Nova Scotia Music Week Showcasing Performers
Announc’d! Nova Scotia Music Week runs from November 4 – 7 in Yarmouth. Acres and AcresAlert the MedicAndrew Hunter & The GatherersAnna LudlowBig Game HuntBlack MoorBrian BakerBroken OhmsCaledoniaCarleton Stone Drives the Big WheelChelsea NisbettChrissy CrowleyChristina MartinCyndi CainDavid MylesDrumlinDwayne Cote & Duane AndrewsDwight DeonFleur MainvilleForeverGhettosocksGianna LaurenGlory Glory Man UnitedGloryhoundGypsophiliaHawpIan SherwoodJason MacDonaldJay SmithJenocideJohn CampbelljohnJon BryantJon McKielKayoKelly SloanKev…
Busking 101
Is this a busker? According to the festival, it’s not. Along with cash for its performers, the enjoyment and expectations of audiences, the Halifax International Busker Festival raises a perennial question: Who is a busker? For Kim Hendrickson, president of ESP Productions, the company that puts on the festival, a busker performs a “circle show.…
United breaks family reunions, too
The Chicago Sun-Times has a story about United Airlines taking five days (and counting, presumably) to get some stranded luggage from O’Hare International to United flyers visiting Nova Scotia. The story quotes Jill Erickson, who came here for a family reunion. “I bought a $5 dollar shirt, and I’m wearing my grandmother’s shorts and some…
Shambhala Buddhists welcome the 3rd generation
Congratulations are in order. CBC: The queen of the Shambhala Buddhist community gave birth to a baby girl Wednesday morning in Halifax. Her name is Drukmo Yeshe Sarasvati Ziji Mukpo, which means Lady Dragon Wisdom. I don’t know what her arrival means, if anything, for the schism that has developed between the old American hippies…
Well you’re back
I wasn’t sure when we would see each other again. And then there you were. Walking at night. Right in front of me. It’s been three and a half weeks since that night. And so much has happened: And here we are again. Not talking. No matter what happens I’ll love you forever. You know…
It seems everything that’s racist these days is never taken seriously and automatically chalked up to the “race card” boogie monster…
Alright I’ve had enough of this BS. I read that previous bitch about the people in Preston and their protest and while I’m not going to agree or disagree with what they did (I actually think crying racism in this case was uncalled for) it underscores a dangerously stupid path we are travelling down in…
Obladee Wine Bar rides crest of Barrington renaissance
In yet another sign that a Barrington Street renaissance is in the works, brother and sister team Heather and Christian Rankin will soon open the Obladee Wine Bar at the former Frozen Ocean locale, 1598 Barrington Street. “It was really important to keep it small and neighbourly,” says Heather Rankin during a break from the…
GWAR’s Quarter-Life Crisis
the handsome family The rumors are correct – GWAR is returning to Halifax for the Pop Explosion. The “intergalatic snuff-rockers” are embarking on a “Bloody Tour of Horror” to promote their latest album, “Bloody Pit of Horror” – natch. Apparently their tour schedule is quite punishing, considering these dudes have been “on Earth” for about…
Still Lovin’ Those Bitchers!
Another love shout out to Senior Ivan-of-the-Dead (or whatever he’s calling himself these days): I found the book! Thanks to Life Sucks for the cool umbrella: a little 1 1/2″ pipe and a bucket full of sand did the trick, and to Marmiteman, I haven’t gotten anyone to help yet in picking up the table…
It seems everything anyone does is racist these days
I am sure that over the past day and a half everyone has read or heard about the protest in North Preston about the logging/emergency road being used by the 10 land owners closest to it: this makes sense. But no, no, no the community around finds it to be racist that of the 10…
HARMSWORTH!HARMSWORTH!!HARMSWORTH!!!
We are really going to miss our big black rooster. Safe travels and remember we love you. —All of your friends
Belly Love
It’s been a constant war between you and I for a countless number of years. Avoiding the foods I secretly longed to indulge in, and a constant feeling of deprivation. And no matter how careful I was, Waistline, you continued to expand. No amount of exercise and careful dieting would seem to stick. I have…
What the fuck are we supposed to do, Halifax?
Seriously, Halifax!? I moved here from Ontario to go to school and I am completely relying on a loan from Ontario to attend because there is no work here to compensate. I moved here from my family to live by myself, and we are not wealthy. I moved here to try start a more successful…
Mouth breathing Jerkstores.
To the two drunk frat boys sitting at the back last night at buskers: 1: I haven’t seen two people be so ignorant, selfish, and inconsiderate in a VERY long time. 2: Your cat calls at the female performer/racial slurs thrown around were unbelievable. Had my girlfriend not grabbed my arm when I confronted you…
Wah! Wah! Wah!
Why do I visit this site? I started some time ago because it was entertaining, humorous and sometimes informative. Some of the comments were really funny. Now the bitches are stupid and the comments are just as lame. “Why did you leave me?” , “Smokers don’t get…” or “I smoke so don’t…”. BOO FUCKING HOO…
Deadbeat Wedding Planner… Beware!!!
To the “professional” wedding planner who stiffed my brother’s GF for a wedding cake she provided to you: You refuse to answer calls or emails and my future sister-in-law depends on that money to buy supplies to create cakes for other weddings. They had to cancel their first vacation in 3 years to make up…
Score: A Hockey Musical opens Atlantic Film Festival
Be still my Xanadu heart: Score: A Hockey Musical, starring Olivia Newton John, Marc Jordan, Noah Reid and Allie MacDonald, with appearances by hockey nut Dave Bidini, Strombo and Hawksley Workman, is opening the Atlantic Film Festival on September 16. Directed by Michael McGowan, whose One Week was pretty Canuck-loving, I expect we’ll all be…
Jugga NO
There used to be a time when I could walk down Spring Garden Road and only have to contend with beggars and the inane ramblings of the Harbour Hopper tour guides, and that was fine. Now it seems there is a new problems on the streets though: Juggalos. Yes, the face-painted followers of the Insane…
Rotary – sorry Roundabout – Rage…
My understanding of the Armdale Roundabout or whatever it is called now is that people trying to ‘merge’ into the circle must first give right of way to the cars already in the circle. So why is it that it seems that when I am in the coveted circle someone always cuts me off at…
Pissed off!
Why are there hardly any decent girls online? Only fatties and skanks going nowhere! Anytime I actually come across a good-looking girl with a good career, I’ll write to her but she won’t write back! I put up 5 pictures, full view, of myself. The good catches either don’t write back to me or they…
Downtown Drag Racing
I live off South Park and all damn Summer I’ve had to listen to assholes in loud cars drive one block as fast as they can. What the hell is going on – is this entertaining? Is every guy with an overpowered penis extension coincidentally racing every light in town? If you want to drive…
Not so handsome
Where did handsome go? I’m not sure who the man I met was, but the man at the end wasn’t so handsome. —Confused
Stoopid
If I hear/read one more thing about Michelle Obama showing her shoulders and how unconstitutional (or some shit) it is, I might flip my lid! —V
Dartmouth Bridge Terminal has options to be down-scaled
The tendering process for the expanded Bridge Terminal in Dartmouth continues apace, with about a dozen prospective bidders attending a mandatory job site meeting this morning. The companies range from Dexter Construction, the largest construction firm in the area, to several smaller firms reaching big, and include at least one unnamed company that previously has…
Khyber building plan goes to council tonight
At tonight’s city council meeting, HRM staff will present the staff report “1588 Barrington Street as an Arts & Culture Incubator.” This, of course, is the recommendation from staff to council to continue using, and to expand the cultural services offered in the Khyber building, which is seen as a big part of the Barrington…
Soled Out to move, Moksha Yoga expanding
Celebrating two years in the downtown, Moksha Yoga (1512 Dresden Row, 420-0888), the specialists in “hot yoga,” are expanding this month to the second floor of their building, the former home of Soled Out (and more about them in a second). This will mean bigger change rooms, more showers, a greater variety of classes and…
XOQ
Jupiter: I’m having a hard time accepting that it’s really over – which I know is lame since I initiated all this mess. But I think I’ll hope for a long, long time that you’ll magically wake up one day and want a real, grown-up life with me so it can work. Until then I’ll…
I love you Halifax
I love you Halifax and miss you terribly. I miss the cute houses and streets, the bright colours, big trees and the smell of the ocean. I miss blustery, stormy days and all my favorite shops. Fred’s for cupcakes, Biscuit for cloths, The Shoe Shop, Antiques stores on Agricola, croissants at Julien’s… motor bike rides…
Sunday Morning Jubilee
I wish every Sunday morning could be so sweet. I’m glad we took the chance. Thank you for everything, and I hope the lonely night might bring us together again. —FamiliarityBreedsContent
Won’t anyone think of the hobos?
To the sad puppy eyes, lost hobo with the yellow T-shirt: After disappearing for weeks, I finally saw you wandering up the street singing your heart out yesterday on Barrington. We were getting scared that you might have gotten heat stroke or something. I’ve had a toonie in my pocket for weeks. I hope you…
Barrington Samaritan
I’m sorry; I had a shit day and yelled at you for absolutely no reason. I’m an asshole and I’m happy that you called after me to let me know I dropped my sweater… it’s actually my favorite and I definitely would have cared. —Blue Sweater
Close Call…
So there I was at the airport in Calgary, tired and worn out after my holiday of camping and hiking in Jasper. We had a fantastic time, and now all we had to do was relax on our flight home to Halifax… And then you arrived. You sat there on your white-trash ass sucking down…
Halifax Roller Derby!
To ALL the lovely ladies who showed up last night for our first Roller Derby meeting… THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Let’s get this league off the ground! If any one else is interested in joining, even if you have NEVER been on skates, find us on our FB page “Halifax Roller Derby”! —”Fresh Meat”
What you did wasn’t unnoticed
Friday morning, on Bayers Road, a guy in a navy blue Honda truck saw a girl running for the 81 bus and purposely went 30 km/hr to slow the bus so she could catch it. Standing at the bus stop, I though this was both entertaining and an extremely nice gesture on a foggy Friday…
Babies
To all of you who have babies (that you add to this overpopulated planted) and complain about the world that your child is about to grow up in, I have one question: Why did you breed? —celibatesuzanne
Douche
You seemed like a decent person heading into work every morning until I realized what a complete douche you are. Seriously, I can’t believe you turned off the sound on your phone so that you could take a picture of a lady sleeping on the bus. She was wearing scrubs and I’m guessing coming home…
Horseshoe Island Park
I have no idea who the genius is behind naming that park (so called park). They’re so intelligent that they don’t know what an Island or a Horseshoe are. There’s no island and the thing looks nothing like a horseshoe! Next time use a dictionary… Way to show Intelligence NS! —Morons
My broken dirty little heart
So what does it mean when someone writes you a love the way we love but when you go to read it again it’s gone? I was feeling pretty low tonight. Thought it might make me feel better about things to read your post again. Knowing that you felt you had to delete it just…
TV makes you stupid!
Hi Self! So… you made a perfect pan of mint brownies for a lovely co-worker, pop them in the oven, and after the first *ding!* think they need a few more minutes. But INSTEAD of re-setting the alarm like you should, you decide “Okay, when Big Brother comes on, I’ll take them out.” REALLY?! You…
Never See You Again!
Hi Cougar: I hate you. Hate. H-A-T-E. You are the reason that 1/2 the staff team hates their jobs and want to leave. You give me a headache within 15 minutes of seeing you, just from bitchiness, gossiping and negativity. Also, all those tasks you complain about? Yeah, that’s called Your Job. Instead of bitching,…
Couple Club-goers.
You go to any club anywhere and you will probably find couples.. that’s fine, but what really gets me are the couples that are pretty much fucking on the dance floor, taking up all the space, eating each others faces and acting like complete idiots. I am all for having a night out with your…
Landlords Aren’t Gods
I am sick of looking at apartments in this city that are over priced for a closet sized space, and then to top it off: NO PETS! NO SMOKING! Ya know people have lives, they wanna smoke and have dogs and who are you shitty landlords to judge? If you are lucky to find a…
Losing Respect
I was walking home through the Lower Water St. Terminal one night and had to get through a massive cloud of smoke. Although I’m used to dealing with assholes who think everyone needs to be subjected to their smoking, that mother and very young baby sitting right in the middle of the cloud probably were…
SHUT UP! SHUT UP! OK!?
Sometimes it’s good entertainment listening to the cheap trash in the alley beside my apartment yelling about dick sizes, not being someone’s whore, etc. But I get tired of hearing into the hours of the night and then again early in the morning. I don’t want to hear about you “snipping the baby out” of…
Heavy Ignorance
To the guys who were yelling sexually harassing comments to me on the street: The next time i hear you utter such disrespectful words to me or any other woman I’m calling 911 and charging your ass… Yes I’m talking to you. —What moral code do you live by?
To the witness:
If good people don’t speak up in the name of kindness and decency what will become of our world? It is your role to show people what is not acceptable in our society. Silence helps breed harm. Your help is needed. —What moral code do you live by?
Environmental group slips up with Tim Hortons giveaway
The Environmental Services Association of Nova Scotia is an organization that represents business in the environmental services field—evidently a self-defining group that includes everything from academics to engineering firms to composting facilities to law firms. Think: consultants that help other businesses and governments meet environmental regulations. According to its website, ESANS is “dedicated to the…
It’s CRASS DAY
Last year, Steph Johns posted about Crass Day. Because I am not cool and do not know things, I went, “Who or what is a Crass?” and as a result I ended up watching this documentary, where old CRASS members and gracefully aging Brit punks locate the context of the band’s political and artistic significance…
Simmons Mattress Gallery Student Specials
It’s August. The month after August is September, which means the population of Halifax will swell as the students return is a big, beer-drinking deluge. All you eager student bodies will need a place to rest your heads, so you should consider the student deals available at Simmons Mattress Gallery (172 Chain Lake Drive, 450-0233),…
Some people are unbelievably ignorant!
To the god damn IGNORANT SOB that boxed me in at point pleasant park, I can’t believe you had the nerve to do something so fucking IGNORANT! Had I known which idiot of a driver it was that did it, I would have given you the earful that you deserve. I hope karma returns the…
Modern Methods of Sonic Torture 101
I live two blocks from the common, and the elevation of my abode means I can hear anything happening at Alderney Landing with crystal clarity. It’s too hot to close the windows, so my afternoon and evening have been spent enduring the high-volume clamor emanating from both Country Rock Fest and Summer Rush. Nasally twang…
No room to dance in my shell
So I have this terminal shyness problem where I just don’t let other people get close to me, especially other women. I was a weird kiddo and an ugly duckling, I’d make a best friend and then some girl with a mean streak would usually come in and I’d get ostracized, always bottom of the…
Restaurants of Halifax
Halifax is blessed with an abundance of awesome restaurants. Many of them display their daily specials on those sidewalk signs, carefully written with colourful chalk and charming to behold. Just one thing… please learn to spell!! I’m speaking of one place in particular, but all places in general. Potato has no ‘e’ on the end,…
Learn To Ride A Bike
Alright. We get it. You’re riding a bike because you’re being eco-friendly (bullshit, your old, fixed-gear bike from circa 1975 has more lead in the paint alone than a lead vest) or trying to be ironic/trendy. But here’s the thing: you clearly don’t know how to ride a bike. First, you were riding in traffic,…
Beach Apes
Please, please, pretty please guys… that rugged mat on your chest & back isn’t appealing. Trimming is in… get some clippers. You don’t have to shave it all, just trim it up. The birds look at you as a nesting site. —Venus
Buskers & Bastards
Busking is our career…..so don’t roll your eyes when we ask for money. —DigDeepFor$$
Wang’s Grand Chinese opens
Authentic Chinese food, artfully prepared and presented, is how co-owner Mary Wang describes what you can expect at her new eatery, called Wang’s Grand Chinese Restaurant (5677 Brenton Place, 429-9264). The chef is her boyfriend, Peter, a chef formerly at a resto in the UK. And before you think with class and style comes a…
Commons Comotion
Theses endless bullshit sound checks for these bullshit concerts on the commons suck beyond belief. What a stupid location for these bullshit events. —BSC
Chill out
To the random man and his wife walking their dog off-leash on my road just now… I slowed the fucked down and drove in the other lane so as to safely pass you and your dog and you gave me the stink eye and threw you hands up in some hostile gesture after I was…
Yoda
Yoda is so cool. That little green puppet makes me smile. —ABC
To my amazing dog:
You are the best!! You are so cute and sweet and funny, and you have the best personality ever. You seem to understand when I’m feeling upset, and you always cheer me up, even just a bit. You make us laugh so often and all your quirky little traits just make our days. Everyone who…
Picnicface
Oh my god, it’s AMAZING! —Laughing Related Stories
To my little lady
We don’t get to see each other much but every time we do I crush a little harder. Maybe I want to change that I’ve never kissed a girl. —Lip chap anyone?
Argue, fuck, sleep, make up
All’s fair in love and war. Lately you’ve been fair while I’ve waged war. I’m sorry. I’ll start my campaign of love now. —Blitzkrieg of kisses
Chivalry Does Exist- Wednesday Morning (Aug. 4th)
I battled the rain and gusty streets of the downtown area on my way to work this morning. With my umbrella thrust against the wind I had almost made it to work, when on Duke street one of the spoke on my umbrella bent, nearly in my face, and everything got very blustery. A young…
Dear Sappy,
I love you. you made my mid-summer all aglow. You didn’t hassle me for bringing my own wine ‘cos I don’t like beer. You started late on Sunday because you knew we were all tired. You made temporary tent cities the place to be. You made it possible for me to make out under the…
To little miss L
Ignoring me in our fav coffee shop Sunday morning won’t cure your extreme shyness toward me. While I feel complimented I do this to you, its also somewhat frustrating. Anyways I don’t care either way, it’s a shame though, your funny, quirky and witty would have been fun, but shy is shy – can’t change…
Pennies
Dear women who tried to pay me with 2 dollars and fifty cents in pennies when you had at least 20 dollars in loonie and toonies in your wallet: the item was 52.50! No I’m sorry I can’t accept more then 0.25 cents in pennies and legally I don’t have to! No, its not bad…
Bring a puzzle or somethin’
Dear parents who insist on bringing your children on lengthy plane rides without bringing along something to keep them entertained: what are you thinking? Sure it’s cute the first few minutes when your kids entertain the whole plane with their made up songs and a few accidental kicks to the back of my seat are…
This sucks!
Why am I so fucking sensitive? Almost anything can set me off into tears. I picked up a rock today and it reminded me of someone I really miss so I started to cry! WTF? A rock! Songs make me cry, books make me cry, movies make me cry. Is there anyone else like this?…
…
I wrote you a letter. I wrote and wrote until all my frustrations and sadness were down on paper, visible to any eye. I read and revised the three pages. I allowed myself to indulge in reminisce for a minute, no longer. I ripped up the letter and let it fall into the ocean. Was…
I swear this one is different
I had to write this out of sheer frustration at the people smoking outside of my bedroom window… I have no problem if someone decides to smoke; it is their life. However, when I have no choice where my room is, where the windows are, and someone else chooses to smoke directly under my bedroom…
Seaport Farmers’ Market is open, to huge crowds
[image-1] Tens of thousands of people made their way to Pier 22 this morning to check out the new Seaport Farmers’ Market. I was there from about 9:30 to 10:00, and was overwhelmed by the crowds. Still, when I left it appeared that plenty more people were heading to the market: the sidewalks were jammed…
The Westin gets a Patio
Shoptalk has learned that the Westin Nova Scotian Hotel (1181 Hollis Street, 421-1000) lobby lounge Eve now boasts an exterior patio extending out towards Cornwallis Park. Open until midnight seven days a week, consider it for a drink or bite to eat while the good weather continues into the fall.
Blowin’ in the Wind
Right now the light poles down my street look like sh*t because of all the notices that some losers have put up about their skanky bands that are playing last weekend. It’s raining, it’s a tad windy, the performance is over, and that crap is blowing around, looking terrible. Don’t the young ‘uns use social…
Parking 101
Learn how to fucking park already! How many times do I have to come home to find that the rear end of some asshole’s car has partially blocked my driveway. No big deal – if my driveway was wide – but we live in the CITY and our driveway is very narrow. So you blocking…
Stolen painting still missing from King’s
I think it’s terrible that in the media, art heists are usually treated like light news, like it’s a Matt Damon caper movie. But this case is especially awful. Someone broke into the Chaplain’s Office at King’s College two weeks ago, and the only thing stolen was a painting, which was a gift from local…
Help Construction and Destruction Go Vinyl
If you ask Construction and Destruction’s Colleen Collins to explain the title of her band’s fourth album, be warned; you may feel a little dumb afterwards. “Mutatis Mutandis is a term that’s used in law sometimes,” says the ever-sweet Collins in a lilting alto. “It sort of relates to all the necessary changes having been…
Tobermory, Ontario
My sister Sue and her husband Peter have a cottage on Lake Huron. Where other cottages in the area have TV antennae or dish satellites, Peter and Sue have an anemometer (and no doubt other instruments). Although both Sue and Peter are very very geeky, nerdy, media savvy and connected in their lives in Toronto,…
Barry Dalrymple’s frightening statements
[image-1] This morning CBC is reporting that councillor Barry Dalrymple, who is a former RCMP cop, wants to wire up each and every councillor to a lie detector machine in order to discover who’s been leaking stuff to the media. Coming from an elected representative, such a suggested expansion of the police state is alarming.…
Much better
Things are looking up from yesterday…
CBC’s small council debate is available
CBC has archived Wendesday morning’s debate between myself and Malcolm Fraser of Citizens For Halifax, here. It’s worth a listen, I think. Before getting to Fraser and me, you first have to listen to councillor Tim Outhit blather on about PEI. I’ll have something significant to say about that, in a coming post and in…
Roll up your sleeping bag, it’s time for Brain Camp
Get your body down to Strange Adventures on Friday, August 6, from 4-6pm, for the launch of Brain Camp, the new graphic novel, written by Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan, and illustrated by Coast comic artist Faith Erin Hicks.
Blackbird sings at the Living Room
Heather Watts Shawn Duggan as Ray and Kathryn McCormack as Una in Blackbird. British playwright David Harrower’s Blackbird was on Richie Wilcox’s wishlist, so he jumped at the chance to return to Halifax to direct the play for Angels & Heroes Theatre Company, opening August 9 at the The Living Room (2353 Agricola Street). “I’m…
Birch Cove Lakes-Blue Mountain Wilderness development proposal subject of meeting
Huge tracts of land now protected by the city’s regional plan will be turned into sprawling subdivisions, if Nova Scotia’s largest development companies get their way. The land in question comes in two chunks. The first is identified in the plan as part of the future Birch Cove Lakes-Blue Mountain Wilderness Park, consisting of about…
Halifax council rejects reducing the number of councillors
Halifax council Tuesday rejected a Chamber of Commerce-led attempt to reduce the number of councillors, and opted instead to concentrate on governance issues related to the role of community councils. The council is required by provincial law to every few years examine the size and boundaries of council districts, and to put forward a proposal…
Hooters is no more
The burned out Dartmouth Hooters restaurant has be de-Hooterized, with all the signing removed. A readers says that last weekend someone was seen hauling what remained in the place outtathere. I’ve had no luck finding anyone connected with the place to comment on what’s up, but it’s safe to presume that Dartmouth just got a…
Do the Busk-a-Busk
Shannon Webb-CampbellRia Mae will charm you at Backpackers Unless there are good sandwiches available, press conferences in general are pretty boring. Even when they involve fun, ostensibly joyful things, everyone seems bored and tense and most likely are wishing they could whip out double entendres and amusing prattle like the Beatles did in 1964. Music…
Porn stashes are not in the garage
Q My boyfriend and I have “history.” We dated casually and weren’t ready to stop seeing other people, so we had an open relationship. This phase was awful: lots of fights, a couple of minor breakups and eventually I called it quits for good, cutting off all contact. A month later, we started talking again…
Energy poverty
In 2007, several Haligonians living on low incomes testified before the Utility and Review Board. They were making the case that energy prices are too high. They couldn’t afford food and heat; it was either/or. These households suffer energy poverty, meaning they pay more than six percent of their incomes on heat and electricity. Environmentalists…
Go Local: Agricola
Agricola Street is many things to many people. Cyclists love it because the traffic tends to be less hectic for a north end journey than Windsor, Robie or Gottingen. Smart drivers love it for the same reason. And pedestrians and locals love it for the plenty of shops, cafes and other diversions: antique stores, art…
Charlie St. Cloud floats away
Charlie St. Cloud is the town golden boy and is the exact type of character you expect Zach Efron to play. A tragic car accident takes the life of Charlie’s beloved younger brother, so he defers his upcoming placement at Stanford University indefinitely to wallow in his remorse, meeting the ghost of said brother everyday…
Art with direction
As the story goes, publishers roundly tossed out Yann Martel’s idea for a “flip book,” a volume that would contain a fictional story and accompanying essay. The Life of Pi author went on to use the experience of that rejection and reversibility (as a thematic motif if not physical format) in his novel from earlier…
Dinner for Schmucks uses the wrong recipe
Bad movies are sometimes rendered diabolical in light of all the missed opportunities and bad choices contained within them. Dinner For Schmucks, where Paul Rudd invites atomic dork Steve Carell to the monthly office freak show/dinner party, is that kind of bad movie. Its sins: Rudd plays another of one of his interchangeable stressed-but-otherwise steady…
Nomi Chi reveals What Found me in the Woods
Nomi Chi has brought her work back to Halifax this month for her second Utility Gallery show in as many summers. With Chi’s current exhibit, What Found me in the Woods, the young Vancouver tattoo artist and painter’s biologically driven work plays like a twisted fairy tale on the gallery’s walls. “Dark fairy tale and…
An Evening Out with Wit’s End Theatre
There’s a new theatre company in town whose mandate is to make you laugh—and judging by the opening shows, it’s doing a fine job. Wit’s End Theatre’s productions of David Ives’s clever Sure Thing and Christopher Durang’s disturbingly delightful Titanic are an inspired pairing that makes for lots of laughter. Sure Thing is like a…
Groovy garden gathering
This Friday night gives you a chance to hear some great local musicians while supporting community gardening in the city. Bands Ben Caplan and the Casual Smokers, It Kills, Long Long Long and Bad Vibrations will jam while you celebrate local food, take part in a kale-eating competition, bob for radishes—whatever floats your, erm, vegetable.…
Egyptian home
The day the Spartan closed, a little piece of my heart broke. Not because I was a devoted regular or because it was the capital-letter Best Restaurant in Town, but because of the little things that added up to a kind of greatness. The family that ran the place, homemade hash browns at breakfast, rice…
Swayed with swag
The iPad-sized silver tin stands out among all the other mail. There’s an orange sticker of a silhouetted lighthouse, designed like a vintage CN Rail poster, stuck on its top. “Welcome to Haven,” the text reads. “It takes a village to hide a secret.” Inside, there’s a series of eight connected postcards, with photos of…
Svec’s football folk
Just before Henry Svec stood up to sing in a Sackville, New Brunswick, bar last year, an elderly man approached him. “Make sure you turn up the vocals,” he said. “I really want to hear the lyrics.” He believed that Svec’s songs—off his latest album, The CFL Sessions—were written in the 1970s by real Canadian…
Reading Foxes in Fiction
Warren Hildebrand, a 20-year-old Torontonian bedroom-pop jock, will have no problems getting into the Paragon when he plays here next week. After recently playing five shows in New York City, he now laughs about the US drinking age. “I had to get, like, a fake ID and everything, even to get into the places I…
Richard Laviolette and The Oil Spills vinyl release
Richard Laviolette spent SappyFest weekend sleeping in a tree. “The last two times I was there, I slept up in a tree fort that overlooks that CBC international radio tower,” writes the singer-songwriter, who’s from Guelph, Ontario. It being his first time playing with a band at Sappy (he’d played there solo once before), Laviolette…
Summer Rushing
Lady Gaga. Rihanna. Justin Bieber. Before these three megastars were famous enough to spend $4,000 on ghost-hunting equipment, consistently collaborate with Jay-Z or somehow score a biopic before turning 17, they each played a Halifax Summer Rush concert. Sure, the Bieb’s mom might send him out again for a home-country tour, but don’t hold your…
Blow job
There are ironies everywhere if you notice them. Like the Dutch windmills on June MacDonald’s yellow tablecloth. MacDonald, a 64-year-old retired school teacher with twinkling eyes and good-humoured determination, has been fighting for more than a year against the installation of windmills near her home in Baileys Brook, Pictou County. But they’re nothing like the…
Free Will Astrology
LEO(July 23-August 22) For a special episode of her TV talk show, Oprah Winfrey wanted a stage set that was fabricated out of chocolate. It took workers 1,400 hours to construct it. When the day came to unveil the decadent monument, Oprah offered her audience members the chance to tear it apart, eat it and…
These Guys Are Opening for the Arcade Fire
Tyler Messick (Museum Pieces) and Virgil Muir (Heavy Meadows) are headed to Nashville, TN this coming weekend to play a gig at the Grand Ole Opry opening for the Arcade Fire on August 9. Um….yeah. Your buddies are playing one of the most famous venues in the world, opening for one of the most beloved…
