One more reason to hate the clinging ringing annoyance of cellphones: facial boils. Pneumonia’s a danger too. Oh! And meningitis. But the fear of a plain-Jane boil festering on my cheek is enough incentive for me to scrub down my mobile phone every couple of days. Cellphones, see, are carriers of an inordinate amount of […]
Lezlie Lowe
Posted inNews + Opinion
Disappearing minister
To err is human. To really screw up you need a computer. Well, at least that’s what it says on this particleboard coaster sitting beside my laptop. Nineteenth century designer William Morris would have approved of my little green desk protector, which Santa stuffed in my stocking in 2005. Morris once said: “Have nothing in […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
A higher calling
There is proof of the existence of good and evil: It is Helen Hill. Helen and her husband Paul Gailiunas—both one-time Haligonians—were shot in their rented white-sided New Orleans home one week ago. Paul: in the cheek, hand and forearm. Helen: to death. Francis Pop—their son, chubby-cheeked and cherubic like a two-year-old should be—was, by […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Our dumb year
Peter Duffy I am not. But if you’ll allow me an end-of-year indulgence, I will follow the oft-favoured format of that beloved Chronicle-Herald columnist—a smattering of bits and bobs à propos de rien. Years are, after all, like that. They have no central themes or tidily arced storylines, no matter how desperately we try to […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Living positive
There’s this pamphlet. It’s called HIV and Mental Health. And there are two happy white people on the inside back cover riding a red tandem bicycle. They’re coasting along a sunny downtown street. And they are smiling; they are glowing, like they’re in an ad for milk or toothpaste. The woman, on the back of […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Come all ye faithful
Don’t miss this one-time-only offer! For a limited time, get your rocks off for peace. Act now. This deal won’t last long. The date is December 22, winter solstice. Book it in your calendar and here’s the plan: all men and women are supposed to have an orgasm while concentrating on world peace. You can […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Living with HIV
Aaron Burke is fluent in the language of HIV. He’s done the research. He knows the terminology. He’s a 43-year-old senior manager at a prominent Halifax company and by god he’s managing this disease, too. He’s also managing not to really tell anyone he has it. “Once the fire is going, I think it can […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
More than able
Sacha Vais is on the phone and he is saying one of the most poignant things I’ve heard all year. “When you shine a little bit of light and dignity on our hardest moments, it does something.” He pauses. “I don’t know what yet.” The something Vais is talking about is something good. Something positive. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
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 […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Dear Pete
Dear Peter MacKay, On behalf of the membership of Hotheads Anonymous, it is my privilege to welcome you to the ranks of our hard-working organization. Let’s tackle the elephant in the room. You’re not exactly anonymous, are you? You’re a member of the House of Commons, and Foreign Affairs Minister at that. We nevertheless feel […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Dance lessons
Downing a half-and-half mixture of lemon gin and Strawberry Passion Awareness Fruitopia siphoned into an empty Coke can and stumbling to the high-school dance? It’s now a thing of the past for students at four Halifax high schools where administrators have cancelled casual dances for the rest of the year. And thank christ for that. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Hitting home
Debra Mann’s house is tidy. Not only tidy, either, but clean. She says she thought, “Oh my god,” just before I arrived at her Halifax condo, “there’s dust on the coffee table. I forgot to dust the coffee table.” But if there is dust there, it’s invisible to the naked eye, just like the human […]
