Reykjavík Grapevine - 02.07.2010, Side 5

Say your piece, voice your opinion,
send your letters to:
letters@grapevine.is
4
Letters
Sour grapes
and stuff
Hello Haukur!
We wanted to wish you a Happy National
Day! It has been quite the year for Iceland.
I have designed another graphic celebrating
Iceland’s National Day. It depicts the Eyjafjal-
lajökul eruption with all of its energy:
Dear Angel and Andy,
thanks so much for always staying in touch,
sharing your work and and writing us your
letters. It's really reassuring to know there are
people like you out there. Also, your illustra-
tion looks very cool indeed!
Godspeed!
Dear Grapevine.
I, the undersigned, am most unsatisfied with
your recent intimation (in your recent article
about my most awesome self), that I, the
undersigned, am a smoker. Nothing could
be further from the truth. In fact, what i was
holding was a dummy cigarette as prepara-
tion for my future role in the dramatization
of Davíð Oddson's "Final Days" which de-
picts the days before his tragic suicide.
I am shocked that the respectful Grapevine
should depict me as a smoker. My father
reads this, you know...
Love, Ólafur Arnalds
Dear Ólafur,
it is very cool that your father reads us! Mad
props to him!
Anyway, our journalist with whom you spoke
wishes to extend her sincerest apologies for
the blatant defamation of character that was
implied when she faslely accused you of
having such a filthy, disgusting, decadently
delicious habit. She has been severely ad-
monished and won’t be allowed to smoke
cigarettes until the next issue is published
(we can say that in here because her parents
know she smokes. Because she’s an adult and
stuff).
We will make sure in the future that our staff
doesn't confuse method-acting techniques
with real life. And please let us know when
“Final Days” hits the stage. Sounds like a fun
show!
PS – what’s an “intimation”? Sounds fancy!

Dear Haukur,
I read grapevine with joy and hope the jour-
nal will continue to live long. This message
is just to remind you that cafes and crois-
sants, the Louvre, the 5th arrondissement
and its gay nightclubs and also the movie
l'irreversible come from France and not from
Spain as you indicated. For foreigners visit-
ting beautifull Iceland, it might make they
think we do not know... May be this can be
corrected ! Except if going to Spain makes
you think of France and Paris because you
had such a good time there... Whatever the
reason, I will be glad to read your explana-
tions in the next edition. Continue the pas-
sion and enthousiasm. Regards,
Christophe
Dear Christophe,
thank you so much for your lovely letter, and
your kind words! They mean a lot, they really
do.
(Light)
MOST AWESOME LETTER
A buncha 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 the
once-reputable Homer J. Simpson: "Mmm... Beer..."
Now, since we're real pleasant and giving folks here at the Grapevine, we
thought we'd share some wonderful POLAR BEER with you, our readers.
Not only that, you're also getting the gift of social life with it. So here's the
deal: our most awesome letter of each issue (henceforth, or until the good
people of POLAR BEER decide they don't want to play along anymore),
we will be providing our MOST AWESOME LETTER scribe with twelve frothy
POLAR BEERS, to be imbibed at a Reykjavík bar of their choice (so long as
that bar is either Bakkus or Venue). If y'all's letter is the one, drop us a line to
collect. Give us your worst: letters@grapevine.is
As for that whole Spain/France confusion...
ehrm. Well. It would have been really, really
helpful had you sent your letter a little bit
sooner. I totally embarrassed myself all over
Madrid trying to order some croissant while
asking for directions to the gay nightclubs
and the Louvre.
It took me like three days to figure out my
error, at which point I had totally missed my
chance to visit the MoMA. Next time you spot
me being so erroneous, RUN, don’t walk, to
your computer to tell me!
ONE LOVE
MOST AWESOME LETTER:
Hi!
I saw an interview with Vooral Gerard in The Reykjavik Grapevine. I am sorry these people
lost their money, but it is not the Icelandic taxpayers to blame or their responsibility. 25 million
euros is maybe not so much but this amount is the same as 1.25 billion euros for the Dutch tax-
payers as there are 50 times more of the Dutch than Icelanders. Would Holland pay 1.25 billion
euros unless forced to? What would the Dutch taxpayers say? Every country should be respon-
sible for the banks operating in their own country, but not any overseas branches which are
regulated by the authorities of the country in question. Dutch authorities gave Icelandic banks
the green light for the icesave accounts. Obviously 320 thousand people could not back up and
guarantee billions of euros. Dutch authorities are therefore to blame, not Icelandic taxpayers.
EU does not want to regulate the financial sector. They want to give it a free play and when
everything goes down, they send the bill to the taxpayers. Who made up this system? The Ice-
landers? Icelandic taxpayers did not give the green light on the icesave accounts in Holland, it
was Dutch authorities that did so and failed. Icelandic authorities also failed, but we all knew
they were incompetent and naturally they lied to the Dutch authorities. Icelandic banks were
run by gangsters which were protected by the corrupt Right Wing party up here. Why should
I care? I am not the police? I do not make the law in EU! Dutch authorities could just have
checked Iceland on Wikipedia and realized that the nation is only 320 thousand people and
then realize that they could not back up billions of euros.
The Dutch authorities should compensate and give these people the 25 million euros. Fair
would be that we Icelanders pay 1 : 50. No problem with me. EFTA can say what it likes. If Ice-
land takes the responsibility for the 25 million euros, many others will follow with something
totaling billions of euros. No country will accept responsibility for amounts that will make it
bankrupt. I
suspect that the Dutch authorities are using these people. They are loud and they want their
money from the bad Icelanders. Their voice is heard in the Dutch media and this serves the
Dutch Government just fine. They are being used and manipulated by their own Government.
Best regards
Einar
Dear Einar,
Oh dear. Who is to blame? Who is responsible? Who should pay whom? Won’t somebody please
think of the children!?
We wish we had the answers too, but you gotta understand where the guy is coming from at
least? A little? Maybe? No? Okay, fair enough.
You know, you probably said what a lot of people out there are thinking, and you managed to
word it pretty well, too. The Dutch government SHOULD have looked us up on Wikipedia
before allowing us to open up a banking operation there. It only makes sense! Folks seem to
screen and scrutinize their potential dates way more than the Dutchies seem to have checked
out Landsbanki.
You know, this definitely is an awesome letter (it made us smile a lot, anyway) and if anything
it has earned you a half-dozen chilly Polar Beers to chug on.