Danger Another Day. Also, Iceland. · 10:49pm Jan 24th, 2015
The Motion of the Stars is out, complete with the proofreading of Danger Beans. Major props to them. It's been submitted to the Most Dangerous Game Contest, and seeing how it'll do (especially up against some of the damned respectable competition I've seen so far) will be interesting. My writing tastes usually run towards the comically dark or darkly comedic, and something with more of an attempted poignant edge was a fun step out of my comfort zone.
But enough of that; it's possible you're sitting there and saying, "None of this writing piffle, Carabas. We were promised photographic evidence of Iceland in that last blog you did, and this pitchfork being sharpened says we're damn well going to get it."
Well, let no-one say your pitchforks don't make their point abundantly clear. Find a selection of pretty photos below the page break.
First up, a section of the harbour for Reykjavik (which I can spell now!) Note the pretty sky and ice-mantled mountains in the distance.
Next, a statue of Leifr Eiriksson, discoverer of North America before discovering North America was cool, unaware of the cathedral sneaking up behind him.
One humungous double-waterfall, complete with greyish sections - water frozen solid in the motion of flowing.
If you're cool with the smell of sulfur, geysers are happiness incarnate. You step into the site of the hot springs, this big bubbling puddle goes whoosh upwards all at once. And it settles while you're still ooh-ing and aah-ing. And then in a few minutes, it does it again. And again. And again.
The old site of the Alþingi, the thousand-year-old parliament of Iceland. The accounts of particularly exciting political wheelings and dealings here are apparently contained in some of the sagas with enough bastardry to make a Song of Ice and Fire fan boggle.
A snowman with magnificent eyebrows on a frozen lake in Reykjavik. Magnificent, I say.
There is a phallological museum. It's quite interesting once you're inside, really. The container is exactly what you're hoping it isn't after googling 'phallological'. The flowers are nice, though.
And by way of a capstone, your humble narrator reacting dubiously to the smell of a traditional delicacy of fermented shark, which could be uncharitably compared to concentrated urine fermented in an angry fish on a stifling summer's day.
The taste contrives to be even worse.
I shall be reading Motion soon, Carabas! Good luck with the competition... and those are some truly gorgeous scenery shots of Iceland.
You don't look like a cube at all!
I'm so disappointed 
!
Also, I've seen snow exactly once in my lifetime, and once was enought. I'll stay in sunny Florida, thank you very much!
P.S. WTF is that thing in the second to last picture that looks like a dick?
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I'll get round to your entry later this very evening. Once I'm ensconced in a cosy reading space.
Glad to hear it, and best of luck to you as well.
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Alas, the Icelandics don't see fit to keep their phallological museums inside their cathedrals. But just for you, an interior shot.
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'Purty', I believe the technical term is.
Gracias for the hair appreciation as well.
I hasten to point out that that day, I'd avoided taking a (very sulphuric) Icelandic shower. It's usually even fluffier than that.
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Regular human shape, alas. One day, my cubic glory shall be realised. One day.
The thing is almost certainly a dick. Either it's that sort of light/cushion thing made of fabric on the ground, or it's a flower-toting member formerly from a whale.
You mean you don't look like a cube Rarity in real life? My life is a lie!
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I'm so sorry.
Let my beauty be the comfort you need in this difficult time.
A Phallogical museum... Bloody hell, such a strange little island.
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Even better, I met the guy who founded it at the front desk. He'd gone abroad to study in Edinburgh when he was younger.
Us strange wee nations have to make sure each other is operating at peak strangeness, you know.
Iceland is such a beautiful and alien environment. If you can, you should definitely spend a day over at the Blue Lagoon.
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lol I remember on my first day there I took a swig of tap water while brushing my teeth... didn't make that mistake again.
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The temperature, alas, was seven degrees colder on average than it usually was. 'On average' being the key term. You'd get in, shriek at the coldness, and desperately plunge towards a hot section. And then never leave that section, ever.
Went there on one day!
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Exact same experience here, with all the spluttering and spitting that entails. It's particularly bad when you need to rinse the taste out of your mouth, and the only liquid available is ... well ...