Blog
The Yule Lads. Cooler Than Thou.
At first I thought it was just me, but evidently it's not: Birta [weekly magazine delivered free with Fréttablaðið] has the Yule Lads at the top of their trend-o-meter, accompanied by this reasoning: "They're clad in those oh-so fashionable Icelandic sweaters, they...
Return of the Yule Lads, Vol. I
Well, dinner at The Virgin may now be crossed off my to-do list. As can the Christmas prezzie thing, plus the kaffihús. Finally finally I find myself getting into the spirit of the season, what with all those jolly people waltzing up and down Laugavegur [not...
TreePrezzieVirginScrubShopSkate…
Would you be interested in knowing what things I have not yet ticked off my Christmas to-do list? BUY THE CHRISTMAS TREESomeone asked me the other day where our Christmas trees come from, because they sure don’t come from around here [as you all know – maybe – Iceland...
What’s for dinner?
Here in Iceland, Christmas is all about tradition, and one of the most sacred traditions in every household is what to have for Christmas dinner. Most people I know are absolute sticklers about having the same thing every year, and ideally it has to be something...
Hail the King
Went to see King Kong tonight, a.k.a. the film ‘…Where If You Think This Is As Bad As It Gets, Something Worse Happens,’ and ‘… Naomi Watts Wears Her Slip In the Jungle and Suffers Every Physical Calamity Possible Yet Sustains Hardly A Scratch’. And her mascara...
Potscraper who?
Bizzy day today. Wrote nasty threatening email to inane modelling agency who have been jerking AAH around for a full year now; read some proofs; walked circle around golf course with weights strapped to my ankles; took The Unit in to have exhaust system replaced [was...
Kitty
Grýla, the ghastly child-eating ogre and mother of the Yule Lads, has a rather under-publicized yet sinister sidekick: jólakötturinn, or the Yule Cat, who lives with her in her cave. In the Iceland of yore, every person who did not get a new item of clothing for...
Milk slurper
Pity the poor parents who have to put prezzies into the shoes of their young children these days, because they are duty bound to memorize the names and – worse – order of all the Yule Lads. This can be difficult, as the DJ on Rás 2 [State radio] found out yesterday;...
Calendar girl
THINGS I TICKED OFF MY CALENDAR THIS WEEKEND Kitchen party with EPI Friday nightBaking of bottom half of Sarah Bernhard cookies Saturday morning [must be done in stages as are a bitch to construct]Seaside run [have to be quick these days to catch the fleeting...
Whoo-hoo!!
Our very own Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir has just been crowned Miss World! That makes her the third Icelandic Miss World in 20 years. Not bad for a population of 290,000, is it? [bragbrag] And yes, ordinarily I don't condone beauty contests. [They really are...
Potmen
Sometimes it’s infinitely entertaining to be a fly on the wall [or water, as it were] in the hot pot at the Laugardalslaug swimming pool in Reykjavík. As loyal readers will know, Iceland’s hot pots serve the same social function as, say, the English pub or the Turkish...
Papus horriblus
EPI subscribes to this Popular Science type magazine that he often reads before falling asleep. [Actually, EPI is one of those people that has a hard time falling asleep unless he reads something, and watching this little evening ritual of his is one of the most...
