March 2010

Afsakið hlé

March 30, 2010

The above phrase appears on Icelandic TV screens whenever there is a disruption in the broadcast, and for the next little while it’s going to apply here, too. By which I mean that posting will be slightly disrupted for the next couple of weeks or so. I currently have a ton of work in my [...]

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Join the circus

March 29, 2010

Last night we went to See the Circus here in our very own Smoky Bay* — and boy, did we have a rocking great time! Circus Sóley is the newest show by Circus Íslands, which was started by Wally the Clown [aka Lee Nelson] who is arguably Iceland’s funniest import [from 'Stralia] and also an [...]

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On herding cats

March 29, 2010

So, the Social Democratic Alliance held its national congress this weekend and by all accounts Prime Minister Jóhanna held a thunderous speech in which she pulled no punches. Among other things, she talked about the difficulty of “tightening the ranks” within the current government coalition and said that getting some of the Left-Green MPs to [...]

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Our super-awesome eruption excursion

March 28, 2010

So EPI and I went and checked out the volcanic eruption on Friday evening. We decided to take a tour rather than drive up there ourselves, and chose to travel with Reykjavík Excursions since they were the first company that came to mind. The bus left at 6 pm from Reykjavík – I probably would [...]

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Ta ta strip clubs!

March 26, 2010

So, I had planned to blog about the new ban on strip clubs just passed in parliament, but the Grauniad beat me to it: While activists in Britain battle on in an attempt to regulate lapdance clubs – the number of which has been growing at an alarming rate during the last decade – Iceland [...]

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Can you say B.I.M.B.O?

March 25, 2010

So, the volcanic eruption continues apace in Fimmbörðuháls, between Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull glaciers. There has been no major change since Monday and still no sign that nearby Katla is about to blow. Police have dispensed with the ban that was placed on travel to the region, but obviously are not recommending it. They emphasize that [...]

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On mourning the loss of a friend

March 24, 2010

Polly the cockatiel died last weekend while I was away in Sweden. She had been quite ill – she’d had two accidents involving her leg in the last three months and this had very obviously taken a toll on her. After the last incident I’d taken her to the vet a couple of times, the [...]

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In praise of Gräv10

March 22, 2010

I have been so preoccupied with the volcanic eruption and other things back home that I haven’t written a thing about the Gräv10 conference that is the reason for my being here in Stockholm. As I mentioned in a previous post, Gräv is the name of the annual conference of the Association of Investigative Journalists [...]

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Meltdown II

March 21, 2010

So, as far as I know there is nothing new on the eruption situation in Iceland. Just to recap: It started around midnight last night and was most forceful between 7 and 8 this morning. Since then it has subsided a bit. All residents in the area – around 450 people – were evacuated and [...]

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Eruption in Eyjafjallajökull!

March 21, 2010

So I leave the country for four days, and what happens? An eruption happens! As I mentioned about three weeks ago, Eyjafjallajökull glacier has been threatening to erupt for a while now, but the tremors seemed to be dying down, if anything. For those concerned that this might be near us [thanks Andrew!] — never [...]

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