Day 7: Keith’s vs Colt 45 and Onion rings vs Donair egg rolls
It’s Day 7 and things are really starting to get heated, read up here if you’re just coming out of hibernation. Inspired by the NCAA, and Jezebel we’re going full march madness with a duel between 16 beers and 16 bar snacks. What will come out on top? Only time will tell. Before we talk…
Dream a little Dreamboat
Get ready to abandon winter completely as you join in celebrating the launch of Dreamboat Lucy’s fabulous spring and summer collection this weekend at Biscuit General Store (1661 Argyle Street, 425-5436). PEI’s sisterly design duo Louanna and Hilary Murphy will be debuting new looks and accessories in-store in pop-up-shop fashion on Saturday, March 23 (12-5pm),…
Weirdo Click live at The Coast
Fun guys Weirdo Click stopped by The Coast to do a couple songs. Behold! Related Stories
Independence first
Filmmaking: it hasn’t always been as easy as the Vine app. When William MacGillivray started out, making moving pictures required lots of money and more equipment than an iPhone. “In the 1970s, the only filmmaking being done was by the province of Nova Scotia in their little office, or the National Film Board—but there was…
Thrill out, dude
Thrillema, Halifax’s premiere horror/sci-fi/exploitation film night has come back from the dead. Thanks to a reanimation from dedicated film lovers at Carbon Arc Cinema, you too can scream in delight as you watch classic genre movies. Originally started as a screening series by cinephile friends Adam Perry and Jason Eisener, Thrillema went on hiatus when…
Bedford Reef centre of dispute over waterfront development
Correction, March 22, 1pm: Sandra Banfield has contacted The Coast to say she was approached about running for office by Jamie Baillie, the leader of the provincial PC Party, and not by Peter Christie, as was originally reported. The political scene is never boring in Bedford, as the town lurches from one brouhaha to the…
Yes, see See Bob Run
Bob (played by Margaret Legere) is a friendly girl, a chatty girl, a personable girl. In direct addresses to the audience and in conversations with the (unseen) drivers with whom she hitches rides, Bob offers up fairy tales and stories about her family. But Bob is also a deeply disturbed girl who is fleeing from,…
Day 6: Granite Best Bitter vs O’Doul’s and Potato skins vs Fried pepperoni
It’s Day 6 and it feels like we’re just getting started, with nary a surprise so far it really starts to feel like this sunny day is a good omen of upsets to come, read here if this is all gibberish to you. Taking inspiration from the intensity of the NCAA, and the creativity of…
Khyber renovation is going nowhere
It’s been over a year since city workers started tearing up the first floor space at the Khyber, but the renovations remain indefinitely stalled. The city was supposed to be helping the 125-year-old building get up to code when construction crews started tearing holes in the walls back in October, 2011. Shortly thereafter, the work…
Bum rap for bum wrap
Daisy Dukes of the world, beware: the Canada Games Centre in Clayton Park is enforcing a strict dress code, banning short shorts and cropped tops. While Gary Furlong, general manager at the CGC, says the policy has always been in place, the Canada Games Centre seems to have recently begun cracking down on skimpy gym…
Bill Jardine’s found a lot to like
A lot has changed since Bill Jardine put his music career on hold over a decade ago—namely, the proliferation of social media as a means of self-promotion. But with over 200 new likes on his Facebook page in the last eight weeks, it looks like the Halifax musician is catching on quickly. Jardine says he’s…
Animalia
Animalia is the moniker of Jill Krasnicki, a Toronto-based artist (by way of Tasmania) who made some noise last year with her debut EP, To the Waking, the Shaking & the Volatile. Her latest release, A Wave to Wash the World Away, reveals an impressive knack for crafting urgent folk songs complimented by flourishes of…
Business woman
“As a musician, a performer, a songwriter, a singer, all I really want to do is create something of quality, and create what is in my heart at the moment,” says Jenny MacDonald. “I know how cheesy that sounds, but isn’t the essence of art?” The non-stop touring singer-songwriter showcases tunes from Bye, Bye, Mr.…
Justin Timberlake
Make no mistake; a new album from Justin Timberlake will always be a landmark event. But after a seven-year wait, I’m disappointed to say The 20/20 Experience is a mostly hit-or-miss affair. Obviously, there won’t be many better songs in 2013 than blissful lead single “Suit & Tie,” and other tracks such as the disorienting…
Live to Tell
Libby Thorne, your average teen, awakes in the hospital with no memory of how she got there. She soon discovers her role in an accident that has left a victim critically injured. Her turmoil connected to being criminally charged blends with her confusion related to boys, drinking and out-of-character decisions leading up to the accident.…
The Dinner
With the most ambitious format of any book I’ve read this year, The Dinner introduces us to two couples that sit through a five-course dinner— from apertif to digestif—saying everything to each other but what they should. Translated from the Dutch, this bestselling, award-winning novel —much like the dinner itself—took a while to get going.…
Troubled water
It was a big year for Halifax at the Academy Awards. Ariel Nasr picked up a live-action short nomination for Buzkashi Boys, while NSCAD graduate John Kahrs walked away with the Best Animated Short Oscar for his film, Paperman. Sadly, emerging artists back in Nova Scotia will have to make do with one less funding…
The Dangers of Proximal Alphabets
“But even one letter changes a meaning entirely.” With delicately biting prose, Kathleen Alcott’s first novel is anything but rookie material. It is a love story, but by no means a simple one. Ida meets Jackson and James in childhood, and experiences an instant bond. The three form a family unit outside of their broken…
Got Milk Wood?
Under Milk Wood begins in darkness. The sonorous voice of Jeremy Webb calls the audience into the dreams of a sleeping village with Dylan Thomas’s playful, soulful, saturated poetry. This “play for words” encompasses an entire day in the life of the village folk, who dream and gossip and lust and love. Susan Stackhouse and…
Imperfections
“I am the sexiest side of beef in the slaughterhouse of desire.” This is what model Richard Trench tells himself on the runway to pump himself up. Narrating his story as a torso in the trunk of a car, Trench sets the novel up as a sort of grotesque superfan murder mystery. We do find…
Fibre first
There are no itchy wool sweaters here. This is a showcase of textile talent and colour. Presented by Atlantic Spinners and Handweavers, it features items sewn together using the traditional techniques of loom and finger weaves, tapestry, knitting and embroidery. Many items have a well-worn feel of an old blanket like the warm tea cozy…
Cookin’ up something new
“It’s the thinking man’s country music,” says Ryan Cook, one of three acts featured at the Casino’s New Music Friday showcase (Norma MacDonald and The Darlingtens also share the stage). “Or maybe country-western music for the modern world.” Cook’s brand of country marries traditional music—his sound is inspired by the ’50s to ’70s—to contemporary themes.…
This is why I’m still a Catholic
If you had told me three years ago I would be a practicing Catholic, taking true joy from celebrating at church each week and fully participating in the church community, I would have given you my best tilted head, raised eyebrow look of disbelief. Born and raised in rural Newfoundland, I am what they call…
See the Light
The benefit that’s been rocking the US since the early 2000s, and internationally (including Ontario) for several years as well, is finally making its way east. “It’s the first ever Halifax Light of Day,” says Peter Elkas who will be performing at The Carleton on Sunday to help raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research. “We…
Nomad Gourmet’s hot wheels
It’s been over five months since Nomad Gourmet hit Argyle Street and started changing how Halifax satisfied its food truck cravings. Gone were the fish, chips and deep-fryers. In came Belgian waffle breakfast sandwiches, locally sourced burgers and burritos filled with pulled brisket, cooked in an onboard smoker. Every item was eight bucks or less,…
Letters to the editor, March 21, 2013
IRVINGS IRE The Irvings have a fortune of $3.5 billion. Our government is giving them $244 million to upgrade their ship-building facilities. Meanwhile, NSCAD, after following the government’s advice and moving to the waterfront, finds itself $9 million in debt and in danger of extinction. Here’s my solution (full disclosure: I’m a graduate of NSCAD…
Curse Words
With tons of acclaim under their beards, including two ECMW nominations for Loud Recording of the Year, the Dartmouth dudes of Orchid’s Curse release their third studio album, Words, at The Seahorse on Friday. Presented by Red Tentacle PR and the label Diminished Fifth Records (both co-run by vocalist Josh Hogan), Orchid’s Curse will be…
Of gerbils and Gere
DEAR READERS: I’m off this week. To tide all of your hot and/or kinky and/or sore asses over, here’s a column I wrote 15 years ago. I’m rerunning it now because I still get questions about “gerbiling” on a daily basis. Q We were having a little office debate about “gerbiling.” How does it work?…
Pink matter
Recently, I took a couple friends visiting from California out for lunch. One ordered the house burger, made from locally sourced beef and ground on site, using a variety of cuts for maximal flavour and juiciness. When the burger arrived, a lull came over the table. “Why is my burger well-done?” asked my friend, with…
Burger queen, Beverly Griswold
Beverly Griswold lays out a simple paper placemat in front of my friend Mark and one in front of me, as Mark fills out the little swatch of paper with the details of our burgers—the famous burgers at the Westcliff Grocery & Lunch. “I don’t want to talk about other restaurants,” she says with her…
Open a door, Sagittarius
Happy Birthday! Aries (March 21-April 19) “Nourish beginnings, let us nourish beginnings,” says poet Muriel Rukeyser in her poem “Elegy in Joy.” “Not all things are blest,” she continues, “but the seeds of all things are blest. The blessing is in the seed.” I urge you to adopt this perspective in the coming weeks, Aries.…
Ryan Cook
Yarmouth’s dark-eyed honky-tonker has spent time in Nashville since the last album, raising his awareness of how valuable or debilitating uniqueness may be. On “Single in a Bar,” Cook sings, “I’m the reason they invented birth control,” a backfiring boast that’s good for a laugh every time—Roger Miller would approve. “Facebook Waltz” absorbs terms like…
Robyn Hitchcock
The lighter side of British New Wave lived in the Soft Boys, led by Hitchcock, whose oddness then charmed college rock fans Stateside in the 1980s with the Egyptians. Just turned 60, he still has a lot to say. Being a Brit shines through in production and lyrics. While cellos roil on “Be Still,” he…
