If you follow current affairs at all, you know that March Madness is all about the NCAA tournament and the iconic brackets of teams competing. Even though I don’t follow basketball, I get it. But my ears perked up recently when I met a friend of a friend who was throwing her own March Madness […]
Christine Beevis
Posted inFood + Drink
Home brew disasters
Halifax Explosion Tripel as told by Steve Trickett I finished brewing a Belgian tripel and transferred it into a carboy. I attached a blow-off tube to the bung and ran the hose into a jug of sanitized solution to catch any runoff, then called it a night. Next morning, the yeast cake had bubbled up […]
Posted inFood + Drink
The happy hopper
Sea Level Brewing’s owner, Randy Lawrence, is known for his motto: “Don’t be loco, drink local.” The Port Williams brewer, one of the first microbrewers in the Maritimes, has been championing the possibility of an all-Nova Scotia beer for many years. But it took travelling close to 6,000 kilometres to Washington State for Lawrence to […]
Posted inFood + Drink
What’s brewing for fall
You can feel it in the air: after a short summer, all of a sudden fall is upon us. The leaves are turning, pumpkins ripening and the hop fields are ready to be harvested. Summer makes for a busy patio season, when crisp and cold are the main attributes people look for in their beer […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax now recycles most plastics
There’s an exciting change coming to a blue bag near you: HRM Recycling now accepts *all* plastic containers in blue bags. No more checking on the bottom of containers for numbers (formerly, HRM accepted only #1 and #2 plastics). The change will make recycling easier and increase the amount of waste diverted from the landfill. Although […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The biggest Harry Potter fans in Halifax
After a summer that passed all too fast, Halifax’s students have started arriving in the city, their boxes and suitcases bulging with the clothes, books and school supplies they’ll need for the coming months of classes. Look closely, and you might just glimpse a few trunks, owls, wands and robes, too. Most of this year’s […]
Posted inFood + Drink
The brewers speak
Bobby Zacharias (Propeller) Brett Mason (Sleeman) Daniel Girard (Garrison) Greg Nash (Hart & Thistle) Kevin Keefe (Granite) Lorne Romano (Rogue’s Roost) Randy Lawrence (Sea Level Brewing) Graham Kendall (Keith’s) Bobby Zacharias, head brewer at Propeller Brewery Where did you train? I studied in Scotland at the Heriot-Wat University, and I took a course at the […]
Posted inFood + Drink
The beer doctor is in
There are beer geeks, and there are beer nerds. And if he’s going to be called one of them, Alex Speers insists on the latter. I meet Alex Speers in person on the first mild day in March. Previously, on the phone, Speers had taken me through a PowerPoint presentation of complicated-looking graphs and used […]
Posted inLifestyle
Biathlon
Did you know that the word “biathlon” means “two tests” in Greek? It seems that the sport, which combines cross-country skiing with target shooting, has its origins in ancient traditions of skiing and hunting dating back more than 4,000 years. If you’d like to reconnect with your prehistoric roots and train for these two ancient […]
Posted inLifestyle
Curling
HRM residents who want to hurry hard and try their hand at skipping and throwing stones should consult the Nova Scotia Curling Association for more information. Among the city’s several rinks, the Mayflower Curling Club is home to the 2011 Junior Men’s provincial champions and the women’s Canada Games team. It’s also the official venue […]
Posted inLifestyle
Speed Skating
Speed Skating You’d think that with all the excitement surrounding The Oval, Halifax would be buzzing with adult speed skating programs and ambitious skaters. Currently the speed skating community in Nova Scotia does not have separate adult-only programs. But fear not—ambitious adult speed skater wannabes can train alongside younger athletes at the Dartmouth Speed Skating […]
Posted inLifestyle
Synchronized Swimming
Dancing in water while holding your breath? If you’ve ever wondered how Sylvie Frechette made it look so effortless, and secretly wanted to take the synchro swim plunge, you’re not alone. The past few years have seen a rise in interest in adult (masters) level synchronized swimming. Atlantis Synchro offers adult recreational and competitive programs […]