When I was young, we used to get a catalog called Hanna Andersson, a Swedish company that was all about stripes, graphic prints, and lots of bright colors all mixed together. It made much of its Nordic personality, so it was my first exposure to the concept. I thought it was so cool, but who would actually WEAR stripes and flowers and stars together?
Next came Marimekko, a Finnish company I learned about thanks to my mom's fashion-forward ways back in the 60's. She was sewing with their upholstery fabric before they'd ever though to do a dress line, and I am happily the right size to wear one of her creations. When the line was revitalized recently, she was thrilled, and has continued to enjoy their colorful, simple designs. Their simple styles and intense colors appeal to the artistic corner of me, so I was delighted to discover that there is a Marimekko store right here in Reykjavik. I then set about making sure all my near and dear were Marimekko'd in proper fashion (which of course includes my own bad self), however I still was not actually wearing it and cross-pollinating it with other patterns and colors.
When I first arrived in Iceland, this place seemed like a melange of crazy brightness, asymmetrical lines, and mixed patterns. After being in Boston, Land of Gray, it was more than I could figure out. However, something happened in the later part of last year, and I think I can trace it back to the first Ice-haircut. After I got over the panic of having a haircut that was different on both sides (my bangs are so short and crooked!! she shaved the back of my neck!! aaa!!) I started to enjoy the unusual look. I began looking for more things to go with it when I was back in the States in July and August. The winter things were starting to come into stores then, so when I found a coat that fit beautifully that had asymmetrical buttons and two different kinds of material in one, I had to have it. Yes, I had not been earning any money for almost 5 months, it was August, and I already have about 7 winter coats, but as a kindly older gentleman in the store said, "trifling matters when considering a beautiful coat that looks lovely on you". You can always count on things gentlemen like that say to be right, as it turned out months later. I wear it every day now.
It's been getting more extreme lately too, since my mom gave me a pair of over-the-knee multicolored striped socks for my birthday. Nothing crazy, you may say, but this is a lot for a girl who used to think an all-gray outfit with black shoes was "just right". Now all I can think of is how great purple-and-navy stripes go with bright red shoes. J is helping me right along too- for Christmas he got me more tall stripey socks, and these shoes, except they're iridescent blue with silver stars. I feel like a super hero in them, and I love that they're different, yet still practical with they're wraparound rubber bottoms. It's the Icelandic way- colorful, comfortable, but interesting enough that you feel special wearing them.
I can't get enough of it now- I want more colors, I want turquoise with orange, and I want things with funny features. All that from a haircut, and maybe the feeling that I MUST do something to counterbalance all the blackness of "days" here in the winter.
Ship sighting: Not much movement lately- even Engey, who was supposed to have been gone days ago, is still languishing in first berth down at the harbor. It's on the Faxaflóahafnir site again today with a departure time of 6 pm, but it was still there when J and I drove home round 8. Maybe the fishermen don't feel like going anywhere in all this blowing snow. It's snowed almost every day for the last week and as I sit in the window typing this, my view is horizontal snow and beyond that, darkness. I can't even see Akranes.
And so in the spirit of remembering what once was, and what will be again, I give you a photo I took of the harbor during the walk I described back in June. It's coming again!
11 January 2006
09 January 2006
the papers... again
I had not been at work for more than 2 minutes when co-worker D asked if I had been at the concert this weekend. He's a Morgunblaðið subscriber and the hat did get us in the papers. This is no shammyshady paper like last time we were in the papers in Iceland either. It's like the Boston Globe instead of the National Enquirer. Moving up in the world, moving up.
I also just learned that the waterfall videos that were projected on the scrim before the show started were made by the mother of one of J's coworkers. It's impossible to go to a large event here and not know at least 3 people that are somehow involved in the event, and this is after living here only a short time.
Ship Sighting: This morning I noticed Vikingur was back in the shipyard. I guess they took it for a spin and realised they'd missed a spot or something.
I also just learned that the waterfall videos that were projected on the scrim before the show started were made by the mother of one of J's coworkers. It's impossible to go to a large event here and not know at least 3 people that are somehow involved in the event, and this is after living here only a short time.
Ship Sighting: This morning I noticed Vikingur was back in the shipyard. I guess they took it for a spin and realised they'd missed a spot or something.
Confetti on the floor
There is confetti everywhere in the house today because we were against the barriers in the front of the stórtónleikar yesterday when they popped the confetti charges at the end of the show. It was a benefit concert for the Icelandic environment and featured a staggering number of performers, for a dizzying 6 hours of who's-who of Icelandic music, and thanks to my newly established Flickr account, the links in the blog are finally my own photos. Last night was a chill evening, full of swirling snow as we stood in line, and when we got in, instead of milling about and looking at t-shirts we went straight to the front, where in predictable Iceland fashion, ran into some people we knew. The hall filled quickly, and unlike the Sigur Rós concert, was almost entirely Icelanders, and mostly in their teens.
After a peculiar theatrical performance and lots of graphics of waterfalls, the concert began with an Icelandic guitar guy (I forget who he was-- help me out local readers!) We were there with friends, one of whom said his music was "good for boring parties". Still, it was a good opening act, and prepared us well for the next performer, our own neighbor Björk. Clad in green satin with a waist-length sparkly necklace and sequinned tights, she took off her red lace-up boots immediately to perform barefoot. Her only accompaniment was a harp, and half the time she sang acapella. I've never heard her live but the experience was unforgettable- her voice has amazing feeling, and she does all these crazy things with the hand not holding the microphone. Plus, the green glitter eyeshadow was fabulous.
I can't remember who was next, but we saw Múm, last seen in Boston at the MFA with a pile of Bostonian hipsters. They had added a choir of local people playing handbells and adding "ooooo"s in a few songs. After them came Sigur Rós, who only played one song. Seeing them up close was cool though- we could see the interactions between the members and the expressions on their faces as they played.
I think the next act was Magga Stína, who was all kinds of crazy with her rock violin, her white feather boa tied around her waist, the accountant accordion-man dressed in the tie, vest, and nerd specs, and the sitar-playing 60's guy. After that was a group called Rass (ass), dressed in wifebeaters and white-trash sunglasses. They would have been somewhat forgettable, in spite of the costumes, had our former upstairs neighbor not appeared on the edge of the stage. He was shepherding his group of gradeschool-aged brass players, all dressed in band uniforms that were too big for them. Of course, we had to yell his name and he gave us a wave.
Right about here, things started to get long, and this blog entry starts to become a list! There were a bunch of Icelandic bands that were basically the same two or three guys that would come out in different outfits, playing some kind of metal/rock. There was the shirtless/pink lycra tights/leopard platforms variation, complete with a ski-mask-wearing glove-throwing singer, a business suit getup, and I think one other version. Damien Rice played and made all the girls sigh and was impossible to photograph, but his bass player was a character. Damon Albarn sang a special just-for-last-night song about aluminum that the audience all sang along to, and Mugison sang along with Hjálmar.
By now, the crowd was getting a bit weary, and some people had decided to go. The two people standing next to us left, and four 15 year-old girls crowded in next to us, backed by a posse of boys that were huge metal fans, apparently. They got a little mosh-y during the metal stuff, with lots of headbanging, shirt removal, pumping fists, and gnarly faces. If it had gone on long it would have gotten annoying, but their enthusiasm and "nobody understands me but the metal-playing band" attitude was entertaining, at least for one song. If it had gone on much longer, we would have left, and missed the pinnacle of the evening for many of the kids around us, the arrival of...
Bubbi konungurinn (Bubbi, the king!), as the kids were yelling all around us. I know my American readers are doing a bit of a headscratch now, but this guy is HUGE in Iceland, like Elvis and the Beatles together. His band, Ego, hasn't played together in years, but everyone knows his songs, and he's made a continued name for himself as one of the judges for the Icelandic Idol show. His stage presence verged on aerobics instructor with lots of "see how sproingy my sneakers are" jumping and a skintight blue shirt. During the second song, the security guards in the gap between us and the stage cleared all the photographers out of the space and set up the charges, which we thought were going to be fireworks, given the time of year and the ongoing enthusiasm for fireworks here. After the last song, the hall went totally black and the charges popped. In the dark it seemed like we were getting showered with ash, sparks, fallout of fireworks, or something, but when the lights came up, we were all covered in confetti.
After the concert, we had discussed going to our favorite dive for beer, but after 6 hours of standing in a close and sweaty embrace with 5000 strangers, all we wanted to do was go home. As we overheard someone else say, "bara heim, bara bjór" (home, beer).
In that last photo you can see another noteable feature of the evening. J's hat, bought at the Geysir gift shop, was much loved by the photographers in front of us. I think every photographer we saw that night took a picture of it. Today we hurriedly flipped through all the newspapers that were published today, but only one had a photo of anything about the concert, and there were no articles. Maybe on Monday.
All in all, an astounding evening, and something that will be hard to top. It was an excellent crash-course in Icelandic music, and we were so close that I might recognise some of these people if I ran into them on the street. It's Iceland- it just might happen. Next up will be a coffee morning at our place with Björk attending.
Ship sighting: Bet you thought I wouldn't add this on such a long blog, huh? Today I saw Akrafell from the living room window, fully loaded with cargo and on the way to the dock. Later in the day, J and I went to IKEA (new stools! neat!) and I saw the Samskip dock where they were busy unloading the containers. Thanks to my new photo uploading, you can also see what the harbor looked like at Christmas, and also why I am always going on about boats. This is the view from our balcony, so I can sit and watch all the boats come and go all day long. I would also like to mention that this view, five minutes after this photo was taken, was a furious snowstorm. It only lasted 5 minutes and then it was sunny again. Ahh, Icelandic weather.
After a peculiar theatrical performance and lots of graphics of waterfalls, the concert began with an Icelandic guitar guy (I forget who he was-- help me out local readers!) We were there with friends, one of whom said his music was "good for boring parties". Still, it was a good opening act, and prepared us well for the next performer, our own neighbor Björk. Clad in green satin with a waist-length sparkly necklace and sequinned tights, she took off her red lace-up boots immediately to perform barefoot. Her only accompaniment was a harp, and half the time she sang acapella. I've never heard her live but the experience was unforgettable- her voice has amazing feeling, and she does all these crazy things with the hand not holding the microphone. Plus, the green glitter eyeshadow was fabulous.
I can't remember who was next, but we saw Múm, last seen in Boston at the MFA with a pile of Bostonian hipsters. They had added a choir of local people playing handbells and adding "ooooo"s in a few songs. After them came Sigur Rós, who only played one song. Seeing them up close was cool though- we could see the interactions between the members and the expressions on their faces as they played.
I think the next act was Magga Stína, who was all kinds of crazy with her rock violin, her white feather boa tied around her waist, the accountant accordion-man dressed in the tie, vest, and nerd specs, and the sitar-playing 60's guy. After that was a group called Rass (ass), dressed in wifebeaters and white-trash sunglasses. They would have been somewhat forgettable, in spite of the costumes, had our former upstairs neighbor not appeared on the edge of the stage. He was shepherding his group of gradeschool-aged brass players, all dressed in band uniforms that were too big for them. Of course, we had to yell his name and he gave us a wave.
Right about here, things started to get long, and this blog entry starts to become a list! There were a bunch of Icelandic bands that were basically the same two or three guys that would come out in different outfits, playing some kind of metal/rock. There was the shirtless/pink lycra tights/leopard platforms variation, complete with a ski-mask-wearing glove-throwing singer, a business suit getup, and I think one other version. Damien Rice played and made all the girls sigh and was impossible to photograph, but his bass player was a character. Damon Albarn sang a special just-for-last-night song about aluminum that the audience all sang along to, and Mugison sang along with Hjálmar.
By now, the crowd was getting a bit weary, and some people had decided to go. The two people standing next to us left, and four 15 year-old girls crowded in next to us, backed by a posse of boys that were huge metal fans, apparently. They got a little mosh-y during the metal stuff, with lots of headbanging, shirt removal, pumping fists, and gnarly faces. If it had gone on long it would have gotten annoying, but their enthusiasm and "nobody understands me but the metal-playing band" attitude was entertaining, at least for one song. If it had gone on much longer, we would have left, and missed the pinnacle of the evening for many of the kids around us, the arrival of...
Bubbi konungurinn (Bubbi, the king!), as the kids were yelling all around us. I know my American readers are doing a bit of a headscratch now, but this guy is HUGE in Iceland, like Elvis and the Beatles together. His band, Ego, hasn't played together in years, but everyone knows his songs, and he's made a continued name for himself as one of the judges for the Icelandic Idol show. His stage presence verged on aerobics instructor with lots of "see how sproingy my sneakers are" jumping and a skintight blue shirt. During the second song, the security guards in the gap between us and the stage cleared all the photographers out of the space and set up the charges, which we thought were going to be fireworks, given the time of year and the ongoing enthusiasm for fireworks here. After the last song, the hall went totally black and the charges popped. In the dark it seemed like we were getting showered with ash, sparks, fallout of fireworks, or something, but when the lights came up, we were all covered in confetti.
After the concert, we had discussed going to our favorite dive for beer, but after 6 hours of standing in a close and sweaty embrace with 5000 strangers, all we wanted to do was go home. As we overheard someone else say, "bara heim, bara bjór" (home, beer).
In that last photo you can see another noteable feature of the evening. J's hat, bought at the Geysir gift shop, was much loved by the photographers in front of us. I think every photographer we saw that night took a picture of it. Today we hurriedly flipped through all the newspapers that were published today, but only one had a photo of anything about the concert, and there were no articles. Maybe on Monday.
All in all, an astounding evening, and something that will be hard to top. It was an excellent crash-course in Icelandic music, and we were so close that I might recognise some of these people if I ran into them on the street. It's Iceland- it just might happen. Next up will be a coffee morning at our place with Björk attending.
Ship sighting: Bet you thought I wouldn't add this on such a long blog, huh? Today I saw Akrafell from the living room window, fully loaded with cargo and on the way to the dock. Later in the day, J and I went to IKEA (new stools! neat!) and I saw the Samskip dock where they were busy unloading the containers. Thanks to my new photo uploading, you can also see what the harbor looked like at Christmas, and also why I am always going on about boats. This is the view from our balcony, so I can sit and watch all the boats come and go all day long. I would also like to mention that this view, five minutes after this photo was taken, was a furious snowstorm. It only lasted 5 minutes and then it was sunny again. Ahh, Icelandic weather.
04 January 2006
Thanks for last year
And my Icelandic teacher said Icelanders weren’t polite... some of the traditions here are more sacred than anything I’ve seen in the States. For example, when you see someone you know the first time in the new year, you must greet them with a “gleðilegt ár”, thank them for last year, and if it’s a woman, give them a kiss. This applies even if the man is your boss- mine made the rounds yesterday with cheek-kisses for all. I’m sure this sounds strange to American readers (and before I came here it would have sounded creepy) but I assure you, it is not at all.
Anyway... back to the new year here. The signs that said “Gleðileg Jól” have changed the lights on the end so they now say “Gleðilegt ár” in some kind of neon trickery. One well-decorated house that we drove by at 11:30pm on Saturday said “2005” in white lights on the roof now says “2006”. The leftover fireworks have continued to punctuate the evenings, in spite of the cloudiness. Sometimes they’re going off before it is completely dark, which I fail to comprehend. I mean, I know it’s hard to get a really dark hour when 80% of the day is pitch black and all. I guess some of these people must get a wee bit creative with the fireworks too, since J went to mail some letters yesterday, only to discover that the mailboxes have been locked shut until the mania is over this weekend.
At work I have started off the new year with a new location too. We had a new guy start yesterday so we had a rearranging afternoon on Monday and now I am sitting next to the window. After spending 3 years working in a dim and windowless room, I can’t get enough of it, even if it’s dark so often it might as well be windowless for the most part. When the sun does rise, I can see the hills of Garðabær and the top of the Garðabær tower (and the cult church next door and their brand-new parking lot). If J were on the opposite side of his building, we’d almost be able to do up a string-n-cups intercom system. That’d be cool.
Ship sighting: Things are starting to pick up on the water after the ol’ holiday lull. Engey RE1 is slated for depature today, although I am not sure how much I can count on that, since Víkingur, reported to leave a few days ago, is still high and dry (first time I’ve used that literally). We’ve also had a resurgence of bigger tankers and cargo ships, like Stella Azzurra, which I saw heading in last night. It’s also the name of an Italian bicycle company, as well as many soccer teams, so finding a photo was not as easy as usual. Still, if you want to know its TPC immersion at summer draft, you can read all about it here. The website is a consolidated list of tankers owned by several companies, under the name “handy tankers”. Can’t say I’ve ever thought of tankers as being “handy” but there you go.
There are also a bunch of interesting-sounding cargo ships in the daily lineup here in the harbor, like the IVS Kestrel, listed on a South African company website, but with a Panamanian flag. The company website has a nifty vessel positions part, where you can see the recent ports of call for their ships. These boats are going to all kinds of strange and exciting places, including Flushing NY.
And finally, if you still haven’t got enough boat information, and are turning into a real ship-spotting fan, I have found the ultimate website. The best part is the photos, like these top 50 (check out the waves, the dumping of containers! Such thrills!). For more of a local (to me, at least) experience, check out this Icelandic captain’s website, with categorized photos of all the different kinds of ships that come to Iceland, going back 10 years. This guy is thorough! I want him to be my new friend.
Anyway... back to the new year here. The signs that said “Gleðileg Jól” have changed the lights on the end so they now say “Gleðilegt ár” in some kind of neon trickery. One well-decorated house that we drove by at 11:30pm on Saturday said “2005” in white lights on the roof now says “2006”. The leftover fireworks have continued to punctuate the evenings, in spite of the cloudiness. Sometimes they’re going off before it is completely dark, which I fail to comprehend. I mean, I know it’s hard to get a really dark hour when 80% of the day is pitch black and all. I guess some of these people must get a wee bit creative with the fireworks too, since J went to mail some letters yesterday, only to discover that the mailboxes have been locked shut until the mania is over this weekend.
At work I have started off the new year with a new location too. We had a new guy start yesterday so we had a rearranging afternoon on Monday and now I am sitting next to the window. After spending 3 years working in a dim and windowless room, I can’t get enough of it, even if it’s dark so often it might as well be windowless for the most part. When the sun does rise, I can see the hills of Garðabær and the top of the Garðabær tower (and the cult church next door and their brand-new parking lot). If J were on the opposite side of his building, we’d almost be able to do up a string-n-cups intercom system. That’d be cool.
Ship sighting: Things are starting to pick up on the water after the ol’ holiday lull. Engey RE1 is slated for depature today, although I am not sure how much I can count on that, since Víkingur, reported to leave a few days ago, is still high and dry (first time I’ve used that literally). We’ve also had a resurgence of bigger tankers and cargo ships, like Stella Azzurra, which I saw heading in last night. It’s also the name of an Italian bicycle company, as well as many soccer teams, so finding a photo was not as easy as usual. Still, if you want to know its TPC immersion at summer draft, you can read all about it here. The website is a consolidated list of tankers owned by several companies, under the name “handy tankers”. Can’t say I’ve ever thought of tankers as being “handy” but there you go.
There are also a bunch of interesting-sounding cargo ships in the daily lineup here in the harbor, like the IVS Kestrel, listed on a South African company website, but with a Panamanian flag. The company website has a nifty vessel positions part, where you can see the recent ports of call for their ships. These boats are going to all kinds of strange and exciting places, including Flushing NY.
And finally, if you still haven’t got enough boat information, and are turning into a real ship-spotting fan, I have found the ultimate website. The best part is the photos, like these top 50 (check out the waves, the dumping of containers! Such thrills!). For more of a local (to me, at least) experience, check out this Icelandic captain’s website, with categorized photos of all the different kinds of ships that come to Iceland, going back 10 years. This guy is thorough! I want him to be my new friend.
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