Monday, April 30, 2007

Who does number two work for?

So for a month now I've been learning all about Icelandic culture through peripheral immersion.

Why the sudden interest in the Tiny Island Entirely Populated By Viking Hordes?

The company I just started to work for, White Wolf Publishing, merged with CCP Games--which is from Iceland.

The man in the picture above is kinda the President/CEO/Storm Trooper General. He doesn't dress like that normally, but honestly, we all think he should.

Here's a short list of what else you don't know about Iceland.

  • In case of a worldwide zombie infestation, they are completely screwed because almost the entirety of Europe will try to go over there for safety and they don't have the military to protect their borders. What the entirety of Europe doesn't realize is that zombies can walk the ocean floor. Thanks Max Brooks for this bit of information.
  • They all travel in longships, even on land. 3/4 of the entire population are expert, Olympic-level rowers. The other 1/4 are super-expert, Olympic-level rowers. They don't compete in the Olympics in rowing because, well, it's too easy.
  • They party harder than 27 Collin Farrel's PLUS 3 sets of Oasis brothers. The only reason they haven't all died is because the cold weather preserves their organs.
  • Everything that comes ashore is taxed. Like crazy. No, I mean like the kind of tax that makes you want to throw tea into a harbor. It's so bad that we try to ship them as little as possible, instead making them swallow expensive computer parts when boarding airplanes.
  • "Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin is their national anthem. It is also the prayer they say before they go to bed every night. Finally it serves as some really kickass Muzak in every office elevator in the entire country...by law.
  • They are all really a bunch of hippies. I like them because I play frisbee.
  • Consonants are clearly more highly valued than vowels.
  • The words "shark" and "urine" appear in the name of one of their famous dishes. I will not ever eat that dish, although it has received the "not as bad as I expected" award from White Wolf's finest food critics.
  • While they have a culture rooted in maritime endeavors, at our recent company day they were the masterminds behind the SS Worst Boat Ever. It was probably the only vessel that the teambuilding company has strictly forbidden anyone from manning in a race across a body of water. Mainly because it was sort of like a human torpedo, but made out of cardboard and with holes everywhere.