Articles by: Haukur S. Magnússon

Everyone’s Invited!
Galtarviti is the name of an abandoned lighthouse on the outskirts of the West Fjords. It’s just as remote as…
How to Fight a Polar Bear
Polar bears have featured prominently in Icelandic news lately, since two of them were spotted (and eventually killed “for reasons…
Re-envisioning Reykjavík’s Transit System
“See, in 1994 or 5, the city of Reykjavík had 430 cars for every thousand inhabitants. Today, there are over…

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…

Overpriced Bargaining A-Hoy!
Hundreds of Icelanders convened in an empty warehouse on the outskirts of Reykjavík last weekend. While the levels of excitement…

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…
The Fallacy of Excess:
How did I get started in the business? As most musicians know, the bass player is the most economic thinking…
An Eagle, a Shark and a Pig
At noon. Eating an overpriced, under-cooked slice at Pizza King, thinking of nothing in particular, while my friend gulped down…

No Sleep, No Pay
It doesn’t sound like you’ve been sleeping a lot… You’re always juggling ten projects at a time in this business,…
Four Random Conclusions for 2007
One) Re-designing 101 Reykjavík is dumb: Tearing down old houses on Laugarvegur, some of which have great historical significance, others…

A Rebel Without A Cause, Really
What is a torrent? Well, to put it simply, torrent is a certain standard of file-sharing technology, used to transfer…

Icelanders Don’t Care About Satan
Stulli and Gauti sit opposite me and sip their coffee. Black coffee. Stulli is in the midst of outlining the…

Countdown to Airwaves: 4 Weeks
The Iceland Airwaves web site, at www.icelandairwaves. com, is a great resource in this respect, as it lists all of…

This Is Hardcore
“Uhm. I guess we started around 2003–4. Sometime then. We put out an EP called Our Youth Is Wasted; we…

Countdown to Airwaves: 5 Weeks
Iceland Airwaves is a month or so away, taking place from October 17–21. You will, of course, be there. Over…

Future Music
What is your background? Could you explain to us what being a “Media Futurist” entails? I went to the Berklee…

Gay Pride Celebrations Float On
The publication of this issue goes hand in hand with Iceland’s annual Gay Pride festivities, a merry tradition championing gay,…
Q Bar
“Straight friendly” Q Bar is located in the middle of 101 Reykjavík. It has, in the six or so months…

Escaping 101
For all its ambitions, Reykjavík barely qualifies as a city proper. And this is a good thing, as cities are…

Controlling the Discourse by Changing the Subject
An entity called “The Journalistic Ethics Committee” operates under the aegis of the Icelandic Press Council (IPC), of which almost…

The Crazy World of the Quota System (somewhat) Explained
My cousin Gummi put it best: “The problem with the quota system is that it’s always been discussed in such…

Arnarstapi
One of the benefits of living in the greater- Reykjavík area is a convenient closeness to nature. It essentially means…

Gaykjavík: Exploring Reykjavík’s Gay Nightlife
“You show me a queer in any city, and I will in turn show you someone that incessantly complains about…

The Fate Of Small Town Iceland
“You know what I think should be done about Flateyri? Nothing. Nothing at all. Not even a kilo of quota…
A Letter From the Moon
What you are currently reading is an opinion column in a magazine called The Reykjavík Grapevine. Said magazine is mostly…