Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.01.2007, Side 17

REYKJAVÍK_GRAPEVINE_ISSUE 01_007_NEWS/ BEST OF_17
Friday, June 02, 2006
Hunters Run Afowl of the Law
The Northeastern District Court has sen-
tenced a man to pay a fine of 20,000 ISK for
illegally storing a variety of dead birds in his
freezer. The published verdict notes that last
September police were notified of a cache
of firearms, toxic substances and explosives
that was said to be readily accessible to any-
one passing by. When officers arrived to in-
vestigate they discovered poisons, firearms,
ammunition, two demised owls, three stiff
falcons and a pair of ex-merlins. The verdict
further states that two men were questioned
in relation to the find, but their stories were
convoluted and did not always match. Ac-
cording to the least confusing version po-
lice were able to write down, the man who
was convicted had originally been asked to
store two dead falcons for a colleague of
his father’s, but his collection of fowl that
had shuffled off their mortal coil continued
to grow as he shot a merlin soon after. The
third falcon was said to have been discovered
deceased by the defendant in either 2002 or
2003, and he claimed an unidentified third
man had given him an expired owl and a
perished merlin around the same time. As
luck would have it he then ran over an owl
with his car last year, despite the fact that the
bird is technically not present in the Icelandic
ecosystem and only the occasional specimen
winds up here by navigational error from
time to time. According to the Icelandic Insti-
tute of Natural History, the birds all appeared
to have kicked the bucket long ago and sub-
sequently kept frozen for several years. One
of the falcons was tagged by them soon be-
fore his demise in 1996 or 1997.
by Gunnar Hrafn Jónsson
Friday, June 16, 2006
Man Feeds Decapitated Corpses To Dog
Jóhannes Björnsson, a farmer who owns
land in Flekkudalur by Meðalfellsvatn lake,
has been feeding his dogs fly-ridden, raw
horse flesh that has lain under the burning
midday sun for days at a time. Although
Chief Veterinary Officer Halldór Runólfsson
told Fréttablaðið that this was “highly unusu-
al,” Jóhannes told the Grapevine that letting
one’s dogs rip at the headless and bloody
carcasses of slaughtered stallions was done
“practically everywhere.”
“It’s not like I’m leaving the whole thing
in there to rot,” Jóhannes said. “I give them
about 25% of the horse – loin, calves, that
kind of thing. And it’s clean meat, taken
from healthy animals. It would be like din-
ing at a fine restaurant.” Although all would
seem to be in good order, the plot thickened
when the Grapevine discovered that the only
other registered phone number in Flekku-
dalur belongs to a Pet Sematary – sorry, pet
cemetery. Although they told the Grapevine
they “usually don’t bury anything larger than
a cat or a dog,” the Grapevine is determined
to get to the bottom of this web of deceit.
by Sindri Eldon
Thursday, July 13, 2006
All Hell Breaks Loose In Keflavík
Two heavily intoxicated men embarked on
a mad, destructive rampage in Keflavík last
night, vandalising two cars and picking fights
with a girl and a young man with glasses.
The boy’s glasses were savagely destroyed
when the two men punched him in the face.
It is unknown what exactly caused the men’s
overtly hostile behaviour to the boy, but gen-
eral geekdom and/or wussdom is likely to be
the cause. In any case, the two men spent
the night in police custody. The Grapevine
was shocked to discover that the would-be
social commentators had been released.
“We just let them go this morning,” Keflavík
police told the Grapevine, prompting one to
ponder if the streets of Keflavík will ever be
safe again, or if Keflavík even still exists, and
hasn’t been utterly destroyed by the time this
goes into print.
by Sindri Eldon
Monday, July 17, 2006
False Alarm in Fossárdalur
The police in Árnessýsla and a large rescue
team were called out at 20:00 last night af-
ter the police reported what was suspected
to be a mortally wounded man lying in a rock
slide beneath Háifoss waterfall. When police
arrived at the scene they found no man but
in fact a full-sized dummy. It is likely that the
human replica was used as a prop in a movie
last winter and somehow got lost and ended
up floating in the river in Fossárdalur, but the
police had received no reports of such an in-
cident before. After realising that no life was
in danger, all rescue operations were recalled.
The Árnessýsla police could not inform Grape-
vine as to which film company the dummy
belonged, but told us that the dummy is cur-
rently in storage at the police station and will
be returned to its owners if claimed.
by Steinunn Jakobsdóttir
Monday, July 17, 2006
Company Sucks Band Into Lawsuit
Nilfisk Advance, a Denmark-based cleaning
equipment manufacturer, are threatening
Icelandic rock band NilFisk with a lawsuit on
the grounds of copyright infringement, ac-
cording to Viðskiptablaðið. The band, whose
name was greenlighted by Nilfisk Advance in
Iceland when the band first chose their name,
dropped off a copy of their debut album at
the Copenhagen office while there to play
concerts, only to receive a letter from Nilfisk
Advance’s lawyers, who threatened to sue if
the band did not change their name and re-
called all CDs and merchandise with NilFisk’s
name on it. They were also commanded to
close their website, nilfisk.valnir.com. In re-
sponse, the band and their lawyer sent an
explanation that they were on good terms
with Nilfisk Advance in Iceland, and that their
name technically differs from that of Nilfisk
advance in that the ‘F’ in the band’s name
was capitalised. Although Nilfisk Advance
have not replied, and were unavailable for
comment due to their executives being on
vacation, Sveinn of NilFisk told the Grapevine
that if Nilfisk Advance persist with the lawsuit,
the band will most likely change their name
to NilFizk. Also unavailable for comment were
French hip-hop band Electroluxe Family and
country singer Hoover, who may themselves
face lawsuits if this fad continues.
by Sindri Eldon
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Nosebleed Delays Much Hyped Iceland
vs. Scotland Soccer Showdown
Due to nose-related injuries incurred by for-
mer múm member Gyða Valtýsdóttir on a
trampoline last night, the much hyped battle-
of-the-bands soccer match between Scottish
Belle & Sebastian and Iceland’s own múm
has been rescheduled from this afternoon
for Sunday. The soccer tradition between the
bands began three years ago with a match in
Japan in which, after pushing into over time,
Belle & Sebastian took the Icelanders 10 to
8. While the Icelandic team hopes to make a
better showing for itself this year, Gyða told
the Grapevine, chance of victory seems slim
considering that the team consists mainly
of women, children and geeks. Apart from
the members of múm and B&S, this year’s
match, scheduled at a yet undisclosed loca-
tion, will include Emiliana Torrini, múm mem-
ber Kristín Valtýsdóttir’s twin sister Gyða and
nine-year-old brother Jónas, as well as the
bands’ various entourages. Daniel Bjarna-
son, who will be playing for the múm team,
told the Grapevine that Torrini was originally
scheduled to play on the Icelandic side but
that they were now considering trading her
over since she is half-Italian. Belle & Sebas-
tian’s Icelandic tour begins tonight with a
sold-out concert at NASA. On Saturday the
band will play a sold-out concert at Bræðslan
in Borgarfjörður Eystri, but reportedly hope
not to tire themselves out too much before
their match in Reykjavík the next morning.
by Valgerður Þóroddsdóttir
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Improper Dynamite Dump Leads to
Bomb Scare
Last Thursday, Selfoss police requested the
Icelandic Coast Guard’s bomb squad to the
town’s municipal waste area, following calls
from a distraught employee who was left
in a state of shock after two construction
company workers brought (and left behind)
a case containing 30 sticks of dynamite.
The employee told the Grapevine that be-
fore leaving the dynamite, the construction
workers explained that they had discovered
it while cleaning around the office. They
claimed they were unsure as to where to
dispose of it, figuring the town dump the
obvious choice. After confirming said explo-
sives were indeed rogue dynamite, the bomb
squad duly disposed of them. The dynamite
is believed to have been around 30 years old
and thus highly volatile. Selfoss police offi-
cials went on record as saying that dispos-
ing of old explosives is a serious business and
those interested in doing so should consider
contacting proper authorities beforehand.
by Haukur Magnússon
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Björgólfur Officially Declared Most Suc-
cessful Human Ever. Sorta
In a striking turn of events that unfolded his
Saturday, an article in one of Britain’s pre-
mier money mags, The Financial Times, de-
clared Icelandic banking tycoon Björgólfur
Þór Björgólfsson the sexiest billionaire alive.
Referencing his ‘big blue eyes’ and ‘pleas-
ingly imposing Viking stature’, the magazine
went on to recount his noble quest of restor-
ing his family name after a 1986 business
scandal involving his father. Björgólfsson
has yet to comment on the accolades, but is
surely contemplating his next moves in a dia-
mond-studded, champagne-fuelled private
jet somewhere over the Atlantic. The NYU-
educated, London-living Björgólfsson made
his first millions co-founding Russia’s Bravo
brewery and now holds stakes in several of
Iceland’s biggest companies, including na-
tional bank Landsbankinn and pharmaceuti-
cal giant Actavis. He is currently the world’s
350th richest man. Sexy, to boot.
by Haukur Magnússon
Friday, September 29, 2006
Planned Blackout Not So Black As
Planned
Last night, 28 September 2006, Reykjavík ex-
perienced the world’s first [known] planned
blackout. The event marked the realisation of
its architect, Andri Snær Magnason’s, dream
to expose urban youth to the dark night skies
which have influenced culture around the
world for millennia. The Reykjavík City Coun-
cil agreed to turn off all the city’s streetlamps
to participate in the event. Unfortunately,
not all privately owned homes and busi-
nesses took part, making the event not
quite so black as hoped. In an interview with
the Grapevine, Magnason said, “We might
look at it as a dress rehearsal.” As for the
fireworks Reykjavík residents may have seen
or heard last night, they were unplanned,
and perhaps served only to exacerbate the
problem of light pollution created by those
lights that were left for the half-hour dura-
tion of the event. Magnason does not view
the incomplete blackness as an indication of
failure, however, stating that, “The idea has
been going all over the globe in newswires…
I’ve been talking to the BBC and PBS and
it was in Italian papers… Lots and lots big
writing follow-up.” Magnason hopes that
if people enjoyed the event and would like
to see it repeated, hopefully growing darker
with each effort, that they will express their
positive opinions to bolster his efforts to
make the blackout an annual occurrence.
Last night’s blackout signalled the beginning
of the 3rd annual Reykjavík International Film
Festival (RIFF).
by Virginia Zech
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Snap Your Arms Say Yeah!
Akureyri’s parents and health officials have
voiced their concerns in recent days, as it
seems like a new fad referred to as “snap-
ping arms” is threatening their children’s well
being. In their print edition, Morgunblaðið
reported that the fad found its legs this
fall with Akureyri’s teenagers and has been
steadily growing in popularity ever since. An
interview with school nurse Katrín Friðriks-
dóttir reveals that the fad entails kids loosen-
ing their arm muscles before slapping their
limbs out into the air, “as if slapping a wet
towel,” causing their joints to make a sort
of snapping sound. Harmless school fun it
seems, but there appears to be a darker side
to the phenomenon, as there are reports
of kids as young as nine years old suffering
arm injuries as a result of the activity. It can
reportedly cause joints to fall out of place,
as well as bruising and swelling, in the long
run even causing impairments. As for how
the fad got popular, no one seems to know.
An unnamed young source apparently told
Morgunblaðið’s reporter that “some famous
guy” was the one who discovered the pleas-
ing nature of snapping ones arms, although
his identity has yet to be confirmed.
by Haukur Magnússon