Vilhjalmur Knudsen plays host to guests in his studio, where he shows a pair of 60-minute movies that have been culled from years of filming volcano eruptions across Iceland by he and his dad, starting in the late 1940's.

Vilhjalmur Knudsen plays host to guests in his studio, where he shows a pair of 60-minute movies that have been culled from years of filming volcano eruptions across Iceland by he and his dad, starting in the late 1940's.

We got there a bit early, before the crowd showed up.  A German version of the show was running, and before we could enter the theater for the show, we talked with Vili, who we found to be very funny.

He started filming with his dad when he was 18, and has spent his entire adult life - and according to him all  of his money - filming the various eruptions that have happened over the years in Iceland.

One thing we learned is that his son is attending college at Evergreen, in Olympia. 

A VERY small world!

Before the movies begin, he gives a talk, explaining the geologic history of Iceland, and points out the interesting locations across Iceland are as far as his filming goes.  He also shows a section of pipe that was melted through by lava upwelling through a hot water well. 

He was a funny guy... he wanted to know why everyone was testing their flash batteries... and offered to get a meter for us, for the light level.

Then, he left, went to a back room, fiddled with a DVD for a while, and the movie began.

At one point, in the excitement of filming a frothing magma pool, Vili accidentally turned off the helicopter's engine.  He describes the events in a soothing voice, ending with "He asked me to never do that again".

We saw some really amazing footage of a volcano that erupted on the edge of the village Heimaey in the 1970's... This volcano erupted without much warning and caused the town to be quickly evacuated. Later the lava flow from the volcano threatened to close off the harbor of this fishing town and the Icelandic people began to try to divert the flow of lave. This was the first time anyone had tried to influence a volcano.

It was an awesome show.

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