Reykjavík Grapevine - 19.06.2009, Page 4

Sour grape of the month
A case of POLAR BEER for your thoughts.
We're not gonna lie to you: we really love us some beers. Some folks
would call it a problem, but beer never gave us any problems. In fact,
over the years, it's solved most of 'em. A frosty glass of cold, frothy,
bubblicious, golden-tinted beer has consistently failed to let us down.
In the immortal words of Homer J. Simpson: "Mmm... Beer..."
Now, since we're real pleasant and giving folks here at the Grapevine,
we thought we'd share some of that wonderful POLAR BEER with
you, our readers. Henceforth, until the end of days (or our Polar Beer-
sponsorship program, whichever comes first), we will reward one
MOST EXCELLENT LETTER with a case of the Polar Beer. You read
right. A full case of beer. At your disposal.
Give us your worst: letters@grapevine.is
(light)
Say your piece, voice your opinion,
send your letters to
letters@grapevine.is
4
Letters
MOST AWESOME LETTER:
Sour grapes
and stuff
Dear editor of The Reykjavík Grapevine,
I read the article about the Dalai Lama's
visit to the University of Iceland, and was
truly appalled by Ms. Domurath's attitude
towards His So-Called Holiness.
Since when is looking at things as 'black-
and-white' a good thing? Nothing in this
world is 'black-and-white'. This 'black-and-
white' attitude leads to stupid conclusions
and hypocrisy. Think about Europe's at-
titude to Israel: many people there think
Israel is some big ol' meanie Nazi-esque
conqueror, though few know anything
about the conflict, while their own coun-
tries do much worse atrocities in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Or think about the Japanese
education system: they teach their children
that violence, regardless of circumstance
(this includes self-defence), is wrong, while
they send some troops of their own to Iraq
and Afghanistan, with no qualms involved
(and not to mention the fact they've never
acknowledged the atrocities they commit-
ted during WWII, which makes Germany
look like Cuba).
This is absurd. Why in the world must we
Western people go on with this 'excuse-
me-for-being-Western-our-knowledge-is-
nothing-compared-to-your-oh-so fascinat-
ing-Islám/Buddhism/Judaism/whatever'
attitude. This whole idiotic Political Cor-
rectness is what gives Europe over to radi-
cal Islám and makes the Germans, a na-
tion that has brough so much cultural and
scientific progress to the world, ashamed
of their own country. (And another thing:
if the Dalai Lama says he's just a person
who's learned 'from encounters with oth-
ers', why does he get to lecture? Why should
anyone waste time on listening to ignorant
answers which work only in his weird mi-
crocosmoses?)
It's about time Europe woke up. This is not
what Prometheus stole the sun for.
An Cat Dubh – http://israblog.co.il/573275
Dear Mr. Dubh,
Yes, well. I agree that the whole bipolar, du-
alistic, black and white division of the world
into good and evil, right and wrong, is usu-
ally a fucking horrible idea that can lead to
some pretty fucking horrible conclusions.
So it’s good you think that. Nevertheless,
dude, your letter smacks of the sort of fascist
bile you seem to want to be against. Your at-
titude astounds me. I visited to your blog, I
trudged through your so-called manifesto.
I still have not a clue what you’re on about.
Defending liberal culture by imposing all
sorts of stringent rules upon it? Man, the
whole point of being a pluralist – of a so-
ciety of enlightenment and tolerance – is
to respect the variety of cultures, and of
viewpoints that are around. The opposite of
liberalism is fundamentalism, yet you strive
to be some sort of liberal fundamentalist? A
liberascist?
Makes no sense at all.
Hi, I am a New Yorker who is coming to
Reykjavik on June 18th for twelve days. I
have been following your website for the
past month, and have noticed the increased
attention to riots. In your opinion, is it safe
to come to Reykjavik right now?
Thanks,
Gabe
Dear Gabe,
Since you’re already here, I can only say: I
hope you brought your gun. It’s totally not
safe here. Tonight, as I was picking up a
friend from the airport, I was pestered by a
group of drunken teenagers. And yesterday
this girl almost ran me over with her bike.
In fact, I hear a lot of bikes get stolen around
here on a regular basis. Maybe the girl had
stolen the bike she was on, I have no idea. So
take heed: Iceland is not safe for you.
Dear Madam, Dear Sir,
The life of people living in Island and other
northern territories of the Northern hemis-
pere is in danger of inundation. You have to
inform people how they can avoid the dan-
ger. The sign that will be shown in the sky
will predict the tragedy. Then, you will have
30 days to move to the highlands. Please in-
form the readers of your newspaper about
it, because all the North will be under water.
Everyone have to leave the place. I adjoint
more information below [redacted].
Wanda Stanska-Proszynska, Warsaw, Po-
land
apocalipsistestamentum.blogspot.com
DDear Wanda,
Fuck. Inundation? That sounds serious.
We’ll keep our eyes on the sky from now
on.
Dear Sir,

I picked up a copy of your newspaper at the domestic airport in Reykjavik. No doubt it is
aimed at the young and trendy and that is just fine; I do not fall into that category.

However, that being so or not, I do take issue with you on the form of the English
language that you use in the Editorial of Issue 6. I imagine that you did not learn English
in England, but I find it difficult to know where you did learn it. I really do not want
Icelanders to believe that this is the correct way to write, or even speak the English
language.

To begin with, one never abbreviates words when writing. e.g.. I'm, what's, isn't, I'll, 'em,
etc. All these should be written in full And as for gonna and didya and ain't, there are
NO SUCH WORDS in the English language and I do not even know what y'all means.
This is simply the written phonetic sounds of the badly spoken English. The expression
hatting off does not exist .

Please do your best to enhance life and not muddy it. You Icelanders guard the purity
of your language and are proud to do so and I heartily agree with that sentiment. Please
help me to do the same with the English language to the extent that it is possible.

Yours sincerely,
Hazel Oberst
Greetings Ms. Oberst,
thank you for a fun letter!
I assure you, I’m well aware that abbreviating words, using non-standard words or just
plain making words up for fun isn't proper. I do appreciate your general sentiment of
preservation, while I do not adhere to your rigid tenets.
I believe that language is fluid and alive. I believe it should be appreciated and used in
a playful, lively manner once one has mastered its basic rules and grammar. You might
say our differences are philosophical. Or that I like to have fun with my editorials, and
that I allow myself and my writers a certain freedom in regards to how they approach any
language so long as they can speak it properly too.
Knaahmean?
We have much respect for our readers, and plenty of faith in their abilities to discern when
we are playing, and when we are not. And since y’all asked, I mostly learned English in my
hometown of Ísafjörður (in the Westfjords).
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