I spent a good chunk of the weekend working on an article for Rob and Dream Not of Today. It was a lot of fun; Palli and I spent a good two hours out among the protestors. I managed to drag words out of a surprising number of people, given the rather reserved persona of your average (sober) Icelander.

Still, in the process I received my fair share of glances bespeaking puzzlement - or other, less kind, emotions. But nothing untoward was said or done; most of the natives seemed content to answer briefly to whatever basic questions I could formulate on the fly.

There’s a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff that went unpublished for the article; interesting tidbits that didn’t quite fit into the established narrative. I’ll reproduce them here for the interested.

• Several people carried blank signs, in both rectangular and disc-shaped form factors, and offered the sign-less markers with which to construct their own.
• A woman carrying a large European Union flag, mounted on a thin PVC pipe so tall it listed under its own weight.
• A gentleman on stilts.
• A picketer with UTSALG emblazoned across a depiction of the Icelandic flag. The phrase is Danish, meaning “For Sale”. Remember that Iceland was ruled by Denmark for hundreds of years.
• Another sign: Látum Auðmenna Borga. Let the Rich pay.
• The orator’s speech mentioned support pouring in from the countryside, naming towns as far away as Austurfirðir - clear on the opposite side of Iceland.
• A sign: Landrað Af Gáleysi Er Landrað. Strictly translated, “A treason of incompetence is (still) treason.”
• A ladies’ choir singing softly in front of Alþingishusið - the house of Parliament - just after the “main” protest concludes.
• Several small white splatters on the facade of Alþingishusið. Dried eggs from previous evenings’ protests.
• A blue bag strung up from a lamppost. Further inspection, and the questioning of a nearby woman, reveals that it is a falcon. They’ve lynched, in effigy, the symbol of the Icelandic Independence Party. That would be the party of Geir Haarde and Davið Oddsson, both widely blamed for various aspects of the crisis.
• A woman carrying a sign: Ókeypis Knús - free hugs. “An interesting way to boost spirits,” observed Palli.
• There are no (visible) policemen near the protest. One, in a bright yellow traffic vest, ensures that no one befouls the garden behind Parliament.

Strange times indeed.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 25th, 2009 at 23:22 pm and is filed under Bluster and Portent. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.