Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.09.2009, Blaðsíða 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,
I read the interwiew with Hannes Hólmsteinn Gissurarson with great interest.
Most of what he said is no news to anyone. He is a follower of Hyek and Milton
Friedman, whose ideas has been shown to be wanting. It also is clear that some of
the ideas that capitalism have taken up are dreams of university professors and had
been best hidden in the ivory towers they come from.
We all know that the ruling party then, and its leaders, used political power
against Baugur even from inside Althingi. That is not good politics. We also know
that the opposition party used politics to protect Baugur. That is not good politics
either, or thrustworthy.
When the media law was passed and the president denied to sign it, it was clear
that according to the constitution the law should have been sent to the people to
decide. The government did not dare to do that and annulled the law instead. So
Davíd did not dare to face Goliath on common ground. This was not mentioned in
the interwiew.
Thank you for a good and interesting paper.
Regards
Andrés Adolfsson.
Dear Andrés,
Thank you so much for bringing this out. We print ‘em, you knock ‘em down. This
is good. Other readers: let this be a lesson to you. When you see stuff in GV that
you find suspect or disagree with, send in a response and clear this up. We are your
printed forum for discussion (thus unlike, say, a blog, we employ a proofreader).
And there might even be some beer in it for y’all!
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09
Hi Grapevine. I just got back to my Western
New York home after a trip in which Iceland
was the focal destination. I just wanted to say
that the Grapevine really enhanced my time
in Reykjavik, giving me great insight on the
scene, the music, and the tumultuous situa-
tion in which Icelanders and expats who live
there currently find themselves.
Your paper is well-written and well-
designed, a pleasant surprise for us visiting
English speakers.
Mark Tichenor
Rochester, NY
Dear Mark,
Thank you for being a real person that
took the time to send us a real letter giving us
some real compliments on our paper (if any
of you haters out there doubt that, we have his
e-mail address on file). We are very glad you
like it; we do put a lot of work (I am writing
this on my 32nd hour at the office). So thank
you for your kind words. We love you. Keep it
real.
Dear Reykjavik Grapevine,
During a recent trip to Iceland I picked
up your issue #11 and enjoyed it with the ex-
ception of Rebecca Louder’s article, “Thumbs
Up! Hitchhiking your way through Iceland.”
At first, I was curious to read of the author’s
experience, but my interest changed to con-
temptuous derision, followed by anger, when
I came to only the second sentence: “In most
parts of the world (especially where I am
from, Canada), hitchhiking is a downright
stupid idea that frequently finishes with a
body floating face down in a shallow river-
bed.” Excuse me? Could the author have pos-
sibly invoked more fear mongering bull shit
[To Grapevine eds.: “B.S.” if preferable] than
this?
As a 32 year old Canadian who has been
hitchhiking quite regularly since the tender
age of 17 (throughout most of Canada, as well
as large parts of the United-States and Mexi-
co; most recently last summer from Montreal
to Nova Scotia and back) not only does such
a description have little if any basis in fact,
but falsely perpetuates a stereotype of the
world, and, of all places, Canada in particu-
lar (undoubtedly one of the safest countries
in the world), as a frightening and danger-
ous place in which homicidal maniacs lurk
around every corner ready to prey on anyone
foolish enough to either hitchhike or pick up
hitchhikers. Indeed, Louder’s inconsistency
in invoking the virtues of Couchsurfing.org,
an organization based, as she states, on the
exact same principles as hitchhiking, while
pontificating on its supposed dangers every-
where but in Iceland (yet again, Canada, of
all places, is “especially” dangerous? WTF?!?)
seems to have completely eluded her. Could
she not see that the same murderous psy-
cho’s that she obviously believes are waiting
to get at anyone involved in hitchhiking have
undoubtedly all signed up on Couchsurfing.
org for the same purpose of murdering those
foolish enough to trust them?
This is totally irresponsible journalism.
Hitchhiking is difficult and discouraged
enough already; those of us who choose to
hitchhike and/or pickup hitchhikers really
don’t need this kind of tabloid sensational-
ism. As climate-change and social atomi-
zation increase, hitchhiking, while never
perfectly safe (but then what is?), should be
encouraged as it makes for more efficient
use of fossil-fuels and is a fantastic way to
interact, sometimes over long periods, with
(at first) complete strangers; a far-too-rare ex-
perience for most people. Some of the most
incredible moments in my life have come
through hitchhiking or giving rides to oth-
ers and it pisses me off that some might not
have the same kind of experiences, or my
next trip might be made more difficult and/
or enjoyable, because of Louder’s peddling of
such myths. Sure it makes for a nice dramatic
opening to the article, but couldn’t your edi-
tors have asked for something in the way of
evidence for such a hyperbolic claim? Here
is an author who admits to having no hitch-
hiking experience other than one trip around
Iceland pronouncing the rest of the world to
be on par with the Black Forest in the Grimm
Brothers’ fairy tales: a dark and scary place
filled with dangerous monsters and villains.
Hopefully other readers of the Grapevine will
realize that Louder’s characterization of the
supposed stupidity of being involved with
hitchhiking outside of Iceland (and especially
Canada!) is just as much of a fairy tale.
Melvin Backstrom
Montreal, Canada
Dear Melvin,
Oh, come on. Grow a sense of humour, will
you. You’re called Melvin, ferchrissakes. Also,
the writer in question wishes to respond:
I appreciate your response to my article on hitch-
hiking in issue 11 of the Grapevine. While your
experiences as a hitchhiker are positive and for-
tunate, I would suggest that your viewpoint as a
male is somewhat inaccurate when it comes to
the overall safety of hitchhiking. For a woman,
hitchhiking has been and remains to be a form
of travel that requires extreme precaution and
a fair amount of apprehension in most coun-
tries, including our own dear Canada. In fact,
hundreds of women are raped, murdered and/
or remain missing in Canada, particularly in
the Western and Prairie provinces, particularly
young native women that are picked up at truck
stops or along what is now commonly known as
British Columbia's "Highway of Tears."
As for the matter of CouchSurfing.org, by no
means did I suggest that the site was entirely safe
either. People of ill intention are as much at liber-
ty and just as likely to use the site, and there was
some unfortunate news this week of a woman
being brutally raped by her Couch Surfing host.
However, there is a screening, verification and
recommendation process in order to maintain as
much safety and security on the site. People have
time to be selective before picking their couches or
surfers. Thus, my comparison between hitchhik-
ing and couch-surfing was a loose one, simply to
give the readers who don't know the site a general
idea of its function.
This article was of course written as an opin-
ion piece from my own perspective, ref lecting my
experiences. Being a female definitely played an
important role in the shaping of those experi-
ences and I firmly stand by my cautious attitude
regarding hitchhiking in the vast majority of the
world. This is not to say I would only do it in
Iceland, but I certainly would never do it in Can-
ada or the U.S. unless I was accompanied by a
cohort. Even though the statement I made that
angered you was merely intended as sensational-
istic dark humour, the numbers of missing and
murdered Canadian women along highways is
no joke.
Best regards,
Rebecca Louder
When I came onboard the Grapevine crew, the cover interview had
already been lined up, so I was dispatched to Keflavík. The tagline
didn’t please the Yanks. In fact, they don’t wear jackboots at all. My
bad. The story is now of historical interest, as the base is gone. VG
#1 - Issue 1 - 2003
I was talking to some foreign students who asked me about the
modern day pagans in Iceland. I decided to find out. The second
issue was a considerable improvement on the first, and some people
who had ignored us started to take notice. VG
#2 - Issue 2 - 2003
We wanted to try something different, and so we got Lúðvík Kalmar
to draw a picture for the cover. I like the picture, but we felt it didn’t
quite work. It’s probably too small for impact. For the story on whal-
ing, I went whale watching, I talked to whalers and captains of the
industry as well as those opposed. I even ate a whale. Later, I would
settle for a couple of phone calls, but at the time, I was young and
hungry. And not just for whale. VG
#3 - Issue 3 - 2003
Grapevine 101