Reykjavík Nine: A Statement Regarding The Ruling
The ruling of Reykjavík’s District Court is a sentence for the sake of appearances. It is not at all in accordance with the serious accusations that we have had to […
Gettin’ Siggi Wit It
A life without skyr is a life half lived. As a writer for the Grapevine in 2008, while doing research for the “definitive guide to mjólk,” I discovered Iceland’s most [&hell
I’ll Huff And I’ll Puff And I’ll Blow Your House Down
“The creditors who could potentially suffer the fate of recovering nothing from the Landsbanki estate are the same creditors to whom Iceland will be looking in the future to rais
The Salvation Army
This thrift store may require making a special trip out past the Old Harbour, but its relative remoteness also acts as a boon and filters away some consumer competition. Possibly [
A FAILED ATTEMPT TO DISPIRIT ACTIVISTS
While a verdict is still pending in the trial of The Reykjavik Nine, it’s safe to say that the prosecution has lost the case in the court of public opinion. […]
Friendship In The 21st Century
One of the things visitors to Iceland, especially those venturing from southern climates, often comment upon is that Icelanders seem very hard to approach. That is, until the clock
Information Without Borders?
The info-wars have begun, and Iceland is begging to be the legislative battleground. In the wake of the international controversy made mainstream in part thanks to WikiLeaks’ hig
Unacceptable Cuts To Children
The education of Icelandic children is facing an ominous threat. Funding to schools is being slashed by municipal authorities, which can only have dire consequences for the current
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
By now, probably many of our readers have at least perused the diplomatic cables made available on WikiLeaks. We read with great interest the ones that came from the US […]
Sour Grapes And Stuff
MOST AWESOME LETTER: Dear Grapevine, I am an Australian who has just arrived in Reykjavik for the first time (and have been an avid Grapevine reader from abroad for a […]
FUCK YOU, NEW YORK TIMES TRAVEL SECTION!
A regular day at Grapevine HQ entails lots of trying to keep folks happy, at least trying to avoid angering them. See, Reykjavík is a pretty vibrant city, and there […]
IMF Urged “Debt Restructuring Outside Courts”
According to one of the American diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks, Mark Flanagan, chief of the IMF team in Iceland, advised the Icelandic government to encourage the restruc
Gapping And Ellipsis
In January there was a discussion in Iceland about whether H&M would set up shop in Reykjavík or not. Here are some thoughts. Let’s start with an excerpt from a [&hellip
Crealism Comes to Iceland
Luis de Miranda, philosopher, novelist and publisher, is the mind behind a new philosophy he calls ‘Crealism’. He was in Iceland last November as part of a series of lectures,
Court Nullifies Election: Better Luck Next Time
If the Icelandic government decides to hold a second election for the Constitutional Convention, it is to be hoped that the powers-that-be go beyond simply tweaking the ballots and
The Decade of Failure
While history—meaning: ‘the past’—does not change, history—meaning: ‘the narration of past events’—does in fact change. This is because we view history through the
In Response To The City’s Findings
Dear City officials, I was told by the Mayor’s office that you would personally attend to this dire traffic situation immediately. I know these matters take time, and so I [&
A Distress Call From Small Town Iceland
Logging on to the Icelandic news media today, I was surprised to see some familiar faces in Flateyri waving distress flares on the village dock. Whenever Flateyri gets in the [&hel
The Last Decade: What Happened?
The first decade of the millennium is over, and you know what that means – it’s time for some retrospection. 2001 While this was a pretty big year for just […]
RVK9 Solidarity In Washington DC
A group calling itself ‘The Glass Bead Collective’ sent us this message and asked us to post it. So post it we did: January 16th the Glass Bead Collective executed [&he
We Dream Bigger
I think I know where the confidence and swagger came from. Davíð Oddsson. Hard to explain how adored he was, other than to say Davíð is to economic policy as […]