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Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Iceland, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 13 of 13
1. nothing "goodie" about it


call me a scrooge but i have a problem with "goodie bags". the sentiment is there and i appreciate that; you go to a birthday party, bring a gift, have fun, eat cake, play with friends and your child leaves with a party favor.


these days we have been to a lot of wonderfully loving parties and walked out with a cellophane bag, colored or clear, with what my husband calls "EARTH GARBAGE". you know what this is without me even having to explain. the tiny plastic toys that hold your child's interest half way home and then end up on the floor of the backseat. tiny stickers, pencils, plastic rings, whistles - the list is long.

in honor of earth day this month, i challenge you to find a more useful and creative gift for your guests. the price point should remain the same, but take some time and scour your farmer's markets for local artisans making toys, trinkets or whatnots that might be more substantial. if you don't have the time to be creative, then may i suggest an edible favor? our children (along with the earth) will not miss the garbage and your money will be better spent.

*may i reccomend the handknit finger puppets at $2.60 each or the wooden kazoos for $2.99?
or another shopping spot with more is www.meggiemoos.com

rant over, resume pleasantries. happy happy smile smile.

1 Comments on nothing "goodie" about it, last added: 4/16/2010
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2. m to the b


well, this week marks the national launch of my other baby, Milk + Bookies. i started this non profit in 2004 and it is just now getting off the ground (good things come to those who wait). if you want a new idea for a birthday party or if you know some teens who are looking for a community service project, this is the place to visit: www.milkandbookies.org


there are step by step instructions to throw your own event where you can invite kids to a book store, (or your home) and ask them to choose, inscribe and donate books to local kids who have none.

this is really the same message i share here about giving little ones an experience where they can give back.

the motto: READ, GIVE, GROW.

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3. Out of the Box


making family time for EXTRAS is a constant uphill battle, i often feel like Sisyphus. but when you see the effects of "extras" like giving, it seems incredibly worthwhile; the kids are engaged, they feel useful and they carry with them a new confidence.


this summer, i challenge you to THE BOX PROJECT. this non profit pairs you with a family living in poverty in the USA. each month, based on the recipient families needs, you and your family send a box, some months it's filled with food, other months medical supplies and another time may be books and toys - each month might be a combination of all of the above.

i love that it's a scheduled amount of time for your family to set aside each month to focus on others in need. there are letters and pictures exchanged and a real bond forms between the two families.


the lesson: a family just like ours is less lucky than we are BUT we can help.

***added bonus: a project to keep them off of the video games at least one day a month this summer.

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4. Acme Birthdays - appreciation circles


today my son celebrated his birthday at school. they have an amazing tradition of making each child a BIRTHDAY APPRECIATION CIRCLE. i bet you could guess that it's where the class sits around while each student says something about the birthday boy (or girl) that they appreciate. but aside from it's obvious name, this was better than any play set from toys r us and something i hope every school does. 


a great way to show gratitude and kindness to others of all ages AND doesn't need to just be for birthdays. try it around the dinner table, a girl scout fireside or a school/ summer camp morning meeting. the boost of confidence is quite a gift for that child.

the lesson: thinking about others and some simple ways to help people feel good. then there's karma - in a circle especially, what comes around goes around!

***added bonus: the savings on presents!!!!

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5. Acme Birthdays - change the present


i have come to realize that "birthday party season" is not a season, but rather a euphemism for the over-whelmed to describe what is, in fact, the entire school year.


here is a website to help. CHANGING THE PRESENT is a great place to browse with your kids to pick out meaningful gifts for their friends.

buy flowers for a playground ($5), books for kids in need ($15), feed horses ($12) or buy toys for children needing aid in recovering ($20).


the lesson: every chance to give is a chance to help.

***added bonus: not having to make that trip to the toy store, which inevitably winds up with you bringing home more stuff that your kids didn't need.

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6. Tug At Your Heart Strings


there are so many freakin' (forgive use of word freakin') things to remind our kids to do everyday. pick up your socks, put your dishes in the sink, brush your teeth, finish your homework, don't bite your brother (they say it's just a stage, here's hoping), pack your lunch, wash your hands, eat your vegetables. not necessarily in this order.


it is too easy to forget the simple simple important basics. "BE NICE", for example.

here's a new doohickey (forgive use of word doohickey) to do just that. the stringring company has made rings entwined with strings so as not to forget to be kind. you needn't purchase the silver version, just sit down at the kitchen table with your kids, a ball of twine and some hope.

"tying a string around your finger as a reminder is an ancient tradition thought to keep an idea from escaping - literally tying the idea to yourself. the string ring is a cue to remind yourself and those who notice it to be kind to one another, to do a kind act, say or even think something kind."

i hope it isn't UN kind to the stringring people to suggest that we make them the old fashioned way, hopefully they will see our intention of spreading kindness and KNOT get TIED up in the details.

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7. Acme Birthdays - YOUthgive



another idea for giving to charities on the web designed for kids (see "making your mark" on a previous post). 


when it's your child's birthday, set up an account for them, tell guests, friends and family about it. they will then (hopefully) add money to this account and your child can read about causes to choose where their money goes.

"discover what you care about. the youthgive menu is a place where you can choose and give to non-profits that speak to your hopes and values. all non-profits are profiled by students just like you"

the lesson: giving is better than getting. fingers crossed they'll believe you.

***added bonus: no new toys to have to untwist-tie from its packaging. no new toys, period.

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8. acme birthdays - making your mark


so each child i know is living in abundance. when the calendar falls on their special day, yes, it's great to get them a gift, but we all know they don't NEED one. here's a real gift - show them that they can make a difference. log onto MARKMAKERS and choose the amount you'd like to spend. an automatic email will be sent to the birthday child or their parents letting them know they have a "gift card" there. that child can log on to the kid-friendly website and shop. they can choose to donate that money toward any cause they like; rainforest, animal rescue, books, food, medicine, the list goes on.


the lesson: our kids (and most adults) don't quite yet understand that they can make a difference. we must let our children know that they possess the power to make things better.

***added bonus, no need for gift wrap or scotch tape.

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9. acme birthdays - pajama party!!!!



when your child wants to have a slumber party, this is the answer. yes, it will be a LATE night, and yes, they will be CRANKY in the morning, but this party is worth it. have the guests bring (in lieu of gifts) a pair of new pajamas. your child can then donate the lot to the pajama program. kids in need, living in group homes, get new jammies and books to make their bedtimes feel as cozy and safe as ours do.


the lesson: let your children know that some kids have to sleep in their jeans since they have very few things to wear. they don't have a stack of books from which to choose each night.

***added bonus, in the morning, serve muffins instead of cake or cupcakes to ensure sleepy little party goers don't have an overtired sugar rush meltdown. also a pillowcase decorating craft is a fun nighttime activity. the cases can act as a "bag" for the donated PJ's. after throwing this shindig, you will be off the hook for play dates for a looooong time.

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10. strikes and scripts and stuff



I'm feeling like a particularly bad sort of striker. The WGA strike was called the day before I left LA for the UK, and I've not been within a thousand miles of anywhere that we're picketing since. I get nice emails every day telling me where in New York the pickets are going to be, but New York's a long way away -- for the time span of most of the emails, it's not even in the same country as I am. And now I'm starting to get a bit frantic about the last couple of chapters of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, I may go to ground to finish them and vanish completely.

But in case anyone had any questions (and judging from the FAQ line, a few people have), yes I wholeheartedly endorse and approve of the strike, and, for whatever it's worth, voted for the strike powers (along with about 95% of the WGA membership, so no surprise there).

The bit of this that puzzles me most is that elsewhere in the world, the idea that the writers get paid when the work is watched online is one that's been taken for granted. If I wrote a TV series for the UK, I'd get less money upfront (not much less) but I'd be well recompensed for repeats, DVDs, internet downloads and so forth. (For whatever it's worth, I get 125 times as much in royalties on a hardback novel as I'd on an equivalently priced DVD.)

At the very end of this post -- in case they break the various RSS feeds -- I'll put two  video summaries of the issues. Partisan, of course. 

...

Hi Neil,
I went to see Beowulf as soon as it came out and I liked though it didn't quite match up to Stardust which blew me away.
Anyway I thought I had found two mistakes in Beowulf.The first was the mountains of Denmark. This is something Denmark is famous for not having and is a major point for jokes by Icelanders as myself about the country which used to rule us. But then somebody pointed out on the imdb.com forums that though this does not conform to reality it does fit the poem which says:
"'......sailors now could see the land, sea-cliffs shining, steep high hills, headlands broad.' "

Oral tradition does these things to poems. The version was probably not written down by anyone who had ever seen Denmark. Somewhere there might have been versions that speak of the great flatness of Denmark but those are forever lost to us. The other point might be a little harder to explain away by the poem. Iceland is mentioned at least twice in the movie which is out of place since it was probably not inhabited at that time nor is it likely that anyone who might have known of it would have called it by this name. Was it just your love of the country that made you mention it or are there other reasons? Or will you take the high road and blame your co-author? Icelanders will probably not be offended as they do like to hear the country mentioned. Anyway, thanks for writing this journal, it is especially fun for me since you tend to mention both folklore (I am a folklorist) and libraries (I am a library and information scientist) a lot and very favorably too.
warm regards from Cork, Ireland,
Óli Gneisti Sóleyjarson



Yes, the cliffs and high hills are from the poem.

In the script the line of dialogue was,

"They sing our shame from the middle sea to the ice-lands of the north."

I'm not sure whether that's what Anthony Hopkins actually says in the film, though. (And I have no idea where the just-as-anachronistic Vinland line from the Skylding's Watch came from, either. Wasn't in any draft by Roger or me.)

Incidentally, I thought I'd mention again that the Beowulf script book has a lot of the answers to this kind of thing in it, and that none of the descriptions of it currently online seem to explain what kind of thing the book is. 

I found a review (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07320/834312-44.stm) which says, 

How does a script filled with guts and gore and f-bombs become PG-13 animated fare? Witness "Beowulf: The Script Book" (HarperCollins Entertainment, $16.95), which is actually two scripts, both by graphic novelist/author Neil Gaiman and Oscar-winning screenwriter Roger Avary.

The first script is what you get when you combine the writer of "Pulp Fiction" (Avary) and the writer of "Sandman," "Stardust" and "American Gods" (Gaiman), with no rules or outside interference. The second is their draft of the final studio script.

Avary provides a Foreword and "Middleword" that describe his decades-long obsession with "Beowulf" -- a centuries-old, 3,000-line poem -- and his growing compulsion to re-create it onscreen. He eventually, wrenchingly, gives up on directing "Beowulf" in the face of Steven Bing's big bucks and director Robert Zemeckis' passion for the project. Gaiman gives the Afterword, in which he says of the introduction, "Roger Avary is much too honest about getting the script made. That's because Roger is a Holy Madman."

Gaiman and Avary first huddled in Mexico in 1997 to create the tequila-fueled first draft, in which the monster Grendel's penchant for human flesh knows no censorship. It does, however, follow the timeline of the original Old English poem.

Later, they have Zemeckis' input about taking cinematic liberties, along with his blessing to let their imaginations run wild, as his innovative Performance Capture animation process (as seen in "The Polar Express" film) knows no bounds.

The timeline and the setting is changed in the final draft -- instead of a story in two parts and in two countries, Beowulf begins and ends in King Hrothgar's court. Beowulf is awarded Hrothgar's throne rather than return home. Instead of meeting Beowulf as the strapping dragonslayer he becomes, we first meet old King Beowulf in his court ... and it's apparent you're in for a different experience than in the first script.

Just as intriguing as the script changes are those honest Avary moments. For instance, he finally finds peace with giving up his "baby" to Zemeckis when "Z." agrees to use Crispin Glover to portray the monster Grendel. The director had a contentious relationship with the eccentric actor during "Back to the Future 2," which resulted in Glover suing Zemeckis when the director inserted the actor's image into scenes. "To this day, the verdict protects actors from having their likeness used without their blessing," Avary writes.

Still, Glover got the job, and Zemeckis used his newfangled technology to make him into a monster onscreen, which may have been payback enough.

The book of "Beowulf" scripts also contains artist Stephen Norrington's renderings that were commissioned by Avary when he believed he would be directing his first version, further fueling the question asked by presenting two visions back-to-back: "What if ...?"

(The mention in the song, though, is completely my fault. Sorry.)

...

Hi Neil, I'm a Swedish fan who was hoping to buy some your books from Audible.com, but apparently Audible doesn't sell them to Swedish people. Can you tell me why this is? As there is no Swedish or even European reseller of your books in audio form, this mean nobody gets my money and I'm stuck listening to Orson Scott Card.

There are lots of rights issues around the world that mean that companies don't always sell everything everywhere. On the audio books, you can always buy the CDs and rip them yourself. And there are even some audio books that come with MP3 CDs so you don't have to rip them, just drag them to your MP3 player. (I just checked and Amazon is curently discounting the ANANSI BOYS MP3 CDs, so it's the cheapest way of buying the Anansi Boys audio.)

Neil, I was wondering what you thought about Philip Pullman's books and and the controversy in the united states about the new movie based on his first book.
Jessica


I like Philip Pullman very much, I like his books ditto, and I think the controversy is stupid. Does that help? 


...

And here are the videos:




and here's another,



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11. Volcanoes, Icebergs, and Glaciers, Oh My!

Spoiler.

If you are planning to go to Iceland ever and want to be surprised don’t look any further.

Or if you find vacation photos boring, please go away too. I won’t be offended.

So, for the rest of you, here’s what happened. I decided, out of the blue, to go last month, and booked a tour that circumnavigated the island. Iceland is way closer to New York than I realized — takes about the same amount of time as the Limoliner to Boston or a flight to Seattle. And the time difference for me right now is four hours. The place is gorgeous, surpassing all I’d heard about it, with tons of great stuff to do. We stayed in very nice hotels and ate quite well (something I had not expected knowing that so much is imported). It was cold which I liked, expensive which I didn’t, but overall it was a grand vacation I highly recommend.

During my time in Iceland I traveled through lava fields of different kinds, walked along remarkable beaches of black sand, passed craters, dormant and dead volcanoes, peered into pseudo craters, wandered up and down sulfur slopes, observed bubbling mud pools, jumped when geysers blew, saw puffins and tons of other birds (but not close enough for me to have bothered with photographs), had a snowball fight on a glacier, went on a whale watch where some people saw a minske whale, rode an adorable horse, went on a magical boat ride in a iceberg filled lagoon, saw countless waterfalls, soaked in the blue lagoon, and did a whole lot more. I’m not much of a photographer, but here are some I did take:

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Lava fields with geothermal steam in the distance.

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Near where the North American and Eurasian plates meet.

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Behind Seiljalandsfoss

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A rainbow at Skogafoss

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One of many boiling sulfur mud pools at Namaskard.

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The view from my hotel window of Lake Myvatn.

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At a small village where only one nonogenarian still lives.

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His church

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Icelandic cows (from which the tasty skyr is made) in front of the enormous Vatnajokull glacier.

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On the glacier.

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On a boat on the Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon

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On an Icelandic horse.

An all around grand and fantastic vacation (when I read and listened to adult books only for a change!).

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12. An Icelandic Children’s Author

Akureyri, in northwestern Iceland, is the birthplace of the Reverend Jón Sveinsson (Nonni), “..one of Iceland’s most famous and best-loved children’s authors.” according to my Lonely Planet guide. (Here’s a 1936 Time Magazine piece about him.) I visited the Nonnahus, his childhood home. It was fun peeking into the recreated (I’m assuming) rooms, but most of all I was fascinated by the evidently worldwide appreciation of the man’s work as I was completely unfamiliar with it or him. Several rooms were filled with translated books and photos of Nonni all over the world. Of particular interest to me was that he was especially admired in Japan, visiting there in 1937, of all times! I asked the young woman at the museum if she’d read his books and she said she had only after beginning to work at the museum as they were more for boys. They looked, I must say, pretty old-fashioned. I passed on buying the English edition as it was rather spartan in look and I couldn’t see ever reading it (and everything in Iceland was just too pricey to a whole lot of impulse shopping anyway). The stories were filmed in 1988 and here is a video that gives you a taste of this and some of what I saw in Iceland (as I recognize many of the settings).

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13. Ten Day Hiatus…

from Newbery, Harry, New York, and this blog.

You see, I’m off to Iceland to see glaciers, geysers, waterfalls, hot springs, puffins, little horses, and volcanoes.

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