Icelander

2005-12-31T05:50:00.000-08:00

This is my last journal entry of the year... I guess the standard thing to do is to write some New Years resolutions... If I do that here I have witneses and am forced to go through with them...
I can start with the typical resolution of getting into better shape...
I will also be less lazy with my writing and I WILL write two featurelength screenplays this year...
Otherwise I'm just so perfect that I don't have to improve any other area with me... That's why my last resolution doen't change me... It's totally different then any resolution I have had before... Let's write it down officially now...
...ehem...!
The year 2006 is beginning... and as much as I hate the number 6, I am still so excited for the coming year because it's a bit speciial for me... This is the year of a new beginning... My life was technically on hold from 2003 while I finnished my schooling... I was just a student on the road with no commitments, no possetions, no relationships or commitments... All I had was a backpack full of underwear and socks...
But now, my stay in Kanada is officially over, so I can and will have to start completly from scratch to rebuild my life and get back to the way I was (or better) before I lost everything when I went to Canada 2003...
That means I have to get a new apartment, new car, new girlfriend and new job... Not nessicarilly in that order and somethings are less important then others...
I start off with no money, lot's of depts and empty pockets but I do have a brain full of ideas, heart full of ambition, optimism and a smile on my face... I can't lose... (I still also have a wonderful family and great friends who will help out along the way (I'm no Superman))...
I bid you now my dear readers a Happy New Year and thanks so so so much for the past one... Hope you have the best time wherever you are in the world and I look forward to seeing you again in the new year...
Goodbye 2005... On with 2006...!

2005-12-31T05:39:00.000-08:00

We have used our time here in Spain very well... I have barely had any free moments to relax... After the Christmas craze ended we finally could do more sightseeing and such to check out the area...
His week we all went together to an old fasioned circus... It was such a circusy circus that if you look up "circus" in a dictionary, it would say "Stop reading the dictionary and go see this circus"...
Then yesterday we went to an aquarium in gorgeous sunshine and heat... Watched dolphins, sharks and such... Played the game "Which of these animals have I eaten" (answer: "Most of them")...
Now I only have a few days here left and there is still alot of stuff I have to do and probably won't have time to...
The darn ostrich egg salesman only sells empty eggs (what's the point) so I probably can't fulfull my dream of making that kind of omlett...
We did find a restaurant here that has zebra, kangaroo, crocodile and more on the menu... It would be great to start the new year with some new animals...
If I can't make it to the restaurant then at least we have kangaroo and ostrich meat in the freezer...
You know what they say... If you can't beat'em... Eat'em..

2005-12-27T04:44:00.000-08:00

What a Christmas here... The flood of gifts will surely drown us when trying to get them back home to Iceland... Then the food was this spectacularly spectacular meal of the likes I have never seen...
On Christmas Eve we start off with the traditional creamy asparagus soup... soooo good and gets better every year... Then we have the main course which consited of a leg of lamb, a smoked rack of ham from Iceland, some smoked lamb from Iceland and then the wild game birds of which I still don't know the name of... Add too this all sort of extrast like salads, potatoes and sauses too unbelivably good to excist on this earth... Finally after a long wait from dinner while we recuperated, we had some homemade Tobleron icecream with a special home made chocolate sause so tasty that it could stun an elephant...
On Christmas day we had a buffet style lunch out on the balcony in 23 degree sunshine where we had all sorts of cheeses, spanish salamis, sausages, raw smoked Icelandic lamb, raw spanish dried ham (hamon cerrano), duck liver paté, duck paté, reindeer paté and then of course leftovers from the day before (smoked ham, lamd, smoked lamb, the bird, soup, sauses and such)...
For Christmas day dinner we had a barbeque and grilled these juicy duck breasts... Oooof... I must stop writing now since my drooling could short circuit my keyboard and fry my computer... Mmmm... Fried computer... with sause, onions, potatoes... Bah... What's in the fridge...?

2005-12-23T04:42:00.000-08:00

A big challenge is coming up... A challenge I have waited for, for so many years... I do indisputably make the worlds best omletts and now... I am going to make an omlett... from... an ostrich egg...!
Sigrun my younger sister told me that in the market here they sell ostrich eggs... One ostrich egg is the same ammount as about twenty regular chicken eggs and would take about an hour to boil... But any idiot could boil an egg... An ostricheggomlett is a whole different catigory...
Now I just have to decide what I should put in it... Spanish dried ham, bluechees and rock salad sound good... Actually hamon cerrano, gorganzola and rukkola sounds even better (it's the exact same thing (it's just so much more cool in the native toung))...

2005-12-23T04:38:00.000-08:00

I just added a new animal to my list of things I have eaten... This was also a special addition becuase it added a whole new type of animal to the list also... I had only had mammals, fish and birds on my list, but now I can add amphibians since I had a plate of frog legs...
Earlier this year I also added buffalo to the list and this christmas we're trying a new bird which is supposed to replace our Icelandic Chrismas ptarmigan... I don't know the name of that bird but the anonimyty doesn't matter for my stomach... It's the thought that counts...

2005-12-21T07:19:00.000-08:00

I don't have much to say about my stay in Spain yet... It's just been so nice and relaxed... I will instead show you the area...
First off is me on my balcony during lunch... Then there is the City Hall downtown... Then you see the houses in the neighborgood... and finally you see the view from my sisters balcony... You can see my balcony on the house at the end of the canal... Nuff said...

2005-12-20T15:43:00.000-08:00

It was deffinatly a Planes, Trains And Automobiles trip for me this weekend... Got a ride to the airport quite early on Friday, but because of that I gad to hang around there for almost twelve hours... That was mainly due to to the fact that our plane took so long to arrive to us from Montreal because of a snowstorm...
When I get to the airport, then of course they charge me greatly with an excess baggage fine for too heavy luggage... But I had the option of upgrading to a "Premium" ticket that let me carry that much stuff and it was also cheaper with all sorts of perks... Just before midnight we finally take off to London (U.K.) but unfortunatly there was a stopover on the way... and of course that had to be in the snow storm of Montreal...
During all my flights to and from Canada through the years, I have never had a good seating companion... Now from Toronto it was acceptable even though I was in the middle seat because on one side was a cute girl and on the other a skinny guy (oh yeah, the Premium seats sucked as much as regualr seats though)... Then a girl tapped my shoulder and asked if I could swirch seats with her so she could sit next to her friend... I of course have been in that same situation myself so of course I switched with her for another middle seat and waited for my new seating companions... and waited... but no one comes...
The door closes and we take off with me having the whole row to myself... Finally I can see myself faling asleep on a plane... It also helped that I only had slept less then two hours on a couch the night before...
I strech out and enjoy the room... Then we land in Montreal... First comes my first seating companion... A decent girl my age and that was acceptable... Then my next seating companion comes and holy cow... and I mean holy COW... She was soooo huge... The biggest person I have seen board an airplane...
She squeezes herself into the seat next to me, her ass so big it keeps hitting the stewardess button... Her flab overflows into my seat so I only have less then half the space to myself... On my other side the first girl has barely sat down untill she is fast asleep and snores like an airplane engine except of course inside and next to me...
It wasn't a good ten hour flight to London after that (as usuall)... I arrive there three hours late... I was going to meet Jonathen my Engligh friens I met in Kanada but because of little time I had to skip that... Next up is my luggage claim... Luckilly with my Premium ticket my bags were first priority with the company... It was obvious though that first priority only applied to bags going into the airplane... By luggage was the last to come out into the airport... After forty five minutes of waiting they slide dustcovered and in cobwebs with the Priority baggage sticker on them...
Now I am in Gatwick airport in London way too late on my way to the other side of the city to get to Stansted airport... I am so burdened by my luggage but I must bolt through Gatwick to reach my train and I just make it before it leaves... From there I get to Victoria Station downtown London and must zoom through there to the London underground... I cross all of London til I reach Tottingham station and from there I make a run for it still burdened by excess baggage... I hear the next train and just make it before it leave...
I make it to Stansted but it is jampacked due to holliday rush... I get into a line and wait for the longest time while the clock is ticking... When I get my departure ticket the bording time has already started... Now I must jet through Stansted to catch my plane... There wasn't a moments pause during my whhole time in London... If I ever get on The Amazing Race I would kick everyones ass and win that game by far...
I get a seat on my last plane, and of course to keep up the tradition, just before the door closes a sweaty chubby girl out of breath comes crawling in and sits next to me... She has a cold and didn't catch her breath for the first half hour... Her panting and moaning was so much that I expected to be charged 2.99 a minute... Next up this horrendous sweaty smell came from her along with her couching and nose blowing seasures...
I finally land in Valencia in Spain... Fate finally threw me a bone and my bags were the first out... Outside waiting was almost my whole family and we drove together home...
As you can see... A twenty-four hour trip, two cars, two planes and three trains... Planes, Trains And Automobiles thank you very much (except one seating companion was fatter then John Candy and the others much more annoying)...

2005-06-23T13:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry for my few posts lately... It's because of a lethal combination of buzyless and lazyness...
There will even be fewer (actually none) posts coming up for a while since I'm going to Denmark to The Roskilde Music Festival...
It's a friggin amazing place/time... Around 80.000 people or more... Camping from Sunday til Monday 8 days later, averaging a case of beer at least a day and a few liters of wine...
If by any chance, you find yourself going to The Roskilde Music Festival, you can find me on this map at location "B1"... To give you an estimate of the size, then walking from B1 to C1 is about 7-8 minutes or more...
For a list of the bands that will be playing (80+), then check this out... Big names like Audioslave, Greenday, Foo Fighters, Duran Duran, Black Sabbath, Velvet Revolver, Sonic Youth and much more... Only for 250 bucks... Not too bad...
When I come back there will be tons of pics and stories...
Until then, I wish you the best of times... But I know mine will be even better...

2005-06-17T09:06:00.000-07:00

To quote the wiener president in the movie ID4: "Today is the day... we celebrate... our Independace Day..." But when we say it, it doesn't sound as gay...
Yes, June 17th 1944 is when we got our independance, so we're only 61 years old as a free nation, yet we also have the worlds oldest running parlement (more then 1000 years (there has been a change of people running it though since then)...
I'll just a bit in the festivities during the day, but due to a sucky workplan, I have to work at midnight... So no toasting tonight with the Icelandic National Drink, Brennivín (Burning Wine (Black Death))... Bleh...!
Have a good weekend and celebrate on my behalf...

2005-06-15T10:36:00.000-07:00

My internal clock is getting kind of messed up right about now... The thing is I work in shifts... 6 shifts in 5 days... It goes 00:00-08:00, 00:00-08:00, 16:00-00:00, 16:00-00:00, 08:00-16:00, 08:00-16:00... So it's nightshift x2, eveningshift x2 and dayshift x2... This might mess up a regular internal clock just by it self, but it gets more confusing here, since you never can tell what time it is when you step outside... It's equally as bright at 8am, 4pm and midnight, so after a mindnumbing day at work inside a closed factory, I come out into daylight and have no idea what time it is... All I know is that in a few hours I'm back at work after a few hours rest in brightness...
Then on my days off I have no time reference either since I usually sleep in, take naps during the day and then party til 7am...
I think some bugger must have programmed me on Tokyo time... or I've been watching too many Godzilla flicks...

2005-06-10T10:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at work there were two options... I could either train a new rookie on the regular trucks or I could try to learn to drive the newest and most expensive truck that's quite tricky to master...
Well, the bosses decided they would rather have me figure out the new truck instead of teaching the rookie... I guess they rather wanted me to mess up the truck, rather then the rookie... It's not that they value the rookie more then the truck... You can always replace both... They just don't want to break their current "accident free" streak... I can't belive this record was set while I was working there...
But in the later half of the shift, they asked me to teach the rookie since the other guy teaching didn't feel well... So I tought the rookie... and I tought him well... You see, I tought him the most important rule in the factory... "Don't do what I do, and you should be fine..."

2005-06-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

It doesn't take much to cause an accident in work... Especially around me, since I'm quite unlucky at times... Yet I'm also an extremely lucky person and these things contrast so much... Because of this, I never have real accident accidents, but more so just "near misses"...
For example I was at work yesterday drivnig my truck... Things weren't working properly so I had to leave behind a huge metal container next to tub of aluminium and drive away... Now, I have to be really careful because if I touch the container and another tub on the other side I will "short circuit" and cause an explosion more powerful then a lightnigh (including the sparks and heat that can melt inches thick metal in an instant)...
The thing is, when I put the container down, I see a large metallic pipe on the other side of the truck is broken and is about to fall off... I slowly move the truck, but then the pipe breaks off, lands standing up and wobbles back and forth... If it falls to the side then *BOOM!*... I can't move since any movement would topple the pipe... And the pipe wobbles, wobbles, wobbles... and falls... *klonk!*...*rollls*... and stops... a few inches from the other tub...! Lucky me...
A bit later at work, I'm still driving... I'm about to finnish my last trip but my path back is closed except to go between another machine and another tub... If I go between and touch both, I'll again cause a "short circuit", but I see there is just enough room to make it, and I should pull it off if I'm careful enough... I'm about to squeeze myself through there when I suddenly decide to wait... I'm not in that much of a hurry... Not a second later then I stop and wait, a large metal rod falls from the machine and onto the floor... Had I been driving there like I intended then *BOOM!*...!
But nothing happened... Again great luck in my bad luck...
It has often been said I was born under a lucky star and I belive so... But it seem that the star is soooo far away that it takes time for the luck to reach me... Damn theory of relitivity messing with my good fortune...

2005-06-02T14:16:00.000-07:00

Well, made it through the first few days at work without causing too much damage... Next up is a few days off so I´m going to have to make up for last weekend (which was work) this weekend...
Even though I'm not working in my field, this job isn't so bad for two reasons...
1. It pays alot... probably pullinging in 4000 bucks a month at least...
2. I work for 5 days then 5 days off which leaves me plenty of time to do my thing, like writing...
I was planning to finnish another full screenplay this summer (plus 2-3 short film scripts) but it might look like I'll be working on two screenplays... The second one in cooperation with another person... As usuall I never indulge about what my screenplays are about, but you can deffinalty bet they are comedies... exept that last one which is actually a serious one... what a challenge... I've never tried to write a long serious piece (probably why no one make me write eulogies) so I'm quite interested how it will go... I just hope it won't affect my blogging style... I don't want to be serious here... The world is to full of poopoo jokes and farts to do that...

2005-05-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

I've had a few job interviews with production companies but things won't be developing untill later this summer so I have to wait... Untill then, I'm back to work in the Aluminium factory again... It's a hot, sweaty, dirty place but it pays very well...
Basically I'm driving around on a 20+ ton truyck, picking up molten aluminium and delivering it to the processing area... Kind of mindless and repetitive, but it does give the mind plenty of time to wander, and many a bright idea has come from the mindless and repetive work while doing the mindles and repetitive work, since it's so mindless and repetitive... and repetitive...
And things have been going well there... I was sure I would have needed a few days just to get back into gear before they let me loose, but I guess they assume I can't cause any more damage then I already have...
So on the first day the put me on the truck and all was smooth... besides the fact that I rammed accedentally into a rookie who just started and scared the poo out of him... Better sooner then later... That's who they learn accidents do happen... especially around me...

2005-05-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

Here is just a small reminder of the time difference of the countries since I keep getting MSN messeges during times when I'm not here...
Between Iceland and Toronto is 4 hours... So when it's noon in Toronto, it's actually 4pm here... When the bars are closing at 2am, I am still at the bars here at 6am...
I've also missed messeges from my friends in Korea... The time difference between Korea and Iceland is 1 year, 7 months, 2 weeks, 4 days, 11 hours and 27 minutes... So when it's Easter in Korea, I'm celebrating Christmas in Iceland...
I hope this makes it easier to reach me now...

2005-05-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

Well, the Eurovision song contest is over... and I don't even remember who won nor probably anyone else in the party... Me made a big drinking game from the whole thing with tons of rules and penalties... Usually it gives us quite a buzz, but this year things were a bit different...
You see, we say you have to drink as many sips as you country gets in points from another country... And there are 24 countries giving points, so if you have a good country, you might have to drink 24 times 1-12 sips... That has often been hard to do... You've just finnished one penalty and then another country smacks 8 points on you... The casualties have been a few through the years... Well, this year... all 39 countries were alloud to give points...! and I picked a really good song...
Luckilly I survived through extencive training, but the guy at the top had to end the night over the toilet yelling "Europe"... "Euuuuuurope!"... You can tell he wasn't Icelandic...

2005-05-20T08:44:00.000-07:00

There is a good party this Saturday...
Every year, there is this thing called The European Song Contest... Every European nation takes part in it, yet no-one seems to care except Icelandic people and some Europeans who are dedicated followers and fans (like Trekkies but with worse taste in music)...
Basically take every crappy song from a European nation... Select the worst... and then make it compete with the worst songs from other countries... Well, it's not quite like that... but it feels like it... That's why there is heavy drinking involved tomorrow...
There would actually have been even more drinking tomorrow if Iceland had made it all they way to the finals... You see some years ago, there were only 24 countries in Europe and all were in the contest... Then due to the breakup of some countries (like U.S.S.R, Jugoslavia and Tekkoslovakia) these last years, Europe is flooded with new smaller countries that no-one knows where are... I think Montenegro is a Starbucks and Moldavia is just a guy in New Jersey with a good internet connection... So now there are actually 39 countries competing, with more being added every year...
And because of that, there is a preliminary competition for the bottom 25 countries and only 10 get to go to the final with the top 14... And no-one here expected anything else then Iceland would make it, since it was voted highest over the whole competition in most European polls... So there would be HUGE parties everywhere so we were all ready when Iceland won... But... alas... We didn't even make it to tomorrows competition where the top 24 will compete... I think it's because when the new countries came in, they all voted for each other... That is actuall how the revolution started... Some Eastern-European nations sucked in the European Song Contest, so they desided to make many teams from one country and vote for itself many times...
So today the nation is broken spirited... Europes biggest party for us, and we aren't even invited *tear*...
But we party none the less... and we select our most favorite song/country... and when our song/country gets a point, we drink... And drink alot, because the top nations usually score around 150 points in about an hour...! I hope I can remember the rest of May after Saturday...
Have a great weekend...!
Skál... Prost... Nasdrovia... Cheers...!

2005-05-19T07:27:00.000-07:00

I met two Canadians on the weekend... They are third generation Icelandic people and are realted to me in the Vopnfjord family... Yeap, my name could technically in Canada be Ragnar Vopnfjord meaning "Warrior Of The Gods, Bay of Weapons"...
They come from Manitoba where there is a big Icelandic settlement... and there every year is the oldest ethnic festival in North America, Islendinga Dagurinn (The Icelandic Day)...
What surprizes me every time I meet a Canadian with an Icelandic background, is that they know soooo much about Icelandic history and especially about Icelandic Canadian history...
Useless Trivia: Six of the seven dwarfs were created by an Icelandic artist for Walt Disney (all except Dopey (deffinatly American))... And Snow White was drawn by the same guy in the likeness of an Icelandic waitress he was in love with but never got... So Snow White is Icelandic... Putting a bit of irony into the name Snow White...
We had a long dinner with the guys on Saturday and talked about Icelandic history... Naturally we served them tradidional Icelandic Lamb for dinner, but not untill after we served them Rancid Ammonia Shark, Brennivin (Burning Wine (Black Death)) and Burned Sheeps Face where they had to eat the eye... They think they can migrate the country centuries ago and get away from this stuff...! Ha...!
And they still have a month of traveling around the country to go... and everywhere (EVERYWHERE) everyone (EVERYONE) will make them eat this kind of stuff or worse... Rams testicles anyone...?
I think this might be why they don't visit so often...

2005-05-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

Because of a request, I will talk about the difference between Icelandic and Canadian girls/women... Heck, I´ll just talk about Icelandic women so I don't offend any Canadian girls/women...
Let's start with what you heard on the Oprah Winfrey Show a few weeks ago... She did a segment on Icelandic women... During that show, Oprah was offered ram's testicles and rancid shark which she didn't eat, but she did take a shot of Icelandic Brennivin (Burning Wine (Black Death)), and you could deffinatly tell she got drunk on air... Hahaha...!
According to Oprah (is she ever wrong?), Icelandic women are tall, blonde and beautiful... Due to long and cold winters they love to party alot and can drink quite heavilly due to how long all the bars are open... In the summertime though, we have permanent daylight... And what do the women do then... The same thing as during winter... Drink...!
It was also said that Icelandic women are very independant and very intelligent women... They have sex when they want to and are confident about themselves so they are never looked down upon if they want to take a guy home after first meeting him, which is how most relationships start... It makes the dating scene smaller since you mostly pick people up at bars late at night (probably after all the Canadians have gone to bed)...
This was just on Oprah...
I can add that they are great personalities, filled with humour and wit... They are healthy and fit... Sexy as heck... Charming and outgoing... Cultured and sophisticated... I could take any one of them to a dinner with the queen...
In Iceland they have reached furthest in equal rights, and women are about half of the government and hold some of the highest positions around in companies... We even had the first democratically elected female president... Someone tried to smear her reputation, by calling her "half a woman" because she lost one of her breasts (due to cancer)... She said "I'm not here to breastfeed this country"... Now that's an Icelandic woman...!
Now you can see why I gave up dating when I wasn't here... Any questions...?

2005-05-17T04:55:00.000-07:00

Great three day weekend over... I need a few days of rest and relaxation just to recover from it... When we leave the parties it's sunrise, and that's the time when we hit the bars... or the bars hit us... My friend was viciously attacked by gravity and then the stairs jumped her..
I'm pretty sure it was gravities fault... Could be the beer consumption... Seen Icelandic girls drink more then would sink a Canadian Battleship...
Darn, I was sure that this weekend would otherwise give me stuff to talk about, but all it was, was a standard or actually above standard, party weekend...
It might be a sign you party to much when parties are nothing to talk about, and your mundane life seems more interesting...
Here's hoping for a boring week then...

2005-05-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

Nice three day weekend ahead... Down town will be packed since most of our universities have just finnished their exams... So the scene will be littered with high caliber girls for the next days... and when I say "high caliber", I mean bullets that will take your head off from the knee up...

2005-05-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

Day something in Iceland... Not sure since the track of time has just been washed away in a series of rest, relaxation, naps, shut-eys, snoozed, doses and an occasional beer...
Basically I'm trying to make up for all the time I didn't get to do all of that in Canada do to excessive (obsessive) work pattern...
So now I'm recharging and regenerating and all other types of "re-" words like REcuperating and RElaxing... except reproducing (don't worry, Raggi Jr. will be there one day (God help the world))...
This unfortunatly leads to a mundane type of blog entry, so hopefully with a three day weekend coming up I will have something better to write after that... Unless I can't REmember do to REcreational drinking and REgurgitating...

2005-05-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

These 13 dollar beers here will be the death of me... At least the free water is good...

2005-05-10T01:20:00.000-07:00

I've been in Iceland for a week now... and it has snowed three times, yet this weekend I also was sunbathing all day outside...
It's true what they say about the weather here... If you don't like it, just wait 15 minutes...

2005-05-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

Well I'm back on the Ice... Stirred, not shaken... Nice and easy going trip home for the first time... No hassles, troubles or frustrations... That's of course why I arrived home without luggage... Basically I think it was too heavy for them... After causing an epidemic of hernias in Boston they desided to the probably needed a bigger plane to ship it all the way to Iceland...
The first week went by too quickly... Strange how I seem to have more stamina and tolerance for the nightlife here... In Canada I drink a few brewskies in the evening, hit the bar at 11pm and at 2am I am sloshed and ready for bed... Here on day three, I started drinking at 6pm over a soccergame, then there was a party that lasted til 3am, then we hit the bars til 6am... and I still had plenty of energy left...
This weekend was again drinking at someones place til 2 or 3am and yet again drinking at bars til 6am... With the 4 hour time difference between Iceland and Toronto, in a global sence, I drink til they finnish... I hope it's alcohol they are serving me... I'm getting concerned because I haven't had a hangover yet... Maybe I left that in Canada... or even lost it in the Boston Airport during my trip there... Hopefully it was found by security since it's a dangerous weapon... If terrorists got their hands on my Hangovers they could cause great damage... No one would go to work and all the free world economy would crumble...
But my luggage did finally get home so my hangover is probably somewhere there stuffed between some socks and my Simpson underwear... I will probably find it soon... Belive me...

2004-09-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

Baby I'm back...!

2004-08-09T06:26:00.000-07:00

I wasn't quite correct last week when I called a certain form of entertainment "pain(t)ball"... After Fridays adventur it's here by called "PAIN!((DidIMentionThePAIN)t)ball"... I'm still limping and I'm beautifully brused all over in all the colours of the rainbow and in some colours that the human eye can't even detect...
I'm not brused though because of the paintballs themselves... I realized that it's the earth (technically a big ball) that's much more painful to get hit by... I got early used to throwing myself around in an honest attempt to break some longjump record (exept I usually land head first)... After a painful while like that, I desided to take it easy and be on the defence... There I was mainly just shooting back and forth at some guys and slowly advancing closer... Suddenly an enemy lies shot in front of me with the flag that everyone was after... He chucks it away and I go back into longjump mode... and with the athletic grace of a 26 year old beer drinker and lunge after it... and fly straight into a girl running out of nowere in front of me... I bouce off her and into a huge pile of rocks that's cunningly disguised a perfect landing place... and I get soooo totaled...
I'm lying there in the pouring rain, drenched and in pain and desided not to move anywhere (mainly because no limbs could move), but then I noticed I held the flag... Then it's up to me to take it up some tower... I force myself more then I've even done before in my life and I limp, shake and shimmy forward like some 135 year old lady during a hurrican and make it to the tower... I chuck away my gun and start climbing up the ladder and finally make it to the top scoring a point for my team...
As difficult it was climbing up, I only made it for a good reason (stubborness)... For climbing down I needed a better reason (gravity)... and I half stumble down and more exausted then exausted is on an exausted day I slowly inch myself to the rendezvous point using (literally) the flag as a crutch... I feel like the last soldier coming home totally injured (I was actually more injured then that) after the war... but there was everyone else hopping and jumping around full of energy telling me that the games were only half finnished... OOOooofff...!
You wouldn't belive how good it was to slide into the Blue Lagoon after that... A natural geo-thermal heated lake filled with minerals... AAaahhh... Even though it did make my injuries sting a bit, it didn't matter much because most of my bleeding was internal...
After that I went on a strong pain relife diet which consisted of beer, beer and more beer... And by golly it shure did work...! I managed to hold a party til 3:00am, drink at a bar til 7:00am and bring people back for another party til 11:00am... That's what I call surviving...

2004-08-06T04:42:00.000-07:00

The moments ahead are going to be awesome...! No time to go into detail... Now where did I put my beer down (Yes, it's 11:40am!)...?
Cheers to the weekend...! And we do it Icelandic style...! No clinging glasses (that's so gay)... So, pick up your drink, raise it in front of you and say "Skál" (pronounced like "scowl"), look everyone in the eyes, take a sip, raise your glass again and nod to acknowledge the cheers (looking again at everyone), then lower your drink...
You will be tested on this when I get back...!
Have a good weekend...!
Skál!

2004-08-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

I had a tiny accident at work today... nothing to be alarmed of... just a small burn on the back of both my hands... very small...
But the fact is... Burning yourself with boiling water (100 degrees) hurts... A chemical burn hurts even more... Now, a 975 degree chemical burn stings like a motherf*****...!!!

2004-08-04T15:15:00.000-07:00

I am soooooo looking forward to the weekend... Last weekend was the annual biggest camping weekend but I was working the whole time... so I got to make it up this weekend... I finnish work tomorrow at 4pm (I could say 16:00 but I know people who wouldn't get it) and then go shopping for supplize for the my workplace outing...
A. Beer...
B. More Beer (Got to set your priorities straight)...
C. Lamb meat (mutton), more then many of you will eat your whole lifetime...
D. Something to marinate the lamb in...
E. Other food stuff...
F. Charcole...
There... Then I get home and prepair the feast... On Friday I crack open a beer as I wake up around 11am (11:00 (duh!))... Then we play paintball from noon untill most of us are injured.. Then drink alot of beer before we go to the Blue Lagoon for a swim in the geothermal waters... Then a BBQ (with beer) and finally a party at my place downtown before we hit the bars untill 6:30-7am...
Saturday kicks off with me waking up when ever... Grabbing a cold beer for a hangover... Shopping at the mall for a birthday present... Stop at some bar... Then another BBQ + Party + Downtown til 6:30-7am...
Sunday will be spent groaning and moaning in bed as long as a can, arguing with my hangover...
To paraphraze the great philosopher René Descarte (who's a drunken fart): "I drink therefor I am...!"

2004-08-04T15:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been posting lately... It's do to a lot of factors...
The work factor is quite high, then time factor, and sleepyness factor, beer factor, fear factor, not here factor, as a matter of factor and yada yada yada...
So... as you can see there is a lot involved here...
... or it's just because I was lazy...

2004-07-28T07:19:00.000-07:00

They say: "Nesessity is the mother of all invention"... If so, then coincidence is it's father... and boredom it's brother...
For instance, I was quite bored at work, having finnished what I had to do that day... and because of boredom, I invented a game... You could take earplugs, stick one in your nose, close the otherside and then see how far you could shoot it... Ingenius...!
But then the coincidence came... It so happens that it tickles quite much having an earplug up your nose, unlike what I expected... and the tickle started to produce a sneeze... and we all know a sneeze travels at 150 km/hour (exept for people who surpress it (shame on you!))... and a sneeze hits equally both nostrils... soooooo...
Eurika (means: "Hand me a tissue")... You can shoot two earplugs 50% faster then the legal highway speedlimit...!
Now tell me this isn't a brilliant invention...!

2004-07-28T07:10:00.000-07:00

The weekend after this one, my shift at work will go on an outing together... The plans were to go whale watching and then to the Blue Lagoon... But since we've all seen so many whales (and eaten) we decided we needed more action... so we scrapped the whale watching and are going for Paintball... well actually Pain(t)ball, because those suckers really sting...
But wouldn't it have been cool to mix in the paintball with the whale watching... then we could have three teams...
Team one would be the whale hunters on a big boat, and instead of harpoons, we would shoot the whales with mops that had been dipped in paint...
Team two would be Greenpeace on small boats shotting us and waving flags...
Team three would be the whales who could spray us from there blowholes and capsize the Greenpeace boats (I mean who can stand those vegetarians (Hitler was a vegetarian!))...
P.S. I know being in Greenpeace doesn't automatically make someone a vegitarian... But it's equally as much a pain to invite them to dinner...

2004-07-26T15:46:00.000-07:00

Here is an overview of an interesting news story from Iceland:
A construction crew started having alot of trouble some weeks ago. Suddeny the cranes didn't work in the morning and had to be fixed daily. Other machinery started stalling or malfunctioning with no explanation. Then the people started to have bad luck themselves... Workers fell into pits or trapfalls or knocked there heads on beams or other stuff...
Then someone noticed a large boulder by the site had been disturbed... Some bulldozer had driven into it and shifted it abit... Then they knew what the problem was... Elves...
The called the head engineer and he came down to the site and sat by the boulder.... He started talking outload to the boulder for a while... He appoligized friendly and politly for any disturbance, promised they would be more careful and then asked if they could be shown a bit of patience while they finished...
After that no machinery broke down and no more accidents happened... everything was O.K. and they managed to finnish without any more trouble...
Neat newsstory huh...? and it's all true... and this is of course not the first time something like this has happened... That's why you find so few straight roads in Iceland... The crew has to work around certain areas so not to disturb the elves or "hidden folk" as they are called...

2004-07-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

Just a few pics from my brothers wedding...
This is my brother and dad waiting for the bride... (no stress)
This is the bride comming down the aisle with her dad...
The flowergirls and the ringbearer...
The weddingkiss...
Just married in a bubble storm...
Father and son dressed the same (looks like a ventriloquist doll)...
A good pic of the newlyweds...
Equally good pic of me and my older sister...
There... and if there pics aren't cute enough for you, I'll throw in some pics of puppies and kittins through a fisheye lens... Wow *melt**melt*...

2004-07-20T09:54:00.000-07:00

A typical wedding event is for the groom to remove the brides garter (I think it's spelled like that) and then toss it to the single men... The one that catches it will be the next one married...
Well... Lucky me...

2004-07-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

What a great wedding on Saturday... I had the best time...
I can't belive my brother is married though... things shure have changed these last 5 years... Then we were both single... He had a great place downtowm and I lived with my parents... He was a contractor and I worked at an aluminium factory... Now things are soooo different... He has a great place in the suburbs, his own company and a beautiful wife and three kids... and me... Well, I'm single again... and um... seem to be working again at the aluminium factory... and well, um... back at my parents place...
Darn...!

2004-07-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

OK... I don't like the looks of this latest development... Besides not being able to make up new material in my screenplay because of writersblock, it now seems it's affecting other creative areas...
I'm used to having really original and interesting dreams at nights (or any time I sleep actually (and sometimes while I'm awake))... Then today I woke up a bit confused over the night... Then I realized... This last dream was a "remake"...
I had the exact (EXACT) same dream a few days ago, exept now they just "remade" it with new actors (I kid you not!)... Everything else was exactly the same... The location, plot and dialoge...
Remakes are usually better or worse (most often worse) but the was exactly the same... There was no trying to hide the fact that this was the same dream...
I mean, not being able to make a new dream...! How bad is that...!?! It's at least a new nightmare for me...

2004-07-14T05:22:00.000-07:00

Busy week...! Besides working 6 shifts in 5 days (nights, evenings and mornings) I have stuff to do for my brothers wedding which is next Saturday... First I got to edit some material from his nad hers bachelor/bachelorette parties... then I got to get together some slide shows for people with speaches... then I have to set up (with my family) the whole dining area and seating for 130 people... then I have to write my own speach... all starting tomorrow evening since today I work til midnight and tomorrow (and Friday) are dayshifts...
... I think it all should go well... unless my writers blok will flare up again during my speach writing...
Congradulations to... um... my... ... brother (that should work)... and... his... um... ladythingy... *dang!*
Maybe I'll just end up buying a speach off www.mybrotherisgettingmarried.com

2004-07-09T06:36:00.000-07:00

OK... as usuall I won't be writing much this weekend... lots to do... Tonight will start out with me going to the movies with some of my Thugs... Then me and all of the Thugs that are in the country will go out to dinner... Finally there will be alot of beer drinking and partying...
Typical but always enjoyable...
Have a good weekend...

2004-07-08T12:06:00.000-07:00

Is it wrong that I really want to be on this list (really, really)...

2004-07-08T12:03:00.000-07:00

I finally finnished putting some pics on the net... Pictures from the Ribs BBQ, our Independance Day June 17th and my fishing trip...
Tada...

2004-07-05T10:27:00.000-07:00

Man, what a terrible oder that came from a guy on the way to work today... He deffinetly had a morning swim in some after shave...
The strength of after shave on other people can be measured in how many ways you sence it...
1. You smell it...
2. You taste it because it's so thick in the air...
3. You feel it, especially in your eyes which burn...
4. You see it as the fumes float in the air...
5. You hear it as it's evaporating...
This guy in front of me was even worse then the fifth case here... He was beyong what I though was possible... You could sence it with your sixth sence (like from the movie with the same name)...
"I see smelly people"...

2004-07-03T07:35:00.000-07:00

Was working til 8:00am... managed to get some sleep but have to be back at 4pm til midnight... No blog today (exept this)...
Instead I leave you with a link to some very funny pictures from the actual Saddam Hussein trial where he is playing "rock-paper-scissors"...

2004-07-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

I have these last weeks at home developed a bad case of "photo diaria"... Basicly every time I go somewhere remotly interesting I take a digital camera along and take pictures of everything (usually two or more), especially if I think it's something to show people overseas...
So now I have to go through them, resize and upload so you can go look at them and say... "boring"...

2004-07-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

Good fishing trip... Didn't catch a thing though... In total we got three trouts (small, smaller, in danger of being eaten by the bait)... Because I'm soooo undlucky when it comes to fishing... Not only do I never catch one, but the people around me don't either... To fish something while traveling with me you must go to some other part of the river where I am not and convince the fish that you don't know me...
We had great weather the whoel time, but it's a shame we couldn't dress to it... It's just a safety thing not to show any bare skin when you have a tendancy to shoot the flyhook into yourself or people around you... That's why you're dressed from head to toe in rubber hip waders (nothing "hip" about them) in the heat so at the end of the day you smell like an old rubber boot...
Yes, fishing is a popular sport here (anything that makes you drink a sixpack before lunch is a "sport") though I participate more as a spectator (more to drink on the river bank)... To catch a fish you must think like one and step one is to drink like one... The biggest sport is though trying to get all you gear, jackets and hipwaders off before you piss yourself after sooo many beers... Then it takes so long to put everything back on that you have to take another wizz when your done...
Yes, despite all these great things I still am not "hooked" on it (pun intended (as bad as it is))...

2004-06-29T03:25:00.000-07:00

Gone fishing... Back Thursday...

2004-06-28T08:34:00.000-07:00

Back again on my five day break... I was going to use this time once again to write my screenplay... but it's not working... I have a problem...
The first step in solving any problem is admitting you have a problem...
Hello... My name is Ragnar Eythorsson and I suffer from Writers Block... It has been more then two weeks since I wrote anything last...
Ooof... That wasn't as hard as I though... But this is the first time I am willing to admit that I have total writers block... and I don't think the solution is sitting here and staring at the screen... I'll step out with a good pen and pad and try to start again that way... Baby steps...
Bill has ball... Ball is red... See Bill's ball...? Bill bounce ball... Ball bounces elequantly through the mist and rolls by the feet of a young lady who's stunning face is only surpassed by the mysterousness of her emerald eyes which radiate both wisdom of age yet purity of youth... Lady sees ball...

2004-06-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

On mid summers night eve (which was wednesday night) it is said in Iceland that if you roll naked in the dew in the grass in the night, you might see elves, you gain luck, better health and get the one you love...
I mean, do you actually think I'm silly enough to belive such things and do this (*cough*) again (*cough**cough*)...?

2004-06-27T11:19:00.000-07:00

Well, the nights are getting longer again... Summer Soltic is over (June 21st)... My parents were in the northern part of Iceland that day and took this picture at midnight...
Now you can see why Led Zepplin wrote in there lyrics for The Immigrant Song (which is about Iceland): "I come from the land of ice and snow, from the midnight sun where the hotsprings flow..."
Next up... pictures of hotsprings... some time later...

2004-06-27T11:18:00.000-07:00

I just had a haircut this week and it's so much better working in the factory now... Especially since I don't suffer any more from "Helmet Hair Syndrom"...
I do feel sorry though for a guy who works with me who has really "big" hair... At the end of the day it looks like someone mixed a poodle with a jellyfish and put on his head...

2004-06-25T09:43:00.000-07:00

Now I understand why I was chosen for the "noise pollution" testing... It's best for my work area is there is measure alot of noise because then fixes will be made that benefit us...
Should I be offended that it's assumed that I'm the noisiest employee...? So what if I'm the only one who makes *crash* and *boom*...

2004-06-24T18:11:00.000-07:00

Today my boss came over and said that during the next shift the would be measuring noise in the factory and was picked to be carrying some device that measures and documents all noise around me so they can see the noise pollution a typical worker gets daily...
I don't think I'm the worker they should base this on... First of all I have earplugs to soften the noise from the factory and especially me work machine... Then my radio is on loud enough so I can hear it over all the noise... Then whenever there is a good song (everything is good when you're bored working) I crank it up as high as it can go... Then I always sing along... exept when there is a good song (same as before), then I practically yell along to beat out every other sound in the area (South-West Iceland Area)...
So when they calculate the results by me as an "average worker", they will force everyone to spackle up there ears and where protective earmuffs the size of basketballs...
There only hope is if the device also records the sounds heard over the day... Then I'll be quiet as a mouse... but I'd still squeek along the tunes...

2004-06-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

There are few things better when the temperature is more then 20 degrees outside (68 Fahrenheit), then working inside a windowless factory where the heat is easilly more then 55 degrees (131 Fahrenheit)...
People call it a "dry heat" so it's not as bad, but trust me, when it's more then 55 (131) then no-one is dry... "Sweating like crazy" is the correct term...
I'm of course on of the lucky ones who's air conditioner broke down... So I could either keep it off, but then there would be so much steam inside the truck because of dead air... or I could have it blowing so it's like haveing a couple of hot hairdryers in my face... and since my work needs me to see out of the windows on the truck, I must choose the later option...
That of course makes it even more hotter inside where I am... So hot that I would have offered almost anyone to break wind in my direction for a breath of fresher and colder air...
Hmmm... And the weather is the same today... Looking forward to another day in the factory...

2004-06-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

I'm too beat after this weekend to have any idea what to write here... Tommorow maybe...

2004-06-15T15:41:00.000-07:00

I'm glad we're going somewhere into the country side to BBQ tomorrow instead of doing it at my place... I remember what happened the last time I had a rib party...
Basicly I procrastinated in cleaning the main big pot we cooked in... I just left it there for a loooong time... an soon life began to form...
First it was only simple organisms... but I kept procrastinating and life kept on evolving... Soon there was movement inside the pot... and the lifeforms kept multiplying, not anymore by single cell reproduction, but by mating... The pot started trying to hump other pots and pans in the kitchen in order to reproduce even further...
Finally intelligence started to form in the "creature" equal to most reality T.V. shows... I let it stay at my place since it ate pests like flys, spiders, rats and even midget mailmen...
But in the end the "creature" was put down... Angry villagers chased it away with pitchforks and torches on a dark, rainy night...
Why do people fear what they don't understand...?

2004-06-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

On Thursday June 17th is our Independance Day... a real thing, unlike some events in a lame movie by the same name... and since it's a day off, that means Wednesday will be for drinking...
I bought 25 pounds of ribs on Monday for a great BBQ with my friends... Today I bouled it a bit in herbs and spices and then put in a juicy marinade so tomorrow it will be around (or just about) perfection...
And why did I choose to go through all this trouble when we have so many guys who could have done the cooking...
A. I make a wicked marinade...!
B. I cook... That means I don't have to clean (clever bugger, eh)...!
C. Now my job is done... all that's left for me is beer drinking...
I shure hope I manage C. well enough... People are counting on me...

2004-06-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

Writing a screenplay is like planning a Road Trip...
We start from one place and are going to another... Along for the ride are certain characters... some come along from the beginning, like the main character who is the driver, but others you pick up on the way... Then you have to plan what ruit to take, what speed to drive, what extra luggage and what kind of car you use...
This is my progress...
The driver Axel and his buddy ALexander drove off and soon they picked up Andrea into the car... Now, I know were they are supposed to go, but I don't know what road to take there... I also know of some fun locations they pass along the way, but no idea how to get from one place to another... So basicly they are stuck at the edge of town while I plan the trip better... I just hope I don't run out of gas...

2004-06-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

Back again after a small pause do to screenwriting ...
Apperently the weather was wonderful these last days but I didn't notice since I was glued to the monitor...
I think though that it was a mistake not writing online while I was writing a screenplay... I though it would be a disstraction writing here but it was actually the opposite... Everytime I got stuck in my screenplay I just kept thinking about my online writing... but I was too stubborn to take a break from my screenplay...
It's of course much smarter when you feel you are frozen in one writing area to go into another writing area to get your fingers flying over the keyboard again... But I didn't and spent an incredible ammount of time just staring dazed at the screen...
I never knew my own eyes could go into "screensaveer mode"...

2004-06-07T07:24:00.000-07:00

Well, now is the time... This week I will (WILL) start writing my screenplay... No "if's, and's or but's" about it... Exept when I use those words in my screenplay...
The problem is though, that I think I have a certain phobia... There is no name for it so I will give it one and a description...
Dictajunkaphobia:
The fear of, even though you have a great idea in your head, the moment you put it down on paper, it becomes crap... So you never write anything because you don't want to ruin it...
This might sound like a joke, but the more I think of it, the more sence it makes... This isn't writers block because I have enough to write...
I also suffer from
Escaflatuphobia:
The fear of someone in front of you in an escalator has to fart...
But that's besides the point...
I will though overcome this fear (the first one (nothing I can do about the second one (stupid mexican restaurants everywere))) by writing at least 10 pages as soon as possible...
So... here I go...! Wish me luck...

2004-06-07T06:56:00.000-07:00

I met a bunch of female friends celebrating last weekend...
We have an Icelandic saying: "It's to late to hold your ass, when everything is already in the trousers"... But celebrating a bacheloretteparty a year after the marrage is like preforming a cesarian operation a year after the baby is born...
But I expect that they had more fun during the bachelorette party then during a cesarian operation... but what do I know... I have never experienced neither... damn, gender discrimination...

2004-06-07T06:41:00.000-07:00

Why do I put myself through this... Yesterday was soooo crap at work... I was sooooo tired and hungover, working in 50 degrees (Clecius) heat... But i think it was worth it because Saturday was such a blast...
I was just going out for a few hours and a few beers and told myself that it would be no later then 2:30... two sixpacks later came 2:30 and I said OK 3:00 and a few more drinks... and then 3:00 became 3:30 (another drink please) and 3:30-4:00... 4:00-4:30... OK, let's take some flaming shots... 4:30-5:00... 5:00-5:30... OK, let's go home...
Then I finally get some sleep... wake up at 7:00am and have to drive to work... My mom (I live with my partents while over this summer) just looked at me and said no-way I was driving now... So she drove me and I started working at 8:00... Ooofff...
But... it went surprizingly well... concidering I wouldn't even have placed myself behind a wheelbarrow, let alone a truck...

2004-06-04T08:01:00.000-07:00

Wow... The weekend is here already... It will be on the easy side (not too easy though) since I'll be working... That's fine since last weekend was such a blast...
Then comes my break which land on the typical work days so that means I have plenty of time to do my writing... No parties, drinking or hangovers to stop me now... Just peace and quiet while everyone is at work... Yeapp, let's get cracking then...
Still, why do I feel like someone walking upp Mt. Everest who suddenly thinks "Hey...! This isn't a hill..."

2004-06-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

Some joker seems to have given the weather gods (who dislike me (the weather gods that is)) my work scheadule... Every time I sleep in, there is the bestest (yes, I said "bestest" (and I know it's wrong)) weather so I miss it... and then when I have to work in the daytime, the weather's even better... Not that I miss the heat... In the sunshine the heat inside the factory multiplies... It's hot enough to bake a cake in there, but we don't because if will deffinatly burn from the heat...

2004-06-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

Where did that drumset by my window come from when I'm trying to sleep inn... and why is there someone sawing apart a guitar to the beat...?

2004-06-03T01:52:00.000-07:00

I'd just like to tell you people in the big continent that Lindy, my Canadian cousin (4th, once removed) has just released a new album "Suspension of Disbelief"... You can check out his CD release celebration at the El Mocambo this Friday, June 4th, at 10pm... His friend Lily Frost opens up the evening and she plays incredible music...
Lindy will then tour Western Canada first and then Eastern Canada in July so be on the lookout for his concerts...
Enjoy...

2004-06-01T06:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I just finnished putting online the pictures from the hike up the volcano...
There is a small description for each pic but they kind of are self explanitory...
Here they are...

2004-05-31T10:12:00.000-07:00

What a weekend... I'll tell it day by day...
On Friday I had a wicked party for my work... You see, I just got back the appartment I had before I left and it's the perfect party place... And you know the party was a success when the toilet box is litterally broken and the apartment is half flooded...
On Saturday I was soooo hung-over and went through the day lazilly... But the evening came and we went to my place for some beers... After sitting by my new indoor pool (still had to mop up) we went barhopping... Unfortunatly since Sunday is some holliday the places closed early so we had to stop partying at 4:30am... Which actually was quite good because I had en early morning...
Yes, Sunday... I awoke at 9:00am and got ready for a little excursion... My friend picked me up and we went to the countryside to walk up a volcano... This one is deffinatly not dormant because it errupted last time the year 2000, 1991 and 1981... We drove up on a jeep to 900 meters and then walked up 1.275 to the top... I was looking for a great view but unfortunatly we were inside a cloud so we couldn't see anything...
Then we went down to my case of beer and took it to a summer cabin where we barbequed some lamb... Finally we went back into town and hit the bars once more since Monday was a day off...
I'll throw in some picks from the volcano later... I'm just so dead tired after this weekend that I can barely finnish this se

2004-05-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

I had a tiny mishap at work... Well, "tiny" isn't quite the word when the damage is 3.000 dollars worth... I was driving my truck avoiding obstacles two days ago when I hit a curb and broke a steering piston... and it costs that much to replace... I guess I won't be employee of the week this week either...
Coincidentally, this is the exact same damage I did to a vehicle the last time I worked at that factory a few years ago... You whould have though I'd have learned from that...
Now... Here's were coincidence turns into irony... Today I was driving around... avoiding obstacles... The same truck they just fixed... and... Well... Let's just say I won't be employee of the month either...

2004-05-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

Some work weeks are more crazy then others...
I am of course in a giant factory driving a truck... and due to an earthquake a few years back the struckture in some places isn't as sturdy as it should be... So people have been looking for those areas and fixing them so people don't have accidents... But there was one area they missed... The good news I found it... by accident (litterally)... the bad news is it could have killed me... the good news is it didn't (wouldn't have written about that online (it would bum you out))...
I was just driving around (in reverse) inside the factory when a large area of the floor caved in underneith me... The front end of the truck dipped down, but since I was going so fast it hit the edge and jumped back onto the floor I was supposed to be (as opposed to flat in the celler (that would be wrong))...
So all's well that ends well... To bad I'm using all my luck avoiding death when I could be using it to further my carreer... I guess I have to rely on my talents instead...

2004-05-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

I went swimming this weekend... Ahhhh... Man I love the Icelandic pools...
It was about 8 degrees and raining but we are open in any weather...
I went to "Laugardalslaug" (literal translation "Pool-Valley Pool"), the biggest pool in Iceland, where I used to work for a few years while in junior-college in every position exept in the womens change room (belive me, I tried)...
There were two lifeguards as usuall... one watching the pool and the other on break... but it reminded me of what my friend told me about Canadian life guards... They have to take all these courses and get certain degrees in swimming but we just have to take one easy test and that's it... So you would think Canadian lifeguards would be better... but probably they aren't... My friend said that at his pool they were 5-7 around at once and 2 more for backup... Do Canadians just sink so easilly...
Still, I think the reason they need all these lifeguard is because this is the generation that grew up learning that lifeguards in red can only run in slow motion...

2004-05-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

I've been getting comments on how to reach me here in Iceland besides e-mail...
Well, since everyone here is so attached to there cellphone (they have started to surgically implant them into babies here) you can reach me anytime when I'm not at work... Just remember there is a 4 hour time difference... So for instance when it's 2:00am and you are drunk and want to talk, it's 6am where I am and I'm deffinatly still partying here...
My phone number is 822-2695 (we only need 7 digit numbers (no area codes))... but of course first you have to make a call outside the country (it was 011 where I was) and then need the to put in "354" for Iceland... so... 011-354-822-2695...
If you just want to text messege my phone you can do so for free online... just go to http://www.ogvodafone.is and on the right side you will see an area where is sais "SMS"... Beneith it, it sais "Simanumer" which means telephone number... you just have to write "8222695" there... Then the box beneith where it sais "Skilabod", that is for the message...
Looking forward to hearing from you guys...

2004-05-23T10:26:00.000-07:00

Wow... I have really been a lazy writer online... It can only mean two things...
1. I've been so busy writing my screenplay that I haven't had time to write elsewhere...
... or...
2. Pretty boring things have been happening so there is nothing worth writing...
Well... remember when I said I did no work on my days off but said that I would tripple it the next time I had days off... well I kept my promise... I trippled nothing and did nothing... I mean, a guy's got to keep his promises...

2004-05-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest party events here in Iceland is the Eurovision Song Contest... For some reason Icelandic people love it soooo much and usually throw parties all over town...
The Eurovision Song Contest is basicly every country in Europe (now well over 30 something) sends one song to compete and then all countries vote (exept for there own)... It's a very cheezy thing but we love it just the same and make a VERY big deal of it even though we never win (we came 2nd last year (Hurray))...
Anyway, the song we sent this year I thought was sooooo bad... I knew for shure we wouldn't win with that song... I was at a party last weekend and some guy was talking about the song to some girls... I just had to jump into the conversation to say my oppinion... and I go into this loooong rant about how crappy this song is and bla bla bla... My friend sits next to me and sais he's never heard the song... The guy I was talking to reaches into a box and gives him a brand new CD with the song... I ask for one also because I said I needed a coaster for my beer...
Then I keep on going, telling more jokes about how crappy the song is, making as much fun of the song as possible (it really is that bad) much to the girls amusement... When I was quoting some stupid lines from the lyrics the guy actually corrected me and told me how the lyrics really went...
I said: "You shure do know alot about this song..."
The guy said: "Yeah... I wrote it... I just don't tell people right away to get their opponion..."
Me: "Well, now you know mine..."
Hahaha... Usually out of politeness people never say they hate something other people do... But this time I had already said everything I could and to the guy who wrote the song without even knowing it... Poor guy...
Now a small ending... A few days later I see an interview with the guy in the paper... He sais: "Some guys don't like the song, but girls seem to like it... so I don't care what the guys think..." Yes... Girls like it... and they laughed at my jokes just out of politeness too...

2004-05-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

We know that the shortest distance betweem two points is a straight line between A and B... Today at work I had to do just that... get from A to B again and again... But the problem was it felt like someone just emptied a bag of Scrabble tiles over my pathway so I had to go A-MNBMAWEOQNEISFPHNBFHA-B...
What makes this even worse is that on my way I can't hit anything or even touch another object because I can cause an "electric surge" from one object to another... It's actually like the game "Operation" where you use a metal tweezer to take out plastic pieces from a guy on the gameboard without hitting the edges because then you get a "Bzzzz" and his nose lights up... Add to that, that I am driving a big vehicle squeezing into openings so small that people wouldn't even try so on a bicycle and the "Bzzzz" thing is actually like being hit by lightning (exept it lasts longer)...
Yeap... Make a mistake and it won't be just my nose that lights up...

2004-05-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

Some days are more exiting at work then others...
Now... I'm not saying it was me who caused a small explosion that knocked out the electricity for a third of the factory... and I'm not saying it wasn't...
Let's just say I won't be getting the "Employee Of The Week" award...

2004-05-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

Man... I shouldn't watch little kids doing sports...
I was babysitting my little nephew and took him to soccer practice (or as we call it football (we got feet, we got balls... don't see no-one kicking in their socks))...
He is six years old and practices a few times a week with a team... I droped him off and came back to pick him up a bit early so I got to see the end of the practice... There was quita a bunch of little guys running random over the field like hyperactive particles, kicking the ball randomly into any direction... And of course like in chemestry, when particles fly around randomly, they usually bump into one another, or in this case "crash"... and boy do I think it's soooooo funny...
The soccer moms in the area always get a shock when they see there presious baby collide into another or just onto the floor after hitting an invisible wall (it doesn't take much to make the kids smack the ground)... while I am on the sidelines stiff in the face and twitching trying to hold down my laughter...
Kid of course this age get more hits and smacks then the ball they kick around, yet they just get up and keep on running with a smile on their face... That's how to built character and make them tough (otherwise they'll just become crybabies (and play Pro Sports))...
And the game goes on... Run run kick crash *ohhh!* (the moms breathing in shocked) run crash *ohhh!* kick crash *ohhh!* *ohhh!*... and I'm sitting there with my face all red, trying to contain myself from spraying my laughter all over the worried moms... The dads just watch and yell: "Come on guys...!"
Finally I'm busted... the soccer moms notice me and you should have seen their expression... ooof... they all stared accusingly at me...
... or they could just have been thinking "Hmmm, a guy babysitting? Oh, what a handsome gesture... He probably has no kid himself... yummy yumm"... ... (but it was probably the other thing)...

2004-05-13T13:41:00.000-07:00

I was doing my laundry befor I went to the factory yesterday... The factory actually washes my exterior uniform (shirt and pants), but i have to wash the shorts and undershirt during my five day break between shifts...
I took them home and was about to put them in the washer when I realized I had know idea on what setting to wash... The fabric is a very special material, so in order not to ruin it, I decide to put in in a very gently and short low heat wash... Then I take the laundry out and put it in the dryer but just for a little bit so the heat there doesn't ruin it either... When I'm taking my laundry out I suddenly realize... All this laundry is FlameRetardent... made to withstand great heat... and I've been treating it like it's some rare silk from Tibet...!
Next time I do laundry I'll just chuck it into the pressur cooker and dry it in my toaster...

2004-05-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

Wow... After checking the calander I see I've been back in Iceland for 3 and a half week alreadu... Man, the time has really flown by...
I guess I should start thinking about unpacking my bags soon...

2004-05-12T10:32:00.000-07:00

Well, now my day's off at work are over... and I start work at midnight...
Let's recap all the work I managed to do in my 5 day break which I said I was going to do all this summer every 5 day break...
Pages written in my screenplay = 0
Photographs taken = 0
Minutes of material recorded on video = 0
Hmmm... not much progress... But I promise that during my next 5 day break I will double... no... TRIPLE at least this ammount of work that I did this break...
OK, it's a deal... (I'm probably going to get a message from some math smarty-pants...)

2004-05-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm procrastinating again... I do it so well...! A very skilled procrastenator... I can teach you alot about procrastinating if I can every be bothered to...
I was once going to write a self help bok on procrastenating... but never got around to it though...

2004-05-10T14:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been writing much online these last days... First of all there was my job which takes up quite a bit of my time and then of course if my weekend is really good I barely have the energy to write...
... and my weekend was sooooooo good...!
I saw a movie, went ou to dinner, then a concert and finally partied all night on Friday... on Saturday was a party and then we threaded the bar again til 6:30 am...
Now... if that doesn't put anyone off sitting in a room he next day by a computer, I don't know what will...

2004-05-09T11:22:00.000-07:00

On Friday I saw Van Helsing in the cinema... It's an OK film... quite fun actually...
But like many (sooooo many) blockbuster films, there are certain sceens that are just too "Hollywood"... A good way to find out how much "Hollywood" a scene is, you should go to the movies at the same time as me and my friends here... if you feel a sudden draft during a scene, it is just us giving out a big sigh...
For example, the cinemas saved alot on air conditioning when they were showing Armageddon... *sigh*

2004-05-05T05:09:00.000-07:00

Well, my workshifts are halfway through at the factory... then I get a five day break...
I like the way my work plan is... I work 6 times in 5 days, and then get 5 days off... Very simple but it also means that I get half of the summer off...
That half og the summer I will use to take photographs, go traveling with a video camera and stuff (I hope (if I don't get lazy))... But most of all I want to use that time to write my screenplays... I alread have two ideas that I want to finnish this summer so I better get going...
Yeap... let's go... OK... two screenplays... yessiree... twooooo whooooole screenplays... 240 pages of writing... lalala... I'm almost getting there... yeap... just thinking about it makes me half way there...
Man, I really need a swift kick in the butt to get started...

2004-05-04T18:03:00.000-07:00

I noticed this morning that the odds of being awaken by the telephone is in direct proportion to how tired you are and how exiting the dream is...
This morning I was so tired after the night shift and was really having an exiting action dream... After alot of searching, chasing and adventure I finally reach the main part where all secrets will be revield, I save the hot babe, but the villain still has me corned... then everything freezes... and the music plays "dunn dunn duuunnnn!!!"... ... ...
... ... ... ring ring riiiinnnng...!
I embarresed have to appologize to the villain so I can wake up and answer the phone... which I do... I try to finnish the call as quickly as possible while I am still dazed so I can get back into the same dream...
I fall asleep again and am back in the action... exept I forgot what was going on, so I have to ask the villain what the situation was again... He becomes annoyd but explanes the details... we get back into possitions... I wink the hot chick... and "dunn dunn duuunnnn!!!"... ring ring riiiinnng...
I wake up again... hurry up the call because I know I'm missing something good... fall asleep again... get back in the dream... look around... and see the villain leaving in one direction and the hot chick in the other... and I'm left alone empty handed and pissed off... especially since the hot chick couldn't even wait for me...
I understand the villain had to go... they are always so busy... I mean, have you ever seen a lazy villain...?

2004-05-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

I will be back doing the same stuff in the factory as I was doing five years ago... Basicly I drive a 20 ton truck, sucking up 5,5 tons of liquid aluminium (960 degrees hot) into a 5 ton steel container and driving it to a crane who picks it up... It's a rough and tough job but a hell of a lot of fun...
The only dissapointment was that they changed the speed on the trucks so now they can only go 10 km/hour... and the factory is very big... a kilometer long... and my usuall trip back and forth is 500 meters each way... So... 500 meters x2 at 10 km/hour... so if my math doesn't fail me... that equals exactly... a hell of a long time...!!!

2004-05-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I finnished my first day (actually night) at the Aluminium Factory...
As a new recrute (even though I worked there 5 years ago) they had to show me all the safty rules again... and they have become much more strict since the last time I was there... Now everything is connected to a "salary bonus" so if something isn't done safely enough you lose part of your bonus... actually, not just you, but the whole crew (ouch!)...
Hmmm... So if something isn't done safely they pay us less... No wonder they hired me back... According to the stories told about me since I was there, they will save alot of money this summer...

2004-05-02T06:52:00.000-07:00

Oh crap... I just thought up the worst joke ever... I have to write it here because it's so bad... Don't hurt me, I'm just the messenger (even though I'm also the writer of it)...
Ready... OK...
Define Fast Food...
A Formula 1 race with a drive-through...
Ahahahaha, ahahaha... ahaha... aha... um... OK, the moments over...

2004-05-02T06:50:00.000-07:00

I just realized that a good sign of how much fun you have partying is basicly how much NOT hungover you are the day after...
You go out for a standard night out with the guys and the day after you feel terrible... But if you had a great time you also feel great the next morning, even though you drank more than it takes to sink a submarine (Yes, I know... Submarines are usually already sunken (but I could sink them more))...
So today, I have no hangover and feel great... That still doesn't mean I can't go out for the standard "post party" grease meal... Hmmm... What sloppy fast food do I want...? KFC is crowing unusually load right about now...!

2004-05-02T06:41:00.000-07:00

Oh... I had the bestest (bestestest) time yesterday...!
My friends had a "welcome back" party for me (it was about time) and we of course drank like there was no tomorrow (apparently there was a tomorrow (it's today (I think)))... We went from party to party and then downtown til the break of dawn (and then some)...
I like how we drink here til 7:00am when by then it's 3:00am in Canada and you guys are probably fast asleep... You have so much to learn...

2004-04-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

Another weekend is upon me... What to do... what to do...?
I seem to have aquired some beer out of habit so I guess I'll just improvise from there on...
Have a great weekend...!

2004-04-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

Went to the factory yesterday to pick up my work outfit... Yes, it's all about manual labor this summer... Strutting around with a helmet in 50 degree heat (Celcius (Farenheight would be so much better though))...
Since I'm around liquid aluminium which is 950-1.050 degrees hot, my outfit is made of flame retardent pants, flame retardent shirt, flame retardent t-shirt, flame retardent socks, flame retardent shoes and flame retardent underware (I suddenly started thinking of the "burning loins" joke from Friends)...
The thing is "liquid aluminium" is not the same as "fire"... There was a guy who worked with me who had a drop of aluminium fall into his pocket... without stopping, the drop went through his pants, through his underware twice and again through his pants without him notising anything... My own shirtsleeves were speckled with holes after a few months (but I luckily didn't get burned that often)...
I don't know were I'm going with this entry... well... basicly... I think it doesn't matter if I wear "flame retardent" clothes or "flame retarded" (p.s. isn't that slang for a dumb gay guy?)...

2004-04-29T06:15:00.000-07:00

Got my grades yesterday... I liked them even though I did have a little (tiny) higher average last semester... But of course that means there is only one thing to do... ... Blame my teammates... ... Oh Yeah...!
... ... No...! How could I...? I worked with the best this year... We booted buttox... together... ! I couldn't have done anything without them...
So I just want to thank officially the people I worked with last semester for a good job and for great times... Especially one person (you know who you are) who collaborated with me very closely on, not one, but at least 6 assignments...
Thanks again... and I miss you...
Looking forward to our future projects if you can be bothered to work with me again...
I'll bring some scripts back (if I can ever be bothered to get started writing them instead of an online journal)...

2004-04-29T06:03:00.000-07:00

Had a smooth shave yesterday... I just had this sudden idea that maybe before I start working in an aluminium factory, it might be wise to make my face less flammable...

2004-04-28T03:52:00.000-07:00

I got to visit today the company I will start working for next week... Do some paperwork, get some stuff, piss in a cup... Yeap... Standard procedure here... especially since I will be driving a 20 ton truck the size of a bus inside a factory with 5 tons of molten aluminum... trust me, you don't want that to spill...
So, no Stoners aloud (and I don't mean people from that band)...! Luckally for me (well it wasn't luck, just smarts) I never did any drugs (too preoccupied with my beer (and that's all I ever need (and a few shots))) so I'll test perfectly... um... if my blood isn't thinned out by the alcohol from last night...

2004-04-28T03:45:00.000-07:00

I just talke to the Bloodbank today and they said I can finally make a deposit...
After being in Canada I usually have to wait for a while... First there was that SARS so people who visited Canada couldn't donate... Then there was that Mosquite fever thingy last fall so when I came back at Christmas I couldn't donate... but now luckilly I can give whenever I want because apparently living in a -30 degree area kills off anything exept a hangover...
So, now I'll be tapping off a pint of blood for a good cause... or maybe we'll go three in and chip in for a whole pitcher...

2004-04-28T03:20:00.000-07:00

Oh man, it's been a lazy week since I've been back (almost)... I've just been reading and reading and reading (and reading)...
I swept through a few science magazines I've missed these last months and finnished two novels... It's about time I got some mental stimulation... I've just been giving "output" these last months, but now I'm finally getting "input" (welll, input which is not alcohol)...
I really really (really) recommend the last book I read, The Da Vinci Code...
How good is it...? Well, let's just say I would like to adapt it into a screenplay... and I always said I would never (never) write anything that wasn't my own idea... so that means it has to be a good book...
But it is already adapted now by Akiva Goldsman who won an Oscar for the adaptaion of A Beautiful Mind... The movie will be out next year and is directed by Ron Howard (director of A Beautiful Mind)...
It will probably be a good movie, but as we all know much will be left out... especially since this book is full of detailed and amazing information on history, art, math, astrolgy, religion and more... It's also one big mystery, with puzzles, riddles and more and keeps you thinking the whole time... The most intelligent book I have ever read...!
Next up, a book reccomended by some Sheridan College teachers... "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls"... About how a handful of men (Coppola, Scorcesi, Speilberg, DePalma, Lucas, Altman) revolutionized filmmaking in hte 70's and made the rebirth of American Cinema... Who is the father? We don't know... No-one wants to take a bloodtest...

2004-04-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

A late blog today...
I was busy working on stuff all day, from taking apart and fixing computers, designing an ad for a newspaper and then spending the evening playing pool with friends...
I actually wasn't going to write today, but since I was online checking my mail I might as well say something... Oh, I love checking my mail... The exitement of getting 47 letters a day from complete strangers offering me products I don't need...
Anyway... I'm feeling so tired... My sleeping pattern is still kind of funky since those last waking weeks at Sheridan College... Add to that two sweet European beers in the evening and I'm as sleepy as a hibernating bear on decaf coffee...
Good night...!

2004-04-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

The events of my weekend were as followed...
On Friday I went out with a few good friends for a drinking session at a home and then downtown... It's a standard custome to drink as much as you can before you go to bars since you're paying almost 11 bucks for a beer when you finally get there...
It was actually a slow night since the biggest drinking group is university students and they are all cramming for finall exams and essays... so we had to call it a night early, around 5:30am... bummer...
On Saturday I went at 2:00pm to a bar with my brother (on his birthday) and his friends to watch an English Football match... you call it of course "soccer", but it's football... "soccer" is what English football hooligans do to there girlfriends when their team loses (they sock'er)...
We drank for a few hours before we went back to my brothers to get ready for the party... then we did party... and then went downtown... we only stayed out till 6:00am since I was hanging around with a bunch of guys in their early 30's with women and children at home (not that they are whipped) and I save quite a bit of cash by splitting a taxi with them back...
All in all it was a decent weekend... Cheers to that... My team even won the football match... We were watching Liverpool agains Manchester United... My team (Liverpool) scored 1:0 in a pretty boring game... I don't mind who wins or loses though... I just prefer Liverpool since it's the birthplace of the Beatles... I mean, why should I give a rat's ass about if 11 english strangers win or lose to another 11 strangers... I'm in it for the company... oh... and beer of course... oh... and the beer... of course...

2004-04-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

Well, as expected I didn't write online all weekend... I didn't have time on Saturday and spent Sunday nursing a hangover... Too much danish beer and danish shots... I drank shots from a type of alcohol called "Ákavíti", which comes from the words "Aqua Vitae"... and as anyone good at latin languages will tell you, "Aqua Vitae" means something like "Water Of Life"...
Strange since it killed off most of the people around me... "Aqua Morte" should be more fitting... But I was still standing and managed to check out the night life (but of course)...
Here is some more alcohol useless trivia...: Wiskey also means "Water Of Life" and Vodka means "Little Water"... My theory is that they gave it a innocent name like that to get chicks to drink it and get them hammered... Just like there is no Ice-Tea in a "Long Island Ice-Tea" coctail... Oh, the desperate things men try... I guess telling jokes has never worked...