Reykjavík Grapevine - 03.02.2012, Page 2

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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 2 — 2012
Editorial | Anna Andersen
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO LIFE, TRAVEL & ENTERTAINMENT IN ICELAND
www.grapevine.is
POLITICS Haardegate? WaterGeir? Is there a crook involved?
BEER We drink a bunch... for journalism's sake! ART Is Santiago Sierra EVIL?
REYKJAVÍK What's happening to NASA? MUSIC Reviewed, rated, ravaged
IN THE ISSUE Issue 2 • 2012 • February 3 - March 9 COMPLETE CITY LISTINGS - INSIDE!+
BRING
THE
NOISE!
GIVE A WARM ICELANDIC
WELCOME TO HARPA'S LATEST
RESIDENT, CONDUCTOR
EXTRAORDINAIRE
ILAN VOLKOV
FULL SCHEDULE INSIDE
On the cover:
Ilan Volkov
Photo by: Baldur Kristjáns
www.baldurkristjans.is
Here’s a little treat for you, a track from the new Mi-
chael Dean Odin Pollock EP, out now on Synthadelia
Records. A terse, folky number, with the harmonica
of Siggi Sig dialled all the way up to 11 and verbose,
beatific lyrics to boot, it’s a right little stormer.
It’s not surprising that there is a little bit o’ experi-
ence behind these musical thrills. Michael Dean
Odin Pollock knows his way round the neck of a
guitar and the barrel of a pen alright! He’s been at
this game for years now—writing poetry since he was
ten, and performing in and with the Pollock Broth-
ers, Utangarðsmenn (with Bubbi Morthens way back
in 1980) and Megas.
So how about you give this lemon a squeeze and
see if the juice runs down your leg, yeah?
Michael Dean Odin Pollock & Siggi Sig:
‘Squeeze’
TRACK OF THE ISSUE
Download the FREE track at www.grapevine.is
TRACK OF
THE ISSUE
Download your
free track at
grapevine.is
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 in ChiEf:
Haukur S Magnússon / haukur@grapevine.is
Managing Editor:
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:
Gerður Jónsdóttir
Hannes H. Gissurarson
Hildur Lilliendahl
Valur Gunnarsson
Ásgeir H. Ingólfsson
Nanna Árnadóttir
Ryan Parteka
Snorri Páll Jónsson Úlfhildarson
Bergrún Anna Hallsteinsdóttir
Rebecca Louder
Bob Cluness
Bowen Staines
Ragnar Egilsson
Paul Fontaine
Marc Vincenz
Ragnar Egilsson
a.rawlings
Sindri Eldon
Editorial intErns:
Clyde Bradford / clyde@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:
Alísa Kalyanova / www. alisakalyanova.com
Hvalreki
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’).
HELLO
MY NAME IS
Comic | Lóa Hjálmtýsdóttir
Well, this is exciting. I wrote a couple of these last sum-
mer when Haukur went on vacation, but here I am writ-
ing my first editorial as ‘Managing Editor’ of The Reyk-
javík Grapevine.
As you may have gleaned by now, Haukur left his
position as Editor, where he was posted up for the last
three years making this wonderful magazine. I am now
officially sitting at his desk (the one by the window with
all those screaming kids just outside), getting to work on
printing more articles by Hannes Hólmsteinn (See page
14).
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is
Anna Andersen. I walked into The Grapevine offices as
an intern after Haukur’s first year as editor. I had just
f lushed my return ticket to California down the drain
and signed up for a few classes at the university thinking
I would stick around for six months. But the few classes
turned into a master (thesis, still outstanding), and the
internship position turned into a journalist position (rea-
son said thesis is still outstanding), and here I am two
years later. This is a fairly typical story amongst expats in
Reykjavík.
Anyways, Haukur has taught me a lot over this time
and I expect that he’ll teach me a lot more because he
hasn’t actually left though he left his desk and this coun-
try (See: ‘Continental Rift’). And as Editor-in-Chief, he
will make sure that I don’t turn this magazine into soft-
core tourist porn or an ultra right-wing journal of some
sorts. No there won’t be any of that.
Some things are of course bound to change. You will
probably see fewer references to The Simpsons and fewer
“y’alls” in this very particular space, but we’ll make sure
to stay fun and fresh and serious and critical at the same
time. Egg our offices and dump stacks of our magazine
in the street if you must, but The Grapevine will not go
soft or easy. However, dear disgruntled egg/paper throw-
er, I recommend you make yourself an omelet and you
might as well use our paper as kindling—it sure has been
a cold enough January.
That said, our intentions are certainly not malicious.
Quite the contrary, our intentions are to keep this maga-
zine honest. Now here’s to our collective forces making
The Reykjavík Grapevine even better as we continue into
its TENTH year of publication.
Happy Þorri and I’ll see you next time!
And if you’re looking for something fun to do in the
meantime, you might check out some of the great fes-
tivals happening this month, starting with The French
Film Festival (See page 24), followed by The Winter
Lights Festival (See the super duper fat program pullout
inside), and conductor Ilan Volkov’s new modern music
festival after that (See page 17).
Anna’s 3rd Editorial
Observing Iceland from afar, say through Facebook or
the local media, is interesting A perspective is granted.
There is a spasm in the discourse. People are so heated,
they get intensely inf lamed about every issue, ready to
scream and knock down buildings with the sheer force
of their frustration. Yet nothing ever seems to happen,
nothing gets done, nothing is accomplished, nothing
changes; we are left with nowt but a foult taste in our
mouths and a disgust for our compatriots. Worked up to
the point of rambling irrationality and mindless anger,
we scream and prod and post and poke. And then noth-
ing.
A case in point would any of the BIG BIG FIASCOS
we dealt with through January and have now completely
forgotten. Poisonous breast implants or gendered ice
cream or industrial salt or snow plowing or pubic groom-
ing or bankster revelations (those keep on coming) or
whatever else ruined our lives in the last month are all
in the past now, having made way for whatever is ruining
all our lives today or will ruin them tomorrow.
There’s something broken in the way we handle
things, the way we communicate and talk to one another.
We scream for a day and then forget. Life on a sparsely
populated and uneventful island perhaps requires that
we never solve anything or move forward— what would
we then have to talk about?
We are a very eager people, but perhaps we would do
well with just shutting up and getting on with it. The
wave of indignation we confront ourselves with every
other day seems pointless and only serves to make our
lives worse and more boring. SO BORING!
Of course we need to get involved. But maybe we
need a better way to involve ourselves. Perhaps it’s time
for less talk, more action? I’m not saying we need to go
out and bomb the PMs offices or anything (sort of been
done by now), but if we managed to harness our frustra-
tions and ride through some sort of path to somewhere
we might actually accomplish something, and move for-
ward. And not HATE LIFE whilst doing so.
Love to you.
Haukur SM
Editor In Chief
CONTINENTAL RIFT
Notes from across the Atlantic
Loving the elements
*or thereabouts
- depending on the elements
Natural
Hot spring steam
baths
Sauna
Geothermal baths
www.fontana.is
Open 2-9 pm