5 things you didn't know about me
Submitted by mediumgeek on Tue, 02/01/2007 - 22:53
Learn my dirty secrets...Eirik tagged me today. So now I am supposed to tell 5 things about myself that you probably don't know. Or at least the ones of you that only know me through my blog. Similarly to Eirik, I put in one false statement. Feel free to guess which one;-).
- I am registered as having 5% disability in Iceland.
- I am Björk's (a world famous Icelandic singer/songwriter) seventh cousin.
- I have gotten an award in an invention contest where I designed a backpack that could be turned into a tent and sleeping bag.
- I collect or used to collect playing cards backs, christmas/birthday cards, postcards, match boxes, stamps, pins, napkins, pens soda cans, and even old bankbooks.
- My great great great great great great great great great grandmother was captured by Algerian slave hunters in Iceland and she spent almost a decade in slavery in Algerie.
I am tagging few people whose dark secrets I want to know;-)
Aadil, Tiram, Susann, Mistress Åse and Peter.
Finaly !
It took some time, but I'm back home now and I have finaly got down my "dark secrets" =)
Yepp... you made it kind of hard spotting your almost lie, hehe. I hope to be as good a liar =)
Hugs
Susann
Done! You will find my
Done! You will find my answers at http://aadil.mu/2007/01/06/190
(^^)b
virtual hug
I'd really appreciate a virtual hug, but the longer I do research on the single points the more unsure I become ...
So let's just go for my first assumption and deliver the easiest possible explanation: you had to find 5 things about yourself, found only 4 to write down and therefor introduced one false statement after the other 4 (assuming it is more probable you didn't change the order).
Additionally it seems to me to be really hard work to know about someone 11 generations back (but maybe it is tradition in Iceland to keep track of your ancestors).
Curiously awaiting the resolution after you decided to unseal your lips.
You should not swim in unknown waters
With genealogy and a good set of church books - under the condition the country was not in constant war and churches were burnt down - it is not uncommon to research at least one branch of your family back to the late 16th century. However I can't vouch for how well Icelandic churches ran their books, or how hard it is to read them, in case the language has changed over time. Also, if a distant relative had such a horrific experience, it is likely that the family has kept the tale alive over generations.
But yes, if the Algerian sea robbers only captured other ships and didn't attack land, it still seems like a quite incredible tale. One would think the borders were protected by a fair amount of guns and other firepower if sea robbers regularly plundered land areas. Maybe Mediumgeek's hyper-grandmother was out swimming in the ice cold sea outside the Icelandic coast when the robbers came to pick her up and sell her as a slave?
Virtual hugs are in the latest entry
I have now posted an entry with the solution:-).
If anyone is wondering how you tell if someone is your fifth, sixth, tenth cousin here is a good cheat sheet.
I don't know the exact way they determine the percentage of disability in Iceland but 75% is max. I was judged as 5% because I had been in a car accident which screwed up my neck. Pretty much ok these days but I will probably be able to work doing a lot of manual labor.
Good guesses you all!
Btw. good one Åse!
Ok now...
I took you up on the challenge: http://www.mistressase.com/?p=60
I believe number 3 is false. I backpack that can be turned into a tent and sleepingbag? That must be the largest backpack of the century, or tent for ants... (ref Zoolander)
Analysing the facts
Let's see:
Your great great great great great great great great great grandmother should've been born around year 1700, assuming 20-30 years between generations. I don't know what Algeria was like back then, but if they had been a super power who sailed the great seas they would have made a big impact in history and probably gone to wars vs England and Spain (among others). Therefore I question this statement.
What does seventh cousin mean, that your cousin's cousin's cousin's cousin's cousin's cousin's cousin is Björk? It doesn't sound impossible, although I doubt it would award you a free backstage pass.
5% disabilty could mean sensitive to strong sunlight or some food that you can't eat. A female reporter on the local radio station wrote in her profile that she is 2% disabled due to being gluten intolerant; the figure estimated by some health care department I presume.
I get a deja-vu feeling reading about the convertible sleeping bag. Yet I don't know you other than from the blog. I think you posted something about it earlier?
All the random collecting of small items is common. My only comment is that at least bank books are becomming rapidly rare as all bank accounts are handled digitally and at best you get a note book to fill in inserts and withdrawals. In the near future, perhaps stamps will become uncommon too, although I doubt they will cease to exist.
Yup
I reasoned pretty much the same way you did about the Algerian slave hunters, Carlsson, I just don't see that one.
As for the Björk fact: I should think everyone in Iceland are related to each other in some way -- there aren't that many of them;)
And I'll accept the challenge, I just need to think about it for a day or two:)
--
The knuckles! The horrible knuckles!
There you go!
4 fakta + 1 om meg;)
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The knuckles! The horrible knuckles!
Algerian history of sea robbers
On the other hand, while looking deeper into Algerian history (thanks to Wikipedia), it can be summarized as follows:
In the end of the 15th century, the Mores and Jews were thrown out of Spain and settled in Algeria. It became infamous for its sea robbery, even more so after Barbarossa in the early 16th century supported it with military. During the following centuries, a strong military republic formed.
Several failed attempts to invade Algeria and stop the sea robbery: the German-Roman emperor Charles V in 1541, the English and Dutch together in 1670, Louis XIV of France 1682, the Spanish 1775 and so on. It took until 1815 for the Americans to defeat the Algerian fleet at Cartagena. Yet only two years later the sea robbers were in action again, collecting taxes from countries who paid to be protected or boarding ships from countries who didn't. In 1830, the French captured Alger and in 1854 the whole country was overtaken.
It also says the Algerian sea robbers took Christenized seafarers as slaves, but doesn't Iceland sound quite a bit far away to go to rob them? Perhaps the great^9 grandmother was a seafarer herself, so the capture took place somewhere more southover? In any case, if Mediumgeek's distant relative once served as a slave (and didn't die from it?), it suggests Iceland didn't pay for protection.
Hm.. The last one is almost
Hm.. The last one is almost too unbelievable, so it could be true for that reason alone :-) I'll go with #1 being the false one. What's the price for the one that guesses the right, eh, wrong one?
My lips are zealed... for a while
Hmmm price... now you are getting demanding;-). How about a virtual hug?
Btw. I am not telling right away which one is false... I need to keep you curious for at least a day:-).
Against all odds (and
Against all odds (and logic), I think that statement number 3 is the false one.
:)