Gag reflex
To the editor, I am using this as a forum to send my sincere thanks to the people who are right now standing in the rain, using their umbrellas to block the pictures of dismembered, bloody fetuses that anti-abortionists are displaying to pedestrians and traffic on South Park Street. These photos, though gruesome to behold,…
Gag reflex
To the editor, While riding the bus home on Friday afternoon, I noticed people standing along North Street holding up signs of dismembered baby fetuses with the caption “Abortion” underneath; definitely controversial, if not eye-catching in a sick sense. A bit farther along, I noticed a number of people holding rainbow-coloured umbrellas in front of…
Gag reflex
To the editor, Today I dragged my ass out of bed and hopped on the bus to go to work like usual. It seemed like an ordinary day—rainy weather and everyone looking out the windows to avoid eye contact. And then, from out of the mist…could it be? Yep, it’s a dead and dismembered fetus!…
Letters to the Editor
To the anti-abortionist extremists who were standing along Sackville Drive this morning I ask: Who do you think you are? Displaying your disgusting pictures for all to see…have you thought about parents with young children in their cars? Have you not any respect for others who may not share your beliefs? Fine, you posted on…
Letters to the Editor
On my way to work this morning Barrington Street was lined with fundies holding PhotoShopped anti-abortion signs. While I was glad it was pouring down rain, I still had two wishes: 1. I wished there were less telephone poles and trees on that side of Barrington Street.2. I wished the roads were icy. Fundies, get…
Letters to the Editor
I have now seen everything Today I dragged my ass out of bed, and hopped on the bus like usual, to work I go, to fund my dream of someday becoming a mediocre rock star. It seemed like an ordinary day, you know, rainy weather and everyone looking out the windows to avoid eye contact.…
Letters to the Editor
I am using this as a forum to send my sincere THANKS to the people who are right now standing in the rain, using their umbrellas and cardboard not for the downpour but to block the pictures of dismembered, bloody fetuses that anti-abortionists are displaying to pedestrians and traffic on South Park St near Spring…
Ace of Bass (part two) straight ahead with chasers
Thursday night, foremost T-dot bassist Roberto Occhipinti brought a quintet of fabulous players into the Commons Room to entertain a near capacity audience of (I would hazard to guess)university music students and upmarket middle-aged listeners. Occhipinti, Cuban piano god Hilario Duran, trumpeter Kevin Turcotte, alto-saxophonist Luis Denis and drum wunderkindDafnis Prieto, held court playing (with…
Jazz man crushes
I’ve had my share of man-crushes. Too many to list here. Normally they’re musicians, sometimes visual artists. I end up like George in that Seinfeld episode where he’s all agog over Tony, a mountain-climbing boyfriend of Elaine. I’ve never offered to make sandwiches though for my man-crushes, as George does. Or there’s Jerry’s crush on…
Ace of Bass (part one): the song cycle
A number of years ago, living in Toronto, I bought a ticket for a Miles Davis concert at Roy Thomson Hall. Miles’s career at that time had spanned more than three decades and the audience filing in the hall reflected that span. Old men leaning on their canes hoping to hear Miles from the big…
The Wait is on
As titles are rolled out slowly for this year’s Toronto International Film Festival—the much-delayed star-studded Oscar bait All the King’s Men (with Sean Penn, Kate Winslet and Patricia Clarkson) and Cannes fave Babel, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and starring Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt, are among the first batch—a local name has just been…
Holy Casio keyboards
While some of our summer plans are being ripped apart by the forces of capitalism, those of one eclectic artist are going right according to plan. Yarmouth’s Brian Borcherdt is hard at work in Toronto on his experimental lo-fi project Holy Fuck’s second album, which will show influences from a fresh perspective experienced only once…
Two other brothers
Darrell’s Restaurant and Sports Cafe opened a new location at 1865 Hollis last Saturday, in the former home of Sweet Lou’s and Nemo’s. “We’ve been considering it for quite a long time, it’s always been our plan to have more locations open,” says co-owner Dan Joseph. “It was just a matter of timing and perfecting…
Turning the Pizza corner?
Responding to a reader-generated tip (and following up on Bruce Wark’s June 22 cover story on “Halifax’s dirty little secret”), we put in a call to the Halifax Regional Police Department this week to look into some unusual police activity in the area surrounding that locally famous (infamous?) intersection, Pizza Corner. The tip, which came…
Fuel for thought
To the editor, It would be nice if we all used our cars a little less. But let’s take a look at how realistic that is in our society today. Look at the new suburbs—acres and acres of homes, and not a store in sight, unless the area’s lucky enough to get a small convenience…
Savage love affair
To the editor, I am a 30-year-old straight man. I am not a pervert, save occasionally in my sense of humour. The recent letter criticizing “Savage Love” peeved me, as I am a fan of the column. Dan Savage has an open mind. It is his lack of judgment and unfading desire to help solve…
Savage love affair
To the editor, In the July 13 issue of The Coast, I was a little surprised to read the letter to the editor about “Savage Love.” I support the column and don’t take too kindly to being called a pervert. I remember reading my first Coast with my brother in a pizza shop, but it…
Sights and Sounds, Words and Music
Tuesday night I hopped over to the Dal Architecture Building to catch Sageev Oore improvising music to a showing of Charlie Chaplin movies. Figuring on a wait (I like to arrive at venues in plenty of time for a broad range of seating choice), I brought along with my notebook a copy of the current…
Monster House
Monster House is a throwback to a mostly deceased subgenre: the scary movie for kids. Spooky stuff in the new Pirates of the Caribbean is just part of its corporate mindset. That film aims to pacify everyone, but kids can embrace Monster House as their own. Even in its opening stages, the characters display a…
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Capitalize on your “inadequacies,” Pisces, says Rob Brezsny.
SAVAGE LOVE
Dan Savage sets DTMFA aside and gets down to business.
Savage Love
I worked as a legal advocate for battered women for years, and I’d like to “fill out” your advice to LIFE a little, on the assumption that his lady-friend is telling the truth. (And I think this is worth addressing, because far too many women are in her situation, and this is worth a little…
Into the Outback
Guy Pearce’s favourite scene in The Proposition, in which he stars, is when Emily Watson’s Martha realizes the deal her husband has made with the devil in order to, in his words, “civilize” the land. “I cry every time I see it,” he says. “One of the things I think the film is about is…
Daniel MacIvor’s new script
Sunday is a big day for Daniel MacIvor, the writer/actor. It’s his birthday—he was born 44 years ago in Sydney, Cape Breton—and he’s marking it with a performance of his play Cul-de-sac at Neptune’s Studio Theatre. The show is the Halifax debut of the acclaimed Cul-de-sac, and one of the last events of Pride Week.…
Open competition
Catherine Meade still cringes whenever she walks by a schoolyard and hears the insults kids hurl at each other on the playing field. “Even though it’s 2006,” Meade says, “and we’ve had the right to marry for two years now, you still walk by many school grounds, and what do you hear, ‘fag,’ or ‘dyke.’…
Over exposure
Confession: I find buttless chaps a turn-on. Clarification: the naked underneath kind, I mean, not cowboy-style with jeans. Sad fact: I only ever get to see in-the-flesh buttless chaps at Pride parades. Much more sad fact: I’m not actually turned on by the gay leather men who wear them, but I’ll take whatever I can…
The destruction, rebuilding, vindication and progression of Lindsay Willow
Lindsay Willow is not who you think she is. For one thing, she’s not a jock; she’s a gym teacher, in part because she couldn’t imagine being stuck in a classroom all day. She’s a lesbian too. And she didn’t molest 17-year old Nadia Ibrahim, although that was the misguided allegation of John Orlando in…
Metro transition
When Eric MacDonald first thought about becoming a man in 1992, he backed away from the idea. “There was very little information available to me about the transition process,” says the 35-year-old female-to-male transsexual, “and what I did know made me want to stay as far away (from it) as possible.” Transsexuals were freaks, and…
Rita education
Outskirts, Tower of Silence,Side Street, Defunct, Urban Scroungers, Destruck, The Artificial Marsh. The titles of Rita McKeough’s artwork hint at the artist’s preoccupation with architecture. Or with spaces and bodies and how they fit together—or clash. Long Haul, slipping by, Wave Over Wave, Shudder, Shiver, Take it to the Teeth. They’re all art installation performances—presented…
The thin blue lines
In their ongoing battle for our loyalty, supermarkets have been increasingly focused on making their stores destination spots—not just places to buy food, but also services like prescriptions, photo finishing, flowers and clothing. Fortunately, the latest supermarket trend is turning our attention back to their prime products, food. In this case, think blue. Both major…
Food for oil
Q: Where is the Galaxy 2? How many people are on the rig? A: We’re located just off Sable Island. There are 160 people out here. We have three cooks working during the day and two at night—the men work 12-hour shifts, so we’re cooking constantly. Q: is it cafeteria-style? A: It’s like what you’d…
Reg, out
MuchMusic won’t play Gentleman Reg’s video. Shot for his exuberantly catchy tune “The Boyfriend Song,” the video features Gentleman Reg (AKA Reg Vermue) singing and strumming an acoustic guitar. In the background, a crowd of half-dressed friends are tangled up in a playful orgy. It’s a heady scene of boys and girls kissing and groping…
