ABC TV News 13 Norfolk

ABC TV13 News Norfolk has news coverage of Magda's coronation. The package lasted 2:06 min and has footage of her interview:

http://www.wvec.com/video/index.html?nvid=355777

More coverage from Prague

http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/zpravy/czech-officer-becomes-queen-of-military-festival-in-u-s/373742

Queen's Coronation

http://praguemonitor.com/2009/04/29/czech-officer-becomes-queen-military-festival-usa

Crazy Royalty duties of Queen Azalea

Just how do you squeeze visiting 3 different schools, an Art Gallery and meet the Norfolk City Council in a day? No wonder our Queen had to eat lunch on the car while being driven from one venue to the next. I'm amazed that she could stay awake from all these visits and meetings!

Coronation

At 4:00 p.m. today, our Queen Azalea will be officially crowned at the 2009 International Azalea Festival, Scope Center in Norfolk, VA. Like many ladies before her, she will represent her country the Czech Republic. She joins the rank of "Who is Who" Azalea Queens of the past: Lynda Bird Johnson and Luci Baines Johnson (daughters of President Johnson); Tricia Nixon (daughter of President Nixon); Susan Ford (daughter of President Ford); Jennie Eisenhower (grandaughter of Presidents Nixon and Eisenhower and a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Northwestern University); Jennifer Robb (grandaughter of President Johnson and daughter of a former Azalea Queen, Lynda Bird Johnson); Valerie-Anne Giscard d'Estaing (daughter of the President of France); Kari Borten (daughter of Norway's Prime Minister); Monique Van Den Boeynants ( daughter of Netherland's Prime Minister); Emily MacManus (great-granddaughter of Sir Winston Churchill).

Congratulations and enjoy the life of a royalty!

April showers bring May flowers

How true! We have been getting soaked a lot lately. The garden is ready for planting and the lawn needs maintenance at least twice a week. I could hardly wait for May to get here. Will be driving to Norfolk, VA on 1 May to see our Queen Azalea. Royalties have busy schedule and Royal protocol must be observed. Hoping to seek an audience with the Queen before heading back on the 3rd. Two weeks and 582 km later, I should be packing Santucci's belongings on two cars for the trip back to Maryland. Three days after we arrive in Maryland, I should be up in the air to see our Duchess of Florence (21-26 May). I'm already running the busy schedule on top of my head, clean the apartment, get groceries, prepare meals, get the car washed, and work as camera man. Before I know it, I would be back again in October to pack and move the Duchess. Hopefully, it would be much closer somewhere on the Eastern seaboard.

Our Queen Azalea and the Duchess of Florence

Our Queen Azalea will be arriving in Norfolk, VA in 9 days and will be officially crowned 2 days later on a week long festival, International Azalea Festival, Celebrating the Czech Republic. Will be joining the festivities 1 - 3 May.

By the time I get back, I should start looking for the best deal to fly and see my "Carry/Conceal", heat packing NBC reporter, the Duchess of Florence.

More DVDs

Burned eight DVDs last night. Will have to QA prior to mailing these DVD resumes to different TV stations. This has been an additional task of mine for sometime now.

The day after

The day after Easter Sunday, I had to go through with what I have been experiencing for a good number of years now. I hate GOODBYEs! I refuse to let go and I have always been like that. The first few days after, I would go into my sulky mood. It takes a while before I could get back into my normal routine again.

I have prepared myself when I see the Countess soon and as is always the case, I anticipate that I would experience being sulky again.... the girls' more appropriate term for it - grumpy!

Panama City Beach Babes

Thank you Christi. Would you be surprised if I tell you the following dates?
12 Sep, 14 Nov and 10 Apr. I might be getting senile but there are still some things worth remembering.

The Girls

Camping out late tonight at BWI airport and wait for Santucci. Come Saturday, tents would go up early dawn at National airport and wait for my Duchess of Florence! It's heavenly to be with my girls!

The Borgquist girls

Wow! I could not believe that somehow, I was able to trace some long lost friends from my years in Panama City Beach, FL. (I hope). Cindi is doing very well, an accounting major from Florida State, '85, CPA, CFO and Sr. VP, with a husband and a son.

Our Lady in Prague

Never fails to amaze us! Our photo-journalist was front and center during the Obama visit in Prague. As a journalist/photographer, not only does she cover majority of the Presidential visits and ceremonies at the Prague Castle but she is also the primary contributor/writer for the Castle Guard of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic (ACR). To see her articles and photos, go to: http://www.hrad.army.cz/.

http://www.sevenvenues.com/show/view/203

10K training

Did a slow 5K run yesterday. Scary, to think that exactly three Sundays from yesterday, I'm going to strain myself doing the 10K. After the 8:00 a.m. race, I have to hurry and get ready for the 2:00 p.m. performance of the Czech National Ballet at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Anti missile shield

US-Russia reset button, what does it mean to the ballistic missile defense system planned to be deployed in the Czech Republic and Poland? With overture towards Russia, chances are that the US would re-visit the planned deployment of the anti-missile shield in Czech and Poland.

The Old Washington consensus is dead

The more I think about British PM Brown's remarks, the hotter I get. I'm debating whether I should dig up from under the cobwebs everything I could possibly get my hands on to refresh me and our friends from across the Atlantic what the mighty and civilized United States did for Europe. I won't even go as far back as WWI. The early 1940's would be a fair time line. Should I mention the Marshall Plan that helped rebuild the war ravaged Europe?

True, it does not give America a blank check and I should not probably bring up the past, but the point of the matter is, although we may not see eye to eye as far as Iraq and Afghanistan are concerned, I believe that America should not shoulder everything. Majority of the Americans still believes that the US involvement in Iraq is wrong. The premise of why we got involved to begin with is flawed at best. What about Afghanistan? The Taliban and the Al-Qaeda have moved their base of operation around the Afghanistan - Pakistan area. Should they be left alone? I believe the United States have resolved to eradicate if not totally neutralize their effectiveness by going after them in their own backyard. These groups have no boundaries. In addition to the US, they have also created chaos and bombings in Spain, Germany and other European nations.

We do not need another pat on the back nor a thank you for cleaning up trouble areas close to our European allies. Are we on a partnership in our fight against these groups? If the old Washington consensus is dead then maybe, we should bring our boys home and let others solve the brewing problems close to European soil. America is only a phone call away!

Domino effect?

The reality of hard economic times - after Ukraine, will Hungary be next? Drastic measures need to happen to stop the tide......

The Annual Cherry Blossom Festival

http://nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/

Afghanistan debacle

The two front wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without a doubt contributed to America's economic woes! So much of the American taxpayers' dollars were poured in without so much of an accountability. There were so much waste and fraud. No amount of American dollars could possibly change a way of life and ways of governing! It's Utopia! Not even Hollywood would touch the idea! These countries have a long history of tribal feud going back centuries. Tribal groups who are set in their old customs and traditions and for the most part are not the best educated will take the American dollars and go about their business as usual.

In my lifetime and yours, we may never see an iota of a change the way the West envisioned it. Years from now, the blood our soldiers would have dried up and the tribal leaders would still be raising their tribal flags and kicking dust in each other's face!

America should never impose its style of democracy on others! Democracy could never be bought. It's not going to happen! Countries do have internal wars and revolution before getting a taste of democracy! They should be left alone and leave them to chart their own course.

European speech Part II

In a speech to be given this Sunday, a new beginning for America, "a world without nuclear weapons."

European speech

Obama is scheduled to deliver his "European" speech this Sunday at Hradčanské náměstí in Prague.

Prague Daily Monitor

3 April 2009 - Puppets and potatoes for Obama!

Elvis impersonator

"Elvis" (former Illinois Governor Blagojevich was indicted by the Federal grand jury on racketeering, extortion and fraud.

Conclusion of G-20

In response to British PM Gordon Brown's comments that the "old Washington concensus is over", cousin Barack says, "I do not buy into the notion that America can't lead in the world, America is a critical actor and leader on the world stage and that we shouldn't be embarrassed about that. But ... we exercise our leadership best when we are listening."

Prague Schedule

The Prague Daily Monitor: Obama shortened his planned schedule in Prague. Rather than having state dinner with Klaus, he'd have a quiet dinner with Michelle. Was the Czech President slighted?

Justice Department

During the Bush administration, a certain zealot lawyer at the Justice Department had this great idea of hiring lawyers affiliated with the GOP party only. Liberal leaning lawyers from the best law schools in the country could not pass muster let alone the GOP's litmus test did not stand a chance of getting hired. Hiring was based on ideology! How pathetic.... What I could not understand though and may never know: why did they go after Sen. Stevens, a fellow Republican? These lawyers who were hired based on their ideologies (not really the best and the brightest) withheld crucial information from the defense lawyers, had a few contempt of court during the trial and was admonished by the judge a few times. Sen. Stevens was found guilty in October 2008, about a week before election. Armed with this information, the Alaskan voters decided Sen. Stevens fate.

After a thorough investigation by the current AG, it was recommended that the case against Sen. Stevens be thrown out. Does Sen. Stevens have a recourse?

Pike's Peek 10K

What was I thinking? I must have been so bored over the weekend that when I got on line and checked out local races, I did not hesitate and signed up for the Pike's Peek 10K on 26 April. For years, I had conditioned myself to think that anything over 5K is a marathon! I haven't really done any training at all. The occasional Trekking from work to home could not be considered as part of my training. The Pike's Peek 10K (Rockville Pike) should I say is parallel to the Metro Red line and the first thing that came to mind is Rosa Ruiz. To refresh your memory, she ran the NY Marathon one year long time ago. Rather than running 26.2 miles, she hopped on the NY subway part of the way and got off close to the finish line. Needless to say, there were cameras to prove what she did. In addition, if you are an unknown runner, and took the subway, you have to strategically figure out how you should finish the race in relation to the Kenyans. Yes, she did! She came in before the Kenyans! Miscalculations if you would ask me.

On a second thought, no! Not for 10K! I'll crawl if I have to!

Ukraine

Among the European countries, Ukraine has been hit the hardest by the economic meltdown. Imagine factory workers going home after a week's work getting paid not in Hryvnia but by the product they produced, towels! The economic meltdown is global and it's so sad to hear and read the struggles everybody's going through! There's massive layoffs in Europe and it affects so many lives back home. People from different countries migrated to other European countries to seek better job and send hard earned currency back home to their loved ones. What happens next after this person becomes irrelevant as the British puts it is truly heart breaking!

NATO

Former Eastern Bloc countries of Albania and Croatia joined the NATO community expanding the alliance to 28 countries.

Injustice

So what now? Former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was railroaded by the Bush's Justice Department back in October 2008 by withholding crucial information from his defense lawyers. The following month, Alaska voters cast their ballot against poor Ted. Should there be a recount or a special election to make amends?

QE II

I suppose, the crowds were waiting for the POTUS to present QE II with something very valuable, like maybe a portion of the Stimulus package? Which by the way is almost gone anyway... But instead, the POTUS presented the Queen with something truly American - the Ipod!

2009 International Azalea Festival

The 56th International Azalea Festival will be held in Norfolk, Va 27 April - 3 May 2009. Our Prague connection was selected and will be crowned as Queen Azalea 27 April 2009, Captain Magdaléna Dvořáková.

http://azaleafestival.org/index.asp

We will prevail

Addressing Russian President Medvedev describing the US and Russia's nuclear warheads - "gravest threat to humanity."

...and on the economy at home, "Basing decisions around fear is not the right way to go," he said. "We are going to get through this difficult time."

So far, so good..... NATO, Prague and Istanbul still to come...

Let there be no doubt

G-20 summit in London, meeting with NATO allies, European speech in Prague and a meeting in Istanbul. Obama left with a full plate and hopes that his First European trip as POTUS would produce fruitful results(economy, political, social justice and world peace).

40 days of Lent

..as they say, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel..... In eight days, Santucci would be home. The Duchess arrives two days later. Also on that day, my self imposed, "what am I giving up for Lent" comes to an end and I get to sign back on my Facebook!

Actually, it was tough the first few days but eventually, I conditioned myself to get used to it. With access to hotmail, yahoo and msn email accounts, tmobile and verizon cells, Linkedin and twitter, it was not really much to give up Facebook for a few weeks.

The challenge as someone suggested was to give up (It) after all, man does not live by bread alone! Wow, this is something to think about next Lent! I suppose if one really puts his mind to it, re-examine one's self and priorities in life, it's doable.