Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.11.2019, Blaðsíða 4

What Are Icelanders
Talkin! About?
The headlines explodin! the
comments sections
Words: Andie Fontaine Photo: biskup.is
The ongoing RÚV televi-
sion series, Svona fólk
(People like this), which focuses on
Iceland’s queer history, reminded
people of just how adamantly the
National Church fought against
legalising same-sex marriage in
this country. As such, Bishop Agnes
M. Sigur!ardóttir was asked in a
recent interview if the church was
willing to apologise for this treat-
ment. To her credit, Agnes offered
an unambiguous response, saying,
“I can totally apologise on behalf of
the Church for having come out and
hurting people this way. I’m happy
to apologise for that.”
Speaking of same-sex marriage
(bear with us here), former First
Lady of Iceland Dorrit Moussaieff
cloned her beloved dog Sámur, a
very expensive dream of hers since
the original Sámur passed away.
In a brief interview, she compared
the controversy around cloning to
same-sex marriage, in that they are
both things that people are suspi-
cious of due to a lack of understand-
ing. Makes sense!
Neo-transhumanist anti-capital-
ist synth kink rockers Hatari made
headlines twice this news cycle, for
two different but very good reasons.
First, they dropped a new single,
Filthy Boy, which is every bit the
scintillating romp you would expect
from a song of this name by a band
like Hatari. Second, they donated
ten tickets to their release concert to
the legal fund of whistleblower Bára
Halldórsdóttir, who blew the lid of
the Klausturgate scandal. They’re
just the sweetest, ain’t they?
McDonald’s might have left
Iceland in 2009, but its legacy
remains in the form of a preserved
burger and fries at the Snotra House
in Hella, South Iceland. Recently,
Iceland’s last McDonald’s value
meal turned 10, and looks pretty
much the same as it did back then.
Naturally, an Australian couple
came forward with the claim that
they have a McDonald’s burger that’s
actually 20 years old, but come on.
Who are you going to trust: Iceland,
or a country that hasn’t produced
any decent music since Men At
Work?
Lastly, IKEA’s Christmas Goat is
facing a new threat. Not high winds,
nor faulty wiring nor a lone arson-
ist—all things that have previously
felled the goat. Rather, a Facebook
event called "Burn the goat, they
can’t stop all of us" has already
garnered some 4,000 Icelanders
interested or going to the location
on December 1. The event is osten-
sibly a protest against aggressively
marketing Christmas earlier each
year, and management is worried—
worried enough to issue a statement
reminding people that the goat is
under heavy security. Challenge
accepted? We’ll just have to find out.
4The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 20— 2019First
NEWS
Bishop of Iceland Agnes M. Sigur!ardóttir (le") and a burning goat
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