Nova Scotia Icewine Festival
Running from today, February 3 until February 13, the Nova Scotia Icewine Festival aims to celebrate and educate on the subject of icewine, and a number of local businesses are participating. For example, Bishop’s Cellar (1477 Lower Water Street, 490-2675) is hosting an event tomorrow, Friday February 4, from 5pm-7pm. For $20 you can join…
Simple, Naive Haligonians
You know, with all that’s going on in the world: Egyptian protests, extreme Australian weather, mass slaughter of sled dogs… I have to wonder, how spoiled are we to be complaining of student loans, small apartments and loud neighbours? Most people don’t even know what’s going on in Egypt. Open your eyes, people, for the…
For the love of dogs
This bitch goes out to people who responded to the news about the 100 culled sled dogs with something like “…what about all the suffering people in this world?” First of all… what, exactly, are you doing for the suffering people in the world? Most likely absolutely nothing. Secondly, compassion and sorrow can extend to…
To my friend that is a new-ish Mom
Stop telling me, “Oh, you don’t understand because you don’t have a baby!” Or, “When are YOU going to have a baby?” Since when does someone have to pop a baby out of their vag to realize that a 10 month old baby should not be eating sodium-packed processed foods? Also, what makes you think…
I am not your Betty Draper
I am so sick of sexism. Oh my god, you have a penis, get over it ! Stop belittling everything I do and say just because I am a woman. To hell with the media and its glorification of sexist men. To hell with religion and its blatent attacks on womankind. And, to hell with…
Not a Doctor
I use walk in clinics because of how hard it is to find a family doctor downtown. I was told by a doctor at a new clinic that I could have a mole removed it would take 10 minutes in and out. After taking the day off work I went to my appointment and a…
A Prince(ess?) with a Plow
To the person who has plowed the entire St. Andrews Ave sidewalk not once but twice this week: THANK YOU. Both mornings I woke up with that usual dread of the shovel, and to my very pleasant surprise, found that a Good Samaritan had cut my work and that of all our neighbours in half.…
Funny, your BMW does not look like a bus
On the bus commuting last week, I noticed an influx of cars using the bus merge lane at the bottom of Main Street, over the Fairview Overpass through the Windsor Street Exchange. I also drive, but choose to take the bus because of the bus lane, it actually takes less time. Why do these drivers…
#2 bus
I see you around all of the time, like around Clayton Park, you’re thin and have an awesome backpack and today you had a rainbow hat. You got on the #2 bus at around 8:40 this morning when I was waiting for the 89. You’re so cute! I don’t think I could just say that…
The Loser Cruiser
How do I love thee. Let me count the ways: 1) EVERYONE does not care or need to know who or what you did last night. Keep your conversations to a DULL ROAR please. 2)The passenger who decides their bag needs their own seat on a crowded bus. 3.)Go Time… really don’t even get me…
For the posties
Much love to the letter carriers, drivers and couriers who tackle the sleet, snow, rain, and blizzards to deliver our mail and precious packages. Sure it might be hard for us to go from our door to work or school but imagine walking all day outside, or going in and out of hot buildings and…
I LOVE The Coast
I have always been a city girl and lived in DT Halifax all my life up until 2 years ago… I met a wonderful man, shacked up, and now I only get to the city once or twice a month. I LOVE THE COAST for keeping me up to date and in the know for…
Sweet Janes sample day
Stop by Sweet Janes (5431 Doyle Street, 425-0168) on Friday February 4 between 11am and 6pm to enjoy their free sampling day. They will have reps on site offering a mix of both sweet and savoury items. (And they don’t say anything about limited quantities! Ha ha ha!) It’s a great way to try a…
Urban Home opens
Opening Monday, February 7 is Urban Home (5689 Cunard Street, 463-1400) in the condo development Armory Villa at the corner of Cunard and Agricola, just opposite the Halifax Commons. It offers bedroom, dining and living room furniture, “contemporary and functional at a reasonable price,” says co-owner Jim Kennedy. The product available will be Canadian-made, with…
A Night Out in Halifax
The lady who walks with 2 sticks (she has MS, you know), recently wobbled her way out her front door and went to The Company House for a most amazing concert. Whenever she steps out her front door, she asks herself why she bothers. It takes a huge dose of willpower to make the effort.…
Praise and blame for payday loan decision
Payday loan association president praises NSUARB decision to keep rates high in Nova Scotia, while certified credit counsellor criticizes the Board
Ghettosocks Nominated for a Juno
Ghettosocks’ album Treat of the Day has been nominated in the “Rap Recording of the Year’ category alongside some pretty estimable artists, including Shad, D-cisive, Drake and Eternia & MoSS. Also, Meaghan Smith was nominated for New Artist of the Year, Classified got a Song of the Year nod for “Oh Canada” and Old Man…
APARTment?!
Why do they call them APARTments when they are so damned close together? —Noise Pollution Sucks
Dear Crappy Driver
To whoever scraped the bumper of my car on the weekend and just drove away, you are an inconsiderate ass. I have no doubt that Karma will catch up with you eventually, but in the meantime I’m left with a couple of huge black gauges on my silver car. Not cool. —Sad CiCi
E-reader vs Paper
I was given an e-reader as a retirement prezzy, and was underwhelmed AT FIRST, as I was a “died in the wool” book reader. After 3 months I love the e-reader and thought I’d use it in public, only to be sneered at in my doctor’s office by a book snob. It’s the way of…
Student unions are the worst
Well Jesus H. I’m so fucking sick of “reduce tuition fees” and “solidarity marches” and WAH WAH WAH. Goddamn babies. I’m from one of those families that couldn’t afford to put me in sports leagues and so definitely couldn’t afford to put me through university. So you know what I did? I did not get…
You exist…
Until I met you, I thought love was a figment of one’s imagination. Half way through our first date I let my guard down, began to feel, and questioned my philosophy. Love exists, you exist, I found you. Now I reminisce about yesterday, embrace today, and look forward to tomorrow! Thank you princess… xoxox —Your…
NS payday loan rates still highest in Canada
UARB to allow payday lenders to continue to charge the highest maximum rates in Canada.
Nice guys finish last…
Throwing your boss under the bus in hopes of getting a promotion? Good job, fucktard. It doesn’t make everyone hate you any less. — …But at least they have friends
Blonde haired, dark eyed beauty of Dartmouth
Wasn’t ready for a relationship but miss you all the same. Miss my music buddy, drinking partner and all around good friend. Said some stupid things when we parted that I really didn’t mean. Wish I could have a do-over at the least as friends. —Halifax Doofus
Monday morning traffic
To the bitch who thought you could just cut in front of me in morning traffic by plowing your piece of shit van next to my car while we were stopped: a big ol’ FUCK YOU! I love how you didn’t even have the balls to look over at me while you were trying so…
Pitter Patter Goes My Heart
You may not know it yet but I like you. I may not know it yet but you’ve changed things for me. I’m confused how I could’ve have found you in the last place I would’ve looked. I’ve never been this sure. —Work-related Whoa
Happy Funniversary CKDU
dance dance As of today, February 1, CKDU 88.1 FM — along with Pauly Shore and Boris Yeltsin — will be celebrating its birthday. The station is now 26 years old, and as part of the celebrations, the station is welcoming back old programmers to revise their radio show during the week of February 1…
Holiday Procrastinators
I love the people who still have their Christmas lights up and turn them on at night. It makes my boring walk home slightly more festive. —Me
Lazy bus riders
To all you lazy people on the bus, yes we all love when we get a seat on a packed bus but when disabled people cannot get a seat because able bodied people just won’t move it is just a mere example of how rude people are in our community. I was on the bus…
Brian Power moves on
Haliwood Insider received an email from Brian Power, formerly vice-president at the PowerPost facility on Granville, which offered editing and mixing services to locally shot film, video and TV, but closed in 2010. “After the demise of PowerPost, at least two of the former staff have set up ’boutique’ post shops in town,” he writes.…
Recently Engaged: Sophie & Todd
My fiancée proposed with 10 ft red letters on the side of a mountain; unfortunately a snow storm blocked the view! Last spring, Todd took me backcountry skiing in Rossland, BC. All morning he was hoping the snow would stop, an abnormal request in a ski town! The previous day Todd had skied through the…
To the Girl With Purple Hair
We met at work. I’ve seen you around before, you were the new girl. We talked one night and I loved it. I gave you a note the next time I saw you asking you out for coffee. You were going to give me your reply the next day. That was three weeks ago… I…
Recently Engaged: Katie & Dustin
Our special moment started with quite the long road trip. I was working in Alberta for the summer and Katie was going to school at the Mount. So we spent almost 6 months apart before we finally got to see each other. We had planned a road trip with her sister and husband to Alaska.…
Dear sweetpea
Thank you for giving me such a wonderful birthday! The wicked awesome whale case for my phone, the amazingly perfect for my needs textbook of Architecture, the Gummies and the foil balloon which means so much to me! I love you so much, and look forward to holding your hand today on our adventure 2.8×10^-4km.…
Broken Car, Friendly Strangers
To the people on Brunswick Street who spent two hours helping me start my lousy car, Thank you all so much! It was snowing and late and I’m sure everyone had somewhere to be early in the morning but your friendliness and 100% effort in helping me get home was more than appreciated. Thank you…
Metro Transit Love
To the driver of the 2 to Wedgewood Saturday at 4—thank you. We need more people in the world like you. My school ID/bus pass fell between the seats, never to be seen again… or so I thought. You got in touch with dispatch, found a service technician, and retrieved my bus pass from the…
Know Your Audience
Dear Halifax bars, every weekend I like to have some drinks and dance. I’m in my apartment all week, so by Friday I want to get out, mingle, and support local businesses. Unfortunately, you only cater to the top 40 and house communities. This leaves me hosting living room dance parties that don’t give you…
Friends!
It is always nice to send a little love. So, for my best friends (and more than that) thank you guys (and gals) for being you. You sometimes get under my skin but hey that’s what you’re here for right? “You find out who your friends are” love you crazy beaver bankers to death. —Gypsy
U2 comes to Moncton
BONO HUNGRY Oh hi guys. Happy Monday! So a number of sources have confirmed today that U2 is indeed playing Magnetic Hill on July 30th. And yep, The Arcade Fire are opening. Unfortunately pretty much all the hotels in Moncton are booked (people began booking when the rumours began circulating last week) so you should…
Skateboard at the Commons
To the kids that use the space underneath the Cogswell ramp as a skating park: News for you, that is not a skating park. In fact it is quite annoying when people at home are unable to rest, work, study, and live life peacefully, because you decided to make that place your own private park.…
To the man who teaches Zumba
Thank you for being the most positive person I have ever encountered. You brighten my day every Tuesday and Thursday. I am on the road to getting fit, and you are there to cheer me on. I love Zumba! —Newest Zumba-ite
Situational awareness
A while back in my hometown a great thing happened, the city sprung for a recrational trail, complete with water fountains, benches, paved trail for all methods of physical fitness. I myself took part regularly roller bladeing through from start to 15km finish. Great fun… until people started getting mugged, women groped, etc. It was…
My three Lady Superheros
Thank you so much for taking me in while I’m going through this breakup. Really, it’s been a long time coming. You guys let me and my kitty into your home with open arms. I hope you understand how fantastic you all are!! M, C, M You’re amazing kind hearted people, Karma will treat you…
Taggers are Cowards
If you tag a building, don’t run away like a coward. Knock on the door. Introduce yourself. Tell the person what you did. Leave your name and address, not just your anonymous tag. Give them some money for the time and materials they’ll need to clean up after you. If you’re not brave enough to…
Thanks for being you
To a dear co-worker I once had, you showed me more kindness, patience and tolerance than I’ve ever seen in the workplace before. You were always there to give this greenhorn’s self esteem a boost and you never minded sharing your wealth of knowledge with me. On days when I felt like a total and…
We are never going to hire you!
To a certain individual who keeps applying to our company: when are you going to realize that you are not qualified to work in our organization? You have a Bachelor of Commerce, so that means you think you can just apply for our positions without experience? You’ve applied for administrative assistant positions every time they…
If only, if only… the woodpecker says
You were a breath of fresh air when my nose had gotten used to the same stale BS that men have to offer. We had such fun! I even started thinking… maybe. But then you pushed when you should have just kept being there. You scared me away and I miss you. I miss the…
The Sweet Smell of Revenge
You let someone from work stay with you until his utilities got hooked up which was very nice of you. It was only 3 days, though so don’t act like you’re a fucking martyr… especially since it was all your husbands idea. Then you come to work and complain to EVERY SINGLE person in the…
You Set Me Free
Thank you for letting me go after so many years. You did not treat me well and I would have never left you. Yes, the pain is unbearable but this is for the best. I hope you find what you are looking for. —Simply Agonizing Divorcee
The Cancelled Show
I bought my tickets a few weeks ago from a ticket outlet for this show that was supposed to be held last night. Due to weather the performers had to cancel. However, the promoters never announced it was cancelled and have yet to announce any refunds. When I tried to get a refund the response…
My Dream Boyfriend Becomes Reality
I’ve known you since the seventh grade, and now that we are in our early twenties, you’ve seen me through all of my growing phases (including the not-so-nice ones), so it can only go up hill from here. I can’t believe that after all of these years, we are finally together. Happy, stoked about each…
Puck Bunnies: Band Edition
To the loose girls who come to shows and tempt musicians in relationships. You are pathetic (especially since you pawn your desperation off as photography). You may be a “good time” but you are a dime a dozen. FYI, he has herpes. —Gain Respect Over Sexual Stimulation
Sour Milk Man
Congrats! A new year, potentially a new you. It’s great a man of your girth and weight is working on reaching a healthier weight. One suggestion though: please shower BEFORE you come to the gym. You emit an awfully, nauseating sour-milk-combined-with-rotten-tuna-cans-in-the-hot-sun smell. The locker/change room has its typical sweat smell before you come in, but…
Action-packed
“Blah blah blah… too violent, unfit for my child, too much foul language and sex… blah blah blah” bitched the mother at Bayer’s Lake the other night. What did you expect from a movie that is about hit men? Of course a movie like this is going to have guns, people getting shot to death,…
Recently Engaged: Amanda & James
In August 2007 James left for military basic training. It was a long 4 months before I saw him again. During that time, like all women, I spent a little bit of time in the jewellery stores. I spied the engagement rings, and my heart was set. I knew then, as I had known for…
Rock Candy’s t-shirt contest
It’s called Free Shirt Tuesday at Rock Candy Boutique (5189 Prince Street, 492-3930). Here’s what you do: go to the store’s website at rockworldeast.com to find the shirts you love and want, hit the Tweet button (found on every item page), then find another, repeat, et cetera. The contest runs from 12 midnight to 11:59pm…
To The Duke of Hennessey
I’m so in love with you! You are my best friend and I am so excited for the rest of our lives together. Notably for this little thing called a “honeymoon”! —Your Dutchess of Agricola
Recipe To Riches comes to Halifax
Attention food lovers, cooks, chefs and bakers of all sorts! This Friday, February 4, the Food Network/Global TV show Recipe To Riches arrives in town. The idea is to give people a chance to offer their extraordinary recipes up for consideration of judges, kind of a foodie version of Canadian Idol crossed with the Antiques…
Recipe To Riches comes to Halifax
Yo foodies! Have you got a killer recipe that you’d be willing to share with the rest of Canada? Would you be interested in potentially winning $250,000 for it? Then check out this new reality TV show coming to Halifax this week called Recipe To Riches. The details are here in our Haliwood Insider report.
Stories for adults at Plutonium
“If Tennessee Williams were from the Maritimes and writing today, he’d sound a lot like Bryden MacDonald.” How fitting is it, in light of this quote from The Toronto Star, that MacDonald’s With Bated Breath should follow Daniel MacIvor’s play about Williams at Plutominium’s Cold Readings Series? The series is an amazing chance to get…
UPDATE: HRM Cultural Awards under review
OK, so there’s been a day of frantic emails, texts, Twitter and Facebook activity over news that the HRM cultural awards had been axed. I just spoke to Andrew Whittemore, HRM’s manager of cultural affairs, who has the official word. The news that the 2011 awards are cancelled is incorrect—according to Whittemore, this was a…
Buck 65 talks
Buck 65’s new album 20 Odd Years comes out on February 1st and features a series of all-new songs and collaborations with Gord Downie, Jenn Grant, Nick Thorburn (of Islands and Unicorns fame) and others. (You can pre-order it here.) Buck/Rich Terfry was in town filming a video for the song “Zombie Delight” at the…
Stupid
I told you I loved you last night. Fuck I’m an idiot. I hate myself. Now I can definitely never see you again. —This sucks
No Leggings For You
I don’t give a flying fuck if the leggings you were wearing on bus number 1 on Thursday night were in style or not. I didn’t need to see your crack and the outline of your granny panties after enjoying a nice date and dinner. I am NOT against fat people I just would appreciate…
Over-Charging Cabby
It was close to 4am on Spring Garden: My friends and I are trying to get a cab, with the whole other slew of club-goers who invade the street post closing time. Okay, cool, waiting for a cab isn’t my bitch- it’s an expected part of my weekend night. What happened after we got in…
Cab share on Barrington
Thanks for sharing a cab with me tonight to oxford. You were gorgeous, and (lol) you smelled so amazing! You’re really kind! —Cab test taking friend
To my Aeris
Thank you for being so perfect in everything you do, you are my soulmate. I just smile like a fool everytime I see or think of you, it’s amazing! This is a short little message because I posted it while you weren’t looking. I just want to give you something cute to read randomly without…
Not a drop to drink
The power was out here in Bedford on Monday. I came home around 6 pm to find the water off also. I thought it had something to do with the power outage. I called the water company and they sent a tech out to see what the problem was… they couldnt find a problem until…
To the Young Man Who Works at the Ferry Terminal
Thank you. Your dedication to your job is astounding. When a screwed-up mouthwash drunk tried to pull a fast one, you were there to tell him to scram. My wife and I were frightened, but you stood your ground and told him the rules, told him that real citizens were waiting to get on the…
Mayor kills HRM arts awards
For every one step forward the city makes (Khyber/Bloomfield redevelopment, Nocturne, Emerging Artists Studio Program), all that good work got shot to shit with the news that HRM is cancelling the arts awards, including: Mayor’s Award for Literary Achievement: $1,500Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Book Illustration: $1,500Mayor’s Award for Achievement in Theatre: $1,500Mayor’s Award for…
Introducing: We’re Doomed
Tiffany Naughlerfor more of tiffany naughler’s rad photos, go to noisography.com We’re Doomed are a riff-y new prog rock ensemble featuring Simon Outhit and Nick Jones on guitar, Scott Tiller on drums, Mike Andrews on bass, and brand-new vocalist James Kelly. Despite their rather shocking youth (their age range is 19-22) these earnest and forthright…
Your Outreach Worked
When I met you I knew there was something special about you. The way your eyes lit up when you spoke and the smile that was so genuine. Even the things you talked about were different. You radiated positivity. You continually brought out the best in me and in everyone you met. I later found…
Customers pay for it
What does it say about companies that choose to use expensive vehicles as company vehicles. Just last week I saw a Land Rover, Hummer and to a lesser extent Honda Element all sporting company logos. A company vehicle is a great way to promote a business and enjoy some business tax credits. That being said…
Bucky Done Gun
So I promised in the print edition that I’d have a Buck 65 interview up for you now. As you can see, it’s not here yet. Due to unforeseen business it will be up later this evening. Thank you fer yer patience. It’s worth it – we talked about zombies and girls and stuff. His…
Long Duz Mike
I love when Duzheknew plays shows because they always somehow manage to amalgamate the name of each band on the lineup into an onomatopoeic email title (see above.) In an interesting but somehow sort of ideal triplicate, they will be joining Long Long Long and Mike O’Neill at the Seahorse this Saturday. O’Neill will be…
The Fryer Master
You’ve been given this title because you seem to think that manning the fryer is the only thing you are required to do at work, besides play with your phone. Simply put, you are a jerk. In the year we’ve worked together, we have never gotten along, and you like to refer to me as…
Pick up your dog’s crap
I enjoy taking my puppy for daily walks and not a day goes by without seeing some other dog’s crap. I have to try avoid stepping on it and keeping my puppy away from it. Seeing it once is annoying enough… but seeing it four to five times on the trail is a bit much.…
Fuck You, CRTC
So our friendly neighbourhood CRTC has yet again shown it exists not to serve the needs of the good people of this country, but rather big corporations. They’ve decided to give the big guys the green light to charge WHATEVER they want for overage fees. What’s the problem with paying what you use, you ask?…
Call of Duty: Black Ops
The latest in the Call of Duty franchise, Black Ops, is full of intense shooting, a multiplayer component that will keep you up at night and a storyline Tom Clancy would be proud of. There are three modes of gameplay to engage in: campaign, multiplayer and zombies. Yep, a zombies mode. The campaign is a…
The Olympic Symphonium’s season
The Olympic Symphonium is a winter band. “The music we play is more suited towards the winter, I think,” says Kyle Cunjak, who is, like his bandmates, a multi-instrumentalist. The Fredericton-based band launches its third album—and third winter release—at In the Dead of Winter on Thursday, and at the Shivering Songs festival in Fredericton on…
Zombie Spaceship
Comic Patton Oswalt recently pissed off the nerds with a manifesto in Wired suggesting that it was time to kill off modern geek culture. Good thing he still has the alt-literary nerdlings on his side with the release of Zombie Spaceship Wasteland, a memoir, comic and bathroom reader all in one. Bouncing between gags and…
Blue Valentine steals our hearts
Now that it’s spent months on the awards circuit, the same Blue Valentine stories abound: Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams lived in their married characters’ onscreen house for a month, celebrating holidays and buying groceries on a strict budget; Gosling, a Method actor, wanted to wait the story’s six years between settings to film; it…
Free Will Astrology
Free Will Astrology AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18) You may have no idea of how much power you have right now to start fresh—to escape the muddle of murky old failures. Your imagination might not yet be sufficiently lubricated to glide you into the expansive version of the future you deserve. But I’m hoping that this…
Jenn Grant’s glow
The night was going well until the dog disappeared. Outside, the first blizzard of the year rages, but Jenn Grant’s kitchen is warm. The house used to be a crack den until Daniel Ledwell, Grant’s fiance—and producer of her new album, Honeymoon Punch—bought it. After a year of renovations, the place is pretty and snug.…
Olenka’s solo season
A little me-time never hurt anyone. Olenka Krakus (of Olenka and the Autumn Lovers) left her Lovers behind for this jaunt to the east coast, during which she played Sackville’s Stereophonic Festival, among other dates before heading to Halifax for In the Dead of Winter. “I take a lot of care with the lyrics, I’ve…
Mike O’Neill channels his powdered wig
During a Christmastime visit to Ontario Mike O’Neill found an old book of musical notation, but it was the preface that got his attention. In reading the composers’ backstories he realized their pasts were strangely similar; these musical geniuses lead pretty tormented lives and had disappointed their moms, big time. O’Neill decided this gig called…
Cabs for you cabs for me
I don’t want to so much bitch but make public a thought I had yesterday. There is no real cab stand at the bridge terminal, and we all know the buses are super shitty, so if there was a cab hanging around I would 9 times out of 10 take it. I hate this weather.…
To the pretty girl that just got off the 87
Saw you at the Cobequid terminal today, I don’t think it was the first time, and we shared a ride on the 87 to Dartmouth. I was a little shy, but just wanted to say you’re super cute and I like your eyebrow piercing—it looks good on you! Every time our eyes met I couldn’t…
Speed dating too speedy for poly
Q I’m from the other side of the country, but I’m sitting in my lover’s San Francisco apartment wondering what I’m doing. I flew out here to spend five glorious days with her. We connect sexually (she’s a Dom stone-butch top, I’m a queer femme sub), we connect intellectually and we make each other laugh.…
127 Hours cuts through
Danny Boyle takes what is a very simple story—the true account of rock climber Aron Ralston who gets trapped beneath a boulder while spending a weekend in the Utah desert—and squeezes every last drop of tension from it, using all the stylistic arrows in his quiver. That includes split-screen, zooms and jagged spurs of sound.…
Old story, new theatre
Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of Thomas Middleton, let alone a Jacobean playwright. A case can be made that ever since the British playwright’s run in early 17th century England, not many people outside of a theatre studies program could name one of his plays. “The Shakespeare brand kind of has a monopoly,”…
The Ugly One is anything but
Is it perverse to describe a play called “The Ugly One” as beautiful? Well, tough, because this beautifully, simply staged production does a beautiful job of exploring the deep ramifications of society’s preoccupation with beauty. In some ways, it covers the same ground as Neil LaBute’s Fat Pig or even of Beauty and the Beast,…
The Olympic Symphonium
When we spend our days surrounded by immediate sensations, sometimes you have to fight for the slower glories. The Olympic Symphonium don’t make immediate folk music: their jangly arpeggios, wistful harmonies and brooding strings make a quick impression, sure, but it’s an impression of mood more than anything, and it’s on repeated listens that The…
Sue’s large and in charge
Seven tons. Fifty-eight teeth. Over eight million dollars. Yep, this old gal’s a pretty big deal. Actually, we aren’t even really sure Sue’s a gal, but “she” was named after Susan Hendrickson, the paleontologist who found the world’s most complete, and best preserved, tyrannosaurus rex remains in South Dakota in 1990. The now-famous fossil was…
Entire Cities
Entire Cities’ follow-up to its impressive 2008 debut, I Hope You Never Come Home features more complex instrumentation than Deep River, but still dives into the myths that pervade the first record. Songwriter Simon Borer is a fine storyteller, constructing poems and myths with a sense of the rural and a loneliness permeating them. These…
Polish delight
I had never heard of Janina’s Cafe before l last week. It’s not a restaurant with a storied mythology or a celebrity chef. It’s not in a popular neighbourhood or on a convenient nearby corner. It, like dozens of other tiny mom-and-pop places that pepper the city, anonymous and unheralded, is just a small storefront…
Wanda Jackson
Well before Jack White could sprout a wispy little ’stache, Wanda Jackson was revered as the queen of rockabilly and the lady who broke Elvis’ heart. The 73-year-old sexy nana proves she can still give the dance floor a mighty shake, while White does some of his best production work since his collaboration with Loretta…
War triumphant
Peaceniks, eat your hearts out: Finally, good news! In spite of the global recession, business is booming for arms makers. In 2009, global military spending reached a record $1.5 trillion US—a solid gain of nearly six percent over 2008 and a whopping increase of 49 percent since the year 2000. The authoritative 2010 yearbook from…
The Decemberists
The Decemberists’ sixth album, The King is Dead, almost feels like a challenge to the band’s detractors: “Alright, haters, how about we make an album that jettisons nearly all the things that you find annoying about us? No concept album conceits, no sea shantys…what will you do then?” Even as someone who kinda dug the…
127 Hours’s real time
Your average film festival press conference is a confluence of paparazzi yelling, sheet lightning storms of camera flashes and banal questions about a movie maybe not every journalist in the room has seen (hence the oft-pompous moderator). But in September of last year, a hotel conference room in downtown Toronto was shushed into a bizarrely…
A Town Called Panic
Based on a Belgi TV series, A Town Called Panic is a stop-motion animated film that manages to pack a lot of crazy into its 72-minute run time. Over the course of the movie, roommates Cowboy, Indian and Horse have a party, rebuild their home, get kidnapped by mad scientists and chase down undersea creatures…
Lennon lives in Nowhere Boy
Sam Taylor-Wood’s background is in visual art. The English artist extends her interest in celebrity as the pinnacle of being watched, observed, revered and judged, to her first feature film. Telling a story of John Lennon is a bold move for a debut director. At and in any age, Lennon exists at monumental scale. This…
Local arts spaces update
The convention centre and the Halifax Central Library aren’t the only buildings that have an impact on the city’s cultural landscape. This week was supposed to be the big unveiling of Citadel High School’s theatre, now officially referred to as the Spatz Theatre. However, last-minute constructions delays have postponed the ribbon-cutting and the premiere of…
Libeskind love
Last week architect Daniel Libeskind unveiled his new monument, the Wheel of Conscience at Pier 21. The bold, powerful sculpture memorializes Canada’s 1939 refusal of entry to the over 900 Jewish refugees, who were onboard the M.S. St. Louis. After being turned away, approximately a third of those refugees were killed in the holocaust. Libeskind,…
