Look at these fucking photos.
Do you know what these are? These are pictures of ICELAND and it's heartbreakingly beautiful. I am obsessed with this faraway block of ice, even though I've never been. Iceland is a badass and I'll tell you why:
Iceland is a country full of musical geniuses, and all their music videos are mini LSD trips.Of course, you can't discuss Icelandic music without bringing up Bjork or Sigur Ros. But Iceland has a treasure trove full of talented bands and artists, and the work they put out is otherworldly.
This is Olafur Arnald's "LAKJFLKAJFLKAJFLKDJGSSLKD." Yeah, I'm not going to try and spell that out, but give it a listen. Bonus: This kid is TWENTY FOUR YEARS OLD and he writes this music himself. Also, he's a fox. I asked him out on Twitter but he never wrote back, so he's obviously playing mind games with me to get my attention. Anyways, here is Mum's "Green Grass of Tunnel" and "Sing Along" (my personal favorite):
Other great bands include Amiina - an all girl group that plays with wacky instruments - and Parachutes. What's cool about all these bands is that they're all friends and collaborate together and make Icelandic music and talk about glaciers and other nifty Icelandic things.
Iceland wants to be your friend.
Iceland wants to be your friend. This is the official website for garnering attention for Iceland's tourism, and it is ADORABLE. "Iceland wants to be your friend" maintains its cute, first person, self-aware demeanor on Facebook, twitter, and tumblr. It begins with "Halló humans on the Inter-net" and closes out with "Would you like to be my friend? I know you are probably very busy doing important things, but if you want to be my friend, you can." How polite!
Also, they just plugged me on their Twitter page, which makes me a happy human.
In Iceland, women don't take their husband's last name.
Okay, so maybe this is just badass to me, but in Iceland, last names are determined by your father's name + son/daughter. So in English, if your are a girl and your first name is Hildur, and your Dad's name was Ársæls, your full name would be Hildur Ársælsdóttir. Pretty cool.
Iceland's volcanoes will FUCK YOU UP.
There was this volcano not too far from Guam called Anatahan that erupted a couple of times when I was a teenager. It didn't pose a serious threat for us, but good god was it annoying. Everything smelled like rotten eggs for days and a thick film of ash covered the entire island.
It was never this beautiful, though. This is a volcano I can get on board with.
I know that volcanoes are considered by many to be a natural disaster, but if you grew up in a place that was constantly plagued by supertyphoons and earthquakes, you can appreciate the beauty of something like this video. Or just take a bunch of hallucinogens and go "aw shit, Iceland, that's awesome," which is exactly what I did.
Aurora fucking borealis.
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| That is all. |
Iceland has hot springs (that you can swim in) and geysers.
The word "geyser" actually comes from the Icelandic word "geysir," because the first documented geyser was in Iceland.
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| The Great Geysir. |
Then there are hot springs, like the famous Blue Lagoon, which is like a giant jacuzzi full of healthy minerals and hot Icelandic people. Look at these people hanging out in the hot springs:
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| O HALLO NON-ICELANDIC PEOPLE, WE'RE JUST BATHING IN THE HOT SPRINGS, BEING AWESOME. |
Reykjavik's mayor is a badass as well.
This is Jón Gnarr, the mayor of Iceland's capital city.
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| And president of hideous outfits. |
Gnarr, a former comedian, is an avid supporter of LGBT rights, and even dressed in drag during a rights parade in downtown Reykjavik.
Want more Icelandic badassery? Check out TwistedSifter's 12 Reasons Why Jon Gnarr is the World's Most Interesting Mayor or plan a trip to visit to the land of fire and ice.