Reykjavík Grapevine - 27.06.2003, Side 4

- the reykjavík grapevine -4 june 27th - july 10th, 2003 - the reykjavík grapevine - 5june 27th - july 10th, 2003
LETTERS
Dear Grapevine,
Where are all the foreign cars in Iceland?
A week ago I brought my car to Iceland for the summer on
the ferry from Shetland. Since arrival in Iceland I’ve not seen a
single foreign registration. My theory is that there’s a big hole
somewhere that swallows foreign cars, and that I had better
keep a sharp look-out!
My car seems to fascinate Icelanders. Frequently in car parks
and garages I find Icelanders staring at my car, first at the
GB sticker and the funny foreign number, then at the steering
wheel on the right-hand side. When I parked my car for five
minutes in Hveragerdi I returned to find a dozen children look-
ing in the windows.
If you are driving a British registered car and you happen to see
my British registered white Mercedes somewhere in Iceland,
please do toot to say hello.
Graeme Davis
United Kingdom
Dear Dr. Davis
Nice to get some response, your theory is indeed right, the
Grapevine research department has led an expedition to
confirm your suspicion. The research team managed to find
out that this black hole you refer to is indeed in Snæfellsnes,
simultaneously we have also managed to find scientific proof
for Jules Vernes never before proven theory that there is a hole
in Snæfellsjökull which leads to the centre of the earth. So what
happens is that when driving you suddenly you begin to feel a
little gravitational pull. Gradually you will end up in Snæfellsnes
and your foreign car will be sent to the centre of the earth.
Our centre of the earth correspondent Gregor T. Owen, says
that is beginning to create a bit of a problem in the centre of
the earth, the reason is that there are no roads there and cars
are therefore useless. -RG
Feel like bitching about the weather or the prices, need reassurance but your friends won´t talk to you,
want to open your heart but even the drunks at your local bar won´t listen, just can´t stop raving about
Grapevine or if there´s anything at all we can do for you, you´ve always got a sympathetic ear here in the
letters column (especially for the latter). Please send your mail to grapevine@strik.is, or just stick it in
the mailbox addressed to:
The Reykjavík Grapevine, Blómvallagata 2, 101 Reykjavík.
“Wulffmorgenthaler” is a comic strip made by two
Danish humans, named Mikael Wulff and Anders
Morgenthaler. They´ve got feet, pelvises, the faces
of stupid angels and move like floating, feather-like
dancers. Morgenthaler directs movies, does anima-
tion and in 2003 made two music videos, which where
both shown on MTV. Wulff is a comedian, writer and
called by some people “the cheese surgeon”. For the
past year these two men have produced this strip.
One strip every day. Until now it´s been published
exclusively on the net on www.k10k.net and on their
own site: www.wulffmorgenthaler.com, where it´s
also possible to check out other stuff. There´s the
hideously honest diary of a creature called The Toucan
Kid; a miserable being, that´s 28% bird and way too
emotional and triumphantly fragile. In the strips the
tone shifts between the the slightly surreal, the witty,
the topical and something which is outright disgusting
and involves a whole new depiction of human orifices.
Morgenthaler, who does the drawing, was fed up with
the tiresome meticulousness of drawing clothes on
people so he just stopped doing it. Who cares about
clothes in comic strips anyway? Now every character
in the strip, no matter how mundane the setting, is
naked. And that´s it. It´s not a message. It´s not a call
for flower power hysteria. “Wulffmorgenthaler” does
not in any way condone any form of nudity, non-con-
formist behaviour or spontaneous orgies in any public
areas. No way! ... In the fall “Wulffmorgenthaler” plans
to publish a heavy book full of strips and jokes. And in
the future they´ll work towards getting their work pub-
lished in more printed media like those international
magazines full of glamour and prestige. That way
they´ll get more successful and more people will be
able to enjoy their work, which is fun and original. The
Reykjavik GrapeVine will bring one Wulffmorgenthaler
strip in every issue.
WULFFMORGENTHALER
TOURISTS OF THE DAY
Names:
Jonathan and Masaco Schwalbenitz
How do you like Iceland? Love it!
It’s clean and friendly. Guides say that
Icelanders are not too friendly unless
they’ve had a couple of drinks, we find
this totally incorrect, almost everybody
is friendly, service is great no matter if
it’s in a restaurant or on day tour out
of Reykjavik. We also like the mix of
old and new in Iceland, the houses and
how technology and old traditions mix
so smoothly.
Where are you from? We’re from
Hawaii and for us, Iceland is our exotic
island.
What in the name of Thor are you
doing here? We’re on our Honeymoon,
we just got married six months ago and
decided to do something different to
celebrate it. Iceland seemed like a good
idea, and it has been.
Have you been here long? A week
now, and we’re planning to stay a week
more.
Have you tried any Icelandic delica-
cies? Oh yes! Hákarl (shark), we bought
some in Kolaportið, the flea market, it
tasted BAD!
Whaling: right or wrong? Sure, with
proper monitoring, we are from Hawaii
and we’ve seen that overfishing can do
much harm. Communities, like here in
Iceland and in Greenland should have the
right to do their whaling like they’ve done
for centuries, but all, of course, within
sensible limits.
Should North America be returned
to its rightful owners, the Iceland-
ers? Coming from the States, we might
just ask; shouldn’t the Native Americans
have more right to the land than the Ice-
landers? Still the Native Americans only
want a little more land for themselves to
build bigger casinos, they don’t want the
whole continent for themselves.
Do you know who Davíð Oddsson
is? No!
Do you know who Bubbi Morthens is?
No, not a clue!
Do you know who Keiko is? Yes…We
know the movie he starred in, Free Willy.