A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno
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1993 , the Czech arms industry was largely privatized and reorganized into a br oadly cooperative network . Forty-one arms-producing firms now work within the R DP Group to develop a wide range of products for both military and civilian mark ets . Soudek , who is also general director of Skoda Pilsen once the biggest for eign arms producer for Nazi Germany said in an interview at the sprawling Skoda complex here that RDP partners are currently working on 27 projects for the arms market , about half of which he believes will find a market . He declined to re veal what any of the projects involve , saying that `` nobody talks about what t hey want to sell . '' At the same time , he listed a multitude of problems facin g the industry . These include , he said , the loss of close ties to Slovak stee l plants , a shortage of research and development funds from the government and a heavy dependence on the Czech military 's modernization plans , which may not be determined until 1998 . `` The arms market is so big , but it 's very limited for our weapons , '' he remarked . `` We will never ever again obtain a rank in the top 10 producers . Local press reports say the RDP Group 's biggest militar y project is the upgraded T-72 tank a joint project with its old Slovak partners which it hopes to sell to NATO countries . But Soudek was not optimistic about this either , unless the Czech army agrees to buy and test it first . Probably t he most controversial high-tech item on the new Czech hardware list is the Tamar a , a truck-mounted , highly mobile radar system developed secretly over the pas t 30 years by the Czechs in cooperation with the Soviet military . Now in its th ird generation , the Tamara is said to be able to pick up any radiation emitted by an aircraft from a distance of up to 280 miles . Each system sells for about $ 15 million . A big advantage of the Tamara is that it is a passive system and emits no electronic signals ; thus , it cannot be easily located , jammed or tar geted , according to Maj. Gen. Oldrich Barak , president of Tesla Pardubice , ma nufacturer of the Tamara , and Otto Taborsky , vice president of Tesla 's parent corporation . Barak , an electronics expert who has been involved in the Tamara project since its inception in the early 1960s , insisted that the system has t he ability to detect the U.S. . B-2 stealth bomber , which was specifically desi gned to elude radar . `` It has been tried ; it detected the stealth . It 's not just theory , '' Taborsky added . They refused to say where or when this occurr ed , but they noted that 50 Tamara systems are in use in former Soviet Bloc nati ons . According to local press reports , the U.S. military also has secretly obt ained one . PILSEN , Czech Republic The once prosperous Czech arms industry , whose technic al know-how had made Czechoslovakia the world 's seventh-largest weapons exporte r , is struggling to survive in a post-Cold War market where some of its best po tential customers have been blacklisted by the United States . Pressure from the Clinton administration scotched a $ 90 million deal last year in which a newly privatized Czech company would have sold Iran six Tamara radar systems that the manufacturer claims is capable of detecting U.S. . B-2 `` stealth '' bombers . M ore recently , Iran showed interest in buying an upgraded version of the Soviet- designed T-72 tank that a consortium of Czech companies , the RDP Group , has un dertaken to produce . But just last month , sources said , the Czech Foreign Min istry bowed again to Washington 's wishes and blocked the deal . The Czech gover nment , eager to clean up its old image as a global merchant of death , has in f act accepted U.S. proscriptions on arms sales to nations deemed to be supporters of international terrorism . These include Iran , Iraq , Syria and Libya all po tentially major customers of the Czech arms industry . In the 1980s , the old co mmunist-ruled Czechoslovak federation exported arms worth up to $ 1.5 billion an nually , much of it to those same `` terrorist nations '' but also to more benig n customers , such as Egypt and India . Its most infamous export was doubtless t he odorless chemical explosive Semtex , which has been used widely by terrorists to blow up passenger jets and public buildings . After the fall of communism in 1989 , President Vaclav Havel crusaded for an end to arms exports as a means of cleansing Czechoslovakia of its `` terrorist '' taint . But such idealism soon gave way to the economic reality that the country had to export those products i t could best produce and that included weapons . Therefore the government now en courages arms exports , but under a new and tighter export-control law adopted b y parliament in February that requires the case-by-case approval of the ministri es of foreign affairs , defense , trade and the interior . Nonetheless , Western diplomatic sources here say the RDP Group `` bears close watching , '' particul arly its chairman , Lubomir Soudek , who has visited Iran and reportedly tried t o sell turbines and other heavy machinery for a nuclear power plant there . Foll owing the division of Czechoslovakia into separate Czech and Slovak republics in 1993 , the Czech arms industry was largely privatized and reorganized into a br oadly cooperative network . Forty-one arms-producing firms now work within the R DP Group to develop a wide range of products for both military and civilian mark ets . Soudek , who is also general director of Skoda Pilsen once the biggest for eign arms producer for Nazi Germany said in an interview at the sprawling Skoda complex here that RDP partners are currently working on 27 projects for the arms market , about half of which he believes will find a market . He declined to re veal what any of the projects involve , saying that `` nobody talks about what t hey want to sell . '' At the same time , he listed a multitude of problems facin g the industry . These include , he said , the loss of close ties to Slovak stee l plants , a shortage of research and development funds from the government and a heavy dependence on the Czech military 's modernization plans , which may not be determined until 1998 . `` The arms market is so big , but it 's very limited for our weapons , '' he remarked . `` We will never ever again obtain a rank in the top 10 producers . Local press reports say the RDP Group 's biggest militar y project is the upgraded T-72 tank a joint project with its old Slovak partners which it hopes to sell to NATO countries . But Soudek was not optimistic about this either , unless the Czech army agrees to buy and test it first . Probably t he most controversial high-tech item on the new Czech hardware list is the Tamar a , a truck-mounted , highly mobile radar system developed secretly over the pas t 30 years by the Czechs in cooperation with the Soviet military . Now in its th ird generation , the Tamara is said to be able to pick up any radiation emitted by an aircraft from a distance of up to 280 miles . Each system sells for about $ 15 million . A big advantage of the Tamara is that it is a passive system and emits no electronic signals ; thus , it cannot be easily located , jammed or tar geted , according to Maj. Gen. Oldrich Barak , president of Tesla Pardubice , ma nufacturer of the Tamara , and Otto Taborsky , vice president of Tesla 's parent corporation . Barak , an electronics expert who has been involved in the Tamara project since its inception in the early 1960s , insisted that the system has t he ability to detect the U.S. . B-2 stealth bomber , which was specifically desi gned to elude radar . `` It has been tried ; it detected the stealth . It 's not just theory , '' Taborsky added . They refused to say where or when this occurr ed , but they noted that 50 Tamara systems are in use in former Soviet Bloc nati ons . According to local press reports , the U.S. military also has secretly obt ained one . Four of the five winners of an industry-sponsored screenwriting contest for eth nic minority writers are expected to attend an awards ceremony Thursday in West Hollywood , Calif. . The fifth will be sitting on San Quentin 's death row . Ken neth Gay is serving a death sentence at the penitentiary north of San Francisco for murdering Los Angeles police officer Paul Verna during a routine traffic sto p in 1983 . When Gay submitted a script he wrote in prison to the Writers Worksh op for contest consideration , Willard Rodgers , founder and director of the org anization , said that he was surprised at the degree of humanity in the story . He said that Gay 's selection as one of the five winners in no way meant that th e workshop was condoning the violence of Gay 's past . His script , titled `` A Children 's Story , '' was picked from among 170 submissions from across the nat ion . The story deals with nine children all with mental or physical deformities who are lost in a forest when the bus they are riding is involved in an acciden t and their leader is mauled by a bear . The kids then have to find their way ba ck to safety and in the process of helping each other are surprised at what they can achieve . It 's the first time in the five years of the workshop 's contest which is sponsored by Steven Spielberg 's Amblin Entertainment , Quincy Jones P roductions , Carsey-Werner Co. , Norman Jewison , MCA/Universal , Dan Petrie Jr. , Sony Pictures Entertainment and Oliver Stone that someone in prison has won t he award . `` It 's uplifting and it teaches the value of cooperation among peop le , '' Rodgers said . `` There 's not one bit of violence in the script . '' Ga y 's wife , Janice , said it was unlikely that her husband would want to be inte rviewed . `` He doesn't want any publicity , '' she said . DAVID J. FOX -0- Ah , to be young , talented and the toast of Hollywood . Mark Steven Johnson , 28 , and Kevin Smith , 23 , are both screenwriters who have seen their first projects become mini-gold mines in town . In fact , Johnson is already writing a sequel to his first script , `` Grumpy Old Men , '' for Warner Bros. ; the first film c ost about $ 18 million and brought in nearly $ 70 million at the box office . He 's also writing a live-action `` Frosty the Snowman '' for Warners , as well as a comedy for 20th Century Fox about the first major league female ballplayer ca lled `` Balls . '' As for Smith , his `` Clerks '' which won both the Prix de la Jeunesse and the Critics Week prize at Cannes and was well-received at Sundance has already nailed down several future projects , even though Miramax is not sc heduled to release `` Clerks '' until Aug. 19 . In fact , `` Clerks , '' a black -and-white slice of life about convenience store clerks in New Jersey , is alrea dy becoming something of a mini-Jersey trilogy . Smith is writing a Jersey busbo ys saga called `` Busing '' for Disney , and a Jersey boys-go-to-the-mall film f or producers Sean Daniel and Jim Jacks at Universal called `` Mall Rats , '' whi ch Smith will direct . He also is writing `` Dogma , '' about growing up Catholi c in New Jersey for Miramax . How each lucked into success has the sweet smell o f innocence and naivete . Both pulled their stories from experiences in their ho metowns . For Smith , `` I was working as a store clerk at the Quick Stop Conven ience store in Leonardo ( N.J. ) and had spent about four months at the Vancouve r Film School . I saw ` Slackers ' and decided I was going to take the rest of m y tuition and put it into a film . '' He convinced the store manager , his boss for three years , to let him use the store as the setting . And $ 27,575 later , Smith had a movie about 12 hours in a convenience store . Smith willn't disclos e how much he 's received for each of his projects , but Johnson isn't as coy . Johnson says that after the success of `` Grumpy Old Men , '' he 's now averagin g between $ 175,000 to $ 350,000 for his scripts , plus another $ 175,000 to $ 2 00,000 if the films are made . For `` Grumpy II , '' the initial amount jumped t o $ 450,000 because it 's a sequel . He will get another $ 300,000 if it is made . Johnson didn't really know anybody in the business to pitch his script to . I n fact , his big connection at the time was his wife 's hospital co-worker , who se cousin used to be an agent . `` How 's that for a connection ? I took a chanc e and called the guy and he got it to people , who brought it to Warner Bros. , '' he says . `` I 'm the same guy who came to L.A. and called up one of the bigg est agents here and said , ` Hi , I 'm Mark Johnson . ' I really didn't know any better at the time . The only reason the agent took my call is because he thoug ht I was the producer ( Mark Johnson , director Barry Levinson 's former partner ) . I didn't know about the producer , but once the agent realized it wasn't hi m , he told me to take a hike , '' says Johnson . `` See how quickly it can chan ge ? '' Both young writers chalk their quick success up to luck , hard work and forever keeping their egos in check . But the producers who are pursuing their p rojects say talent has a little bit to do with it . JUDY BRENNAN NEW YORK Barney aside , the most startling success story in children 's televis ion in the '90s is the Fox Kids Network . And Margaret Loesch is the woman who m ade it happen . In less than four years , the network has gone from nonexistence to No. 1 with kids in the ratings categories for ages 2 to 11 and 6 to 17 , wit h such ratings successes as `` Mighty Morphin Power Rangers , '' `` X-Men '' and `` Batman '' as well as Steven Spielberg 's `` Animaniacs '' and `` Tiny Toons . '' And in light of Monday 's announcement that Fox is trading up for affiliate s with stronger signals in 12 major markets , the kids ' lineup seems destined t o grow even more powerful . With its signature action programming spread through an after-school schedule and a 3-hour Saturday morning block , it 's a good bet your kids are watching Fox at least part of the time . Kids Network President L oesch , not an unambitious sort , would like to have a Sunday morning block too , but right now she says the affiliates make too much money from paid religious programming to give up that time to the network and so instead she 'll try a syn dicated Sunday morning Fox radio show next fall . Some critics say the kids ' pr ogramming is the equivalent of Fox 's schlocky nighttime hits , such as `` Melro se Place '' and `` Beverly Hills 90210 . '' But that doesn't seem to bother Loes ch . She is sitting in a small bar in a midtown hotel , and the conversation has turned to one of the big influences in her career , a small mouse with a squeak y voice and big ears . `` The Mickey Mouse Club , '' she says , `` made no prete nse about being anything other than entertaining . But I learned a lot of things . .. . There were those little cowboy stories where kids learned to get along an d how to deal with bullies and stories on what I call self-esteem . '' However m uch she was influenced by the tiny rodent , Loesch , 48 , does seem to know what kids will watch . For years she tried to sell `` Power Rangers '' and `` X-Men '' but had no takers until she herself became a buyer . `` Power Rangers , '' wh ich is about a group of teenagers who become superheroes by summoning the power of the dinosaurs , is not only a hit on TV , but the toys it spun off were the b ig sellers last Christmas . `` X-Men , '' in which a group of `` mutant '' foste r children vie for respectability ( `` the teen experience , '' says Loesch ) , has become a cult hit of the older set too ; the network has gotten calls from 3 0-year-old Wall Street bond traders asking when a new `` X-Men '' will air . Bot h shows have been criticized in the press for their violent content , but Loesch says that neither parents nor teachers have followed suit and , she adds , she will take her cues from them . For the fall , Fox will add an educational progra m for preschoolers . It 's doing it at the urging of the affiliates , who have t o prove to a skeptical Federal Communications Commission that they are fulfillin g the requirements of the Children 's Television Act to provide that kind of pro gramming . The show , `` Fox 's Cubhouse , '' will feature a group of characters introducing and watching three different shows : Mondays and Fridays it will be `` Jim Henson 's Nature Show , '' a Muppet talk show about nature ; Tuesdays an d Thursdays will feature `` Johnson and Friends , '' an Australian television pr oduction with big stuffed animals that teaches the values of socialization ; and on Wednesdays the show is `` Rimba 's Island , '' which will use fantasy animal s to teach music and movement . She 'll also add `` Spiderman '' to the Saturday schedule , a show that happens to be produced by New World Communications , in which Fox acquired an interest this week . In addition , next season will see `` The Tick , '' which Loesch describes as `` an animated superhero show that poke s fun at superhero shows . '' While Loesch says she is enthusiastic about the `` Cubhouse '' concept , she 's not happy about the Children 's Television Act , w hich she describes as a `` kind of gun to the head '' and quite unnecessary , sh e adds . `` I think we were on the road to doing exactly what they wanted , '' s he says , `` but I resent people saying it 's only because of the act '' that ce rtain shows are being scheduled . And besides , she contends , entertainment pro grams can teach just as much as so-called educational programming though critics of Fox would hope she 's not thinking of `` Power Rangers '' or `` X-Men '' whe n she says that . Some are not so thrilled . Peggy Charren , founder of Action f or Children 's Television and a longtime observer of children 's programming , i s particularly dismayed by Fox 's success . `` The worst shows are winning the r atings game , '' she says. ` ` ` X-Men ' has absolutely nothing to recommend it. .. . It equates foster children with alien life . What kind of peculiar idea is that ? '' To help the network understand the effects its programming will have on children , Fox has set up a six-member advisory board made up of child-develo pment specialists who deal with children every day . The board reads scripts and makes suggestions for changes . And according to board member Frank Palumbo , a Washington pediatrician , the group has expressed concerns about the violence i n both `` Power Rangers '' and `` X-Men . '' He says he believes the network is serious about responding to that issue . Loesch says her standard rule is that v iolence should not be of the sort that could be imitated by a child to his harm . But then she tells you she saw her own 5-year-old son imitate the karate on `` Power Rangers '' and had to intervene to get him to stop . `` The minute he jum ped up and started pretending he was a karate expert , I said , ` You can preten d to be playing karate , but you don't go out and chop the cat and you can't hit your friends , that 's unacceptable . This is a fantasy and it 's only televisi on . ' And he understood . '' RICHMOND On any night of the week , you can drive to a little building in the w est end of town here , lay down $ 9 , climb aboard an alien spacecraft and shoot a lot of people with a laser gun . That 's entertainment , according to four en trepreneurs who believe they have opened the latest in high-tech amusements here and plan to take their venture to the Washington suburbs soon . It 's 21st cent ury paint-ball without the paint ( or the bruises ) . It 's like being inside a video game , but more real , especially when you watch another player smile as h e `` stuns '' you and walks calmly away . Afterward , everyone gathers around a video screen , dripping sweat , and waits for their scores to appear . It 's cal led Ultrazone , and just weeks after opening here it 's packing in teenagers and people in their 20s , who come for the adrenaline rush and the chance to feel l ike characters in an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie , stalking each other down pass ageways of a space ship . Despite the violent premise , it 's all supposed to be clean fun : Alcohol and drugs are verboten , as is running , and no one actuall y dies they just rack up really low scores and get to play again . The game even has developed a small corporate following . Friday afternoon , for example , se veral white-collar workers from Reynolds Metals Co. down the road were chasing e ach other around inside the 6,000-square foot building that used to house a wind ow and door store . The concept was born about a decade ago in Australia , when a few computer engineers designed a complex game of tag in which players wear ve sts equipped with light sensors . Fire a laser at the right spot on an opponent 's vest , incapacitate him and score points . That may sound simple , but throw in a story involving a battle for control of the ship , complete with theatrical fog , pounding metallic music , sirens and general mayhem , and you have an int ense 15-minute experience . The game has spread to England , Canada , a few othe r U.S. and Japan , and is soon to arrive in South America . Troy Peple , preside nt of the company that bought the Virginia franchise from the Australian company , said this kind of entertainment will be all over the United States in the nex t few years . `` In three to five years , they 'll be everywhere , '' he predict ed , standing in the lobby of his first and only center . Nearby young enthusias ts queued up for tickets and plugged `` ROM buttons '' they carry on key chains into a terminal that instantly calls up their career records as Ultrazone player s . The experienced players adopt pseudonyms like Troll , Spawn and Blood Glitte r . But even novices get into the spirit quickly . Kim Abbott , a 17-year-old fr om nearby Chesterfield , said after playing her third game : `` You get a big ru Download 9.93 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: 
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