Marie is the classic awkward teenager: square-framed glasses, frumpy clothing and an inability to feel comfortable in her own skin. But everyday teen woes don’t explain it all, as Marie’s learning to live with her mother’s schizophrenia and her split family’s poverty. The road to god knows is largely autobiographical, but author and illustrator Von […]
Holly Gordon
Posted inArts + Music
Kelly McGuire’s midweek collaborators
Hump day is usually the day that gets you closer to the weekend, but the last Wednesday of 2009 began a new mid-week tradition—Halifax Music Club at the Paragon. The Club brings musicians and artists from different genres together to collaborate, with local blues musician Garrett Mason, Cape Breton darling Carmen Townsend and actor/dancer/jack-of-all-trades Cory […]
Posted inLifestyle
Complete guide to New Year’s Eve
NEIGHBOURHOOD TOP PICK DJ Anderoc If you live in the west end (or you’re up for cabbing there), The Armview has a solid neighbourhood gathering set up for New Year’s Eve. Chef Troy is making hors d’oeuvres to serve all evening, with bubbly at midnight. The lounge side of the restaurant will magically transform into […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Lower Decked Out for 35th Birthday bash
"I hired Great Big Sea16 years ago for their first show on the mainland, so they were the first band I called to see if they'd consider coming and doing a show for us; they accepted our offer to come and make it a real celebration," says Mike Condy, owner of the Lower Deck. Great […]
Posted inArts + Music
Santaland Diaries: All work and a play
Every adult knows the roles. Whether as a kid climbing onto Santa’s lap to snatch a spot on the “nice” list, as a parent forcing a child onto that same lap decades later or as a passerby watching the drama, the cliche of the mall Santa is part of the Christmas ritual. This year, Halifax […]
Posted inArts + Music
Mittentime Revue spreads Island cheer
If you’re hiding under the covers to avoid shopping, baking or card sending, be sure to dress in your woolies and hop out of bed for Saturday’s Mittentime Revue—a cabaret show that’ll de-stress you with its carol medleys, storytelling, poetry and songs. “It’s meant to take the piss out a little bit, and also just […]
Posted inLifestyle
Glorious gift-giving and other wonderful holiday stuff
For the fantasy nerd It’s a fair bet that most local nerds will want to catch the release of the new Jim Cameron science-fiction feature Avatar later this month. Help them do it by giving an Empire Theatres Gift Card. Until December 24, if you put $30 or more on a gift card, you get […]
Posted inArts + Music
The Wild Things, Dave Eggers (McSweeney’s)
Filling out the storyline of Maurice Sendak’s childhood book Where the Wild Things Are is an uphill battle from page one. The original book is less than 20 sentences and owes its success to vivid illustrations that leave the plot almost entirely to imagination. Dave Eggers’ The Wild Things, written on Sendak’s suggestion, is a […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Tickled ivory: piano bar round up
While Halifax is a great city for weekly live music shows, sometimes it’s nice to simply sit down and have a drink with a performance that isn’t taking centre stage. Ragtime, anyone? Press Gang The Gang’s piano’s played weekly from Thursday to Saturday, 7:30-11pm, with a new time slot Thursdays and Fridays from 4:30-5:30pm. Musician […]
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Von Allan gets personal about mental illness
When Ottawan Von Allan decided to create the art for his graphic novel, he couldn’t draw. “I literally sat down, when I was 24, with Betty EdwardsDrawing on the Right Side of the Brain, and I started to teach myself,” says Allan. Eleven years later, the former independent bookstore manager is now selling his self-published […]
Posted inFood + Drink
‘BURB BARS: On the out of town
Working downtown has its perks—offices that are walking distance from a plentiful number of bars and restaurants is one—but if you live outside the core, the commute’s not an easy feat. Next time you’re headed home stop into one of these three joints to relax and wait out the traffic. They’re just a few of […]
Posted inArts + Music
Ryan Turner tests What We’re Made Of
If you ever meet Ryan Turner, watch out for his little tan notebook. The Moleskin pad has a spine barely half the width of your pinky, but it holds the secrets to many of Turner’s characters—and one of them might be a piece of you. “Once in a while, someone will say something that I […]