Remembering our war veterans

This past Sunday, a small group of Icelanders and colleagues from other Embassies attended a ceremony at the Fossvogur Cemetery organized by the British Embassy.  We gathered to honor those who gave their lives for their countries.   British, Canadian, Russian, Norwegian, German, Australian, and American representatives laid wreaths on the monuments that honor the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.  We were honored to have the Icelandic Foreign Minister, as well as the Chief of Protocol from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, join us as we also paid tribute to those Icelandic sailors who lost their lives in periods of war.

An evening with Manuel Barrueco

During a memorable evening at the Kópavogur Theater, Mary and I had the pleasure of listening to American Master Guitarist Manuel Barrueco.  His interpretations were at once moving and technically superb; the Icelandic public gave him a standing ovation.  He played pieces from Bach’s Cello Concertos, and music from Piazzolla, Albeniz, and Tarrega.   Barrueco teaches at the Peabody Conservatory of Music at John Hopkins University. 

Supporting the Icelandic Search and Rescue Teams

I was looking forward to another opportunity to support the Icelandic Search and Rescue Teams—a unique and highly effective model of community-based model of volunteer service. The tradition of American cooperation with Icelandic Search and Rescue teams goes back decades and it included many joint operations and training with U.S. armed forces. We look forward to continuing and expanding our relations with these groups.

The paradox of success and failure in engineering

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending a lecture by Prof. Henry Petroski on the paradoxical relationship between success and failure in engineering.  Prof. Petroski is the Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and Professor of History at Duke University. His lecture is part of a series to celebrate the University of Iceland’s centennial.  Professor Petroski’s point is very simple and paradoxical:  success in design is achieved by anticipating failure; in other words, if we want a design to succeed we need to anticipate how it might fail so that the design includes features that prevent such potential failures.  On the other hand, if we adopt a successful design, chances are that it will fail somewhere down the line.  If readers are intrigued by this notion, I would encourage them to watch the lecture onhttp://www.hi.is/myndbond/dr_henry_petroski%C2%B4s_lecture.   It is quite energizing to see how the interaction between two great universities (Háskóla Íslands and Duke) can illuminate our lives.

Congratulations to the Icelandic Opera

I never cease to be amazed at the quality and range of artistic talent in Iceland, and the Icelandic Opera’s opening performance of “The Magic Flute” this past Saturday is no exception.  The performance at Harpa was at once awesome and fun.  Heartiest congratulations to the Icelandic Opera and best wishes for a successful season. 

Greening the U.S. Embassy

I was delighted to welcome two Hybrid Ford Escapes to the Embassy’s vehicle fleet in Iceland.  The use of these vehicles will make a modest contribution to American and Icelandic efforts to reduce our carbon footprint.  The U.S. has been proactive in promoting the use of renewable energy at home and abroad, including through partnerships with Iceland and others to facilitate the use of geothermal energy in island nations.  As our government also strives to use leading technologies in our own operations, we are delighted to do our part to lower our carbon footprint.  We look forward to continuing to explore the use of green technology to improve our operations in Iceland. 

Boeing tests latest 747 in Iceland

Mary and I had the pleasure of having an up close and personal look at Boeing’s new 747-8I, which was in Iceland recently to undergo performance testing. This is the latest version of Boeing’s veritable aircraft.  While it looks very similar to previous 747 models, it shares its wing design, engines, interior, and cockpit with Boeing’s latest technological marvel:  the 787 Dreamliner.   Many of us dreamed of faraway places when we saw our first 747 so many years ago.  It was quite exhilarating to have a close look at the newest version of the plane in one of the faraway places we once dreamed about.  Iceland and Boeing’s partnership runs deep as Boeing has been coming to Iceland for years to test its aircraft under windy conditions and Icelandair’s entire fleet comes from Boeing.