OK, Our Economy Totally Collapsed a Couple of Years Ago, and Our Fancy New Eruption Sorta Disrupted European Air Travel for a While There (Sorry, Europe)

OK, our economy totally collapsed a couple of years ago, and our fancy new eruption sorta disrupted European air travel for a while there (sorry, Europe). But it’s not all banksters and volcanoes over here – in fact, we’re doing pretty damn fine. Summer’s ‘round the corner, skies are bright and sunny and we’ve got all these cool events going on all the time. So cheer up, and come pay us a visit if you haven’t already (remember to bring lots of Euros and Dollars)! The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 0405 — 2010 2

Editorial | Haukur S Magnússon Cover Illustration by: The Reykjavík Grapevine Hörður Kristbjörnsson Hafnarstræti 15, 101 Reykjavík [email protected] www.grapevine.is [email protected] 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. Editorial: +354 540 3600 / [email protected] Advertising: +354 540 3605 / [email protected] MUSIC Publisher: & +354 540 3601 / [email protected] NIGHT Publisher: LIFE Hilmar Steinn Grétarsson / [email protected] Editor: Haukur S Magnússon / [email protected] TRACK OF THE ISSUE Journalist: Rebecca Louder / [email protected] Download your Contributing Writers: free copy at grapevine.is Sindri Eldon Wenjing Zhang Marieke Hardy James Ashworth Íris Erlingsdóttir That out of the way, I have one final statement to It’s Time To Act Socially Catharine Fulton put out there. Dear Politicians of Iceland: you are Joe Shooman Responsible For A Change all dumb failures, you have no ideals, you stand Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl for absolutely nothing, you make no attempts at Bob Cluness Haukur’s 23nd Editorial acting socially responsible and you do not care about Egill Helgason Marc Vincenz anything except for lining your pockets (and your TRACK OF THE ISSUE Valur Gunnarsson Since the Eyjamafjalladjadoodadloekur started friends’ pockets) and scoring a sweet pension. Magnús Sveinn Helgason spewing its fancy ash all over the place, halting This I infer from the way you conduct Ólafur Arnalds Paul F. Nikolov European air traffic and once again putting Iceland yourselves, and from what you say. From the way Editorial Interns: in the global spotlight, we have received many you consistently abuse your position to this effect, Tunglið Anna Andersen / [email protected] letters, messages and phone calls from concerned and how you do so in the most shame- and ruthless Sophia Van Treeck / [email protected] olafurarnalds friends all over the planet. They are worried about manner imaginable. Stephanie Orford / [email protected] the health and well being of Icelanders, they ask Nobody cares whether you broke the law or Download Tunglið On-line News Editor Paul Nikolov / [email protected] what they can do to help, and some of them even not, or whether your crimes count as crimes in the at www.grapevine.is Food Editor: insist on praying for us. strongest technical sense. You have all been caught Catharine Fulton Each and every one of those communications with your hand lodged firmly in our cookie jar with Ólafur Arnalds certainly has no reasons to complain for Art Director: is touching, as they are heartfelt and emphatic chocolate smeared all over your faces. You have himself these days. The Shirley Temple of Icelandic neo- classical music has been up to all sorts of shenanigans since Hörður Kristbjörnsson / [email protected] missives that sorta make one believe there is hope offended our ideals—YOU WERE VOTED INTO Design: releasing his epic breakthrough album Eulogy for Evolution PARLIAMENT TO REPRESENT AN ENTIRE Jóhannes Kjartansson / [email protected] yet. It is indeed a good sign that humans still in 2007. When he’s not running all over the world playing Layout: possess the ability to feel for one another across NATION, YOU ARE THERE ON ALL OUR shows and climbing Great Walls (yeah, he just came back oceans and continents, even though their lives, BEHALFS AND YOU SHOULD THEREFORE Páll Hilmarsson / [email protected] from touring China!), he has his nose to the grindstone in the Photographers: religious affiliations and everyday values might REPRESENT OUR HIGHEST SHARED VALUES, studio to bring us new songs. And lucky for us, he has! Julia Staples / juliastaples.com differ greatly. Empathy is good and should be IDEALS AND GOALS. The track Tunglið (“the moon”) off his newest album “...and they have escaped the weight of darkness” is a Sales Director: encouraged—a global community of care and Aðalsteinn Jörundsson / [email protected] slow-blooming bouquet of piano and strings that gradually mutual understanding is what we should strive for And you have consistently failed to do so. Please leave Guðmundur Rúnar Svansson / [email protected] escalates into a beautiful roar. The instruments quietly play off (you can call me a fuckin’ hippie if you will, I still us alone already, go hang out with your campaign Distribution: each other, they build and it climaxes with a sweeping smack stand by this belief of mine). contributors somewhere and just leave. [email protected] in the face that might cause you to tell folks around you it’s Now, this doesn’t change the fact all this concern Proofreader: just something in your eye. Kind of like looking at a big full Jim Rice and empathy is completely unwarranted—we are moon. all doing pretty-to-goddamn fine over here on our Press releases: remote rock in the North Atlantic, regardless of what [email protected] Submissions inquiries: you might have heard. Comic | Hugleikur Dagsson [email protected] Of course the Eyjafjallajökull area farmers’ Subscription inquiries: plight is a great one; their livelihoods as well as their +354 540 3605 / [email protected] livestock being put at risk and all (read more about General inquiries: [email protected] that in Anna Andersen’s moving piece on page 22), Founders: but even that sorta goes with the territory when Hilmar Steinn Grétarsson, you choose to live under an active volcano (not to Hörður Kristbjörnsson, mention when you choose to settle an island that’s Jón Trausti Sigurðarson, Oddur Óskar Kjartansson, pretty much one large active volcano). Not a single Valur Gunnarsson human life has been lost, and the daily lives and The Reykjavík Grapevine is published 18 times a year routines of the majority of Icelanders haven’t been by Fröken ltd. Monthly from November through April, affected one bit. and fortnightly from May til October. Nothing in this (In fact we all got sorta excited by the eruption, magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without to tell you the truth. It looks really cool, it’s generally the written permission of the publishers. The Reykjavík harmless and it’s nice to be in the news for other Grapevine is distributed around Reykjavík, Akureyri, Egilsstaðir, Seyðisfjörður, Borgarnes, Keflavík, Ísafjörður things than economic collapse and fraud for a and at key locations along road #1, and all major tourist change). attractions and tourist information centres in the country. We kinda wanted to underline that with our cover for this issue, and send out a message: “WE You may not like it, but at least it's not sponsored. (No articles in the Reykjavík Grapevine are pay-for articles. The opinions ARE GENERALLY DOING GREAT, THANK YOU!” expressed are the writers’ own, not the advertisers’). Please pass this message along if you can, readers, we need lots of tourists and their fancy currencies to be able to drink next winter into oblivion.

surprising nature | gravel roads | crazy weather

Check out our website www.safetravel.is for safe returning

We want you out of here – alive! bedroom community the Whale Watching tour at the reykJavÍk arts festival sam amidon – ben frost the national theatre of iceland may 16 at 8 pm nico muhly – valgeir sigurðsson daníel bjarnason – nadia sirota – una sveinbjarnardóttir borgar magnason – helgi hrafn Jónsson

„I couldn‘t be any more full of my own happiness than witnessing this night. Bravo and oh and oh to Bedroom Community for their righteous curation and stellar performances. This is passionate, necessary music. Blessed, blessed!“ The Reykjavík Grapevine, Oct 2009

AMADOU & MARIAM AMADOU & MARIAMRETRO STEFSON RETRO STEFSON MIÐASALA Á MIDI.IS & LISTAHATID.IS MIÐASALA LAUGARDALSHÖLL 12. MAI Á MIDI.IS & laugardalshöll ConCerT hall LISTAHATID.IS mayLAUGARDALSHÖLL 12 at 8.30 pm 12. MAI Pitchfork Media: Rolling Stone: “Amadou & Mariam make the truest form “Dimanche à Bamako of world music: music for the whole world - Best Albums of the Decade” to enjoy, regardless of background.” Pitchfork Media: Rolling Stone: The Times: “Amadou & Mariam make the truest Qform Magazine: “Dimanche à Bamako “A dazzling bundle of pop smarts of world music: music for the whole world“Truely, a voyage of discovery.” - Best Albums of the Decade” and African soul.” to enjoy, regardless of background.” The Times: Q Magazine: “A dazzling bundle of pop smarts “Truely, a voyage of discovery.” and African soul.”

TickeTs and full fesTival info www.artfest.is, www.midi.is FREE GRAPEVINE TEE HEE HEE!

Sour grapes We’ve got a new prize for all your MOST AWESOME LETTERS. And it’s a scorcher! From now on, whoever sends in the issue’s AWESOME LETTER will receive a cool new Reykjavík Grapevine T-shirt, featuring the majestic G that adorns our cover. So you and stuff should make sure to keep writing us fun and/or interesting letters. Natch.

Say your piece, voice your opinion, This new Grapevine tee surely is the shiznit! It was designed send your letters to: by our very own art director man, Hörður Kristbjörnsson, and [email protected] it’s good for posing in front of a mirror, impressing folks with your impeccable taste or picking up men or women of all ages (no minors). DON’T PANIC if your letter wasn’t picked AWESOME LETTER. You can still get a tee for a low, low 4 price over at Havarí on Austurstræti. Letters

THE SOONER THE DIRTY PEOPLE OF ICE- LAND FADE BACK INTO OBSCURITY - THE MOST AWESOME LETTER: BETTER !!! YOUR BANK FAILURES AND dear editor: REFUSAL TO PAY WHAT YOU OWE AND NOW YOUR DIRTY SCUMMY VOLCANO !!! i never saw that movie... that movie about tom hanks living in an airport... but i am living it. i PIG DIRTY PEOPLE !!! am hating it. mostly because it is my own doing. good buddy of mine promised me a ride to a southland airport, so i could fly to seattle so I could fly to reyk. but buddy got too hammered [email protected] and was still too drunk by morn to drive me. so i missed the first seattle flight of IcelandAir. No mercy, just money is what it cost me. Dear Andrea, I could swear the iceland hotty that took my money over the phone to reup the flight a second time, gave me a wednesday departure as sure as i cant rhyme. the only thing that was THANK YOU FOR YOUR LETTER! IT IS sure, is they don´t fly from seattle to there on wednesdays. I hate this air-chair I have been MOST AMUSING! WE WILL BE SURE TO living in here, for i don´t care to think for-how-long now. the only other chair that seems to PASS ON YOUR REGARDS TO OUR FEL- have as much a part of me is the far stall in the loo. that aint lovely, too. LOW PIG DIRTY PEOPLE AND TO MAKE you ever think that the engineers that design airports should ask the people that sleep on SURE OUR VOLCANOES GET CLEANED UP the floor, ´how can we raise the bar?´ Cuz of repeated flight calamities we travellers inevitably IN TIME FOR THEIR NEXT ERUPTION find ourselves pitched out on airport floors. These designers could say, 'hey, what is it you need in an airport?' I need chairs that don´t have armrests so i can stretch out and sleep side- LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. ways. I need a warm place, as chairs seem to too often be near cold windows on marble floors. i need free internet (kudos SeaTac on that, Bill Gates must have provided the bandwidth). This letter is regarding the article that was but go the next step. lets not beat on the airport. after all, that is brass and glass and it can´t written about stripping by Rachel Aimee and change game so fast. companies, on the other hand can. they are manned, at least airlines are Katrin Redfern. staffed 50% by women, the smarter of the sexes. and there is no question as to which category First I want to thank you for showing a they placed me in during this ash-hashed scenario next to a cold window. different side on the whole stripping issue. i need an iceland air customer rep that doesn´t smirk as i buy another full-price ticket when Sometimes the Icelandic media can be ex- my seat just went empty on the flight out last night, and my return seat is going to burn up tremely one-sided and narrow-minded on empty as well, right next to the outbound seat in some sadistic kind of air purgatory hell, wait- many controversial subjects so it was nice to ing for me to bid it hello. read a more of an open-minded article. But i don´t care if all these dressed-for-success people all around us have nowhere to go but a there was one thing that bothered me about small metal tube, and before they do, choose to eschew me contemptuously because of the the article and that was the use of the word(s) four day hair-affair i am having with my temporary home in the air-chair next to the cold- "Sex industry". I'm surprised it was used so window well in Seattle airport hell. Actually, i think my 4-day hair-smooo looks rather cool often by the reporters. People that are against considering its green, low-flow, shower free simplicity. but as bad as this Ash Thursday be, the stripping tend to use words that have a stron- stodgy, rigidity of the airport is nothing compared to the IcelandAir inflexibility. ger and more of an effect on people (sorta icelandair don't offer standby...they just let empty seats fly lonely apparently. Efficiency like how people that are against abortion love in fuel usage? why try, when they are the virtual sole play to nice Iceland. icelandair doesn't to use the word "murder" or "murderers"). rebate the second half of a flight if a connection is not made to the first half. this supports the Words like "prostitution", "trafficking" and coffers of an airline that skrimps on offering meals on intercontinental flight. "sex industry" are often mentioned when iceland air doesn't give frequent flier miles for a missed flight, but they will keep the entire talking about whether stripping should be ticket price as if you did fly it. icelandair web site seems to increase the prices if you browse banned or not. This is an incorrect compari- away and come back. in fact, they quoted me a 12,000 dollar one-way ticket for this evening, son. Strippers are no more a part of the "Sex owing I assume to the demand for front row viewing of the new volcanoe. iceland air says they Industry" than actors, filmmakers, musi- can not change these policies, when we know what business can change... they can change the cians, writers and painters. They sell the im- rules of banking if they want to. age of sex but they don't sell sex itself. this rant is not about how bad icelandair.is is - that is too easy a point to pick. this is rant is I also want express a little bit about "traf- about how i cant seem to get my shit together and past the seat in the loo or past the incredulty ficking" that was mentioned in the article. If in the ashen faces of the air-mosas staffing the IcelandAir desk so they can win a customer I remember correctly the police investigated back with good old fashioned business sense. kindness. the stripping club Goldfinger a few years ago 'its not fair' ...what i heard from some reykjavik mortgage payers, and found no evidence of trafficking. I am Cooking on Earth’s surprised that despite the investigation that sleeplust in seattle senators and police officers are still going in front of TV claiming that trafficking is very Dear Sleeplust, Fire … active in stripping clubs. Even the police of chief, Stefán Eiríksson, went on TV saying thank you for your letter! We really don’t know what to say about its contents – except maybe that you that "there is a clear connection between should take a taxi if your friends are too hammered to take you to the airport – but the general tone of stripping places and orginazed criminal ac- it is just so pleasant and bantering that we can’t NOT make you our letter of the month. tivity and human trafficking". All I can say to that is why haven't there been any arrests Also, maybe that free T-shirt will make up for the millions of dollars all these flight troubles caused made if the evidence is so clear? you. Probably not, but maybe.

With regards, Drop by for a beer if you ever eventually make it over – if not, then we look forward to seeing Tom Henry Hanks’ interpretation of y’all in a couple years.

Dear Henry, Dear Jan, Hello after the strong earthquake that vol- We agree that Icelandic discourse can be one cano Island tornadoes and tidal black Amer- sided and dumb, which is why we strive to poi- Why would you want to destroy America? That ica of the disasters God for non-Muslims son it with our dirty minds and rambling con- seems like a nasty thing to do. In any case, to avoid vengeanse GOD by an apocalyptic tent. DISCOURSE is the word of the day, or at thanks for your informative letter. Although catastrophe in May 2010 the application least it should be. Still, have you been in any of when you think of it, it’s not really that informa- of Islam and the Koran in all countries the those strip clubs? From what we’re told, scoring tive. How does one blow up active volcanoes? world and especially the Arab countries and a hand-job there is a pretty easy task if you’ve got Will just any active volcano do, or do we need whether countries not applying Islam No some cash. a specific one? And which ocean are we talking God punishes them by apocalyptic disasters about? There are many oceans out there (at least thank you ANYWAY, we are engaging in discourse, Ra- seven, we’re told). Dude, if you want to be pass- chel and Katrin said their piece, then you said ing along instructions and stuff, you should be yours, we happily deliver your thoughts, and Mehdi Assem more specific. What an anticlimactic missive we’re sure others will pitch in at some point too. this was. So good job, everyone. Dear Mehdi,

Hi, my name is Burkni Þór Berglindarson Huh? and I just have to say that I fucking love Grapevine. The pest part of the paper is ofc. the sour grapes. well I just wanted to write and give you my best regards and keep up the Statement from the Feminist Association on the good work:D discussion of the banning of strip-clubs in Iceland Dear Burkni, Strip-dancing as other sex work is a manifestation of the gender system our society Thank you for your awesome fucking letter. relies upon. By definition the gender system includes processes that both define men Jeez, are we inspiring this kinda language in and women as different in socially significant ways and justify inequality on that basis. the nation’s young? Well, fuck it, you seem like a smart kid and we’re sure you have the com- Most interactions between men and women occur in roles that are unequal. Beliefs mon sense to know when using the word fuck about gender difference lead men and women to recreate the gender system in is appropriate and when it is not (protip: wealthy, … is Delicious everyday interaction. Strip-dancing and other sex work concerns the very core of the respectable tourists on cruise ships apparently gender system. The strip dancer (woman) being the merchandize and the salesperson don’t approve of the word fuck. So if you meet is subject to the power and will of the buyer (man). any...). Anyway, keep on rockin’, etc. The existence of strip-clubs pins down the gender system feminists aim to subvert to How to destroy America: Blow up an active be able to construct a just system for all, men and women. The ban set’s an example of volcano near an ocean to create a megatsu- denunciation necessary in the fight against women’s subordination, which hopefully nami. encourages other countries to side with us fighting for equality.

Jan Overbeek Puffins Reykjavík AH74 Whale WatchingWatching AH10 Greater andand Golden Circle Area Reykjavík 15.000 ISK Sightseeing 4.900 ISK

Gullfoss MIX AND MATCH! AH27AH27 TheThe VikingViking HorseHorse andand GoldenGolden CircleCircle We offer a number of combination tours that allow you to ISK 15.000 do more in a single day.

Why not try combining a trip to the geysirs and golden waterfall (AH11) with Whale Watching or AH11AH11 one of these other exciting tours? Of course all of these tours TheThe GoldenGolden are also available separately. CircleCircle AfternoonAfternoon ICELAND EXCURSIONS ISK AH29 Blue We believe that sightseeing can 8.600 be so much more than looking out Geysir Area Lagoon Direct the window of your coach. 3.400 ISK Check out our wide variety of DayDay Tours T Day Tours activity tours and let´s go out and DayActivities T & oursoursDay Tours move those muscles! 2010

Gullfoss Caving, diving, horseback riding, ATV or Super Jeep tours - we have it all!

ATV DayGeysir Area T Day T Vestmannaeyjarours Blue Lagoon DayRiver Rafting T Blue Lagoon oursDay T Skógafoss Visit our sales officeours downtown at Lækjartorg or go to www.grayline.isours Whale Watching Jökulsárlón 24 hour booking service +354 540 13 13 www.grayline.is

Sales Office and Bus Terminal AH15AH15 IcelandIceland AH117AH117 FromFrom BelowBelow 19.900 ISK 9.200 ISK BlueBlue IceIce

Visit our sales office downtown at Lækjartorg or go to www.grayline.is The Reykjavík Grapevine THE You can witness a volcanic eruption in Swimming pools are abundant, It will take you an hour at most to Issue 05 — 2010 SUNNY Iceland awesome and cheap! get from the global metropolis that SIDE is Reykjavík to some of the prettiest 6 unspoilt nature around.

Article | Democracy Opinion | Magnús Sveinn Helgason The Imaginary “We Are Examples” Anarchist Threat The Case of The Reykjavík Nine During its noon news broadcast on Friday, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service announced that police had been summoned to the Reykjavík Courthouse, arresting two men after “a brawl” broke out in a courtroom where The Reykjavík Nine were on trial. According to the report, an explosive device—“a smoke bomb”—had also gone off inside the courthouse. Fréttablaðið, the most widely read Icelandic newspaper, gave pretty much the same account of events, complete with brawl and bomb. That following Monday, Fréttablaðið editor Ólafur Þ. Stephensen reflected on the arrests as a teachable moment, venting his frustration at what he claimed was the increasingly “violent extremism” of protesters, wagging his finger at environmentalists who protested government emphasis on heavy industry, truckers who protested rising oil prices, those who participated in the “pots and pans revolution” during the winter of 2008-9, as well as The Reykjavík Nine. Lumping all these protesters together and imagining some links between them, Stephensen concluded “the protesters” had elevated violence and intimidation as a political expression. Stephensen did concede that perhaps the police had overreacted the previous Friday. Perhaps. But according to his logic, that was irrelevant, since any police overreaction was a logical and necessary response to the supposed wave of radicalised and violent protesters. Stephensen is correct when he sees the events at the courthouse as a teachable moment. However, he draws the wrong lesson. I was in the courthouse that Friday morning and witnessed the events unfold. The fact of the matter is that there were no violent confrontations before the police showed up to forcefully clear the courtroom, ejecting members of the public who wished to follow the trial but had not secured one of the 25 available seats, therefore standing in the back of the March 30, 1949: Thousands of Icelanders of course, and we did not have our fists raised even included in the indictment and who was courtroom. Oh, and the dreadful explosive device, descend on Austurvöllur in passionate and we did not have any signs or anything that never charged for any violent act yet still faces the “smoke bomb”, was a firecracker thrown into opposition to Alþingi’s movement to militarily could be used as a potential weapon; we were the shared fate of the nine. Courthouse foyer after the trial was over and nearly align their country with Belgium, France, not yelling or using abusive language; nothing The seemingly random selection of persons everyone had cleared out! the United States and others in the fledgling like that. I think it was the sheer number of us to accuse became all the more apparent for the There was no compelling reason to limit the size North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). made them decide to try to prevent us, however nine when, upon reading the indictment, they of the audience or clear the courtroom. There were “The NATO protests were horribly violent,” they could, from going up there.” saw that the other twenty or so who entered at most 35 people at the courthouse, and there were explains Sólveig Jónsdóttir, “but not the protes- The ruling Independence Party of the time Alþingi were listed only as ‘unknown persons.’ no signs this small crowd posed a threat. Sure, there tors. The people who were in power at the time took certain offence to a mass public display of Says Steinunn, “I could go through the images were a handful of anti-authoritarian countercultural had armed a right-wing militia; there’s footage displeasure over their wheelings and dealings and give the names of each and every one of characters. But the majority were “ordinary” people: in which you can see they have batons and just and, two years after the explosive pots and pans them. It would be easy for [the prosecutors], too, family members of the defendants and members came running out beating people indiscrimi- revolution, turned to Article 100 of the General if they wanted to. I’m not asking for others to of the public who wanted to show their support, including several nationally known figures. The nately. So the people defended themselves. Penal Code No. 19 of February 12, 1940. be accused, but it’s hard to understand why it is people in the audience were not some shady It was horribly aggressive. The nation was di- Nine Icelanders, including Sólveig, are now just us nine. It’s strange.” “protesters” who posed a threat. vided, tempers were running hot; people were becoming intimately acquainted with the ar- Sólveig’s understanding of the prosecutor’s Yet people I spoke to counted upward of 40 agitated that things were being decided behind ticle. motivation echoes that of her co-accused. “If police officers in the Courthouse. The only sign closed doors.” you go through the case documents it’s appar- of trouble was one gentleman who made loud The ruling Independence Party of the time Picking Out the Nine ent how random it all is,” she says. “You can’t statements about his constitutionally guaranteed took certain offence to a mass public display of “I think it’s understandable why they do it. read them and understand why they’re coming right to stay and watch an open trial, whether he displeasure over their wheelings and dealings They want to protect themselves and their after us. You get the feeling more that there’s remained seated or standing. The police dragged and, three years after the explosive anti-NATO power,” reasons Steinunn Gunnlaugsdóttir, nothing in here, there’s no substance in the him and a second man out of the courtroom in a demonstrations, turned to Article 100 of the sarcastically empathising with politicians in- charges. There’s nothing. headlock. General Penal Code No. 19 of February 12, voking the judiciary to quell public protest. “If I “We didn’t use abusive language, we weren’t With this overreaction the trial was made into 1940, which states: was the asshole they are I would do the same. I threatening, we weren’t violent in entering the an even greater circus than it already was. And would be a total fascist. It’s logical for maintain- building. So in the system I think there’s just the ass-backwards news accounts of a brawl and bombs going off further contributed to the narrative Anyone assaulting the Alþingi (Legislative Assem- ing power.” a prejudice toward so called ‘activists’ and I Stephensen and other manicured Brahmin of the bly) so as to endanger the Alþingi’s independence, Snapping back to the harsh reality of her sit- think that since some of the nine charged have cultural and political elite have been peddling. gives a command relating thereto or abides by such uation Steinunn continues, “I just don’t think been involved with ‘radical activities’ that’s why In a civilised Rechtsstaat the agents of the command shall be subject to imprisonment for no they have real power so I fight against it, but I they’ve decided to come down so hard. It’s pure state should seek to defuse and minimize social less than 1 year and the penalty may become life know they will fight back and they have more prejudice.” unrest and maintain peace. They must recognise imprisonment in case of gross offence. weapons and strength than I do.” the rights of the citizens to protest, or to exercise Steinunn, like Sólveig, is one of the Reykja- A Show of Solidarity their constitutional rights, and make every One Icelander to become most intimately vík Nine, accused under Article 100 of attack- The accused are not alone in failing to see the accommodation for the citizens to exercise these acquainted with the article in its virgin enact- ing Alþingi and endangering its independence logic in their small groups’ composition. Like rights. Even when it might be inconvenient for ment was a young Jón Múli Árnason, who just by entering parliament on the 8th of Decem- the NATO protests of generations past, thou- the state or its agents. No. Especially when it is under a quarter century later would welcome ber 2008. While some wanted to read aloud to sands of protestors participated in the winter inconvenient. the birth of his daughter, Sólveig. Jón was never the politicians a prepared statement, not all of 2008/2009 demonstrations. The vague wording Instead, the Icelandic authorities, the police subjected to prison time, but, instead, was fully the nine had a motive behind entering the par- of Article 100 would imply that all protestors and some members of the media have decided to approach protest and any signs of public discontent stripped of his citizens’ rights for five years, en- liament that day, not all of them even made it seeking the fall of the Independence Party-led differently — blowing things out of proportion, for joying them once more in 1957. past the entryway of the building. The entire government were to a certain extent launching example by hysterically describing firecrackers as History can be a broken record, it seems. group was not even acquainted until they were an assault on Alþingi. That’s much more than explosive devices. united by Article 100 three months ago. With nine people. The authorities must distinguish common December 8, 2008: Thousands of Icelanders seemingly little that binds them it’s difficult to In light of this, approximately 400 Iceland- criminals from law-abiding citizens who—while descend on Austurvöllur in passionate reason the most obvious question surrounding ers who took part in the protest have added protesting actions of the state—happen to break opposition to Alþingi’s rampant nepotism their case: why these nine? their names to a petition requesting that they, city ordinances, refuse to follow instructions of and corruption, resulting in the complete “A few of us have been arrested previously too, be charged alongside the nine. authorities or engage in civil disobedience. By implosion of Iceland’s economy. A group for other protests or similar things, but that’s Bryndís Björgvinsdóttir, who organised the refusing to make this distinction the police have approximately thirty-strong approached and not the case for all of us,” explains Snorri Páll petition and penned, among others, an open been turned into a tool of oppression. And when knocked on the doors of Alþingi. It was opened Jónsson Úlfhildarson, another of the accused. letter to the state to accompany the signatures, the state begins to deploy the police as a tool of and they were let in. “It’s all very random. That’s how I see it. It’s not explains “everyone who participated in the pro- oppression against its own citizens it has taken a “The public is supposed to be able to enter like we’re famous or the members of [popular tests that winter did the same thing. I don’t fateful step away from democracy and free society towards tyranny. parliament,” explains Sólveig, who was among musical outfit] múm who were in front of the know why I wasn’t there in that group entering the group wanting to make their way to the cameras at the protests. So maybe it’s easier to parliament that day, but I could have been. Any- Magnús Sveinn Helgason is a historian and political blogger. public viewing balcony that day. “I guess when pick us. It’s a mystery.” body could have been one of those nine people, He most recently authored addendum 5 to the SIC report, the people working there realised we were so “We are examples,” adds Ragnheiður Esther and is currently working on a book on financial bubbles. many they decided stop us. We were not armed, Briem, one of the accused whose name is not Continued on page 24 We’ll take you there! Day tourS to all the moSt excItInG PlaceS In IcelanD

re-99 - 18:00 Volcano tour SeaSonal 18-01

MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN

We head out of Reykjavík in a 4x4 bus and travel east towards the South coast of Iceland. Passing through some quaint towns and villages before we head into Fljótshlíð valley, where one of our most famous Icelandic Saga took place. On the way our expert guide will tell all about Icelandic geology and geography to better prepare you for the wonder of an erupting volcano. We stop for approximately 1-1,5 hours at a site from where the eruption can be clearly and safely viewed and experienced. If you have always been fascinated by the beauty and the forces of nature, join our tour and experience perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime sight!

Children 0-11 years, free of charge. PrIce 9900 ISk Children 12-15 years, 50% discount.

re-04 - 09:00 re-44 - 09:00 re-24 - 12:30 the Golden circle Gullfoss - Geysir & Gullfoss - Geysir Direct

all year 09-17 langjökull Snowmobiling all year 12:30-18

all year 09-19 MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN THU FRI SAT SUN Don’t miss out on the fascinating experience the In one afternoon you spend your time Golden Circle gives you. Walk around the world Our Gullfoss – Geysir & Langjökull encountering across-section of Iceland’s famous Geysir area, where geysers explode and Snowmobiling tour puts you in touch natural wonders and geological pools of mud bubble. Visit the magnificent Gullfoss with some of Iceland’s most famous and phenomena: the historical Þingvellir waterfall along with a visit to Þingvellir national exciting natural phenomena. Piece de national park, Geysir geothermal area and park, the original site of the oldest existing parlia- resistance an exhilarating 1 hour snowmobile the amazing Gullfoss waterfall. ment in the world. ride accross enless white snowfields. Due to road conditions during the hardest A valid driver´s licence is required. winter months the stop at Þingvellir Book now on www.re.is Book now on www.re.is national park might be skipped. Book now on www.re.is

PrIce ISk PrIce ISk PrIce ISk 9800 Book now by calling 580 5450 24500 Book now by calling 580 5450 8600 Book now by calling 580 5450

relax at re-81 - 09:00 re-06 - 09:00 the Blue lagoon take a Walk on the Wonders of reykjanes all year FLEXIBLE the Ice Side & Blue lagoon 09-19 MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN all year Seasonal 09-17 MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN There is no better way to start or end your MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN Iceland adventure than by bathing in the Want to see and feel something completely Don´miss out on discovering bubbling famous Blue Lagoon. different? Why not take a walk on a glacier hot springs, dramatic lava fields, and experience a surface that you have migratory birding cliffs, lonesome For our very flexible schedule please refer never been able to walk on before! Take a lighthouses and last but not least the Blue to our brochures. tour with us and try something new - Lagoon*. a once in a lifetime experience for most. return *Admission to the Blue Lagoon is not incl. BuS Fare 3200 ISk Book now on www.re.is Book now on www.re.is Book now on www.re.is return BuS PrIce 19900 ISk PrIce 13500 ISk Fare anD Book now by calling 580 5450 Book now by calling 580 5450 Book now by calling 580 5450 aDmISSIon 6300 ISk

re-08 - 09:00 re-05 - 13:00 re-15 - 09:00 Specialoffer* Internet South Shore adventure Saga circle online discount code: reykjavík Grand excursion all year all year 09-18 GV050510 13-16 all year 09-19

MON TUE FRI SAT SAT WED THU SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN

This tour is perfect for all Saga enthusi- Get a detailed and comprehensive Iceland´s South coast is ideal for nature asts. On this tour we take you around introduction to Reykjavík´s past and lovers of all kinds. Spectacular scenery, the area where one of the Icelandic present. Reykjavík´s unique proximity to striking waterfalls, stunning views of Sagas took place - along with enjoying nature, with salmon river Elliðaá running glaciers, black lava sand coastline, spectacular landscape. Come and follow through it, green valleys and outdoor charming villages and impressive rock in the footsteps of the Vikings with us. swimming pools, makes this city second formations all day long. to none in the world. Book now on www.re.is Specialoffer* PrIce ISk Internet PrIce ISk Book now by calling 580 5450 3900 11200 PrIce 14500 ISk Book now on www.re.is online discount code: Book now on www.re.is PrIce ISk PrIce 15400 ISk 4900 GV150510

* In order to activate the special internet offers you need to enter the online discount codes when booking on www.re.is Special internet offers on this page can be booked through 20 May 2010.

For further information and details on tours please refer to our brochures.

Travel Agency

Authorised by O Icelandic Tourist Board BSÍ Bus Terminal / 101 Reykjavík / 580 5400 / [email protected] / www.re.is The Reykjavík Grapevine THE Reykjavík summer is crammed with so Our economic collapse makes for IIcelandic people are a unique mix Issue 05 — 2010 SUNNY many colourful and energetic festivals unbeatable prices on goods and of savvy globetrotters and country SIDE services for those of y'all that make bumpkins - wide-eyed innocents 8 masquerading as thugs or the other way

Article | Life of the party Opinion | Íris Erlingsdóttir

Business ethics Apologies and What she does can hardly be called a business, she says, apologising that her story isn’t seedier. Justice She buys a 10-litre case of landi, as moonshine Now that the “Black Report” has finally is called in Icelandic, and keeps one or two bot- been issued—and criminal, tax, and tles for herself. Then she sells the remaining regulatory investigations appear to finally bottles with a little mark-up to recoup her costs. be nearing fruition—our beloved young She sells one-litre for 2.500 ISK, compared to plutocrats have suddenly realised how sorry they are about 6.500 ISK for one-litre of cheap vodka for the kreppa. Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson “cannot from your friendly state-run liquor store. help but blame [himself]” for not recognising “the Anna got acquainted with moonshine as a warning signs that were piling up.” Jón Ásgeir teenager. “I used to drink moonshine because Jóhannesson tells us that he “cannot describe with we couldn’t get into the liquor store. We started words how I feel because of the mistakes I have at 14 or 15, and we were getting it delivered made and their consequences.” by some 17-year-old guys.” The bottles were I find it very difficult to take these missives opaque so you couldn’t see inside, she remem- seriously. On the one hand, the apologies are not very bers. “That was kind of nasty. That’s kind of heartfelt; they look as if their authors merely filled in unsafe to be drinking. You know, you’ve heard the blanks from standard forms taken from a book of stories about people going blind,” she says. But public apologies. Anna isn’t that kind of moonshine purveyor. “I I don’t even see how Björgólfur Thor’s letter even never sell to underage kids,” she says. qualifies as an apology, since he doesn’t accept On the dangers of bad moonshine, Anna is responsibility for any particular action or omission. emphatic. “If it’s done improperly by just some He appears to be saying that he’s sorry the whole kids who want to make a lot of money, I don’t damn economy was screwed up and fell apart when think it’s a good idea. You have to know what push came to shove. you’re doing.” Brewing takes skill and commit- At least Jón Ásgeir acknowledges that he made ment. Plus, moonshine stills stink, she says, so some mistakes (though, of course, he points out, so finding a brewing location can be a headache. did everyone else). But her source is safe, she says. Her fam- I can’t help it if I see these letters as the beginning of a Tiger Woods-type of publicity ily has been buying from the same brewer for campaign to protect their respective financial years. Even her grandmother drinks the stuff. empires, rather than to seek personal redemption. If these two—who were at the middle of every Economic stash deal of consequence—were sincere in their remorse, Everyone is drinking more moonshine these why has it taken them so long to go public with it? days. The economic crash has increased public Why haven’t they given us the particulars of every thirst for cheap booze and as a result moon- questionable transaction in which they participated? shine is rampant. The police largely ignore Why have they continued to believe that their sellers like Anna, though recently a couple of presence on boards of directors is necessary? Why bigger sellers have been busted. The Icelandic did they flee the country? The Moonshine Salesgirl government is much more concerned about I believe in second chances. I’d love to see marijuana growing and sales. Iceland move beyond the finger pointing that has Anna thinks it’s much better to defuse teen- inundated the media since October 2008. I think that vendettas can damage the person seeking justice as Next Door age interest in alcohol by allowing kids a glass much as the person against whom justice is sought. with dinner every so often. That way young Nevertheless, I don’t see how we can rebuild Illegally sold landi is more innocent than it seems people won’t drink so much that they get alco- a successful society without justice, and justice in hol poisoning the first time they get access to this case will necessarily entail taking the levers of If you’re like me, the stereotype that comes to the stuff, which is usually about 40 percent al- alcohol. “And they don’t go out when they’re 17 financial and political power away from those who mind when you think of a moonshine seller is cohol. She suggests making screwdrivers. Juice drinking moonshine,” she says. proved themselves unworthy to operate them. Both a red-faced hick from the Deep South, hanging covers up the flavour better than soda does, and Björgólfur Thor and Jón Ásgeir ascribe the kreppa out the back of a pick-up truck parked behind that’s what she wants when she’s making party MOONSHINE PUNCH to easy access to capital and to poor oversight, a country hoedown, hawk- punch. but this is just an attempt to spread the blame to ing overproof hooch that “I don’t feel it’s something bad,” That’s what it’s uncontrollable forces. “The Black Report” is replete might as well be rubbing all about for Anna— 5 lemons, 8 limes, a bunch of grapes, cut up with instances in which these two and their cronies alcohol, spilling a little on she says. “I just feel like I’m being a good host. It 2 litres landi a.k.a. moonshine, or Vodka aggressively sought to increase their reach through his overalls as he chugs it makes the picking up, (if you’re some sort of millionaire) obviously improper—if not illegal—means. helping my friends being able to But even if we buy their assertions that they from a mason jar. bottling, and coordi- 3 litres pineapple juice always had the nation’s best interests at heart, that The girl who sits down have a party with a punch and nating with buyers 1 litre grapefruit soda the kreppa is a result of simple negligence, we opposite me embodies all worthwhile. When 2 litres Sprite not going broke.” should still bar them from making any decisions none of this. Anna, as she I ask her to confirm 2 litres mixed fruit juice (find some pineapple in the future that could impact more than their asks to be called to protect her identity, is just that she’s doing something illegal, her voice juice) immediate families. a regular Reykjavík gal, born and raised—tall, hushes a little. It’s legal to buy and sell brewing 1 litre carrot and lemon juice (or strawberry, As Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben famously told him, pretty, 23, and legitimately employed. She just equipment, and it’s legal to brew for yourself, grape or whatever else) “With great power comes great responsibility.” happens to sell moonshine on the side. but it’s illegal to sell. “I don’t feel it’s something Björgólfur Thor, Jón Ásgeir, and the rest did obtain bad,” she says. “I just feel like I’m helping my Rule of thumb: Use 1 litre booze to 5 litres juice. great power, but they failed to exercise it responsibly. Life of the party friends being able to have a party with some For something a little fancier, you can add fla- The stakes are too high to give them a second “I’m actually getting a little bit sick of it because punch and not go broke.” Anna’s clients are all vour extract. You’ll find some at Áman, the chance. I’ve been drinking it for two, three years,” she family and friends. When all is said and done brewing equipment store. says. She must be getting creative with the she might have made enough to buy a couple mixing by this time. Of course, she says, but packs of cigarettes. Stephanie Orford julia staples there’s a limit on how much you can do with

WHAT? Welcome to Iceland Here’s how to find WHO? WHERE?

People Businesses Maps Direction

Quick guide to the information you need while enjoying your stay www.ja.is Fire is needed by the newcomer Whose knees are frozen numb; Meat and clean linen a man needs Who has fared across the fells.*

The Icelandic Sheep, Keeping the people alive since 874 AD.

*From the Hávamál, 1300 AD ÁJS

I c e l a n d i c Sheep Farmers [email protected] / photo:

EXPECT HANG OVERS...

THE BIGGEST CLUB IN DOWNTOWN REYKJAVIK. LIVE MUSIC EVERY WEEKEND. WWW.NASA.IS The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 05 — 2010 Egill Helgason is a man of many talents, in case you were wondering. Besides The very talented Inga María is filling in for Lóa this is- running a political talk show on Icelandic State TV, he a also runs a literary pro- sue, as the latter is currently on tour with FM Belfast. 10 gramme there. And he blogs a lot for web-site Eyjan.is. Kudos to you, Egill.

Analysis | Egill Helgason, Political and Social Commentator

its souvenir shops full of stuffed puffins, But there are also lone individuals suddenly looked quite empty. And this in such as the Dutchman Gerard Van Vliet, a year that was supposed to be the best who put the funds he intended to use for ever for Icelandic tourism. relief work in Africa into the infamous Ic- For the crisis (kreppa, as we call it) has eSave accounts of the now defunct Lands- been quite beneficial to the tourist servic- banki. Gerard has come to Iceland repeat- es. Iceland, formerly the most expensive edly, in hope of getting his money back. country in Europe, has become—well, He probably won’t, but he has become a not dirt cheap—but relatively inexpen- known and well-respected figure in the sive for those who make an income in country and is even considering writing Dollars, Pounds and Euros. One can even a book about the experience. witness German tourists buying more Van Vliet will have a lot of material than one beer at Icelandic restaurants. to work with. On April 12th, we saw the At the same time, after the collapse of the publication of a long awaited report on Króna, it has become impossibly expen- the collapse of the banks—nine volumes sive for Icelanders to travel abroad. There totalling at over two thousand pages— are still strict currency restrictions in written by a special committee, nominat- place. ed by Alþingi. The report describes gross negligence and incompetence by the po- We are not drowning in ash litical class, regulators and officials, and What was not reported in the foreign probably criminal activity by the manag- media was that almost no ash from the ers and owners of the banks. It seems the volcano reached Reykjavík and the most Icelandic legal courts will be totally inun- populated area of Iceland in the South- dated in the near future. west. The place of real impact is actually But so Iceland is again connected very small, compared to the size of the with disaster. In October of 2008, our country. My son and I conducted a small friends in Greece contacted us, asking experiment one night, leaving a white “Are you OK?', offering to send us some dinner plate outside in our garden on a food. This April, after the eruption of Ey- night Iceland’s meteorological office had jafjallajökull, the Greeks—who now have predicted ashfall in Reykjavík. their fair share of trouble—contacted us In the morning there was absolutely again, repeating their message of food Exporting Our Disasters no ash on the plate. However, we live in and aid. the centre of Reykjavík, and this being a The twofold catastrophes of financial col- Cod Wars with Britain, Henry Kissinger area du jour. weekend, the town was full of cigarette lapse and volcanic eruption: wrote of Iceland: "I sat there in wonder- Media interest in the “catastrophe” is butts— and ash. When I was young, Iceland didn’t ment. Here was an island with a popula- high; they just don’t seem to get enough A different kind of tourist has been make world news a lot. Sometimes you tion of 200,000 threatening to go to war of this admittedly picturesque story. As a around since the collapse of the banks. would stumble upon funny news items with a world power of 50 million over result, I have talked to a lot of foreign me- These are people who are owed money by about beer being prohibited in Iceland, codfish… I thought of a comment by dia. For example I've been interviewed at the Icelandic financial institutions. Ap- about there being no dogs in Reykjavík Bismarck over a century earlier, that the least seven times by the Japanese press parently the amount foreign creditors lost or about the rampant inflation in Iceland weak gain strength through effrontery…" (big in Japan?). But the most desired on the Icelandic banking system is about (which often surpassed 100%). But in Nowadays nobody knows what NATO interlocutor of the foreign press—our five times the nation's GDP. So there has general, Iceland was usually not in the stands for, and the military base in Kefla- Prime Minister, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, been a steady stream of lawyers and other sights of the world media. vík is a ghost town. being media shy, and, admittedly, a bit interested parties to the country, even a All the same this has been described But Iceland is in the news on a global boring—has been president Ólafur Rag- conference of alleged Russian oligarchs Egill Helgason as a period when Iceland was a relatively and most unprecedented scale. It seems nar Grímsson, a consummate political and kingpins in 101 Hotel in January of JULIA STAPLES ILLUSTRATIONS BY Inga María brynjarsdóttir great power, as great as a densely popu- we have become extremely good at ex- survivor who’s career reaches back into 2009. lated island far in the north can get. This porting our disasters. Iceland has be- the sixties. was due to the enormous strategic im- come quite famous in the last two years, portance of Iceland in the Cold War, as a but this fame is admittedly a dubious one “You ain’t seen nothing yet” place to monitor naval and air traffic in – in a way, the country has become a by- Just after the eruption Ólafur, a man who the Northern hemisphere. word for catastrophe. relishes the limelight, gave interviews to international media—most notably to the “I hate Iceland!” BBC—where he basically said that people Last month, images from Iceland were outside of Iceland hadn’t seen nothing televised all over the world. They seemed yet in terms of the island’s potential to to show a devastating volcanic eruption, erupt (thus paraphrasing one of his most whole regions enveloped in volcanic ash, famous utterings about the Icelandic people wearing masks to avoid inhaling banksters in their golden days: “You ain't poisonous fumes, suffering animals. At seen nothing yet”). There was another the same time, ash emitting from the Ey- eruption coming, and this one would be jafjallajökull eruption interrupted flight much bigger. “Be afraid, be very afraid,” traffic on an unprecedented scale; air- was the gist of Grímsson's words. ports from Britain to Turkey were forced This caught on with the foreign press, to close down. Millions of passengers in part because the name of the volcano were stranded. A video of a young and Grímsson was talking about is so much angry Scottish man became a hit on You- easier to pronounce: Katla, instead of Ey- Tube. "I hate Iceland!" was his message. jafjallajökull. Katla is admittedly an active News reporters, specialists in catas- volcano which is due to erupt sometime trophes, descended on the country, with in the future, but it is difficult to say when A byword for catastrophe their cameras and satellite discs. This or what the impact will be, and the Presi- Icelanders soon learned to use this po- was the second time in little less than a dent certainly is no geologist, just a politi- sition to their advantage. The running year that they had been to Iceland. The cian with a love for the spotlight. threat was to withdraw from NATO and first time was when the Icelandic finan- In the following weeks, the tourist close down the large US military base cial system collapsed over the course of industry fell into a state of total gloom. in Keflavík. This was even used to pres- a week in October of 2008. It was noted Not only were tourists unable to come sure our Cold War allies into buying fish at the time that some of these reporters because flight problems, bookings also that would otherwise have been unsel- came directly from Afghanistan and fell to an all time low. The centre of Reyk- lable. After we engaged in the so-called Iraq—thus Iceland became the disaster javík, heavily dependent on tourism with

EXPERIENCE MORE IN ICELAND Puffin express offers Whale watching, puffin watching, sea angling and dinner cruises. Our ticket sale in Reykjavik Old Harbour is open from 8 am to 8 pm. Booking by phone: +354 892 0099 | Online booking: www.puffinexpress.is Get todays international papers at Eymundsson

Daily Mirror, Washington Times, USA Today, Aftenposten, Die Presse, Edmont-on Journal, Frankfurther Allgemeine Zeit-ung, Le Monde, El Mundo, La Repubblica, Fakt, Okinawa Times, Jyllands-Posten, Politiken and many more are available through the print-on-demand service in our store in Austurstræti. We offer over 1000 newspaper titles from all around the world. Check if your local paper is available to be printed for you by our helpful staff. AVAILABLE ONLY AT EYMUNDSSON AUSTURSTRÆTI

Lækjartorg Arnarhóll

Egill Helgason JULIA STAPLES Eymundsson.is ILLUSTRATIONS BY Inga María brynjarsdóttir 124,5x195mm

Try our famous Icelandic Gourmet Fiest

» Starts with a shot of the infamous Icelandic spirit Brennívín

» Smoked puffin with blueberry “brennivín” sauce » Icelandic sea-trout with peppers-salsa » Lobster tails baked in garlic » Pan-fried monkfish with lobster sauce HVÍTA HÚSIÐ / SÍA – 09–0223 » Grilled Icelandic lamb Samfaina » Minke Whale with cranberry-sauce » World famous chocolate cake with berry compoté and whipped cream 5.890 ikr.

The only kitchen in Reykjavík open RESTAURANT- BAR to on weekdays 23:30 Vesturgata 3B | 101 Reykjavík and 01:00 on weekends Tel: 551 2344 | www.tapas.is The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 05 — 2010 Log on to grapevine.is to see many morestunning photos of the eruption and ashfall, and to read detailed and updated reports on all things volcano.. 12

Travel | Volcanic bliss Who's Laughing Now, Europe? The Eyjafjallajökull-Fimmvörðuháls eruption

You are probably aware of the spec- the world (including, ironically, stu- tacular (if small) volcanic eruption on dents from my home university in the Fimmvörðuháls, the ridge next to Ey- UK, who were on a Volcanology field jafjallajökull glacier. We wrote about it course in Italy). And this will surely last issue and everything. That erup- have a lasting effect on air travel. tion sadly ended not long after we Investigations currently abound into went to print, and even most volcanol- whether or not the decision to ground ogists generally believed it was over. air traffic was the right one. On a busi- But shortly after midnight on April ness and political level, this certainly 14th, everyone's favourite Icelandic isn't over. volcano showed us that not only had it not finished, but it was just warm- Eyjafjallajökull goes jökulhlaup! ing up... Aside from the ash cloud, this erup- Technically it's the same volcano, tion carried one other major threat— just a different eruption. What prob- one that we'd been fearing since day ably happened is that the pathway one: jökulhlaup. Jökulhlaup are glacial to the surface on Fimmvörðuháls floods, a rush of water generated in blocked itself up, but the pressure be- this case by the heat of a volcanic neath needed another way out—this eruption. Within 12 hours or so of the time the weak point was somewhere eruption beginning, the decision was around the summit caldera (crater) of made to break the ring road in order the mountain. And so unlike the pre- to let floodwaters pass through to vious fire-fountaining flank eruption, the sea, hopefully without taking the this time we got lava coming up from expensive bridges with them. Shortly a fissure near the top, under the Eyjaf- thereafter the floods began: torrents jallajökull glacier itself. of dirty water, rocks and icebergs, flowing down from under Gígjökull Eyjafjallajökull goes glacier and washing south towards phreatomagmatic! the sea. The scene was spectacular, Fissure eruptions in open air, like if destructive, and repeated itself a Fimmvörðuháls, tend to produce number of times over the following lava fountains, lava flows and very days. little ash. Sub-glacial eruptions, on Luckily for many, after a week or so the other hand, are totally differ- the eruption began to change. 'Strom- ent beasts. This eruption began with bolian' activity, which takes its name what's called 'phreatomagmatic' ac- from the famous volcano in southern tivity—water (in this case from the Italy and not the dish akin to a rolled melting glacier) interacting with the pizza, began in earnest. The ash hot magma near the surface. The re- plume shrank down, and airspace fi- sult was a thick plume of mostly white nally began to re-open. Billowing ash steam, rising between 6 and 11 kilo- and steam was largely replaced by metres into the air. As the eruption small explosions casting lava bombs progressed, the plume became much hundreds of meters into the air, ac- blacker as the glacier melted away it companied by thunderous booming could scrub less ash from the erup- sounds. As I write this, the eruption plume, so the ash content of the tion continues and shows no signs plume increased over time. By the first of slowing down. We could be in for Saturday, when Grapevine took a trip more of the same for months to come, out there, the plume was like a dark perhaps with a lava flow emerging grey pillar looming over the mountain, from beneath Gígjökull at some point. being blown by winds and shearing sideways at the top (the so-called What about Katla, then? 'umbrella' region). And so, to the question seemingly on And all that ash had to come down everyone's mind—“What about Kat- somewhere. The heavier stuff rained la?” The answer, right now, is “Abso- down over the surrounding area, blan- lutely nothing”. There may be signs of keting everything in a thick layer of a linkage between Eyjafjallajökull and fine grey powder. The air stank of sul- Katla, but at the moment there are no phur, and a deathly silence prevailed. signs of that linkage waking up. May- Farmers struggled to move livestock be this will change in the future—who out of the ash fall area and some are knows—but for now you can relax safe now claiming they will never return. in the knowledge that the volcano ev- The lighter stuff caused problems on eryone loves to hate (come on, give a much, much larger scale. Taken by poor Katla a break!) is not about to high-altitude winds, the fine ash was blow up in our faces. Unless it does. blown all around the northern hemisphere in a matter of days. With fears of volcanic ash being sucked into jet engines, flights all over Europe and beyond were grounded. Air transport literally shut down for a week or James ashworth JULIA STAPLES more, leaving people stranded all over ICELAND :: FILM – Berlin – Copenhagen – Reykjavík MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS – EDDAS AND SAGAS ICELANDERS – AN EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS Icelandic Filmmaking 1904-2008 The Ancient Vellums on Display The spirit of the Icelandic nation in words and images.

EXHIBITIONS - GUIDED TOURS The Culture House – Þjóðmenningarhúsið Open daily between 11 am and 5 pm CAFETERIA - CULTURE SHOP National Centre for Cultural Heritage Free guided tour of THE MEDIEVAL MANU- Hverﬁ sgata 15 · 101 Reykjavík (City Centre) SCRIPTS exhibition Mon and Fri at 3:30 pm. Tel: 545 1400 · www.thjodmenning.is

SUPER JEEP & SNOWMOBILE TOURS Mountaineers of Iceland • Skútuvogur 12E • 104 Reykjavík • Iceland Telephone: +354 580 9900 [email protected] • www.mountaineers.is • www. activity.is The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 05 — 2010 14 The Report Report

Feature | SIC The SIC Report: What's All This Then?

When the banks collapsed in October own colleagues, for accepting enormous for accepting very substantial campaign 2008, Iceland's bankers, politicians, loans and gifts from corporations and contributions—kicked things up a notch and financial supervisors sprang into banks, and for not stepping in to increase by suggesting that every MP who was in action—and promptly blamed every- supervision and regulation when it was power in the time leading up to the bank- one but themselves. As a result, it most needed. Even the President of Ice- ing collapse should resign (it should be became apparent that a neutral third- land was criticized, for allegedly giving noted that she suggested this while retort- party was going to be needed to in- foreign governments and businessmen a ing those who had suggested she resign). vestigate what caused this mess. And cosmetically enhanced image of Iceland's But in the end, these gestures are sim- so, parliament formed the Special In- financial situation, and for using his of- ply that. No one has yet been charged with vestigative Commission (SIC). fice to assist venture capitalists start busi- a crime. That's the special prosecutor's nesses abroad. job. Whether anyone is charged, tried and The members, appointed on December But the most-mentioned individual in punished remains to be seen, but even 30, 2008, are Supreme Court justice Páll the report is former Central Bank chair that doesn't touch on what the Grapevine Hreinsson, who acted as chair, along with and current editor of Morgunblaðið Davíð sees as the root of the problem: an unwill- two others: Parliamentary Ombudsman Oddsson, whose libertarian policies not ingness to supervise our country's finan- of Iceland, Mr. Tryggvi Gunnarsson, and only shaped the Independence Party dur- cial institutions. New laws are needed to Sigríður Benediktsdóttir Ph.D., lecturer ing his time as party chairman and Prime prevent this from happening again. New and associate Chair at Yale University. Minister, but apparently carried over after supervisory bodies are needed who are ac- The commission defines its own he appointed himself in charge of the Cen- tually willing to enforce these laws. And purpose as “to collect information, find tral Bank. new judges are needed who are willing to facts and provide an overview of the main Many people predicted that there convict those guilty of wrongdoing. Until events leading to the fall of the Icelandic would be blood in the streets when the that happens, it's business as usual in Ice- banks and identify its causes.” findings were released. Instead, the re- land. And so with bated breath, the Icelan- action of the average Icelanders was de- If you're curious, you can read English dic people waited. In the fall of 2009, it cidedly “Well, no kidding.” No one was translations of the SIC's findings online, was announced that the findings would be surprised nor outraged by the findings, at sic.althingi.is. released, but then that was delayed. It be- and a recent poll showed that while most came delayed twice more. On April 12, the Icelanders are happy with the report's commission presented its nine volumes findings, the vast majority don't believe of findings to Parliament and the general anyone is going to do any jail time. public. As for the people named in the re- So what were those findings? Well, it port—surprise!—they also lay the blame turns out there was plenty of blame to go at everyone but themselves. Well, most around. The banks were in part to blame everybody. Social Democrat MP and for- for essentially committing fraud, with di- mer Minister of Business Björgvin Sig- rectors loaning to themselves and buying urðsson took a temporary leave of absence. stock in their own companies, artificially Independence Party MP Illugi Gunnars- inflating the value of the banks. Politi- son followed suit, as did Independence cians—in particular, the Independence Party vice-chair and former Minister of Party, and especially former Prime Min- Education Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdót- ister Geir H. Haarde—were also to blame tir. Social Democrat MP Steinunn Valdís Paul Nikolov for misinforming the public and their Óskarsdóttir—herself in the spotlight JULIA STAPLES

SIC Report: What The Locals Think

Vigdís M. Sveinbjörnsdóttir was an authorised real estate agent and I so much heat, since many of them were each other. What I would really like to see little greedy and made bad calls to ben- Farmer, Egilsstaðir could easily choose from agencies to work just working within this environment and is somebody who said, “Yes, I fucked up.” efit themselves until it all added up. I think for. Now the real estate market is dead. under the umbrella. The politicians are to What do you think is preventing them everyone who was named should be held Has the economic crash Have you read any of the report itself? blame first and foremost in my opinion. from doing that? accountable. If they aren't I'll be even changed your day-to-day life? How do you feel about its findings? Are we all to blame? I’m not sure, but it’s tradition in Iceland more humiliated because it means we’ll No, no change in my life. Our debts have I have not read any of the report myself. Partly. The Icelandic "Þetta reddast"-way that you never admit your mistakes. Look- have failed each other by not demanding gone up a bit, but it’s not affecting our Everything in the report has been con- of thinking (“Þetta reddast” is a common ing at how many members of Parliament, accountability. day-to-day life. stantly in the news since October 6, 2008. Icelandic expression that translates to ‘Ev- you can count it by your left hand how Are we all to blame? How do you feel about the report’s Do you think there’s a culprit? Do you erything will work itself out’) got us into many have resigned when they’ve fucked We all bought into it. Everyone binged on findings? believe the people named in it should this mess. You can't just "buy" a car for 3 something up. They find it so hard to come that consumer crack pipe like Nasty Mc- It was no surprise. I think the findings were be prosecuted and held accountable? million ISK and a house for 22 million ISK out and say it. We’re always taking sides Methface. Of course there are limits to things most people knew beforehand. It’s Yes, there are culprits. There are many of with a foreign loan while living like a king, with this company or this political party. how accountable the Icelandic Joe Shmoe been talked about. We knew who those them at that, in both politics and business. hoping everything will just work out even- Like, “I’m an Independent Party person.” can be when our government, our banks people were who were running the banks Of course they should be prosecuted and tually. I travelled a lot myself, and never And people live their whole lives based on and the news media all told there was and who were wading in all that money. held responsible. really could afford it. So I just took loans. that faulty theory. nothing to worry about. So you weren’t surprised? Are we all to blame? And some more loans. And then loans for Why is that a bad thing? What do you feel are the biggest les- It was just a confirmation of the things We may be responsible for electing un- my loans. I thought I was behaving irre- You can’t let the political party run almost sons to be learned from the report? most people knew. But the things I heard able politicians, but did we have a choice sponsibly but it turned out even my banks every aspect of your life. Some people, Always question authority and embrace about the conversation the committee of voting for any more able ones?!? were doing the exact same thing! If the they defended their party leader to the moderation. was having with those people, what sur- What do you feel are the biggest les- emperor is naked, by all means, shout it death. So I think people should just be What surprised you most about the prised me was how those bankers and sons to be learned from the report? out loud! more, like, think for yourself, make your report? those who had access to the money—how Honesty. If you could vote anyone off the island, own decisions. Don’t let the party make That the commission had the balls to they talked. What they said and the lan- What surprised you most about the who would it be? decisions for you. And I think that’s what name any names at all. guage they were speaking. They used report? Davíð Oddsson. He's the best and worst I’m hoping will happen with this report If you could vote anyone off the island, poor language and they are not express- As I said, this has all been in the news for thing that has happened to this country. and this crash. - SO who would it be? ing themselves well. That’s the only thing the last two years. I didn’t find many sur- Had he quit in 2002 he'd be a living leg- I always said Davíð Oddsson, but the way that really surprised me. prises. Only confirmation. end. But now he's a different kind of leg- Geir Haarde reacted to the report it just Do you believe the people named in If you could vote anyone off the island, end. By being driven by his personal ven- put me off. I became so enraged I threw it should be prosecuted and held ac- who would it be? detta and being impossible to work with Nanna Árnadóttir a yoghurt at the TV during his RÚV inter- countable? Student, University of Ice- There are simply just too many people. he managed to devastate this country land view the night of the report – well OK I Yeah, I think so. The bankers, and those - AA more than any volcano could. - RL threatened to hurl the yoghurt, but I was who had all the access to all this money Has the economic crash eating it and he wasn’t worth the yoghurt. in the banks. That was nothing but fraud changed your day-to-day life? If so - AA Jóhannes Kjartansson they were engaging in. how? Graphic Designer Þorsteinn Másson Who is to blame? When the economy crashed I lived in Lon- Fisherman and student Those people, saying that that everyone don. It made me so homesick, and when Has the economic crash Sigurbjörg Jóhannesdóttir was to blame, everyone was participating, the riots started I felt like I was missing changed your day-to-day life? If so Has the crash changed your Software Developer I don’t think that’s right. It wasn’t every- out on a big part of my nation’s history. So how? day-to-day life? one. Most people [in Iceland] were just I quit my job and moved back home. Since I don't have a house or a car anymore. But No, not really. My company How has the economic going about their business as usual. I’ve spent basically my entire life abroad I I didn't really before either, so I'm OK. that owns the boat, its loan crash changed your day-to-day life? Are there lessons to be learned from feel like I’ve reconnected with home, and Have you read any of the report itself? went up a bit, but it was all manageable. Icelanders are required to pay a percent- the report? Is there one major one? I’m getting a real twisted kick out of being How do you feel about its findings? But you know, prices of imported goods age of their salary into a pension fund. My It’s a lesson that people seem to have to here to observe it all unravel. No, but I've looked at the cover photo- have gone up, so it’s more expensive to pension fund was controlled by Lands- learn every once in a while. That greed Have you read any of the report itself? graphs and layout. It's quite pretty. I've buy food. I think the crash didn’t affect us banki, and it took a huge dive in the crash. doesn’t pay. I think people have to be re- How do you feel about its findings? been monitoring all the news spawning hillbillies as much as it did the city folks. I was a bit worried at first that I could lose minded over and over about this. I've read chapters, but not the whole from it though, from day one up until the How do you feel about the report’s my job, as people were doing all over the If you could vote anyone off the island, thing. It's the length of a Victor Hugo volcano eruption. After that I kind of lost findings? place, but that hasn’t happened, so it has who would it be? brain-fart. I watched the press confer- the thread. I feel angry and frustrated. It's Most of the things that are said in the not changed very much for me. Those who were in the front of this busi- ence on the morning that it came out and unbelievable how much corruption was report have come up before as rumours, How do you feel about the report’s ness. I don’t want them anywhere near I watched the 3-hour live special on TV going on under the giant umbrella cre- speculation. It surprised me how much of findings? business in Iceland. I don’t want to shop in and of course read about it extensively so ated by our very own government. It turns them turned out to be true. I was kind of It did surprise me a bit when they’re quot- their shops; I don’t want to use their tele- I got the Cliff Notes so far. I feel shame. out the umbrella was leaking like a sieve. worried that the report would not judge ing from the interviews they conducted phones. I want to know that when I’m liv- Deep, unabashed embarrassment at I especially love how all this commotion in anybody or come up with any real conclu- with the people like the bankers and ing my life in Iceland I’m not paying money those bankers’ actions and how it reflects Iceland creates new possibilities for meta- sions, so I’m really happy with the report. politicians and ministers and all that. And to these men. - SO on all of us. Right after the crash everyone phors. It was more than I expected. sometimes they don’t sound very bright. at my work back in London called me FT Do you think there’s a culprit? Do you Do you think there’s a culprit? Is there Do you feel that some people acted for six months. FT was short for “Financial Helgi Hákon Jónsson, believe the people named in it should more than one person to blame, even maliciously and with complete knowl- Terrorist”. Ex-Real Estate Agent be prosecuted and held accountable? society as a whole? edge of the bad things that they were Do you think there’s a culprit? Do you For sure. Negligence is just as bad as If we could blame somebody, it would be doing? believe the people named in it should Has the economic crash wrongdoings. The people in charge are the owners of the bank, and the political Yes. It looks like some people did, but it be prosecuted and held accountable? changed your day-to-day life? If so, the ones that created this environment people—the people who were in charge also looks like some people were just try- I don't think there is one puppet master how? in the first place. I feel that the entrepre- at the time. It’s sad that now these people ing to control things they didn’t under- behind it all. I think a lot of people got a It most certainly has. Before the crash I neurs and "vikings" shouldn't be getting who are most to blame, they’re pointing at stand. I find that in government there is Music, Art, Films and Events Listings + Eating, Drinking and Shopping + Map Your essential guide to life, travel and entertainment in Iceland. Issue 5 - 2010 www.grapevine.is

16 May go WHALE WATCHING

After being seriously set back by some volcano-action, the artists of the Bedroom Community finally embarked on their most elaborate and ambitious project to date a couple of weeks ago – the Whale Watching Tour. The group, comprised of Valgeir Sigurðsson, Nico Muhly, Ben Frost and Sam Amidon, have been travelling all over Europe. Aside from a few volcanic snags here and there, they‘ve been knocking audiences off their asses at every stop. The Grapevine called up Valgeir Sigurðsson five minutes before he hit the stage in Switzerland to chat about the tour and its impending final show at the National Theatre of Iceland in Reykjavík this May.

“The tour’s been amazing,” says Valgeir. “After finally making it through the clouds of ash – and having to reschedule the first four shows – it‘s been great.”

Oddly enough, the Whale Watching Tour is travelling through Europe on a bus called Moby Dick. “It’s a total coincidence, and a pretty funny one at that. It’s a big white bus, it’s pretty cool, and the name is appropriate.”

We hear the concert you are throwing at the National Theatre is one of your most ambitious ones yet. We hear you‘ve got something special planned. Can you tell us about that?

We will have Daníel Bjarnason playing with us, which was only possible in Iceland, so that will be pretty special. We have also re-arranged some of the material and we will try out a lot of new stuff. We never play same programme twice, so this will all come together in this last show. We have been documenting the tour and the process of working together on film – in fact the show we’re about to play tonight is being filmed – so it will be interesting to see after.

Has this tour brought on any further plans together or new projects you will do?

We are always working together! One of the exciting things that will happen is that we‘re going to be working with new artist, Puzzle Muteson. We‘ll be recording an album with him when we get back.”

So get excited people. Reykjavík will be lucky enough to get the final culmination of the living project that‘s been the Whale Watching Tour and that is nothing to shake a stick at. This bunch of artists command some serious respect, and we get to witness the grand finale – in the freakin’ National Theatre of all places... MUSIC CONCERTS & NIGHTLIFE IN MAY

16:00-19:00. Beer 500 ISK after night. Beer for 350 ISK from 15:00 to Prescribing with love 19:00 17:00. music for your live Dubliner Rósenberg 22:30 Live music. 21:00 Simon and Clover. experience English Pub Sódóma 22:00 Live music. 21:00 Króna (indie pop). How to use the listings Gerðuberg Cultural Centre Venues are listed alphabetically by day. 14:00 Let´s Sing And Chant: folk 13 For complete listings and detailed song sessions for all. THU information on venues visit Kaffi Zimsen Bakkus www.grapevine.is 21:00 Movie Night. Prikið 21:00 DJ Músikölski. 22:00 Hangover Cinema features- B5 7 Goodfellas. 21:00 Live music. FRI Rósenberg Cultura 21:00 Sigga Eyrún. 22:30 House DJs. Apótek Salurinn Den Danske Kro 0:00 DJ Aki. Beer for 550 ISK. 13:00 Klassískt Diskótek, classic Live music. 2-for-1 beer from 16:00- Austur disco concert. Tickets 1.500 ISK. 19:00. Beer 500 ISK after 19:00. 23:00 Live DJs. 20:00 Vígþór Sjafnar and Jónas Dubliner Bar 11 Ingimundarson classical perfor- 22:30 Live music. 0:00 A good selection of DJs. mance. Tickets 2.500 ISK. English Pub B5 22:00 Live music. 21:00 Live DJs. 10 Háskólabíó Celtic Cross MON 20:00 Leif Ove Andsnes, Christian 01:00 Live music. Tetzlaff, & Tanja Tetzlaff: classical Cultura Bakkus piano, 4.900 / 4.200 ISK. 22:30 House DJs. 21:00 Movie Night. Documentary: Íslenska óperan The Culture House Big Rigs. 16:00 Brindisi: Vox Feminae. Tickets 17:00 Chamber Choir of Southern Den Danske Kro 3.500 ISK. Iceland perfoms works by Sir John Live music. Shots for 400 ISK. 2-for-1 Kaffi Zimsen Tavener. Free. beer from 16:00-19:00. 17:00 Ólafsvaka 490 ISK beer night. Den Danske Kro Dubliner P Live music. 2-for-1 beer from 16:00- 22:30 Live music. Multi-instrumentalist Sammi MCs. 19:00. English Pub Prikið Dubliner 22:00 Live music. 12:00 to 13:00 25% off sandwich and 22:30 Live music. Kaffi Zimsen burger specials. 950 ISK giant beers.. English Pub 17:00 Best Friends Night: 2-for-1 Music with Krúsa. 22:00 Live music. beer. Rósenberg Kaffibarinn Prikið 21:00 Maggí Einars and Eggert. Hunk of a Man. 22:00 Two glasses of red wine and Sódóma Kaffi Zimsen cheese at 1.000 ISK. DJ Jeffstar. 21:00 Hip Hop Vs. Rock: Ástþór 21:00 Resident DJs Nino and Dra- Rósenberg Óðinn, Stjörnuryk, Orri Err, Nögl, matík. 21:00 List án landamara. Narfur, and No Matches. Karamba Thorvaldsen 23:45 Dans-Hans. 11 All day. Mojito Night. Mojitos for Prikið TUE 1.000 ISK. 22:00 DJ Gísli Galdur. Rósenberg Den Danske Kro 14 22:00 Rokkabilliband Reykjavíkur. Live music. 2-for-1 beer from 16:00- FRI Salurinn 19:00. 21:00 Concert: Litla Flugan "Little Dubliner Apótek Fly". Tickets 3.500 ISK. 22:30 Live music. 0:00 DJ Fly. Beer for 550 ISK. Sódóma English Pub Austur 22:00 Nokia on Ice Festival: DJ 22:00 Live music. 23:00 Live DJs. Mike Sheridan (electro) and DJ Prikið Bakkus Margeir (house). Free. 22:00 Football/soccer Playstation 21:00 DJ Unnur Andrea. Thorvaldsen night. Beer for 350 ISK from 15:00 to Bar 11 0:00 Resident DJs. 17:00. 0:00 A good selection of DJs.. Rósenberg B5 8 21:00 Live music. 21:00 Live DJs. SAT Celtic Cross 01:00 Live music. Apótek 12 WED Cultura 0:00 DJ Aki. Beer for 550 ISK. 22:30 House DJs. Austur Den Danske Kro Den Danske Kro 23:00 Live DJs. Pop music. 2-for-1 beer from 16:00- Live music. 2-for-1 beer from 16:00- Bakkus 19:00. Beer 500 ISK after 19:00. 19:00. 21:00 DJ Glyzgengið. Dubliner Dubliner Bar 11 22:30 Live music. 22:30 Live music. 0:00 A good selection of DJs.. English Pub English Pub B5 22:00 Live music. 22:00 Live music. 21:00 Live DJs. Íslenska óperan Kaffibarinn Celtic Cross 20:00 Brindisi: Vox Feminae. Tickets 22:00 DJ Kári. 01:00 Live music. 3.500 ISK. Kaffi Zimsen Cultura Kaffibarinn 21:00 Resident DJs Nino and Dra- 22:30 House DJs. 22:00 Sexy Lazer. matík, Club Party. Den Danske Kro Kaffi Zimsen Karamba Live music. 2-for-1 beer from 16:00- 21:00 Wednesday Playday. Shot and 23:45 Nonni & Manni. 19:00. a beer for 1.000 ISK. Nasa Dubliner Prikið 22:30 Próflokadjamm X977: Endless 22:30 Live music. 22:00 Football/soccer Playstation Dark, Hoffman, Ultra Mega Tech- English Pub 22:00 Live music. Kaffibarinn 22:00 Alfons X. Music & Entertainment | Venue finder Kaffi Zimsen Amsterdam Dillon NASA 21:00 Resident DJs Nino and Dra- Hafnarstræti 5 | D2 Laugavegur 30 | F5 Þorvaldsenstræti 2 | E3 matík. Apótek Dubliner Nýlenduvöruverzlun Hemma Karamba Austurstræti 16 | E3 Hafnarstræti 4 | D3 & Valda 23:45 DJ Gísli Galdur. Laugavegur 21 | E4 Prikið Austur English Pub Austurstræti 7 | E3 Austurstræti 12 | D2 Næsti Bar 16:00 DJ Danni D. Ingólfstræti 1A | E3 Rósenberg B5 Glaumbar Bankastræti 5 | E3 Tryggvagata 20 | D2 Óliver 22:00 Rokkabilliband Reykjavíkur. Laugavegur 20A | F5 Salurinn Babalú Grand Rokk 17:00 & 21:00 Concert: Litla Flugan Skólavörðustígur 22 | G5 Smiðjustígur | E5 Ölstofan Vegamótastígur | E4 "Little Fly". Tickets 3.500 ISK. Batterí Highlander Sódóma Hafnarstræti 1-3 | D2 Lækjargata 10 | E3 Prikið Bankastræti | E3 22:00 Nokia on Ice Festival: Samúel Bar 11 Hressó Jón Samúelsson Big Band, Snorri Laugavegur 11 | E4 Austurstræti 20 | E3 Rósenberg Helgason, (indie-folk), Cliff Calvin Barbara Hverfisbarinn Klapparstígur 25 | E4 (alt rock), Who Knew (indie), Of Laugavegur 22 | F6 Hverfisgata 20 | E4 Sódóma Reykjavík Monsters and Men (acoustic/ Bjarni Fel Jacobsen Tryggvagata 22 | D3 folk), Hoffman (rock), Miri (indie), Austurstræti 20 | E3 Austurstræti 9 | E3 Sólon and DJ Mike Sheridan (electro). Boston Kaffi Hljómalind Bankastræti 7A | E3 Tickets 1.000 ISK. Laugavegur 28b | F5 Laugavegur 23 | E4 Thorvaldsen Thorvaldsen Café Cultura Kaffi Zimsen Austurstræti 8 | D2 0:00 Resident DJs. Hverfisgata 18 | E4 Hafnarstræti 18 | D3 Vegamót Café Paris Kaffibarinn Vegamótastígur 4 | E4 9 Austurstræti 14 | E3 Bergstraðastræti 1 | E4 Venue SUN Balthazar Karamba Tryggvagata 22 | D3 Hafnarstræti 1-3| D2 Laugavegur 22 | F4 Den Danske Kro Celtic Cross London/Reykjavík Hangover night. 2-for-1 beer from Hverfisgata 26 | E4 Tryggvagata 22 | D2 noblandið Stefán, Cliff Calvin, Dubliner and Ensíimi. Tickets 1.200 ISK. 22:30 Live music. Prikið English Pub 13:00 to 14:00 Back to the '50s with 22:00 Live music. Danna Deluxe. Gerðuberg Cultural Centre Rósenberg 14:00 Beatstalk Tunes: Music with 22:00 Live music. young composers. Salurinn Kaffibarinn 21:00 Concert: Litla Flugan "Little 22:00 Alfons X. Fly". Tickets 3.500 ISK. Kaffi Zimsen Sódóma 21:00 Movie Night. 22:00 Kimi Records presents Karamba Stafrænn Hákon (alt/ambient/ 20:00 Spilakvöld Maísólar. rock) and Snorri Helgason (indie/ Prikið folk). 22:00 Hangover Cinema presents Thorvaldsen Anaconda. 0:00 Resident DJs. Rósenberg 21:00 Uppistand Svava. 15 SAT 17 Apótek MON 0:00 DJ Fly. Beer for 550 ISK. Bakkus Austur 21:00 Movie Night, 1984. 23:00 Live DJs. Den Danske Kro Bakkus Live music. Shots for 400 ISK. 2-for-1 21:00 DJ Kári. beer from 16:00-19:00. Bar 11 Dubliner 0:00 A good selection of DJs.. 22:30 Live music. B5 English Pub 21:00 Live DJs. 22:00 Live music. Celtic Cross Kaffi Zimsen 01:00 Live music. 17:00 Best Friends Night: 2-for-1 Cultura beer. 20 22:30 House DJs. Prikið THU Den Danske Kro 22:00 to 23:00 Two glasses red wine Live music. 2-for-1 beer from 16:00- and cheese for 1.000 ISK. DJ Hol- Bakkus 19:00. lywood. 21:00 DJ Ákni. Dubliner Rósenberg B5 22:30 Live music. 21:00 Live music. 21:00 Live music. English Pub Cultura 22:00 Live music. 18 22:30 House DJs. Háskólabíó TUE Den Danske Kro 19:00 & 22:00 Mannakorn Concert, Live music. 2-for-1 beer from 16:00- 3.900 ISK. Den Danske Kro 19:00. Beer 500 ISK after 19:00. Kaffibarinn Live music. 2-for-1 beer from 16:00- Dubliner 22:00 B-Ruff & Gísli Galdur. 19:00. 22:30 Live music. Kaffi Zimsen Dubliner English Pub 21:00 Resident DJs Nino and Dra- 22:30 Live music. 22:00 Live music. matík. English Pub Kaffi Zimsen Karamba 22:00 Live music. 17:00 Ólafsvaka 490 ISK beer night. 23:45 Dans-Hans. Prikið Karamba Prikið 22:00 Playstation football/soccer 22:00 Pedro Pilatus . 16:00 to 17:00 DJ Addi Intro. tournament with DJ Gauti. Beer 350 P Rósenberg ISK from 15:00 to 16:00. Multi-instrumentalist Sammi MCs. 22:00 Live music. Rósenberg Prikið Salurinn 21:00 Memfismafían. 12:00 to 13:00 Steindi Jr. and Bent, 17:00 & 21:00 Concert: Litla Flugan, then stand-up by Dóri DNA with "Little Fly". Tickets 3.500 ISK. DJ Krúsi Klárar. Sódóma 19 Rósenberg 22:00 Árstíðir (acoustic folk). WED 21:00 Live music. Thorvaldsen Den Danske Kro Sódóma 0:00 Resident DJs. Pop music. 2-for-1 beer from 16:00- 21:00 Mikael Lind (electronic/ 19:00. Beer 500 ISK after 19:00. experimental), Matthew Collings Dubliner (electro-acoustic). 16 SUN 22:30 Live music. Thorvaldsen English Pub All day. Mojito Night. Mojitos for 1.000 ISK. Den Danske Kro 22:00 Live music. Hangover night. 2-for-1 beer from Rósenberg 16:00-19:00. Beer 500 ISK after 21:00 Fuglabúrið 19:00. Visualizing A Universe Of Hope Amadou & Mariam bring their message across borders

Since conquering the francophone World Music charts over the last decade, Amadou & Mariam from Mali have recently taken the rest of the music world by storm. Often referred to as ‘the blind couple from Africa,’ their latest album, Welcome To Mali, included collaborations from artists such as Damon Albarn and K‘Naan. This helped propel them towards a new audience and venture into unchartered territory. Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia met in 1977 at Bamako‘s Institute for the Young Blind. Amadou was already a working musician and Mariam was a singer for weddings and traditional festivals. They married and began making music as a duo in the early 1980s, gaining instant recognition in their homeland. Throughout the course of their career, their music has evolved from traditional Malian songs to incorporating many elements of rock, soul and electro. In the ‘90s they were signed to Universal in With the release of Welcome to Mali, have What is the impact you see your songs as France and collaborated with Manu Chao you found wider recognition from the having, and what is the impact you would on their breakthrough album Dimanche à Anglophone world? like them to have? Bamako. Yes, very much. We have had the The impact we would like to have is for Now on the verge of playing All opportunity to be on many television people to listen to our songs and try to live Tomorrow’s Parties in England and the programmes in England and in the as we do through them. We want people FIFA World-Cup opening ceremonies in United-States, which we never thought to be inspired by our lyrics and for them South Africa this June, the pair is making we would do. It really gave us a whole new to become driving elements in everything their first trip to Iceland to kick off the media coverage. they do. Especially to bring awareness to Reykjavík Arts Festival on May 12th. I had people as well. We want to tell them that the chance to speak with Amadou about Your lyrics cover a wide range of topics, all life can be good today but bad tomorrow, their music, their career and the hidden the way from love songs to political songs but you have to accept everything because blessings of being visually impaired. for the people. Is this a reflection of your things can always change. Malian culture? Are we right in assuming this will be your It’s very reflective, because in Mali we sing Are you’re ready to take on Iceland? first time in Iceland? about everything. The people really listen I think everything will go well and we will Yes, we have toured all over the place but to singers and artists because they are at have a good crowd. We are always ready to we’ve never come to Iceland. But we are the centre of the culture, and they bring party and make people dance. Our music is very pleased to go there. It’s great to go to a messages to the people. meant to make people move. country we’ve never been to before. Rebecca Louder MUSIC CONCERTS & NIGHTLIFE IN MAY

16 7 8 May May May

Nokia on Ice Festival with Miri, Hoffman, Who Knew? and more Sódóma @ 21:00 Admission 1000 ISK Beatstalk Tunes Come see some cute indie musicians Song-Cycle by Haukur Tómasson and Þórarinn Eldjárn on stage, and hear their cute indie- folk-rock tunes. A fun way to spend Gerðuberg Cultural Centre @ 14:00 Saturday night, that is, before you go Celebrate Iceland's burgeoning greenery with some spring music. The renowned out after the show and get trashed and Caput Ensemble will play music by contemporary Icelandic composer Haukur spilled on at Kaffibarinn until six in the Tómasson, who is known for the vivacity of his work. Picture the soundtrack to a morning (maybe you’ll even see some time-lapse film of grass growing. Haukur won the 2004 Nordic Council Music Prize, of the bands there later). Friday night of the biggest prize for a Scandinavian composition. Some of his pieces are inspired by Nokia on Ice is free, and Saturday night Icelandic folk music, while the rhythmic patterns of others make use of the Fibonacci is just 1.000 ISK. With nine bands, that’s sequence, a mathematical pattern found throughout nature. Take in some music that just over 100 ISK per band. Not bad for a reflects Iceland's austere and magnificent landscape. Free admission. SO night full of great local music. SO

20 5 14 Iceland’s May June May loudest band! For concert information see music listings on this spread or visit us at www.sinfonia.is

Falling In Love With My Tickets » 545 2500 » www.sinfonia.is » Concerts take place in Háskólabíó. Kitchen Aid "A Theatre Happening" The National Theatre of I’m Happy And Angry! Numismatic Museum Iceland @ 20:00 Kimi Records presents: Stafrænn Hákon and Snorri Admission 3400 ISK Helgason Sódóma @ 22:00 An exuberant tribute to cooking, Falling in Love With My Kitchen Aid riffs on all things culinary, and for good reason. Ólafur Josephsson is no lightweight. Recording music since 1999 under Have you ever seen those designer the moniker Stafrænn Hákon, he has made a name for himself for his Kitchen Aid mixers, available in all powerful blend of post-rock, experimental electronica and ambient guitars. colours imaginable? To the dyed-in-the- His freshly released sixth album, Sanitas, retains the wall-of-sound quality wool cook, they're the only thing better of his previous recordings, while adding new dimensions of melody and than licking the spoon. That's worth intricacies. Snorri Helgason is the frontman for Sprengjuhöllin and when his dancing about, or at least it's a reason to band went on hiatus in 2009 he took the opportunity to hone his singer- The Central Bank and National Museum of Iceland jointly operate watch this performance. The colourful songwriter skills into his debut solo album, I‘m Gonna Put My Name On a numismatic collection that consists of Icelandic notes and coins, production is part theatre, part circus, Your Door. His light-hearted brand of folky-pop love songs is in complete and is based on works by visual artist foreign money from earlier times, especially if mentioned in Icelan- contrast, but perfect balance, to Stafrænn Hákonn‘s dramatic sound. Get Ilmur Stefánsdóttir. SO dic sources, and more recent currency from Iceland’s main trading happy, get sad, enjoy. RL partner countries. A selection from the numismatic collection is on display in showcases on the ground floor of the Central Bank’s main building.

Situated in the Central Bank´s main building in Kalkofnsvegur 1, Reykjavík. Open Mon.-Fri. 13:30-15:30. Free admittance. 12 5 May June Free pick up at Hotels Tel: 551 7000

From 9.900/day Free GPS if you bring this ad

www.procar.is | Fiskislóð 45 | 101 Reykjavík

Let There Be Art! Reykjavík Arts Festival Various Locations Although it may at times seem as though this city is a constant carnival of arts and entertainment, Reykjavík still finds the time to specially designate a full month of the year to creative endeavours. Since 1970, the Reykjavík Arts Festival has taken over the city in May, every other year until 2004, and annually since. As one of Northern Europe’s oldest art festivals, it focuses primarily on Icelandic culture while hosting countless international artists. Past artists and performers include the likes of the Tiger Lillies, the San Francisco Ballet and Spencer Tunick. The festival has hosted some fairly notable performances, too, such as Canadian singer Lhasa de Sela, who performed her last concert before passing away – as well as The Clash and Led Zeppelin (!). This year’s programme is as jam-packed as ever, offering a rich programme full of concerts, exhibitions, theatre, dance, opera and readings. The whole thing kicks off on May 12th at Laugardalshöll where Amadou & Mariam play their ever first show in Iceland, with local funksters Retro Stefson supporting. From there, it’s just non-stop action until June 5th. Here are some highlights to keep an eye out for. Orquestra Chekara Flamenca Icelandic Opera, May 30th, 8pm Founded over 50 years ago by Abdessadak Chekara, the Arab-Andalusian Orchestra Senioritis! of Tetouan is an institution of Southern Spanish and Moroccan heritage. Brilliantly blending the worlds of flamenco dance with traditional al-ala music, the spectacle is Próflokadjamm x-977, a veritable journey into the Andalusian world. with Ensími, Cliff Clavin, Bedroom Community Whale Watching Tour National Theatre of Iceland, May 16th, 8pm Ultra-Mega Technobandið Bringing together some of the brightest talents in experimental and neo-classical composition in Iceland, the Bedroom Community is comprised of Valgeir Sigurðsson, Stefán, Hoffman and Nico Muhly, Ben Frost and Sam Amidon. The Whale Watching Tour brings these Endless Dark four artists together, cohesively composing and performing all together for the first time. They are joined by a string and brass quartet to round out the band. A small NASA @ 22:30 orchestra led by Daníel Bjarnason will open the show. Admission 1200 ISK Readings at Writers’ Homes Various locations and dates throughout the festival These intimate and limited events take place in the homes of eight Icelandic writers. Galldarn kids these days! Why, in my Amongst them are Andri Snær Magnason, writer of the acclaimed book Dreamland: day, we didn‘t get none of these fancy A Self-Help Guide for a Frightened Nation, Guðrún Helgadóttir and Sigrún Eldjárn. end-of-school hootenanies. When we The readings will cover every style of writing, from poetry to children’s stories. This finished our exams, we went out back The country’s largest is a chance for the public a chance to have a truly personal experience with local and plowed the fields until dark, then National Museum of Iceland literature. woke up at dawn and milked the cows. museum of cultural Opening hours: For the full festival schedule, consult the website at www.listahatid.is. RL That‘s not entirely true, but we certainly history featuring a Summer didn‘t have a sweet line up of bands like the ones playing at NASA next permanent exhibition on (May 1st – September 15th) Friday. Luckily, you don‘t have to be a Daily 10–17 Iceland’s extraordinary graduating student to come to this party. 20 Winter May All you need is 1200 ISK to come in and history from settlement rock out all night with some of Iceland‘s (September 16th – April 30th) to present day. musical gems. RL Daily except Mondays 11–17 14 May Suðurgata 41 · 101 Reykjavík · Tel. +354 530-2200 · www.natmus.is

Untitled Film Stills - Photographs by Cindy Sherman Shark The National Gallery of Lamb Whale Iceland Boys Makin’ Noise Have you ever tied a scarf around your Puffin head and pretended you were Thelma Wild game Mikael Lind & Matthew Collings and/or Louise, fleeing the law like it and ALL the Sódóma @ 21:00 was nobody's business? Or got caught accidentally on purpose by a blowing icelandic beers Since the release of his album ‘Alltihop’ last spring, electronic and classical street vent, like Marilyn? Acclaimed American photographer Cindy Sherman composer Mikael Lind has been hard at work crafting a new set of songs Kitchen open plays with female film fantasies and for his next record. The Swedish-born Reykjavík resident is moving closer stereotypes like these in self-portraits till 23:00 towards a neo-classical sound compared to his previous more experimental from 1977 to 1980. The series of work. He will hopefully share some of his works-in-progress at this show, photographs immediately put Sherman which was rescheduled after the unfortunate fire at Batteríið. Sharing the on the art world radar. Put on your dark Pósthússtræti 9 Reykjavík Tel: 578 2020 stage for the night will be Ben Frost collaborator Matthew Collings playing sunglasses and trench coat (and not www.icelandicbar.is [email protected] his sweeping, Kevin Shields-ian melodic noise. RL much else) and check them out. SO Central Reykjavík FAXA FLÓI

ÓÐ SL FISKI

UR 1 GARÐ2 3 4 5 ANDA GR Maritime Museum MAPMAP The Old Harbour Old Depart for whale and puffin Places We Like A watching tours from the old Harbou ST r AU harbour, a lively area, offering 1 Prikið ÁNAN an assortment of restaurants MÝR and activity centres Bankastræti 12 AR GA T Prikið is one of those places that NÝL A ENDUG Old shape-shifts. It’s a warm café lined Harbour ATA Area with photographs of its seniorSVEGUR NE frequenters on weekdays,FRAM a hung-over R U R ÍG ÁNA VEST hangout on weekend afternoons, and T RG Future B AT U RS A RGA GEI Concert during nights it’s filled to the brim A B T RS ÁRUG A GATA Hall with what remains of Iceland’s hip AT BORG A A Reykjavík hop scene. Go there in daytime forRA the ÖL AT D Art ÆÐ UGA SG I Museum cheap burgers; enter at nightBR for some TA ÆGI ÆT Main TR 11 14 OTT hip-hop debauchery, old skool 6YG Tourist GV ASTR Down and the latest bangers alike. SKK Info AG Ð ATA R 17 Taxi Town GA HAFNAR I S SÆBR TÚNG A ST K 2 ATA ÆT US RÆTI ÚL Boston D R TUR T ST The AG S RÆ AU TI 15 ATA T AL Austur 18 Culture Laugavegi 28b I National AÐ völlur T House9 TA Park 8 Theatre RÆ R GA KIRK Like an older sibling to the fabled JU U L ST BANK 1 IN AUT RÆ HVE ÍG DARGA Skyline SÆBR ALLA TI TA 13 T (now deceased) Sirkús, Boston is a STH.ST A Icelandic A ST RF S TA Ó RÆ IS P G Vesturbæjar RG ATA warm and mellow second-floorHOFSV bar SÓ Parliament I TI AR

Swimming LV JA 12 “Financial 4 PP ∆ A K on LaugavegurPool that plays host to the LL ÆT I AG T R LA ATA LÆ T ÍGUR 16 K 5 Æ District” arty party crowd. The baroque wall A ST SS 3 AT Lauga dressings and deep, rich coloured A LT TI NS City SSTR vegur T HR AT F 2 A ARTÚN décor make this bar feel pretty swank, E Taxi RÆR V BORG INGB ÐURG RG Hall ÓL ST GLaugavegur SU R Up but the mood of the place can go from ÞINGHO NG RA IN RNA Reykjavík’s main shopping ÐA SK U A great to legendary within a heartbeat.T and culture street, featuring TJ TA Ó Town HVE The a wide range of bars, bisLA tros, RF Tower CF GUR ISG cafes and restaurants. V ATA EGUR ERGS ÖR VE B ÍGUR A L UV Ð T AU

City ÁS 3 Karamba USTÍGU GA ATA KJ AS VEGU

Pond UF G ÚN G RE SKÚL IR S TT KK R AT Laugavegur 22 LA ISG AG ÍK IN A AT ATA R A NÓ ÞÓRSG R Hlemmur FR FR ÍGUR ÓÐ 7 UT Bus Downtown hotspot Karamba is National ST GU West RA A Terminal a colourful and eclectic bar on F Gallery ATA Side R of Iceland VIT SSTÍ AB LU NJ RR Laugavegur with a comfortable E ÁLSG ÓN HÁ R TÚN IM A NO Ê atmosphere, typically great music and AT AT S A BA Taxi Laugardals RK Hallgríms BERGÞ a chill crowd. This is a good placeBI to Swimming BALDURSG kirkja ÓRUG Pool R relax or to do some serious drinking Church ATA LAU SÓLE GU G A TA BRAUTARHOLT AV or to relax. Plus, their decors are done AT TÍ EG AG ARGA UR YJ AG RS strictly by Grapevine-friendly artists, BR ARÐ AR The Einar such as Lóa (who does our comics), NJ RÁ GA Jónsson Sundhöllin ÐA Museum U Hugleikur Dagsson and Bobby TA Swimming S A K G University R Pool RA IPHO S Breiðholt (who’s done a lot of nice AT GU KIPHOL of Iceland BERG illustrations for us); they are truly a Hljómskáli SSTÍ LT T EI ÐURG ÚN Park ST R BARÓN sight to behold. CF ÍK SU University HR AÐ East AT SG of Iceland INGB ARSTR AT UT NÓ Park L T 4 Hemmi og Valdi RA A RA Side AU Æ AU UT FÁ AB TI SV BR Laugavegi 21 RR EGUR HÁ NO TEIGS The “colonial store” Hemmi and Valdi S NARS VEGUR is a cosy hangout that has advanced GUN Miklatún H Nordic House ÍGUR from being a toasty retreat, where one Park Culture Center FLÓKA can score cheap beer and have a quiet VA TNSMÝR ÁRST GA R TA chat, into being a chock-full concert AR VEGUR ÐA venue and an all-night party place. GAML Kjarvalsstaðir ATA A HR AU National And believe us, the atmosphere is BSÍ INGBR R Museum ARG AUT brilliant. SKK RÐ Coach UT A Terminal NJ RA

Ð Í ARB 5 L Tíu Dropar HR ÝR IN AH GB Laugavegur 27 I RA UM UT NG B LA ÓLS If you’re sick of all the arty cafés, filled TAÐ INGL MIK ARHLÍÐ with Sigur Rós wannabes browsing LA KR BRAU Facebook on their Macs – go to Tíu Reykjavík T Kringlan Domestic Shopping Dropar. It’s a back-to-basics Icelandic Airport Center café that hasn’t changed its interior Ë Ì since the sixties. Really proves the old adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Plus, the coffee’s great and so are the pancakes. SKK 7 Babalú 8 OSUSHI 9 Grái Kötturinn Skólavörðstíg 22 Lækjargata 2a Hverfisgata 16a Located on the second-floor Great place to satisfy your craving for Super relaxed and cozy diner/café of a quirky little building on raw fish and vinegar rice. The selection below street level. This place makes 6 Sódóma Reykjavík Skólavörðustígur, Babalú is an inviting, on ‘the train’ is wide and varied and the best hangover breakfast ever (the Tryggvagata 22 quaint and cosy café serving up the atmosphere is relaxed. Also, the truck!) and any-other-day breakfast as a selection of tea, coffee and hot colour-coded plates make it easy well. It’s a nice and relaxing place to Newly opened Sódóma on Tryggvagötu chocolate along with delicious baked to keep tabs on your budget while eat and increase your caffeine intake is already a hit with party crowds and goods and light meals. Food and scarfing down your maki and nigiri. CF and chill with friends or with some gig-goers alike. An extensive venue, drink aside, Babalú boasts colourfully reading material. CF filled with reasonably priced beverages decorated and super-comfortable and reasonably good looking people. surroundings and a genuinely friendly Some of Iceland’s finest musical and likeable staff. CF ventures have played in recent months, and their schedule looks promising too. Also, make sure to visit their men’s room for a glance at the “Pissoir of Absolution”. JB Central Reykjavík FAXA FLÓI

ÓÐ SL FISKI

UR ARÐ G 6 7 8 9 10 13 Deli ANDA GR For a map of outside downtown Bankastræti 14 Maritime Museum Reykjavík check out links on Getting a good slice of pizza on the Th www.grapevine.is or the Icelandic go can be an utter ordeal. If you’re e not careful, you’ll frequently wind up Old Harbour Old phonebook website www.ja.is Depart for whale and puffin paying good money for a cardboardy watching tours from the old Harbou ST r wafer that has been sitting in a heater harbour, a lively area, offering AU box for a week. Not at Deli, however. ÁNAN an assortment of restaurants MÝR and activity centres Their slices are consistently awesome AR GA and fresh, the topping selection is TA intriguing and tasteful and, best of all, NÝLENDUG Old Harbour they’re really cheap. ATA Area SVEGUR NE FRAM R U R 14 ÍG ÁNA VEST Kolaportið T RG Future AT U RS A RGA GEI Concert A B T RS Tryggvagata 19 ÁRUG A GATA Hall AT BORG A A Reykjavík Reykjavík’s massive indoor flea market RA ÖL AT D Art is a wonderful place to get lost for a ÆÐ UGA SG I Museum BR TA ÆT few hours, rummaging through stall ÆGI Main TR YG Tourist GV upon stall of potential treasures. There ASTR Down Info AG Ð ATA are heaps of used clothing, knitwear R Taxi Town and other yard-sale type goods from GA HAFNAR I S SÆBR TÚNG A ST K decades of yore, and a large food ATA ÆT US RÆTI ÚL R TUR T ST The AG S RÆ AU section with fish, meats and baked T A AL Austur I Culture TA T I National T goods. Check out the vintage post AÐ völlur House TA Park Theatre K RÆ R cards and prints at the table near the GA IRK U JUST BANK LIN AUT RÆ HVE ÍG DARGA Skyline SÆBR army surplus. CF ALLA TI TA T STH.ST A Icelandic A ST RF S TA Ó RÆ IS P G Vesturbæjar RG ATA HOFSV SÓ Parliament I TI AR

Swimming LV JA “Financial PP ∆ A K Pool LL ÆT I AG T R LA ATA LÆ T ÍGUR 15 K Hressó Æ District” A SS ST AT Lauga A LT TI NS Austurstræti 20 SSTR T HR AT City F vegur A N Taxi RÆR V BORGARTÚ INGB ÐURG RG Hall ÓL ST You know, Hressó is basically the only GLaugavegur SU R Up ÞINGHO NG RA IN RNA Reykjavík’s main shopping ÐA SK place I go for coffee. Why? Their coffee U A and culture street, featuring T TA HVE The TJ Ó Town is decent to excellent, but their forte is a wide range of bars, bisLA tros, RF Tower GUR ISG cafes and restaurants. V ATA EGUR ERGS ÖR surely their wonderful patio, where you VE B ÍGUR A L UV Ð T AU

City ÁS USTÍGU GA can enjoy the spring breeze in the sun, ATA KJ AS VEGU

Pond UF G ÚN G RE SKÚL IR S TT wrap yourself in a blanket beneath an KK R AT LA ISG AG ÍK IN A AT ATA R A NÓ electric heater in January and at all ÞÓRSG R Hlemmur FR FR ÍGUR National ÓÐ UT Bus ST GU times: smoke. They boast of quite the West RA A Terminal Gallery ATA 10 SSTÍ AB prolific menu, but I’d reconsider the Side R of Iceland VIT LU NJ RR E ÁLSG ÓN HÁ playlists to tell you the truth, too much A R TÚN IM AT AT NO Ê A BA S Taxi Laugardals of Nickelback really hurts. SKK RK Hallgríms BERGÞ BI Swimming BALDURSG kirkja ÓRUG Pool R Church ATA LAU SÓLE GU G A TA BRAUTARHOLT AV AT TÍ EG AG ARGA UR 16 Grænn Kostur YJ AG RS BR ARÐ AR The Einar NJ RÁ Skólavörðustíg 8b GA Jónsson Sundhöllin ÐA Museum U TA Swimming S A K Serving healthy organic vegan and University R Pool RA IPHO S AT GU KIPHOL vegetarian food for well over a decade, of Iceland BERG Hljómskáli SSTÍ LT T EI Grænn Kostur is the perfect downtown ÐURG ÚN Park ST R BARÓN ÍK SU University HR AÐ East AT choice for enjoying light, wholesome SG of Iceland INGB ARSTR AT UT NÓ and inexpensive meals. Try any of their Park L T RA A RA Side AU Æ AU courses of the day, or go for the ever- UT FÁ AB TI SV BR RR pleasing spinach lasagne. EGUR HÁ NO TEIGS S NARS VEGUR GUN Miklatún Nordic House ÍGUR Park 17 Austur Culture Center FLÓKA VA TNSMÝR ÁRST GA R TA Austurstræti 7 AR VEGUR ÐA GAML Kjarvalsstaðir ATA A HR AU Sleek and shiny, this new restaurant I R National BSÍ NGBR Museum and bar is a straight-up boutique ARG AUT RÐ Coach UT A Terminal hot spot for stylish kids and trendy NJ RA professionals alike. Appropriate for Ð Í ARB HR L formal business meetings but casual ÝR IN AH GB enough for the roll-out-bed-at-5pm RA UM UT NG

LA B crowd, they serve up ample, satisfying, ÓLS TAÐ INGL MIK AR modern dishes at reasonable prices. LA HLÍÐ KR BRAU This is also one of the rare places to Reykjavík T Kringlan Shopping get a full breakfast all day long! It’s Domestic Center Airport really fucking good too. RL Ë Ì Lunch special: Panini, salad and soup. 10 11 12 18 Ban Thai Bakkus Kisan Kornið Price: 990 KR. Laugavegur 130 Tryggvagata 22 – Naustarmegin Laugavegur 7 Lækjargata 4 Even though the service at Ban Thai A new and welcome addition to This store is incredibly cool. It’s How about filling your face with cakes may get a little flaky, the food is always Reykajvík’s bar scene, Bakkus serves stocked with really unique and quirky at the delightful Kornið. They taste to die for and the place also offers a up reasonably priced beer, a really clothes, outerwear, accessories and so good, you would gladly push your very pleasant dining atmosphere that impressive selection of international handbags, plus they have an adorable own mother over for even the slightest puts you right in a comfortable Thai vodkas and an atmosphere unlike section of kids clothes, kitschy vintage of sniffs. Not a sweet tooth? Well, try sorta mood. It’s really Reykjavík’s only any other in town. An eclectic mix of toys and books and even interior their delectable sandwiches then; from 8 a.m. “fancy” Thai restaurant. Ban Thai has patrons, regular live music and movie design items. Wicked place; definitely we recommend the egg and bacon remained a true Reykjavík treasure for nights keep this place interesting worth a visit. CF ciabatta! At only 590ISK plus all the the longest time, and is truly one that and always inviting. Expect dancing Píta sauce you could dream of. What should be celebrated. on tables and to-the-death foosball more can one ask for on a lunch battles. CF break? JB Italian coffee, cakes, light meals, and great books

We’ve Got Your Steaming Hot Grapevine T-shirt Right Here -Impress your friends! -Pick up men, women or both! -Show off your impeccable tastes! -Make friends and influence people! -Pledge your undying allegiance to The Grapevine! -Cover your torso in style! -Support your local alt.magazine! -Buy tourist merch that’s less obviously touristy!

Yes, The Reykjavík Grapevine finally has a T-shirt all of its own. Pick up a copy of this sweet, limited edition item at Havarí on Austurstræti or Dogma on Laugavegur – 101 Reykjavík. And do it now. For the children. Adventure tours Scheduled flights Air charter services ART GALLERIES & MUSEUMS Activity Cocktail pleasures and Ása Wright - From Iceland to Trinidad Collection of objects that belonged to the Visual stimulation adventuress Ása Guðmundsdóttir. The Nordic House adventure 10 April - 30 September Monday, Wednesday and Friday How to use the listings: Venues are listed Land Of Experiments alphabetically by day. For complete listings Interactive exhibit based on scientific A visit to the Glacier lagoon and an and detailed information on venues visit contraptions from Tom Tits Experimen- www.grapevine.is ATV excursion in the area of Europe’s tarium in Sweden. Play! Ráðhús Reykjavíkur largest glacier Vatnajökull. Dulin Himintungl Kim Linnet exhibits her 360° panorama OPENING photos of Iceland. 15% discount in May May Reykjavík 871 +/- 2 Permanent exhibition: The Settlement Exhibition 14 Reykjavík Art Museum i8 Hafnarhús +354 562 4200 Sigurður Guðmundsson May 28, 2009 - August 29 [email protected] Situations and other photo works from Erró - Portraits www.eagleair.is 1970-1982. Ongoing until June 19. March 18 - May 23 14 Erró - Portraits - Women from North Hamraborg Africa Þórgunnur Guðgeirsdóttir/Hogga Reykjavik Maritime Museum Art exhibition in the assemblyroom of the Permanent exhibition: Left Green movement. Ongoing until May Boats, fishing, and coastal culture. Woolens factory sto r e , Genuine woolen goods, 30. Special exhibition hall hosts short-term 15 exhibitions. located in Vik made in Iceland Reykjavik Museum of Photography ______Ási Art Museum January 23 - May 9 Ólöf Nordal Jóna Þorvaldsdóttir - SENSES Also wide selection Models, a series of photographs inspired Mysterious, often sensual photos made by the story of a man preserved in a using antiquated techniques. of souvenirs glacier, and his son who discovers him January 23 - May 9 Gallery. Ongoing until May 6. Jakob Jakobsson - AT WORK 16 Artist draws on 50 years as a civil Gerðuberg Cultural Centre engineer. Black and white industrial Breiðholt – In the beginning landscapes and portraits. An exhibition of photographs in collabo- Sigurjón Ólafsson Museum ration with the Reykjavík Photographic February 12 - ongoing Archive. Ongoing until May 9. Who is who? February 15 - ongoing 20 A Moment with Sigurjón Ólafsson Kling & Bang Hafnarborg Erling T.V. Klingenberg March 13 - May 9 A collection of Klingenberg's work, in- Children's Sizes cluding self-portraits. Ongoing until June Print sized design. 20. Víkurprjón ehf Phone: 487-1250 ONGOING www.vikwool.is REYKJA- Arbæjarsafn / Reykjavík City Museum 1 September - 31 May VIK ARTS Winter Program This open-air historical museum offers FESTIVAL guided tours Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 13:00. May The Culture House Permanent Exhibition: 12 Medieval Manuscripts Amadou & Mariam, Laugardalshöll February 3 - ongoing Concert Hall, 5500 / 4500 ISK Icelanders 20:30 Exhibit featuring a selection of photographs from the book "Icelanders" by Un- 13 nur Jökulsdóttir and Sigurgeir Sigurjóns- LEIF OVE ANDSNES, Christian Tetzlaff, son. Tanja Tetzlaff; Haskolabio, Large Hall; March 28 2009 - September 2010 Price: ISK 4900 / 4200 ICELAND :: FILM 20:00 Traces the evolution of Icelandic filmmaking, exploring myths versus modernity. 14 March 10 - ongoing ROMEO AND JULIET; The Reykjavik The Nation and Nature City Theatre; Price: ISK 4500 / 3950 Thirty-minute film about the relationship 20:00 between humans and nature. Film plays 15 continuously during open hours. PUNZELLE, Puppetry story-telling; Reyk- The Library Room javik City Centre; Price: Free 12 August 2009 - ongoing 13:00, 14:30, 16:00 National Archives of Iceland - 90 14 years in the museum building. A SOUND EXPERIENCE; The Icelandic Commemorating the 100th anniversary of Opera; Price: ISK 3500 the Culture House. 20:00 The Dwarf Gallery Ongoing 15 16 An independent art gallery with ongoing CARMINA VOCAL ENSEMBLE; Krist- exhibitions. It´s located in an old base- skirkja ‚Christ‚'s Church; Price: ISK 2500 ment. Do you really need to know any 16:00 more than that? 16 The Einar Jónsson Museum Bedroom Community, the Whale Permanent exhibition: Watching Tour; The National Theatre of The work of sculptor Einar Jónsson. Iceland; Price: ISK 3500 Gljúfrasteinn Laxness Museum 16 Gljúfrasteinn was the home and work- ; The place of Halldór Laxness (winner of the SUNDAY MORNING CONCERTS Free Lutheran Church; Price: ISK 4500 Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955). / 2000 Schubert's Three-Song Cycle: a i8 Gallery series of concerts, three Sunday morn- 31 March - 8 May ings in a row. The first Sunday morning, New works by Lawrence Weiner. May 16, they perform Die Schöne Living Art Museum / Nýló 11:00 11 March - 9 May Intercurse With The Collection 19 The National Museum SONGS OF LAUGHTER AND LA- Permanent exhibition: MENT - Vaasa City Orchestra and The Making of a Nation Caput soloists perform Icelandic and Heritage and History in Iceland is intend- Finnish compositions; The Icelandic ed to provide insight into the history of Opera; Price: ISK 2500 the Icelandic nation from the Settlement 20:00 to the present day. Up to date info at http://artfest.is 16 May

This River Can Kill You… Anaconda Hangover Cinema Free Popcorn Prikið @ 22:00 Oh man. Okay, remember that part when J.Lo is freaking the eff out because she‘s stuck on the boat with crazier-than-usual Jon Voight and the river is blocked and she‘s all "WTF IS THIS" and he‘s all "LOL RELAX" and Owen Wilson is like "OMG IS THAT REAL DYNAMITE" and the angry guy is like "BLOW DAT SHIT UP" so they do! I don‘t wanna give away the ending, but suffice it to say, shit gets real. Cinematic genius. Maybe you have to be really hungover to appreciate it though. RL

10 Cruze around Iceland and May collect some interesting points. (500 Icelandair Saga Club Award Points for every rental with Sixt rent a car.)

Sixt Rent a car - Borgartún 33 - 105 Reykjavík, Iceland Phone: +354 540 2222 - www.sixt.is - [email protected]

Keep On Truckin‘ Big Rig Bakkus @ 21:00

For anyone who has ever dreamed of the freedom of the open road, the glamour of transporting goods from point A to point B and hanging out at greasy highway diners, you can now live it all vicariously through the eyes of the real American trucker. Big Rig is a 2008 documentary made by Doug Pray, the director of the critically acclaimed documentary Scratch. Filmed over the course of four two-week road trips, it is comprised of many impromptu interviews with truckers that Pray and his two-man crew met at truckstops. Full of simple wisdom and a charming country soundtrack by Buck 65, it ain‘t too shabby for a Monday night. RL GLACIER Art | Venue finder

101 Gallery Gallery Ágúst The National Gallery of Hverfisgata 18A | E3 Baldursgata 12 | F4 Iceland Thu–Sat 14–17 and by appoint- Wed–Sat 12–17 Fríkirkjuvegur 7 | F3 ADVENTURES ment www.galleriagust.is Tue–Sun 11–17 www.101hotel. Gallery Fold www.listasafn.is is/101hotel/101gallery/ AND OTHER EXCITING DAY TOURS Rauðarástígur 14-16 | G7 The National Artótek Mon–Fri 10–18 / Sat 11–16 / Museum Tryggvagata 15 | D2 Sun 14–16 Suðurgata 41 | G1 Check our Special Offers Mon 10–21, Tue–Thu 10–19, Fri www.myndlist.is Open daily 10–17 11–19, Sat and Sun 13–17 Gallery Kling & Bang natmus.is www.sim.is/Index/Islenska/ Hverfisgata 42 | E5 The Nordic House Artotek Thurs–Sun from 14–18 Sturlugata 5 | H1 ASÍ Art Museum this.is/klingogbang/ Tue–Sun 12–17 Freyugata 41 | G4 Gallery Turpentine www.nordice.is/ FREE Tue–Sun 13–17 Ingólfstræti 5 | E3 The Numismatic Museum BOOKING SERVICE Árbæjarsafn Tue–Fri 12–18 / Sat 11–16 Einholt 4 | G7 Kistuhylur 4 www.turpentine.is Open Mon–Fri 13:30–15:30. The Culture House Gerðuberg Cultural Centre Reykjavík 871+/-2 Hverfisgata 15 | E4 Gerðuberg 3-5 Aðalstræti 17 | D2 Open daily 11–17 Mon–Thu 11–17 / Wed 11–21 / Open daily 10–17 www.thjodmenning.is Thu–Fri 11–17 / Sat–Sun 13–16 Reykjavík Art Gallery Dwarf Gallery www.gerduberg.is Skúlagata 28 | F6 Grundarstígur 21 | H6 Havarí Tuesday through Sunday 14–18 Opening Hours: Fri and Sat Austurstræti 6 | E3 Reykjavík Art Museum 18–20 Hitt Húsið Open daily 10–16 www.this.is/birta – Gallery Tukt www.listasafnreykjavikur.is The Einar Jónsson Museum Pósthússtræti 3-5 | E3 Ásmundur Sveinsson Sculp- Eiriksgata | G4 www.hitthusid.is ture Museum Sigtún Tue–Sun 14–17 i8 Gallery Hafnarhús www.skulptur.is Tryggvagata 16 | D2 Tryggvagata 17 | D2 Icelandic Travel Market Fótógrafí Tue–Fri 11–17 / Sat 13–17 and Kjarvalsstaðir Tourist Information Center - Internet Access - Sightseeing Flókagata | Skólavörðustígur 4a | F4 by appointment. www.i8.is I7 Glacier Tours - Super Jeep Tours - Car Rental - Flight/Helicopter Tours www.fotografi.is Reykjavík City Theatre Living Art Museum Horse Riding Tours - Whale Watching Tours Gallery 100° Skúlagata 28 | Listabraut 3 F6 Diving/Snorkeling Tours - Private Tours

Bæjarháls 1 Wed, Fri–Sun 13–17 / Thu Reykjavík Maritime Museum Spör ehf. www.or.is/Forsida/Gallery100/ 13–22. www.nylo.is Grandagarður 8 | C3 Open weekdays from Lost Horse Gallery Reykjavík Museum of Pho- 08:30–16:00 Vitastigur 9a | E3 tography Gallery Auga fyrir Auga Weekends from 13–19 and by Tryggvagata 16 | D2 BOOKING CENTER - Icelandic Travel Market Hverfisgata 35 | E4 appointment on weekdays. Weekdays 12–19 / Sat–Sun Bankastræti 2 - Downtown Gallery StartArt Hafnarborg 13–17 - www.ljosmyndasafn- Laugavegur 12B | E4 Strandgötu 34, reykjavikur.is Tel: +354 522 4979 Tue–Sat 1–17 Hafnarfjörður Sigurjón Ólafsson Museum [email protected] - www.itm.is www.startart.is Laugarnestangi 70 F D by the sea and a delicios lobster For your mind, body and soul at Fjörubordid in Stokkseyri REVIEWS Pizza Pizza Everywhere So Let’s All Have a Slice! The best, worst and in-between of Reykjavík pizzerias Spör ehf. -Spör Ragnheiður ehf. Ágústsdóttir

Much like a glowing campfire and a hearty round of Kumbaya, pizza brings people together. Just look at how easily the suffix “–party” is slapped on the end. It truly is the global unifier, calling for a setting aside of petty differences to engage in the delicate compromise of topping selection and further imploring you to put a pin in your typically judgemental tendencies when your fellow pizzapartier enthusiastically shouts out “hey, how about jalapeños, tuna and blue cheese!” and you momentarily think to yourself “who the hell invited this guy?” before remembering that the end outcome is still going to be cheesy, hot, delicious pizza. Yes, pizza makes people happy. Ever on the hunt for eternal happiness by way of pizza the Grapevine has sampled the goods of six of Reykjavík’s pizzerias. Order wisely, dear readers. The Rules: The goal was to review every pizza one could get home delivered in the 101 area, so as to help out folks who frequently find themselves hung over in that postal code, and we are pretty sure we’ve done it (if you run a pizzeria that delivers to 101 and we forgot about you, drop us a line). Quality and abundance of toppings; thickness and texture of crust; and flavour and volume of sauce all factored into the reviewers considerations, as did the toppings:sauce:crust ratio of each pie.

catharine fulton JULIA STAPLES

What We Think: Decent pizza; not the but I nixed the tuna and asked them to Wilson’s Pizza best, not the worst. toss on some mussels and cream cheese Flavour on Arrival: Spicy, tasty, but not instead. After a quick perusal of Wilson’s mind-blowing. Thirty-six minutes later I was in surprisingly wonderful website (only in Flavour once Cold: Better than when foodie heaven! I don’t know how Gamla Restorante Italiano Icelandic) I ordered the Rambo, offering hot, actually. smiðjan managed it, but I think I can a promising combination of chicken, Delivery Time: 43 minutes honestly proclaim that theirs is the best pepperoni, mushrooms, jalapeño’s and Rating: pizza I’ve ever tasted. The crust is thin cheddar cheese. It was the cheddar Website: www.wilsons.is and crisp, but not dry; the sauce is subtle that reeled me in—a welcome change yet flavourful; the toppings taste high from the ubiquitous goudas of varying quality and there’s just the right amount Madonna fat percentages. The staff manning Gamla Smiðjan of them. Delightful! the phone didn’t know what Rambo was when I ordered it and asked which This little pizzeria has grown out of the What We Think: Goddamn, that’s good Rambo I wanted despite there only being old Pizzuverksmiðjan on Lækjargata. It’s pizza. one. In his defence there are pizza’s actually right by my home so ordering Flavour on Arrival: Delicious. called Rocky I and Rocky II on the menu a pizza to be delivered felt like just Flavour once Cold: Still delicious. and Stallone was in his prime likely about the laziest thing I could be doing. Delivery Time: 36 minutes before the young fellow was even born. Still, thems the rules, so happily upon Rating: The pizza that arrived was hot and my couch I sat waiting for a pizza to Address: Lækjargata 8, 101 Reykjavík The best part of Italy is in Reykjavík fresh tasting with a surprisingly strong be delivered from perhaps 300 meters Extremely reasonable prices kick to it. It didn’t entirely blow my mind, down the road. This time around I Relaxed and romantic atmosphere but it was a good pizza nonetheless. My opted for a selection of seafood toppings. main issue was with the crust, which was Specifically, I ordered Il Piacere del Mare Madonna Rauðarárstíg 27-29 445-9500 www.madonna.is lacking in the flavour department. (shrimp/tuna/onion/artichokes/garlic),

Three pizzas in I was looking for some Rizzo’s pizza was a pleasant surprise. 1 Ísbúð vesturbæjar competition, so I went with Eldsmiðjan, Craving variety and wanting to spoil The undisputed master of Icelandic ice the loins from whence my (so far) front- myself I first gravitated to Rizzo’s Lúxus cream, Ísbúð vesturbæjar beckons the people runner Gamla smiðjan sprung. I even menu, deciding upon the Palermo of Reykjavík to queue in the wind and rain, ordered a similar pizza—trio di mare (garlic/marinated lobster/cherry cold and less cold for a taste of the old and (shrimp/scallop/mussels/artichokes/ tomatoes/cucumber/leek/lettuce/lime new soft serve with toppings and sauces of garlic/black and green olives/oregano), dressing) and then I tossed in a Pavia their choosing. Delish! sans olives. I don’t like olives. (ham/mushroom/asparagus/camembert) Hagamel 67, 107 Reykjavík Eldsmiðjan’s pizza is delicious, the as well. 2 The Kiosk in Ingólfstorg toppings are fresh and bountiful and When I opened the box and had a It’s your ice cream fix in the heart of 101. The the sauce is well balanced, sandwiched look at my ‘luxury’ pizza I was slightly bonus feature of this place is that you can between the crust and cheese. My sole disappointed. It was iceberg lettuce order your ice cream to look like a smiley point of contention where Eldsmiðjan is soggily spread over top of the pizza that face… y’know, if you’re into that kinda thing. concerned is the texture of their crust. had been generously drizzled with the Ingólfstorg Maybe it’s too thin? Maybe it could use lime dressing. I don’t really know what I another minute or two in the oven? I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. Looks 3 10/11 don’t like when my pizza is so floppy. can be deceiving, I suppose, because this Okay, so it’s not nice fresh soft serve, but Mini-competition verdict: Eldsmiðjan pizza was actually pretty great. The Pavia 10/11 on Austurstræti stocks a rather makes a pretty great pizza, there’s no could have used some more camembert, impressive freezer case of ice cream in more arguing that but, this round goes to but was also rather delicious. If these flavours that you’ll find at most parlours. Gamla smiðjan. guys were to thin out their crust a little Austurstræti 17. more I’d consider them a real contender. What We Think: Good and tasty pizza, 3 x ethnic just slightly limp. What We Think: What a pleasant 1 shalimar Flavour on Arrival: Wonderful. surprise! Tasty Indian-Pakistani cuisine! When this Flavour once Cold: Still good. Flavour on Arrival: Quite tasty. place says spicy, they mean spicy and when There are a lot of Delivery Time: 47 minutes Flavour once Cold: … it was all eaten I tell you it’s delicious, I mean it, too! Try positive reviews Rating: while hot. the Saag Aloo. You won’t be disappointed. about BanThai Website: www.eldsmidjan.is Delivery Time: 53 minutes Austurstræti 4 that we are Rating: Website: www.rizzo.is 2 thai reykjavík the best thai restaurant The new Thai place on Lækjargata (yes, another Thai restaurant in Reykjavík) isn’t Authentic Thai cuisine much to look at but the goods are pretty All same price Hrói Höttur Domino’s served in elegant surroundings wonderful. Maybe ignore the plain white with Spicy, Very Delicious 999.- walls and randomly places ornaments on the Smaralind Dear Hrói Höttur, Domino’s is the kind of place that seems and reasonable prices. windowsill and give it a try. 5544-633 This is not a love letter. I don’t know how to taste the exact same no matter what Lækjargata 8 Private rooms on the 2nd floor. you managed to make your pizza sauce continent you are ordering on. Like Open Hours and taste so oddly sweet and everything else McDonalds. If the pizza were consistently Hverfisgata 3 18.00–22.00. Every day. taste like nothing. It really does boggle amazing then I’d applaud their effort Sushismiðjan # 123 If you’re looking for sushi, it’s wise to head Tel; 692-0564, 5522-444 588-2121 the mind. What was also boggling was at quality control. But the pizza is often toward the harbour. Sushismiðjan is like - how perfectly round and uniform your average. The three great places for Thai food two restaurants in one, with an entrance pizza was. Do you use pre-fab crust? It I ordered the Crème Mexicano (green to the tiny little take-away counter on one pepper/mushrooms/red onion/fajita kinda tasted that way and it kinda tasted side of the building and a full-service eat-in www.yummiyummi.net like cardboard. chicken/cream cheese) and the Domino’s establishment on the other side. Both sides I made a huge mistake daring to Paradís (mushroom/black olives/garlic/ are tasty. continue my “same toppings as the grilled pepper/red onion/spinach). Again, Geirsgata 3 previous two” challenge on you. Like I vetoed the olives. I was optimistic when drinking tap water in Mexico. It didn’t the fellow taking my order asked if I 3 x fish taste good and it didn’t feel so good would like normal crust or thin crust; all the best 1 either. I chose thin. Understandably I was let melabúðin Isn’t it nice to walk up to a counter at a Still, I’ll give you a point because you down when the pizza that arrived at my adventures grocery store and there is somebody on steal from the rich and give to the poor house a short while later was the thickest the other side who is there to serve you or something like that. And maybe I’ll crust I had sampled in Reykjavík. Thick take place an assortment of fresh fish. It’s reasonably and bready. give you another shot when my taste buds priced, too. under a bridge are intoxicated enough to not know the The toppings on both pies were Hagamelur 39 difference. You’re probably okay then. abundant, making for a hefty slice with that thick crust and all. The chicken on 2 kolaportið What We Think: Sweet? Bland? Meh. the Mexicano pizza could very well have Reykjavík’s weekly flea market boasts an Flavour on Arrival: Meh/Blech. just been a boiled breast as it lacked any expansive fish and meat section. Often some Flavour once Cold: Still bad. flavour that would hint 'fajita' and, come of the mongers are offering 2 for 1 on fillets Delivery Time: 35 minutes to think of it, the lack of 'oomph' was my of frozen fish. Sweet deal! Rating: issue with all the toppings, actually. It Tryggvagata 19 Drop in for our lunch offers or take the Website: www.hroi.is was tasty, but a little seasoning would go a long way. Turn it up a notch, Domino's! 3 Fiskbúðin Freyjugötu plunge and book a table for a culinary This quintessential Icelandic fish store offers experience without a match! What We Think: Needs more oomph! up a fresh catch of the day as well as pre- Flavour on Arrival: Average pizza. made fish dishes that just need to be tossed Flavour once Cold: Kinda better than in the oven. AROUND ICELAND without ever leaving when hot. Freyjugata 1 Delivery Time: 35 minutes your table, four course trip,the only way to travel. Rating: Take a trip around Iceland under the guidance of our chefs. Tantalize your tastebuds with only the best of what both the land and sea have to Nordic House, Sturlugata 5, 101 Reykjavik, Tel. 6185071/8939693, www.dillrestaurant.is offer treated with a daring choice of herbs and spices from all corners of the island.

We exceed high expectations www.fishcompany.is

Open for bistro style lunch every day from 11.30–14.00 and dinner wednesday to saturday from 19.00–22.00 Domino’s Pizza Prófatilboð! Gildir til 31. maí 2010. Gildir til 31. maí 2010.

Sótt Sótt 990 kr. 630 kr. Pasta og ½ lítra gos. Ostagott, sósa og ½ lítra gos. Gildir til 31. maí 2010. Gildir til 31. maí 2010.

Sótt Sótt 850 kr. 850 kr. Panini og ½ lítra gos. gos Pizza og ½ lítra gos. Panini eru bara seld á milli 11 og 16. Lítil pizza með 3 áleggstegundum. Ó! ·13455 The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 05 — 2010 15 The Report Report

Feature | SIC “That the policies they Our FAVORITE QUOTES FROM THE SIC REPORT followed made record

"Despite the parties and talks with fictional profits a sure rich and famous people in London, Ármann hasn't gotten any useful con- thing, and made real tacts within the British government nor achieved any deeper understand- catastrophic losses a sure ing of it." - Hreiðar Már Sigurðsson, on thing. So for me, it's a bit former Singer and Friedlander (Kaupth- ing's daughter company in the UK) bank like coming to the scene director Ármanns Þorvaldsson's cocktail parties. of an airplane crash. And "There sits the Prime Minister before you're the investigator, and you, shaking like a leaf in the wind, and cannot make a decision. He lis- you say, “The thing that tens to you and you're undermining everything. If you don't make this work killed these people is that I will personally see to it that you’ll never work in Iceland again." - Davíð they were going 350 miles Oddsson to Tryggvi Þór Herbertsson, with regards to the nationalizing of Glitnir. per hour when they hit the

"And then he began to shake and ground.” It is true, but it's stutter. He said, 'You can't do this to not the important part of me. I can't go up there and say that to Davíð.'" - Össur Skarphéðinsson the story.” describes former PM Geir H. Haarde's reaction to being told the Social Dems risk. But you have to ask why these institu- er ups, how are investigators going to find wouldn’t accept Davíð Oddsson leading tions grew rapidly, and whether it's risk or this out? an emergency government. What Went Wrong? is it a sure thing, which is what I've been You have to give orders, of the kind of “Get emphasizing. That the policies they fol- it done”, and when people are confronted "You have to stand with us. You should William Black on Iceland's Financial Collapse lowed made record fictional profits a sure with absurdity; they tend to send memos not be criticizing or commenting on thing, and made real catastrophic losses a upstairs. In the modern era, e-mails are the banks, you are to stand with us." William Black, Associate Professor of That mindset being? sure thing. So for me, it's a bit like com- much more frank. So if you investigate, - Glitnir president Birna Einarsdóttir to Economics and Law at the University of The mindset of just mindless praise. The ing to the scene of an airplane crash. And you will find. And that's what you need to Morgunblaðið editor Styrmir Gunnarson. Missouri – Kansas City School of Law and banks were wonderful; they could do no author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is wrong, et cetera. You have to be more ob- you're the investigator, and you say, “The do: investigate comprehensively. All the thing that killed these people is that they cronies and the insiders. "But should I tell the Minister of Busi- to Own One: How Corporate Executives jective. For financial institutions to work were going 350 miles per hour when they ness? [I asked.] And she said, “Not and Politicians Looted the S&L Industry. well, you need trust, and the paradox is hit the ground.” It is true, but it's not the A lot of people in this country, as you may right away, so don't talk to anyone. He came to Iceland where he's given a pair you need somebody who is sceptical. And important part of the story. have noticed, have been very busy putting Keep it under wraps." Össur Skar- of lectures on what led to the banking col- there was nobody. Nobody in the senior responsibility on everyone else but them- phéðinsson quoting former Minister of lapse, and has been very popular with the ranks that was sceptical. One thing that grabbed my interest in the selves. I won't ask you to lay the blame at Foreign Affairs Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladót- local media for his frankness. He took the talk you just gave was that if these banks the feet of any one institution or person, tir when the banks were falling apart. time to talk to Grapevine about the bank- You read the English portions of the SIC ing collapse, the SIC report, and how Ice- report. What was your opinion of the work had been allowed to continue doing what but in your opinion, what institutions need land went from boom to bust. the commission did? they were doing for another two years Ice- the most serious re-working? I think the work is extremely impressive. land would have ceased to exist. Can you This was a political decision of the Icelan- A lot of the press coverage here in Iceland There are very substantial and fairly so- elaborate on that? dic government, to privatize [the banks] expressed a great deal of surprise when phisticated efforts at what underlying I say it's an existential threat to Iceland, and to give control of one of them to the economy collapsed, while institutions facts we need to look at. I'm particularly and the reason is these banks were already someone who has a record as a convicted approximately ten times the size of the fraudster. What do you think will happen lack of protocol. So when they have meet- such as Moody's and Standard & Poor's impressed, for example, that they went had been issuing warnings in 2005 and and surveyed a sample of loans to look at GDP. They were growing roughly 50% per if you put frauds in charge of financial ings there’s not anything written down. year. That means you're going to double institutions in situations where there are There are no minutes? 2006 that the economy was overheating, re-financing. That is dead on. So, as I said and now was the time to step in and do today, the irony is it's precisely because in size extremely quickly. So now take ten no effective regulations at all? You'll have No. It says so in the report. Most big deci- times to twenty times the size of the GDP, a disaster. So, certainly the ruling political sions are made over the phone or in casual something. Why do you think these warn- they were so good at so many things that ings, from these respected institutions, we can know that analytically they were in about twelve to fourteen months. And parties at that time, if you had to start with meetings. now take it another year out. And you're accountability, that's where you would [She holds the report, paraphrasing went ignored? very off when it came to blaming bad luck Because the Icelandic government at versus deliberate policies. at 40 times the GDP, and you have 60% start. from it.] They’re talking about a meet- losses. ing here in the National Treasury [Seðla- that time was an almost literal cheerleader banki]. And there is this meeting, and for the industry. That included the Prime Where do you see that the investigative Paul Nikolov Well, then we can just call up the IMF to JULIA STAPLES they’re talking about when the govern- Minister [Geir H. Haarde], that included process could have been stronger? the Central Bank chairman [Davíð Odd- It's not even so much the investigative come rescue us. ment took over the first bank, Glitnir, and Right. And everybody in Iceland has an the business minister is not there. The sson], and that included the regulatory process. The chairman here made the re- agency. I went back, as part of my research mark that he felt SIC hadn't reached the EU passport. And you say, “We can be part Minister of Industry is there instead. He of a nation where I can start out and my TOP FIVE “WHO'S TO just sat there, blew his nose, and said, “I before coming to Iceland, to statements issue because that wasn't its mandate. My that the [financial supervisory authorities] point is they actually did reach the issue. kids can start out their lives with about BLAME” FINDINGS OF know nothing about banks.” And they are a million dollars per person in debt, or, I talking about a major decision to take over had made, and if you have that mindset, THE SIC you can't be an effective regulator. And that issue is? can go somewhere else.” And in general, the bank Glitnir that started the whole who's going to leave? The best educated And that issue is, they said, “Well, it's 1. The politicians. Former Prime Min- process of collapse. It was a huge deci- and often the younger people, because bad luck”. The perfect storm, all these ister Geir H. Haarde is portrayed as an sion and they made it in what seems like a “The big three banks, with the it's a lot easier to leave the country when gambling metaphors, all these luck-type incompetent bungler who was terrified two-hour meeting, with no plan of action, you're 25 than when you're 85. In Iceland's metaphors. See, they didn't just say, “Here of former Central Bank chairman Davíð and there’s nothing written down. I find it collapse in 2008, destroyed the case, [emigration] would have been fast, are the facts and we're not going to do Oddsson. Former Minister of Business just ... it’s incredible. I’m just shocked. with a very high percentage and in many any analytics on what happened.” They Björgvin Sigurðsson is excluded from im- If you could vote one person off the entire economy. Had they gone cases your most economically productive said, “Here are the facts, and gosh, it just portant meetings about the state of the island, who would it be? members of society. There'd still be some forward another two years, they must've been a perfect storm.” In the in- banks, often with the collusion of mem- Wow. I think it would be Davið Oddson. I people living in Iceland, but there'd be no troduction in English, they say, “This is a bers of his own party. Former vice-chair think he sometimes acted like he was a more Iceland in Iceland. dictator of this country. He would never would have destroyed the entire story of excessive growth.” That's all their Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir had loans emphasis is up front. These institutions exceed a billion ISK. And all the conserva- admit that. Never. - SO And this brings up the “blessing in dis- nation.” grew very rapidly, and that creates lots of tives ignored warnings from abroad that guise” of the economic crash happening the shit was going to hit the fan. when it did. 2. The banks. Oh boy, where do you Yeah, well, I don't want to push that too start? You had directors loaning them- far. The point is the alternative was far selves their own banks' money, giving worse. The big three banks, with the col- enormous campaign contributions to poli- lapse in 2008, destroyed the entire econ- ticians, and lying about anything untow- omy. Had they gone forward another two ards going on behind closed doors. At the years, they would have destroyed the en- time of the collapse, they were ten times tire nation. the GDP. How did that happen? See point number three. Now that we have this tremendous pile of 3. The supervisory apparatus. What information in front of us from the SIC, supervision? The FME essentially sat back where do you think we should start first, and cheered on the banks, touting them to in terms of digging deeper? everyone as sound and worthwhile insti- Well, the first thing is the commission tutions. Sound familiar? It should, because did an excellent job of looking at a sample here comes point four. of the re-financing of the loans. Now you 4. The President of Iceland. While the need to look at the universe of all of the President is typically an office comprised cronies, all of the insiders, to see what was mostly of welcoming foreign dignitaries done in the re-financing of the loans. And and giving awards to citizens of merit, you want to look at not just the dates and our current President spent a lot of time the dollar amounts, but you want to look overseas painting a very pretty picture of at whether the lenders knew that the bor- Iceland's venture capitalists. He also used rower was in trouble. his office to influence foreign states to give the green light for his businessman How would you be able to find this out? buddies. What the special prosecutor should want 5. The media. The Icelandic media un- to do next is build on what SIC has done, der-reported or in some cases completely but get the universe of the re-financing. ignored warnings being given by foreign And they should not just be looking at re- analysts, and neglected to take a closer cords, but also talking to people. look at the country's financial institutions. Instead, they too trumpted Iceland's eco- If there are these gentlemen's agreements nomic awesome, thinking they were doing and verbal deals going on among the high- us a favour. The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 05 — 2010 16 The Report Report Are Icelanders An Immoral Nation? Professor Vilhjálmur Árnason discusses the SIC report’s ethics addendum

nancial sectors was far too great, not to mention between the supervisory authorities and the bankers. It’s striking to note that it was pretty much a stated policy of the Financial Supervisory Authority to trust the banks and their managers. The head of the FSA remarks in the report that he assumed “these were honest men,” which is of course a great attitude for people to have in general, but very unrealistic in the situation that had been created. When the banks were privatised, the politicians abandoned the sound principles they started out with, those of spread ownership, experienced bankers and foreign lead investors. Two relatively small groups of people, with little banking experience between them, were allotted very large shares in Iceland’s banks. They were granted a lot of leeway and the message from the government was that we should avoid “re- strictive” supervision ... it all amounted to a recipe for a lot of temptation; we needed to impose a lot more restraint on these sectors. But they were allowed to grow fast and far beyond our ability to regulate them.

Goals that failed tremendously The banks were meant to supervise themselves, a goal that failed tremendously. For example, the banks employed compliance officers who have the purpose of making sure regulations and proper procedure were being followed. It was made next to impossible for these people to do their jobs properly. Not only were they constantly shorthanded, they were always kept busy with miniscule tasks, which made it impossible for them to attain a proper overview of what was going on. They were in danger of becoming useful innocents within the system. One tragicomic example is that at one point in time one of the banks had one person acting as com- Vilhjálmur Árnason is a professor of philosophy at the freedom, that in reality we had been unfortunate with know was exaggerated and carried on without merit, pliance officer while the “entertainment department” University of Iceland, as well as chair of the board of the people who were in charge of the banks, that they and without careful examination or consideration employed thirteen full time employees. It was that the Centre for Ethics at the university. He has dedicated weren’t morally sound enough. from those that carried it forward. It is at all times absurd [laughs]! his studies especially to moral theory, applied ethics and important to ask oneself: am I a passive vessel for the Part of the bankers’ brilliance was regarded their political philosophy. Vilhjálmur was leader of a special No blaming the EEA stream of the ideas that is moving around in society, ability, sometimes with the help of lawyers and ac- three-person working group on ethics that was mandated And surely they weren’t, there were a lot of signs or am I as a citizen responsible for examining them countants, to exploit legal and regulatory loopholes to in the Special Investigation Commission legislation by pointing to that, but the authorities had many means and taking a considered stance before passing them their maximum benefit. Alþingi. of imposing a stricter frame—which was definitely along. This reveals a mode of thinking that is definitely The purpose of the working group was to investi- needed. It was absolutely necessary to impose some The second thing is that we are all consumers. part of what got us here today; instead of consider- gate the ethics and work practices connected to the bank- boundaries on the options and leeway these business- This is especially worthy of consideration given the ing the purpose and spirit of a law or regulation, the ing collapse of 2008, and their findings may be read in men and bankers had, but the authorities didn’t, and fact that Icelanders generally are a rather gluttonous bankers as well as the regulatory authorities would Volume 8 of the SIC report. The group was comprised instead strived to maintain a deregulated environ- and excessive group, frugality and prudence have not focus on the letter and individual articles of the law. of two philosophers (Vilhjálmur and Salvör Nordal) and ment. That is no coincidence; it was part of the pre- been in fashion here for the past decades and one of One could imagine that the purpose of a given bank- a historian (Kristín Ástgeirsdóttir), and its report is a vailing ideology. the reasons for the economic collapse hitting indi- ing regulation was to ensure a robust and healthy fi- stunning and thought-provoking read. As it has not yet They sometimes like to explain or excuse it by viduals as hard as it did is that they made decisions nancial system, as well as safeguarding our society, been translated from Icelandic, The Grapevine thought it pointing to EEA regulations that we adopted, but that they now have to pay for. Consumption grew protecting it for the common good. Instead of asking would be a good idea to meet up with Vilhjálmur and dis- those were just a minimal framework legislation and enormously, and many of us borrowed heavily. This themselves whether a certain act went against the cuss it with him, so you English-speakers out there might we had full authority to devise and maintain a regula- is something worth pondering; even though it did not spirit and purpose of the law, bankers as well as of- get an idea of what’s in there. tory environment fitting for this small nation. But the cause the economic collapse, our mode of thinking ficials focused on whether it directly breached it. One government decided not to, the ideology implied that and culture of excess certainly set the stage for what example is when Landsbanki was in the process of At the SIC press conference in April, it was evident a mostly unregulated environment would unleash the was to come and added to how hard we were hit. These bringing its IceSave to Holland—which never should how many media representatives seemed to misun- full powers and potential of these young entrepre- values are part of the conditions that frame our ulti- have happened, because at that late date our authori- derstand the point and purpose of your committee, neurs. mate downfall. ties should have known what it might entail—Dutch asking who should be charged and for your explicit Then when they turn out to have abused this envi- Thirdly, we are citizens in a democratic state, and authorities were trying to restrict it. This spurred the moral verdict. A lot of people seem to believe your task ronment, they are met with moralistic concerns from thus responsible for our government. We chose our FSA to defend the bank by referring to a letter of the was passing judgment... the authorities. They get scolded and told, “you should politicians, and by default the conditions created for law and complain that the Dutch were having macro Our committee had its purpose defined in the law. If behave better!” There was a lack of resolute admin- our bankers too. Every coalition government of the economic worries. Such worries were certainly of vital the law had called for us passing moral judgment we istrative actions or attempts to regulate the environ- years leading up to the collapse had declarations importance. would have done that, but it called for a wide rang- ment and control the frame and context within which that cited—among other things—the stated goals of ing analysis. Our committee’s commission letter the bankers could work. strengthening the financial sector, of keeping the Subject to manipulation from the president of Alþingi explicitly stated that our banks in the country and keeping the burden of regu- In regards to the family metaphor, one term that Are we all to blame? enquiry into ethics and work practices should not be lation and supervision as light as possible. We now comes to mind is co-dependency... A lot of people ponder the responsibility of Iceland- limited to the business sector. In deliberations in the know the end results of these goals, but one could say That is a term some want to use about the way our ers as a collective. Do our collective moral paradigms Parliament it was emphasised that we should place that we were living in a virtual reality—very few were system works. Styrmir Gunnarsson [former Morgun- and what we consider “acceptable behaviour”—not to our findings in a wide social context. conscious of what was really happening here and their blaðið editor and Independence Party associate] for in- mention how we cast our vote and behave as citizens, We were also convinced from early on that one words of warning were not heeded. stance speaks of an across-the-board co-dependency especially considering that many people actively tried couldn’t explain actions and events in the political and I think it is a term that might well be used in to warn us—make us morally responsible for what and business sectors without placing them in this A nationwide disrespect for law and order analysing our society. went on? context, and we felt it was more important to empha- One could ask whether there is not a difference in de- There are Icelandic politicians that seem to have This is an interesting question that we address at the sise what needed improvement in the prevailing work gree rather than nature between the gas station atten- gotten quite far by being aggressively demanding end of our report. We ask: Are we all “guilty”? Are we practices, mindset, governance and values than pass- dant that offers his friends and family “questionable” and imposing. And no individual can get far on those all accessories? Did we all dance along? What is our ing judgement on particular persons. discounts and the bankster that lines the pockets of terms unless this behaviour is tolerated and allowed collective responsibility? Inevitably, however, we mention lots of names in his friends and associates. Does the former enable the by others. The prerequisite for someone getting ahead And people respond to those questions very dif- our report. There are many people involved and most latter—does a society that constantly sells its moral by being bullish and aggressive is that enough people ferently. Some will agree that we are all responsible of them are of the stature that even though you avoid values short not beget crooked bankers and politi- support that behaviour and grant it room. in a way, and that it’s important we now examine and stating their name explicitly—for instance by giving cians, and the damage they can bring? I think one of the things our analysis reveals is reconsider our values and ourselves. Others will get their job title—everyone would still know who’s be- Yes, one thing that’s very prevalent through our anal- that our democratic framework is very fragile and extremely defensive and say that whether or not they ing talked about. But our ambition was to examine the ysis is a nationwide disrespect for law and order. We subject to manipulation. One of the explanations for bought a flat screen TV and took loans is beside the course of events in light of certain key factors and to often take pride in this, and are even prone to make this is that politicians in Iceland seem steadfast in point; they certainly aren’t responsible for the banks draw out the common elements. fun of Scandinavians that are much more orderly, the belief that they renew their authority in elections crashing. law-abiding and disciplined than we are. It is often the every four years and that is the only time they are ac- This question demands serious consideration. Blaming ‘greed’ would be superficial case with nations or large groups of people that their countable, being free to do what they want within the When discussing the public’s accountability it is, of Could you say that your committee’s underlying goal virtues and flaws are intertwined. We like boasting ramifications of the law the rest of the time. course, of an entirely different nature than, say, bank- was to pinpoint the ethics and ethical inclinations of of characteristics such as flexibility and the ability to In nations where democracy is more mature, ers who participated in very specific actions. The our entire community, to learn what sort of society labour in spurts, ready for everything and not being politicians’ power is tempered both by restraint from bankers are responsible for all the shady business would beget such a system with such built in flaws, limited by tradition or rules. But the bad side of this within the political system—for instance from the dealings they participated in, and politicians are re- and so on? coin is the discount we are willing to give of our prin- legislative power and the media—as well as advise sponsible for creating a free and unregulated space Yes, you could word it that way. I’ll just take a concrete ciples and laws; this created the position that enabled from various educated experts and specialists. for them in which to conduct that business. The me- example: A lot of people want to explain the bankers’ our financial system to grow out of hand. Then our dia is responsible for failing to keep the public well behaviour using the word greed. Greed is a moral con- purported assets became very dangerous to ourselves Are Icelanders an immoral nation? informed and giving them better grounds on which cept, a vice, it is one of the seven deadly sins and that as a people and as a nation. No, I think not. Icelanders are not an immoral na- to base their beliefs and opinions. in itself makes it a meaningful concept. However, in tion. In fact I believe that there is probably no such Some say our society became shrouded in secrecy... thing as an immoral nation, as a nation can only grow our opinion it would be a superficial analysis that at- Am I a passive vessel? Yes, there was a permeating secrecy or lack of trans- from communities where moral norms are honoured tempted to explain the bankers' actions primarily by I think there are three things we can look to in regards parency. The small size of our society is very relevant and moral institutions, such as the family, are able to their greed. Of course, there was greed, there was a to the public of Iceland. Firstly, we are all participat- to this. In an appendix to our report, which investi- thrive. The family does not need rules or regulation, lot of greed, but the banks had in place a motivational ing in a social discourse. There was a prevalent idea gates the collapse in light of social or political psychol- as a properly functioning family is governed by trust system that outright encouraged such behaviour. or image of Icelanders as smart businessmen. That ogy, Hulda Þórisdóttir writes about the small, homog- and love and a plethora of virtues that make life there- Such systems can be supervised and changed. we were experiencing a time of great prosperity, go- enous society—we also refer to this in our findings. in better. However, some of those virtues and moral This is important to note, because if one connects ing full speed ahead. I think many people can see People are used to sticking together, like a small fam- axioms can inverse when applied to the public sphere, it to the government, then part of the whole deregula- themselves as having participated in and contributed ily, knowingly or unknowingly emphasising unity, where various agents may be connected through mu- tion ideology involved a certain individualism. Indi- to that discourse. It’s a question philosophers ask solidarity and trust, for example between politicians tually vested interest. Maybe Iceland has yet to evolve vidual bankers were blamed, not the ideology or the themselves a lot of times, how ready are you to carry and the bankers. These are of course good qualities in into a civil society... regulatory framework. When banks went overboard on a rumour or a common belief without considering in paying bonuses and absurdly high wages, crit- a proper place, but in that context they became down- whether it is at all substantiated? haukur s. magnússon ics would wag their moralistic finger, saying people right harmful. I think the aforementioned belief is one that we JULIA STAPLES weren’t being responsible in how they treated their The level of trust between the political and fi- The Reykjavík Grapevine Read our full interview with Vilhjálmur Issue 05 — 2010 Árnason on www,grapevine.is. It has lots more info. 17

Opinion | Wenjing Zhang Iceland Knows How To Chill

Three years of chasing news a small volcano in Iceland moved its stories for my journalism eruption site a few kilometres west Even during this time of degree left me needing to underneath a glacier and the world is misfortune, I haven't witnessed run away on my own for a put on hold. Towns are covered in ash, anything more than a sigh. Kids bit. I just needed some peace of mind. I hundreds of flights are cancelled, and are still having birthday parties thought I'd found the most beautiful and tiny Iceland with half the population of and families are still getting remote place on earth when I actually my hometown of Austin is suddenly on managed to land myself in the centre of the front page of every newspaper. together every night. People this year's biggest story. The whole world is frantically worried, here seem to understand the I arrived in Iceland as an au pair, yet living less than 20 miles away from unpredictable ways of nature as and soon discovered my family to be the craters people here are as calm as well as our own limitations, and intolerable. After three excruciating ever. During the few hours last week they are patiently waiting. Perhaps weeks of picking up too many half- when the road both east and west of eaten bowls of cereal, I took off to the my town were closed off—east due to Icelanders have been jaded by the southernmost town of Iceland to work heavy ash dispersion and west due to erratic weather of the island, but at a hostel. Vík í Mýrdal, pop. 300, sits flooding—no one even skipped their they are just not ones to panic. in a mountain valley on the amazing afternoon tea. black sand beach. I was just beginning minutes to snap some photos, and the to find some peace and quiet when I And then there was more ash windshield was covered in lines of black was reminded that Iceland is a volcanic When the “death cloud” first reached Vík, ash. We looked at each other and agreed island. schools closed down and people spent that it was time to go. Truthfully, I didn't know much about days locked inside their homes. The It's been snowing for a few days now volcanoes before arriving here. When strong Icelandic wind coloured the town in Vík, and most of the ash has found its I first heard of the eruption, my brain a new shade of grey each morning, and way to the ground. Although the air has immediately started replaying terrifying no one went outside without a facemask. cleared up, the effect of the volcano is images from Dante's Peak and recalling Although the ash wasn't deadly toxic, it's still felt. The first eruption left the hostel the plaster casts of Pompeii. Although probably about as healthy as breathing fully booked day after day, but the ash by then I had already learned that not in powder cement. A tiny crack in the from this one has left it like it's January. all volcanoes are violently explosive and hostel's front door left the living room The giant mess of cancelled flights has capable of swallowing entire cities within covered in a thin layer of black powder. only sent cancellations our way as well. minutes, I couldn't help these thoughts. I I thought waking up to the smell of ash Even during this time of misfortune, never imagined that thousands of people was bad enough, until I caught a ride I haven't witnessed anything more than would be rushing to see these fiery with a Reuters photographer to the midst a sigh. Kids are still having birthday fissures. of it all. parties and families are still getting But I joined them. I stood on warm Driving into the heavy ash clouds in together every night. People here seem lava rocks and felt the waves of heat the evacuated zone was one of the most to understand the unpredictable ways hit my skin as shoots of hot lava burst terrifying things I've ever experienced. of nature as well as our own limitations, through earth. I've never felt so small and It didn't get gradually darker, but there and they are patiently waiting. Perhaps powerless as I did standing on the edge was almost a defined edge between grey Icelanders have been jaded by the erratic of an active volcano. and black sky. Once we crossed that line, weather of the island, but they are just Few days later, the world would not only did we lose sight of everything not ones to panic. I guess after you've understand my sentiments of beyond a few meters, we were chilled seen snow in July, nothing can bring you powerlessness. What's considered to our bones. We parked the car for five down.

Travel Agency

Authorised by Icelandic Tourist Board The Reykjavík Grapevine THE Bar-hopping in Reykjavík when the sun Our grandfathers grew up in hobbit holes with more siblings than you can count, Issue 05 — 2010 SUNNY is up all the time makes you feel a little and an infant mortality rate just below modern day Somalia. We're making a living SIDE like a dirtbag, and a lot like awesome on Macbooks in brightly lit coffee houses, in a country with the lowest infant 18 mortality rate on the planet. How bad can it get?

Music | CD Reviews Smashing The System, One Release At A Time The PBP Records Collective examined

I would guess that when most people think of the word “collective” they usually think BB & Blake Hoffman Nögl Útidúr of Stalinist Russia, dirty smelly hippies, or The Borg with their S&M BB & Blake Your Secrets Are Safe With Us I Proudly Present Í Göngutúr kitchen tools. bbblakeband hoffmanis noglmusic utidur But in these post-kreppa days, resources are scarce. It makes more Disco pop that’s not original but A solid slab of alterna-rock. Can’t Present but not always correct The musical equivalent of textured sense now for people to pool together very danceable... wait till their third album comes out soy protein. Avoid. Well,. yes indeed: why not be proud of under a shared umbrella, a common in 2016 purpose. And that´s what a group of BB & Blake comprises former GusGus- what you produce? We were massively When it comes to music, beware of musicians have decided to do in creating er Magnús Jónsson along with Vera Hoffman released their debut EP Bad proud of a cake we made yesterday. bands that give themselves hyperbolic the Paradísarborgaplötur (Paradise City Sölvadóttir. The band has been going Seeds in 2003 and it garnered lots of And then proud of the massive turd descriptions. Útidúr describe Records) music collective. Their mission for a while now, but their début album praise, even from that towering bastion that the cake produced today. And, themselves as thus; “Imagine if only saw the light of day this winter. of middle-of-the-road rock shit, X-ið. hey, wow, guess what? This album’s Beirut and Calexico were stuck in a is thus: “We believe in D.I.Y. ethics and But since then, it has taken them SIX sweet, shit, satisfying, and sounds Mexican standoff – Sam Peckinpah fully realise the politics behind artistic I’m going to get brickbats from my years to produce their follow up. Six kinda like Blink-182 when they decided style – fending off the Arcade Fire representation. Our art is a statement metal loving friends, but this album years?!? What have they been doing all to get a bit serious just before they and hanger-on David Bowie, when all against rock star hipster attitudes and is not half bad. Using seventies this time? broke up five years or so back. Nothing of a sudden Nina Simone and Serge elitist bullshit.” disco soul as a cornerstone, images inherently wrong with that; there’s Gainsbourg would show up with a And the first fruits of their labour have of sweaty torsos at 3 AM and amyl So is the new album worth the wait? plenty of musical talent in that band, band of gypsies.” Wow. That certainly found their way to Grapevine towers, nitrate in the air instantly spring to Yes and no. The album does have very and also in Nögl. sounds impressive! where they have been placed into my mind. Indeed, the falsetto chorus in clean production values, more so than filthy pig-dog capitalist hands to review Mustang practically screams Scissor most albums out there at the moment. It’s immediately obvious that these Well with their debut EP out, it’s safe and digest. Sisters, right in my face. The album And when it’s good, such as tracks are people who know how to write, to say that they are nothing like they First up is Dead Zeppelin by arrange, produce and get it together also manages to bring in elements of Blow and Your Secrets are Safe With describe themselves. Five tracks (two Deathmetal Supersquad. Five tracks even in the occasional po-faced eighties proto-house and Europop. The Us, there are crashing drums, post of which are radio performances) of standard meat & potato punk rock. moments where they mess about with Gallic Paris Je T´aime, for example, has punk guitars and plenty of emo style consisting of plinky plonky, listless Although there are no new feats of Trivium-ish choruses without quite as more than a passing resemblance to emoting. But some tracks, such as Ride rhythms that are forced onto melodies discovery here, it´s surprisingly catchy. silly widdly guitar parts—Hit & Run, for the likes of Air. & Right and P.I.R just reminded me of and vocals that just totally suck the However the final track “330” does drag example. Nothing to be ashamed of, life-force out through your ears. It that really awful 90s US college rock on a bit. At least it’s good to see that really: it’s a bit metal, a bit rock, a bit may be all designed to sound quirky, The main driver to all of this is Vera, that Live, Bush and their ilk used to these guys will be able to take up the as she exudes a power that, while not meh. Stefán from Buff and Sigurður coy and effervescent, but in the end peddle upon unsuspecting teenagers. mantle of Iceland’s premier pop punkers quite reaching Roisin Murphy levels, from UMTBS guest on here too, just makes you want to put on some And it’s this which robs this album of when Morðingjarnir decide to hang ensures that most of the songs keep the ability to transcend its peers. proudly. splittercore and start a riot. Only the - Joe shooman up their axes and become chartered from sounding stale. But even she can’t - bob cluness track “the mess we’ve made” threatens surveyors. (+/-) save some of them. On the Rundown to be interesting, barely, but is ruined sounds trite and annoying, while Lenny when it decides to go all reggae Now, Dansað við Lík by Tentacles just doesn’t go anywhere. But when halfway through. You know, for a band of Doom is a rather different proposition. it’s 2 AM and you’ve reached your that boasts up to twelve members, it’s They´re part of the punk umbrella, but 15-drink limit, there are a lot worse pretty impressive to make an EP that they´ve wandered off into a corner, things to dance to... sounds so anaemic that you don’t want started drinking cider and blackcurrant - bob cluness it to stand up too quick, lest it passes and listening to early Bauhaus and out and falls on the floor. Sex Gang Children. The EP takes these - bob cluness influences and stamps repeatedly on them to force out a harsh, abrasive sound Contrary to what the album cover Not really an ‘album’ of ‘music’, unless that makes me feel happily belligerent. and sleeve would have you believe, you think of Weird Al Yankovic as (+) Synchronised Swimmers is as a ‘musician’ who makes ‘albums.’ But to be shown how it´s done, we straightforward and un-quirky as TSUÍS sees Sverrir Stormsker’s alter- can look to Andspyrna by DYS. This is they come. It is pure acoustic pop, ego belting out an inane collection full-on old-school anarchist class war uncomplicated and simple, with not of familiar pop songs, with the Punk in the mould of Crass and The even a semblance of divergence, lyrics altered to themes of political Exploited that your dad used to bore you although some hints at depth appear discontent, vague social criticism and about. Granted it´s nigh on impossible to towards the end (I Almost Know sodomy. Perhaps it’s better to think understand the political lyrics when they A Criminal, Robot Robot). I can of the whole thing as some sort of are screamed in a flailing, torn manner. understand the value of upbeat music, ironic concept art, or a fundraiser of But it´s as brutal as kicking a free-market but this album is so infuriatingly some sort... in any case, this isn’t really puppy in the face and they´ve included Hafdís Huld brainless it’s impossible to even Serðir Monster music, but a self-humouring ode to the lyrics and a manifesto in the CD inlay. attach a mood to it, other than one tacky mediocrity and cheap wordplay, Synchronised Swimmers Tekið stærst upp í sig FUCK YEAH! (+/-) attained by a Brady Bunch member on but without the energy and enthusiasm With further releases lined up from hafdishuld Prozac. It is even useless as a remedy Give it to someone you hate generally associated with such a Bummer & MVNVMVNTS, it looks like to holiday depression, by way of project. the battle to change continues apace in Bleugh overcompensation; if depression hasn’t - sindri eldon this one corner of music... killed you yet, this album will make you http://pbppunk.blogspot.com/ want to kill yourself through its abject, - bob cluness stupefying idiocy. - sindri eldon

“They put on such a beautiful Pizzeria tel. 578 8555 Lækjargata 8 Downtown meal for us. We had the most amazing freshest fish I've ever had in my life. It was all so perfectly cooked too... Beautiful!” Jamie Oliver’s Diary Probably the best pizza in town The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 05 — 2010 19

Music | CD Reviews

HI Hostels Reykjavík - your affordable quality bed

We’ll be here, to arrange the most Check out our exciting excursions at website at the best price, and www.hostel.is offer you local advice on how to get the

Gjöll Uni most from your stay Reykjavík City Hostel in this wonderful city. Reykjavík Downtown Hostel. Sum of Transformations Enchanted Stay at Reykjavík City gjoellproduct8 unnuruni Hostel or Reykjavík Downtown Hostel. Ideal background music for the Downbeat folk that doesn’t quite do next school trip to those dark what it says on the tin caves! On the cover sleeve of Enchanted, Most people think of nature as cute Uni gives the impression of being animals in meadows, set to a Sigur rós otherworldly and inhabiting the song. These people are idiots. Nature spheres of artists such as Bat for is primeval, harsh, and will tear your Lashes, Tori Amos and the Grand throat out, while the animals will feast Priestess Overlord herself, Björk. Either on your corpse... after having sex with that or a startled meerkat with some it. It’s against this backdrop that Gjöll tinfoil stuck on its face; to be honest, attempt to work their chaos. there isn’t much difference between the two really. The brainchild of Jóhann Eiríksson (Reptilicus) and Sigurður “Siggi Pönk” Indeed, the first track, I Miss You, Harðarson (Forgarður helvítis, DYS), starts off with a ghostly mournful Sum of Transformations is a wallowing vocal that augurs something profound. chasm of dark ambient sounds that However, the album then immediately leave you in no doubt of the anarchy settles into a downbeat folk sound of nature (that and political song titles sprinkled with a country twang that such as At The Hanging Of The Last Of struggles to get out of first gear. And The Career Politicians). this is a shame, as there are moments of sonic gold trying to break out. It’s not all gloom as Natural Anarchy Butterfly Garden, for instance, has a and The only True Philosophical wonderful melody and chorus that’s Problem show a brightness crying out for some heavy booms and reminiscent of Cocteau Twins & Oren wails to bring out the inner turmoil. She Ambarchi. Contrast that with Unity Knows sees Uni let rip with a chorus With the Earthworms which feels more that would give PJ Harvey the shivers. a like a call to arms from a neo-pagan But these moments are too few and death cult hidden up on Snæfellsjökull. far between. More forest spirits, less While it may not quite reach the blood blandness next time... tinged visceral-ness of Ben Frost’s - bob cluness latest album, this is a fine companion piece in portraying the soundscapes of a feral society. - bob cluness

The Coma Cluster is a project consisting of Hallvarður Ásgeirsson (Stórsveit Nix Noltes), composer Siffvilnius, and musicians from Denmark and Japan. They’ve used the internet to create their debut across 3 continents without meeting in person. Interesting, but is it any good? The answer is a solid yes. The first half of the album sounds as if Godspeed! You Black Emperor and Tangerine Dream decided to compose the soundtrack to a French/Japanese The Coma Cluster remake of the film Dune: equal parts doom and full-on space rock. The Observation second half has a more intimate mix http://comacluster.net of shoegaze & dark ambient sounds. Guitars shimmer and crash around A space rock epic in all its terrifying you while vocals bubble under the glory... surface with threatening intent. If your fancy the sounds of far away galaxies colliding and stars collapsing, then this is a definite buy. - bob clueness

Viking hotel Viking restaurants Viking live entertainment Viking Souveniers

For booking and further information: Tel.: (+354) 565-1213 [email protected] - www.vikingvillage.is Strandgata 55 Hafnarfjordur The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 05 — 2010 This is the first section of a four part short story by former Grapevine editor Valur Gunnarsson. We have read the entire thing, and we can tell you right off the bat that it is a pretty damn awesome read. So stay tuned for God's return next issue. 20

Literature | Short story God Returns To Iceland

The Lord looked at the world he had created and His attention spanned the globe. To the industrious people, they would no doubt find Even the English, who at this point seemed so saw it was—largely—good. Each continent, north of the Alps there was, at first sight, less some use for it. The British, however, who sang intent on colonizing everything, ignored it. though different, had its own charm, and when to please the eye. Still, he felt he had done quite so loyally of him saving their Queen, would no God initially considered making improvements it came to Europe, it was Italy that stirred the well with the Norwegian fjords, but this had in- doubt complain if they suddenly found them- on this icy land, but decided instead to start greatest pride. Its golden coasts complemented spired their inhabitants to no such feats as the selves a part of the continent. over. The island of Iceland was to be drowned the Apennine mountain range, the Po valley a Apennines had the Italians. Perhaps the fjords He had been meaning to do something with in an ocean of fire. Somewhere up above, the perfect contrast to the hills of Sicily. It some- were beautiful enough that no more aesthetics that barren and useless island that he had stars rearranged themselves into a smile. Per- times seemed to him that the rest of the conti- were needed in that part of the world. It was im- placed temporarily somewhere north of Scot- haps he had learned something from his chil- nent was merely an appendix, an afterthought possible for mere apes to compete with him at land. But the Mediterranean had occupied him dren after all. Was this not what they liked to re- to this finely crafted piece. The thin strip, a his best, or so he liked to believe. for so long that when he finally turned his at- fer to, when they encountered something they prosciutto of meticulously designed landscape, Celestial eyes drifted to the left of his fa- tention back north, he saw that the island had did not understand, as irony? was cut off from the more vulgar lands to the mous fjords. There, sticking out of the sea, was already been settled. This was not part of the Fire erupted from the mountains; the sun north by the Alps, shielding his piece-de-resis- a barren rock that looked like none of the other plan, and he prided himself on having a plan was blocked from the sky for those standing tance from works in progress. places he beheld. His peers, had he any, might for everything. Even if some decisions were a down below. It reminded him of Pompeii, and When the man-monkeys, with their un- remark that its appearance seemed somewhat bit more spontaneous than he would like to ad- he wondered why he didn’t do this more often. predictable yet God given free will started set- unfinished, an interesting idea but sorely in mit. A dash of lava here, a pinch of smog there. Just tling the area, it came as a pleasant surprise need of a finishing touch. In fact he had been Now, tribes he had intended should move to as he was getting ready for the final touch, to the Creator of All Things that the fruits of meaning to do something with it for quite a America from the West, to see how they would something started to stir down below. It was their imagination were almost a match for his while, but there were always more pressing interact with those who had moved there from the French. They were having a revolution. own. It was at times like these that he did not concerns. Now and again he returned to it, and the East, had stopped halfway. Instead of dis- They were saying there was no god. This he had regret having allowed the monkey men to crawl wondered what use could be made of it. covering a New World, they had taken to divid- to see. over his creation, even though he himself had Perhaps it could be used to fill up the Baltic, ing up and quarrelling over tiny fragments of He blinked and then blinked again. The been partial to giant lizards for a while. He but he had to admit he had gotten quite used to land on this island they now called Iceland. world turned briefly pink, and then, red, white took pleasure in watching the rise and fall and the Baltic as it was. It served its purpose in any These deathly pale northern monkeys never and blue. The American experiment, and the renaissance resurrection of the inhabitants case, there had to be some way to tell Swedes ceased to amaze him. Why call something French, had turned out just like all the others. of his favourite peninsula. If lately they took and Danes apart. Somewhere between Britain Iceland and then fight over it. In any case, he Who was next? God gave the ball a twirl. From their pleasure in bad television rather than Mi- and the mainland, he thought, would probably found the name quite fitting, so he let them be here it all seemed a foregone conclusion; you chaelangelo, they could easily be forgiven. They be a good place for it. It might even keep the for awhile. only had to know how to count on all your fin- had done their part, left something behind for sea from chipping away at the Low Countries, He blinked his eye and centuries passed. It gers. When he played dice, as he did from time others to admire and, like him, they deserved a which, he had to admit, were something of a was not, of course, the Icelanders who finally to time, he knew that the Chinese were now the rest. flaw in the overall design. The got a foothold in America but the Mediterrane- ones to bet on. Dutch where an ans, followed by other tribes: French, British. But a game of dice is not just about calculat- The man-monkeys of the West had failed to cre- ing the odds, and history is not just about the ate a golden civilisation by intermingling with numbers. For it was not the crafty Chinese who the natives. Instead, they exterminated them. were planting their flag all over Christendom. In retrospect, this was obvious. For It was those unpredictable Icelanders. This, he someone all-knowing, he could some- thought, cannot be good. times be remarkably naive when it As he had done when Atlantis had its day came to bringing people together. and when Eldorado outshone all others, he de- Nevertheless, the Americans cided to sit back and watch how this would play now claimed to have created out. Even if the outcome seemed obvious. God a new kind of country. The looked down from the heavens and decided to Lord looked on with inter- bet against the króna. est and even, dare we say And yet, as he saw the expected events it, a glimmer. It was only unfold, he was nevertheless stunned. More when events there were stunned than perhaps he had ever been in the at a lull that his gaze long and at times amusing history of human again caught its reflec- folly. Sure, the sensible Germans had been out tion in the glaciers of of their minds for a while, but that was after a Iceland. He started world war lost and in the midst of a great de- counting on his fin- pression. The Americans had their Civil War, gers, a hundred on the Chinese their Cultural Revolution, but each hand, and found never before had a country that had it so good it had been almost a decided to so utterly destroy itself. thousand years since That was it. This tiny speck was an insult the land had been set- to all creation. The Lord knew that it was time tled. Rome rose and fell to finish what he had started so many seasons in only a slightly longer times- ago. It was time to return to Iceland, and not pan and still the northern ice since the last days of Gomorrah had he been in monkeys had not created anything quite such a mood. that passed for a decent civilization. In- Next issue: God Returns. stead of building walls to hold out their en- emies or coliseums for their amusement, they Valur gunnarsson Illustration by lóa HJÁLMTÝSDÓTTIR had simply dug themselves into the ground.

FJÖREGG Barnamenning í Norræna húsinu »Free Classifieds: You can advertise in our classifieds for free at www.grapevine.is. Categories like housing available, housing wanted, job openings, job needed. » www.grapevine.is The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 05 — 2010 The farmer on the below picture was having a very sad day when we met with him. He had to put down some of his horses due to the ashfall, and was bidding them farewell. 22

Travel | Volcano

Eyjafjallajökull Raves On Iceland's farmers take the heat As those European airport slumber parties A Hay Scarcity ing ash from the roofs of my farm, a task that will find the extra hours is beyond me. wind down and guests return to the humdrum Hundreds of acres of fields have been smoth- required 150,000 litres of water,” Eggertsson Sigurðsson of Önundarhorn was still di- of sleeping in real beds, taking showers and ered by the ash and come summer this will told me. “There were also more than 50 people gesting everything when I stopped by his farm hopefully changing their socks, the Eyjafjal- cause problems for farmers who won’t be able helping shovel ash from my farm grounds, driv- about two weeks after the eruption. He pointed lajökull ash fest is far from over for the farmers to make the hay they need to feed their animals ing away 500 tons, not including my fields,” he out that the eruption was still quite fresh and it living near the base of the hard-to-pronounce- during the winter. Stefánsson has already sent added. was difficult to predict how long it would last. sub-glacial-volcano. 30 cattle to be slaughtered and he plans to con- There is also an uncomfortable uncertainty It could continue spewing ash for multiple The steaming mad volcano has already tinue downsizing as it becomes necessary. about the eruption. “It’s tough to start clear- years, and in that case the farmers may have to flooded farmers with glacial water and then What’s more, Dairy farmer Sigurður Þór ing the ash from the fields when they could re-evaluate their situation. But, at the very least, pummelled them with ash. The April 14 initia- Sigurðsson from Önundarhorn estimates it be blanketed again tomorrow, Sigurðsson of they will take an economic hit and it will prob- tion has been rough thus far and unfortunately will take one to three years before the fields re- Önundarhorn said. “Not to mention the money ably be time to go for a number of their horses for a group of about twenty farmers, it looks like cover. Until then, it will cost him 1,700 rolls of gone down the drain.” and cattle. the hazing has only just begun. hay every summer, which he uses to feed his Operations have been thus far been halted One of those unfortunate farmers, Kristinn 230 cattle, including 36 dairy cows. once after the wind direction shifted and farm- Reykjavík parties on! Stefánsson from Raufarfell, says that even if Ólafur Eggertsson, from neighbouring ers were once again sprinkled with ash. Meanwhile, although Reykjavík city and the the volcano stops spewing ash tomorrow, there farm, Þorvaldseyri, also expects he will have to rest of Iceland haven’t seen a spec of ash, the is already plenty of it to go around blowing on decrease the number of cattle and dairy cows Time to go? tourist industry is starting to suffer as presum- them all summer, if not longer. on his farm. His 2,500-acre farm is also one of While Eggertsson, who has been farming for ably misinformed and hysteria-fed travellers Following the eruption, Stefánsson started the largest grain suppliers in south Iceland and 35 years, says he plans to keep farming, other are cancelling their trips. So, reporting straight making preparations to leave his farm, but his Eggertsson said he is not sure whether he will farmers weigh the possibility of leaving their from Reykjavík, I am telling you that life is attempt to escape the ash now looks futile. “I be able to harvest this summer. farms considering the uncertainty of the erup- dancing on and gas masks and goggles are by have bills to pay,” Stefánsson said. “The banks tion’s course and the difficult of work ahead. no means in fashion. aren’t going to stop demanding payments be- Trashed The average farmer in Iceland is 52 years cause I decided to leave my farm.” While the cleanup effort is already underway, old and the average workweek is 92 hours on Eggertsson anticipates it will continue into the a farm with 40 dairy cows, according to the Anna Andersen summer. “Fire fighters spent 24 hours clean- Farmers Association of Iceland. Where they Julia Staples

www.airiceland.iswww.airiceland.is

GRÍMSEY

BOLUNGARVÍK DRANGAJÖKULL ÞÓRSHÖFN ÍSAFJÖRÐUR SIGLUFJÖRÐUR HÚSAVÍK HRÍSEY VOPNAFJÖRÐUR Krafla

BLÖNDUÓS AKUREYRI

FLATEY EGILSSTAÐIR NESKAUPSTAÐUR

Hallormstaður

Always best price online. STYKKISHÓLMUR Kárahnjúkar SNÆFELLSJÖKULL

ILULISSAT Greenland

CONSTABLE POINT BORGARNES Various online-offers to all Air Iceland's destinations. Greenland KULUSUK Greenland Gullfoss AKRANES Geysir NUUK Greenland REYKJAVÍK NARSARSSUAQ SIA.IS FLU 47569 10/2009 Greenland KEFLAVÍK Jökullónið

Blue Lagoon FAROE ISLANDS ÍSLENSKA

www.airiceland.is VESTMANNAEYJAR [email protected] / tel. +354 570 3030 ContactContact AirAir IcelandIceland oror travel agentagent for for reservation. reservation The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 05 — 2010 Trip provided by Íshestar. Booking: +(354) 555 7000 or check the website www.ishestar.is. 23

Travel | Accommodation Travel | Horsies Spending The Night include much about horse social sig- nals. I would also have liked to learn With A Farmer more about how to ride. One of the Farm hopping in the West fjords guides gave me a whip, informing me my horse, Skvísa, was sometimes It was early evening by the time we lazy. I should tap her butt to speed descended into Djúpidalur valley after her up if digging my heels into her spending a successful day weaving in and sides didn’t work. This was pretty out of Iceland’s most spectacular West much all the instruction we received, fjords. We arrived at a cluster of red-roofed aside from “hold on”. With this level houses where a man and a couple of of horse education I felt a tad ridicu- toddlers in a tractor were driving hay to the lous, like a princess being carried barn. in a litter on the back of an elephant This was definitely our destination. with no knowledge about anything Djúpidalur, located at 65° 35,073'N by 22° going on below. 16,990'W, is home to an entire population of four: Leifur Samúelsson, his wife Guðrún Discomforts to come prepared for Samúelsdóttir, and their two kids. Of course, As with most tourist trips in Iceland, that isn’t counting their sheep, which brings to enjoy this trip you should dress the population up to 454. warmly. Granted, my hands turn to Shortly after we parked the car, Guðrún emerged from the barn to greet us and ice at the slightest wisp of cold air. show us to a house between the barn and But two hours of sitting outdoors on their house. It was a spacious two-story a moving Icelandic horse will chill accommodation, equipped with a kitchen, a even the warmest-handed. dining room and four bedrooms. Thankfully, Íshestar took care of Farmhouse lodging is typically either all the other accoutrements. In the part of a farmer’s house or in a separate stable change room we had our pick annex. Either way, they make for an of rubber boots, sturdy rain jackets incredible opportunity to get a taste of and rain pants and, of course, riding countryside life and the idyllic setting The Grapevine Takes A Tour helmets. I completely tricked myself without the backbreaking labour. out and was glad I did, even though After unloading our stuff, we walked it didn’t rain. Despite the multiple over to the barn to chat with Leifur and On Icelandic Horseback sweaters and jacket I had wrapped Guðrún who were feeding their sheep. In myself in beforehand, these outer one week’s time, they were expecting 640 You’d think from the looks of these banned in 1882 to prevent disease one was engaging in some sort of ear layers helped to cut the wind. And lambs and soon after that the sheep would dwarfen beasts that they’d be meek from entering the country. This has nibbling, a second was leaning its the rubber boots allowed me to walk be off to graze freely in the valley all summer and mild, happy to carry a hobbit also ensured that other horse breeds butt obtrusively into another, and a long. on horse poop with abandon. off on an adventure into Iceland’s haven’t found their way into the ge- couple was walking in an endless cir- But even multiple waterproof lay- Leifur and Guðrún have lived together in fairytale landscape. At least, this is netic stock, so the Icelandic horse cle of bum biting. One of the girls at Djúpidalur for five years. Despite its remote ers can’t prevent the ass pain. For what I had in mind when I stepped has retained its unique traits. the stable confirmed that the horses location, Guðrún says they can always get the next couple days afterwards be into the Íshestar stables. The reality Icelandic horses are also special were playing, not fighting. If one of to where they want. It didn’t seem to bother prepared to have bruised bum bones. her that the nearest grocery store was 45 was somewhat different. because they can travel at five differ- them did get hurt in a rare tussle, she That being said, I found I was actu- kilometres away in Reykhólar. ent gaits, Anna informed me, includ- told me, you would hear about it from ally kind of proud of my bruises. It’s This brings me to another point about Horse tales ing the tölt, a walking-trotting-like across the farm, and the aggressor like having hurting legs after a par- farmhouse hopping in the West fjords. One of my misconceptions was gait. Over the two-hour “Lava Tour”, would immediately stop. ticularly strenuous run, or like hav- Namely, gas and grocery stores are few cleared up as soon as I walked out my group did little of the famous tölt, Anna laughed as she and I ing war scars, except that you do no and far between (especially when you need into the paddock full of Icelandic though I had wanted to try it. watched the horses getting rowdy work to acquire them. You just spend them). So, fuel up in every way possible horses (don’t call them ponies). Their On the upside, the ride was still amongst themselves: “If you have a the afternoon and 57 Euro pretend- when you have the chance. A night on a stocky bodies and very soft fur might great for beginners and those in the horse and you’ve been riding, and ing you’re a hobbit riding your trusty farmhouse is simply not the same without seem cute from afar, but they’re mood for a leisurely ride. The lava- you take it to the paddock, it can be, steed into the great Icelandic un- cooking a big feast. After dinner, an evening larger than they seem, and power- covered landscape and the volcano like, crazy.” known. is well spent exploring the ins and outs of ful. Anna Buhl, one of the Íshestar it surrounded, Mt. Helgafell, were But Icelandic horses are sweet na- the fjord or even taking a warm bath in a guides, told me that the bigger ani- spectacular no matter what the pace. tured in general, and respond well to geothermal pool. mals can hold up to 110 kg. Thanks But the horses themselves were humans. “They are very good-heart- Call in advance, especially during the busy to their hardiness, Icelandic horses most interesting to me. Just as I ed,” Anna told me. “A lot of them are summer months. Expect to pay around 3,000 have prospered for over 1000 years had imagined, they are placid with very calm. Loyal.” ISK to 3,500 ISK per bed. This road trip was since early settlers introduced the humans, but I was surprised how made possible by Hertz Car Rental, who provided us with a car. breed to Iceland. From then until playful they were with each other. A bumpy beginning now, horse import has been virtu- In the pen as our horseback riding Unfortunately, my group’s introduc- Stephanie Orford Julia Staples Anna Andersen ally unheard of, and was officially group was preparing to disembark, tion to riding was short and didn’t

www.airiceland.iswww.airiceland.is

GRÍMSEY

BOLUNGARVÍK DRANGAJÖKULL ÞÓRSHÖFN ÍSAFJÖRÐUR SIGLUFJÖRÐUR HÚSAVÍK HRÍSEY VOPNAFJÖRÐUR Krafla

BLÖNDUÓS AKUREYRI

FLATEY EGILSSTAÐIR NESKAUPSTAÐUR

Hallormstaður

Always best price online. STYKKISHÓLMUR Kárahnjúkar SNÆFELLSJÖKULL

ILULISSAT Greenland

Blue Lagoon FAROE ISLANDS ÍSLENSKA

www.airiceland.is VESTMANNAEYJAR [email protected] / tel. +354 570 3030 ContactContact AirAir IcelandIceland oror travel agentagent for for reservation. reservation The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 05 — 2010 Góði Hirðirinn is where the smart Reykjavík dweller chooses to furnish his home. 24

Article | Shopping Góði Hirðirinn: Treasure From Trash The biggest used goods store in Reykjavík

A fluorescent-lit warehouse with an ambiance to match, wares, then mark up the price. So if you want to skip didn’t yield what she was looking for this time around, Góði Hirðirinn is an almost-free-for-all of junk. It’s not the middleman, the bargain of your dreams is probably but Ingibjörg was in good spirits. “You have to keep Góði Hirðirinn Numbers that the goods aren’t in decent condition, but there’s waiting for you here. looking,” she said, as she found some pottery she liked. definitely a fine selection of crap to sort through. Like Árni Ingi Rikharðsson, another Góði Hirðirinn shop- ‘70s fondue set – 1.200 ISK any scrap heap, gems reveal themselves to the patient per, told me he shopped there when he was younger Win-win thrifting Kitchen knives – 250 ISK each magpie. and living on the cheap, because its goods are “very Góði Hirðirinn, which translates to “the Good Shep- Wooden desk with drawers – 3.000 ISK “This is my favourite thing,” Birna Einarsdóttir, a good and cost almost nothing.” Today he was there herd”, is part of the recycling company SORPA, and Weird ‘70s rope ceiling lamp – 500 shopper at Góði Hirðirinn, told me. “I’m just fanatic looking for a TV, but no such luck. gives all its profits to charity, though the store isn’t reli- ISK about old stuff.” A young graphic designer in Reykjavík, The store maintains good-quality merchandise be- gion-affiliated as its name might suggest. “It was a very ‘70s teak armchair with blue uphol- Birna uses second-hand paper to create one-of-a-kind cause the employees throw out over half the things good idea, that name. People are very positive about stery – SOLD books. “I find it so beautiful,” she said, showing off the donated to cull the garbage out, Frikki said. Still, this what we are doing,” said Frikki. Góði Hirðirinn is a win- Brown leather armchair – 2.000 ISK soft green record sleeve paper she had found. leaves plenty of wiggle room for weird stuff to creep win shopping experience. You can find unique stuff for All teddy bears – 50 ISK Others here are looking to fulfil more practical onto the shop floor. Homemade furniture and paintings cheap and give to charity. # VHS tapes of Friends – 125 needs. Maria Jónsdóttir, a preschool teacher, was on are a regular sight, he said. What Frikki likes best about the place, though, is # creepy Barbie and Little Mermaid a coffee table hunt, and found a beautiful circular teak Whatever you’re looking for, going to Góði Hirðirinn working with the employees and customers. “I know busts – 6 table for about 3.000 ISK. is like meditating. It’s best to enter without expecta- that we’re doing a good job. That does make me happy Observed ratio of female to male tions. You might not find everything on your list, but you anyway,” he said. customers – 3:2ish Good buys, no expectations never know what you’ll discover. Ingibjörg Bjarnadóttir I was just beginning to get into the hunt as Frikki Deals like this abound. Frikki Ragnarsson, the manager, had driven from out of town today to visit her family in uttered the closing shout. I hadn’t found anything, so I told me that sellers at Kolaportið, the Reykjavík flea the city, she said. She stopped by Góði Hirðirinn to find figure I’ll just have to keep looking. Stephanie Orford market, regularly hit up Góði Hirðirinn to purchase their her blind grand nephew a cassette radio. Alas, the store julia staples

Article | Democracy ously the state will take their plea to er outrageous chain of events that, as Continued from page 6 be charged alongside the Reykjavík police keep watch over the trial and Nine, they insist that if the petition decide who may and may not enter anybody who participated that win- were to be heeded and charges were, the courtroom, is on its way to be- ter. There is no difference. Those in fact, brought against them then coming a circus. nine were shouting and doing the they and all signatories would follow “I can see that it is, of course, same thing that everybody else was through with what they requested. ironic,” admits Sólveig of her being doing the entire time.” “Everybody who has written their made to follow in her father’s foot- “Nine people cannot take the fall name on this list realises what this steps. “But to me the irony is over- for a movement of thousands of peo- means. All the people who were pro- powered by the sheer ridiculousness ple,” adds Anna Þórsdóttir, a friend testing knew what it meant,” says of the situation. It should be apparent of Bryndís and the nine accused. Anna, with Bryndís adding “I can to everybody how ridiculous this is. The letter accompanying the pe- honestly say that I would rather be But then, I don’t think it is apparent tition strongly implores the state to in prison with the signatories than to everybody. I don’t know how the halt proceedings against the Reyk- outside the prison with everyone who public feels. Very many people may javík Nine, asserting, among other would want them prosecuted.” think it’s quite all right to send us to things, that to charge them with at- jail.” tacking Alþingi is absurd as Alþingi Oh, the irony was already under attack from the Twice in its relatively short history The Reykjavík Nine will be in court on May inside, by politicians, banksters and Article 100 has been dug from the 12th. To sign the petition accusing yourself in corrupt businessmen. pages of the penal code, both times accordance with Article 100 send your name, Thus far the petition has received to punish citizens for exercising their address and kennitala to yfirlysing.reykja- little response from the Icelandic right to protest. The likeliness of a [email protected]. power structure, but signatures con- father-daughter connection linking tinue to be collected in a show of soli- the two instances would seem to be Catharine fulton darity for the accused. While Bryndís a long shot, when in actuality it is a julia staples and Sigurður Gunnarsson and Anna are not sure of how seri- darkly-comical twist to an all togeth-

Elegant surroundings WELCOME CARD Superb cuisine

See more and save more WELCOME CARD INCLUDING Modern comfort CITY BUS TRANSPORT, Preserving quality when visiting Reykjavík. FREE ADMISSIONS, 2009 - 2010 DISCOUNTS OFF TOURS, SHOPPING, AND SERVICES Free admissions and discounts AVAILABLE FOR 24, 48 is our business AND 72 HOURS. off tours, shopping and services for 24, 48 or 72 hours. 8 Open daily for lunch and dinners 2010 4 . Great value for money. WELCOME CARD Special oﬀ er on Monday The Welcome Card can and Tuesday – 3 course dinner

HBS 48592 01 be purchased at: S for only 4200 ISK. The Centre, major hotels, museums, SIA.I A tourist information centres and Reservation: tel. 552 5700, Hlemmur and BSÍ bus stations. ÍSLENSK e-mail: [email protected]

Aðalstræti 2 • 101 Reykjavík • Tel +354 590 1550 • [email protected] Bergstaðastræti 37 s. 552 5700 [email protected] www.holt.is www.visitreykjavik.is The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 05 — 2010 This article by Marc Vincenz sure is a fun read. 25

Article | Volcanic bliss Hot Air And Solar Flares The ash clouds from the edge of the world that changed everything

In a recent New Scientist article, “Get ready for decades of Icelandic fireworks,” volcanologist Þorvaldur Þórðar- son speculates this next active volcanic phase could last for another 60 years, reaching its peak before 2040. So far, estimates of Eyjafjallajökull’s costs to airlines and travel companies range between $1.7 and 4 billion—and that’s just for five days of ash plumes. And while the EU is still squabbling to find a uni- fied “ash-no-ash flying policy,” the days of volcanic-free travel appear to lie in the distant future. EU aid to effected, cash- poor airlines such as FinnAir has also not yet been unilaterally agreed upon. Being stranded at the airport for five days may seem like the end of the world, but it isn’t. Not by a long shot.

Let’s rewind for a minute million tonnes of toxic chemical fluorine. he says: “the entire corpus of Family Iceland, June 1783. A 25-kilometre fis- The fluorine, mixed with fallen ash, killed Sagas, thirteen thick volumes’-worth… sure spanning 130 craters erupts. Lava 80% of Iceland’s sheep population and seems to know nothing of lava and ash fountains spout 1500 metres. Gasses of over 50% of its cows and horses. Fall-out plumes.” toxic sulphuric aerosols rise to 15 kilo- effects were dramatic and far-flung. The Folklorist Juliana Magnúsdóttir theo- metres and inundate Europe, then sift high-pressure weather system carried rises that the early settlers were cautious across the globe. (In comparison Eyjaf- particles as far as India, where the mon- of their volcanic tales for fear of halting jallajökull’s plume rose to around 9 km) soon was nothing more than a drizzle. the influx of new immigrants to Iceland. Over 122 million tonnes of sulphur diox- In 1784, famine hit Egypt reducing the Nevertheless there are a handful leg- ide are emitted in eight months (that’s country by 20% of its population. During ends speckled within the oral traditions more than three times the entire Euro- the ensuing years extreme cold in Japan and the Annals. And, as Magnúsdót- pean industrial output today). In the end, decimated crops, leading to the death of tir points out, “One of the descriptions the lava covers 600 square kilometres. over one million people. In short, these of Ragnarök before the end is that of a The Laki eruption and its aftermath kills volcanic effects ran amok across the blood-covered sun. The shape of Iceland close to a third of the Icelandic popula- globe. A study conducted by Rutgers was defined by volcanic activity and how tion. Toxic gasses reach as far as Japan. University in 2006 conclusively proved a it affected the people.” Gilbert White The Alaskan Kauwerak tribe come to direct correlation between high-latitude writes: “The sun at noon [over Hamp- call 1783 “the year the summer did not eruptions and water supply in North Af- shire] looked as blank as the moon and come.” rica during the period. For Europe, pos- shed a rust coloured ferruginous light Events as recounted by Lutheran sibly the biggest natural catastrophe di- on the ground, but was particularly lurid “Fire Preacher” Rev. Jón Steingrímsson saster ever, would be the toxic fog from and blood-coloured at rising and set- unfold thus: “It began with the earth an Icelandic volcano. ting.” heaving upwards, with a great scream- And Laki was not the largest to have Recent catastrophes are a testa- ing…of winds…then spitting asunder, shown its wrath. ment to the lack of foresight and the ripping…as if a crazed animal were tear- inadequacy of governments: floods, tsu- ing something apart. The flood of fire Fire canyon namis, hurricane Katrina, the Haiti and flowed like a great river…great cliffs and Alongside Laki, in the conjoined volcanic Szechwan earthquakes, the avian and slabs were swept along, tumbling about system including Katla, Hekla, Gríms- swine flu. The lingering presence of the like large whales swimming red hot vötn, and the now-well-known-yet-still- ever-recurring-greenhouse-gas-driven and glowing.” The reverend blames the unpronounceable Eyjafjallajökull, lies El Niño sends shivers down most policy- cataclysm on the loose morality of the the dormant Eldgjá (the “fire canyon”), makers’ spines. Licensing and Icelandic nation, but delivers his church the largest volcanic canyon in the world. With the Mayan cosmic cycle com- and congregation from the river of lava Eight hundred years before the Laki ing to a close in 2012 conspiracy theories registration of travel- through prayer and divine intervention: eruption (934-940 AD), not long after abound, New Agers maintain that this the wrath and subsequent vindication of the Viking settlers started to get com- is all part of the great cosmic plan. Bio- a merciful God. fortable in their turf houses, Eldgjá, the physicist Dieter Broers speculates that related services In France, priests conduct exorcisms largest emitter of volcanic gas in record- the largest solar flare for fifteen years on Satan’s fog cloud as people fall like ed history, spewed forth in all its glory. triggered Iceland’s volcanic activity; oth- The Icelandic Tourist Board issues licences to tour operators and travel agents, flies. Over 5% of the French population All in all, Eldgjá exhumed over 220 million ers maintain these are the beginnings of as well as issuing registration to booking services and information centres. died in one 18th Century summer (some tonnes of sulphur dioxide—nearly double the European death cloud predicted by claim the aftermath may have precipi- that of Laki. Nostradamus. Lord knows. Even UFOs Tour operators and travel agents are required to use a special logo approved tated the French Revolution). Across Yet there is little mention in the me- have been spotted hovering over top of by the Icelandic Tourist Board on all their advertisements and on their Internet the channel in England, mortality rates dieval record, and certainly not in the Eyjafjallajökull. website. double. Scientists have estimated that Sagas. Gordon Brown sent the HMS Ark Booking services and information centres are entitled to use a Tourist toxic fumes killed over 20,000 people The historian Oren Falk sees the por- Royal to pick up marooned tourists in Board logo on all their material. The logos below are recognised by the in Britain (100,000 people by today’s trayal of Ragnarök in the prophetic poem France and Spain. With him lagging Icelandic Tourist Board. reckoning). Torrential rain, flash floods, Völuspá (detailing the creation of the behind at the voting polls, one wonders hail and lightning storms plague Britain world as recounted by a völva [a seer- if he didn’t seriously consider putting in August and September. In 1783, the ess] to the god Óðinn) as being influ- Iceland back on the terrorist list. This, List of licenced Tour naturalist Gilbert White writes: “Unlike enced by witnesses to Icelandic volcanic friends, is the ashen-faced reality. Operators and Travel Agencies on: anything known within the memory of activity, yet there is very little that points man.” any particular eruption. Falk only finds a visiticeland.com By the time Laki stopped erupting in few vague references in Landnámabók February of 1784, it had emitted over 8 and in the later Bishops’ Sagas. In fact, Marc Vincenz

Tannvernd barna The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 05 — 2010 DID YOU KNOW? Marieke Hardy is a celebrated Australian newspaper columnist, radio personality, blogger and television writer. She was stranded in Iceland for a while, and is already looking to return. 26

Opinion | Marieke Hardy News | Marc Vincenz Kreppa In The Sharing Pieces Of Iceland International Eye: There is nothing quite so cake and champagne, illicit kisses want to feel special here. They’re “The last thing any romantic as the notion of with local brutes, the keys to the city used to being the only child, feted as April reinvention through re- during our brief visit, anything our something new. When others from Australian wants to see after Fireworks! Fireworks! location. Travelling half- hearts desire. We are taken on beauti- their home country come to join their escaping to the other side of way across the planet to assume a ful, meandering drives and ushered new sandpit, they’re terribly unhap- A Google news search on April 29 reveals new identity, one is able to shed the towards places of interest. This, too, py.” the earth is some flag-waving over 22,000 hits on Iceland, 90%, of skin of previous incarnations, per- is our place to explore and cherish There’s something in that. Be- twit gesturing at them from course, had to do with the eruption of sonalities and relationships. “When and sing about to the world. cause there is an inevitable cultural Eyjafjallajökull, followed by the subse- you’re travelling, you are what you And then suddenly there is a vol- cringe attached to one’s homeland, across the bar and giving quent 100,000 flight cancellations and are right there and then. People canic eruption, and planes being un- there is. Outside of the chest-beating a never-ending stream of commentary don’t have your past to hold against ceremoniously pulled from the sky, patriots best avoided at all costs, for them a matey thumbs up.” on the ensuing chaos. There is hardly you. No yesterdays on the road,” once and an absurd and very real chance the most part travellers downplay a newspaper, weekly, news blog or TV observed writer William Least Heat that our stays will extend beyond the their motherland with shy smiles kicks in. Which is not to be sneered station that hasn’t bantered the word Moon, sagely tapping into the heart foreseeable future. We joke about and disparaging comments about at. “I was here first,” they claim, ram- “Iceland” at least once during April. Even of what drives human beings to es- moving here, of relocating our lives complicated political systems and idi- ming the flag of ownership into the a National Geographic crew managed to cape. Some stay put and simmer in and setting up shop downtown. At otic local delicacies. They feel discon- dirt. They mingle less with those slip into the country in between ash dis- the inevitability—alas, alas—of a which point the welcoming gestures nected to the place, which is why they who may at any moment break the persions to film a special entitled “Iceland torpid suburban destiny. Some run of our friends grow less warm, their leave. They’re searching for a reality equilibrium of their perfect Reykja- Volcano Disaster”. Natural disasters are as far as their conscience will take enthusiasm for our presence slightly far from the known environment, vík life. And they guard, carefully, always big news, but volcanoes spew fire them and begin anew. They studi- tempered. the familiar faces. The last thing any their hidden past. and look fabulous on colour TV. ously reinvent amongst swarthy jun- “I want to share this place with Australian wants to see after escap- I love them for it, I do. I respect Before the middle of the month, cov- gle landscapes and uneven Parisian you,” their eyes tell us, “but I don’t ing to the other side of the earth is their wishes to keep their space and erage focussed on the eagerly-awaited streets, hidden from view in moun- want you to keep it.” some flag-waving twit gesturing at their art and their new identity away Special Investigation Commission’s tain cottages and hollowed-out caves. There is a tiny community of them from across the bar and giving from the prying eyes of their coun- “Crisis Report”; this too—possibly a first They can be whomever they want to Australians currently residing in the them a matey thumbs up. And with trymen. They have every right to see for any government—garnered significant be at whatever time they choose. An country, though to call them a com- those invaders, those keepers of the a new country with fresh eyes and an attention. There can’t be a shadow of a exhilarating freefall of character re- munity is being overly generous. past, comes an undoing of a precious unchallenged perspective. So long doubt; Iceland’s position on the map has newal, unencumbered by history or They’re a picnic, a long-table lunch. and sacred construct. They know as they remember those fellow trav- finally been firmly planted in the minds of responsibility. There are barely enough of them to your history, and your secrets, and ellers who came before them—and every air-traveller. Iceland is now world Some even throw caution to the form a worthy tug-of-war tourna- your ex-girlfriends. They know your those who will continue to come af- famous for two things: complete and utter wind and begin this process in Ice- ment. Some of them meet on occa- humiliating old jobs and the fact that ter them—also seeking solace, seek- economic meltdown and an evil cloud of land. sion and swap wry grins about the your name hasn’t always been Sap- ing comfort in the faces of strangers, toxic ash. In early April I arrive in Reykjavík life they long-ago left behind, but for phire Tangerine. And they are the seeking a new tomorrow. For no land As the Grapevine pointed out in mid- to celebrate the nuptials of a dear ex- the most part they choose to blend ones who remind you—with open, is yet to be traversed, and no stone yet April, “Googling ‘I hate Iceland’ already pat friend, who has been living here seamlessly into the new landscape cocky smiles, with overly familiar unturned. If they will share a piece gives 147,000 results, dwarfing ‘I love for eighteen months. We visiting like shadows. backslaps and grating, parochial an- of their Iceland with me, I promise I Iceland’ and its meagre 46,000 hits.” But Australians are greeted with open “I know what it is,” a new friend ecdotes—of a place you have tried so shall share it with the next man. in the scheme of Hollywood renown, bad arms and raised glasses, enfolded tells me very seriously over a large desperately hard to leave behind. press is not necessarily such a bad thing. into the wedding party and promised beer. “It’s because the Australians And so the protective instinct Did anyone else notice that Iceland’s biggest borrower was not actually an Icelander? On April 14, Rowena Mason Poetry | Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl in the Telegraph pointed out that Robert Tchenguiz’s name crops up over 100 times in the Crisis Report and that Kaupthing Left, Right And Centre A self-righteous rant backed numerous high-profile acquisi- tions such as Sainsbury’s and Somerfield, bringing Tchenquiz’s debt to over £1.4 One of the greatest conservative projects in mention its teeth-grinding spite towards experimen- to be one thing or the other. It is a despicable mish- billion. Hold on. Doesn’t that mean if Tch- poetry is called New Formalism. In short, tal poetry—is so violently geriatric in its appeal that it mash of nothing whose primary goal is to have a nice enguiz were to pay up, the Icesave debt it supports the return to rhymed metrical verges on necrophilia. desk-job in the Poetic Institution—preferably a well- would already be down to £0.9 billon? verse and classical themes. It’s a let’s-write- Now, as in the real world, progressive left wing po- paid official position with a respectable title. Eiríkur Bergmann in the Guard- like-Keats kinda movement, originally associated with etry’s problem tends to be dogmatism on the one hand Its philosophy is that no news is good news. While ian contemplated “How Iceland lost its the yuppie culture of the 1980s, with that perverted and maddening factionalism on the other. Everyone nothing happens, you don’t have to be afraid that soul” by turning Iceland’s “established type of pseudo-sophistication that makes most mod- has their own precisely constructed theory on what perhaps it’s the wrong thing happening. The poetic democracy into some kind of idiot-cracy”. ern day readers think of Patrick Bateman and his constitutes great post-avant poetry and the rest, how- centre came out of the twentieth century through the Rob Davies in the Daily Mail was one of cronies—or Gordon Gekko. Lubricious slickers with ever slightly they differ from the party line in ques- indiscriminate bombings of Marinetti, the degenerate many who had a stab at Davíð Oddsson, a peculiar need to associate themselves with a bygone tion, are a bunch of revisionist nutters—interesting, hippie logic of Allen Ginsberg and the rabid intellec- the man who paid no heed to warnings golden age while simultaneously proclaiming them- perhaps, but eventually of no importance (“we must tualism of Language Poetry and feeling like it needed from the Bank of England’s governor. The selves as “the true new” of poetry (‘hey, look at me, I’m break you”). It’s poetry that praises community but a break, at the very least. It deplores ideology, method, so-called massive emigration wave hitting Iceland—which was foiled, at least tempo- neo-Keats!’). This is poetry for a Roman master race; (often) has little sense of community—and most of its form, discernible content and conversation while idol- rarily by Eyjafjallajökull—was covered by this is the right wing of poetry; this is literature for communities are comprised of tiny revolutionary fac- izing all that which is vague: inspiration, harmless ab- the AFP news agency, and picked up by those who seek a moral centre and a sense in poetry, tions of mini-Lenins, each of whom can’t wait to drop stractions, cliché-ridden symbolism, simple juxtapo- press from as far afield as Brunei, quoting and find both in nostalgic form and subject matter. the others so that they may lead the revolution on their sition and simultaneously deals in the perception that Mosfellsbær’s Anna Margrét Björnsdóttir Can you tell that I don’t care for it much? own (“at best, you get to be a Verlaine to my Rimbaud, not asserting anything is in itself a form of supreme as saying, “There isn’t going to be any fu- Well, alright, I’ll admit I do get some pleasure out but that’s as far as I’m willing to go”). modesty. ture in this country for the next 20 years, of it. My problem is more with the philosophy behind (Can you tell I’m trying to be equally cruel towards Sometimes all of this seems too much for a poor everything is going backwards.” it than the parlour-game of pentameter per se. I’m no my own, as I was towards the evil fascists of New For- soul—we still haven’t even begun discussing the ram- I mean when will all this gloom and enemy of form or rigorous sportsmanship in poetry— malism above, in a perverted democratic tradition?) pant paranoia and petty hatreds that permeate poetic doom end? Possibly the only positive both form and rigour are key traits of most experi- Last but not least, oh woe to ye of putrid intentions, circles left, right and centre—and I feel this prompts news this past month is the minor cover- mental poetry, which is the part of the park I prefer to is the centre International Free Verse. Like its political serious questions about my career choice. Questions age of Iceland’s move to legalise gay play in. But New Formalism’s spite towards modern- representative in real life, the poetic centre is mostly to which I’ve sadly still not found a satisfactory an- marriage—although that now looks like ism in particular, and modernity in general—not to without vision and has no discernible wish for poetry swer. But it’s totally fucked up, right? the Church has foiled it. thethe bbestest selectionselection ooff mmusicusic

WEWE BUILTBUIUILTLT A FFIREIRIRE GOGO SEABEARSESEABABEAEAR JÓNSIJÓNÓNSISI

GETGEGET ITIT TOGETHERTOGOGETETHEHER TERMINALTETERMRMINNALAL DIKTADIDIKTKTA HJALTALÍNHJHJALALTATALÍNÍN

thethe biggestbiggest musicmusic storestore iinn iicelandceland SKIFANSKSKIFIFANAN · LAUGAVEGURLAUAUGAGAVEVEGUGUR 2626 · KRINGLANKRIRINGNGLALAN Your essential guide to life, travel and entertainment in Iceland

STUFFED WITH STUFF ISSUE 05 YOUR FREE COPY Skólavörðustígur 10, 101 Reykjavík

Page 17 One tragicomic example is that at one point in time one of the banks had one person acting as compliance officer while the “entertainment department” employed thirteen full time staff. It was that absurd” Professor Vilhjálmur Árnason has investigated the ethical implications of THE COLLAPSE APPLICATION Page 15: DEADLINE IS 31st of MAY I travelled a lot myself, and never really could afford it. So I just took loans. And some more loans. And then loans for my loans. I thought I was behaving irresponsibly, but it turned out even my banks were doing the exact same thing! Hard partyin’ graphic designers, banks, corpo- STUDY rations – it’s all the same.

Page 18 If depression hasn’t killed you yet, AT REYKJAVIK UNIVERSITY this album will make you want to Reykjavik University, Iceland’s largest institute of technology and business, is a vibrant international kill yourself through its abject, university located at the heart of Reykjavik. Our focus is on research, excellence in teaching, entrepreneurship, technology development and co-operation with the business community. With a personal approach we stupefying idiocy. educate students to become leaders in business, technology and society at large, starting new companies Sindri Eldon is no fan of Hafdís Huld’s latest and creating jobs. Academic programmes at Reykjavik University are based on internationally recognised album models. Page 16 UNDERGRADUATE, MASTER’S AND DOCTORATE PROGRAMMES: It's a bit like coming to the scene of an airplane crash. And you're SCHOOL OF SCIENCE – Mechatronics Engineering SCHOOL OF BUSINESS the investigator, and you say, AND ENGINEERING – Biomedical Engineering • PhD in Business Administration ‘The thing that killed these peo- • MSc in Engineering: – Engineering Management • MSc in International Business* ple is that they were going 350 – Civil Engineering* – Mechanical Engineering • MSc in Quantitative Finance* • BSc in Construction Architecture miles per hour when they hit the – Construction Management • MSc in Corporate Finance* – Structural Design • Diploma in Technology • MSc in Accounting and Auditing ground.’ It is true, but it's not the – Concrete Technology • MSc in Management Accounting important part of the story. – Transport and Urban Planning SCHOOL OF COMPUTER • MBA* William Black on Iceland's Financial Collapse – Decision Engineering* SCIENCE • BSc in Business Administration – Financial Engineering* • PhD in Computer Science • Diploma in Business Administration Page 17 – Engineering Management* • MSc in Computer Science During the few hours last week – Biomedical Engineering* • MSc in Software Engineering SCHOOL OF LAW • BSc in Software Engineering when the road both east and west – Mechanical and Electrical Engineering* • PhD in Law – Sustainable Energy (REYST)* • BSc in Computer Science • ML - Master of Law of my town were closed off—east • MSc in Transport and Urban Planning* • Diploma in Applied Computing • BA in Law due to heavy ash dispersion and • MSc in Construction Management* west due to flooding—no one • MSc in Engineering Bioscience* SCHOOL OF HEALTH even skipped their afternoon tea. • BSc in Engineering AND EDUCATION • MSc in Exercise Science and Coaching Icelanders know how to chill, according to our – Civil Engineering • MEd in Sport Education new friend Zhang – Industrial Engineering – Electrical Engineering • MPH - Master of Public Health Page 26 – Mechanical and Energy Engineering • Diploma in Education – Financial Engineering • BSc in Sport Science Outside of the chest-beating pa- • BSc in Psychology * Programmes offered in English triots best avoided at all costs, for the most part travellers downplay The Open University at RU offers a variety of www.studyinreykjavik.com their motherland with shy smiles shorter open programmes taught in English. For further information: www.openuniversity.is and disparaging comments about complicated political systems and idiotic local delicacies. Marieke Hardy contemplates the paradox of Australians and their foreign identity crisis.