i have not updated in awhile. just haven't really felt like it. december has passed and with it sweet sweet freedom. the city feels quite different with the revolving cast of exchange students. Kirsi and the Finns have gone, which is a bummer. i'm hanging out with more Czechs and Germans and French now. and i'm enrolled in all my classes, check em' out:
Icelandic Medieval Literature
Finnish History, Society and Culture
Old Nordic Religion and Belief
The Viking Mind
the two last ones are master's level folklore classes, so i'm busting my ass to keep up with them. but they're super interesting. the other two are lighter and a little less interesting. i'm having trouble with the sheer amount of reading this term, but its all quite interesting at least.
other than that, still rock climbing about 3 times a week, getting better. looking forward to when its nice enough outside for us to go on weekend trips out to some earth and climb some boulders.
and beginning to plan my summer. looks like Finland for sure, and if i get work in Helsinki (or elsewhere) i want to run up to Sweden and Norway, Denmark too if i've got time. and maybe down into the Czech Republic if there's time and euros.
21.1.10
9.12.09
status report
it is december in iceland, and while i'm pretty sure it is everywhere else too, i think it is especially december in iceland. sunlight is a much sought after commodity now, showing its face only for about 5 or 6 hours and getting no higher than an angle of 10 degrees in the sky. it is perpetually the golden hour (photography term), and the color of things feels ultra-saturated when the sun is out.
some days i never fully wake up. despite getting up and running around in the outside world and getting things done. 4 strong coffees can't even seem to put a dent in it some days. kind of oppressive.
exams are done, and i now have pretty much a month off to do my own things. which is mostly music, research on Norse Myth, bouldering (form of rock climbing), and hanging out. i also just moved into a new flat right across the street from the Uni with 3 icelanders. they're all around my age, 2 girls and a guy, Anna, Salvör, and Thor. they're quite lovely, and i feel pretty settled in already.
that's pretty much all to report. living a pretty calm and routine life in reykjavik. my new address is:
Hringbraut 48
107 Reykjavik
some days i never fully wake up. despite getting up and running around in the outside world and getting things done. 4 strong coffees can't even seem to put a dent in it some days. kind of oppressive.
exams are done, and i now have pretty much a month off to do my own things. which is mostly music, research on Norse Myth, bouldering (form of rock climbing), and hanging out. i also just moved into a new flat right across the street from the Uni with 3 icelanders. they're all around my age, 2 girls and a guy, Anna, Salvör, and Thor. they're quite lovely, and i feel pretty settled in already.
that's pretty much all to report. living a pretty calm and routine life in reykjavik. my new address is:
Hringbraut 48
107 Reykjavik
7.11.09
east fjords
i left on a trip on saturday with my Finnish friends Maija and Kirsi to the east fjords. Maija rented the car and we drove all saturday (from 930 to 1930 with breaks) and arrived in Vallanes (a farm SSW of Egilsstaðir). the landscape on the east coast is crazy. you feel so tiny on the edge of those mountains, huge atlantic waves crashing against the coast below you. anyways, Vallanes is where Maija's friend Laura was WOOFing (Working on organic farms), so we dropped in and stayed the night at the farm.
after the people staying at the farm made us supper and we all had some beers, we went and hung out in a church thats on the property and played the harmonium that was in there. one of the guys, giome (spelling?), had a clarinet so there was good music to be had. we played music for a long time.
next morning we left (now with Laura and Ivan in the car from the farm) and went to Seyðisfjörður; a little town on the east coast tucked into a fjord. we just drove through it to look at it and then turned back south and drove for most of the day. we stopped in Vik on the southern shore and stayed in a guest house for the night.
next day we continued west, and stopped near Skógar to swim in the legendary 'slimy pool' (legendary if you were in our car. Maija kept talking about this slimy pool on the edge of a mountain that was fed by a "warm" river. and its slimy because it is no longer maintained, slowly falling into a state of dis-repair with much algae and 'slime' in the bottom). so we stopped the car and walked along some trails next to a river for 15 minutes. on the way we passed the pool that had been built to replace the slimy pool, which apparently no-one wanted to use, so it stands closed. but we get to the slimy pool, and swim for awhile. it was pretty awesome.
then we continued to Selfoss, where Ivan was doing some more WOOFing at another farm. then we drove back to Reykjavik. awesome trip. thanks Maija and Kirsi.
photos!
after the people staying at the farm made us supper and we all had some beers, we went and hung out in a church thats on the property and played the harmonium that was in there. one of the guys, giome (spelling?), had a clarinet so there was good music to be had. we played music for a long time.
next morning we left (now with Laura and Ivan in the car from the farm) and went to Seyðisfjörður; a little town on the east coast tucked into a fjord. we just drove through it to look at it and then turned back south and drove for most of the day. we stopped in Vik on the southern shore and stayed in a guest house for the night.
next day we continued west, and stopped near Skógar to swim in the legendary 'slimy pool' (legendary if you were in our car. Maija kept talking about this slimy pool on the edge of a mountain that was fed by a "warm" river. and its slimy because it is no longer maintained, slowly falling into a state of dis-repair with much algae and 'slime' in the bottom). so we stopped the car and walked along some trails next to a river for 15 minutes. on the way we passed the pool that had been built to replace the slimy pool, which apparently no-one wanted to use, so it stands closed. but we get to the slimy pool, and swim for awhile. it was pretty awesome.
then we continued to Selfoss, where Ivan was doing some more WOOFing at another farm. then we drove back to Reykjavik. awesome trip. thanks Maija and Kirsi.
photos!
24.10.09
there is lasagna in the oven, and unopened bottles of wine on the table. some friends are coming over tonight who helped me and my room-mate on a project that we would have hopelessly failed. lasagna and wine are retribution.
the days are getting noticeably shorter. my fingers are getting calloused from playing guitar. i miss cats, deps, and breakfast diners. i'm on a strict diet of grilled cheese sandwiches. i bike everyday. go to the pool every other day. to the gym every third. i would rather go to helsinki than montreal. i drink water out of a jar and read a lot. i'm broke till january. i hang out with icelanders, finns, germans, canadians, an american and an australian. i think i'm actually gonna try to learn icelandic.
i have very little desire to leave the boundaries of this tiny city. i would be very surprised if i didn't return to the nordic countries.
gotta check the lasagna.
the days are getting noticeably shorter. my fingers are getting calloused from playing guitar. i miss cats, deps, and breakfast diners. i'm on a strict diet of grilled cheese sandwiches. i bike everyday. go to the pool every other day. to the gym every third. i would rather go to helsinki than montreal. i drink water out of a jar and read a lot. i'm broke till january. i hang out with icelanders, finns, germans, canadians, an american and an australian. i think i'm actually gonna try to learn icelandic.
i have very little desire to leave the boundaries of this tiny city. i would be very surprised if i didn't return to the nordic countries.
gotta check the lasagna.
20.10.09
Iceland Airwaves review
Last week was the 11th annual Iceland Airwaves festival, where over 150 bands played over 5 days from wednesday to sunday. total mayhem. the festival is about new music, both icelandic and international. things get started around 7 every night and go till well after midnight. all the venues are in and around downtown reykjavik, so the streets are lousy with night life. so here's what i saw:
bjort (3 out of 5)
__super cutesy singer song writer stuff. catchy and sweet. not really my cup of tea, but good musicians and good stage presence.
the drums (1.5 out of 5)
__i came into the reykjavik art museum expecting awesome, and instead i got the drums. they very well could have ruined my night. if i hadn't a sweet date lined up later and if crystal antlers didn't play i would have got in a fist fight that night. preferably with one of the members of the drums.
catchy pop which is a combination of the smiths, elements of new order, the clash, cure, etc. i don't even know why i hated it so much. i guess that guys can get famous and rich off of hashing out something that was done 20 years ago. and that they weren't even impressive musicians. it makes me think of Hot Hot Heat, who are doing well because they know people, despite sucking. boo...
tim hecker (4 out of 5)
__describing hecker is tricky business. he does atmospheric/inspirational/moon scape/tundra ambience extremely extremely well. the venue, Iðnó, was completely dark except for hecker's face lit up from his laptop. about halfway through the set i looked around and saw that most everyone was sitting on the floor with their eyes closed, looking at the floor. like a very calm insane asylum.
i think it was too loud though, and the bass was breaking up at times. still amazing.
crystal antlers (5 out of 5)
__holy fucking shit. crystal antlers; live. noisy, melodic, punky, rocky guitar wailing awesomeness. holy fucking shit.
jessica 6 (4 out of 5)
__electro-disco? stuff i never listen to. awesome though. one of the better live performances all festival.
retro stefson (4.5 out of 5)
__imagine if nintendo came out of Rio instead of Tokyo. now imagine the advantage (a band that does nintendo covers exclusively) are from iceland and have members who are influenced by European, South-American, African and North-American music. then you have retro stefson. they're bloody young too! excellent show.
fm belfast (3.5 out of 5)
__people are crazy about fm belfast. i'm still kind of 'meh' about fm belfast. excellent name, and high NRG show. just probably not my cup of tea.
Oculus (3 out of 5)
__techno DJ in a corporal (or captain?) uniform. pretty good.
GusGus (2.5 out of 5)
__not much to say about GusGus. not very impressed. lots of lazers. and creepy singers. greasy creepy singers.
oh yeah, and band photos are up on the previous post.
bjort (3 out of 5)
__super cutesy singer song writer stuff. catchy and sweet. not really my cup of tea, but good musicians and good stage presence.
the drums (1.5 out of 5)
__i came into the reykjavik art museum expecting awesome, and instead i got the drums. they very well could have ruined my night. if i hadn't a sweet date lined up later and if crystal antlers didn't play i would have got in a fist fight that night. preferably with one of the members of the drums.
catchy pop which is a combination of the smiths, elements of new order, the clash, cure, etc. i don't even know why i hated it so much. i guess that guys can get famous and rich off of hashing out something that was done 20 years ago. and that they weren't even impressive musicians. it makes me think of Hot Hot Heat, who are doing well because they know people, despite sucking. boo...
tim hecker (4 out of 5)
__describing hecker is tricky business. he does atmospheric/inspirational/moon scape/tundra ambience extremely extremely well. the venue, Iðnó, was completely dark except for hecker's face lit up from his laptop. about halfway through the set i looked around and saw that most everyone was sitting on the floor with their eyes closed, looking at the floor. like a very calm insane asylum.
i think it was too loud though, and the bass was breaking up at times. still amazing.
crystal antlers (5 out of 5)
__holy fucking shit. crystal antlers; live. noisy, melodic, punky, rocky guitar wailing awesomeness. holy fucking shit.
jessica 6 (4 out of 5)
__electro-disco? stuff i never listen to. awesome though. one of the better live performances all festival.
retro stefson (4.5 out of 5)
__imagine if nintendo came out of Rio instead of Tokyo. now imagine the advantage (a band that does nintendo covers exclusively) are from iceland and have members who are influenced by European, South-American, African and North-American music. then you have retro stefson. they're bloody young too! excellent show.
fm belfast (3.5 out of 5)
__people are crazy about fm belfast. i'm still kind of 'meh' about fm belfast. excellent name, and high NRG show. just probably not my cup of tea.
Oculus (3 out of 5)
__techno DJ in a corporal (or captain?) uniform. pretty good.
GusGus (2.5 out of 5)
__not much to say about GusGus. not very impressed. lots of lazers. and creepy singers. greasy creepy singers.
oh yeah, and band photos are up on the previous post.
15.10.09
Iceland Airwaves
my band, If You're Lost Stand Up, played last night for the Iceland Airwaves festival here in reykjavik. we had a turn out of about 50-70 people, and its too bad we didn't have a bigger venue, because we're a big band (9 of us) and there were a lot of people who didn't really get to see us because of the venue. it was my first time peforming playing rhythm guitar, but it went really well. as soon as i track down some photos from the show i'll post them and put a link to them.
we're playing again on saturday.
photos here!
we're playing again on saturday.
photos here!
Vestmannaeyjar (The Westmen Isles)
about 2 weeks ago me and my roommates molly and jess and our friend moritz went to the Westmen Islands on a little excursion. the area constitutes a little collection of islands just to the south of iceland, about an hour drive from reykjavik, and then a 3 hour ferry ride to the island of Heimaey. Heimaey is the only really populated place in the westmen isles, with a town of about 4500 people. this area is of much interest geologically, as there was a large eruption in 1973 which devestated the town, and added probably a square kilometer or more to the islands surface area. the lava fields which are left feel like a lunar wasteland or something. virtually nothing grows there still, despite it being nearly 40 years. the terrain is rough and broken and is very difficult to traverse (see here).
we climbed to the highest point on the island on our last day before we left, and you could see a very clear line where the lava fields contact the town (see here). i'm pretty sure there is a church right beside it. its unreal to walk on a part of the earth that is less than 40 years old.
photos!
we climbed to the highest point on the island on our last day before we left, and you could see a very clear line where the lava fields contact the town (see here). i'm pretty sure there is a church right beside it. its unreal to walk on a part of the earth that is less than 40 years old.
photos!
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