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A BLOOD MOON OVER REYKJAVÍK: Fancy Images & A Timelapse
Everyone remembers the blood moon. Why, it was just this Sunday that we stayed up all night gawking at the sky so we could witness that plain old regular moon shed its skin and reveal the glory of the bloody moon flesh…
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SPARKS TURN TO FLAMES: A Conversation With Bryndís Björgvinsdóttir
Or: Fucking Around Can Make A Lot Of Difference, And It’s Important To Always Keep Trying And Not Give Up And Avoid Getting Cynical Or Losing Hope, Because Eventually An Unexpected Crack Might Open Up And You Might Then Slip Through That…
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Ben Frost On Octopus Balls, The Worst Meal That Exists And That Show He’s Playing At Húrra Tonight
Ben Frost is finally home! Taking a well-deserved break from pummelling the eardrums and psyches of audiences around the world, he will be pummelling the eardrums and psyches of his Reykjavík friends and neighbours at Húrra tonight. To celebrate, we called him…
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BJÖRK’S FOLK MUSIC
Björk has a way of messing up our plans. We were all set with a February-feature when she surprise dropped her new album, out of the blue. And, you know, it’s a really goddamn great album. Sure, her albums usually are—even if…
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Preparing for Global Leadership
In 2012, Þóra Arnórsdóttir, a respected journalist for Icelandic State TV, RÚV, launched a formidable campaign for the presidency of Iceland, challenging the four-term incumbent Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson. Although many recession-weary Icelanders were eager to see a change of executive power at…
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Squeezing Blood From A Turnip: Iceland’s Universal Healthcare At Risk
In a small and private ceremony in a chapel in Fossvogur, around 30 friends and family members are present to pay their respects to 50-year-old Rósa Mikaelsdóttir, a single mother of three who passed away on November 17. Rósa had struggled with…
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May Day Mayday: Iceland’s Ongoing Doctor Strike
Following a round of unsuccessful negotiations, doctors in Iceland commenced their first ever strike in late October. In the wake of the banking crisis, so as to share the burden, doctors not only accepted a 5% wage cut, but also ceased seeking…
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Iceland’s University Hospital: The Director Speaks
Throughout the whole healthcare debacle, one man has consistently remained focused on the big picture: the National University Hospital of Iceland (LSH) director Dr. Páll Matthíasson, PhD. Educated as a psychiatrist, Páll worked in London, England, from 1997-2007 before returning to Iceland,…
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Down To The Bone: The Healthcare System, Post-Austerity
Following the economic collapse of 2008, the Icelandic State’s debts skyrocketed, reaching 126% of the country’s GDP in 2011. At the same time, State revenue sources ground to a halt, and property devalued. The consumer price index shows price levels on consumer…
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Prescribing Trouble: Iceland’s Social Insurance Explained
Prescription drugs used to be either completely, partially or not at all covered by the insurance system, sometimes arbitrarily. On May 4, 2013, a new system was implemented, which was meant to be simpler and more just than the old one. The…
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Iceland’s Healthcare System: How Does It Work?
Iceland maintains a universal healthcare system, under which all legal residents are covered by the Icelandic social insurance system. All hospital admissions are paid for by this system, as is the majority of the cost of outpatient appointments. There is a token…
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Post-Leak Hangover
Infamously, on November 20th, 2013, Fréttablaðið and mbl.is published news based on confidential information collected within the Ministry of the Interior. November 21st, 2013, DV points this out, and asks: who leaked an internal ministry document about an asylum seeker as it…
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IS HARPA JUST A FAÇADE?
Like it or not, HARPA, Reykjavík Concert Hall and Conference Centre, is now open for business, permanently altering downtown Reykjavík’s cityscape while revolutionising the conditions for live music in the country. It’s been argued about, obsessed over, protested, defended and a really…
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Is Hannes Hólmsteinn Gissurarson The Architect Of The Collapse?
Political science professor Hannes Hólmsteinn Gissurarson is a peculiar fellow. An ardent follower of the free market teachings of F.A. von Hayek and Milton Friedman, he is often referred to as the Independence Party’s chief ideologue and has been credited with laying down the lines for…
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David Lynch Answers Grapevine Questions On TM
As you probably know by now, Grapevine cover-star (and awesome director) David Lynch ventured to Iceland this month to preach the gospel of Transcendental Meditation and announce a nationwide project to bring “enlightenment, prosperity and peace to the people of Iceland.” We…
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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 an obscure, specialized language that no one really understands how it works, what it’s meant to do and why.” Raised in the…
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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 his gay scene and nightlife. It doesn’t say a thing about the gay scene in question; it’s just the way the discourse…
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Jóhann Jóhannsson: A User’s Manual
He used to play in some pretty rough rock bands. These days, Jóhann Jóhannsson doesn’t employ loud, distorted guitars to get his points across, yet reaches more ears than ever before. The following interview details the story of a certain transformation, one…
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Flateyri And The Fate Of Small-Town Iceland
As anyone who’s spent a minimal amount of time in the Westfjords will tell you, the mountains’ ancient presence is great, colouring every moment of every day with their lumbering presence. And although their shape and form has stayed much the same during…