Day 1, Part 3: South By Southwest
For my editor: Dave Jaffer of The Hour mugs in front of the tattoo parlour where Jason Street got his tattoo in Friday Night Lights Fresh Kils gives the lowdown on Austin Ghettosocks on food in Austin and that Juno nomination
Day 1, Part 2: South By Southwest 2011
Oh Austin, how I love you. Just when you think South By Southwest may not live up to expectations, it kicks you in the arse with a great night of shows. It’s like throwing a party and being worried that no one will show up. Instead, several thousand people turn out and it’s the party…
Lessons Learned?
Two individuals at City Hall, one elected and one not, gave $400,000 of taxpayers’ money to a local concert promoter last summer after consulting… nobody! When found out by an audit, one of them lamented oh well “lessons learned.” WTF?! $359,550 of that money is gone and will not be recovered. Fuck! Heads should roll!…
Dictator vs. Tobacco
Tobacco killed over 45,000 people in 1996 just in Canada. Is THIS not a crime against humanity?! Why shouldn’t our Pols be prosecuted for this??? —Not unfeeling but sick of smokers
Bar Star of Halifax
I know who you are, and I think you know who I am and one day, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year we will be face to face and when that day comes I feel sorry for you more than I do now cause I will pop the…
I’m so fucking mad
I just need to get this out, and I can’t think of any other place suitable for such a rant than the bitch board. So here goes (and let the flaming begin): I’m so fucking sick and tired of being sick. And not sick with the flu or a cold, I’m talking chronically sick. I’m…
Hockey Rulz
Leave hockey alone. It’s fine the way it is. Just because some pussies can’t defend themselves on the ice is no reason to make more rules. If you want a game without a good fight, go watch a women’s game… boring! —Puck Off
Crazy Cat Lady
Why’d you take in that stray if you had no intention of getting it spayed? The damn thing is in heat and crying like a banshee. —EarsPlugged
Escorts
My views on escorts may be different than most people. Either way it’s my view and this is a place to bitch so here it is. Over the years, I’ve come to know a few escorts. Most were classy and some were very trashy. The trashy ones seemed to be the ones who are ruining…
Baby Mama
You are 19, a High School dropout, have never held a job and sit around all day on Facebook filling out those ridiculous ‘notes’, answering mindless questions to demonstrate how “deep” you are… and now you’re pregnant with the next generation of welfare hellspawn. So, it’s pathetic enough that you and your sprytrash boyfriend both…
I hit your dog in the face…
…with a stick and it felt great! The stick was at least an inch around too. You see, when your dog has a history of biting mine who is a 14 week-old puppy while mine is on leash and yours runs 60 feet ahead of you OFF FUCKING LEASH, don’t look at me like I…
Holding Doors
I appreciate people who open and hold the door for me when I have my hands full… I don’t think anyone really knows how nice it is as I often have my child and bags in tow running errands. —Tired lady
Thanks!
To the staff at a new recreation facility in a neighbourhood close to Bayers Lake: Thanks for being so awesome! Last night was my first night working out there and all of you couldn’t’ve been more helpful. I was unfamiliar with the set up of the resistance machines and the machines themselves, and the desk…
Thanks for Stealing my Would-Be Boyfriend
We started working together and became friends about a year ago. A new guy started there over a month ago, and I was immediately attracted to him. I made it clear to you that I really liked him. Mind you, I didn’t hit on him right away… we just got to know one another a…
Amanda Dawn Christie shares her work in progress
Amanda Dawn Christie has been the Atlantic Filmmakers Co-Op Artist in Residence through 2010. This is your last chance to see what she’s been up to, her final screening and presentation. Healing the Final Cut is the work-in-progress talk she’s giving this Saturday, March 19 at 2 PM at the CBC Radio Room (5600 Sackville…
Buck 65’s Zombie Delight
If you haven’t seen this yet, check it out. Or if you have seen it, it’s worth a second and third look. The new Buck 65 video Zombie Delight, as directed by Halifax’s Jason Levangie. It’s arrived on the scene too late for this year’s Best of Music poll, but maybe consider it for next…
Breaking news: Common concerts scandal rocks city hall
I’ll have much to say about this in a full article tomorrow, and obviously much more reporting in coming days, so for now, I’ll just say the city staff report is self-explanatory. Read the entire report yourself here.
Day 1: South By Southwest 2011
Friends, warm weather, great food and (free) drinks in mid-March. Sounds like a trip to Cuba, right? Throw in 2000 bands playing over a five-day span and 130,000 music fans roaming the greater downtown area of Austin, Texas and you get the audiophile’s version of Spring Break. It’s time again for South By Southwest, the…
30 Day Song Challenge: A Song That Reminds You of Someone
SCREAMS WITH LUST Today’s entry in the 30 Day Song Challenge: a song that reminds you of someone. This Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds epic will forever remind me of my friend, the lovely Shelley Scoger (nee Goldschlager, and yes that used to be her actual last name) who introduced me to Mr. Cave’s…
Anvil Comes to Halifax
Metal grandpa heroes Anvil – who returned to prominence last year with the release of the very funny/touching documentary ANVIL: The Story of Anvil – are coming to Halifax to play the Paragon Theatre on May 10. Looks like things might be all right for the Paragon for now? Tickets are $25 ($30 at the…
The King of 21
You may all think this bitch is about someone who, perhaps, is good at Blackjack. Or maybe someone who always beats me at a game of hoops. Guess again. To the inconsiderate arsehat on the bus today, learn some friggin manners. The window seat to the INSIDE of you was the only one comfortably available…
To my love goddess
You give me the hope and drive to live my life. When you leave I pray that night that I will see you again soon. Like a good deity you always make that dream come true. If there was a church for you I would be there every morning with a big smile on my…
Stop Assaulting People
It appears that you are unaware, or is it that you don’t care, that all scents (whether it is the scented candle, detergent, perfumes and colognes, etc.) you use, contain multiple chemicals, often alcohol and SOMETIMES natural aromas. Many people have severe allergies to these chemicals and you are damaging your lungs and those of…
Downtown Dish
I only barely know your name, but every time I see you my heart skips a beat and I become suddenly unable to talk. I rarely see you at work even though we work on the same floor but every time I do it makes my day. I doubt you even know I exist, but…
You need that more than I do
I want nothing more than to throw that 0.19$ tip you left on your table for me in your face. All this after I served you with the biggest smile I could muster, laughed at your horrible and not funny jokes and made sure that you had a wonderful evening. I think you need that…
Library Loving
A new library is in the works and I couldn’t be happier but to everyone who makes the old library great, I salute you. The upper reference floor is the best place to pretend to study characin fish while enjoying the quiet. I’ll be leaving Halifax next year but I’ll always remember every library worker…
Cute
Dear girl sitting beside me at a coffee chain, not everything is “literally the cutest thing I’ve ever seen”. What is with the overuse of the world ‘cute’?! Please for God sakes get a bigger vocabulary. Even adorable or lovely would be acceptable. I don’t want to have to sit here and listen to your…
So lucky
You have stuck it out with me through thick and a lot of thin. I finally have the job I wanted so now I won’t be crying when you pick me up from work. You are so great to grab my hand and assure me that you’re there for me. I am so thankful to…
Canadian Military and their Strength
I have been introduced into this lifestyle a little over 6 months ago. I am amazed at the families who go through deployment with children to watch over. All my respect goes out to the family member(s) at home keeping the “boat floating.” You all are so strong and I hope to be as strong…
Leakage
Right. I understand why buses don’t allow drinks on the bus (except if they are bottled) but why don’t they have garbage bins on the bus so instead of people throwing their drinks out on to the street, or “politely” placing them on the curb, they can chuck them in the garbage when they get…
The Battered Fish opens
Now open at Scotia Square is The Battered Fish, which may be familiar to you if you’re fond of lunching down on the harbourfront in season, as the business has a stall down there near Beaver Tails from May to October. It’s also happening on the Bedford Highway across from Clearwater starting in April. The…
Lost toque and mittens
To the girl who left her hat and mittens at a healthy downtown restaurant: you came by to see if they were there on Sunday, March 13th and I couldn’t find them. I found them after you left! I’m so sorry! Come back! —Busy server
R E S P E C T
To the tit head that hit my PARKED truck, hey, SHIT HAPPENS, but how the fuck do you not realize what you did and leave a note or make an effort to rectify the situation. It’s called a fucking “hit & run” moron, and there’s no fucking way you didn’t notice. FUCK! No fucking respect…
Use birth control!
Seriously, if you are not old enough to buy protection, you are not old enough to be having sex. I’m so sick of seeing women and young girls going to clinics to “take care of their problem” or popping the morning after pill like candy. If your man can’t wrap it up then he is…
Mental Health System
I could go into detail about how the medical system loves nothing more but to throw pills at you with no actual understanding of your problem, I understand that no matter what your mental illness is you get filtered into “anger management” even if anger isn’t your issue (but since you’re a head case, you…
I don’t hate you, I hate your litter
Please stop throwing your cigarette butts on the ground! Oh my god. So. Gross. —Pro-trash can
DST
Once again we’ve all been robbed of an hour of our Sunday. And adding the customary insult to injury, we now have to get up before dawn again until the sun catches up to Daylight Savings Time. Here’s an idea: Next year, let’s have this “spring ahead” nonsense on Monday afternoon. At 4 o’clock in…
30 Day Song Challenge: A Sad Song
Coast Listings Editor, music aficionado and fellow Tall Woman Allison Saunders has kindly chimed in with her own personal entry for today’s 30 Day Song Challenge posting; a song that makes you sad. She picked Feist – “Let It Die.”She explains: This was the theme song to a very sad August in a shitty, dark…
Bitches in heat
To all the bitches in heat at the Dartmouth bar the night of the strippers, what the hell is wrong with you? I have never felt sorry for strippers before until I saw the way you behaved. Now I know what bitches in heat look like that have never seen a man before. OMG disgusting.…
My Fat GF = A Sad GF
I know this is going to sound totally shallow, but you’re getting too fat. When I met you, you were a bit chubbier then most women I’ve dated, but we really clicked. And we still do. I just don’t click so much with the 40 lbs that have made camp around your middle in under…
Bullshit Market
Your magnetic therapy bracelets and necklaces don’t actually relive pain, you know this right? Anyone with a basic understanding of biology and magnetism knows this. I’ll give you this, magnetism CAN have an effect on the body (NOT pain relief though) in extremely strong currents, I’m talking Wiley Coyote strong, but the tiny beads you’re…
Going Out of Business Sale
We get it. You heard that our store was going out of business at our location, along with several others, so you thought you’d come in and score some awesome deals on lingerie. Bad news for you is our suppliers don’t make g-strings that fit your girth, so don’t come asking me if we have…
The Grass Are Done
After many years and several different incarnations, The Grass are calling it a day. Guitarist Ryan Stanley is moving to Newfoundland for school, and as a result, the Halifax rock band are ending this streak. Their last show is happening Friday April 1 at the Seahorse. They’ll be joined by Raccoon Bandit. There’s also a…
Service in Hooterville
Well, another weekend gone, and for all you folks that work in the service industry, it was that time of the week for the city to show again that it doesn’t give a rat’s ass about you. I know for example (from cooking in hotels/hospitals & restaurants) that my shifts stay the same 7 days…
Criminal?!
On a rainy Saturday, excited to venture out furniture shopping we encountered an upscale trendy North End shop. Of course commenting as we walked about the store on various sale items we overheard two sales clerks. One asked what the other thought of us to which she replied, “they look like a couple of clever…
Closing Bars
Oh, so I hear another bar is on the brink of failure… again. Well, maybe they’re losing business because the bands/events that are booked there just aren’t enticing enough for people to bother. Stop booking shitty bands for fucksakes! P.S. All you ‘DJs’ can fuck yourselves too. We don’t need any more goddamn ‘DJs’. What…
One hour forward
You ignorant friggin’ morons! Putting the clocks forward DOES NOT GIVE YOU AN EXTRA HOUR OF SUNLIGHT! You get the same amount, it’s just shifted by one hour! Ye Gods, we have to share the planet with this lot. —Timekeeper
“I’m Pregnant!”
Ya… That’s nice, you and the 20 other people I know have either had a kid, or about to have one. I just don’t give a shit anymore when I hear about someone being knocked up, I can’t be all happy, and enthusiastic anymore… I just can’t! —Mind Snap
Pothole elves
Thank you to the Halifax Pothole Elves who were on Barrington Street recently to fix the road and fill the numerous deep potholes below my building. Now when the empty trucks come out of the trainyard it is without those booming death rattles as they head into town. AND when I drive across that part…
I’m not looking to fight you…
So, I would just like to announce to men in this city that even though I may be tall, I am not automatically looking to fight you when I am out at a bar or pub. Although I am aware that you may be intoxicated when you see me, please assume that all is okay,…
Paper Love
To the girl who gives out papers at Scotia Square: Thank you for the smile every morning. I look forward to it more than my coffee. —The Guy Who Smiles Back
Merci cher gentilhomme!
To the lovely bearded man qui parlait francais at the cafe yesterday. I don’t know if you were helping the others with work on their conversational French or what, but it was beautiful to hear the words roll off your tongue. It made me remember why I love that language, why I spent years studying…
Dog Day Afternoon
I don’t hate dogs but I don’t like them that much either. Why do people assume everyone loves their dog as much as they do? If I came up to you and rubbed mud on your clothes would you accept the excuse that I was just being friendly? Probably not. So, why are people so…
Going Down at the Living Room
After recently seeing two plays that chilled and horrified me, it was a pleasure to take in the light and humorous Going Down. Written by and starring Andrew Chandler and Ann Doyle, the play takes two “regular” people and traps them in an elevator under some stressful conditions. Chandler plays an egotistical man-on-the-make, while Doyle…
The Motorleague Are Part of Your Heritage
Those Canadian Heritage Moments just keep on giving. The Motorleague has now joined Classified in referencing one of the classic 60-second historical clips, naming its upcoming album Acknowledge, Acknowledge in reference to the harrowing Halifax Explosion episode, which is still burnt into my consciousness after all these years. “You can kill an afternoon perfectly watching…
Urban Primitives opens
Newfoundland sisters Paula Gill-Gallant and Pamela Hudson are opening a store in Dartmouth dedicated to country signs. Their hand-painted designs include sayings such as, “I love you to the moon and back.” They’ll be available from the March 15 opening at Urban Primitives (109 Ilsley Avenue, 466-7746). For more information, check them out on Facebook.…
30 Day Song Challenge: A Happy Song
Today’s entry in the 30 Day Song Challenge is “A Song That Makes You Happy.” And this one does it. It makes me feel happy and crazy and alive in spite of everything. Not much else to say other that. Why ask why?
Gum
With all of the advancements we still can’t invent gum that keeps it’s taste for more than 5 minutes? —Unhappy Chewer
Think about it first
This is for all of the people that eat fast food on a regular basis. The next time you eat it, think about what you are eating, where it came from, and how mass produced it is. I bet you can still eat it. —Problem #1
Jealous Much?
Good job getting my best friend worried that her fiance will leave her upon becoming a doctor. What kind of a person tells her cousin, her own fucking flesh and blood, that the man she’s madly in love with will dump her once he officially becomes a doctor and obtains his medical license? Your fucking…
You’re not management material
The dining room was about 1/3 full and we requested a booth. We explained to the girl at the podium it was our anniversary and she suggested we take the “romantic corner” which made us feel special on our evening out. For you to drag 3 employees over to our table and point at us…
That’s MY Mama
I can’t believe you insulted my mother. What are you, a grade school bully? According to you my mother was “So slow to ring through it was painful.” Yeah, probably more painful for her than for you. She had a stroke and has a hard time pulling money from her wallet. It’s pretty obvious that…
Trashy Neighbour
You pounded on my door at 6:00am this morning screaming that I stole your garbage can. No, fuckhead, I took the garbage can that was rolling around the driveway and placed it behind the garbage bin so it wouldn’t hit my car. How was I supposed to know who it belonged to? You aren’t even…
My ears are bleeding
To the girl at my work that says only two words all day long, ALL DAY LONG! There are more than two words in the dictionary! Everyone reading this is responding with the two words you can’t stop using, EXACTLY and CORRECT. You need to be corrected, because you are an exact pain in the…
Never be
He was exactly what I always wanted, never what I needed. He was wrong for me and I for him but God damn did it ever feel right. He always possessed some kind of draw an appeal that I’ve never been able to shake. The animal in me was peeked whenever he was near. His…
Dirty Dirty Dunbrack
Please HRM, go clean up the inside medians on Dunbrack. It looks like a garbage truck throw up the whole way down the street. —Cleany Cleanerson
Incendies wins big at the Genies
Congratulations to Denis Villeneuve for his film Incendies (which showed first in Halifax at the Atlantic Film Festival back in September) having won eight awards last night at the 31st Annual Genie Awards, which took place in Ottawa. A lot of the attention around the awards this year was about how no one watches them,…
Thankful
Thank you, thank you, thank you plus 1000 times to the person who found my wallet on Gottingen street yesterday and turned it in and to the person (you know who you are) who called my parents—I hope Karma blesses you both in the following days for your amazing good deed. —Little Lost Wallet Girl
I can see clearly now, the rain has gone
Thank you for finally staying away. I still have crazy love for you, but I know now that you never really planned on giving us a chance. So thanks, because I am glad to be free of that hellish limbo. —Myself again
Ray’s Haus European Café and Bistro to open
[image-1] We’ve discovered a new German inspired coffee shop will be opening at 5599 Fenwick. Ray’s Haus European Café and Bistro will open its doors sometime within the next two weeks. Owners Evan MacEachern and Ray Sharpe decided to open because, “You can’t get a good cup of coffee in Halifax,” says MacEachern. With that…
Babe…
I knew you were the one the day I met you but everyday I am reminded of what a great man you are when I see you coming home with a fresh bottle of Pepsi. —Love always, Your Pepsi Girl xo
Shifty dirty old man
I saw you with your way younger toy on the Mumford Rd bus! I saw how shifty-eyed you both got when I stepped on the bus and sat right in front of you. I saw you reach over to their pocket and do something to them with your hand. When you noticed I wasn’t going…
Ireland 32 gets all Irish-y
With St. Patrick’s Day around the corner, Ireland 32 (6220 Quinpool Road, 444-7555) is celebrating all week long. Monday to Friday from 7:30am-9:00am, the cafe is offering it’s organic fair-trade tea and coffee for only one dollar (taxes included). Even better, enter to win a pair of tickets for the U2 concert in Moncton, with…
Bloody hell
You asked if you could crash at my place for the night because we were all heading downtown and you knew you wouldn’t be able to drive back to Sackville. That was fine. What wasn’t fine was the chick you brought back to the apt and banged. The mess you left in the bed looks…
Hard to smile?
I’ve had many sleepless nights this past week, so this morning when I woke up after a full night’s rest I was super happy and started my day with a great attitude. Then I had to go get blood work done. Neither the lady who registered me, nor the nurse who actually took my blood,…
What has happened to this city?
Why is it that everyday when I read the paper I am no longer shocked by what the headlines say? It scares me but I am not shocked anymore! Whose responsibility is it to keep this city safe? What is driving this crime? Are their proper facilities in place for Rehabilitation? Counselling? Psychiatric services? Job…
Garbage limit bagged
Saying they were responding to citizen uproar over proposed changes to garbage policy, Halifax councillors Tuesday voted not to hear more citizen uproar, cancelled a public hearing scheduled for that evening and instead put the entire issue off for two years. At issue were proposed bylaw changes that would tighten the garbage bag limit from…
Halifax council recap
In a closed-door session Tuesday, Halifax council discussed the Argyle Street parking fiasco of a few weeks back: at 5pm on a Friday—happy hour for the bars—crews threw “no parking” signs on meters and went into businesses to warn patrons their cars would soon be towed. Businesses reportedly lost hundreds of customers. The city subsequently…
Dalhousie “abortion debate” is a farce
[image-1] The age-old abortion debate turned into a shamelessly staged publicity stunt at Dalhousie University Tuesday night when the debater making a case for abortion rights appeared a mere puppet for the anti-abortion movement. The debate, hosted and organized by student organization Pro-Life at Dal, showcased a very seasoned debater, Stephanie Gray of the Canadian…
The Nymphets Are Leaving Again
What’s that song again? About how you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone to a parking lot?If this is true, then the punks in the Nymphets are the parking lot of my heart, paving and protecting that vital organ with their fast, insolent and loving songs. They’re playing a couple more times before…
Dalhousie Theatre Society presents The March
I’m finding it difficult to express just how much I HATED The March in a way that will let people know just how brilliant I think this play and production is. It’s an amazing, important piece of theatre that deals with the atrocities of the Holocaust in a manner that made me want to sob…
Shooter Jennings & Hierophant
With a mission statement to “obliterate genre distinctions,” Jennings and his new band make flow from track to track a low priority. The opener, “Wake Up,” appropriates Pink Floyd with gentle menace and dynamic resolution, in this case about how television and mind control. The closest thing to a country stomper from this son of…
Golden Mini Van Bitch
To the bitch that was driving through Lacewood and Willet and began to yell at a senior who was crossing on their light may I add, not yours! You were fucking yelling at them out your window! Next time I suggest being careful because what goes around comes around! —Can’t wait for your old age…
REM
REM haven’t made a truly essential album since drummer Bill Berry’s departure 14 years ago, but 2008’s Accelerate came close; in its righteous fuzz, the band sounded inspired for the first time in a long time. Collapse Into Now is even better, but in a very different way. Charmingly scattered, the album plays like a…
Cedar Rapids floats on
Cedar Rapids is both more and less than the lowbrow exercise suggested by its marketing poster, from which uber-nerd Ed Helms beams the promise of acting as both a punchline and punching bag. Helms does serve these functions, but his character – an innocent Midwestern insurance rep named Tim who gets a painful education in…
Gate crasher
To the little asshairs who kicked in the iron gate at a downtown bar: I really can’t understand what kind of drunken pleasure you got out of causing the senseless damage you caused. Obviously your dick is so small you have to prove what a tough guy you are by fucking up someone else’s property.…
Big, bad Red Riding Hood
A werewolf stalks a snowy mountain village in Catherine Hardwicke’s fairy tale adaptation, but its victim count doesn’t compare to that of the film itself. None of the people involved in making this movie are spared embarrassment. Not Amanda Seyfried as Valerie, whose connection to the wolf further complicates a love triangle that includes her…
Cropsey
When was the last time you watched a documentary with a good jump scare? Filmmakers Zeman and Brancaccio investigate a series of child murders in their hometown of Staten Island and end up making a film more creepy than most recent horror fare. While a man is currently in jail for one of the murders,…
Mid-Life
To summarize Joe Ollman’s latest graphic novel Mid-Life as the story of a 40-something man going through a mid-life crisis would be to over-simplify the complexities that can bring anyone to the point of asking “How did I get here?” It is never just one simple decision or left turn, but a series of events…
Mass Effect 2
The best game of last year, Mass Effect 2, is now available on the PS3. So now you have no excuse not to buy this game. You play as Commander Shepard and have unprecedented freedom to play and control your own space opera. Whether you want the main character to be male, female, a psychic,…
Game Dev Story
Disclaimer: This is a highly addictive game, and you may be wishing you never heard of it after you try it. I knew I was in trouble when I was playing it while brushing my teeth, shaving and other tasks. The player controls a video game studio, developing games on a range of consoles including the…
Magazine scene
When Toronto-based artists Tony Romano and Jay Isaac launched their quarterly arts and culture magazine, Hunter and Cook, they admittedly didn’t have a clue how the magazine industry worked. “Going into it, we knew nothing about magazines. I don’t even really look at magazines,” says Isaac. But their lack of industry knowledge seems to have…
Churchill chaos
Dear Darrell D: Thanks for commanding your overworked spinmeisters to drop everything whenever I call for government info. Now, with their guidance, my reporting will never stray too far from truth, justice and the NDP way. Let me give thanks by offering these political insights on the $6.2 billion Lower Churchill power project. Darrell, watch your…
Women Making Waves
Last weekend’s Women Making Waves conference, a coming-out of sorts for the Atlantic branch of the 37-chapter Women in Film and Television organization, began early Saturday at Mount Saint Vincent University with about 75 writers, directors, actors, crew and interested parties attending a series of panels and workshops. The day began with the headliner Patricia…
A Grand meal
It’s the middle of the week and we’re looking for a place to have lunch, so my friend Rachelle suggests stopping by Grand Finales, a small homestyle diner tucked into one of Burnside’s many pockets. The food is standard diner fare—cheap and good—she says, and their homemade tea biscuits are worth a trip into the…
Think About Life’s lessons
Think About Life has a lot to ponder over the next few months as the band approaches the release of its as-yet untitled third album. Forming in Montreal in 2005 as a side project for Miracle Fortress’ Graham Van Pelt and his friend Matt Shane, the band became a three-piece soon after with the acquisition…
Bringing up the dead fish issue
Q Long story short: I cheated on my boyfriend three years ago. I admitted it nine months ago, and we’ve been in couples counselling for six months. My BF is very responsive in therapy, where we’re working on his control issues, and he says everything the therapist expects him to during a session. Twenty-four hours…
Nova Scotia’s green power failure
Oh, those were giddy times back on March 17, 2007, when the legislature unanimously passed the Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act, and officials made a bold announcement: Not only would Nova Scotia be the world leader in environmental stewardship, but by including the word “prosperity” right in the title, they told us we’d get…
The view from here
“Last year we had a German film about black magic. This boy told his father he wanted to see the German Harry Potter movie,” says Jason Beaudry. “He’s a kid from Cole Harbour who likes BMX biking, but now he also wants to learn German and be a director.” It’s been a decade since the…
Please don’t strike
I’m getting worried. There is a good possibility that my theological school faculty will strike. Why can’t the admin and staff agree? The reconciliation has failed. It took me 3 years to get this Master’s degree. I want to graduate this year and get ordained. I’ve worked hard to get here. This is my career…
The Adjustment Bureau needs a few tweaks
I can’t attest to how well Philip K. Dick’s source story about fedora-clad operatives who enforce the plan of a higher power plays on the page. I can say that the screen adaptation is too murky about just how much power these “adjusters” have and how they can be so clumsy about it to be…
Shotgun Jimmie
Jimmie’s third album is packing extra heat. Maybe it’s the rhythm section: Ryan Peters (Ladyhawk, Lightning Dust) on drums/percussion/backing vocals and Jay Baird, who plays in Feist’s live band, on bass/horns/backing vocals. They fuel the album with more frequent use of faster tempos, matching well with Jimmie’s guitar-playing style, by turns snap-crackle-pop and slash-burn. The…
Keys N’ Krates rethink the remix
This Toronto-based trio promises a dance party that’ll make Sunday night feel more like a Saturday. Last year was a busy one for the live remix band, which toured in support of both Metric and OK Go and released Almost 39 Minutes, their second mixtape since getting together in 2008. By bringing live keys, drums…
Cowboy Junkies
When Vic Chesnutt died a little over a year ago, it was a devastating after-shock to a community which had only just accepted a world without Elliott Smith and Mark Linkous. His life, like his art, was a cerebral mix of not-so-deftly negotiated tragedy and dry comedic wit. And those who adored him, did so…
Jay Crocker’s music pot
Jay Crocker’s last album was recorded in a 10×10 backyard shed. With a background in improvised music, the Calgary producer and musician brought the improvisation to his studio. After having to move out of another studio space, Crocker took a half-built shed in the yard of his new house, finished construction and made the building…
Like a Motorcycle revs up
It was just this past fall that Kim Carson and longtime friend Jillian Comeau started writing songs together and stumbled upon some rock and roll magic. Their search for the drummer to finish the puzzle ended in January with Michelle Skelding (No Flyers Please), who rounded off the unintentional girl-band, Like a Motorcycle. “People expect…
The Fuller Lecture Series looks on the bright side
The ladies from The Fuller Terrace Lecture Series want you to see the light. With the pending change in season comes a fundraiser for the always wonderful and inspiring summer lecture series, held bi-weekly in the backyard of Ella Tetrault and Bethany Riordan-Butterworth. The Light Lecture will include informal lectures from seven unnamed community members…
Free Will Astrology
PISCES (February 19 – March 20) Good things may come to those who wait—but they’re mostly just the things left behind by thos/Volumes/Death Star/ADS/Old Issue Ads/18.40 ads/18.40 inhouse bof surveye who hustle and bustle.That message was in the fortune cookie I got with my Chinese takeout food tonight. It happens to be a perfect fit…
Cara Sawka knows what it’s all about
Cara Sawka’s newest exhibit was born out of an email subject line. While teaching at a music camp, the Regina native began collecting the teaching philosophies of various musicians, and it was the wise words of Nashville fiddle-player Buddy Spicher that resonated with her for years. The subject of his email read “IT’S NOT ALL…
