News...

220 pilot whales were killed in Tórshavn this last sunday. The killing of whales is done as efficient and quickly as it can be, and it is a part of our way of living (and surviving) - I could show you some pictures, but i don't want to make this anymore graphic than it already is.

Weather Report...

The weather has been good these last days. I'm back to work, and that's why i'm not writing so much as i used to . There's going to be a small local celebration here in my village this upcoming weekend. Nothing big, bbq and other small stuff, some activities...

Pictures...

After a night out, getting home at 4:30 in the morning, drunk as a sponge... and waking up this morning, with a huge headache... i took these photos... they're about as bad as my headache is.



A container ship, down in the harbour of Tórshavn...

The Prime Minister's crib and all of his posse... i gotta stop watching movies and listening to gangster rap... read about it here

The bay of Tórshavn... at least a part of it..

A valley outside Tórshavn... those dots are sheep..


A gentle stream...

... and this concludes the photos i took today... my head is not making so much noise now... see ya..

You've got to be kidding me...

My headlines are so lame..

Not much has happened today... well.. nothing acutally. But that's often how it goes here on the islands, relaxing.. elegantly slumming. The weather sucks anyway, so there's not much to do. I've got to take some new pictures and upload them, but i'm kinda tender about the new camera, i don't want to wet it all up.

Our political system is almost torn to pieces, the coalition is divided on the matter of making all of Faroe Islands to one electoral area... as it is now, we're divided into areas, but plans are on making us one electoral area... bahh! my english sucks... i don't know if you people understand what i'm talking about.

Sour times...

There's really not much to tell. There's a festival this weekend, a christian themed festival. Headlining the festival are, Pillar. I don't know this band, mainly because i'm not a person who dedicates his time listening to christian music.

I'm thinking of buying a car, well, i'm gonna buy a car... it's either gonna be a "new" used one, a Citroén C1 or a Mitsubishi Colt. As things stand, it's gonna be the french one... that's the C1.

Clinton is coming!

It's official, Bill Clinton is coming to the Faroe Islands on the first of October. Joining him will be Hans Blix. They will be speaking in The Nordic House.

... jeeyy... i think... i don't know.

A faroese exchange student in the US

Here is the article:

http://www.dothaneagle.com/gulfcoasteast/dea/local_news.apx.-content-articles-DEA-2007-08-20-0004.html

Roadtrip

Me and my brother went on a roadtrip this morning. We drove from Tórshavn, to the small village of Viðareiði. This trip took approx. 5 hours. Here are a few pictures I took along the way, with my new digital camera.

Leaving the capital, Nólsoy is the small island you see there in the backgroundStill in Tórshavn, you can see they're building a church in the background Kaldbaksfjørður, just outside the capital itself... it's not as dark as the picture is, but i think it's a somewhat surreal and nice picture Kollafjørður, 20 minutes outside Tórshavn

Still Kollafjørður...

On the road...

The only bridge crossing the Atlantic Ocean...

The village of Eiði

Just outside Eiði Klaksvík, second largest town in the Faroe Islands



...then i did a 180, and took this picture

Viðareiði on a sunny day, the last stop before returning home...


... last picture of the day... after this we returned home...

Faroe Pride

A faroese version of Gay Pride.

Read about it here:

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5213.html

One day i will tell you about the events which led up to the enlightment, and people became more... how shall i say it, tolerant towards the gay people of this community. We're a convervative nation in many ways, that sometimes it crosses the border, and then people are conservative in a negative way, i.e. towards homosexuals.

We're a secluded place, and we have actually alot to learn i think.

I must say, i welcome this event very much, and i support every action, which leads to our islands becoming a better place to live for everyone.

Dark times...

The title sounds more depressing than it really is. There's really not much happening here at the moment. Some political headbanging, maybe because there's an election coming this January, and they are trying to make a statement and be seen.

The weather is horrible, raining, just pouring... still. One really has to be somewhat of a stable character to live here in the islands, you can experience days of all four seasons... Sun, Rain, Snow and Wind... all in one day. And people which suffer from winter-depression also have a troublesome time living here... because in the winter, it's not far between the darkness.

Austrian couple marries in Tórshavn

Eva Hiller and Thomas Wimmer got married at the mayors office in Tórshavn, this last friday. They had never been here before. They say that they've always liked the nordic countries, but it's to common to go to Iceland, so they decided to come to the Faroe Islands, and get married.

Eva is 44 and Thomas 40.

Congratulations to them both.

(I don't know what's happened, my formatting is crapped up... :) )

Bush Curses The Faroes (Spoof)

I must say, i didn't notice the source right away, so my heart skipped a beat when i saw that headline:



Bush Curses The Faroes

Read everything here:


http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s2i23260


---

I must say, the weather is really bad today here, it's raining and raining, but as they say... that's a part of the charm.

Hangover...

Gotta get thru this... will be back writing tomorrow... man my head hurts...

New purchase...

I've bought myself a digital camera today, so in a few days, there'll be photos here, i'm not an avid photographer, but i'll find something to shoot. Today there is a thick fog, i can barely see the house next door, so that's not very interesting and photogenic.

BBC puts focus on Faroe Islands music scene.

In The Beat, focus is on Faroe Islands:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/the_beat.shtml

The segment about Faroe Islands starts at 11 minutes, and runs about 10 minutes.

Ovastevna starts today...

Ovastevna is this weekend, i've been at this event once, and it was nice and fun.

"Nólsoy has an annual civic festival called Ovastevna. The festival is in the beginning of August. Ovastevna is similar to Ólavsøka in Tórshavn only smaller. Ovastevna is held to commemorate Ove Joensen from Nólsoy. He rowed from Faroe Islands to Denmark in a traditional Faeroese boat in 1986. In 1987 Ove drowned in Skálafjørður-inlet where he fell over board. The profit from the festival is used to build a swimming pool for the children in Nólsoy. Ove originally started this project after his row to Denmark."

Read more about the island where Ovastevna is:

http://faroeislands.dk/pages/NolsoyIndex.htm

There's also info about all the other villages and towns on that page... good page actually.. very informative.

Coolio coming to the Faroe Islands!

I don't know... usually when big names arrive, i'm thrilled. We've had Toto, Europe, Blur, Michael W. Smith... not chart-toppers, but in my view, big names... and now Coolio is coming. He's going to appear on stage the same night as Crystal Water... i don't know who she is, but she is supposed to have made a hit in the 90's, called Gypsy Woman.


The arrival of these two names doesn't make my fingers tingle... but i hope they'll enjoy their stay, and that alot of people will go and listen to them. It's going to be in a hall, were no more than apprx. 1000 people can be in at the same time.

American base-jumper leaps off Faroese cape

Mike Berwick, an american base-jumper, was supposed to jump off Enniberg today, but the weather didn't permit it, so he leapt off Lassaberg, another nearby situated cape.

The jump is to be used in an upcoming faroese movie for kids.

Small story...

Danish and Swedish scientists, are now going to find out, if the Faroe Islands can claim ownership of the North Pole. Bizarre and silly in my view, i think that noone should be able to make claim of the North and South Pole. The task will cost apprx. 11 million USD.

http://www.uf.fo/les_tidindi.asp?Id=46857

Faroese art...

Now i'm gonna be really biased, because i'm one of those people which really don't get art... abstract art mainly, i just don't get it. But there's one artist which in my book is really great, and that's this guy

You can read about this fascinating and colourful character here:

http://art.fo/en/faroese_artists/trondur_patursson.php

There are other bio's there if you people are interested... but that guy is something special.

In the news...

It's actually quite something listening to our national radio, remember, we have 2 stations which broadcast news. One is our national radio, which broadcasts news almost on an hourly basis. And while is was sitting here, the news came at nine in the morning, they had 2 stories, one about russian scientists congratulated by their president, becase, according to russian authorities, the underground on the North Pole was russian property... so they got saluted for that. And the other story was about the daughter of Rudolph Giuliani, and how somebody had found out, that she had stated on some website, that she was supporting Mr. Obama, instead of the dad...

The crux of the matter is, that nothing was from the Faroe Islands... so, i guess much isn't happening at the moment.

New York Times, video and article segment.

I found this a few months ago, and i think both article and video segment are very good... accurate and honest.

Listen at the end of the video segment, where he talks about lonliness... i think what he says is very true.

Article:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/travel/tmagazine/03well.faroes.t.html

In a small cafe in a town called Nolsoy, on an archipelago in the middle of the North Atlantic, surrounded by barflies and the blue fug of cigarette smoke, I am trying to be unobtrusive. This is not going so well. There are precisely two occupied tables in the establishment, the barflies’ and mine. At mine, English is spoken, pallid beer is sipped, and all eye contact is avoided. At theirs, they speak a derivative of Old Norse, drink a rigorous liquor and shoot glances my way, accompanied by throaty chuckles. I, in fact, look not only like an American and a tourist, but also like an idiot, having walked up onto the quayside at Nolsoy, through its most famous landmark — the bone archway formed by the massive jaws of a sperm whale — and into its one bar wearing a flotation suit. A giant, puffy, one-piece flotation suit. Ten minutes ago, thudding across freezing harbor waters in a Zodiac, a flotation suit had seemed like a good idea. Now it makes me look like a Power Ranger. The chuckles are starting to crescendo. As I exit the place, from behind me I hear, “Zay hallo to George Bush.”...

Video segment:

http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=f8a70a73873986b23721cf95e6e8ce0e6efd9c9b&rf=sitemap

Well done, New York Times.

Declare independence...

The Faroe Islands are a self-governing part of Denmark, but are, as the observing reader of this blog has noticed, far away from Denmark itself.

In the last 120 years or so, there has been a part of the Faroe Islands, that wants totally to disconnect the political connections between Faroe Islands and Denmark, and thus, form a new independent republic.

In 1998, i'd just been validated to elect, so i was all hyped up for the election which was that year, and i've never doubted what i wanted to elect... the Republican Party, because they are the party, which i know will try more, than any of the others, to gain total independence.

They won in '98, formed a coalition... tried their best...

... years passed, negotiations with Denmark had failed. The Danes were using scare tactics, which led some people to think, that Faroe Islands were doomed if we gained total independence, and in 2003 it all went down the drain, when another party in the coalition bailed out, and there was a re-election, and this time, the Republican Party were a part of the opposition.

The year is 2007, and in January next year, we have a new election, and i'm starting to feel the buzz and tingling (and that's a good thing).

Beautiful day...

I've got 2 weeks of vacation left, and my daily updates continue.

Nothing much is happening at the moment. The aftermath of the Olshana incident is still in progress.

The weather today was really strange and beautiful. Check out this picture, taken a few hours ago.


© Vilmund Jacobsen - Sosialurin

Seek and ye shall find...

I knew what i wanted to show you people, it's just that i had a hard time to find it, but after searching YouTube .. high and low, i found what i wanted to show.

This is a video, i think it's made by the faroese tourist board. I think this is a fine piece of video, and shows different aspects of the Faroe Islands.. nature, people, national events, nightlife.

I know the title is spelled incorrectly.

Faroese music for the foreigner...

I'll try to give my best tips, in regarding to listening to those first tunes of faroese music, be that in faroese language or english.

These names are in random order:

Eivør:

This mystical elf-like girl, is in my view, a musical prodigy. The link is given elsewhere on this blog, but here it is again

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiv%C3%B8r_P%C3%A1lsd%C3%B3ttir

Here's a YouTube video. The video itself is not an official Eivør production... i think... i think it's some fan of some sort, it's a mellow song, in faroese, with english subs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnlCQm5QWRc&mode=related&search=

If people are interested, most of her albums are available at Amazon.com.

My personal opinion, is that even though most of her songs are in faroese, they will not disappoint you.

The next artist is Teitur.

Not certain, but my guess is that more people know of Teitur than Eivør. He went more the american way, by that i mean, he's played very much in USA, traveling around in the States, playing at small places, and warming up for bands such as John Mayer.

He's featured on two soundtracks (Aquamarine & My Super-Ex Girlfriend), on both with the same song, One and only.

Here's his Wikipedia profile

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teitur

Like Eivør, he lives abroad, and like Eivør, he doesn't forget his roots, and recently released a faroese album, titled Káta Hornið (roughly translated: Happy Corner).

Here's he interviewed on CNN, don't remember exactly what the name of the program was:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqe0sDTtbAc

And here's one of my favourites, recording is bad on this one, but you get a hang of it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW2wcNs7rlo

And here's Teiturs hommage to Louis Armstrong

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dr0WgduMRo&mode=related&search=

Artist #3 is the faroese punk-band 200, they sing in faroese.

Here's a link to a small collection of mp3s they've made available on their page

http://www.tveyhundrad.net/FO/leinkjur.php

Artist #4 are Gestir, these guys are somewhat of a handful, but once you get them under your skin, you cant get rid of them... and that's a good thing. These guys sing only in faroese, but word on the street is that they are brewing an english album.

Here's the myspace page

http://www.myspace.com/gestir

The one i like best is Sum urt

The last artist in this post, is the band Makrel

These guys are really something, but... they are taking a break at the moment, i don't know if these guys will be back or not, but check out this video

http://www.makrel.net/media/prix/foreverandbeyond.wmv

And here's the myspace

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=28937122

Check out the song Filthy tongue
--

That concludes it for now, i will return to this subject on a later date. There are several other band which should be mentioned, but these are the 5 that popped into my head right away, so they must have something special.

Summerfestival cancelled...

Due to terrible weather, the latter part of the last day on the Summerfestival is cancelled, so, Kim Wilde didn't get to perform, after having slept one night in Iceland, because she couldn't land here yesterday... that must be a real bummer for her.

Here are some pictures:

http://www.portal.fo/myndafrasogn.php?tn=853

What goes around, comes around...

Over this last month or so, i've seen this story in various forms, float around on the internet, but fundamentally, this is an Associated Press story, i gather, from when they were here, and meant to do a story on Bill Clinton's visit to the islands, but Clinton no-showed, so they did other stories.

GJOGV, Faroe Islands - It's just after 9 p.m. when the magic begins.
The late-setting sun breaks through purple rain clouds to drape the rugged island of Eysturoy in a golden shimmer. A perfect rainbow arches over the Slaettaratindur mountain. Offshore, a wild ocean launches ferocious swells against the Giant and the Witch, two spectacular rock pillars that protrude from the surf like craggy teeth.
All that's missing from the storybook setting is a band of orcs or goblins crawling out from behind a rock, or a pipe-smoking Hobbit emerging from one of the turf-roofed houses...

You can read the rest here:

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/07/15/Travel/Faroe_Islands_shine_i.shtml

Weather blows...

For about 2 straight monts, we had sun, just fantastic weather, no rainy day inbetween, and i mean, no day with rain. Our streams were drying up, and it's from the streams we get the most of our tap-water, so we had to get water from some of our bigger lakes, through pipe-lines. And now, apprx. a week ago, it started raining again. In a way that's a good thing, because of the water we need for our households, but man! this rain is really pouring down.

Here's a link, so you can see how the weather is around on the islands, it's a link to a couple of public webcams.

http://www.portal.fo/cam/webcam.php?kamera=1

Faroese debate-forum

Here's the english language part, of a faroese debate-forum.

One has to sign up, to participate in the debate.

http://www.kjak.fo/forum/viewforum.php?f=16

View flickr.com slideshow

Here you can look at a slideshow, which contains several hundred pictures of the Faroe Islands.

http://flickr.com/search/show/?q=faroe+islands

I've been plugged...

My site was plugged @ http://workman.blogspot.com/ - And i want to thank him. It's always nice to see when other people are interested in my country.