Author: Valur Gunnarsson
Iceland, Scandinavia, rest of world
It was a good year for Grapevine. We came back last June all guns blazing, and suddenly found ourselves in…
WHY EDUCATION IS IMPORTANT:
The road to hell The Great Depression wiped out the demand for coffee, Brazil’s major export. In 1930, Getulio Vargas…
I AM NOT GAY
So you’re not gay, then? No, I am not. It’s pretty funny – people have gotten upset with me, saying…
PÓSTBARINN and the great post office rush
The bars’ name is actually derived from the street it stands on, Pósthússtræti (Post Office Street). The first post office…
Where do they go from here?
Davíð Oddsson Having spent almost a decade as top dog in the city, and then another decade as top dog…
THE FACE OF ICELANDIC FOOD:
by Valur Gunnarsson, Angela Stokes and Padraig Mara
By Valur Gunnarsson An American book from 1965 called The Art of Scandinavian Cooking (a contradiction in terms, you may be…
If Christians read the Bible…
I was lucky enough to not to be baptised in infancy. My parents felt that this was a decision I…
Anti-War Protestors Buy New York Times Ad
They were joining writers Andri Snær Magnason and Hallgrímur Helgason, singer Bubbi Morthens who sang his anti-war song “Fastur liður”…
A beginner´s guide to Estonian culture
DARKNESS IN TALLINN by Ilkka Jarvi-Laturi “What do we do now that we’re free?” ”I don’t know, go to work…
GUNNAR GUNNARSSONThe Forgotten Star of Icelandic Literature
Born in 1889 in Fljótsdalur as the son of a farmer and growing up in Vopnafjörður in the East, Gunnar…
can jesus, allah and science coexist?
by Valur Gunnarsson TAKE 1: The Vikings “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.” Easily the best…
BLACK MILK: A Revelation on the Reykjavík Stage
There´s nothing quite as sad as seeing an elderly Russian woman standing on a corner, peddling the medals the party…
Attacking the Very Thing You´re Defending:An examination of the latter day lyrics of NICK CAVE
On the masterful Let Love In, he concentrates on the conflict and heartbreak that so often comes with love, particularly…
The Struggle for New Iceland
by Sigtryggur Baldursson, Padraig Mara and Valur Gunnarsson
by Valur Gunnarsson TAKE 1: The Vikings Relations between North Americans and Icelanders did not get off to an auspicious…
Editorial: WHERE DID IT ALL GO WRONG?
Where did it all go wrong? How did it come to this? The United States seemed like such a good…
WHO CARES ABOUT THE KIDS?
It used to be the case that seeing somebody famous, and I mean somebody really famous, somebody foreign and famous,…
George Lucas: Star Destroyer
The first warning signs appeared with the Special Editions. The first film was marred by Javas yelling and falling of…
IN THE LAND OF THE BOHEMIANS
There is little here to remind you of Soviet times. Walking through Prague, you feel firmly in the heart of…
Editorial: COUNTRY OF CONSTANT SORROW
Didn’t the mujaheddin once appear on our screens along with the West’s finest, Rambo and James Bond, liberating the freedom…
WHERE WILL THE INDEPENDENCE PARTY GO FROM HERE?
Halldór had then been Prime Minister in Davíð Oddsson’s government for eight years, and seems to have been loath to…
Editorial: ROCK AND ROLL
One fine mornin’, she puts on a New York station And she couldn’t believe what she heard at all She…
American Indie
American Indie Days are starting in Háskólabíó on the 25th of August. The opening film will be Supersize Me. If…
THE BLACK HEART OF LOU REED
The poet must find the medium to suit the times. In ancient Greece, Homer and his cohorts would sing their…
WAVING A PIRATE FLAG
Seditious Superstar “She sings funny. And she don´t dance all that great either,” a character says in the film Dancer…
Borgarnes: Dead bald guys and a surprise appearance by Bush
This is not a Disneyland style theme park where you can go coffin riding, as you may at first presume,…