Are they going to go?

No - this are no pictures of a fashion show.

Dinner for One

Though the politician's talk show Kryddsíld on New Year's Eve was a big hit there are considerations to cancel the show in the future to spare the furniture of the Hótel Borg in Reykjavík. Instead Dinner for One should be performed as is the custom in other Scandinavian countries. To introduce the alternative small talk show in Iceland some changes are recommended.

The ghost guests Sir Toby, Admiral von Schneider, Mr. Pommeroy and Mr. Winterbottom should be replaced by Sir Haarde, Admiral Bjarnason, Mr. Sigurðsson and Mr. Mathiesen. Ingibjörg Sólrún could act Miss Sofie and Davíd would perform the butler James perfectly.



But why waiting for the next New Year's Eve? To introduce Dinner for One in Iceland I propose January 23, this year's first day of Þorri, the so called Bóndadagur, dedicated to men. Then the British dinner can be transformed in a Þorrablót, an Icelandic midwinter feast.

Appetizer: Hákarl (rotten shark) and harðfiskur (dried fish).
Maincourses: hrútspungar (sheep's testicles), sviðasulta (sheep's head jam), slátur (liver and blood sausages), hangikjöt (smoked lamb), hvalllíki (fake whale blubber) and other delicacies.
There is no need of dessert.
The drinks are brennivín - a schnapps also known as Svartidauði (Black Death) – maybe a drop of Egils beer, brennivín and brennívin again.

When the original sketch was filmed the British actor Freddie Frinton had his tiger with him and insisted on using it although the studio had prepared a polar bear skin. Now it is time to appoint the polar bear! There are two nice hunting trophies from the last year, which were already a great success in the Áramótaskaup (New Year's joke) TV-show.


I only fear all visible and invisible actors will refuse to go off and mess up the glorious end of Dinner for One in Iceland.

Happy New Year, Iceland!

And a happy New Year to all visitors of my blók*!

* Blók means something like nonentity.

Snowball fights and thrilling games

On the picture you can see some Icelandic figures or parts of them (Davíð Oddsson, Björgólfur Guðmundsson, Reynir Traustason, Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson, Skyrgámur and Guðjón V.).

It's a good time for a snowball fight. Afterwards you should spend a milk ice for the patron saint of the 19th December, Skyrgámur. Later you will have a nice evening with your family playing Kreppuspilið, the thrilling crunch game.

It's cleaning time in Iceland

Staff of the Althingi Cleaning Service were arrested by mistake yesterday. The police supposed that the people were anarchists who tried to occupy the Parliament building.
"We only made a clean-in, you fokking fascists!" Myrkvi (19) cried while led off in handcuffs.
It's a tradition in Iceland to clean each house very carefully before Christmas. All vacuums are busy, a million coats of dust are removed, not a single spot of grease is spared, sheet and sheep and even the skeleton in the closet are whitewashed.

Icelandic protester arrested

The picture is a montage* but it tells the scandalous truth:
The young man who raised the Bónus supermarket flag on the Icelandic parliament building two weeks ago (see here) was arrested yesterday evening. A "preventive" detention? Today as on each Saturday people in Reykjavík are demonstrating in front of the parliament building.
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* photos by Helgi Jóhann Hauksson et al

Mother of invention

Kreppa (crisis) is the mother of invention.

The Icelanders who used to build their houses of turf in the past centuries take again an organic mixture consisting of eggs, tomatoes and toilet paper to redecorate their stone buildings.

Dr. Gunnar Njálssöguson from the University of Iceland criticized the invention and insisted on homemade and cheap ingredients like sheep fat and lupines seed. Some angry blogger called him an "ignorant fool" (the Icelandic expression is a bit harsher).

To flag the Aldi banner on the Reichstag building in Berlin ...

... would be the work of a fool.


Why did the Icelandic protesters raise the flag of the supermarket-chain Bónus on the parliament building in Reykjavík last Saturday?

Bónus belongs to one of the richest and mightiest Icelanders, Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson, chairman of Baugur Group, who is supposed to be one of the causer of the Icelandic finance crisis. (By the way, in German the word Ásgeir looks like Aasgeier = vulture.)


Bónus is the cheapest supermarket-chain in Iceland and its flag shows a fat pink piggy bank.



Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson now tries to concentrate the Icelandic mass media in his hands.

Look at the video of the protest in Reykjavík .

Visit the web page of Andri Snær Magnason and read about Bonus Poetry (Bónus ljóð) .