Punk Rawk Your House
You’re a good little greenie. You carry re-usable bags to Bonus to pick up your biological yogurt and Earth-friendly dish soap. You rock hemp cloth, don’t use hairspr
Green Banking Turns Profit
A report released earlier this month by Javelin Strategy & Research states that if every household in the USA would stop receiving paper bills and statements, 687.000 tons of p
Sugarcubes, Björk LPs Get Luxury Treatment
Upon learning that the The Sugarcubes and Björk’s back catalogues were to be reissued on deluxe heavyweight vinyl, via something called Half Speed Direct Metal Mastering, the Gr
Shit, Piss, Vomit and Blood. And Cum
That Hugleikur Dagsson interviewCartoonist Hugleikur Dagsson needs no introduction to regular readers of the Grapevine, as he used to contribute regularly to the magazine in the pa
Why Try to be a Big Bad City Wolf?
It seems to me that the higher powers in Reykjavik are trying to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. They are allowing developers with the guise of modernity to lay […]
The Machine is Deaf
June 17, 1944, the greatest minds in Iceland convened on the banks of Lake Þingvallavatn to declare independence. From this day on, this nation should be a sovereign state, free [
Office Skills for Foreigners
Since 2006, Menntaskólinn í Kópavogi (MK) has been offering a course in Office Skills for students over the age of 20 who don’t speak fluent Icelandic. The
Overpriced Bargaining A-Hoy!
Hundreds of Icelanders convened in an empty warehouse on the outskirts of Reykjavík last weekend. While the levels of excitement displayed by the hefty crowd are usually reserved
Forget the Foot Massager
Working for no money sucks. Gaining experience and insight into things you didn’t know you could do and learning more about yourself and the world in which you live in […]
The little country leading the way
We know that Iceland has one of the highest fertility rates in the European Union, one of the highest divorce rates, and the highest percentage of women working outside the [&helli
The Grapevine’s Euro 2008 Pool
The highlight of the summer is going to be the UEFA’s European Football Championship. Either that or the Olympics. It’s a toss up really. Either way, it looks like everybody [&
The 12th Man – Diary of a Soccer Fan
Since the last issue of Reykjavik Grapevine, both the men’s and women’s national soccer teams have played matches. The men met up with the boys of Wales in a friendly […
Reykjavík – the Insiders Guide
Summer is on – again, which means the streets of Reykjavík are crowded with tourists – again. Like an invading army, they more or less take over the city, making […]
Everything is Ridiculously Expensive in Iceland
Dr. Gunni – the Dr. J. of the consumer watchdogs. Gunnar Hjálmarsson (AKA Dr. Gunni) is a musician, author, journalist and blogger who, until recently, was probably best known f
Rock n’ Roll Noise Pollution
“If these bands sounded more obviously alike, it would probably be a lot easier for them to break internationally. If you had a couple of mini Sigur Róses coming from […]
The Road To Oblivion
Many years ago upon having just finished Art School in my home town of Melbourne I spent 2 months travelling around Vietnam. At one very memorable point on that trip […]
Reinventing Reykjavík
On Saturday May 10, the second half of a two-day international conference ‘Reinventing Harbour Cities – Urban Planning and Art in Public Space’ takes place at the Nordic Hous
Amiina
Let’s start with the obvious first question. What’s going on with Amiina? María: There are plenty of things. Too many really. We’re finishing a movie soundtrack and will soo
Icelandic Heroes of the Silver Screen
Peter Ronson One Hollywood box-office smash and then retirement, Peter Ronson aka Pétur Rögnvaldsson was the ultimate one hit wonder. He landed a role in the big budget Journey t
Unexpectedly Awesome
Chances are that your handy rough guide doesn’t mention this. From the road, it appears that someone has transplanted colourful buildings from the city centre and placed them in
Striking Gold
How likely is it that a foreigner moves to Iceland, builds a sufficient amount of capital, starts a business and becomes a success? In my opinion, it’s not that likely […]