A different kind of look at whaling

Some of you know that whaling is kind of a hot-button issue for me.  Those that don't know that may assume it's because I'm so passionately against it.  The opposite is true. 

As the homeland of my mother, sisters, and more than half of my living relatives, the Faroe Islands have an enormous place in my heart and pride.  One of the things I'm most proud of about the Faroese people is their ability to be, culturally and in many other ways, ultra modern yet practice traditions which are up to a thousand years old or even more.  One of those practices they continue to do is whaling.  Pilot whales, the whales they hunt and kill, are a plentiful, beautiful (and delicious!) species.  I could go into a lengthy point-by-point speech at this point to show you why I believe there is nothing wrong with the process, at least from a meat-eater's perspective, but I'll spare you.  If you want to get into that discussion with me, I welcome it.  Please post in my comments and I'll respond. 

What I wanted to do was post the most recent episode of the Faroe Islands podcast.  This is a podcast by an American who has no ties to the Faroes; he claims no loyalty there, only a more than mild interest in this unusual place.  The most recent episode is his attempt to present the topic of whaling in a totally unbiased, dispassionate way.  It's neither for nor against whaling.  However it has two very, very good interviews that are really worth hearing. 

The first interview is with an American grad student who is in the Faroes studying the practice of whale killing.  He has no emotional leanings either way, so he just talks about the various parts of it that he finds interesting and what drew him to studying it and the Faroes to begin with.  I don't know if it matters, but I feel I should note that he is decidedly against commercial whaling and the killing of endangered whales.  I personally don't see anything wrong with commercial whaling as long as the animal is not endangered, but that's my opinion.

The second interview is with a Faroese doctor who has been doing an epidemiological study in the Faroes for 22 years of the effects of mercury, and other contaminates found in whale meat, on the Faroese people, particularly on babies in utero.  Although it's not discussed in this interview, his findings are used around the world (in the scientific/medical community) in determining safe levels (ha!) of mercury, and understanding its effects.

Anyway, enough set up.  I urge you to listen to this episode.  A lot of good information here, and a lot to think about.  Here is the link to the whaling episode of the Faroe Islands Podcast.

Faroese-Japanese Fusion Cuisine!

There has been this series of short films put out of the Faroes lately, presumably to attract tourists.  Some really great stuff in these little pieces (produced by Kovboy Film).  Some stuff many of us (who've spent a lot of time there) have seen before, but also some totally new stuff like this:



WOW!  COOL!  I'm all for the fusion and introducing such a healthy food into the diet.  That makes it better for me for when I eventually move there.  But I am a little bummed that he has to use the microwave.  I try not to use the microwave at all for health reasons; some question whether it causes elements in the food to become harmful, but I think it's also fairly widely known that much of the good stuff is destroyed in microwaved food. 

Anyway, speaking of moving there... George is getting a little desperate for work at this point.  And I'm getting pretty nervous that nothing has materialized yet.  I want everyone in the Faroes to be on the lookout for software jobs for George!  (People here looking out wouldn't hurt either!) ;)

Stuff about the Faroes

I go through cycles of obsession with... well, with everything.  It's no different with the Faroes.  A couple of times a year, sometimes more, a little tickle comes up in my heart, and I begin scouring the internet for anything even remotely related to the Faroe Islands.  In case there are people reading who still don't know this about me: my mom, and my heart, are from the Faroe Islands.

I found a bunch of stuff from the Faroes through my Facebook connections.  I joined Faroe-related Facebook groups.  And when I joined Twitter recently (follow me! I'm "Smaflenna") I did a search for mentions of the Faroes.  I found this guy who has a Faroe Islands podcast, in English!  I still haven't figured out why - he's American, lives in the States, and has never even visited the Faroes.  But it's a thorough and interesting podcast that includes weekly news updates, cultural tidbits, and FANTASTIC interviews.  The only lame thing about the podcast is this regular segment where they play captured audio from various spots around the Faroes (recorded by the Faroese correspondant).  It's a pretty silly segment, but I have to admit to still enjoying it a little.

One of the best interviews I've heard so far was with a writer for the New York Times who apparently wrote an amazing travel piece on the Faroes a couple of years ago.  I tried to separate the interview out from the rest of the audio, but it was becoming a pain to actually put it online for you, so you'll just have to listen to that couple of minutes of news first or you can fast forward passed it if you want.  Either way I think it is worth it.  Anyway the interview part 1 is in episode 9, and interview part 2 is in episode 10.  Wonderful, wonderful interview.  Then again, I have loved almost all the interviews so far.

There are a bunch of webcams now around the Faroes if you're interested to see what it looks like right at this moment.  This one shows you an alternate view of the scene in my unfinished painting. 

Here is a crazy little film about doing something VERY unusual in the Faroes:



A nice video about the Faroes:




There's LOTS more videos on YouTube to watch. I'll probably put some more up soon.