bare with them
Opening Tuesday, July 24 (to July 29, 8pm, $18/$15) for Halifax Pride is bare, a musical theatre production by Left of Centre Theatre telling the complicated story of two star-crossed high school seniors at a Catholic boarding school coming to terms with their sexualities, identities and beliefs. Director Tina Gallant dubs it a “Romeo and…
Shorts weather
The results are in from the Humanity International Film Festival. At Humani-T Cafe (5755 Young) July 1-6, 15 international shorts were screened and then judged by a jury of nine. Halifax’s Pardis Parker swept it, winning three of the six awards (best local, best Canadian, best comedy) for his silent short, The Dance. Spain’s Martin…
Who do you think you are?!
I am a senior and I run a business. My car has the identification of the business on it. It turns out I am also handicapped due to a knee operation. I parked in a handicap space, with my handicap sticker visible in the front window and when I got back there was a note…
Grow up!
Hey young people in the work force: When you schedule a meeting with someone, please make an attempt to be on time. People’s schedules are busy, and stopping here there and everywhere on your way is bad form. Things happen, I understand that, but when I schedule a meeting with you and you’re late because…
What happened to the good old downtown?
You may call me an old fart but I really and truly miss the good old days of downtown Halifax. With all the bar scene now and the way the younger crowd dresses today. I get real sentimental when I remember when I used to go downtown with my Mom and Dad on a Saturday…
Auditor general slams Trade Centre Limited management of Metro Centre
Trade Centre Limited’s management of the Metro Centre is fundamentally flawed and is costing the city plenty of money, auditor general Larry Munroe told the city’s audit committee Wednesday morning. How much money? That remains to be seen. Last year, in Munroe’s extensive report on the concert scandal, he noted that that scandal had its…
Andrea Dorfman: Emmy nominee
Congratulations are in order for Andrea Dorfman on her Emmy nomination in the 33rd News and Documentary Emmy Awards for the warm, personal and charming Flawed. Nominated in the “New Approaches to News & Documentary Programming: Documentaries” category and broadcasted on PBS’ POV, Dorfman’s Flawed tells her simple, touching story through watercolour paintings about self-love…
Special Noise returns
Special Noise is back! The darlings of 2005 are back to lay down some rock solid bright sounds and drum inspiration at Michael’s Bar and Grill July 21 (10pm, $6) before heading to Evolve. With Quaker Parents (back from a tour, and you all know what they say about bands back from tour—they’re usually very…
Soul Rebels show review
I stopped by the Halifax Jazz Festival tent at the foot of Salter Street to hear New Orleans’ brass band Soul Rebels. For me, this was the most eagerly anticipated show of the festival—having seen the band play a few free outdoor shows at the Montreal Jazz Festival; the first of those was with fellow…
“Private” Nova Scotia property info is widely available…in Ontario
For three years, professionals in the local real estate and appraisal industries have been arguing—unsuccessfully—that property sales information should be a public record, easily accessible by anyone, for free. Both appraiser Mike Turner and viewpoint.ca owner Bill McMullin have been told explicitly that under the terms of the province’s Freedom of Information and Protection of…
For the route #1 bus driver
My monthly bus pass flipped out of my hands under a black box nailed to the floor near the back door of the bus. I went up to you and told you what happened. I didn’t expect more than a comment such as “Check with the lost and found.” Instead you stopped the bus at…
Evolution Lifestyle Market
Looking for a lifestyle change? You’ll find it at Evolution Lifestyle Market (5775 Charles St, 223-7674). The store, which opened on July 3, sells the vintage decoration and furniture finds of owner Robert Goldsworthy along with Cote Bastide bath & body products, local gourmet edibles, paper goods and home wares. “Everything is going to be…
Stranger
I am sorry,I didn’t realize it was you in that car. —Regret
I am a nice person, not a fucking bitch!
Really! To the flock of cyclists cruising down the St. Margaret’s Bay Road around noon on Sunday. Do you really think you own the road because you are going fast and wearing spandex? And was there a guy with an RCMP t-shirt in your midst? I am sorry I may have encroached on your space…
The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro comes to Halifax
Another gourmet burger restaurant is opening in Halifax but this time it’s the well-known Ontario chain The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro that is joining in on the Halifax burger mania. The Works first location outside of Ontario is set to open mid to late September on Doyle Street. The franchise is owned by couple Alan…
Oliver’s Deli is closed, Noggin Farms takes over
Oliver’s Deli has closed and Noggin Farms is taking over the spot in the Alderney Market. “We don’t have a set date, hopefully within the next few weeks,” says Noggin’s Melissa Vaughan. “We will probably be opening around the first of August”. Those familiar with the Annapolis Valley company know that they offer seasonal produce,…
Something in Ontario water??
Not only do they leave their dogs in cars back home, they go a-holidaying here in Nova Scotia and leave their dogs in the car. In the morning, in a grocery store parking lot, Spryfield. Stinkin’ hot, they have a small black car, Ontario plates, with a Berner-cross dog (big, dark, tons of hot fur)…
Baan Thai gets new owner
Janya Thaksee is the new owner of Baan Thai (5234 Blowers St, 446-4301) but you can just call her Jane. Thaksee who took over on Jun 16th has only been changing the restaurant for the better. Thaksee says, “Nothing changes, the menu is the same and we have updated some items. Some stuff is cheaper”.…
Metro Pet Crematory moves
Metro Pet Crematory (3395 Sackville Drive, 444-3464) is moving its office from Burnside to a new facility on Sackville Drive. Metro Pet Crematory provides cremation services for the pet owners of Halifax Regional Municipality and surrounding areas. “Our current location is zoned for our type of business and is a quiet location, allowing clients to…
Kendra Marshman comes to Put Me On
Kendra Marshman is bringing her locally produced handmade jewelry to Put Me On Consignment (1532 Queen St, 492-2572) all the way from Ontario. Marshman, who started making jewelry when she was young, named her line LIV Designs after the Norwegian word for life to represent her heritage. Marshman focuses on using semi precious stones, whimsical…
Tour de France at Fid
Fid Resto’s (1569 Dresden Row, 422-9162) Tour de France evening is back to celebrate the annual race. This year there will be a second evening to watch, so if you missed Stage 11, you can hit up Fid Resto tomorrow, Wed Jul 18 for Stage 16. Owner Dennis Johnson, who is an avid cyclist himself,…
I’m afraid
But I want you so badly I hurt. —Six Years and Counting
Leave no trace
My friend and I decided to go fishing. I buy a new rod and got some tackle and off we go. We go to Kearney Lake. Through the woods we trek. As we go there is litter here and there. But then three pizza boxes and cans. We get down around the dam and what…
Nice guy from the third floor
You saw me carrying laundry and said you should have gotten the door for me. Your interaction made my weekend, as brief as it was. Thank you. —Isolated First Floor-er
North end nurse
The nurses union states that you have a commitment to care; however, your actions are quite the opposite. Laughing about patients’ ailments, using their names and tossing around other personal information as party fodder and entertainment is no laughing matter. That being said, your actions are in alignment with your sub-par personality and complete lack…
What the hell were you thinking??
I have to wonder what goes on in the head of a mother who signs a consent form to let her 16-year-old daughter ink 1/4 of her body surface area! It’s bad enough that you turn your head to her drinking and dope problem, but now you sign over your blessing for you CHILD to…
New Bridge Terminal will open August 27
The new Bridge Terminal will open on schedule, on August 27, the same date the revised fall transit schedule starts. Construction on the new terminal was apparently way ahead of schedule, so there was some hope that it would have opened as much as a month early, but crews are still working on the interior…
Star baby
You are such a wonderful person, it makes me want to better myself constantly. You are so humble, yet you receive praise and rave reviews from everyone around you. I’m so lucky that you have chosen to let me into your life. You truly are an amazing man, and I love every little piece of…
Equality is for ALL
Doesn’t really matter the incident that triggered this anger in me, the fact is it is still alive and unfortunately, doing very well today. Bigotry! Ugliest of the human traits. One that we have been told is going away as a result of the amount of information available in this age. Information my dear people,…
Truly wise beyond your years
I was on the #2 with some campers near the front of the bus. It was a crowded bus so some of the kids I was minding were sitting in the seats reserved for seniors/mothers-to-be. When an older woman stepped on and immediately snarled at one of my young girls for not yielding her seat,…
You must be completely out of your mind
If I’m on a date with a girl and you don’t like me because of something I said about a professor YEARS ago—confront me in person. You do not come up to our table and start saying shit like “You’re not an asshole…you’re not like such and such,” or “You mean people actually hook up…
Maritime iron man in clear plastic gloves
To the quirky, funny, well-mannered guy who makes my sammiches on Fenwick Street: you are simply adorable, and I hope there’s someone in your life who tells you so on a regular basis. B-list superheroes need love too. —Veggie Girl
Too much to ask?
Dear work: Where the frig’s my cheque THIS time? For the last three pay periods you have lost or been late with my cheque. Seriously? I work my butt off for you and have saved your bacon with clients numerous times, all that is required of you is that my paycheque gets to me before…
Glad I was taught to anticipate idiocy
Sunday morning, I am driving down Shubie Drive in Dartmouth Crossing on my way to work. You pull out of the village shops without so much as a glance at the road. I slam on my brakes to avoid colliding into you and even when I lay on my horn to show my displeasure you…
Our little secret
We haven’t been together long, but everything about our relationship has been so much, so fast. I don’t want it to stop, I don’t want it to slow down. We’re talking about getting married and building a house, I want so badly to tell anyone who will listen that I’m going to spend the rest…
No regrets
The anticipation didn’t even come close to the realities of the night. —Stranger
Greasers
This is 2012 as you all know, of course, BUT you would seem to think that we have gone back in time during the SIXTIES. Recently all that you seem to see and hear is older sports cars coming out of gas stations and squealing their tires and laying stinky air polluting rubber into the…
Never again!
You suck. My partner and I decided we’d go for a lovely Sunday brunch at your establishment. Never again! We arrived at 12:20pm and were greeted in a lovely manner, things were going well. Our drinks arrived promptly, things still going well. We order basic brunch items (eggs Benedict and an omelette) – as most…
Disappointed
That you didn’t meet me at the bar on Friday night. I was wrong about what was supposed to be going on at the bar but I went anyway because I told you I was going… I hoped that the problem I’ve had for over six years would be solved by you last Friday. —Six…
More news from Hal-Con 2012
Beam me up, Scotty! Star Trek’s coming to Halifax. Or at least Manu Intiraymi (best known for his role as Icheb in Star Trek: Voyager) is. Intriaymi has joined the Hal-Con 2012 lineup that already includes John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones), Nicholas Briggs (Doctor Who), Rene Auberjonois (Batman Forever, Star Trek: Deep…
Best emails of the week: July 7-13 edition
Subject: “Media Advisory: A Tweet to FedEx Express Canada Leads to Delivery of Dozens of Rescued Puppies” GUYS! 60 rescued puppies from Happy Valley Goose Bay will be touching down on Nova Scotian soil via Litters n’ Critters/Fed Ex/the cutest airplane ride ever. The puppies were displaced due to a series of forest fires in…
Apple Store opening date set
A reliable source tells us that the new Apple Store in the Halifax Shopping Centre will open August 8.
What are you counting?
Six Years and Counting…you have me curious…why are you counting? Six years single and counting…six years in a dead end relationship and counting…six years in Halifax and counting…six years sober and counting?? You are are a mystery to me, and for some reason, I am curious as to why and what you have been keeping…
MMMM
Small penises. They just don’t get enough love. They are actually comfortable to suck on and the owners give good head. —Wish I Could Find More of Them
Stop it!
Dear NS, you are my adopted home since moving here from the UK a couple of years ago. I love your rugged beauty and your friendly people, but I feel like slapping you around the face when I see so many of the car-drivers here sitting in their car, drinking from their disposable non-recyclable coffee…
No common sense
Where oh where has common sense gone, oh where oh where could it be? It’s a thing of the past or it seems to be, oh where oh where could it be? Our grandparents (if your grandparents are 80 and over) seemed to have an abundant supply. Nowadays seems like it is practically extinct. Take…
They hate us!
What have we ever done that makes our federal government and their leader hate us, Atlantic Canadians, so much? Another prime example was he statement that Calgary was the best city in Canada. Obviously, he has not spent any real time out east. We’re friendly people here, am I right? We don’t have a culture…
This is why we don’t like Metro Transit
Toward the end of June my daughter and I made use of the bus service to get us from our home to downtown and across the ferry to Dartmouth, our final destination. This was the first time I had been on the bus in years and although my daughter often rides it home from school,…
Lame-o friends
Every week I invite you guys to something fun going on in the city—and it’s usually a mix of stuff that is free or costs less than $20…and I’m lucky if like one or two of you show up. I’m not going to miss out on the fun things going on, so I still end…
Cellphone companies
So I am a long time customer who travels overseas often. I use my Blackberry extensively all over the world. So lo and behold I am offered an upgrade with another three year contract. So I ask “Will my new phone work with European connections?” and am assured it will. I get to the UK…
Public transit is not a school bus!
To a certain boys and girls day camp that has been using the public transit system as a school bus for oodles of kids—get your shit together! I understand that daycare is under-funded and you need to work with what you got, but please be considerate of the other bus riders. Yesterday, I got on…
Horrible waitress
To the god awful waitress at a downtown restaurant that is open late. We were in last night and you barely did your job at all! Basically all you did was give us water and take our payments. After waiting for about twenty minutes before you took our order, the COOK had to bring out…
I don’t even have your phone number
…but I really like you and your kisses. My friends are sick of hearing about it. —The Stupid Girl Part of Me
Carbon Arc turns two
After two years on the Khyber building’s lofty third floor, Carbon Arc Cinema is looking to make a move. Their Saturday, July 14 event takes place at the Museum of Natural History (1747 Summer Street), a wheelchair accessible venue. There will be a reception at 6pm to say thanks to the loyal cinema buffs who…
The worst has yet to come
Young folk might be aware of centuries of struggle for citizens to achieve a free and democratic society. And, except for a few lucky countries, we aren’t there, yet. I hope you are aware of the risks that we face with environmentalism. The kind of totalitarian policy and social engineering that we will face in…
Please don’t
Break your promise. I’ll make sure you don’t regret it. —Six Years and Counting
Enough already!
Stop stealing our water bowls! Every week when I go down to feed the “boys,” the one I put out the week before is gone. Buy your dog its own water dish and leave ours alone. We need them for fresh water every day. A lot of regular park visitors leave food but it’s water…
Sidewalk chalk
I saw a wonderful quote on the sidewalk written in chalk. Thank you, Dr. Seuss and Night Artists! That was felt by everyone, you touched a lot of people. —Cheers B1
Very Merry
I’m always amazed when I meet someone who’s never been to Shakespeare By the Sea. It seems crazy to miss out such a delightful part of a Halifax summer. And for those unfortunate people, Merry Wives of Windsor is the perfect starting point. It’s SBTS at its finest: funny, clever, accessible and joyful. The plot…
Beep tight
It’s been a little over a month since Farmers Dairy brought Beep back into the homes and hearts of Haligonians. The supernaturally sweet blend of orange, apple, apricot and prune juices isn’t for everyone. But, to borrow a slogan, those who like it like it a lot. Initial batches sold out faster than could be…
Rack ’em
Forty dollar ticket to “Rack City?” All aboard. Chances are even if the name Tyga doesn’t ring a bell, you still have heard “Rack City” at least once. Tyga—whose stage name is an acronym for Thank You God Always—is taking over the Cunard Centre on Wednesday with an all-ages show, as his Careless World Tour…
Mad Tricks
In Rolling Stone’s summer tour round-up earlier this season, it was this band that said it would play anytime, anywhere, which is the logic behind, one guesses, using its break from a national Aerosmith tour to play Casino Nova Scotia. (The band made this declaration even after the stage collapsed beneath its members in Ottawa…
Trade Centre Limited’s accounting irregularities
Trade Centre Limited has some serious financial irregularities, and inconsistencies in reporting from 2001 leaves over $168,000 mis-accounted, and nearly $20,000 simply gone, missing forever, not accounted for, not reported as missing or stolen, not acknowledged at all. That dollar amount isn’t much in the scheme of things, not even a single drop in the…
Crooked Arrows
Doses of cultural pride clash with high-impact lacrosse games in the latest sport underdog story, Crooked Arrows. In order to approve an expansion for the casino he manages, prodigal son Brandon Routh of the Onondaga nation agrees to coach a disorderly high school lacrosse team. Let’s get this out of the way, this is The…
The architect of like
Imagine it’s the not-too-distant future. You invite your friends over to watch a movie, log into Facebook, then press play. You proceed to watch a movie with you and your friends as the main characters. There’s a Halifax techie bursting onto the scene who’s working on an app for that. Last October, Jason Nickel, a…
Ice Age: Continental Drift
You’d think a film that starts with the violent separation of mother-fudgin’ continents would have bigger stakes, but Ice Age: Continental Drift isn’t concerned with challenging itself when there’s so many famous people’s voices around. The fourth film in the talking prehistoric mammal franchise sees mastodon Ray Romano separated from wife Queen Latifah by a…
Money in the Banana Stand
It’s too easy to throw together three chords and play some variation of any given punk band. Instead, Money in the Banana Stand opts to champion the impetuous yet insightful virtues of small town frustration with punk rock merely as its template. In this follow-up to the debut, the band eschews the traditional power chord…
The Intouchables
When you’re trying to endear an audience, soundtracks and montages can detract, not enhance, from the audience’s relationship to the characters on screen, as is the case in The Intouchables, by French writer-director duo Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, and based on a true story. Driss (Omar Sy), a Senegalese man from the projects, is…
Jim Henman
Same Old Feeling is not flashy or over-produced, it’s an album that will quickly put a smile on your face, as it harkens back to a time before the recording industry wrung out the heart and integrity in favour of payola. Jim Henman (founding member of April Wine) has recorded an album that is completely void…
To Rome With Love
Four stories: all set in Rome and all loosely about celebrity—that, along with a kitschy aesthetic, is all that unites Woody Allen’s latest, To Rome With Love. While funny, some jokes run too long—for example, Leopoldo (Roberto Benigni), an ordinary man, wakes up one day, inexplicably famous (a cute shtick, overworked). The strongest story is…
Corey Isenor’s Party time
Corey Isenor’s sad tunes belie his cheery nature, to hear his latest album, The Hunting Party, you might figure he’s a brooding type, surviving on black coffee and heartbreak, longing for gentler times. He’ll dispel these myths on his Canadian tour, taking his songs and his good nature to New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario, to…
Fiona Apple
After a seven-year absence, the easy path would be to make an album that sounds familiar, to take up where Extraordinary Machine left off. But easy is not Fiona Apple’s style. So when you hear her latest be patient—it’s a gorgeous and challenging return, but insists listeners suspend expectations. Stripped of the luscious production that…
Pie in the Skye
<pIn his book A Brief History of Progress, historian Ronald Wright examines “progress traps,” innovations that help some humans, then kick our asses, causing problems we can’t or won’t solve because we’re afraid to lose face and status. It starts with a “seductive trail of successes” and ends in catastrophe. As a rule, civilizations lack…
The Tallest Man on Earth
The Tallest Man on Earth, greatest man on earth, whatever you want to call him, Swedish folk singer Kristian Matsson will be winning over more hearts with his third-album There’s No Leaving Now. While this new album doesn’t vary much from Shallow Grave and The Wild Hunt, there are no complaints here—hell, why fix it…
Free Will Astrology
Happy Birthday! CANCER ((June 21-July 22) Most change is slow and incremental. The shifts happen so gradually that they are barely noticeable while you’re living in the midst of them from day to day. Then there are those rare times when the way everything fits together mutates pretty quickly. Relationships that have been evolving in…
Primos place
Los Primos began in 1997, with Amara and Jeff Goodspeed’s wish to provide instruments to young musicians in Cuba and promote a cultural exchange. Since those early days they’ve not only donated more than 250 instruments, but the project has become synonymous with Cuban music in Nova Scotia. This weekend, the ever-changing Los Primos is…
Q&A with Claire Seringhaus
Claire Seringhaus’ new book, The Blaring House, charms, confounds and tickles your brain. Detailed pen and graphite drawings with absurdly humourous captions on page after surreal page form a cohesive world—one that’s nostalgic, with equal parts spooky and goofy. The Blaring House launch is Friday, July 13 at Lost & Found (2383 Agricola, 6-8pm) in…
The Long March Home
Roy begins her tale just before the birth of its protagonist, Yezi, during the Cultural Revolution in Mao’s China. From the opening page Roy establishes the omnipresent fear of tyranny, which permeates life’s every decision, be it minor (what to wear) or major (whether to keep a child, and what to name it). Step wrong…
Hopelessly devoted to you
Q I’m a smart, professional woman in my mid-30s who dates the same. I also happen to use a wheelchair; I was diagnosed shortly after my first birthday with a motor neuron disease. I have about as much physical strength as a quadriplegic but I have full sensation. I am careful about who I date…
The Song of Roland
Michel Rabagliati’s latest graphic novel starts quite oddly, with a jumbled chapter full of rapid fire references and reminiscences of a family reunion on St. Jean Baptiste Day. Its nostalgic gleam is over-emphasized and oddly unsettling, which at first seems unrealistic and unfairly forced until we come to learn the truth of father-in-law Roland’s harsh upbringing…
Owen Van Larkins gives you the finger
After performing as a duo for eight years, Australian born fingerstyle guitarist Owen Van Larkins decided to step out as a solo artist in 2012. “Working as a duo was amazing,” Van Larkins says. “But to grow as a musician and travel it was just so much more simple as a solo artist.” Van Larkins…
Superman vs. The Elite
Despite the man of steel’s super strength, what carries the weight of Superman vs. The Elite is its well-woven social commentary. It loosely, yet effectively, explores humanity’s lust for capital punishment in the name of safety and justice, spawned by a global disdain for Superman’s refusal to kill his adversaries. Superman’s moral code battles this hypocrisy…
Gone to pottery
There are only a few mushrooms sprouting in Lorenzen Pottery’s 50 Years in the Making. Well-known for their ceramic mushrooms, the exhibit takes a comprehensive look of Ernst and Alma Lorenzen’s work. Originally from Dieppe, they settled into Lantz, NS in the 1950s where they perfected their techniques. While there are a few trademark pieces,…
Black Box
Reviving serialized literature seems like certain failure in the post-Twitter landscape of devastated attention spans, but Jennifer Egan’s Black Box is no Bleak House. Her newest experiment, published by The New Yorker’s Twitter feed in 10 one-hour installments, responds to, rather than bucks, contemporary realities. Integrating literature into the patience-destroying medium itself, Egan unveils a…
New Cursed Arrows video for “One In The Blue”
Enjoy Cursed Arrows’ idyllic life for a minute while you sit at your desk dreaming about the lake.
Dear Halifax
Thanks for a good year! I met some awesome people and I miss them like crazy every day! Things didn’t go as they were supposed to, but I thoroughly enjoyed what you had to offer near the end of my stay. It was a sudden move that happened earlier then it was supposed to but…
I promise
That we will have our night…I am just having too much fun anticipating it at the moment. —Stranger
Thinking of you
You are on my mind! There are times when it is faint, but not one day goes by when the thought of you doesn’t cross my mind. I told you once that I don’t want you in my life (scared I guess) now I regret it, truly I wish I could take those words back.…
So cute!
You have blonde, shoulder length hair. Lots of tats and piercings! I’ve saw you a few times, but never had the nerve to talk to you. Then you came and asked me a few questions, that made my day! —Admirer
Another driver bitch
This morning I watched four cars, four fucking cars fail to stop when a guy was trying to cross using the crosswalk. Just because you think you have enough fucking time to get by without splattering someone’s brains all over the pavement, doesn’t mean you should stop all thinking and forget the rules that gave…
Earth to picky chick!
You are constantly bitching about being single and that there are no good guys around here. Yet in the past year, you have rejected about nine different good guys our girl friends and I tried to set you up with! It turns out that you didn’t think any of them were good enough for you.…
