More Sarah Slean concerts added.
In addition to the MIR SuperShow 2009 at the Multicultural Festival on June 26 at Alderney Landing, songstress Sarah Slean will perform at Sonic Temple Studio (1674 Hollis) in Halifax on Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28 at 8pm. Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 day of show (including tax) and are on…
Rock for Water mixes rock and good causes
This week Halifax goes gaga for benefit shows with the Friday May 29 Rock for Water benefit to raise money for wells and water filtration systems, featuring Mudline, threefifteen, Thor’s Paladin and Madison Pilling at Auburn Drive High School (5-10:30-pm, ID required. $8) The Grass were scheduled to play, but have since cancelled due to…
how dare they!!
I await the annual yard sale in my neighbourhood (lawrence/allan/harvard)and look forward to making a few bucks and getting rid of some junk. This year, I get a notice saying somebody will be by to collect two dollarss to pay for advertising, etc should i have items for sale. I am outraged. I refuse to…
Video: Eyelevel’s 35 days draws to a close with Dweebo and a few chicks.
So I took a little lunchtime stroll over to Eyelevel Gallery to see the last of the 35 Days of Unorganized Art. It was like entering a Terry Gilliam movie. Artist Jennifer Simaitis was busy in the front putting pennies in baggies for the 1974 penny exchange. Dweebo’s (Mitchell Wiebe) art school was in session,…
my orange adirondack
drunk students bother me…especially the kind the swing from the no parking side beside my house at 3 am waking me and tearing up my lawn.i also have a distaste for the ones that believe they can just kick open my gate.like it was some unacceptable obstacle in your rightous path…then…to cross into my yard…
A bitch about traffic in general
1. If you are coming up to yield it doesn’t mean you should go as fast as you can to go in front of the car that you should be yielding to…(i.e from Portland Street by Wendys going to the Halifax highway)…oh yeah if you do speed up and cut the other car off, don’t…
worst bitch ever?
this may be in the running for the worst bitch ever and i’m sure all the comments will just tell me to chill out/get new meds/get laid/whatever, but i feel like my head is going to explode if i don’t get it out of my system. some people are just TOO DAMN NICE. you know…
Qe 2 …Thanks to you…
Just wanted to give “props” to the staff at the hospital , cause you can be pretty sure that they dont hear it often… I broke my wrist 6 months ago and have spent way to much time there , but I have to say during every visist , multiple castings, surgury and follow ups…
Why oh why do you have to go to the boss… constantly
…. can’t we just work these little issues out? I’m sorry I occasionally forget to ask your permission to do my job. Oh, that’s right we do work things out. Like grown ups. And you’re all smiles and happy as far as I can see. And then you go crying to the boss anyway. What…
Don’t park on the Sidewalk!
For some reason, brain dead drivers seem to think it’s okay to park on the sidewalk at the Tacoma street liquor store. Why? They pull up off the parking lot roadway, probably thinking they can’t park in the road, so to move out of the way of other cars, they pull up onto the sidewalk.…
Neptune Theatre makes offer to Sir Paul McCartney
Not sure what to say about this that wouldn’t involve another groaner Beatles pun (something about rocky raccoon or doing it in the road maybe), so I’ll let you watch this for yourself (note: use the handy fast-forward arrow—you’ll get the gist). Even if the list of puns in this video could be spread in…
The Hidden Cameras and The Cliks on Citadel Hill
The very trusting Hidden Cameras Two excellent bands have been announced for this year’s Pride Festival Concert on Citadel Hill, The Hidden Cameras and The Cliks. July 25, halifaxpride.com has got your up to the minute details. Doot doo doo!
Another fucking bike bitch…
To the asshat cyclist (blue helmet) I almost flattened this morning (7:40ish) on the corner of Brunswick St. and Queen St. You shot me a glare as if to say “…what, I have done nothing wrong…” Dude…I was stopped, waiting for a pedestrian, I had inched into the intersection and had my right turn signal…
Ugly whore
Enough with your beach ball sized, lopsided boobs practically falling out of your shirt, your torn jean shorts up to your bikini line, your thong riding up to your neck, and your incessant whining banter. Did I mention your beak is bigger than Big Bird’s? You have the most impossibly ugly face, I think I…
Keep it to yourself!
So you say to my coworker, whom I’ve offered a drive home, “enjoy your ride home.” In front of everyone. What the hell! Do you think I’m stupid enough to miss that? And ever hear of platonic? Hello – my coworker, who is also my friend, is dependant on public transit. He just enjoyed a…
Drive Thru Speakers Suck
I hope some people out there who use drive thrus can find this tip useful: Line your freaking car window up with the speaker! I don’t know how many times I have tried to take someone’s order and I can barely hear them…. so I crank my headset’s volume to max and ask them nicely…
Gotta Love the #9 Barrington bus on Sundays
Alot of Sundays I take the #9 bus that leaves Scotia Square at 1130 and this route has the nicest bus driver I have seen, always smiling and on time. Awesome. —Great to be out on a Sunday
kittens are innocent and helpless..
To the lousy pet owners on the second floor of my building that let their baby kitten jump/fall off the balcony not once, but twice.. and then neglected to go look for it, leaving it battered, scared and hungry in the underground parking for a couple hours, or maybe even a couple days.. until two…
I HATE SJ
I hate you, SJ. I hate your ugliness (intentional!), your stupidity (willful!) and the way you do everything wrong, always deliberately choosing to set everything up to FAIL. “WE LOVE FAILURE” should be emblazoned on a giant banner at all entry points into your stupid “city centre.” I hate your “mill” but even worse I…
Cirque training: A chat with Boris Verkhovsky
When racing greyhounds retire, they have to be retrained for life off the track. When athletes—-gymnasts, tumblers, divers, synchronized swimmers—-leave competition for a life in the circus, they also have to be reprogrammed. And that, in part, is Boris Verkhovsky’s job. As Cirque du Soleil’s acrobatic performance and coaching director, he’s responsible for 700 to…
D.O.A. back on the right coast
talk – action = zero. Photo: Phive Photography D.O.A. came to Halifax a few years ago during a snowstorm and loyal fans trudged over the snowbanks to take in the gospel of Joey Shithead. This time fans are rewarded with a lovely stroll in the balmy September weather to see them, September 11 at the…
The GG Rocks
Gotta love this woman and the way she told Europe to “Fuck Off” by gutting and eating a seal. Way to support our Northern Family and our sealers. A politician who shows the right way to get one’s hands dirty and do it with class. Whether you agree or not with the appointment, Michaelle Jean…
just need to throw this out there…
A message to all you “individuals” out there: A carefully calculated image does not demonstrate your individuality. If you want to set your self apart from the rest of the herd then why don’t you try….wait for it….. being yourself! or maybe perhaps working on enhancing your character, abilities, or intelligence. Your image does not…
John Prine tells a few tales at the Rebecca Cohn
Storyteller extraordinaire (both in song and in prose) John Prine comes back to the Rebecca Cohn on August 20 and 21 to regale audience members with stories about farm life and ex-wives, tickets are, unfortunately, sold out at artscentre.dal.ca/box.html, but wishing really hard might help (or kijiji-ing really hard).
Did that just happen…
For the person who is forcing their dog to urinate and defecate on their balcony which is made of spaced wood planks and is directly above their neighbour’s….you thoroughly disgust me. I was out on my friend’s balcony which is directly across the street from your apartment having a beer when I see your patio…
Meanies.
Pregnant lady gets on a bus and is forced to stand while priority seating is being taken up by able folk. Really? —ThePrick
Liberal Party van blocks handicap parking spaces
I should know by now to carry my camera with me everywhere. Yesterday, national Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff spoke at the Dartmouth Sportsplex arena to shore up support for provincial Liberal Party leader Stephen McNeil. I was downstairs in the gym. When I left, there was the Liberal Party van parked sideways across six…
Not Kool FM
The Bluenose Marathon was over more than a week ago and yet there are still Kool FM signs up around the city. This problem is two fold – in the first instance the sign were placed around the route temporarily and should have been taken down shortly after the race or any event that they…
Obey Convention: Sunday night and wrap-up
The Crowd Control Sound and Art Fair rocked the afternoon at the North Street Church yesterday with a quick last-minute set from Tyvek, who were just as much fun playing for 15 minutes during the afternoon as they were Saturday night. Bloodhouse A strong roster of local acts filled the church Sunday night. Bloodhouse I…
hey dartmouth bridge terminal guy….fuck you
Man am I ever happy I don’t live in Dartmouth anymore I’ve been living elsewhere for two months now and never really complained about the fact that dickheads yelled,threatned, and glared at you the entire time your over in dartmouth. however this time I go to my old apartment to pick up my damage deposit…
How long does it take to get a fountain fixed in the Public Gardens?
Well apparently at least a year. The one and only fountain in the Public Gardens has been broken for a year or there-abouts. What does it take to get something as simple as this fixed? Why aren’t there a few more fountains in the Gardens? —dyin’ of thirst…
Dartmouth Bicycle Bitch
The leftt turning arrow that allows drivers AND CYCLISTS to turn left onto Nantucket Road in Dartmouth is weight activated and a girl on a bike is not heavy enough to trigger it. Last week I waited two lights for a car to arrive and activate the arrow. Frustrating. This city needs to get its…
Drunken A*#holes
To the cool drunk fucks who thinks it’s cool who smash beer bottles in the alley of my house…fuck you. I cleaned it up once this week already and my niece almost walked straight onto the shards of glass today from more broken bottles. If you have no respect for personal property, at least think…
Just eat meat already!
Vegan folks drive me nuts when they come eat at my restaurant, they always fuck around with the menu to suit their needs and i have to make some retarded dish that’s not even really on the menu. i mean come on…our pad thai sauce is made with fish, so NO i’m not gonna on…
Insatiable urge to travel
GOD!!!!! DAMN!!!!! I AM SAOOOOO FED UP WITH NOT BEING ABLE TO DRIVEE!!! All I want to be able to do is drive. Anywhere, everywhere, wherever. Summer’s coming up, I’ll have no responsibilities, nothing at all to do, I could go anywhere I’d like, but I can’t!! FUCK!! —;ALSKHD;ABG
(Wo)Man of Honor
To the honorable person who didn’t pocket my Swarovski bracelet, and instead returned it to the Metro Transit Lost & Found so I could thankfully pick it up the next day – you are fabulous. I’m not sure I could say that I would have been as admirable; it is a pretty sweet bracelet =)…
MS Sucks and So Do YOU.
I just got back from the MS Walk which is a great event except for the self-interested want-to-be MLA and his entourage who, rather than wear the MS Walk t-shirts like everyone else there to elliminate MS, wore red tee’s saying there were there to get votes for him. If you are such a busy…
President Bush’s Pronounced Book a Farce?
Should Ex-President Bush’s Book be Categorized as Fiction or True Crime? Hey, what’s up all?! I’m a local blogger in Halifax NS, and just wanted to get this debateable topic off my chest. I just got word that the 43rd Ex President of the United States, George W. Bush is planning on publishing a book…
Today’s Media Sexualizing Young Women to Prostitution?
Whew, where is Winter now, eh? It’s finally gone, and that means that since things are warming up in Nova Scotia, it means that the crime heat is rising as well. For example, this morning at the Burger King bus shelter at Tacoma Plaza in Westphal, Dartmouth around 11:19 am today (3-29-2009) a possible prostitution…
the sounds of summer
aaahhhh – the delightful sounds of summer: crickets chirping away at dusk, june bugs tapping gently against a lighted window, children’s carefree laughter as they play in their yards….and, oh yes – there it is! the moron with the noisy chopper who loves to gun his engine in front of my home every summer, night…
What is wrong with people!
I’m trying to purchase a motorbike and decided to check what we have for used around the province. I’ll give you some stats and you be the judge. I have no idea who’s buying these bikes but they’re idiots for doing so. A decent Yamaha Cruiser (New at the Dealer) goes for $7999 with a…
Elevator Ediquette
Big building, 2 elevators, 8 floors (+basement). Combining offices, food retail, underground parking and classrooms. Please, please, please walk if you are only going up one floor. If you have a bad ankle or lots to carry I do understand, however when laziness makes me wait for the 2nd or 3rd elevator it does make…
Obey Convention: Saturday
Tyvek, Metz, Black Feelings, Grand Trine, and more
“Adam’s fall” wins Canadian Journalism Award
Matt Aikins February 2008 piece, “Adam’s fall,” won the Canadian Journalism Award in the Community Newspaper category last night. Matt is a fine writer, and The Coast is excited to have helped launch what will no doubt be a remarkable career. Related Stories
Can’t Find a Job.
I moved to Halifax at the end of April. I had never lived anywhere but Calgary but I moved anyway. Following my heart for once, I finally took a risk. I left my family, friends, a great job to follow my heart — should be a good thing. I had phone interviews in Calgary, and…
Where are the manners?
On this lovely sunny day I had new neighbors moving into my 4 unit apartment building on a quiet family-oriented street. As my attractive female roommate arrived home she was greeted outside by the men moving into the building with cat calls, referring to her as sexy, hot. One of them even compared her to…
Smiles =)
Saturday – around 5:15pm. I was walking home on Leeds street in front of the NSCC and saw this girl jogging and when she passed me I smiled at her and she gave me this big smile back. I usually always smile at people and most of them just ignore it or give me dirty…
Obey Convention: Friday, Khyber noise dance party
Cosmetics, Sex Negatives, Soaking Up Jagged, Roomdoom
wft is with this commerical
This commerical is driving me nuts!! The commerical for the PC party. It is totally stupid. If the Pc’s have been in there for so long, and the economy is in trouble, doesn’t that almost say the Pcs have a hand in putting it there??? Why not let the NDP’s have a chance. The PC’s…
what the hell?!
You are a fucking emotionally castrated piece of M.B. trash. One little hiccup in our plutonic play dates and you scamper off to her like a retreating hernia. Which is fitting. She numbed you. You said so countless irritating times. Your whole “relationship” is a lie, and you both know it. Does she know I…
Didn’t ruin my day, but…
As I approached the bus stop on SGR at South Park this afternoon, there were two buses, Bus A and Bus B, idling at the curb. I walked up to the door of Bus B, because it was closer to me, and I thought Bus A might be about to depart. The driver of Bus…
Hey, Halifax!
Learn how to drive. Brake, signal, etc, etc. Stop putting food in your face. You’re gross. Build something, for fuck’s sake. A park, a building, anything. Stop striving for the title of being Canada’s Detroit. Jobless, criminal fuckers. Import some foreign women and start breeding out the shuffling, cookie-cutter, fat-ass, barely female women you’ve already…
Obey Convention: Friday, North Street Church
D’arcy Gray, Lukas Pearse, Omon Ra, Gown, Totally Ripped, Noveller
HRM By Design posts coming
As I mentioned in this week’s column, I’ll be using this space to discuss HRM By Design at length. I am, however, running a wee bit later than expected. I’ll have posts up the next day or two, through the week.
Show round up!
Toxic Holocaust in a spring meadow Store up as much energy as you can in the next two hours, because this weekend is going to be bonkers for shows. Aside from the stupendous Obey Convention (see Laura Kenins’ feverish blogging and music feature), Portland, Oregon’s Toxic Holocaust are making a stop in Halifax, (Fri May…
Mailing My Love!
To whoever found my stamped envelope addressed to E.C. from k.p. and was nice enough to drop it in the mail for me: Much love! It may have seemed like a simple act, but not everyone would bother, and it has made a huge difference to my day, and to my bank account (well, maybe…
Gaspereau Press reduces staff and books published
One of the most unique publishers in Canada, and a local treasure, Gaspereau Press, announced today that they’re reducing staff and the number of books planned for their upcoming season. Gaspereau treats each book like a art piece, or an object, with letter-pressed covers, smyth-sewn and bound. I can’t imagine it’s a lucrative business, but…
Cosmetics students
Yes YOU, you obnoxious bunch of idiot girls who sit at the back of the 51 every morning. Do you HAVE to talk to each other so fucking LOUD? Or, if you’re going to pump up the volume, can’t you at least pick interesting topics once in a while? Maybe something political or have some…
Voting is Useless
Why do we give power to dummies? Shouldn’t laws be made by the professionals who know what the fuck is going on in their field? Why do bitter old dummy bastards tell citezins what to do? It should not be a vote-managed world where the environment, medicine, architecture, sex, science, technology and religion…(um, scrap the…
Traffic Line Jumpers
Thsi is for all the so called “Drivers” in the City of Halifax who feel that they should not need to wait in line with the rest of us as we wait to get to where we want to go. There are many areas in the HRM where I see this happening but will point…
TGIF
Guesssss WHAT!!!!?!!! IT’S FRIDAY!!!!! don’t you just love going home on a friday knowing you don’t have to get up early to go back to work for a couple days?! Well I do! Woooo!!! —I heart Friday! 🙂
Spryfield fire questions
Remember the Spryfield fire? Monday, May 4, I spoke with both Mike LeRue of Halifax Fire and Emergency Services and Jennifer Gavin of the provincial Department of Natural Resources, and both promised they’d issue an explanation of what had happened “by the end of the week.” That was over two weeks ago. Still nothing. Here’s…
Tattered Canadian flag at the W.D. Piercy ball field in Clayton Park.
What’s wrong? Tattered Canadian flag at the W.D. Piercy ball field in Clayton Park. Who’s responsible? Peter Verge, HRM’s manager of operations, 490-4673. Remarks: The Piercy ball field is pretty close to the ideal neighbourhood “pocket park”; it provides welcome and well-maintained green space in a densely populated residential area. But a nearby resident called…
Save Our Northern Region Communities:
Keep anti-seal-hunters out of Canada. Boycott those who are boycotting seal products: For example: Someone who’s name rhymes with “call mcfartsee.” He is WRONG for doing so, and you are WRONG for going along with him. Do this if you actually care about your fellow Canadians of the northern region, and know that it’s wrong…
The Best Half
May to October —eebee
Grumpy Old Woman
I was grocery shopping the other day with my 4 year old daughter. My daughter went over to the apples and picked one up. This old lady came over to her and took the apple from her and looked at me and said” Hey you should teach her not to touch those! She could have…
SIPHON GAS IN BEDFORD
If I EVER catch you siphoning gas form my parents work truck and van in bedford again you better believe your life will be FUCKED. You will rue the day you even dreamed of this cheap ass idea. If my car wasn’t in the shop and was on the street and you tried to fuck…
What.A.Dick.
One of my editors is/ was beyond dickish. Like UNBELIEVABLY DICKISH. I cannot describe how dickish he is/ was, as it would get me sued. Well, I’m glad I finally found a way out of that prison of a contract with that sexist, rascist, rage-fueled, paranoid, arsewipe… Phew! Here’s to happy times ahead with my…
freeloaders
i am sooo sick of all u tenants who don’t want to pay rent and don’t want to pick up after themselves and then they get all the tenant’s rights.B.S!!! if you’re not paying rent there should be no rights.and people wonder why there’s so many slumlords around.if landlords don’t have rent,there’s no money to…
waitress looked for me in the toilet, lol
yesterday i went to my regular pub, and went downstair to watch football as usual with my regular special and stout. then this other waitress came to asked if i was done. i went upstairs to the loo, she followed me, and then kept on waiting for me like i was going to run off…
Ground Zero
Just a few questions about the construction taking place on Fenwick and Lucknow. WTF is taking so long!? and Why the fuck are all of you “workers” just sitting around all the time? Is this some sort of perpetual lunch break?! GET TO WORK! And get this shit outta my front yard already! Oh, and…
Mistah Cystah
FUCK. I got back from riding my bike on a wonderful day, go to piss, and guess what welcomes me? A lovely, friendly, pea sized CYST. YAY!!!!! Now I know this isn’t a fucking forum, but what should I do?! Lance it? —Meh.
Don’t block the intersection in a traffic queue
So I’m driving in West End Halifax during rush hour yesterday evening, and, as expected, traffic is heavy. What I couldn’t believe were the number of cars that entered intersections without being able to leave due to queued traffic, thereby making it impossible for someone to complete a left turn. In several cases cars were…
The Strangeboys mow you down with grass-fusion
Local “grass-fusion” pioneers The Strangeboys perform at the Coconut Grove on Thursday May 21 (10pm, $6) and those who attend will have the unique pleasure of being treated to experimental bluegrass. The Strangeboys tour extensively in Nova Scotia, often in smaller, rural towns, but they don’t neglect the cities. Their monthly engagements at Bearly’s have…
Granite Brewery Beer Store opens
Because summer feels like it’s here already this news ought to make you happy: the new Granite Brewery Beer Store is now officially open! Located at 6054 Stairs Street in the north end (between Kempt and Massachusetts), the new Granite Brewery, is open for business even if it looks, according to manager Joe Keefe, “not…
Buses
It’s bad enough that a lot of streets are under repair and reduced to one lane thereby slowing my drive home down to a crawl, but what makes it even more frustrating is to get behind a diesel spewing double decker full of grey haired gimmers. I’m new to this forum and am sure someone…
Halifax is the worst city ever.
I was jumped on Bayers Road on wednesday, and no one did anything. The road was backed up with traffic, and nobody did anything. Shame on you Halifax. And to you three little fucks, I doubt you can read, so I’m going to tell anyone else who reads the coast that I will be coming…
Mr. Chi Pig Hates Your Guts
I am aghast at the state of punk rock promotion in this city. None other than SNFU is playing Gus’ Pub this weekend and all I’ve seen is one measly little poster tagged precariously to a light standard. Shame on me for not doing more. For that matter, shame on the who Halagonian punk rock…
Saving $1.50 on gas
This Bitch is for the morons who will sit in line on Thursday night for 30 minutes, cars idling, because they fear the price of gas will be going up 3 cents at midnite. GET A GRIP PEOPLE!!! Ok, granted I am not a mathemetician. But I did some calculations last Friday (GASPPPPP Yes!! After…
Thank You For the Drive Gary!
White HRM truck, Sunday, May 17th @ 11 am, in Leiblin Park. I have no idea if you will ever see this but I wanted to tell you that I got the job piece of cake! If it hadn’t been for you, who knows what would have happened. It was a risky move on my…
Tory lumber yard
The Progressive Conservative Party has taken over the building at the rotary that until recently was the Armdale Professional Center. Address 7211 Quinpool Road. They have set up a friggin’ lumber yard in the back parking lot of this building where they are hammering signs together for all the Tory candidates in the Halifax region.…
I do not live in lazy town
First off, this is a minor bitch so no-one flip their toast on me for bringing it up. The Coast likes to hear about these things so I’m bringing it to them. I’m walking home yesterday and decide to take a slightly alternate route. I cross @ Spring and South to walk along Victoria Park…
Snacks
To the best bus driver in the world! Thank you so much for stopping mid turn to let me on even though I had given up hope of catching you! You’re always super friendly and I even try to sneak away from work early to catch your bus instead of the #4. You were my…
Mike Evin walks the distance
Trudeau went on his long walk in snowy Montreal to decide on his political future. He returned resolved to leave public office. Bob Gainey, the Habs’ general manager, invited a floundering Alex Kovalev on a summer stroll in the city following the star’s bum season in 2006-07. The Russian forward returned to form, for awhile…
White Cowbell Oklahoma
Twin guitars head up the charge with ’70s-styled harmonics and solos. Keyboards fill in with ghostly fog and analog weirdness. The rhythm section stays speedy and tight. Too often it sounds as though this Toronto band only wants to recreate a bygone era, its heroes—Lynyrd Skynyrd, Thin Lizzy, early Judas Priest and also Edgar Winter,…
Röyksopp go decidedly upbeat
With plans to soon release a counter-point album, Senior, which will focus more on the down-tempo, brooding side of the band, Röyksopp’s current release remains decidedly upbeat. Not only does Junior maintain a pleasant, danceable groove across the album, it manages to stay that way without relying on a constant thump of cliche house beats.…
The Long Lost
California electronic mixmaster Daedelus calms down considerably for this collaboration with better half Laura Darlington. The duo aims for the sublime at the risk of evaporating completely. Darlington’s singing verges on flatness but lands in gentle Brazilian stoner territory when backed by bassoon, flute and multi-tracking. Freak show potential is high, and achieves critical mass…
Husband and Knife
KC Spidle hasn’t cheered up at all since last year’s An End LP—if anything he’s gotten bleaker—but that’s OK, as long as he keeps making music about it. Unearth your cassette player for this EP-on-a-tape. Spidle’s sparse, guarded vocals and guitar are now backed by Evan Cardwell on bass and percussion. The first two tracks,…
Tori Amos
Though she made her name as one of the most confessional songwriters of the ’90s, the Tori Amos of the aughts is an epic myth-weaver, layering characters upon back-stories upon eras upon the piano. Where the actual Tori appears these days can be hard to parse, especially on 2007’s American Doll Posse, 23 tracks sung…
Wextra special: Interview with Tori Amos
On her last album, American Doll Posse, Tori Amos adopted four personas—cast in Roman and Greek mythology—to perform its 23 songs. This time around, it’s just her. She rang The Coast from her home in Cornwall, England (evening weather report: “Enh”), where she and her engineer husband, Mark Hawley, plus Marcel Van Limbeek, produced Abnormally…
Government funding freeze hits Nova Scotian non-profit organizations
Officials from the Department of Community Services are patting themselves on the back because they didn’t slash funding to nonprofit community organizations, but many ground workers think the department’s priorities have been wrong for years. In April, the department froze the budget for over 200 organizations provincially at $230 million. Community Services spokesperson Linda Laffin…
Province delays watershed suicide report
What’s the best way to reduce the number of suicides? Before answering that question, we first need to know who’s committing suicide, and how. That’s the philosophy behind the Profile of Suicide Injury Report, a celebrated and ground-breaking approach to suicide prevention in Nova Scotia. There’s only one problem: the government hasn’t released the report.…
Election campaign moves along right on script
Every election needs its defining moment—its too-big-foot-in-too-small-mouth moment, its searing, snapshot flash-of-insight moment, its accidental, incidental larger-than-life moment that suddenly careens the campaign off in an unpredictable direction toward some unknowable destination. So far, we have not, needless to say, had any such moment in this blandest of beige provincial election campaigns. There certainly have…
Sleep deprivation, torture, and Continental Flight 3407.
Slate.com ran a story last week about sleep deprivation techniques used by US interrogators at Guantanamo Bay. While perhaps not Abu Ghraibian in their scandalousness—CIA agents forced shackled prisoners to stand for up to 11 days straight—it was enough for Slate columnist Brian Palmer to work to answer the question “Can You Die From Lack…
Bear Restaurant wins Best New Restaurant in Best of Food 2009
[Editor’s note: This story is one of a package of three of Andy Murdoch’s articles selected for Honourable Mention in the Food Writing category of the Association of Alternative Newsweekies’ 2010 awards. See all three here.] 3:30pm An hour and a half before Halifax’s Best New Restaurant opens, server Sarah Guthman walks in. She and…
The barfly’s wisdom
Dear Readers: I regard this column as a sacred tryst. Your faith in my counsel and willingness to take me into your confidence moves and humbles me on a daily basis, and the seriousness with which I approach my chosen profession would normally prevent me from turning your letters over to a bunch of unruly…
Sure Thing: Soaking Up Jagged
Sometimes life after art school just isn’t arty enough and that’s when you need to start a performance-art band. Soaking Up Jagged was formed in 1997 by NSCAD grads Mitchell Wiebe, Rebecca Young, Chad Jagoe and James Matthews. Wiebe, a musician and painter who seems to have about nine bands on the go these days,…
Frontrunners
To become the successful winner of a student-council election at most high schools, all you need is a few signatures, a pile of semi-clever posters, a relatively coherent speech and god-given popularity. (And the promise of free pizza and more dances.) But at NYC’s elite Stuyvesant High School, politics are serious business—and public favour is…
Dustin Harvey goes the extra mile on Outlander
“Keep moving. We are still rolling.” I am running as chaotically as I can manage through a mucky field. I am dressed in fur boots, leather armbands and a metal helmet. I am wildly swinging a sword in one hand, and a shield in the other, as bodies emerge from the darkness and disappear again.…
Angels & Demons is a lot less than pretty wild
How is Robert Langdon interesting? Played by Tom Hanks, the symbologist explains his outlook: “I’m not meant to believe. Faith is a gift I’ve yet to receive.” But the disparity between his work and belief isn’t used to make him any more charismatic in Angels & Demons than in its even-worse predecessor, The Da Vinci…
Tyvek wraps up the night at Obey
Detroit may have made the news recently for its dwindling auto industry, but the city’s future prospects may lie elsewhere. “I think the music scene has more of a future than the cars,” says Kevin Boyer, guitarist for Detroit’s Tyvek, who headline this year’s Obey Convention. The city has a rich musical tradition in genres…
My Spidey Sense Is…. Overwhelmed.
Has anyone else noticed the apparent increase in the population and size of the spiders, most notably the black “beach rock” spiders, this spring? While enjoying a beautiful walk on the boardwalk in Eastern Passage today with my dog, I encountered countless fuzzy creepy crawlies along the rocks. Luckily, my trusty brute of a dog…
ignorant driver!!
I was walking with my mom BEHIND the SS & CT parking lot today around the Killam properties ( by Quinpool), right before you hit the corner to get to the store.. there were 2 girls walking with smooties, pop or something, there’s no cross walk but there is a speed bump.. the girls begin…
Heaven is Small
Toronto author and poet Emily Schultz excels at creating intricate, beautifully drawn worlds, encapsulated like snow globes. Her last novel, Joyland, was set in a 1983 arcade—the lives of two teenagers reflected through the videogames they’re obsessed with playing. Heaven is Small takes place at the claustrophobic Heaven Book Company, a Harlequin-style publisher in the…
Eyelevel Gallery turns back the calendar for anniversary show
At first glance, you’d hardly notice the change. As usual, the walls at Eyelevel are hung with interesting work—on this day it’s paintings by Mark Stebbins and Art Krauss. At the back of the gallery, the administrative staff works behind a large desk. Then you hear it. “Ka-chunk.” Gallery intern Chris Foster is busily typing…
