A culture of defeatism
Here Nova Scotians, here’s billions of dollars to assist you with your failing economy. Here is an opportunity to provide your workforce with stable jobs, a decent income, a reason to stay… —And we said FRACK OFF (we like being poor)
Don’t touch my hair
You stopped me and said, “Hey sexy, do you have a cigarette?” I didn’t hear you say the sexy part, so I began to dig one from my backpack. As I was doing so, you said, “I love your hair,” and touched it. As I passed you the cigarette to get you to leave me…
Halifax Memorial Library and librarians
Free DVDs. Free books. Answers to all your questions, courtesy of the reference librarians. All the mags you could ever want. Graphic novels. Complimentary computers. The crowd waiting outside to get in. Foreign newspapers (even if it’s not that far away). I remember coming in one day and asking, at the children’s desk, for the “person in charge of giraffe hats”…
If only there was a dumb customer olympics
Complaint: “My drinks are too liquidy!” That’s why they’re called “DRINKS” you imbecile… —Facepalming
Is it really that hard?
It’s been nearly seven years since I came out of the closet; since I told you both that I didn’t feel okay in my body, with my sex or perceived gender. Like most LGBT+ teens, I was told that it was “just a phase.” But it’s been seven fucking years. Seven years that you both…
Chicken man
To the lovely fellow in the chicken suit who strolls up and down Young Street: We love you and your cheery waving, and when you take off the chicken head you have a lovely smile. —xox the wavers
Province breaks up with fracking
It’s not you, fracking. It’s us. The province just isn’t ready for that kind of commitment right now, says Energy Minister Andrew Younger, who today announced Nova Scotia will introduce legislation in the fall to prohibit hydraulic fracturing. “Nova Scotians have overwhelmingly expressed concern about allowing high volume hydraulic fracturing to be a part of…
Got Soul Shack?
“My husband is from the States, and my dad is from the States. Soul food is in our roots, it’s in our blood,” says Kita Scott. She runs The Soul Shack catering and take-out with her husband, the chef, Philly Scott. The pair are currently looking for the perfect spot to set up a small…
Halifax style
Halifax is the kind of city where people call you a murderer for eating meat and then call you a cock-sucker for eating a vegetarian platter. No matter what you do, they wanna fight. —Burn baby, burn
My fantasy. What’s yours?
I wanna get you in the back seat, windows up That’s the way you like to fuck, clogged up fog alert Rip the pants and rip the shirt, ruff sex make it hurt In the garden all in the dirt —Hot pants n hard lickur
Brilliant Boutique and Room 152 debut
Stacey Thompson knows her designers. After honing her eye for the fashionable at Crimson Clover Boutique (1469 Birmingham Street), she’s branched out on her own—to both sides of the bridge—opening Room 152 (152 Portland Street) and Brilliant Clothing Boutique (1539 Birmingham Street, the former Twisted Muse) with the help of Sarah Kingston, former Crimson Clover…
Security or bullshit?
For my husband’s birthday I bought tix to Alice in Chains and after a lovely dinner we arrived at Metro Centre where we were allowed to enter, buy shirts, drinks and THEN told to leave. Because after buying our merch and drinks we were suddenly drunk. Apparently they had been “watching us” since we came…
Fringe Binge 2014: Day 6
After entire days in dark theatres, three shows in one evening seems like a walk in the park. Unfortunately, Lumber Jack & Jill’s Double Date was only scheduled for the beginning of the festival, so there are no more opportunities to catch this improv show. Last night’s edition included special guests Mark Little and Naomi…
I hate your ‘tude.
Hey mister popped-collar-middle-aged-lawyer… Learn some very basic manners!! Did they not teach you that in law school? —Yjjsjbdiahah
Recycling Tips
I worked for a few weeks sorting recyclables and I have some bitches about what people do that causes a lot of trouble. They’ll tie the tops of grocery bags with paper in them. Why? Do they think it will escape? Just leave it open or put another bag upside down over the first one…
Jailhouse Rock
Pizza,beer and dancing under the moonlight sounds great. —Jitterbug
EmLaw
Too often people judge others on their outward appearance or on a small glimpse of their personality. Or what we perceive to be their personality. That’s dumb because you could miss out on some really interesting, brave, solid people. What is even worse is if out of your own ignorance you put that person down…
Heartbreaker
I really meant what I told him to say. Because of you I can’t wait to work everyday. I wish I had a chance to explain everything stupid I do but I would probably blow it again because I am not as cool as you. I am so sorry I can’t say what I really…
Unhappy Receptionist
Here’s an idea… When someone comes in to your office professionally dressed and saying they have an appointment with your HR Manager, they PROBABLY have an interview scheduled. Maybe it’s not the BEST idea to be on a personal phone call complaining loudly about your job, that they’re interviewing for a position they “didn’t even…
Fringe Binge 2014: Day 5
Daydreams of Kaleidoscopes ★★★ After seeing this show, I left the theatre with a lot of questions. Why was the young man in the play dying? What was the relationship between his mental illness and his impending death? Why was his therapist a disembodied voice…was he real, a figment of the boy’s imagination, or a…
Asshole students
Thanks for spray-painting swastikas everywhere. Thanks for calling my friends “fags,” getting into fights, throwing eggs at strangers (really?!). I know there’s plenty of you that are respectable, gorgeous, brilliant people. I wish you were all like that, instead of the drunken, bigoted fucks that clog up our streets every Labour Day weekend. —Too old…
Safe city
I love how in Halifax, I am not worried about getting jumped by random people at night time when I walk around. I am actually terrified now, after several bad experiences, of being jumped by the HRM police after dark; or even during the day. So I spend a lot of time inside now. Thanks…
Stop yelling!
Hey Halifax, I get it, you like my bike helmet. I like it too; eight-inch spiky mohawks are pretty cool. But please, STOP YELLING AT ME. I know you (mostly) just want to be supportive, but, first of all, yelling at strangers is pretty rude. More importantly, it’s distracting, like really, really distracting, and I…
Fringe Binge 2014: Day 4
Audiences are building as the buzz gets louder about the 2014 Fringe. So much good comedy at this year’s festival, but also an impressive range of drama from heart-touching to mind-bending. Something for everyone! Watch Out WildKat! (Yer Dealin’ with the Devil) ★★★★★ I’m telling you, run, don’t mosey, to get your tickets for this…
SHOP THIS: The Seven Year Pen
Hi new students! In preparation for your impending scholarly activities, we’re going to give you a solid tip: put your phone down and take some notes, OK? Like real notes with a pen and paper. It’ll help. To ensure your ink will outlast your degree or diploma—even if you wind up take a victory lap—we’ll…
Say bollocks to a politician, vote
To the career politician I encountered at a protest in Chester last week. You tried to overawe me with your references and by claiming that you studied history and meteorology, not realizing that I’m working on a dissertation in the history of science and that I have among my acquaintances climate researchers who’ve spent time…
Hit Me With A Flower
Hi, I’m the person that wrote the nasty bitch that got published in the coast about you. Your profile really annoyed me but it was very wrong of me to write that note to you and I am sincerely sorry. I had forgotten all about you and the bitch that I had written earlier in…
Fringe Binge 2014: Day 3
The Atlantic Fringe scheduling offers two really valuable tools for mapping out a Fringe Binge: the opening night Fringe Sampler and Festival Chair (and charming funnyman) Kevin Kindred’s Fringe Talk Show. The Sampler has come and gone, but there are two more opportunities to take in the talk show, which shines the spotlight on an assortment…
Fringe Binge 2014: Day One
Fifty-eight plays from now to September 7th. That’s what I’m aiming for. (And even at that, it is still physically impossible to see every play at this year’s Fringe.) My reviews will be short., but I’m trying out a star rating system to see if that helps in choosing what to see. However, we…
Way to represent!
Hey water commision guy! what gives you the right to holler a comment out of your free drive home to a gal in a dress who otherwise looks somewhat presentable when not enduring the best day turned upsidedown wrong balling my eyes out with already a skin condition. You are a dick and I wish…
North end, night time, winking bike boy
I had a shitty day after someone wrote a Love The Way We Bitch about me. I was eating ice cream on a friend’s front step and you rode by and winked very dramatically at me. That was great. I was instantly shocked and brought back to a time where winking reminded me of cartoons…
Fringe Binge 2014: Day 2
I’d forgotten how fun, and frantic, Fringe can be. Trying to see the bulk of the shows means mad dashes across town to meet tight turn-around times as well as lengthy layovers in The Bus Stop lobby that offer a chance to discuss and digest the plays. Last night’s offerings certainly offered lots of food…
Feeling regrets
Last night after hemming and hawing over whatvto do for supper my other half and I ordered pizza from one of my favorite pizza places. It had been awhile because last time we ordered it took well over an hour to arrive. Last night we waited almost two hours for two pizzas a taco abd…
Jive Talking
What do you say you ,me a pizza,beer and dancing under the moonlight?I liked what I saw and would like to see more of you. —Jailhouse rock
Clusterfuck continues on Market Street
[Image-1] Spoke too soon, it seems. Yesterday’s announcement that Market Street would close for two weeks to accommodate Nova Centre construction caught the public, and the street’s businesses, by surprise. But it appeared a compromise had been reached late yesterday that would allow pedestrian access to Inkwell Boutique and Applehead Studios. Then EllisDon Construction had…
stuck in a corner
my buddys and i have a band with a few shows coming up. we ordered some posters and a bunch of almost postcard things. we pre payed the company we found online and gave them all the art that we all made together. we get it all back first yestreday morning which when it was…
Nurse Vanderbeek
To the guy in the nurses uniform on the 20 who looks like a combo of James Vanderbeek/ Mr. Incredible with a bad ass look to him…thank you. — Lafayette
Hilltribe Designs retires
It was after a trip to Bali that Victoria Raine “fell in love with the place and wanted to figure out how to keep going there.” The result was Hilltribe Design, known for its women’s clothing designed in Canada and made in Indonesia. Raine’s has been running shops downtown since 1985. From her first store…
The wonderful Glitch Wizard
Have you ever thought about how much your iPhone kind of feels like a phaser? Halifax programmer Allan Lavell has. And between imagining casting spells with his device and being really into glitch art he’s created a new app that’ll give you magic power when it comes to your photos. Lavell’s company with fellow programmer…
Market Street shut-down
[Image-1] The businesses along Market Street almost got an extended Labour Day weekend. Earlier today the city announced the stretch of Market between Sackville and Prince streets would be closed to all traffic and pedestrians for the next two weeks. That came as a surprise to Inkwell Boutique owner Andrea Rahal, who only found out…
The ball room
Q My boyfriend of two years cannot climax or maintain an erection unless his testicles are handled, squeezed, pulled or pressed on (preferably with my stockinged foot or knee). Needless to say, intercourse does not work very well, and our sexual repertoire is rather limited, which is frustrating for both of us. His doctor says…
“We need people”
The Coast: Why should Halifax want more international students? Mike Savage: What we need more than anything in Halifax is people. We need people to come here to live; we need people to come here to study; we need people to come here to invest, to visit, to come to conferences. As much as possible,…
Half-heard, chapter 3
Alex arrived home from a weekend visiting his parents outside of the city and was dropped off at an absurdly early hour before the onset of light, earlier than expected. And as far as anyone else knew he was totally alibi’d up, ruling him out as the one who would gun his Bavarian into A.’s…
Hey! It’s the Back to School Guide!
Dust off your backpack and letterman jacket—it’s time to go back to school! Yup, summer’s over, class is in session and Halifax is alive with student presence, yet again. But best of all, our annual Back to School Guide has arrived. Click here for study up on all our tips for life on and off…
New in town
Jaffar Alramil From Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia Saint Mary’s University, Bachelor of Commerce, fourth year First impressions: I didn’t expect Halifax to be like this. First I went to Vancouver and it was a great environment and big city, but still I love it here more than Vancouver to be honest. Even if I go home…
Halifax’s white night
A $30 ticket is on the spendy side for any Halifax entertainment, but when that ticket is for a dinner event in a public place, where you have to bring your own food, cups, plates, napkins, forks, water and chairs, it seems outrageous. Oh, and you have to dress all in white or you’re not…
Coast quiz: What style of beer are you?
I’d describe myself as: A. Complex and contemplative B. Friendly and unpredictable C. Uncomplicated and transparent D. An acquired taste If I weren’t a beer, I’d be this mythical drink: A. Ambrosia: The only thing I can imagine tasting better B. Butterbeer: Drunk quidditch! C. Flaming Moe: If it’s not on fire, it’s probably boring…
Hard Drive’s hard bargain
“We felt it was important to make this film,” says Bill MacGillivray, writer and director of Hard Drive, a locally shot feature opening this Friday at Park Lane, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers. MacGillivray, a recipient of the last year’s Governor General’s Award for Media Arts, was introduced to the novel on which…
Get on the bus with Legoland
Legoland is a musical about two bus-hopping, drug-dealing, ex-hippie runaways, Penny (Maggie Hammel) and Ezra (Henricus Gielis), who are forced to sing and dance as part of their community service. Their genre of choice? Vaudeville, which is “fast-paced, fun and predictably unpredictable,” says the show’s director, Gillian Clark. Popular in the late 19th and…
Androidgynous’ robot love
If you’re wandering around Halifax and see a man in make-up holding hands with a doll that’s holding hands with a robot, fear not—it’s just actor Ian Mullan promoting his Fringe show, Androidgynous. Mullan will be playing two roles, lovelorn Aunt June and her young, robot-obsessed charge Riley. “I was a kid who loved machines…
Halifax taxis turn to tech
After a series of scary cab reports in Halifax this month, taxi companies are turning to tech to increase safety for passengers and drivers. Several local cab services are using GPS and apps to locate cabs and record customer feedback, and one company is pushing for video cameras in its cars. Last week two passengers…
Shack attack
The screen door at the South Shore Fish Shack flaps and creaks, banging lazily against the doorframe in the weak breeze that makes its way up Lunenburg’s Montague Street. The restaurant is small, but the line-up outside the door stretches the length of it and beyond, to the end of their patio. The crowd is…
Free Will Astrology
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Vigro (August 23-September 22) As you know, real confidence has no bluster or bombast. It’s not rooted in a desire to seem better than everyone else and it’s not driven by a fear of appearing weak. Real confidence settles in when you have a clear vision of exactly what you need to do.…
Letters to the editor, August 28, 2014
Money tips “Legalized Loan Sharking” by Bruce Wark (Cover Story, August 7) is an excellent article! If my comments appear insensitive, it is due to my good fortune in that I have never been forced to walk in the shoes of those who are forced to take out payday loans. Therefore, I am unable to…
Giving credit where it’s due
[Image-1] On Thursday, something truly miraculous happened. Something that happens once in a blue moon, in a dog’s age, in a right smart spell—the environmental movement won something. And it was good. The Wheeler panel on fracking turned over its recommendations to Energy Minister Andrew Younger, and they were a lot better than most people…
Dear students
Welcome to Halifax! We’re so happy to finally have some fresh flesh here to replace our withered, rotting husks! There is truly nothing like a crop of cool 18-year-olds to remind you that time is a rushing river, carrying us all toward the insatiable black belly of Death. We are psyched for it to gobble…
Lonely Travellers
From your cozy bus seat, you may have noticed artist Sara Hartland-Rowe’s pieces adorning the formerly long dark corridor of the Dartmouth Bridge Transit Terminal. Now, thanks to Hartland-Rowe’s colourful, multi-piece mural, Travellers, the terminal is filled with people—lounging, chatting, gazing, travelling, just like you. Halifax Transit put out a call for submissions of ideas…
