Sharon Lettuce & Tomato

Seats, fruits, and leaves, with Sharon at FITK

Used by permission

Iceland Airwaves 2012

Iceland Airwaves crowd, 2011

Numerous videos and films have covered Iceland Airwaves in the past, most notably the full-length Screaming Masterpiece (2005) which derived most of its footage from the festival. None of them have really given more than just fractured glimpses, and none have really captured the feeling of what is like to be part of the scene. There's a new promo video out, sponsored by Icelandair. It is really just a redone version of last year's but with some new scenes, interviews and a little tighter editing.

AIRWAVES- a Rockumentary by Gudjon and Bowen Staines gives a coherent look at what is essentially an unclassifiable event: over one hundred Icelandic acts, numerous international groups poised on the cusp of greatness, in an incomparable setting. Don't take my word for it. Watch the 40 minute video, in full-screen HD if you can, it really gives a sense of being there.

There are some problems the film only addressed obliquely, however. The festival may becoming a victim of its own success- more shows are being steered toward Harpa, a large complex of auditoria on the waterfront. It was built by somewhat dubious financing. Harpa is almost the antithesis of the festival's homegrown roots. Pushing the date into November may mean that those sunny scenes of frolics in the Blue Lagoon (shown in the video) are already a memory. Still, it is the spirit of the young (and young at heart) people of Iceland which is what The Airwaves Festival is all about.

I'm almost ready to make my reservations.

For those who can't wait until November, Live in the Lobby is a weekly concert series held at the Downtown Hostel. Many thanks to Auður Ösp, from the I Heart Reykjavík web site for the tip. I've seen many clips from shows held there- it is a very intimate and inviting place. Be sure to check out Auður's site- it is full of ideas for fun in Reykjavík and the surrounding area (that's her in the screenshot above- right below the woman showing her teeth in the center of the picture.)

Pub Fare

The pub, in an alley a block from Seattle's Pike Place Market, was an unusual place for a job interview. Not really private, but busy enough that any conversation would be lost in the noise.

"What makes you think we'd be interested in you? We aren't the usual background check firm. And, to be frank, we don't get many applicants of your history, not that it it would preclude you from the position."

The snotty thirty-one year old who sat across the table from me had a trace of smugness about him. I knew all about him of course, he had concealed his identity from the usual internet scrutiny but hadn't scrubbed his RPG history. It was a matter of pride, his weakness, it didn't take too long to get his life story once I had cracked his avatar. He had made a small fortune in on-line games, starting small when he was only a teen, then crafted a lucrative algorithm he used to turn game points into cash and got out just before the Russians could catch up with him. He used the money to start this business, a legal "background check" service which did do the routine stuff but made more from supplying blackmailers, divorce lawyers and other grifters with dirt.

"I am the person you want to be on your side, believe me, Alleystar."

The mention of his online alias only erased his smile for a millisecond. He remained composed, but a vein in his forehead started to pulse, nothing most people would notice, but something a card shark would term "a tell." He was mine now, the rest were formalities.

"I see. What is it you really want?" he acted cool, but that vein kept throbbing.

"I want to work. And I want to work with the best." Pride was his weakness.

"When I got the recommendation from your last employer I gave you an interview as a courtesy to an old friend. May I assume that you know what our business really entails?"

"Sure. When I read the headlines about fraud in the financial industry, I know that you work for all sides, making sure that names stay out of the paper and the cash flow remains invisible- for a small percentage."

"I ask again, What do you really want?"

"I want to disappear."

"You've got the job."




Fiction

Todays Lesson

Guest instructor: Björk

Lord, I love this woman.

Sharon We Dance

Qualm dances with calm.









Trip the light fantastic with Sharon, Fridays at Flippism is the Key

Used by permission

The Biter

Stale air rattled out of the motel room's air conditioner. It was dark in the room, a faint glow from the window shade and a sliver of light from under the bathroom door were the only sources of illumination. She was in the shower, soon the sound of water running stopped and in a few minutes she came out of the bathroom dressed in a full slip.

"This sure beats those sweaty jeans I had on..."

The previous 12 hours we had spent on the plains in our hot car was just a fading bad dream now. Tomorrow we'd leave South Dakota behind and head northwest, into Montana, and then the Rockies. It would be cooler there and we would finally reach Seattle tomorrow night. She had a lead on an office job; her mother lived above a basement apartment we could rent cheaply enough. I was looking for something more stimulating than sitting in a cubicle with a monitor and a telephone.

"I don't have anything nearly as provocative, but I'll shower and put on a clean tee."

As I stood under the shower, I thought about the previous week, how she took control. I had been living alone too long. My usual defenses against starting a new relationship were drowned in our second bottle of wine. It seemed alright, this time. I wasn't worried about what could go wrong, not like the earlier times I feel in love, but maybe it was just that I didn't care about that anymore. As I stepped out of the shower I realized that my clean clothes were in my suitcase- on the luggage rack by the bed. I thought about just walking out naked, but we weren't yet to the stage of "casual" intimacy. I wrapped a towel around my waist and headed out.

"Oooh! You look delicious!"

As she grabbed my arms her lips parted, her teeth reflecting the light from the open bathroom door. She playfully lunged at me with her open mouth but she had misjudged the distance. As her teeth sank into my chest she bit- hard, just over my heart.

"Ohmigod! I'm so sorry- I didn't mean to hurt you!"

"It's alright, it was just a reflex action."

She turned me around so that the light from the bathroom feel on my chest.

"That's gonna leave a mark!"

We both spoke that corny old line almost simultaneously, then laughed. After a minute she spoke:

"That'll leave a mark, all right. Just wait and you'll find I can leave all sorts of marks."

"A biter. I never would have thought it."

"Go back and turn off the light... and leave the towel."



Fiction