Gimme shelter
To the editor, Kudos to Shannon Hardy (“Smokin’ mad,” Letterhead, July 19) for pointing out the lack of enforcement of non-smoking by-laws at bus shelters. Last week I waited in the rain for a bus on the corner of South and Barrington. If you’re thinking, “Wait, that stop has a covered bench,” you’re right. But…
Badlantica
To the editor, Thanks for shedding light on Atlantica’s explicit flaws. As is clear in Tim Bousquet’s article (“Atlantica RIP,” July 19), not only is the Atlantica trade concept a nefarious idea for workers and the environment, it doesn’t even make sense from a purely economic perspective. But, of course, the biggest proponents of Atlantica…
Badlantica
To the editor, Tim Bousquet’s article on Atlantica was a breath of fresh air. He’s right, of course: this boat ain’t going to float. Aside from the reasons mentioned in the article, it is highly unlikely the American ports would stand idly by while Canadian ports took business from them. In addition, the proponents of…
Multiples of one
Max Tundra, Seahorse, 10:30pm Ben Jacobs (aka Max Tundra) energized the fairly packed Seahorse crowd with inventive music – turns, twists and shifts aplenty – but also with his dedicated dancing. A short man, his arms were surprisingly long and he flailed them tirelessly, like a multi-armed mythical creature. Multiplicity was the night’s theme. Tundra’s…
tent shows in monsoon season
It was a life-changing event when sax player and educator Jeff Goodspeed went over to the Cuban side. Since then, for years, he has tirelessly engineered musical interchanges between Nova Scotia and the Caribbean Island famous for some of the hottest music this side of planet Mercury. High school-aged Nova Scotia honour jazz students and…
Playing with paint
Shan Arsenault’s Great Guitars, Andy Cragg Nonet, 3pm/4pm at Main Stage Festival Tent I’m a little confused. On the Atlantic Jazz Festival web site, the Men With Gloves Trio was listed as being accompanied by painter Holly Carr. But when Shan Arsenault’s Great Guitars act was on stage, so was Carr. Though she was finishing…
Fashionable people are still going
Tonight’s Joel Plaskett/Peter Elkas/Jenn Grant show is a go no matter what the weather. Jenn’s on at 8:30, Elkas at 9:15 and Plaskett at 10.
Simon Fisk at the Argyle Gallery
Stuff happens. Like travel funding falling through for your band mates in Calgary when you’ve got a gig at the Atlantic Jazz Festival in Halifax. And continues to happen. You arrive at the gig. You, with your double bass. You, the one-man trio. But then, in strolls a pal from St. FX jazz school days,…
The natural look
Evyeneia Manolakos, owner of Foxy Moon Hair Gallery at 2393 Agricola, was hearing the same complaint from many of her customers. “A lot of my clients are sensitive to products, so they weren’t using any in their hair,” she says. “I was telling them how to make natural products themselves at home, but I realized…
By the Hammer of Thor!
Ladies all my ladies etc: Congrats to Mariska “Detective Benson” Hargitay, Mary-Louise “Nancy Botwin” Parker, America “Betty Suarez” Ferrara, Katherine “Izzie Stevens” Heigl, Jenna “Pam Beesly” Fischer, Chandra “Dr.Bailey” Wilson and Tina “Our Hero/Liz Lemon” Fey on their Emmy nominations. Fey responded to her acting and writing nods thusly: “This is an outrage.”
A new director
Sue Gibson Garvey, beloved director/curator of the Dalhousie Art Gallery, retired earlier this year after 17 years in the fold. This week, Dal announced her successor—local fave Peter Dykhuis, moving over from the Anna Leonowens Gallery, where he’s been administrative director since 1996. “Peter brings nearly 30 years of experience in the Canadian gallery system…
All apologies
If you are looking for the current elder statesmen of the Halifax music scene, look no further than The Sorrys. Sure, the band has only been around since 2004, but with two professors, an ESL teacher and an ad writer in its line-up, no one is going to mistake the band for students. Not that…
Atlantica RIP
Our political and business elites have been telling us that Nova Scotia’s economic future depends on Americans buying a bunch more plastic crap from China. But here’s a news flash: It ain’t gonna happen. In case you’ve somehow missed the sell of “Atlantica,” it goes like this: Despite being bankrupted by their fruitless imperialistic adventure…
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Every new Harry Potter movie is met with a response that it’s darker than the last. But how can something be dark if it doesn’t inspire emotion? Brit TV director David Yates helms Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with an eye for deep shadows and baroque settings, but even the best-looking scenes…
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Rob Brezsny says Taurus needs to appreciate the learning.
SAVAGE LOVE
Dan Savage searches for virginal purity.
Stöne is rock solid
Long home to the legendary La Cave, the subterranean space under Blowers Street has been revamped and reborn in yet another incarnation: Stönehäven Dining Experience. The dining room reno was long overdue, and while one of the “caves” was kept, much of the space has been opened up. In the front part of the restaurant…
The language of lose
My hero, the American English prof William Lutz, wrote “Mao Tse-tung was wrong; power doesn’t come from the barrel of a gun. Power in modern society resides in language.” That statement is from Lutz’s book, The New Doublespeak. In it, he explains that doublespeak is language that is carefully constructed to disguise its real meaning.…
Fair warning
Through the ribbon of glass running along one wall in Halifax Regional Police chief Frank Beazley’s office, a rainbow flag is visible, draped on an apartment balcony. The icon sits perfectly off the shoulder of deputy chief Chris McNeil, who’s borrowing his boss’s office while he’s away. Dressed casually, a blue HRP pin on the…
The march of progress
Ian McKinnon has been going to gay pride parades on and off for the past 26 years. For the last three years, it’s been “off.” Lacking substance. Middle-class conservative. Normal. These are the words he and others use to describe the parade—not just the Halifax Pride parade, but gay pride parades in general. Pride parades…
His and hirs
JT Davis had reached his breaking point. The then-20-year-old New Glasgow resident called his girlfriend. They’d had an intense discussion about transsexuality earlier that day, and the focus of the conversation had stayed with him. When she picked up the phone, he said, “You know that thing you were talking about? I think I’m it.”…
Alexisonfire, ink
Tattoos are serious business. They hurt. They’re expensive. And they’re on you forever. So what if certain tattoos came along with some pretty sweet perks? Alexisonfire is a band which is offering their fans just that—all they have to do is get themselves inked. The band has offered free admittance to their shows for life…
Freakin’ Friday
TFC A 2005 comment by “trumpetguy” on Sporting News message board (sic): subject – Best Guitarist? “There is a guy,” trumpetguy reveals to all and sundry, “I play with around here (Jeff Torbert of Torbert, Fine and Cameron) who is great—absolutely blows my mind when he solos and plays his riffs solidly (this is of…
In for the Kill
“I assume that nobody knows who I am,” says John Dahl. Promoting his new movie You Kill Me, an alcoholic hitman comedy starring Ben Kingsley, Téa Leoni and Luke Wilson, it’s a humble attitude for a man who has had a major influence on American independent filmmaking for almost two decades. “It’s why I’m amazed…
Best of Food nominations
Best ChefCraig Flinn (Chives)Dennis Johnston (Fid)Ray Bear (Gio) Best New RestaurantGioMezzaMosaic Social Dining Lounge Best RestaurantChives Canadian Bistrojane’s on the commonThe Wooden Monkey Best BurgerThe ChickenburgerDarrell’sHenry House Best ChowderFive Fishermenjane’s on the commonSalty’s Best Cinnamon RollCertainly CinnamonCinnabon Halifax Shopping CentreMary’s Bread Basket Best Club SandwichArmview Restaurant & LoungeMediterraneoYour Father’s Moustache Best Dessertil Mercato Ristorantejane’s on…
Keepin’ it realcore
In the early 1990s, a group of culturally minded Haligonians ran Peggy’s Queer Film & Video Festival, programming avant-garde artistic films at the now-defunct Wormwood’s Theatre on Gottingen Street. Many of those films involved graphic sexual expression. And you know what? It wasn’t a big deal. Peggy’s founder, internationally recognized writer and director Thom Fitzgerald,…
