Africville Settlement: Is this Democracy or a Miscarriage of Justice?
[Editor’s note: This opinion piece was submitted by Denise Allen, who has filed for a court injunction to stop the proposed Africville settlement. For more on the injunction, see here.] Let us be clear, was the “Africville deal” which was orchestrated by government, and merrily agreed to by the Africville Genealogy Society, decided in the…
Take Your Sweetie for some hot Rock Lobster Action
A number of reliable-to-semi-drunken sources have informed me that tickets for the B-52’s March 19 and 20 gig are being sold as 2 for 1. So $70 will slide you and your dancing partner nicely into the Love Shack…..ugh, that sounded so gross. Tickets are at ticketatlantic.com.
Injunction filed** to stop Africville settlement
[**Correction, March 24, 2010: contrary to what was reported in this article, the Africville descendants have not filed an injunction, but rather have discussed doing so.] Not everyone was satisfied with mayor Peter Kelly’s apology to residents for the loss of Africville. “He said we lost everything,” says Denise Allen, organizer of an injunction to…
NEED A HOBBY?
You ever notice that the people who make all the follow up comments to people’s rants are always the same?? Maybe just let people say their piece and shut your fucking mouths…or I’ll find you. —Bigger and Meaner Than You, Trust Me
Love for the bitches
Just want to pass a little love on to all the people that come here to vent. It’s not so bad, we’re all alive and live in a decent country! I’m glad the bitches are about the bus and whatnot as opposed to poor sanitation (haha harbour) or a war in our country. Cheers, and…
Generate a pension
A certain infamous MLA is retiring with a pension of $54K after 10 years “loyal” service. Another MLA, who resigned unexpectedly and is now clamming up, is retiring with a pension of $41K. Entitled to their entitlements—bitemyarse.com —Basil Fawlty
Turn. It. DOWN.
This is to the guy who lives across the street from me: I’m sorry I called the cops on you last night, but seriously did you HAVE to play classical music at 1am at full volume? I tried to go to your house, and ask you myself to turn your music down, but surprise surprise…you…
Yay for Spring
It’s March break and it’s warm out! Perfect day to go for a polar dip at Lawrencetown Beach. —Angel
Enthusiasm
Following up on my letter last week, thank you Coast for publishing it (!) and thank you to many great responses I received! If you would like to be a part of Halifax’s response to rising oil prices contact me at velveteyeball@gmail.com and ask about our first meeting. Stay beautiful Halifax! <b—Jen
Are you being servered? No? Me neither
Maybe YOU don’t need access to the server at 7am because you’re still at home in bed. HOWEVER, there are 15 people working in this office at 7am, and WE need access to our programs for various purposes that actually MAKE MONEY for the company. So either come in at 7am like the rest of…
Lazy bitch
You waddle when you walk. You talk behind everyone’s back and you think you are always right. You eat chips and take out food everyday and wonder why you are fat. You get pissed because you didn’t get the job you wanted and get jealous of the person that did. You are a lazy fucking…
My bitchity witch
It’s not very big and it’s not very long but my simple little bitch kinda sounds like a song I’m sick and tired of being tired and sick and stumbling over words when I try to sound slick I’m bitchy because of overeager cars not to mention horny bros tappin’ trampy bar stars It’s easy…
Happy Green Dorkface Day
Since I’m at work and can’t drink, I thought I’d share a little ditty that’s giving me a dance party at my desk. In fact, it’s making me go Gaga. May I present the Pomplamoose cover of the Lady Gaga/Beyonce ditty, Telephone. Complete with skinny man dancing! I love Gaga, I love cutesy dorks, I…
Pudy Tong is newsworthy
Former MP Rahim Jaffer gets media spin in Pudy Tong’s MFA exhibition, March 9. News nerds: put down your iPhone for a minute. MFA student Pudy Tong’s thesis exhibition Constant…Intervals, at Anna Leonowens, examines “journalistic rhythm,” slowing down the insanity of 24-hour news reporting for a closer look at editorial decision-making in an on-demand world.…
Lost & Found Great Winter Stock Sale
Here at Shoptalk we are desperately looking for signs of spring, and have been genuinely enthused by the regular sunny days of late. Another sign of spring is when the goods of winter drop in price at local retailers like the leaves do in autumn, and we are seeing those sale signs crop up: Lost…
A little mass transit etiquette for everyone
This has been bugging me for a very long time. In every other major city in Canada, transit passengers get on the bus at the front, and exit at the back. Why can’t it be this way here in Halifax? It’s not that hard. Get on at the front, leave out the back door. There’s…
Getting a job
So to all the university/college kids who are looking for summer work: unless you are applying for a job as a group, GO BY YOURSELF—don’t take a friend, or a boyfriend, to help hand out resumes. Geeeezze. —Couldahiredya
Throwing rocks at cars on the highway?
These kids need the cane, then spend the summer picking up all the litter on the highway. Fuckin arseholes…send them to Indonesia where they know how to deal with punks. —Sick of “Youth Slap-On-The-Hand Justice Act”
You are not a vampire
We don’t hate being around you because we “feel the effects of your energy feeding” or whatever the fuck you think it is. We can’t stand being around you anymore because you’re a holier-than- thou asshole. You are not “the next evolution of human beings.” You are not pure or psychic. You are a pathetic…
Categorize my dick
I’m not big fan of anal music lovers. They don’t even love music, they love cataloging shit. I hate watching people roll their eyes like Comic Book Guy when someone doesn’t know the date their favourite song was written on, because later in the day you’ll be watching TV and say “Oh, hey that guy…
How did you even get a job?
What the hell is wrong with you people? You will spend 45 minutes running around asking people if they have a phone number, you’ll listen to the voicemail with the indistinguishable phone number mumbled on it on speakerphone and annoy us all, but you can’t use Canada411 or a goddamned PHONE BOOK? It took me…
Pharoahe Monch Comes to the Paragon
When I was but a wee squirt back in the summer of ’99, I remember my wannabe-tough-guy little brother playing “Simon Says” from his basement hovel while I snuck around outside hiding bottles of Mike’s Hard Lemonade in the bushes so I could pick them up later. I got caught and to this day I…
A roundabout for the Bedford Highway?
Plans for development of Birch Cove call for a new roundabout on the Bedford Highway, two 10- to 12-storey residential buildings on the waterfront and a new bridge over the CN tracks. Exact details of the plans won’t be made public until Monday night, but Terry Drisdelle, a planner of with the Waterfront Development Corporation,…
Choral Concert Preview
It’s been just over a year since the young women’s choir Xara burst onto Halifax’s music scene, but in that short time, devotees have come to expect the unexpected. Yes, there is always haunting choral music, but there has also been a startling variety of choreography and visuals to go with it. Xara’s March 20th…
I’m On Twitter
twitter, technology, conan o’brien
Peter Kelly’s brain is just about the only thing under budget
LINK So here we are, at the end of the warmest driest winter on record—and our city officials still find a way to overspend the snow removal budget! Now at $3.1-million over budget, and they have the gall to warn us it will be $4.5-million over budget if we get any more snow. How is…
#1 Spring Garden evening bus driver
I can’t wait to see you when I get off work at five Mon-Wed at Scotia Square waiting for you driving your big bus. You’re so laidback and relaxed in that seat you’d think you’re sitting at home watching the football game. You put a smile on my face when I get on and say…
Friends
Thank you to my crazy group of amazing friends for helping me see that my decision to leave my job was not stupid. Thank you for still including me in plans even though I am broke and thank you for making me Caesars so good I want to cry. —Spicy Beans FTW
Haikus are easy
Laying on your side Breathing with me in the night Distance is nothing —Puppy
BEEP
To the person who is sending me some Beep, all the way out to BC: I owe you… —Beeping in BC
Brooklyn Warehousing
Regularly appearing on the Coast’s Best of Food poll in multiple categories isn’t enough for this establishment, The Brooklyn Warehouse (2795 Windsor Street, 446-8181) keeps offering sweet deals to earn the customer love. For starters, as a bit of a friendly tip-of-the-hat to the local food scene, if you are employed in the food service…
Nother
I fucking hate customers. Oh, I know they’re the ones who are technically paying my wage and I respect that. But seriously, when people come into my store and take something off the rack and decide against it, it doesn’t belong on the rack BESIDE the item, or on top, or on the floor, you…
I hope someone sticks that rake…
To the guy who for some reason felt the need to respond to my plea on Kijiji for a free rake, with the words: “A rake cost $7.99 at home hardware. I just bought one today, I’m sure ya can afford that much instead of bumming!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAH.” WHAT THE HELL. I’m so glad you’re fortunate…
Na naaaa na na naaaaaaaa
You thought it would be fun to fire your half empty pop bottle at the pedestrian waiting at the crosswalk as you and your buddy roared by in the cage…well, guess what asshat…better go practice up some more ‘cos you missed me! You suck!!!! I laugh at you. I fart in your general direction. —WTF
Holy fucking hell
You’re a fucking Katy Perry song. You’re hot then you’re cold. You want me, then you push me away. I was warned that you wouldn’t be good for me by almost everyone I know. But I didn’t listen, because you spun your silver lies that convinced me you were different than the last bitch that…
We have Jerome
WE HAVE HIM. WE HAVE JEROME THE GNOME. —Infidel Alliance Watch
Carey Beck Walks With a Swagger
just chilling throwing dice in the alley Talking to Carey Beck, you feel a little bit like you’re being transported back through time—-a time when men slicked their hair back, held doors open for ladies, and wandered from city to city with their guitar as their only constant companion. All these things sound like cliches…
To the Dartmouth musician whose name rhymes with “Natt Nays”
To the Dartmouth musician whose name rhymes with “Natt Nays”…your music is amazing! You should be huge! —Me ps: Does anyone know if he’s releasing another album anytime soon?
adf234skjask_ is what that looks like
I hate hate HATE when TAs, profs, etc cannot or refuse to write legibly. Seriously don’t bother writing comments that only you can read (I frankly doubt you can read them yourself if I asked you to). Fucking email comments if you must. I asked my stupid TA to please print more clearly when handing…
#62
This guy ran up to the bus at the lights at the intersection of Portland and Baker, Halifax-bound, nowhere near a bus stop, knocked on the door of the bus to get in. Of course the bus driver didn’t let him on. Then the guy threw a fit, and kept walking up towards the Penhorn…
Zappa Does Zappa
flowing locks nonwithstanding You might be surprised to learn Dweezil Zappa wears many hats. In addition to sharing late father Frank Zappa’s grandiose musical visions (Wikipedia says he’s currently working on a 75-minute guitar solo epic featuring every major living guitarist, which sounds either totally amazing or absolutely wretched) ol’ Dweez has made cameo appearances…
Asinine helmet law: there needs to be a compromise
This is an issue many of you may not fully understand or care about but I’m sick of looking over my shoulder all the time. Cheers to the coast for being the only media source in the province to ever show skateboarding in an honest and realistic light in this article from about a year…
I think you need a hobby
OK so I work at a certain fairly popular cafe downtown. We recently received a complaint forwarded to us from the Better Business Bureau from a certain lady whose name shall not be mentioned. Her complaint was in regards to a sandwich we sold her (I’m not sure who it was, but I know it…
BFF pump ‘n’ dump: help wanted
Question: Would someone be so shitty as to pretend to be your friend for more than a year just to get in your pants..and never call you again? And I’m not talking acquaintance, ‘we sometimes party together’ friends…I’m talking hangs out with your friends/family and calls to talk for hours on end kinda friends. Yes,…
Brain-dead noisy neighbours
To my lovely neighbours in a small five-unit apartment building in Dartmouth somewhere off of Windmill Road: Umm…are you fucking deaf or do you really feel the need to have your TV so loud that everyone can hear it and your video games all the fucking time? As if it isn’t bad enough that you…
To Jenn
I found myself looking for you this morning when we came in. You didn’t seem to be around, maybe you were on break, but eventually you came over to say hi. The eye contact between us seems to grow a little more intense every week. (Maybe I’m just imagining this?) You seem to always make…
POTHOLES
NEED I SAY MORE? FIX THE FUCKING POTHOLES MR. KELLY, IN FACT “YOU SHOULD BE FILLING THEM IN.” —FIX THE POTTIES ALREADY
Gorgeous
You make me smile the way no one else can. I never thought someone would make me as happy as you make me. I can’t imagine life without you. I love you! —Kitten
Thank you for returning my wallet, you’re awesome
Last weekend I got off the bus at the bridge terminal in Dartmouth, in my own little world. I didn’t notice that my wallet had fallen out of my bag. I just wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to the dude who was nice enough to pick it up and give it back to…
Dear NSCC janitor
I see you every Tuesday night looking sharp in your vest and hat and it makes me smile. Just wanted to let you know. So thank you. I always try to walk on the non-skid line so I don’t ruin your clean floor. You’re lovely. —G
New Asia in Clayton Park
We missed it last week when we paid a visit to the communities west of the peninsula: A new location of the Asian food franchise Wok Box has opened at 278 Lacewood Drive, offering a blend of Chinese, Mongolian, Thai and Singaporean dishes to tantalize your tastebuds. You’ll also find another location of the chain…
Sexist effing douches
To the sexist f’ing a-hole that felt brave enough to say to my guy friend “we’ll get them drunk—it’s cheaper than a whore” I hope you fall off a fucking cliff. You are the epitome of the rape culture society that we live in today. How timing well-suited this experience, as the Gazette’s issue this…
Piss-drunk junk
I was going to do my painting homework at school, and as I turn the corner with my friend, there is a giant bloke trying to close his pants hurriedly and a large stream of pee running off the sloped tiles of the entrance to the school. I said, “That’s nice”, he said, “Thank you!”…
To the NSCAD security guard
Thank you for cleaning the urine at the front door of the Granville campus that was left by numerous drunken oafs from the douchebag convention next door on Saturday. It isn’t your job and you were pretty upset about it, but we really appreciate it. —Ant Man Bee
Pregnant
I hope a child brings you all the joy in the world. I think you deserve it. —Super Sperm
Dog shit
If you shared a house with a couple who let their dog shit on the balcony (even after being asked twice, nicely, not to) am I wrong for bringing to their attention a third time but instead of being polite, I was assertive—as in “don’t let it happen again”. I like this place and don’t…
Fuck you and your shit
I’m so sick of you blocking everyone in the whole world, and I’m so sick of your shit, you are both such assholes. I used to see you as friends, even family, but you have officially lost your shit. But thanks for the presents we will sure all have fun, I hope things will blow…
To the selfless firefighters near the Split Crow
I was stranded at midnight yesterday with a flat tire and a very long, hard day of work. You ran across the street to help me…all of you. You did such a great job to get me home safely. Thank you for being such good samaritans, for being so selfless, for being kind. You argued…
I love you, Mom
I want to send love to my mom, she is such a strong beautiful women, and she lived a hard life and work hard everyday to obtain her goals. and she is such a wonderful part of my life. I was a very difficult pain in the ass during my teens and my mom was…
The real opiate of the masses
Damn you, coffee, damn you! I’ve tried many times to like you, but why when you’re only bearable when in 1:3 ratio with milk and sugar? Yet we live in a world of coffee drinkers, and because of your domination, coffee, I’ve been at many a meeting where you’re the only hot drink available because…
All the lovely bitches
I was on the regular bitch posts, feeling misanthropic. Just when I was getting to think that all of the commentators were as angry and cynical as I was, I came across the post of someone suffering from anxiety and looking for help. The comments that followed were an outpouring of advice, humour and support.…
What? Why?
Alright, I know I’ll get flamed for this but can somebody please tell me how to respond to a personal ad on CL? Why do I have to know what type of server my email is stored on? Why do have to know its name? How would I even get that information? WTF?! Holy crap,…
Dear boyfriend
When you buy your girlfriend a dildo do not bring all of your guy friends along to help you pick it out. After suffering through all their jokes I am plotting my sexual revenge and investing in a strap-on to go with your lovely gift. Watch your ass, hun. —”Peg”
Kudos to Metro Transit
I called the HRM Call Centre late Friday night to see if they’d found my wallet on the #14. I mentioned that I was a bit panicked because I was leaving on vacation the next day. A mere 75 minutes later, a Metro Transit supervisor dropped my wallet off at my apartment. How awesome is…
Giving thanks
To the guy at Dressed in Time: You are a beautiful soul. You ran outside of your store to return something to me that I had forgotten inside. Thanks for helping me out, and for having such an amazing store. —Local Hippie
Where are u Leanne?
I am still wondering what your number is. —Mike.
Bead Pod closes
A sharp-eyed and helpful Shoptalk reader has informed us that The Bead Pod in Dartmouth Crossing has closed.
The law isn’t the same for everyone
What the HELL was that about in the Chronically Horrid today? There will be no investigation of the RCMP officer (Jeremy Frenette) who killed a distraught man in his own home in 2008? This cop was in contravention of RCMP policy, he was ordered by his superior not to approach the house. HE DID SO…
Spring love
Spring is almost here, and I’m getting super excited! I love that everyone’s mood changes when the sun comes out. I love that you can hear 10 different songs being played from all the freshly cleaned cars with the “wannabe playas” cruisin. I love sandals, oh how I love sandals. I love the smell in…
Transit tirade
Dear Metro Transit riders: Stop being dicks. Unless the bus is full, there are very few legitimate reasons to stand at the very front of the bus. I am tired of having to push past you. Take a few seconds to shuffle your feet a little a move to the back of the damn bus.…
No
I don’t want a damn “Street Feat” magazine for $2! Stop asking every time I walk by! What the hell is that thing anyway? Does anyone ever say “Yes”? —Can’t Understand Newspaper Twit
Finally my favourite band is coming to Halifax
I saw a flier that my favourite band, Montreal’s Joel Kaiser and the Devils Own is coming to Halifax for a show in April. I am so excited, these guys are frigging amazing, i love their stand up bassist, but I thought they would never come here because we are so small. BUT THEY ARE…
The hypocrite police
Man am I getting sick of what passes for commentary on the news sites in reaction to stories on the MLA expense scandal. Its basically variations on the theme of “hang em all and let god sort em out” and “they should all go to jail…friggen crooks!” Put yourself in the MLA’s shoes for a…
Close the window beatch!
Please, please, please…to those riding the number 84 bus to Sackville every day—and any another other bus around the city…when you open a window above you’re head to “cool off,” the only thing you’re accomplishing is that you’re freezing the ‘nads of you’re “minding his own business” neighbour downwind of you. The incoming cold air…
Metro Transit anger management
I won’t post the bus number or the route number in case it’s considered identifying information, but to my bus driver from this morning: Maybe you’re just having a bad day, but surely you must encounter inconsiderate, aggressive, ignorant or otherwise less-than-perfect drivers on a daily basis, so it might be time to brush up…
And hello to you, too
To each and every person who still greets on the street: I love you. The knowing nods, polite hellos, good mornings, afternoons, evenings, and days are the reason I still walk this town for walking’s sake. Thank you for choosing the eyes over the screen when we pass each other strolling. These days it seems…
ECMA Weekend photo round-up
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HRM’s absurd obsession with secrecy
For the past two days I’ve been trying to get details of HRM’s contract with Nustadia, inc. for management and operation of the new four-pad arena going up on Hammonds Plains Road. But word has come down from high that I can’t have those details, because a clause in the contract requires that both parties—that…
Object lesson
It’s hard to believe that Eyes and the Object, a new play by Loosen the Noose Productions, grew out of an improv exercise using Maritime ghost stories and legends. “It’s an original idea from the ground up,” says Mike McLeod, who plays Calvin Ballard, a modern-day DaVinci who’s a painter, inventor and the youngest recipient…
Art history with the Khyber and Eyelevel Gallery
Good advice from the Khyber archives Light up the candles and grab the champers because two artist-run centres are celebrating significant birthdays with archive shows. Older sister Eyelevel Gallery, who donated their archives to Dalhousie University several years ago, created an extensive online archive of exhibitions (eyelevelgallery.ca), going back to 1974’s Peggy’s Cove Syndrome, in…
Winter Wave Riders premieres Sunday
Riley SmithEva Madden-Hagen and surfer Lesley Choyce And if you don’t have a TV, no probs—the doc goes online Monday at cbc.ca/landandsea/. Read more in Carsten Knox’s interview here.
Love letter from the moderator
Dearests, 1. I am a girl. Your post is coming down if you use the word cunt. Beyond that, if it’s misogynistic, homophobic, threatening, libelous or straight-up nasty it will also come down. The boys had their systems, this is mine. Nobody is “in my pocket”—some (though not all) posts are removed after being reported,…
GET THE HELL OFF THE CELL PHONE
TO THE STUPID COW IN THE GREY SUV with a cell phone pressed to her ear, who turned left from South onto Queen at 9:15am today: GET THE HELL OFF THE CELL AND GIVE YOUR FULL ATTENTION TO THOSE AROUND YOU AND ACTUALLY DRIVING! The light turned green, I had the white walk light, and…
What a rip
So we went to the Michael Jackson tribute and it was far from that—let’s just say heard the same three songs at least 10 times each. Cover was $12 advertised but at the door it was $20. I should have stayed home, got more drinks and watched This Is It and MJ videos on YouTube.…
Man who was completely insulted at Freeman’s Wednesday night
I want you to know from the bottom of my heart that you were in no way bothering me or making me uncomfortable in any way. It was my friend who for some reason classes people as weirdoes when someone offers to purchase us a drink, who called you down and creepy to the table…
Mean Guy at Freeman’s
To the thick-rimmed angry and deeply disturbed young man and his equally ignorant female companion at Freeman’s Wednesday evening in the booth: For the record, it was my short, long- haired friend who had the problem with the man offering to buy ME drinks, and her one just cause she was with me. He was…
Need advice
Last year, a good friend of mine was accepted into college, and after he was there, he found that he was having a few financial difficulties, due to the fact that he was accepted into college on very short notice (he was on the waiting list) and didn’t have time to apply for a student…
Obey Convention IV Line-up Announced
Oh, May is such a lovely month—-not only due to the birdies chirping and the bees and flowers fornicating, but because it’s rounded out by the annual Obey Convention, Divorce Records’ feast of wild music and art. This year’s lineup features some treats, including Sue Carter Flinn fave Slim Twig who boasts a spooky Lux…
Chenoweth sale
Does anything say spring more than a ream of organic cotton? If you agree, visit Heroine (5775 Charles Street, 420-0328) on March 23 and 24 (Tues 5-7pm and Wed 11am-6pm) and March 30 and 31 to pick up organic cotton fabric meterage from local designer Laura Chenoweth in jersey, poplin, prints, corduroy and non-violent silk—the…
Happy birthday J
The big 5-0 can sometimes be a little intimidating but, babe, look at you! You’re a handsome man, fit, funny, clever, sweet, kind, talented, compassionate, in a word—wonderful! Babe, you’ve shown me all the colours of love and had me taste all its flavours. From the beginning, we’ve left nothing unsaid, nothing behind. You’ve given…
Get out of my pockets you lying bastard
After reading this morning’s provincial paper I am outraged by the disdain and general lack of respect Darrell Dexter has for the citizens of Nova Scotia. In regard to his bar fees being paid with taxpayer dollars he wad quoted as saying “I don’t see anything wrong with professional fees being covered. They are in…
Savage Love LOVE
Wednesday has become one of my favourite days of the week because of your column. I strongly disagree a good part of the time with your advice because you look at things mostly from a sexual side and never as a “morally wrong” side. On the other hand, your honesty makes me laugh out loud!…
December, underground?
I know you only read this occasionally, so this message may never reach you, but I feel I need to do this for closure. All that shit that happened in December was fucked up. I’m sorry that things ended the way they did. Hopefully we both pick up and move on and end up better…
In Good Company
Scott BlackburnPeachy keen. It’s been a good couple of weeks for the Company House. Fresh off an ECMA nod for Venue of the Year and co-owner Heather Gibson’s win for Manager of the Year, the warm, cozy Gottingen joint has also begun hosting an Artist in Residence program. Co-owner MaryAnn Daye likens the program to…
Daycare hatespreaders
To the daycare workers with a bunch of four-year-olds on the bus this morning: Keep your hate to yourselves. These kids are very young and impressionable! You’re saying “A pink house? Come on… how GAY are you??”and your kids are learning that that kind of discrimination is okay because they look up to you. It’s…
Leave me alone loser
I do not want to date you. Why do you keep asking me out? You have no job, no prospects, you are ugly and I don’t get the tuppy feeling AT ALL when I’m around you. Fuck off and find someone in your own league! And to other people who know both of us, why…
Lunch ladies and gents
This love is for the cafeteria workers at school. What a lovely bunch of individuals. You are all super pleasant and totally cool. Thanks for humming while you work. It makes me grin. Hope your employer treats you like the kings and queens you truly are. If not, I would happily go after the bosses…
Anonymiss
Lady, I tell you that you are beautiful but you constantly disagree. If this is some ploy to get me to say it more, I am quite alright with that because I’ll say it until my voice stops working. You fill my days with smiles and butterflies. I thought the other night was fabulous, although…
Dear friend: take a hint!
We had good times, fun Halloween, fun Christmas party, fun New Year’s. I had money issues so I asked to borrow some money from you, and you lent it to me. You even bought me some drinks. You been there for me. And you are the only friend who has never bailed on me when…
You’re not Classified and I’m no fan
To the guy who rides the #66 on the occasional late afternoon: You swagger so much when you walk down the aisle that I have to lean into the person next to me so you don’t smash me in the face with your elbow—again. Here’s a tip…if people are backing away from you as you…
You’re so fucking stupid
I posted a bitch last Saturday, and half of the comments don’t even know what the bitch was about, seemingly. Read the bitch, if you feel so inclined after reading and understanding what it was about, post a comment, post five if you want, just make sure you know what you’re fucking commenting about. Learn…
The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights
Next time Canada wants to promote nationalism, skip the bloody Olympics and hire The White Stripes instead. Even though, as Jack White points out in the concert film Under Great White Northern Lights (also playing at Park Lane on Friday and Saturday), his northern neighbour is the only country that charged the band a fee…
Visit an interesting tree, Libra
Happy Birthday! PISCES (February 19-March 20) I used to have an acupuncturist who, as she poked me with needles, liked to talk about her understanding of Chinese medicine. Once she told me that every human being needs a “heart protector,” which is a body function that’s “like a holy warrior who serves as the queen’s…
Gentlemen Broncos
I don’t get Jared Hess. His movies are not funny. They are as dull and lifeless as his characters, and seem to have only one joke spread throughout all three of them. After Napoleon Dynamite, Hess has been struggling to match its unwarranted success. Nacho Libre was horribly unfunny and his new film, Gentlemen Broncos,…
O, Canada!
Steve Harper’s on-again, off-again flirtation last week with expunging sexist language from our national anthem brought back bitter memories of my misspent youth hunched over a battered Underwood. While neighbourhood kids indulged in light-hearted play—sniping at hunters in the woods or setting fire to the town crematorium—I huddled in the cellar hammering out stories, poems…
Gil Scott-Heron
This is a gift from Gil Scott-Heron, whose last studio album, Spirits, came in 1994. But the best gifts are worth the wait—witness “Running” or “Where Did the Night Go.” The buzz threading through the poet and performer’s baritone is beautifully matched by minimal, monolithic electronic production, courtesy of XL owner Richard Russell. His use…
In-flight safety tips
Q I am a girl who sabotaged my relationship. I was angry; I had complaints. But my real issue was a store of repressed childhood trauma, and I was working it out on the closest person to me, my BF. We had something magical, and I destroyed it. I am now willing to give 110…
Yeasayer
Odd Blood opens with the queasy “The Children,” an oozing, pitch-shifted psychedelic swamp inspired by the demonic spawn in David Cronenberg’s The Brood. The song burbles like a bad mushroom trip, but it’s sort of out of place on an album otherwise packed with springy pop joints. Odd Blood leaves behind the swaying flower child…
Wasting away
Canadians waste about 40 percent of the food that enters our homes. The United States chucks nearly half its food away, $100 billion worth a year. Half of that is at home. UK consumers waste about a third of their food. Add in UK grocery store, restaurant, farm and fisher waste and it’s 70 percent.…
Gorillaz
Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s twisted collective are back for their electro-funky third studio album. Albarn, who claims Plastic Beach is about the refuse of a disposable culture, makes no waste of the beast with over a dozen collaborators. Returning artists Mos Def and De La Soul are joined by Snoop Dogg, Mick Jones, Lou…
Gigi
Producer/engineer Colin Stewart (Black Mountain, Destroyer) and songwriter Nick Krgovich (P:ano) gathered a pop orchestra, chorus and vocalists into a Vancouver studio. They often recorded live to tape, evoking the sound and sensibility of the radio hit parades and the Brill Building of the early to mid-’60s. The thrill, though, of that era came from…
Myles Deck and the Fuzz versus Cuban Assassins
The only misstep on this split seven-inch might be the upside-down back cover. Both bands commit some of their best material to vinyl and the result just might be the best release in the From Here to There catalogue. The Fuzz offer up “Lights Out! Electric Co.” and “Healing Power,” both sporting a nice Dead…
Pain-Proof Men
In “Storm Night at Gus’ Pub,” Barger presents the bar as a nexus of magic (the musical variety, in this case) and misery. They should print the verse on the venue’s walls to complement the forest photo-mural. He situates many poems in the mythological north end, geographically central Halifax: along Agricola, where, in “Cousin’s Diner,”…
Three strikes for She’s Out of My League
Perhaps the difference in physical “leagues” between Alice Eve and Jay Baruchel isn’t apparent because the movie is so cheaply lit, but it’s hard to see what’s making the other characters so stunned. The entire premise of She’s Out of My League is that she’s monumentally more attractive than him, when they’re both average pretty-good-looking…
Losing Claire Littleton
The main difference between television and film for an actor like Emilie de Ravin is certainty. Over six seasons of Lost, de Ravin could never be sure what would happen next to her character Claire Littleton: She recently ran out of the jungle, a wild mess of crazy eyes, dirt and ratty hair (it’s a…
Green Zone gets a green light
After consistently coming up short in searches for WMDs in Iraq, a frustrated US Army officer (Matt Damon) is enlisted by a CIA analyst, Brendan Gleason, weary of the Bush administration’s (repped by Greg Kennear) hubristic tactics, into a goose-chase for an Iraqi official who may or may not be able to straighten out the…
Remember Me a forgettable film
Remember Me is forgettable, both as a romance and an angsty family drama, with a ridiculous twist of an ending that is rightfully destined to piss off a few New Yorkers. Robert Pattinson stretches his James Dean eyebrow cock as Tyler, a sucky Manhattan rich kid wounded by the suicide of his brother and his…
Yassine Ouhilal goes north
When sought-after surf and travel photographer Yassine Ouhilal describes the Arctic over the phone, he’s present in the memory. “Twenty-four hours of daylight in those areas—if you’re a photographer, it’s like a never-ending sunset, the light’s amazing,” he details with what sounds like a smile, even if he has to travel on a four-wheel-drive through…
Hops Warrior
Greg Nash runs up the narrow metal stairs in Halifax’s Hart & Thistle brew pub, his 30th trip up and down since arriving at 8:30am. “Some people exercise, I make beer,” he jokes. Kneeling next to a steaming copper vat, he taps a dial on the heat exchanger and watches the needle on the thermometre…
I spy: Nina Levitt at SMU Gallery
Odds are, when we imagine a female spy it’s a busty James Bond temptress or Jennifer Garner in Alias, flirting with terrorists in conspicuous disguises. Toronto artist Nina Levitt hopes to portray something a little closer to the truth in her exhibition at Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery. Little Breeze pays homage to the lives…
Brooklyn’s Finest drops the gun
Brooklyn’s Finest looks like it wants be the ultimate modern day cop movie: Its three stories capture three angles of how duty is handled in the NYPD. In each, director Antoine Fuqua has his subjects struggle between morality and survival. Missing the operatic rhythms of Michael Mann’s Heat, Fuqua delivers something closer to the law…
Drink like an Irishman
From the hallowed, boozy days of Sam Mallone and Ernie “Coach” Pantusso on Cheers to weekly armchair visits to MacLaren’s, the haunt of Barney Stinson and the rest of the gang on How I Met Your Mother, our culture loves to celebrate the neighbourhood pub. But more than that, we like to go to a…
Contrived’s comfort
I first heard of Contrived as an undergraduate student in Kingston, Ontario. Some friends who grew up in Cole Harbour were gushing one morning about a band of fellow Haligonians who had stayed at their broken-down student house on Albert Street and shared their beer. The day after the show at the now-defunct 477 Club,…
Beer and food
Bob and Doug MacKenzie. Those toque-wearing, Rush-worshiping hosers are arguably the classiest part of the image cultivated by the beer industry. It’s sad, but even though advertising executives may suggest that the entire beer-chugging market is made up of frat boys and gyrating girls, it simply isn’t true. Whether you went for a beer on…
Green beer cheer
If you’re not sure where to go this year for green beer and Irish food, here are a few emeralds. Hart & Thistle Hart & Thistle’s owners happen to be the same as O’Carroll’s—the beloved Irish pub that’s closed for renovations. “St. Paddy’s was always a grand time at Halifax’s first Irish pub, and we’d…
Piper’s call
Best known as Caribou’s drummer, Brad Weber’s no stranger to travel. He’s gone crate-digging in record stores in Turkey. He’s filmed music videos on the craggy beaches of Iceland. He’ll be performing everywhere from Mexico to Stockholm with Caribou this spring. But today, he’s at his parents’ home in Waterloo, Ontario, readying himself for a…
Alice in Wonderland a disappointing trip down the rabbit hole
“All the best people are mad,” is a motto in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. But is Burton himself becoming too status quo? The unique blend of warmth and rebellion integral to Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Big Fish and Ed Wood makes way for an artist performing to stupid expectations. His Alice in Wonderland is merely…
My Name is Khan a sincerely cutesy journey
A Bollywood blockbuster on Halifax screens, My Name is Khan thankfully plays here with none of the controversy that greeted its release in India in February. That tumult is too nuanced to elaborate here, but it is worth looking into independently as it comments on one of the questions My Name raises: Can people with…
One of a kind
Halifax is no stranger to the one-man band. BA Johnson comes to mind, leaping beer-soaked and shirtless from Casio to guitar, or Shotgun Jimmie, who sings like an angel while strumming away and pumping a bass drum with his feet. Then there’s Mike Silverman, AKA That 1 Guy. Though Silverman falls under the same “one-man…
The IncrEDIBLE Community Supper
The seemingly barren winter season is still a time to buy local food, and the Ecology Action Centre is hosting a community supper to celebrate just that. As part of a series of community dinners being held across the province by Select Nova Scotia, this IncrEDIBLE gathering will focus on sustainable seafood choices to eat…
Curtains: Adventures of an Undertaker-in-Training, Tom Jokinen (Random House)
CBC Radio producer Tom Jokinen quit his job to apprentice as an undertaker at a Winnipeg family-run funeral home. That’s one way to get a book published: Western culture prefers to keep death at a safe distance, like meat processing, so when someone actually lifts the shroud, it’s pretty damn exciting. But Jokinen makes it…
Black firefighters enraged
[image-1] Management at the Halifax Fire Department has again failed to properly address racist behaviour, say black firefighters. Last month, a black firefighter assigned to Station 50 on Hammonds Plain Road picked up a clipboard with the daily checklist for fire truck inspection, and discovered a racist and sexist “poem” written on the back of…
Big plans for Fenwick
[image-1] The owners of Fenwick Tower, the tallest building in Halifax, want to put a 36-foot wide addition up the entire length of the 33-storey structure. Together with other renovations, the addition would increase the number of apartments in the building from 274 to 402, and would about double the commercial space in the tower.…
$9.5 million terminal expansion plans revealed
Dartmouth residents like the design for a new, expanded Bridge Terminal, but dislike its location on Dartmouth Common land. Architectural drawings for the new transit terminal were revealed at a public meeting at Dartmouth High School Monday night. The proposal stretches the terminal between Nantucket Avenue and Thistle Street, through what is now the wooded…
climate change
During 2009, I volunteered with the Copenhagen movement. Although I met a lot of passionate and effective people, I had an eye-opening experience. I believe politicians aren’t working toward sustainable solutions because such sweeping changes aren’t seen as electable and because as people, they don’t know what sustainable society will look like because we haven’t…
the lake housing
I am perplexed by Tim Bousquet’s piece on the start of the public consultation process re: the new Five Bridge Lakes Candidate Wilderness Area west of Halifax (“Another public land grab,” Reality Bites, February 25). The accompanying map—which incidentally shows only a portion of the land parcel in question—completely misidentifies HRM’s western Common, site of…
Reading is sexy
To all of The Coast staff who worked on the library edition (March 4): Thank you for your library-focused issue of The Coast. From the editorial to each of the articles, the journalists at The Coast have shown they have a clear understanding of what libraries are and why we need them. Thank you for…
Saturday Sloppies at Reflections
Everyone, I’ve got an announcement: I’m PREGNANT. Reflections has become our new favorite Saturday pre-drinking joint now that the bar has introduced early shows beginning at 9pm. Last week we swilled $3 bottles of Olands to the sounds of the eternally youthful The Whiskey Kisses and the exuberantly cuss-y Whiskey Bent and Hellbound. Plus, two…
