Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Monday, May 23, 2005
Again and once more...
...on the subject of Eurovision in retrospect.
Excerpts from another columnist writing on the Fréttablaðið´s backpage today:
"...it was a strikingly beautiful girl from Göteborg and Greece that won The Eurovision Songcontest this time with a song sounding undeniably Greek, as the group emphasized by dancing a Greek dance on stage. The girl from Malta that came in second was also very attractive. Like a galoping mare she stood on stage and gave her number without the assistance of backup voices in bikinis or twisting bodies. Without tricks or pretence her voice glided over all borders.
...Eurovision this time was good entertainment and a good intoduction to Ukraine. This colourful event has become a real "Bank of Joy" (which we in Iceland were also quite, quite sure would win the contest back 1986 when we started participating!). And this time it was interesting to see and the contestants from the smaller countries roll up the otherwise powerful big ones, because both France, Germany, Great Britain and Spain ended up at the bottom. This was very nice entertainmen and most funny was the young boy who brought his granny along and let her beat the drum."
Excerpts from another columnist writing on the Fréttablaðið´s backpage today:
She's the Number One! The Grand Final - Congratulations, Helena Paparizou
"...it was a strikingly beautiful girl from Göteborg and Greece that won The Eurovision Songcontest this time with a song sounding undeniably Greek, as the group emphasized by dancing a Greek dance on stage. The girl from Malta that came in second was also very attractive. Like a galoping mare she stood on stage and gave her number without the assistance of backup voices in bikinis or twisting bodies. Without tricks or pretence her voice glided over all borders.
11,935 votes for "Angel" the Maltese national final
...Eurovision this time was good entertainment and a good intoduction to Ukraine. This colourful event has become a real "Bank of Joy" (which we in Iceland were also quite, quite sure would win the contest back 1986 when we started participating!). And this time it was interesting to see and the contestants from the smaller countries roll up the otherwise powerful big ones, because both France, Germany, Great Britain and Spain ended up at the bottom. This was very nice entertainmen and most funny was the young boy who brought his granny along and let her beat the drum."
Moldovian Band "Boonika bate doba" "Grandmamma beats the drum-a"
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Lazy Town
Daily Life in Lazy Town
Lazy Town is the succsessful enterprize of a very engergetic (some would even say overactive!) and innovative Icelander, originally a carpenter and a former world aerobics champion, Magnús Scheving (top left in picture). He has all along right from the start of Lazy Town been acting the charcter of Sportacus himself. (In fact that character IS himself!)
It all started at first with just that sporting elf going out on his own to Icelandic Primary Schools promoting healthy living, an enterprize totally mr. Schevings idea. Then he made up the other characters and put together a theatre show for kids. And now it has become a succsessful TV-show in many countries. A great guy who knows how to let things happen!
For fun I want to tell you that we regularly have at Hótel Frón guests staying with us from the Nickolodion who come here in connection with the production of Latibær/Lazy Town located in Garðabær, a small suburban town just outside Reykjavík.
I was just reading some Googling about Lazy Town and I must say that I found some of the reactions of viewers in the USA quite amusing; many of them obviously didn´t know what to make of it, in the beginning at least!
! Robbie Rottens chin is of course not real and his magnificient hairstyle is not his usual daylylife hairstyle (Magnús´ moustache is not the real thing either!) The part is actually played by a very handsome Icelandic actor, Stefan Karl Stefánsson, who used to be seen as a serious actor on the scenes of both our biggest theatres in Reykjavík, The National Theatre and The Reykjavík City Theatre, but has now, to the regrets of many, moved to Los Angeles, USA, with his actress wife Steinunn Ólína Þorsteinsdóttir
Saturday, May 21, 2005
On and on...
...about the Eurovision Songcontest...
Opinion: ...Maybe - just maybe - the retrospective selfirony of the columnist on the backpage of today´s Fréttablaðið-newspaper on behalf of the Icelandic nation and it´s superb morale on the issue of the big event of the Eurovisione, like all other great issues, is right...
"What went wrong?
CAN IT REALLY BE THAT IT WAS SIMPLY OUR SONG THAT WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH?
NO, we cannot for a moment allow ourselves to think so!
... If it was not the singing, the dancing, the costumes, the filming, the East-European tastes...
...maybe it was just that the hot dog vendor in Bratislava, the gay hairdresser in Baden-Baden and all the other people that went to the telephone - yeah, it must be said - in enthralled stupidity and voted in this huge contest didn´t like our song, didn´t care about Iceland or hadn´t even heard about it!
Scandalous taste, of course, but if those people prefer to vote in favour of the ethnic drumming, the fact remains that in Iceland a lot of grills (for the Euro-parties) and television sets got sold, but nobody had any of these for free, as promised if Selma would win.
So the winners this time, like always, are the merchants. Huh!"
...and I think we will all watch the grand Finale tonight, even though it will be with a great deal less enthusiasm than before, when we still though Selma had every chance of getting there.
"You are posessed by the opposite of paranoia.
You live in the illusion that everybody
likes you..."
- Quote from a Woody Allen movie.You live in the illusion that everybody
likes you..."
"What went wrong?
CAN IT REALLY BE THAT IT WAS SIMPLY OUR SONG THAT WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH?
NO, we cannot for a moment allow ourselves to think so!
... If it was not the singing, the dancing, the costumes, the filming, the East-European tastes...
...maybe it was just that the hot dog vendor in Bratislava, the gay hairdresser in Baden-Baden and all the other people that went to the telephone - yeah, it must be said - in enthralled stupidity and voted in this huge contest didn´t like our song, didn´t care about Iceland or hadn´t even heard about it!
Scandalous taste, of course, but if those people prefer to vote in favour of the ethnic drumming, the fact remains that in Iceland a lot of grills (for the Euro-parties) and television sets got sold, but nobody had any of these for free, as promised if Selma would win.
So the winners this time, like always, are the merchants. Huh!"...and I think we will all watch the grand Finale tonight, even though it will be with a great deal less enthusiasm than before, when we still though Selma had every chance of getting there.
Friday, May 20, 2005
Apropos
...hrrmmpphh!!!
I was just reading an article in the paper by an Icelandic female writer, who is now residing in the States for some time and writes us epistles about life in the big America. She had been to a party, where there were also two ladies who had just seen an Oprah show about Scandinavian women. The writerlady did not enjoy that party very much and less so as it went on and the two ladies got around describing the content of that show to the other guests. She was feeling hurt and angry when she left the party. Apropos this I just wanted to write this here:
I have NOT yet seen that Oprahshow about Scandinavian women, with an insert about Icelandic women, but I´ve heard a lot about it, so I just want to say:
Icelandic women are NOT all SLUTS ! ! ! They are not always doing dodo in drunken stupor with any man that wants them. But, like in any other countries societies, there exist in Iceland women that are looked upon as sluts. Maybe the difference with us is that we are more tolerant about those so-called than many other nations. And what an ugly name too to call any woman (are there any MALE SLUTS out and about? Ever heard of them?)
There exists a very strange and thin line, or contradiction, between today´s image of the very glamorous sexy sexy lady portrayed in many ads and almost every musictape you see, versus this concept of being considered a slut. I think it must be quite confusing for young people today. We women should all be oh so sexy, but no, no, no, not sluts, even if it´s considered oh so tough to be "slutty"!
So how on earth are our young little sweet (but not so innocent!) girls supposed to know how to be and behave when it comes to sex, with all those impressions that are forced upon them? I think it must be even more diffucult to figure out than ever before. Guess it depends a lot on having a strong background from home to build on.
Which leads me on to the subject of unmarried teenage mothers and our very high percentage of those. With us if a teenagegirl gets pregnant and does not want the pregnancy terminated, her parents will generally support that girl in having that child and bringing it up. The parents often make quite a big effort in this matter, sacrificing time and money to support their daughter in bringing up what is sometimes their first grandchild. It´s considered unfortunate, but not catastrophic for a girl to become a single mother at a young age.
Link: UNICEF - At a glance: Iceland - Statistics
But what also makes the percentage higher is the number of couples with child or children living together without being married. As our stupid laws are financially punative with regard to those who choose to get married, people tend to delay marriage for quite some time in many cases.
But now I´ve drifted into pondering on matters of social context, upbringing and education...
So, like we say in Iceland; On with the Butter! :)
( and if you have a look at the link I made on this, you´ll see some real sweet Icelandic girlies, like the one below!:)
Icelandic women are beautiful, very independent, well educated, strongwilled, highly energetic and resolute, with a mind of their own.
They are no sweet lambs or dainty roses; they are valkyries, viking ladies.
They choose for themselves the men they like and want!
(Yes, sometimes they eat them too...mooah...so best behave...)
There you have it, regardless of some intended misunderstandings and malicious cutting on the Oprah show on an interwiew with a very well liked Icelandic TV-newswoman, Svanhildur Hólm, who has had to take a lot of criticism from some of the Icelandic public after that show.
I have managed to obtain an excerpt from that show, you can judge for yourself how fair it is to judge the female half of a nation on an answer so obviously cut out of context, just for the purpose of adhering to the tastes of an audience eager to experience some oscenity:
(right click here and "Save Target As")
And of course regardless of some horribly stupid males designing a stupid, stupid advertizing campaign for Icelandair, presenting their fellow female countrymen and the nightlife of Reykjavík´s centre on weekends in a highly twisted mirror.
And Icelandairs stewardesses are NOT like you saw them on the Sopranos!
I´d like to stress too that in Iceland prostitution is illegal. I don´t think there has been made a single pornofilm this country by an Icelander (for publication, anyway, I don´t care what people might do in private!). If there has been, it has certainly been by bl.... foreigners doing it on false pretetexts. How big is the porn-industry in the States, anyway?
Get the answer here: Link: CBS News | Porn In The USA | September 3, 2004 16:36:14
And we are fighting modern slavery, net- and childpornography as best we can, like other nations.
Link: ECPAT USA
So now you know! ! ! Hrmmpp ! ! !
And on a final note in this ever elongating post of mine: I realized something funny Google-surfing with the word "slut":
In Danish the word "slut" means "the end".
So I would like to ask you:
I was just reading an article in the paper by an Icelandic female writer, who is now residing in the States for some time and writes us epistles about life in the big America. She had been to a party, where there were also two ladies who had just seen an Oprah show about Scandinavian women. The writerlady did not enjoy that party very much and less so as it went on and the two ladies got around describing the content of that show to the other guests. She was feeling hurt and angry when she left the party. Apropos this I just wanted to write this here:
I have NOT yet seen that Oprahshow about Scandinavian women, with an insert about Icelandic women, but I´ve heard a lot about it, so I just want to say:
Icelandic women are NOT all SLUTS ! ! ! They are not always doing dodo in drunken stupor with any man that wants them. But, like in any other countries societies, there exist in Iceland women that are looked upon as sluts. Maybe the difference with us is that we are more tolerant about those so-called than many other nations. And what an ugly name too to call any woman (are there any MALE SLUTS out and about? Ever heard of them?)
There exists a very strange and thin line, or contradiction, between today´s image of the very glamorous sexy sexy lady portrayed in many ads and almost every musictape you see, versus this concept of being considered a slut. I think it must be quite confusing for young people today. We women should all be oh so sexy, but no, no, no, not sluts, even if it´s considered oh so tough to be "slutty"!
So how on earth are our young little sweet (but not so innocent!) girls supposed to know how to be and behave when it comes to sex, with all those impressions that are forced upon them? I think it must be even more diffucult to figure out than ever before. Guess it depends a lot on having a strong background from home to build on.
Which leads me on to the subject of unmarried teenage mothers and our very high percentage of those. With us if a teenagegirl gets pregnant and does not want the pregnancy terminated, her parents will generally support that girl in having that child and bringing it up. The parents often make quite a big effort in this matter, sacrificing time and money to support their daughter in bringing up what is sometimes their first grandchild. It´s considered unfortunate, but not catastrophic for a girl to become a single mother at a young age.
Link: UNICEF - At a glance: Iceland - Statistics
But what also makes the percentage higher is the number of couples with child or children living together without being married. As our stupid laws are financially punative with regard to those who choose to get married, people tend to delay marriage for quite some time in many cases.
But now I´ve drifted into pondering on matters of social context, upbringing and education...
So, like we say in Iceland; On with the Butter! :)
( and if you have a look at the link I made on this, you´ll see some real sweet Icelandic girlies, like the one below!:)
They are no sweet lambs or dainty roses; they are valkyries, viking ladies.
They choose for themselves the men they like and want!
(Yes, sometimes they eat them too...mooah...so best behave...)
Oprah and Icelandic Svanhildur
There you have it, regardless of some intended misunderstandings and malicious cutting on the Oprah show on an interwiew with a very well liked Icelandic TV-newswoman, Svanhildur Hólm, who has had to take a lot of criticism from some of the Icelandic public after that show.
I have managed to obtain an excerpt from that show, you can judge for yourself how fair it is to judge the female half of a nation on an answer so obviously cut out of context, just for the purpose of adhering to the tastes of an audience eager to experience some oscenity:
(right click here and "Save Target As")
And of course regardless of some horribly stupid males designing a stupid, stupid advertizing campaign for Icelandair, presenting their fellow female countrymen and the nightlife of Reykjavík´s centre on weekends in a highly twisted mirror.
And Icelandairs stewardesses are NOT like you saw them on the Sopranos!
I´d like to stress too that in Iceland prostitution is illegal. I don´t think there has been made a single pornofilm this country by an Icelander (for publication, anyway, I don´t care what people might do in private!). If there has been, it has certainly been by bl.... foreigners doing it on false pretetexts. How big is the porn-industry in the States, anyway?
Get the answer here: Link: CBS News | Porn In The USA | September 3, 2004 16:36:14
And we are fighting modern slavery, net- and childpornography as best we can, like other nations.
Link: ECPAT USA
So now you know! ! ! Hrmmpp ! ! !
And on a final note in this ever elongating post of mine: I realized something funny Google-surfing with the word "slut":
In Danish the word "slut" means "the end".
So I would like to ask you:
Is this a book about "A Danish Slut"?
Is this "A Slut-Butt" or is it "The End"?
Thursday, May 19, 2005
N O !
... Very obviously the Eurovision Songcontest has been taken over by the Eastern European countries!
Out of the 10 entries that ended up on the top ten list contesting next Saturday, 7 were from the former Eastblock. It´s crystalclear that these countries are all voting in favour of each other. Of the countries from the west, only Denmark and Norway got to be on the top 10 list. And still Israel hangs in there, even though it´s not even in Europe. I´ve never fully understood why it is in this contest at all?
Congratulations to our good neighbours, Denmark and Norway even though we here in Iceland think most of the rest of the list is very unfair, to say the least!
Out of the 10 entries that ended up on the top ten list contesting next Saturday, 7 were from the former Eastblock. It´s crystalclear that these countries are all voting in favour of each other. Of the countries from the west, only Denmark and Norway got to be on the top 10 list. And still Israel hangs in there, even though it´s not even in Europe. I´ve never fully understood why it is in this contest at all?
Congratulations to our good neighbours, Denmark and Norway even though we here in Iceland think most of the rest of the list is very unfair, to say the least!
Grumble, grumble, hrrmp!
But of course, it´s all a game, anyway...! :)
May 20th: In todays´s paper Selma says: "Naturally one can only laugh at this outcome. But we are unbelievably satisfied with our part and we did very well on the stage. We did our best and there is nothing that I would have done differently.
The scene of the contest has changed a lot since I participated last. I don´t like it. It has turned into a CIRCUS and it´s an outrage that Iceland and the Netherlands did not reach the finals."
The scene of the contest has changed a lot since I participated last. I don´t like it. It has turned into a CIRCUS and it´s an outrage that Iceland and the Netherlands did not reach the finals."
"...If I had your love...
...I could live my dream..."
....Bravó ! ! !
....Bravó ! ! !
S E LM A...Winner of tonights Eurovision Song Contest....(?)
Anyway, I was watching her number just now and thought she did great, the best performance up to now. It was easy to see that she has been gaining a lot of experience acting in musicals on the big scene of The Reykjavík City Theatre since her last appearance on Eurovision in 1999, where she just missed the first place by a few votes (to Sweden) and came in second. Which goes to show that she was very good even then. So, tonight she must be a certain winner, n´est-ce pas, since her song was also the best....yebb!
I´m the sort of person that never takes much interest in this contest, until on the night; then my heart beats for our contestant, our girl, like everybody elses on this small island of ours with a population of just under 300.000.
(Iceland Population: 296,737 (July 2005 est.)According to http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/2119.html, same as the population of a single street in N.Y. I´m told).
I´m the sort of person that never takes much interest in this contest, until on the night; then my heart beats for our contestant, our girl, like everybody elses on this small island of ours with a population of just under 300.000.
(Iceland Population: 296,737 (July 2005 est.)According to http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/2119.html, same as the population of a single street in N.Y. I´m told).
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison
I know a boy who is sky-soft brown
I know a boy who is sky-soft brown
The dirt leaps for joy when his feet touch the ground.
His strut is a peacock
His eye is burning brass
His smile is sorghum syrup drippin´ slow-sweet to the last
I know a boy who is sky-soft brown
This song is from the one of Toni Morrisons novel that I read first and like the best:
I know a boy who is sky-soft brown
The dirt leaps for joy when his feet touch the ground.
His strut is a peacock
His eye is burning brass
His smile is sorghum syrup drippin´ slow-sweet to the last
I know a boy who is sky-soft brown
This song is from the one of Toni Morrisons novel that I read first and like the best:
The bluest eye
Tanzania
I bought the book in a very small bookshop in Tabora, Tanzania, where I lived 1983-1985. I was living also in Moshi, Tanzania 1985-1986, where I had a fantastic wiew of the Mount Kilimanjaro from the porch of my house (and also of the Police Academy´s big maize-field!)
The Kili
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