Recently Engaged: Becka & Adam
We love going camping together, so canoeing out to one of the backcountry sites at Kejimkujik National Park was something we’d been looking forward to all summer! We started the 6km canoe to our site at the worst time of day, right when the waves were at their peak and coming straight at us. Becka…
Answer the damn question
I hate bullshit. And I hate bullshit even more when it’s coming out of the mouth of a politician in response to my questions. It’s insulting, really: the politician thinks avoiding the gist of a question and simply repeating talking points will serve as an answer. In other words, the politician thinks we’re stupid. Readers…
Best Films of 2011 Podcast
As a companion piece to the On Screen story in the January 5 issue of The Coast, this podcast gets Coast film critics Molly Segal and Matt Semansky to elaborate on their lists of the Best Films of 2011, offering a few titles that didn’t make it into print. Moderated by film editor Carsten Knox.…
My forbidden fruit
Dear Forbidden Fruit, each day I get to walk by you and see your incandescent smile, which draws me in. As you talk to me, I can’t help but to gaze in to those sparkling blue eyes, and wonder what it would be like to hold your hand for a little while… To have you…
The boy who cried wolf again
OK, some asshole told me that the world is going to end today, and was like you have to watch the news to learn how it’s going to happen. So I go online to see if anyone’s talking about said end of the world bullshit and nothing. Nice one asshole, just like the other 5…
I thought I smelt coffee…
Every since the day I met you on the shuttle bus to Cape Breton during Christmas and I couldn’t stop thinking of you. Your big brown eyes makes me like putty in the palm of your hands. The more I learn about you, the more I want to know. We have only ever met once…
Recently Engaged: Amanda & Stephen
Several weeks ago, I got out my Christmas decorations and dusted them off, complaining about their tackiness and sulking that I’d like to purchase “newer” and “better” decorations but that they were not in the budget this year. So to my surprise, I came home a few days later to see that my boyfriend decided…
Hami’s Cafe closed
Coast reader Heather MacLennan reports that Hami’s Cafe & Catering (79 Alderney Drive, Dartmouth) closed over the holidays. “It’s a shame that a locally owned cafe with good quality food couldn’t stay afloat in this area,” she says. “They will be missed.”
Boogie board in Costa Rica
To the guy from north end Halifax who kindly offered his boogie board to our kids on his last day in Costa Rica… Thanks! Our kids had a blast in the big waves. Then on our last day in Costa Rica we gave it to a woman selling fruit on the side of the road…
Apple store coming to Halifax?
It has been reported today that an honest-to-goodness Apple store is opening in the near future in the Halifax Shopping Centre. No, that doesn’t mean a fresh food market (though that would be cool, too), it means the computer people from the Pacific Northwest are coming to town. More on this as we get it.
Lady in red
To the girl in the red dress playing pool at a local pub: Wear some fucking underwear, or better yet; don’t dress like a complete hooker; especially in the wrong surroundings. I happened to be looking at the wrong place, and the wrong time as you were bending over (humping) the pool table, your already…
U ain’t all dat!
I was walking up North Street yesterday afternoon. I saw you, bitch! Minding my own business I noticed as you were crossing Agricola heading down North Street. How could I miss you with your deep voice and big fucking mouth? I saw you hiding something and then noticed what it was and why you were…
To a certain cosmetics store
I love your products. For the first time in years, I’ve found a line of awesomely smelling, pretty and lovely bath things that don’t make me sneeze, break out in hives, or unable to breath when I use them. I buy and use a wide range of your products frequently, both buying from the local…
The world does not revolve around you
So I decided to spend my New Year’s Eve alone with my new boyfriend instead of with all my friends this year. 5pm that night, I tell all of them my change in plans, including you. You went ballistic; you told me we’ve partied on New Year’s together for the past few years, and I…
Memorial for LEXX co-creator this Sunday
For six seasons (1997 to 2002), LEXX was the biggest show in town, a sexy science-fiction TV series with an international pedigree (a Canadian co-pro made with British, German and US support) shot in Halifax. Writer/actor/director and LEXX co-creator and head-writer Lex Gigeroff was a big part of the success of the show. Gigeroff died…
Red Hot NYE
To the amazing blonde dancer in the red jumpsuit: your skill and independence on the dance floor was fantastic, unparalleled and inspiring entertainment for me and my people on New Year’s Eve. Thank you for making the bar’s last night a memorable one! —The Wannabe Brunette
A substitute for exploration
I just don’t get it. I thought Halifax attracted progressive, artistic, off-the-beaten-track kind of people. However, it appears you are all just rodents. Strange, furry creatures breading and brainwashing your offspring before they even have a chance to think for themselves. It’s the only plausible reason for why you all amble mindlessly towards The Commons…
A big round of applause…
…to project manager Terry Gallagher and the crew and staff who pulled out all the stops and worked night & day to get the Oval finished on schedule. THANK YOU for your gigantic effort. —Citizen Skater
Thanks for the perfect NYE!
A big thank you to the Mellotones for such a fantastic, groovy, generous performance on New Year’s Eve! My friend and I left our night open to move where the vibe took us, and we were so grateful that we landed in the heart of such a positive atmosphere where we could dance the year…
Cellphone company
I just love the cellphone company that has the worst customer care dept I have ever met in ANY company to date. And trust me after 40+ years of living in Europe I have met some good ones. Put on hold, passed from dept to dept, for over an hour. Spoke with a technical advisor…
Ppsst HRM
Thanks for building a skating rink at the end of my street. —Happy Skater
Saturday treats
Every Saturday I can, I will try and stop for a baked treat at the Dartmouth Farmers’ market. Not only are the eats great at your table but your handsome, smiling face makes it worthwhile grabbing that turnover before heading to the gym… Keep smiling and being you… and great turnovers! —Extra Hour of Cardio
Controlling abusive woman
On December 31st approximately 9:30am I saw a young woman walking with her German Shepherd dog on Forest Hills Parkway in Cole Harbour, and she was very rough with the dog. Not giving him enough time to do his business and yanking the leash extremely hard, holding him very very close to her and if…
Stargazers
I know I seldom live on Planet Earth anymore, spending more time with my head in the clouds or staring at the sun. This Love is for everyone who stops to check on me every now and then, taking the time to ask honestly how the view is, instead of trudging along staring at their…
Roll a D6
I admit I haven’t tried that hard, but in the couple months I’ve lived in Halifax, I still haven’t found a nice D&D group to settle in with. Wearing my D20 ring out & about has gotten a couple cute questions, but nothing more promising than that. Ok, sometimes I’ll need to be reminded what…
Tom Petty ticket prices
The Tom Petty ticket prices for Halifax and St John’s are excessive and reek of greed. I base this on the following facts: – Prices for all other Tom Petty concerts in the past 24 months, and coming 12 months range between $40 and $140 CAD, regardless of venue size or geographic location. These prices…
To the captain with the beautiful smile
I miss our bitter rage filled chats about nothing. I miss hiding away from the world with you. I miss the way you touch me. It was for the best, us not speaking out of respect for our new others- but those others should have never been there, good people or not. I’m sorry for…
The fucking TAXI company
I FUCKIN HATE YOU!!! Thanks for making me wait out in the cold for an hour and a half the other night. And thanks for making me run up and down 4 flights of stairs with a broken foot to call your ass 5 times! This rude dispatch bitch keeps telling me 2 more minutes……
To the greedy fuckers who fucked us over
Do you have any idea what it feels like to work your ass off for someone, only to be completely fucking burnt? Do you think that I or any of the other 15-20 employees in your two locations wanted to work all fucking Christmas, only to be told that both restaurants are closing down, and…
Falun Dafa People on Gottingen St
Dear person(s) who practice Falun Dafa on Gottingen St at the basketball courts around 10:30am every weekday. THANK YOU! You make me smile and you remind me every day on my way to work to take time out to be thankful and relax my soul before heading into my day. You weren’t there this morning,…
The poor kids in a bottle recycling centre
I couldn’t believe what I saw today. While bringing back my bottles and cans, I watched these poor sorters tear open about 10 garbage bags (I put mine in clear bags and write the # of cans on it) and the shit they had to wade through: fucking paper plates, food, chip bags, general trash…
YAY!
Thank You Santa! I Fucking Love Christmas!! —Woot Woot
To: My Situation
It seems that the amount of time we spend on good terms isn’t worth the rough, confusing, or slightly scary times for you. I wish it was. It is for me. —Great White
Bitter cold and open coats, WTF?
I was on the 60 Eastern Passage the other day and noticed you get on the bus wearing your boyfriend’s coat. How stupid do you have to be to not know it’s wintertime. Your teeth are clanging together and the coat is open. What’s the matter is closing a coat too conformist for you. Wake…
December cyclist
To the vigorous-looking chap I met on Chebucto Rd., part way through his daily commute home from Burnside to Timberlea. You inspire me! I aspire to have your conviction, but North St. to Dal is about far enough for me. —Tired Quadriceps
Oh Gosh
“Hi” “Hello Sir” “I need a form” “Oh ok! We have a hugggeee database. Do you have a name? or maybe the form number?” “No. I just called this morning and someone told me I need this form” “Is is for XYZ?” “Oh, I don’t know. I just need the form.” “Do you know who…
Squished
Not so much a bitch, more of a question really: Why when you have tonnes of bags, and a little one to boot do cab drivers refuse to let you put bags in the trunk? I am not talking dirty laundry or booze either, I am talking shopping bags peeps. This has happened to me…
Dear bad parents
I do security and unfortunately that entails that I have to stop your kids from the unfortunate circumstances where they decided to participate in dangerous stunts in public places that easily can become an injury to themselves or someone else and/or property damage while you stand idly by completely unaware. You are usually on your…
The grinch who stole christmas
To the person who thinks they have the right to turn the prospect of beautiful Christmas decoration displays in to environmental killing machines. I love the environment just as much as the next guy but come on, give them a break! They’re only trying to spread their Christmas spirit which you are clearly lacking. Maybe…
Clueless in a grey car
I was cycling southbound on North Park St next to the Commons on Thursday at 8:45am. I was amazed to watch you drive on the inside lane through the Cornwallis St crosswalk. That the crosswalk had a flashing amber light wasn’t going to slow you down. I know, you were in a rush to drive…
Thank you in advance
I am the ghost of Christmas present here to say “Why the fuck can’t you take the time to say thank you?” That’s right, First, the giver of your gift had to earn the money to purchase me. Then there’s the time and gas to the store and back. Then, there’s the time spent finding…
Danielle
Danielle and her sweetest accessory, Gabriel, were out for a leisurely stroll when I caught up with them yesterday. Danielle’s sister is a “sorta fashionista” and really inspires and influences her style. She likes classic, quality pieces as you can see by the Coach bag, Lululemon jacket (hey Lulu, bring back the tweed!) and her…
Tracy
I bee-lined towards that hair like a bat outta hell. I had to get it! Could not let this hairportunity (too much?) pass me by. Trying not to rudely interrupt the conversation Tracy was enjoying with three of her friends, I went for it. A subtle “excuse me” followed by an overflow of compliments toward…
Kelty
I caught up with Kelty during her first market visit after two months in Paris. After I stopped swooning, I got to the deets. Kelty likes to take nostalgic pieces and bring them forward and welcomes the challenge of adding a modern touch to a vintage piece. She’s super into ’90s grunge with a super…
Sheri
When I saw Sheri the lyrics to “She’s got the look” came to mind. You know the one—“nananananananannananannanananananana…she’s got the look!” Sheri was worth crossing the street for. Let’s talk about the outfit—could it be anymore chic? The leopard print touches are perfection and really prove that this gal can dress to impress. Sheri works…
LTWWB/LTWWL on Holiday
Hey Bitchers, The Coast office will be on vacation from December 23-January 3. So, take a break, enjoy some eggnog, make merry and come back to bitch in the new year. No posts will be uploaded over the holidays! Sorry guys, even bitchers need a break once in awhile. —Bird
Best IT guy ever
You fixed my computer like a pro and made my day with your visit. I think it’s rare to meet someone that you can speak so easily with, and I think you sensed it too. You are hilarious and friendly and also just really polite; I appreciate that! We’re both in relationships but I don’t…
You left with the cool girl
My friend and I had dinner recently at a north end creperie. You didn’t serve us but were working. I think you are mega cute. I wonder if you like building snowmen? Playing crib? Snugs and hugs? —Shy Snuggle Pervert
Ooooooooh
I like me a certain bitcher too. It’s also a garcon. Your garcon better not be my garcon. —That’s Right
City life
I wanted to wish a Merry Christmas to the driver and passengers of the #21 yesterday who neglected to offer up a seat when I limped painfully onto the bus at Bayers Lake with my toddler and stroller. I had torn my quadricep muscle minutes before when I lunged to stop my son from wandering…
Parking on main arteries in downtown Halifax
So city planners make more sections of streets in downtown Halifax one-way, so traffic flows more smoothly… in theory. Yet with years of observations to draw on from Hollis Street, say, where two theoretical lanes are often just one, nobody has the balls to disallow parking on Water Street? Just a couple of months of…
You’re not Boudica
If anyone happens to know the 5′ tall fishwife on the #10 this afternoon, with scraggy red hair and a frozen look on her face like she bit into a lemon, please tell her her fireworks were misdirected. I told her I’m not Muslim and it’s true – I haven’t believed since I was 14.…
The Roots
Being Jimmy Fallon’s house band certainly hasn’t left the Roots creatively fallow. Over two remarkable decades, Philly’s finest have crafted 10 good-to-great albums on the foundations of tight live instruments and sonically coherent sensibilities —undun marks their ascension into the realm of the artful. Tracing the death of the fictional young gangster Redford Stephens, Black Thought…
Year to the ground
The danger with year-end roundups is that it can be easy to focus on the negative points. Halifax has endured its share of blows this year, music-wise—but a lot of interesting and exciting things are happening here right now, and it’s a better use of my time (and yours) to discuss those. The music community…
The Coast takes a week off
The Coast office is closed this week, and there will be no paper Thursday. The website, too, will be mostly idle, unless there’s some big event (tsunami, earthquake, concert) that pulls one or more of us out of holiday. There’s some chance I’ll write a blog post here or there, as well. We’ll all be…
Empress of the Deep
Empress of the Deep is a fun puzzle-adventure game from local indie developer Silverback Productions. You play as amnesiac Anna who finds herself in a mysterious underwater archive of human accomplishment. You have to put the pieces together to find out who you are and why you’re there. If you’ve ever played point-and-click adventures or…
Sarah
Sarah just moved here from Vancouver and lucky for me, she brought her jewel tones with her. Sarah pays the bills by working as a freelance lighting designer for theatre and dance. Is that cool or WHAT? Value Village inspires this West Coast gals style and VV is also the recipient of her hard earned…
Craig MacDonald’s heartfelt party
Craig MacDonald knows how to plan a great party for an even better cause. This year he’s rallied a huge lineup that’ll make for one of the city’s best New Year’s dance parties, all to help five-year-old Maia Gillis have her biggest wish become a reality. It’s the sixth year he’s thrown a heartfelt holiday…
Don 2 is pretty, bloated
Five years after the smash Bollywood action flick Don comes the inevitable sequel, Don 2: The King is Back. Sharukh Kahn stars as the title character, who appears to be taken straight from a bad fan fiction story. A criminal kingpin 10 steps ahead of his enemies, Don is cocky, unflappable, the best dancer, and…
Other people
Despite being made up of members of two much-loved bands, York Redoubt and Long Long Long, it’s pretty easy to like Each Other on its own merits. The product of former Haligonians Mike Wright and Brad Lahead, Each Other creates spacey, jangly and disarmingly beautiful pop music that is captivating and inviting. But the pair…
Sweet! We Bought A Zoo!
The end of December is an apt time to release a movie suitable for all generations and Cameron Crowe’s We Bought a Zoo is inoffensive and entertaining enough to fit the bill. Based on Benjamin Mee’s book chronicling his own life experience, Benjamin (Matt Damon) and his kids, moody teen Dylan (Colin Ford) and adorable…
Free Will Astrology
Happy Birthday! CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19) Suzan-Lori Parks is a celebrated American playwright who has won both a Pulitzer Prize and a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant. During the time between November 2002 and November 2003, she wrote a new short play every day—a total of 365 plays in 365 days. I think you could be…
2011’s art heaven
Looking back at the year in art is like walking into a crowded house party: We can’t possibly say hello to everyone, but the energy wouldn’t be as awesome without every single person there. Dalhousie kicked off 2011 with one of Canada’s best, the late Betty Goodwin. Darkness and Memory, a travelling exhibit from the…
A passable The Darkest Hour
Big balls of invisible energy terrorize Moscow’s nightclub district in the familiar, but still fun, The Darkest Hour. Emile Hirsh (Speed Racer) and Olivia Thirlby (Juno) help lead a ragtag group of survivors past the destruction and towards rescue after the film shifts from initial invasion to apocalyptic survival story. Thankfully, the characters all but…
Get a dog, lady, not a boyfriend
Q I am a 25-year-old gay man. I consider myself very gay-positive and self-accepting. Although I have always accepted my homosexuality and never really felt bad about it, recently I have been going through a hard time psychologically because I’m exposing myself to very graphic homophobic online content. There are blogs, online groups and websites…
Messiah from Scratch sings loud
For many jolly holiday lovers one of the highlights of the season is the songs, both traditional and fromage-filled radio hits. People don’t really go carolling anymore, but this 33-years-strong holiday tradition might be the closest thing to it, giving you the chance to make beautiful music and share some good cheer with a huge…
War Horse sentimental but captivating
It’s an ambitious project to make an animal the star of a film without overloading on the cheese factor. Steven Spielberg’s War Horse is sentimental, but it’s also touching and beautifully shot, in a grand, big-budget Hollywood way. Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine) is a poor Devon farm boy whose drunkard father (Peter Mullan) sells his…
The Adventures of Tintin action-packed but deficient
Steven Spielberg uses motion-capture animation and a script based on the Hergé comic books to get back into the family blockbuster ring, revealing a surprising degree of rust along the way. The opening act, in which he introduces us to boy reporter Tintin (Jamie Bell) and his quest to find a treasure lost in a…
Al Tuck
Recorded in six locales, Under Your Shadow may be the definitive Al Tuck album. A dose of his impish humour lies in “Hello, Prince Edward Island,” though it requires a G-man’s diligence to make out some of the lyrics from the rollicking Summerside show. The title song and “Ducktown” offer a taste of the impeccably…
3 Poems
Fortune You will see a mountain. You will uncover a code at the checkout. Be alert for strange dogs in your basement and very clean windows. If you encounter a baby carriage, keep walking. If you trip on a phoneme outside your native language, wrestle with it until it lies flat. If awoken at five…
New Year’s take two
You’ll likely be recovering from the previous night out, but if you can manage to drag your self out of the house (and bed) by 3pm…you should probably hit the levee scene. Every host has a different take on the traditional day-after gathering for reflection, looking forward and sharing stories of the night before, but…
Don’t Come In Here
Uncle Greg moved into the guestroom partway through December. He was in what he called a tight spot, by which he meant the spot between not being able to work and the spot when he won his case. Uncle Greg had been working as a courier and taken a nasty spill on a woman’s frozen…
Africville redux
The award of the federal shipbuilding contract to Halifax’s Irving yard was announced at around 5pm on October 19. By 7pm that evening I received the first press release from a local realtor extolling the possibilities for profit from the decision. Over the next few days dozens more rolled in: “Now is the time to…
Ladies who lunch
One granny holds out a plate of uncooked pastries to an audience packed into a small kitchen in St. Andrew’s Community Centre: “In Arabic, we call them orsh boulabl. In English, I don’t know.” Several grannies weigh in: Bird’s Nest! They are called bird’s nests! “My English is no good,” the cook says ruefully. No,…
Bright’s Passage
Labelled one of the top 100 living songwriters by Paste magazine, Josh Ritter has established a reputation as a weaver of tales. Ritter’s narrative folk styling reveals a well-read, imaginative, creative talent with a deep appreciation for the power of language. Within this context, Ritter’s first novel, Bright’s Passage, serves not as a departure from,…
Getting home
Transit Metro Transit deserves major kudos for its New Year’s Eve service, which is completely free after 8:30pm and has extended hours, with some buses running as late as 2:30am. The ferry continues to run every half-hour well past midnight; the last boat leaves Dartmouth at 1:30am, then departs back to Dartmouth from Halifax at…
Nova Scotia movie business 2011
Subject to the economy, the whims of the provincial and federal government, tax benefits and the strength of the Canadian dollar, the local film industry is always in flux. Working in it isn’t for sissies, to paraphrase a line from Bette Davis. That said, 2011 was a good year for the biz. A lot of…
New Year’s Eve’s hottest meal
Morris East is getting fired up to ring in 2012. “We like to do a bit of pyrotechnics on New Year’s Eve,” says owner Jennie Dobbs who says their special celebratory menu has been in the works for about three months. She’s talking about the Flaming Mo’, an orange and macadamia flavoured rum cocktail that’s…
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)
As Kelly Kapoor on The Office, Mindy Kaling is a perpetual teenager obsessed with shopping, boys and reality TV. The real Kaling is a supremely self-aware version of Kelly, one who knows what’s frivolous—she would never put up with Ryan’s bullshit— but is unabashed in her love for it. She’s cultivated a voice and it is…
The Black Keys
Since the Keys’ self- produced releases of the early ’00s, the band has become more mainstream, and with each new release comes a new set of instruments for guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney to play with. El Camino may be their most varied album to date, with chiming bells, organs and wacky guitar…
Princess Knight
Considered by many to be the precursor of shoujo (girls’ comics) manga today, Princess Knight is easily one of the most accessible of the late Osamu Tezuka’s work. It tells the story of a princess born with the heart of a boy and girl within her, and who is raised to be a prince in…
Tori Amos
This is the densest Amos offering yet, if you can believe it—a song cycle based on classical songs by the likes of Satie, Granados and Chopin, stretched around a love story involving Irish myths a fox called Annabelle (whose parts are sung by her daughter, Natashya; we are old). Matt Chamberlain fans will be disappointed—the…
Return of the Tupperware Remix Party
Halifax’s zany, pylon-wearing, spandex-loving Tupperware Remix Party picked up and moved to Toronto after their last show here in early November, but they aren’t the types to be forgotten, hence why they’re back in town to create end-of-year dance hysteria in the north end. So far since moving to the big smoke they’ve completed a…
