The Professor And His Pixel Prince
GODDUR: Guðmundur Oddur Magnússon, Goddur, is Professor of Graphic Design at the Icelandic Academy of the Arts. A dropout who was kicked out of the Icelandic College of Art and [
Pucks In Motion
An ironic lack of ice in Iceland let hockey long go unnoticed in the world of Icelandic sports. But thanks to a dedicated group of puck-handling enthusiasts, hockey is rapidly [&he
The Amazing Political Acrobat
For many generations of Icelanders there hasn’t been a time when Iceland’s president, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, wasn’t around in some form. He is a man of extraordinary p
Hit Me One More Time!
It appears that the Central Bank of Iceland needs to be deprived of its financial independence. The bank’s enthusiasm to continue its campaign of high rates, speculative carry tr
Easy Money, Even Money
‘Deep Freeze: Iceland’s Economic Collapse’ (Ludwig von Mises Institute), by Philipp Bagus and David Howden―both economists specialised in business cycle theory―is
Where Is Iceland’s Stock Exchange Today?
Much like Britney Spears, the Iceland Stock Exchange went from topping the charts to having a meltdown in 2008 to basically falling off the face of the planet. While Britney’s [&
Vík Prjónsdóttir Grows And Matures
Vík Prjónsdóttir was born in 2005, the brainchild of five Icelandic designers in collaboration with Víkurprjón, the knitting factory where their brilliant woollen knits come t
Art you can smell!
For Andrea Maack, who according to our panel of experts made ‘the Product of 2010’, being an artist doesn’t necessarily entail working solely within the confines of sight
Sour grapes and stuff
MOST AWESOME LETTER: Hi Grapevine, sorry this is more of a rant about the Icelandic postal system – my record for an overseas item is 3 months… wonder if any […]
Do Cool Things, Talk To Smart People, Read Good Books
Losing all hope is easy enough. That’s probably always been the case, but with the overflow of information, opinion and news at our fingertips at every instant, falling into the
Skyr’s New Partner In Crime
Skyr. It’s creamy, filling, and good for you. It’s cheap. It comes in so many flavours. Everyone loves it. How could it get any better? Well brace yourself. For the […]
Felicia “Snoop” Pearson’s Arrest, As Seen By A Baltimore Native
Like many people in Iceland, I’ve watched The Wire. I’ve also been asked by a few enthusiastic fans of the show how “real” it is. Coming from Baltimore myse
On The Urgent Necessity Of Banning Poets
Plato, in The Republic, wished to ban all poets. He felt their work was neither ethical, philosophical nor pragmatic—that poetry kindled undesired emotions, wreaked havoc upon tr
Telekinesis For Dummies
Packed into a single floor of the Íslandsbanki (née Glitnir) building on Lækjargata are several fledgling software companies, among them the six-person operation known simply as
Eat, Eat, And Eat Some More
Bolludagur, Sprengidagur, and Öskudagur: an Icelandic holiday trifecta of food and fun. They take place on the three days leading up to the start of Lent, and centre mostly around
Birgitta Jónsdóttir and the Icelandic-American Debacle
For both Iceland and the U.S., Cablegate has been a point of great contention. Whether that changes remains to be seen. The involvement of Icelandic MP Birgitta Jónsdóttir makes
Today Is Beer Day!
Beer. It comes in countless colours and flavours. It’s been around for centuries. It’s drunk around the world. And it makes me a way better dancer… or so I like [
The Fallout Of Cablegate
With the reported actions taken by the U.S. Justice Department against Birgitta Jónsdóttir and the WikiLeakers, a question needs answering: What becomes of the mess? In answering
Another Year Has Passed: Where Are We Now?
In October 2008, on the eve of the economic crash, then Prime Minister Geir Haarde appeared on television and gave a speech to the nation, closing with the words: “God […]
Keening Lovely and Awful
Advice From The Master Last month, Icelandic State TV broadcasted a programme about money and financial matters. Its goal was to explode common misconceptions about money and raise
Here Today Gone Tomorrow Or Next Week
In early 2009, a new institution washed ashore in the Reykjavík harbour, a little lifeboat providing some refuge from Iceland’s economic shipwreck. It’s called Hugmyndahúsið