THE BIRTHPLACE OF ROCK, PUNK AND SNOBBERY
Originally, only the most elite hotel in Iceland could afford a good band. “In the beginning, most of the in-house bands hired by the hotels were Danish and later English, [&hell
Can Bobby Fisher be helped?
How Fischer Played his Part in Political Disputes But not between the countries you think Getting Bobby Fischer to Iceland has never been easy. Upon arriving in 1972, one of [&hell
What Are Friends For?
The facts: Fischer is wanted by the US for breaking the trade embargo with the former Yugoslavia in 1992 (and more recently, for tax evasion), is currently in custody in […]
Letters
Hello everyone at Grapevine, I am a native, but I always wait with trembling anticipation for the paper. For immigrants Grapevine must be one of the major benefits of living [&hell
The Tragedy of Bobby Fischer
“Nobody has single-handedly done more for the US than me. When I won the world championship, in 1972, the United States had an image of, you know, a football country, […]
Will Fischer sue the Japanese?
Interview with Helgi Ólafsson, Grand Master of Chess and director of the Icelandic Chess School “I believe that [Fischer attorney John] Bosnitch plans on suing the Japanese auth
IT WAS NOT ALL OUR FAULT
It started before I even came here. When I told the family I was going to Iceland, it made my slightly choleric grandfather burst out, ”Damn Icelanders – running away […
BEERMAN Meets Colossal Girl
It was only when I came that I realized I had made a colossal mistake. Colossal in every way. Her breasts were colossal. Which, in itself would not have been […]
RUR: Robots Upgrade Reykjavík
Recently the UN published some quite amazing predictions for the next two years: that the robotics industry would increase sevenfold in the next two years, and that there would lik
PADDY’S PATRICK’S DAY PARADE
The thing about America is it’s good at improving things. Whether it’s pizza, porno, war or religious holidays, Yankee ingenuity can take a good idea and make it a grand [&hell
Low water mark
Hunter S. Thompson, the man who wrote these lines, died February 21 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 67. It is this observation, coupled with the quip “Joe Frazier, [&he
Transmetropolitan: Punching Out Fascists
If you can’t stand the idea of a future without Hunter S. do not despair. In 1997, Warren Ellis, a British graphic novelist, came upon the idea of depicting the […]
THE TRUE HISTORY OF CAPITALISM
The Collapse of Capitalism World Capitalism seemed to be doing well in early 1929, despite the loss of Russia after the revolution of 1917. There had been a brief depression [&hell
The Cuban Revolution in Today’s World
Ögmundur Jónsson, volunteer for Pathfinder Publishing at the Havana International Book Fair last February will give a presentation on the Cuban revolution at Snarrót Radical Cen
IF TRUTH BE TOLD…
This publishing date marks the 20th and last Grapevine I’m editing, at least for the time being. It also marks the 203rd anniversary of the first regular English language paper,
YOU CAN ALWAYS GO DOWNTOWN
A Middle Way? Bryndís, who works at the confectionary Vínberið (Laugavegur 43), says, “We’ll probably have to renovate this building. I think it’ll be good to see some hou
THE MAN WHO MURDERED ITALY’S CULTURE
Italy has some 640 channels, a full quarter of the world’s 2500 television channels. You would think that they wouldn’t want for variety. And yet, as you flick through the [&he
THE PRICE OF HESITATION
“In politics, an organized minority is a political majority.” – Jesse Jackson On March 18, 2003, a decision was made that could have meant the end of the political career
Baghdad Blogs
From “Baghdad Burning,” The United States has ended its physical search for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq, which was cited by the first administration of President
Us and them
Western Civilisation thinks in term of binary opposites. There’s black and white, left and right, men and women, us and them, truth and lies. This was particularly apparent durin
Making Sense of the Chaos
Guðbjörg Sveinsdóttir, a psychiatric nurse, was invited to Baghdad in May 2003 by the International Red Cross (IRC) to evaluate the condition of mental health care in Iraq. Duri