Reykjavík Grapevine - 28.08.2010, Side 2

Turninn Höfðatorgi
105 Reykjavik
Tel: 575 7575
Opening hours:
Sun-Wed. 11.00–22.00
Thu-Sat. 11.00–24.00
fabrikkan@fabrikkan.is
www.fabrikkan.is
The Icelandic Hamburger
Factory is a new restaurant
overlooking the famous
Höfði, where Ronald Reagan
and Michail Gorbachev
almost ended the Cold War.
But that's history. Try our
unique Hamburgers and the
first Icelandic Lamburger.
Great prices on food, beer
and wine. Come and feel the
Factory buzz. It's worth it.
Lamburger: Now
World peace: Soon
2
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 13 — 2010
Editorial | Catharine Fulton
+
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO LIFE, TRAVEL & ENTERTAINMENT IN ICELAND
www.grapevine.is
n Gimli the Icelandic flag is hung outside homes and tattooed on limbs, the fishing industry is abundant,
the beer of choice is Gull, and groups of elderly meet weekly to chat in Icelandic while tossing back a few
kleinur with their coffee. Oh, and Gimli is in Canada. It's like a whole other Iceland thousands of kilometers away!
We've got some awesome pics of this alternate Iceland for your enjoyment, so enjoy!
I
ANALYSIS
Politics! Icesave!
The EU!
The Church is in
some hot water
MAYHEM
Corpse Painting
in an old
steel factory
TRAVEL
Snorkeling in Silfra
and Magic in the
West Fjörds
AIRWAVES
The countdown
begins!
POLITICS
IN THE ISSUE Issue 13 • 2010 • August 28 - September 10 COMPLETE CITY LISTINGS - INSIDE!
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Hafnarstræti 15, 101 Reykjavík
www.grapevine.is
grapevine@grapevine.is
Published by Fröken ehf.
www.froken.is
Member of the Icelandic Travel Industry Association
www.saf.is
Printed by Landsprent ehf. in 25.000 copies.
Editorial:
+354 540 3600 / editor@grapevine.is
advErtising:
+354 540 3605 / ads@grapevine.is
PublishEr:
+354 540 3601 / publisher@grapevine.is
PublishEr:
Hilmar Steinn Grétarsson / hilmar@grapevine.is
Editor:
Haukur S Magnússon / haukur@grapevine.is
acting Editor:
Catharine Fulton / catharine@grapevine.is
Journalist:
Rebecca Louder / rebecca@grapevine.is
contributing WritErs:
Íris Erlingsdóttir
Jón Gnarr
Magnús Sveinn Helgason
Paul Nikolov
Egill Helgason
Patrick Bateman
Stephanie Orford
Travis Bickle
Sveinn Birkir Björnsson
Bob Cluness
Sindri Eldon
Paola Cardenas
Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl
Editorial intErns:
Emily Burton / emily@grapevine.is
Wiebke Wolter / wiebke@grapevine.is
Þórður Ingi Jónsson / thordur@grapevine.is
on-linE nEWs Editor
Paul Nikolov / paulnikolov@grapevine.is
Food Editor:
Catharine Fulton / catharine@grapevine.is
art dirEctor:
Hörður Kristbjörnsson / hoddi@grapevine.is
dEsign:
Páll Hilmarsson / pallih@kaninka.net
PhotograPhEr:
Hörður Sveinsson / hordursveinsson.com
salEs dirEctor:
Aðalsteinn Jörundsson / adalsteinn@grapevine.is
Guðmundur Rúnar Svansson / grs@grapevine.is
distribution:
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ProoFrEadEr:
Paul Nikolov
PrEss rElEasEs:
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submissions inquiriEs:
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subscriPtion inquiriEs:
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gEnEral inquiriEs:
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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, Seyðis-
fjörður, Borgarnes, 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 Reykjavík Grapevine are pay-for articles. The
opinions expressed are the writers’ own, not the advertisers’).
Photo by Baldur Kristjánsson -
www.baldurkristjans.is
Special thanks to Robbie Rous-
seau.
On the cover: Western-Iceland-
er in Gimli
Check out Baldur's video
diary from Gimli at
www.grapevine.is!
Catharine’s 1st Editorial!
Check out www.inspiredbyiceland.com - it's pretty inspiring
Sometimes life can get you down. It‘s nobody’s fault,
really. It‘s just that with bills, a crap/no job and only
ramen noodles to eat, it can feel that the universe is
pissing on you from a great height. What you need is a
serious pick-me-up of the sort Nóra do with aplomb.
A five-minute pop classic of rousing strings, simple
heartfelt melodies and harmonies that rise like the
morning sun, Opin Fyrir Morði is guaranteed to brighten
up the lousiest of days.
Nóra
TRACK OF THE ISSUE
Opin Fyrir Morði
TRACK OF
THE ISSUE
Download your
free copy at
grapevine.is
MUSIC
&
NIGHT
LIFE

noraband
Download at www.grapevine.is
Ohmagawd you guys, I’m writing an editorial!
That Haukur has been working too hard for too
long not to take a lengthy vacation in some far
away, exotic locale and, on route to the airport, he
called me in to pick up the slack and, with a little
luck and a lot of good ol’fashioned elbow grease,
put out a Grapevine or two in his absence. It
didn’t seem like brain surgery, so here I am.
There’s a lot of stuff going on right now that
we all tried our best to do justice in these packed
pages.
The ongoing saga of the church is among the
more troubling and controversial issues plaguing
the country right now and the ever-vigilant Paul
Nikolov has shone some light on the issue on
page 6, so read up on that. There will be a test
later, I’m sure.
As is the case with seemingly everything
these days, nobody appears to have their shit
together where the church is concerned, and by
‘nobody’ I tend to mean the government (poor
guys get blamed for everything) – wasn’t it just
Tuesday that the Minister of Justice washed her
hands of the entire thing, saying the church has
got to clean up their own mess and the bishop
was still on the defensive? Then, the very next
day the church is issuing public apologies in the
news and half the government is calling for the
separation of church and state. Everyday there’s a
new twist! Can’t these scandals space themselves
out a little more so the first one can get solved
before the next one cuts in line?
Better yet, can’t grown adults in trusted
positions of authority act the part and, if
they can’t, then admit their fault and take
responsibility for their actions rather than hiding
within sacred institutions only to prolong the
suffering of their alleged victims by dragging it all
out in a very public forum?
Alternately, the Western Icelanders sure do
have a pretty sweet set up over in Gimli, Canada.
In between reading up on the church/state drama
and stats on murder rates and updating yourself
on that whole Reykjavík 9 thing (spoiler alert: it’s
turning into quite the farce), calm yourself down
by taking a gander at the impressive spread of
Baldur Kristjánsson’s photos from ‘New Iceland’,
where life is sunshine and kleinur and everybody
loves everybody.
Hmm. This first editorial has turned out to be
a glorified table of contents, huh? I’ll work on
that for next time.
Welcome To Reykjavík
The odds of you being in
Reykjavík are not great.
The greatest part of
mankind is elsewhere. It
is scientifically proven.
When I was little, I
would often ask myself
why I had been born
in Reykjavík. Is it a
coincidence where one
is born? Is it subject to
some universal law? Did
I exist in any form before
I was born? Did I have anything to do with where I
was born? Why did Eva Braun and Adolf Hitler not
bear any children? Did they not try to? Can it be that
no child wanted them as parents? I don’t know, but
I do not believe in coincidence. I do not believe that
God plays dice, especially not when human lives are
concerned. These thoughts inevitably lead one to
consider Schrödinger's cat. He is probably one of the
most famous cats in the world (maybe after Ninja
Cat). Still no one knows what it was called? What
was Schrödinger's cat called? Abracadabra? I don’t
remember. Let’s call it Phoenix. That is a common
name for cats. Phoenix was of the nature that it both
existed and not. Therefore, it always existed, and
even if Schrödinger killed his cat in a rather tasteless
manner, it is still alive at Schrödinger's house, while
Schrödinger himself has been dead for a long time:

Does this mean that I always existed, or that I
never existed and do therefore not exist now? That
can’t be! It would mean that all our existence was
unreal and only existed in our own imagination. If I
do not exist, then neither do you. I have a hard time
believing that. The facts speak for themselves. If I
am not real, then how could I fly to Finland, send
myself a post card with a picture of Tarja Halonen,
the President of Finland, fly back home and welcome
the mailman that brought me the card? I don’t know.
I am one of many Icelanders that believe in elves
and trolls. I mainly believe in Moomin elves. It is
more of a certainty than a belief. I have seen them
and touched them. I know they exist. I have been to
Moominworld in Naantali, Finland. I have evidence;
photographs, video recordings and witnesses. I
had a good talk with Moomin Papa. He told me that
life in Moominvalley was much better after Finland
joined the EU. He encouraged us Icelanders to join
the EU. He also said that the Moomins had always
existed, long before Tove Jansson “invented” them.
The Moomins are eternal, at least in books.
I hope these thoughts shed some light on the
history of Reykjavík and its culture. I hope you enjoy
your time in Reykjavík, that you go swimming a lot
and tell all your friends how fun Reykjavík is, and
how everyone is always happy there and that you
will never forget your hotel, Suðurlandsbraut and the
eternally young cat Phoenix.
Jón Gnarr, Mayor of Reykjavík
Mayor's Address | Jón Gnarr
JóN GNARR
HöRðUR SvEINSSON