Car keys are for….
Would someone please ‘splain to this 50 year old woman WHY, people put 1 inch key scratches on my black Honda?? Do I drive too fast, too slow, or are you just jealous that you have no wheels? Geeze Louise…get a life and leave my car the fuck alone! Homonal Bitcher
Super Nova – Week 2
I saw Stan Carew and the Magpies last night, and I couldn’t help noticing that there were more people in attendance at that concert than there had been at any of the plays I have seen so far at SuperNova. The evening deserved to have a big audience—those guys can really play and Stan’s storytelling…
No election
As I’ve stated previously, I think it’s very unlikely there’ll be a provincial election this year. CBC: With a crucial budget vote ahead, Nova Scotia’s minority Progressive Conservative government has agreed to meet one of the demands of the Liberals — to train more doctors. Liberal leader Stephen McNeil has played this pretty well, raising…
Downtown bar
4 of us went out to a club downtown on Saturday night. We arrived at 1 am and paid full cover. We went out for a smoke at 140am and they refused to let us back in. We also couldn’t leave because we had our jackets in the coat check. We had bracelets, and ticket…
Hellooooooo Halifax!
Anthrax frontman Joey Belladonna is coming to town to perform a full Anthrax set at The Marquee Club on Sun May 25 (9:30pm, tickets at ticketpro.ca)! I predict that the star of Pledge Night will: play drums for one song, ask how we are all doing tonight, call “Halifax” “Hellifax,” spit into the audience, hit…
Cranky Cabbies
On several occasions in the last year or so, I have had to take a cab somewhere. Since I have a bus pass, most often I have to call a taxi when I am running a little late, but it’s never planned. Therefore, I usually don’t have any cash on me, and I always request…
To the Creepers!!!
For all you creepy clingy bastards out there who have nothing better to do than hang out with mall employees ALL FUCKING DAY. My niceness only goes so far. At 1st I felt bad for you, and I’m generally a nice guy, however, when some wacked out creepy fucktards come into my work day after…
Asshole car alarm owner
To the asshole who left his car alarm going for 5 hours outside on the street last night . (Lucknow St. Halifax) You are an asshole there is no other way to say it. I saw the cops out there and of course the alarm stopped so I thought, great, finally I can get some…
Just go away!!
To the girl who used to work with my BF and who just will not go away. Is it really that hard to get a new life and let go of your old one? Why do you still insist on being involved in everything he does?? It’s about time you move on and get over…
Pet Peeved ( yes another bitch about driving )
For the love of god people. I know people love their pets and all ( I am a dog lover myself ), but if I see one more person trying to awkwardly negotiate a turn doing the two handed shuffle while their dog is sitting on their lap/jumping around/trying to hand out the window i…
Seriously.
What kind of “respectable” woman sleeps with a married man?? I don’t get it. Are you fucking whores looking for that much attention? And why do you act SURPRISED when I confront you?? “OMG! I DIDN’T KNOW YOU’D REACT LIKE THIS. I DIDN’T THINK YOU WOULD MIND ME FUCKING YOUR HUSBAND!!” Just fucking end your…
Price of oil
Wednesday morning: $121.70/ barrel on world markets. City budget projections: $100/barrel.
Tree dough
As I reported two weeks ago, the Halifax council was poised to adopt a 2008-2009 budget with exactly $0 for new street tree planting and bikeways. At the last moment, however, council dedicated $135,000 to the trees program. That about pays for replacing trees that will die over the same period, but doesn’t begin to…
THE ARROGANT MEN AT…
The kiosk in Scotia Square who started laughing and making fun of the “slightly” overweight customer who came to your booth to inquire about supplements and vitimins… You were so nice to her face BUT the minute she walked away you started making fun of her and her weight, WELL YOU SUCK, that woman wanted…
solos
Just when I thought this part of the world was catching on to green living, I was taking the 52 Bayers lake, looking out the window, and I was shocked to see that at LEAST 9 out of 20 cars with 4 or more seats in it, had only one person in it! Wasteful. Please,…
Where’s The Coast?
I recently started taking the bus again to Bayer’s Lake – transfer at Lacewood – and to my dismay the only “paper” box is the pitiful excuse for a “newspaper” the Metro!!! Where’s The Coast????? Disgruntled
A period piece was inevitable
From the roller rink to Thornfield Manor, reports ew.com: Ellen Page will play the title heroine in a BBC Films adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s 19th-century novel Jane Eyre. No director is yet attached, but Moira Buffini has written the screenplay, and producers hope to begin filming this fall.
Sappy-best
Announcing line-ups is a big part of what I do here. No, it’s not boring at all, it’s exciting. Sappyfest and the Ok Quoi?! Contemporary Arts Festival are in their third year and Sappyfest have released their wicked line up. This year you can expect Attack in Black, The Bicycles, Castle Music, Chad Van Gaalen,…
High Food Prices
Upset about the rising cost of food? Here are some things we do that directly impact the prices: – leave behind perishable foods all over the store (pork in the soap aisle, fresh peaches in the freezer). These products get thrown out! Nobody tries to guess if those oysters, dumped in the chip rack, are…
I did it/do it on my own- recovery
Who needs a certain recovery group that is nothing more than a thinly veiled cult? A group that teaches us that we are powerless over our addcition(s) and that we must surrender to a higher power lest we should fall into the pit of drinking again? I guit drinking by myself. I choose to drink…
Break up the HRM
John Doull, the owner of the wonderful used bookstore on Barrington Street, is circulating a petition asking that the HRM be broken up to “a happier and more human scale. ” There’s zero chance this will happen, but it’ll be interesting to see how many people sign on.
Mudder’s Day
This Saturday on the Common comes a big celebration called “Mudder’s Day.” Halifax’s burgeoning urban ag community was the impetus for the party, but lots of alternative types have jumped on board. There’s a complete explanation of the event here, including a run down of events: Gardening workshops * Noon: Talk by Marjorie Willison (Maritime…
Stop Bumming Cigarettes From Me
Strangers, especially teenagers, quit asking me for an “extra cigarette”. Packs don’t come with an “extra cigarette.” Teenagers: There is a thing called a reseme. Write one up, give copies to people hiring new employees, get a job, make money and buy your own damn cigarettes. Wait until you’re 19 to start smoking, because I…
Awesome Bus Experience
To the drunk, dirty guy who started with me and my friend on the #80 tonight- you are a vile, disgusting piece of shit. To accuse my friend of hurting my son and his daughter on the bus because he was tickling them? Fuck you. I’M the mother, and for you to accuse me of…
Tooting our horn
Coast writers Sue Carter Flinn and Lezlie Lowe took top honours at the 27th Atlantic Journalism Awards Saturday night. Carter Flinn won in the Arts & Entertainment Reporting category for her profile of Halifax photographer George Steeves. Lowe won in the Feature Writing category for “Chasing Amy,” her look at the life and death of…
metal sans irony please.
This bitch goes out to the DJ’s of “Hair Nation” a night supposedly for metalheads. Can we get some metal without the stupid wigs and irony please? You asses look llike FUBAR rejects. Can you just play metal because its wicked and not some corny inside joke. I listen to metal all the time without…
Dear Metro transit…..
you could help improve your service with two simple additions…. 1) you have these new fancy money taking devices that many other cities have. It is amazing that people can still toss in a handful a coins and claim it is $2 since you haven’t actually utilized the machines. They actually count the money in…
People in Halifax are nice
So stop bitching! People here actually smile at and hold doors for you (normal people, and not in the creepy sorta way), cars stop not only to let you cross in a crosswalk, but to jaywalk, and saying ‘thank you’ and ‘you’re welcome’ are not entirely foreign terms. Try going to almost any other city…
Punk stuff
Man-about-town Gerry Hubley’s Rocket to Russia radio show on CKDU 88.1FM (every Wednesday at 9pm) is the highlight of hump day. This Wednesday’s show features the famous Ted Leo of Ted Leo & The Pharmacists weighing in on Hubley’s popular feature “Celebrity Punk Rock Top 10.” A couple weeks ago, Hubley interviewed Ian MacKaye, and…
Crosswalks
Nothing is more frustrating than beeing nice enough to let someone cross the road and they walk so friggin slow that they almost fall asleep……if pedestrians respected motorirst, Maybee motorists would return the favour !!! Roy
Letter Directly to the editors…
Please stop trying to make everything look like a scandal . City Hall was given tickets to distribute in the ridings they represent. Guess what? The kid that lives under me and the other little kid he plays road hockey with an the entire novice team he plays on, is going. They were awarded tickets…
give us some respect
I work in a call centre (not one of the big ones), and here are some of my grievances. 1. People who start the conversation by demanding to know my name. Hey, you’re calling me. Why not start by giving me your name, and telling me why you’re calling? I’ll give you my name, gladly,…
Middle aged knees
CBC: A Halifax councillor is trying to quell a growing debate over a proposed walking path in the city’s south end. The plan calls for a multi-use trail connecting the Armdale roundabout to Point Pleasant Park. The asphalt pathway would be shared by walkers, joggers, bikers and in-line skaters. Some critics question the cost of…
Do cyclists get immunity?
I used to have some respect for cyclists, being environmentally friendly and healthy, but It’s over, I have to draw the line…don’t come into my favorite cafe with your saggy old man balls bulging out of your spandex, dripping sweat onto the counter, handing the barista warm soggy cash, sitting your sweaty ass down and…
Where is the love?
What happened to runner’s acknowledgement? Every time I come across a fellow runner I’m ready to give a friendly greeting, a wave, smile, head-nod, or any combination thereof. But nearly everytime, the runner just stares ahead or gives me a glare like I’m the enemy! Dog owners, the nemesis of the runner, give me more…
The Halifax Cut
What’s with Halifax drivers pulling out onto the road when clearly I, or another driver I’m observing, is way too close for you to do so? The Halifax Cut. They love it. And god forbid they should make eye contact or wave, acknowledging they cut your off, where at least I could give them the…
Letters to the Editor
Aboriginal Media Racism & Deserved Accountability Dear Sir, this letter concerns the racist double standard existing in the Nova Scotia media.Nova Scotia media are failing to give Aboriginal people the same level of government accountability (via reporting) afforded the white community. Chief Morley GooGoo of the waycobah first nation is charged and pleads guilty to…
Letters to the Editor
The years 2006-2008, has seen an increase in violence in the African Nova Scotian community with a number of individual loosing their lives to senseless violence. To honor those that lost their lives and to this madness and to bring awareness, I believe the African Nova Scotian community should construct of a wall of remembrance…
Letters to the Editor
Dear Gag me with a Fork via The Coast Re: Your response to the re-re-suggestion of a Love the Way We Love column.If you wish to see the world as “jaded and nasty” and think that a bitching column is “relevant” and “intriguing”, that’s your prerogative. May I suggest that instead of pissing on another…
Letters to the Editor
You know how those arrogant assholes tell people panhandeling to find a job? You’d think if they could have a job they would. Standing out on the street (in the cold) bumming change from arrogant assholes takes a lot of patience. There are plenty of arrogant assholes around Halifax, too. So put yourself into their…
Where goes the neighbourhood?
In regards to the article written by Lis Van Berkel titled Where Goes the Neighborhood? I have to say BRAVO! I absolutely loved this article! Not that I agreed with the entire written work, but I was very much intrigued by most. Being a North Ender all of my life, I am one of the…
Dear God
Dear God, you suck at weather. It’s just funny, I mean, I thought you were all perfect and stuff. Just a thought. Considering Atheism
We get press releases…
District 14 is presently Sheila Fouger’s district. Fougere is running for mayor in the October elections, and so will leave her seat open. (HALIFAX- May 5, 2008) — Longtime West-end resident Glenn Dodge has thrown his hat in the ring for the District 14 seat on city council and says his personal tie to the…
Suckway, Eat Shit!
To a certain internationally renown submarine sandwich franchise on the corner of Robie and Spring Garden: your employees fucking suck ass. Here are some guidelines to improve your customer service to the quality rightfully deserved by the public. 1. Teach your employees to make eye contact with the customer. 2. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to…
Spying on activists
There’s much worthy of comment in this Canadian Press article (the fear of democratic dissent, the equating of public speech with violence, failure to explain the native side of land claims), but perhaps most noteworthy is casual notion that: Direct monitoring of these groups is essential to avert potential disaster… and the acknowledgment that But…
woodstove abuser
I believe one has the right to heat their homes as they see fit especially in these ‘trying’ times. What really pisses me off, actually chokes me, is when one burns inappropriate material in their woodstove. You have no right nor reason to burn anything other than seasoned dry wood. I have called the fire-services…
Beer and Bethoven
To the bitch at Beer and Bethoven on Sat. night. Both my husband and I saw how you were checking out my leg tattoo and my dress. That wasn’t the problem, untill we were forced to sit at your table, however, you would not shut the fuck up!!! Who the hell cares about the wedding…
hey
fuck you, boyfriend. it’s over.
Outhit wins Bedford byelection
1579 to 1199 Credit a better campaign. Outhit was all over the place, and Christie was nowhere to be seen. This is a victory for the Citizens for Halifax group…
Bi-Hi bitches…
This is to the two women in the red pick up in the Halifax bound lanes of the Bi-Hi on Saturday night around 6:30 pm. Your truck’s liner was in the road. We stopped to let you pick it up. You should have helped your girlfriend instead of standing there like an idiot and taking…
q104 commerical
Attention Q104: Your television commericial sucks! All those talented designers and animators out there and you have to pick the one guy who can only draw stick people? Halifax is more artsy than that! do better
your shitty music
Published April 27, 2008. your shitty music thank you to the bus driver who told the asshole listening to his sharty techno-crap induced music loud enough to be heard through the entire bus to turn it down. Thank you for telling him a second time when it was still just as loud as the first…
I NEED MORE COWBELL!!!!
FUCK GAS PRICES! FUCK THE ECONOMY! FUCK (C)RAP MUSIC! All I want is some really HUGE HOOTERS, and one hour with Christofer Walken…(don’t ask….) J
Hold the Door!
To all you people whose time is sooo valuable that you can’t hold the elevator door for 2 or 3 seconds, and who pretend not to see the person hurrying for the elevator while the door slides shut: I hope you hit every red light on the way home. Twice. I hope every time the…
Umbrella Thief
To the bastard who stole my umbrella on the ferry this morning. I forgot it for a minute. When I realized and raced back it was gone. What?! You couldn’t have given to to the terminal personnal? I hope karma shoves that umbrella up your ass and opens it!!! Again, bastard! Not just the rain…
Dark Side of the Moon
To however stole or found my Dark Side of the Moon bag: GIVE IT BACK. Aside from the wickedness that is the bag itself, it contains all the things I need to live. If I see this bag on someone’s shoulder, I’m opening a can. Pissed Purse Person
SuperNova – Day 2
If you are a woman over forty, I urge you to pick up the phone and book tickets for one of this weekend’s performances of Cathy Elliot’s funny and touching Moving Day. That’s not to say that this show will not be entertaining to men or younger people, it ‘s just that she so brilliantly…
Responsibility
To give an example of what I’m talking about below, consider this statement from MacGillivray, explaining away a $2 million loss at Trade Centre Limited: “Obviously, the business last year was softer than we anticipated,” said MacGillivray, president and CEO of Trade Centre Ltd. “And certainly there’s no question that with tourism issues, with people…
No Dicks About It
For the guys in my class who go on and on AND ON about they’re package while I’m trying to work: SHUT THE FUCK UP! I don’t give a shit how big your dick is. Yes it’s big, I bet you’re really proud, but you don’t have to keep saying it over and over again.…
apartment
apartment in Halifax are too expensive. someone who lived there
Scooter Licenses
Why is it that Nova Scotia requires a special, motorcycle license to drive a small, low-powered scooter such as a vespa. With the price of gas being as freaking crazy as it is, I decided to be as practically reasonable (and I thoguht progressive) by deciding to park my car for the summer (no need…
trespassing
Between North street and Cunard/Chebucto on Windsor, Cars races to get to the next red light. At the pedestrian Crosswalk at Charles, Any, by average will look at three cars Before one Stop, let you walk across. On any given day one can witness Cars flies by, even when opposite traffic is Stop Dude walking…
Insane cashier gripes
I’m an exceptionally helpful, polite cashier to people who treat me kindly, and with respect. This means… 1) Greet me when I greet you. Turn off your iPod, and hang up your phone call. Look me in the eye and ask me how I’m doing when I do the same to you. If you ignore…
Truth Be Told
I thought I’d read every petty bitch, but Cranky’s “Truthless Story?” about Mike Holme’s True Stories was a new one on me. While Cranky’s pedantic litany of facts (the exact time of sunset? come on!) about the Swiss Air tragedy is “interesting,” the comic was about a personal memory. The funny thing about memory is…
Government Cheese
I would like to say, and this is going out on a limb, fuck you government and your fucked up student employment application process. Usually when you apply for a job you get a phone call not an e-mail asking the question, “Are you sure you want to apply?” Yeah, I fucking want to apply….otherwise…
HRM tree-planting budget
It is totally reprehensible and repugnant that HRM council cut tree-planting funding to zero for 2008-09, as reported by Tim Bousquet last week (“Nothing going”). Sheila Fougere and John Simmons are right—trees are valuable in so many ways to our city’s social, ecological and economic sustainability. It’s time council valued trees for their real contributions.…
More greens in Green Guide
I was glad to pick up a copy of your Green Halifax guide last week, and happier still to see your article in this week’s Coast (“Green Revisions,” April 24) about alterations to it, mentioning that the 2009 version may include vegetarian organizations. While the guide’s food sections cover local, organic and fair trade options,…
Green Guide greenwash
I encourage editors of future Green Halifax editions to develop more stringent criteria for the listing of “sustainable” food businesses. In its present state I fear the Green Guide will not help people “limit their impacts,” but rather aid and abet greenwashing. A grocery store only now taking steps to offer cloth bags should hardly…
Addressing Mental health in jails fails as well
Response to Wark, B. (2008) “Jail Failure”. The Coast. Page 5; 27 March. In response to the excellent overview titled “Jail Failure” published in the March 27-April 3 issue of the Coast, we believe that it is important to highlight several issues that relate to the overcrowding of provincial jails. We agree with Bruce Wark…
No new Metro Centre
So we need a new Metro Centre? Alright, let’s look around the globe at the greatest and most famous venues in the world. The kinds of places that make cultural history. We want the biggest and the best. Near home there’s Toronto, those pricks, 5.5 million in the Greater Toronto Area—they can afford anything. They…
Great Plains X (or 1979)
I read that every time you put a rumour to bed, an angel sings “Love Gun”. For that reason alone, I asked Sean MacGillivray (vocals, guitar) of Great Plains if there was any truth to the rumour that the band plans on breaking up after this Saturday’s show at Gus’ Pub. His response was illuminating.…
Stupid Bus Drivers…
The the Lame Ass Bitch driving the 9 Barrington Thursday Night around 10:30pm. HELLO, There is a FUCKING bus stop above Jenny’s Place on Lady Hammond Rd. Thanks for whizzing by me, even though I was waving like crazy for you to slow down and stop. Thanks for making me walk home since the fucking…
Blueshammer
Great Atlantic Blues & Beyond Festival (Sep 19-21) have announced some of the blues, R&B, soul and world musicians that will be coming to town in order to make you shake your buns. With musicians from Atlantic and central Canada, New England, Iceland and UK, you might want to start feelin’ it now. Weekend passes…
Sensitive/Schemsitive
To my co-worker who constantly complains about the smells in the office- no dear you cannot smell someone’s cold germs….(you however may be the exception in that ability) I changed my laundry detergent and fabric softner not out of concern for you and your no sense policy…I changed it to shut you the fuck up….…
Incompetence
There are so many things to say about the Trade Centre fiasco that it’s hard to know where to start. But maybe we step back and look at the global picture. There’s obvioulsy an unclear vision and purpose for the Trade Centre; it basically comes down to “let’s give Fred MacGillivray a bunch of money…
You know what you did…
I hope that your father is in hell because you are a decitful person. I hope that your kid is going to be ugly. Your fat ass is going to be a terrible mother because of your loose morals. You will be a terrible role model for it (kid). Karma is going to bite your…
SuperNova – Day 1
Does the world really need another retelling of the tragedy of Titanic? The answer is yes if it is Theatre Rusticle’s original and mesmerizing production April 14, 1912. What sets this show apart is the personification of the “unsinkable” ship. Lucy Rupert dazzles as the proud vessel cutting through the calm sea, her long wake…
Please…
Dear woman who sneezed or coughed really loudly behind me on the bus the other day and scared me half to death, warn me before you do that again. love from, the back of my head
PEN worthy
Goran Simic, the author of several volumes of poetry, drama and short fiction, is reading Thursday May 1 at 7pm, Dalhousie University, McCain Building (6135 University) in the Fireside Lounge. A prominent writer in the former Yugoslavia, Simic witnessed the collapse of his country, the three-year-long siege of his hometown Sarajevo and the death of…
Inner Circles
Metamorphic Theatre’s Script to Stage Project introduces promising playwright Caitlin Pilsworth (daughter of Coast illustrator, Graham). According to Pilsworth, who wrote the script in hopes that it would be selected by Metamorphic, says that Living My Life in Circles is “a story about the complications of basic relationships. It is about Van seeking attention from…
PRIVATE school.
to the inconsiderate assholes on the bus: yes, im wearing a kilt. yes, that means i got to a private school. yes, i had school today. but no, i don’t need to hear your all-too-obvious whisperings about the above. i go to a private school because my parents actually think i HAVE a future, unlike…
Busted Budget?
Tuesday, regional council adopted a $580 million operating budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year. The police budget was bumped up by $1.5 million ($2.6 million next year) in order to expand the force by 32 officers. Crime stats are notoriously spun, politicized, racialized and, when it comes down to it, utterly meaningless—a talented bureaucrat or…
Complimentary comics
Friends, the most wonderful of all days is upon us. No, I’m not talking about Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (sadly, we already missed that puppy). Instead, I bring you news of the seventh annual Free Comic Book Day, which is taking place this Saturday in participating comic shops across North America. The day’s aimed at…
Good Food Emporium
The management switch at Bob & Lori’s Food Emporium (2179 Gottingen) became official Thursday and the popular joint’s also got a new name.New managers Stephen Fowler, Paul Rogers, Carole LeBlanc and Eric Gunnels are calling the eatery The Good Food Emporium. (It reminds me of Putnam’s Prairie Emporium, the show with the talking moose head.)…
City Pizza fire fallout
It’s been more than a week since fire struck the building housing City Pizza and Topcuts (5688 Spring Garden) and both businesses are still very, very closed. As of press time, a cause for the blaze had yet to be found. “Our investigators are working in there. We’ve had to do some work in the…
All request for morons
I have recently starting listening to the radio during work to have some background noise and to drown out the construction going on outside. I do appriacate that the radio has a set playlist and have to play popluar music more often untill the masses become so sick of it that they puck…my rage begins…
Barrington Street news
Reportedly, Torontonian Lou Reznick has purchased the two Barrington Street buildings that until last year housed Sam the Record Man, adding to his other holdings on the street: the Roy Building (the former Dooly’s), 1556 (Attica), 1668 (just to the north of the Granite Brewery) and 1717 (Peepshow Girly Boutique). Since he is the dominant…
HRM travel budget
During budget deliberations at Tuesday’s council meeting, several councillors suggested zeroing out the travel budget, which would bring about a savings of $928,000—$615,000 for out of town travel plus $313,000 for travel to “conferences and workshops”—for one year. That’s travel for both council members and staff, but it was pointed out that travel for staff’s…
WORST BIRTHDAY GIFT EVER
women out there. . never never ever ever ever buy your husband a ps3 and the new GTA 4 game for their birthday.. … UGH!!! hes been non stop for hours!! Missing hubby
SuperNova-Day1
The first piece of live theatre that my youngest son ever saw was staged a number of years ago at the On the Waterfront Theatre Festival (now known as SuperNova). I remember thinking how lucky we are here in HRM to have the opportunity to expose our kids to the theatre-going experience. Rough House, which…
Free Metro??
ok, so i understand when the metro free newspaper came to be, they were wanting to promote it, whatever. that was a while ago, no? why are they still out there?? i really dont like being bombarded every morning on my way to work if i want one of these. i am not by any…
Country Legends
Country LegendsFriday, April 25, 9.57pm, at Ginger’sphoto by Riley Smith
Excuse you.
I don’t have a problem with my co-workers speaking in different languages around me. It’s rude, yes. But i really don’t want any part of your conversation, so i’m glad to remain clueless as to what you’re conversing about. What i do have a problem with, is the fact that you damn near scream your…
Mooooooo
Ok I am so fucking sick of people chewing their gum like a fucking cow CLOSE YOUR MOUTH!!!! do u think that anyone wants to hear you go at that peice of gum like a fucking cow eating grass its grossss!!!!!!!!!!!! it drives me insane, all the smacking and choping, FUCK OFF ALREADY!!!!!!! sick of…
Scooters are Nor Motorcycles…
I decide that since gas prices just keep going up and up and up that its wasteful for me to drive my car which is designed for five people to and from work every day with just me in it (even though it is one of the most fuel effecient non-hybrid cars available). So I…
Harold and Kumar go to Gitmo
Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bayis the best comedy in theatres right now. It has the most wit and, in its East Indian and Korean title characters (Kal Penn and Jon Cho), the most endearing protagonists. The writers of 2004’s Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, take on…
Plants and Animals
Apparently Iceland is not that far removed from Halifax. According to Plants and Animals’s lead vocalist and guitarist, Warren Spicer, the country with the chilly name has weather like Halifax in December. His Montreal-based band is back in North American waters after playing Iceland Airwaves, a music festival in Reykjavik. “It was like summer camp.…
Baby Mama
There are relatively few close-ups of babies reacting to things in Big Mama. But it’s also a missed opportunity: Stars Tina Fey and Amy Poehler aren’t provided with a good-enough showcase to jumpstart the under-represented category of the female buddy comedy. That’s not for lack of trying on their part. The script, by Michael McCullers,…
Middle of the Pho-d
Quality ingredients form a solid base for Star Anise’s Vietnamese food, but its sauces are wanting.
Don’t gag him if you can’t watch him
I’m a 52-year-old male, divorced for the pas eight years. I recently broke off a five-year relationship with a woman two years my senior. About six weeks ago, a new female worker started in our office. We’re really hitting it off and, frankly, I’ve fallen for her—hard! However, she is 36, and never married. I…
Blurry media lens
Imagine my surprise when I heard CBC radio proclaiming last week that George Bush was “trying to revive the stalled Mideast peace process.” As the Israelis slaughter Palestinians in Gaza with US-made fighter jets, helicopters, tanks, missiles and guns, the CBC tells us that Bush is working for peace. This kind of propaganda is a…
Africville redux?
“Uniacke Square faces the same threats that Africvillefaced,” says Jim Silver, recalling the African-Nova Scotiancommunity that was bulldozed into oblivion in 1962. The province built Uniacke Square in 1966 and many formerAfricville residents ended up in the public housing project. Silver, of the Urban and Inner-City Studies program at theUniversity of Winnipeg, was in town…
Risky ride
Long-distance cycling–touring–is a risky venture. Writing a novel about a lone cyclist’s trip through eastern Canada: also risky. As with similar stories—whether on wheels, in a car or on foot—arguably two big things have to happen: First, the physical journey has to engage interest and, second, evoke the life of the rider. “Journey stories are…
The Extremities
[image-4]Published May 01, 2008.The ExtremitiesThe New TonicCBC Remix SeriesWanting their inaugural release to be a collaborative project, The Extremities approached four east-coast jazz legends to cut Tonic. They applied their trademark synthetic sounds and dusted-off beats, creating a soulful, layered hybrid album that flows smoothly between pleasing jazz and bumping hip-hop. The four tracks featuring…
Steve Malkmus & The Jicks
[image-4]Published May 01, 2008.Steve Malkmus & The JicksReal Emotional TrashMatadorSteve Malkmus has never made a bad album. It’s debatable as to whether the last Pavement albums did the band’s legacy any justice, but so far his solo output has been solid. Real Emotional Trash is no different, seamlessly using a wide range of incongruent influences…
The Waco Brothers
[image-4]Published May 01, 2008.The Waco BrothersThe Waco Express: Live & Kickin’ at Schubas TavernBlooshotWaco Express is unique in how its Englishness and intelligence peek through as if incognito. Two key members were in the Mekons, who were less concerned with moving asses than minds. The Wacos go after both, in no particular order. It’s punk…
Hockey Nation
Hanging on lampposts,the banners depict players in action, like oversized hockey cards. The standards for the 16 teams lead a rush along downtown streets tothe Halifax Metro Centre on Brunswick, where they swarm the building, crashing it like a net. Look up, there’s Cole Harbour’s own Sidney Crosby, Sid the Kid, representing Team Canada in…
Justin Rutledge
[image-4]Published May 01, 2008.Justin RutledgeMan DescendingSix ShooterWithout question this is beautiful music. But sometimes making beautiful music makes the songs, inadvertently or unintentionally, precious. Man Descending comes off as a precious object, leaving the listener feeling hands-off, left out. Taking a cue from a Guy Vanderhaeghe novel of the same name, Man Descending is perhaps…
Downey Jr. not down for the count
What is the first thing you think of when you hear the name Robert Downey Jr.? Drugs? Iron Man? Maybe a bit of both come to mind but, considering the body of work the man has put out during hiscareer as a whole, Downey’s acting is starting to pull ahead and overshadow his personal problems.…
Plants and Animals
[image-4]Published May 01, 2008.Plants and AnimalsParc AvenueSecret City RecordsEpic is a word spouted too often in music reviews, but in the case of Plants and Animals’ ambitious debut folk-rock LP, it’s actually justified. Named after the popular Montreal street running through Mont Royal, Parc Avenue almost dates back to the late 1960s and early ’70s…
Fundamentally sexy!
Oh, those sexy Texan polygamists. You know you’re thinking it. Why don’t you just come out and say it? Those women with their pastel bolt cotton ankle-length frocks and never-once-cut pompadours are hotter than cinnamon toast. You can’t stop looking. Everyone knows Chloë Sevigny’s character Nicki, from the HBO polygamy series Big Love, is the…
Starting Out in the Evening
Starting Out in the EveningDirected by: Andrew WagnerLionsgateOne of the favourite flicks is Wonder Boys—the story of a pot-addled writer struggling to produce the follow-up to his much-acclaimed first novel. I thought of it when watching Starting Out in the Evening, another film about a writer struggling to write. Both protagonists get the same lost…
Sleep Country
“I wish I’d had this CD out a year ago,” says Pat Deighan, on the phone from Charlottetown, PEI. He’s referring to his new record, In a Fever, In a Dream, which he debuted in his home province last Saturday. He’s bringing it to The Seahorse Tavern on Saturday night. In a Fever, In a…
