VIEWPOINT FROM BRAC

A PRO-CROATIA PROPOSAL

www.croatiafocus.com

by Brian Gallagher

The Croatian Herald, Australia No. 981 - 29th August 2003

I write this from Croatia itself, specifically the
beautiful island of Brac. It seems an appropriate time
then to put forward a proposal to improve the Croatian
situation. Some form of pro-Croat political journal is
needed - for both a Croatian and international
audience - to be published in Croatia. It would
contain accurate information about the serious issues
that face Croatia, and also rebut allegations and
charges made not only by the international media, but
in some parts of the Croatian media.

It's no secret that Croatia's image is not what it
could be. Unpleasant articles routinely appear in the
international media, recently in the Guardian and in
the Canadian media. Further, internationally funded
groups such as the Institute of War and Peace
Reporting publish material that continually shows
Croatia in a bad light.

Much of this reporting has to do with issues such as
Croatia's war for independence, the war in BiH and The
Hague tribunal. And a lot of this reporting is
inaccurate or biased. Croatian diplomacy does nothing,
and consequently we have a situation in which Croatia
is seen as being equally guilty with Serbia. Indeed,
we seem to be moving into a situation where Croatia is
seen as having been the aggressor. In discussion here
in Croatia, it is clear that some in the Croatian
media are also promoting an anti-Croat line -
primarily magazines such as Feral Tribune, Globus and
Nacional. This may seem surprising, but there is a
constituency in Croatia for such material; essentially
the losers in Croatian independence - or perhaps more
precisely Croatian democracy. I.e. those circles that
were privileged either by the communist party or
Serbian elites or both - one should not forget that
Yugoslavia in many ways was a Serb dominated racket,
with all the human rights violations that entailed.

What should emerge in Croatia is a monthly -
regularity is important - journal that would be
published in both Croatian and English - for the
international audience - and would deal with Croatian
issues in a serious way.

Such a journal does not need to be something sold on
every news stand to be effective. For example, in
Britain, the Eurosceptic European Foundation publishes
the European Journal, which is not widely available
but does inform commentators and politicians. I am not
suggesting that such a journal be anti- European
Union, simply that its focus should be a pro-Croat
one, something desperately needed. That said, some of
the bizarre notions some Croats have about the EU
could be tackled.

The attitude of Croat self-hatred by some, coupled
with continued Serb propaganda efforts and the
Croatian government policy of silence will have
appalling effects on Croatia. Consider the economic
effect. Can Croatian business thrive in the world
market with such a negative political image of the
country? I suspect not. It's a topic that Croatian
business people should really start thinking about.
Perhaps they could sponsor such a journal.

The journal could address topics such as Croatian
involvement in the BiH war and the Gotovina case with
reference to the evidence that is freely available in
numerous documents and testimonies which nobody seems
to refer to - material beneficial to Croatia. Articles
about the reality of Yugoslavia - UBDA and all the
rest of it - would also be a good thing, rejecting the
fairy tale image of Yugoslav harmony in some quarters.


It should also take time to refute the more damaging
stories that appear in the Croatian press with hard
evidence. It would have a bias towards current
affairs, and highlight favorable developments abroad,
such as Charles Shrader's book on the Muslim-Croat
civil war in BiH and Robin Harris' history of
Dubrovnik. Indeed, such people should be invited to
contribute.

Such an initiative would have to be done in Croatia;
it can't be done by anyone else. The Croatian Diaspora
does what it can - and can help in this - but only
Croats in Croatia can really change things. There are
enough smart people in Croatia to make it work. It
should certainly not be connected to any political
parties. No-one on the Croatian political scene is
doing the work necessary to undo the political damage
that Croatia has suffered over the past few years. Too
much effort, perhaps. An influential, respected,
independent political journal could go a long way to
ensuring that a pro-Croat attitude - based on hard
facts and evidence - takes hold amongst the Croatian
media and body politic, and indeed the international
one.

"Wishful thinking" is no doubt one reaction to this.
Quite probably, but a debate is needed about how to
realistically change the Croatian situation - a
situation which is currently not tenable at all.

Š Brian Gallagher

My 'Viewpoint from London' column appears fortnightly
in the Australian 'Croatian Herald' and thereafter atwww.croatiafocus.com

Good partnership brings good results

At the 2003 US Open Tennis Tournament a new Men's Doubles partnership was born between IVAN LJUBICIC and MARIO ANCIC. With their blistering tennis serves they pummel the ball to victory by beating Yevgeny Kafelnikov and his partner David Riki who is ranked #7 in doubles.

With Croatian tennis fans loud and persistent encouragement of "Ajmo decki!", the new doubles partners won two out of three sets.

"Kafelnikov is among the top tennis players in the world. He is the most successful Russian in tennis history. He won Olympic Gold," said smiling Ancic. This win is especially important to Mario because the day before he lost in first round in singles match against powerful Czech Jiri Novak who is ranked 10. One can argue that Mario had a bit of a bad luck in the draw against top 10 player. But at the end, all is fair in tennis. Ancic is only 19 and so far totally injury free. The draw was fair and square, performed in front of hundreds of people. In fact, it was done at a prestigious ceremony at the United Nations.

In doubles, Ancic reached final at Kyoto Challenger 2002 with Zovko. Prior to that Mario captured doubles title at Croatia Futures with brother Ivica.

Last double partner of Ivan Ljubicic was Goran Ivanisevic. Jokingly referred to as "Double Trouble" the two produced stunning comeback from two sets down to squeeze past American team and give Croatia a 2-1 lead during this year Davis Cup in Zagreb.

In singles, Ljubicic lost in second round to number 4 seed Andy Roddick. Their match created so much controversy it requires another article. On the lighter side, Americans often mangled Ljubicic name, so they finally settled to call him "Ljubi".

Perhaps Ivan's loss, like Mario's, was another incentive to go all out on Men's Doubles games. On Saturday, August 30th, "Ljubi" and Mario won in the second round 6-4, 6-3, 7-5. There was something unique about this game. The foursome who played are from the following countries: Jurgen Melzer from Austria, Filippo Volandri from Italy, Mario Ancic from Split, Croatia and Ljubicic who was born in Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina but now plays for Croatia.

On Labor Day, "Ljubi" and Mario will play Third Round. Good partnership brings good results.

Katarina Tepesh

Op-ed:

Mario Ancic CRO    Ivan Ljubicic CRO			5	6	6
Petr Luxa CZE    David Skoch CZE			7	1	2

Croatian Team Wins.

NB

Croatian players had a great day

at the sold out 2003 US Open Tennis Tournament.

New York City - August 31, 2003

IVO KARLOVIC ranked 109 in the world played a very tough, very close match against number 12 ranked Sjeng Schalken from Nederlands. Losing in the tiebreaker 7-6 (8), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3). Schalken said, "I could not break him. I didn't know how. Karlovic has very good serve. He is doing very well, because he won 15 matches in a row, winning two challengers and coming out of qualifying into the Third Round of US Open. Karlovic has a very consistent serve, a killer serve at 135 mph. In all three tiebreakers it was 50/50 chance. This time it fell to me three times. I had a little stronger nerves maybe and also little bit of luck."

As for Ivo, as our people like to say "on se je borio krvavo!" with 25 aces against 2 from Schalken. "I was trying so hard. I gave everything I had from myself." said Karlovic. He received $65,000 prize money for reaching the Third Round. Playing on the Grandstand, their game was televised.

IVAN LJUBICIC and MARIO ANCIC won today in the Third Round in Men's Doubles beating Czech team of Luxa and Skoch. Ivan and Mario scored 5-7, 6-1, and 6-2. Their phenomenal success in Doubles means they are competing next in Quarterfinals.

Ancic, the tall, dark and handsome tennis player has a tremendous following among American kids, presumably future tennis champions. At the Open, girls and boys buy an oversize tennis ball and collect autographs of as many tennis players as they can.

Ljubicic received more support from Americans, who continue to call him "Ljubi", although the nickname "The Beast" also appeared in the press. After the continuing controversy of losing in a close match to Andy Roddick, the bitterly disappointed Ljubi now relies on his ever present girlfriend from Bosnia.

Fairly small, but deeply devoted Croatian fans are showing their colors with the Croatian flag, wild shirts and most of all, their heart. "I'm here every day with my family to show support for all Croatian players. When Ljubicic lost to Roddick in a 5-1 tiebreaker, I could not sleep all night," says a Dalmatinac now living on Long Island.

Today started US Open Junior Championships. Croatia has two 15 year old representatives:

NADA PAVIC ranked 14 among Junior Girls Singles won easily in the 1st round 6-0, 6-3 against Yung-Jan Chan. Nada is from Split.

SANJA ANCIC also won 3-6, 6-4, and 6-4 against Alexandra Mueller USA. Looking pretty in red and black outfit, she is the younger sister of Mario Ancic.
The ANCIC parents from Split, Stipe and Nilda, sitting in the shade watching Mario and Sanja win, were smiling widely all day long. The enormous expense for the private tennis lessons for their 2 children is finally paying off!

Josip Kuchan on TV - George Lopez Show Sept 3,2003

Hey!

Love the reruns, especially when I'm in one of them.

George Lopez Show " George Has Two Mommies " airs on September 3, at
8:30 PM on ABC 7.
I'm in the last 10 minutes of the show.

Link to ABC http://abc.go.com/primetime/georgelopez/
Link to IMDb http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0473642/
Link to me surfing http://homepage.mac.com/jozhica/PhotoAlbum2.html

Josip Kuchan
(yo-sip)

jozhica@mac.com

Rijeka's Memorial Bridge in New York

Bok Nenad,

You may find this article of interest...
(short reference on Rijeka's Memorial Bridge)

Hope all is well,

Kreso

http://www.theslatinreport.com/story.jsp?Topic=place&theStory=804open.txt

===========

EYES WIDE OPEN
by James S. Russell


In Oslo, parts of a new opera house erupt in an angled
topography, creating on its waterfront site a dramatic
frame for views. In London, a new city hall appears to
have plunged into the South Bank of the Thames like a
sleek, oval meteorite. An exhibition at Manhattan’s
Van Alen Institute contends that these, as well as 18
other projects from cities worldwide, are the new face
of public space ("OPEN: New Designs for Public Space,"
runs through October 31st. Van Alen Institute, 30 West
22nd Street, 212-924-7000).

Discussions of the "public realm" almost inevitably
induce snoozing. Isn’t America content with the
largely privatized places it inhabits (which also
often induce snoozing)? Haven’t people shown they
prefer the sanitized security-patrolled mall to truly
public crowded urban sidewalks? "OPEN" has a lot of
prejudices to overcome. This exhibition is either a
nostalgic wake for an idea on its last gasp – or a
stimulating reinvention of, as Van Alen puts it, "how
we live in cities today."

While the designs avoid the tried and true, the
public-space debate is framed by executive director
Raymond Gastil and exhibition curator Zoë Ryan in
terms that are too traditional. Certainly there should
be places to stage protests, for example, but this
does not make a compelling case to officials (protest
targets) or taxpayers (who are usually disinterested
until they find themselves participating in protest).
Americans don’t readily engage in the "ballet of the
streets" romanticized by Jane Jacobs, but we do use
and need public places in ways we fail too often to
recognize. In this respect, "OPEN" stimulates.

With the exception of the handsome and dignified
Memorial Bridge in Rijeka, Croatia, by 3LHD, there is
almost nothing here of the traditional urban
embellishments that have long defined public-realm
design. The exhibition implies that plazas, parks,
boulevards and street furniture are old hat.

Some examples on view reinvent the idea of public
space. The A13 Highway Project in London, by de Paor
Architects, uses a series of artworks to animate the
eddies of dead acreage left over from freeways. In the
subterranean corridors of a subway in Korea, Cho Slade
has carved a tiny but inviting play space. Will anyone
be tempted to explore the undulating city-block-sized
landscape of pylons that Peter Eisenman has designed
as Berlin’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews? It’s a
space that may serve its purpose by its very
uninvitingness. Even the interpretive center, insisted
on by local officials, is essentially invisible,
buried under the field of markers.

Some of these projects – most of which are not located
in the U.S. – seem near desperate efforts to engage
the public. The interlocking geodesic blobs floating
in the Mur River in Graz, Austria, certainly put the
pedestrian bridge in a new, if distinctly Martian
light. (It’s by the artist/designer Vito Acconci,
whose work exemplifies the attention-getting means by
which Graz is trying to pump itself up as Europe’s
2003 City of Culture.) Ponte Parodi, a proposal by the
Rotterdam-based UN Studio for Genoa, Italy, roofs a
multilayered activity-laden pier with an elaborate,
manmade green topography. The Oslo Opera House, by
Snohetta Architects, which will open in 2005, also
falls into the undulating roof realm. But it evolves a
proven prototype, the Sydney Opera House, which
succeeds superbly as public space and urban icon.

Then there are some exhilarating yet hit-and-miss
attempts to create something new. The fractalized
surfaces of Federation Square, in Melbourne, are
gratuitously decorative, but behind the
hyperventilating facades is a large, ambitious and
successful public/private effort. (It was completed
last year by Lab Architecture.) With a colorfully
stepped plaza and a long arcade enclosed in a 3D
polygonal fretwork, it draws downtown Melbourne across
a vast railyard to a riverside park. A spectacular
counterpoint to the handsome Beaux Arts waterfront of
Liverpool is the Fourth Grace, a faceted,
multicolored, robotic cloud that crouches menacingly
at the river’s edge. This concoction is by Will Alsop,
whose brightly colored blobs on stilts long seemed
winsome. Grace is exactly what seems to have gone
missing here, as Alsop’s work moves in an increasingly
obsessive, hyperbolic direction.

A far more traditional – yet quite effective – use of
public space is represented by a number of poignant
international projects: The Favela Bairro project
carves out recreational and gathering spaces of a kind
that would be taken for granted in most developed
cities, yet they are blessings indeed in the dense
homemade slums of Rio de Janeiro. On paper, Bogota’s
Alameda El Provenir is an ordinary 11-mile bike and
pedestrian trail. Little about it signals the presence
of "Design!" Instead, its power derives from the
creation, by Felipe Gonzalez of MGP Arquitectura y
urbanismo, of a unifying and welcoming public armature
in an urban and rural landscape of unplanned
indifference. Such projects do what public space used
to do when poverty and lack of air conditioning made
the streets an extension of (or stand-in for) the
living room.

The relevance of these and similar projects to
contemporary America is not obvious until you
encounter Walter Hood’s work in Macon, Georgia. Hood
has transformed a neglected boulevard of park blocks
by weaving a skein of new activities into them after
an intense and solidarity-building collaboration with
residents on neighboring blocks.

Who needs public space? Teenagers do, for example, but
swarming 16-year-olds do not a public place make. In
Europe, many shopping streets, squares, and plazas are
busy enough and diverse enough that kids can hang out
in a genuinely public place, be part of the life of
the city, and yet have a bit of privacy. In America,
kids’ lives are either scheduled every moment or not
scheduled at all, leaving ample time to hang out in
what acts as public space: convenience-store parking
lots or mall concourses.

If you think of the possibilities in how people use
these places, not just how they are designed, you can
imagine a new view of public space emerging. The work
of such art photographers as Thomas Struth and Andreas
Gursky, make peculiarly monumental art out of
contemporary places of assembly: rock concerts,
blockbuster museum shows, the vast anonymity of the
atrium hotel. One can see a kindred spiritedness
around the edges of much of the work exhibited,
suggesting that public space works best when it opens
possibilities rather than when it coerces engagement.
The most important contribution of the work on view,
however, is to blow away the smoke of do-goodery that
itself obscures the evolving possibilities of the
places urban people share.

Roddick survives grueling match againstCroatian Ljubicic

Posted on Sat, Aug. 30, 2003

Roddick survives grueling match against Croatian Ljubicic
By MICHELLE KAUFMAN
Miami Herald

Andy Roddick reacts after winning a point against Ivan Ljubicic at the U.S. Open, Friday, Aug. 29, 2003, in New York.


NEW YORK - (KRT) - The clock had just struck midnight on a foggy, humid Friday night, and Andy Roddick officially turned 21, but the last thing on his mind was cooling off with a legal libation. He had a much more pressing matter across the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium - a fearless Croatian named Ivan Ljubicic who almost single-handedly beat the U.S. Davis Cup team in February and apparently had plans to spoil Roddick's birthday, too.

Ljubicic, ranked No. 43, fled war-torn Bosnia with his family at age 13, crawling under barbed wire and riding a bus for 48 hours, so he certainly wasn't going to be intimidated by a 20-year-old American in a baseball cap, even if that American is the hottest thing in tennis this summer. Ljubicic bounced Americans James Blake and Taylor Dent from the last two Grand Slams, and he tried his best to add Roddick to the list.

Fourth-seeded Roddick fought back after losing the second set - and his concentration - in a tiebreaker and pulled out the thrilling match, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 7-6 (10-8). Roddick served at second-match point at 12:09 a.m., and Ljubicic's overhand lob sailed over Roddick's head.

``I think I deserve a beer after that one,'' Roddick said, and the crowd sang him Happy Birthday as organizers brought a cake onto the court.

``It's brutal out here. I let him in the second set, and he started playing great tennis.''

Ljubicic complained afterward about Roddick's etiquette.

``Every single player said to me kick his butt,'' Ljubicic said. ``Maybe this is good for the game. For sure we need some interesting guys, but you can be interesting in a positive way.''

Roddick entered the match on a 21-1 hardcourt tear and was 31-2 since hooking up with coach Brad Gilbert. Many experts had already penciled the Boca Raton resident and Andre Agassi into the finals. Pete Sampras and Michael Chang retired in the opening days of the U.S. Open, the perfect opportunity for Roddick to prove he is worthy of the title ``Next Great American.''

But every time a reporter asked him about being a favorite at this Open, he reminded them that he had only won a first round match and had a long way to go. Roddick led Ljubicic 3-1 in the four matches they had played, but he was taking nothing for granted.

``I have Ljubicic next, and he can beat a lot of good players,'' Roddick said after advancing to the second round. ``He serves humongous.''

Everyone knows about Roddick's serve. He tied a world record with a 149 mph serve this season, but Ljubicic's service game is hardly chopped liver. Roddick's positioning on returns - 10 feet behind the baseline - was evidence of his respect for his opponent. Each finished the match with 22 aces apiece.

Roddick won the first set fairly easily, punctuating it with a 137 mph ace on the final point. Ljubicic stepped it up in the second set, breaking Roddick in the sixth game, and took a commanding 5-1 lead in the tiebreak when Roddick hit a backhand wide. In the fourth-set tiebreaker, Roddick came back from 5-2 down to win.

Roddick plays Flavio Saretta of Brazil in the third round. Saretta beat Miami resident Nicolas Lapentti, a native of Ecuador, 6-2, 6-4, 6-0.

The Roddick match started a few minutes later than expected because Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand took 1 hour, 12 minutes to pull off a 6-2, 6-4 upset over No. 9 seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia. Before Friday, Tanasugarn's U.S. Open claim to fame was that she played and won the first-ever match on Arthur Ashe Stadium, a 1997 first-round victory against Chanda Rubin.

She improved to 2-0 on the marquee court Friday and endeared herself to the audience after she mistakenly thought she won at 5-3 in the second set and began celebrating prematurely. When she realized there was at least one more game to be played, she shrugged sheepishly and kept on playing. She would get another chance to show her joy.

``I am very, very embarrassed right now,'' Tanasugarn said at the post-match press conference. ``I was really laughing about it myself, too. But I thought, `If I win the match, I'm gonna jump more.'''

Hantuchova, who also lost in the second round at the French Open and Wimbledon, admitted her confidence is shaken.

``Sometimes it can be really frustrating,'' she said. ``I have lost to players that I shouldn't. Most of the time, it was because I was not playing well, and I beat myself. So, your confidence gets low.''

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/6653604.htm

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