Reykjavík Grapevine - 28.08.2009, Page 2

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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 13 — 2009
Cover Photo:
Baldur Kristjánsson
www.baldurkristjans.is
On Cover:
Hannes Hólmsteinn Gissurarson
Make-up:
Karin Kristjana Hindborg
Thanks:
Jói Kjartans,
Fornbókabúðin Hverfisgata
Printed by Landsprent ehf. in 25.000 copies.
The Reykjavík Grapevine
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www.grapevine.is
grapevine@grapevine.is
Published by Fröken ehf.
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Publisher:
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Editor:
Haukur S Magnússon
haukur@grapevine.is
Journalist:
Catharine Fulton / catharine@grapevine.is
Contributing Writers:
Sigurður K Kristinsson
sigurdur@grapevine.is
Florian Zühlke / f lorian@grapevine.is
Sindri Eldon
Marc Vincenz / mysticmarc@gmail.com
Ian Watson
Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl
Dr. Gunni
Hildur Knútsdóttir
Hugleikur Dagsson
Bogi Bjarnason
Ragnar Jón Hrólfsson
Satu Ramo
Bergrún Anna Hallsteinsdóttir
Sigtryggur Baldursson
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Sari Peltonen
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Founders:
Hilmar Steinn Grétarsson,
Hörður Kristbjörnsson,
Jón Trausti Sigurðarson,
Oddur Óskar Kjartansson,
Valur Gunnarsson
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
magazine may be reproduced in whole or
in part without the written permission of
the publishers. The Reykjavík Grapevine
is distributed around Reykjavík, Akureyri,
Egilsstaðir, Selfoss, Kef lavík, Ísafjörður and
at key locations along road #1, and all major
tourist attractions and tourist information
centres in the country.
You may not like it, but at least it's not
sponsored. (No articles in the Rey-
kjavík Grapevine are pay-for articles.
The opinions expressed are the writers’
own, not the advertisers’).
So, this has been a pretty good summer,
all things considered.
We enjoyed some pretty good weather,
drank some pretty good beers and saw
some sights. We travelled around the
country and pitched our tents, hiking
up hills and mountains, seeking out
seclusion, serenity and warm streams to
bathe in.
We stayed in the city for the weekend,
going to shows, spending money at bars,
pissing away our youth along with our
brain cells and our souls.
We hung out with our families and
friends, sharing memories and creating
new ones, enjoying talks and walks
and snacks. We hung out by ourselves,
watching TV, reading books, listening
to the rain or to our massive collection of
illegal mp3s.
It was a pretty good summer.
It’s not over yet, not quite. But it’s
fast drawing to a close. And if I am to
believe the local media and the general
discourse, we are slowly sinking into
what will be a harsh and ugly and evil
winter. A long, cold and potentially
deadly one. Unemployment rates will
rise. Folks will file for bankruptcy. They
will lose their homes, their cars. They will
all become alcoholics, and their children
will all drop out of school and become
terminally depressed dope fiends. Now
we will finally start feeling the full, dull
force of Kreppa in our faces.
Summer was a welcome relief, as
it often is in Iceland. We had our nice
weather and we had our days off and we
were maybe able to coast along financially
OK, even though our economy is just as
collapsed as it was at the start of the year
and stuff keeps getting more expensive
by the day.
We also had steady influx of currency
– sweet, sweet currency – to the country
courtesy of you guys, the tourists.
This, I am told, helped. A lot. But hey,
guess what. The main tourist season is
drawing to a close. This means there will
be fewer and fewer of you lovely folks and
your lovely money around. Your lovely
conversation and asking for direction.
Your lovely fluorescent outdoorsy wear
and your lovely letters to us.
You will all be missed immensely. In
fact, I find myself compelled to plead to
you guys: please, don’t go! Don’t leave!
Come back! We need you! We miss you
already! You and your fun ways and your
sweet currencies. You enrich our lives,
our wallets, and you make us feel like we
live in an actual operating city. And that
is a nice feeling.
Should you decide to leave despite
my pleading, I nevertheless implore you
to ponder the consequences. Just think
about all the poor kids that won’t be
able to attend music school this winter
because their homeland is bankrupt
and lacks foreign currency. Think about
Kreppa-ravaged Iceland, the poor, poor
folks that rely on your patronage to make
ends meet.
Please don’t go.
Also, if you stay, there’s plenty of fun
and interesting things happening here
in the winter. Despite what some folks
might tell you, Iceland is actually quite
nice in the wintertime. It’s got snow
and aurora borealis and beautiful frosty
mornings where time seems to stand
still along with the air and atmosphere.
You can go skiing. We have excellent
ski slopes. And you can go hiking if you
are properly equipped to do so. Not on
the highlands, pray tell, but a lot of other
places.
Icelandic winter is also an excellent
place for drinking cocoa, feasting on food
and fine wine by candlelight, burying
oneself in the snow.
It’s outright excellent, I tell you.
Please don’t go! Tourist season, don’t
end! We need you!
Also, there’s all the festivals. All
those excellent festivals. There’s the
Iceland Airwaves festival. That awesome
pile of awesomeness, good music, good
drinking and general debauchery.
There’s the Reykjavík International
Film Festival. That’s pretty awesome as
well. Aldrei fór ég suður. Crazy January
shows, Christmas and the New Year’s
Eve that has seen Quentin Tarantino fly
over repeatedly to gorge on liquor that he
hates.
Please don’t go, tourists. We need you
and your currency and your company.
Editorial | Haukur Magnússon
Haukur’s 13th Editorial!
Please Tourists, Don’t Leave
+ COMPLETE CITY LISTINGS - INSIDE!
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO LIFE, TRAVEL & ENTERTAINMENT IN ICELANDYOUR FREE COPY
Issue No 13 – August 28 - September 10 – 2009
Political science professor Hannes Hólmsteinn Gissurarson is often referred to as the Independence Party’s chief ideologue, and
has been credited with laying down the lines for the massive de-regulation and privatisation process Iceland underwent during
the past two decades. Some thanked him for the prosperity, now he is being blamed for the downfall. PG. 19.
Complete Reykjavík Listings Lots Of Cool Events
Opinions!
Reviews!
Comix!
+
Experience Mývatn Via Pizza: Tasty Nature
An Icelandic Slasher Flick: Finally
Culture Night: Lots Of Waffles
Blönduós: Breeding Confusion
Sailing To The Faeroes: No Mean Feat
+
www.grapevine.is
Architect
of the Collapse?
Can a set of well argued ideas lead
a nation straight to bankruptcy?
HANNES HÓLMSTEINN:
Visit our stores:
Geysir Haukadal, Selfoss. Tel: 480 6803
Geysir Hafnarstræti 5, 101 Reykjavík. Tel: 555 2808
The socks are knitted of
Icelandic wool, which repels
rain to remain feeling dry.
NEVER COLD – AUTHENTIC
ICELANDIC ULLARSOKKAR
Choose from our assortment of traditional
Icelandic wool products and the largest gift and
souvenir selection in Iceland.
gogoyoko presents:
Grand rokk / Friday September 4 / 22:00 / 1.000 ISK Admission
Dr. Gunni
Hellvar
INSOL
Blóð
GRAPEVINE
GRAND ROCK
So Egill Sæbjörnsson finally released a new
record. This is of course great news for folks
that love music. Egill Sæbjörnsson – or Egill
S. as he now prefers to be known for some
reason - made the most awesome Tonk Of
The Lawn some years back. It was jam-
packed with great tracks and had one of
music’s catchiest lines ever. “I love you so, I
find you crazy.”
We just got a copy of his eponymous new
one, and it sounds real good on our computer
speakers, and we are really looking forward
to digging into it. Go fetch our track of the
issue to find out for yourself.
Egill S.
When I Walk

egillsaebjornsson
Download the free track of the issue
WHEN I WALK at www.grapevine.is
TRACK OF
THE ISSUE
Download your
free copy at
grapevine.is
MUSIC
&
NIGHT
LIFE