Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.08.2004, Blaðsíða 8

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Foreign born woman spotted
wearing national costume
A foreign born woman was seen
wearing seen wearing Iceland´s
national costume on the balcony
of the House of Parliament. She
was spotted standing next to the
president just after his inaugura-
tion, his third one so far. It is not
yet known whether she had to go
to Laugarvatn to obtain the outfit.
Finns drink more than us
Those that think Icelanders drink
too much can now take solace
in the fact that Finns drink even
more strong alcohol than we
do. They can further comfort
themselves with the fact that the
Danes drink more as well, but this
is reputedly spread more evenly
throughout the week.
Friend of Iceland in need
Anyone who has ever come to
Iceland has customarily been
given the honorary title friend of
Iceland. The relationship, however,
has so far ended as soon as said
friend departs. One of our Friends,
Bobby Fischer, is now in legal
trouble and has asked whether he
could come here. The government
decided not to be friends in need,
and he´s now seeking asylum in
Japan.
SARCASM AND THE CITY:
by Hassan Harazi
Reykjavík’s Carrie Bradshaw with Birkenstocks
AND FINALLY…
What do you say to a woman with
two black eyes? Nothing, you’ve
told her twice already. It’s V Dagur
time again. The time of year we
say, “No to violence”. The time of
year we can all wear the t-shirts
and talk the talk. Coincidently,
a new sex shop with Reykjavík’s
first peep show is now open. Also
newly launched is Iceland’s new
magazine for men, B og B, featur-
ing the best in cars, electronic
goods, music, motorbikes and,
of course, naked women. This is
also the time of the festivals and
as usual Og Vodafone are selling
sleeping bags, footballs and tents.
A new product to this year’s es-
sential festival accessory range is
a whistle. Presumably for revel-
lers to blow during concerts, but
given the number of rapes that
occur each year, most commonly
committed on drunk young girls,
maybe a better use would be as a
rape alarm.

So lads, let’s try it.
No means No
Stop means Stop
And being semi conscious and un-
able to speak does NOT mean Yes.
A new rising star on the Reykjavík photography scene is the
model/fashionista/shop girl Nína Björk Gunnarsdóttir. Diminu-
tive Nína Björk has been a photographer for the past two years and
has recently unveiled her first solo exhibition of five black and white
portraits at one of Reykjavík’s newest art galleries.
Þingvellir National Park

On a recent camping trip to Þingvellir National Park, I happened upon the
most delightfully named Café Þing. It’s reassuring to know that in one of the
most important places in the country the Icelandic language is held in such
high regard and is in safe hands. If anyone would like to visit this historic
area, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and you don’t have
your own car or want to pay the extortionate price for a Golden Circle bus
tour, well, hard luck - you can’t. The bus service of the past 60 years has been
scrapped. You could buy the Þingvellir CD-ROM and watch it at home
though. Incidentally, the Þingvellir Visitor Centre has some very nice wide
screen televisions with lots of nice moving pictures. For anyone that doesn’t
require their experience to come from a cathode ray tube, simply read your
guidebook and then step outside.
Unlike other well-known photographers who prefer their work to be silver
gelatine prints, mounted on fibreboard, Nína Björk opted for the finest
expanded polystyrene. All five prints are available to buy for the very reason-
able sum of 100.000kr each. Nína Björk will soon go to Denmark for five
months to study her art further, so her work is sure to increase in value when
she’s learnt how to do it properly. Nína Björk certainly shows that she’s just as
talented behind the lens as in front and is not, as some critics say, just a pretty
face. Unfortunately, this exhibition closed on the 5th August. Let’s hope that
all five prints were sold as this will go some way to keeping Nína Björk sup-
plied in sunglasses and lip-gloss during her stay in Denmark.
Greenpeace and the Whales

So Halldóra Jónsdóttir wasn’t happy to get a letter from Green-
peace about whaling. Had she bothered to read it, she would know
that her name and address had been taken out of the national reg-
ister. This is just a guess, but I suspect that Greenpeace probably
paid for the mailing list. I say this as my girlfriend receives copies
of the magazine, Orðlaus, and I believe that this is only sent to
women between certain ages, with the information coming from
the National Register. She’s never asked for this magazine, but
then it does come in handy for lining the cat litter tray. Speaking
of cats, I’ve been watching the news lately about the abandoned
tiny little fluffy-wuffy kittens with their cute little noses and funny
little paws. I bet there are a few minke whales out there that wish
they were furry and cute.
H
.S
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