Published October 27, 2009

I’m back.

I wrestled the reigns away from Davíð Oddsson.

Even though I was excited about some of his new editorial policy (expanding the poetry section, more original fiction), it still came down to the fact that I kind of like this job.

Also, employment in the field of publishing is hard to come by these days, especially jobs that don’t entail your owner spying on you and reading your e-mail and stuff. So I took it back. Yay, me.

Anyway, all of the amazing Grapevine staff has been hard at work for the past couple of weeks, preparing this packed issue of packed-ness. It has it all. Interviews, opinions, music reviews, comix. Oh and a whole extra paper inside, The Grapevine Airwaves Mini, where you can read up on your Iceland Airwaves bands and get some good advice on how to conduct your festival in an optimal manner. It’s loaded with stuff.

(Sidenote: I am in awe of the folks that contribute to making Grapevine. From our proof-reader Jim, to our SUPER TEAM of interns, to every single writer, photographer and illustrator to grace our pages, and our designer extraordinaire, Jói – these people all continually break their backs (or allow me to break them) and bust their asses just so you can gain some enjoyment from this paper. I hope you’re happy. At least I am. And proud to get to work with all these fine people).

Now. Here are two points:
1) Read Catharine Fulton’s eye-opening feature on the privatization and subsequent sale of HS Orka. To me, this is some scary, eyebrow-raising stuff. Even if every party involved in the transaction has the best of intentions (which is unlikely, if THE COLLAPSE taught us anything about common businessfolks’ ethics, and if we look at how such deals have gone down in the past), this is still a matter of grave importance that should be discussed and debated heavily before any course of action is taken.
We just effectively sold off exclusive rights to all of Reykjanes’ harnessable energy for the next 130 years. And if what we’re hearing is right, this might just be the beginning. Selling off a nation’s resources at bargain rates, while that nation is battling severe economic problems and in great need of an instant cash injection – that just doesn’t sound like a very smart idea. Like a downtrodden crack-addict pawning his TV.
Anyway, no matter what your opinion on these issues will be, I dare you to have one. That is important, as this is an extremely important matter. Possibly one of the most important we as a nation will be confronted with in the next decades. We cannot afford to be lazy here. We just can’t.
2) If you’re going Airwaves next week, make sure to catch as many of the local acts as you can. And dare to be surprised – there are a lot of great things happening in the Icelandic music scene these days and you won’t have heard about all of them. Go out early, stay out late, don’t get too drunk and respect your elders.

I ALSO HAPPEN TO BE A MEMBER OF A BAND THAT’S PLAYING AT AIRWAVES AND YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY CHECK US OUT AS WE ARE REALLY GREAT AND LIFE ALTERING AND STUFF! WE’RE CALLED REYKJAVÍK! Phew.