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Eulogy To The Knife/Birth Of Zhala: The Future Of Popstar
The Knife has cut and run its course. As last night’s concert demonstrated, when the yahoos join the fray to crush beer cans on their foreheads before engaging in fist fights in a crowd that hoists up shoulder sitters, the caché appeal…
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A Mr. Silla Sensation
The lights never went up in Harpa’s Silfurberg when Mr. Silla unleashed her set. She played in a fog of dim backlighting; a triangular silhouette cut by the sharp contours of black blazer crowned by tight hair bun. Her set was equally…
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AmabAdamA: A Review
Bands like Hjálmar and Ojba Rasta have shown that Icelandic reggae is not necessarily something to scoff at. White guys from privileged Nordic islands can sing about Babylon and oppression, do covers of “Who the Cap Fit” and pull it off without…
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Grapevine Live Blog: ATP Iceland – Saturday!
It’s the end… the Bitter End! 14:00 – Media Hotel – Bob Cluness (BC) It’s 2pm and at the hotel, things are muffled and a little subdued. Last night, beer was brought back and there was a small party so several of…
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Grapevine Live Blog: ATP Iceland – Friday!
Our ATP Iceland Friday blogging starts…. NOW! 16:55 – Media Hotel, Keflavik – Bob Cluness (BC): Hi-De-Hi campers! i trust everyone is suitable refreshed today and ready to get right on it. Right now the media hotel is empty and calm as…
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Grapevine Live Blog: ATP Iceland – Thursday!
W elcome to the Grapevine’s live blog action from ATP Iceland! Over the next three nights, we will be keeping you informed of the shenanigans, both legal and illegal, on site. So what’s been happening? 19:35 – Andrews Theater – Atli Bollason (AB): ATP…
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WOW Air Sizes Up Sex Trade Workers To Promote Ticket Sales To Amsterdam
A recent description of Amsterdam which appeared on WOW Air’s homepage is complicit in marketing and objectifying female sex trade workers, Hildur Lilliendahl Viggósdóttir and Steinunn Rögnvaldsdóttir write in an online article posted on knuz.is yesterday. Hildur and Steinunn take particular issue with…
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Skyr Sells Like Hot Cakes
As the global market for aluminium plummets, Iceland’s signature dairy product, skyr, is currently experiencing a surge in foreign sales and popularity. According to mbl, there has been a veritable boom in the production and sale of skyr among other Nordic countries…
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Global Oversupply of Aluminium Lowers Alcoa’s Credit Rating To “Junk”
Alcoa Inc., which operates one’s of the largest aluminium smelters in Iceland, had its credit rating cut to one level below investment grade by Moody’s Investors Service yesterday, Bloomberg reports. According to Moody’s, the credit rating cut is due to a global…
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New Zoning Plan Does Away With Inner City Airport and High Rises
The City Council’s projected zoning plan for 2010-2030 calls for the gradual dismantling of Reykjavík’s domestic airport in the Vatnsmýri area and prohibits the building of residential high rises in the downtown area, RÚV and Vísir report. A draft of the new zoning…
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Iceland Likely To Extend Employment Restrictions For Croatians
It is expected that Iceland will extend employment restrictions for Croatian citizens after Croatia joins the European Union on July 1 2013, RÚV reports. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday that it is currently holding talks regarding Croatia’s impending entry into the…
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Japanese Company Stops Buying Fin Whale From Iceland
The Japanese company Michinoku Farms has announced that it will stop purchasing fin whale from Iceland to use in its pet food products, RÚV reports. Although the president of the company said that their production of fin whale jerky was in full…
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Summer Ban On Feeding Ducks In Tjörnin
City Council is warning residents to refrain from feeding the ducks in Tjörnin pond over the summer as it puts ducklings at an increased risk from preying seagulls, Vísir reports. The warning, which was posted on the the City Council’s website yesterday,…
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German Tourist Buses Caught Smuggling Sausages and Beer
Customs officials confiscated a sizeable stash of canned sausages, liqueurs and beer from a fleet of German tourist buses as they disembarked from the ferry in Seyðisfjörður yesterday. The tourist buses are a common sight at this time of year, as they…
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Environmentalists Submit Petition To Prime Minister
Over one thousand environmentalists gathered with green flags outside the Prime Minister’s office yesterday to submit a petition against government plans to review the Framework Programme for Hydro and Geothermal Energy Resources, Vísir reports. The demonstration was organised by the Icelandic Environmental…
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Plane Chartered To Send Asylum Seekers Back To Croatia
A plane was chartered and 18 law enforcement officers employed to escort a group of 29 asylum seekers back to Croatia today, RÚV reports. In addition to the law enforcement team, the escort includes a medical doctor, a psychologist, an interpreter and…
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Fin Whale Sold As Dog Food In Japan
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) issued a joint press release this morning expressing dismay over fin whale caught in Iceland, which is being repackaged and sold as luxury dog treats in Japan. According to the press release, issued in collaboration by the…
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Police Check For Work Permits Among Restaurants Workers
Police recently visited 46 restaurants in the downtown area to verify that foreign staff had their work permits in order, RÚV reports. In nearly all cases, the workers could provide the appropriate papers and were cleared. Only three workers received warnings. Two…
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FutureVolc Project Works To Predict Next Eruption
Under the auspices of the European Union, local scientists are currently working with the FutureVolc project to improve ways of monitoring and predicting upcoming volcanic eruptions, BBC reports. According to the BBC report, FutureVolc is a project funded by the European Union…
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Champions Of Bridge And Bus Driving
It was a big weekend for Icelandic bridge players and bus drivers as representatives of both won Nordic championship titles in their respective fields. On Saturday, a team of six bus drivers representing Iceland won the annual Nordic Bus Driving Competition, which…
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Norwegian Man Faces Charges For Reckless Tourism
Authorities at Þingvellir National Park are pressing charges against a Norwegian who dove into Silfra rift without a permit on Friday, RÚV reports. According to Þingvellir authorities, the Norwegian man knowingly ignored strict rules regarding diving procedures which they say are clearly…
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New Government To Review Energy Development Plan
Prime Minister Sigmundur Davið Gunnlaugsson confirmed yesterday plans to review the Framework Programme for Hydro and Geothermal Energy Resources in Iceland, RÚV reports. The Framework Programme, which was passed by Alþingi last January, had assessed 67 areas rich in hydro and geothermal resources and classified them…
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Cartoon About Baby Bird Big Hit At Cannes
Local computer animation company GunHil Ltd. recently sold the rights of their film Ploe: You Never Fly Alone to some 30 countries at the ongoing Cannes film festival, mbl and Vísir report. The film tells the story of a golden plover chick,…
