Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.09.2008, Blaðsíða 4

4 | REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 14—2008
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Hi Grapevine,
In Icelandic elections, what role do en-
dorsements play? I'm not talking about
party-endorsements, but endorsements
from unions or well-known individuals
or clubs. It irritates me that the police
union issues endorsements in my state
[here in the usa], and then candidate X
says 'Police Endorsed.' I'd like the police
to stay out of my elections, thank you.
Where can I find out how this gets done
over there?
Thanks, Gavin Sullivan
AFS student in Iceland – 1982
Well Gavin,
Some unions have historical ties with
political parties and candidates are fre-
quently voted for on the basis of those
ties, i.e. the workers union, but I don’t re-
call an incident where a union (especially
the police union) has come out to directly
endorse a candidate or a party directly in
recent years. The ties are more historical
and social I’d think. But, political endorse-
ments here in Iceland often come in the
form of financial contributions, and all
things considered, I’d rather have those
upon the table. Or preferably, not at all.
Hello,
Just a quick note from Townsville, which
is on the coast of North Queensland Aus-
tralia, to say thank you for printing my
'penfriend request' in your newspaper a
few months ago. It was marvellous of you
and the result is that I now correspond
by letter, the old fashioned way, with a
delightful Icelandic woman. Already we
have learned a few things about each
others' country so very, very far apart
and so incredibly different. These across
the globe exchanges are very uplifting.
Thanks again and best wishes to you
and everyone in your office. Cheerio.
Denise Moore
Why, thank you Denise.
Dear editor
The next time you send a journalist to a
Slugs concert, make sure he knows the
difference between the band and the
lead singer. The next time you send a
journalist to a Slugs concert make sure
he notices that other bands are playing,
and not just his own itching hemoroids.
Oh yeah, by the way, the next time you
send a journalist to a Slugs concert make
sure the journalist isn t́ a self righteus
pussy that́ s affraid of getting sloshed by
beer and confuses piss with red wine.
regards,
Syndri Freyr Steinsson, slugs groupie
Dearest Sindri,
Thank you for your comments re: Marcus
Walsh’s review of that Slugs show. We
will make sure to stifle our reviewers’ at-
tempts at critical thought in the future. It
was about damn time, too.
Now do us a favour: The next time you
read the Grapevine, make sure you aren’t
a star-struck, self-righteous, cock-gob-
bling groupie motherfucker. K?
Hey,
seems like these (excuse moi le mot)
touristic magazines always had to come
with bad lay out, screeming out it was a
free magazine. Happy to see your maga-
zine stands out between them, adding
class to the content with a great typog-
raphy job. Can't wait to get my hands on
one.
Hat tip to your designer(s).
Wim
Dear Wim,
Thank you for your comments on Gun-
nar Þorvaldsson’s excellent design skills.
To our great regret, Gunnar has left the
Grapevine for greener pastures. We al-
ready miss him, and will certainly have
a rough time keeping up the impossibly
high standards he set. But we will try our
best to honour his vision.
Hullo,
Sindri here from Slugs. Marcus Walsh's
article on our show blew my mind, and is
the first and only piece of positive press
this band has ever received to my knowl-
edge. Thank you.
Although an exemplary bit of journalism
in many ways, we would like to point out
that the Canadian guy wasn't the only
act that got an encore; we got one. Also,
there was no water in the gun, only beer,
and later on, I put red wine in it. Come
to think of it, that was during the encore;
maybe he missed it.
Finally, and also a bit unfairly, since he's
not expected to know this, but I don't
write the music. I arrange it, but the other
guys write it.
Well, that all. Thanks again,
S. Eldon
Dear Sindri,
We suspected you’d like Marcus’ take
on your band of Slugs. As for the missed
encore: it’s probably better not to intimi-
date your audience if you want it to stick
around for the entire show. There are
fragile young Englishmen out there, you
know, ones that don’t take “confronta-
tion” lightly.
Dear Reykjavik Grapevine:
On you issue no.12 you featured an article
regarding the possibilities of the city of
Reykjavik and Iceland in general to host
the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. The
article was somewhat pessimistic over
the chances of such major even happen-
ing in the city. When Athens hosted the
2004 Summer Olympic Games, Greece
was one of the smallest countries in
population (est. 11 million) to host such
an event. The International Olympic
Committee seemed to prefer cities and
countries several million in population
in order to secure the success and profit-
ability of such behemoth event. On the
contrary the Winter Olympic Games are
smaller in scale (although in the last 10
years the organizing cities have tried to
elaborate their Olympic festivities).
Maybe Reykjavik needs to rethink their
strategy in bidding for an Olympic event.
Even if the organizing committee can
secure funds to host the summer games,
one major factor is the weather. Yes,
Reykjavik is beautiful with clean air to
breath and less traffic than other major
European capital cities. But the summer
is still cold for most tourists standards.
Even at 15-20 degrees Celsius, it's still
considered spring weather.
Which brings us to the Winter Olympics
suggestion. Reykjavik has the weather,
mountains and snow to host the winter
games. The are less venues to accommo-
date and any new construction to accom-
modate them can be used by Icelanders
a lot more than the summer games.
My suggestion to the Icelandic govern-
ment and the city of Reykjavik is to make
a bid for the winter games. Their chances
of seriously be considered are far greater
than the summer games. There are less
athletes, officials, and visitors to accom-
modate, and would be far less expensive
to organize.
I hope Reykjavik does host a major ath-
letic event in the near future. I have faith
in the city and its people that they will
put forth any effort needed to ensure the
event is a complete success. It will be the
best marketing promotion for a city and
country that are breathtaking and still
undiscovered by many tourist.
I will be the first volunteer to assist.....just
ask!
Best Regards,
Irene A. Wright
Louisville, KY USA
iwright@aegonusa.com
Wow, Irene. You really think we could
pull that off, huh? Well, you better pack up
your stuff and come on over right away:
the first volunteer’s job will most likely be
that of convincing the rest of the world he
or she isn’t drugged or deranged.
And thanks for your cool dissertation. I
say we go for it. Our address and phone
number are on page 2 – give us a ring
when you arrive.