Lögberg-Heimskringla - 07.06.1991, Blaðsíða 1

Icelandic
ber
Lö
Inside this week:
Lögberg-Heimskringla — Why not?............page 2
A mystery solved................................3
Team-work is important to Bob Ásgeirsson........6
Active Iifestyle keeps this Senior on the go....7
featuring . . . the lcelandic
Canadian Club of Toronto Newsletter
pages 4 & 5
105. Árgangur
105th Year
Föstudagur 7. júní 1991
Friday, 7 June 1991
Númer 21
Number 21
News
Propaganda Films
prospers:
Sígurjón Síghvatsson, co-owner of
Propaganda Films, along with hispart-
ner Steve Golin, produced Madon-
na's newly released rock documen-
tary, Madonna Truth orDare. Through
their company, Manifesto, they also
financed half of the productíon of
Barton Fink, the film which received
this year's Palme D'Or award in
Cannes. Manifesto will be in charge of
the film’s distribution outsídethe U.S.
Propaganda Fiims is now Amerí-
ca's largest producer of musíc videos
with about 40% of the market. It ís
best known for producíng WUd at
Tieart, whích won lastyear's Best Filrn
award in Cannes, and the TV seríes
Twin Peaks.
Goolies meet
in Gulf
■
Karl V. Burkhauser and Brian H.
Guðmundsson
During the recent Gulf War, an
American soldier of Icelandic descent,
Captain Brian H. Guðmundsson, the
son of ívar and Barbara Guðmundsson
of Washington, met, by chance, an-
other soldier also of Icelandic descent.
Captain Guðmundsson saw the tattooed
image of of a Viking’s head and the
Icelandic flag on the arm of Corporal
Karl V. Burkhauser. Needlessto say, he
inquired about Burkhauser’s origin.
Burkhauser told Guðmundsson that his
mother, Sif, is Icelandic from Húsavík
and his íather is an American. His fam-
ily had moved from Iceland when he
was 13.
Þorrablót, Toronto Style
by Joan Eyolfson Cadham
A Viking
Thö Fjörukrá (Beach Tavern) in
Hafnarfjörður will now offer íts clients
r°asted mountain lamb and brennivín
drunkfromspeciallymadesheephorns
aod served by Viking maidens, who
now and then break into song. The
Pjörukrá's decor is based upon au-
thentic Viking abodes— the perfect
surroundingsfora regularVikíng Feast
Mexico seeks advice:
Mexico has been seeking lcelandic
c°llaboration and know-how in the
neld of fisheríes Oscar Gonzales
Rodriguez, Mexíco's assistant Minís-
f«r of Fisheries, said that the Mexícans
come to the lcelanders because they
are leaders in many areas of the físh-
'Pdu-itry—and understandably so,
: 'ce they, more than most nations,
depend upon sensible harvestíng of
fish.
tn view of a possible free-trade
deal between Mexíco, the U.S., and
Canada, the Mexícans intend to mod-
ernize their físhing industry.
Translatc J from lcelandic
newspapers. H.K.P.
Two non-Icelandic impressions of
Þorrablót probably describe, as well as
anything does, the reason why this is
such a popular ethnic celebration.
I had told a Montreal friend that we
were off to Toronto for Þorrablót. “Is is
a craft fair?” she asked. “Is it a show-
case for artisans?” No, I told her, won-
dering if she’d think our annual festival
was very unsophisticated. First, I said,
there’s a wonderful buffet of all the
traditional foods, the foods that remind
us of the hardships faced by a race that
had to preserve food well enough to
survive winter gales and blizzards. Then
there’s either a literary element or some-
thing for the kids—people bring their
little ones along—and a dance that is
punctuated with various folk dashing
by to say: There’s someone you must
meet from Elfros, or, do you know so-
and-so from Foam Lake, as the partici-
pants establish links and connections.
Joanie’s eyes sparkled. “What a vi-
brant celebration!” she exclaimed.
“How very lucky you are.”
My other nonlcelandic friend was
much more pragmatic. She had come to
Þorrablót with us in Toronto before
and she was anticipating a second invi-
tation with undisguised enthusiasm.
“I’m impressed,” she said. “I’ve never
Ready to sot saU
All Icelanders know that Leifur
Eiríksson discovered America around
the year 1000 and that he was an
Icelander, the son of Eiríkur the Red,
who.settled in Greenland. The sailors
in the above photo — Herdís Ellen
Gunnarsdóttir, Rfkharður Pctursson,
and Gerður Rósa Gimnarsdóttir — are
three of the five Icelanders selected
to represent Iceland on the voyage of
the Gaia.the Saga Siglar and the
Oseberg viking ships, to commem-
orate Leifur’s find. The Gaia alone
will sail from Norway to Iceland, then
to Greenland and L’Anse-aux-
Meadows. She will be joined by the
Saga Siglar and the Oseberg in
Halifax. The three ships will then set
sail to Washington D.C., and are
scheduled to arrive there on October 9,
Leifur Eiríksson Day, with a number of
port-stops on the way.
met an entire race that celebrates food
with such unabashed delight.”
Þorrablót was late in Toronto this
year, a condition of availability of the
hall more than for any other reason, but
in welcoming the 200 guests on April 6,
club president David Scarth suggested
that we might consider we were cel-
ebrating Góumót (spring gathering)
rather than Þorrablót the sacrifice to
Þór.
Whatever the occasion, the crowd of
200 plus made this one of the largest
spring festivals in Canada this year.
Special guests were the Honorary
Consel for Iceland, Jon Johnson and his
wife, Dr. Patricia Johnson. All the door
prizes and raffle prizes were drawn by
Icelanders who identified tliemselves and
Continued on page 5