haus am see or sugarcubes

This isolated structure located on the Icelandic island of Elliðaey is actually a lodge established in the 1953 just as the last permanent residents were leaving for the mainland.  

As the sustained isolation made it not an ideal place for ranchers and fisherman, a group of hunters had the lodge built, though called the Bjork Hús it has nothing to do with a grace-and-favour residence being granted to the singer Björk Guðmundsdóttir for being a national treasure or for making Iceland famous, as a place to gather for annual puffin-hunting expeditions—which would not be an activity that I would like to have my name connected with. The pictures of the place are really breath-taking, however.

abc's and 123's

Slate has an excerpt from Daniel Tammet's new book on thinking in numbers, in which the author experiences the cultural nuance, chiefly while visiting Iceland, where amounts are treated as something qualitative as well as quantitative and not something separate and abstract.
For the numbers one through five, there are different forms for years, sheep (it reminds me of the shepherd’s rhyme and special number system for counting sheep and stitches for knitting—Yan Tan Tethera, and probably also useful for sending someone off to slumber-land), people, naming trains and highways and houses—reflecting declination and something categorical that has no equivalent English despite the occasional encounter with twain, deuce, score and murder of crows, a gaggle of geese, etc. The fourth sheep is called something like “Sheep Number Four,” as if it were a city-bus—preserving a sense of cardinal bias, something not strictly ordinal, since four follows three only by the reckoning of the counter, unlike the passage of time. Bigger numbers are not elaborated in the same kind of way. I would like to read this book and find out how ways of counting influence the cognitive process and possible assumptions made about the significance upon encountering the unusual.

sjörnustríð: ný von

This past Saturday, Iceland held parliamentary elections, which proved a great disturbance for the establishment, already sorely reduced by the popular backlash to incumbents over their wrecking of the national economy. Observers are calling the rebel scum that roundly stole the vote, minority and independent parties, euroskeptics and threaten to derail further Icelandic integration. Well, the nerve—I suppose we ought not to pay any more attention to them and their shenanigans.
Here is a picture of the mayor of Reykjavik, Jón Gnarr Kristinsson—an actor, bassist and comedian besides, casting his ballot. It’s his business of course whom he voted for, but I’ll wager as a free-agent himself and founder of the Best Party (Besti flokkurinn) whose platform promised listening more to women and old people since those groups tend to be marginalised, he’s not in lock-step with the old guard.

brinksmanship or no quarter

On the surface of things, the evolving situation in Cyprus’ finances does not seem to make complete sense. There was originally a strange sort stoical solidarity as the idea of levying a deposit tax as collateral against the Euro-Group’s line of credit from the island’s government but public outrage and fears of precipitating such seizures ultimately led to the collapse in negotiations. Presently, the Cypriots look poised to renege on the terms of this rescue package, and the EU looks willing to cut its losses, recognizing the grave realities of a marshal-economy. The transformation was quick, from darling of people seeking out a safe berth for the money to anathema, over-exposed—though fundamentally, the shenanigans were no different than what when on in other crisis lands, or for that matter, what is still tolerable, attractive about other safe harbours, like Luxembourg or the Channel Islands.

Further, that stoicism belied a calmness, which was not entirely unheard over the uproar, with the church offering certain securities and pawning pension funds. The Euro-Group rejected these avenues, which seem to be no longer options for the Cypriot administration either, as untenable and just setting up the country for a deferred failure with an unsustainable burden of debt, as well as intervention by the Russians. Though there may be some interest not brought openly to the bargaining-table, Russia seems to be snubbing Cyprus, even with its untapped natural gas reserves, and will let the banking system fail, despite standing to lose a lot of private money and its chief correspondent bank for clearing its transactions with Europe. To be sure, it’s chaotic and the most robust economist probably could not deftly navigate these waters, but things just stopped making sense. It almost seems like warfare-by-proxy, with vested interests in seeing the EU experiment crumble. I suppose too that as the crises initially began to unravel, for example, with the real-estate bubble in Ireland or Spain or the overvaluing of the Swiss franc, could also be shown in the harsh light of conspiracy. Perhaps, hopefully, Cyprus can emerge from this dilemma, bravely and ultimately stronger, like Iceland has done.

sampo

Reexamining the contents of old shipwrecks may be lending credence to ancient Nordic legends of a mystical stone, claimed to have the properties of revealing the angle of the Sun even under cloudy conditions, and thus direction for sea-navigation. A certain variety of crystals, called Icelandic spar, is common among the manifests of sunken ships and researchers have re-discovered that the crystals can be used to reveal the direction of weak and scattered rays of light, and thus bearing and course, if one applies the proper triangulation to correct for the polarization-effect. Such a tool (Zaubergerät) could have been instrumental in the Norwegian Vikings reaching North America, centuries before other European explorers and centuries before the invention of the magnetic compass, navigating stormy seas with seasons of short hours of daylight.

eenie meanie or ένας μια ενα

Some time ago, I recall reading a broad overview (not disjointed but just non-sequitur and sparse explanation, like a freak-show of strange foreign customs) on Christmas traditions. According to the article, some Greek households leave a colander out on the doorstep (unlike stockings hung over a heath or a boot on Sankt Nikolas Tag in Germany for gifts) to confound mischievous spirits and keep them from entering the home.

Like our friend from Sesame Street, Count von Count (Graf Zahl), imps and demons have a condition called arithmomania, the irresistible compulsion to count things and would be drawn to counting out the holes on the strainer. Incidentally, vampires in general tend to be distracted by disarray and would stop to fully account for a tossed handful of rice grains or something similar, should one need a second to escape from one. Did the Count’s character, I wonder, come from his mild version of the disorder or vice-versâ? Because of the demon’s infernal nature, however, it would only manage to count one, two before being cast back on the number three—three being the holy trinity. The spirit could rematerialize and try again but never make it past three. It’s a bit early (and maybe a bit too exotic) for Christmas but I think it might be a nice and maybe more effective gesture of solidarity for the Greek people to help them through these trying times (after all, the people of Iceland ousted their corrupt politicians by banging pots and pans), which none of us may be so charmed as to avoid.

run-off or terrestrial sunsets

Via The Colossal and Five-Infinity, photographer Andre Ermolaev shares some of his air-borne impressions of Iceland’s rugged and liquid landscape.
These incredible images are created by volcanic ash, vibrant and chthonic minerals that the Earth gives up on a fairly regular basis there, being scuttled away by rivers and streams.

The photographer’s eye and technical acumen, I think, are really able to capture in this series what photography was intended for and distinguished from the other visual arts by—being able to distill and communicate a sort of landslide never seen before nor will ever be seen again, like being able to capture the roiling shadows of a cloud or the play of colours in a sunset.

Be sure to check out some of the other photographs featured on these communities.  These smoky, spyrograph moments are outstandingly beautiful and makes me hopeful that I might be able to also frame such compositions as they flow downstream.

prosopagnosia or lost-and-found

This strange news item from Iceland has already been circulating the internet, concerning a solitary foreign woman who visited the volcanic canyon of Eldgjá as part of a bus tour through the southern highlands, but I think the idea is pretty intriguing and bizarre. After a hike, she freshened up and changed her clothing and jacket. This act, which went unnoticed and made her unrecognisable to her fellow travellers, and a miscounting of the number of passengers on board by the driver and guide, caused a panic to ensue. The woman, draped now with the cloaks of something other than mistaken identity, did not recognise herself in the description of the missing passenger and certainly did not consider herself lost. Maybe, like in another historic case in Iceland mentioned in the article, she even participated in her own search-party.

I am glad everything turned out fine and it is starting to sound like an urban legend, but I think it begins to highlight some important questions.  Of course, this is a rare and frightening occurrence but I do wonder if there is not some mechanism responsible that’s a contemporary cog of inattentiveness and private, not shared perceptions. Like people saying, “without pictures, it didn’t happen,” and the ability to readily tag and label everything for processing and easily convey under most circumstances, documentary evidence, I wonder if our senses and personas are somewhat spoilt and skewed. I wonder if that means there will be more such incidents in the future.

no quarter or crowded house

Here’s a pessimistic thought: the same mob-mentality that fomented the same froth of bubbles that burst with the real estate market is likewise the authoritative voice on what constitutes a secure harbour, a safe-haven investment to berth one’s wealth and is kettling (purposefully or otherwise) to the same supposed shelters.

Not finding the proposition of holding fiat currency liable to fluctuation at interest rates that are not keeping pace with inflation and an uncertain stock market, people sought shelter in fundamental instruments that were lauded to retain the value that by all rights they should’ve: homes and real property. This trend, however, attached more takers than the market could honestly sustain and some trickery and greed kept up the enticement far too long. Though they have economic trifles of their own to address, bigger markets like the US and Germany are able for the time being to absorb the rush and act as a relatively secure harbor, but brokers are redirecting interest and channeling fear to a clutch of smaller economies to their acute displeasure. I don’t think a Switzerland, a Norway or an Iceland on the mends particularly like being dubbed a safe-bet as the influx of phantom money, held in trust but not benefitting the local marketplace, that they cannot accommodate and is proving ruinous for trade as it over-values their domestic currencies. Consequently, like with the housing sector, or anything else over-sold and amateurish, one seriously risks inflating so-called safe-havens and worse denigrating the commodity that is one’s home—maison, zu Hause, Huset, Húsið, and making it worth less through attribution.

découpage

achterbahn

Lending tacit support to the infusion of credit to Spanish banks by way of a demurring and quiet concession towards the pooling of debt, Germany bore some chinks in its armour of resistance to the notion of sharing responsibility for broader financial stability. Signaling (again so lightly as to miss this cue) that the machinery of the European Union might be willing to admit a bit of the chaos of democracy (wherein people might not be obliged to choose wisely), Germany advocated a stronger political union for governance of monetary issues, ceding control of budgetary competence to the EU board.

Necessarily such a decision could not be unilateral and only up to the will of EU functionaries but must be submitted to a vote, since radical changes in national sovereignty require amending individual constitutions and a new legal framework. Now, even as the soothing effects of the cash for Spain is evaporating and raising the ire of the public and other earlier aid recipients that are being made to feel categorically different, irresponsible and blameworthy, which I do not think was the reason behind the German compromise but rather fear that became face-saving for Spain’s banks, Germany has shown a willingness to entertain the democratic process before the voting public has wearied of the issue and the ideals behind the EU are sunk. Instead of inheriting a failed coalition, Germany hopes to install a carefully crafted framework that honours Teutonic stoicism and fiscal responsiveness. Agreeing to share the burden of new debt incurred (and no country in the soi-disant core of the EU can manage right now without taking on new debt) comes also at the exclusion of existing obligations, which I fear might make the union, after negotiations that delimit one’s jurisdiction, even harder to leave, should things take a turn for the worse.

pyrrhic victory or yes, we have no bleeding turnips

“Another such victory and I am undone.”

The ethos of the battlefield has, for the most part, been relegated to the invisible and agnostic sphere of finance, which has created an aversion to bloodshed and protracted war-making, since that is not a good climate for business—most business, likely there’s a calculus for acceptable loss and trigger for cutting-off the profits for the infernal machines, but it also tends to overshadow the “retrograde” and black market skirmishes that still go on and the people who take part in these sorties and surprises. The majority of what passes as an economic victory (although industry innovation and what’s now called a come-back or revival, like with Ireland or Iceland and what will happen for the Greek people, is not being entertained with this category of robber-baron success) is little cause for celebration (DE/EN), priced in terms of bankruptcy for the competition, the bleeding dry of stake-holders (shareholders and debtors), loss of jobs and living-standards, and trend-setting easily overturned that’s mere redistribution among the oligarchs. What are deemed key institutions are even sustained after being vanquished at the expense of public treasure. Those who would like to see struggling members of the European currency union quickly dispatched and dismissed unwillingly, rather than risk a sort of economic cold war, are rushing away from triumph. The EU’s proponents and founders could not have anticipated the spread of the economic collapse and that such a crisis would force a sober discussion of policy (how taxation and budgets are drafted) integration and is not using the plight of some members to justify the hegemony of others—rather this experiment in amalgamation, an imperfect union, shows how diminished the whole would be without its constituent parts and that the abridgement of differences is no basis for abandonment or ejection. Though the belligerents of politics and finance are intertwined, there’s principle enough, I hope, within the governments (at the behest of the people and not business or self-interest alone) to make the right decisions and have cause to celebrate.

kitchenware revolution

While much of the world’s attention was focused on the hopeful inauguration of Barack Obama in the United States, many missed the culminating moments of the protests in Iceland against the recklessness and corruption of their former government, clanging pots and pans and marching on the Alþingi by the thousands.

The Icelandic people had already accepted enough deprivation in witnessing a significant percentage of the national treasure evaporate and many of their young people, without prospects for their futures, migrate to other countries, but were unwilling to suffer further austerity over private debts with public money. Though an investigative commission found wrong-doing and fraud on the part of borrowers and lenders and in government oversight was inchoate in the bulk of transactions and several plebiscites rejected repayment, the governments of Britain and the Netherlands (the major blowhards behind Iceland’s economic bubble) are threatening to take the country to the EU court over failure to make good on these loans. This movement of 2009, which previsions if not fathers others, is a template for the international Occupy rallies and demonstrates that people are not at the mercy of banking thugs. Iceland is still recovering but its reputation and demeanor does not seem diminished, nor its prospects for success, and real change is being affected by the infusion of ordinary members of the public—independent and with no political affiliations—into public policy and the parliament. The reversal of political orientation and the need to prevent the same financial backsliding drafted all citizens to revise their constitution. In light of current events and the amnesia of novelty and panic, we should look to Iceland’s stand.

kαταναλωτισμός or conspicuous consumption

While it is premature and insulting to suggest that Greece, failing to form a definitive coalition government after its legislative elections that were themselves held in the framework of a caretaker government ingratiated as a condition of the first bailout package, will flagrantly choose to not uphold its obligations—attracting no clear majority though like-mindedness abounds—it does beg the question at what cost default. Greece is already in hock for the better part of a generation just keeping current on payments to service its rescue packages, with acutely less to show for it in the end: the dictates of creditors and angel-investors are superseding public services and the cultivation of a jobs market. Prophets of doom are probably not exaggerating when the say that Greece will suffer an extended period of massive poverty if they are forced to default (there is not much choice left in the matter) and quit the euro, but such consequences are temporary, surely less than the terms of the loan, and the Greeks could begin clawing their way back right away. Such a precedent, though, would be dread to see, dread to hear for other countries on the economic ledge and the minders of the EU—a cue for Spain, Ireland, Iceland, Portugal, Belgium and Italy, another nation imposed with a caretaker government, to consider doing the same.

I venture that the biggest fear behind the potential for contagion and strict monitoring of Greek conduct lies in not the potential for poverty but rather that it is a renegade category of poverty. Consumption continues at a pace, regardless of financial standing, so long as there is credit and interminable refinancing. Trade partners can still sell their exports and settle payments with a common currency in understood and agreeable terms, but once those conditions disappear and a country is unable to afford imports, established trade routes break down and there’s a turning inward and countries become more self-sufficient, relying on native products and developing local manufacturing (even if not as immediately efficient and technically advanced), perhaps even getting accustomed to getting by with less. Stronger economies would not be sustained without broader markets for the export of their expertise, and their sterling credit.

althing

As the controversial and generally opposed Stuttgart 21 train station project and nuclear waste transportation resumes in Germany, polls reveal that Germans want more direct democracy--plebiscites and referenda, and a say in government not mitigated by party professionals. No one is proposing anarchy and mob-rule, and, I think, it is political egos everywhere that makes representative government, with or without majority rule and minority protection, the standard. An Icelandic experiment is basically crowd-sourcing its draft constitution, inviting the electorate to propose regulations governing many aspects of civil law and policy. In contrast, though there are examples of direct voting like anti-smoking rules and very local issues, Germany does not really have a constitution (some say)--except the one dating from the Weimar Republic debatably--and instead have courts and a civil codex, an impressively succinct little citizens' law book. Back in Iceland, submissions are via the standard forms of internet participatory democracy, but this experiment is exciting and innovative and maybe will open up the possibility for more civic involvement and literacy, plus better tools for dialogue and ascent.

Gleichzeitig mit den Kontroverse um Stuttgart 21 Bahnstations-projekt und um den Zuführungen zu Rückstellungen für Entsorgung im Kernenergie-bereich, aus den letzten Meinungsumfragen geht hervor, dass viele Deutsche wollen direkten Demokratie: mehr Volksabstimmungen, ungemilderte Teilnahme in der Regierung. Niemand denkt daran, der Pöbelherrschaft sollte geschehen, und ich glaube, dass machen die Politikeregos vertretende Regierung die anerkannte Norm, unabhängig davon, ob es Tyrannei der Mehrheit ist oder die Minderheit geschützt wird. Ein isländisches Experiment ist Crowdsourcing seine Verfassungsentwurf: die Wähler werden gebeten, Ideen über das Zivilrecht und Politik vorzuschlagen. Im Gegensatz dazu hat Deutschland kein echt Bundesverfassung sagen die Einen (die umstrittend Weimarer Verfassung ausgenommen), und sondern hat stattdessen Gerichte und das bürgerliche Gesetzbuch, was sehr eindrucksvoll und bündigen ist. Darüber hinaus empfiehlt in der Island die Ideen von Wähler geleitete über gängigen Sozialisierungsarten, aber vielleicht dieser innovat Erprobung wird mehr bürgerlichen Beteiligung und Bildung erreichen und geben helfen uns Design bessere Werkzeuge - so gut wie der Wahlzettel.

just deserts

Karma and irony are sometimes the only concepts able to connect and make sense of the disparate events of history. The same ideas, however, seem to also be taking on a commanding role in determining foreign policy and outreach in present statecraft, and seemingly in many cases, the only framing factors in diplomacy and decision-making.

On some levels, it is only fitting that the Western powers are struggle to contain the Frankenstein’s monsters, non-pejoratively, that they have created or stuff the genie back inside the bottle: many powers turned a blind eye to the injustices of those who were the bulwarks of stability politically and economically—however tyrannical or at least unchecked, Italy is facing an onslaught of immigrants from its former imperial aspirations, France is policing its former colonial holdings as well, Germany is being compelled to paid the dues of NATO membership, and the US is facing down hostile jets from the Libyan airbase it held until Qaddafi came to power.

I venture in the current atmosphere, intervention has been needful and protected many innocent people and perhaps gives them to opportunity to succeed, not burdened by governments serving in the omission of their clients and with those resulting price controls somewhat excused. It could be a slippery-slope, however. Why didn’t the French cavalry charge in to kidnap George W. Bush and deliver him to the disenfranchised electorate back in 2001? What if Russia championed a Bavarian independence movement or Hawaiian liberation? Iceland is refusing reparations to foreign investors over its failed banks, but who is to say that international condemnation on America’s fiscal policy is not too risky already and should be subject to the global good? Sovereignty is a delicate thing, which tends to wither before adventures en masse.

fáil whale or pot-of-gold

Ireland's incumbent government was brutally routed as retribution for gross dereliction when it came to the custody of the country's wealth. Mismanagement and buying into flimsy schemes excited the ousting of the outgoing Fianna Fáil coalition, and though, no doubt, the people should be held to account whose conduct has lead Ireland's betrothal to years of indebtedness, the elections seem one on hand symbolic and moot. Saddled with this financial crisis, the incoming government has very little latitude in determining any significant changes to welfare or austerity, since all future funding has already been allocated--spent--to pay off IMF loans with money tight and choices narrowed. Many other places facing similar situations fear population and talent drains as people move with the fleeing job opportunities and spiraling revenues. Huge swaths of land stood nearly deserted already on our visits, with little going expect for the holidaymakers, but what may not have been visible or appreciable to us was I am sure a lot of individuals getting creative and inventive. Governments may never be luminaries at stretching the household budget, and some ministers, fearing saturation and stagnation, can only hope to repackage, refinance, or hope that extra-terrestrials will infuse the market with fresh buying-power.

One nation in the same predicament as Ireland, having already dumped its lax leadership and dealing summarily with withering investment and hardships to come, is Iceland.

The bit of genius they are testing, albeit ambitious and grandiose, is a proposal to channel geothermal energy from volcanic fonts in Iceland via cable to Scotland or Ireland and onto Europe. Considering how Iceland's exposure only shifted from news of the country's financial melt-down to how Eyjafjallajökull (Kajagoogoo) grounded air travel, that is a good stroke that people may soon be associating the country with plentiful, clean and cheap energy. There's a bit of wildness in laying a two thousand kilometer power line under the Atlantic, but the project's scale and goal is little different from the Suez or Panama Canals.

my illudium q-36 explosive space modulator

The gas station (Tankstelle) across the street from work where I usually fill up had a new offering this week.  Along side the diesel, the normal unleaded and the super unleaded--which cost exactly the same, the Benzin and the Super, on the German market, and higher levels of petroleum excellence, there is now something called e10, a biofuel mixture with some ethanol content.  It looks inobtrusive, this choice that may or may not prove to be more environmentally-friendly, but there are warning signs since not all cars are made to run of this concoction.  It was a bit of research to find the assurance that it would be safe for my automobile, as there is a long list of exceptions and untested models and engine types still out there. 

I do have to wonder what it is though about modern electronic engines that make them overly-sensitive.  I think new cars maybe can work themselves into a circuitry frenzy, especially compared to an older, stalwart diesel motor, which with little coaxing can be made to run off of old kitchen grease and used cooking oil.   The internal combustion engine, in principle, has not changed since the automobile was first introduced, and though wider fuel options may not present the final answer, maybe a number of alternatives can come together to make a real, sustainable change for the better.

led zepplin or come josephine in my flying machine

Maybe it is time that someone offered a ritual sacrifice to Eyjafjallajökull (or Kajagoogoo, it's easier to pronounce) and appease the pyroplastic blast.  Tens of thousands are still grounded at the far corners of the Earth, mail is delayed, and soon markets and economies reliant on imports will start experiencing shortages, and over-production in export markets will spoil in warehouses.  Aside from human traffic, it is astounding how a small disruption can reveberate.  With a second series of eruptions promised, I think it would be pretty keen to see the return to those days of people whizzing about in bi-planes, airships and punting in hot-air balloons.

fire and ice

Prior to the sensational photographs and breaking developments that are disrupting air-travel worldwide from the volcanic eruption in Iceland, the people of the small country were already in the mood for exodus and evacuation but for far different reasons: families no longer felt that the nation's economy was viable or could afford them a decent standard of living after the IceSave scandal and currency devaluation that is collateral damage of the Global Economic Downturn.  Billions divided out by small population puts a undue burden on each citizens, that many are betting that Iceland will never be able to recover from.  Hundreds are making arrangements to emigrate to more prosperous Nordic neighbors before they become tethered to unsellable homesteads.  The former government's poor stewardship of the treasury led to a big shake-up, which included the popular election of the first lesbian prime minister and massive reforms.  Decisions, however, like to repay the UK for its speculation in Icelandic markets, have been costly.  As an expatriate, I can understand compulsion and Wanderlust, but I hope they don't abandon their homeland over entries on a ledger.  I am sure the volcanic ash spewing into the skies does not make the situation look any less grim, nor the blame and headlines tossed about that's currying more negative attention.  However, I found this really boss van art/movie poster/torch-song version of the Icelandic saga while working on this post.