Monday, September 20, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
8 New Music Vids
While I was in iceland I watched a lot of MTV UK in my hotel room, and therefore have a new selection of great music videos. Here they are for your enjoyment :)
Skepta - Rescue Me
Cee Lo Green - No One
Alexandra Burke Feat Pitbull - All Night Long
Magnetic Man - I Need Air
Dan Balan - Chica Bomb
Cheryl Cole - Parachute
INNA - Amazing
Keri Hilson - I Like
Skepta - Rescue Me
Cee Lo Green - No One
Alexandra Burke Feat Pitbull - All Night Long
Magnetic Man - I Need Air
Dan Balan - Chica Bomb
Cheryl Cole - Parachute
INNA - Amazing
Keri Hilson - I Like
Iceland... the land of ice.
So I've been home for a little while now, collecting my thoughts about Iceland, and now it's time to post.
The verdict: I need to go back! Iceland is seriously the best place I've ever been, and I very strongly plan on moving there. Also, 24hour sunlight is awesome!
On my first day i went whalewatching, which you can read about here.
On my second day I explored Reykjavik and bought WAAAAAY too much stuff. Everything in iceland is SO expensive. For instance, a beer costs about $14. A bottle of vodka costs double what it would here in Canada. The one cocktail I remember buying myself was about $20. Dinner for myself would range from $60-$100. Lunch would be between $30-$50 (I actually had a $30 hamburger). Reykjavik's most famous restaurant is actually a hotdog stand, and it's just a couple dollars for the BEST hotdog ever.
On my third day I went horseback riding in the morning, and then to the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, which was very very touristy (so many kids!) but still very cool. I got a 2-hour in-water body wrap and massage, so I actually just floated around the water being massaged and stuff. The only downside is that the water was very salty and destroyed my hair! The water was so cool though... it was almost milky white!
On Saturday and Sunday I hung out in Reykjavik and went to some galleries and museums. The National Art Gallery had 2 very cool exhibitions on... Edvard Munch and Cindy Sherman's Film Stills.
On my second last day I went on the Golden Circle Tour, where you drive around to some of Iceland's main natural sites including Geysir, Gulfoss (a beautiful waterfall), and a place where you can clearly see the separation between the North American Techtonic plate and the Eurasian one.
At nighttime the Icelanders don't really go out until midnight, so I'd nap until about 11 and then head out. Most nights I hung out with my fabulous icelandic buddy Toti. Toti is also the reason I stood 1 foot away from Bjork! On my second day, in the afternoon, I was about to take a nap when Toti texted me about an art show down by the harbour. I said I was pretty tired so no thanks... then I woke up an hour later with a text on my phone that said "but Bjork's here", so I got down there in about 5 minutes flat! She was there with her kid, and as much as I desperately wanted to approach her, I was advised not to :( There were also 2 members of Múm there, and I even drove past Jonsi's house later that night!
The verdict: I need to go back! Iceland is seriously the best place I've ever been, and I very strongly plan on moving there. Also, 24hour sunlight is awesome!
On my first day i went whalewatching, which you can read about here.
Whale watching
On my second day I explored Reykjavik and bought WAAAAAY too much stuff. Everything in iceland is SO expensive. For instance, a beer costs about $14. A bottle of vodka costs double what it would here in Canada. The one cocktail I remember buying myself was about $20. Dinner for myself would range from $60-$100. Lunch would be between $30-$50 (I actually had a $30 hamburger). Reykjavik's most famous restaurant is actually a hotdog stand, and it's just a couple dollars for the BEST hotdog ever.
Baejarins Beztu Pylsur... Best Hotdogs!
On my third day I went horseback riding in the morning, and then to the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, which was very very touristy (so many kids!) but still very cool. I got a 2-hour in-water body wrap and massage, so I actually just floated around the water being massaged and stuff. The only downside is that the water was very salty and destroyed my hair! The water was so cool though... it was almost milky white!
Water at the Blue Lagoon
On Saturday and Sunday I hung out in Reykjavik and went to some galleries and museums. The National Art Gallery had 2 very cool exhibitions on... Edvard Munch and Cindy Sherman's Film Stills.
On my second last day I went on the Golden Circle Tour, where you drive around to some of Iceland's main natural sites including Geysir, Gulfoss (a beautiful waterfall), and a place where you can clearly see the separation between the North American Techtonic plate and the Eurasian one.
Standing between the Eurasian techtonic plate (right) and the North American one (left)
The big wall with the waterfall is the North American techtonic plate
Gulfoss
Geysir (you can see a man in the bottom right corner... that should give you an idea of the scale)
The earth here is red from iron
At nighttime the Icelanders don't really go out until midnight, so I'd nap until about 11 and then head out. Most nights I hung out with my fabulous icelandic buddy Toti. Toti is also the reason I stood 1 foot away from Bjork! On my second day, in the afternoon, I was about to take a nap when Toti texted me about an art show down by the harbour. I said I was pretty tired so no thanks... then I woke up an hour later with a text on my phone that said "but Bjork's here", so I got down there in about 5 minutes flat! She was there with her kid, and as much as I desperately wanted to approach her, I was advised not to :( There were also 2 members of Múm there, and I even drove past Jonsi's house later that night!
Performance piece at the art show
Proof!
Me + Toti
Toti sitting under my new favourite photo
Some fun Iceland facts I learned:
-They don't have a word for "please". Instead, they have 3 words that mean "do it".
-Until recently, it was legal in Iceland to kill Turks.
-Beer was illegal in Iceland until a couple years ago. Not all liquor, just beer...
-The largest group of immigrants in Iceland is Polish people.
More photos:
Flying over Greenland
The Reykjavik Pond at about midnight
This is about 11:15 PM
Me on top of my new favourite statue
My new favourite statue
View of Reykjavik from the top of the church
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
First Impressions of Reykjavik
So I'm here and I've already decided I'm not coming home!
My flight was pretty good, although I didn't sleep. i was in a middle seat, but luckily i was between 2 very nice guys about my age. the one on the right was stopping over in iceland on his way to london where he's moving in with his boyfriend. he was super nice. the one on my left was kinda chubby, maybe a couple years younger than me, and had a fleece army print sweater on with dragons in the design too. the chubby one was icelandic and was born there but moved to canada very young. SO right at the beginnning of the flight i was talking to the gay kid about stuff. all of a sudden chubby kid chimes in... "have you tried whale meat?" so i pause... and turn... and say "no actually. i haven't. have you?" and he says "ya a couple times" i said "...is it good?" he thinks, then says "with the right sauce." and then he turned on his headphones. it was sooo random.
and no i will not try whale while im here.
I DID go whalewatching when I got here though. First I had just enought time to grab a sandwich. I humiliated myself because i ate it, paid the waitress, and left, and back at the hotel discovered I had a massive chunk of spinach in my teeth.
On the way to whalewatching, this weird chick from iowa who teaches special ed decided i would be her whale watching buddy.
Whale watching is overrated... we saw some Minky whales, but really all you see is their fin from a distance for a brief second. On a related note: puffins are ADORABLE!
I'm staying at Hotel Fron which is in an AWESOME location right on the main street. It's super loud though, so I might ask for a room further away from the elevators and higher up. The room is tiny but very cute. I have a massive balcony, and I get MTV and the discovery channel. The water reek of sulphur (which I expected, but it's still gross). Free internet in the hotel though! And I have a mini fridge, which is perfect for the vodka and wine I bought at duty free on my way here :)
Other fleeting thoughts about iceland:
-its so weird to take a nap and wake up at 10 pm and have it be completely daylight. Talk about screwing with your inner clock!
-the air smells like fish
-5 minutes of walking through reykjavik indicates that it's SO FREAKING COOL. It's hard to explain... its just so trendy and cool! I hate the word "trendy, but I don't really know what else to say... creative? artsy? unique?
-they have tons of chocolate bars that involve licorice and chocolate... f*ing weird!
-icelandic is such a weird language! i love hearing, but i cant understand a word of it! At lunch, my waitress had a tattoo, so I asked if she had gotten it in reykjavik. She said yes so I asked if it was a good tattoo place. she was like "ya its the best! its just over on gfbjdbkebglfbgvfjbvjfsv street. the artists name was gfbjdbkebglfbgvfjbvjfsv..., he's very famous." i seriously could not make out a single syllable!
anyways. it's prettymuch midnight and I stil want to try to hit up a bar so I can spend a small fortune trying icelandic booze. Sorry about the poor typing, this keyboard is stiff.
ciao!
My flight was pretty good, although I didn't sleep. i was in a middle seat, but luckily i was between 2 very nice guys about my age. the one on the right was stopping over in iceland on his way to london where he's moving in with his boyfriend. he was super nice. the one on my left was kinda chubby, maybe a couple years younger than me, and had a fleece army print sweater on with dragons in the design too. the chubby one was icelandic and was born there but moved to canada very young. SO right at the beginnning of the flight i was talking to the gay kid about stuff. all of a sudden chubby kid chimes in... "have you tried whale meat?" so i pause... and turn... and say "no actually. i haven't. have you?" and he says "ya a couple times" i said "...is it good?" he thinks, then says "with the right sauce." and then he turned on his headphones. it was sooo random.
and no i will not try whale while im here.
I DID go whalewatching when I got here though. First I had just enought time to grab a sandwich. I humiliated myself because i ate it, paid the waitress, and left, and back at the hotel discovered I had a massive chunk of spinach in my teeth.
On the way to whalewatching, this weird chick from iowa who teaches special ed decided i would be her whale watching buddy.
Whale watching is overrated... we saw some Minky whales, but really all you see is their fin from a distance for a brief second. On a related note: puffins are ADORABLE!
I'm staying at Hotel Fron which is in an AWESOME location right on the main street. It's super loud though, so I might ask for a room further away from the elevators and higher up. The room is tiny but very cute. I have a massive balcony, and I get MTV and the discovery channel. The water reek of sulphur (which I expected, but it's still gross). Free internet in the hotel though! And I have a mini fridge, which is perfect for the vodka and wine I bought at duty free on my way here :)
Other fleeting thoughts about iceland:
-its so weird to take a nap and wake up at 10 pm and have it be completely daylight. Talk about screwing with your inner clock!
-the air smells like fish
-5 minutes of walking through reykjavik indicates that it's SO FREAKING COOL. It's hard to explain... its just so trendy and cool! I hate the word "trendy, but I don't really know what else to say... creative? artsy? unique?
-they have tons of chocolate bars that involve licorice and chocolate... f*ing weird!
-icelandic is such a weird language! i love hearing, but i cant understand a word of it! At lunch, my waitress had a tattoo, so I asked if she had gotten it in reykjavik. She said yes so I asked if it was a good tattoo place. she was like "ya its the best! its just over on gfbjdbkebglfbgvfjbvjfsv street. the artists name was gfbjdbkebglfbgvfjbvjfsv..., he's very famous." i seriously could not make out a single syllable!
anyways. it's prettymuch midnight and I stil want to try to hit up a bar so I can spend a small fortune trying icelandic booze. Sorry about the poor typing, this keyboard is stiff.
ciao!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Status Update: Packing for Iceland
Still haven't left. Trying to pack. I've got my camera bag and 3 lenses. I've got a rain jacket. I've got jewellery. I've got clothes for going out. I've got my $35,000 of icelandic monopoly money (35,000 Icelandic Kronur = about $400 Canadian). And I've got 7 pairs of shoes for my 6 day trip...
Breakdown of the shoes I'm bringing:
-1 pair of Reebok Easytone Running shoes... I want to wear these when I'm on tours or doing lots of walking so I can see if they really tone my butt while walking.
-1 pair of hightop Pumas... for when I need something super comfortable and fairly warm, but more stylish than the Reeboks
-1 pair of gold flats... cuz they're new and cute
-1 pair of gold-ish snakeskin strappy sandals... for if it gets hot. And also because they're new
-1 pair of black ballerina flats with chains around the ankles... for when the other flats don't match what I'm wearing
-1 pair of killer high black strappy heels with little studs... cuz they're freaking hot!
-1 pair of lower, plainer black heels, in case my feet get too massacred by the other heels
...see my dilemma???
Breakdown of the shoes I'm bringing:
-1 pair of Reebok Easytone Running shoes... I want to wear these when I'm on tours or doing lots of walking so I can see if they really tone my butt while walking.
-1 pair of hightop Pumas... for when I need something super comfortable and fairly warm, but more stylish than the Reeboks
-1 pair of gold flats... cuz they're new and cute
-1 pair of gold-ish snakeskin strappy sandals... for if it gets hot. And also because they're new
-1 pair of black ballerina flats with chains around the ankles... for when the other flats don't match what I'm wearing
-1 pair of killer high black strappy heels with little studs... cuz they're freaking hot!
-1 pair of lower, plainer black heels, in case my feet get too massacred by the other heels
...see my dilemma???
Vacation Time!
Alright! So I'm off to Iceland for a week... I'll have tons of pics to post when I get back, but for the time being I'll leave you with a comic from PhD Comics about vacation:
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Ass Hats
So earlier today I was called a "gay ass hat" by someone on reddit (my bad for not posting an NSFW tag on some that was very NSFW... i guess the words "nudity", "pride", and "pics" in the title didn't tip him off...).
Naturally, I wondered "wtf is an ass hat".
Ironically, I encountered the term again just moments ago while perusing The System comics...
Still not entirely certain of the meaning though.....
Naturally, I wondered "wtf is an ass hat".
Ironically, I encountered the term again just moments ago while perusing The System comics...
Still not entirely certain of the meaning though.....
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
You Know You're Canadian When
You know you're Canadian when someone walking down the street accidentally punches you really hard in the arm, and YOU apologize to THEM.
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