April 2005

When I go out for a spin on my bicyclette, I head west along the seashore and soon encounter this:

This is a traditional old hut used for drying fish, which was one of the common ways of preserving food here in the old days. This hut is still used for that purpose, as your nose will generally inform you a good 100 metres or so before you get there. The walls are not solid but are made of wooden bars, allowing the air to blow through.

Typically I’ll stop for a drink of water at a water fountain located where I am standing to take this picture. Oh, and see the mountain across the bay? Which looks faaar awaaay on the photo but isn’t really? That’s our friendly Mt. Esja that EPI and I climb to the top of every summer, at least once. Just to prove we kick ass.

WE THEN TURN…
… glide about 50 metres to the west, and see this:

That’s the little island spit known as Grótta, which is an island only when the tide is high, as pictured. You can even see the electrical poles in the water, which are not submerged when the tide is out. At those times you can also walk over to the island and skulk around the lighthouse, which is especially great when there’s a lot of wind and the waves come crashing in on the other side, because if you don’t turn around you wouldn’t know you were anywhere near a city.

The only times you cannot go over there is from May to July, since the birds need to have peace to do their nesting thing.

WE’VE REACHED THE END OF DRY LAND…
So we head south. Pretty soon we’re back in the residential area, and what’s the first thing we see? This sorry pair!

… This gives AAH the heebie-jeebies. They remind her of Night of the Living Dead. The sculptor who makes them actually lives across the street from us. She’s is currently exhibiting more of her work in NYC… as if the Big Apple didn’t have enough zombies!

Don’t mind EPI in the background there, all decked out in his Mountain Equipment bike kit, atop his fancy-schmancy Cannondale hand-made-out-of-aluminium-with-joints-all-smoothed-out blahblah. He’s a bit of a fanatic, EPI. When it comes to the bike thing.

ANYWAY! THAT’S IT FOR NOW
Today’s weather was pretty much like yesterday’s, as pictured. Temps currently 7°C. Daybreak was at 04.09 and nightfall at 22.45. Yo.

Film tip: If you get a chance to see The House of Flying Daggers, GO! We went this evening and I came out of the theatre completely lost in another world. Visually stunning, emotionally engrossing, incredibly moving, completely enchanting. A bit like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, only more subtle and yet more powerful. I loved it.

BLOOD AND GORE
Came home and decided it was time to clip our Polly’s wing feathers. This is a task that needs to be performed on a regular basis, every couple of months or so, as her flight feathers always grow back. And she’s been getting a bit too high for her own good lately – soaring to the tops of kitchen cupboards and perching there, refusing to come down, that sort of thing.

So I grabbed her and EPI grabbed the scissors and snip snip. Then we decided that, while we were at it, we might as well clip her nails as well, snip snip.

And then there was a lot of blood.

Which sent YT into a mild panic. “Go get the flour!” I said [urgently] to EPI because that’s what you’re supposed to do when you cut into their veins [well actually you’re supposed to apply silver nitrate, but we don’t have any of that in the house]. So EPI ran and got the flour and Polly wriggled and screeched and tried to bite my finger, and then EPI returned and applied the flour and I noticed that there was far too much blood to just be coming from her nail.

Which was bad news. Because that could only mean one thing: it was coming from her wing.

What we’d inadvertently done [despite trying to be exceedingly careful] was cut into a blood feather. This means that the blood comes flowing out unhindered, as if through a tube, and it DOES NOT STOP. And even if it does stop, it always has the potential of starting up again, say if Polly gnaws at it or even if she hits it against the bars of her cage. And supposing that happened in the middle of the night, she’d simply and quietly bleed to death while we were sleeping.

And the blood was not stopping. It was all over the wall and running down the side of her wing and oh, how awful!

Gathering my wits [which were all aflutter], I frantically called the vet’s emergency number. Her instruction: hold the bird, get a pair of pliers or tongs, and pull – not yank – the damaged feather out. There would be resistance, but the important thing was to keep pulling. Until it came out.

Whokay. Deep breath, grabbed hold of Polly again, and the surgery commenced. Pull out the wing, examine, wipe off the blood, try to locate the feather, ah! there it is, pull gently but steadily, trying to hold her steady but not too harshly so as not to break her delicate little bones…

… And, success. Whew!

Poor Polly. She’s a little dishevelled right now and looks positively exhausted. Plus her wing is all caked with blood. But the bleeding has stopped which means she’s out of danger. Which in turn means that YT has a shot at restful sleep.

THE WEATHER IS…
Absolutely gorgeous. Came out of the movie theatre and it was twilight at 10.15 pm, a blue sort of haze over the bay and the mountains across the way. Temps 10°C. Daybreak was at 04.14 and nightfall at 22.41.

YT’s efforts to educate the household members are met with blatant disregard:

Sigh.

THE WEATHER
Was fantastic today. Sunny spells, hardly any wind, warm [for us], meaning highs of around 14°C. Took the bike out for a spin late this afternoon to the lighthouse that sits on the end of the peninsula located about a 10 minute ride from here. There was a British film crew out there looking like they were getting ready to shoot a commercial or something, which is kind of amazing because the last time I was out there there was also a foreign film crew. In any case, it was gorgeous there as usual, the sun shimmering on the shining steel-blue water, lots of little birdies doing their spring-birdie thing, the lighthouse looking very regal out on its little spit. Daybreak was at 04.18 and nightfall at 22.37 [which is kind of misleading because when I was driving home at 11 pm there was still a light in the sky].

OH AND INCIDENTALLY!
Thanks to SGT Jeff, who felt my pain about RP not playing Immigrant Song and deposited this little linkie in my comments box. I’m sure those kittens do it better than RP ever could have - and in any case it made my day!

Imagine the delight of those tourists about to set off on a whale watching expedition yesterday when a humpback whale measuring 8-10 metres came swimming into the harbour here in Reykjavík [just a 15 minute walk from my place]. It hung around for ages, before finding its way out again on its own.

Whales are not an uncommon sight offshore in other parts of Iceland, but it’s very rare to spot one actually in the capital. The last time one swam into the harbour was about ten years ago – that whale died, as it was unable to find its way back out and rescue efforts failed. Usually when whales swim into shallow waters they get disoriented and more often than not stranded, after which they die as a result of their own body weight.

But enough of that. Up next:

JAMIE’S BOOK MEME*
Ok. I have a wee problem with memes. They make me squeamish. I think it’s something to do with feeling presumptuous for assuming that people care. [After all, they’re not called me-me’s for nothing, right?] I mean, is it really interesting to anyone else to know what book I would save from a burning fire? Isn’t it just hopelessly boring to know what book I’d take to a desert island, and why?

Anyway. I have to admit they’re also kind of fun. For me-me. Not to mention thought provoking. So here goes:

1. You’re stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be saved?

The New Testament.

2. Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

No. Unless you count Colin Firth as Mr Darcy in the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice [swoon]. Typically I only have crushes on rock stars and the occasional actor.

3. The last book you purchased?

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon.

4. What are you currently reading?

Runaway, a collection of short stories by Alice Munro. She’s such a talented writer and the stories are gripping, even if every single one has left me with slight feeling of despondency.

5. Five books you would take to a desert island?

(1) The Bible. The Old Testament has been on my to-read list for years and I figure I need lots of free time to actually get around to it.

(2) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. Because it’s my favourite novel of all time, ever.

(3) The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Because it’s my very favourite contemporary novel. She has the most miraculous way with language – her prose is enthralling and deeply moving. It’s the only book in recent history that has made me cry – not once but twice. [It’s also the only novel in recent history I’ve read twice].

(4) The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. An amazing book for discovering and re-covering your creativity.

(5) Hope for Today. Daily readings of the Al-Anon fellowship. Because if I was stuck on a desert island I’d need all the hope I could get.

SO. RIGHT THEN!
I’m not going to tag anyone with this because that would make me more squeamish still. Instead I’m going to extend an open invitation to anyone who read this to please help yourself. And to let me know if you do so I can read your answers.

THE WEATHER
Has been gorgeous so far today. I woke up just before six this morning to brilliant sunshine. That lasted until just past noon, but now it’s clouded over and about a half hour ago there were a few drops of rain. AAH’s gone off to the neighbourhood open-air pool with her friend; I’m about to go for a run and then perhaps to the pool afterwards for a soak in the hot tub. Meanwhile, poor EPI has to spend the whole weekend at work. Boo. Temps currently 10°C. Daybreak was at 04.22 and nightfall set for 22.32.

* It’s not really Jamie’s. She just tagged me with it.

Well, I did not go to see Robert Plant and band. Instead I instructed EPI to call me on his cell if they played a) Stairway to Heaven, b) Immigrant Song. AAH and I then proceeded to have a girl’s night in, with DVD [In America] and popcorn.

The phone rang four times. The first time on our way to the video store [Black Dog] the second on our way back from the video store [Baby I’m Gonna Leave You] the third just as we had started to watch the film [couldn’t make out that song], the fourth about 45 minutes into the film [Whole Lotta Love].

No Stairway. No Immigrant. Which I thought was bizarre, particularly as Immigrant Song was penned after LZ’s first and only concert in this country and is of course about Iceland and so would have driven the Vikings wild [which is perhaps what old RP wished to avoid].

EPI’s take in a nutshell: He thought RP was great but the band not so great. He thought the guitarist and bass player lacked a boldness or confidence that would allow them to transcend the LZ legacy. And it was brought home to him how excellent those Led Zeppelin songs are and were, and how difficult it is to match them with the new stuff, which kind of pales in comparison.

MEANWHILE, ON THE FILM FEST FRONT…
We went to see Almodóvar’s latest, Bad Education, two nights ago. I’m an Almodóvar fan; I loved Talk to Her, and All About My Mother and I would definitely see any new film of his. However, I found this one slightly disappointing.

For those who don’t know, it centres around paedophilia and is supposed to be Almodóvar’s coming to terms with his past, since he attended an all-boys’ Catholic school where by his own admission the boys were sexually molested by the priests. However, as a settling of accounts it was all very vague. I don’t want to say too much simply because it’s not my place to judge whether Almodóvar as a person dealt with his past or not, but it sort of seemed to me like he skirted the issue, didn’t really get to the core of it emotionally. I know, because emotionally the film didn’t engage me. For me this is always the test, because I firmly believe that if the creator of the work is emotionally engaged, the viewer will also be, correspondingly. I watched the veneer: It had charm and charisma and was visually stunning [I love his use of colour and pattern, for example]. Also, he’s got this great knack for turning the tables on the viewer without warning so that suddenly your perception of the film and/or characters does a 180° turn and what you thought was real suddenly becomes false and there’s a whole new perspective to grapple with. All that was there and as such the film was good enough. And yet… I came away from it emotionally dissatisfied. Not to mention with a yucky sort of feeling from all the Fassbinder-esque gay sex scenes that seemed quite gratuitous and, to me at least, repelling.

And now there are only seven days left of the Icelandic Film Festival, which YT has been too busy to attend. So many films, so little time. Sigh.

THE WEATHER
Currently calm and lovely, if overcast. Temps are 6°C and I’m about to take my bicyclette out for a spin along the seashore. Daybreak today was at 04.27 and nightfall will be at 22.28.

Yes, old Robert has managed to charm his way into my heart again, following that disastrous viewing of The Song Remains the Same a few weeks ago. And how? By appearing on Icelandic telly last night and actually poking fun of the old days when he appeared on stage with jeans so tight that his tools were all pronounced.

In other words, through his ironic, self-depreciating British humour – not to mention owning up to the fact that he acted like a twat – he’s sealed his redemption in the YT Hall of Fame.

He looks like an old geezer now, but a well-lived old geezer, a geezer with character. As far removed from, say, Cliff Richard geezerdom as you could possibly get. And for that he scores big points, because nothing is more of a turnoff than old geezers pretending to be young.

SO SHOULD I OR SHOULDN’T I?
Which brings me to today’s Big Question: should I go to the concert tonight, or no? EPI’s going. But then again, EPI’s into RP’s new stuff. I’m not, particularly – I’d pay double if I knew he was gonna play the old Led Zep favourites [like all of Led Zep IV] but judging by last night’s interview this does not seem likely. Another big consideration is that tickets in seats are all sold out so I’d have to stand, and being somewhat challenged in the height department [somewhat] I always wind up looking at the head of the person in front of me or, alternatively, with a stiff neck from looking up at the video screen. Plus standing for three hours or so [counting warm-up band] is not something I’m terribly keen on, ‘cause I know me back will be aching tomorrow.

[It doesn’t much sound like I’m going to go, does it?]

THE WEATHER
The sun just came out, as it should since it’s summer now. I’ve finished almost all my assignments [just the proofs to be read for a mag I’ve been copy editing] and am going to head out for a run along the seashore. Possibly I’ll spot the local family of seals, who are likely to be lying on top of the offshore crags and basking in the sun by now. Current temps are 6°C [42.8 F] and daybreak was at 04.31, nightfall will be at 22.24.

Last night a new virus scan update arrives, ping-ping. EPI and YT busily engaged in having a kitchen party. YT hears ping-ping notification from laptop and like a good primary caretaker goes off to see what’s needed. ‘We recommend you scan your computer for viruses,’ reads the message from McAfee. ‘Consider it done,’ is the subliminal message back from YT.

Cut to short while later. YT, dining on fabulous meal by EPI the should-have-been chef, hears laptop revving overtime, sounding like a plane about to take off. A quick check reveals that virus scan is frozen and a new message is in inbox. YT, loath to be separated from her meal a moment longer, cancels virus scan. Yet when she returns post-meal Outlook is all in a pickle, won’t open new message in inbox, and is generally being a supreme pain in the ass.

So YT shuts off laptop and goes to bed.

This morning YT gets up, breakfasts, and then proceeds to turn on laptop as usual. Laptop still revving overtime. Outlook still in a pickle. No-open-message. YT feels imminent dread creeping in as Powerlessness in the Face of Capricious Technology sets in. Outlook is indifferent to this sorry state of affairs.

Virus scan is set in motion once again. YT navigates away from Iceland Weather Report page to one of her fave blogs. YT hits back button and gets – not Weather Report page but Blogger Dashboard. YT considers chucking laptop out the window but decides instead to blog.

Since obviously that’s what’s being asked of her.

MEANWHILE WHAT I MEANT TO SAY WAS…
Those of you who haven’t already beat a hasty virtual retreat may be interested to know that today is the first day of summer according to the old Icelandic calendar. Back in those ‘old’ days they kept it simple – it was either winter or summer, no ‘spring’ or ‘autumn’ to complicate matters.

To illustrate the importance of this day, it is – ta da! – a public holiday. Meaning that most people [not the ones that work in supermarkets, or convenience stores, or the service industry, or are self-employed like our YT] get the day off to go enjoy parades, free museum admission, free swimming pool admission, fun family events, marathons, etc. etc. Plus little kiddies traditionally get a ‘summer gift’ which more often than not is conducive to enjoying the outdoors [a skipping rope, ball, new running shoes, rollerblades, etc.]

This is also our version off Groundhog Day, in that it was traditionally believed that if winter and summer ‘froze together’ – i.e. if we had frost during the night – then the summer would be a good one [read:warmish, without too much rain]. Personally though I think that was made up to make people feel better if they were still having sub-zero temps at the end of April. And what with global warming, it’s hardly something that anybody can take seriously any more. [Or maybe I’m just saying that to make myself feel better, because winter and summer did not freeze together last night so according to that premise we’ll have a shite summer].

Here a pic of my neighbour’s flag, drawn because it’s the First Day of Summer:

… and here one of the natives doing their celebration thing:

WHICH BRINGS US TO THE WEATHER
At the moment it is overcast but mild and pleasant. No wind, which for us makes all the difference, because as everyone knows the weather in Iceland is inevitably gorgeous when there’s no wind. AAH is off to sell hot dogs at an outdoor festival at our local community centre [where she’s a student member of the council] and if my friend the laptop decides to behave I can perhaps get my work done quickly and then head out to enjoy this first taste of summer. Meanwhile, daybreak was at 04.35 and nightfall will be at 22.20.

Whaddaya gonna do when you’re so burned out after a) staging a confirmation banquet, b) working like a frigging editing machine for two whole days when you should be recuperating in bed, c) going for a massage and then d) soaking in a hot tub at the local swimming pool in sunshine and the warmest temps so far this year? [I know, pity poor poor YT] When you’re so wiped out that all your mind can think is “sleeeeeeppp” yet your blogging addiction won’t let go, yet your mind is on strike, yet your fingers keep tapping away, yet you can’t think of anything clever to say?

You post a picture.

Here it is:

‘Kay.

Now as I said, the weather today may be summed up in one word: Summer. Summer! [What a strange looking word that is, when you really consider it. It’s OK when there’s just one of it, but when you put two of them together it looks really strange. I can’t think of it as meaning summer the season; I keep thinking of the word ‘Sumner’, as in Sting’s real name, or ‘Bummer’ as in something shite happened.] [Could it be that I have ADD?] [Why is my mind jumping all over the page?] Temps went up to 14°C [that’s 57.2 if you speak Fahrenheit] which for us Ice Penguins is pretty groovy for April. Meanwhile, I got up in the middle of the night because I was hungry and it was light already at 5 am. Official daybreak: 4.40 and nightfall: 22.16. And now I best cart my butt off to bed before my fingers start blabbering something I might regret in the morning. Peace.

If anyone out there would like a piece of confirmation cake, do let me know. It’s really good: a sponge cake bottom with fresh fruit, a thick layer of raspberry mousse, then another layer of sponge cake and some really fine marzipan on top. We’ve got loads left – loads – and it’s taking up valuable shelf space in our fridge. So you’d only be doing us a favour.

There’s also quite a lot of the lemon torte left, and a bit of the French chocolate cake. Oh, and mountains of antipasti and piles of Italian bread… I think if I look at another artichoke heart and green olive I’ll throw up so if you could take some of that on your way out, please, that would be very kind. Yes, and a couple of two-litre bottles of Sprite, too. We never drink the stuff and it would just expire.

CONFIRMATION LOOT EQUALS FAMILY STRIFE
AAH has wasted no time and already invested in a new PlayStation console using a small portion of her confirmation dosh. Yay. As if it were not enough to fight her over the use of the computer [oh how did we ever make it through adolescence without msn messenger, I ask you], we’ll now have to fight over the use of the wide-screen telly as well. Joy.

THE WEATHER…
Managed to capture YT’s attention slightly more than yesterday but only just because I hardly looked up from the ‘puter all day. Assignments had piled up and deadlines loom large. Suffice it to say that when I went out for my run it was perfect running weather – overcast and somewhat damp but the air so fresh and clean and also it was nice and mild, temps around 10 degrees. Then later when I went to the store to get some food for dinner [ugh! after the last few days the whole concept of food preparation makes me wilt instantly] it was raining like gangbusters and the wind was blowing pretty hard so I came home with my hair all stuck to me face and me new shoes all drenched [boo]. Currently we have 8 degrees Celsius and daybreak was at 4.48 am, nightfall at 22.09.