Who needs TV when you have message boards

As I expected, posting yesterday’s blog entry was akin to firing a rocket into the thick of Nicelandic society and watching fires ignite. Within a couple of hours Mr Mike Trent’s comment was burning up message boards across the land and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find the ensuing discussions entertaining [the serious nature of the subject matter notwithstanding]. They ranged from the banal to the philosophical and reflected the full spectrum of human intellect – and stupidity. Some people wondered why an Assistant D.A. in Texas would be writing such potent stuff in a commonplace comment box on some “foreign” blog [because, you know, if it’s written in English it must be foreign], others questioned whether this Mike Trent character was really who he said he was and dared other members on the board to phone him all the way in Texas [oooh!] and ask if he was for real. Still others questioned the validity of his claims and called for a media investigation [!], and of course the argument over the humanity vs. inhumanity of Aron Pálmi’s sentence raged on.

Meanwhile, in YT’s opinion the best thread was on a chick board called barnaland.is [“babyland.is”] in which a juicy debate about YT’s writing skills and command of the English language was initiated.

CHICK 1: This [aka the post] is written in such terrible English that I can barely read it.
CHICK 2: Terrible English? je ræt*
CHICK 1: yes, that’s what I think, I think this Alda writes really poor English.
CHICK 3: It’s not terrible English. Give us a break [CHICK 1].
CHICK 1: comon,** the grammar is correct, but there is absolutely no flow. No flow whatsoever.
CHICK 3: Still, it’s not terrible. Could be more eloquent but this person is still relatively fluent.
CHICK 1: vocabulary is fine, grammar is fine, but the writing is totally stiff.. I’ll admit that terrible is a bit too strong..
CHICK 3: HAHA! I won :þ

Next up was a critique on Mr. Mike Trent’s use of the English language:

CHICK 4: I seriously doubt that an educated American would write like this: " 'I'm proud of having prosecuted him and my only regret is that he did not get a bunch more time". Note the word "bunch".
CHICK 5: Exactly.
CHICK 4: Still, maybe it’s standard legal English. What do we know? [English:] "Your honour, I think this man should get a bunch of time in prison for what he did".
CHICK 6: maybe he doesn’t take his work home and talks like a bleedin' redneck when he’s at home.....
CHICK 4: Sure, he tries and tries to use big important words at home, in between using slang like "bunch". Very likely.
CHICK 1: still, you never know, though, he might want to say something else in a court of law it might be a different story with a letter he sends out.. that is, if it is him who wrote that letter [aka comment].
CHICK 4: No, there’s many strange things in the cow’s head***. Still, I suspect it’s an Icelander who thinks he’s being really clever and is trying to use all the words he’s heard on Law and Order.

... You see? Infinite entertainment value!

AND WHILE MESSAGE BOARDS ARE ON FIRE, IT’S COLD AS HELL OUTSIDE
Right now temps are 0°C but feel like –4°C [32°F and feels like 24F], on account of the substantial windchill. Sunrise was at 11.08 and sunset at 4.01 pm.

* Icelandic bastardization of “yeah, right”.
** Icelandic bastardization of “come on” only under normal circumstances the Icelandic bastardization is “kommon”
*** Nicelandic idiom.