Consistently Inconsistent

Blogging off

2006-12-24T13:59:00.000Z

Hello again ... unfortunately I don't really feel the need to blog these days and when, like now, I do get a chance ... I don't really have anything to say ... so, if you want to keep updated with the goings on I suggest you read Joannas twolands diary at www.twolands.blogspot.com ... other than that I am now resigning from blogging and wish you all a good christmas and a happy new year.
Toti

Happy Christmas

2006-12-13T13:09:00.000Z

Well, it's been a mighty long time since I've written one of these! We've been in England now for almost two weeks and things are moving forward. Jolyon is really enjoying school although he sometimes feels lonely at home I'm sure. He got 20 out of 20 for his mental maths and no-one in his class has ever done that before.

We've found a nursery for Elijah and he is going to visit on Friday and start properly in the new year.

I've got a job! I'll be managing a team of community support workers who care for carers with an organisation called Crossroads. I'll be working part time, 12-5 which means I get the morning with the boys ... and I'll be starting this coming monday.

Joanna is still waiting for her CRB clearance so she can start but I'm sure it will arrive soon enough.

We've narrowed down the list of potential houses after two days of extensive searching and I'm hoping we can put an offer in on one sometime next week. We're also searching for a second car ... looks like I'm going from the three litre beast to a one litre Citroen Saxo ... :-( ... Oh, well ... they won the world rally championship last year .. or maybe the year before, I can't remember ...

Sorry it's so short ... too much going on ... you might not hear from me now until after xmas so ... happy Christmas and have a great new year!

I love you all ...

Irregular blogging for a couple of months at least!

2006-11-28T09:25:00.000Z

Yesterday was another step towards leaving Iceland. After work, school and daycare we all moved in to amma Kristíns and afi Freyrs' house where we will live until Sunday, when we leave the country. Amma K and Afi F looked after the boys in the evening whilst me and Joanna went to our house to pack up stuff that we didn't want in storage and Joanna is there again this morning.

I drove to the airport to pick up our removal men last night. Their flight was delayed so we didn't get back to Reykjavík until 2am this morning. That is why this blog won't make much sense ... ha, ha ... no, the old musician is quite used to late finishes and early starts! Just waiting for them to get themselves sorted and start packing really, might phone them in a bit ...

Boys enjoyed being at my parents last night, Jolyon couldn't wait to get rid of us so he could have a cheeky night. Then he was so tired this morning after all his partying. A good day all round and we intend to enjoy this week as much as we can before we go.

One last thing! As I had some annual leave left I am taking it this week. That means that today is my last day at work! That feels a bit weird ... especially as I've not told anyone at work yet ... just plan to bring a cake in this afternoon. This of course means that blogs will become rather irregular for a while again. I will try to blog from my parents but we'll be very busy packing and stuff so I make no promises. Then when we're in England the blogs will be quite irregular as well so for a while now, maybe a couple of months ... I can only keep you updated as and when I get a quiet moment with the computer. Sorry about that folks, just part of the change I guess. Hopefully, once we get our own house, the blogging will get back into a regular routine, although it is unlikely to be as frequent as it has been .. so until next time ...

adios, amigos

Shaken, not stirred

2006-11-27T08:13:00.000Z

Hello folks,

Saturday evening Joanna and I went to see the new James Bond film, Casino Royale. Daniel Craig is one of Joannas favorite actors and has been in films like Falling and Layer Cake. I'm a fan as well ... but not to the same extent as J. It was a great film ... Mr. Craig made bond into a bit of an unlikeable, nasty piece of work, as you would expect a sectret service agent to be. A bit rougher around the edges. This film is worth seeing! They definately didn't just stir around in the whole James Bond thing ... they picked it up and gave it a good shake ... shaken, not stirred ... did you see what I did there? Shaken, not stirred ... good isn't it ... uhmm ... right, let's continue ...

Debbie has been staying with us all weekend and it's been great. After Saturday school we all had a really nice lunch at my parents (we took the leftovers home and had them for tea). Then the boys stayed there whilst Debbie, Joanna and I went swimming in the open air salt water swimming pool near my parents. That, plus the over-the-counter drugs my parents had plowed Debbie with, more or less got rid of her migraine for the time being. By Sunday the two girls were on a roll, quite literally, around the Golden Circle in Iceland, leaving me and two boys in Reykjavík. Jolyon spent the afternoon with his second cousin, Kristján Geir, and me and Elijah went to visit Amma Sigga, which was really good. She kept saying he must be afraid of her but when it was time to leave, he puckered up his lips and gave her a big kiss ... it was so nice! Joanna bought herself a really nice coat on her travels, would go well with leather boots, a whip ... oops ... right, NEXT!

Sunday evening was cool. Me and happy-shop Árni went to visit our friend Fúsi. 15 years ago we were all members of a thrash metal band called In Memoriam and were quite popular. We tended to nicely battle out the top 'metal spot' with a band called Sororicide, who were good friends of ours. In fact the guitarist in that band, my late cousin Fróði Finnsson, was the one who got me playing bass in the first place and hence was the reason I met the guys in In Memoriam. Anyway we met up because Fúsi is making a documentary about the band. It was great fun! It was one of those where you see burned out rock stars sitting on a sofa remenicing about the good old days. It was all very relaxed ... maybe so relaxed that some of the stories should be edited out as they were never meant to be known by anyone outside of that group ;-) We taped about 40 minutes of us talking and telling stories and comparing receding hairlines and growing guts. There were stories I'd long forgotten about partying in Denmark with members of two other Icelandic rock bands, Bootlegs and Jet Black Joe, run-in's with the local over-the-top christian organisations and the story of how I first got introduced to arguably my favorite metal band in latter times, Pantera ... not personally, just musically. Then we compared stories about our children.

Fúsi had also gathered together about four hours of taped concerts, interviews and other material with the band. Most of it came from our drummer, Stjúni. We watched some of this and it was quite funny. We all had hair down to our waist (which is cool), our t-shirts tucked into our tight, black jeans (which is not cool) and looked like we were 12 years old. Blimey, we were young! In actuality I was 17 when I joined the band and about 20 when we took our extended break. Now you all have to watch out for the In Memoriam Reunion gig ... for which I will fly over to Iceland especially! Date to be announced, and sorted for that matter! This documentary should be cool though! I'll post it on YouTube when it comes out for all to see!

Finally, here is what I know of these five young rockers and their 'crew' now. Árni the singer now runs his own happy shops in Iceland and is a happily married father of two children, a nine year old daughter and an 18 month old son. Bass player me is of course a happily married, soon to be living in England, father of two boys, nine years old and 18 months old. Drummer Stjúni is a happily married father of three (I think) living in America. Guitarist and main songwriter Fúsi has remained true to the rock and roll lifestyle, although he rides the fast lane with a seatbelt and drives at (more or less) the legal speed limit. Franz, our other guitarist, I have only seen sporadically since the band took this extended 'break' and the last time I met him was in 1999, I think. I do know he's still playing in bands around Iceland though. Rúnar, our manager is a semi-pro basketball player here in Iceland and has a partner and no children ... that he knows about anyway. Svenni, our spiritual drinking guide during those years, has a Finnish partner and a daughter who is about 1 years old. How times change!

Rock on, dude!

Celebrity gossip (it sends a chill down my spine)

2006-11-24T09:14:00.000Z

Is it just me, or does Michael Jackson seem a bit ... umm ... odd? Like ... he named his two sons Prince Jackson and Prince Jackson II ... and then he calls one of them 'blanket', presumably named after an item in his house! I don't know, maybe the other one is called 'pillow'? So, if you think money buys you happiness just look at Micheal Joseph Jackson ... he's rich as anything and he's not happy with himself ... he wants to be a middle east white woman! Shame, I was a big fan when I was a kid ... wore the glove, danced the dance etc. etc. ... Now I just find him creepy ... I did even before his infamous trial.

He's not the only celebrity that has strayed away from reality ... although he's probably gone further than anyone. Another, in my opinion, is Tom Cruise. Now, yesterday me and Joanna had a moment celebrating our last night alone in the house on Framnesvegur. We had a meal and watched TV. The only thing on was Entertainment Tonight ... this is an American celebrity gossip program. Just the kind of stuff that turns me green and makes me feel ill whilst winding me up no end. In it they dedicated more or less the whole show to the wedding of Tom and Katie Holmes ... DON'T DO IT KATIE! .... AHHH ... TOO LATE! Sorry, I'm rambling! My reason for finding Tom Cruise odd is, aside from his egocentric erratic behaviour, is the Scientology bit.

I can understand people would gravitate towards a belief that says people are 'immortal spiritual beings' (called a thetan) and will continue to live past the death of the body. Most people have some reservations about the process of dying and this would be a comfort. And if you go through the dying stage often enough your spirit eventually finds its true form of spiritual freedom and you become an Operating Thetan or OT. In my book OT means Occupational Therapist but hey, I might be wrong!

The bit I don't get is how intellegent people like Tom and John Travolta and many more can buy into things like the 'Silent birth and infant care.' I.e. a woman must give birth to her children without any sort of medication and without making any noise! Now, I'm married to a tough woman who gave birth to our two children without using any sort of medication or pain relief but If I'd have told her she had to remain silent throughout, I would not be here to tell the tale! That's just silly! Also, they mustn't breast feed their children and must cut off all connections with friends and family who critisize the church. Members are also pressured into giving large amounts of money to the church and the church commissions 'operations' to wiretap and infiltrate government agencies and individuals that critisise the church. Check out information on Operation Snow White, Operation PC Freakout and Fair Game. It's scary stuff.

Other scary celebrity stuff is the recent racist rantings of Michael Richards, aka Kramer. You can google it because I can't be bothered to write about it ... all I can say is that if that is the stuff that comes out of your mouth when you loose your cool ... then that is the stuff that is going on in your head, even when you stay cool. Appology or not, Michael Richards is a backward thinking racist who is scared of a multicultural society. He should move to Iceland ... then again, Icelandic society appears racist because of it's ignorance to other cultures. Michael Richards is just racist!

Speaking of Iceland ... I was sat in the lunch area at work the other day and there was a conversation about immigrants going on next to me. These two men were discussing what can be done to help people integrate ... learning Icelandic, teaching the Icelandic customs, learning Icelandic life-skills, learning how Icelanders act ... basically ... learning to be an Icelander. This is fine and dandy except that one thing they never considered was what do Icelanders need to do? How about learning to live in a multi-cultural society, learning to live in an international world rather than on an isolated island, learning to show tolerance, learning that communities can co-exist despite talking different languages and learning that Icelandic with a different accent isn't a bad thing but will take the Icelandic language from being black and white to having colour and tone ... all variations. Think about how dearly the british love all their different accents, liverpool, manchester, cockney, indian, chinese ... it's been the basis of many theatre, comedy and drama scetches. The start to great friendships. It's just what Iceland needs ... they just don't know it yet ...

So, there you go ... my whinge of the day

One-way-ticket

2006-11-23T09:40:00.000Z

We got a really positive e-mail from Jolyons teacher yesterday saying how he is a completely different boy, so kind and caring and clever and fun to be around ... I could go on and on ... We've definately got the old Jolyon back. He's grown in character and inner strength in the way he has dealt with this negative experience he's come through. I am sure now that the experience itself will no longer take away from his childhood, but enhance it, and his life in the future.

Elijah and his childminder Hulda (or du-du as Elijah calls her) will really miss each other. Hulda, if you and your family want to move to England you've got all our support!

I went to the cinema last night with my parents which was great fun. We saw an Icelandic film called children. As a teenager and young man I always felt that Icelandic actors were very theatrical and that this didn't transfer well onto the silver screen. Just prior to my leaving for England some actors, from the 80's generation, were breaking through (Baltasar Kormákur, Ingvar Sigurðsson and Hilmir Snær Guðnason to name a few) who were really good when it came to less theatrical, more realistic acting.

Since being in England a new generation of actors, my age and younger, have come onto the scene. Since I've lived away for so long I hadn't seen any of these people act and I was blown away by their skills last night. The film was a 'low budget' artsy, black and white film ... very dark, violent and real. It was held together by a group of amazing actors of my generation. I have to say though that in the films I have seen recently the older generation of actors has done no worse than my own generation ... I guess serious cinema is just such a relatively young artform in Iceland. I have made myself a promise now to keep a much closer eye on Icelandic films whilst living in England. So ... lots of Icelandic DVD´s for christmas and birthday!

Yesterday as we were all driving home there was a modern version of an old Stevie Wonder song on the radio. I forget which song. I commented something about the guitar playing being very good in it. Joanna said: 'You'll have to find a band in England to play with.' She's right! All this jibber-jabber and poppycock about giving up music is not realistic ... it's just depressive rambling. Playing music has set such strong roots in my soul that I can hardly be without it! That is to say, it keeps me mentally well and I get more vulnerable when I am not playing and lean more towards negative thinking during those long periods of not creating music ... covers or originals. So just remember folks, when I start talking about giving up music or something akin to that ... it's unhealthy negative thinking and has no place here! I will try to remember that but as Joanna knows oh, so well ... I frequently need reminding!

Love

What have we got to look forward to? ... Plenty!

2006-11-22T09:46:00.000Z

We sold the Beast yesterday! It's all good and well being all cosmopolitan but we've already done the 'having-a-house-and-a-car-in-two-different-countries' lifestyle, and it's not for us. Much better to tie up all the loose ends and start afresh. My dad is pleased as well because it means we're not leaving the car for him to sell. So we say goodbye to the beloved Beast (I'm sure I loved it more than Joanna did, though).

We seem to be managing to wrap up the last few bits here before moving out. Counting days now, not weeks or months. Two days till Deb comes, five days till we move out and movers move in, nine days till Joy and movers fly out and eleven days until we fly out ... I shouldn't have done that, it seems so near. It's be great for Joanna to start work and stuff. I'll need to get a job and I'll need to get a car ... I've said all this before I know but ... ah, whatever!

We look forward to spending time with my parents and we look forward to spending time with Joannas parents but mostly we look forward to having a house that feels like home for the four of us. We look forward to Jolyon being settled at school and we look forward to Joanna working again. We look forward to me getting more time with the boys and in the long run ... we look forward to having a long, happy life together ... wherever in the world that is!

So for now, adios amigos

A great weekend! Missing the beast already!

2006-11-21T09:27:00.000Z

Took the day off yesterday to sort out all sorts of moving issues ... that's why you've not heard from me ... sorry! What a cool weekend we had!

Friday night I played my last gig with 'Menn Ársins' and had a great time! I was determined to enjoy the playing and I did ... we'd not played for a while so it took us a couple of songs to get going but hey ... maybe that was just me. In fact I hadn't touched an instrument since our last gig and during a couple of the songs I got cramps in both hands and they just folded up in a wierd way ... I don't think anyone noticed though! It was great fun though!

Saturday was the usual morning routine ... Joanna and Jolyon went to Saturday school and me and Elijah went to my parents. Joanna said it was the worst day of teaching as she had eight students that did not want to be there! They all got a good telling off ... Joanna style! I know what that is like from experience ... it's something to be avoided ;-) Saturday afternoon we had a big going away party for family and friends. For a couple that don't know many people we sure managed to 'pack 'em in' at my parents house ... I think there were about 70 people that came through the door ... and not everyone made it! Of course it helps to have a large extended family and to be at the age where your friends all show up with spouses and two kids ... it ups the numbers a bit. The day was finished with Jolyon having a sleepover at his friends, Elijah having a sleepover at my parents and me and Joanna having the earliest night in the history of early nights ... child free!

During this party a family from Akranes drove down to have a look at the Beast as I had advertised it for sale (boooo! ... hoooo!). They got to borrow the car and give it the once over ... they want to buy it and hopefully that transaction will be finished by lunchtime today ... I am going to miss that car. Especially ...

... as Iceland is now covered in 3 feet of snow. Yep! When we woke up on sunday everything was white ... people were out shovelling and anyone who didn't have a 4wd was busy being late to work or stuck sideways in the next pile of snow, stopping traffic and making sure everyone else was late to work. The Beast sailed through all the snow ... with the help of a bit of fancy Freysson style driving. (Joanna says I'm very skilled at driving in the snow and Joanna never lies and is always right :-) ...). Everything is still covered and although it isn't snowing at the moment the snow isn't going anywhere as it is still very cold ... about -4°C this morning, which is actually warmer than it has been.

Busy days ahead! On Friday Debs is coming to visit for the weekend which we are all looking forward to! On Monday Debs goes and the movers arrive. We will hopefully be moving into my parents house on that day. Not only have we taken over one of their cars but we're going to take over their house as well! On the Friday after that our cat, Joy, flies off to England to the Quarantine kennels. Unfortunately she has to stay in quarantine till April but we can visit. Then on the Sunday after that we all fly over to England ... blimey! It's gone by so quick this last month. It's all a bit scary now ... a bit real ...

We will miss our family and friends in Iceland but look forward to starting a new life (again!). Hopefully we'll take all the positive stuff we've gained in Iceland with us and be able to settle down to a nice routine in Yorkshire.

I would like to end this blog with some wonderful words from my friend and pianist in Menn Ársins Halli, off his blog ... just to blow my own trumpet a bit more ... boost my ego ...

Well, it’s time to say goodbye – Thorarinn Freysson, bassist for Menn Ársins, is moving countries along with his family to England and at the same time abandoning the Menn Ársins camp. It will be hard to fill the shoes of this great musician, and I doubt one can find a more easy-going bassist than Tóti. [ … ] My dear Tóti, just remember that once a man of the year, always a man of the year, unlike the title of miss freezing plant 1985 …

Love you all!

Virtuoso? ... me? ...

2006-11-17T10:06:00.000Z

Sváfnir, the singer and guitarist in Menn Ársins wrote a blog yesterday which made me go all warm and fuzzy inside. Here is a translation:

A Bassfriend says goodbye

Our friend Thorarinn Freysson, who has plucked the bass with the Men from god-knows-when, is moving at the beginning of December. And we're not talking about a quick nip between postcodes - oh, no. He's going to England with his English wife and two children.

It sucks to see such a kind, mild mannered, bass virtuoso and last but not least, a competent seaman who always travelled in the old fashioned way, reading the stars and compasses, none of this GPS-nonsense. Just set off.

But note that Thorarinn hasn't sung his last song with the Menn Ársins. he will be on our team visiting Hafnarfjörður tomorrow, Friday the 17th November, at ... exactly - you got it right: Café Aroma. Now lets all turn out and say goodbye to the lad.

Other than that, things are looking good basswise at the moment. Tell you more about that later.

It brings tears to my eyes. What a great band and what great company. I shall miss them and the music sorely. I hope the bass issues get sorted and they can continue to grow and become the biggest band in the world ... they deserve it!

As for me ... my life consists of filling in job application forms. All a means to a better end, I know ... but blimey! It's sooooo booooooring. Looking forward to the last gig tonight and intend to have a blast. Then we got our going away party tomorrow and some friends have already confirmed their coming. Everyone around me seems to have children so there will be about threethousandfourhundredandsixtynine kids ... and that's just the ones that are still on bottles!

Anyway, I love you all

Running away from music

2006-11-16T09:28:00.000Z

Good morning everyone,

Going to talk about running today. I've been running for a while now and although I took a break whilst we were in England (and the week after that!), I've started again and it's great! There is a problem though. This knee pain keeps coming back and at the moment I can only run for about 10 minutes and then I have to stop so the pain and damage done doesn't increase. That sucks, man! Now, I've done some self-diagnosis on the internet and believe I have a very common running injury called 'Illiotibial Band Syndrome' (IBS).

The Illiotibial band is a band of strong tissue that begins on the outer side of the pelvis and attaches to the outer part of the knee. Excessive strain can lead to the tendon shorting which causes the band to rub on the knee cap and produces pain. This can happen with a sudden change in exercise soooo ...

... two years ago I didn't do any running at all. Then I went out to run with my neighbour, didn't do any stretches and only had a minimal warm-up session. That, along with trying to keep up with him meant that I did some damage.

Thankfully, IBS is easily treatable. What I need to do is warm-up, stretch before and after running, put ice on after exercise and wear good, supportive running shoes and knee support. Currently I run in my 'two-dolla-Aldis-own-trainers'. When we get to England I should be able to afford some decent shoes and knee support. Until then, it's all about warming up, stretching and cooling down.

Also I need to strengthen my thigh, hip and lower back muscles. Hopefully I'll be able to get rid of this annoying little pain-in-the-knee and do some proper running. Whilst recovering I should think about doing some cycling or swimming instead. Problem ... can't justify going swimming three times a week without taking my family and cycling is a bit dodgy in the icy weather now upon us here on the icecube we call Iceland. (The teperature is down from -7°C yesterday to -8°C this morning. Brrrrrrr!!!!

Last gig with band tomorrow :-(. I've not been able to play music at all other than with the band since moving to Reykjavik as there isn't anywhere in our house for me to sit and play without disturbing everyone (I'm a misunderstood artist in my house, you see ... booo hooo! no one understands what I am playing ... booo hooo!). It wouldn't be fair either to play at my in-laws as it will be even more crowded soooo ... we'll see how it goes after this gig ... maybe it's time to call it a day? The instrumens are being packed away in storage so they won't be accessable until we've found ourselves a house to unpack everything in anyway.

On that depressing note,

Love

Brruuumm ... brrruuuummmm ... beeep ... beeep

2006-11-15T09:30:00.000Z

Another step closer. Yesterday afternoon I got the confirmation of Joy's 'ticket' to England. Unfortunately the invoice said 'Live Dog' ... ha, ha ... it's being sorted! By the end of this week there will only be two weeks until we arrive in our new homeland. My job search continues and much to the dismay of my wife I'm looking at driving jobs (which Joanna won't let me do in a million years anyway) and warehouse jobs ... I always liked working at Nói-Síríus. Part-time nights ... or just something to fit in with school ... as somebody said: 'How the mighty have fallen'. I'm struggling a bit with the emotional side of having to take such a big step down. The part time thing doesn't bother me and in fact I see that as a positive. A chance to spend more time with my boys. It's just that going from a regional manager of 12 Supported Housing schemes and a team of 24 people, back to the floor ... applying for night time care assisstant posts, is a big chunk of pride to swallow ... such is life ... look forward not backward.

Me and Joanna were discussing this yesterday and she planted the seed of doing something more with my time, such as some studying. An NVQ assessors course was her idea and that sounds good and sensible ... I'll definately look into where I can fit that round the routine. My own slightly different idea was to do something I've wanted to do for years but never did ... automotive mechanics. Problem is, the courses that tend to be NVQ's which means you need to be working in the industry ... and I'm not ... in fact, by the end of this month I won't be working in any industry ... Looking into City and Guilds but can't work out if that is workplace based assessments or not ... or if it is just for teenagers as the websites imply ... time for some phonecalls when I get to England, me thinks!

Things are plodding along nicely here ... movers have finally decided how best to shift our stuff, they'll be here from Monday to Friday the last week of November and then we're sorted. Now all we need is a mortgage, house, job, nursery, second car, friends for kids, band ... oh, okay ... we're not quite sorted yet :-) ... oh, and I desperately need a motorbike, a chopper with a 550 engine will do ... no, it's not a dream, it's a necessity ... helloooooo ... birthday next month ... Joanna? ... hello? ... you still there? ...

DJ Tóti Tank and the cool cool breeze

2006-11-14T11:26:00.000Z

Yesterday I sat down to write a blog. As any reader can tell, my head wasn't in it ... it's a load of waffle from someone who feels he should say something but can't. I had too much else going on, kept leaving the entry, then coming back to it etc. Today I have been out for a run and have cleared my head ... still don't know what to write, like ... but I'll try.

In Iceland there is a thing called the naming committee! This is a committee of three people that tell you what you can call your child and what you can't. It has to be good old fashioned Icelandic names with a history. Foreigners in Iceland used to have to change their names when they moved here but that has thankfully changed. They also tell you how many middle names (one per person) you are allowed etc. Did I tell you there is only one place to buy alcohol ... the State Alcohol store! Imagine the committees dilemma when Jolyon Isaac and Elijah Benedikt turned up ... let alone Joanna Burton! Wow! That must have been a headache.

Anyway, my old politician school chum, who now wants a seat in parliment, has put forth the idea of this committe being shut down. The first sign of intelligence from him since his reporting days. I once tried to change my name to Þórarinn Járnsíða Freysson (Translates as Thorarinn Ironside Freysson). I wrote in my application that as an artist, I needed a more flash name ... or something to that extent. The other day my parents planted the idea of me sticking a legitimate surname on my name. There are two surnames floating around in my family which I could take ... Finsen and Zöega ... what do you think? 'Thorarinn Ironside Freysson Finsen' or 'Thorarinn Ironside Freysson Zöega' The Finsen clearly defines my scandinavian roots but the Zöega looks really cool ... :-) I don't know ... Maybe I'll call myself 'Thorarinn Ironside Burton-Freysson Kristinarson Finsen Zöega' That should cover everything and offend no-one.

For referrence, in Iceland our surnames usually come from our fathers first names. My fathers name is Freyr, hence I am Freysson, son of Freyr. My mums name is Kristin so I could, in these times of equal rights, be Kristinarson, son of Kristin. There are some proper surnames floating around though, reminisent of old Scandinavian settlers, I think. In my family there is the Finsen, on my dads side and the Zöega, on my mums side. So to cover those two I would need both surnames. Then of course I am married to a foreigner! Coincidentally ... my wife is also married to a foreigner ... funny that! To cover that side of the family I would take up the Burton name. Then the Ironside bit would be my own ... well ... it was my grandmums idea at the time ... she likes stirring up the system ... Problem is would I use the Icelandic Járnsíða or the English Ironside. As I am bilingual and view both countries as my home ... I could stick both in. Then, so nobody gets offended because their name comes after somebody elses, I would have to put first names, then middle names, then surnames, all in alphabetical order ... do I put Thorarinn under T or Þ? Oh, and so I don't confuse the English system I would have to fit Tóti in there somewhere, wouldn't I?

So, until next time ... I leave you in peace.

Thorarinn Tóti Þórarinn Ironside Járnsíða Burton Finsen Freysson Kristinarson Zöega

Tying up the loose ends ...

2006-11-13T12:21:00.000Z

The internal organs of blogger. com have changed so I'm appologising in advance if either this blog is all wrong or my old ones have disappeared ... we'll see when I post this.

I am still trying to sort out issues re tax and payments due and all sorts from the Icelandic tax office and government. This is 9 months after J, J and E arriving and 3 weeks before we leave the country ... that's just plain silly ... one day I´ll stop moaning about it but for today I'm going to try and get it sorted with more letters and phonecalls.

Other things ... Today I booked our cat, Joy, on a flight to England, two days before our arrival. Unfortunately she'll have to stay in quarantine for a while before she can be released to her new home. I'm hopeing we'll have a house for her when she gets out ... fingers crossed.

Elijah was a bit poorly this weekend due to more teeth coming out but he has recovered back to his jolly self and Jolyon is jolly as ever, so much calmer and relaxed. Me and him do breathing exercises now which help with anger and conflict management ... that's a relief for mummy anyway :-)

Last gig with the band is on Friday and the going away party is on Saturyday ... to be held at my parents. Hopeing to see some friends and family there ...

Finally ... the car on the pic is for sale ... Joanna says so ... I don't want to sell it!

Love to you all

A Short Story

2006-11-10T08:36:00.000Z

Chapter One

Sometimes when I write these entries I go on about stuff that I don't really know that much about, gathering information off the internet as I go along. This is never a 100% full proof way of gathering facts, but then again, is there a full proof way? I try and use websites that I trust or that seem trustworthy as far as reporting facts go. Then I try and mold my own opinion as clearly as possible based on these facts.

Other times I get my facts from people making fun of the facts ... I'm mainly thinking of one person ... Jon Stewart of the Daily Show. The Daily Show is a programme on Comedy Central in America which features this comedian, Mr. Stewart, and sometimes guests. His chosen issues are current affairs, mainly political. Now, I've never actually seen a full Daily Show programme but have found an immense number of clips on YouTube, where they go almost immediately after being aired in the U.S. This programme is worth having a look at if you are into people making fun of president Bush and the state of the world.

I know that in reality there is nothing funny about the plight of the Iraqi people, but one finds ways of coping with these brutalities ... my way is black humour ... which is unjustifiable as I am not even in Iraq. But it's the same option that a lot of people who are stuck in Iraq, or in any war for that matter, turn to.

Chapter Two

There are times when I reflect on my teenage years and my early twenties and think, 'If only I knew then what I know now.' Then I wonder if, in twenty years time, I will look back at all these entries I've written and say, 'If only I knew then what I know now,' and feel embarrassed about writing such a load of nonsense. Can't tell the future though, can you?

I think one of my best qualities is my ability to put myself in other peoples shoes. That's why I was so darn good working in the mental health care field. There is a group of people that I struggle to do this with, that is older people. I find that the knowledge and experience they have gained, simply through having been on this earth longer than me, makes it difficult for me to know what they are thinking or how they see things. This is purely because I haven't been here long enough to gain their wisdom. It's something worth considering next time you get the chance to really sit down with someone who has lived life. Become a sponge, soak up the experience.

Chapter 3

I've discovered a new poetic truth about myself! (This happens approximately every other week and I feel a great need to share it with someone ... this time you are my victims). Here goes ... 'Life is a drive and I'm constantly looking in the rear view mirror!' ... what do you think? This is my way of explaining that I focus far too much on the past. Problem is that when you constantly look in the rear view mirror, you regularly crash, stall and miss what is in front of you. I need to look forward (front window) whilst focusing on the present (inside the car, steering, changing gear etc). That's pretty simple and cool isn't it ... what kind of life driver are you?

The Icelandic National Party

2006-11-09T09:20:00.000Z

Well folks, this one has been brewing inside me since we got back to Iceland.

The first news items that welcomed us back were reports from the Liberal Party in Iceland. They were airing their views on the immigrant issues, which are close to my heart for obvious reasons. Note that I’m not a fan of the word immigrant, I just lack the vocabulary knowledge to find a word with the same descriptional value of certain individuals situation.

First, some history. The Liberal Party is not, as you would think reading the name, a left wing party. In fact it is very right wing and was founded by Sverrir Hermannsson (who was later involved in some business fraud issues if I remember correctly) in 1998 when he resigned from the Independent Party, as he didn’t feel they were far enough to the right. That was how it looked to me anyway as a young man with limited interest in politics and no knowledge of immigrant issues. In the municipal elections of May 2002, they won a seat in the Reykjavík City Council. The party also won a seat in the town council of Ísafjörður, in the Westfirðir area. In it’s second parliamentary elections of May 2003 the Liberal Party doubled it’s support from the last elections and got 7.4% of the total vote. In the latest polls they are ranked last .. that is fifth after my old school chum in the progressive party that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. This doesn't mean they won't get a seat in congress ... they might well do in the upcoming elections.

Now, as we are speaking of immigrant issues, keep in mind that on the Liberal Party webpage they say:

The Liberal Party is a political movement emphasising liberal views, democracy and equal citizen’s rights.

The party opposes all priveleges and monopolies of any kind, but supports freedom and independance of the individual.

The Liberal Party will help those who are left out by the existing authorities.

The Liberal Party supports the co-operation of Iceland with other European countries on an equal footing.

At this stage lets keep in mind that according to the online english dictionary the word liberal means (amongst other things):

Favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs.

Favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, esp. as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.

Free from prejudice or bigotry; tolerant: a liberal attitude toward foreigners.

Note that last one ... a liberal attitude towards foreigners.

This all sounds great. The fact that they also oppose whaling is a good enough reason to vote for them, surely! But ... ooops! ... They’ve been talking about immigrants. Now, this isn’t a stated policy like the ones I’ve taken off there website but rather the things that they have been saying in interviews with the media and articles that they have been writing.

This off their web page:

Very cheap labour has been flooding into the country from the poorer countries of East-Europe which lowers the wages of Icelandic workers. Immigrants work low paid jobs for wages that Icelanders would never accept but these outsiders gladly do because of shortages and difficult situations in their home country.

There are examples of employers making Icelandic workers redundant to hire cheap labour. Or is their any other explanation for contractors making people redundant at the same time that there is a big need for increased labour.

I couldn’t find any of these examples when I searched but I found laws that clearly state that this practice would be illegal ... I didn’t find any examples of these laws being put into practice. Anyway their statements are contradictory because in the first sentence it says that there are examples and in the next it doesn’t quote them but instead implies that ‘there must be examples, there is no other explanation.’ This is a naive and childish form of backing up your words and doesn’t really hold water as far as I am concerned.

Just for the record, there are many other reasons for mass redundancy. The fact is that the Icelandic economy has been on an upswing for a few years but is now going back. House prices have stopped rising, it is harder to get a mortgage than when we moved here a year ago (i.e. they don’t lend you 100% anymore) etc. That is the most common reason for mass redundancies, cutting out disposable employees ... harsh but true. There have been no reported mass-hirings of Eastern-European workers as far as I remember. Not in the same numbers as the redunancies that have been reported anyway.

One of my best friends here is a freelance plasterer who does work for individuals and contractors. He told me that, yes, there is a notable increase in Eastern-European labour in his trade and that sometimes he feels like a foreigner as he doesn’t understand the languages being spoken in his workplace. But he also told me that he has never been short of jobs, can charge what he wants and has got higher wages now than he ever has in this industry. He has been plastering for 20 years and knows alot of people in the industry. He doesn’t know anyone who has been sacked from a job to be replaced by cheaper labour.

You all know the story about Joanna and her nursing licence which won’t be recognised in Iceland. I won’t go into all that again cos it’ll just ruin my day. This is what the so-called Liberal Party has to say about that:

The educated people of Iceland are more tolerant towards immigrants. This is because they have built a wall around themselves. Doctors from Eastern-Europe do not get to work here unless they retake their doctors studies and the same goes for nurses and other areas of practice.

You all know that you don’t have to come from Eastern-Europe to end up in this situation in Iceland. The Icelandic BNP (The INP?) continue:

It is a different story for labourers. Nobody ensures that they have the learned skills [...] The workers union doesn’t look at every individuals certificate but concentrates on the companies that employ the workers and ensure they get the correct wages.

They put this forth as a complaint. What is wrong with that? The union ensures the wages aren’t discriminatory and the employment agency checks out the certificate. They want labourers to get the same stone-wall treatment that my wife, my children and so many others get here. I know that a couple of employment agencies were taken to court for offering cheap labour but they lost their cases and were put out of business. I’m sure that most employment agencies actually ensure that their employees recieve decent wages which ensures that they will continue to work for the agency and hence continue to bring in money to the agency. That’s supply, demand and good management.

The last straw was when they said:

Iceland is not a multi-cultural society and shouldn’t be.

I saw that on their website yesterday ... funnily enough, I can’t find it now ...

So ... not a nice ‘welcome back to Iceland’, but more of a ‘oh, I thought we were rid of you’ sort of vibe. I believe that they are scare mongering to get labourers to vote for them. Unfortunately they will probably succeed to some extent, such is the fear of the foreigners influence in Iceland.

We’ve made the right choice in deciding to leave :-(

England report

2006-11-08T09:10:00.000Z

Hello folks,

Nice to write to you all again. I feel like I should write a really long entry as they've all been rather short this last week ... but you all know why. Before I start, you should click on this. It's Menn Ársins, the band I have been in whilst here in Iceland. At the moment there are three of the original songs on there, unfortunately not with me playing the bass, but they're great songs nontheless.

England went well. Joanna has got a job that she's really looking forward to. In fact she was offered two and probably three jobs so she left out her last interview. When we came back to Iceland there were invites to two more interviews for her. And she was worried about not getting a job ... I always knew she would and I always told her she would. It's great news and she should be so pleased with herself.

I went to three interviews and wasn't quite so lucky. I got too cocky and big headed and didn't bother reading up on stuff before my interviews. I can do the jobs, cos I've done them before, but I was too self assured, never having really failed an interview before, properly. And maybe I didn't want the jobs enough? Anyway this little knock to my self confidence can only be a good thing. We've got more of an idea what sort of job would fit in with what we think will be our initial routine in England and so I am taking it more seriously now.

The job I really want is as a Police Officer. I have applied in a certain area but these applications can take months and if they are accepted I've still got tests and assessments to got through before having any chance. And if I don't get in the first time I have to wait 6 months before applying again. So ... this is more of a long term plan, once we are all settled in. In the mean time I hope to get a part time job that will give me further experience relevant to the role of a Police Officer as well as enabling me to spend time with my boys and do all the school runs etc. I get to be the house-husband for a while (or house-wife as my father-in-law calls it!). Ideally I want to work three to four nights a week ... that would be great!

It was also great spending some time with Rita and Brian and I know the boys loved it. Six people in a house is alot but we all get along very well and had a great time. Lit a bonfire on bonfire night and Rita and Brians neighbours, Pauline, Jenny and Angel (who is Jolyons age) came over to visit. Jolyon also went to stay at his new school for a couple of hours and was really pleased ... wanted to start straight away he told me! The next steps are to find a house and a nursery for Elijah. Jolyons school has got a nursery which takes kids in at age two and a half as long as they are out of nappies but we need something until then to let him mingle with other kids.

Anyway, the next three weeks should be business as usual until the weekend, then Debs comes to visit. After that we have movers in, cats moving out, some nights at my parents and then flying away to england. Oh, by the way, if anyone wants to buy a beast* in top condition, it is still for sale!

*The Beast is our 2000 Izuzu Trooper 3.0TD 7 seater, automatic four wheel drive, driven only 119.000 km, loved every inch of the way :-). MOT (Skoðun) until March 2007 and all insurance paid and up to date.

We love you all

It's all working out!

2006-11-02T11:26:00.000Z

Good news at last! Out of the three interviews Joanna has attended she has been offered two jobs and was in line for being offered the third. This means she has acccepted the job of Clinical Team Leader which was the one she wanted most. It also means she's not going for the interview on Friday so we can have all day together, the four of us. This is great news for her and for us! Congrats, babe!

I'm going for my third interview today but I've not heard anything back about the two posts that I've already been interviewed for. Just have to wait and see. I was more bothered about Joanna getting a job, anyway ... I'd be perfectly happy staying at home for a couple of months ... but a job would be nice as well.

So everyone here is in a great mood. Joanna and Jolyon are in Mossley visiting friends and Elijah is being walked about in his pram by grandmum. That is why I'm here blogging at the moment.

I don't feel the need to rave on about the injustices of the world at the moment so the few blogs you will get whilst we are here will just be chilled updates of what's going on. On Wednesday next week I'm back in the old DeCode routine and will commence blogging as before, until we leave to move to England in the beginning of December. With Joanna having a job it means we can start house hunting as soon as we arrive in December. That should be good fun. And once I've got a job, I can buy a car. I want another beast but I might have to settle with something a bit less masculine :-)

Love

Safe in England

2006-10-31T13:47:00.000Z

Here we are, safe and sound. All four of us had a long journey yesterday but are safely in Thorpe Audlin, Yorkshire, England. The journey was good but two young boys were very tired by the time we got home. 11pm, that was.

Me and Joanna both had job interviews this morning and will update you on how that went. I think I did okay but this one was more difficult than I thought. Job sounds fine though.

Anyway, this was just going to be one of those quick blog entries, the kind I don't like readin myself! :-) Just to let you know we are here, safe and sound.

Love from all of us.

Irregular blogs for a while ...

2006-10-27T09:22:00.000Z

I've got a few basic beliefs about blogging. If it's gonna be really short, like two sentences ... don't bother. Nobody likes waiting for weeks for someone to put a new blog on and then when it comes, all it says is: "Went to the movies, it was fun." And then they have to wait for another few weeks. If that is your writing style ... there's not much point, really!

Another is to write as often as possible, preferably every day. Loyal readers deserve to get frequent reading material. That's easy to say when you're sat in front of a computer at work every day. Joanna for instance doesn't write every day but she writes long and good quality entries ... there's nothing wrong with that style ... this are just the guidelines I have set myself ... they are subject to change with circumstances.

Now I've tried to write every day from work (during my breaks :-/) but I haven't written during weekends. This is because I don't feel comfortable writing unless I'm on my own or at least have the computer to myself. We live in very close quarters in our house here in Iceland and that is virtually an impossible scenario there so I take breaks over weekends. I don't know what it will be like when we're living in England ... we'll see.

My third one is that when a blogger takes a long break, writes irregularly or stops all together, he should put on his blog an entry saying that this is going to happen. The readers deserve this little gesture of courtesy.

So, to comply with my own guidelines, this blog is to let you know that after the weekend Joanna, the boys and I are going to England for a week. Hence, although I will try and blog from there, it is unlikely to happen unless I'm on my own, which is unlikely to happen as there will be six of us living in the house. Maybe when Joanna and Jolyon are visiting friends and Elijah is in bed I could sneak up to the computer room and blog ... I will try to fit it in. Other than that I will blog again when I get back to Iceland although I won't promise you a date ... not sure what our lives will be like once we're back. Hope you will patient with me ...

Enjoy life,

The Icelandic Ambassador to the EU and Belgium Exposed!

2006-10-27T08:20:00.000Z

If I were you I would read this entry from Joannas TwoLands blog diary. It is the biggest load of political sleaze I have ever read in my life ... What happens with these kinds of letters and this kind of text is two things:

1. Mr. Stefan Haukur Johannesson, the Icelandic Ambassador to the EU and Belgium, who wrote this letter, feels justified and in fact good about himself in fighting the pro-whaling battle on behalf of Iceland.

2. The people who are already pro-whaling, and especially those that make money off it, sleep soundly at night because they feel that what is being done is justified for other reasons than money.

I don't know about the rest of you anti-whalers but that letter made me feel sick. It, contrary to it's purpose, didn't make me go, "Ooooohhh riiight, it's sustainable whaling to positively control the marine stock (as if it was stocks of product readilly available to us at our whim) within the 200 miles of Icelandic water ... that's okay then, I'm all for it!" No! To me it sounds more like 'word salad'. Maybe Mr. Ambassador needs a holiday ... or a retirement ... or a sacking ... because that letter has made me even more anti-whaling than I was. That means, that as far as my involvement goes(and I don't think I'm so special to be the only one who thinks this) the letter had the opposite effect to what it was intended to. Which in turn means that Mr. EU and Belgium is pretty rubbish at his job of selling it to me. Which means he should be sacked ... or supported through this difficult time he's clearly going through and given a loooooonnngggg holiday ... on an Icelandic whaling boat marooned on a piece of ice floating in the Atlantic ocean, being harpooned by whales, dragged into the ocean and gutted ... he might see it slightly differently then.

Me and Joanna were discussing this 'scientific' whaling that has apparently been going on since 2003. In fact it never actually stopped prior to that year as far as I know. Has anybody ever seen any research papers from these scientific researches? Have any interesting findings come from them other than, whale blubber is good for you? 200 Sample subjects to be killed, for what? "Sustainable marine stock??? control," says Mr. Icelandic Ambo, but does he believe it?

When Joanna did her research for her masters degree, all of her 'sample subjects' survived her research and yet the research produced important information in her field of practice. And as a Psychiatric Nurse, her field of practice is in bettering and even saving peoples lives. Her research was deemed good enough to be published in a recognized, widely read and respected medical journal. I'll admit I don't read marine journals but having had a decent look on the internet, I could not find any reference to any publications made around scientific whaling. But I did find this. Here are some quotes for those of you not bothered about the link:

"The science they perform consists of DNA sampling, physical measurements such as earbone size, age ID, and most importantly, the contents in the digestive tract."

"The data on what the whales eat is then perverted to help their propaganda campaign, which argues that whales eat too much commercially important fish, and that we should cull the population to save our fisheries. They selectively release data on certain species, while ignoring data on others, especially baleen species."

"Australia and many other countries use non-lethal data collection techniques, such as 'knicking' the skin of a whale for biopsy samples to determine DNA and toxin levels. Analysis of faeces is the most accurate way of determining the animals' diet.
Also, tagging whales with data sensors and tracking their movements tell us much more about their behavior and life patterns than any forensic data could provide."

By the way, the 200 minke whale samples studies that Mr. Brussels talks about in his letter and says will end in 2007, that's what they've been catching each year. As well as 200 fin whales and 100 Sei whales every year. That means that the 200 sample studies are actually 500 ... per year. That means that from 2003, the official start date of the scientific whaling, until 2007, they won't have caught 200 'sample studies' as implied, they will have caught 2,500 'sample studies'.

The fact they need to twist their words in such a manner is proof to me that they know what they're doing is wrong, inhumane and probably illegal. So let me end this blog in big bold letters and say:

STEFAN HAUKUR JOHANNESSON, THE ICELANDIC AMBASSADOR TO THE EU AND BELGIUM IS LYING TO US ALL.

Don't visit Iceland

2006-10-26T08:34:00.000Z

Elijah is going for his MMR jab today ... I'm a tad nervous. I hope that all will go well but the potential problems with it were just so widely publicized in England that you can't help but to worry. It's worth it though. The potential outcome of contracting a disease that could be prevented with it is certainly no better an option. I'm sure my little man will be fine.

As observant readers might have noticed I have changed my personal details and the slogan on this page to "Don't visit Iceland until they stop killing whales for individual profit." I feel strongly about this ... although my passion fades in comparison with my wife Joannas. I would like to urge anyone who reads this not to visit Iceland until they have ceased to kill whales. The hunters are aiming to sell their product in the Japanese market but the Norweigans have been trying to do that since 2001 and not succeeded. Japan slaughter their own whales, they don't need to import them! Let's hope it all goes pear shaped for the b******s as soon as possible and we can go back to whale watching, which is a magnificent experience. I can name plenty of other reasons not to visit Iceland but this is the biggy. There are plenty of reasons to visit Iceland as well but those things will be here for thousands if not millions of years ... so there is no rush.

On another note, we are still counting down the days until we go to England. Joanna has so far got four job interviews and I've got two. Hopefully one of us, if not both of us, will come back to Iceland, knowing that there is a job waiting when we move back to England permanently. Once those things are secure, we can seriously look at mortgage sizes and therefore do some proper house hunting. It's all fairly positive these days in the Freysson-Burton household.

Why do we fight?

2006-10-25T09:36:00.000Z

It's almost time for our 'holiday' trip to England! When we booked it, it was going to be a relaxed visit to Rita and Brian, my in-laws, so they could spend time with us and the boys and we could spend time together etc. This has changed as we are moving back to England. Now the week is filling up with various job interviews for both of us, maybe some house hunting, visits to friends, both 9 year olds and adults etc. It's all positive and we're looking forward to it. We very much intend to try and get some family time together as well, but it might not happen till the weekend before we come back. Not to worry ... a month after that we are permanently moving and will have plenty of time together.

There is an American documentary out called 'Why do we fight?' It tries to look at what has changed in American society over the last six or seven years that has pushed America into so many conflicts and wars. I've not seen the documentary, and doubt I will, but I saw an interview with the director, who had an interesting and valid perspective on this. His theory was that since Bush took over the emphasis has shifted from spending money on education and health to spending more on defense and military. This has tilted the balance of society towards war.

The number of jobs available within the military and within companies with a business interest in war and conflict increases every day in America. This documentary director talked about an older lady he interviewed who works in a warehouse where they store bombs and other affiliated merchandise. "I'd rather be making toys, you know, but (lifting of shoulders) ..." was her take on the situation. He also spoke about a 'Military Industrial Complex' which is now open to the public. This was apparently one of Henry Kissingers visions. An industrial complex in America is like a warehouse shop ... like B&Q in England. You can take your kids there and shop for laser guided semi-automatic guns, bullets, rifles, pistols, grenades etc. I don't know where they draw the line, or if they draw a line! War has become such a large part of American culture in such a short time and nobody really knows how it happened. That's scary stuff!

So rather than looking at Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, North-Korea, Cuba ... whatever ... America needs to take a long, hard look at itself and introduce some tough love. Because the problem isn't primarily threats from the outside. The biggest threat to America is America ... and it's going to implode again one day, just like on September 11th 2001 ... and they'll blame it on someone else and start another war. And with each war they start they have to put more money into the military. And with each American dollar they put into the military they tilt the balance even more toward needing to be at war, needing to use those bullets. They are tax deductible after all! It's a vicious cycle that needs to be broken.

Paris, France

2006-10-24T12:21:00.000Z

This lovely picture is taken in a large maze in some Barons castle in France. This is the setting of the new video from 'Menn Ársins' ... the best band in the world. I'll be sorry to leave them ... The picture was taken by Erpur, the director of the video and Sváfnis brother.

Love all ...

A bit of Lithuanian, please officer!

2006-10-24T08:22:00.000Z

Joanna had a much more positive day yesterday. Although she (and I) did consider harpooning a few politicians, dragging them home and then slicing them open at a press confrence. But you can read Twolands to get the gist of that one.

Me and Jolyon went to see afi Freyr and amma Kristín. She had just come back from Berlin, Germany last night. We had supper there and chatted and amma Kristín had bought J the 5th series of the Simpsons, so he'll have to cross that one off the list for Father Christmas! He also got a World Cup 2006 Germany football shirt, a cool skateboarding hat and socks! Grandmums always buy you sock, don't they :-) Elijah got socks too, and a hat ... and when he goes on Friday there is a toy car waiting for him ... "brrrrrr". He loves his cars. Me and Joanna got After Eights ... Yes! I love chocolate!

Once again the band has gone international. Whilst filming of the new video is in full swing in Paris, France and the bassist is nipping off to Thorpe Audlin, England (no less of a culture centre than Paris, I'll have you know), the singer and his wife are going for the weekend to Ljubljana, Slovenia ... just because he can. I've never been to Slovenia ... I'll have to read about it.

I'm reading a really interesting book at the moment. It's called Always Running by Luis J. Rodriguez. It's his true account of growing up as a poor mexican immigrant in East Los Angeles in the 60's and 70's and how he got involved in gangs and what effect this had on him and his loved ones. It's also a very strong critisism of the way that American authorities have dealt with immigrant issues and how their indifference and suppressive attitude escalated into the gang warfare that still plagues those same streets today. It's a lesson that Iceland needs to learn, but probably won't. And the thing is that Mr. Rodriguez isn't just writing a retrospective autobiography from the comfort of his 'writer-who-made-it-out-of-the-slum' house on the hill. He wrote it in the mid 90´s whilst still living in east L. A. and at the time had children of his own who he feared will go the same route. In my edition of the book he writes a new preface ... ten years after he wrote the book. In it he admits that he wasn't able to save his children from the same streets that claimed his youth. Although they are all alive, his oldest son is in jail for three counts of manslaughter, gang related. He's still living it now, 10 years after becoming a fairly successful writer. Once it sets its roots in society and within your family ... it won't let go ... Iceland, remember that!

Reading the Icelandic newspapers Iceland has become a rougher place. There are two main reasons for this. One is that there are certain areas within Reykjavík which have the cheapest housing. In these areas new Icelanders are gathering, living their own community within the Icelandic community. These people aren't causing the problem. The problem is Icelandic society, the government and the Icelandic people isolating and judging them. This first generation of immigrants might feel that although this is not good, it's better than where they came from. So, they work their low wage jobs and forget about the education they worked so hard to earn ... so they can raise their children in a 'better' place. Their children don't know as much about where they came from and they won't necessarily accept being treated like this. This will cause friction between the two communities which, generations down, leads to situations like you have in so many places around the world, East LA included.

The other reason is that Lithuanian organised crime has its sights on the country and is infact already here. Lithuania is a small country with borders to Latvia, Belarus, Poland and the Russian Federation. It's capital is Vilnius. In the last couple of years there have been an increasing amount of Lithuanians arrested by customs with larger and larger quantaties of cocaine, cannabis, amphetamine or chemicals to make amphetamine. We are seeing increasingly creative ways of these coming into the country, by plane, ferry, hired boats etc. It's difficult to get these into a small island and hence the sales price is very high. A bit of Lithuanian drug history:

The Lithuanian drug market was fairly limited before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Problems with drug abuse existed, particularly in the prisons, which were supplied by soldiers including from Central Asia serving as guards. Since the early 90´s, the trafficking, sale and abuse of drugs have increased rapidly, despite extensive measures taken by the Lithuanian government to control the narcotics problem. In 2004, Lithuanian law enforcement agencies estimated that the domestic drug trade amounted to $200 million. Lithuania is also a producer of poppy products and synthetic drugs for domestic use and export. The most popular drugs in Lithuania today include synthetic narcotics, poppy straw extract, heroin and cannabis.

These organisations are going to set there roots here for a few reasons. One is that they have plenty manpower and persistence. Two is that this caught the Icelandic police authorities completely by surprise, they thought nobody wanted the hassle of moving drugs to an isolated island. And three is the classic Icelandic attitude. Reading interviews with politicians and police officers of high authority, this isn't an Icelandic problem ... it's a problem with foreigners and foreign attitude and influence. It's all Lithuanias fault, not ours. Wake up! You're playing in the playground ... it doesn't matter who's fault it is ... it's everyones concern! But they don't see that. Police here are also undertrained, undermanned and underprepaired. Akureyri is the second biggest town in Iceland. 30 years ago it had a population of 5.000 people and 50 police officers. One officer per every 100 people. It now has a population of 15.000 people and 51 officers. That's approximately one officer per every 295 people. No wonder their loosing the battle.

2006-10-24T08:21:00.000Z

Laughing babies

This should make you laugh, or at least smile ...

Feeling low ...

2006-10-23T09:15:00.000Z

Another weekend. Saturday morning me and Elijah went to see grandad Freyr who has got this throat virus that Elijah and Joanna had for such a long time ... and Joanna has still got. Then grandad looked after Elijah whilst I went to Joannas Saturday school and helped the kids write songs to the lyrics that they'd written. They all did really well. The rest of Saturday was a stay-at-home day ... after me and Jolyon had done the shopping, that is!

Sunday we chilled at home in the morning and then Jolyon and Joanna cycled to Kristján Geirs where Jolyon spent the whole of the afternoon. He enjoyed that. The rest of us stayed at home and just relaxed and played and walked outside and stuff.

Joannas' mood is low and the days seem to drag on for her. To me, six weeks, minus the one we're in England, doesn't seem like enough time to enjoy the company of my friends and family before I leave. Although enjoyment is hard to come by these days. I feel sad that I'll be leaving these people behind but due to the time needed at work and at home I can't seem to find the time to spend with them to say goodbye. There are people I'd like to say goodbye to in person but am unlikely to see before I go. I always enjoy playing the gigs though, it's just unfortunate that the bands rehersal trip to the middle of nowhere had to be cancelled ... that would have been fun!

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the six-weeks-minus-one, seem like six years to Joanna. Every day is the same. She sits alone at home waiting for everyone else to walk through the door. Even the weekends don't provide enjoyment any more. But you'll have to read more about that on her blog.

It's interesting how people cope with the same things in different ways. For me, playing sad songs on the guitar (or listening to them) is a way of getting sad feelings out of my system. I find it very calming and it injects me with some positive vibes. Joanna on the other hand finds this sort of music gets her even sadder. I think Jolyon feels the same way as Joanna. These days I get told off by the two of them for playing the guitar. I understand why. So, what do we do in a house where it doesn't matter where I am, the guitar can be heard throughout ... I don't play! I'll have to make do with the physical exercise ... I'll have to run the sad feelings out of me. I'll have to become tougher! Less sensitive artist and more hard-man ... or maybe find a good medium ...

'Hard-man' ... to anyone who knows me that description is about as accurate as if I were to describe a toaster as a big, fluffy, wardrobey looking kind of thing ...

I find myself increasingly seeking the outdoors. There are few things I enjoy more than getting wrapped up in three layers and going outside, despite it being under and around 0 degrees outside. Whether it's walking to work, from Jolyons school, with Elijah around the block or even just to the shop for something ... I'm always willing. The fresh air does me good and I need as much of 'does-me-good' as possible these days. We all do!

Positively Sending the Red Tape Packing

2006-10-20T10:09:00.000Z

Yesterday was a really positive day! Jolyon had a great day at school, although his 'friends' had been teasing him at the party the day before. Joanna got offered an interview for a post she quite fancies. I got offered an interview for a post I know nothing about ... because for technical reasons I can't log onto the website to get the job description. Things were just generally going our way yesterday.

Just over a week now until we go to England for a visit. With job interviews for both of us and Burton social arrangements we should have a great time. I'm disappointed that I can't go to Joannas christmas do, though ... Erika ... ;-) The house-hunting might have to wait till we move so we can spend some time together the four of us as well. But hey, it's almost time, eh!

The Icelandic red tape is still causing us grief. Now that we've got all the papers we need for Jolyon and Joannas' identification numbers it is apparently being 'looked at'. That usually means it's in someones 'to do' pile. They've been looking at it since the end of February so we've now threatened them with a lawyer if this isn't sorted. Sometime you just need to play hardball, I guess. We're moving so we wouldn't bother with it anymore except for the fact that:
1. It's a pride thing ... for me more than Joanna and Jolyon.
2. Them not having identification numbers costs us alot of money in healthcare and taxes, which we're hoping to get backpayed once this is sorted. But that will probably take another year to come through!

We've spent days trying to get together the right paperwork for Joy to fly out ahead of us. We've spent even more days of trying to find out how to book a ticket for her to go on her own. Now I've found out ... and the Cargo people don't give a hoot about the paperwork, their attitude is: Just stick her in a box and ship her on her way ... ha! ... that's what all the red tape comes down to in the end. "Stick her in a box and ship her away" ... I'll bet that's what they want to do to all the foreigners trying to settle in Iceland. Anyway ... it's all been legally done and there shouldn't be any problems and Joy should be in England toward the end of November and then we'll be there a week later to visit her. Unfortunately it'll be a few months before they let her out of quarantine. But we're slowly getting there.

Something to write home about

2006-10-19T09:22:00.000Z

I waffled on for so long in my entry yesterday that I don't think I'll have anything else to say for three years now. Let me think ... I'm sure I can find something ...

I used to always pride myself in being a very peaceful and patient person. As I've grown older this has changed. I've definately become more aggressive and less patient. Lets start with the aggressive ...

Aggressive doesn't mean I get physically aggressive. I've actually never been in a proper fight in my life. I've never hit anyone and am quite proud of that fact. That's not to say I'm a pacifist. The definition of a pacifist is: "a person who believes in pacifism or is opposed to war or to violence of any kind." That means that if somebody came into your house and threatened your family you would still be opposed to using violence. I wouldn't ... in fact I would without a doubt use whatever violent means needed to get that same person away from my family or to disable their effectiveness to carry out any percieved threat. That is the change that I call becoming more aggressive. In my younger years I would have shied away from anything involving any sort of conflict, verbal or physical. These days I would take it on if I deemed it necessary. It rarely is. I am thankfully not one of those people who send out provocative vibes. I think that on the contrary I send out rather chilled vibes which have often served me well to calm down situations that otherwise could have gone a very different way. It's got me out of potentially violent situations without any violence being used, on my part or other peoples. Maybe this aggressiveness is another part of having other people to look out for. Maybe it's not aggressiveness, but preservation ... not for myself but for my loved ones.

Patience. I've definately got less of that. I think it ties in with the above. My patience was more a way of swallowing my pride and avoiding situations where I had to challenge people. So instead of asking: "Why are you three hours late?" I would say: "Don't worry 'bout being late, I didn't have any other plans anyway." So it wasn't patience ... it was wus-ness. Maybe I haven't got less patience ... maybe I've just got more pride ... or less time ... whatever ...

Jolyon is still doing okay at school. He had a party yesterday which went really well. That's two days in a row without any major incident. I stayed with him for the first 40 minutes today. It was computer class. His project was to write about something fun that happened this week. Jolyons paper was called, "MY MUM" in the biggest letters available. It started with the words: "I loved it when my mum tought me ..." referring to his home teaching. Ahhh ... he'll always be mummys little boy, just a very long practicing teenager mummys boy. That's just cool.

Elijah is doing well. He's just loving every day at Huldas and every day at home. His favorite thing now is to find someone in the family to chase him around the house and then throw himself on a cuhion or on the sofa screeching and laughing whilst being tickled. He also loves our cat Joy so much ... "Ahhhhh ..." he says and chases after her to give her a stroke and lay his head on her soft fur. She's very patient with him. Sometimes she'll even reach her head down to him if she's sat on something so he can reach her to give her a stroke.

See ... I told you I would find something to write about ... :-)

Peace on earth ... or even just in my head!

2006-10-18T13:42:00.000Z

Yesterday was a good day at school for Jolyon ... proper good. Today was his first morning of home schooling with his mum and he did really well, I'm told. At lunchtime he went to school where he will play outside for a bit and then go to a party at his friends house where the whole class is invited. It has all the makings for a second good day and a little growth in self-confidence. I remain positive and my faith in my eldest son is intact.

Thinking about how I feel about Iceland. The only way I can think to describe my feelings toward it are like this: If a close relative for whom you have unconditional love lets you down or turns out not to be the person you thought for all the wrong reasons, what happens? You don't stop loving that person. You don't stop being their close relative with the unconditional love. But you feel dissapointed and your faith and trust is gone. And you may choose to live further away from that person and have less communication with them. It doesn't mean you have less communication with your other close and unconditionally loved relatives or friends living in this persons house. It just means you meet and communicate with those people in ways that minimises your contact with the person (i.e. the Icelandic authorities).

This is how I feel about Iceland and it's government ... although I certainly don't love the government unconditionally ... in fact I dislike most politicians unconditionally. I say most because my late grandad was a politician and I firmly believe that he was always true to his beliefs. I think that was why he was eventually forced to step down ... refusal to take part in the political back-stabbing game which is common practice these days. I'm also not naive enough to think that he was the only politician ever to be true to his beliefs. I think Bill Clinton is. I think John F. Kennedy and Winston Churchill were. I think Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson is. On a more negative note, Hitler probably was as well ... that's the other extreme. But I also think that although most politicians get involved because of beliefs, too many of them succum to money and more so, power.

I went to school for many years with a guy, Björn Ingi Hrafnsson (we called him Bingi). He ran in the mayoral elections this year. He's one of those who has succumbed to this sleaze. His party has no policies as far as I can tell other than to remain in power ... and they do. Thankfully he didn't become mayor. As an example of their lack of true-to-self, one of their agenda items was fuel efficent and environmentally friendly cars. This former school mate of mine drives around in a Ford Explorer jeep. The smallest one of these has a 4 liter 6 valve engine ... not environmentally friendly. On top of that, for their election campaign, they drove around in a Hummer ... it makes the Explorer seem like an electric scooter in regards to fuel consumption and CO2 poisoning let into the air. Oh, and there was a picture of this Hummer outside one of their rallies, parked in a handicapped zone ... they really know how to sell it to you, those whacky politicians! Through negotiations with the biggest party, Bingi got in and is now a big shot on the council. Head of sports and leisure in Reykjavík! ... that's all the kids football clubs, playgrounds etc. It's great to see your old school mates do well ... I just wish it was done honestly!

But Iceland as a country and society I do love unconditionally ... but I am dissapointed in it's racism and lack of caring toward other unconditionally loved relatives. It's a strange contradiction to carry around inside you but I think I'll be able to put it more in perspective once we've left and can look at it from a distance ... and maybe even laugh ... or at least grin over the fact that ... as our T-shirts will say ... "We Survived Iceland"... By the way ... we are now due these T-shirts a month earlier than we first anticipated, as we're going to be moving on or around the 3rd December rather than in January next year.

So, as I am always looking for reasons to be angry at my native country, here is another one ... Iceland has, as from today, started commercial whaling again! Maybe they'll raise them in captivity in the new lagoon at Kárahnjúkar and then harpoon them from there and eat them. That's much more sensible than letting the wildlife at Kárahnjúkar live and letting the whales roam free ... alive!

When I was a teenager Iceland whaled commercially. I didn't think much of it until a few Greenpeace blokes came and sank some whaling ships. 'Bastards' I thought. 'Do they not think about all those poor fishermens families and their loss of income?' Now I might join them, if I wasn't hoping to get into the UK Police Force. My dislike of Greenpeace and their tactics have actually been kept intact but my opinions on commercial, or scientific for that matter, whaling has flip-flopped completely. The same has happened to my enviromental awareness, as regular readers will know. When did this happen? When I met the first woman I ever truly loved.

Before then I didn't think twice about putting my cigarettes out on the ground and leaving them (I don't smoke anymore) nor did it bother me to throw rubbish out the car window. Why did I think in this selfish manner up to the age of 27? I had a good upbringing and was intellegent (I think I still am!?) but environmental and animal welfare education went in one ear and out the other. I blame it largely on my self-destructive impulses. As a teenager and young adult I didn't care what happened to me and not much about those around me, people, animals or the planet. I thought I did ... but I certainly didn't behave in that way. So ... littering and killing whales was fine with me. It wasn't till I met Joanna and our oldest son, moved in with them and got married that I had to honestly think about other people and what would happen to them in the future. It took a while after getting married for me to become this aware but I'm glad I am. I am by no means as passionate about these things as Joanna or Jolyon but have alot more respect for things around me and would like to leave a nice, clean, peaceful earth to my children and (hopefully) grandchildren. That said, I'm too much of a hypocrite to ever become a vegetarian, like my wife and children ...

Talking of peaceful earth ... are we heading into yet another war? North-Korea versus Japan and America. Will the Icelandic authorities oppose it now that the American army has left ... not if Bingis friends have anything to say about it, which they do! Will Britain oppose? I didn't go to school with Gordon Brown but I would still hazard a guess at: No, they won't oppose it. France might, Germany might, Russia probably will but that's about it.

Well, lots more to talk about today than I thought when I sat down ... sorry if it's a bit whittery and ranting ... it's just as it came out of my head.

Back to school!

2006-10-17T15:00:00.000Z

It's been an odd 24 hours. In my last blog I talked about Jolyons troubles at school. Of course, every story has more than one side. Jolyons reaction to alot of what has been going on hasn't been as peaceful as we'd hoped. So now all the teachers and parents are getting together to try and 'rearrange' the dynamics in the classroom and the school. This meant that today I spent the whole day at school with Jolyon. It was an interesting experience. The woodwork tables are smaller than I remembered them! There were some minor issues but all in all it went really well and I am so proud of Jolyon and his work. It comes down to keeping him occupied, which can be hard for people that don't speak english to the extent needed.

To work with kids you need to be able to speak their language to the extent of being able to delve deeply into the childs emotional issues. You need to understand the subliminal messages the child is sending out. You need to tie the childs words with the childs body language to get the true picture. This is impossible if your understanding of the language is only basic. And as Jolyon has had such a rough time, his interest in learning Icelandic is zero. I'm not saying it's the teachers fault because no-one can be expected to speak a second language to the same extent as their native tounge. But I can't help to think that something could have been done sooner, maybe even at his first school. In the healthcare system you have the right to a translator if you don't speak the language. Why not in the educational system? That could have made the difference. I know ... it's easy with 20-20 hindsight.

Anyway, I enjoyed school today and am very proud of my son. Now we need to keep this momentum going. That said, Joanna intends to give him two mornings of home teaching which will serve two purposes. It will take the pressure off him (and school) and it will better prepare him for the academic challenges that lay ahead in a new, english school.

I'm sounding all ohh so caring about school and the other children but the brutal fact is that we have such a short time before leaving that all I care about is Jolyon. I care about him having some closure in this matter and sorting out his issues before we go. Otherwise there is a risk of him taking alot of this stuff with him to England and all of us going through the same things again. We want to leave the bad memories of Iceland in Iceland and take the good memories with us. There's a few of them in between, as well ... it's not been all bad ... it's just been all hard ...

Welcome to Iceland ... as long as you don't stay!

2006-10-16T08:59:00.000Z

I was playing a gig on Saturday night. The place was packed and everyone was dancing, drinking, singing and generally having a good time. But something was strange ... something didn’t fit. When you go to a crowded pub in England where everyone is dancing, drinking, singing and generally having a good time there is a certain vibe. A very chilled, friendly vibe. You can bump into the next person and appologise and it’s just part of the game, no hassle, everone is having fun ... but not on Saturday ... not in Iceland ...

The vibe was ... tense. It was like a power struggle. Who can dance more? Who can drink more? Who can sing more and who can have a better time? This includes shoving the person next to you on the dancefloor to make more space for you. This includes lifting a chair above your head in a threatening manner ... and then saying it was a joke when the bouncer catches you ... this includes walking about with your chest out showing people you’re having the best time, then passing out in the corner. We had people falling over the drumkit and spilling their drinks on the piano ... That evening I was glad I was a bassist and could duck out of the way. But it was what we class as a great gig.

In short ... people were bullying other people to ensure nobody was having a better time than they were ... this is what Icelandic nightlife is like ... believe me ... I grew up in it and took part, albeit an observers veiw, for fifteen years. After recent experiences this new view on an old theme opened my eyes a bit. When you think of the many levels of society ... nightlife, work, family, school, social etc. You can find this bullying anywhere. I’m no expert on social cultures on an international level but comparing what I know as a child from America and Iceland and then what I know as an adult from Iceland and Britain, the bullying aspect of these interactions are markably more dominant in Iceland than anwhere else. It’s as if Icelandic society is beriddled with a minority complex which it hides by bullying. It makes it seem tough and in charge. Anyone who knows about the recent removal of the American army from Iceland knows that Icelandic government and society are anything but tough and in charge.

This bullying spills out. The system is beriddled with it. The way foreigners are treated when they come to Iceland. Their lack of rights and lack of information is all a bullying technique, whether Iceland knows it or not. It’s to make sure they don’t have a better life than the Icelanders, because after all ... it’s not really their country ... it’s the Icelanders country.

This bullying has also spilled out to the junior school system. My son, Jolyon, knows that. What do you do when your child is being bullied, emotionally and physically? You teach them to cope. You teach them to talk to an adult if it doesn’s stop because adults can help it to stop. Mum and dad are here to make things like this stop. But what if it doesn’t. What if the bullies are reprimanded again and again at school, walk straight out of the principals office and threaten and beat your child for getting them into trouble? What do you do then? Have you failed? This is the second school Jolyon goes to in Iceland and because he is different, because he isn’t Icelandic. He gets the Icelandic welcome ... bullying! He’s had so much grief he’s lost all interest in learning the language, in learning the culture and in trying to make friends. What do you do? I know what we’re doing ... we’re leaving Iceland to the Icelanders.

Why are we still here?

2006-10-13T10:22:00.000Z

Well ... all the bullying issues at Jolyons school continue ... only now he is being teased and bullied by the only two friends he thought he had in Iceland (aside from Kristján Geir). On top of that, he is not getting a proper nights sleep because his brother is coughing in the night and waking up between 5.30 and 6.00 and hence, waking his older brother up. It makes me wonder why we are still here? Theres no reason, other than Joannas teaching, why we couldn't just pack up and leave! But then things are never quite that simple in reality ... are they? Poor Jolyon ...

We're really ready for this trip to England, the four of us ... Joanna is still poorly in bed and obviously, Elijah is much better but not 100%. Jolyon getting grief at school. I don't know. I pride myself in having an iron-coated, bullet proof immune system as I've not been sick off work for about three years ... but I'm feeling a bit rough myself today ...

A short visit to England

2006-10-12T09:25:00.000Z

Went to see Iceland v Sweden at the Icelandic international stadium last night. Me, Joanna and Jolyon really enjoyed it but left when there was about half an hour left because Jolyon was cold and Joanna wasn't feeling so good. She's in bed today again.

Got to take Joy, our cat, to the vets today so she can have her bloods taken, prior to moving to England. After a load of hassle and the Icelandic head vet misunderstanding the British law regarding transportation of pets, it's finally all sorted. Now I just need to find a crate that is big enough to ship her in.

Things are just plodding along here really, not much to report. We're all looking forward to our visit to England at the end of the month and Joanna is now going to stay with us the full week. This means I need to get Joy booked in to a cat hotel as Joanna doesn't want to leave her for a week in the house. We are going to use our visit to do a bit of house and job hunting as well as visiting friends and family, having a look at Jolyons new school and enjoying some time together ... that's alot to fit into one week and I have a feeling that the spending time together bit might not happen so much ... we look forward to seeing you all, anyway ...

love

10 minutes of pain (ok, that's a bit dramatic)

2006-10-11T13:08:00.000Z

I was a little sceptical about my decision to run less and faster and to abandon the programme which I was so desperately holding onto. But after going out today and running very hard I am positive it was the right thing to do. Before I started I decided that I would run no more than 10 minutes and if my knee started giving me grief I would stop. As it turns out, on the last minute, my knee just sort of said 'hello' time to think about slowing down. So, I finished the 10 minutes and then walked.

Those 10 minutes were the hardest I've ever done ... running wise. They were more physically exhausting than anything I've done in these six weeks of sticking to what I have now deemed my 'wus'-programme. I got much more pleasure out of it as well, it actually felt like more of an achievement and I feel better about myself afterwards. Great stuff. No more exercise today ... cos that would just be being obsessive ...

Cheers

The Icelanders are coming ... run for your life!

2006-10-11T10:11:00.000Z

Joanna still poorly at home. Not good at all. Hopefully on the mend though. Yesterday she had a minature tea which was definately a step up. She also had the energy to tell me off for becoming obsessive about the exercise stuff ... speaking of which ...

I'm going to abandon my running programme. It has served me well in starting me off running but the rest of it now focuses on how long you can run for. I'm going to do it differently. As I'm not planning on running a marathon but am
a) enjoying the outdoor fresh air and scenes and
b) trying to build up endurance
I'm going to run faster for shorter periods of time. That is to say ... when I go out running later today I'm not going to jog for 20 minutes ... I'm going to run hard for 10 minutes. It saves time and is more toward the aim that I am trying to achieve anyway. Yes, I am getting a tad obsessive about it but I am also enjoying it ... now it's just time to continue doing it for the reasons of enjoyment, not obsession. Had a complete rest day yesterday and as it was so wet, me and Jolyon didn't even go for a game of football. It did me good ...

As we get ever closer to the move to England I start thinking more about jobs. Joanna is getting the interviews in but my interviews are ... well ... not exactly flooding in ... that is ... the phone has remained extremely quiet and incoming e-mails can be counted on the fingers of one hand ... in fact ... they can be counted on a fingerless hand ... but it's early days still so I'm not overly worried ... I can see the funny side of this.

Peace, man!

Can you look him straight in the eye?

2006-10-10T10:40:00.000Z

I'm not trying to promote selfishness but if you can't be true to yourself, you're cheating everyone else, as well. Here is an easy-reading poem which I found quite good.

~ The Man in the Glass ~

When you get what you want in your struggle for self
and the world makes you king for a day,
just go to the mirror and look at yourself
and see what that man has to say.
For it isn't your father or mother or wife
whose judgment upon you must pass.
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
is the one staring back from the glass.
People may think you’re a straight-shooting chum
and think you're a wonderful guy,
but the man in the glass says you're only a bum
if you can't look him straight in the eye.
He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,
for he's with you clear to the end.
And you've passed your most difficult test
if the man in the glass is your friend.
You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
and get pats on the back as you pass.
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
if you've cheated the man in the glass.

Dale Wimbrow, 1895-1954

Taking it all on ...

2006-10-10T10:04:00.000Z

Everyone is poorly at home. Once Joanna and the boys had picked me up from work yesterday Joanna went straight to bed and I saw to the boys. Feeding, football, bath, bed and so on. Today Joanna is staying in bed. Elijah was well enough to go to his childminders, thankfully. He ate well last night and this morning and was very jolly, although a tad clingy at home. So hopefully he'll be fine and Joanna will get a chance to recover. It's her stomach that is giving her greif but as the doctor said about Elijah: "It's just a healthy, Icelandic virus!"

Did some exercise at home last night and feeling it today. My body is telling me it needs a rest today and, unusually, I'm going to listen. Might go for a walk though and will definately play some football with Jolyon tonight. But that's all rest, isn't it!

Went to see my grandmum, Sigga, yesterday. She was in good spirits and asked alot about the boys and how we were feeling about moving to England and said: "Joannas parents must be so happy." It was nice to see her.

Anyway, I'll be picking up boys today so best get on with it ...

That b****y knee

2006-10-09T12:18:00.000Z

Elijahs' childminder phoned. He's been sick and is feeling very poorly today. Joanna has gone to pick him up. Poor baby lad ...

A while back I wrote about going out running and then limping for days afterwards. Let's go back to that one. Our next door but one neighbour in Mossley, England and another guy that lived a few doors down used to go out running regularly. For whatever reason, I asked if I could come with them. So I went and through my obsessive stubbornness I was intent on running the same amount as them ... they'd been running for years ... I'd been watching TV. After a while my knee started to hurt. Through that same SILLY obsessive stubborness, I didn't stop. I did give up at some point though and limped for days after. For a long time I couln't run at all cos I could feel it in my knee straight away. I haven't had a problem with this since starting my running ... until today ...

I decided to do the 20 minute run I'd missed last week and forgo the 'easy' run that I would have otherwise done today. Mistake! After about 16 minutes I could feel my knee. Oh, no, thinks me. I keep going for a while but as I start to feel it more I decide not to make the same mistake again and stopped. I managed 18 minutes. This is very dissapointing I have to say. I was gutted. But during my walk back I decided that all it meant is that progress will from now on not be as quick as initially intended and I'll have to adjust the programme to suit this unforeseen eventuality. It probably didn't help that I hadn't run for 5 days for reasons stated earlier. Anyway ... tomorrow will be a rest day and then we'll see how it goes on Wednesday. I think my mission now will be to reach the 20 minute mark with an uninjured knee. The knee is fine now, by the way ... I don't expect to be limping and I made sure I stretched after todays run ... something I sometimes forget ... or just don't do!

Here's hoping my family get better soon :-)

Poooo ...

2006-10-09T08:37:00.000Z

Poooo ... that run I've been looking forward to for weeks ... I missed it! It's the first week I don't manage all three runs. This was due to evenings and weekends being taken up by job applications, poorly people and gigs. There were no 25 minutes to be had for myself anywhere over the weekend ... :-(

By Friday afternoon Elijah was quite poorly. His temperature was all over the place and by the evening he was being sick. I was due to attend a team building thing on Friday but missed that because of this and because Joanna was feeling so poorly too. I had a gig that night and when I got back, at 3.30am, I had to see to a poorly young man ... no sleep that night. Gigs from Iceland tend to start at midnight and finish at 3.00am ... and I had another one on the Saturday so I got in about 3 hours sleep then ...

Saturday morning I had to take on Joannas Saturday school teaching, even though I was feeling slightly rough myself. Had a good time with Jolyon that afternoon though going to the Pearl and things. On Sunday morning people were feeling a bit better so we set off to Borgarnes, an hours drive from Reykjavík, to see the Settlers Museum. On the way there Elijah was sick again ... poor lad.

So here I am. Feeling rather poorly myself, behind schedule with my running and Elijah not having had any breakfast this morning despite telling us he was hungry. I am going out running today ...

Party, party and party ... all the late nights ...

2006-10-06T10:48:00.000Z

Stayed up long into the night filling in an application form that needed handing in today. This was the long one I wrote abou earlier. There's always a certain sense of achievement ones you've finished something like this and handed it in. Not quite the same sense of achievement if you don't get an interview after all the hard work but all I can do is wait now. Fingers crossed.

Got a team building party tonight so I'm leaving Joanna. Feel guilty about it as she has been so helpful to me with my applications and I've not had time to help her with her lesson planning. Elijahs' childminder rang yesterday and is poorly so Joanna can't use the day today to do her work. Typical.

After the p*** up ... uhm ... I mean team building I've got a gig. That will be fun. Sometimes I'm so glad I don't drink. It makes life, and transportation, so much easier.

Running. My next run is the dreaded 20 minute one. I'm hoping to do it whilst Joanna and Jolyon are at Saturday school. That is, if my parents will look after Elijah for 20 minutes ... 20 minutes ... yesterday I ran 8 minutes, rested 5, ran 8 and rested 5. It was hard. I'm running faster and for longer periods of time now which is good. Me and Joanna are also doing our weights together, although that has been on hold due to applications, and Joanna is making sure I don't get all obsessive about it ... thanks, babe! :-)

We're looking forward to visiting England and J and J will be going over to Tameside on Halloween. Joanna to have a girly night in with her friends whilst Jolyon goes trick or treating with his friends. That should be great. Me and Elijah will stay in Yorkshire with my lovely in-laws, Rita and Brian. It will be good to do some catching up with them.

Feeling positive today despite Joanna and Elijah being at home still feeling a bit poorly. Going to take them to the health clinic this afternoon.

Love

I can seeeeeee the light!

2006-10-05T08:50:00.000Z

I am watching Jolyon grow up. He's been put in a situation here in Iceland where he has had to grow up faster than a nine year old boy should have to. A nine year old boy should be going to school, having fun and playing with his friends. In Iceland Jolyon has instead had to learn all about bullying and loneliness as well as learning anger management and coping mechanisms for a number of difficult situations. Life in England can only be better for him and hopefully it will just be a breath of relief and he'll be able to be a nine year old boy again. Having friends, playing football and riding bikes with his peers. Me and him go out most evenings and play football but I'll never replace a boy his own age with whom he can get up to nine-year-old-boy-mischief with, will I?

I am watching Joanna staying at home. This is definately not her bag and as she has written in the TwoLand diary she is very lonely. Joanna is, like all Burtons I know, an independent soul who needs to have a life outside of home. She needs to have friends around for girly nights out and girly nights in. Friends whom she can chat with about nothing at all. Joanna also needs to work. She is a naturally very giving, caring person who is in her element when she is taking care of someone else who needs it. She also finds it necessary to have colleagues to 'talk shop' with and bounce ideas around. I'm watching a different Joanna than I knew in England ... although she can certainly still boss me about! ;-)

When Joanna and I met I was a very vulnerable person in no fit state to take care of myself, on a fast-track to self-destruction. Joanna took care of me and basically saved my life. But as we've progressed for our almost four and a half years together I've become, largly thanks to Joanna, a different person. Which is good ... and bad ... I'm not the same person Joanna fell in love with because alot of that vulnerability isn't there. I know it's still there actually, under the surface, and Joanna is my stabling influence ... so Joannas role has changed in that respect. That said, I can't replace a girly friend (although I am a girly bloke) and a girly chat ... I can just do the husband/best friend thing. Joannas life will be so much more fulfilling when we are in England and she's got a job and friends within reach. There's no doubt in my mind.

I'm watching Elijah grow up. He is enjoying his life although the situation is not ideal. He loves his childminder so ... it's a shame we can't take her with us to England until he goes to the same school as Jolyon is going to. He loves his grandparents so and he'll miss them and vice versa. But life isn't stable for him. In his 17 months on this planet we have lived in five different places, that's a little more than a new home every three months and that's not good for little boys. And we'll be moving to a couple of other places before this is all over. I think for him home is not a house ... home is having his mummy, daddy and big brother around. Some of this unsettlement came out this summer in him biting (mainly me). That thankfully didn't continue but it makes you think. He is settled at the moment though.

Although we feel bad about having put our children, especially Jolyon, through this experience it confirms a few things. One, Iceland is not the place for us. Two, moving back to England was definately the right decision. And three, the next place we live and the next career we end up in will be for the long run. We need to now teach Jolyon to leave the bad experiences behind him in Iceland and take the good experiences with him. And there were plenty of good experiences. He got to know his second cousin Kristján Geir much better and they sound more like proper mates now when they talk rather than casual friends. He got to experience a different culture and learned alot about the differences in people coming from different backrounds. He fell in love with the idea of being a half-viking.

I will take a look at myself when we're back in England. For now, my role is to support. Support Jolyon in his difficult times at school and outside of home and to make sure that at home, those difficult times are discussed yet at the same time not wallowed in and to some extent, left outsided the doorstep. Support Joanna in these last months of loneliness and in everything we need to do until we move, from job interviews to lesson planning to cleaning the house. Support Elijah to continue to be a positive influence in what sometimes feels like a not-so-positive environment.

We're still together the four of us ... once back in England we will be the unbeatable and unpenetrable Freysson-Burton clan. We will be stronger and happier than ever, no matter where we live and what we work. I know this for a fact! Until then ... support is the word of the year.

The International and Multicultural Men of the Year!

2006-10-04T10:54:00.000Z

Had a good meeting with the band last night. The plan was to rehearse but due to lack of facilities we held a meeting in a nice, cozy cafe ... those chocolate cakes were tempting ... but I didn't have one. In it we set a schedule for the next few months. I didn't feel I could take full part as I am a departing member of the group but it was important to be there.

The idea is to make a video. The video won't include any members of the band but will be filmed in Paris by a professional staff team of 20 people including actors, sound engineers, camera people, grips etc. How this is fananced depends largely on some funding issues that should come to light later today. I won't be taking any part in the direct cost of the making of this video but the ideas around it sound really cool.

The band have also asked me to record my bits for the forthcoming album before I depart to England. I am more than pleased to do so and the recording will most likely take part in December, just before I go. I confirmed with the band our date of leaving Iceland. The album was initially supposed to come out before Christmas but due to various other commitments and time schedules within the group it doesn't look like that's going to happen so it probably won't be released until after I have left. It will be nice though to have something like that to remember playing with the band ... or more to the point to proove that I was allowed to play with the band. I am humbled every day to think about it.

In preperation for these recordings we are doing a major rehearsal session. We have got a summerhouse an hour from Reykjavík where we will be going in a few weeks time on a Friday to rehearse well into the night (there's not a house in sight anywhere near) and then get up early in the morning to rehearse some more before leaving around lunchtime. It should be good fun and it means that we can nail these songs. It probably also means that we will bond even more which will make it harder to have to leave ...

I am currently busy filling in one of the longest job application forms that I have ever done ... but I really want the job so it's all worth it.

Elijahs dual citizenship is confirmed and Jolyons residence permit issues, and hence Joannas residence permit issues, are on the verge of being solved. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about Joannas nursing registration. No new news there as of yet. Despite moving back to England we are, just on principal, still challenging the verdict of her registration not being recognised. We have alot of support and help here in doing this but at the end of the day things like this are unfortunately very much out of ones hands.

Jolyon still struggling at school and clearly not happy and although his work at school is going much better, the social aspect is hard. I had a long chat with his principal yesterday and some bullying issues have arisen again (he really didn't need that to happen after all the bullying in Garður). The principal is hopeful that this has been resolved but I am due to speak to her later today to see how the day went ... fingers crossed ... poor little man, being back in England will be much better for him and for Joanna because of her employment issues. I would also rather see Elijah at school in England now, after my experiences here in Iceland. I think English schools will be much better suited to get the best out of the two boys. It's worth moving back just for that.

So, on that dark note, after an otherwise fairly positive entry, I leave you ...

DRRRRRRRIIILLLL ... HOLD STILL!!! ... ARGH!!!!!

2006-10-03T13:47:00.000Z

Oh the joy of the dentist. Yep, just been there myself. As we've been living in England I've not been to this dentist for 7 years and he said that my teeth were as good now as they were then. Yes! Didn't stop him from deciding to do a filling that he'd decided not to do 7 years ago. It had progressed a bit but otherwise I was fine. Now, this dentist, who is very good, likes to talk. You come out of a session with him a registered and certified oral hygiene expert aware of all the functions that go on in your mouth from your teeth to your gums and your saliva to your tongue. He's also a hobby musician so we always talk a bit about music which is fun. Today our conversation went onto dams, the environment, aluminium factories and pollution. Now, a conversation with a dentist is all good and well but once he starts his work, the conversation is finished by default ... due to ones inability to speak with all the various implements in ones mouth. So we chatted whilst the numbness from the anesthetic was setting in. At a crucial moment, where he argued a point regarding the level of pollution from a factory in Iceland, I completely disagreed and had a great retort (which happens only once in a blue moon) ... and what does he do ... he sticks the drill in my mouth and starts drilling ... argh ... the moment was gone. The moral is, you can't win an argument with a dentist.

Joanna commented on my lack of seeming in discomfort when I met her afterwards but the fact is that, aside from going to the dentists not bothering me, he's very good and doesn't do any uneccesary stuff ... as far as I can tell. So ... as I always say once I've been to the dentists ... things can only get better from here ;-)

See you

Everyone is doing okay :-)

2006-10-03T08:39:00.000Z

Yesterday was a good, positive day. Just generally in a positive mood. Running was great and then me and Joanna did some weights at home and as she is better at that stuff than me it meant I got a more overall thingy-ma-giggy ... I mean that all muscles got their share ... I can feel them today but it's a good feeling. I think by the end of this week I will stop having such frequent updates on my running as it is settling into a routine and it's probably more boring reading about it than it is writing it, when you don't feel that anything new has happened. I will let you know if I ever stop or trip over or run head first into an off-duty bouncer ... or whatever ... we hope it won't come to any of that, eh?

Joanna and Elijah are getting better from their colds so that's a positive. Elijah was extremely jolly this morning ... that's for sure ... running about with two bibs in his hands making it hard for daddy to get him dressed :-)

Jolyon was jolly as well ... he's just growing up so fast I feel I'm loosing track ... more aware now that every minute with my family counts cos before I know it my boys will have grown up and moved out ... not just yet though ...

Visited my grandmum ... amma Sigga, yesterday. She's doing okay. It was nice to sit down and chat to her for a while and I'm going to try and take Elijah up to see her on Saturday morning. Problem is she sleeps so late ... a proper Freysson ...

Peace and love,

And then I saw her face ... now I'm a believer ...

2006-10-02T08:26:00.000Z

Well, I failed. I didn't write any blog entries over the weekend, as you can all see. I suppose it's no biggy. I just realised that these two days I have with my family are so precious so I think I will continue to write these during the week and then have a break over the weekend. I'm sure the format will change again once we've moved to England although I fully intend to keep writing.

Saturday was great! I became a classroom assistant in Joannas Saturday school and had a great time. She's got seven kids, including Jolyon, that she's teaching and the theme is music ... I'm right at home there. I played guitar and sang and got the kids to play music games. The most popular one was a game that Jolyon invented the night before where I would play music and they would try and guess what song it was, what film it was from etc. It was great fun.

I've been writing these entries for about two months now. It has helped me immensly in becoming a better person. If you read back the negative diary entries become fewer and further between them as time goes on and you can actually see me settling into a mundane, but happier, way of life. It has helped me come to terms with moving back to England, away from family and friends. But now, it's time to take on the next level. Because although it has helped me become a better person for myself (notice the constant use of me, me, me in these sentences) I have only minimally transferred that to becoming a better person for those around me. That's my next mission. I think it's a natural course, first you learn to like yourself and then you can spread the love ... just like rasberry jam on a piece of toast ... So now I hope to be a better husband, father, friend etc. etc. ... and not just better, but much, much better! We'll see ...

Running went good last week. Last run on Saturday I realised that I was running too slow and I could run faster than that and still remain within the programme, so I did, and then instead of doing a few pushups and a few situps I did 3x10 stumach crunches, 3x10 reverse crunches and 3x10 pushups ... after the full run ... it was great but boooooyyy did I suffer for it on Sunday. I've not complained, like, but my muscles are still aching. Joanna has got into her fitness stuff again as we bought some weights and stuff but unfortunately, although her leg has almost fully recoverred, she and Elijah have got nasty coughs and colds. It's just one thing after another for those two ... This weeks running should be fun as the last one is a 20 minute run with no break ... ha, ha, ha, we'll see how that one goes. I'm thinking of sticking a fourth day of running in the week but don't tell Joanna ;-) It'll be a variation of a Fartlek training programme (I don't know what that means either, but it's recommended ... :-/). Maybe not till I've finished this programme, eh ... I'm half way through once I've done my second run this week!

So, returning after this weekend a better man ... I'm now signing off until tomorrow ...

Much ado about nothing

2006-09-29T08:33:00.000Z

When one writes a blog entry, one tends to write about stuff that happens there and then but very often don't follow things up as time passes, so, I'm going to use this opportunity, of not actually having much to say, to give you some updates on things I have been writing about.

Richard Hammond, the Top Gear presenter that was injured in a jet-car accident was treated for 'extensive brain injury'. He is recovering quicker than anyone expected, walked 30 hours after his crash and is conscious and talking. He was moved from intensive care to a general ward in Leeds hospital a day or so after arriving. Three days a go he was then airlifted to a hospital closer to home. Me and Joanna are big fans, Joanna because he's short and handsome, like her husband, and me because I envy him of his endless energy and I love his driving style ... yes, the one that put him in hospital ...

The damn dam that I spoke about yesterday is filling up. Apparently it will take a year to fill up completely which just shows you how much land will go under. This land includes a fully fledged river with fishes, bird nesting land and beautiful walking country ... it's like the story of Noah all over again!

Running updates and stuff you get regularly anyway don't you ... can't remember anything more to update you on at the moment. I was running yesterday and the last leg of the run was supposed to be 5 minutes but I got confused with time, as I've not got a stopwatch, just the normal kind, so I either ran 10 seconds too little or 50 seconds too much, I'm not sure ... I'll live ... I'd like to think it was 50 seconds too much! Running the third run of the week on Saturday. I'm at that stage now where the initial changes in energy levels and body shape are through and I don't feel I'm making progress as quick. This is the bit where it gets harder to stick with it but apparently in sort of the 10 to 12 week it kicks in again, so I'm going to stick to it. I always feel good after running though ... I've also slacked a bit in my good eating habits so I'm going to pull myself in on that one ... just less of the fatty meat and fried fish and more of the soup, salad, tuna etc. I gave some blood at work two days ago and when you do that they offer to check your systems, i.e. cholestorol and all that. All mine were within the accepted level, which they weren't a couple of months ago ... that is, my good cholestorol was a bit too low but it's all fine now.

So as you can see, a long blog about nothing ... except pure love to all of you ...

Positive Paris pops to Paris ... possibly!?

2006-09-28T08:47:00.001Z

We live in a beautiful world ... but it's all going to pot ... the proof is in the celebrity gossip columns! Paris Hilton was told they speak french in Haiti, "Then I can nip to Paris for the weekend while I'm there." BEEEEEEP ... wrong answer! Naomi Campell not turning up to court for allegedly throwing her mobile phone at her housekeeper ... will she be punished? No! Will she buy justice? Yes! Will the housekeeper feel better? No, but she won't say anything cos it'll be settled with an 'undisclosed' amount of money ... what happened to pride ... what happened to ' ... and justice for all ...'? Not the Metallica album, no, the concept. And of course the biggest question is: How sad is Tóti Freysson for keeping abreast of such unimportant matters? Answers:
A. He just likes to know stuff
B. Pretty sad, really
C. Certified sadman

I went to a very interesting course yesterday, a bit of an eye opener. It was called 'Positive Discipline' and was all about raising children, dealing with children in a classroom etc. I thought I was a really good father coming in to become an even better father. I left thinking I was a pretty rubbish father and had a long journey ahead of me to become a better one. I should have known that from the start really just by reading the title, 'Positive Discipline'. Positive is not the first thing that springs to mind where my personality is concerned. You just have to read a few of these blogs to get that vibe. Discipline is something I'm not good at because ... well, because I'm not good at it. I don't enjoy disciplining. The jist of it is that, as I already knew, My thought processes are very black and white. I see the things that my children do as either right or wrong, good or bad ... I don't tend to delve deeply enough into the matter ... what lies behind 'bad' behaviour, what lies behind 'good' behaviour. It's not because I can't, 'cos actually I'm naturally very sensitive towards how others are feeling and to underlying issues. It's just that I don't ... or for some reason that sensitivity is switched off when it comes to my children. Maybe because I care even more I get more upset when things go wrong and just start whittering on and telling them off rather than taking ten seconds to breathe and first give them a chance to explain. Don't get me wrong ... I don't shout, stomp about or slam doors ... I just don't always listen but expect them to sit and listen to me whitter on ... this is the habit I've got to break ... sooooo ... a new journey is at hand, on the horizon ... I guess I'll be taking you all with me. And to rub it all in, Joanna is doing a great job of raising her children ... she's the picture perfect mum ... but I knew that too, anyway. It just showed me how our methods of raising our children are poles apart ... good news is, there's nothing wrong with the boys ... it's me ...

Running tonight as I couldn't go last night due to other engagements. That'll be the second run of the week and I can then do the third one on Saturday.

Today is a black day for the Icelandic environment. Today they have closed the damn at Kárahnúkavirkjun which I wrote about a while back and the lagoon is filling up as we speak ... despite protests from various pressure groups and individuals. That's alot of plant and birdlife being lost today ... and alot of beautiful countryside going under water. :-(

Love you all ...

The Fluffy Pink Butcher Bunny

2006-09-27T08:24:00.000Z

Yaaaahooooo!!!! We've finally got the internet at home! You can all send Joanna e-mails till your fingers melt now, she's so pleased. Seriously though, this will make it so much easier for her to get her work for school done, no excuses now, darling!

Yesterday was spent recovering after Mondays running and stuff. Can't believe I could still feel my muscles slightly ache after that pee-wee-herman-of-a-run ... I'm ashamed of myself. Still, another run after work today ... or maybe not till later on. It's International evening at Jolyon's school tonight so last night we all baked shortbread (cos we needed to bring something english-ish to school) and Joanna is going to do a little talk about England. My parents are looking after Elijah for us and it should be good fun.

Last night Joanna went on a course, related to her teaching, called 'positive discipline'. This course is on again tonight and I'll be going after Jolyons school evening. This should help me get through Saturday morning because I'll be helping Joanna with her class. I'm supposed to show up with a guitar and help the kids write a song. They've got two lines and need to think of the next two themselves. The two lines they've got are:

As soon as Wolf began to feel
that he could use a decent meal

I was thinking of something like:

He went down to the butcher shop
and placed the butchers head on the block

But then I realised that poetry like that isn't really good for 9-11 year olds.

"What did you learn at Saturday school today, Edmund?"
"The wolf came into the shop and decapitated the owner and ate his insides raw, mummy!"

Uhm ... not ideal ... I think something more along the lines of:

He rang his friend the fluffy pink bunny
and they had some toast, it was ever so yummy

That's expensive poetry, isn't it ... hmmm ... I really don't know ... I do know this though, shop and block as well as bunny and yummy, don't actually rhyme ...

Peace, man!

Can I run over your cheeseburger ........ please?

2006-09-26T08:15:00.000Z

Just so that you know ... the last post with the video of Bush was a test. I've never blogged a YouTube video. Also ... I know that it was slowed down to make him look drunk ... it's still funny. I actually wondered for a while if this meant that he was always drunk but had just practiced talking faster so it didn't sound like he was drunk and when you slowed it down it sounded like he would naturally sound if he hadn't practiced talking fast when he was drunk! That's about as clear as mud, isn't it!? Enough!

First day of week four in my running programme. I made it yesterday but it was the first time I thought I might not. I'm not gonna tell you the times 'cos you'll laugh ... ok, then, I will. At the moment I'm running 3 minutes, walking 90 seconds, running 5 minutes then walking 2 1/2 minutes ... repeated twice. This, again, doesn't sound like much but as I realised half way through yesterday, it is the first time that the walking times are shorter than the running times. That means less time to recover between runs. I have to say though that once I've done this week it starts to get really difficult. By the 3rd workout of next week I should be running 20 minutes non-stop ... yeah, right! I've also started to fit in some situps and pushups after my runs now, whilst Jolyon is having his supper, so soon I will look like a greek god ... or was that weak slob ... I'll have a double cheeseburger with chips and don't spare the ketchup ...... please!

Cheeseburger. It was my favorite food. I hadn't had one for months and the other day we all went out and I had a cheeseburger ... and was properly dissapointed! It was one of those where your expectations become so high that anything is bound to dissapoint. Not been interested in having one since. "You're a sad, sad man, Tóti" you might say ... and you'd be right. But I like food ... I really do ... thankfully I like healthy food almost as much as unhealthy food so eating healthily isn't a problem ... although the feminine side of me still has a bit of a weakness for chocolate!

Please ... I've unfortunately got out of the habit of saying please. I'm trying to get back into it but at the moment it is always more of an afterthought .......please. I'm working on it.

P.S. Having trouble uploading pictures ... anyone know why?

Bring peace and thou shalt recieve love. Bring love and thou shalt recieve happiness.
Tóti 26:09

2006-09-25T15:21:00.000Z

President of USA W.Bush-Drunk????

This isn't too long but is definately worth watching ...

Carless and carelessly couldn't care less.

2006-09-25T08:56:00.000Z

Hello all,

Hope you had a good weekend. We had a great one. On Saturday Joanna and Jolyon went to the Mother Tongue school for the second time and although Joanna finds it hard going Jolyon enjoyed it. Me and Elijah went to visit amma Kristín and grandad Freyr which is always fun. Elijah got spoilt whilst my dad and I fixed the beast ... the fan belt needed tightening ... that's father-son time for three generations in one day. Jolyon then went to see my cousin Kristján Geir, who is just a couple of weeks younger than Jolyon and Elijah got some mummy-and-daddy time.

On Sunday we all went swimming in the morning ... oh, how Elijahs' face lit up when we got in the pool! He had a big smile :-) stuck on his face the whole time, screeching and laughing. Jolyon enjoyed the pool, which we'd not tried before, and it had a great slide. In the afternoon Kristján Geir came to our house and him and Jolyon had another good couple of hours together. Jolyon then got some mummy-son time outside playing football whilst I got Elijah into bed. By the time he was due some daddy-son time with a game of football before bed he was so tired he couldn't make it and decided to watch T.V. instead.

All this talking about what we've been up to and not complaining about life makes this sound like a proper diary entry! It must mean things are fairly settled at the moment. The phone guy is coming today so hopefully we'll be on-line by tonight ... that means blogs from home ... yeah ... if Joanna lets me ... she's got some internet time to make up, big style ... he, he ...

Got no car today as the Beast is in the garage having the front windshield replaced. It was hit by a rock ages ago when Joanna was driving from Garður to Reykjavík last spring and got a big, round crack in it. Finally getting it sorted now! It just wasn't that high on the priority list amongst nursing licences, residence permits and house sales! Once that's done the beast is in top condition and ready to sell ... that's my next job, I guess. I've made us homeless ... now I'm going to make us carless ... no, not careless, carless ...

Still running, still enjoying it. Today starts the fourth week of my nine week programme. I'm actually at a stage I've never been before ... that is, thinking about what to do once I've finished the programme. By the end of it I should be comfortably running 30 minutes three times a week. I think I might stick to that for a while before trying harder. I'm not training for a marathon anyway, just doing it for better mental and physical health. I've started to notice stomach muscles coming through ... calm yourself ladies, I've still got a pigeon chest ... I also feel better mentally and it has helped me in these slightly stressful times of preparing to leave friends and family behind whilst trying to support my wife and children with all the struggles they've been going through. A big thanks to Debs, because sometimes a girl needs to talk to her girlfriend, not her husband friend ...

That reminds me. Joanna is slightly worried about me. You see, recently, with all this healthy stuff ... I couldn't help but to become slightly obsessive, so I started reading up on mens grooming. Joanna started getting worried when I quizzed her about the use of cleansers, toner and moisteriser etc. Next thing you know I'll be asking to borrow her makeup and insisting she calls me queen Tóti! But first I need to figure out ... do you shave before or after you use the toner ... I can never remember ... Hey, I'm getting older and need to take better care of myself ...

Love

Thoughts on intellect ... inspired by Paris Hilton

2006-09-22T11:50:00.000Z

I like to read and I've almost always got a book on my bedside cabinet. Problem is, I read very slowly, whether the book is in Icelandic or in English. I suppose this isn't really a problem but I know it annoys Joanna, especially if I'm reading a book that she wants to read and she has to wait ... maybe for weeks. Sometimes the book I've just started mysterously disappears off my bedside cabinet and ends up on Joannas. I don't blame her, really ... I wouldn't have the patience for it and thankfully, Joanna is a much quicker reader than I am.

I like to think of myself as a person of avarage intelligence or above. But I might be wrong. You see, when I have to verbalise certain things or in certain situations, I come across as being thick-as-a-brick. I avoid debates and arguments because I always get tongue tied and loose or I certainly can't get my point accross. When I have to explain how something works, why I did something, reacalling a phone-call etc. ... the list is endless ... the thoughts in my head just simply do not make it out of my mouth. They get lost and jumbled and mixed around somewhere along the way and people look at me with a what-are-you-on-about look that I have seen many times and then move onto something else or talk to somebody else ... or just give up listening and interrupt me. I am also hopeless at giving directions and even worse at finding my way around anywhere ... I still can't find the best way to get to my grandmothers, who lives in Reykjavík, although I have lived in the city collectively for more than 20 years.

There are however certain situations where I can really turn this around. That in itself is strange and made even stranger by the fact that these situations are the ones that normally articulate people get tongue tied and nervous in. For instance, I have never had a bad job interview. I think and speak clearly knowing exactly what I want to say and saying it as well as coming across as confident and knowledgable ... plain strange that ... but I can't complain. Maybe I just need to be in a situation where I actually care what people think of me for me to try hard enough for my brain to work properly. I have a problem, you see, with caring what people think about me or caring how I come accross ... as a general rule, I don't. And it annoys me, but I can't help it. There are other situations ... for instance it doesn't bother me at all going on stage and talking or giving speaches.

I also feel more comfortable if I have an instrument in my hand. That is something different again. Playing an instrument is just another form of communicating and one which I am good at and confident with, much more so than talking. I am in control ... I know that nobody in the room can beat me in the notational debate ... or I will at least be able to hold my own against anyone.

Another form of communicating which I feel very comfortable with and seems to trigger off things in my brain where my thoughts exit fully and in the right shape and form from my brain is one you are witnessing at this very moment ... writing. I find it theraputic and I am able to get my thoughts clearly and in an organised fashion from my head, without having to stop and think about what I write. I usually write these blogs as they come into my head only occationally reading over to check spelling and grammar or finding more accurate ways of describing what I am thinking.

Lastly, I'm not sure if one is allowed to have two mother tongues or not, if I am it's Icelandic and English and if not I'm a bit stuck ... probably Icelandic because my parents are Icelandic. What about Elijah then, his mother is English and his father, me, is Icelandic? If we raise him to only speak Mandarin, does that mean he has three mother tongues or does that mean he has two mother tongues from his parents, but speaks neither of them. Or will english be his mother tongue cos his mum is english ... even if his Icelandic turns out to be better than his english ... this is far too complicated ... I've got a headache now ...

Going to log out and read the post over ... see you in three weeks ... ha, ha!!!

Very Fresh Productions

2006-09-22T10:06:00.000Z

'I make records for black people' ... those were the words that reduced Beyonce Knowles record sales by 70% in the last few days. Maybe she does, but black people clearly aren't the ones buying them ... I know that's a bit flippant but so are her remarks. Does she not think that music should unite and not divide. If we all take on her attitude we will further isolate different communities from each other. She's a role model and needs to be aware of the impact of what she says. Boy, that makes me sound old ... no more rock n' roll rebel, eh? What we need is someone who 'makes records for people' ... which I think most artists, Beyonce included, actually do ... maybe this was just what she needed to realise it. I don't have any of her albums but I think the producers of the singles I've heard certainly know what they're doing ... very fresh productions ... hey! I might open a production company and call it that ... that's a good name ... Tóti Freyssons' Very Fresh Productions ... ha!

More breaking news ... Paris Hilton said the other day: 'I don't know, I'm not that smart' ............ :-0 I don't believe it! Paris 'the professor' Hilton NOT THAT SMART!... who would have guessed!? That's my day ruined, then ...

Joannas leg by the way is much better ... she can drive and walk but by the end of the day she's worn out ... slowly recovering though ... Elijah's got 15.000 teeth coming out at once ... or was it three ... and is feeling a bit rough but isn't doing as bad as usual with them ... i.e. he's not been sick and has still been able to sleep and go to his childminders ... not both at the same time ... although he sleeps at his childminders ... but not the whole time ... uhmm ... I'll stop now shall I?

This presentation was brought to you by:

VeRy FrEsH pRoDuCtIoNs

A Freysson ltd. company

'If it ain't fresh, stick it in the tresh!

Hammy the Homeless Hamster has a Home

2006-09-21T14:07:00.000Z

You'll be glad to hear that Jolyons friend from school is taking Hammy ... I mean Zack the Hamster in ... that's all good news and we're glad he's found a good home!

I've not given you a running update this week but suffice to say I'm still running and still enjoying it. I try to run a different direction every time so I've gotten to know the surrounding area very well. Yesterday I ran through the fishworks by the harbour and Woooaaahhh did it stink of fish ... Joanna would have loved it :-). After that dose of running I met Jolyon at the football field for our, what has now become, traditional evening game of football. We usually play it after Elijah is in bed either before or after I go running. We're both getting better although I'm still rubbish in goal. We must have looked pretty cool the two of us in our raincoats and shorts in the pouring rain ... ha, ha, ha ... It's always great fun ...

I think I should stop doing two short blog entries a day and do one long one in the evening. It's just that I really feel like writing one first thing in the morning and then also towards the end of the day.

For those of you that don't know, Richard Hammond, co-presenter of Top Gear, whom me and Joanna are big fans of, was in a car accident whilst filming yesterday. He was doing 280mph when he crashed (no that's not a typing error) and I believe he had just previously broken the land speed record of 300.1mph and was slowing down when the parachute deployed causing the car to veer to the side then roll over countless times. He's in Leeds hospital intesive care in a stable condition ... it was a bit touch and go apparently at first ... I would just like to wish him a speedy and full recovery because we love him here in the Freysson-Burton household ... I hope his wife and two little kids will have their husband/daddy home soon ...

Anyway, off we go ...

Lambcake

2006-09-21T10:43:00.000Z

Every Thursday morning we have a meeting within my department so that people can keep abreast of what is going on around them and fill others in on what they are doing ... a team meeting. Last Christmas the team won a christmas decorating competition (we put up a nativity play and I was the lamb) and today we used the price, which was a credit note with a posh bakery ... so everyone had cakes and coffee ... I announced my leaving toward the end of December, which was met with a sort of 'yeah, he's done this before ... he'll change his mind again ...' cheek-in-tongue attitude. Afraid not this time! Whether the fact I was announcing my leaving and the cakes being brought in at the same meeting was a coincidence or a celebration I'll leave to the reader to assume and the purchaser of the cakes to know ;-)

This weekend I won't be able to blog because we've still not got the landline/internet thing fixed at home but we have got someone coming in from the phone company this coming Monday and hopefully we'll be back online after that. So you'll get a blog tomorrow and then not for a couple of days and then again on Monday.

So till next time ... baaaa!!!

Thankful I'm not a muslim ...

2006-09-20T14:25:00.000Z

My family and I are having a hard time finding a place to settle in this world. The options we have tried so far are two: Britain, where we feel our children aren't safe from an ever-worsening world and Iceland, where my family isn't welcome as far as the government is concerned ... so we're moving back to Britain, despite the percieved risks. But ... I can't really complain ... if I were a muslim, what would my life be like?

In Iceland: I wouldn't be any more welcome than my british born family is, probably less as I would likely not come from an EEA country (not that that has done us any good).

In Britain: My children would face a constant risk of hate crime and racial abuse.

In America: I could be jailed indefinately without a trial and be tortured as a routine matter.

In Iraqi Kurdistan: I may have relatives or friends among the 500,000 to one million people murdered in Operation Al-Anfal, "The Spoils of War"

In Iran: The Muslim scholar Hashem Aghajari was sentenced to death for “insulting Islam” after questioning the Shi’ite Iranian regime’s hard-line interpretation of the religion.

In Egypt: Amnesty International reports widespread tortures and detentions without trial. (Just like living in America then!)

In Jordan: The State Security Court this week sentenced three journalists to prison terms for blaspheming the Prophet Muhammad. (They published an account of the Prophet’s marriages and sex life based on Sahih Bukhari, a collection of traditions about Muhammad that Muslims generally consider to be the most reliable such collection in existence). Blasphemy non-the-less!

I could go on and on but the whole fact of the matter is that as a muslim, one must feel particularly unwelcome in the whole of the world. I know what that feels like in one country but can't imagine what it feels like on such a large scale. Hats off to those who stick to it due to their beliefs ... says the atheist!

Some people (Bush) would be tempted to say at this point that this situation is due to hard-line Islamists 'spoiling' it for the true islamists ... I don't buy that ... not 100% anyway ... I believe that alot of the terror threats are real but alot of the surrounding charade is political spin ... coming mainly from America through American 'free-press' which is fundamentally government controled anyway ... think about it ... power (government) = money = control (media) ... it's the single best way to brainwash people and any government that doesn't use it, is just not thinking straight ... Why, for instance, do we get regular news stories about this and that video with Usama Bin Laden (thats the spelling on the FBI most wanted list) and others appearing on an (undisclosed) Al-Qaeda website, yet I've never and don't know anyone who has actually seen these websites. The links never come with the news reports. I've tried to look for them but can't find anything remotely similar ... nope, I cannot find one Al-Qaeda website ...

It makes you wonder ... where is the real threat coming from? Clue: I'm thinking of a House ... and it's White ...

Saying goodbye ...?

2006-09-20T08:32:00.000Z

Unfortunately there was no rehersal with the band yesterday. This was due to an unforseen lack of rehersal space ... not many people will let you into their living room with a full band :-) The band, Menn Ársins, which means Men of the Year, are really pushing the original music. After months of playing the cover stuff, which I love doing anyway, I had the pleasure on Sunday to plug in and play the original music that the boys have been writing and rehearsing with another bassist up to now. It's top class stuff (sort of coldplay/radiohead) and a great thing to be a part of.

It's hard for a band to push original music and do all the promotion stuff, photoshoots, videos etc. when they know that in just over 3 months time one of the band members will be leaving. At that point the photos and stuff aren't a true picture of the band anymore. They will find another bassist, I'm sure, as anyone who doesn't want to play with such excellent musicians is just plain silly, so I am grateful for being allowed to continue playing with them until I go (or at least until someone is ready to take over). It'll be hard to find a band with musicians that are both as talented and as easy to get along with as this band is.

What am I waffling on about, you might ask? I guess I'm just getting out of my system the fact that whilst I was living in England I didn't know where to seek out the opportunity to enjoy playing music so I didn't play with anyone for a few years and since coming back to Iceland I have realised how much I actually missed it and what a big part of me playing music actually is ... second only to my family ... I can only hope that the gap left inside me with leaving this band can be filled again in England, if only to some extent ...

This post is a bit dramatic, really ... life isn't that bad ... just needed to write it ...

Peace, man

How could I not mention ...?

2006-09-19T14:28:00.000Z

Today is another birthday, closer to my own life. Joannas grandad was born this day 98 years ago ... yes, I kid thee not, 98 years and he still goes out for his daily walks.

I think Jim and I have a connection ... I'm sure it's that musicians connection as he was a sax player in his younger days and at some point had to make the decision wether to turn pro or work down the pits. As all sensible Hulmes/Burtons would do he put his family first and decided to work down the pits. I believe he did so for 51 years if I remember his story correctly.

Working down the pits (for all you Icelanders) means working in the coal mines in Britain ... you know the ones that Thatcher closed in the eighties ... yep ... Joannas family was right at the heart of all this as she comes from a long line of Yorkshire miners on both sides (her father Brian, his brothers and his father all worked down the pits) and I'm so proud to be taken in as one of them ... I'm hardly worthy ...

When I sit and talk to these (real) men about their life I feel very humbled and think, what am I going to tell my following generations? Surely it won't be as impressive as this? These men are a part of British history that the whole world watched unfold (and unravel once the Iron Lady got to power).

Aside from that Brian has tought me alot when it comes to any sort of building and manual labour skills, carpentry, plumbing, gardening etc. Anything you need to do-it-yourself ... that and all the tools he's given me and the few years I've known all these people really makes me proud. I am proud to be a part of this family ... that's for sure. And I'm proud for this family to be part of my family ... which is so different, yet so alike ...

Love

Happy birthday Marino Magnason!

2006-09-19T08:28:00.000Z

As I'm sat here I'm listening to Magnis' accoustic version of 'The Dolphins Cry' ... goosebumps galore ...

10 years ago I was in one of the most popular bands in Iceland. We had a number one hit, two gold records and a platinum one and gigged 250 days a year. The largest indoor gig we played was 2.500 - 3.000 people (I know, it's Iceland, things aren't quite so big). When Metallica came to play about 7.000 people turned up. When Magni came back from his adventures in L.A. and played a gig in a shopping mall, 8.000 people turned up! That's how huge he is in Iceland ... and of course he's got fans all round the world now as there were on avarage 7.000.000 people watching Rockstar:Supernova each night for the last few weeks. So, even though he came in fourth place, he can now make the decision of whether he wants to pursue an international rock music career or not ... not many people in that situation ...

To his credit he's not sure it's what he wants. Just prooves what a down to earth guy he is. He said in an interview the day he came back that he's now tried that lifestyle and in he´s confirmed he has the perfect (yes, he used the word perfect) life in Iceland. 'My heart and family are in Iceland I think he said when he left.' He's engaged to his partner and they've got a son who is one year old today!

Hats off to this man! He'll make a good role model whether that's in Iceland or on an international platform.

English in Iceland and Icelandic in England

2006-09-18T08:25:00.000Z

It's been another good weekend. On Saturday Joanna and Jolyon started their Saturday School with the Mother Tongue Association which offers 'instruction in the second native language (other than Icelandic) for bilingual children [living in Iceland]'. Jolyon signed up to meet other english speaking children as much as to keep his english skills up. Joanna signed up as an english teacher for the 9-12 year olds ... that means that she is Jolyons' teacher, as well as seven other practicing teenagers ... I think Jolyon finds it quite cool and is very chilled about his mum teaching him and even calls her 'mum' in class, all this despite the internal hormonal hyper-action ... cool, dude! I think mum is cool but dad is a bit ...uhmm ... NOT COOL!!!!!

Does anyone know of something similar in Yorkshire for Icelandic speaking children ... I didn't think so! I'm trying to think of ways to keep Jolyon interested in learning Icelandic and to let Elijah learn it along side his english. I intend to speak Icelandic to Elijah at home but ideally we need an environment where he is regularly around people that are speaking the language amongst themselves, that's the best way to learn ... listening ... I don't know any Icelandic people living near Wakefield, Leeds or Sheffield in Yorkshire, do you?

Back to the weekend ... me and Elijah had a good morning at my parents whilst J and J were out doing their english stuff. Then I left Elijah with them and the two J's and I went to the cinema to see Garfield 2 as a bit of a treat for Jolyon as he'd done so well this week at school and held it together. Alot of that film is filmed in England and I was impressed by the fact that Joanna recognised the castle which provides alot of the back-drop (isn't that what you say in film-land?). I won't spoil it for you by telling you what castle it is ... or more rightly ... I won't tell you, because I can't remember the name ... Harold ... Hammond ... Harry? ... it was a man's name beginning with H anyway, comments welcome.

Anyway, back to work ... we are visiting England in the near future for a week and would love to see you all although we won't get time to visit everyone ... but hey, there will be plenty of time in the new year when we move permanently ...

By the way, today marks the start of my third week of running (for health not for president) and I'm still sticking to it. This week the routine is 90 seconds jog - 90 second walk - 3 minute jog - 3 minute walk (repeated twice). To me a 3 minute jog seems alot, to alot of people reading I'm sure it seems like nothing ... they're right, I've got no stamina ... yet ... but I had to start somewhere and that somewhere was very-slowly-land ...

Love you

A telling off for Iceland, with a bit of advice thrown in

2006-09-15T16:12:00.000Z

Today is the date for the last payment for our old house in Garður, Iceland. We've obviously handed it over months ago but this is the final push and after that it is completely off our hands. Can't say I've thought much about the house and I certainly haven't missed the hours drive to work at 6am in the morning.

It's funny to think that in three months time we'll be living in England again ... I'm happy ... and I'm sad ... I do wish my native country had given my wife and children a warm welcome but unfortunately, as hard as it is to settle in a new culture, it is made harder for people moving to Iceland with all the bouracratic nonsense you have to go through ... it's obvious what's lacking in various governmental departments ... I know this as a former team leader and an experienced manager.

What they need are policies and procedure (which I'm sure they have to some extent) but even more importantly they need to follow them in practice 'cos they are useless otherwise. These policies and procedures then need to be implemented accross the board in all relevant areas of governmental administration. Then they need liaison between governmental departments and clear lines as to what each departments role is. As well as this they need trained interviewers that have the power and knowledge to apply governmental policy and procedure to fit each individual visitors needs and situations. That way they can get out of this sticking-everyone-in-the-same-box culture (that on their mission statements doesn't exist but in reality is all that exists). They also need an overall body to ensure that all this is being run smoothly and to frequently make adjustments and updates so as to learn from past issues that arise.

Finally, the government needs to spend money on education and prevention regarding racism, acceptance, tolerance and other cultures (maybe focusing on Polish, Eastern-European, Russian and English-speaking cultures which are the most common in Iceland). This money needs to be spent on kids from the beginning of their schooling. This way, Iceland can truly become multi-cultural, accepting in people of all different backrounds, helping these people to adapt and at the same time helping the Icelandic community adapt ... cause adaption is difficult from both sides and should be a long term goal that everyone works to achieve.

If these, or similar, measures are not taken and Iceland does not prepair itself and its children for the arrival of people from other cultures, things will go wrong! You will get what you see for instance in Denmark and France, where you have various pockets of people living in seperate communities with minimal contact with other communities. This breeds ignorance of what the other communities are like and creates tension, which creates conflict, which creates hate, crime and violence ... and indifference. Once you are at that stage it is hard to turn back. Just look at it on a global scale ... Western culture vs. Eastern religion ... it's dangerous stuff ... Iceland has all the opportunities in the world to learn from the mistakes of its neighbours ... and is using none of them ... WAKE UP ICELAND!

But alas ... Iceland is too young. If the worlds lifespan is measured in a generation then Iceland is probably in it's pre-teens ... if that ... we have alot to learn ... so, until this happens, which I don't for one minute think will be in my lifetime ... me and my family have been forced, through red tape and social exclusion, to move back to Britain, which we don't feel is particuarly safe for our children but at least they are accepted for who they are, as am I, depite being an immigrant there.

Car to sell, hamster to give and musician to hire out :-)

2006-09-15T10:56:00.000Z

It's going to be a short blog today as I've not got much new to say. We're trying to get ourselves sorted for the move back to England. I've advertised my musical services on a musicians classifieds ad although I forgot to say that I'm a rock n' roll dog ... I might get contacted by Westlife ... nnnnnoooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ... Looking for a really good pub circuit band so if anyone knows anyone whos in need of a top class bassist, guitarist, sound engineer with strong vocal capabilities let us know ... Also, seriously ... if anyone in Iceland wants to adopt Zack the dwarf hamster (whom Jolyon will be sad to leave behind) then he is looking for a good home. He's cute and cuddly and not too big and loves small people ...

Also ... if anyone in Iceland wants to buy a blue 2000 Isuzu Trooper with 7 seats and a mere 116.000 kilometers on the clock (that's 72.000 miles) and in top condition ... please get in touch ... you could make a good buy!

Anyway, we are busy house and job hunting ... realised that in the last year, including both mine and Joannas parents houses, we will have lived in 6 different houses ... Mossley, J's parents, my parents, Garður, 101 Reykjavík, my parents again, J's parents again and then whatever new house we have. Not good for settling children down that, is it?

Love

The big news ... and I'm not talking about Magni ...

2006-09-14T09:40:00.000Z

In my posts I have ranted and raved about all sorts of things that make me unhappy about Iceland, about how my family have been treated by the system since their arrival and about how dissapointed I am with it all. Just today I got an e-mail confirming that Jolyon won't get his residence permit for reasons I might write about when I'm not so p****d off at that particular governmental department. Recently I wrote that I wasn't going to complain any more unless I had a solution to the problem that I was complaining about ... well ... we have found a solution to all of these Iceland related problems ... we're moving ...

... yeah, that's right ... we're packing up and moving back to England for good!!!

Don't get me wrong ... we'll all take something positive away from this experience and we've all benefitted to some extent. My wife and children have got to know my friends and especially my family to a much greater degree than they otherwise would have and I have learned what an important part of my life my friends are as well as falling in love with playing music all over again ... it's a shame that I'll be leaving my friends behind and there is no guarantee that I'll be able to make good music in England ... although I intend to try to find some good musicians!

We'll be living somewhere in Yorkshire but obviously we don't know exactly where yet ... so ... anybody want to buy a 2000 Isuzu Trooper in top condition? :-) ... Zack the hamster also looking for a good home ... comes free with cage and all necessities ...

By the way, Magni came fourth ... Lukas won ... they made the wrong decision ...

So, until next time ...

Peace

Magni-ficent ... Magni-fied ... Magni rocks ...

2006-09-12T09:25:00.000Z

Joannas' knee is looking better but she still can't walk properly, drive or do the walking up and down our stairs that is needed to get small people into bed. It's getting better though and hopefully by the end of this week we should be okay. It's put a bit of a spanner in the little routine we had going regarding my hours at work and picking up boys from school etc. Struggling to hand in the designated amount of hours this week but with some help from family we should be alright cos we certainly can't afford unpaid leave ... Elijah also has to got to our childminders every day this week and Joanna feels really guilty about that ... 'it's okay, babe ... he loves it at Huldas'!'

I've had to cancel yet another rehersal with the band tonight which makes me feel suitably guilty about that as well as work hours. But life isn't all bad! Jolyon seems more chilled these last couple of days and we hope it stays that way for him.

Rockstar:Supernova update! Magni has made it to the final shows, which are tonight and tomorrow. Tonight the final four contestants will sing a couple of songs each and tomorrow we get to know who will tour the world with Supernova. GO MAGNI!

Running update! Still sticking to it. Am on week 2 of nine and although the running isn't particularly difficult at the moment, it's more difficult than last week and I'm doing it ... that's the main thing. that said ... I've only actually run 4 runs of the full 27 needed to complete the programme ... :-( But I'm actually enjoying it an more importantly, looking forward to it each time.

Peace, love and happiness and stuff ...

RIP Kleó

2006-09-11T11:24:00.000Z

Midway through writing my last blog I was stopped by a phonecall from Joanna saying she'd finally given in and could I take her to A&E. Turns out she's got some fluid behind her kneeshell. They've not stuck any needles or operated but she is sat at my parents house eating Brufen and enjoying life ... :-)

As I didn't finish the last blog I didn't get a chance to tell you all that said Kleópatra has passed away. She was buried in my grandmothers garden under a tree that I planted as a young boy. I kinda miss tripping over her in the kitchen ...

Went out for a long night on Friday. It started at the Reykjavík Pizza Company with old 'metal' friends, 'Porn-Shop' Árni, 'Wide' Nonni, 'Big' Rúnar and Fúsi (whom we call Fucifer). Yep, them and yours truly, the Toadster, went to see a finnish death metal band called Entombed. We all got geared up, bought T-shirts and stuff and hey-ho ... as I had a gig starting at midnight I had to leave at 11 and not even the support band had started then ... so I missed the whole thing! Met alot of people that I've not seen for a decade and a half though, which was fun. Joanna loves my Entombed T-shirt by the way ... not!

The gig I played with Menn Ársins that evening was a blast and much better than any death metal gig ever ... we had a great time ... I believe that my 'metal' friends ended up in a party with the finnish band at a strip club till eight in the morning so maybe it was a good thing that I, the married father of two, had other engagements that evening ... that's not really my bag!

Lots of love!

Injuries and more

2006-09-08T09:11:00.000Z

Hello and sorry for lack of blogs,

I'll start from the beginning. On Wednsday morning, shortly after I'd got in to work, Joanna phoned me, very upset. She'd fallen over on the steps outside our door and done her leg in. I rushed home, where she was looking after Elijah, to find her sat on a chair downstairs, not able to walk, and Elijah stood at the bottom of the stairs doing our hand sign for hurting and saying 'mamma, mamma ...' Clearly upset and clearly telling me I needed to fix his mummy ...

Well, nothing is broken but Joannas knee is very swollen and I had to take the last couple of days off work to look after her and the boys. Joanna is slowly recovering but being stubborn as ever and refusing to go to see the doctor ... the swelling is going down but she still struggles to walk and can't drive ... so I'll be picking the boys up later on, dropping them off at home, then going back to work ... if she's up for taking care of them ... this wouldn't be such a problem if we didn't live on three floors with narrow, steep steps ...

Other things, I'm going to a gig tonight to see a band called 'Entombed'. They are a finnish death metal band who were popular 15 years ago within that certain circle of music fans ... I was never a huge fan of theirs but they were decent enough. I'm going more cos alot of my old band mates are going so it's more for the social aspect, really ... Then Menn Ársins have got a gig as well tonight at Café Aroma, Hafnarfjörður. Be there or be square!

I regularly update this blog with complaints about things that I find wrong with the system, the society and life in general. I rarely, if ever, complete these blogs with any ideas of how things could possibly be improved. It's easy to point to the problem but more difficult to find solutions. So I'm laying down a new law ... if I moan about stuff, I also have to find ways to better that same stuff, cos if I can't find ways of bettering things, I should accept things the way that they are. This is all part of my journey to become a better person.

By the way, I'm still sticking to the running. Got one more day of the current first step (run 60 secs then walk 90 secs ... repeat 8 times) and then next week I'm on to the next step (run 90 secs then walk 3 min ... repeat 6 times). I know ... it starts out really slowly but as I stated in my last post ... I have to stick to it. At some point it will get much harder very fast and I need to be physically and mentally prepared for that.

Love you all!

Obsessively in love with my family

2006-09-05T08:47:00.000Z

Joanna says I'm obsessive! Hmmm ... I think she might be right. On a regular basis I decide I'm going on a health trip and I'll do silly things like ... eat nothing but brown rice boiled in water for 7 minutes and 33 seconds ... only to be eaten at 7.05, 12.03 and 18.57 ... and then run a marathon for the first day and end up limping for the next month cos I started too quickly ... well ... I'm not quite that bad (although the limping story is true) but I do have my obsessive compulsions. I tend to take things to the extreme or not do them at all ... so I'm quite proud of myself as in regards to my eating habits. I'm not overweight by any stretch, in fact if I don't eat decently I tend to loose weight fairly quickly ... it annoys Joanna when I eat unhealthily, seem to go chubbier but don't actually gain any weight ... ha, ha, ha! I think the scale is broken :-)

Where was I? ... Oh, yeah ... proud of my eating habits. Last few weeks I've managed to eat fairly healthily without going overboard simply by walking around the canteen at work and looking at what's on offer and thinking about what I want instead of just jumping in and grabbing as much of the hot food I could fit on my plate ... that always meant no room for salad. Now I take a fairly small proportion of the hot food, if it's something I want, and fill the rest of the plate up with cucumber, tomatoes, salad, pineapple etc. all stuff that I like. If I don't want the hot food I'll have soup or if I don't want the soup I'll have the tuna fish, boiled egg etc with my salad. By doing this I've managed to slim down a bit ... I think ... it doesn't matter if I have or haven't, I feel better about myself. So that's why I'm proud ... I've done it and kept it up and enjoyed it without going overboard and then giving up. This with the support of my lovely wife ... we still have our treats over the weekend ...

Now I'm trying the same with exercise! I've never been a gym sort of person so that was out of the question for me cos I've tried it and I always end up doing the obsessive bit and then giving up. I do however enjoy physical work and activity such as carpentry and stuff (especially outside) as well as cycling and it doesn't really matter what the weather is like (he says :-/). So I've now taken up running ... well, not so much taken up as tried it yesterday. I found a "Starting to run" programme on the internet which starts reaaaallllyyyyy slowly. Now, I've done this before, got fed up with the easy stuff at the beginning and jumped to the middle, only to find I didn't have the stamina and then I've given up. So yesterday I did the 'easy' stuff ... despite wanting to run faster and longer at some points I stuck to it. This is a nine week programme and I'm going to keep you posted cause that's more motivation for me ... you'll probably find it really boring ...

Just for information ... when I used to drink and smoke I did the same thing ... I drank too much when I had a drink and smoked too much every day. But a positive side of this obsessive behaviour is that I'm not an addictive personality and when I decided I needed to stop smoking and later drinking ... I just stopped ... it wasn't a problem ... it was just an obsession. So nothing is all bad, is it?

Love to you all.

How to skin(ny) a cat ... don't be so crude, Tóti!

2006-09-04T08:28:00.000Z

Hello all,

Hope you had a good weekend. Ours was quite eventful. On Saturday evening Kleópatra, whom I wrote about in the last blog, went missing :-( This of course called forth a great deal of sadness in the household and although I am not as emotionally attatched to the two ladies as other members of my family it made me sad to see everyone so upset. I walked the streets around our house until it got dark on Saturday night but there are a million gardens, rock walls, bushes, holes etc. that a cat can disappear into if it wants to, never to be seen again.

Sunday morning we all went for an even longer walk covering an even bigger radius but to no avail. We weren't hopeful but decided not to spend the whole day inside moping about as the weather was so lovely.

As we were getting ready to go somebody knocked on the door. It was Sigríður, who ownes the cat shelter that we rescued the cats from. Kleópatra had been picked up, literally outside our back door, and handed in at the shelter. Somebody had seen her and how skinny she looked and handed her in, possibly thinking that she was being neglected. To that person I want to say: 'Why didn't you ring the phone number that is on her collar first, you lemon?' It would have saved us, and Kleópatra, alot of distress!

She was worse for wear after an eventful night and as she is very poorly it's the last thing she needs. That said, at the shelter they injected her with 60 milligrams of some much needed fluid and seemed happy that we didn't take her to the vets but just let her plod on, one day at a time ... so, she's not in pain and possibly this adventure saved her life as we are reconsidering the trip to the vets for the final journey. Her collar now says: 'I am ill, I live at ******* ****' and then she's got another collar on that has our phone numbers on ... then just yesterday, as she was sat outside our garden, a lady stopped and just stood and stared at her ... I had to go out and explain that she was poorly ... you have to see her to realise how skinny she is, she is litterally a walking skeleton ... but she's content and comfortable ...

So, if you find a really skinny Siamese cat in Vesturbær, Reykjavík ... it's our Kleópatra ... and your probably standing in our garden so 'get off our property and leave the cat alone' ... uhmm ... sorry ... what I meant to say was just ring the number on the collar and we'll come and pick her up ... she's not neglected, she's ill ...

Peace man

Kleópatra

2006-09-01T08:29:00.000Z

When we left England at the beginning of this year we left our two tortoiseshell cats, Camille and Tusca, with Joannas parents in England where they are doing well in their retirement years. Lots of space and mice and all a cat would need.

A couple of months after coming to Iceland we rescued two abandoned cats and took them in. They are Joy (Jolyon gave her the name) who is a white and ginger lady about 18 months old now. The picture of health and happiness. The other lady is a red top siamese by the name of Kleópatra (she already had this Icelandic version of the name). She is about 7 years old and is not so healthy. These two ladies have made life in Garður, Iceland and later in Reykjavík, Iceland that little bit easier for J and J during difficult times ...

Ever since she moved in there have been various signs of Kleópatras unhealthiness ... we've taken her to the vets on two occations and once they operated on her but found nothing. At some point we decided not to mither her with constant vet visits and that the best thing we could do, whilst she wasn't in any pain, was to just let her enjoy life while she had it. We know a bit about Kleópatras history. She lived with her owner and never left the house. The owner then abandoned her when these signs of poorlyness started showing themselves. We get the feeling Kleópatra more or less had the run of the house as we have had to teach her some basic cat manners ... i.e don't scratch the furniture, climb on the kitchen table and remember to go outside or in the cat box to do stuff ... :-/

Anyway, in recent days, she has not been doing very well, seems to be in quite a bit of pain and uncomfortness and is getting skinnier and skinnier ... she is nought but skin and bones at the moment ... soooooo the difficult decision was made this morning to put her to sleep :-(

We are going to try and enjoy the weekend with her but there would have to be some drastic improvement for things to change ... it's not fair on the lady to have her suffer so even though we care about her and want her around. So that's Kleópatra ... at least she got to live a little with us and explore new things ... such as the outside world ... it's all very sad ...

Something different. The phone technician let us down and didn't come to our house to sort out the phoneline so we still have no phone or internet. This means that there won't be any more blog entries until monday now ... sorry! Have a good weekend all of you ... we'll be using ours to say goodbye to someone we've not known long enough but feels like an old friend ...

Proud of my roots ... you bet!

2006-08-31T09:19:00.000Z

Yesterday I wrote that I hoped Icelanders were voting for Magni, not against ... I really shouldn't have said that ... it's just me mistrusting my fellow Icelanders. Way to go folks, Magni was at the top yesterday ... we not only kept him out of the bottom three but made sure he got more votes than any of the six remaining contestants ... I will whip myself fifteen times with a wet branch as punishment for distrusting ...

This brings me on to something that I have been pondering for a while ... am I proud to be Icelandic? Certainly I feel a sense of pride for some reason but I also feel angry, as any regular reader will know, about how Icelanders treat people. I think I have found my ground now, though.

I am proud of my viking roots. I am proud to be born of Scandinavian and English kings, Irish slaves and Icelandic and American settlers. I am proud of my ancestors history ... even though it involves rape and pillaging ... I can distance myself away from those horrors because they are so far away in time. These men were not only crooks. Most were hard working farmers, poets, travellers, explorers and adventurers. This I am proud of!

I am proud to come from a country with the harshest of weather conditions ... where you get blinding snowstorms, thundery rains and winds that blow so hard that cars roll over. I come from here and I survived ... I am proud to be from a land that shows its extremes and contradictions so unashamedly. Where volcanos erupt under glaciers, where earthquakes shake the foundations of our creations but never bring them down ... where you can walk through smoking lava fields! This I am proud of!

I am however, not proud to be an Icelander! I am not proud to be from a country that advertises its natural resources for sale to the world in a leaflet quoting Iceland as having the cheapest energy available in the world. Yep ... this leaflet was published by the Icelandic government in 1995. In it they try to sell Icelands natural resources to industries with "a minimum of environmental red tape" and promising "lowest wages" to the workers employed! These are our waterfalls, our hot springs, our mountains and fjords ... this is our birds nesting grounds, our reindeers homes, our childrens future ... and our elected government is advertising them for sale ... advertising us for sale ... at a discount rate!

11 years on and you know what's happening here! They're building a dam in Kárahnjúkar which will create a lagoon, 600m deep if I remember correctly, drowning out half a dozen square miles of land (have a look at the picture to see some of the land that's going under water) ... bird nesting land ... wildlife land ... walking country ... it's sick! And if you take the Tera watt hours that this dam will create (4,7 TwH/PA) and add it to the Tera watt hours already being created in Iceland (16,5 TwH/PA) and then look at the Tera watt hours that the government advertised for sale in this leaflet (30 TwH/PA) you'll see that they expect we can build at least 3 more of these dams! That would of course mean redirecting rivers and glacier water as well as drowing out some of the most beautiful walking spots in Iceland. Oh, and those low paid workers ... that's the foreigners moving to Iceland ... I believe that most labour around this dam(n) thing are people from countires outside of the European Economic Area ... it makes me sick!

That, and all the hassle, that I won't go into again, that my wife and older son have had since moving here, for not being born of an Icelander ... makes me ashamed to be an Icelander ... That doesn't mean I'm not proud of my roots and my extended family and their history ... I'm just not proud to be Icelandic ... and that sucks!

Love

YES! It's working ...

2006-08-30T14:04:00.000Z

YES! It's working ... voting from Iceland was three times as much as on the first Rockstar:Supernova show and tens of times as much as in recent weeks ... hopefully this small country will, purely through sticking together, keep Magni out of the bottom three this week. Let's hope these people voted for Magni through Icelandic pride and not for someone else, purely through Icelandic jelousy.

YES! It's working ... the Beast is back on the road ... I think I'll keep the other car as well ... just kidding ... taking the Pimper back tomorrow ...

Much love,

Tóti

Stand up straight soldier!

2006-08-30T09:58:00.000Z

It's time for Icelanders to stick together ... I know from experience that we are good at this, especially if it involves not giving in to 'foreigners' There has been a big campaign for people to vote for Magni here in Iceland and keep him out of the bottom three. Phone companies have lowered the price of text messages to the voting number by 80%, Marquees have been put up with wireless internet connections so people can turn up, watch and vote if they have brought their laptops. Because the show is shown at prime time in Los Angeles it is shown here at 1 am ... yes, that's one after midnight ... and for this reason the school near Magnis birth town has therefore given the pupils and teachers the morning off today to recover from yesterdays voting. I take full part in this and believe that Magni should win ... but ...

... it's a shame Icelanders can't be so strong and stand together when it comes to more political issues, such as the fact that despite knowing that food prices are kept up to keep a declining farming industry going, we still vote for the same government, election after election ... since way before I had a right to vote.

... another thing I could never understand about Iceland was why it supported the Iraq war? Why? It was a mystery, until I read a book called 'Draumalandið - sjálfshjálparbók handa hræddri þjóð' which I haven't finished reading yet. The title translates as 'Dreamland - a self help book for a frightened nation'. It is more like a well researched report on Iceland than anything else, stating references etc. In it the author, Andri Snær Magnason (yes his father's name was Magni) informs us that Alcoa, an Icelandic aluminium company, which is an evergrowing industry in Iceland, manufactures aluminium for the Hummers that the American Army uses in the war ... and possibly other things used there ... Could it be that the support for the Iraq war wasn't just a puppy (Davíð Oddson, then Prime Minister) obeying his master (George W. Bush) as I thought but a political and business decision, influenced by people who are making money, and alot of it, off the instability in the middle-east ... how naive was I ... I thought politicians had the good of the country on their agenda ... and mark my words, they'll get voted in again in the next elections in 2007 despite all this ... Icelanders, as me and my family well know, fear change like a child fears the dark ...

Iceland ... you can, and should, stand up for Magni ... but you should also stop bending over and letting certain political parties, i.e. The Progressive Party and the Independence Party do what they are doing to the nation ...

I now know why I'm such a grumpy old man ...

2006-08-29T08:29:00.000Z

Things to do in Denver ... when you're dead ... that was a decent film if I remember correctly. I used to live just outside of Denver, Colorado ... the good old U S of A ... I've no intention of going back their whilst the redneck oil king with the 75 IQ is in charge!

In the Icelandic teletext there is a page (130) where you can read the news in English. There were six pages which covered 11 news stories ... all of them, without exception, included the words 'bombing' and 'killed' ... Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libanon etc. ... that certainly cheered us up for the rest of the evening! One of the reasons we moved to Reykjavík, Iceland is it's relative safety as opposed to Manchester, England, where we moved from. It is worth noting that Iceland is part of NATO and has been occupied by the American army for a long time but the base is currently being closed down and by the end of September, the army should have all but gone. The government disagrees with me but I say good riddance ... it makes Iceland less of a target. I think it actually makes the place safer than it was when we decided to move here, for safety reasons.

That doesn't change the fact that our standard of living here on the edge of the Arctic circle is markably lower than it was in England. This is due to a few different factors. My wages are about 5,5% higher but the taxman and various other funds take almost 35% of that. The price of food is approximately 50% higher. Petrol is about the same but clothes for the children are nearer to 80% higher. (I got these percentages through a quick search on the internet and from memory ... they are not excact but not far off). Houseprices have stopped rising here but for the price of a four bedroom semi-detached (raðhús) with a garage and a garden in Wakefield, Yorkshire, we could buy a smaller three bedroomed flat in Hafnarfjörður, which is about twenty minutes drive out of Reykjavík. Good thing I don't smoke and drink anymore, we'd have no chance ... alcohol is approximately 100% more expensive ... yep 4 Great Britain Pounds for a pint of lager at a pub ...

This, added with the fact that Joanna cannot get her nursing licence and is hence not working means that we have to live on my wages soley ... that is pretty stressful as our current rent is 3/4 of my wages ... I do try and make these wages up by gigging but the gigging season is coming to a close and the rent will eventually be paid off with money we wanted to keep as a deposit on a house ... that deposit will slowly get lower ...

To make things more stressful the system here doesn't work. On more than one occation paperwork we have handed in with regards to our Identification numbers, benefits for childcare and more have been lost, we've had to pay up and then get things backpaid ... not ideal.

And now ... to top it all off ... they are saying that Jolyon, our 9 year old, cannot recieve his residence permit without papers that we cannot and will not get due to issues I won't go into here now (see TwoLands latest entry). To solve this problem they just need to look at the british law on the internet (I gave them the website) but they can't be bothered.

I ask ... is it worth it ... Joanna is bored and lonely, Jolyon is lonely but is thankfully settling in now he's started school ... Me and Elijah have benefitted most, Elijah, and Jolyon infact, have got to know Icelandic and their family on this side and I've learned a valuable lesson in how important it is to have friends around and how important playing music is to me. Although I see Joannas' friends as my friends, I didn't have any of my own friends whilst living in England, this was a bit of a family joke, and I don't want to go back to that. This is ironic as Joanna doesn't have friends here and would like to go back to her friends ... it's a dilemna.

This is why I've turned into the grumpy old man I described a few posts previously ... the change happened not when we moved to Iceland, but the day that Þjóðskrá lost my application form for change of address for the four of us moving from England to Iceland, which I handed in within seven days of us moving here. Since then they, and other government departments, have lost a few of these forms, making life more difficult than it already was, adjusting to a new culture and environment ... and now they don't want Joanna to work and Jolyon to live here ...

I give up! Iceland may be trying to get into the multi-cultural vibe but they certainly make sure that foreigners know that they are foreigners and not part of the Icelandic crowd!

A good weekend ... still have no idea what to do ...

2006-08-28T08:27:00.000Z

It's monday morning again, hope you all had a good weekend! Joanna and I went out to a restaurant called Vox and were very impressed, especially with their creativity in vegitarian meals for Joanna. We would advise anyone who wants a good meal out to try this place.

After that we went to see my old band, Sixties, and Joanna actually got me to dance for ages. I think it made the boys night watching me bounce around the dance floor like a stick-insect. They all laughed at me. Then they called me up on stage as one of the 'founding members' of the band. Which I am quite proud to be as it got me the two gold records and one (invisible) platinum one. I played a couple of songs, the second one was introduced as follows:

'This is a song Tóti wrote for us but doesn't remember how to play ...'

This was true, I'm afraid ... good times ...

The boys had a good time at my parents where they stayed over on Friday night and Joanna and I walked up (half of) Mount Esjan on the Saturday before picking the boys up in the afternoon. We then all had a great time together for the rest of Saturday and on Sunday, despite the weather changing for the slightly worse by then.

But now, it's back to school, work and paperchases ... I shall leave it at that cos otherwise I'll just start whitering on and in reality, we don't know what to do ...

101 or WF1?

2006-08-25T13:35:00.000Z

Pheeeeewwww ... now that I've vented out some of my frustrations I'll try and be positive for one blog only. My parents are looking after Jolyon and Elijah tonight so me and Joanna are going to go see my old band, Sixties, rock and roll. This band includes my friend Gummi on drums whom I mentioned a few posts back ... I consider that whole band to be friends actually ...

We've decided to chill out this weekend and enjoy being together whilst pondering what to do next, whether to keep swimming upstream agains the Icelandic beurocrats or to just pack up and go back to England ... oops ... sorry ... slipped into that negative frame of mind again.

As always, I am way ahead of everyone else in the e-world and have just discovered YouTube.com. It's dangerous cos it can take up too much of ones time ... worth checking out though ...

I''ve got a phone person coming round on Tuesday so there won't be any blogs over the weekend but after Tuesday we will hopefully have an internet connection at home (as well as a phone) ... although due to the high level of customer care Vodafone has shown us, I'm not gonna hold my breath ... Oops, that frame of mind again ... :-)

Over and out ...

We are clearly not welcome here!

2006-08-25T09:18:00.000Z

Yesterday, after spending half the day chasing up paperwork for my families residence permits etc. I got two seperate phonecalls that seriously undermined my belief in the Icelandic system, a belief that had been completely destroyed before this anyway ... but prior to these phonecalls I used to laugh at the system and say 'typical Iceland'. It's not funny anymore ...

The first one was from my childminder saying there was some problems with her getting the government funding for Elijah staying with her. After some phonecalls it appeared that we weren't officially living where we were in reality living. I went up to the national registry who had appertently lost the piece of paper saying that we were moving, yet it was registered in their computer as having been handed in ... ON THREE SEPERATE OCCATIONS! What a waste of space these people are ... Got this sorted to some extent but apperently the department that deals with the educational funds ... HAD LOST OUR AUGUST APPLICATION! ... they too, are a waste of space.

The second phonecall was worse. It was from the Icelandic Directorate of Immigration where we have two applications for residence permits pending, one for Joanna and one for Jolyon. The lady there (who didn't know her head from her a***) said that because I wasn't Jolyons' birth father we have to have a signed copy from his birth father (who has met him twice in Jolyons 9 year life) and it must be stamped by an official british office. This, of course, was a load of c*** as I found out the next day by looking on the internet. On the departments website it said that this is only the case if they have joint responsibility. I then checked the English Childrens Act of 1989 where it says (for children born before 1. December 2003):

2. (2) (a) The mother shall have parental responsibility for the child
(b) The father shall not have parental responsibility for the child, unless he aquires it in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(4) The rule of law that a father is the natural guardian of his legitimate child is abolished.

B****y H*** ... it doesn't get much clearer than this. Soooooo ... I phoned them up this morning and corrected their mistake and told them where they could find this law on the internet. 'No, that's not enough ... we still need offically stamped proof that she has sole parental responsibility ...' Useless w*****s, that's all I can say.

Basically, as it stands now ... Jolyon, my 9 year old son, does not and isn't getting a residents permit in Iceland because the governmental department is too lazy to get off their behinds and do their research properly ... I recently read a quote in the paper from the head of this department saying that all applicant decisions are taken on individual merrit ... yeah right! They stick us all in the same box, sit back and watch us squirm about trying to get out ... and I have to say that at this moment in time I am feeling quite claustrophobic in this box and am on the verge of saying:

'I GIVE UP, YOU WIN, I'LL LEAVE AND TAKE MY FOREIGN FAMILY WITH ME ... IT'S OBVIOUS YOU DON'T WANT US, OR ANY OTHER FOREIGNERS, ON YOUR PRECIOUS SOIL ...'

When I applied for an identification number in Britain, as a foreigner from an EEA country, the application process took three weeks (without any phonecalls or mithering), then I went for a (fairly heavy going) interview for approximately three hours and that was it. My identification number came through the post a week later. The system in Britain is much bigger and complex, but at least it works ...

Love,

Tóti, Elijah and two beautiful illegal immigrants ... J and J

Grumpy Old Man

2006-08-24T09:43:00.000Z

I've been thinking (and that's never good). At what point did I change? I used to be a fairly careless, laid-back, artsy, adapt-to-whatever-life-throws-at-me, likable kind of person. I am now a wallowing-in-how-rubbish-the-government-is, stressed, negative, no-fun-to-hang-around, worrying-about-money, always-looking-at-the-clock type of person. I don't really like myself anymore, I am not the kind of person I would choose to spend time with and I am just tired of myself and my own company. That's not good, is it? When did that change happen? Gradually, I think.

I started thinking about this when I was watching Rockstar:Supernova and admiring Tommy Lee for his childlike manner. The man has remained a teenager throughout his whole life ... why else would you stand up and applaud everytime somebody mentions, 'getting laid'? I'm not saying that I would like to be a teenager again ... in fact that would be a nightmare! I'd like to have the same attitude towards life I had in my late twenties whilst being aware of the things I have learned since. It's my own fault that I've become such an old fart ... but I wonder how much of the negative feelings that surround mine and my loved ones life at the moment come from outside factors and how much of it comes from within? I don't know ...

Pandoras Box - Sometimes things just fall apart

2006-08-23T14:15:00.000Z

Had a look at the online radio station Pandora because Sváfnir had linked to it. It's great. I've now got my headphones on at work most of the day listening to my own personal radio stations depending on what mood I'm in. It works like this, you create your profile by putting in the title of a song or artist and the radio station plays songs by that artists and others that it thinks you might like in the same sort of style. You can have many different artists, i.e. many different radio stations to choose from.

So far I've got the following radio stations:

Chris Cornell
Dave Navarro
Mötley Crue
Steve Vai
Pantera (the most listened to)
Red Hot Chili Peppers

There will be more added to the list, for sure.

As I was writing this blog Joanna phoned and told me the bad news that our childminder might have to stop child minding. That puts a spanner in the works. Joanna won't be able to take that job then ... not that she really wanted to ... but it'll be unsettling for Elijah, whom I wrote about a few hours ago hinting that he wasn't aware of the unsettlement in the camps. He'll take full part come the start of October unfortunately. So there we go, Joanna with no job, Jolyon with no friends outside of school (cos the children in the street won't talk to him for some peculiar reason ... probably to do with the fact that he approaches them and speaks english) and hence he has little confidence and Elijah without his one stable point outside of his mum, dad and big brother. Iceland has been a lot of hassle and little of what we hoped or planned.

This sucks, man ...

Some battles are won but the fight continues

2006-08-23T11:15:00.000Z

Well, Joanna sent in a letter complaining over the slow work process at Þjóðskrá and Útlendingastofnun which need to combine their efforts to get her and Jolyon an Identification Number and what do you know? ... This morning their was an e-mail confirming that this had gone through ... so it wasn't actually that hard, eh!? Well done, babe!

For months me and my drummer friend Gummi have been meaning to get together and play some music. He's got his rehersal room/studio set up now so we intend to start this weekend. Just meet up and see what happens, really! A bit of a mix, doing it for pleasure and making a bit of extra money at the same time ... should be good fun, serious rock n' roll.

We're fine tuning a legal letter to the Ministry of Health regarding Joannas Nursing Licence and it's looking good. I love challenging the system and feeling on top ... one up to the underdogs ...

Hoping Magni kicks behinds big time tonight and tears the place apart, despite having a bit of a cold ... I know, I didn't manage to stay up till 2am last night so don't tell me if you know how he did ...

Jolyon enjoyed school yesterday, you'll be glad to hear ... he was shattered though, Elijah just jollily plods along through life thankfully unaware of all stresses going on ...

I shall love you and leave you from my new little corner here at work, very cosy ...

Tóti

Wav - MP3 - EasyCoder E4

2006-08-22T12:37:00.000Z

Hello,

Having a busy day at work trying to print out stuff that won't print out cos the printer isn't designed for it ... we're ahead of the times here ... it's good to keep busy though ...

Jolyons first day at school today so I hope he's doing okay ... I know Joanna's only doing so-so as can be seen on todays TwoLands diary.

I'm currently in the middle of, amongst everything else, setting up a MySpace website. I'll give you the link to that once I've converted the music I want from .WAV to .MP3. It's not a problem, just need to find the time.

Still driving the pimp mobile, still no phone or internet at home, still smiling ... only just ...

Love,

Tóti

It's getting tough ...

2006-08-21T07:41:00.000Z

Well, our pianist, Halli, is on vacation now till 5 September. Things will continue to stay quiet around the band ... I'm running out of things to say on the band website to keep it going.

It was culture day/night on Saturday and the four of us walked into town, which was heaving. We ran the marathon ... well, it was the 1.5km childrens 'Lazy Town' marathon and it was so crowded that we walked most the way, Elijah in his pram pushed by mummy ... had a good time though!

On sunday we all went for a cycle. We'd stuck the chair on the back of mummys' bike, which daddy rode' and Elijah sat there, not quite sure what to make of it all. Was telling us all about it afterwards though so he must have enjoyed it ...'gooooogglee giiiiiggglllee geee geee gaa' ... He looks really cute in his new cycle helmet which is half the size of him. In the evening me and Jolyon went to a family party at my mums brother which was good fun as Kristján Geir, my nine year old cousin, was there so him and Jolyon ran about outside for three hours. That's healthy living!

Jolyon's school starts tonight with a reception and his first proper day is tomorrow. Both him and Joanna are finding Iceland very tough and hopefully Jolyon will feel better once he's in the school routine, spending time with his peers. That'll make it a bit easier for all of us.

Thanks for reading ...

Dont forget to vote for Magni ... never another undeserved bottom three for Iceland!

2006-08-18T15:38:00.000Z

Figured the last few posts were a bit meaningless, really so I thought I'd try and write something a bit more meaningful. There was alot of meaning in that last sentence, wasn't there?

We've still got no phone at home and Vodafone aren't being particularly helpful so it's time to stand by our words and find another provider. This will of course mean more delay but the service cannot possibly be any worse then what we've encountered in our almost six month relationsip with Vodafone ... I'm sure they're purposely driving custumers away as a part of some big insurance fraud plot ... I can't see any other reason for taking peoples custom for granted to such a large extent. Phew ...

Other than that, things are plodding along. I've not heard anything from the garage about when our car will be fixed and I'm not asking because in the meantime I've got a 3.5 liter V6 engine with leather seats to drive around in, free of charge! Can't really complain ... I might ring them after the weekend, just to show some effort ... ooooorrrr, maybe not! :-)

Anyway, J, J and E will be here soon to pick me up ... must dash ... just remember all you folks ... VOTE FOR MAGNI ... let's not let him end up in the bottom three again ... he needs to be in the top three ... that's the next goal ...

Love you all,

Tóti

Looking for spare time? You can have mine, I've got plenty ...

2006-08-17T15:32:00.000Z

Life is a paperchase ... that's the conclusion I have come to. I am currently chasing up paperwork regarding:

1) Joanna and Jolyons identification numbers
2) Deregistering of car that has left the country but is still registered here, hence still insured
3) post that isn't arriving to our new house
4) invoices for gigs
5) Housing rental benefits paperwork, which includes:
- Getting our lease stamped
- Getting proof of being registered at the new address
- Getting proof of Jolyon going to school
6) Trouble with the phone provider
7) Letters to the ministry of health for Joannas' Nurse Registration

It's not actually fair to say that I'm chasing this up as Joanna is doing her share as are my parents, Jolyons principle, a lawyer etc.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something ... anyway, all this whilst working is silly ... we might have a safer life but we're drowning in paperwork. And for someone as disorganised as me, it's a nightmare!

So ... back to the old jam-dee-doo ...

Tóti

That last post is in Icelandic ...

2006-08-16T15:30:00.000Z

... because it is a letter to Vodafone in Iceland complaining of the awful service we have had since we moved here ...

Aldrei að nefna nöfn ... eða hvað

2006-08-16T15:24:00.000Z

Ég hef haft það fyrir reglu að nefna engin fyrirtæki á nafn. Ég ætla að brjóta þessa reglu og setja hér inn póst sem ég sendi til OgVodafone. Ég skal líka nefna nöfn ef þjónustan er góð ... hún hefur sannarlega ekki verið það frá þessu fyrirtæki:

Ég skráði mig í Og1 pakkann hjá ykkur fyrri hluta þessa árs. Síðan þá hef ég lent í hverju veseninu á fætur öðru og er mjög ósáttur við þá þjónustu sem boðið hefur verið uppá.

Til að byrja með bjó ég útá landi og átti að borga 1.300 kr. til Símans og afganginn til OgVodafone. Stúlkan sem gekk frá þessu á þjónustuborði ykkar í Síðumúla gleymdi hinsvegar eitthvað af pappírum þannig að í sex vikur var ég að borga Símanum öll gjöld, og fékk því ekki þann afslátt sem er innifalinn í pakkanum. M.a. fékk ég ekki afslátt á ákveðnum símanúmerum til útlanda sem ég hafði skráð sem er sérlega slæmt þar sem konan mín er bresk og hún og börnin okkar tala reglulega við hennar fjölskyldu og vini þar úti. Þetta enduðuð þið með að leiðrétta, að hluta til, með því að draga ca. 2.000.- krónur af GSM reikningnum.

Í öðru lagi var ég látinn fá Rauter til að tengja við tölvuna og sagt að ég ætti að geta tengst netinu strax. Það gekk ekki og eftir þó nokkur símtöl við þjónustuverið (aldrei sömu manneskjuna samt) gat ég tengst ... viku seinna!

Í þriðja lagi er ég með frelsis síma frá Símanum og bað um að fá frelsis síma frá OgVodafone, til að ég gæti nýtt afsláttinn milli mín og konunnar. Ég var látinn fá SIM kort föstudaginn 10. mars og sagt að það yrði hringt í mig þegar kortið yrði virkt, sennilega á mánudeginum eftir helgi. Það hefur ekki enn verið hringt í mig núna, fimm mánuðum seinna. Þið getið sleppt því úr þessu, takk fyrir!

Síðast en ekki síst fluttist ég til Reykjavíkur þann 1. ágúst. 31. júlí hringdi ég í þjónustuver ykkar og tilkynnti þetta ásamt kennitölu þeirrar manneskju sem bjó þar o.s.frv. og bað um að símanúmerið yrði flutt. Mér var sagt að það ætti að vera komið 3. ágúst. 3. ágúst var ekkert komið og þegar ég hringdi næst var mér sagt að það tæki 5 til 10 virka daga. Mánudaginn 14 ágúst (10 virkum dögum eftir tilkynningu) var enn enginn heimasími kominn. Þegar þetta bréf er skrifað erum við að nálgast lok miðvikudagsins 16. ágúst (12 virkum dögum seinna) og enn er enginn heimasími kominn. Konan mín er að fara að kenna og á mun erfiðara með að undibúa kennslu fyrir 9-11 ára krakka án þess að komast inná netið.

Þegar ég kem heim í kvöld ætla ég mér að kíkja á 12 mánaða samninginn við ykkur og finna leið til að rifta honum. Ef það er ekki hægt munuð þið svo sannarlega ekki fá mín viðskipti eftir að honum lýkur ... ég versla við einhvern annan ... hvern sem er í rauninni ...

Þetta bréf verður sett á heimasíðu mína.

Þórarinn Freysson
Sími 426-9705 (ekki reyna að hringja, síminn er ekki tengdur)

To rock or not to rock ...

2006-08-15T14:19:00.000Z

Started building that shed yesterday with the help of my dad. It's a bit more work than anticipated so we'll finish it off after work today. That means the downstairs should be sorted and Joanna's done a top job with the lounge/dining room ... it was so nice to walk in yesterday and it was all tidy, there were pictures on the wall ... and my two best boys came running to me when I walked through the door. You cannot top that ... ever!

Rockstar:Supernova on tonight. Apparently they went to Vegas and had a proper rock n' roll p***-up. Jason Newstead was talking about wanting someone who could deal with the drinking ... and Lukas drank too much and passed out ... I guess his chances have been slightly reduced ... yippee! Magni is a natural rocker born of vikings so I'm sure he could more than hold his own when it came to that side of it ... I think he's also sensible enough not to go over board ... that's where I tended to go wrong in my drinking days ...

In Memoriam Totis' drinking days ... may their memory fade away ... fast! Had a few top rock n' roll parties myself whilst touring. Ha! I'm sounding like an old has-been now (which is exactly what I am) so I'll stop and just say that these days, it's all about the music and the social aspect within the band. That's where I get my kicks!

Tóti

Can't play my bass 'cos its got more than 31 frets ...

2006-08-14T07:19:00.000Z

Good morning!

An early morning start again! I can't blog from home at the moment, which is why there aren't any blogs during weekends, as our phone connection hasn't been sorted, but the phone company promises it'll be today ... we shall see!

It's been a good weekend. On Saturday we walked to my friends' Svenni and had some coffee and cake there. Him and his finnish partner have got a little baby girl, she's 10 months old and she's lovely. Clearly the centre of her parents universe. After cake we walked into town and watched the gay pride festival. The boys enjoyed it and I think Elijah didn't know what hit him as it was in full swing when he woke up. It was seriously crowded in town and two couples with two prams and a nine year old could not all walk back together so Svenni and co. went home and me, Joanna and the boys walked back to our house. It's great living in town ...!

Saturday night was party time! The band, Menn Ársins, played at Café Aroma in Hafnarfjörður. It felt good getting back behind the bass and playing some good music ... I'm clearly out of practice though because my fingers were still a bit tender the next day. The gig before this one I tried using the fretted bass but switched back to the fretless this time, as it just sounds so much better with this band.

Sunday was spent emptying my dads garage, then refilling it with even more stuff. Our house is now becoming liveable in but my dads garage is bursting at the seams, it is so full. Was going to put together a shed that I bought on Friday evening but it didn't come with any assembly instructions so I will have another attempt one of these evenings, now that I've got myself a picture of it fully built.

I learned something new this weekend about naming regulations in Iceland. I mean the fact that we have a three person committee deciding what people can name their children and what not just shows what a nanny state this really is. Anyway, If you are Icelandic and your partner is not and:
a) your child is born in Iceland, it must have at least one Icelandic name within its' name.
b) your child is born abroad, you don't need an Icelandic name at all.
That's all silly in itself, but the silliest guideline is that names must not have more than 31 digits! Where did they get that from!? Why 31!? That's madness!? F*** is it to anyone how many digits my childs name has!? Silly ... I'd still have been alright with the name my dad wanted to give me which was Frosti, short for 'Frostaveturinn mikli 1918-1919'. That would then translate as Frosty, short for The Great Frosty Winter of 1918-1919.' Only just made it in english with 31 digits ... I wonder if you can use dashes and numbers ... do the dashes count as digits? ... Do you count the spaces ...? If I'd have known this sooner, Elijahs name would have had 32 digits in it ... I wonder if their computer freezes anytime they input more than 31 digits in the name field?

Tóti

The dolphins are crying cos their swimming registration isn't recognised here!

2006-08-11T07:14:00.000Z

Good morning, folks!

Another early start for his royal Freysson-ness. Last night me and Joanna went out. The plan (I thought) was to go to a salsa night at Alþjóðahús in town, where they were having a BBQ and stuff. We ended up at a flamenco show there instead which was cool but prior to that we walked around town until we found a nice looking restaurant called Shamil (I hope I got the name right) by Ingólfstorg. Joanna said that it was the best meal she'd had in a restaurant in Iceland so far. Not only that but the vibe was really chilled and the service was top class. We will definately be going there again ... when we've saved up ... cos the price of living here is just plain silly.

Which ties nicely in with the fact that yesterday I learned that unqualified healthcare staff in Iceland get paid less than the minimum wage in England (by a considerable amount) ... no wonder they're struggling to staff hospitals with qualified and unqualified staff! And then they won't recognise Joannas Masters degree in nursing as well as her 18 years experience because she doesn't meet their interpretation of the EEA contract ... Lets see ... lower wages ... more expensive to live ... qualifications and experience not good enough according to the government ... why did we move here again? ... Oh, yeah ... for the same reason you can no longer take anything with you on an airplane from England ... what is happening to this world? Is there no place for us? Is there a place for anyone who believes in tolerance, acceptance and manners above violence, religion and politics?

Go Magni ... he deserved that encore ... 'can you hear the dolphins cry?'

Much love,

Tóti

My ride has been pimped ... albeit temporarily ...

2006-08-09T16:13:00.000Z

This morning I drove my dads Honda CRV to collect him and go up to Garður. From there we towed my Isuzu Trooper, a.k.a. The Beast, to the garage in Keflavík. Later today I went and picked up a brand new Nissan Murano (see picture), from the dealership, which they are lending us until the Beast is back on the road. Finally, I will be cycling home on my new mountain bike, bought only yesterday. That's four different transportational vehicles (legs not included) in one day ... as well as a full-ish days work ... although I have got some hours to make up this week.

We are settling in our new house and loving the fact we can cycle, walk etc. wherever we want to go. Me and Joanna have got theatre tickets for a week today to see 'How Do You Like Iceland?' The theatre, Iðnó, is ten minutes walk from our house ... life is cooooooool but the weather is warm!

Love to you all,

Tóti

(Sing) One-Oh-One ... The number of the Beast

2006-08-08T12:38:00.000Z

Finally! We´ve moved. With the faithful help of Menn Ársins the Freysson-Burton Clan has moved to 101 Reykjavík. Life in the new house is soooo good and we're all soooo chilled. It feels much more like home. Yesterday we walked into town and had lunch. It was nice to be able to actually walk somewhere. It was also nice to be able to walk to work this morning without having to set of 3 days earlier. Now we just need to get rid of those boxes ... anyone want to buy some boxes with stuff in, or without stuff in ... anyone got a garage to rent ... hello ... are you there ... hello ...
B****y car broke down the day before we moved ... reeeaaalllyyyy didn't need that to happen! So it is currently stuck in front of our old house, much to the joy of the new owners. This means another trip to Garður tomorrow to tow it to the garage. But, as it is still under warranty, I'm not going to fix it ... I'll leave that to the nice folks who sold it to us ... I still love 'The Beast' though ... it is a true beast.
Love you all and not least Menn Ársins for all their hard work on Saturday ... thanx guys ...
Tóti

You gotta move to the groove of a happy shop tune!

2006-08-04T08:51:00.000Z

Have been shifting stuff between counties all week, to our new place of residence. Picking up a truck tonight and filling it up so we can finish the move tomorrow. Halli is coming to help anyway, the rest of the band have all said that they'll try and make it but no confirmations. Might also have an old friend, Árni 'happyshop' Jónsson, helping out. Clicking on the link will take you to his little chain of shops ... over eighteens only ... hence the name, 'happyshop' Árni ... I think you've probably got the picture now ...

Band stuff ... first gig for a while will be a week on Saturday in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland. They've been busy recording and I went up to the studio during my lunch break yesterday and had a listen as Halli was busy doing some mixing. It's all got a sort of Coldplay/Johnny Cash vibe which is awsome ... so looking forward to being able to rehearse and play this stuff but have had to ask the boys to wait till this move is over. Plan is to start rehearsing and gigging next week.

Moving the garden into the bankers church ...

2006-08-02T08:00:00.000Z

I'm slacking in writing these blogs. I was going to write at least two a week but I'm not really sticking to it ... sorry!

Yesterday we got the keys to the new house in Reykjavík. It's sooooo cool. Walking distance from the center of town, my work, both Joannas jobs, my parents, a few friends and cycling distance from Jolyons school. The house is a three story, two bedroomed semi, in a row of houses called the 'Bankers Houses'. In 1929 the Icelandic banks were struggling to lend money to the population so they decided to build these, and a few more, for your avarage working class family to buy. In the end the houses were too expensive and only bankers, businessmen and such could afford them. Now your just-above-avarage working class family are moving in! It is worth mentioning that the architect that designed the houses also designed Landsspítalinn, the university hospital and Hallgrímskirkja, the biggest (by far) church in Iceland. Those of you that have come to visit will remember it as that grey church you can see wherever in Reykjavík you are ... and the view from the top of the tower is beautiful. But some of you already know that!

So, busy packing up the house in Garður ... unfortunately the people who have bought the house and asked to store a few boxes in the garage before moving in have actually filled it with most of there belongings so we can't pack or move our stuff ... you meet all sorts of people in this world, eh? I'll say no more about that one and hope that as promised, they will have taken some of it out again by the time we get home today ...

Magni Rocks, man! ... and his family is being flown out to LA courtesy of Gilby Clarke, Jason Newsted and Tommy Lee a.k.a. Supernova. That includes his son who is a similar age to my son Elijah ... ahhhh ...

Birthday cake is healthy, isn't it?

2006-07-31T10:44:00.000Z

It's been a most cool weekend. Saturday was spent at my parents at a birthday party in Jolyons honour. Met plenty of family members there, not least my cousin, Egill whom I've not seen for years, and his wife Anja (I hope that's right), whom I've never met. It was good stuff. Jolyon enjoyed his party and that was the main thing.

Me and Joanna spent sunday packing as we've only got this week to get sorted before we move to 101 Reykjavík from the quiet country life ... we'll make it in time Joanna, trust me :-/ ... ;-) Also had a long swim as it was just the two of us ... I'm not in very good shape and need to sort myself out, so ... as a healthy body makes for a healthy mind, I'm going to try and stick to a healthier-ish lifestyle ... without doing my obsessive bit and then giving up after three days ... this is where the 'consistently inconsistent' bit comes in. You'll be kept updated whether you like it or not ...

Love,

Tóti

We shall celebrate another year of Jolyon, and mourn another week of Zayra!

2006-07-28T07:17:00.000Z

It was Jolyon Isaacs, my eldest sons, 9th birthday yesterday. The favorite gift was from his 15 month old brother Elijah Benedikt, a headscarf which he can be seen wearing on the TwoLands webpage page. We went to the skateboard ramp and had pizza in front of the TV and watched 'Cheaper by the Dozen 2.' Those are the kind of moments I'll remember as both me and my children keep growing up, far too fast! :-)

Tomorrow we are having a birthday party at amma Kristíns and afi Freyrs for the family and some friends. Jolyon and Elijah get to stay over afterwards.

We're all getting ready to move our belongings from 250 Garður to 101 Reykjavík. That should be a bit of a change. The house is much smaller and the rent is expensive but this should give us the time and experience to decide what to do in the long run ... I will say no more ...

Onto more serious things! When are Jason, Tommy and Gilby going to get rid of that Zayra ... not only is she as annoying as that rash I have on my ... uhm ... anyway! A deep fried cucumber would be more interesting than her and she's about as in tune as a horse on tranquelizers ... or is it just that she's actually really good and everyone except me and Joanna see it as we have lived in The-Middle-of-Nowhere-town in the county of How-did-I-end-up-here on the Why-did-anyone-ever-build-a-village-without-an-indian-takeaway-peninsula? Maybe us country folk just got it wrong ... nah! She's rubbish!

The toaster band has travelled south for the winter!?

2006-07-26T07:37:00.000Z

I'm not going to bother writing about the details of our house and home issues because Joanna has done such a fantastic job of describing it all on the TwoLands diary page. Read all about it!

Band stuff is going fine. Sváfnir the songbird rang me yesterday and asked if I would be interested in doing their original stuff with them, as I have so far only been playing the live cover stuff, and join them in recording an album. Of course I said yes and we're rehearsing tonight. I asked him if he had any music to listen to and learn the songs but he suggested I came fresh in and "put my own mark on it". It's nice to know people have faith in you.

Joannas friend, Jackie, is coming over on Monday quite unexpectedly, along with husband daughter and parents. Just in time to help us move, Jackie :-) By the way, if anyone (in Iceland of course) is up for helping us shift stuff between houses on Saturday the 5th August, just leave us a note.

On another note, I am mad in the head but, hey ... it could be worse ...

... after rain there will be sun, after dark there will be light, after dinner there will be pudding ...

Magni ... Say sorry to the nice nurse!

2006-07-20T12:38:00.000Z

I was told that my last entry had been a bit close to the knuckle. This is true and I would like to apologise to all Iceland-educated Mental Health Nurses for offending them and belittling their qualifications. I was wrong ... that happens quite regularly ... just ask Joanna :-) However, it also hints at a previous point related to the title of the blog, that I am consistently inconsistent.

Halli, our piano player, has done his shoulder in but has ordered a new one from Acme and should have it installed in a weeks time. We're going to try and book some gigs for the weekend after next and get things rolling again after the bands summer breaks. We've been holidaying in various places around the world and in Iceland (yes, I know Iceland is part of the world, it's just a figure of speech.)

Some good news ... Joanna has been offered a job in the mental health sector! It's not really what she's trained to do or what she wants to do in the long term and I'm probably feeling more positive about it than Joanna, but ... there are definately positives. I don't feel it's my place to delve too deeply into Joannas issues on my page so you'll just have to read TwoLands to watch how it goes.

We're busy looking for a house to rent and we hope to have this finalized by the end of today ... we'll see. There are a few places in the running and unsurprisingly we have to decide where we want to compromise, price, location, size etc. as expected really.

So, to complete this blog (for those of you who watch Rockstar:Supernova) I'm just going to shout GO MAGNI!!!!! I've sent a vote in every time for him ...

Home is where the heart surgeon is ...

2006-07-18T11:48:00.000Z

It's all official now, yesterday the house sale was signed, sealed and delivered. We will offically be homeless at 12.00am on Monday the 7th August. That's a sobering thought, if you weren't sober to begin with! This week I will be skillfully fitting in house-hunting alongside 40 hours of work and some time with my family. Elijah still hasn't quite forgiven me for disappearing yet again.

Let us jump back in time now, to Thursday the 13th July, 2006 at 18.00. This is the time I walked in to Alþjóðahús in Reykjavík to partake in the first meeting of a now fully formed political party called The New Icelanders Party. Although the name suggests it is purely to further foreigners rights in Iceland (and indeed that was the initial idea) the discussions focused around the rights of all minority groups that have been left out in the cold, so to speak. This includes disabled people, pensioners, single parents and so on. It is a movement that I sincerely hope will set some roots in the Icelandic community if only to raise awareness within other political parties, much as Kvennalistinn did with womens rights. I'll speak more about this party as it progresses but this first meeting confirmed what I thought in that Joanna, my wife, is not the only person in Iceland, be it foreigner or Icelandic citizen, who is having difficulties getting her qualification recognised. As a point of interest I am going to end this entry on telling you her situation.

Joanna has a Masters degree in Psychiatric Nursing from the University of Manchester and has over 18 years experience in the field. Despite a severe shortage of mental health nurses in Iceland, the Icelandic authorities will not recognise her qualification! This is due to the fact that in England one specialises in Mental Health Nursing from the beginning of ones studies. In Iceland one takes 18 Months of General Nursing Studies, then branches off into Mental Health Nursing.

Ask yourself this question. If you were going for heart surgery, would you like a specialised Heart Surgeon to do the job or would you prefer it to be a General Practitioner (Heimilislækni) who also did a course in heart surgery? The Icelandic government seems to favor the General Practitioner.

Finally, an advert in Icelandic for a flat:

Erum að leita að 3-5 herb. (minnst tvö svefnherbergi) íbúð á stór-Reykjavíkursvæðinu. Ef einhver veit um íbúð til leigu vinsamlegast hringið í Tóta í síma 861-4641. Erum með tvo ketti.

Welcome to my head ... scary, isn't it!?

2006-07-17T12:27:00.000Z

Hello,

As I find writing to be a positive and creative outlet for whatever is going on in my head at each individual time I have decided to start a personal blog ... where I can write ramblings that I wouldn't put on the TwoLands webpage or the Icelandic Menn Ársins page. The title 'consistently inconsistent' refers the one 'quality' I have that annoys me most. I have plenty others but they didn't make as good a title as this one.

I will be writing this in English as my family consists of both English and Icelandic speaking folk and because I believe, contrary to popular opinion, that English is actually the language of love, not French. There is nothing more romantic on a summers evening over a candle lit dinner than to softly whisper the words: "How much wood would a woodchucker chuck if a woodchucker could chuck wood?" It works every time ... !?

I will shortly be putting all the links on this page but not today cos today Joanna, Jolyon and Elijah are coming back home ... yiiiipppeeeee !!!
I shall leave you with some poetry from the multi-talented Pointer Sisters:

I'm so excited
and I just can't hide it
I'm about to loose control
and I think I like it, oh yeah!

Until you enter my galaxy again ...

Tóti Freysson