Someone knocking on the door of a typical house on a street in north end Halifax is a sight so unremarkable, local sports psychologist Elaine Stoffer uses it to her advantage. “We don’t have a sign on our door and that’s because there are still people out there who want to keep it a secret,” […]
Lizzy Hill
Posted inLifestyle
Olympians doing the horizonal biathalon
There’ll be enough free condoms floating around Vancouver and Whistler during the 2010 Olympics to satisfy a red light district. The BC Centre for Disease Control has ordered up to 100,000 condoms for Olympians. That’s around 15 condoms per athlete (according to the Vancouver Star). Regular folk won’t miss out on the action either: Health […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
New Chickenburger to pluck arts spot
This fall, expect to see plenty of silver spandex-wearing hipsters slurping milkshakes and chomping onion rings downtown: Bedford Chickenburger owner Mickey MacDonald plans to open up a second Chickenburger just off Spring Garden Road, in the lot beside American Apparel on Queen Street. Bernard Smith, of the Spring Garden Road Business Association, says he welcomes […]
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
Gregor Ash’s passion
When Gregor Ash was a kid in Newfoundland, he and his fellow film junkies would head to the Caribou Lounge Saturday mornings, where they’d endure the stench of cigarettes and stale beer for a chance to catch flicks that weren’t on CTV and CBC, their only two channels. Despite the smell, the Atlantic Film Festival’s […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Local family’s food miles documented
The McMillins may seem like an ordinary family, but they’re not. They’ve cut their food miles by nearly 70 percent and have done so without depriving themselves of any of life’s pleasures, like the hot chocolates they’re sipping in a downtown cafe. The family reduced their average food miles from 2,569 km/month to 880 km/month, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Horatio the swan’s last song
Halloween brought a nasty surprise to the Public Gardens. Gardens staff found their swan, Horatio, dead on the morning of November 1. Horatio is remembered for his cantankerous disposition. “He was crazy and mean,” says gardener Tracy Jessen, who was often attacked by the swan while feeding him. “He could definitely draw blood.” This is […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Slow Food’s Edible Schoolyard doc released
Head to Keshen Goodman Library Sunday (Nov. 15, 2:30pm) for a screening of Slow Food Nova Scotia’s new documentary, The Edible Schoolyard. The film tells the story of a group of Summerville students with green thumbs. Dr. Arthur Hines’ elementary students have been tending a vegetable garden at school for nearly six years, as part […]
Posted inArts + Music
Sin Nombre
Sin Nombre portrays a fictionalized version of Central America’s harsh political reality. El Casper (Édgar Flores), a young romantic and member of the gang La Mara, joins paths with Sayra (Paulina Gaytan), a strong-minded young woman fleeing to the United States via freight train. New director and writer Cary Fukunaga provides no shortage of brutality: […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Monster chicken
Odds are, the chicken that winds up on your table today is quite a different beast than it was 50 years ago. Thanks to careful genetic selection, Canada’s commercial chickens have enormous breasts, twice as big as the ones they had in the ’70s. Comercial white broiler chickens, often called Meat Kings, can grow twice […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Seven Sparks’ program heals with sweat
Complete blackness envelops me. The chanting and heavy breathing of everyone else rings loudly, like thoughts in my own head. I retreat under my towel from a blast of cedar smoke and scorchingly hot steam. This is hopefully the closest sensation to burning alive that I’ll ever feel. Finally, I murmur the sacred words and […]
Posted inArts + Music
Daniel MacIvor explores a love unlimited
Daniel MacIvor found inspiration for his latest play, A Beautiful View, in the sex lives of people in their 20s. The writer-director found that 20-somethings were more polyamorous and less likely to define their sexuality than older generations. “That shows some sort of social evolution,” says MacIvor. “People are just more open to a living […]