Social commentary

Hi there. Even though I made last entry just yesterday (was it yesterday ?), I would like to comment on current social situation in the Czech Republic. And what could be a better topic than the upcoming parliamentary elections ?

These days are full of empty promises as all the parties try to make people vote for them. They are promising better living conditions for everyone, as if it was something you could change instantly just by talking about it. It's quite funny.. Or sad ? As usual, it's not that easy to distinguish between these.

I am not really sure yet who should I vote for, but I will have to carefuly think it through. They won't get my vote that easily. I need to thouroughly read their election programmes and make a right decision, which in this case means the one I won't be ashamed of. People ask me every day about my vote, who will get it, but who will THEY vote for ?

As I know people, they will choose the lesser of two evils. I must admit that this time, it is really difficult to make a right choice. But you see, still better than doing nothing. It will at least give us, people whose parties are not elected, the right to criticise the situation that I suppose will follow. We will see. With Zeman as a president, I somehow can't imagine the situation being worse, so I am quite wondering what the election results are going to look like. As I said before, we will see.

That's probably about it again. See you next time.

Oh and by the way, don't forget to vote !

English and Me

Where should I start with this..it all began during my years in the kindergarten, where I was offered the first choice between English and German. I picked English, I don't really remember why, probably because of my parents.

At that time and during my studies at the primary school, it was more of a duty, nothing I would particularly enjoy. This somehow changed when I was expelled from the secondary school I had been attending. English as a subject was much more relaxed at the Business Academy, and I started enjoying it. I played the games, chatted with guys from all over the world in there, started to watch the movies, although I needed subtitles at that time, and it become natural part of me.

These days, I use it every day when I read forums, websites, leaflets, manuals, guides and so on. I don't chat that often anymore, as I really had to cut down the time I spend playing video games, but it is definitely something worth mentioning. It is now something I can't imagine my life without, something that allows me to watch my favourite movies without subtitles, allows me to understand the jokes which are hard to translate, and do other useful things I enjoy doing. But my English is far from perfect and the long way of improving lies ahead. Let's hope I can keep up.

Review

Hi again guys. As you may remember, last time I mentioned one of my most favourite shows, actually the best one I watch at the moment, Sons of Anarchy.

It is an American TV show created by Kurt Sutter, which has been running since September, 2008. It is about the motorcycle crew and their club called SAMCRO (Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original). This show stars many well-known people, e.g. Charlie Hunnam (Green Street Hooligans, Pacific Rim), Katey Sagal (Married With Children), Tommy Flanaggan (Braveheart, Gladiator), or a new addition since season 5, Jimmy Smits (Star Wars prequel, Dexter).

The show started quite slowly and clumsily, mainly because both Sutter and actors were not really sure about what to expect (or that is at least how it seemed), but every following season was better and better. The script became deeper and more detailed, slowly uncovering the stories behind the characters, which you start to either love or hate.

Season 6 premiered a month ago, on the September 10, and so far keeps the high standards I got used to during the 4th and mainly 5th season. There are strong moments that make you either cry or laugh (not joking, I really mean it - you will agree once you watch the 5th season). All actors, especially Charlie Hunnam and Jimmy Smits, do a wonderful job and the show as a whole is a pleasure to watch.

If you don't have anything particular against the bikers and have 40 minutes of spare time each week, I strongly recommend you to give this show a chance. You won't regret it.

The rating on IMDB is 8.5 / 10. I will go even further and give it 9 / 10. Best show ever !


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1124373/

The last thing I would like to mention is that I intended to review something let's say more "current". But then I realised that the last movie I saw was The Hobbit, and that was almost a year ago ! So I picked one of the ongoing series I watch. Once I see a good new movie, I will try to write something about it again.

About me

Well..hello everyone. My name is Ondra (which is equivalent of Andrew), I'm 23, studying the second year at the University of Pardubice, and I HATE BLOGS ! For the last 8 years, I've been thinking I would never need to create a blog or a social network profile. How terribly wrong I was.. But you see, variety is spice of life. Why not to give it a go ? Anyway, let's go back to my introduction. I have no real interests apart from my friends, PC and my dog. Maybe there are few more other, but these deffinitely take up most of my free time.

I've been learning English since I was 5. Quite a long time, huh ? The thing is I'm quite lazy in terms of studying and stuff, so I haven’t made that much of a progress most people would do. I think about myself more as of a passive learner (which is quite a good phrase to hide my lazyness). Watching series, movies, reading, playing video games, that’s my daily bread. Wondering what series am I watching ? Well, at the moment just a few – The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and Sons of Anarchy. The last one gives me chills during almost every episode. One of the best series I’ve ever seen, that’s for sure.

When I mentioned I’m 23, you might have started wondering what the heck am I doing in the second year.. well, the story is not really interesting. I was expelled from an IT-oriented secondary school because of an Electrical Engineering subject (not my cup of tea), so I spent 4 more years on a Business Academy, where I finally passed a school-leaving examination. I was unsure (not that I’m not now) about what I wanted to do, so I spent the following year on a private language school in Náchod. The best year of my studies by far. The money was well worth it. At the end of a school year in Náchod, I took an FCE exam, which I managed to pass with A grade. That was quite a good signal, so I decided to give it a try on a university. I was accepted in both Hradec Králové and Pardubice, but seeing I was on the very top of the final score chart of entrance examinations in Hradec, I decided for Pardubice, just to have the studies more challenging. And here I am. Failing no but one subject, I managed to get through the first year. I just hope I will have more luck with Academic Writing this time. We will see.

That’s pretty much about it for today, I typed much more than I intended to, so let’s call it a day. See you next time.