Monday video round up
Today is a Monday. Monday starts with M. Know what else starts with M? Music, as in music videos. Here are five of them—multiple minutes of musical magnificence in the marvelous medium of video. Glory Glory, “You Need A Heart To Live” Masked and mysterious. An interpretive dance duet. Sinister but at the same time…
Southern Shores drift home
Southern Shores is coming home. Halifax-born and raised Ben Dalton and Jamie Townsend are performing at Gus’ Pub on Tuesday, July 31 (with Gwen West) and they couldn’t be more excited. After seven months in Toronto, they’re eager to return home to see friends and family. “Since January we have been here making new music,…
Student jobs are elusive
More than a third of university students can’t find jobs this summer. Nova Scotia in particular has the highest youth unemployment rates of all the provinces. The employment rate for youth, aged 15-24, during the summer months in Canada has fallen 4.2 percentage points since June 2011 and is currently at 63.2 percent. This is…
Province is paying half of $200,000 “public consultation” costs for Nova Centre
The people hired to lead the public consultations for design of the new convention centre complex are either pragmatists trying to make the best of a bad situation, or “pretend ‘progressives’ who are cashing in,” as commentator Adrath Whynacht put it on mediacoop.ca. There was never a true public consultation about whether the Nova Centre…
Rocco’s restaurant now on Baker Drive
Looking for Rocco’s Restaurant (250 Baker Drive, 461-0211)? It moved back in April from the Quality Inn to its current Dartmouth location. “We love it here. A bright new space, big beautiful bathrooms, lots of parking, 20 extra seats, and I have plans for an outdoor dining space that I hope to have finished before…
Nominate or abominate for NSMW
Your mantle is looking a little drab. Take the first necessary step to add a Music Nova Scotia award to that thing by nominating yourself for any and all applicable categories here for Nova Scotia Music Week. The artist and industry deadline closes Monday, July 30 for the NSMW bonanza in Liverpool from November 8-11.…
Mother’s hits the Hydrostone this fall
Mother’s is coming to the Hydrostone (5710 Young Street, the old Tanner Supply building location) this fall. With a successful Turks and Caicos location that specializes in pizza, owner Tyson Wachter thought it was time to bring its locally sourced, comfort food to Halifax. And by local, the owners really mean local. “We are…
Sweet scapes
So what on earth is a garlic scape? Prior to visiting the Seaport Market this past weekend I wouldn’t have had the foggiest. The name at once brings to mind a pock-marked and otherworldly lunar vegetable patch, or perhaps obscure vernacular for a halitosis-enabled jailbreak. But as I discovered on Saturday, garlic scapes are in…
Five Things You Should Not Miss This Week in Halifax
1. Catherine Martin Series: The Spirit of Annie Mae: Tonight (Wednesday, July 25) at 7, there will be a screening of Martin’s documentary about Anna Mae Aquash, who was the highest ranking woman in the American Indian Movement. Part of the Snapshot exhibit at the Khyber, this is definitely a must-see at the Museum of…
HB Studios Medal Bound‘s Olympic dreams
Local Halifax game developer HB Studios is offering fans of the Olympics a chance to fantasy-draft their own teams. The company’s new game Medal Bound is now available for download from the Apple store. iPhone and iPad users will have the opportunity to virtually build up a team of athletes to win as many medals…
How this city works
Today I’m at at Utility and Review Board hearing, following an appeal Olympic International Realty Ltd. has filed against a 2006 Northwest Community Council decision related to phased development in the Paper Mill Lake. It doesn’t get much more obscure than this, and the story gets quite convoluted. I won’t now get into this in…
Thieves everywhere
This one goes out to the ass or asses that decided to steal both mine and my girlfriend’s motorcycle helmets on Wednesday afternoon. We were hiking out around the Peggys Cove area. I decided for the first time not to “lock” the helmets to the bike. I made this decision thinking “Hey, I’m out of…
Geez, someone is jealous!
I’m a very open person and on a few occasions at work, I have told some co-workers details of my sex life with my boyfriend. You overheard a conversation I was having with one of our co-workers. I was talking about an amazing sex toy we use together when we’re fucking and how it gets…
Where the hell are your manners, Halifax?
As a professional driver who spends a lot of hours in the downtown core, I have noticed that most of you are pretty fucking rude when it comes to street etiquette. Only about 3/10 give you a wave when you let them into traffic in their cars and about 2/10 give you a wave when…
The sidewalk is not your garden
To a diligent gardener: You have a beautiful garden and obviously very little space, which is a shame because you have a lovely gift, but the sidewalk is not your garden. The planters don’t belong on the sidewalk and the tall plants shouldn’t overhang the space. You are so close to the grocery store and…
Halifax’s worst driver
Just new to riding a bicycle in Halifax, but using my common sense I realize since technically I’m classified as a vehicle while riding a bike, I decided that I’d ride on the street like I’m supposed to. I was riding at quite a pace up Inglis Street this morning, when I approached a white…
Kind blonde lady
I was having a super tough day at work and was doing a poor job of keeping a stiff upper lip. You handed me a note saying “You’re good at your job, don’t let people be assholes,” with $5 (totally unnecessary but still super nice!) it made my day! If more people were as awesome…
Human or dog?
To the old man who came in to my workplace and growled at me, I thought it was incredibly rude and strange. Not sure what you were trying to accomplish with this little act of growling but I prefer strangers to use their words and be kind. YOU were not at all funny and my…
Blue collar BS
Ok, I grew up with The Boss, and others as voices for the blue collar/working man, and his struggle against the system. How many blue collar workers can afford to go to one of these shows? None. How fuckin ironic is that…nuff said! —I Work For a Living
I was a moron
I was at one of those factory places that treat you like sheep where you buy groceries. I encountered a rule that was truly stupid. The man behind me wearing a blue shirt interrupted my conversation with the cashier, and I told you to mind your own f**king business, and gave you the finger. Well,…
Halifax transit sucks
You didn’t bother telling any of your passengers this and when I called I got a very rude agent, you just don’t give a shit! I’m so frustrated with your lack of customer service and inaccurate schedule which you blame on a third party but are apparently fine and dandy with continuing to pay for…
Halifax: A city full of shallow women and crappy friends
I’m giving up on finding a good girl in this burg. I’ve lived here for nearly two years and haven’t even had a date. I’m a nice, decent guy, but no single woman in this city gives a shit. No, I’m not the best-looking guy in the world and no, I don’t make a ton…
I just don’t know what’s sweeter
To the pill-box donning darling that meets my sugary needs with such a perfect smile and magnificent blue eyes, you don’t even know how appreciated you are. Keep being wonderful. —Downtown Boy
That thing near your gearshift is an ashtray, you douche
Hey, all you a-holes who can’t be bothered putting our your disgusting ciggies in your friggen car ashtrays, what the hell is the matter with you…throwing a lit cigarette out your car window? Twice in the last year I’ve had a lit cigarette fly into my open car window from some douchebag who can’t be…
Doggone it, you barked up the wrong parking space
Sucks to be you, you left your crated (crate door open, but still) pooch in a car on the street in our fair city and someone gave a fuck enough to call the cops. Now there’s a cop sitting out there waiting for you to come back, and I don’t even care if he isn’t…
Pride week bartender
I told you that I wasn’t very good at not getting what I wanted. The truth is, I want less than most people. My life is quite simple: a series of conversations, a bucket of dreams and the desire to do something great. Staring into your eyes was the best thing that’s happened to me…
Idiots parking on Hollis Street at rush hour
Ok, Like Peter Finch said…”I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” Every god damn morning trying to get into work, I have to take Hollis Street, and every god damn morning there are multitudes of morons who decide to turn the left lane of Hollis, you know…the one with signs…
Thank you…
For the best sex I have ever had, for taking away my loneliness and making me laugh. Knowing there is an expiration date on this does kind of blow to be honest, because, well I have fun with you and I don’t think I will look at sex the same ever again after you leave.…
Thinking of you, too
I work so close to where it all began and I know you’re still there. So many times I intoxicate myself with memories and how differently it could have been with a few changed words and a little more patience. I’ll get lost in a picture of my mind’s eye, one of you and I.…
Tony Robbins was in Halifax
Motivational speaker Tony Robbins is in the news this week, as nearly two dozen attendees at Robbins’ “Unleash the Power Within” event in San Jose, California suffered second- and third-degree burns on their feet while participating in a firewalking exercise. Back in 2008, Robbins brought his show, which is a sort of camp meeting for…
More Queer Acts
Well, judging by the number of people in attendance at the Bus Stop Theatre on Saturday afternoon, it seems that Queer Acts is giving Tall Ships a run for their money. I took in the two shows that I hadn’t previously seen: A sampling of work from DaPoPo’s Acting Out! Queer Youth Theatre Workshop and…
Reno man with the perfect body
Oh, you drive me crazy, in a really good way. All I can picture lately is you lying belly down on my bed with your perfect delicious bum. We had great sex and I can’t wait for the next time. I liked it a lot when you said “Let’s cuddle.” I would love to see…
Melissa Buote takes in Tall Ships’ Food Fare by the Sea
Click and commence your envying. Related Stories
Fellow leaper
I realize you’ve been hurt many times before, so have I. I’ve told you before I have a lot of compassion and empathy for people especially those I care about, like you. I hope you’re not playing me for a fool. Have faith in me, together we will make the leap and land on our…
Best emails of the week: July 14-20 edition
Subject: Charlie Sheen to Donate $1 Million to USO Wow! It’s the largest single contribution from a single woman abuser to the military organization! I feel icky for having read this email. Donating a whopping 1% of his profits from the EXCELLENT Anger Management, Sheen says: “It’s an honor for me to be able to…
Tall ships come to Halifax
It is pure chaos down at the boardwalk today. History enthusiasts, people out for a stroll, tourists and locals, alike are all down enjoying the sunshine and taking in the tall-ships. The Tall Ships Festival runs from Thursday to Monday at noon, with tours of each of the ships. Be sure to check out the…
2010 audit of Trade Centre Limited called for straightening out Ticket Atlantic mess
A 2010 audit of Trade Centre Limited conducted by the provincial department of economic development zeroed in on the uncertain relationship between the city and TCL, and specifically with regard to ticket sales for the Metro Centre. “The relationship [of TCL] with HRM is governed by a 1981 operating agreement that does not reflect changes…
Will probably regret this
I should probably quit while I’m ahead. —Trying Not To Enjoy You
Slap a label on it
You may not agree with someone’s beliefs—you may have different morals, background, religion, culture—but at the end of the day bashing someone else’s way of life (when it otherwise doesn’t affect you), and backing up your biased bashing with your opinion on the “truth” seems rather flawed. If someone chooses not to conform to the…
Beautiful little red Windsor Street apartment hunter
It was a small, affordable apartment. As I was leaving you were the next one for a viewing and we passed each other at the doorway. You had the cutest little shy smile, beautiful red hair and adorable freckles. I was taken aback and speechless, which is rare for me. Oh the things I thought…
Tuesday night
You and your friend walked in, you were in a white shirt and tight jeans. I sat next to you at the bar but you didn’t notice me. I couldn’t buy you a drink because you were drinking water. I should’ve tried. I’ll just keep thinking of you. Your eyes are amazing. Maybe next Tuesday?…
Returning customer
You were trying to have a conversation when my creepy manager was spying on me because he likes to do that for some reason. I couldn’t act normal with him being so awkwardly close…hope you didn’t take it as me being rude. —Hope To Talk To You When He’s Spying From Afar
The biter
Okay, pal. I don’t know what the fuck gets into you when you’re drinking that makes you, a grown 29-year-old man, sneak up on people and bite them! Really, it got old after you bit the first couple of people, yet you think it’s so hilarious. You’re my buddy and I know you don’t mean…
In Wonderland
I get that you’re on a new journey spiritually and I’m trying my best to be supportive. You dived headlong last month into this new positive theory of attraction lifestyle and honestly it’s great! A change is always good especially since you’ve been though some trying times in the past. However, please stop telling me…
Opening night at Queer Acts
The house was full for all four shows that opened the Queer Acts Theatre Festival last night, and were we ever grateful for The Bus Stop’s new cooling system. Even packed cheek to jowl, the theatre was cool and comfortable. The plays themselves covered a wide variety of topics from masturbation to polyamory, yet each…
Students and new graduates
Stop applying to our positions that require 5+ years of experience. When we ask for that many years, we mean it! I’m sick of getting dozens upon dozens of applications saying “I just graduated from _____ college and I’m applying for the _____ position…” Our company doesn’t hire newbies to the workforce. It’s a busy…
No amount of spin can hide ticket scandal facts
It’s now cover your ass time, as everyone connected to the ticket scandal attempts to shift blame off themselves and put it on someone else. Fred MacGillivray says its Scott Ferguson’s fault. Scott Ferguson says it’s Fred MacGillivray’s fault. Darrell Dexter says it’s the city’s fault. Peter Kelly says no way is it the city’s…
Silver Echo driver
A huge shout out to the driver of a silver Toyota Echo this morning (July 19) who back tracked on Chebucto Road to come and help me. You tied up my muffler to be sure I could get to work. Taking time out of your commute this morning to help me was GREATLY appreciated! Your…
Bus woes
Ugh. No offense intended against anyone who has a family of kids, but gosh, parents, learn to control your kids. Being forced to endure a toddler screaming at the top of his or her powerful lungs is more than I can be expected to endure. I gave up a plea for silence or the silence…
Dark night brightened
To the alt goddess at the Dark Knight movie marathon: With your close-cropped raven hair, piercing eyes, rose tattoo and sexy swagger, you’ll haunt my dreams far more than Anne Hathaway in a catsuit. Thanks for making the intermissions even more entertaining than the flicks. Batman woulda had the guts to talk to you. Alas,…
Parking tickets funding fireworks?
I just have to say how extremely disappointed and upset I was on Canada Day to return to my car to find a ticket! I was on the Dartmouth side enjoying the music and fireworks. I was parked for the better part of three hours, only to find the ticket written at 10:03pm…exactly three minutes…
Pool Etiquette 101
To the miserable beyach at a certain pool today: Learn some lane etiquette! When all the lanes are full and someone politely asks if they can share a lane with you, telling that person in a really bitchy tone that you’d “really rather not share a lane and isn’t there any other free ones available?”…
Toothless laws to “protect” the city
I just found out why there was a new law passed that requires drivers to give cyclists a one-metre gap. It gives the HPD the authority to ticket any cyclist who may still risk it and rides on the sidewalk, even if there are no pedestrians for 10 blocks in either direction. I ride on…
Jenner Cormier is going to New Orleans
Hali-famous Jenner Cormier, mixologist at The Middle Spoon (1559 Barrington Street, 407- 4002), is heading to New Orleans this Sunday to partake in their annual Tales of the Cocktails festival. Any bartender knows that this is a big deal. “Tales of the Cocktail is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, cocktail gatherings. It’s…
Karma’s a bitch
First I want to say THANK YOU to the guy in the silver car that stopped at the crosswalk at Woodland and Slayter Street yesterday, July 18 at around 4:10pm. If you hadn’t beeped your horn I would have walked straight into that idiot who swerved around you to turn left onto Slayter while I…
Orphan Books comes to the north end
Recently opened Orphan Books (2394 Agricola St, 425-5013) is bringing affordable used books to the north end. Owner Morgan Dambergs wants to provide used science and young adult fiction in particular for her customers. The quaint store is stacked with a collection of books that come from book sales and friends. She has books that…
Bucket of chicken!
What is better than fried chicken? A whole bucketful of fried chicken. That’s exactly what Coastal@Night (2731 Robie St, 401-5307) is serving up, starting Saturday. All you need is five friends (it’s listed with a six person minimum on the menu) and $35 each. “We’ve got a regular posse who come down for fried chicken…
I can have an opinion about your opinion
I have a friend who is constantly putting people down and insists that any criticism of how she makes people feel with her remarks is void because she is entitled to her opinion. Well guess what one dimensional mind, I’m entitled to my opinion of your opinions and how you let them affect people. Funny…
Nothing open after 11pm?
I can’t find any non-alcohol related restaurants or activities that are open beyond 10-11pm most nights of the week, and it makes me a little sad. Drinking is fine and dandy, and if that’s your cup of tea, have at it hoss—to each their own. But that’s not my scene, and I’m just wondering if…
Crosswalks aren’t for cyclists
Why can’t you get off your bike and walk it across the street if you feel you have to ride them on the sidewalks with pedestrians? Especially you parents who tow your kids in trailers behind your bikes.. Seriously, it’s bad enough when a lone person on a bike darts off the sidewalk onto a…
Should the city be responsible for Fred MacGillivray’s million dollar pension?
Thanks to auditor general Larry Munroe, we now know the details of how Fred MacGillivray, who was then the president of provincial crown corporation Trade Centre Limited, lifted the ticket operation away from the city-owned Metro Centre and made it part of TCL’s operation. As a result, the city has been shorted about a million…
NS unemployment
So I am on the bandwagon of young people who are struggling financially and starving for a real job. I have a measly minimum wage part-time temporary job that terminates August 20. I have been applying to every possible place left, right and centre, while also seeking out opportunities that relate to my degree. I…
Parks and recreation
The Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council’s 35th annual summer show is taking over Victoria Park this weekend. “In a time when the way that people are finding things they love is very different than 35 years ago,” says NSDCC’s program coordinator Julie Rosvall. “Thirty-five years ago you would have 100 exhibitors and 20,000 people would…
Sissydude is fine and dandy
Hoarding. Subletting. Halifax’s north end. On their own they’d make ideal musical theatre subjects, but trrrash Productions gilded the lily, combining it all (with healthy doses of camp) for their Halifax Pride Queer Acts Theatre Festival offering, Sissydude: a dandy rock musical. The musical, premiering this Thursday, opens and closes the show with the beloved…
Do the Evolve
It’s hard to believe that one of Canada’s best music festivals could get any greater but believe it, baby: Evolve 2012 is going to blow the confetti right out of you. Now in its twelfth year, 100 acts from across the world will be in Antigonish for the three-day eco-focused tent and stage mini-city. Alongside…
Cam Smith’s Blue heaven
Cam Smith’s newest album, Ocean Blue, began back in February. Like many great albums, Smith was spurred on by a recent break up, and the songs came easily. “Everything changed with a song called ‘Hear Me.’ Once I produced the beat I knew I was on the right track. After that the music continued to…
Campbell’s homecoming
“I am pretty sure the horse of my broken heart is dead, and I should stop beating it,” says Amy Campbell, laughing. Known for her very sad folk songs, solo and in Stumble, the Nova Scotia native got married in 2010, so one would suspect it was harder to conjure up the sadder moments on…
In-Flight resumes flying
Buckle up—it’s going to be a bumpy flight. One of Canada’s favourite indie bands, In-Flight Safety, is back and is going to be playing a free show at the Tall Ships Festival. Off the scene for awhile, the band has been right back in the studio since its last tour and is looking to get…
Morally bankrupt
Last Thursday morning was a crystalizing moment for my understanding of Halifax. A crowd of more than 300 people, overwhelmingly male and exclusively white, besuited in the attire of folks who consider themselves movers and shakers, had gathered at the Neptune Theatre on Argyle Street for a masturbatory celebration of the imminent construction of a…
Bad blowjob behaviour
Q I am desperately in need of your help. After eight years of marriage, it turns out that the blowjobs I give are “good but not great” and are now getting “boring.” My husband is unable to tell me anything specific that he wants me to do, just that I should do something different and…
The power of culture
Sometimes an interviewer has to work very hard to draw information from the subjects of a story. It can require the sensitivity of a therapist, the easygoing ways of a best friend and the analytical focus of a detective. Well, that’s certainly not the case for this story. It seems that when you get Hugo Dann,…
Sympathy Loophole
This is not your grandmother’s poetry. Filled to the brim with scenes that delight and disturb, Forsythe constantly surprises with an unforeseen twist or metaphor that is so strangely perfect that you have to reread and ruminate. In “Romance” she writes, “That year, we all had waitressing jobs/and stalkers./Sore teeth and short answers./Bruised hips and…
A beautiful discovery
“Six Newfies on the floor of my one-bedroom apartment on Charles Street.” That’s how Jason Burns remembers it. “This is where it all began, in a weird way,” he recalls. “My fucking apartment looked like a can of weird sardines. There were bodies everywhere.” That’s how Hey Rosetta! started its career, building a small empire…
Moving Day
The drudgery of manual labour gets a comedic spin in Moving Day, the latest feature from Trailer Park Boys auteur Mike Clattenburg. Will Sasso (Mad TV) stars as a simple, beleaguered mover who quietly suffers through the comic foibles and occasional fistfights of working in a Dartmouth furniture store. His overwound sister/boss (Corner Gas’ Gabrielle…
Free Will Astrology
Happy Birthday! CANCER ((June 21-July 22) If you narrow your focus now, the world will really open up for you in the second half of October and November. To the degree that you impose limitations on your desire to forever flow in all directions, you will free up creative ideas that are currently buried. So…
Snakes, why’d it have to be snakes?
What you’ve heard about Georges Island is true: It’s crawling with garter snakes. There are between 400 and 500 garters, based on the latest survey. And although that’s a lot for such a small space, they seem to have found plenty of places to hide. The chance of seeing one of these slithery denizens is…
The Dark Knight Rises
{image-1] Christopher Nolan’s third Batman installment is a fitting addition to its predecessors with its dark plot and aesthetic, picking up where the last left off. Gotham city’s elite are under threat by a “mercenary,” Bane (Tom Hardy)—like an Occupy Gotham, only the 99% forced into an uprising by a tyrant. Of course, Bruce Wayne…
Jincheng turns up the heat
I’m sweating when I slide the door to Jincheng Chinese Cuisine open. It’s just before noon, incredibly hot outside. The sun bores through the bright windows into the dining room where a fan whirrs quietly, almost uselessly, on the ceiling. The restaurant is completely empty. I tentatively walk towards the counter and hear an “Oh!”…
Smooth Moving
Mike Clattenburg’s newest film, Moving Day, is a world of back-breaking labour and belly-busting laughs opening Friday. by Jacob Boon Anyone who’s worked on a film set can tell you there’s plenty of physical labour involved in making movies, so it should come as no surprise that director Mike Clattenburg would feel an affinity for…
Weird, wonderful Alice
What do you get when you take a strange and brilliant piece of writing and put it in the creative hands of a strange and brilliant group of theatre artists? Shakespeare by the Sea’s Alice in Wonderland, of course! This production will leave you grinning like the Cheshire Cat (played by Sébastian Labelle, whose manic…
