Good thing you’re muscly
You settled me down and I completely love you for it. I was a big time partier, one night stands, never wanted to marry or even be in a relationship. That all changed when you came along, who would have thought we would have met the way we did and that it would end up…
Totally involved
Snakes to the left, snakes to the right… love the way u hobo flirt! Cheerio! —Loopy
Five Fishermen does Titanic dinner
The building home to The Five Fishermen (1740 Argyle Street, 422-4421) has a great history in this town. It was once the John Snow & Co. Funeral Home, where the bodies of Titanic victims were taken in April 1912, including the mortal remains of well-heeled gentlemen John Jacob Aster and Charles M. Hayes. It’s fitting,…
Bad business bitch
To the owners of a certain restaurant — next time you decide to CLOSE your cafe without ANY notice to your customers, you might want to at least put up a sign so that people don’t gather outside your restaurant for weeks thinking you must just be closed for a few minutes to run to…
Sorry for almost getting blood on your nice truck…
I looked both ways before I crossed the street. It seemed safe. So I stepped into the crosswalk. I got almost halfway across when you, Mr. BigAssTruck, came roaring up to the intersection, blew through the stop sign without slowing down, and right through the crosswalk, missing me by literally six inches. You noticed me…
The next gourmet burger place out of the gate…
Another contender is about to arrive on the suddenly hot gourmet burger scene. Flipburger (277 Lacewood Drive) plans to open its doors mid-May, and burger aficionados across HRM are already drooling in anticipation, so much so that owner Chris Tzaneteas (who also owns The Argyle and co-owns Ela! Greek Taverna) is already considering expanding if…
Dagger’s Cove offers south end ink
Former co-owner of Utility, Mike Power, has launched a new street-level tattoo shop in the city’s south end. Dagger’s Cove Tattoo Parlour (1323 Hollis Street, 423-2683) offers custom designs as well as flash in-shop from a variety of artists. Original paintings and prints are for sale and walk-ins are welcome. Consults are free but a…
Pete’s Frootique opens Gluten Free Eatery & CoffeeBar
Pete’s Frootique (1515 Dresden Row, 425-5700) has opened its new Gluten Free Eatery & CoffeeBar. Because the store can be a hectic spot, Pete’s acknowledges the risk of cross-contamination of food, something sufferers of celiac disease may find worrisome. That’s why the eatery operates as a separate entity, close but away from the bustle of…
DOCU-LAB lstarts this month
Do you have a documentary idea creeping around in the back of your mind, begging to be put down on film? The Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative is here to help with their first ever course on documentary filmmaking, called DOCU-LAB, starting April 23. The 15 participants selected will have access to everything from documentary history classes…
To my geeky, loving, big bear
Dear you, I love your laugh, your smile, and your juvenile jokes. I love your affection, your vulnerability, and your honesty. But most of all, I love when you raise your gaze away from your screen to look at me, at our friends, at your life in the real world. Don’t let your worries overwhelm…
Softie
Daydreaming of those hazy picnics in bilby street park & how scrumptious you seem when it’s time to get out the bathtoys. —Juicecup
Boys anyone?
To all those gorgeous university boys. Where have you been of late. Oh I know it’s exam season but seeing you hard at work is just as attractive as seeing you care free! —5th Floor Frequenter
Grocery goodness
We only smiled at each other when I let you by me in the crowded aisle on Saturday at noon, but that smile fueled some lovely daydreams for me, so thanks are in order. You probably won’t even read this, but on the off chance you do – nothing brightens up this girl’s day than…
The silence is deafening
I find it frustrating that I have seen extremely little evidence of public backlash against the latest federal efforts to neuter the CBC. CBC Radio, in particular, has been introducing me to new ideas, new music and the far-flung regions of our country since I was knee high to a Conservative. And listen up —…
3rd vague attempt
Haven’t really stopped thinking about you since my crown was broken. This concrete jungle gets loud but never loud enough to drown out this screaming thought. This thought may never enter reality but it will forever remain in my dreams. I had a plan to not make this sound creepy… fail. —唯ad Luck in Technicolor
Titanic ‘celebrations’
What pisses me off is the amount of money people are making off this horrible tragedy. Books, dances, plays, etc… sick, sick shit, all to suck the almighty dollar from the dumb fucks who think the real Jack What’s-His-Hole is buried at Fairview cemetery. Where’s the fucking inflatable Titanic for the kiddies already? —Can’t Believe…
Sorry, we had to call the cops!
I’m so sorry to the very drunk women we found lying in Argyle St. on Saturday night. We found you lying half in the street and you didn’t know where any of your friends were or what bar you came from. We asked you if you wanted us to take you home and you said…
To a certain dorky girl
It has been a really fun couple of weeks getting to know you. The more time I spend with you the more I enjoy your company. I don’t think I’ve ever been with someone who can make me laugh like you, and despite my kind of rough around the edges personality and your more quiet…
Choreographer’s time machine is set for the ‘90s
Gather your pogs – it’s time to travel back to the ’90s. The ThirtySomething Dance Cooperative wants to take you back in time to a world of beanie babies and Fresh Prince with their latest performance, Rewind and Represent: Bringing it Back, Yo. While there is plenty offered up by the usual Cooperative crew, guest…
Women hiding behind tears!
I don’t understand why, when a woman is the one doing the dumping, they get all upset because of the breakup. You’ve just devastated someone, but you get to be the one who’s hurt? Sure I understand you feel guilty (that’s normal) but crying or even getting angry I just don’t get. You’re the one…
Oh, you’re visiting? Thank fuck it’s just a visit
I went out with some friends to a pub we love. You took a liking to one of my friends, which is great!!! You had a friend that looked a lot like you in some ways, so the other 2 of us asked “are you guys twins?” You roll your eyes and get pissy. You…
Happy hour at Gio
Starting this month, the four-diamond Gio restaurant (1725 Market Street, located inside the Prince George Hotel, 425-1987) will be hosting Cocktail Hour, every Wednesday and Thursday from 5-7 pm. Take a sip or two out of Gio’s sommelier-selected wine list, cocktail, martini and spirits selection. Bring your friends or your date to enjoy the restaurant’s…
Makenew leaves Indie Boutik
Indie Boutik Collective (1542 Queen Street) has lost one of its members. We reported recently that the store, a collective of local designers sharing rent on a retail space, was looking for new members, and now local designer Anna Gilkerson has informed Shoptalk that she’s moving on, having decided to show her spring/summer collection at…
Emerging Lens film screenings return
The Emerging Lens film screening is back for round two. The mini film fest, designed to provide a platform for African Canadian filmmakers to showcase their work, made its popular debut last year. This year’s films focus on sharing the black experience and features work from around Nova Scotia and Toronto. Artists presenting films at…
Best food ever!
To the guys and girls at a pizza location in Fairview. Whatever you’re doing with your food DO NOT CHANGE IT. Best food I have had from a pizza place in years. You have renewed my faith in pizza places! Your chicken gravy rivals that of KFC! —Get the Gravy
To hot university girls of the past four years
You have all made dull classes, dry studying, and monotonous days doing the same shit over and over worth it just by being your beautiful selves. Thanks for talking to me, being some of my friends, and doing the things you do that made you all who you are. I’m going to miss the weekly…
Bear bait
“I love you very much” meant “I’m in love with you”, and it still does. —<3
If you were an angel
Then I was truly blessed back the other day, when I forgot my bus pass on the #7, heading to my work. Thank you, thank you, thank you to whomever turned it in to the awesome bus driver that day. Without YOU, I would not have made it through April, truly. You have made my…
Hali-fair
There are so many times I hate on you – the culture of south-end snobbishness, the north-end out-of-provincers who think they are better than cheese whiz, the sheer unfairness in the hating of Dartmouth, which is equally plagued with crime. But, sometimes, just oh sometimes you show your rugged Atlantic beauty for what it is.…
Awesome blood collector from Sackville
You were so kind to me while taking my blood, and I am so sorry that I was in so much pain that I wasn’t able to really speak to you. You were so very gentle and kind – especially since I am “dainty” and it’s always difficult to get blood from me. You rubbed…
Wishing you well
To my sometimes friend: I miss visiting you in your little cabin on the concrete plains. I miss the conversations we used to have, you really opened my eyes to a lot of things and you gave me comfort when I needed it. I know things are different for you now and I hope you…
Send in your poetry
I don’t eat no meat, no dairy, no sweets Only ripe vegetables, fresh fruit and whole wheat I’m from the old school, my household smells like soul food Curried falafel, bar-be-cued tofu No fish though, no candy bars, no cigarettes Only ganja and fresh-squeezed juice from oranges Exercising daily to stay healthy And I rarely…
Mystery Easter Bunny
To whoever left chocolate easter eggs outside every door in the nine floor apartment building I live in: It was a thoughtful sweet surprise, and a welcome buffer to all the things that have been happening in the place the last few months. —L.M.
Back off mom!
You know ‘THE’ lecture childless women: ‘when you have children’ or ‘you have no idea what free time is…’, ‘your life will otherwise be unfulfilled’ etc. I am an auntie to many, a godmother to some and a mommy to none. It is difficult and draining to raise children, it seeps time, energy, resources and…
Waste of my time
To the dorky red-haired dude I went on one date with: I met you because my friend works with you. He told me you were looking for a woman and gave me your number. I saw pics of you on his Facebook and you weren’t my type at all. But I decided to give you…
Porn to be wild
It’s not fair that you read MY stash of porno mags that I paid for (and walked into a store top buy which is FUCKING EMBARRASSING). The reason it’s not fair is that you always bring hoes back after the bars, and I don’t. I can’t. No hoes like me, and I don’t really mind…
The Chronicle Herald gets it all wrong
There’s nothing wrong with one newspaper criticizing another, and certainly I think The Coast is as open to critique as anyone else. Still, it would nice if criticism thrown our way at least pretended to adhere to the fundamental tenets of journalism. At issue is a Chronicle-Herald article published late Thursday, following up on my…
To elevator guy with the green jacket and bicycle helmet
Even though we only spoke for a few minutes, your cheerfulness truly brightened up my stressful day. I’m sad that I didn’t get your name and since you mentioned you read The Coast constantly, hopefully you’ll read this and know that you seem like a really awesome person. I hope you have a wonderful day.…
Planting gardens
I don’t really know how it happened, but here we are. You are the best roommate ever, and becoming a good friend. I respect you, and appreciate you. Together with the little retarded kittens, we are the best household in Halifax! —Monkey Face Big Dick
NSCAD releases “Framework” and picks an acting prez
To our surprise the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design just released their “Framework for Sustainability”, the financial plan which was handed over to Marilyn More and the department of labour and advanced education last week. At the same time, they announced that Dr. Daniel O’Brien (former president of Fredricton’s St. Thomas University) will…
Ticklish beard
I don’t think you read The Coast! I just wanted to thank you for the night we shared on Monday. You kept me warm all night, and I loved the way you felt next to me. It sucks that we had to get up so early. You’re such a good friend, I dont know what…
Trailer Park Boys in New Zealand
I have been living in New Zealand for the past few years. I just saw Ricky, Julian and Bubbles in Wellington, New Zealand at a sold out show at the Opera House. Awesome show, The boys made me very home sick. I never would have paid money to see them back home but I paid…
World’s worst boss/dad/human
Even with a staff of the best workers an employer could ever dream of, you continue to treat your employees like shit. You deny the kitchen staff any incentive and regularly demand they work well past their quoted hours and you obviously have no respect for your customers to be buying expired meats in order…
Dancers on Barrington
Hey girls in your sports bras at the dance studio on Barrington! Watching you dance from the building across the street is surreal & lovely. Thanks for the soundless second floor performance. xo —The Voyeur
Brown beard
I turned the corner from Fenwick onto South Park this evening about 5:30 or so, and the first thing I see is this beautiful brown beard. You were wearing a brown jacket and I just thought you should know that a girl out there is appreciating that fine rug on that handsome face. —Stupidly on…
Volunteering?
I’ve been blessed to have a great kid. I’m not sure if it’s my parenting or if she’s just a good kid but I’m not questioning it. She spends a lot of her free time volunteering at our local animal shelter which she loves. A couple of weeks ago she decided to volunteer her time…
Coastal Cafe goes to dinner
The Coastal Cafe (2731 Robie Street, 405-4022), three-peat winner of Best Breakfast in our annual Best of Food Survey, is looking to moonlight with dinners starting this month. Coastal@NIGHT will be serving dinner as a five-course prix fixe menu at $50, with a wine or beer pairing at an additional $20-25. The evening service is…
I nearly had a heart attack
Being from Fairview, I generally don’t take many trips out of metro, but I decided to buy a last minute dealy to the D.R. I asked my friend “Hollywood” to look after my place, feed the dog, etc… Well, the vacation was a piece of shit, bad hotel, bad weather, old lady had pms, I…
Spinning up support
An online auction is set to cast-off (wow, too much pun potential) on Friday thanks to two local fibre businesses—businesses that sell products related to knitting, embroidering and crocheting. The Loop Craft Café on Barrington Street and The Bobbin Tree in Sydney are spearheading the Helping Herd online auction. The auction is set to raise…
Deadline downtime
Those of you following NSCAD’s financial trials and tribulations may have noticed that March 31 came and went pretty anti-climactically. Last weekend marked the deadline for the troubled university’s board of governors to deliver their sustainability plan to Marilyn More and the Department of Labour and Advanced Education, a plan that the greater NSCAD community…
Crosstown Connector proposal pits bicyclists against business owners
Cyclists and businesses are struggling to find middle ground in the discussion of a bicycle-friendly route in Halifax. The Halifax Cycling Coalition has proposed the Crosstown Connector, a continuous bicycle corridor that runs from the south end to the north end, eventually connecting to the Bedford Highway bike lane. The second of two public consultations…
You too can run for election
City elections are in October, but for anyone with thinking of running for council, now is the time to get started. Councillor Lorelei Nicoll attended special candidate workshops for women before being elected in Cole Harbour in 2008. “Focus on where you want to see change the most,” she says. Nicoll was already involved in…
The Coast is finalist for two Atlantic Journalism Awards
Journalism awards are curious things. On the one hand, journalists tend to develop ADHD in their constant search for the next story, so it’s good for the profession to look back and reflect on what makes excellent work. On the other: Who knew a bunch of navel-gazers could get even more self-absorbed? Journalists usually go…
Tour Tech East looks to expand
The Dartmouth-based production company Tour Tech East is asking the provincial government for a $1 million grant to help transform an adjacent furniture factory into television and movie studios. According to the CBC, Tour Tech East’s owner Peter Hendrickson feels that expanding its existing two studios to seven will help the local economy in job…
Stumptown volume 1
Crime stories and comic books might not seem like an obvious match but the two have mixed together for decades: Dick Tracy was catching crooks years before Superman showed up on the scene. If history had shaken out a bit differently it’s possible crime and noir stories would be the default comic genre instead of…
I can haz sex issues?
Q I have an awesome relationship with an awesome guy. I’m GGG and he’s vanilla, but he’s never asked me for anything other than vanilla sex. Which is why I don’t know what to do. I went downstairs late the other night, and he was sitting on the couch masturbating while stroking the cat, which…
A telling Titanic: An Untold Story
Titanic: The Untold Story actually tells two stories rather than one, which is both its strength and weakness. The first is of a Haitian-born engineer (played by Conrad Caton) who is believed to have been the only black man aboard the Titanic. The second is that of Jack Johnson (Anthony Sherwood, who also wrote, produced…
Stone Hearth from the heart
Bessie Ann Jackson was watching TV with her boyfriend when a commercial for a cruise line came on. When Jackson told her boyfriend that she dreamed of working as a prep cook on a cruise ship, he replied, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” His words spurred Jackson into action. Eventually she…
The write stuff
Seeing your hard work in print is a pretty great feeling, whether or not you’re an aspiring writer. Knowing that someone— anyone—will read it is even better. That’s the beauty of Fathom, Dalhousie’s annual creative writing journal—it’s a platform for emerging voices, and not necessarily just those of writing students, but any student in an…
The Acadian dream
After almost two years as a label The Acadian Embassy wants to thank you for being a friend. Coming down from a strong showing in The Coast’s Best of Music readers’ poll the diverse three-band collective is showing their gratitude to their supporters in the form of music before getting back to business. And the…
Mega mixtape
Man oh man, NSPIRG knows how to plan a fundraiser. The Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group, which is all about social and environmental justice, is having a night all about music. In the style of Pecha Kucha, they’ve invited speakers to present (in the form of speaking, rapping, singing, dancing, you name it) on…
Kony collateral
Jason Russell, an American filmmaker and activist, has been publicizing Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army since 2003. For decades, the LRA wreaked havoc through central Africa, kidnapping tens of thousands of child soldiers and sex slaves. The International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Kony and other LRA officers in 2005. Russell’s…
Free Will Astrology
Happy Birthday! ARIES (March 21-April 19) Please study this testimony: “Born in a rancid, bat-infested cave at the base of the smouldering Sangay Volcano, I was raised by the half-bear demon princess Arcastia. At the age of four my training as a ninja shaman began when I was left naked and alone next to a…
OBEY CONVENTION 5!
May 31 to June 3, Halifax turns into a beautiful cacophony of damaged music and art thanks to DIVORCE Records’ OBEY Convention. The fifth year of the outsider music festival includes New York’s electro-pop futurist Gary War (Sacred Bones/Spectral Spools), San Francisco’s acoustic guitar master Bill Orcutt (Edition Mego, Palilalia), and from New York, pop-noise…
Something wicked
Much like the protagonists in his upcoming novel A Matter of Life and Death or Something, Ben Stephenson found journaling just when he needed it. “It was just a great way to take the thoughts out and put them somewhere and get past them,” Stephenson says over tea in the Trident Cafe’s back room. “I…
A limp American Reunion
Ever wonder what happened to the American Pie characters after the second sequel in 2003? Me neither. Still, here are Jim (Jason Biggs), Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), Stifler (Seann William Scott), Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas), Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) and a familiar crew of supporting characters, cramming the unwanted answers into multiplexes. The gang, now into…
From Nova Scotia with love
High Arctic, 2002: A team of researchers from the United States and Greenland studies the movements of narwhals through Baffin Bay and the maze of straits and bays of northern Canada. The researchers attach Seimac SSC3 transmitters to the whales. Manufactured in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, the transmitters send signals to satellites orbiting high above, and…
Tom Sherman at HIFF
Last night The Coast called Tom Sherman from a computer. We dialed up his New York phone number from Skype on a Haligonian laptop and then a variety of devices facilitated a talk about technology, language and art. It’s fitting that this encounter was mitigated through a bizarre combination of communicative technologies, since technology and…
The Raid: Redemption = Plenty of fighting
In this Indonesian action spectacle, an elite SWAT team storms a high-rise apartment building to rout out a bloodthirsty gang leader. Brutal, nonstop fighting follows suit. Welsh director Gareth Evans and star Iko Uwais showcase the traditional Indonesian martial art of Silat, a practice that demonstrates the voluminous number of flailing fists and elbows an…
Each Other
By now, you should know the drill: Band cuts teeth in Halifax, implodes. Band moves to Montreal, explodes. The most recent incarnation of Mike Wright and Brad Loughead (ex-Long Long Long) caught the attention of Brooklyn’s Crikey Records, resulting in this sickly sweet seven-inch. Along with the expected spindly guitar work comes a newfound swagger:…
The Bad in each other
When Aldean Cromwell—the Digby-based rapper named Al Boogie— was growing up, attending St. Pat’s-Alexandra between grades three and six, Halifax’s north end felt a little different. He remembers his mother expressly forbidding him from going to Uniacke Square. “Everyone tells you this and tells you that, so it was always ‘better safe than sorry,'” he says.…
Mike O’Neill
Beyond the cooking soundtracks, the bands that never quite died (The Inbreds, The Lodge) and attention to detail, Mike O’Neill builds anticipation for recordings that manage to stand apart from trends of the day. Wild Lines answers the bell, pushing robust guitar and baroque trimmings, often as a tandem. A hard-drive beginning in “Wasted Time”…
Big Mistaek
Apparently the last words to leave mighty Roman emperor Titus’ lips were “I have made but one mistake.” It’s a compelling statement, but an ambiguous one too…which is why Lauren Bell thought it was a fitting title for this evening of performance and video art that she and her fellow members of the emerging Dudes…
Dale Murray
Emerging from a spell in Ontario’s Cuff the Duke, Dale Murray is back east enriching the scene here. Much as his sparkling solo debut, Brighter Lives, Darker Side in 2005 marked life after The Guthries, Dream Mountain Dream may offer surprises to those who know Murray from his bands. Pedal steel, his chief asset to…
Blood work
Heavy rock Blood work Old Blood haven’t been a band for long, but for the short time they have been together, they’ve gotten the circulation pumping. The Halifax hard-rocking four-piece is officially releasing its first album on April 11, after releasing it on Bandcamp and iTunes December 21. “It’s been just about a year in…
The Mars Volta
After recording the mostly forgettable and ostentatious Octahedron, the band is back in full force, sounding closest to the power and urgency that came with major-label debut De-loused in the Comatorium nearly 10 years ago. The album retains the bands signature sound of punk meets The Smiths meets prog-metal, yet sounds restrained compared to the…
Yukon Blonde ambition
As the main songwriter for BC’s Yukon Blonde, Jeff Innes has had a whirlwind career since the band hit it big with their 2010 self-titled album. They’ve travelled through the western hemisphere, hosted a New Year’s Eve concert in Australia and have been awkwardly name dropped on How I Met Your Mother. But after non-stop…
Revenge of the Electric Car
As the old saying goes, success is the best revenge. In the follow up to his critically acclaimed documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?, Chris Paine’s Revenge of the Electric Car details the insurgence of electric vehicles on the commercial car world, following Nissan and GM as they attempt to make the world’s first affordable…
Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo)
Mario Kart has been around since the Super Nintendo days, hasn’t changed too much over the years. This iteration—the first in 3D—adds a few things to a tried and true formula. Karts can now soar through the air or submerge underwater, opening up new possibilities for shortcuts around the tracks. Some new items have been…
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
It’s always upsetting when a sequel to a promising game falls on its face, which is sadly what happened to SWTFU2. The first game in the series was not perfect, but there was so much potential for greatness with the action adventure game where the player controls Starkiller, a Jedi with force powers on overdrive.…
Carly Maicher comes out of hiding
Never heard of Carly Maicher? We hadn’t either. Perhaps that’s because she’s been squirrelled away on New Brunswick’s Grand Manan Island for the last few years writing songs. Originally from Winnipeg, Maicher only meant to hide away for a few weeks, but wound up spending three years living the lonely island dream. Her love of…
A New Addiction for Halifax
Sometimes you just need to party, even if sexy Borg-style cops are chasing you. At least that’s the premise of SheMachine’s first music video. The Halifax duo, made up of Naomi-Joy Blackhall Butler (AQuestrya) & Stephanie Clattenburg (The Superfantastics), will be busting out some electronic dance music for their debut show at the Company House…
