October is the month of Smiles~!

What have the Wilma's Wish chicks been up to for the past couple months? Well let me tell you- inspiration and madness!

 We are going back to Iceland October 1st to begin the "meat and potatoes" of Blueberry Soup. 

I will be living in a fascinating place. It's an artist residency where a number of Icelandic artists from different mediums live and create under the same roof. I will be sharing a studio and a home with these creatives and blogging about it the whole time. 

   We made a scary but exciting decision pertaining to the film a couple months ago: taking a large film crew isn't really our style and feels invasive, particularly when it comes to subject matter that is so personal to the people we are interviewing. So... I will be heading to Iceland alone for the first 2 weeks to explore, ask questions, and see where those questions lead us. I am so thrilled to follow this trail and from what we have seen so far I think you are going to be shocked by what is cooking in Iceland right now.  Haven't you wondered how a community of people would get out of a crisis if left completely to their own devices? Well buddy, we are going to find out!

So what's in store?? An international music festival, a conference centered around "design thinking" for change, and so much beautiful art, landscapes, sheep yogurt.... did you pee a little right there too? 

    By week 3 our out of this world award winning cinematographer Steve Whitehead will be joining me and like a lit rocket we will be filming and unturning each and every stone (well.. most). Steve has this incredible way of putting things we may over look in everyday life into a frame that makes life feel like a very magical place to exist in. So to say the least, we are about to make something really lovely. 

If you have itchy fingers in your deep awesome pockets and feel like helping, we have some cool Icelandic stuff to give you in return. This Wednesday we will be launching our funding campaign for the little we need to get to this part of our journey.  

Join us on the voyage! Once in Iceland I will start posting every other day. I welcome your comments b/c we are like the film, stronger with a sense of community. 

See you in Iceland!

Fab Lab !

  This is just another reason why innovative people rock my socks.

"Fab Lab"- It just sounds wonderful already, doesn't it?

Fab Lab Definition:

A Fab Lab (fabrication laboratory) is a small-scale workshop with the aim to make "Almost Anything".

While Fab Labs have yet to compete w/ mass production and its associated economies of scale in fabricating widely distributed products, they have already shown the potential to empower individuals to create smart devices for themselves. These devices can be tailored to local or personal needs in ways that are not practical or economical using mass production.

The projects they are working on at the Innovation Center range from social experiments to energy issues: Working on a local geothermal heat pump system, preparing instrumentation for scientific projects such as puffin colony measurements, building an interactive model of the part of the town that went under the lava flow, and assisting local individuals and companies with product development and so on. 

So in short- This is yet another innovation center built to facilitate and nuture ideas that will help access the use of Iceland's geothermal energy, develops technology that will aid in the preservation of natural resources, and protective efforts for the incredible wildlife that inhabits the surrounding areas. 

The FAB LAB is located in Vestmannaeyjar. Vestmannaeyjar is an archipelago (a sea or stretch of water containing many islands) of roughly 15 islands and numerous crags (a steep or rugged cliff or rock face) off the south coast of Iceland, and is home to 4000 people, about 4 million Puffins, and 500 sheep. WHAT?~!

Again!   That's : 

4,000 PEOPLE 

4 Million Puffins!

  500 Sheep!!

    I grew up on a small dairy farm in Upstate New York. My childhood friends were 40 cats (meow) , 58 cows (moo), 2 pigs (oink), a goat (nayy), and my two sisters (?). Much like Vestmannaeyjar the animals far outnumbered the humans. And I wonder if that attributes to a sensitivity that focuses on the health and safety of species other than your own?

I would like to go here and meet the Innovation Center crew. I want you (yes you with your sleepy computer eyes) whose reading this right now to join us on this discovery. More to come ....

On the Right Path !

   Wilma's Wish has had a whirl wind past 2 months. After the car accident in August I reclused myself into a world of TED talks and good coffee. I sat down with all the information we had collected up to date and the new found inspiration I had found through one impaticular TED talk from a designer named Tim Brown from this "think tank" called Ideo. He talked about a global movement towards "design thinking". This means taking innovation and applying it to our everyday lives not just to make things prettier but to make them more accesable. Well out of being a nerd, I wrote Mr. Brown and the lovely people that make up Ideo.
After a mind blowing Skype conference , Ideo is now working on Blueberry Soup with us!
Second wonderful blast of sunshine is this- many of you may remember an earlier post of ours on a conference we attended while in Iceland called "An End is a Start". If not then scroll down, you gots some catching up to do...
Gannaca found the blog and asked what Blueberry Soup is all about and now we get to say with smiles spread widely, we are now in partnership with Gannaca as well in making this film! Both of these amazing groups are known globally for understanding "you don't have to be afraid of change, change is the new constant"and "that design is human centered". So we are literally experiencing a nation re-designing it's social/political/economically foundation. How amazing! Innovation through participation.
Wilma's Wish is documenting an epic movement and has been granted access to sit smack dab in the epicenter of history in the making.

   
   Things are wildly connecting and our minds are spinning from all the new discoveries. We are ON THE RIGHT TRACK! 

What are your thoughts on this Mr./Ms. reader?

Until next time, let me just leave you with this. Icelandic Pickled Rams’ Balls- Enjoy

avoid getting hit by cars

Time to upkeep the narrative of Wilma's Wish's Icelandic experiences


We have been writing letters, attending voices of experience, joining up with screening events. it's funny how it is such a consistent part of our dailies. There's heavy anticipation. As we want to make this film, we also attempt active in the political knowledge of our global world. Social reform is riddled with questions and conversations continue. From these considerations, we have ideas for art installations. We will update on this as well once we get underway.

Vagueness aside, Eileen and I attended the Múm concert at the Opera House in Toronto last night. Smiles were on our faces the entire streetcar ride home. Open this song in a new tab to listen as you read. (i wish i was more web savvy than giving internet cave-person instructions)

Opening acts can be a pain in the heels. For the time it takes to wait in line for a good spot(especially at general adm shows) and the two hour wait before the main act, one's feet can start to feel impatient. Some people show at concerts right when the main act begins, bypassing the openers completely. When openers are good, it is fucking fantastic. Last night, at Múm's show, there was instrumental sounds from three members of Múm. SET CHANGE. There's three mics and Eileen turns to me, jaw open. "That's Sidri!" I look and he is tuning his guitar. How wicked, we had no idea. In June, we flagged down Sea Bear for a chance to interview, and we see Sidri again in a band of his own.

I like to seek out experimental music to see what chances people are taking. At times, experiment only works for a one-time novelty listen. It takes a certain type of resilient confidence in a musician to keep on making music that not many people would enjoy. To me, Sidri, or under the pseudonym of Sin Fang Bous, thrives and succeeds in sound-play. His live performance hooked up nerves in between the pillar of the neck and ears and inversed them towards the toes. What sensory magic! Alternating between three mics, his songs imprint a memory.

So unexpected and great. Hellos, how are you and safe touring travels wishes were exchanged. See soon, maybe?

Múm exceeded expectations. Ongoing joy, hip rocking and pivotal vocals. All of them have such talent, able to alternative between blow keyboards, whistles, harmonicas and vocal ranges. And the drummer hit percussion with innate precision. Great great show. Crema on the coffee:: a song along as the last song. A woman carried out bright bristol boards to prompt the audience. Beautiful handwriting Múm, I have typography envy. All this morning, I have been singing an abridged version of that song.

so beautiful. so fucking beautiful. sing along to songs you don't know.

Catch them on tour if you can! http://www.myspace.com/mumtheband

Music Video's and Lemon Cake

I just love life. And that may
sound a bit too "Mary Poppins"
but .... that can't be so bad.

Over the past two months I have been looking at the research and filming we did in Iceland this summer.
Video's like this remind me (loudly) that there is a resounding enchantment to these expressions from this Island of 300,000.
Icelandic Animated Music Video (CLICK ME)

I want you to think about your favorite music video. Did it make you love the song? Did you love the song and so you can't help but love the video? Now think about a time when the video RUINED the song! Now that we have gone through a range of emotions, please turn on your Itunes, next play a song at random, now imagine from start to finish what the video would look like for this song.

We are so alive.

keeping on

sunshine demands you to be outdoors, absorbing.

in the wind-down, the mind picks up.

Reminders like this video shakes stagnant.

this gent is Olafur Arnalds.

An End is A Start

Early into our stay in Iceland, we went to a lecture by Christopher Patrick Peterka called "The End is the Start". I was so inspired by this lecture that my pen wouldn't even write as fast as the great quotes were coming. Peterka is not Icelandic but he has a huge interest in helping Icelanders feel empowered by the crisis rather than dampened. And from what we have seen and heard from the Icelanders we met, they are not going to be steam rolled by the economic hardships.

He called Iceland "The new Global Think Tank". Iceland not only produces incredible artists but it also has made leaps in the field of technology and networking communities. We went to the Ministry of Ideas (which is a building dedicated to housing cubicles of brilliant groups and nurturing their ideas to fruition. HOW INCREDIBLE!!!Mission statement ;Ministry of Ideas is the people's movement in Iceland. It inspires the country and the rest of the of the global village for a new world model.-

Peterka did say one thing that stayed with me without even looking at my notes; he said "change cannot happen without mobility, to move forward you must be willing to leave behind everything you were attached to."( I took this to mean the surge of cars, second homes, and fancy toys bought in the boom -previous to the collapse).

After the lecture was over we were all instructed to reach under our seats and pull out the first thing we were going to do to participate in positive change. I was concerned about old gum or other foreign stickyness but to my happy surprise I found a glow stick. The old raver in me felt like it was party time but my patience let me see that it was all part of a message on the wall. We snapped our glow sticks as the entire room of people (including members of Sigur Ros) with their illuminated plastic tubes jumped up and made these words peacefully and powerfully exist. I love how this entire crisis is being interpreted by Icelandic "creatives". It seems to have lit a fire under their creative tushes and I am honestly in absolute awe in what has developed in this short amount of time to combat what has devastated their economy.

So it's late as I write this, very late. . . just as magical as I find this nation and its people to be- we are going to see some equally imaginative and magical things in the next year come out of Iceland. Stay tuned.

To read more on the "And End is a Start" lecture visit our friends at Iceland Review

Hidden People

Iceland is "known" for a number of things that are whimsically ethereal;

Sigur Ros: Bjork:
Puffins:
Hákarl: Rotten Shark Meat



And Trolls- When I asked about the tale of trolls I was told "They are called Hidden People". There are dozens of articles, podcasts, books, and films about the belief of the hidden people in the mysteriously beautiful landscapes of Iceland. "I think it's something we feed to tourists" - one man said when asked at our hotel. So that night I went out by myself to the dock. It was 1AM but was as bright as the late afternoon. I am not going in with any preconceived notions of fantasy esc. creatures going on this trip. And given the amount of attention the world wide press gives to it, I am just turned off all together from asking more than a small handful of people if they "believe" (on a side note, no one said no).
Back to the dock: I was taking a time lapse and i kept hearing someone running up to me. You know that scuffing sound your feet make when they are on the cement? So I would look up quickly and pretty freaking scared. Nothing. This happened well over a dozen times and I even pretended to keep taking pictures to see if I could catch what ever the noise was. The thought came to me "oh my god, the hotel manager said this was the town where the hidden people live, they are pissed I am up so late." So I ran back to my hotel like a goat on fire.
So all to say, I am not sure if there are Hidden People in Iceland but I can tell you. They don't give a care if I believe or not.

Good Night.

Iceland Votes Yes To EU

Today Iceland's Parliament voted in favor for Iceland's application to join the European Union.
During our time in Iceland we interviewed a number of people ranging from artists, government officials, think tank go-getters, to students of economics; all feeling differently about the upcoming vote concerning Iceland joining the EU.

I found this graph to be a helpful breakdown of the varying interests with in the political parties:
Political parties' stances towards membership

Group	Party		Position	Main argument as stated on party websites
Government		Social Democratic Alliance	Yes	"We want to apply for an EU-membership and start negotiations. We will seek a national unity in this matter and use the national referendum as the highest court."[35]
		Left-Green Movement	No	"EU-membership would diminish the independence of Iceland even more than the EEA Agreement does and jeopardise Iceland's control over its resources."[36]
Opposition		Independence Party	No	"The Independence Party holds that Iceland’s interests are best secured by remaining outside of the EU while conducting a close healthy relationship with it based on the contract for the European Economic Area, which opens up the internal market of the EU. A complete membership would threaten to take control over Iceland’s biggest national resources, such as the fisheries."[37]
		Progressive Party	Yes	"..if personal and business rights were protected, especially in regard to fishing and agriculture; and if the accession talks were open and democratic."[38]
		Citizens' Movement	Yes	[39]
No seats in the parliament		Liberal Party	No	EU stance was decided in a party members' poll in January 2009.[40]

This is all part of our research- We will be going back to Iceland in 6-8 months to re-examine and document the changes that occur within decisions like joining the EU.
While interviewing the editor of a number of successful Icelandic publications, Benedikt Jóhannesson; he said, it is hard to say right now how the crisis has effected the general public. Changes like these take a bit of time to be implemented and their effects can take months to really be seen.

So we (Wilma's Wish) are going to bookend what we saw, heard, found on our last trip with what happens to Iceland after this massive collapse a year later. How fascinating to see what will be a historic moment not only for Iceland but also for the world.

http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16567&ew_0_a_id=336820

On The First Day ...

On the first day we arrived smack dab in the middle of National Day! It ironically was the last day of the Viking Festival as well but we will get back to that...


Zoom- our plane arrives
Beep- we are rushed to the hotel


Oops- we went to the wrong hotel and wrong city
Ahhh- arrive at hotel
Huh- vikings with swords running in front ya rd
Hello, hello- meeting, greeting hotel manager
Oh no- We are not in the city we need to be and Johanna (Prime Minister and the reason we rushed to get here on th is day is speaking in one hour!!)
BEEP- cabby please take us to the city center as fast as you can (and yes you can give vague directions like that in Iceland b/c most everyone knows everywhere)
Look!- Right as the cab pulls up we leap out, a para de of scouts start the event off, formal elegant members of society follow.
Not Allowed In- Where do we stand? You must have a press pass! Well we do but we left it ummm... somewhere? Please let us in. Hmmmmm...... ok
Steve there She is- It seems like it takes forever for Johanna to emerge from the beautiful church to her podeum. She stands up straight and walks with confidence. The speech was in Icelandic (understandably) certain things transended language and the crowds roars made me feel we got here for something very important (a celebration of boyancy).
Stay tuned for the what happened next....