“Cuba’s the new Iceland”
– Third Track Main Camera Four Minutes
Also:
(Song title) Something’s Rotten In The Back Of Iceland
So… what do we know about Iceland?
The A to Z of HMHB
The A to Z of HMHB
“Cuba’s the new Iceland”
– Third Track Main Camera Four Minutes
Also:
(Song title) Something’s Rotten In The Back Of Iceland
So… what do we know about Iceland?
dickhead in quicksand
Iceland won the Bermuda Bowl (the world bridge championship) in 1991. There was considerable intrigue in one of the pool games, when an American team (which had already qualified) came up with a cunning plan: playing badly, so as to face in the quarter final the opponents they perceived as weakest. It succeeded – except that the Icelanders stuffed them.
20 April 2015
peter mcornithologist
Only tolerated being a monarchy for 26 years. Became a republic in 1944.
20 April 2015
Chris The Siteowner
Took over Bejam and consigned the brand to history.
20 April 2015
Bobby SVARC
The best thing to come out of Iceland.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUS8JLNSwj8
(I think fans of Crystal Palace, Brentford, Wimbledon, Ipswich Town, Charlton Athletic and Portsmouth would beg to differ, Bobby. Five different Premier League clubs. Relegated with every one. And here’s why he’s a legend at all of them. I give you …Hermann Hreidarsson)
20 April 2015
Archie Dream Walker
In 2005, I bought an “admiral’s fish pie”(frozen of course) from Newbury Iceland, got back to my flat,microwaved it,got three quarters of the way through it when I bit into what I thought was a piece of fish,something oozed out of it into my mouth,which I swallowed,and projectile vomited a split second later!!! Something really was rotten in my local Iceland,and it would have to be me who chose that pack from the freezer!!
20 April 2015
Chris The Siteowner
The country is amazing. Loads of bizarre things about it. Their last McDonald’s closed five years ago (the final burger sold is on public display). Most of the country lives in or around Reykjavik. Dogs were banned in the city from 1924 until a few years ago. Well over half of the population died from the Black Death in the 15th century, and another third from smallpox in the 18th century. It was first settled by the Swedes and has been run by Norway and Denmark over the centuries, but rather brilliantly, it declared independence during World War II while Denmark was looking the other way. Its geothermal energy means they barely need to charge for electricity. Half of the electricity generated goes into aluminium smelting, even though there’s no bauxite in Iceland. Despite the low cost of electricity, everyone drives huge petrol-guzzling 4x4s, because as our tour guide said: “We’re the least green country on earth. Nobody here gives a stuff about the future, and nor would you if you’d spent your whole life living on a bloody great volcano”.
If you ever get the chance, go there.
20 April 2015
Mattkin as-is
I was told last Friday that a ban on beer was only lifted in 1989. Apparently, they had prohibition for ‘a while’, then the ban was lifted on spirits and wine, but not on beer. Which I found odd. I haven’t checked any of this out so it could all be a load of old wotsit.
20 April 2015
Bobby SVARC
@Chris, Obviously I was talking about the goal, but what about Arnar Gunnlaugsson?
20 April 2015
EXXO
Loved the place on my 2 visits in 2003 and 2004. Spectacular trekking, with Landmannalaugar to Þórsmörk being the main one everyone does and well worth it too. It’s only about 34 miles, so weather permitting you can do it in 2 days, with just one camp at Álftavatn, then camp at the end at Þórsmörk, the bus out the next morn, rather than take as long as guidebook says (our mate Les would probably run it in one day. People do). But the weather forecast is vital. Forget it if it’s gonna snow – you’ll lose the trail and could die. Including travel from Reykjavik and back though you just need 3 days in decent weather, or add on a day for side trek from the end point at Þórsmörk, which I did, to see the Fimmvörðuháls glacier area. (since Eyjafjallajökull last erupted the whole place has changed I think, but I’ve heard it’s an even better day’s circular hike now – about 15 miles, starting and finishing steeply.)
My own favourite trek is a non-mountain one but still geologically very spectacular, in the North East, down the Asbyrgi canyon to the waterfalls. I walked for 3 days in midsummer without seeing one single person. Not one person, not even in the distance. Got back to the national park HQ at the end and they said they hadn’t see anyone either & I was had been the only person in that huge area that week. Brilliant. If you love Snowdonia Iceland is for you (Nigel).
At the 2006 gig in Holmfirth that I always go on about, the man himself responded to a heckle by accusing me, perceptively of course, of having been to Cuba. It’s one of my favourite islands, but not one I long to go back to like I do with Iceland. That night in Holmfirth I was celebrating my redundancy but if I ever have a proper job again pennies will be saved for more of its volcanic wonders.
Has the ‘crisis’ made the beer any cheaper though? Seem to remember it was about £5 a pint in happy hour in 2004. Take duty free spirits in plastic bottles.
20 April 2015
this leaden paul
1942 20th Century Fox musical starring Sonja Henie.
20 April 2015
peter mcornithologist
!980 Album by Richard Pinhas. In the past he has worked with our chums Fripp and Eno.
20 April 2015
peter mcornithologist
Interesting cuisine. Rams testacles being a particularly scrumptious titbit.
21 April 2015
JUST MARK
Iceland prawn ring – not sure if that describes the food or the aftermath
21 April 2015
GoK WAN ACOLYTE
Another HMHB/The Fall crossover
22 April 2015
Featureless tv producer steve
In primary school, I was told that “Iceland is green, and Greenland is ice.” I’ve never been to either, so I have no personal knowledge, but one of the great delights of modern technology (satellite mapping imagery) seems to confirm that the play on words is also true in fact.
And how can one not love that utterly-impossible-to-pronounce volcano?
25 April 2015
EXXO
It’s not that hard. It’s just that people don’t really try to learn it, as usual.
Eyja is easy to remember ‘cos it’s a version of the same Norse word for ‘island’ that gives us the names all of our British islands ending in “ey” from Anglesey to Orkney to Ronaldsay to Bardsey to Hilbre …or for that matter half of HMHB are from Wallasey (“island of the foreigners or Welshmen” – it used to be an island on many tides). But where we pronounce this word with an /i:/ at the start, in the nordic languages its /ei/
fjalla means ‘mountain’ – similar to our own ‘fells’ from the same norse root – Scafell, etc. To remember the kind of /t/ sound, remember it rhymes with the famous Icelandic volcano Katla, and then you’ll remember that part is like /fjætlæ/
jökull
means ‘glacier’ … just remember “yer cool”, which a glacier is. The word is everywhere in placenames in Iceland.
Put the main stress on the first syllable ‘ey’ and a secondary stress on the fifth ‘yer’ and you won’t go far wrong.
Or just forget the last word (‘glacier’) cos that isn’t the volcano anyway, it’s what’s on top of it.
http://content.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,79889722001_1984383,00.html
Iceland does look icy as you approach it from the sea – you see the glaciers first, on a clear day. When Icelandic speculators discovered what became ‘Greenland’, they deliberately gave it a false name to try to con people into going to settle there. A similar con by the posh Wallaseyans kept the scousers away for decades.
25 April 2015
liquid len
They have a rich folklore bordering on religion, where if even one person reports seeing a troll sitting on a rock can cause a main road to be diverted to leave it in place. You’ll be driving miles in a straight line and suddenly there’ll be a “bypass” around a tussock.
Also, the women are gorgeous, have intriguing names and mellifluous voices, and are friendly to foreigners.
27 April 2015
Batley’s very own… Steve malkmus
Unlikeliest group winners in the Euro qualifying…
14 October 2015
THIS LEADEN PAUL
…would be Austria in Group G, or else Norn Iron in Group F, rather than the runners-up in Group A, shurely?
15 October 2015
Peter Mcornithologist
I will wager that the Icelandic National Anthem is the only one which mentions the solar system and the only one that contains the wonderful image of a flower with a tear in it’s eye.
18 June 2016
OLLIE THE SQUID’S LONG-SUFFERING GUITAR TECH
Dropped my daughter at Gatwick at 5.00am this morning for a 6.30 flight to Iceland. Not much of a story really, but I won’t be able to say it on any other day…
20 June 2016
ExxO
At the domestic flights airport at Reykjavík in 2003 was the only time I’ve ever been told at check-in “run and you might catch it”. In fact it was better than that. As soon as I walked through the door they said “Mr. Exford? You are late, but run and you might catch it,” pointing through another door straight out onto the runway. I showed no document of any kind, ran up to the plane with propellors whirring, and steps already gone, was told by the crew to chuck my backpack through the door and climb in after it. It was the nearest I’ll ever come to being in the Paratroops. Less than an hour earlier I’d been asleep in my tent next to the national stadium. When it never gets dark your body clocked gets screwed up. Or that might have been the drinking Finnish vodka till 5 am before a 10 am flight.
20 June 2016
EXXO
10,000 out of 340,000 is 10% you know.
Also the only country in Euro 2016 whose premier league is continuing merrily while they are away. I’m just watching Stjarnan v. Westmann Islands on bet365.
23 June 2016
Bobby SVARC
Iceland has a population the size of Leicester, so they say, Weird that. I bought my first freezer from Bejam in South Wigston.
23 June 2016
Peter Mcornithologist
Yes Bobby the wonderful pundits keep informing us of Leicester Iceland similarities. I wonder why they did not chunter on about Northern Ireland having a population close to that of Hamburg?
28 June 2016
dr desperate
There is a letter in The Times of London today pointing out that Wales (q v, eventually) has a population the size of, well, Wales.
29 June 2016
floreat ultonia
“I wonder why they did not chunter on about Northern Ireland having a population close to that of Hamburg?”
Only three men know the answer to the Ulster- Holstein question. One is big Norman Whiteside (scored our winner there in Euro 84 qualifying), who is now a podiatrist.
30 June 2016
hendrix-tattoo
Good deed done for the day, Stood in the queue in Tesco and there was a little old lady in front of me, she’d spent £63 but her card declined. So I did what I had to do.
God will bless me one day.
It was a lot of shopping, But I helped her put it all back.
19 November 2017
GOK WAN ACOLYTE
Something’s rotten in the state of Christmas TV advertising: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/nov/09/iceland-christmas-tv-ad-banned-political-greenpeace-orangutan
9 November 2018
EXXO
The government’s chunterful Business Secretary revealing on R4 this morning that he didn’t know Iceland was a food shop.
27 March 2020
EXXO
Not much rotten at the back yesterday. Can see Brondby, PAOK and CSKA all getting enquiries from English clubs in the weeks to come, and even the fourth one, the 38 year-old would get a game for Tranmere.
6 September 2020
dr desperate
As Peel said at his 50th birthday party, “Think my chances of making the Liverpool side are gone now. Might still be able to get a game at one of those London clubs though”.
7 September 2020
dr desperate
This year’s TV ad for Iceland (the shop) features Brian Blessed telling Noddy Holder not to shout “It’s Chrissstmasss!” yet.
Their marketing director explains, “With the World Cup kicking off on Sunday we need the nation to be putting their energy into supporting the England and Wales football teams”. By eating frozen food, presumably.
21 November 2022