PULL UP YOUR PANTS
Anyone else tired of seeing these punks wearing big ass winter jackets, with the ass of there pants down around there knees and there boxers hanging out, trying to pretend there “gangsta”. And why establishments allow these punks to enter there premises with bandanas covering there face is beyond me. Its also funny how if…
Lezlie Lowe succeeds
Right on, Lezlie Lowe! Your article, “Youth crime and you” (May 15), pointed out many factors that contribute to the youth crime problem. One of the most significant from my vantage point is the issue of child poverty. In Canada, 20 percent of children live in poverty; in Nova Scotia, according to the Nova…
Lezlie Lowe succeeds
Right on, Lezlie Lowe! Your article, “Youth crime and you” (May 15), pointed out many factors that contribute to the youth crime problem. One of the most significant from my vantage point is the issue of child poverty. In Canada, 20 percent of children live in poverty; in Nova Scotia, according to the Nova…
Newsflash
Heres a newsflash for everyone out there: Gas and oil will never be cheap again. Canada isn’t keeping peace, we are at war in Afghanistan, and will remain so until the Neo-Cons control all the oil in that area of the world (which includes Iran and Syria). I wonder how long Hugo Chavez will be…
Joel Plaskett
Joel PlaskettSunday, May 25, 10:10pm, The Carletonphoto Julé Malet-Veale Related Stories
Get the Hell off my Deck
To the hobo around oxford and oak street… don’t ever come on my private property again looking for recycables. Yes I store them in a recycle bin on my deck and I put them out every other monday morning for you to do as you please with. I never giv you permission to come into…
stop fucking whining already
I am so tried aof the questions of where was i i, who was i with, why did i leave you home, shut the fuck up. I work all week long whikle you sit home and do fuck all, so if i want to go out with my buddies from work for a few beer…
Cell phone etiquette for dummies
Dear clueless twit on the cell phone: I and my fellow transit riders do not wish to share in your moronic attempts to describe the nasty-ass details of your recent confrontation with Amber/Tiffany/the guy you’re cheating on/your ex as you bellow into your phone at the back of the bus. Such delicate conversations are best…
Funeral home scams
Has anyone here had the unfortunate task of having to visit one of our funeral homes lately? I tagged along recently when my grandmother was talked into “pre-arranging” by this weasel in a suit who came to speak at her church, and I couldn’t believe it. WHAT a SCAM! They’re charging a fortune for nothing,…
Giving no thanks
To the manager at a certain Burnside restaurant. Here’s a trip. When 60 people show up for a planned birthday party, don’t treat them like shit! Don’t scream at them for not hanging up their coats! Don’t freak out because someone brought (gasp) a wedding cake!!! After the food they ordered arrives (30 minutes later)…
Beginners licence
The Beginners are playing a rare show at Gus’ on Thu Jun 5 with The Superfantastics, The Slate Pacific and Quiet Parade (10pm/$5). Made up of Mike O’Neill on bass and vocals, Hampton Kelly on drums and vocals (with an upcoming recording featuring Charles Austin on guitar), the band likes to keep their cards close…
Assholes
So, this is to any asshole who decides to use a girl for sex, EFFYOU! seriously, if you’re willing to spend all that flipping money and time on her just to get her in bed, you could have at least have some decency to look her in the eye, or even call her for goodness…
John Stiles reads at King’s
Novelist, poet and documentary filmmaker John Stiles reads tonight, 7pm, at the Wardroom, King’s College (6350 Coburg). Port Williams-born Stiles, whose film Scouts are Cancelled won best doc at last year’s Atlantic Film Festival, has a new novel out, Taking the Stairs. It’s about a down-and-out writer working on his first novel. hmmm. I’m reading…
Three on number two
Proving once again that real life is more bizarre than fiction, writer Mark Bolton is reading from his book, Poo: A Memoir, Thursday, May 29 at The Wired Monk (5147 Morris, 7:30pm, $5 suggested donation to the new Citadel High theatre). According to Bolton, when he was 11 years old, growing up in Australia with…
red car bitch
as i was driving on south park st going toward spring garden rd i thought i would be decent enough to let a woman back out of her driveway with her kid in the car so to the bitch in the red car that passed me on the inside lane on south park and nearly…
Back nabbing awards
Last Wednesday, close to 45,000 votes from 23 countries were submitted for CBC TV’s first Short Film Face Off, declaring Jay Dahl’s extreme-sport mockumentary Backjumping as the winner. A cross between Andy Samberg’s People Getting Punched Right Before Eating and Best in Show, let’s hope jumping on the backs of strangers doesn’t become a real…
mmm two weeks must be up
you keep posting your ad every freakin’ two weeks, its always the same, you have your crazy ambitions to tour usa and canada, while you dont even have a full band. its my guess that no one wants to do euro pop emo punk industrial neo-classical fusion goth surf in this city. if i can…
Let yourself be seen!
To the stupid fuckwod dressed in black riding his bicycle on the wrong side of the road at about 9:30 last Wednesday. I was inches from hitting you with my car, because I didn’t see you at all. Maybe I should drive my car around at night with the lights off. Stupid prick. Don Quixote
Halifax Forum Flea Market
Stinky people tired of the smell of piss
You know who you are
How I love the self importance of people who make more money than you do. How they seem to think that because your just a fucking secretary and they are something with a fucking title they get to treat you like shit and tell you what to do…Well that shit ends here….You wanna be dicks…
cute kitten babay for adoption
we are pleased to let go our Persian babies for adoption, or doll face Persians are prized for their elegant full coats, expressive pansy-like faces, and gorgeous round eyes. This ancient and regal breed is well-known as the most popular breed in the country. It is our hope that one of our Persian “Bou Babies”…
cute kitten baby for adoption
we are pleased to let go our Persian babies for adoption, or doll face Persians are prized for their elegant full coats, expressive pansy-like faces, and gorgeous round eyes. This ancient and regal breed is well-known as the most popular breed in the country. It is our hope that one of our Persian “Bou Babies”…
cute kitten baby for adoption
we are pleased to let go our Persian babies for adoption, or doll face Persians are prized for their elegant full coats, expressive pansy-like faces, and gorgeous round eyes. This ancient and regal breed is well-known as the most popular breed in the country. It is our hope that one of our Persian “Bou Babies”…
Go fuck yourself The Coast
Thanks for deleting my bitch about the coast. Your all cunts I still think your food critque is a fat slag
Painted Trillium Picker
To the mindless idiot who picked the one and only Painted Trillium along the Nichols lake path May 24th. I look forward to seeing that every year and now it is gone. I have not seen a painted trillium on any other path but that one. People please… why can’t we just just stop and…
Way to conveniently let your liquor license expire Freemans
We decided that instead of a crazy drunken night downtown at the sketchy shithole bars that this place has, that we would check out the New Freemans Little New York on Argyle street. Looked like a clean place, the staff were curteous, not a huge crowd, we could enjoy our few beer and hear ourselves…
Show me the money!
So we apologize to african americans and aboroginals. We pay them money for our sins etc. What about the opression of women? Where’s my compensation?? Pay up!
Oh, Such Pretty Things
Specializing in vintage, retro and rockabilly, Pretty Things Boutique had to shut down their retail nook within Junk & Foibles (1533 Barrington) when they closed their doors late March. Over the past few months Pretty Things owner Cadence Macmichael has been scoping out various locations throughout the downtown core, but couldn’t find the right atmosphere…
Cut Something Else,
As a faithful reader of The Coast, it really pisses me off when you people see it fit to cut out the comics and bitches. Honostly, it’s a nuisance to have to come online and read my favorite section. If you don’t have enough room in your paper why don’t you just cut some of…
steak and stein guy on bike begging for a steak dinner
I left the Steak and stein after supper last week. There was a guy at the front door and said he was hungry and asked me to buy him a steak dinner. Fair enough. I said I had no money, just debit, so he countered by asking me to just punch in my pin and…
Takin’ it to the street
Ok folks – biking is the eco way to go – I cycle to work daily – but why the hell do so many people bike on the sidewalks – it is dangerous, stupid and shows so much disregard for pedestrain safety – image if a car did that! You are a vehicle too- get…
Dear Guy in the Back Jetta
I was standing at the bus stop on Lacewood Drive on Saturday afternoon. You drove by and shouted, “Ernie can’t haggle!” at me. Well, actually, I’m pretty sure that’s not what you said. But that’s what I heard. For future reference, GitBJ, when you’re driving by at 40 or 50 km/h, a person standing on…
Stay in your lane, everyone is going to the same place.
Yo, fat blond bitch in the shiny silver Tiburon going up Quinnpool Friday morning: I watched you swerve from lane to lane at least 4 times in less than 750m (how far is it from the rotary to the lights at connaught on quinpool?), one time right in front of me with only about a…
Stop giving her the runaround
First you say you want to break up with the chick because she’s “too clingy and wants a serious relationship”, and a playa like you can’t be tied down to one girl. You keep raggin on her behind her back to your homies about how she’s only good for one thing, but even that can’t…
World Class City My Ass
Over the last twenty odd years, I’ve lived in London, Dubai, Istanbul, Paris, and Vancouver. All world class cities, in their own way. And having lived in each of these world class cities for between two and five years, I can say with authority that Halifax is not among them. Nor is it ever likely…
I HAVE A VAGINA AND A GUITAR OK?
why the fuck has it been so difficult finding a band to jam with in the city? is it because i have a va jay jay???? FUCK! rockin your cock off
Peek of the week
Laura Peek and the Winning Hearts’ wonderful “Stand Right There” video was featured on YouTube this week, bumping the views into the 230, 000s and the comments into new realms of stupidity. My dream job would probably be casting the cats from the kitty committee present in the video. Just wait until I get them…
DON’T WALK
This is a note to everyone who uses one of the crosswalks here in the city. People- please, please, please…. Just because you hit the button doesn’t mean you can cross the street. You have to wait and make eye contact with the driver of the oncoming car. This is especially intended for the fuckwad…
Had enough!! I ‘ve fucking had enough
How I love the self importance of people who make more money than you do. How they seem to think that because your just a fucking secretary and they are something with a fucking title they get to treat you like shit and tell you what to do…Well that shit ends here….You wanna be dicks…
Tattoo festival??
Once a week i go into adept tattoo and piercing and grab the coast. I find it silly, that although they show support for your paper and distribute it for you happily. Not once do you mention anything about the extremely successful convention that adept owner Amber Thorpe put hundreds of hours into planning. 54…
Lulu Lemon
Why do people insist on lining up every morning at the store’s opening time and stay lined up all day just waiting for a precious glimpse of the allmighty ass-boosting yoga pant. You are blocking the sidewalk for people who actually exercise, not just those who stand around trying to look good while pretending to…
Post this bitch, bitch.
ok fuckers. whats up with the proceed button? is it broken? or are you just a bunch of stinky assholes? POST MY BITCH….i’ve sent two, then i go on the site and theres some lame ass bitches that aren’t even good? I FUCKING HATE YOU SUCK IT
Dear Assholes in the blue car who tried to ruin my Sunday….
I would like to extend to you a heartfelt thanks for driving by me this morning as I was taking out my green bin and being totally obnoxious. If it weren’t for your warm greeting it might not have ever dawned on me that I am overweight. Up until that moment I had been peacefully…
HRM restaurants
Stop calling it mayo when its miracle whip or some sick fucking knock off! It tastes like crap to me and alot of other people. I don’t even bother to ask anymore because it seems like you are thinking “oh no, not one of thoes people”. screw you! Cory
Let yourself be seen!
To the stupid fuckwod dressed in black riding his bicycle on the wrong side of the road at about 9:30 last Wednesday. I was inches from hitting you with my car, because I didn’t see you at all. Maybe I should drive my car around at night with the lights off. Stupid prick. Don Quixote
Bloc Party over here
This just in from Totally Big Deal-land: Tickets go on sale Saturday, May 31 at 10am ($32.50 in advance and $37.50 day of show, 19 and over only) at www.sonciconcerts.com for British pop lords Bloc Party, set to play in Halifax at the Marquee Club on September 14. The band are touring to promote A…
Bouncers
To the douchebag bouncers: learn how to check ID’s properly! Even though you turned down my two pieces of actual ID with my photo on them, you let in drunk, skanky blondes who looked about twelve. Is it because they hit on you and make you feel better about yourselves? Stop treating women like objects…
SHUT THE *BEEP* UP BUTTONS.
I HATE you stupid little buttons that do nothing to aid me in crossing the street. You can make that obnoixous beep noise all you want, but I know the truth. Your mearly there to mock me. As a child I loved pressing you, thinking I was making a difference in my street crossing abilities.…
Cronin in charge
For the past couple of months since the departure of former Art Gallery of Nova Scotia director and chief curator Jeffrey Spalding, the AGNS’s curator of contemporary art, Ray Cronin, has been the acting big cheese. Now, the position is permanent; Cronin will officially take over as the provincial art museum’s director and CEO for…
Stop Filling My Box With Meat…Sales!!!
We have a sticker on the outisde of our mailbox from the Ecology Action Center…it says NO FLYERS PLEASE. It’s quite visible. Written on the INSIDE of our mailbox it says NO FLYERS. Yet every SINGLE WEEKEND, our mailbox is flooded with meat sales and the latest iShit on sale. What the hell?! If someone…
Cold Shot Cans
I’m bitching that Molsen has taken the “bulls-eye” off the side of their cans of Cold Shots….How is a girl to learn how to shot-gun with no guide to help her?? And before all you serious Stanley’s out there start…FUK OFF in advance…this is a light hearted bitch!! Jenn
Critique this bitch
I have to say that The Coast food critique needs to be fired. She sucks and I would trust a homeless person before I trusted her suggestion on where to eat. For example, How are you going to rip up Rocco’s Italian restaurant in Dartmouth and then turn around and say hooters is “very well…
Pro asshole
To the ignorant fuck that served me at the skate shop downtown….you’re an idiot, why does it matter that i wanted to pay for my sticker with my debit card.Thats what people do today it 2008…weither it’s $2 or $20000. who gives a shit and thanks for embarrassing me in front of your boss, so…
Ears are still ringing
To the stupid BITCH on (or near) Church St on Sunday, May 25th, at 3AM. Maybe you are able to go out and get piss loaded on Daddy’s money but SOME of us have to work the next morning. So how about taking it down a few decibels?? You sound like a fucking shitzu getting…
Welcome!
You moved in within the past 60 days. What a joy! You drop your 20 bags of garbage onto the street from your third floor balcony at 1:00 in the fucking morning on a weeknight, waking my whole house and others in the neighborhood. Now you pull in at 7 AM on a Sunday with…
Dog friendly Halifax
I am an active dog owner in the city of halifax. Halifax is NOT a dog friendly city and evryone complains and does nothing about it!!! we have to get together and voice our issues!!!! This summer if you live downtown or the north end the only places you can bring your dog are citidel…
Buses running
Why don’t the drivers shut off the buses when they are “out of service?” every morning when I walk to work, I pass by a couple of these gas guzzling monstrosities, and as I pass near the end of the parked, still running bus, I always am disgusted at the smell of the pollution belching…
CHILD-UNFRIENDLY Restauraunt….
I Take my wife and kids out to dinner once a week. We try new places and despite possitive reviews from the Coast you need to post a sign stating you do not want children to dine there. Many chain restaraunts like our businees but if you would accomodate families you may make more money.…
Bill 138 Government vs dog breeds
What the fuck? The legislate everything happy MLAs are now deciding that munincipalities can put dog breed bans on the books. Way to go! Because that will have any affect ! As it stands in the Park, if the city deems a dog dangerous, it can be either ordered to be destroyed or muzzled/caged by…
bitch offenders
(web nazi note: only because I haven’t given you a bitch at each other here thread…) do you all work? or do you somehow generate an income by posting comments on this page? I realize there is some Tim dude who may actually work for the coast but seriously, is it necessarry for the same…
Those aren’t for you
We put our bottles out for a specific guy who comes around with a shopping cart laden with same. I know I have no control over what happens to the recycleables once they’re on the curb. But the other day I watched as, at the designated time we put them out, someone in a mini-van…
Shoptalk
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Homecut Haircuts
With the high cost of rent these days, small business operators need to be creative. Hair stylist Veralynn Beattie, owner of Hair On The Go, closed her Herring Cove-based shop the Hairing Cove Clipper (3 Ocean Breeze Drive) last winter and took her business on the road. Based in Clayton Park, Beattie specializes in mobile…
Menz Bar’s Queer Beer
Menz Bar reopened its doors last night at their new location (2182 Gottigen), merely a hop skip and a jump from their old haunt on the corner. In honour of the official grand opening the boyz celebrated in-style with “Queer Beer” – Menz Pale Ale, an unpasturized natural blonde ale brewed down the street by…
Disbanding schoolboards
Whoever said that democracy was supposed to be genteel? There are competing desires among the populace, and our society has decided the best way to resolve the resulting conflicts is through democratic representation. Worst system on earth, aside from all the others, as someone once said. Of course democracy leads to discord and open disagreement…
fuck you christopher
ok, Christopher, first of all, I do not attend university here, and haven’t for about 7 years. Secondly, the trail IS in my backyard, so Fuck off. I use the trail on a daily basis to go to the bus, the store, anywhere, as do most people. Yes, some people litter, I agree, I think…
Drive-by Racist
To the guy that thought it would be funny to yell, “Fuck you, chink!” while speeding by in a car. I got a good look at you and I’ll remember your face. If you were that careless and foolish with me, I’ll bet it wont be long until I, or somebody else you pissed off,…
The Coast Writers
So as many Haligonians are, I am a loyal reader of the coast. And by reader, I mean glancer. I read the show listings, the bitches, the classifieds, and of course, savage love. I completely disregard the rest of your paper. Your writers are biased. There is a little thing called journalistic integrity, and non…
.05¢ & .10¢ phone company
well it seems in a cashless society the big local phone company still likes to nickle and dime its customers. Aliant just went in a new direction for mobility. Bell decided it wanted to ‘outsource’ its mobility service, saving them millions of dollars. YET they up’ed the service fee from $8.95 to $9.70. That’s an…
Thanks for the roadwork, HRM!
Driving up Chebucto last night, just barely saw the bump sign right next to the giant patch of roadwork. Hit it, of course. Snapped the swing arm on the rear passenger-side wheel assembly. Nice. Dragged the wheel for awhile. Had it towed. Nice. Thanks, HRM! Quill
waste my time
I wanted to understand the stupid (non) comment about Mary Wile and thought maybe the questionnaire may shed some light as the article offered total darkness. I don’t know where you’ve hidden the questionnaires but I couldn’t find them. Smee
The other Plaskett
Well before Joel sang his first “la de da,” artist and Order of Canada recipient Joseph Plaskett was living and painting in Paris. This year the British Columbian-born painter turns 90 years old, and to celebrate, galleries across the country are hosting exhibitions in his honour, including Zwicker’s Gallery. Plaskett was in town for the…
Nas to know you
Here’s what my Sunday is looking like: Sleep in, eat brunch with the roommates, listen to Illmatic, have a bath, use the straightening iron, play Mario Kart Wii, listen to I Am…, pick out my outfit for the Nas concert, get ready with my pals and listen to Hip Hop is Dead, have a steak…
Yay Obey!
I am totally stoked for this weekend. Come and say goodbye to Be Bad, Friday at Gus’ Pub. And drown your sorrows.
Leave me to my bitches, bitch.
If I get all my work done quickly, and decide to then spend the rest of my work day doing things I want to do, STOP trying to find things for me to do for you! Just because you’re busy and have loads of things that need doing because you’re inefficient at your job doesn’t…
Drive safe(r)
To the two jackasses by Halifax Shopping Centre on Wednesday: Mr Car Driver: Please be aware that bicyclists are allowed on the road as much as you are. I know you probaly didn’t mean to get that close to Mr. Bike Rider, but try and drive safe ‘kay? Mr. Bike Rider: The next time you…
Wait your turn
This is for the fucking assholes coming down Bayview Drive on the morning commute. When traffic is backed up to the lights, and the light is green for us on the Bedford Highway, this does NOT mean it is your turn to go. We are just obeying traffic laws by not being caught in the…
Swimming in the harbour?
Peter Kelly: Is Mayor Peter Kelly ready to don his swimming trunks for a dip in Halifax Harbour? Reporters were keen to pose the question after the mayor referred to recent strides made with the city’s harbour cleanup project during a Thursday speech to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. “For decades we have wanted to…
EXport
They export it from Agricola Street to the LC on Agricola Street to me, where I drink it in my house on Agricola street. How come I can’t get that shit in Fredericton That’s not very far. To where do they export it? id
cyborgs
I think everyone wearing those rediculous phones in their ear looks like a raving idiot. not to mention that they give you an ear fungus..mmsexy. I’m really impressed. human
What’s wrong with this picture?
McDonalds’ ( a sponsor)Hamburgers and Chicken McNuggets on toothpicks, the unhealthiest food in the universe ,being served at the Bluenose Marathon after party. wtf? Myles humps Grimace
The Last Straw
ok, what the fuck is up with Halifax. I know Canadians like hockey and all but why did i have to see it on EVERY tv in every bar i got too in this city. Its not even NHL games with major name players. I am from texas and i know its important to help…
Holy Fuck I seen it all
guy in front of tim horton’s with a sign hiring , his sign reads donate spare change for beer and marijuana! holy fuck! that is the lowest of them. thanks for the honesty but get a job!
Most Evil Hit-and-Run Bicycle Fiend
To the gigantic bicycle rider who crashed into me at full speed when I was crossing Inglis on the pedestrian crosswalk: FUCK YOU, you bloody hemorrhoid; I had the right of way. And Thank the genius lawmakers of Nova Scotia who don’t require any kind of identification on bicycles, who made it impossible for me…
Black Basketball Tourney… what next? White Hockey League?
Why is it okay to have a Black Basketball Tournament? If I want to join a team and I’m white, would I be allowed? What would happen if someone organized a White Hockey League or an Asian Baseball Tournament? Aren’t we supposed to be past this in 2008? cm
Non-racist letter racist
In response to My’s letter, “Help yourselves, poor,” May 8: Although you claim “The problems of Uniacke Square aren’t racial, they are social,” you cannot reduce a black community down to “drug dealers,” “criminals” and “thugs” and not have it be about race. Social problems have a history—in this case the dispossession of Africville from…
No contaminated biosolids
To the editor, Biosolids industry proponent Ned Beecher’s reply in last week’s letters to Chris Benjamin’s columns on the dangers of biosolids unsurprisingly neglects to address the bioaccumulation of heavy metals in the soil. HRM’s current advanced primary level of sewage treatment (a step below the new federal guidelines) cannot and was not designed to…
Non-racist letter racist
Although you claim “The problems of Uniacke Square aren’t racial, they are social,” you cannot reduce a black community down to “drug dealers,” “criminals” and “thugs” and not have it be about race. Social problems have a history—in this case the dispossession of Africville from the African-Nova Scotian community, widely regarded as a racist act…
Stubby signposts all over the north end.
Remarks: In the streets surrounding our office there are several old signposts that have been cut off two inches above the sidewalk, waiting for someone to trip over them. (This one’s a short drunken stumble from Charlies’ front stoop, which is just asking for trouble.) White says we should report these things when we see…
Mc Bitches
To anyone who bitches about any aspect of eating at a fast food place ( service, food quality, decor, cleanliness )…stop eating fast food if you don’t want the “Xtras” that come with it. I mean really! what do you expect from someone making min wage, selling you a whole meal that cost less than…
lulu
To the woman who barged in front of 150 patiently waiting customers on Lululemon’s opening morning: you did not wait in line with the rest of us, and your obnoxious self-righteousness in arguing that you had been was utterly shameful and dishonest. Furthermore, I don’t see how you could have had the audacity to keep…
District 03 – David Hendsbee
David Hendsbee was recently at the centre of a headline-grabbing controversy over road paving. In a nutshell: without consulting residents on O’Connell Drive in Porters Lake, he committed them to paying higher property taxes to get the road paved. He says it was a judgement call made with no time for consultation and he stands…
District 19 – Brad Johns
“Why the hell would I want to meet with The Coast?” Brad Johns says when I ask for an interview. “You guys keep giving me a D and I get elected with more votes than anyone else.” Subsequently, Johns offered to give me a tour of Sackville, then cancelled due to a family illness. We…
Savage Love
Q: I’m writing on behalf of a 19-year-old guy with cerebral palsy. As you may know, CP causes the part of the brain responsible for motor function to work incorrectly. Troubles include muscle spasticity, weakness and/or painful contraction, sometimes a life spent in a wheelchair. My buddy is, like any 19-year-old, interested in finding out…
District 04 – Harry McInroy
Harry McInroy seems like a nice enough guy. He’s got a pleasant manner and a welcoming earnestness. But, he’s never around. He misses a lotof council meetings, and when he’s there he seems uncertain as to what’s going on. During budget deliberations, for example, he offered a confusing motion that kept the council in tangled…
District 20 – Bob Harvey
Email: harveyb@halifax.ca Website: Facebook group: Re-elect Bob Harvey Telephone: 488-4820 About Bob has lived in Sackville for 38 years. He is a retired teacher and he taught at Sackville High School for 25 years. He is a writer and amateur historian, having published Historic Sackville in 2002. Goals and Issues Bob calls himself a “citizen-politician”…
District 05 – Gloria McCluskey
Gloria McCluskey is a tough old battleaxe. Last year she went through open-heart surgery and was back at her council duties a mere two weeks later. Last month she had knee surgery, and kept apace of council budget deliberations by television and phone from her recovery bed. She is a large presence at council—she’s outspoken,…
District 21 – Tim Outhit
Outhit recently won a by-election and just two weeks ago filled the seat vacated when councillor Gary Martin died earlier this year. He’s so new he doesn’t even have a city-issued cellphone yet. Outhit will immediately have his plate full of weighty issues affecting his district—the proposed fast ferry to Bedford and associated changes to…
District 06 – Andrew Younger
Andrew Younger is something of a policy wonk, and can rattle off numbers and dollar amounts ’til the cows come home. Whatever he’s arguing, he’s got a case for it, whether he’s right or not. It’s somewhat difficult assessing Younger. He’s got a large personality that rubs some the wrong way, and endears others. I’ve…
District 22 – Reg Rankin
Reg Rankin is the sort of fellow who makes the startlingly obvious sound profound, which was humourous the first thousand times I heard it, but is starting to wear thin. He’s another member of the PC cabal that seems to have been the mainstay of Halifax county politics, but he doesn’t have the intellectual heft…
District 07 – Bill Karsten
Bill Karsten plays it straight down the middle on most issues, or splits the difference. At budget deliberations, for example, he was for the 2.6 percent tax increase but opposed to suggestions for further increases. Except to fund cops but only if other cuts could be made…. Karsten has gained my attention two ways. First,…
District 23 – Gary Meade
Gary Meade’s just calling it in. If he shows up for meetings at all, he’s late and leaves early. For the short while he’s there, he’s either reading magazines or eating, or he’s part of an annoying private council chuckle club with Peter Kelly and Reg Rankin. He’s spoken publicly perhaps five times over the…
District 08 – Jackie Barkhouse
Jackie Barkhouse won the byelection for her seat in December and didn’t officially become a councillor until January. Four months isn’t enough time to know where all the washrooms are in City Hall, much less get a handle on the Byzantine workings of the bureaucracy. Still, Barkhouse has demonstrated tremendous grace and intelligence, and shows…
2008 City Council Report Card
Here we go again—it’s regional council report card time. I’m about to give a letter grade to each of the 23 Halifax regional councillors and the mayor, an exercise which will no doubt completely piss off some councillors and leave few happy. And, if past experience is any guide, readers will level charges of incompetence,…
District 09 – Jim Smith
Jim Smith opted not to talk with me or fill out the council questionnaire, saying he was disappointed with his C+ grade from last year. He also confused The Coast’s report card with The Coast’s Best of Halifax readers’ poll, and suggested that “one councillor” (i.e., Dawn Sloane) had stuffed the electronic voting box to…
Mayor Peter Kelly
A career politician, Kelly knows the ins and outs of the political process. He’s proven that when he wants something—think fast tracking of the proposed fast ferry to Bedford—he knows how to use the system to get it. Moreover, he really is something of a populist, in that he generally wants his actions to reflect…
District 10 – Mary Wile
Probably the less said about Mary Wile, the better. Grade: D Mary’s Cell: 476-2048 WHAT WE SAID IN 2007 (Grade: C+) “If any district appreciates the values of the commuter car, it’s Wile’s, and it shows in her responses to our survey. Sort of. On Grand Parade parking: “Well, I can accept this but we…
Climate Crisis
If plans were prosperity, Nova Scotians would all be driving Benzes and smoking hundred-dollar bills. We’re adrift in a sea of plans, but if some of them don’t turn into action soon this seaside province may sink into the bay. The provincial government’s first annual report on its Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act, made…
Hey Rosetta!
[image-4]Published May 29, 2008.Hey Rosetta!into your lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood)(Sonic/Warner)A listener encountering Hey Rosetta!’s earlier material might have pegged them as the place where Dave Matthews and Matt Good meet, somewhere on the rocky shores of Newfoundland. This new record reveals a complexity and confidence in both the…
District 11 – Patrick Murphy
Email: patrick.murphy2008@gmail.com. Website: councillormurphy.com. Telephone: 425-8810 About Murphy is the incumbent who won in 2004 after Jerry Blumenthal retired. In 2000, he was soundly beaten by Blumenthal. This question this time is not one of experience, but whether Murphy has established himself well enough in the district to weather an assault from Mr B. Murphy’s…
Prince Caspian
By almost any standard, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is a slicker, more professional contraption than its megahit predecessor The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The effects are more polished, the battles more grand, there’s more camera movement. All it’s missing is charm. The lack of fantasy-movie bombast was precisely what gave the…
The Air I Breathe
[image-4]Published May 29, 2008.The Air I BreatheDirected by: Directed by Jieho Lee (Velocity/Thinkfilm) Writer/director Jieho Lee had lofty goals for The Air I Breathe. According to IMDb, the films based on an ancient Chinese proverb that breaks life down into four emotional cornerstones. Consequently, characters sport thematically appropriate names like Love and Happiness. (To be fair,…
District 12 – Dawn Marie Sloane
Incumbent Candidate ProfilePrevious Coast Report Cards follow. Email: emailme@dawnsloane.caWebsite: www.dawnsloane.ca And a Facebook page to re-elect Dawn Sloane. Telephone: 422-0135 (business) About As a 5 time winner of the “Best Councillor” award by Coast readers, Dawn is liked by this paper’s readership; but can she pull off a third term in a tight race in…
Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?
Morgan Spurlock was the most successful filmmaker to piggyback on Michael Moore’s brand of celebrity documentary-making. By starring in Super Size Me, he made himself famous while shocking America by revealing that junk food is unhealthy. Returning to centre-stage in Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?—the opening credits even feature a video game…
No No Zero
[image-4]Published May 29, 2008.No No ZeroRough Stuff (Signed By Force)Rock ‘n’ roll has always had a special bond with the bump ‘n’ grind. Toronto band No No Zero take that notion and go wild with it. Building on a hard garage-punk sound with guitars front and centre, the band’s debut album, Rough Stuff, is well…
Yay Jaeger!
Bring a hearty appetite to the Colby Ale House and wheelbarrow to cart home the leftovers.
Wristcutters: A Love Story
Wristcutters: A Love StoryDirected by: Goran Dukic(Lionsgate/Maple)Lonely Zia (Patrick Fugit) works in a crappy pizza joint and lives in a shabby apartment. He spends his nights in a dank, badly lit bar. The colours he sees are muted and the people he meets are damaged goods. The world in Wristcutters: A Love Story resembles the…
No Age
[image-4]Published May 29, 2008.No AgeNouns (Sub Pop)Driving the hype surrounding No Age and their Sub Pop debut, Nouns, is the sweeping style of the band. On tracks “Errand Boy” and “Keechie,” the wall of sound and shoegaze tendencies create hypnotic, but sometimes boring sprawls. Songs like “Sleeper Hold” and “Here Should Be My Home” recall…
District 14 – Sheila Fougere
When Sheila Fougere was first elected in 1999, she was the lone woman amongst 23 men. We’ve made progress—there are now nine women on council and most, Fougere included, are better politicians and more intelligent than their male counterparts. Fougere demonstrates a wide-ranging understanding of the political issues and processes facing Halifax, and is remarkably…
Nadja’s heavy work
When Nadja arrive in Halifax on Friday, May 23 (with Vancouver’s Shearing Pinx) as part of the Obey Convention music festival, it will mark the first time the lauded and well-travelled Toronto ambient doom-noise duo has appeared in this city. Made up of Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff, Nadja started off as Baker’s solo studio…
Jason Mraz
[image-4]Published May 22, 2008.Jason Mraz We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things (Atlantic)On the surface, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things seems to follow the path laid out by the title: a tired idiom mildly rejuvenated with oddball relish. Mraz’s beach-guitar formula is filled with familiar hooks, making the album both cliche and catchy.…
The Roots
[image-4]Published May 29, 2008.The RootsRising Down (Def Jam)The Roots don’t make it easy on their listeners but, at the same time, they richly reward them. Rising Down opens with “The Pow Wow”—not a skit, but a slice of real life: a conference call between band members, including drummer/producer ?uestlove and (seemingly) record-company representatives, about the…
District 15 – Russell Walker
Russell Walker has been a councillor since the creation of the HRM, and he clearly understands how City Hall works and how to get results for his issues. He also has served as a strong representative to the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities, an organization that could use more publicity. A member of the police…
Hobo Film Soul train
Before the Trans Canada Trail, the Trans-Canada Highway, Air Canada and the internet, there was the Canadian Pacific Railway: The system of trunks, branches, lines and crossings constructed in the late 19th century that linked the country coast to coast. More than anything else, the railroad still represents a romantic and historical view of the…
Shelter with Thieves
[image-4]Published May 22, 2008.Shelter with ThievesA Dark Chapter in the Human Experiment(I Thought You Were Dead Music)Like an Atlantic-Canadian version of seminal post-hardcore act Quicks and, Shelter with Thieves incorporate elements of dissonance and melody on their latest release, A Dark Chapter in the Human Experiment. With imagery and lyrics that evoke dystopian modernity, bleak…
Elbow
[image-4]Published May 29, 2008.ElbowThe Seldom Seen Kid (Polydor) On their fourth album, the Manchester quintet delves so deeply into silky crescendos and choral echoes, it softens you up for the rock. Elbow tends to maximize a dynamic range of a recording so that the crashing break in “The Bones of You” is as startling as…
The Stone Angel
Christine Horne, like many of us in this country, had Margaret Laurence’s The Stone Angel assigned to her—rather than discovering the novel on her own. If you are going to play the role of Hagar Shipley, the book is a requirement: Horne read it while auditioning to play the famed Canadian heroine. “I didn’t have…
District 16 – Debbie Hum
Debbie Hum is a likable councillor and has a sort of 1970s-style good-government sensibility to her, which is not a bad thing at all, but I wish she’d be more of a presence on council. Mostly, she seems to get into tit-for-tat fights with Linda Mosher. Still, she was stridently against the Chebucto Road project…
(Satirical) letter from Rodney
The premier was so upset with a recent headline in The Chronicle Herald atop a story on energy conservation that he had his office send letters to 24 other newspapers to explain himself. The headline said “take the bus” in paraphrasing the premier’s comment, “take up the opportunity for transit.” —from the Herald on May…
Retribution Gospel Choir
[image-4]Published May 22, 2008.Retribution Gospel ChoirRetribution Gospel Choir(Caldo Verde)The Retribution Gospel Choir is what you might expect from Alan Sparhawk’s side-project—it sounds like Low, except the songs are cranked out, draped in Les Paul-loving distortion. It’s like the last half of “When I Go Deaf” from Low’s The Great Destroyer, when guitar feedback obliterates the…
District 01 – Steve Streatch
The Streatch name is big in Conservative Party politics. Ken Streatch was a councillor in the old county of Halifax who went on to become a Tory cabinet minister. His daughter Judy has followed in Ken’s provincial footsteps, and now serves as minister of community services (she’s been in the news for letting her son…
District 17 – Linda Mosher
Linda Mosher’s politics are all wrong. She supported Chebucto Road widening and is an advocate for tax reform. She also is hung up on “security” issues—she was a big supporter of bringing the Guardian Angels to town, she has a surveillance camera carted around her district for use in parks and she was on the…
Guiding lights
Over the centuries, Paris has inspired many great thinkers—Simone de Beauvoir, Gertrude Stein and T.S. Eliot. Recently,Canadian songwriters such as Feist, Hawksley Workman and Sarah Slean have been drawn to its omnipresent glow. Slean blames the City of Light for her latest effort, The Baroness. She’ll share her secrets and reasoning at the Rebecca Cohn…
The Hottie and Nottie
The Hottie and NottieDirected by: Tom Putnam(Liberation Entertainment)The Hottie and the Nottie stars Paris Hilton, Step by Step’s Christine Lakin and an actor who insists on calling himself The Greg Wilson. It’s the kind of movie that only an ironic hipster or a Step by Step completist could love. But just how bad is it?…
District 02 – Krista Snow
Krista Snow is the daughter of long-time and popular Fall River pol Gordie Snow, who died a couple of years ago. While suburban Fall River is at the heart of the district she represents, it is perhaps the most unwieldy district, stretching down to the urbanizing Waverley area, up to rural Beaver Bank and around…
District 18 – Stephen Adams (Deputy Mayor)
Steve Adams is serving as deputy mayor, which means when Peter Kelly is otherwise engaged, Adams takes the gavel or participates in ribbon cuttings. When I’ve seen him in action as stand-in mayor, he brings a welcome earnestness, but several councillors have complained that he’s not the strong council-staff liaison they’d like. That perhaps reflects…
Consulting games
After four years of pushing city council for action on the Bloomfield Centre, the north end rec centre with a vibrant 20-year history, Imagine Bloomfield has a glimmer of hope. Since 2004, the non-profit collective of Bloomfield tenants and neighbours has gathered community input and held a series of public consultations facilitated by Dalhousie planning…
