Looking for Apil day pranks to pull on the family?

The picture above links to various ideas for pranks and here for the 100 best pranks ever pulled, including the spaghetti harvest and the instant colour tv ;-)

Brits are funny ;-P

Seems Brits have an amazing variety of ways in which to kill themselves, far more variable than one would have imagined. A range of bizarre accidents including melting pyjamas and an alligator attack landed almost one million Britons in hospital last year, according to figures by the Department of Health. Volcanic eruptions, lightning strikes, rat bites and centipede stings caused some of the more unusual injuries.
My favorites included four victims of exposure to noise, four of vibration, 40 from contact with a high-pressure jet and another 15 people were reportedly injured by contact with a marine mammal.
If you feel like reading the whole thing..

Amazing artwork!!

blehhhh

I hate it when Blogspot does this, a long entertaining post on maneki neko´s blown away, lost to the windy reaches of the nether regions of the internet, never to be read, enjoyed nor even sneered at....
Disappeared, as if it had never existed...

so if a post has been written but the posting failed and hence noone has read it... does that mean the post never existed ;-P ??

Zen and the art of Blogging ;-)

As for what I´ve been up to today, well I´ve officially been collecting latrinalia. What does that entail, is something you might possibly entertain the thought of asking, well seeing as I´m being so horribly verbose today I just might share it with you ;-)

Today I went between every single pub on Leith walk up to London Road that is, taking pictures of bathroom graffiti. Or at least that was the plan :-( . Surpricing how few pubs there were actually, only 17, although the poor kids, due to having to wait out front every time, felt there were far too many ;-)
– Alas it has come to this, I´m dragging the children between pubs now…;-P

I was actually doing research for a project on latrinalia in ladies lavatories along Leith Walk, or at least that was to have been the title until I found out that named ladies don´t seem to have the urgent need for scribbling on the walls :-( So I´m going to have to expand my area as well as visit a lot more heavily smokey pubs.. which wouldn´t ´be so bad if I were actually drinking ;-) but merely going in to snap pictures, deal with the danger of rejection (the laughter I take as a given) and the gratuitous heavy smell of smoke lingering in my hair.... ;-P
My own fault is what you´re thinking right ...? :-D

Anyways the best I got today was lame, more like remnants of graffiti..

"My mother made me a homosexual."
response: "If I buy the wool will she make me one, too?"
Scullys Bar, Cincinnati, OH
For more examples of latrinalia I recommend this page here ;-) Cheers.

Easter Sunday in The Sloan Street Household

Easter was nice and laid back in the Sloan Street household. Obviously it began by the kids opening their eggs, one Icelandic from Valgerður and Niels and one pretty cool one bought here that came with a tube of glazing and smarties so they got to decorate the egg themselves :-D.

After the chocholate overindulgence we had a slight panic getting ready for an Easter party we were invited to when we noticed that for some strange reason the computer clocks were an hour ahead of our clocks, and thankfully figured out that the time change had taken place so.. In twenty minutes all were dressed, clean and looking sharp, a record I think for a family of four ;-P

The Easter bash was at Arnots house, the librarian at the school of Scottish Studies. She and her lovely family took it upon themselve to look after all the expatriats in the area ;-D
Great fun, the kids loved the attention, everyone loved Halldórs chocholate cake ;-P and the conversations were invigorating :-D

We´ve found it rather strange though here, how little is done to remind people of Easter. Even the tv channels haven´t got anything different from the usual stuff and don´t even seem to cater to the fact that kids are on holiday… Being used to the typical Jesus movie every Easter in Iceland it´s slightly strange to find here that there is a holiday, kids get time off from school but there is no other obvious remembrance of “why” exactly there is this holiday…?

He he funny ;-)

Those of you who know Elena may have noticed that she has a cute little lisp ;-P What I just noticed is that her lisp translates into texts she writes :-D As you can see in the image below of a letter she was writing...

Cit I I love you NeS Teis Nan I go to you berthday and I will give you Prsnt eviwon.
Or with proper spelling ;-P
Kid I love you, next day then I go to your birthday and I will give you present everyone.

Easter fun

So who came first, Georg Lucas or God ;-)

p.s. click the image to see the full size version ..

A trip to the Butterfly world in Edinburgh :-D

Went to the Butterfly World here in Edinburgh last weekend. Excellent fun and a great experience :-D They even had hands on experiences for the kids, hands on referring to holding a tarantula, a millipede (large one) and a boa. Later on Ragnar was hovering around the incubation booth and this newly changed butterfly flew out and made his head a resting ground. He was chuffed to bits (very happy for those of you not versed in the "English" language ;-P) and being extremely careful not to disturb the butterfly, walked all around the place showing it off to everyone :-D

Elena :-D

:-D Just returned home from a parent teacher interview with Elenas teacher at school. And it was excellent, I don´t know why I get so nervous .... Apparently nearly all of the behavioral problems have evaporated, although her cheekyness, assertiveness and the need to be kept constantly active and challenged remains ;-) I´m guessing that´ll be with her forever :-D And if channelled her strength. From not knowing a word of English in August she´s now happily chatting away in Scottish, at this the teacher laughed. And her writtten work is far above average, even I could see that. A five year old composing 3 full sentences (with intresting spelling admittedly) without any help and then doing detailed drawings to complement the text ! She was apparently moved from the normal maths group to the advanced one where she is coping perfectly and has a remarkable grasp of history, near and far.

O.k. Bragging over, but I just wanted to share :-D I´m well aware of the fact that she´s difficult, as a teacher I´ve had pupils like her, who if not kept active and well disciplined are a constant source of aggravation and distress, as well as a severe disrupting element. However if the teacher manages to keep a tight discipline, and a constant supply of difficult chores then the pupil turns out to be a very pleasant surprice ;-P

I don´t think I need to worry about her, she´ll land on her feet wherever we go :-D

Another Bush one

Recently while going through an airport, President Bush encountered a man with long hair, wearing a robe and sandals, holding a staff.

President Bush went up to the man and said, "Aren't you Moses?"

The man never answered but just kept staring ahead.

Again the President said,

"Moses!" in a loud voice. The man just kept staring ahead, never answering the president.

Soon a secret service agent came along and President Bush grabbed him and said,

"Doesn't this man look like Moses to you?" The secret service agent agreed with the President.

"Well," said the President, "every time I say his name, he just keeps staring ahead and refuses to speak.

Watch!" Again, the President yelled, "Moses!" and again the man stared ahead.

The secret service man went up to the man in the robe and whispered,

"You look just like Moses. Are you Moses?" The man leaned over and whispered, "Yes, I am Moses, but the last time I talked to a bush I spent 40 years wandering in the desert!"

Spring´s here :-D

Love the yellow colours all around ;-P

Playing in the park :-D

Uchi ni kaerimasu !!! I´m going home !!!

When I was 18 I spent a year in Japan as an exchange student, and stayed with an amazing family, the Kinouchi family. They made me feel like one of the family and Asuka even came to stay with us for a few months after RAgnar was born. Since then I´ve only been back once, when I was pregnant with Elena, I kinda figured that with a new baby my chances of returning would be somewhat diminished and hence jumped on the chance ;-) Admittedly after the trip I promiced myself never to travel so far, with a young child and pregnant ;-P And now I´m going back again !! :-D
My sister, Asuka, is getting married next summer and I´m going to attend :-D Then as an added bonus, when my grandfather (ojiisan) heard I was coming he offered to pay for the kids, in order to see them at least once :-) So come July me and the kids (Halldór can´t take the time off from school :-( ..) will be off to Japan for a two week visit, a wedding and meeting up with family :-) I can´t wait, it seems like a dream come true !! So the plan is, apart from visiting family, to visit friends in Tokyo, take the kids to the Ghibli museum and visit Harajuku on a Sunday... Any other suggestions?

Bizarre Record Albums

The place for all those "intresting" record covers ;-) Had great difficulty choosing which ones to pick to show here, you simply have to browse by and look ;-P And.... they have wav files for a number of them !!!!

Works over, for the time at least ;-P

So what is your opinion of the new layout?

It went from the Xanth.is layout

and progressed to attempts at manipulating a preexisting template at blogger

To changing the background, making it still and fiddling with the colour scheme and finally to adding all them little things that make my blog my Blog;-P


So? Any thoughts?

Fun, alas useless inventions...

Oh and if you´re still uncertain about how to swivel those chopsticks then this here tells you what NOT to do with´em ;-)

Q and A .... again ;-P

1. Your name spelled backwards: Allennug
2. Where were your parents born? Iceland and England respectively
3. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? An interview with James Masters
4. Last time you swam in a pool? Two weeks ago
6. Have you ever been in a school play? Yep, a number, normally as the storyteller though, I possess the talent of a loud voice ;-P
7. How many kids do you want? Dunno, doing fine with the two so far
8. Are you registered to vote? Yes, but in Iceland
9. Do you have a car? No
10. Ever got a parking ticket? Ehh, let me think… I think so, something like a decade ago (don´t ask about the speeding ones)
11. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving? I'd try both
12. Do you have a garden? No, not really, there´s this communal thingie out back..
13. Do you really know all the words to your state pledge? State pledge?
14. Bath or Shower? morning or night? Shower, every morning.
15. Have you ever broken any hearts? A matter of definition
16. Premarital? Premarital what exactly ;-)
17. Are you a good cook? Again a matter of definition, it normally gets eaten..
18. Orange or Apple juice? Apple.
19. Best thing in the world? Apart from hugs, ahh I know; Good food, at a good restaurant enjoyed with good company and nice wine :-D Doesn´t get much better than that :-D
20. Have you ever broken a bone? Nope, not yet, knock on wood 7,9,13
21. Have you ever won a trophy? Mmmm no but I won 20 kiloes of rice in a japanese speech contest ;-P
22. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school? Yes…. Whilst studying in Japan, and no I will NOT be posting any pictures!!!
23. Last thing you bought at a pharmacy? Hair conditioner and a face cream
24. Who are you going to marry? Been there, done that, didn´t work out, don´t know if I feel like doing it again..
25. Who would you like to meet who's dead and not someone in the Bible? My mum and grandparents
26. How many pairs of shoes do you own? Ok don´t laugh, one pair of shoes and one pair of boots.
27. Any pets? Of the cuddly petting type, two children and a boyfriend.
28. Lights on or off? Obviously mine must be off seeing as I don´t get the question.
29. Awesome sex for a year or a lifelong friendship? Both thank you ;-D

Match of the year !!

3rd Anglo-Scottish Folklorists Youth Cup Final (played over two legs)


Match report :

The first leg was a strangely muted affair, with Edinburgh proving unable to exploit their home advantage. The visitors opened the scoring, with Carter turning in a sound performance in front of goal. For the home side, Wiseman never got any power
behind his shot and did not trouble the keeper. (Wiseman’s on-pitch weaknesses, though, were more than compensated for by his post-match conviviality).

The leg was not without controversy. Cowdell was cup-tied and prevented from playing for the visitors in the first leg. Edinburgh could not capitalise, though, with Masoni falling foul of the match officials for persistent diving. The game was threatened with disrepute as this skilful player first ignored, then disputed the linesmen’s decision, and the match dragged into extended stoppage time. At the death Scott restored some pride for the home team, equalising with a magnificent solo effort. The teams went into the second leg all square.

First leg: Edinburgh 1 - Sheffield 1

Although the scores were level at the break, Edinburgh’s weaknesses definitely left the psychological advantage with the visitors. Evidently buoyed and well-prepared, Sheffield came out strongly in the second leg. Sticking closely to their game plan they launched attacks from all over the pitch from the first whistle, and Edinburgh seemed unprepared for the onslaught. After Bradshaw had scored a good goal in the opening minutes, Edinburgh were left chasing the game for the rest of the afternoon. Bek-Pedersen equalised for the home side, although there was an element of luck involved: the tall Dane took a deflection off a passing swan-maiden, and the keeper was stranded. Bannister quickly put the visitors ahead again with a richly-deserved first goal that surprised her, but nobody else.

There then followed one of the more eccentric moments of individual skill in this engrossing contest. The nimble feet of midfield maestro Poole wove their magic, bamboozling Edinburgh’s defence, the match officials, his own team-mates, both mascots, the caterer and himself. There was a heated and baffled argument between the referee, the linesmen and the fourth official before they (rightly) decided to allow his goal to stand. This knocked the stuffing out of Edinburgh, who could not conjure up the quick response necessary to get them back in the game. Their cause was not helped by the performance of Koehler, who seemed unfamiliar not only with the rules, but with the game. Koehler was hampered by being totemically related to an eyeliner pencil (MHG: kohl). Deep in his own half he failed to gather a cruel back-pass from Wiseman and was easily dispossessed by Thomas, who scored with a spectacular long-range strike.

To their credit Edinburgh continued to make a game of it. Starting from an unpromising position Ahlander launched a mazy run which eventually saw the limp-haired Swede going all the way through to score. Sheffield, though, were trusting their advantage to individual performances now. With half of the midfield leading a diversionary run down the players’ tunnel for a cigarette, Thorgeirsdottir went through on her own to restore the three-goal lead. McPhee pulled a good goal back for Edinburgh before Cowdell (finally allowed on the pitch) sealed the victory with a clinical headed goal in the dying minutes.

Second leg: Edinburgh 3 - Sheffield 6
Sheffield won 4-7 on aggregate.

Match officials
Referee: Shaw (Edinburgh)
Linesmen: Klein (Uppsala), Lindahl (Houston)
Fourth Official: McKay (Edinburgh)

After the match the crowd were entertained by a display from Dr Lyle’s Cosmological Majorettes and Medicine Show. There were no incidents in the tunnel.

Match description courtesy of on Paul Cowdell!!!

Later on I invited the Sheffield contingency home for a fullfledged Icelandic traditional meal, of smoked lamb, bechamels sauce, potatoes and dried fish ;-) Followed by Brennivín, and everyone duly developed hairs on their chest!! ;-P Elena of course, took it upon herself to keep the guests occupied and making them feel welcomed and appreciated (the young male ones at least ;-)


After this remarkably filling and well earned meal, we headed back to the centre to Sandy Bells, one of the more notorious folky pubs in Edinburgh, where I found much to my surprice that I knew quite a number of people ;-P Great fun following a great weekend and an excellent experience !!
(Primarily because noone booed me down, and Carl Lindahl suggested Terry should have awarded me a ma instead of a Ba for my paper ;-P it takes little to make little souls happy)