Tuesday, 21 August 2012

Gloomy

I need plenty of distractions at this moment.

Culture

So I made it back to Smoke City in time for Menningarnótt, or Culture Night 2012. We had wonderful weather which makes a day/night like this, with thousands and thousands of people pouring into the downtown area, a perfect success (the point being that people would pour in regardless of the weather, being hearty Viking types, but the less wet and wind-blown and harried they are, the better!)

I was lucky enough to snap a bunch of really awesome and colorful photos of locals and visitors, which you can look at on my personal Facebook. Then go to the  Iceland Eyes Facebook page and Like it, just for fun : )

Here are a few shots to get you started...

I love the super colorfulness of this shot from the day's concert series at the Heart Park:

And here's Bedda, who some of you may know from the award-winning Our House hostel in downtown Reykjavik : )

Sunday, 19 August 2012

Assange's Balcony Speech

This afternoon Julian Assange delivered a long-awaited speech from the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in front of an assembled crowd of world media and supporters.  I'm intrigued to see what the press makes of it.  You can watch the speech in full here or read the full transcript here if you prefer.


I personally found the speech quite astounding.  There were various suggestions as to what he might say about the resolution of his situation, that he might submit voluntarily to the Swedish authorities etc.  He is of course under an obligation, as part of his being granted political asylum by the Republic of Ecuador, to refrain from making political statements.  Instead he used the opportunity, from the premises of the Embassy, to drive home a very political message and to describe his personal position in some of the dramatic terms that I have commented on in my last blog entry.

Specifically, the language he used would not be out of place in a political thriller.  He spoke in Hollywood terms of police "descending" on the building, "swarming" up an internal fire escape, "after dark".  He spoke in the language of the underdog: a courageous small nation standing up bravely to "threats" and taking a "stand for justice", a country defending its Constitution, of shining a light on the secret crimes of the powerful, of unity in oppression and determination. 

All of this is of course like catnip to his devotees.  It is exactly the language they love and a reinforcement of a vision they seem to require.  The paranoid world they dwell in is full of fear, secrecy, and conspiracies.  He spoke to his supporters as being "witnesses" who had protected him, giving them a sense of importance and purpose.  It is all about vigilance: looking out for the hidden faces of the "enemy" and "oppression".  He reduced it to the personal: "his children who have been denied their father.  Forgive me, we will be reunited soon."

What he did not do once was mention why he was held up in the Embassy, which is because of his decision and own voluntary act in skipping bail, and being a fugitive from due judicial process.  Not once did he mention the two women in Sweden, alleged victims of serious sexual assault.  He blatantly conflated the work of Wikileaks (which many consider extremely valuable) with his personal situation of being a rape suspect avoiding justice.

To me he came across as being caught up in the same head space of many of his devoted supporters.  He expressly stated that the UK did not "throw away the Vienna Convention" because his supporters "were watching".  This must be either highly insincere, or the view of a fantasist.  The implication is the UK would have stormed the Embassy had no one noticed? I can't get my head round how that would work exactly.  I should have thought the media would have been involved in any such event, regardless of the presence of a group of people waiting outside.

He brought the United States into the picture by speaking of a witch hunt.  There was no acceptance that it is Sweden that requires him for a criminal prosecution, not a country that has not even sought his extradition.  It is exactly the same mixing of real and hypothetical that his supporters engage in. He spoke of Pussy Riot and the disgraceful case of the treatment of Private Manning.  What exactly do either of those have to do with his position as a rape suspect?

Assange named a host of Latin American nations whose foreign ministers would hold an "emergency meeting" (again note the drama of his language).  The irony that many on the list have quite dubious records on human rights and government oppression surely cannot be lost on the intelligent observer.  Here is a man whose organisation has stood up against government secrecy and censorship seeking refuge with regimes whose records are for the most part incomparably worse than the "oppressor" nations which are his enemies.

Julian Assange did not come across to me as a frightened man.  He came across today, in my subjective view, as an arrogant, egotistical, manipulative coward.  The last few days have really changed my view on him, and not for the better.  His speech took us no further.  It gave no detail of anything that would happen next, of any remorse, or of any recognition of the two women who have alleged serious sexual assault.  I joked before he came on that his appearance would remind me of a scene from Evita.  For the drama he plied on, and for his astounding egomania, I fear I was far from wrong.






Mark it

Today marks the day.
The day I finally gave up on something.
Something that took a lot of hard work.
I was hoping a lot.
I enjoyed it and disliked it.

Sometimes, maybe, horoscopes are true ...

Kickboxing

Being a beginner kickboxer feels like a person dancing with two left feet. A good sport to sweat though. I am already dripping puddles after 30minutes o kickboxing :) Whats even better is that I can sweat it out at home, thanks to Youtube ...;)


Saturday, 18 August 2012

The best break-up advice

If i ever consider breaking up, I know who to watch to make me feel better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NttJWWUvXPw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

And then his hillarious video about 'why u do not need a boyfriend to make you feel happy'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMFpZRDYha4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Friday, 17 August 2012

Love

Love at Fashion Island
My trip to that other homeland of mine, California, was an impulsive and enlightening adventure. With ten days' notice I traipsed off to the airport with sponsored tickets in my paws and all the romantic hopes of a starry-eyed teen. I was treated to every graciousness, yet the same thing that kept my host and I apart when we actually were teens, all those decades ago, floated like a third party there between us. Logic wants to write that maturity and reason dictated our decisions, but it was simpler than that: the nature of some relationships just never changes, whether that nature is filled with hope and faith and everlasting love, or burdened with secrets and fear.

It had been six years since I'd left the Lava Rock to visit the land of my birth, and I'll always be grateful for the chance I got to go out this summer and fall in love with that land all over again. I didn't take many pictures; I suppose I was mostly too absorbed in the whole experience to stop and whip out my camera. 

I did, though, feel compelled to take a photo of the couple pictured above. I was spacing out at the Newport Beach Fashion Island on a lovely warm day when I saw them. They were so glowing and serene, with smiles so warm and loving. I sat at a bench a distance from them and took some shots. When I realized that the man had noticed me, I strolled over and told them that they looked so happy that I just had to take a picture. They smiled at me and actually giggled a bit. Then the man said, "We are happy. We're still in love like it's our honeymoon, and we've been together for 56 years!" My immediate reaction was to place my palms together at heart center and bow to them, and thank them for being so beautiful, and so eternally in love.

Lunch in Malibu
I was also lucky enough to meet so many of the wonderful people from the past, some whom I hadn't seen in 20-plus years! I felt all sorts of other kinds of love: familial, childhood, respectful, honest, undying, loyal and just plain fun-loving. I chatted with this little birdie in Malibu (she stole my cookie!) and saved a wasp from drowning at Zuma, and felt the true, warm, loving embrace of someone I found using only our unbreakable psychic connection. I drove 101 with the windows rolled down in the summer sun, with classic rock on the radio and the hot wind in my hair. I wifi-hopped courtesy of coffee houses filled with friendly faces, and didn't have a single experience to make me doubt the inherent kindness of humans. There are so many others I didn't get to visit this trip, but I suppose it's ok to save them for the next one, which definitely isn't so very far off.

California, I Love You!