Halifax Furniture Clinic
“Upholsterers Were the First Recyclers” Such is the claim of Bill Dunlop, manager of the Halifax Furniture Clinic (2866 Gottingen, 454-4644), which is celebrating 31 years in business. “The guy who skinned a sabre-tooth tiger in his cave, he was the first.” His is a busy shop echoing with the sound of staple guns and…
Viva’s La Vida Pizza
It’s only been open since the beginning of January, but Viva’s Café Grill Pizza (2103 Gottingen) has quickly become a part of the changing complexion of Gottingen Street. The location was once home to the pizza counter/variety store Razzy’s but a lot has changed from that place. An open-concept, unpretentious space, new owners have installed…
fashion police
to the stupid bitch in the bay that made fun of my rainbow suspenders. Fck off i love my rainbow suspenders and if you have a problem with them say it to my face not to your dumb prep bf while walking 3 feet behind me fyi: just because your not talking to me directly…
Why can’t they get it right???
I think one of the key things that the Justice department should be responsible for is ensuring they do not release prisoners mistakenly into the public. And, increasing user fees when the economy is this bad. Who is running the show in our provincial government? —Disgruntled with the government
PUKE!
Red Ford Focus Fuckwad. I gave you the benefit of the doubt. I thought maybe you were waiting a while for traffic and made a dash for it as I had to brake so not to hit your ass as you pulled out in front of me on Prospect Rd. Then I thought maybe your…
Pre-Bitch
This summer i plan on ignoring the fact that i have wobbly arms and cellulite-ridden thighs. This means comfortable and slutty dressing (ahoy!). To the ogre who prowls agricola in your presumably musty mini van: IT AINTCHA BUSINESS, please keep all obscene gargles to yourself. —Happily Ho-ish
Sturdy Foundation Garments?
Why can’t I find any sturdy foundation garments with re-inforced gussets? Sorry that my BIF (bum-in-front) isnt as flat as it should be… I can’t help that it all hangs out. I just want a gusset that lasts. —Flabbtacular-cooch
The end of generosity
They say a generous man forgets what he gives and remembers what he receives. But that doesn’t mean you have to take the piss! I mean, if I buy all kinds of things, share them with you then go away and put them in storage and then you put them back into service without my…
WTF is up with your mobile site?
I know you switched over a while ago and all, but the mobile version of you site (at least this section anyways) …. blows goats. I’m unable to log in while at work because it’s a message board, unlike the majority of the slackers who get to reply all day, and this would be a…
Time for you to get a new job
I am so sick of hearing you fuck up the news day after day…stumbling over sentences and your tounge sounding like it’s sticking to your huge yellow teeth. Time for you to get out of radio. —hating News Talk radio
Monday night is Paradise night
Paradise Sisters members can see movies like Lost Song for no additional admission prices. Here’s a marriage that makes more sense than Madonna and Guy Ritchie ever did: AFCOOP’s Monday Night Movies and the Paradise Sisters Film Society are partnering up in continued support of bringing indie cinema to Halifax. MNM usually screens about 12…
Nutured
April MacKinnon, owner of Nutured, the previously online-only store (nutured.ca) for environment-friendly products for new families, has opened a brick-and-mortar storefront on Robie at Willow (2571 Robie). The store features cloth diapers, baby carriers, clothing and accessories for baby, organic bedding and menstrual products for mom, books and games and more. Hours are Mon-Wed, 10am-5pm;…
Rita McKeough also wins GG
Rita McKeough, winner, 2009 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts (photo: Martin Lipman) For some reason, the fact that Rita McKeough also won a 2009 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, slipped past me. McKeough, who is an iconic presence in Atlantic Canadian visual art and a mentor to many artists,…
Super Natural Health Products renovations
All the signs (as in, the ones outside the business) are saying that Super Natural Health Products (5755 Young at Agricola, 454-9999) is in the midst of a renovation sale. Shoptalk’s messages to the owner went unreturned, possibly because he’s so busy with the reno (and sale). We have it on fairly good authority that…
HAL-CON Merch Available Now
Pavel Chekov. Tasha Yar. Boba Fett. Chief Galen Tyrol. If any—or all—of these names are familiar to you, then you might be a science fiction junkie. You also might also be aware that the actors who play all those characters (on Star Trek, Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica, respectively) are coming to Halifax for a…
“Mademoiselle and the Doctor”
My bitch is this: Whose business is it if I choose to end my life with some dignity in old age, ill or in perfect health. Are you truly offended if I choose euthanasia over wasting away in the ‘care’ of strangers? What do I care if you choose to end your life? Answer: I…
Classroom, not daycare.
If you are thinking of bringing your kid to our university class this week: PLEASE DON’T. You’ve been dragging your kid to class for weeks and he’s disruptive and whiny. Probably because he’s expected to sit there for hours and do nothing. Seriously, not even a coloring book to keep him occupied? How are any…
Customer Service?
I had a Wacky experience at a locally owned electronics store that I used to work for tonight. I haven’t worked there in 3 years, but I still expect that it would hold the same level of service. Truth is, I walked in looking to replace my digital camera that broke ages ago, but I…
stop thinking you’re so fantastic
You are not what you think you are. You consider yourself to be this emotionless, steel-plated asshole to everyone, yet are so whiney once someone finally calls you out on it. Stop being such a damn pushover, learn to be a good assistant manager (because we ALL know that you’re not), stop posting on Locals…
Inglis St. Curb hugger.
A very big thank you to the jerk who drove too close to the curb this afternoon on Inglis St. and splashed slush all over me. Ruined my already downhill day. You pulled into the gas station and I was tempted to come and scoop up slush and throw in your face, but were you…
Tune In or Tune Out
To you completely clueless tools who ped this city tuned in to their tunes and expect drivers to stop even when they are obviously in the wrong, PAY FUCKING ATTENTION!!!! A young dude crossed in front of my fucking car at Robie and Jubilee today, five feet away from the crosswalk. Same with the stunned…
Lame motivation tactic
I know I’m a DUMBASS for this but I have ADD and can’t get started on my 8 paragraph paper that’s due tomorrow. Motivation? I welcome verbal abuse if it’ll kick me in the arse and get moving. Expecting a sound beating from Kay and Never Wrong. —FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Up Yours Mother Nature
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not a women hater or any shit like that, but come on Mother Nature…WHAT UP WIT DIS WEATHER?!? I mean seriously, WTF? Have we not endured enough this winter….do we not deserve to have a decent spring now? Just cause Father Time can’t get it up like he used…
Your humble servant presents: HUSBAND & KNIFE cassettes
Husband & Knife in the kitchen. Cooking up those hits. Ohboyohboyohboy. Husband & Knife have made a limited edition run (only 100!) of new release More Of Them (Than Us), and are presenting it to you this Friday April 3 at Gus’ Pub with The Ether, Story and The Friendly Dimension. The cassette will be…
Paragon Theatre opens Friday
Rich Aucoin helps cut the ribbon at the Paragon. Photo: Matt Atkins Photography The Paragon Theatre, the self-proclaimed “phoenix of Gottingen Street,” is due to open for realsies this Friday April 3 with a big ol’ party featuring Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees, Rich Aucoin, Ghettosocks, The Darcys, live painting by co-owner Peter Farmer…
Piss-poor manager
How the fuck did you end up in management?? It boggles my mind each and every day as i watch you fumble through another 8 hours doing god knows what. You have no idea how any of the systems here work, you don’t even know how to do MY job, do you? Of course you…
Dear Mr Bus Driver…
You were Out of Service last week, going Dartmouth-bound on the MacDonald. I was standing at the bottom of North St, waiting for the #1, and you stopped to let me and 2 others on, even though you didn’t have to. When i tried to put my ticket into the money counter you said not…
Bus Riding Etiquette
To the creep guy who rode the inter-city bus today: under no circumstances is it ever ok to reach over while I am SLEEPING and start stroking my hair and rubbing my ear! The reason I ran off the bus is because I was scared half to death and was this close to calling the…
Probiotic does not equal Healthy.
Look, people, Probiotic food is about as healthy as a Salmonella infection. In fact, it functions in the same fashion, that being it replaces the normal bacteria in your gut and when there is an overabundance of the bacteria, you evacuate the invaders. Thus, all of the “health benefits” associated. All of the beneficial effects…
Dreads
Am I the only one who thinks dreads are disgusting? Please tell me, what is the appeal of dreads? Why do people do this to their hair? —yuck
Stop whining about job searching!
For cripes sakes, if you are not having any luck in your job search, stop complaining here! There are tons of jobs in Halifax. Now, there may not be a job that YOU want, you know, cool, little work, lots of pay…..but there are tons of jobs. If your bitch is “I want to work…
Coasted Away With My Purse
So there I was enjoying my breakfast at [higher end breakfast place]. I take my purse up, pay for breakfast, replace my purse into my satchel and sit back down. I make my 5 minute jaunt to a friend’s where low and behold my purse is missing. I quickly go back to [higher end breakfast…
Baby Mouse
I miss you so much some times…I think of you and think about how special you are, and how the lady who’s with you must love you as much as I do. And I always will. —Carybear
Stop wasting my TIME!
Degree, check, Diploma, check, excellent career experience, check! So, why is it that you apply over and over for job postings, but never get a call for an interview? I am a firm believer that the Maritimes is getting worse and worse for “it’s all in who you know” Is anyone even looking at my…
The gentrification of Gottingen Street
I’m all for urban renewal but has anyone noticed the condo developments on Gottingen Street lately? Where are you going to stick the poor and disaffected this time? It’s only a matter of time before Uniacke square becomes a part of history much like Africville. Oh well, they’re just poor people…. —f*ck the rich
Bar Cover charge
So let me get this straight- bars owners are in a fight to the death for revenues and so even if we are on a guest list we wait in line up to get in- then we pay $5+ to get in- then we wait to get served- and we are expected to tip on…
EAC won’t support HRM By Design
A press release from the Ecology Action Centre: On March 24th HRMbyDesign’s plan for downtown Halifax was presented to the Committee of the Whole. The Ecology Action Centre (EAC) is concerned that despite HRM’s contribution to Nova Scotia’s total CO2 emissions, there is no demand for the reduction of greenhouse gas levels within the Downtown…
Ahhh Choo
Why must I always be assaulted by the putrid smells of perfume every time I enter the drug store? I’ve complained in person and via e-mail to no avail. Is anyone else tired of the “scents” every time you walk in the door? —Anomie
Oxford Theatre – Friday, March 27
To the douche at the Friday 9:15 showing of The Haunting in Connecticut, If you’re going to laugh at all the parts you find hilariously funny you should definitely use your most annoying, fake and pretentious laugh. It’s not infuriating at all when you’re getting into a moderately emotional, sort of well done scene and…
loud mouth downstairs foul mouth upstairs Geez!
I don’t know why I get into this ever since I moved to Hali. Are all neighbours this horrible in Clayton Park area? I’ve moved and moved and moved, and I still find a loud mouth , or a foul mouth, or a pusher, living upstairs, or downstairs . Is there no normal folks living…
Get on the Bus
It was sunday and I didn’t want to work but I had to. I had a shitty night at work. It was raining when I left. Then I got on the number seven around 10 o’clock going north to gottingen. And you know what? You were the cutest thing I had seen all day. All…
Atlantic Fashion Week: Saturday night recap
Last night’s show was a much more lively event—energy was high and the crowd seemed more diverse than Friday (although I felt bad for the make-up and hair artists who did demos on stage between designer showcases—those were some valiant attempts to keep the audience engaged. And I didn’t know that you could “jam hair.”)…
To My Husband..
I love you.. ♥ For over six years now I have tried to savour every moment I have with you, because I know someday, when you’re gone, I will want nothing else than to be with you. —Your Wife
Dislike
I hate people that walk slow. —Not a turtle
Not a slave 4 u
Just because I clean your room doesn’t mean you need to go out of your way to leave me the biggest mess possible. And by the way, to the girl today who whispered to her friends that I must be poor because I clean rooms..actually, I probably get paid more than you do. Sorry, that…
Isn’t this 2009?
To the hick at the stop light in front of the Aklerley Campus of NSCC this past Thursday afternoon. You fucking digust me! Do you go around screaming FUCK YOU ‘N’ word, 3 minutes straight, out of your window at every black person you see on the sidewalk?? Then to make it worse you run…
DD/MM/YYYY come home(-ish)
Toronto’s DD/MM/YYYY are making a triumphant return to Halifax Saturday April 4 (an early show at 2627 Connolly Street with Bloodhouse and Pig, $5, all ages. Later show at Gus’ Pub with Tomcat Combat and Glory Glory Man United. $6). Their shows last summer (with Baltimore’s Video Hippos) were explosive and engaging. Their new album,…
Hey You and the Mutts who own you!
To the woman whose dogs came bounding out of the woods snarling, barking, and growling menacingly around my legs at York Redoubt while I was enjoying a walk on the first warm friggin’ Sunday this year. When you finally sauntered along and I asked you to call them off, you replied, “They’re just responding to…
Love for the nurses on 6B and Dialysis
Thank you for making having kidney failure a little bit easier to deal with. I am going back to PEI soon but I will never forget how nice you all were to me. I love you all and I will definately come back to visit. —Short sassy girl
why don’t you want my money?
Dear owner of a certain laundromat, I came in with a load of wet clothes (I have a washer at my house but no dryer). It’s not busy. There are many dryers free. But you tell me the machines are “only for customers.” Um, since when do I have to use BOTH the washer and…
“Hands-free”?
I am one of the lucky people who is privileged enough to drive a car. I also own a cell phone. Now, at the tender age of 20, I understand the fact that I am not allowed to talk on the phone while driving; not only do I understand it, I completely agree with it…
hypocritical?
I was disgusted by the girl in the coast who said that she will only wear vintage fur, because it’s not new. This makes no sense. It’s still an animal killed, and you could care less either way. Just admit that instead of riding the fence trying to please everyone. PS- Your style sucks. No…
20 cents more to be healthier
Hey this is to the restaurant owners in Halifax. I am busy professional that wants to eat better and live better but can’t because the majority of food served in our city is deep fried and unhealthy. Such simple substitutions like organic wheats and rice instead of white rice are basic simple things that can…
Longing for Long Distance
Why the fuck do long distance calls cost so much in 2009? I can understand paying more for long distance in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and even part of the 90’s, simply due to the fact that phone companies were developing the infrastructure needed and even had operators directing calls. But come on, it…
PEI people
Since moving to Halifax less then a year ago, I’ve known 3 people from PEI. All three of them seemed extremely nice at first yet all three ended up being flaky backstabbers. I’m not trying to stereotype, I’m just curious if it’s a trait common to the province, which I think is one of the…
My fucking mouth.
I’ve invested nearly $10,000 in you. Sure, my teeth are straight now. But even though I had jaw surgery and all of my wisdom teeth out to make more room, they still don’t meet. My mouth still hurts. This was supposed to be fixed and now I have to go and get MORE surgery. On…
Kids Today
I cannot BELIEVE how incredibly rude some of the younger teenagers who come into my work are. I am amazed by their incredible sense of entitlement, not to mention their severe lack of manners or respect for those around them. You would think that people coming into a drugstore would be slightly dignified, but these…
Waste of Time
Just as I expected, you used your participation in Earth Hour to rub it in my face about how much more environmental you are than me. The stated goal of Earth Hour (paraphrased) is to “raise awareness of climate change” yet somehow you never got around to mentioning it to me until after it was…
Too much perfume, stinky boy.
Please, ladies and gents…just because your scent of choice is 5.99 a spray can, or 100 an ounce, less is more. I’m sick of gagging in your wake because you’ve doused yourself so liberally and thoroughly that my eyes water and I choke. I’m not sure how this gets you laid, as one needs a…
Majestic Gentle Bum Bum
Sometimes you’re frightening, but most of the time you just toot away on that clarinet of yours while swaying like a cattail in the breeze. I wish all the other north end bums were like you…. Thanks for not calling me “Love” and “Sweetie”. Thanks for not muttering bitterly when I don’t give you dough.…
Growlers filled with wheat
Don Harms, brewmaster for Propeller, pours bottles of Propeller’s new wheat beer, Hefeweizen*, into glasses. He places them on the bar. Daniel Girard, Garrison Brewer, puts his nose right up to the sudsy glass and takes a huff. Banana and cloves, that’s good. Lorne Romano, Rogue’s Roost brewer, takes his glass over to a window…
Smoke ad mirrors
To the editor, I was amazed to see a full-page ad for duMaurier cigarettes in the recent edition of The Coast on March 12. There is a big, bold image of duMaurier’s product sitting in a prominent place in a publication geared to a wide audience, including teens. Surely this is in contravention of Canada’s…
Congrats on the Herald article
To the editor, Lawrence Martin wrote in the Globe and Mail (“To save journalism,” Mar. 19) that “Journalism got soft and corporate.” I emailed him and recommended he check out “Victims of the Herald” (Mar. 19) by Stephen Kimber in The Coast. I’ve had another look at the article. Now that’s what I call gutsy,…
Still smoking?
To the editor, I read Geoffrey Allen’s letter about your decision to print an advertisement for cigarettes. The reader expressed outrage at The Coast’s willingness to disregard Canadian law and moral responsibility and print a tobacco advertisement. I was further shocked to see the same full-page advertisement featured again in last week’s paper. As a…
Letters from the Herald‘s editor
Hi Stephen, I guess this is what happens when a person doesn’t make time for a sit-down interview with you, eh? I’ve attached a rundown of basic journalistic errors and omissions in your piece that appeared today in The Coast. I’d expect some of them from a first-year student, but from such an eminent professor,…
Don’t take smoke money
To the editor, Geoffrey Allen’s letter last week about duMaurier ads leads me to ask: Is your duMaurier ad in violation of the Tobacco Products Control Act? The research I did implies that the Supreme Court affirmed the legality of TPCA in 1995, and it still applies today. So does the TPCA outlaw these ads?…
Atlantic Fashion Week: Friday night recap
So far, the second Atlantic Fashion Week (OK, weekend) is much more subdued and focused than the first event, held last October. Gone are all the parties, and the blending of retailers and national designers—instead we have two nights highlighting local fashion designers. Perfect. Still, it was a strange crowd gathered in the almost-full Olympic…
am dying
coming from a mediterranean background, the family is an important aspect of one’s life, something that you cant get rid off nor avoid. that being said, my family is insane! yup all of them are insane and should be locked up in psychiatric hospital. nothing good enough for them to praise me, ok dont! I…
Blind Bus Man
To the $%$#wad 52 route bus driver who blew past 6 of us waiting for the bus on Friday night (9:15 pm) at Susie Lake and Chain Lake Drive. Are you bloody blind!?!? Not only did we have to wait around for a half hour for the next bus, it meant I missed my Mumford…
I’m BORED.
I pray my dear Haligoggles will join together and spawn a massively entertaining summer. I’m tired of being driven to the bottle out of desperation. My liver looks like Abe Simpson and it all your fault Hali…. —Kebab Dragon
Bitch family
I have a thought that punch-drunkenly entered my mind in the wee hours of the morning. If all the regular posters here were a giant inbred family…who do you think would be what? First off, I nominate Tim as god; Kay the estranged ex-wife. —Dino
Did you know? 90s Halifax music explosion tonight
I saw Sloan at the airport this week. Jealous? Skillfully pointed out by Orange Glass/The Memories Attack’s Ron Bates (the latter are, as we speak, number two on the CBC Radio 3 top ten. And number one in my heart). Members (and in Sloan’s case, all of them) of Haligonian greats Super Friendz, The Inbreds,…
Be an angel: be an extra for Halo
A homegrown film is also looking for bodies. Halo, Josh MacDonald’s film about a “vision” which appears on the side of a Cape Breton coffee shop, is shooting in Spryfield from March 31-April 7. To sweeten the deal, there will be snacks and donations to community organizations that bring out groups of people. Contact Halo…
Be an extra on Ice Castles
If you’ve never seen the 1978 film Ice Castles, I suggest you dig up a videotape—-perhaps there’s one hiding in the “be still my melting heart” pile in Value Village. A remake of the romance-on-ice is being shot here in Halifax, and Filmworks Casting Agency is looking for volunteers to sit in the stands at…
You Old Creep
Here’s to the nasty old creeps who live in fairview area…yeah there’s quite a few of you. Teenage girls are not interested in your ripped up dirty clothes, tabacoo scent, greasy hair, unkempt facial hair, toothless smiles, and hooker-welcoming reproductive organs. In fact we are disgusted by it. and so when you decide to approach…
Pornstar in Apt 46
Dear Lover, I do appreciate that there is still a man out there taking the time to make his woman happy, but man, the walls are thin in this apartment building and her screams can be heard across the parking lot. I want to let you know that you do keep me up pleasing your…
Mayor Kelly a bipedal oxymoron??
Mayor Kelly a bipedal oxymoron?? You decide. http://nshrm.blogspot.com:80/ —Bruce D
Datarite
To the cool datarite delivery guy – you are always in a good mood and always wear a smile – it is always nice to see you come into my office. Datarite is lucky to have an employee like you! —Organic
Sugaring off on Allan Street
Who are the mysterious local sappers setting up a sugar shack in the city? We counted six taps in trees along Allan between Windsor and Harvard. Milk jugs were attached and sap was-a-flowing. So who did this? We knocked on several doors and one nice lady who didn’t want to be identified said off-handedly, “oh,…
Paper Beat Scissors’ lovely stop-motion video makes Friday even better
Thrill to this beautifully calming video for Paper Beat Scissors’ “Flicker” (off their 2008 EP, Be Patient). Created by Coraline and Corpse Bride animator Chris Tootell. That’s star power.
Grand Theft Bus understands your love of online voting.
Play “Freebird”! Grand Theft Bus would like to have a little fan input during the arduous set list creation process. For the band’s “By Request” east coast tour, the group has opened up “a request line for people to vote for old songs that they would like the band to dig out of the vault”…
the #15
Okay, so, I hate to rant on the buses, but sometimes it is about the routes and services… What is the deal with the #15 Purcell’s Cove? It comes in to the city from Purcell’s Cove then does a Bayers Road run before returning to the Mumford terminal and going back to the Cove. Okay,…
That Long Stringy Blonde-Haired Panhandler on Spring Garden
Thanks for being epic. A few weeks ago I was walking with my friends and saw you making eye contact with me. I lifted my hands in a (sincere) I-haven’t-got-any-change-on-me-sorry type of pose, but you didn’t even seem to be asking. You looked at my hair swaying from the bottom of my hat, and said…
A kick in the Balls
I’ve worked just as hard as the rest of my class in college this year. Out of the 17 of us, there are 5 female students. But just because they are women means they get jobs that I am not even allowed to apply for. What the fuck! This womens right this has gone too…
GROW UP
To the girl at the tire store in Sac-town grow the fuck up and change that fucking attitiude of yours, the area where you fucking work does not make you any more special than anyone else who works there. I understand that you may have hade a bad day, but dont bring it to work.…
Halifax Loves Its Daily Metro Fix
I read this little slice of bullshit at work today. Here’s what I find wrong about this story in this free “newspaper”… First, they claim to have the widest spread of any paper in Halifax. Here’s what is so wrong with that statement: it’s free and handed out to anyone who gets off a bus…
Broken hearted and lonely
To the jerk that dumped me after he found out I had cancer. I have never felt so broken hearted and alone in my whole life. I hope you never have to go through what I am going through. I really loved you. —All alone and suffering
Scotiabank’s Wyse Road branch’s electronic clock is still on standard time.
What’s wrong? Scotiabank’s Wyse Road branch’s electronic clock is still on standard time. Who’s responsible? Scotiabank’s phone exchange hell, 420-3764. Remarks: This particular clock is a great convenience, as it sits within eyeshot of the Bridge bus terminal. But three weeks into Daylight Savings Time and it still hasn’t been reset. A crackling phone exchange…
Ben McCrea wins UARB appeal on Waterside Centre
The Utility and Review Board has ruled that the Halifax Regional Municipality had improperly rejected Halifax developer Ben McCrea’s Armour Group’s application to build the Waterside Centre. Plans for Waterside Centre call for tearing down four registered historic buildings on the block bound by Upper Water, Hollis and Duke Streets and by the distinctive Morse’s…
Add another sleep to your D12 countdown calendar
D12 may not appear exactly as shown. D12’s Halifax appearance (scheduled Friday, May 1 at the Palace) has been postponed for the very next night, Saturday, May 2 (still at the Palace). I tell you, that group’s drama is better than any soap opera. Also worth noting is that global cutbacks have even reached D12,…
You’re BUSted.
To the dumbasses at Metro Transit who thought it was a good idea to put up those “Passenger Conduct” signs on busses when tensions between drivers and riders are already high: Great timing you fuckin morons. Why not just drink gasoline and piss it on a fire while you’re at it? —The “not my fault…
Clever bum.
To the guy I gave bus money to on Quinpool… I believed you. The next day you needed two bones for an 8pack. I believed you again. But when you asked me that same night for coffee money I realized what you were doing. Sneaky little fucker! —Fooled twice
Local CBC cuts announced
CBC listeners and viewers in the Maritimes will soon notice big changes in local programming. The CBC is cutting a total of 31 jobs in the Maritimes, eleven percent of its regional workforce. One of the hardest hit programs will be Maritime Noon, a two-hour regional show that focuses on consumer and resource issues. The…
Pleasant Courier Guy
This goes out to my favourite courier guy. When I order for courier service, I’m hoping it is you who arrives. Not only are you handsome with a super-duper smile, but your well-mannered disposition is admired. Thanks for that and brightening my day 🙂 —Office Lady
waxing poetic
Why oh why dear produce growers do you insist on waxing our fruit? A shiny apple is beautiful. One covered in white sludge after washing is NOT. —shiny not waxy
driving, talking, reading….not a good combo!
To the self-important asshole driving north on Connaught Ave last night around 5pm in a black Nissan. There is a law against hand-held devices while driving….it’s been around for months now dumb-ass. Just cause you think it doesn’t apply to you, most of the rest of us people believe it should. Not only were you…
Yellow Line Jumpers
See that pretty yellow line dividing the travel lanes on local streets and roads? Why not try and stay on your side of it for a change!!!! Every god damn day I drive to/from work on the Waverley Road and have to veer to the right because some fuck cuts over the line onto my…
John Greer wins the Governor General’s Award
Sculptor John Greer has won the 2009 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts. According to a press release from the AGNS, who nominated the artist for the award, Greer “was the catalyst behind Halifax Sculpture, a 1990s movement, rooted in minimalism and conceptualism. He taught at the Nova Scotia College of Art and…
HRM By Design: divvying up the spoils
Council is heading into two months of open warfare, with three large and contentious issues coming onto the table: HRM By Design, the annual budget and so-called “tax reform.” Tuesday, council started discussing HRM By Design, the downtown planning initiative, but before getting into the meat of the issue, they got hung up on five…
It’s March for fuck sakes…
This is to all those I’ve seen walking down the street in flip flops lately. I realize the calender may say that it is spring, but it’s March and we had a snow storm 2 days ago. WHY THE HELL ARE YOU WEARING FLIP FLOPS?! There is optimism and then there is just plan crazy.…
Fashion forward
While the world anxiously speculates about a dire economy, and Judd Apatow’s posse smugly appears on the cover of Vanity Fair wearing nothing but undershirts and barrels, Nova Scotian fashion designers continue their creative business as usual. This weekend, at the second Atlantic Fashion Week, nine of those designers, plus a group of talented NSCAD…
How to write a reader review
Reader review guidelines Thecoast.ca’s restaurant and bar listings provide a wealth of useful information about everywhere to go out to eat and drink in greater Halifax. We know Coast readers love to go out, and since we love our readers, we consider their candid reviews and ratings an integral part of restaurant profiles on our…
Emma’s fishcake heaven
I have a vested interest in fishcakes, having written a book on them a few years back; the collection of recipes required extensive testing and tasting, and I know fishcakes about as well as anybody can. So when word of an Eastern Passage eatery that starred fabulous fishcakes came wafting along, I knew I had…
Mister Lonely
Ever wonder what’d happen if Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe, Abraham Lincoln and the Three Stooges lived together? Harmony Korine did. The controversial writer/director’s latest film features a commune populated by sadly committed impersonators of the aforementioned celebrities, and other luminaries, like Buckwheat. Everyone on the commune does a lot of boring chores—in costume, naturally. (Elsewhere,…
The Spare Room
In this novel of 195 pages (a novella?), the Australian author brings readers into a confined, uncomfortable space: a 15-year friendship between the characters Helen and Nicola at the moment of a great test: Nicola, gravely ill with cancer, arrives in Melbourne from Sydney, seeking a final and alternative treatment. Helen, her host, doubts the…
Sixty-second cinema
Every spring the Atlantic Filmmakers’ Cooperative rolls out the proverbial red carpet to celebrate its most recent crop of new one-minute filmmakers. Two-thousand-and-nine brings the 10-year anniversary of the One Minute Film scholarship program, and a special screening dedicated to showing off some of the more successful one-minute films. The co-op was initially born in…
Duplicity
Julia Roberts, capable as always in light comedy, meets her match in Clive Owen, who usually eyes his female costars with glowering puzzlement, but operates in Duplicity with genuine warmth for Roberts. Tony Gilroy, who wrote and directed the phenomenal Michael Clayton, lightens up and writes and directs this slight spy comedy. The movie is…
Knowing
Nicolas Cage’s capacity to act as though he’s constantly living the most agonizing moment of his life is at least justified in Knowing. As astronomer John Koestler, he’s set off when his son’s grade-school class unearths a 1959 time capsule of students’ future predictions. The seemingly random series of scrawled numbers that his son received…
I Love You, Man
I Love You, Man isn’t a Judd Apatow production, but employs a lot of his alumni and yuppity romantic concerns. Its take on white cultural meanings of manhood gives up at about the same place as The 40 Year Old Virgin—preferring to cure differing social ethics than to deal with them. But for a while,…
Melnyk’s key strokes
Composer and pianist Lubomyr Melnyk seems, at times, to have landed from another place or time. It’s possible, too: He claims that his “continuous music” technique lets the pianist “transcend all limits of time and space,” and that the “continuous pianist operates at speeds beyond human capacity.” Melnyk has been clocked in as the world’s…
NSPIRG faces funding cut
A group of students led by a recruiter for the provincial Young Progressive Conservatives is putting NSPIRG’s feet to the fire. The left-leaning Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group, a fixture on Dalhousie’s campus for nearly 20 years, faces loss of its core funding from the Dalhousie Student Union if a controversial motion passes at…
Contributions to city candidates
1. Forms 40 and 41 are the campaign contribution reports legally required of all candidates running in municipal and school board elections; Form 40 is for money given to a candidate directly, while Form 41 is for money given to a candidate’s campaign association, a group working on the candidate’s behalf. Not all candidates have…
Double the CBC’s budget
Ma phoned last week panicking about her tiny pension, which gets topped up every month with money I earn from these editorials. “Look Bubbie,” she commanded, “stop writing tedious shit. The Coast’s gonna cancel your ass.” Her prescription? “Stir readers up. Tell ’em you were raped by a ghost. No, Duffy’s done that already. OK,…
Legislating helmet safety
Dear provincial legislators: We are Canadian. You can force us to wear helmets when we ski and skate, if you want to. I’m not saying Canadians—as a people—roll over and take whatever’s coming. No, no. We are a strong, proud country. We resisted American invasion in the War of 1812 and we’ll continue our feisty…
Fin fetish
Q:The two things that I dig most on a woman are a nice big pair of…swim fins. Some of my earliest sexual fantasies revolve around Jacqueline Bisset in The Deep. It’s frustrating to have such a bizarre fetish. There is a small subculture devoted to scuba fetishism on the internet, but it’s a total sausage/snorkel…
Best Artist / Band
Twenty Questions with Best Band winner, In Flight Safety We put vocalist/guitartist John Mullane in The Coast’s hot seat Last meal you ate together as a group? Middle-of-nowhere Quebec truck stop on the way back from Toronto. I distinctly remember the worst music playing over the loudspeaker directly above our table. Hangover cure? The greasiest…
Best Female Solo Artist
Jenn Grant calls from a Toronto streetcar, hours before her Canadian Music Week show where she was joined on stage by a bunch of fellow musicians, including Six Shooter labelmate Melissa McClelland, Ruth Minnikin and Kevin Hearn. The next morning, before going to shoot a new video in Pickering, Grant reports back that the show…
Best Canadian Album
It was a hairy year for Matt Mays & El Torpedo, who toured the swagger-rocking Terminal Romance, opened for Kid Rock, then turned into werewolves for Andrew Watt’s short film, Dartmouth Werewolf in Dover, at the Atlantic Film Festival. The band’s on the road again wooing crowds, in Ontario just after their Corner Brook ECMA…
Best Male Solo Artist
We caught up with Chris (Old Man) Luedecke eating a vegemite sandwich in the land down under, a day before playing at the Brunswick Music Festival. “Australia is quite wonderful,” he writes. “This is a country that does coffee and music festivals really well. Morton Bay fig trees are thrilling.” The Juno nominee’s big 2008…
Best Album
It was a hairy year for Matt Mays & El Torpedo, who toured the swagger-rocking Terminal Romance, opened for Kid Rock, then turned into werewolves for Andrew Watt’s short film, Dartmouth Werewolf in Dover, at the Atlantic Film Festival. The band’s on the road again wooing crowds, in Ontario just after their Corner Brook ECMA…
Best Song
Christina Martin had chests a’thumping with Two Hearts, the album which won her two Music Nova Scotia Awards and an ECMA for pop solo recording of the year. Martin describes the title track “Two Hearts” as “sad yet hopeful. The song represents a strong desire to love and be loved…a belief that even if shit…
Best New Artist / Band
As fresh as Mary’s bread, one of the Kestrels’ very first shows was opening night of the Halifax Pop Explosion. “This was kind of big and crazy for us, as we were so new,” says bassist/drummer Adam Hartling, who shares duties with Chad Peck (guitars, vocals) and Marcus Fiddes (drums, bass, vocals). Their debut seven-inch…
Best DJ
DJ IV, AKA Brian Pelrine, isn’t content to rest on the laurels from his third Local MC win, although he jokes about early retirement when talking to The Coast. But Pelrine doesn’t really have time to think about winters in Florida and rounds of golf, as he’s currently out on the road with Classified. “We’re…
Best MC
Halifax’s finest MC takes home the gold once again. Before the evil cellphone gods intervened, Socks gave us a quick 2008 lowdown. His passport got a workout last year, with a six-city American tour—Sock’s second south of the border—and two European stints. He opened for a few hip-hop demigods, Nas and GZA. And he made…
Best Video
Halifax’s finest MC takes home the gold once again. Before the evil cellphone gods intervened, Socks gave us a quick 2008 lowdown. His passport got a workout last year, with a six-city American tour—Sock’s second south of the border—and two European stints. He opened for a few hip-hop demigods, Nas and GZA. And he made…
Best Cover Artist / Band
Nerd Army blipped and bleeped their way into your hearts. So with the thousands of titles out there, what type of songs make this video-game soundtrack cover band hungry for battle? “We usually pick music from games that we like, but sometimes we look on YouTube or vgmusic.com for songs from more obscure games,” says…
Best Karaoke Host
“Thank you, thank you very much,” says Laurie the Guy with his best Elvis voice. The king of karaoke, the prince of performance, has been at it for 18 years, and shows no sign of slowing down. He modestly attributes his success to a “bunch of good people,” and claims a perfect night is when…
Best Artist / Band To Get Trashed To
Jon Landry, The Stanfields’ vocalist/guitarist, suggests that if you want to know what makes people thirsty at their shows, you should check them out. Just take a couple of aspirin before you leave home. As for the band, their poison on choice is “The Sufferin’ Stanfield, a combination of Jagermeister, Red Bull and yak’s milk.…
Best Music Photographer
Multi-year winner Ch!ris Sm!th spent last year playing with others. “REPIXX is a group exhibition I co-curated with Argyle Fine Art where we gave 15 of my band photos to 15 visual artists (painters, ceramic sculptors, wood-carvers, etc.), and they recreated or interpreted them however they wanted,” Sm!th says. He also started the popular Battle…
Best Artist / Band To Enjoy Quietly
This week the Ghost Bees are on their way to London and Manchester, after a brief European tour that took the twin-sister duo to such enviable locales as Paris, Cologne and Trier, Germany. No doubt the French and German audiences ate up every second of Romi and Sari Lightman’s songs—there’s something very continental about their…
Best Artist / Band To Dance To
According to Windom Earle singer Stephan MacLeod, dancing is so 2008. This year, “we’re trying to evolve beyond dancing by incorporating contact sports in our set, like when we played dodgeball with the audience at our Pop Explosion set. Hopefully next year The Coast will have a category for best band to throw balls at.”…
Best Live Show In The Past Year
The Christmas holidays are usually filled with gumdrop memories and catching up with old friends. But Santa really filled the indie-rock stocking to the brim in 2008, with two North of America reunion shows, one at the North Street Church and another at the Marquee. Former members Mark Colavecchia, Michael Catano, J. LaPointe, Jim MacAlpine…
Best Online Presence
Winners at the merch table, and on the Tube, The Superfantastics always keep it clever. Drummer Stephanie d’Entremont says that the merch highlight for her and for singer/guitarist Matt MacDonald was the 3D artwork for their seven-inch EP Choose Your Destination, which they followed up with a 3D video for “Rites of Spring,” shot on…
Best Merch
Winners at the merch table, and on the Tube, The Superfantastics always keep it clever. Drummer Stephanie d’Entremont says that the merch highlight for her and for singer/guitarist Matt MacDonald was the 3D artwork for their seven-inch EP Choose Your Destination, which they followed up with a 3D video for “Rites of Spring,” shot on…
Best Artist / Band To Be Blown Away By
Strap on a helmet and watch for the debris: Tomcat Combat blows you away. Tomcat also baffled the military when the instrumental band played the Stadacona bowling alley last year. “We tried to go easy on the feedback and noise,” says Noel Macdonald, the band’s guitarist. “The DayGlo decor and purple carpeting was quite agreeable…
Best Album Artwork
Strap on a helmet and watch for the debris: Tomcat Combat blows you away. Tomcat also baffled the military when the instrumental band played the Stadacona bowling alley last year. “We tried to go easy on the feedback and noise,” says Noel Macdonald, the band’s guitarist. “The DayGlo decor and purple carpeting was quite agreeable…
Best Dressed Artist / Band
Once again Halifax’s stylish set looked to Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees—Rebekkah Higgs, Colin Crowell, Sean MacGillivray and Jason Vautour—for advice on plaid versus pattern, stovepipes or floods. Higgs, who has a keen eye, is always on the lookout for the next gem. “I found the perfect purple sequin dress for under $10 at…
Best Artist / Band Hijinks
Once again Halifax’s stylish set looked to Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees—Rebekkah Higgs, Colin Crowell, Sean MacGillivray and Jason Vautour—for advice on plaid versus pattern, stovepipes or floods. Higgs, who has a keen eye, is always on the lookout for the next gem. “I found the perfect purple sequin dress for under $10 at…
Best Gig Poster Artist
Ya love them for their distinctive hand-screenprinted show posters, but Paul Hammond and Seth Smith, the brains, talents and good looks behind Yo Rodeo, aren’t one-trick ponies, although their poster for Two Hours Traffic’s Polaris Prize nomination makes you scream for more. There were Christmas and Valentine’s Day cards, album-cover art commissions and an exhibition…
Best Artist / Band Most Likely To Make It Big
Your vote for Band Most Likely To Make It Big (and runner-up for Best Band, among others), knows how to make big power-pop sounds, and they have some huge friends, too. “It was great to tour and hang out with Eric’s Trip last summer,” says vocalist/guitarist Seth Smith. “Bumming around with them at the Sub…
Best Music Festival
Halifax Pop Explosion 2008 will go down in history as the year Monotonix sweated and spilled into Agricola Street and up its lamposts, drawing attention from the cops. No doubt it will become a show tale like Sonic Youth in the NSCAD cafeteria—one that everyone claims they witnessed. But according to festival director Waye Mason,…
Best Live Music Venue
It didn’t matter that on its last weekend as The Marquee Club, the downstairs washroom area smelled as if something furry died inside the walls, you still packed the bar to say goodbye to the coatcheck, the pizza and your favourite bouncers. The iconic live music venue went out on a sweet note with In-Flight…
Best All-ages Venue
While music lovers loudly lamented the death of several live licensed venues, Halifax’s all-ages scene chugged along, bringing in great bands, minus the hangover and late start. Chris Smith from The Pavilion names a few shows to remember: There was the Pop Explosion show, the Pavilion Anniversary Party in August and the East Coast Punkfest,…
Best Radio Station
Station coordinator Leah Girardo is excited that CKDU continues to reign the airwaves. She lists off some of the highlights from last year: “really outstanding youth programming through the C@P youth journalism programs; another successful funding drive; a fantastic Homelessness Marathon 14-hour broadcast which included a live listening booth at St. Matthews’ Church; spectacular Pride…
Best Record Label
Noyes makes noise again. Chad Peck, who runs the record label, is pretty excited about the new Noyes stamp that will make mailouts a lot easier (the music industry isn’t all glam—there’s a lot of envelope licking). OK, that’s not all Peck has on his list: there was the Halifax Pop Explosion showcase night with…
Best Tour You Wish Came To Halifax
Yes, yes, we all want Radiohead to play the Common. But it’s time to lower our expectations. Radiohead won’t come to Halifax. AC/DC won’t come to Halifax, and neither will Tom Waits, Madonna, Iron Maiden, Fleet Foxes or U2, or any other name that made the list of tours you wish came to Halifax. We…
Best Canadian Single
Canada screams for Hey Rosetta!. Darlings at last year’s North by Northeast Festival and three-time ECMA winner, the St. John’s-based band won loyal fans with their energetic, gorgeous indie rocker, Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood). While on tour in Quebec, Tim Baker (vocals/piano/guitar) sent a quick note…
Best Canadian Video
Canada screams for Hey Rosetta!. Darlings at last year’s North by Northeast Festival and three-time ECMA winner, the St. John’s-based band won loyal fans with their energetic, gorgeous indie rocker, Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood). While on tour in Quebec, Tim Baker (vocals/piano/guitar) sent a quick note…
Best Canadian Band
Although you’d be hard-pressed to find a Wintersleep member around town these days—most of the band relocated to Montreal—Halifax music lovers have big, loyal hearts. You set last year’s Best Local Band free, and they came back as Best Canadian Band. They haven’t forgotten about you, either; even on their way down to the sunny…
Best Canadian Solo Female
Last year we caught up with Feist before her Halifax show at the Metro Centre. She wrote us an email sitting at a small white desk, while surrounded by her journal, a Steinbeck book, duct tape, a bag of Arctic vegetation, whiskey flask, a phone bill and lotion. Not only has the singer become a…
Best Canadian Solo Male
Soft Airplane, Chad VanGaalen’s last album, made almost every Best of 2008 critics’ list out there. The illustrator and musician has one of those artistic souls that sees the world just a little differently than the rest of us, and expresses his observations with such quirky beauty, it’s like a tiny Michel Gondry film wrapped…
coast printing cigarette advertisments?
Whats with the coast and its full page cigarette advertisment? this is irresponsible if not illegal. disapointed. —smoked out
Get of the HIGH horse
I hate the fact that marijuana and its bi-products are under prohibition. Grow up canada and grow op. It is a healing plant used for ever by everyone. It can cure Cancer so why not let it. Ignorance is killing us. —Smarten up and Heal
