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Click on the picture to watch an audio slideshow of the lambing season at Brimnes, a farm in the north of Iceland, in April 2008. Sheep farmer Arnar Gústafsson and his girlfriend Edda Björk take shifts watching over the nearly 300 ewes and helping them give birth 24/7 for about two months or until the last lamb is born. In Iceland, the arrival of lambs is synonymous with the arrival of summer. The lambing season is currently at its height.
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Located just 40 minutes by car and six minutes from Keflavík International Airport, Sandgerdi (“Sandy Hedge”) is a growing town of 1,700 with a storied history and loads to see. Read this special promotion about the hidden secrets of one of Iceland's most charming seaside villages.
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Approximately 52 percent of those who responded to a new survey conducted by MMR (Media and Market Research) for business weekly Vidskiptabladid said they plan to pass the new Icesave legislation in the upcoming referendum on April 9.
Meanwhile, almost 48 percent of respondents are intending to reject the legislation. Around 900 people participated in the survey; the confidence rate is said to be 3.8 percent. Approximately 23.1 percent of respondents are undecided and 3.9 percent would not reveal their intention, ruv.is reports.
Respondents living in the capital region are more prone to passing the legislation, 58 percent, while 43 percent of respondents living in other parts of the country plan to vote ‘yes’ in the referendum.
As for education, 58 percent of respondents who have a university degree intend to vote in favor of the Icesave legislation while 59 percent of those who don’t have any higher education said they would reject the legislation.
In the same survey, people were asked about their position on European Union membership for Iceland. Almost 56 percent of respondents said they were against it, 30 percent supported it and 14 percent were undecided.
The Icelandic parliament, Althingi, will provide the University of Iceland Legal Institute with the task of preparing an objective and accessible information package about the Icesave agreements. The package will be distributed to all homes in the country and paid for by the state treasury.
This was the conclusion of discussions between the chairmen of parties that have a seat in parliament and the parliament’s speaker. A parliamentary resolution to that effect will be discussed at Althingi, which is backed by all parties.
The Ministry of the Interior didn’t believe it had the legal authority to prepare an information package about Icesave—it used to be the task of the Ministry of Justice to prepare such material but since the last national election was held, the Ministry of Justice and Transport were merged into the Ministry of the Interior.
Click here to read more about Icesave.
The first archeological research in Iceland this year will begin at Hafnir in Reykjanes, southwest Iceland, on Monday. Archeologists will continue their study of a hut which may originate from 770-880 AD and predate the historical settlement of Iceland in 847.
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A small glacial burst occurred in the volcano Katla, which lies underneath the Mýrdalsjökull icecap in south Iceland, on April 28 and lasted a few days. The activity was registered by seismic monitors and increased conduction was measured in the river Múlakvísl until May 7.
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Kexland (“Biscuit Land”) is a new events organizer and tour operator based at the hip KEX Hostel in Reykjavík, where its plans were presented on Wednesday. These include a guided tour and exercise at the capital’s swimming pools with comedian Dóri DNA.
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American disco queen Donna Summer, who died of cancer at age 63 on Thursday, worked closely with Icelandic musician Þórir Baldursson in Germany from 1973 to 1976. He remembers her with warmth, describing her as a wonderful person.
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The current issue of the quarterly magazine Iceland Review includes interviews with fashion photographer Saga Sig and conceptual artist Rúrí. Also, we take you to Grímsstaðir á Fjöllum, that desolate land coveted by a Chinese tycoon, and also explore Icelandic archeological remains. We discuss the Icelandic Church, the flourishing gaming industry, debate the future of Iceland’s energy resources and interview the president of the Icelandic National League of North America. Subscribe now and receive a free photo book by IR’s editor Páll Stefánsson of the Eyjafjallajökull eruptions. Click here to subscribe to the magazine and here to buy a gift subscription.
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REVIEWS
The Reykjavík Shorts&Docs was held in Reykjavík from May 6 to 9 in Bíó Paradís, and what an enriching experience it was to attend the festival.
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Shedding light on Iceland’s thousand-year history, as manifested in remains ranging from Viking graves to enchanted sites, Mannvist is a fundamental piece of writing. Ásta Andrésdóttir met with its author, archaeologist Birna Lárusdóttir.
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“The House Project” currently on display in Hafnarborg, the Hafnarfjörður Centre of Culture and Fine Art, is a new artwork by Hreinn Friðfinnsson consisting of a photography series of the three houses. His work is described as “a poetic and philosophical exploration of every day human experience.”
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