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Balance

Image by Óðinn, three years old.

Today is 20.09.2009 and I've little to say but that fall is here, and dark nights still warm enough to stroll around in without mittens or muffs or such. We walk a thin line these days between hope and dolor, and I think it's safe to say that, honestly, at this point, the waiting is the hardest part. Our collapse lingers, a slow motion graceless tumble, as infighting and fracturous party bickering keep us clinging to old structures and ideals when letting go, fully falling into true humility, admitting fault, releasing blame and dissolving useless, demeaning obligations might be the only way to save our national soul. But what do I know. I've always found politics, finance and the ways of the worldly truly confounding.

And then there's all this, the true measure of our life force: our art. Visit these links and know that our hearts are still beating and our blood runs as hot and cool as ever, and that we'll never, never give up:

Add This Song by gusgus, directed by Heimir Sverrisson and Jón Atli Helgasson

gusgus web site

Hljóðaklettar Icelandic Music Label, feat. Rúnar Magnússon, DJ Musician and Thor Magnússon

Anonymous feat. Tanya and Marlon Pollock, video by Berglind

Reykjavik Roundup

gogoyoko Fair Play in Music

E-label Designs by Ásgrímur Már Friðriksson

Thormuzik

Reykjavik International Film Festival

Nikita Design

Eve Online

Olvis

Ólafur Eliasson at TED.com

Ragnar Kjartansson at the 2009 Venice Biennial

Snorri Ásmundsson

Steinunn Designs

11th annual Iceland Airwaves music festival

Sequences Art Festival


And so many more...Do yourself a favor and check them all out *.*

11 comments:

ג. ג. said...

I enjoy reading this. You captured the moment and my mood just right.

Fred Miller said...

This is a pleasure to read.

I like governments that are founded on the principle that no one knows how to govern. That's why we start out with something and then fix it as we go along. We will survive as long as we are civil.

Professor Batty said...

I'll be at the Airwaves Festival!

Devon Ellington said...

Gorgeous photo!

Just got back from Prague. What fascinated (and frustrated) me there was the passive aggressiveness, the lack of problem solving skills, and the way they continue to do something that doesn't work rather than try something that might work.

The government is in chaos there, too, but in a different way than Iceland, as far as I can understand it. Something about cancelled elections and the dissolution of parliament, so basically, as far as I can tell, no one is running things.

But the metro system still ran perfectly! ;)

Civility in government -- I think Fredwrite is correct. Unfortunately, the losing party here in the US has forgotten it (sour grapes on their part). They're only interested in stirring up trouble and destroying the country even more than they did the previous 8 years.

Fred Miller said...

I'm not a member of an organized political party. I'm a republican. And until we get over the notion that we are the only ones with values (or the right values) we deserve to lose.

Iceland Eyes said...

My understanding is that Republicans were originally pro States' Rights while Dems were more for a Federal government. And didn't the parties kind of switch ideologies somewhere in the middle of last century?

Anyway, politics is conceptually fascinating but the nature of any system, including governments, is to collapse when overloaded, redundant or inefficient. Not a bad thing, though challenging to those who don't like change *.*

Fred Miller said...

That's a good question about the ideological switch. It seems now that both parties favor big government but only on selected issues. The morality wing of the republicans want lots of government help on marriage, family, and parochial education. The democrats want big government help with poverty, racial/sexual equality, environmental protection and all that.


I'm more of an Ayn Rand type of conservative: Acting in one's own self interest is the most effective means toward promoting the common good. Neither presidential candidate was suitable for me in 2008. Obama was clearly the better choice for the job, though. I'm pleased that he won.

Iceland Eyes said...

Atlas Shrugged lead to a serious awakening for me in my late teens, especially this quote:

So you think that money is the root of all evil? Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?

and :

Money demands that you sell, not your weakness to men's stupidity, but your talent to their reason.

Excellent stuff! I agree that an individual challenging themselves to reach their own highest potential is crucial to the full development of self, as well as to the development of a strong community. Even more important though, is society allowing and encouraging that development instead of fearing (and subsequently) punishing success, rewarding mediocrity and creating a mass status quo tented under political and religious ideologies.

Iceland Eyes said...

...and Good to hear you're coming back, Professor!

Fred Miller said...

I love how those rich, smart guys in Atlas Shrugged charged each other 25 cents to borrow their car or something. It was an insult not to.

Aaron said...

You are a gifted writer. Indeed, your sentence that about the graceless slow tumble is the best I have read in a long time. I know little of Iceland, but that describes perfectly many things about the U.S. I believe we watch too much t.v. here, and our reasoning capactiy is diminishing greatly, as most of the programming is poor and shortens one's attention span a lot. And our optimism is our best feature I suppose, and that's good to commit to never giving up, Shakespeare said 'sweet are the uses of adversity'. Take care Maria