Boring…
Kabbalhuh?
It’s a celebration, bitches!!!
I am well aware that this is old news, but having just returned from a week’s sojourn in Toronto, I still want to talk about it. Kayne West is opening for the Rolling Stones when they come to ruin the Halifax Common. It’s $100. Or for a student, $79. Which is much more reasonable. But…
Letters to the Editor
Hi Mr Rankin, I am one of your constituents – I live on Brentwood Avenue in Timberlea and spoke with you briefly on the phone yesterday. Thanks for taking my call. Its not very often that I write my councellor, however I’m very upset with the fact that the municipality is contemplating a 3rd ferry.…
Dear Annabeth Gish
Brotherhood is fucking great. I fell in love with Providence a couple years ago, but frankly the series makes me scared to go back. And I do have to cover my eyes at least twice an episode — with the hammer and the teeth and the chipping? And the neverending ear thing?!? — which I…
Media hounds
Those cats over with the HRM sure are sensitive about how they’re protrayed in the media. Last week, a release from Deputy mayor Russell Walker, and then another from communication manager John O’Brien were sent out in immediate succession, explaining to local media how the city wasn’t being fairly treated by the local media. I…
Oui. Non. Ouiiiii!
With so much emotion and bias clouding perspective on the conflict in the middle east, it can be difficult to engage in a honest, unfettered debate about the most recent fighting between Israel and Lebanon. Western governments in particular seem uncertain of what role they should play in resolving the conflict. Fortunately, two of the…
We’re not going to take it
werenotgonnatakeit.org is an interactive art project that allows pissed off people to call up a number and record their own protest song, karaoke-style, to the Twisted Sister classic. Mostly Toronto-based and actually pretty annoying, but there are a few gems buried in there, like the dude singing about Toronto restaurants: “They use shitty Ikea furniture…
You try driving in platforms
A faithful reader, knowing of our gossip fever, has written in Gawker Stalker-style with a handful of Alicia Silverstone sightings from last week. The actor, best known for Clueless and the serial TV drama Miss Match, is in town filming MOW Candles on Bay Street. “I saw her on the boardwalk the night of the…
The Darkest cut
Typically when wrapping up an interview we ask if there’s anything the interviewee would like to add. Almost always, we get the customary “if you could mention the show, that would be great.” However, drummer Ryan Parrish of Washington, DC’s Darkest Hour shares vivid memories of the band’s last trip to the east coast, in…
North market action
The north end will soon have its own version of the Farmers’ Market, when the Agricola Whole Food Market opens later this month in the lot formerly occupied by Factory 21 Used Cars, at the corner of Agricola and McCully. “On the peninsula we only have access to locally grown whole foods one day a…
Long-term parking
After months of speculation and argument over how to best use the lot near Spring Garden and Queen—the former location of the Halifax infirmary—some parts of the site began to take shape this past week: A brand new parking lot has been installed near the corner of Queen and Morris, taking up a sizable chunk…
The media is the message
To the editor, Bruce Wark’s editorial “Critical bias” (July 27) was sadly hypocritical, attacking as it did bias in the mainstream media through the use of bias in this paper. Two quick things: The article says, “The mainstream Canadian media depict groups like Hamas and Hezbollah as fanatical terrorists bent on Israel’s destruction….” The article…
No butts about it
Dear Lezlie Lowe, Let me get this straight: you find Crocs offensive (“Lowedown,” July 6), but you love to see grown, hairy, sweaty men walk around in assless ch-aps (“Lowedown,” July 20)? About Crocs you said, “But for god’s sake, people, will you have a little self-respect and stop wearing them in public?” But then…
Silence is assent
To the editor, There were some fine moments of passionate Canadian politics taken to Haligonian streets last Saturday afternoon, at an event organized by the Canadians, Arabs and Jews for a Just Peace, Students’ Coalition Against War, Halifax Peace Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Society and the Canada Palestine Association. The sounds of the turning tide of…
Fanning the shame
How to set his thighs on fire? Put a match to some flammable material—preferably Kate White’s new book How to Set His Thighs on Fire: 86 Red-Hot Lessons on Love, Life, Men, and (Especially) SEX—and quietly back out of the room as his trousers begin to smoke. OK, that’s not funny. But neither are the…
Something in the air
Andrew Wright is a brave man. On a sultry June day, the manager of Chebucto Community Net is scaling ladders to the highest part of the roof of Fenwick Tower, Halifax’s tallest building, sussing out the best spot for an antenna. He’s rolled his blue shirt sleeves high up his thick arms. A white Chebucto…
The Inn crowd
There’s no doubt that Inn on the Lake is a gorgeous setting for anything from a weekend getaway to a wedding—this “unique airport hotel” sports a sandy beach on Lake Thomas, tennis courts, a pool and beautifully appointed rooms. Recent renovations have turned the dining room and bar into equally lovely settings. The more casual…
Hunger gap
Q: Can you tell me a bit about what Feed Nova Scotia does? A: We are a food distribution agency. Food donations come to us, and we distribute the food to our 160 member organizations. We ship to everything from drop-in centres, like the Mainline Clinic, to shelters like Bryony House, to soup kitchens and…
On the War path
There’s a certain look that’s unique to musicians a few hours from going on tour. With eyes open beyond their lids’ natural extension and a cigarette that burns down a visible amount with each inhale , Amelia Curran is obviously in the countdown. As she sits down to discuss her new album, War Brides, she…
Miami Vice
Michael Mann’s stylish film version of his trend-setting ’80s TV drama Miami Vice is a weird take on a cop thriller. Mann’s non-conformist approach to tough guy mystique is more defiant than inspired—interesting for what it isn’t, rather than what it is. By resisting cliche, Mann makes exactly the movie that his detractors frequently accuse…
Dig your Roots
During Bill Clinton’s Metro Centre visit last week, he lounged in front of a starry backdrop, speaking about unavoidable—negative and positive—global interdependence. Clinton’s relationship model could also be applied to Halifax’s visual arts community: they work together, socialize together and yes, some even sleep together. An exhibition at Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery, Roots…
Toni! Toni! Toni!
It’s typical of the shallower pools in Hollywood when almost every Toni Collette biography comes with an implied asterisk next to the critical kudos, remarking on the fact she doesn’t share the razor cheekbones of Australian leading ladies who’ve worked in American film, such as Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts. Well, screw the…
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Don’t let your vistas dwindle, Taurus, says Rob Brezsny.
SAVAGE LOVE
Dan Savage has a lot on his mind, but he’s still here for you.
The Long Way to awesome
On July 21, the opening night of the Dixie Chicks’ 2006 tour, dubbed Accidents and Accusations, Natalie Maines asked the Detroit crowd how much of it was seeing the pop-country trio for the first time. Nearly half of the 11,000-person crowd raised its hands. If Maines were to ask the same question next week at…
Token solution
So, the Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission wants to phase out tokens in its campaign to get more people to sign up for MacPass, the electronic payment system that lets drivers breeze through the toll booths without a care in the world. “MacPass is by far, from the bridge commission perspective and for the majority of our…
Salvage garden
Under a welcome sun, a dozen Dalhousie architecture students wrap up their Free Lab, an intense two-week field project that students design and build themselves. In this case, it’s phase one of the transformation of a long, narrow and steeply sloped strip of land running alongside the Salvation Army building into an urban garden on…
Road to ruin
“We’re standing in the middle of an old growth red spruce forest,” says Chris Miller. “The oldest trees are probably about 150 years old.” Miller orients himself, moves a few metres farther down a rough trail, and comes to a stop. “Right here. This would be the centre of the highway.” We’re in the Blue…
