Best of John Hughes: film clips
Before he became the teen-screen king, Hughes wrote a little screenplay called Vacation, based on his short story, Vacation ’58. Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) became the oft-mimicked dad: well-intentioned, but screw-loosey. In every Hughes movie, there is always hope: Maybe, just maybe, fresh-breathed Farmer Ted will get with Samantha (who is gaga for Jaaaaaaaake) in…
Get off the F-ing Phone
I work in customer service and I am getting sick and tired of people coming up to me expecting service while talking on their phones. My job requires me to ask some questions in order to provide that service. I can’t very well do that while you’re blabing away to whoever about nothing important. If…
Next Halifax Crafters Market, September 12-13
The Halifax Crafters Art Harvest is happening Saturday, September 12 and Sunday, September 13th, from 11am-5pm at the North St Church, 5657 North, which will coincide with Go North!, the north end studio and gallery tour (on the Saturday). Admission is free.
Harbour Bitch?
So what is the deal with the harbour? Does it stink? or does it not? It always used to be gross – is it back to that? or is it worse? I’m trying to plan my wedding on a certain silvar sailing vessel, and I’m doing it from Calgary. Do I book it and risk…
Biking the bridge…
I am a girl who likes to bike. I live in halifax, but my parents, some friends and my school are in Dartmouth. I try as much as I can to get on my bike and take the journey over to D-town. However, the ferry (although very enjoyable) is $2.25 and my school (NSCC) does…
Amateur Hour
Who is reading the afternoon news on our local talk radio station? Just in the past week alone she has called Kim Jong IL (Kim Jong 2), Robert Ghiz (Robert Jizz) and stated at least 5 times yesterday the NS Film industry had $150,000 worth of projects this year when, in reality, it is $150…
Some of us on your street work assholes!
To the childish assholes across the street who host their stupid fucking video game nights until 6am seemingly every Tuesday night, learn some fucking respect. It must be nice to just sell weed and play video games 24/7 but most of us on your street work for a living. Quite the concept eh! Sleeping with…
Meaghan Smith shines on (500) Days of Summer soundtrack
Haligonian singer/songwriter Meaghan Smith could quite possibly be one of the main reasons not to punch (500) Days of Summer in the face. Smith’s cover of The Pixies’ “Here Comes Your Man” is featured on the soundtrack, available here. You can see trailer above and possibly agree with me about wanting to give the film…
More Halifax Pop Explosion line-up announcements
What do Mates of State look so smug about? Find out at HPX, I assume It’s about time to start accumulating stimulants to prepare for the Halifax Pop Explosion. Confirmed acts for 2009 are By Divine Right, Cadence Weapon, D-Sisive, Jenn Grant, Mates of State, MSTRKRFT, Two Hours Traffic, You Say Party, We Say Die,…
I miss my chicken
So yesterday I found out that I’m highly allergic to chicken. -It’s my favorite food in the galaxy. -I hate my life. —Dino
South St. YMCA Sweetheart
To the Arab/Indian man with the shaved head, bright green eyes and tiny cute triangle beard who goes to the YMCA on South Street, you are amazing. The way you helped that elderly lady outside with her bags, made her laugh, and chatted with her for a few minutes was so sweet. I wanted to…
I’ll be hitting your kids while I’m reading your sign.
To the set of jackass parents in Portland Estates: Try fucking teaching your kids NOT to go into the road or actually keeping an eye on them. Using that cute little yellow sign instead that says “WARNING: CHILDREN PLAYING’ is setting yourself up to GET your kids ploughed. Reading that POS meant that by the…
City buys Bayers Road property in preparation for future widening
Updated below At tonight’s meeting, Halifax council agreed– in secret– to purchase a property– for a secret amount of money. All very cryptic. But, given that the purchase is related to a “regional transportation corridor,” and given that the three councillors who objected to it were Jennifer Watts, Jerry Blumenthal and Dawn Sloane, it’s a…
CUBERS on CBC’s Newsworld tonight
CUBERS, the documentary about obsessed Rubik’s Cube champs, produced by Halifax’s Walter Forsyth, is on tonight. CBC Newsworld, The Lens, 11pm. Related Stories
Hypocrite
This is for the driver of the blue civic (whose NS plate # I easily have memorized) who blew past me at 140+ on the highway in New Brunswick coming through the Fredericton area, and then again heading towards Moncton. I couldn’t care less about you speeding, but the Neighbourhood Pace Car sticker on your…
Sneeky Garbage Dumping
To any person who throws Any garage out their car windows, you should be ashamed of yourselves, especially on the on and off ramps on the highways. It’s discussing. How cowardly it is to throw garbage out your car windows, when no one is around. Take it to the garbage can please – Come On…
Our favourite Halifax daily photo blogs
An artistic trend that we’d like to encourage is the daily photo blog (it keeps our kitty-trick video viewing in check). This is where artists and photographers commit to shooting photos every day and posting them to their websites. Here are some of our favourite local (and former Haligonian) photo-based websites: Artist Brendan Dunlop is…
Sidney Crosby gets misplaced by ESPN
Sidney Crosby. Stanley Cup. Hometown parade. On his frickin’ birthday. Last Friday was awesome in Halifax, and with the Pittsburgh Penguins captain on display of course it attracted plenty of attention. Sports media giant ESPN did coverage under the headline “Sid gives Cup one big homecoming,” except as this screen grab shows, ESPN has the…
To the girl who danced on a elevated spot with a short skirt and no underwear
It is not appealing or sexy, at least, not to us other female dancers on the dance floor who have your who-knows-where-it-has-been or what-it-has thing gyrating close to our heads. It could be that it is not appealing to most males either, since everyone, including them, moved aside when you drunkenly fell from grace-figuratively and…
Dear Neighbour
I could understand if we had been loud, or even perhaps if we had been loud earlier that night. But we were sleeping, we had watched tv until about midnight. What is your problem? You first started pounding on your ceiling (which is our floor), then after a few minutes of that you started pounding…
A Bad Case of Harbour Farts
I am sick and tired of the harbour stench. I live and work DT and the entirety of my day is permeated by an everpresent fart stench like I’ve got my nose shoved in morning after, pre-beer shit ass crack. It’s. Fucking. Disgusting. I throw up a little in my mouth each day as I…
Ignorance is bliss Captain
To the ladies dressed in shirts worn as dresses on the Harbour Queen cruise Saturday night. Have a little class (if that’s even remotely possible) and common sense to not throw your empty plastic cup over the boat like the dumb bitches you are and use a receptacle. I know you are trying to withhold…
Baby on Board Signs
Really? A Baby on Board?! In your car!? I’d better slow down and take EXTRA care. Seriously, I’m not driving around looking for middle aged people to hit all day…this isn’t going to keep me or anyone else from hitting your car. I’m not going to drive extra careful around your baby filled car. I’m…
STOP HAVING YOUR MOTHERS WEDDING
If I have to hear about one more happy couple letting their mothers/familys turn their wedding into a terribly boring gathering of people they hardly know in a hall in a town they couldnt wait to get out of and no longer visit, I am going to lose my frigging mind. I understand that weddings…
My staff
During this especially busy time of the year, even when I am pulling my hair out over the incredibly short-sighted decisions from those above me, customers are being douchey and the day just wont end, …you still continue to be super awesome uber wow employees! I could not ask for a better group of people…
H&M opens and more fashion updates
A few weeks ago we wrote about Put Me On (upstairs, 1532 Queen), Pamela McInnis’ new clothing shop. Now, local fashion and vintage hounds have more reasons to visit the stylish street. Clothes Horse, originally next door (1530 Queen) and upstairs from Elsie’s Used Clothing, has moved into the same building as Put Me On.…
Frog Hollow book store to shut doors
Shoptalk is deeply saddened to report the imminent demise of beloved independent bookstore Frog Hollow (1459 Brenton, 429-3318). Despite a recent escape from the high rent in Park Lane Mall to a new location just down the block on Brenton Street, the business will close August 22nd. Owner Heidi Hallett explained the situation in a…
Tonight! CKDU gets you on a boat
The Stance have perfected their “salty dog” look for the show Never thought you’d be on a boat, did you? CKDU wishes to take you out on that big, blue watery road Friday, August 14, for a very special nautical engagement with The Scoop Outs, Myles Deck and The Fuzz and The Stance on the…
For Those About to Rock,
Thank you Angus Young, Brian Johnson, and the rest of ACDC for putting on the greatest show I will ever see in my life in Moncton. Massive crowd, but well behaved…oh and to the drunk guy in the campground in the Yogi Bear costume, with the sign that said ‘Show Yogi your Tits’..perfect…I saw the…
Last lane to D-town 8PM Sunday night
Why is it that if it’s known that one bridge is completely closed the bridge commission closes another entire lane for construction causing a backup of busker traffic from town? Couldn’t it wait until after dark or when the other bridge is open during the week? —bridge bitcher
Nosy Neighbor
To the miserable old hag that lives behind me: Stop looking in my goddamn windows and waving to me. I realize you are drunk most of the time and that you have very little couth so let me explain it to you this way. It is OK to look OUT the windows of a person’s…
ok we get it, enough already
Congrats, you’re buying a house. I don’t want to hear about it anymore and i’m sure all of our co-workers don’t want to hear about what appliances you have to buy and what you have to do to get ready and how long its going to take you to move and whatever. I’m not always…
Rain in Halifax! How shocking…
It seems to me that if you plan to hold an international buskers festival, then you should make sure the performers have a plan for when it rains. —Wasted trip
Smoking Nurses
Why the hell are you nurses still smoking!?!?!? I see you huddled outside the VG and Infirmary hospitals everyday puffing your brains out. Don’t they teach you how bad smoking is for your health in nursing school? Shouldn’t you be setting an example of healthy living for the public? Plus, who’s going to take care…
Tanning Trouble
This is to the lovely young woman who made a catty comment to me as I left the tanning salon Satuday morning: I haven’t been living under a rock for the past decade. I KNOW that tanning causes skin cancer, and premature aging, and all kinds of other nasty things. I get it. But you…
women with dreadlocks
women with dreads, black, white, whatever…you turn my head. I don’t know why really, but that shit melts my butter. mad love out there to all the ladies willing to get knotty. at least one man out here can get enough. —dreadfully yours
Money Hungry
To the person who took the 10$ I accidently left in the U-Scan at the Superstore, thanks a lot! Apparently you needed it more than I did! Maybe someone will take your money and you will know how much it sucks! — 10 bucks poorer
park ranger danger
This goes out to the park ranger at point pleasant park who could have been a nice guy but instead decided to be a complete asshole to my family and I. I’m fucking sorry that I didn’t see the sign that said I couldn’t walk my dog on the main path after ten am…maybe that’s…
Film Fest tix @ Video Difference
Starting Wednesday, August 26, tickets for the 29th Atlantic Film Festival will be available at Video Difference, but only at the Quinpool Road location.
Today is Crass Day!
How awesome would it be to move into the Dial House? So awesome? That’s what I thought. Enjoy Crass today!
Heat Misers
I’m sick of all these jag-offs complaining that we haven’t had enough nice weather this summer. It’s hotter than a cow’s face every day so settle down and stop treating one day of rain a week like the end of your world. —Cold As Ice
Dresdon Row Drummer.
To the guy playing his drums on dresdon row yesterday. I had been having a really bad day and you made me smile. I wish I had had some change to give. Hope your there the next time I walk by. —TheLittleThings
Ace Ventura Pet Detective
Thanks to the two guys who brilliantly rescued a cat from the outdoor balcony of a Halifax apartment building. The cat had been left unattended on the balcony without food and water and had been meowing non-stop for almost two days. With the aid of a ladder and a backpack for safe keeping, the rescue…
Stupid Cabs
Man, what is it with cabbies in this city? While driving I have been cut off, nearly hit and tailgated. While cycling I almost got hit on Spring Garden – I was beside the cab and he pulled out! Luckily he had an open window and I managed to embarrass him and his passengers using…
To my friend…
I understand you are going through a rough situation, things aren’t as smooth as they should be and with a new job and trying to move, things are certainly stressful. I do understand. However, these are all stresses that big people handle every day and something you are going to have to get used to.…
Seaport Beerfest
First off let’s give credit where credit is due. Thank you to all the suppliers, vendors, restaurants who took part in this event. It was great that so many people took the opportunity to sample beer that is not ‘mainstream’. Now the not so good: 1. This show was grossly oversold 2. According to the…
Hey man, thanks for jumping me
Thanks to the guy in the pick-up truck who gave my dead battery a jump. Even though I’ve believed for years now this city is being mismanaged, you can always count on the people living here. I only had to wait about 30 seconds standing in front on my vehicle waving my jumper cables before…
What the fuck?!
Where the fuck did the best comic in the coast go? —ME
to all the people who keep calling me…
… to tell me where my cat is. and thanks to the folks of lawton’s for not getting mad at her when she sneaks into the store. also thanks to the people who have sheltered her, willingly or not :). thanks to all the others who have stopped for a few minutes to talk to…
Library
Doesn’t it piss you off when you go into the library in the evening and ALL the computers are available for use ; BUT you’ve used all your time for the day. What a waste of valuable technology. People should be allowed more time if the computers are not in use —Gimme more time
Pay Phones?
Yesterday I found myself in need of a payphone. Someone was waiting for me, and I was delayed. Hardly a matter of life and death, but I really didn’t want to leave my friend hanging for an hour or more. My phone was dead. Defective battery, as it turned out. So I went looking for…
Happy NOFX Day
Seen and heard: lively chap playing an acoustic rendition of “August 8th” on his front porch. Happy NOFX Day everyone!
Stop trying to run me over
Crosswalks exist at intersections, marked or not. I’ve had at least two asshat drivers in the past week nearly run me over while crossing the street – in both cases they had STOPPED (looking for an opportunity to make a left turn) and proceeded to try to put on their gas again WHILE I WAS…
Dumb bitches
No, I’m not talking about anything that relates to LTWWB. I found this little snippet on the internets and thought you all ought to have a go at it. http://www.phillyd.tv/2009/08/07/jason-should-be-ashamed/ Basically, I’m astonished at the level of stupidity girls my age are capable of. It really boggles my mind. I want to really smack twats…
To Tall Girl Who Hates Shorties
In response to the bitcher who was nauseated by tall guys and short girls together… coming from someone who is of petite stature I can date whoever I want- sorry for you ms. Amazon that you see us little ones as such a threat. And as for the comment about how in hell guys would…
ga,ga,sidney crosbey,ga,ga.
doesn’t it just make you sick of all the bullshit that is going on about him.sure,he might be a good player,but how many is on a TEAM again.and how many assisted him in his goal getting.yes,i know you think it’s sour grapes and all that crap,really it isn’t,just a looky see thing.do we here of…
Live review: Rick White, Julie Doiron and friends at the North Street Church
As I climbed the Macdonald bridge earlier in the day (seriously, and yes, it was awesome), I found myself climbing a ladder in one of the cramped, sun heated-iron towers and that was suffocatingly hot. Last night, the North Street Church was even hotter. The church was like an iron lung: as soon as a…
Not afraid of blood
To the girl on Lacewood who stopped me while my nose was bleeding all over the place and offered to run to your nearby apartment to get me kleenex, then DID, Thanks!! It was very embarrasing but I was 101% appreciative that I didn’t have to let it pour out all over my hands. Woulda…
Hey you, ya, the loser who parks in the bike lane…
Holy hell. What is wrong with the drivers of Halifax? Honestly, it’s not bad enough that I have to fear for my life when I’m trying to get to work on my bike while choking down your disgusting exhaust fumes, but why do you park in bikes lanes???!! There are like a total of what,…
Can I has Call Center Bitch Thread?
Dear Caller, I’m sorry if my product was a gift given to you, but I need a receipt to give you anything for free. This is standard everywhere. And frankly, I don’t care if you never buy another from me ever again, like you threaten… It just means I’ll never have to deal with you…
The elderly abuser
To the inconsiderate ignoramus on the metro the other day. Next time you decide to take the bus with your SIX children without any help, think twice! Because believe or not people will offer you a helping hand more times than not. That being said you heartless FUCK… when an elderly woman sincerely tries to…
Stop saying that!!!!!
Innane bitch, I know. Please, for the love of all thing holy and dear, STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT THE HEAT! If you have a problem with the humidity, move to Arizona. If you dont like the heat, move to northern Saskatchewan. Please, we only get a few really nice days in a summer and I really…
south end construction
fucking get that shit done already for the love of god. it’s been almost 3 months since you started tearing up the streets and fucking everybody over. the bus detour is a huge hassle and whenever i walk by all these fucking construction workers are standing around doing dick all drinking their ghetto tim horton’s…
Car wash bitch
Why is it that there are never any of those roadside charity car washes going on when I really need one? It seems like they used to be everywhere in the summertime and now I don’t see them anymore. Are local youth sports teams now receiving corporate funding or something? I’m waaaaaay too lazy to…
Rodeo Lounge announces opening of Cowgirls
[image-1] “There are lots of women working here, with nowhere to go for a good time,” says Carla Balsor of the Burnside Industrial Park. Balsor’s solution? Cowgirls Saloon! Balsor is owner of the Rodeo Lounge (121 Ilsey Avenue), one of the biggest and best country-themed bars going anywhere. The place is huge, seemingly sprawling on…
Auditions for The Grand Bam Bam this Sunday
Hey man! Oh Henry get off the phone. It’s the Grand Bam Bam! The intriguing A Glam Affair: The Grand Bam Bam is looking for burlesque dancers, actors, circus performers, drag queens, musicians, comedians, fabulous and bizarre people to audition on Sunday. Call 422-5119 to book an appointment. I have no idea what it is,…
Have fun on Warped Tour, baby
Music Nova Scotia kicks off the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands 13 with a call for submissions, inviting artists to apply to compete for 4 dates, and perform on the Vans Warped Tour 2010. Judges and regional bands decide who will perform on one of the preliminary stages at The Seahorse Tavern September 8,…
Moncton’s Messtival won’t tear up the Common
Myles Deck and the Fuzz are no strangers to messiness Photo: Rachel Rossiter Moncton has a good thing going on with outdoor shows. No one seems to put up a fuss and people can get as messy as they like. Which is why the Messtival on August 29 to 30 is going to be so…
supermarkets patrons
Barrington Street SuperStore – Full of yuppies and snobby babyboomers with their Suburu wagons and chocolate labs. Bayers Lake SuperStore – Wall to wall Plebs. Lacewood Sobeys – Creepy, grimy slackers in caravans. Windsor St Sobeys – Broke students and lotto losers. Queen St. Sobeys – Broke students and lotto losers. Jo Howe Superstore -…
Cash Grabs
So now I have to pay $150 to ‘renew my licence plates’? I just wasted half a saturday last week getting my 2 year old car ‘inspected’ – don’t worry it still has 4 wheels and a gas pedal so it passsed…. And what do I receive in exchange for THIS 150 bucks? Nothing. The…
Pay Your Debts
Hey asshole who rearended me 2 years ago, GIVE ME MY FUCKING MONEY YOU CHEAP SELFISH PRICK! —Want My Car Fixed
dear coffee shop costumers
just because I work at a coffee shop and serve coffee for a living does NOT mean I am a dumb nitwit. I just graduated with honours from university and am probably more intelligent and worldly than you will ever be. treat me like crap again and I will spit in your coffee —it’s the…
Mindless advertising
I’m fucking sick of the blatant and ubiquitous advertising I see around Halifax. I understand the need for marketing in a capitalist culture, but it’s becoming desensitizing and distracting (soft drink ads now cover entire buses and are projected on apartment building walls…’nuff said). I’d be interested to see how an environment saturated with advertisements…
I’d rather live on the street…
Why is it that every apartment I look at is an over-priced shit hole! SERIOUSLY! I AM NOT GOING TO PAY $600-700 FOR A CRAMPED BACHELOR APARTMENT THAT LOOKS LIKE IT IS FALLING APART. I just wish there was a decent place to live in Halifax without having some asshole landlord taking advantage of me……
Osheaga Day Two
Sunday began with rain, continued with rain, and ended with sun. We showed up to the festival in time to catch someone we had been looking forward to, Miike Snow. The band is comprised of singer/songwriter Andrew Wyatt and producing team Bloodshy & Avant. Six men dressed in black filled the stage to create a…
Craving Radio Variety
I can’t wait until the AC/DC concert is OVER! Maybe then a certain local rock radio station will play something other than AC/DC! First it was Paul McCartney. Then it was KISS. Then it was Chickenfoot. Now it’s AC/DC every other song! I can’t take it anymore and I really wish this city had an…
polluting for dollars
With all these big companies supposedly “going green” why am I being choked on the exhaust of a pack of advertising bikes, constantly driving the city? Put it on a bus for God sakes! All the extra polltion from these bikes is truely thoughtless and needless. — gassed whlie they pass
Osheaga Day One
Unfortunately, due to a 12-hour drive from Halifax to Montreal, Saturday started a little late. Doors to the festival opened at 1pm with bands starting at two (we arrived around four). It was 35 degrees, sunny and humid at Parc Jean Drapeau that day. A perfect setting for drunken fools to dehydrate themselves and pass…
Periods
Who needs ’em. And no, I’m not talking about the aforementioned one back there. <— — cramped
Get out the rum: Trailer Park Boys are opening the Atlantic Film Fest
Will these guys get past security? So we just received word that Trailer Park Boys Countdown to Liquor Day will open the 29th Atlantic Film Festival, which starts on September 17 and runs until the 26th. Update: There are a few changes people should know about this year. After the opening night screenings, the red…
no buskers schedule?
buskers.ca appears to be the offical website for the 2009 buskers festival. But there is no schedule on the website, only “schedules available on the waterfront for $2” I am so finished with this city. — from Haligonian to Torontoian
glass
When I get home from work, me and my girlfriend talk our dog and his buddy for a walk to citadel hill. I am SO sick and tired of seeing smashed glass all over the sidewalks! What is wrong with you people! Not only is harmful to us, but consider the poor animals that walk…
Dear Hardware Store:
Why do you hire that hapless dude to harrass me for my personal information? I know it’s for some “contest” which I don’t care about, but come on. It’s like talking to a telemarketer face to face. The guy has a script, which you can tell he probably recites in his sleep. His eyes are…
Sick of this Shit
For all you disgusting assholes that come into my place of work, crap in the public toilets and refuse to flush- what makes you think I want to look at your shit, or smell it for that matter? You people are sick. By the way, URINALS DO FLUSH, GUYS!! (But not GUM or papertowels!!) —Fed…
Rolling Speed Bumps…
For all you rolling speed bumps,who speed up to get in front of me, then go slow as hell, get the fuck off my road! Just because you went out for a walk, and took your car with you, doesn’t mean I don’t have somewhere I need to be. Suck my tailpipe! — Road Ragin’…
The Coast Sucks
I see that Pravda here has taken it upon themselves to be censoring harsh but otherwise valid crticism. Apparently my comments denouncing the drivel that is the “Tourism Manners 101” farticle, must have hurt someones feelings… Boo hoo. Go ahead… Delete this bitch and make my day… —Floyd
Friends who take but don’t give.
I like to help my friends out. If asked for help I generally go out of my way to help them and even if not asked I like to help out where I can. I’m not trying to talk myself up, that’s just a fact. I recently have helped one certain friend a lot [ie.…
Tongan Death Grip 7″ awaits you
Tongan trio If you don’t already have the Tongan Death Grip 7’’ (limited edition record with bonus download card) I advise you to go walking down the street, lashing your back and wailing in penance. Your path should take you straight to CD Plus, where you can now purchase the best punk record to come…
MSTRKRFT @ HPX
Photo: Davida Nemeroff Here’s lookin’ at you kid The Halifax Pop Explosion is bringing MSTRKRFT to town, which should be fun. Get tickets at Ticketpro.
Crime Fighthing 101
To the douchebags in this town that vandalize, steal, sell drugs, terrorize innocent people, and have nothing better to do than bring this city down: Grow the fuck up! Put your energy to good use and turn our city around. You’re lucky we live in a soft city in a soft country. I’d like to…
Q&A with the Wordburglar
MK: How did you get into Backburner and what is its history according to you? Wordburglar: Hmm…well, I knew Fes, Process, Thesis and Ginzu through the local hip-hop scene. and Jesse and I went back cause we played on the same baseball team when we were kids. I was doing my thing with my crew…
Sloane wants more garden time
Halifax councillor Dawn Sloane wants the Public Gardens to be more public. At Tuesday’s council meeting she asked that the city consider lengthening the season for the park. “I understand it can’t be open when there’s three feet of snow on the path,” she says. “But there’s no reason we can’t keep it open until…
Q&A: Halifax Rap Legend Jesse Dangerously
MK: How did you get into Backburner and what is its history according to you? Halifax Rap Legend Jesse Dangerously: I used to see Fester, Dex and Kils at Halifax hip-hop shows around 2000. We were at all the same ones, and I think they knew I was in The Sentinels with ginzu333, and we’d…
Momma’s death: fowl play or old age?
A prominent figure is missing from the Public Gardens. Mother Goose, called “Momma” by her friends, passed away this week under mysterious circumstances. Momma was over 20 years old, which in goose years made her a senior citizen. Though she may have died of old age, Police and Gardens staff haven’t ruled out foul play.…
The Seaport Beerfest review
You couldn’t pick a better day for sitting around and drinking beer with hundreds of your closest friends. A bright sun was broken only occasionally by a passing cloud and a light breeze, and the breeze was from some direction that somehow missed the millions of litres of raw sewage floating past. Thirty beer and…
Worm finds a new fisheries hope?
Three years ago, Dalhousie marine biologist Boris Worm made international headlines when he warned that all the world’s seafood could disappear by 2048 unless drastic measures were taken to protect fisheries. Worm’s paper, “Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services,” which was published in the journal Science, was hotly contested by other scientists, including…
Up front with Backburner
Wondering what to expect when the Backburner collective (Wordburglar, Jesse Dangerously, The Extremities and London-based group Toolshed, plus Windom Earle) hit the Seahorse stage on August 8? “The grown-up version of being in grade five and your teacher leaves the classroom. That’s right,” says Sean Jordan, AKA SJ the Wordburglar. “No teachers. Party time.” Call…
Best Buskers’ Festival hangouts
Voted Best Free Event 2008 in our Best of Halifax readers’ poll, it’s a sure bet the waterfront’s going to be packed from August 6 to 11 for this year’s Halifax International Busker Festival. There’s only one restaurant in plain view of a busker stage (Stayner’s Wharf at Chebucto Landing), and the chances of seeing…
Halifax Ukelele Gang now!
I know you hate Mondays as much as the next person, so here’s a reason to start liking them: the ukulele. The Halifax Ukulele Gang holds a free meeting on the first Monday of each month from 7-9pm at the Celtic Corner on Alderney Drive, for those who want to learn the instrument. These meetings…
DIY eating: how to build an appetite
A plume of smoke rises above a huge box store. No, it’s not the apocalypse, I decide, when the sweet smell of flaming ground intestines in a semi-edible casing enters my flaring nostrils. I’ve found the staple of DIYers everywhere: the barbecue-on-wheels that lives outside building supply warehouses. My assignment: Find the best of Halifax’s…
Ex-pat superstars Denial Tone return
A group of Halifax heroes move to Montreal and make a great band, return to Halifax and burn the city to the ground. This should be how all fairytales begin. Denial Tone are Meghan Merrigan (Gilbert Switzer, ROT), Eben Hicks (Be Bad, System Shit), Yan Basque (Racine) and Crystal McNorton (Trouble Rocket). They play August…
Laura Dawe’s direction
The year is 2011. Due to war in the Middle East, the world’s demand for oil has never been greater. Unemployment rates have reached a high not seen since the Great Depression. The economic apocalypse is nigh. Painter and her boyfriend Michael escape in an old blue station wagon to an isolated house in the…
Will Council rework Council?
This week Halifax councillors decided to look at tweaking HRM’s electoral districts, reducing the number of councillors, changing the relationship between rural and urban districts and increasing the power of community councils. The approved council motion sets out a tight timeline: By February 24, 2010, a committee will bring back “appropriate alternatives” for HRM’s governing…
Rick White’s noise
When Rick White steps onto a stage, the first thing you notice is his guitar. It’s a well-worn acoustic with a cosmic scene adorning its body—acrylic paint swirls from the sound hole, spreading brilliantly outward. As White and his guitar settle into a chair at the main tent before his suppertime set at this year’s…
Jon Epwort
The music industry’s dying, but the music is doing just fine. In the battle between gimmick and pure talent, it’s the latter that Jon Epworth fights with. Despite mastering almost every talent musically and technologically, it’s Epworth’s voice and thoughts that are exposed in the spotlight. The soul-rocker’s lyrics read as poetry out of context…
Giving the finger
I laughed out loud during the “finger” scene in Michael Moore’s Sicko. It tells the story of Rick, who accidentally cut off the tops of two fingers with a power saw. Because he’s one of nearly 50 million Americans who don’t have health insurance, the hospital gave Rick a choice: Have his middle finger re-attached…
Sister Suvi
Toronto-Montreal three-piece Sister Suvi is all over the map, but that’s a good thing. They share a member with Islands, whose influence is audible, but Sister Suvi has its own clear, folky, rhythmic sound. Now I Am Champion at times suggests the ukulele-fuelled lo-fi music of The Magnetic Fields and The Mountain Goats, at times…
Gus’ noise problem
Halifax indie rockers. They’re touchy about their music venues. No wonder. They keep losing them. A fault in the business model is one thing. But what really stings is when a good venue—Cafe Ole, Birdland, The Blues Corner—is lost because of noise complaints. Dimo Georgakakos is a somewhat expected champion of keeping indie rock healthy,…
Major Lazer
They say Major Lazer is a Jamaican commando who lost his arms in the secret zombie wars of ’84 and had them replaced by Lazers. It’s the perfect backyard barbecue album where Diplo and Switch and all the MCs would hang out. I would be the whitest person there and get all uncomfortable and drink…
Outsourced
Don’t let the faux-hand-lettering fool you, Juno-naysayers: Outsourced isn’t the “quirky” indie drama its cover implies. Instead, it’s a formulaic fish-out-water tale. (If you’re going to pooh-pooh something, pooh-pooh fairly.) Here, our uncomfortable fish is Todd (Josh Hamilton), an American kitsch salesman sent to train a call-centre full of lower-cost labourers in India, after his…
Black Mold
Chad VanGaalen really didn’t need to assume the Black Mold moniker for this album, very much a recording by him and for his listeners, right down to the song titles and cover illustrations. On his previous records he’d already brought beautiful electronic soundscapes to bear on his skill for melody. Here, the melodies are truncated,…
February doesn’t grow old
For 25 years, Helen O’Mara has been living with the ghost of her husband Carl, who died, along with 83 other men in 1982 when the off-shore oil rig Ocean Ranger sank off the coast of Newfoundland. A historically true story that shattered many lives, Moore filters a painful event through one woman and her…
Arab Labor: The Complete First Season
Tucked into the box set or foreign section of your local video store you may find this wry 10-episode sitcom straight from Israel, about Amjad, an Arab journalist and his high-strung family. A familiarity with Israel based only on heated headlines will have no bearing on Arab Labor, whose characters seem only indirectly effected by…
There is such thing as A Perfect Getaway
A suspense movie for people who can’t stand suspense; a thriller for those who can’t bare thrills. However you say it, A Perfect Getaway gets along nicely by eschewing what some would consider to be fundamental to the suspense thriller genre: suspense and thrills. The movie—about a newlywed couple (Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich) in…
Share
Although this is Share’s third album, in some ways it’s the first as a band. Originally intended as a musical and experimental outlet for guitarist/vocalist Andrew Sisk, Share has settled nicely into its place as a roots pop band with a cohesive mature sound. Produced by Dan Ledwell in a PEI cabin, the fresh air…
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
Bigger than Jesus and The Beatles: so were the hopes for 1960s crooner Scott Walker. The American-born enigmatic singer won over the Brit-pop scene with his boy band The Walkers and their big hit, a cover of “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine (Anymore).” Walker left the band to pursue his own bizarre, experimental brand of…
DaPoPo’s harbouring secrets
The day has been hot and sunny, one of the few in a predominantly grey summer, so most of the people crossing the Halifax Harbour on the ferry make a beeline to the upper deck to enjoy the ocean breeze. Small children fidget impatiently as adults settle into their seats, some chatting; others plugging into…
(500) Days of Summer falls, hard
Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Tom falls hard for Zooey Deschanel’s Summer, who does not return the sentiment, so naturally, the relationship doesn’t work out. (500) Days, though it has its moments of genuine insight, is more a story of heartbreak for heartbreak’s sake and not a deep emotional journey. The supporting cast all speak the same commiserative…
Apatow’s Funny People can’t see straight
In Funny People, Judd Apatow inserts real documentary footage of his daughter singing “Memory” in her school performance of Cats, and makes it a story point. That says everything about Funny People’s inflated sense of importance. Apatow hasn’t a touch for big-screen comedy (not in pacing, composition, nor attitude). He prioritizes mass acceptance too highly…
Honesty is the best policy
Q I met my girlfriend three months ago on a social networking website and we texted each other non-stop. The pictures made her look attractive and in shape. Last weekend we met, and she didn’t look anything like her pictures, but we had sex twice. I’m about to start college and I do not want…
Magical Nomi Chi
Nomi Chi is intently sketching an animal skull on a wall between several of her paintings when I arrive to meet her at Utility Gallery. I’m hesitant to disturb her, waiting several minutes before she finally takes a step back from the drawing. It’s a display of the sort of commitment that’s been necessary to…
Bridal Store
You would have a lot more customers if your staff knew anything about customer service and weren’t such snobs and if your dresses weren’t so ridiculously over priced. Fix those problems and maybe people wouldn’t come in and just “browse”. I went somewhere else and saved over 1000 dollars and was treated with respect. —Wont…
Caught in the middle of it
So basically someone told me more than they should have about someone else, both of whom are in relative positions of power over me. Now both parties are having it out with each other, and I know about that too which again I’m not supposed to. This is making things awkward for me with the…
never ending construction or pollution?
WHY must the trucks that are supposedly repairing the gaping holes in south park street insist on sitting there and idling ALL DAY LONG?! it’s one thing to wait in line with your dump truck full of whatever it is that you’re carrying but why is it so difficult to turn your engine off? you…
Go local on Agricola Street
Stretching down from the north end, Agricola Street is a series of pauses, movements and environments. North of Young is the largely residential energy of the Hydrostone, but points south you’ll encounter the dominating presence of the Oland Brewery (3055 Agricola, 453-1867), then the distinguished formality of the antiques district just around Almon. Further south…
Crappy patch job, Dartmouth High School parking lot.
What’s wrong? Crappy patch job, Dartmouth High School parking lot. Who’s responsible? Wayne Clark, operations, HRM school board, 464-2000. REMARKS Last summer Clark told us the lot would be repaved before last school year, but only last week did a crew get around to filling some of the pot holes. The rest of the lot…
