“Peat, I said I’d do it for you! Both my grandfathers were barbers, you know.” I move toward him, raise my hand to riffle what’s left of his hair. He flinches away. “I know,” he says. “I just wanted it done. Anyhow, who does who think they’re kidding?” “What?” I say, thrown off by the […]
Stephanie Domet
Posted inArts + Music
Pawn shop blues – Page 3
I stop in the living room to press play on the cd player. There’s a Tom Waits cd in there I’ve been listening to nonstop. As his dusty voice mingles with the sunlight and the coffee smell, I start to feel a bit human. It’s not a bad feeling. I’m just getting dressed when the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Harbouring secrets
To be fair, right off the bat, your Harbour Hopper guide will tell you a tremendous amount about Halifax, and most of it will be fascinating, and mainly accurate. The tour, however, is just a little under an hour long. Which means there will, by necessity, be certain gaps in the information your guide will […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Bringing back Yaser
The sandwich board outside the Pyramid Cafe on Windsor Street tells the whole story. Yaser’s back. OK, maybe not the whole story, but diehard fans of Yaser El-Helaly don’t need to know much more than that Yaser is back in Halifax and behind the grill. The 39-year-old classically trained chef made his mark at Cafe […]
Posted inArts + Music
Pawn shop blues – Page 2
I always wear it in the way she said will draw people to me. Funny thing, this ring. I haven’t noticed a marked difference in my life. Seems to me I attract and repel people pretty much the way I always have. With a look or a gesture, or a few well-chosen words. For sure, […]
Posted inArts + Music
Pawn Shop Blues
For sure, the fear has got me now. I’m lying on my back in the absolute dark of my room, blinking wildly, trying to keep my eyes open, trying to wake up, really wake up. I’m not sure exactly what has scared the hell out of me, but something has, and I struggle to pin […]
Posted inLifestyle
Struggle for life
Stephen Lewis is a man consumed, but then, that’s not news. Lewis, the United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa is known as much for his passion for Africa as for anything else in his life—his diplomacy, his career as leader of Ontario’s NDP, his famous family (he’s married to journalist Michele Landsberg, is […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Radio ga-ga
I have this song in my head, an old song by Queen. “Radio Ga-ga.” My partner’s been singing it a lot lately, and so have I. “Radio, what’s new? Radio, someone still loves you.” That’s what we’ll have to find out, now that there’s a deal, now that the lockout is (almost) officially over. You’ll […]
Posted inLifestyle
Not-so-instant star
Stephens Gerard Malone’s first novel, Miss Elva, sat in a trunk for 10 years after he wrote it, before it was published this year by Random House. Actually, that’s not strictly true. His first first novel was called Endless Bay. He wrote it in 1994 and published it under a pseudonym. It’s not what you’re […]
Posted inLifestyle
Y
“When the RCMP took me away that day, they said ‘Don’t come back here, Mrs. King. If you come back here, next time we see you, you’ll be in a body bag.’” And Donna King didn’t go back to her abusive husband that day, or any other. Instead, she went first to emergency shelter Bryony […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Locked in
“We’ve just put an offer on the table.” So begins the full page ad in the Globe and Mail (my colleague Tod Maffin reports that such ads cost about $63,000) on Day 45 of the CBC lockout. It’s going to create a lot of talk, this ad. People are going to think it means a […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Week six: Lockout night in Canada
It’s week six and frankly, it’s hard to believe we’re still out there. Do I start every entry like this, or does it just feel that way? I haven’t been to the picket line yet this week. I’ve done a bit of clerical and committee stuff, but not nearly enough to earn my $350 lockout […]