Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.06.2013, Page 10

Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.06.2013, Page 10
 Continued Kolabrautin is on 4th floor Harpa Order a table in phone 519 9700 info@kolabrautin.is www.kolabrautin.is Whether you experience our surprising neo–Nordic influenced cuisine, or have a drink at our renowned cocktail bar while enjoying one of the best panoramic views in Reykjavík, an evening at Kolabrautin is truly a feast for all the senses. ICELANDIC PRODUCE MEDITERRANEAN TRADITIONS. Continues over by Anna Andersen Grand Old Aunt Björk By Haukur S. Magnússon, 2010 Björk is clearly our biggest hit, interviewed here in our most-read story and the author of three other stories in the top 10. In this feature interview, Haukur talks to Björk about the whole Magma Energy/HS Orka thing, what it was like to be at the forefront of that campaign, her call to public service, being in the spotlight, celebrity martyrs, a few projects that she was working on at the time, including making music for the Moomins, and all kinds of other things. 2 Björk Answers Ross Beaty: We Shouldn't Complete This Deal By Björk Guðmundsdóttir, 2010 Björk was at the forefront of the campaign against the sale of HS Orka to Magma En- ergy. This is part of a series of exchanges between Björk and Magma Energy CEO Ross Beaty. Here’s a snippet of Björk’s letter: “…please don't insult our intelli- gence by playing the great benefactor . we know very well that the value of all our natural resources will increase dramati- cally over the next few decades. and so do you – that’s why you're here. you wish to expand and thereby destroy some of our beautiful nature, like krýsuvík and kerlin- gafjöll , some of the most beloved natural pearls in iceland.” 3 Surprising Twist in Horse Meat Scandal By Catharine Fulton, 2013 Leave it to Iceland to top the international horsemeat scandals that ripped through Europe and North America at the begin- ning of his year. While everyone was up in arms about horsemeat being mislabelled as beef, it turns out that a particular Ice- landic company wasn’t selling horsemeat in the disguise of beef pies; it was selling beef pies with no beef in them or any meat at all for that matter. Our online news edi- tor Catharine thought this was pretty un- believable, and the world thought so too. 4 Police Break Up Cat Party By Paul Fontaine, 2012 This is one of those quirky Icelandic sto- ries that people love to read. Our online news editor at the time, Paul Fontaine, wrote a story about police in Reykjavík be- ing called to an abandoned home to evict a party of cats. It took off like wild fire. Pee- wee Herman even shared it! That’s right, Pee-wee Herman! 5 Amazing New Eruption Pics! By Julia Staples, 2010 Two years post-collapse, the Eyjafjalla- jökull eruption put Iceland back into the spotlight. Grapevine drove into the ash cloud and photographer Julia Staples took some sweet photos of it all. The large ma- jority of these viewers were clearly capti- vated, returning for another glance or two. 6 A Deconstruction of “Iceland's On-going Revolution” By Anna Andersen, 2011 This article was written in response to ‘Shock Doctrine’ author Naomi Klein tweeting this: “#Iceland is proving that it is possible to resist the Shock Doctrine, and refuse to pay for the bankers' crisis” with a link to an article called, “Iceland’s On-going Revolution,” by Deena Stryker. This article was full of factual errors, so we tweeted back: “@NaomiAKlein We are fans of yours, but we are sad to say that your tweet and the article it cites are both dead wrong. #Iceland” She replied: “@ rvkgrapevine tell me and i'll correct.” And so we did. 7 Björk To Ross Beaty: You Totally Miss My Point By Björk Guðmundsdóttir, 2010 Ross Beaty tried to give Björk shares in his company. She responded with this short and sweet letter: dear ross noticed your message for me you offering me shares in hs orka shows that you totally miss my point i feel this company should not be priva- tized , it should be given back to the people. therefore i am not interested in shares . but if i would get the same deal as you , a 70% bulletloan from icelanders to buy usage of their own resources , i might re- consider , who wouldn t́ ? you didn’t really put your money where your mouth is , did you ? good bye björk P.s. I also saw in financial times when you asked me , personally , to pop over to your office and you would lower how long magma ś usage of our resources is going to be . This only reveals how willing you are to cut deals outside law and order www.orkuaudlindir.is 8 Woman Takes Part In Search For Herself By Paul Fontaine, 2012 This story by Paul was wonderful. It made all kinds of international media. It was so wonderful that we created an award called “Tourist of the Year” with her in mind. That award will now be given out annu- ally. So far this year we think the tourists who had to be rescued from their picnic on a small iceberg are pretty good candidates. But go nominate somebody (or yourself) at www.touristoftheyear.is and he/she (you) could win a trip to Iceland. 9 Björk On Magma Energy By Björk Guðmundsdóttir, 2010 There’s nothing like reading letters between other people, especially when one of them is Björk and she’s talking about something really important. This is the first in a series, a few of which appear above: Dear friends, I can no longer remain silent on the very pressing subject that is the selling off of Ice- land's nature. I hereby challenge the government of Iceland to do everything in its power to revoke the contracts with Magma Energy that entitle the Canadian firm complete ownership of HS Orka. These are abhor- rable deals, and they create a dangerous precedent for the future. They directly go against necessary and oft-repeated attempts to create a new policy in the energy- and re- source management of this nation. Warmly, Björk Guðmundsdóttir 10 Volcano Erupts Under Eyjafjallajökull By Haukur S. Magnússon, 2010 Not long after Eyjafjallajökull erupted, a huge ash cloud made its way to main- land Europe, shutting down airspace and stranding people at airports for days. This was a big deal. FUN FACT: This story was written on a borrowed laptop, at a party, under the influence of several beers, en route to a Peaches show at NASA, a club that no longer exists. Top Hits At Grapevine.is …in the last four years, that is The following are the most viewed stories at grapevine.is since we started keeping track in 2009. It’s clear. Our readers want Björk, eruptions, and a mixed bag of quirky “only in Iceland” kind of news. But this isn’t your typical list of fluffy stories. Quite the contrary, these stories involve serious topics like aluminium smelters, the truth about Iceland’s revolution, our part in the international horsemeat scandal and, well, cat parties too. 1 Illustration: Lóa Hjálmtýsdóttir 10The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 7 — 2013 thermore, keyboard player Jakob Frímann offered us to join the band backstage after the gig. Thus, we got our first backstage passes, and had a swell time drinking with the grand old men (and woman) of Ice- landic pop, while listening to not- fit-to-print stories about being in a popular band in Iceland in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Many a backstage pass has been acquired since, as it is ap- parently a part of the job, but there is no time like the first. First full year We started publishing again in May 2004 after hibernating for the win- ter of ‘03-’04. The time off was well deserved and other things needed to be attended to, but getting back to business was even better. We haven’t stopped since—in 2004, we printed 11 issues and in 2005, the grand total reached 16. From 2006 onwards The Reykjavík Grapevine has been published 18 times per year. First “paycheck” It was all fun and games (and long, sleepless nights) the first summer, but the financial means were lim- ited, to say the least. With a freshly polished business plan we started work again, this time with the po- tential prospect of a paycheck on the horizon. After a month of labour we got the check sent in the mail, and it was glorious, even though the amount of zeros was a disappoint- ment, both for us and the taxman. First “fame” Although The Reykjavík Grapevine got the odd mention by other me- dia during its first few months, it was in mid June 2004 that every- one in Iceland was made aware of the magazine’s existence. This was due to the cover of the second is- sue that year, which featured a black woman dressed in Iceland’s national costume, and the fact that a local organisation refused to lend the magazine a national costume because of our intention to have it worn by the aforementioned wom- an. We didn’t see that one coming, and for a few days The Reykjavík Grapevine and this particular cover photo was discussed on radio, TV and in all the printed newspapers during the 60th anniversary of the Republic. We even got covered by NPR. The 21st Century Lady of the Mountain had received internation- al attention.

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