Wrinkes, Saggy Breasts, and Other Imperfections to Be Rewarded in Non-Beauty Contest

by Willy Volk on

If you’re beautiful in the “non-conventional sense,” and you want a little ego-stroking, you want to head to tiny Isafjoerdur, Iceland on April 18. There, Matthhildur Helgadottir will be holding a beauty pageant with a twist: participants will be rewarded for “wrinkles, saggy breasts and other bodily imperfections.”

According to Helgadottir, a self-confessed feminist (who is almost certainly small-chested), “Anyone can make the rules about what beauty is, we want to change the rules. We think it’s just coincidence if you have big breasts. How come this is beautiful? We are trying to show how ridiculous this is.”*

The non-beauty contest will feature both men and women who have not had plastic surgery. Helgadottir is still undecided about the prizes, though she thinks the “fun and honor” of taking part will be enough for most people. Note to Helgadottir: that may be why only 5 people have signed up thus far.

I wonder if they plan to crown the “prettiest” of the contestants. Obviously, if they do this, Helgadottir continues to promulgate beauty stereotypes, right?

[Photo: kafkan]

* Actually, it’s not ridiculous; see paragraph 54.

Sleddog Vacations: A Winter Travel Adventure

by Jamie Rhein on

Sometimes when one is looking for information on one topic, another topic appears. Such is what happened when I came across sleddog vacations. I wasn’t actually looking for information on sleddog vacations. They hadn’t occurred to me, but somehow with a click of a mouse, there I was wandering through websites on a winter sport that welcomes participants.

Winterdance Dogsled Tours in Ontario, Canada offers two-hour to full-day excursion packages, as well as a moonlight tour. You can stay overnight at their cottage or at one of the nearby resorts. Even with the two-hour tour you can try your hand at driving the team with an experienced guide as an instructor.

Ontario, Canada also has several sleddog races, although according to the website of Ontario Federation of Sleddog Sports, the lack of snow has led to some postponements and cancellations. They are scheduled through the first week of March and there are contact numbers to find out what’s up with each. Ontario Dog Sleding Getaways website has a list of resorts that offer sleddog vacations.

For some hardcore sleddog travel adventure, head to Iceland, Finland, Lapland, Norway or Sweden. Each has sleddog trips that run from a few days to a little over a week. I found a list of several choices at Adventure Sport Holidays. Lest you think this is totally roughing it travel where you freeze at night curled up in a sleeping bag trying to create warmth with your body heat, lodge and cabin stays are the nightly fare. Some packages like Dog Sledding Along the Finnish-Russian Border include saunas, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and elk viewing.

Detour Worth Making: The Icelandic Phallological Museum

by Willy Volk on

In an otherwise unassuming building, in extreme northern Iceland, sits the only museum in the world to contain a collection of phallic specimens belonging to all the mammals found in a single country. That museum, The Icelandic Phallological Museum, dedicated to the science of phallology, contains more than 150 penises and penile parts of a variety of Icelandic creatures — including those from an Icelandic Christmas lad, a Merman, a Changeling, and an Elf. More unusually, the museum’s collection also includes penises from whales, polar bears, reindeer, and mice.

In addition to the biological section of the museum, visitors can view the collection of “artistic oddments and other practical utensils related to the museum’s chosen theme.” Umm…you got me.

Open noon to 6 p.m. from May through September, the museum’s curator, Sigurdur Hjartarson, is passionate about his subject and happy to show you around the place. Just be careful of some of the questions you ask him.

Word for the Travel Wise (02/10/07)

by Adrienne Wilson on

This evening while chatting with a pal from Iceland who was looking for some first-time NYC travel advice, sights to see, etc. I kindly asked him to return the favor of providing any info with some vocab out of Iceland. As of right now I haven’t really any suggestions, but I told him I’d think up something in the next few days and here is an idea as well… If you’re in NYC, wanting to go to Iceland and found this word useful, perhaps you could leave some suggestions for my pal in the comments below. Otherwise it’s time for me to start sniffing around for some not-so-touristy ideas of things to do in the exotic Big Apple.

Today’s word is an Icelandic word used in Iceland:

framandi – exotic

Háskóli Íslands, one of the universities offers an excellent free starter course to learning Icelandic. Pictures, text, and audio for sample conversations are included. European Youth Portal points out other sources of study within the country and distance learning. I’ve met several speakers with My Language Exchange. Lastly, check out the BBC for a few easy phrases to help get you around the town.

Past Icelandic words: söngkona/söngvari, himnaríki, velkomin, dýrt, menning, bless

Army of Bjork

by Erik Olsen on

Adrienne brought this to our attention a little bit ago, but I figured it was worth another look…

At first I thought maybe this had something to do with new Scandinavian commitment to Iraq…but then I clicked the link and learned differently. It turns out that there are legions…nay an entire army, of people out there for whom, to quote one of the people interviewed in this video, Björk is the “ultimate embodiment of outsiderness” (or UEoO).

The Icelandishstic singer/performer/maker of very odd music videos in fact has her own army, which does occasionally gather in meeting places across the globe…or at least in predictably Björk-friendly neighborhood in Brooklyn.

I am an avid fan of the travel video site Travelistic, and this link came to my attention from one of the producers of this segment, and I pass it on to you, dear gadling reader, to decide for yourself if the Army of Björk is a threat to national security and/or an affront to cultural sensibilities. I argue that it is not, but my guess is that red staters might disagree. Either way, take a moment to enjoy. And please make note of the extra-special effort I put forward in this post to find an actual ö. And don’t ask me to pronounce her last name: Guðmundsdóttir, although my understanding is that it rhymes with Duðmundsdóttir.