Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.07.2003, Page 30

- the reykjavík grapevine -30 july 25th - august 7th, 2003
THE VOICE OF THE RESISTANCE
FUNNY MONEY
Icelanders are stubborn, independent
and extremely proud of their history,
which is fine. Iceland’s currency
reflects these things being both
colorful, and full of history. The bills
have pictures of historically famous
or important people, while the coins
have etchings of various types of fish
(reflecting Iceland’s biggest industry).
Still, you probably haven’t got a clue
who these people are, or what type
of fish it is on you’re the coins, and if
you simply don’t care, don’t read any
further than this.
The last in the family of króna notes,
and the most valuable of them all, is
the 5000kr note. Still it seems that with
the exception of tourists there are only
a few Icelandic purists that still use the
note. Others have taken credit and debit
cards and do not carry around paper
money at all, though most Icelanders
wish they never came into contact with
credit cards to begin with. The 5000kr
note is very special for one reason, it
is the only króna note with a woman on
it, and it seems the lady is there for no
other reason but
because she’s a
she. Her name
is Ragnheiður
J ó n s d ó t t i r
( 1 6 4 6 - 1 7 1 5 )
and she was
the 3rd wife
of bishop Gísli
Þ o r v a l d s s o n .
R a g n h e i ð u r
was known for
embroidering, but, it seems, nothing
else. Grapevine recommends Vigdís
Finnbogadóttir, former president (and
first female president anywhere) as a
replacement, she at least has some
historical value for Iceland and the rest
of the world. Or perhaps even Björk.
But perhaps you have to be dead to
make it onto a note, unless, of course,
you´re royalty. Also on the front is the
bishop, and his first two wives and on
the back is Ragnheiður again, doing
her thing.
What’s it worth?
If you are insane enough to drink at
bar in Iceland, one purple 5000kr note
could at least get you a little dizzy, but
it could hardly send you into a drunken
bliss, depending on your stamina. It
should get you about 10 pints. To get
to the drunken bliss state, a short stop
at the local liquor store with a budget
mentioned above would do the trick,
a case of beer or a couple of bottles
of “Brennivín” (Icelandic vodka) could
be purchased without difficulties. A
very decent restaurant in downtown
Reykjavik would not charge you much
more then 5000kr for a lunch, for two
even, unless you´re too extravagant.
The note might even cover the prize
of a cheap pair of jeans somewhere at
Laugavegurinn.
Jóndi
M I S C E L L A N E O U S
Anyone who read John Boyce´s
article on the media (issue 2) should
have realised that said media are not
to be trusted. It seems that in the
information society we are bombarded
by the media 24/7, all of it telling us the
same thing, and ultimately, is seems,
owned by the same people. Where
Iceland only a decade ago had almost
a dozen newspapers, it now has only
three. But the truth, as the saying goes,
is out there. You just need to know
where to look, and ignore the headlines.
In the communist countries the
strategy of the powers that be was to
keep information about the outside world
from the masses. This failed completely.
In capitalist ones, the strategy of
whomever it is who ultimately runs
things seems to be to saturate us with
information until we become numb to it
all (would pictures of starving children in
Ethiopia elicit the same response as it
did even in 1984, now that horrors are
brought into our living room every night).
Our only non-violent response to this is
to point out where alternative sources
of information, not run by corporate
interests, can be found.
The internet is still a free forum for
opinions. Anyone can use it to say
whatever he wants. However, it is so
vast that all opinions almost have the
effect of cancelling each other out. It
is hence our duty to point out the sites
that are saying something that sounds
like a reasonable approximation of truth.
One of these is Apsaras Review. It is
run by someone up in Akureyri called
Paul Fontaine-Nikolov, who claims the
idea came to him when he was a drug
smuggler in Tangiers in ´47, while
drinking with William Burroghs. Whether
this story is historically accurate or not is
of no consequence, what is important is
that the company, Kremena Publishing,
is currently looking for new talent to
publish in its netzine. It´s aim is twofold,
to help unknown writers be heard, and to
use the proceeds to help organisations
such as Amnesty International, United
Nations Children´s Fund ( UNICEF ) and
Cambodian Mine Action Center. If
that´s not worthwhile, then at least it
beats sheepshagging. Their current
issue includes everything from a first
person account inside an aircraft carrier
in the 91 Gulf War, to an interview with
a member of the Icelandic Left-Green
Party.
The mag´s manifesto sounds
something like: “What I would like to
see accomplished with the help of
Apsaras Review is that every-day people
from around the world can come here
and express their point of view about
what’s going on around them, that other
people around the world can respond
to them, and that this forum grows in
both strength and volume. Dialogue can
lead to understanding, understanding
can lead to unity, and unity can take
us anywhere. All the power in “running
the world” only seems to belong to the
wealthy and the politicians. The fact
is, we run the world. Our labour, our
taxes, our presence (or lack thereof)
at the polls, our military service--what
else do the powerful rest upon but this?
The distance between the rulers and the
ruled is much shorter than it seems; they
sit upon our very shoulders, and can be
put on the earth with as little effort as
it takes to shrug. Of course, such an
action will never be possible without a
little solidarity. I hope Apsaras Review
can contribute to just such a solidarity.”
Send your submissions to: www.kre
menapublishing.com, or read the thing
at: www.kremenapublishing.com/
ar10259x35.html.
Vladur
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