Total Kneads Massage moves
After five successful years on Beech Street, Total Kneads Massage co-owners Sarah Letcher and Leah Castel have moved to more expansive digs at 5555 Sullivan, behind the Oland Brewery. To celebrate the move, Kneads is holding an open house Saturday, March 7, “to show off our new space and our new practitioners,” explains Letcher. Check…
Living With legacy
Photo by Peter Bregg If you’re going to take in one photography show this year, go see Living With, a series of 50 black-and-white photos that focuses its lens on people living with the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Rwanda. The show is on display until next Tuesday, in the foyer of Dalhousie’s Charles Tupper building (9am-5pm,…
Freedom to Read Week
I would not read you on a boat… February 22-28 is Freedom to Read week. In celebration, here are a few of the more asinine examples of books that have been banned. According to forbiddenlibrary.com, members of the Alabama State Textbook Committee demanded the rejection of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl because…
Do these boobs make me look fat?
As if you don’t already have enough to worry about when planning a wedding Every Bridal magazine features ads to lose weight, most of them have at least one diet lurking in the pages, and to make matters worse, wedding gowns are NOT sized properly. As if it isn’t already difficult enough to shop in…
Raw Food Rules
Georgia Barnwell is a Live Food Educator. She is all about the benefits of raw food, suggesting that living foods not heated above 118 degrees F & have all their enzymes & nutrients intact are better for us to eat. She promotes the health benefits of staying away from processed foods and the ecological benefits…
One pregnancy book too many?
To the miserable pregnant woman who came into my restaurant; I’m sorry your steak was underdone. I’m sorry you didn’t know the difference between medium rare and medium well. I’m pretty sure that that tiiiny bit of red that was in your steak will not kill your unborn child. If you’re that worried about what…
Violently bureaucratic
Crime rates across North America have been going down for about 20 years, and nobody knows why; neither individually nor collectively, factors like changes in demography, poverty rates, decreased drug use, taking lead out of the gas, policing strategies and the like do not explain the drop in crime. But despite the overall reduction in…
Share documents well
Halifax pop group Share have safely returned from their tour of the continent! Don’t barrage them with your petty questions, please consult their video tour blogs first, easily accessed via YouTube. And because you have missed them so, indulge yourself with a live performance.
Creative Fines
I have recently moved to Halifax and I am having no luck finding a job but all kinds of luck finding parking tickets on my fucking windshield. I’m not sure how many ticket gophers the city of Halifax employees but they are quick and idiotic. A terrible characteristic combo. I was the only car in…
Sincerely Shoes opens
Sincerely Shoes (1083 Bedford Highway, 835-2552) opened Monday, February 9. The store focuses on “higher end, more boutique style women’s shoes—nothing you’d find in malls,” explains manager Lynn Countway. As well, Sincerely Shoes has a line of Cathy Vanzeeland handbags.
Bigger Faster Stronger.
Facebook this month changed its policy to say user content belonged to Facebook • Outraged members canceled their accounts or created online petitions •On Wednesday, Facebook reviewed user “feedback,” and reverted to its old policy Changing the terms to allow themselves ownership of your material, even if you decide to leave Facebook, shows if anything…
Drama…You queen
why do people have the need to make everything that happens in there life THE WORST THING EVER, until the next thing happens then it’s the WORST THING EVER… —I hate drama queens
Superstore Basket Mystery Solved!
If you’re like us you’ve been wandering around the Atlantic Superstore on Quinpool looking for those handy shopping baskets to carry around while you do your European market-style shopping, going regularly and buying only a little, to get the freshest stuff. Where are those baskets? “They were all stolen,” says a kind employee. Will they…
To My Favourite Cab Driver:
Thank you. I love the way, whenever I get in your car, you continue our conversation right where we left off. I love how proud you are of your daughter, and how much you talk about her. Thank you for always being quick to pick me up, thank you for being happy when I pay…
You’re Perfect
I knew you had shitty ways but I didn’t think your shitty went that deep. I hope you have someone to lean on when your shitty finally wears out it’s welcome… — ….
Canadian Sitcoms Sucks Bigtime
Have all the good comedy writers defected to the US? Shows like Little Louse on the Prairie, Corner Ass and Trailer Fuck Boys are so fucking awful, I cringe to think that’s the best we Canucks can come up with. We need another SCTV but I guess that’s too much to ask from the likes…
slow, slow, slow…
I couldn’t believe it. Four weeks after my son ordered a DVD for me from the store called to say that it finally came–only to find out they’d sent the wrong one. A second request, and a week later it still hadn’t arrived. When I called the store to ask when it was due to…
Get a life, Glamazon.
To the tall brunette who takes the bus on weeknighs…yeah, you. Are you really SO VAIN that you insist on endlessly brushing your hair for all to see, or take 20 minutes to apply gobs and gobs of mascara or lipgloss to your face? And, last time I checked, your purse, make-up case, coat and…
Why o Why
Why do you think that it is alright to fart beside me. We all have to fart by stay the Hell away from me cause your fucking ass stinks!!!!! —I hate Rude people!
Where are the gentlemen?
Is male chivalry dead? Are teenage boys not taught to hold doors for women anymore? I’m appauled by the ignorance of the future men in our city! I do realize there are women who are equal rights enthusiasts, but most women I know definitely appreciate the kindness of a gentleman. — Ladies first
Nova Scotia Power
NS Power is the worst company I have ever had business with. I am from NB..and the power company there FAR exceeds NS Power. I don’t understand how they can be so powerless in even mild conditions. Whenever a storm comes into town, we can pretty much expect mass chaos & long power outages everywhere.…
Stupid people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You fucking morons why don’t you learn simple math count 8 items in the store not nine fucking eight you worthless fucker. The teller told you that you couldn’t use the line not because he was a fucking asshole but because you can’t count and the fact that you thought well nobody cares, nobody has…
High Heels Must Die
Is there anything in the world more annoying than some bimbo in heels walking down a long echo-filled hallway? For all the noise you’re making you might as well be bouncing a basketball. Do you not notice how loud and repetitive your fucking heels are? I can hear you all over this whole godamned building…
KD Lang rolls into Halifax (and environs)
Lang: Prairie gal Juno-nominee KD Lang, heads out on her spring tour on March 20, arriving at the Halifax Metro Centre on Thursday, April 16. Tickets go on sale this Saturday at 9am ($59.50-$64.50, plus service charge, available at the Ticket Atlantic Box Office at Halifax Metro Centre and at all participating Atlantic Superstore outlets.…
Dine Out Nova Scotia starts
If you want to see how the other half lives (or if you recently lost a family fortune), Dine Out Nova Scotia gives you the chance to try the fancier restaurants around town without spending a fortune during the lean month of February. As part of the Savour Food & Wine Festival, Dine Out started…
Does CTV NewNet promote a certain (Gay/Lesbian Lifestyle)?
I was watching CTV NewsNet last night and I noted that one of the top 3 stories mentioned at the beginning of the broadcast was a lesbian marriage that took place on a popular soap-opera yesterday. Why is this important? Why does CTV news constantly seem to promote this garbage? Every time I hear such…
Bad Brains and Idlers got that PMA
BB: Best band ever Newfoundland’s reggae-circus band Idlers are going to be recording their follow up album to 2007’s Corner with none other than Bad Brains bassist Darryl Jenifer. In March, the 11-piece band heads to Woodstock, NY to record their new album Keep Out. Jenifer will produce and Phil Burnett will engineer. I think…
Blonde Dipstick in Her SUV Driving Up Quinpool This Morning
You stupid fucking tart, who the fuck do you think you are putting on makeup while you’re driving down one of the busiest streets in Halifax? You should have your licence ripped out of your hands and burned, you fucking bimbo. Dabbing on blush could kill someone but I’m sure you wouldn’t care as long…
MMMMMM
Sweet and sour. It defines us…or should I say it defines you and I? I look at you and hope someday you will see what is lurking behind my eyes, waiting there, for a word or a simple touch. Am I waiting in vain? Whiskered cheeks…growling sounds…freckles…olympics…HMMMMMMM? The Bat
Snow Plow Guy Rocks
To the guy who plows our sidewalk and street in the Clayton Park area, you rock, the street is always done and the sidewalk too. We live on a sidestreet so it isn’t right after a storm, but it gets done. Thanks for the great work, you guys don’t hear it enough! HRMdude
To the brunet boy on the bus who smiled at me instead of scowled
I didn’t mean to fall over, but there we no seats and I’m too short to reach the bar. On my way back, I completely fell and you smiled where everyone else just looked annoyed. Thank you so much for understanding, you’re very sweet. I felt so much less intimidated. The little redhead in the…
1,075 Canadians injured or killed in Afghanistan
The table above lists the annual number of non-battle injuries, individuals wounded in action, deaths of individuals not killed in action and individuals killed in action, from the beginning of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan in April 2002 to 31 Dec 2008. The information was provided by the military to Coast contributing editor Bruce Wark.…
Thanks!
To the girl at Shoppers on Spring Garden who noticed my bus pass cover was in rough shape and gave me a new one! Thank you very much! =) Grateful
The Coast Supporting Local Musicians
Hey “The Coast” why is it that you and “Music Nova Scotia” failed to mention that Garrett Mason was also nominated for Juno award in your rag last week. A category that may not be glamorous enough for you guys because last time he was nominated for it you also failed to mention anything, even…
Laundry hog
Dude, you live in an apartment building. Some part of your common sense must know that other poeple also live in this apartment building and that we all share one washer and drier. So next time you throw your load in at 5, why don’t you have it out by 7, rather than holding up…
FAST food?
How does a certain fast food chain, with annual revenues nearing 6 Billion dollars and whose business plan (in it’s entirety) is: “Fast+Cheap” manage to have a spring garden road location that in the event of having more then 5 customers, get AN HOUR AND A HALF BEHIND! Now I will admit, having never worked…
oh the nerve
To the two women who came in to the restaurant I waitress at on fucking busy Valentine’s night for supper, drank half a liter of wine, polished off your appetizers and LEFT after complaining that it was taking too long: your poor server was new, and your dinner was waiting to be handed to you…
Holy Eff!
Dear all the crazies I have dated: You people just suck, you just fucking suck. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with all of you or what planet you magically appeared from but its not earth because there is no way you can be human because no half-sensible human being would EVER act…
Icy sidewalks
I’ve interviewed Gord Hayward, the city winter works superintendent, who is responsible for overseeing the crews that clear streets and sidewalks. Listen to it in the audio player below.
Rodeo Lounge: barbershop
Move over Fred: there is a barbershop in the Rodeo Lounge. As of last Friday, you can get your ears lowered at the city’s biggest and most popular country bar in Burnside. Hours are Monday to Wednesday (and Saturday) from 9 to 5 and Thursdays and Fridays from 9 to 7pm. What, no shooters and…
Staff of Life cafe closes
Well, some sad news for cafe habitues at the Staff of Life on Quinpool. The Cafe closed its doors for good February 5th. But, if you are addicted to Staff’s high class samosas and artisanal breads, you don’t have to worry. Owner Manouch Babaei is not getting out of that business. On the contrary, he…
Invest in Nova Scotia Wine
2009 might be a great year for Colby Clarke. The 27 year-old Development officer for the Kings Community Economic Development Agency is the main coordinating brain behind a new marketing package aimed at increasing investment in the local wine industry. I spoke to him a week ago at the launch of this program at Bear…
He’s just not that into you.
Dear Friend, I know you’re depressed. I know you’re heartbroken. It sucks, no doubt about that. But it’s been months, so can you please just stop fucking obsessing over this douchebag and move on? Oh, he’s dating someone else now? Good, now you have closure! Use this as an opportunity to re-focus on YOUR life,…
Wordburglar serves up a piping hot comic
Behold! Halifax ex-pat Wordburglar doesn’t just say raps, he also writes a comic (co-created by True Story’s Mike Holmes). Which just so happens to be free online. Read Snakor’s Pizza and laugh the day away! Ogle art by Kody Peters and Strange Adventures’ Dave Howlett! For context, the comic concerns the exploits of “the former…
More Bitches Please!
An entire day gone by and no new bitches? What the fuck! Are you guys taking a day off or was there really no one submitting anything??? The next time I come on this site I hope that the first bitch on the page is no longer “If this is true…I’m buying a bike”! —Addicted…
CD Minus
To the jerk off clerks at a certain used CD purveyor… I came in with some of my old CDs to try to sell them and maybe make a few bucks in these crappy economic times, and you barely pawed through my pile to see if there was anything the store could use. Instead, you…
A guide to your local enviro-depot
They say 90% of Nova Scotians recycle. That’s great. I’d say about 10% actually know how to do it right. So please, do us all a favour and put a little effort into your recyclable sorting process: *We don’t take milk*. If you bring in anything with milk in it, be it a carton, yogurt…
Binding contract not-so binding
To the person who fired me for being sick with a cold: I’m sorry I caught a cold. I’m sorry that I did not have spontaneous recovery. I’m sorry that you’re a hateful jackass who turned my dream into a nightmare. I’m sorry I lost my voice. I’m sorry I quit 2 jobs and gave…
YOU HAVE A WRONG NUMBER OK?
When you call my number and I tell you you’ve got a wrong number it means YOU DIALED THE WRONG NUMBER. Don’t argue with me about how “this is supposed to be so and so’s number” or grill me on who I am. No Jim DOESN’T live here, and no I’m not telling you who…
The number #7 will be coming in…
To the #7 Gottingen bus(ses) that completely missed its route twice today (and in fine weather and road conditions nonetheless), and left two elderly people and myself waiting for over an hour for you to come, shame on you. I don’t understand how you can royally mess up that bad, to come a few minutes…
Saturday night
So, I was out last night at a popular pub on Barrington st. The place was packed and the cover band was doing “Lit up” by Buckcherry. When it came time for the part: “I love the cocaine, I love the cocaine”, the guy on the far right would switch the word “cocaine” with “pussy”,…
Stupid Shoppers
To all you asshole idiots that park your shopping carts right in the middle of the aisle and then have the audacity to give me a dirty look when I say “Excuse me”, Fuck You! You’re the one stupid enough to leave your cart smack dab in the middle of the aisle, knowing full well…
Burpee Couple, I love you
Since it’s Valentine’s day, I thought I’d submit something nice. I’m a member at the YMCA and I just want to say how much I love the Burpee Couple. The Burpee Couple are better than you and me. They’re superior and they want everyone to know. How? By doing burpees and other distracting exercises in…
in need of bus fare, are you?
This bitch is to and concerning the couple of vultures on Quinpool road who keep asking me for a spare toonie or bus ticket: Your story sucks. It sucked the first time I heard it even if a part of me believed you were unfortunate enough to be just short of a ride home on…
old fashion living in halifax
if you live in halifax get used to living in the dark ages, where the buses run like they are being contolled by pre-schoolers, drinking in public tickets are 500$ a piece (anywhere else in canada 100$) if montrealers can make winter parking work with 5 times the poeple with 1/3 the space and we…
dogs need homes too
i feel the women who made the bitch about cats being aloud in apartments but not dogs did not make a very good stand for us dog owners/renters. cats are great cats should be allowed in apartments because they are little fuss and mess.( i wont get started on the smell of cat pee though)…
one thousand and one thank yous.
to those who’ve done the small things, like holding doors, playing music, and giving flowers, thank you. You are the reason I love life, when I grow up, I want to be just like you. m.
My singing dancing fool
You drive me nuts with your teasing, and poking and tickling. With your sarcasm and not-funny jokes. But god do I love you. I love your smile and your laugh. I love your silly songs and your dances. I love how much you love our cats. I can’t picture my life without you. You are…
Blue Coat, Blue Button, Backpack
I found out where college street is, wish I could have been of more help. Black Coat, Black Gloves, Brown Mail-Bag
The best cab driver ever
To the cab driver (sorry – can’t remember which company) who found the gloves we left in your cab last week, remembered where we lived & dropped them off in our door the next day… Thanks man, that was above and beyond the call of duty! Go Leafs Go! Another long-suffering Leafs fan
Thank you!
To the guy at the flea market who sang for me: you are a foxy man. If I were single I would have flirted more. Also, your hair is great. Thanks for brightening my day! zebra lover
If this is true…I’m buying a bike
Was making smalltalk with a city rickshaw driver the other day and the conversations got onto the subject of shall we say candy. The rickshaw driver told me that alot of rickshaw drivers are selling candy on their rickshaw routes and that many are using while operating….I said… surely this can’t be true….apparently someone at…
C;mon now…
Dear Lady who insists on calling my house day in and day out looking for “Dave”. Dave does not live here. He never lived here. Never in the history of this phoneline has Dave lived here. You have the wrong number. Must I explain to you EVERYDAY that you have the wrong number? You don’t…
bruce springstein reviewer
what kind of under the table bj favor did you do to get to review the bruce springstein new cd? any idiot can just tell the boss to fuckoff. now, admit you’re a no one bj-ber and give your spot to someone who knows how to review an album and have better stock of vocabulary.…
strawberry dopeys
i wish someone would stop you from telling the whole world how to save money by drying strawberry leaves to smoke them like maryjane. you’re driving me out of business selling the real stuff at the telemarketing place i work at —funny man with the funny cigarettes
the runs
I love the service. Food. And beer in this place. But wondering if anyone else suffers the runs from their ringwood beer? Not much of a bitch but its been bothering me! —yeahisaidit
do you own the entire back of the bus?
To the teenage mother who wouldn’t share some space on bus #58 on Friday afternoon: Nobody on the bus is responsible for your unhappiness. So when someone (actually, two separate persons) politely asks you to move over so they can sit down, pick up your bag, make some room and shut the fuck up. I…
Common courtesy PLEASE!!
Would it kill people to loook behind them when entering doors?? What ever happened to holding the door for someone. No need to drop it in someones face. A little manners never hurt anyone. —Mannerly Melanie
I don’t like seefood
Could you please take a minute to close your fucking mouth when you eat? Were you raised in a barn? I can avoid having to look at what’s in your mouth, but I cannot avoid listening to that disgusting slapping of your mouth as you chew your cud. Eating with you makes me feel sick.…
Time for a change
Unfortunately this is a bitch about The Coast, whoever does the reports in your music articles, its time to move on. Halifax has a strong music scene and all you write about is the same indi crap ( I’m sorry). I appreciate the artists talent , but you’re are milking this scene dry. What about…
Take my sorry and SHOVE IT!
To the man (or very homely woman) on the bike this foggy morning across from the Joe Howe Shoppers: Screw you too! I stopped at the stop sign at the end of my street. Did my normal back and forth glance. I took my foot off the break and then breaked again when I saw…
Not to rub it in but…
Happy February Long Weekend to eveyone outside Nova Scotia 😛 Yet another reason I moved … so I can have a long weekende in February. Now call your MLA and ask why there is no family day in Nova Scotia. — LongWeekendRulz
Since they don’t allow comments over there…
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1106235.html Hilarious. So many witty comments came to mind but the ther website did not allow comments. I think the coast should allow comments on it jsut for the hilarity of it all. — LOLOL
Rep cinema report to be released on Monday
Ahhh! No more scary trips to Bayers Lake! We received this email from the Paradise Society yesterday: Dear Paradise Members and Friends:The Dalhousie Management Without Borders student team has been working diligently for the last couple of months on the business case for a rep cinema in Halifax. They are nearing the end of their…
Black on Both Sides postponed
If you were planning on attending Black on Both Sides, an international selection of short works from emerging contemporary black filmmakers programmed by Cory Bowles, the date’s been moved to Monday March 9, at 7pm. Still at the CBC Radio Room (South Park at Sackville), still $10.
Live shot: Marquee’s Last Waltz
That’s gotta be Van Morrison Saturday, February 7, 1:25am at the Marquee Club. Photo: Scott Blackburn
Cabin Fever Rockfest cancelled
Apparently, Blue Oyster Cult had something better to do A few months ago, I excitedly wrote about the Cabin Fever Rockfest, scheduled to take place May 8 and 9 at the Forum. I was not only anticipating the concert, but also the Millers, the tattoos and the cars. However, it was just announced that the…
Monotonix are coming back to swing on more things
Work those triceps. I was out of the country when Monotonix came to Halifax for the Pop Explosion last year, and I get madder and madder every time someone tells me that was “the best show ever.” I guess someone in Monotonix decided they would lower my blood pressure and come back for a repeat…
Can I have that seat?
To the female metro transit driver who was a passenger on the #52 bus route to Mumford road…………get up off your ass and offer your free seat to someone on a packed bus who actually pays for their ride. I don’t think that your lunch bag paid for the seat next to you either. You’re…
A Note to Management
If one is to judge from your rhetoric, nothing is ever done correctly around here. It is based upon this that I assume that very rarely, if ever, does anyone here do anything even hardly adequate, much less commendable, in the simple, unchallenging position of working at the front desk. Even if you were managing…
Right of Way
We KNOW you see us, standing at the curb, at crosswalks and intersections, staring purposefully into the street. We KNOW this because when we take that one tiny, hesitant step off the curb, you almost invariably touch your brakes. Because you don’t really want to hit us. But you don’t really want to stop either.…
ur.ban.i.ty boutique salon opens
You might wonder about the peculiar trends in logo punctuation, but don’t wonder about the swanky new hair salon at Bishop’s Landing opening, we’re told, “over the next couple of weeks.” ur.ban.i.ty boutique salon (446-4100, 1477 Lower Water, Unit 7D) will have furniture coming from Italy and products lines from Australia and Italy, unavailable in…
Friday the 13th = Love
I love Friday the 13th. I usually have a fabulous day, and I try to encourage other people to do the same. I don’t know what it is – I don’t really believe in luck, but maybe it is just knowing that if I really DID have a bad day, I could blame it on…
Hobbler helpers
I had to hobble my way to work today on crutches and I had just crossed the crosswalk, barely stepping my good foot on the sidewalk, when the car “waiting” for me drove through the four way… luckily for both of us I didn’t wobble or fall backwards. I cursed him out in my head…
Sorry, We Over-booked The Flight
Thank you so fucking much ________(airline) for overbooking my flight today and down sizing the air-craft! Now I am stuck at the airport waiting for the next flight. Luckily I came over an hour early before my first flight, and I was one of 4 people who were able to get on the later flight.…
More Recent Comments Already!
Come on, we asked for it with the old website, and you gave it to us, why would you assume we’d do without it here? I need to be able to scan the last 6 or 7 recent comments so I know which bitches to keep an eye on! Two is simply not enough. There…
tired of your lazy ass
This is a bitch about pregnant women and how I have to do the work of one particular woman that is now “unable” to. youre just 14 weeks pregnant, youre as fat as youve always been, but ive been doing half of your job for 5 weeks now. honestly…im fucking sick of it. if you…
My Poor Coat
Thanks to the asshole who jerked off on the stall door in the YMCA changing room. You’re great. —In Need of a Dry Cleaner
Wide Load
I am all for urban development when it means new jobs and an influx of money in today’s economy, but SERIOUSLY, Dartmouth Crossing planners – get your heads out of your asses. No shuttle for people who don’t have vehicles, and your freaking parking spots are to narrow to park anything wider than a Yaris…
“Smart” Jobs
So I’m looking for a new job and have come across the “Smart Jobs” section right here on The Coast site. I flagged a few as maybe being interesting but thought I’d check it out the following week to see if anything better came along. I’m faced with the SAME ads as last time and,…
Bon Iver
Bon Iver had such a fantastic year in 2008, it’s easy to see why the band decided to follow up its critically lauded and fan-adored debut with a quick EP. Short formats are essentially snacks, made of morsels that don’t need to create a whole. But it also takes the pressure off fan expectations and…
Justice
A Cross the Universe is a good album simply for the fact that it’s a rehash of Justice’s incredible debut album (Cross). While this live album is criminally similar to their last, Justice maintains an energetic groove from beginning to end, making it a great soundtrack to a long walk or drive. All in all,…
True Story
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The Hylozoists
Paul Aucoin has found the limit to his main instrument, the vibraphone. With this third record from The Hylozoists, its sound is pretty much played out. In a pop/rock context, the vibes (and related percussive instruments, such as marimba) weren’t meant to carry this much weight—best playing role as accent—and end up getting emotionally flattened.…
Makin’ it on love
Every January, veterans spill the same phlegmatic phrases about that roulette wheel called the restaurant business. Winter is the ultimate cooler. A good November and December can carry you through a January slump. Winter weekends stay good, but weekdays crap out. You do your best and cut your losses. And if that fickle customer, lady…
The Rhythm Method
Making fun of hip-hop can come off as downright offensive, but that’s not what’s likely to offend about The Rhythm Method, who expertly merge hip-hop and third-wave feminism. The perfect rebuttal to dumb jocks and girls wearing pyjamas and Ugg boots to class, they hail from the wilds of the Dal campus with ridiculously clever…
Frozen River
Ray Eddy lives in a sagging trailer with two kids who’ve just been abandoned by their gambler father. She works part-time at a dollar store where the manager is half her age. She carries a gun, and she uses it. It’s the kind of role Charlize Theron and Halle Berry gummed themselves up for to…
A.C. Newman
If after listening to Get Guilty you start wondering what the difference is between A.C. Newman’s solo material and The New Pornographers, you would not be alone. The whole feel and flow of this (his second) solo disc is almost no different from his previous work on the 2004 debut, The Slow Wonder. Once again,…
Soul’s twist on faith
There’s a line outside the club. Inside it’s packed as patrons throw back drinks, groove to the beat and grind up on each other. Three teens, two girls and a dude, appear on stage to rapturous response and sing a song that includes lyrics about being touched tenderly deep inside. The refrain: “This is how…
friendly friends
To the cab driver who picked us up at the seahorse last night and took us to SMU: you are way too cute. I’ll never forget your tales of Ahmed Shorty. You’ll be hearing from us soon! 🙂 The girls in grey sweaters.
Jenn Grant’s change of heart
Jenn Grant has an affinity for animals. “They have sweet little souls,” she says on the phone from a Chicago airport lounge. She and her band are in transit to Los Angeles to play a series of gigs. Moments ago she was watching over a long-haired Chihuahua named Bronx for a fellow passenger who had…
Chivalry Still Exists
On February 12 there were very icy road conditions, so I did not take my car—because I dress for vanity and not weather conditions. It was a very dicey walk to the bus stop, when I got there and climbed the mountain of ice to get in to the bus shelter (thanks HRM snow removal),…
The swinger’s dance
It’s one of those terms that can’t really be universally defined. Love is an emotion desired by some and avoided by others. And then there’s sex…love’s popular intimate counterpart; a passionate array of physical acts. Do they always have to come as a package deal? Are their powers just as strong if the duo is…
Clever Conundrum
Love this: “Surely we can do better. Drive-thrus are a symbol of everything wrong with our culture. It’s not good enough that someone else grows, ships and makes our coffee for us, oh no, it has to be delivered direct to our SUV window as we idle in a line of foreign-made, big-ticket, steel-and-glass weapons…
Bayers Road widening: Chebucto Road meeting
I witnessed a pretty classic government-citizen disconnect last night at the public input meeting for the Highway 102-Bayers Road design study. The meeting was led by a collection of consultants and the lone city staffer, Dave McCusker, who were focused on the planning aspects of designing a highway corridor. In their minds, they’re looking at…
Smiles appreciated
When a friend from Ontario visited, I told him. I said, “If you smile at women in Halifax, even in bars, they’ll smile back. Sometimes they might even say hi, unprompted!” A veteran of the grim meat-markets of Toronto, he didn’t believe me, but I showed him the friendly way it goes around here. Even…
Valentines to Halifax
The little things To those who hold the door open that half a second for me, who give me the briefest smile as they pass, who actually say hello and make some small talk; you give me faith in humanity. Your few minutes of warmth are sometimes the only thing to get me through my…
Free spirited, my ass.
Q: Recently, I celebrated my first year of marriage to the most amazing man. When we first began dating, he told me that he enjoys open sexuality and wants swinging to be part of any partnership he’s in. I regard myself as free-spirited and agreed to explore this with him. We delayed experimentation because I…
The Pink Panther
The laugh-out-loud comic genius of Peter Sellers’ Pink Panther films isn’t represented in the series revamping. That’s why Steve Martin’s take on detective Jacques Clouseau has been so roundly dismissed. Except here’s the thing: The Pink Panther 2, like 2006’s The Pink Panther, is consciously a children’s film. At that, it’s not a particularly good…
Susanne Hou’s natural born talent
December 9, 1977, was a Friday. In Halifax it was warm and raining. In Shanghai the air was clear and dry with a slight breeze. The day had been warm, but come evening the temperature was just above freezing. The moon was a tiny sliver of a waning crescent. At the Shanghai Theatre the Shanghai…
Urban chickens: What the cluck?
Despite a staff report recommending no further action, the urban chicken debate in Halifax may just be getting underway. Last year, three west end hens were effectively evicted by HRM’s bylaw enforcement office after a complaint against them was lodged by an area neighbour. The eviction prompted protests from many would-be backyard chicken owners and…
No local news is bad news
When I was young and easy under the apple boughs, I sang out merrily, “Chase away the blues with the local news.” In those carefree days before internet and email, I frolicked in the cellphone and Blackberry-free air. Dad chased his blues by poring over the gloriously Liberal Chronicle. Our neighbour cheerfully devoured the competing…
Reed Jones: One angry man
Reed Jones stands at the bar, nervously. He stuffs his mouth with cold fries, trying to kill the hour before the filming of his show. Jones seems unsure how to act in the meantime, until his producer, Steve Morrison, suggestively nudges a fork his way. “You think I should use that?” says Jones, amused. “Nah,…
Rodney MacDonald’s scrummy politics
Scrums—those huddles of microphone-thrusting reporters that you see on the news every night knotted like a rat-king around politicians or other high-profile news-makers—are all about control. When Rodney MacDonald’s gang of election-prepping Tories decided January 29 to shift weekly cabinet scrums from a hallway into the legislature’s shiny new media room—where they stuck the premier…
Valentines Day
It’s about Loving someone What so wrong with that? Buy one or a Dozen! Don’t buy a T.V.! —Flower Power
Valentines? Bah, humbug
I was just thinking that Valentines’ season is a very shitty time for all of us broke people with significant others still waiting for callbacks. Then I realized, shit. I’ve fallen victim to idiotic mass consumerism AGAIN. As if Christmas wasn’t bad enough. —Broke(n) Drone
#52 Driver
Dear #52 Bus driver on North and Windsor stop today at around 3:15. Thanks for letting me on the bus even though I was waving my arms and the bus was stopped. You even made eye contact with me. Fuck you douchebag, I was late for a job interview. Thanks. —Seeking employment.
ended up buying beer as well
to the guy who offered to help me up: thank you. to the fucker on the corner of harvey street whose gutter pours freezing water on the sidewalk all winter: fuck you, you’re lucky that i was on my way to the grocery store, or you would have been buying me a new dozen eggs.…
Love that t-shirt
Everyone has a secret stash of heinous t-shirts shoved into the back of the closet. T-shirts that are too big or have dribble stains, or maybe a giant logo that isn’t even disgusting enough to be ironic. Instead of turning them into rags, bring a t-shirt into Love, Me Boutique (1539 Birmingham, 444-3668) before Saturday,…
Use a crosswalk
To that prick today on Almond street by royal bank who mouthed the words “asshole” while i was driving and didnt let him cross the street right where he wanted to cross. USE A CROSSWALK, and at least if you want to jay walk dont get pissy when people dont let you cross. P.S i…
