Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.11.2011, Page 2

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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 17 — 2011
Editorial | Haukur S. Magnússon
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.
Editor:
Haukur S Magnússon / haukur@grapevine.is
Journalist:
Anna Andersen / anna@grapevine.is
Editorial:
+354 540 3600 / editor@grapevine.is
advErtising:
+354 540 3605 / ads@grapevine.is
+354 40 3610
PublishEr:
Hilmar Steinn Grétarsson / hilmar@grapevine.is
+354 540 3601 / publisher@grapevine.is
Contributing WritErs:
Marc Vincenz
Gerður Jónsdóttir
Rebecca Louder
Daniel Hutton
Íris Erlingsdóttir
Snorri Páll Jónsson Úlfhildarson
Valur Gunarsson
Árni Daníel Júlíusson
Donald Gíslason
Magnús Sveinn Helgason
Dr. Gunni
Halldór Ingi Andrésson
Bob Cluness
Ragnar Egilsson
Paul Fontaine
Joe Shooman
Kári Tulinius
Richard P. Foley
Editorial intErns:
Christopher Czechowicz / christopher@grapevine.is
Monika Domeniková / monika@grapevine.is
Clyde Bradford / clyde@grapevine.is
Jesse Ziebart / jesse@grapevine.is

on-linE nEWs Editor
Paul Fontaine / paul@grapevine.is
art dirECtor:
Hörður Kristbjörnsson / hoddi@grapevine.is
dEsign:
Páll Hilmarsson / pallih@kaninka.net
PhotograPhErs:
Julia Staples / juliastaples.com
Alísa Kalyanova / www. alisakalyanova.com
salEs dirECtor:
Aðalsteinn Jörundsson / adalsteinn@grapevine.is
Guðmundur Rúnar Svansson / grs@grapevine.is
Helgi Þór Harðarson / helgi@grapevine.is
distribution managEr:
distribution@grapevine.is
ProofrEadEr:
Jim Rice
rElEasEs:
listings@grapevine.is
submissions inquiriEs:
editor@grapevine.is
subsCriPtion inquiriEs:
+354 540 3605 / subscribe@grapevine.is
gEnEral inquiriEs:
grapevine@grapevine.is
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’).
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO LIFE, TRAVEL & ENTERTAINMENT IN ICELAND
www.grapevine.is
IN THE ISSUE Issue 17 • 2011 • November 5 - December 1 COMPLETE CITY LISTINGS - INSIDE!+
ARTS
MEDIA
BY´METAMORPHOSIS´
In Iceland, offending people is illegal
TRAVEL Climb on the vodka bus! POLITICS Reykjavík is rife with protests. So is... Wall Street? MUSIC Airwaves revisited
PUFFINS Everyone loves puffins. Are we running out?
Saga Sig & Hildur Yeoman
With their Hafnarborg show 'METAMORPHOSIS', Hildur Björk Yeoman and Saga Sigurðardóttir spread their wings, prepare for takeoff
You thought that they’d wandered off for good,
but no! Iceland's favourite scuzz rock mental-
ists REYKJAVÍK! are back and busy storming
into everyone's hearts and minds with their third
album 'Locust Sounds', a two ton gorilla opus
that smashes the puny opposition... and then sits
down and eats a banana.
This coincides nicely with our giving away
their track ‘Hellbound Heart’ off the album as our
TRACK OF THE ISSUE. As music goes, it's pure
unadulterated ROCK, a paean to the joys of Clive
Barker and purification through stripped flesh, it
contain more hooks than a Cenobyte's dungeon
and has two genuine aural delights. One is the
full-blooded vocals of guitarist Valdi, the second
is the chorus, truly one of the finest pieces of
Icelandic rock you‘ll hear this year. Download,
listen, and stomp you little feet to the sound.
Bob Cluness
Reykjavík!
Hellbound Heart
TRACK OF THE ISSUE
Download at www.grapevine.is
TRACK
OF THE ISSUE
Download at
grapevine.is
Haukur’s 49th Editorial
Cover artwork by:
Saga Sig & Hildur Yeoman
Art direction: Hristbjörnsson
Read an interview with Saga and
Hildur on page 20
SPEAK UP!
YOU ARE VERY IMPORTANT!
Please visit
www.fontana.is Hverabraut 1 | 840 Laugarvatn | fontana@fontana.is | Tel: (+354) 486 1400
FA
B
R
IK
A
N
Natural hot spriNg steambaths
soothiNg sauNa
relaxiNg geothermal baths
Selfoss
Reykjavík
Þingvellir
Laugarvatn
Fontana Geysir
Flúðir
SkálholtKerið
Hveragerði
Only an hour by car from Reykjavík and a short distance from
Thingvellir national park and world heritage site, nature has
created unique surroundings for a new bathing experience
– Laugarvatn FONTANA.
I was recently invited to Madrid to par-
take in a panel discussion (that was
part of an ongoing, and pretty cool,
festival called Dias Nordicos) about Ice-
land post-kreppa.
When I got the invitation, I was all like: “Huh?
What do I know?” Then I was all: “FREE TRIP TO
MADRID? Nice! Madrid is a wonderful city, I’m
sure I can make something up to tell them. Ma-
drid!”
I mean, it’s not like my view of what the hell
has been and is going on here is any less (or more)
valid than anyone else’s [this is important though.
A lot of the time, I find folks of my generation or
inclination, or just folks in general, imagine their
experience of and perspective on their environ-
ment is somehow less valid than other folks’—
pundits, journalists and editors of real publica-
tions, for instance. I certainly know plenty of
really smart people that have all these great ideas
and opinions who hesitate to share them beyond
their Facebook. I hate that. Just because someone
has better access to THE MEDIA than you, or calls
themselves an expert on whatever doesn’t mean
they are any smarter, or their outlook any clearer.
Your voice and your ideas and beliefs are unique
and probably delightful, especially if you took the
time to think them through and put them forth in
a coherent manner. Speak up!].
So I went there and I ate a lot of amazing food
and saw ‘Guernica’ again and met a lot of really
nice Spanish people of various persuasions (po-
litical and otherwise). Through conversation with
people, and through that panel, I learned some
stuff about Spain and the current situation there.
I learned that:
-Unemployment is really, really bad in Spain (I
sort of knew that before though).
-Spain is very patriarchal; Spanish men still
have a huge and very unfair advantage in the
workplace, and Spanish women are generally not
hired for jobs once they pass the age of 40 (some
remarked that this is their deadline for having a
career, and that they spent their twenties and thir-
ties frantically securing their positions). This is
depressing.
-Many Spaniards believe they have been suffer-
ing an economic crisis for as long as us; that their
government would not admit this or react to it for
far too long. And that some of them are very afraid
of what’s coming.
-Some Spaniards believe Icelanders have been
handling their crisis in an admirable and progres-
sive manner (I tried my best to correct that without
being a dick about it), and this is why they are look-
ing our way.
-To some Spaniards, that idea is very important,
and we might want to try and live up to their expec-
tations. It’s the least we can do.
-Many Spaniards still remember Franco’s fas-
cist regime and the horrible civil war that preceded
it, and that the rest of us could do well to remem-
ber that too. Those events are closer to us than we
like to think.
-You get free and delicious food with every
drink order, and this is why everyone can spend all
day drinking without ever seeming that drunk.
And I thought: The world and its systems are
currently shaky, and some sort of change is hap-
pening. It will be painful, probably, but hopefully
we (and I mean you and I and our friends and their
friends) can steer things in the right direction. At
least we should try. We are young, virile, energet-
ic, educated, intelligent and empathetic. It is our
turn, if we want it. I want it, and I want you to want
it.
So speak up, please.
Comic | Lóa Hjálmtýsdóttir
Caped Crusaders Slightly Disrupt Business
B.R. Neal discusses the Big Sister sting operation
to catch males soliciting prostitution…
The IMF Conference
Michael Schulz’s weighs in on the IMF confer-
ence at Harpa…
An Open letter to Jakob Frímann
Magnússon
Paul Fontaine calls Jakob out on his racist
remarks and asks him for an apology. Jakob
responds…
YAIC 2K11: A REPORT
Creative industries unite at the You Are In Con-
trol conference…
ExClUSIVE ONlINE MATERIAl!
CORRECTION! Last issue we erroneously credited a a photo accom-
panying the article 'Surfing USA Iceland!'. It was taken by the lovely
Alísa Kalyanova. We apologise to her profusely!