What goes around…
To the editor, I need to say thank you to the two people who were honest enough to hand in my purse at the McDonald’s a week ago Tuesday night. I don’t know who you are but I love you for your honesty and I believe in karma and you will be rewarded. I don’t…
The conversation continues
To the editor, I’m extremely saddened, as I skim through the many posts at thecoast.ca, about increased violence in the HRM. I grew up in Halifax, and like many left in my late teens to attend university. Since completing my studies, I’ve lived overseas in a very dangerous city. Offices and homes are tucked behind…
The conversation continues
To the editor, In February 2002, the House of Commons passed the Youth Criminal Justice Act, replacing the Young Offenders Act. The YCJA was designed to provide youth in conflict with the law several extrajudicial options. One of the main thrusts of the new act was to do everything possible to help youth back onto…
The conversation continues
To the editor, My name is Ceaser. I’m a street musician who’s been entertaining the night-time crowds outside the Dome for some time. I’ve seen a lot over the years, everything from over-drinking to swarmings. This city has changed a lot and I’m not shocked by the recent tragedy. Only saddened. It was coming for…
Letters to the Editor
I came home last Friday night to a real shock. My roommate was on my couch with broken ribs and a swollen lip. Why? Because he was swarmed by 30 people in our courtyard. In our courtyard! Where there are surveillance cameras, bright lights, security guards, and hundreds of patios which someone is bound to…
Flattery, Clooney-style
Methinks the folks at Esquire might have a Coast subscription. Don’t you think? All Coast covers designed and lettered by Kate O’Connor between November 2005 and October 2006.
Letters to the Editor
To the editor, I rescue cats and have long been concerned with HRM’s lack of by-laws and resources to deal with the growing problem of stray and feral cat colonies. When recently faced with a discovery of 4 litters of kittens and 6 wild adults under one trailer, I attempted to start a non-profit society…
Film students unite
The second annual Halifax Student Film Festival drops on November 23 at Saint Mary’s University. Organized and hosted by SMU’s film society, the one-night event offers up as many films made by Halifax students as it can get, probably. “It was really long last year because we didn’t want to turn down any films,” says…
Heir Apparrel
American Apparel, the LA-based clothing store, is finally arriving in Atlantic Canada this week. The long-rumoured Halifax location is scheduled to open this Saturday at 1482 Queen. “A lot of people from Toronto and Montreal have recognized the name when they walk by,” says the company’s district manager, Rachel Voss. “But I’m more excited to…
Less is more
Fans of local act Mardeen are starting to hear some new material trickle out onto the group’s MySpace page. Making the song “Kids” available is the first step in the band’s movement towards releasing their first full-length record in spring 2007. “It’s called Read Less Minds and it will have 10 to 12 tracks on…
The best excuse ever
Thanks to all the Coasters, writers and readers, for making the mistake of writing my name down. I am humbled, as well I should be. Wanted to get out to the ceremony, but on short notice there was no way for me to get out of a visit from the in-laws. You’ve all been there,…
almost midwifery
Really happy to read that we’re getting closer to midwifery legislation, but I’m afraid that it won’t go far enough, or that there will be some other issue. After all, it’s the mercury retrograde and you’re not supposed to sign major papers during that time. And we’ve been close many times before. I learned a…
Violence in the streets
This week’s letters are all taken from our Violence in the streets forum. By The Coast
Going, going…
The next version of Metro Transit’s Go Time is estimated to depart in… 10… months. Thank you for calling. Goodbye. Go Time, Metro Transit’s primary means of conveying arrival and departure information to the bus-going masses, is getting an overhaul. The new system is scheduled to be up and running by September 2007. It will…
Savage love wextra
You would think I had single-handedly defeated Rick Santorum, judging by the thousands of emails I’ve received since last Tuesday. A sampling… You toppled a senator, Dan! And while Rick Santorum may be gone, the word for the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex will live…
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Keep pouncing, Pisces, says Rob Brezsny.
SAVAGE LOVE
Dan Savage says think of the children (no, not like that).
The why of How
Is a “harmless” racist joke ever really harmless? Do ends sometimes justify means? Are there degrees of truth? These are just a few of the difficult questions raised by This is How it Goes , playwright Neil LaBute’s exploration of exploitation and race relations currently playing at Neptune’s Studio Theatre. While the questions may be…
Falling for Molly
The first thing I notice about Mollyz Diner is that it doesn’t look remotely like a diner; it looks like a somewhat upscale restaurant with character oozing from every nook and cranny. Over here, a propane fireplace set in a brick chimney. Over there, cobalt blue vases along the wall, uplit for dramatic effect against…
Hylo country
It’s getting harder and harder to write a story on Canadian music without at least mentioning Paul Aucoin’s name. The Halifax-born producer/musician has left his stamp on a growing number of bands through his production work. He plays in The Old Soul, The Fembots and is a contributing member of Cuff The Duke. Now, with…
Last gasps
December 1. No more smoking. No puffing in any indoor public places. No more separate smoking rooms. Even outdoor patios are butting out. I gotta say, I’m kinda bummed. The scene is Tom’s Little Havana. Friday night. And it’s so busy I can’t get a table. I can’t even get a chair. I stop to…
The evolution of Tanya Davis
A year ago, 26-year-old Tanya Davis had no friends to hang out with. She had just moved to Halifax from PEI to pursue a career as a poet/writer/musician, but had no connections and no album to peddle. She spent her afternoons at Steve-O-Renos writing and thinking, and her nights at live shows hoping to connect…
Bow down
To describe Owen Pallett is to delve into an exploration of imagination, artistic ability and terminal dissatisfaction. After scoring a video game, three movies and an opera by the age of 21, the artist familiar to music aficionados as one man voice/violinist Final Fantasy released the latest in what he refers to as “a perpetual…
Happy Feet
While I was speaking with a high school class recently, one student observed that children’s films have become void of thematic depth. The value of friends and family remains the standard lesson, but these Daddy Day Care days mainly deliver brightly coloured distractions meant to relieve two hours of parental duty. Within the first minute…
The summit of all fears
There’s something very Wizard of Oz about the violence summit that happened at City Hall. The invited guests met behind closed doors—pulling the curtain to keep the regular people out—before emerging with gifts. “We bring you surveillance cameras,” said the mayor. “We bring you more cops,” said the justice minister. And with that, the citizens…
Dirty laundry
It may not look like much—just another slab of concrete among the rest that line the waterfront near Dartmouth Cove—but the small plot of land at 33 Maitland has been quite the hot potato for the past decade, and is now costing thousands of provincial tax dollars to fix. The land was ceded to the…
That new car sound
The Apex BeatWay cooler than John and Taupin The Apex Beat has big ambitions and they’re making sure they hone the skills and develop the knowledge to see their plans through. The plan is this: Take the time in studio to craft the sound, a rich, orchestral and musical border-crossing sound that harkens back to…
Fiction vs. fact
The platoon of photographers is larger than usual. Dustin Hoffman interrupts the conversation with a question he already knows the answer to. “Has anybody with a camera seen the movie?” he asks as digital shutters fire endlessly at him, but mostly at his co-star Will Ferrell, sitting a few chairs down. “Getting to do something…
