Shaving with Girl Boner and Mark Little
Local online comedy sketch show Girl Boner gets its lady-comedy premiere. Starring Erin Elliot, Dayle Hendrix, T. Nicole Holland and Heather Young, I really hope these cute and funny girls do a parody of the new Schick razor commercial where all the garden bushes turn into triangles and landing strips. Today we also learned that…
Diamond talk with Eyelevel and the Khyber
Mat Dunlap swing battah swing! ELG team organizer Brendan Dunlop Eyelevel Gallery knows all about the art of losing. The artist-run centre’s baseball team has yet to win a game in the four years it’s been playing (yeah, yeah, insert joke, sport-o). And yet the team, recognizable for its green t-shirts and lack of ego,…
Get Eclectic
The second installment of CKDU’s monthly dance party Eclectic Avenue is TONIGHT and there will be enough genres present to satisfy all of your friends’ discerning tastes. The station’s DJ Anderoc and DJ Megabrain will do you for reggae and funk respectively, Jenocide will pummel your face with electro beats and Duzheknew provides a sweet…
Room and Board Exceeded Expectations
It was amazing to spend some time with you . I wish that distance were not what it is or that in our lives we were at different places….its hard to find someone who inspires you. You spark my creative and I think you’re brilliant (and sexy). —Snowflake
Downtown Pedway/Scotia Square
I see you only rarely now but used to see you daily, that was far too long ago. Time and circumstances made us drift apart but I have not forgotten. I miss looking up, way up, at you…as we pass and awkwardly see each other now I can still pretend I’m gazing up, way up,…
Love for Obey
This weekend’s 4th annual Obey Convention was amazing is on so many levels. Thank you to everyone who helped put this together, everyone who played, and everyone else who showed up and partied. It was nice to see so many friendly faces out and about at the shows, every show was packed. I can’t wait…
PS.
It’s been 7 months now since we first met up by the Christmas tree and spent the next 6 hours together, talking and drinking and walking around. Going home with you was an unexpected plus, and I don’t regret that. Our lives have become so intertwined, and because of & despite all the things that…
Marriage? No thanks!
So I know about 11 or 12 of my peers (some co-workers, some old classmates, some cousins) are engaged or already married. In fact, it seems that every week, I receive news on fb that ‘so-and-so is now engaged’. All of them are in their early to mid-20s, and one is only 19. I mentioned…
Losing Weight
Is difficult and I’m not enjoying it. —Fat bastard
What is the Tap Tap Tap Noise at Barrington/Hollis Area?
Time: 5am-6sm When: Daily What: Tap Tap Tap like a teeny tiny hammer on my window but it’s outside and after stamping the concrete with my fancy new running shoes I cannot find it. WHAT IS IT? Tell me who to call/complain/harass/ and I will get the job done. —SINGLE LADY IN SLEEP DISTRESS. SAVE…
No, its ok that no parking sign doesn’t apply to you!
Dear people: parking in a clearly marked NO PARKING zone is illegal. Oh, what you have your four-way flashers on? Oh, ok, that suddenly make it OK and makes the law go away. The signs and the law applies to me as it does to you. Read the signs and get out of the way.…
Kid Rock on the Common? Someone Just Take Me Out Back And Shoot Me
Yes, everyone was right. The rap-rock equivalent of a Gulf oil spill , Kid Rock, is headlining the Halifax Rocks show on July 23. He will be joined by the Counting Crows, Tonic, Daughtry, Jimmy Swift Band and the Stanfields. For reference, here’s a Daughtry: Macca judo chop! In somewhat better news, Rich Aucoin joins…
Racism has many colours…
“Look at that ‘thug’, he’s just trying to be black.” Calling thugged-out white people wannabe blacks is a pretty racist thing to say. You’re saying all black people are thugged-out, mean-mugging criminals. That’s considerably: Incorrect, racist, and ignorant. Hip hop is not about color, it’s about culture. Before you judge the way they act, speak,…
OPIUM MAKES ME SICK!
What is it with women who use this extremely strong, pungent, stinky, nose-hair-burning, eye irritating, etc., etc. perfume? I mean, WTF? I don’t wear it and I have spoken with friends and they, one in particular, find that the smell is really close to powdered toilet bowl cleanser! I don’t know if I completely agree…
Worst Building Ever…
I live in a building that, as of late, has become pretty horrible to live in, if nothing else for the constant noise from the renovations of the parking garage that usually start early in the morning and have been going on for well over a month now. For people that need to sleep late…
Forces of Nature
The thunder and lightning pyrotechnics on Sunday would have made me a little nervous, but with you there holding me, I enjoyed the show of nature so much more. It was beautiful – I love thunder and lightning storms again. Thanks for being my rock when I’m feeling wimpy. —Tougher Now
Eye contact
A thank you to the guy in the blue sweater Sunday evening on the corner of spring garden and queen st. We made repeated eye contact but I’m clueless and am not used to being checked out. It was when we both dis turn-backs after the fact that I realized it. It never happens to…
#14 on a beautiful Sunday
You sat across from me on the 14 lebian park… and I couldn’t help but look a couple of times. I flashed you a smile, and you flashed one back… and it put butterflies in my stomach. I like the ink on your arms, and your smile just totally made my weekend. I normally don’t…
Kind stranger
Thank you to the kind man who helped me and my hubby while broken down on the side of Herring Cove road on our motorcycle. He pushed the bike with my hubby on it to give us a jump start. The best part was he was running in his socks because his shoes kept falling…
Unappreciating customers
I served this table of 4. Two parents, two kids. They ordered 2 pizzas, one was for the parents to share, the other was for the children. Mistakes happen in restaurants, and it so happened that the children’s pizza got partly stuck to the pan. However it was still salvageable, except for one piece. This…
To all the guys out there…
I’m not trying to date you… I’m really not. So stop acting weird when you get messages wanting to “hang out”… —Girls just want to have fun.
The law applies, even to you
To the driver who parked his car in the fire lane in front of the North Street Sobeys: You idled your vehicle for a while, trapping me in at the exit (the store’s display of flowers & plants blocks the path to the sidewalk) and subjecting me and my baby to your car’s exhaust. When…
Koala
It’s great that we’re friends but you’re really starting to drive me crazy! It was fun and games for a little while but right now I’m starting to get really tired of them! I would like to tell you how I feel but I’m sure you may already know… please just spare me because it’s…
Missed the point.
While taking part in the opening day of bike week I couldn’t help but notice the presence of an according bus. I’m not sure exactly what they were doing to support bike week beyond showing people how to use the bike racks available on the front of their buses, but I couldn’t help but notice…
Z 103 Summer Rush
Z 103 has announced the lineup for this year’s Rogers. Summer Rush at Alderney Landing, happening on August 7. Here’s what you get for $32/$37 a pop: HEDLEY STEREOS JAY SEAN LMFAO DOWN WITH WEBSTER RICKY J KARDINAL OFFISHALL GIRLICIOUS FABER DRIVE Tickets available at all Ticket Pro Locations including ticketpro.ca or by phone at…
Bookmark and Woozles win national bookseller awards
Congratulations to Bookmark II (5686 Spring Garden Road, 423-0419)—their original store is in Charlottetown—and Woozles (1533 Birmingham Street, 423-7626). At the national Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Awards 2010, held Saturday in Toronto, Bookmark was the industry’s pick for Bookseller of the Year while Woozles earned Specialty Bookseller of the Year. You guys rock… nicely done.
Critical Mass Cyclists
Way to go! Saw you Friday night @ Quinpool & Oxford: how come there’s never any news coverage? Especially during bike week, with hundreds of people taking over the streets in planned peaceful promotion of health & community (and I hear there was actual sanction from HPD this time because of bike week). Can’t find…
Zen kids
Thank-you to all the girls in my daughter’s primary class who continually encourage her as she tries to master the playground monkey bars. Your lack of judgment about and kindness towards someone’s difficulties blows me away and reminds me how I want to be in the world. Huge love to you all. —Student mama
Loving the clean
An ENORMOUS thank-you to all the people who cleaned up the garbage around HRM uncovered by the snow. To see the city looking green, clean and gorgeous makes me (and I bet a lot of other people) feel sooooo good inside. Your work does not go unnoticed and it does make a huge difference! —Clean-up…
Return my call…
I’m tired of hearing businesses whining that business is tough, the economy is rough, government is giving them the shouf… whine whine whine. WHEN A POTENTIAL CUSTOMER CALLS ASKING ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICES CALL THEM BACK! What is it with places around here? You can call and email them until your blue in the face: nothing.…
No Cup Coverage
What the fuck is going on. No Crosby, no Habs, so no coverage. Fuck. Hockey is our so-called National Sport and yet after Game 1 of the finals, the only mention of it in the paper is in the Scoreboard section. Ya think with a high scoring seesaw game, they would write at least one…
Stabbed in the back
After almost 2 years of busting my ass to help you people you feel you need to stab me in the back. I gave up so much to help you – time with my kids and friends even gave up making money for myself to push something that the members of the group all along…
Gimme Shelter (a bus shelter, that is)
So what’s up with moving the bus stops from Tacoma Centre, out of the parking lot area and onto the street? Now pedestrians have to cross Tacoma, never easy at the best of times, but infinitely harder for the senior citizens who live behind Tacoma, who relied on the nearby bus stop. Rumors say it…
Armrest etiquette
This is a recurring problem which has likely been ongoing for centuries, yet it seems that there is still no proper, agreed upon, well-known rules on this. I am talking, of course, about that one middle armrest between two chairs you find most often on airplanes, in movie theatres, and sports stadiums. Who owns this…
How NOT to pick up a woman
So, it’s sunny and warm out. I’ve just left my house to run some errands. Less than a minute into my walk, I hear some guy whistling loudly behind me, and glance back to see if it was someone I knew. It wasn’t, so I ignored him and put in my headphones. 30 seconds later,…
Nova Scotia wines win big at national awards
Nova Scotia wineries took home 16 awards at the annual All Canadian Wine Championships in Windsor, Ontario, considered the country’s leading wine competition. The annual contest received 1,143 submitted wines this year from across the country. The local wineries whose grape yield took the big prizes included Annapolis Highland Vineyards, L’Acadie Vineyards, Blomidon Estate Winery…
A tune…
To the gentleman in a hospital bed of the VG who wished he could hear the bagpipes again. The piper blasting from below the Centennial Building on the evening of May 29th was for you. —DalMed student
COLIE B…
To My Colie B: I miss you and love you so much! Stay strong my little navy wifey. Piper and I cannot wait until you come home!!! We’re thinking about you all the time!! MUAH!! —Toomie
Forget the seals!
Lets save them and get rid of the Illuminati! Sounds like a better plan to me…—Just sayin’
Dog friendly swiming hole?
Any public lakes or freshwater beaches that its OK to take your dog to? I haven’t been able to find anything. —Hot and bothered
DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
To all of those whiners out there with complaints similar to this one: “He/She did something right in front of me that I need to bitch about as an anonymous person” DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! You were right there! You could have told the person to back off, for example: “Hey, that seat isn’t for…
Don’t Need Help With the Doors – Thanks
Maybe it’s just me, but is it ignorant and assholish to punch the handicapped button for a set of doors when someone else 15 feet ahead of you is just about to open them up… like with their hands and arms and upper body strength even? Especially if you yourself are not crippled? I thought…
Blacked Out Bridge Signage
Last year the MacKay bridge had big-ass electronic signs installed on roads leading towards the bridge, supposedly to warn drivers of problems in advance of getting onto the bridge approaches. A couple of months ago I saw them lit up once for testing. Ever since, nothing. Totally dark. Wassup? I know those things were not…
Cars, please stop hitting me…
I’ve lived in Halifax for nine months and have been hit twice. The first time was on Quinpool Road. A car making a left turn onto a side street was too busy looking for an opening in oncoming traffic and forgot to look for an opening in pedestrians. I was about 3/4 finished crossing the…
First Come First Serve
Yes, lady with the fancy stroller in a certain popular coffee shop I really was reading the paper with my husband, enjoying a baby-free morning for once, almost like a date. You came up to our table while we were holding sections we were reading, your arms stretched out ready to grab and said “Are…
Boston Pizza hours update
The Boston Pizza(1858 Granville Street, 422-8600) location in Granville Mall, very popular with sports fans for the multitude of screens and good food, has changed its hours. They are as follows: Mon-Wed 11am-midnight, Thurs, Fri, Sat 11am-2am, Sun 11am-11pm.
Twisted up with Sweet Pea’s alter ego
Spring 2010 looks from BB Dakota & Jack Great news for fans of Sweet Pea (1542 Queen Street, 423-0975): owner Johanna Galipeau is opening a second boutique in the soon-to-be opened retail space above Mills on Spring Garden, joining Daily Grind newsstand. Galipeau refers to Twisted Muse as Sweet Pea’s “alter ego”—-less girly dresses, more…
SATC 2: Is it BIG bad? Or just an easy target?
Wow, film critics, I didn’t know you still had it in you. I can’t think of a movie that’s pissed you off so much as much as Sex and the City 2. I’m not defending a movie I haven’t seen, but how bad is it really? I’m gonna predict that it’s no worse than Grown…
Parking ticket revenue way up
HRM parking ticket revenue has increased 45% in three years, a direct result of the city taking the parking enforcement revenue away from the Corps of Commissionaires and awarding it to Securitas. That switch was made on September 1, 2008, soon into the 2008/09 fiscal year (which runs from April 1-March 31). Here are the…
AA Amore
This week and last have really got me going. One of the best parts of The Coast. Kidding, your editorial content kicks ass too, its just not as sexy. —Cranky
Dog walkers!
I really miss my old dog and can’t get a new one for awhile… but it is so awesome to meet all you friendly dogs and dog-walkers out on the streets of Halifax. Normally I am incredibly awkward around people but you guys are so approachable and easy-going! You brighten my day 🙂 —Zafiro
A hug a day ..
To the girls giving free hugs in front of the spring garden library on Wednesday, you really did make my day… I’ve heard about this happening before and I’ve always been a bit skeptical, but you changed my mind. A friendly, spontaneous hug was exactly what I needed to get through the monotony of my…
Dear Bobcat…
iiIIiiiIIIiiii love you. um, um, um, yeah, THANKS! —Bobkitten
Preston St. community!
Hey beautiful beings on Preston, thanks for all the flowers and helpful neighborly tips! Your kind hearts and smiles make our hood’ the best place to be!! … and the fact the sun rises and sets beautifully on our houses helps too… couldn’t ask for a better vibe! Thanks! —Home is where my heart is
Some Common Sense
As I read my copy of the morning paper, I am very sorry to hear of another person drowning in Nova Scotia… BUT WANTING TO FENCE OFF THE DEEP END OF THE SWIMMING HOLE IS FUCKED UP ! Its time for common sense to be brought back to the forefront of what is partly wrong…
Herring Cove Road Change
There is a proposal on the table from HRM Traffic to eliminate the 4 lanes of traffic on Herring Cove Road and go to 2 lanes but add bike lanes… I’d like to know who comes up with this shit… HRM Traffic claims that it will not affect traffic flow. They must have a lot…
Girl you ain’t all that!
You seriously think your hot shit don’t you? You strut around with a smug look on your face. You act as if you think you’re an A-list celebrity or something! But you’re not. You are 36 years old and work as a fast food cashier! You’re not pretty and you sleep around. Stop coming after…
Spill, baby, spill
Thanks for the coming decades of oceanic misery, assholes. —Fuck you
FAMILY
How dare you? How dare you and your fucked up friends treat our 63 year old mother like that! She is in pain and not fully aware of her surroundings yet you think that since you gave her room and board (charging her a rent that is too high for the shit hole you gave…
This is why you’re fat
Where in the Jesus Hell can a person find a supplier of raw (ie. unpasteurized) milk in this city?? I understand that it’s technically illegal to sell the stuff, but let’s be practical – people have hacked their iphones to do more insidious shit. If I want to take the supposed health risk of injecting…
Pee Wee’s big outdoor movie weather watch
In a stroke of programming genius, the Atlantic Film Festival is presenting a free (by donation) outdoor “bike-in” screening of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure tonight at the Ferry Terminal Park, Alderney Landing. Start looking for a seat at 7:30pm, show will start at 8:30pm. Hard to say what the weather will do, but we’ll keep…
Saege Bistro reopens
Though it may be hard to believe, given the recent fire that ran through the eatery, but Shoptalk has received a note from Scanway kingpin Geir Simensen indicating Saege Bistro (5883 Spring Garden Road, 429-1882) will reopen Saturday, May 29 at 9:30am for brunch and remain open in the days to come as they finish…
Download The Free Obey Sampler
nan goldinThis photo, “French Chris on Convertible” has nothing to do with OBEY whatsoever but if you’re lucky, you might end the weekend looking like French Chris. The Obey Convention kicks off today with my favorite local band Bad Vibrations 7″ release show with Fuck Montreal, L/P and Moncton punks The Robins, who haven’t played…
Thanks to Mark, and lady at animal control!
My son’s house cat accidentally got out on Friday night. No sign of him on Saturday, Sunday or Monday… This is a special thank you to Mark for taking the time on Tuesday to make a call to the local animal control office to see if anyone had reported a missing gray and white cat…
Fire starters…
We saw you, our neighbours saw you. We will watch for you, the cops and the fire departments are watching for you. But I’d like to address the parents of the three teenage boys who so wisely started a fire behind Hawthorne School on Wednesday night at 12:45 and threw fireworks into said fire which…
Stupid cyclists
I am an avid cyclist. It’s how I get around this city when I’m not walking. Two things: Get off of the sidewalks. We don’t belong there! If you are too scared to ride with traffic, then walk or take the bus! The other thing: Use lights on your bike! Reflectors are shit. Front and…
Metro Transit Shape Up!
Today I got off work at 4 and got home in the north end after 6. No #52 and no # 9 to be seen. I wonder how these drivers keep their jobs. —One pissed off rider
When any 2 streets cross…
It’s an intersection people! Which means that I have the right to cross the GD street at the corners. I am consistently ignored as a pedestrian when I want to cross, and am particularly pissed when I’m waiting in the pouring rain or a blizzard and you are in a car! 9 times out of…
I can’t stand your lying ways!
Don’t be so surprised that I kicked your lazy, lying ass out after you broke my trust, AGAIN. If you want to rebuild a relationship, make forward motion to start to piece together your life, and stop wasting your energy in begging to come back. I won’t let you break my heart again. —Truth teller
Have Fun on Warped Tour, Last Call Chernobyl
help computer Like a spiny-winged butterfly, the dudes in Last Call Chernobyl have gone through a beautiful metamorphosis. When the local prog-metal act formed in 2007, it was mainly for kicks. “It was a way for us to wind down after a rough day,” says guitarist Matt Moulton. When they won Music Nova Scotia’s Battle…
My favourite finds: Vagabond Vintage
David Figueroa Personal style: Lately, I’ve been attracted to the working-class fashions of lumberjacks and coal miners found on a vintage postcard. As an artist who is interested in Canadian imagery, I feel these sensibilities are mirrored in my fashion sense. Favourite item: This dress shirt with the pastoral scene is one of my favourite…
Wheel style
When an SUV pulls up inches from her handlebars, Rachael Craig’s heart races. The Halifax cyclist says drivers often have road rage. “It’s very scary,” she says. “I don’t want to feel that my life is threatened to get to school or to get to the grocery store.” “You’re really vulnerable on your bike,” her…
Wild East
1. Vintage fringe jacket, $38, skirt and scarf, Elsie’s. 2. Reconstructed cowboy shirts by Cranky, $30-$40, Put Me On. 3. True Religion stitched denim jacket, D2. 4. Assorted cowboy boots, various prices, Dressed in Time.
Knit-in to get in
What do yarn wrappings and the new Halifax Central Library have in common? Imagination, which is just what the people behind the Central Library’s steering committee are looking for. Bring your knitting apparel—or use what’s provided—and help make tree wrappings at the Foggy Goggle knit-in on Monday. After the pieces are done, the wraps will…
Fit for a queen
1. Catherine Popesco vintage reproduction necklace, $119, The Vault. 2. Oh Dina! head piece, $40, Lady Luck Boutique. 3. Jump lace-up pumps, $150, Comfort Zone. 4. Fergie pink sandals, $115, John David Shoes. 5. Gloves of various styles at Elsie’s. 6. Twiggs lace jewellery by Rebekah Higgs, $22-$39, Lost & Found, Biscuit General Store. 7.…
Opening Hidden Windows
Taking a few minutes to talk over the phone about Hidden Windows while making her way to Halifax for Obey, artist Stacey Ho finds a quiet place to explain the exhibition’s inspiration. “The show takes its name from Kevin and Vanessa’s piece,” she begins, saying that Kevin Hainey and Vanessa Rieger recorded a single-channel video…
London’s Calling
1. Hunter boots, $140-$150, Foreign Affair, Biscuit. 2. Fly London sandals, $180, Comfort Zone. 3. Hudson jeans, $250, Foreign Affair. 4. Elvis Jesus t-shirt, $140-$160, D2. 5. Ben Sherman Union Jack t-shirt, $48, D2. 6. Ben Sherman Benjay Blazer, D2, $180.
A Rescue Demonstration breathes life into its audience
Playfully profound? Profoundly playful? No, A Rescue Demonstration is probably best described as profound AND playful. This new work by Katie Swift (above) and Stewart Legere tells the story of a nurse and a paramedic who meet at the scene of a tragedy and begin—or perhaps rekindle—an unconventional relationship. The story flits between a past,…
Bathing beauties
1. Minty-fresh dress, $69, Splurge. 2. Five Surprises flipflops, $25, Love Me, Boutique. 3. Coach espadrilles, $168, Kick Ass Shoes. 4. Electric hightone sunglasses, $129, Pro Girl. 5. Harriet Grey agate bracelets, necklaces and rings, $26-$34, Wildflower Clothing. 6. Deux fm’s swimsuit is a mix of soy, organic cotton and spandex, but what we really…
Cue the Q
“It has to be tender and it has to be flavourful,” drawls Mark Lambert, his phone crackling as he travels the Interstate. “And it has to have hickory on it. It’s not Southern if it doesn’t have hickory on it.” If anybody knows good BBQ, it’s Lambert. His blood, sweat and tears have created the…
Pretty in polkadots
1. Staying for the pool party? It’s a quick change into this pretty-as-a-rose dress from Splurge, $52. 2. Bring your sunscreen in Raspberry Jam’s reconstructed bathing cap accessory bag, $40, Lady Luck Boutique</p> 3. There’s a reason why 1950s starlets looked so great: this retro-style, halter bathing suit includes side-boning, control-panel lining and side-ruching. Best…
Screening of Broken Deer/Alice Cohen Video
Brooklyn-based artist Alice Cohen and Broken Deer (AKA Lindsay Dobbin) have collaborated on a stop-motion collage video, with Cohen providing the images and Broken Deer sitting on the musical end. The catch? They’ve never met. “The video collaboration came about after Lindsay saw another video I made on the internet—she sent me her music, and…
Fair leather
1. Chloé comme Parris’s fringe necklaces, coming soon to Clothes Horse. (More CcP leather accessories available at Lost & Found and Clothes Horse.) 2. Reconstructed leather bags by Naiad Clothing in a variety of styles, Boutique Joliette, Naiad Clothing. 3. Reconstructed leather with Orphanage Clothing, available at ProGirl, and for men through orphanageclothing.com. 4. Calfskin…
Centre stage with Slim Twig
It’s not hard to see why teenage Ellen Page’s character has a crush on cool guy Slim Twig in The Tracey Fragments. The young Toronto musician and actor’s persona exudes the sort of tight-jeaned, music-savvy, cinematic cool you feel like you never got to embrace as a teenager. It’s difficult to tell if there’s a…
You Might as Well Live
Robert Mutt (Joshua Pearce) is a loser. He can’t walk down the street of his small town without being called a douchebag, and so poor Mutt, in his too-tight plaid trousers, throws himself off a bridge. After a stint in the mental hospital, he’s kicked out, determined to become “a real somebody.” It’s doubtful that…
Weird science
“Obviously there’s always weirdos in every city doing experimental music,” musician and composer Zachary Fairbrother explains, nonchalantly. Those weirdos come out to expose the seedy underbelly of Halifax’s music scene—experimental noise, and other offbeat bands and performers—this weekend at the fourth Obey Convention. What started as a handful of shows at One World Cafe in…
Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond
Liz Worth is much younger than the Toronto punks she admires from the city’s first-wave heyday in 1977-’81. Perhaps this is why she decided to let all her interview subjects speak for themselves in her oral history of the scene. Stories from members of Teenage Head, Forgotten Rebels, the recently reformed The Diodes and more—mostly…
Mountainous deception
No such thing as a free lunch? Well, how about Dalhousie Mountain on April 23, where Darrell Dexter unveiled his government’s renewable electricity targets? Due to the generosity of Nova Scotia taxpayers, about 200 invited guests stuffed their faces with free sandwiches as they gazed at the gaggle of wind turbines that served as giant…
A Short History of Forgetting
Ottawa-based poet Paul Tyler slows down the process of memory (recognizing, naming, remembering, renaming). He reminds readers that to remember is a shared experience, a part of being, and not just a process, a doing. It feels like a slow poetry, an equivalent of what’s happened in food, for example. On the downside, the reader…
Cycling frustration
The upside to cycling in Halifax is that drivers are so scared and confused by bikes, they cut you a wide swath. The con: a lack of infrastructure. Bike lanes are few and scattered, and there’s almost no designated bike parking. When I bike downtown to a meeting and have to wander the block looking…
Isobel & Emile
Isobel is a teenage girl, a runaway of sorts. Emile is a puppeteer who stops in Isobel’s town for the summer. We don’t know much more about Isobel or Emile’s background, but we know the feel of their naked bodies, the decor in their rooms, the taste of their cups of coffee. Emile leaves for…
Thom Fitzgerald rounds up
Thom Fitzgerald is going in circles. The filmmaker has adapted George Boyd’s play Gideon’s Blues as The Gospel According to the Blues, premiering Tuesday, 10pm on Vision TV. Twenty years ago, Fitzgerald worked behind the scenes on Upstart Theatre Company’s production of Gideon’s Blues. “It was at the Cunard Street Theatre—there used to be one,”…
The Black Keys
For all of Danger Mouse’s inspired pairings, from James Mercer of The Shins (Broken Bells) to Cee-Lo Green (Gnarls Barkley), there was something special about his work behind the dials for blues-rock duo The Black Keys on its last record, Attack and Release. On Brothers, the Keys mostly go it alone—Mouse produced only the record’s…
Mao’s Last Dancer is touching
Li Chixin (Chi Cao) is plucked at age 11 from his rural Chinese village and sent to Madame Mao’s Beijing Dance Academy, eventually winning a scholarship to train at the Huston Ballet Company. Invigorated by the plentiful freedoms of America, Li decides to stay and has his Chinese citizenship revoked as a result, separating him…
Justin Rutledge
Justin Rutledge knows his number one strength—his brooding, near whispered tenor—and like Hayden or the Great Lake Swimmers, uses it to its full romantic potential. He seems determined to be taken so seriously—Rutledge doesn’t approach a song without a minor key governance or anything more than a mid-tempo flow. On The Early Widows, he employs…
Free Will Astrology
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) My favourite news source, The Onion, recently reported on a “free-thinking cat” that excretes its wastes “outside the box.” As you enjoy your own phase of liberated thinking and uninhibited action, Gemini, I hope that you’re putting the emphasis on generating beauty and blessings “outside the box.” You will, of course,…
Josh Ritter
Josh Ritter is a truly profound songwriter, but his broad toothy smile and chuckle beg not to be taken too seriously. Ritter possesses great storytelling skills, with a lyrical whimsy and musical versatility that (although rooted in Dylan, Cat Stevens and Van the Man idolatry) is constantly striving to bring greater breadth to his craft,…
All quiet in the bedroom
Q Where can a straight guy find a transsexual woman who is NOT a hooker and just wants to be friends (with benefits)? I know of one club where they hang, but they are mostly hookers there. I would like to go someplace where I could meet one and see if we could hit it…
John Butler Trio
One of the most popular bands in Australia is ready for its close-up in North America, on Dave Matthews’ ATO label. Across 15 songs, Butler gives a clinic on how many different things you can do with a guitar, lap steel or mandolin. The bassist and drummer are new to Butler, but manage to keep…
Murphy’s Law
As a judge at last summer’s Off the Cuff fashion competition at Argyle Fine Art, Biscuit General Store owner Wendy Friedman made it clear to the contestants that they need to make clothes that people want to wear. Friedman, along with fellow judges Lisa Drader-Murphy and Gary Markle, knew what they were doing when they…
Shad
The Old Prince returns with an effortlessly lively, energetic flow that fans of ’90s hip-hop should embrace. The Canadian rapper and master lyricist appears more socially conscious on his third album, without infringing on K’naan territory. ”Keep Shining” addresses hip-hop misogyny, and there’s a sweet little Fox News takedown (“Glenn Beck better duck like fois…
How to kill 220,000 seals on Sable Island: the DFO plan
[image-1] A massive seal slaughter on Sable Island would involve bringing in mobile crematoriums and modified tree-harvesting equipment, and would cost upwards of $35 million, according to a study commissioned by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The 2009 study, obtained through an Access to Information request, examined the costs and logistics associated with “managing” the grey…
Spoke style: Chic cycling photo shoot and accessories
David Byrne rocks the bike look. Earlier this week Holland and Belgium announced their joint bid to host the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup. And they did so by sending six well-dressed men in fine tailored suits to make the announcement. Before you dismiss this as oh-so European, read our Riding Pretty story: chic…
Update: Joey Comeau withdrawn from $10,000 literary award
ED. UPDATE: Apparently ECW Press has voluntarily withdrawn Comeau’s Overqualified from the 2009 Danuta Gleed Literary Award for, well, being overqualified—the award is for first collections and Comeau’s self-published his collection of short stories It’s Too Late to Say I’m Sorry in 2007. ***Former Coast contributor (remember A Softer World?) Joey Comeau was shortlisted for…
Barrington’s Starfish logos replaced with NSCAD art
UPDATE: I should have known that there were clever people behind this great idea. I heard from Garry Neill Kennedy: “The Starfish windows were filled with images by students in my spring term Printed Matter Class. The idea came from Noah Logan, one of the students in the class and another student Keith McLeod did…
