Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.04.2017, Síða 8

Vegan Ísland was selected for this
issue’s spotlight due to some beauti-
ful drama that went down there only
last week. Drama that will illustrate
better than anything why Iceland’s
Facebook culture is so irresistible.
Sit down. Grab some popcorn (no
butter). Here’s the recap:
First remember that Iceland has
320,000 people and that 120,000 of
those people live in Reykjavík. The Veg-
an Ísland group contains 15,000, mean-
ing that if a member, say, calls out one
of the only “vegetarian-friendly” res-
taurants in Iceland, the owner of that
restaurant might also be a member.
Such was the fate for Vigdís Ósk
Howser Hardardóttir—who has given
us permission to use her name—when
she decided to post a rant decrying the
“vegetarian” chain restaurant Gló. For
context, Gló calls itself a vegetarian/
vegan restaurant, but it also has chick-
en and beef on the menu. The TL;DR of
Vigdís’s post is that Gló used pictures
of chicken in their paid Facebook ads
and Vigdís did not want to see images
of what she described as “dissected
corpses slathered in cream sauce” on
her Facebook wall.
Only seven hours later, a representa-
tive of Gló responded inviting Vigdís
and other interested parties to visit
their kitchens in order to get a better
idea of how their food was being pre-
pared. Vidgís immediately fired back
that she would go to the kitchens only
if they would take her to the slaughter-
houses as well. Then they sort of fought
back and forth for a while.
Anyway, this whole situation made
national Icelandic news with articles
on all major Icelandic news outlets. Yes,
this is a true fact. Facebook is no joke
in Iceland. I mean, hey—you’re reading
this.
Share this article:
gpv.is/groups
Words
Hannah Jane
Cohen
DIGITAL LIFE
:þ
Around Iceland in
80 Facebook Groups:
Vegan
Ísland
WORD OF
THE ISSUE
The word of the issue this issue is :þ.
Technically, no, this isn’t a word, but
it is a neat emoticon that you can only
make in Icelandic. And emoticons,
like words, are imbued with meaning
that can be at once static and flexible.
Where :P looks goofy and implies the
sender is perhaps a bit ridiculous, with
that tongue lolling off to the side, :þ has
the tongue coming straight from the
centre of the mouth, sending a clear
message of mocking and derision. So
where :P might mistakenly convey the
impression that you’ve just had your
wisdom teeth removed, :þ provides
clarity and precision: yes, you are teas-
ing the recipient. As this is an emoti-
con you can only make with an Icelan-
dic alphabet, it clearly deserves a place
as this issue’s word of the issue. PF/SP
8 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 06 — 2017
Readers
Write
Hey Grapevine!
I visited Iceland last month and
really enjoyed the nature and the
city. But when we ate it seemed like
there were loads of burger joints
like back home—Lebowski and
Chuck Norris, and even a Dunkin’
Donuts! What!? We wanted to try
more Icelandic things like… I don’t
know! Whatever Icelanders eat! In
fact, what do Icelanders eat?
Michael, Michigan
Hi Michael, Michigan

I’m glad to hear you did your re-
search on Icelandic cuisine after
visiting the country. FYI, the
Icelandic diet mainly consists
of protein—you know, sheep’s
head, fermented shark, whale
meat and the like. Most Iceland-
ers will have at least one of these
delicacies for breakfast, lunch,
and dinner. Maybe a midnight
snack too. Also, as I’m sure
you’re aware, the water in Ice-
land is some of the purest in the
world, and Icelanders drink on
average about seven litres (that’s
almost two gallons, in Ameri-
can-speak) of it every day. Vi-
kings are famous for their very
strong bladders, as there were
no toilet facilities on their ships.
These were barbaric times, Mi-
chael, Michigan.
What Icelanders hate is any
food that is loved by the rest
of the world. Burgers? Fries?
Doughnuts? Urgh please. Give
them a steaming sheep’s head
pronto.
Hungrily,
The Grapevine
Send us a letter at
letters@grapevine.is
A dramatic reenactment of a more peaceful day in Vegan Iceland
LÓABRATORIUM
WHERE WAS IT SHOT?
Die Another Day
Words: Joanna Smith
Everyone’s favourite chauvinist spy,
James Bond (albeit in everyone’s least
favourite reincarnation, Pierce Bros-
nan), visited everyone’s favourite sub-
Arctic island back in 2002. The result-
ing film had diamonds, Madonna and,
because it’s a James Bond film, a to-
tally incoherent plotline.
After being held as a prisoner in
North Korea for a year, 007 gets invited
to some billionaire’s ice palace in Ice-
land. Bond is well up for it, and doesn’t
even have PTSD or anything. Has any-
one who lives in an “ice palace” (other
than Superman and Queen Elsa) been
anything other than a villain? No. But
James Bond is literally the stupidest
guy ever, so he gets in a super fast car
and heads on over there.
The ice palace scene was filmed at
Jökulsárlón—a large, iceberg-strewn
glacial lagoon in southeast Iceland. If
you go there today, you’ll find no pal-
aces, and no pantomime villains: just
ice. And if you want to drive over it,
you’ll need a Super Jeep, not a sports
car. Because in real life Bond would
have flipped that car, died, and saved
us all 133 minutes.
The face of Icelandic cuisine