised masks in spring of 2020 at home). * General distrust towards authorities. * Caustic, dark sense of humor. * Readiness to be cynical/heretical about every Sacred Cause pushed by the media or activists. Americans would probably be genuinely shocked at the reception of the BLM movement here. * Corruption, un…

> Willingness to do things by hand (such as sewing improvised masks in spring of 2020 at home).

This is good and bad. Nobody I know can recommend me a plumber because "we all know how to do that ourselves" - ironically the reason I need a plumber is because of a shoddy DIY job performed by previous owners of my flat :D

And as an aside - I was really sad when N95 and FFP2 masks were mandated. The psychological boost of everyone wearing their own lovely little custom masks together was really cool and bonding. They were the last connection to the early successful response to covid, when they were deprecated it seemed to be around the time where everyone just sort of gave up.

Re: 1988: P.R.E.S.T.A.V.B.A.

#52

Post by _0ffh »

dvh wrote: post #39
rebolek wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t forget 1987’s Bony a klid which had Frankie goes to Hollywood’s "Relax" as a main music theme (legaly) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg2w5uE-814 And then there are also Návštěvníci (The visitors) which is basically Daft Punk, just 30 years earlier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSjda4QF9wI

The visitors soundtrack was done by Karel Svoboda, my favorite piece from him is this: https://youtu.be/TexUnMWTk04

I really liked those Czecheslovakian-German coproduced kids movies quite a lot!

Re: 1988: P.R.E.S.T.A.V.B.A.

#53

Post by smcl »

gostsamo wrote: post #42
jhgb wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So basically screen readers blindly stumble into comment trees? Never thought of that.

Usually, a comment tree is made as list of lists. HN does not bother with semantic tags though and the information does not reach the SR.

Oh my, this sounds like a really valuable feature. I wonder if the folks maintaining HN would consider adding accessibility enhancements like this.

Re: 1988: P.R.E.S.T.A.V.B.A.

#54

Post by StavrosK »

gostsamo wrote: post #21
jhgb wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't notice anything about Yugoslavia in the article...? I thought the comment referred to Czechoslovakia.

My bad, HN doesn't make obvious to screen readers who is answering to whom and I thought that you mean the comment with the Yugo radio programs.

Maybe it would be helpful if the devs added some sort of "reply to" ARIA tag to each comment? That wouldn't be too hard, would it?

Re: 1988: P.R.E.S.T.A.V.B.A.

#55

Post by Tade0 »

YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #49
Tade0 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It wasn't banned per se - it was just that with a non-exchangable currency getting hold of a copy of anything was difficult. Some western productions would make it through the iron curtain, but they needed to be checked and usually censored beforehand. Politically correct (in the original meaning of the expression) poster art was a genre in and of itself: https://www.fanthatracks.com/news/collecting/star-wars-poste..…

Woa. Those posters are really good. Totally different aesthetic than the film, but I think they draw from the Eastern Block's long tradition of Sci Fi that was more artsy and less action, far as I understand it.

Ironically because of the political system back then - censors did only a cursory check whether the work meets the guidelines (no gore, nudity, positive depictions of "imperialist" America) and there obviously was no push to make the poster "sell" the movie - authors had a lot of artistic freedom, so they experimented.

Re: 1988: P.R.E.S.T.A.V.B.A.

#56

Post by povik »

smcl wrote: post #51
inglor_cz wrote: post #38

There is a lot left of the 1980s spirit in Czechia. * Willingness to do things by hand (such as sewing improvised masks in spring of 2020 at home). * General distrust towards authorities. * Caustic, dark sense of humor. * Readiness to be cynical/heretical about every Sacred Cause pushed by the media or activists. Americans would probably be genuinely shocked at the reception of the BLM movement here. * Corruption, un…

> Willingness to do things by hand (such as sewing improvised masks in spring of 2020 at home). This is good and bad. Nobody I know can recommend me a plumber because "we all know how to do that ourselves" - ironically the reason I need a plumber is because of a shoddy DIY job performed by previous owners of my flat :D And as an aside - I was really sad when N95 and FFP2 masks were mandated. The psychological boost o…

> The psychological boost of everyone wearing their own lovely little custom masks together was really cool and bonding. They were the last connection to the early successful response to covid, when they were deprecated it seemed to be around the time where everyone just sort of gave up.

True. Now that I think of it, it was an interesting time when the masks were first mandated virtually overnight. Back then it was okay to wear a mask which was obviously made from a kitchen towel, then people gradually shifted towards wearing neatly-made ones.

Re: 1988: P.R.E.S.T.A.V.B.A.

#57

Post by smcl »

povik wrote: post #56
smcl wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Willingness to do things by hand (such as sewing improvised masks in spring of 2020 at home). This is good and bad. Nobody I know can recommend me a plumber because "we all know how to do that ourselves" - ironically the reason I need a plumber is because of a shoddy DIY job performed by previous owners of my flat :D And as an aside - I was really sad when N95 and FFP2 masks were mandated. The psychological boost o…

> The psychological boost of everyone wearing their own lovely little custom masks together was really cool and bonding. They were the last connection to the early successful response to covid, when they were deprecated it seemed to be around the time where everyone just sort of gave up. True. Now that I think of it, it was an interesting time when the masks were first mandated virtually overnight. Back then it was o…

Yeah that period was really something! I was among the first few hundred positive cases here, and ended up quarantined in my flat for six weeks due to some testing anomalies. The "masks everywhere" stuff started while I was indoors, and when I finally emerged it was totally surreal to walk around in streets which were empty other than a handful people in masks all with their own colours and patterns.

Re: 1988: P.R.E.S.T.A.V.B.A.

#58

Post by smcl »

inglor_cz wrote: post #38

There is a lot left of the 1980s spirit in Czechia. * Willingness to do things by hand (such as sewing improvised masks in spring of 2020 at home). * General distrust towards authorities. * Caustic, dark sense of humor. * Readiness to be cynical/heretical about every Sacred Cause pushed by the media or activists. Americans would probably be genuinely shocked at the reception of the BLM movement here. * Corruption, un…

Sorry, I'm adding another reply as I re-read and realised this point was interesting too. I hope I'm not derailing this too much but I don't get to speak openly about CZ stuff with people so when it pops up on HN I get very interested. Re BLM, this one is a bit of a mixed bag in my experience - the categories I see are:

1. people who are on-board with BLM (most/all of my friends)

2. people who naively take it on face value that there's no explicit laws against people of colour, there is no problem and the idea of systemic racism is just stupid reactionary western[0] snowflakes being a bit try-hard

3. people who believe they are sort of post-racism - they can crack racist jokes because "I don't see race", oof

4. far right wingnuts, the same stripe as everywhere else (US, UK, Germany etc) - no more numerous here than elsewhere

5. people who don't really understand - they're relying on second-hand explanations which are often badly explained

I am curious if this is the same as what you have observed. I feel like #2 and #3 are misguided but not beyond help. #5 are really interesting, it's easy to miss that the majority of the population are completely at the mercy of whatever interpretation or translation they've read, heard or watched. One instance I am aware of was someone in the comments of idnes on FB or something with an "ALL LIVES MATTER" banner on their profile. My friend engaged her politely to figure out what was going on and was kinda shocked. This was a person with a disability who'd completely sympathised with the BLM movement, and wanted to show solidarity. Keenly aware she wasn't black and possessing only rudimentary English she had seen "all lives matter" mentioned around the internet and decided that was a good statment to use. It never clicked for her that it was a reaction against the BLM movement rather than one in solidarity with it. Maybe this is obvious but it was a bit of an eye opener for me.

Anyway my general feeling is that I don't think Czech Republic is more anti-BLM (or more racist) than other European countries. Certainly the anti-BLM protest here in Brno had people numbering in the dozens (20-ish?) and were countered by crowds in the hundreds. It is easy to be a bit shocked at attitudes here towards these things, but I think or maybe hope it's down to some people being a little naive or sheltered. I think that the right person spending 15 minutes talking could turn most people around on the subject. Maybe :)

[0] = I haven't heard anyone here refer to "westerners" in English or Czech, but there is definitely an attitude of "you guys over there are too sensitive sometimes". I couldn't think of a better term for that general idea, it wasn't meant as a slight.

Re: 1988: P.R.E.S.T.A.V.B.A.

#59

Post by m4rtink »

smcl wrote: post #57
povik wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The psychological boost of everyone wearing their own lovely little custom masks together was really cool and bonding. They were the last connection to the early successful response to covid, when they were deprecated it seemed to be around the time where everyone just sort of gave up. True. Now that I think of it, it was an interesting time when the masks were first mandated virtually overnight. Back then it was o…

Yeah that period was really something! I was among the first few hundred positive cases here, and ended up quarantined in my flat for six weeks due to some testing anomalies. The "masks everywhere" stuff started while I was indoors, and when I finally emerged it was totally surreal to walk around in streets which were empty other than a handful people in masks all with their own colours and patterns.

Yeah, it was crazy - when I finally ventured out on a sunny day during the first wave, there was hardly anyone on the otherwise crowded streets and main squares of Brno (second biggest city in CZ) and anyone left had a mask of some sort. Really surreal! :)

Shame it all went to hell when the next wave hit in autumn. #bestincovid again, just the other way around...

Re: 1988: P.R.E.S.T.A.V.B.A.

#60

Post by m4rtink »

smcl wrote: post #51
inglor_cz wrote: post #38

There is a lot left of the 1980s spirit in Czechia. * Willingness to do things by hand (such as sewing improvised masks in spring of 2020 at home). * General distrust towards authorities. * Caustic, dark sense of humor. * Readiness to be cynical/heretical about every Sacred Cause pushed by the media or activists. Americans would probably be genuinely shocked at the reception of the BLM movement here. * Corruption, un…

> Willingness to do things by hand (such as sewing improvised masks in spring of 2020 at home). This is good and bad. Nobody I know can recommend me a plumber because "we all know how to do that ourselves" - ironically the reason I need a plumber is because of a shoddy DIY job performed by previous owners of my flat :D And as an aside - I was really sad when N95 and FFP2 masks were mandated. The psychological boost o…

Yeah, the respirator mandate was basically a reaction to people not caring about using masks properly anymore, so the main effect - infected people with a mask of any kind being much less likely to infect others - could no longer be assured. So by mandating everyone to have a FFP2+ respirator it was less likely people will get infected when they encounter the next infected person without a mas or wearing one incorrectly/for show.

BTW, in practice it was ever only required indoors, many people flatly ignored it outside. Loopholes like "no need to wear a mask if you don't go closer than 2 meters to somebody did not help.

For sure was not a pleasant experience going out for a walk with an at risk family member who has not been vaccinated yet, to avoid all those inconsiderate potentially infected people getting too close.

We of course had masks but the did not...

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