Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.03.2007, Blaðsíða 2

P_REYKJAVÍK_GRAPEVINE_ISSUE 03_YEAR 05_MARCH_09_APRIL_1
The Reykjavík Grapevine crew
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Vesturgata 5, 101 Reykjavík
www.grapevine.is
grapevine@grapevine.is
Published by: Fröken ehf.
Editorial Office
+354 540-3600 / editor@grapevine.is
for inquiries regarding editorial content.
Marketing Office
+354 540-3605 / ads@grapevine.is
for inquiries regarding advertising, marketing, distribution
and subscriptions.
Publisher’s Office
+354 540-3601 / froken@grapevine.is
for inquiries regarding this publication.
The Reykjavík Grapevine Staff
Publisher: Hilmar Steinn Grétarsson / publisher@grapevine.is
Editor: Sveinn Birkir Björnsson / birkir@grapevine.is
Assistant Editor: Steinunn Jakobsdóttir / steinunn@grapevine.is
Marketing Director: Jón Trausti Sigurðarson / ads@grapevine.is
Support Manager: Oddur Óskar Kjartansson / oddur@grapevine.is
Art Director: Gunnar Þorvaldsson / gunni@grapevine.is
Photographer: Óskar Hallgrímsson / skari@grapevine.is
Contributing writers: Haukur Magnússon / haukur@grapevine.is
Ian Watson
Sales staff: Aðalsteinn Jörundsson / adalsteinn@grapevine.is
Jón Trausti Sigurðarson / jontrausti@grapevine.is
Distribution: Sæmundur Þ. Helgason / saemi@grapevine.is
Proofreader: Jane Victoria Appleton
On cover: GusGus
Photo: Atli / www.dund.is
Make-up: Sóley / emm
Style & hair: Jón Atli ‘Hairdoctor’ Helgason
Wardrobe: Liborious
Printed by: Prentsmiðja Morgunblaðsins printing press
# of copies: 30.101.
The Reykjavík Grapevine can be found in:
Reykjavík, Akureyri, Egilsstaðir, Selfoss, Keflavík, Ísafjörður, Kárahnjúkar and at key
locations around road #1 and at all major tourist attractions and tourist information
centres.
Are you planning an event? Do you want to tell us something?
Send a press release to: listings@grapevine.is
We are always looking for articles. Send your submissions to: editor@grapevine.is
Are you interested in working for the Reykjavík Grapevine (or the other way
around)? If so contact: froken@grapevine.is
You may not like it, but at least it's not sponsored.
(No articles in the Reykjavík Grapevine are pay-for articles.
The opinions expressed are the writers’ own, not the advertisers’).
The Reykjavík Grapevine is published 18 times a year by Fröken ltd. Monthly from
November through April, and fortnightly from May til October. Nothing in this mag-
azine may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the
publishers. Although the magazine has endeavoured to ensure that all information
inside the magazine is correct, prices and details may be subject to change.
Subscribe to the Reykjavík Grapevine by visiting www.grapevine.is. Subscription
inquiries: subscribe@grapevine.is and +354 540 3605.
Welcome, dear reader, to the 54th issue of
the Reykjavík Grapevine. This might be our
lightest issue to date. Sometimes it just can-
not be helped: things fall apart at the last
minute, and all of a sudden you have a com-
pletely different paper on your hands. That
is not to say that this issue is any worse than
what had been planned. On the contrary. I
am extremely proud of no. 54 and the peo-
ple who put in the extra effort to make it
come together.
On to other subjects. I would like to direct
your attention to a photo on page 30. It is a
photo of a historic house on the corner of
Austurstræti and Pósthússtræti, one of the
hallmarks of Reykjavík Centrum. Designed
by Guðjón Samúelsson (1887-1950), Ice-
land’s most celebrated architect, the house
was the first “big” building to rise in Iceland,
constructed between 1916 and 1917 after a
1915 fire destroyed many wooden houses in
the surrounding area. Influenced by Art Nou-
veau and Danish Nationalist Romanticism,
with curved lines, poles and marble stairs,
the house is also decorated with statues by
the sculptor Einar Jónsson, one of Iceland’s
most respected artists. It is, in every way, a
fine testimony to our cultural heritage.
If you still haven’t looked at the photo,
you might think that I am simply describing a
building. You would be wrong. On the cor-
ner, just above the entrance to the restaurant
Apótekið is a statue, one of the many Einar
Jónsson designed for the building. It shows
the figure of an angel looking up towards
the sky. But the angel’s view is obstructed.
Some genius decided that just above its head
would be the perfect place for a CCTV cam-
era. From its metal foundation, rust drips
constantly on to the angel’s face, down its
chin and throat, as if it had been chewing
tobacco but lacked the proper skills to spit it
out properly.
The audacity to treat our cultural heri-
tage with such little respect! This is nothing
short of cultural terrorism. While city officials
have been on a rampage, following kids with
spray cans around the city, no one seems to
have given a second thought to ruining one
of the few truly historic landmarks in Reykja-
vík. This is beyond belief and borders on the
ridiculous.
From the Editor’s Chair
Articles
06 If No One Dares to Try, We Would Never Get Anything New
An interview with editor Sigríður Dögg Auðunsdóttir
08 Honesty Doesn’t Pay
Consumer advice for foreign tax payers in Iceland
10 No Love for Porn!
A column by Marvin Lee Dupree
12 Nothing but the Word
A column by Gabriele R. Guðbjartsson
14 What Kind of Tourist Are You?
Grapevine’s highly scientific personality quiz
19 Prejudice or Paranoia?
A column by Toshiki Toma
24 Esja, a New Peak in the Musical Landscape
An Interview with Krummi and Daníel Ágúst
Features
14 GusGus are Forever
An Interview with Biggi Veira
Essentials
14 Grapevine Goes Shopping
Music & Nightlife
18 CD Reviews
20 Uninspired
Mínus and Incubus at Laugardalshöll
21 Saint Simon
Emilie Simon at Háskólabíó
21 Good Show, Unfortunate Venue
Lisa Ekdahl at NASA
Outside Reykjavík
26 Remote and Isolated, yet Oddly Familiar
Grapevine visits the Faroe Islands
28 Short Day Trip to the Snæfellsnes Peninsula
Info.
B01 Listings
B10 The Advanced Way to Experience Art
B12 Food Reviews
B13 Bezt í Heimi: Filippseyjar Grocery Store
B15 Aldrei fór ég suður: Now More Than Ever