I’m totally loving the Bad Icelander Awards that a reader, Muriel Volestranger, has taken to distributing in the comments. So far she has handed out awards to Bjarni Ármansson [here], Elín Sigurðardóttir [here] and Björn Bjarnason [here]. Clearly the Nicelandic proletariat has gained a worthy ally in their Battle for a Better Nation. Go Muriel!
Meanwhile, old Fréttablaðið publishes a weekly barometer of ‘what’s hot and what’s not’ and last Saturday’s installment gave us a chuckle. Excerpts:
HOT
Pregnancy. The only sensible thing in the depression. It’s against the law to lay off a pregnant woman, against the law to alter the work status of a pregnant woman, against the law to be nasty to a pregnant woman, and they take priority if the UN has to dispense food packages.
Pets. What’s more comforting than cuddling up to a pet in these troubled times? Pets don’t care if the plasma TV is gone and the SUV has been torched. They love us even when we’re poor [unlike the kids].
NOT
IKEA. Everything’s going up! What’s next? Meatballs for 4,000 krónur? Pretty soon the small handful of tycoons that are left will be the only ones eating in the IKEA cafeteria.
Pessimism. The only thing we have left is to try to be optimistic. We can’t afford to be pessimistic, on top of everything else.
So there you have it! The weekly Fréttablaðið barometer, shamelssly filched.
Meanwhile, I can’t find loose English Breakfast tea in Hagkaup any more. Is it because the Brits are so mad at us over Icesave?
BIG WIND
It’s been blowing hard and heavy since yesterday, which is actually very spectacular when you live by the sea. Not so great for hanging around outdoors, though. Right now we have 4°C [39F], sunrise this morning came at 9.41 and sundown is set for 4.41 this afternoon.
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{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
Now, should you really be drinking “English” Breakfast tea anyway?
Seriously, though, I can send you some if you need it.
Give me a list of allowable items you would like and I’ll bring it to you this week. I’ll be there from Friday to next Thursday.
How about a ‘Good Icelander’ award? People that are doing something to benefit Iceland or its tarnished standing outside? Or great ideas to help get past this period. The Hot or Not is a good start if it stays practical (vs american style pop).
Speaking of Big Wind, I think there are tourists in Iceland right now googling about it. I just had a googly: “why is there so much wind in iceland” from Iceland. The locals understand so it must be a tourist.
I can’t wait for the next googly post. I’m having the strangest googly that is quickly becoming the most popular and will someday surpass ’sub glacial volcano’.
Pets are hot? Does someone up there want my dog? She just had one ACL surgery and may need another in the near future… if she doesn’t have lymphoma. In the US, pets are being abandoned by owners who can’t afford to keep them in kibble. Maybe we can work something out?
A propos of nothing in particular, I’ve just this minute heard a piece on BBC radio four from Iceland, the interviewer went there during Airwaves and spoke to some people, they sounded so positive and optimistic, it lifted my heart for the moment.
Keep your spirits up!
Don’t feel hard done by Alda, it’s nothing personal.
Loose tea exports have also been stopped to Al Qaeda and The Taleban.
^ but heroin imports from the same region/people are at an all time high. Over 90% of the world’s supply last I heard.
I seem to remember something from elementary school about tea, British, and taxes….
heh, well it isn’t because everyone was here (sorry, it’s in Icelandic).
But maybe it’s there, just called Freedom Tea, now?
“Freedom Tea” – LOL… It’s the War Against Brennivín…
But let’s not allow the dirty deeds of a few greedy bankers and self serving politicians from either side put a continental rift between the peoples.
I’m ready to chase my Brennivín with some Earl Grey.
Cassie – takk, but let me check the other Hagkaups first.
Víkingsson – I like the idea of a good Icelander award, but I’m afraid there are just so many of them! – Oh, and you have to chase your Brennivín with putrid shark. Not tea.
Abby – Oh, I’m sure we have enough here that need homes. Thanks anyway.
mary – good to hear!
trev – phew. I feel so much better.
Hildigunnur – yes, but you were trashing teabags. I only want the loose stuff that hasn’t been put into bags. And like James, I love Freedom Tea. LOL!
Hope you have better luck at other Hagkaup stores but if not I’d definitely recommend Scottish breakfast tea. Way better!
Alda, it’s gotten to the point where our pastor made a joke about the situation in his sermon yesterday (which begs the question why pastors feel the need to include dumb jokes in the first place).
“What’s the capital of Iceland?” he asked. As I was desperately trying to remember how to pronounce Reykjavik, he answered his own question. “$3.50.” Ouch.
Cat – ouch indeed. Sounds like a very un-pastor-like joke. You know, compassion for your less fortunate brethren, all that. (You can tell him I said that.
)
Hey things are looking up! The first time I heard that joke the answer was 500kr. That’s less than $3.50 depending on what day it is.
But not very funny coming from a pastor unless he’s Icelandic.
q. What’s the capital of ?
a. About 500..now 600…now 5000….now 500 billion…
^oops, I used bad code. supposed to read:
Q. What’s the capital of (insert country with hyper inflation)?
A. About 500..now 600…now 5000….now 500 billion…
Yes, I know – of course the loose stuff would be much more cool to throw, we actually opened the bags and just poured the tea
I doubt that pastor will be asserting copyright:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=%22what%27s+the+capital+of+iceland%22&meta=
hehe, very good.
There’s so much bad economic news from Iceland – could you give us a daily dose of good Icelandic news!
Is a putrid shark shortage really imminent or did you just put that in the sidebar to see if we were paying attention?
Rozanne – I would never employ such a filthy trick!
Yes, supposedly it is imminent. Not sure how great a portion of the population it will affect, but I know I won’t be crying into my Brennivín.
I nominate Bjarni Hardarson!
“Bjarni Hardarson, MP for the Progressive Party, has decided to resign following the leak of a email which he sent to his assistant yesterday—and by mistake also to every media outlet in the country—in which he criticized the party’s vice-chairman.
Hardarson had intended for the email to be delivered to the media. His plan was, however, that his assistant sent it from an anonymous email account, visir.is reports. ”
http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16567&ew_0_a_id=315176
Now, some may think that Bjarni is more of a candidate for the “Dumb Icelander Award” , but pls take into considerationthat he says he wanted his assistant to send the smear anonymously to the media (certainly thinking of “plausible denial”)!
Really, firstly, thinking of sniping at a party member in this way, and then beeing so unashamed in admitting it, that’s BAD, isn’t it?
Heheh. Sure, we can throw Bjarni’s name into the hat – despite the fact that his badness harmed only a small group of people (i.e. himself), as opposed to being of the ‘national traitor’ variety.
Starting to warm up to the idea of a ‘Dumb’ category – although I prefer ‘Hapless’ – less abrasive somehow.
“I have always believed that people should take responsibility for their own actions.” Shouldn’t he add “, but only if I get caught”
He did.
But then, what did he say in the email itself?
The world’s corrupt systems are starting to come apart. That could be good news depending on what comes in to replace it. If I didn’t have children this would be very interesting but I’m more worried about them than excited to see change coming.
Víkingsson – here is the letter he wanted sent on to the media. It’s two members of the Progressive Party criticizing a party member, Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, for her part in privatizing the banks a few years ago.
It’s in Icelandic though, obviously:
http://mbl.is/media/63/1063.pdf
this might be a little off subject, but i felt the need to throw this in to the mix. i was channel-surfing yesterday and happened upon the documentary Sigur Ros: Heima on Sundance Channel. i have seen this a number of times (i have a copy, natch!) so it was nothing new to me. however, i could not stop watching it! i was completely enthralled by the music and imagery. i guess it was then that i realized that Iceland was going to be ok. you see, throughout the whole documentary, it’s all about the band giving back to the Icelanders. ALL Icelanders. free. a gift. that is something you will never see in my country , or most others. beautiful people enjoying beautiful music in the most beautiful settings. i thought i was going to cry.
your country could be financially wiped out, and yet still be the richest in the world. your true worth is your people, your land, and your culture. everything else is just dust in the wind. this post is about nothing other than me saying, “don’t give up, don’t give in.”
peace and love
doug
austin, texas
Beautiful, Doug. Thank you.
To add to the Fréttablaðið list of HOT / NOT:
HOT: Shopping second-hand stores and bringing back the vintage look. Face it — you can’t afford that Louis Vuitton bag anymore. And sadly, that IKEA couch is now out of the question now too. (Isn’t it time that Reykjavík got into Craigslist.org???)
NOT: Poor customer service. Teenager clerks with a “can’t be bothered” attitude need to go. The stores employing them can’t afford to deal with the repercussions of treating customers (and tourists) badly at this time since competition is much more crucial to survival at this point.
“Swiss representative in IMF says no formal request for assistance has been received from Iceland” but Oddsson emphasised he had full confidence his mobile phone records would prove he sent a text message on 3 November.
Heya Alda,
Just wondering… you received my mail (with more details) about those comment transfers?
pls let me know.
Cheers
Oddsson texted the IMF on his cell phone?
Surely Commander Volestrangler must have a special award for that one!
Lessee… my dog ate my cell phone?
Unfortunately, our Bad Icelander Award for today is an all-too-obvious choice: the “Nameless Icelandic Herring Fishing Boat Owners”. Apparently Icelandic boats took five times their allowed quota of mackeral this year, according to the Scots, who are very upset, hopping mad in fact. The Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association said, in blunt fashion, “Such activities by Icelandic fishermen threaten the long term sustainability of the mackerel stock… We can’t have fishing nations sticking two fingers up to the European agreement.” Icelandic officials said that the extra mackerel were an accidental “by-catch” of herring fishing and gave a variety of others explanations, which I was inclined to believe — until I saw a graph showing Icelandic catch of mackeral in the past few years. In 2006 the catch was 4 thousand tons, now it’s over 100 tons. Sorry, that’s no accident — that’s fully intentional. Yes, it’s true, the poor mackeral are just wee insensate fish, and not even good eating, and the amount of money involved is miniscule in comparison to the bank losses. But the fishermen have further tarnished the already battered Icelandic reputation abroad and pissed off the Scots, Faroese, and the Norwegians, who are supposed to act as babysitters for Iceland in the quota world. Honestly, it’s getting to the point where every Icelandic businessman who ventures abroad turns into Super-Kleptomaniac-Man and every Icelandic government official spills out a bucketful of lies whenever he opens his mouth. The only explanation they didn’t try was that the fish jumped into the Icelandic boats when no one was looking.
every Icelandic businessman who ventures abroad turns into Super-Kleptomaniac-Man and every Icelandic government official spills out a bucketful of lies whenever he opens his mouth
Now now, let us not get carried away.
“Oddsson emphasised he had full confidence his mobile phone records would prove he sent a text message on 3 November.”
LOL!
And in response to a request by the Finnish Ministry of Finance, Haarde announced he will present his economic plans to Nordic countries, willing to provide credit, very soon. There will only be a small delay because of an unfortunate mishap:
“The dog ate my homework!”
“Swiss representative in IMF says no formal request for assistance has been received from Iceland.[11.11]”
So, the Prime Minister lied about the IMF loan, and lied, and lied, and lied, and lied again.
There is also the possibility that the IMF is a huge bureaucratic monster and the Swiss rep simply wasn’t in the loop.
Since just about all other reps have spoken out about the request for assistance from Iceland, I’d say this is the more likely scenario.
Again: we don’t do mindless bashing on this blog. Consider that a warning.
Muriel – Note that Iceland wasn’t part of that European fishing agreement and so couldn’t have breached it. Iceland obviously isn’t party to or bound by the “allowed quotas” that other countries may have agreed amongst themselves. That’s an important point.
Have you seen this yet:
http://newiceland.net/index.php?id=1
Reminds me of The Onion for Icelanders (but it’s in English). Funny.