Art, destruction, rotten shark and sneezing.

Icelandic sheeps keeping my kids warm.

Well, in the last few days, I have gotten very sick, broken more of my personal affects, rubbed noses with some rather established visual artists, and eaten rotten shark meat. Same caveat as the last post: I feel like teh crapz, so this post will be lazy.

Hákarl is a traditional Icelandic food that involves burying a dead shark for like six weeks, letting the poison rot out, hanging it up to dry for awhile, and then digging in. Mmm. I can tell you, after having braved several pieces, that it's not the single worst tasting thing on the planet... but that the odor is so thick that you can feel it literally resisting you as walk nearer to the source, and the taste is of an unusually pungent cheese. Observe -- and note the faculty-provided Brennivín we were given to wash it down with.





Also, in the foreground of that last picture is sviðasulta, a confit of singed sheep's heads. No joke. Also, please ignore Jackson's crotch in the background... which, I guess, is now impossible, since I've pointed it out. Haha. Pointed it out.

$♥3☻6☺►☺3♥B♥316♠☺6☺

My next bit of cultural activity took place on Saturday night, after I volunteered some very, very longs days at the SAFN art gallery. They opened a new exhibition with artists Jennifer Tee and Tumi Magnússon, whose works I've really come to like. The opening was a lot of fun... free white wine and some smart company.... and even one gentleman (apparently locally known for his art and his saucing) who fell down the staircase and left in an ambulance. =O

Here're some shots of the opening:






After the official opening wound down, I was invited to come along with Birta, the curator, and the artists and their contacts. They bought me the only real meal I've had since I've been here -- and it was fantastic! We went to a little place down on the harbor that's very unassuming, but serves up super-simple fish dishes that are out-of-this-world. Of course, the gallery brought several more bottles of wine and several more bottles of beer... so not only was I making very valuable contacts, but I was eating and drinking at a level of quality far more than I could possibly do for myself while here.... The fun spilled first to Sirkus, then to Bar Boston, then to Kaffibarinn, then to Prikið.... and the whole time I only paid for one drink. ;)

BUT! Oh no! Look what horror has befallen me!
You already know I messed up my iGrado headphones while setting up my tent... only my 3rd or 4th day in the country. Well, that means I've been carrying around my very nice Grado SR-80 headphones. However, I had thought I would have been able to drop them off at home before the bar fun began -- yet the chance never came. So guess what? The earpads fell off!

No tunes for you!

It's kind of a lame design, really.... the earpads come off rather easily, and without them, the cans don't stay on your head. I can replace them for $15 in the States.... but Grado doesn't ship worldwide -- can you believe that?

Le sigh.

Well, the next morning, I was not only musicless, but sick.

I tried to force myself to get out and find the Grado earpads, with no luck. I did, though, finally find perhaps Iceland's most famous sculpture -- Solfarinn.

This is wasted space, lulz.

Sadly, I have an exam tomorrow, so I need to get on the ball learnin' my Icelandic.
Wish me luck and liberation from sneezes.....


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