Brainy, stylish Footnote
This 2011 film from Israeli auteur Joseph Cedar was in contention for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars this year and won an award at Cannes for its screenplay. A story of father and son academics, Eliezer (Shlomo Bar Aba) and Uriel Shkolnik (Lior Ashkenazi), both authorities on Talmudic studies at the Hebrew University…
DaPoPo’s The Drinking Game
I often think of those Amanda Marshall lyrics “Everybody’s got a story that could break your heart” when someone pisses me off. I mean, we don’t know the whole story of the people who are closest to us, much less the strangers and near-strangers that move through our lives. And they’re not very likely to…
No need to S.H.I.E.L.D. your eyes, The Avengers rules
Joss Whedon didn’t have an official hand in any of the individual Marvel superhero movies that laid the foundation for The Avengers, but his signature is all over this one. That’s a good thing. The nerd-god auteur handles several films’ worth of characters, and the big name actors who play them, as adroitly as could…
Best face forward
I’m having a winter wedding and want my skin to glow on my wedding day. Do you have any advice for brightening up dull, flaky winter skin? I recommend an aromatherapy treatment, beginning approximately one month ahead of your wedding date. Apply each product on a test patch on your skin in advance of the whole treatment to…
Well seasoned
What tips do you have for a couple interested in serving 100 percent local, seasonal food on their wedding day? First and foremost—this is easy and can be done at a competitive rate with other caterers—see what options can be provided for you with tailored seasonal menus. Do some research! Look into what is in…
I’m with the band
BAND OF GOLD After decades of making custom jewellery, Bradshaw still aims to tell a story with his creations. Here, he contrasts colour and texture to make a bold statement. James Bradshaw | 1551 Birmingham Street | 425-0121 jamesbradshawgoldsmith.com PRINT CHARMING For this truly one-of-a-kind pair of rings, goldsmith Dana Grund used the couple’s fingerprints…
Maid in heaven
I’ve picked my wedding party but have no idea what I want them to wear. Where do I even begin? I think the more prepared the group can be before they start shopping, the easier it is. Some times the bride enjoys starting the shopping process alone, beginning with getting well- acquainted with what’s out…
Purcell’s Cove sewage study raises residents’ ire
An engineering study of extending city sewage and water service to Purcell’s Cove is pitting some residents of that community against their councillor, Linda Mosher. The study is to determine what it would take to extend existing lines that end near Wenlock Grove along Purcell’s Cove Road to the cove proper, ending at Fergusons Cove…
Council funds Hallmark events
Halifax council approved $385,000 in funding for Hallmark Events this week. This category of grant funding targets recurring events with large impacts on the the city’s image, identity and economy, whether for the traditions they represent, the attention they garner outside the city or their mere ability to draw large crowds. Like the Blue Nose…
Studio daze
Billie Dre & The Poor Boys, The Woods Brothers, Kawajabear The polished, three-track Bourbon Belt is the product of Billie Dre & The Poor Boys getting lucky. The salt-soaked, bluesy-country infused rock trio were getting pretty used to recording in their living rooms when the opportunity to get fancy and lay down an EP in…
Forever young
It’s an electronic music takeover: LaserSquid Music is embracing National Youth Arts Week by throwing a major, all day dance party and showcasing a whole whack of local talent. It starts outside, with a very FREE show that includes Club Stoic, Coree Jamez, Grubby, MoneyoverBeaches, Mat Trouble and hopefully some sunshine. Once that wraps up…
Greta Gerwig’s Method-free mumblecore
The future of American acting yawns. “Sorry,” she says, embarrassed. “I have film festival rundown.” Greta Gerwig is 28 and has almost as many acting credits. You may have seen her in studio fare like No Strings Attached or Arthur, or Noah Baumbach’s Greenberg, stealing the movie from Ben Stiller. But she emerged from a…
Sweet and stress-free
When Kathleen Higgins and Phil Godin began their wedding planning, the most important thing to the pair was that the celebration showed their love of their family, friends and where they live. “This was a local wedding, in terms of resources, materials and producers,” says Higgins. “We live in a beautiful, bountiful little spot in…
Going balls out
Q I am a straight 29-year-old guy and I’ve been into ball-busting—having my balls kicked and stomped—since I was 14. The fucked-up thing is, I only enjoy getting my balls busted by other guys. I’ve been hit in the balls by girls, and it doesn’t do anything for me. I thought I might be bisexual,…
Relaxed romance
On the night they met, Bev Tortola and Dave Fidler didn’t sleep a wink—there was too much to say. After talking the hours away the pair shared their first breakfast at the cozy Canadiana Restaurant, little did they know then that Fidler would be serving up a ring and popping the question at the very…
This is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl
Kerrang! editor Paul Brannigan’s new biography, This is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl, tells the triumphant rise of everyone’s favourite drummer from punk rock obscurity to fronting one of the biggest arena rock acts. Brannigan does a good job detailing Grohl’s early years but sometimes gets lost in the details, devoting…
Stillman’s back with Damsels in Distress
Whit Stillman hasn’t made a movie since 1998—The Last Days of Disco, with Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny. He’s back now with Damsels in Distress, a mannered, high-falutin cupcake comedy about a quartet of girls (led by indie It girl Greta Gerwig, The Future of American Acting TM) who have decided that they would live…
The Lightning Field (Gaspereau)
Heather Jessup’s The Lightning Field has the potential to be a Canadian classic. Set in Cold War Toronto, Jessup writes with incredible depth, detail and insight. The novel spans four decades and sheds light on the Avro Arrow, but it’s when Lucy Jacobs is struck by lightning in a field the narrative unravels. Jessup’s take…
Happy holiday
What are some pros and cons for getting married on around or on New Year’s Eve? There’s an undeniable sense of romance and magic in the air around the holidays and definitely several pros in choosing this time of year to tie the knot. For example, many venues will already be lavishly decorated which could…
Pushmo
Pushmo is one of those clever little games that can be both relaxing and make you want to hurl your 3DS against the wall. The story doesn’t make much sense but that doesn’t matter, the point of the game is to solve different puzzles by pulling out blocks in order to make platforms appear so…
Tasty Planet: Back For Seconds
When a science experiment goes terribly wrong and a grey goo nano-machine gets loose there are serious implications—and that’s even before the nano-machine finds a time machine. Tasty Planet: Back For Seconds puts you in control of said grey blob as you gradually eat your way through each level, starting with incredibly small objects like…
Ceti Alpha
The bejeweled carny-devil gracing the cover of Ceti Alpha’s fourth release, Pista Loca, does no justice to the dark and pleasingly odd content of its music (except maybe on the dreamy “Galaxy Death Song,” where Nicholas Bevan-John sings “Hide under your sheets and I’ll be there soon/To hang 100 crucifixes upside down in your room”).…
A moving Tempting Providence
Unlike most of Halifax, I’m pretty stingy with my standing ovations, but even I leapt to my feet at the end of Tempting Providence. I was moved by the story itself, awed by the performances, impressed by the intricate choreography of everyday objects and envious of playwright Robert Chafe’s perfect command of both poetic and…
Hey Mother Death
Not only does cassette tape live, it has artistic cachet. At least it does for French actress/writer Laurence Strelka and Haligonian globetrotter Denma Peisinger. Their collaboration was “recorded spontaneously” and they kept mostly first takes. What lifts it above the average art school sound project is Strelka’s Parisian accent, which makes everything sexy, even hell.…
Passionate puppets
Many people think of puppets as mute, but a new art collective believes these stickmen have a lot to say. “We’re all very inspired by finding more creative ways to speak out and have our voices heard, and I think the puppets really can do that in different ways,” says Puppets Et Cetera member Winnie…
Rain Over St. Ambrose
Yarmouth lost its ferry, but holds onto the will to rock. Named oddly for a theory of political options, the title tune navigates some tricky tempo changes beneath a chorus of “the body of Christ won’t save your soul.” It is catchy enough to dissuade the religious chant (or is it denial?) from slowing your…
National Youth Arts Week hits The Spot
Do you know about The Spot? The top-secret-sounding public arts space is actually much the opposite. It’s gathering place and creative nook tucked away in The Pavilion, and it’s wide open to anyone under 30 to make the most of. Here you can record music, draw, paint, sculpt, snap pictures or just sit and the…
Spiritualized
After a lengthy wait, Jason Pierce returns with Spirtualized’s seventh studio album. Inspired by the band’s 2009 front to back live performances of their landmark release, Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating in Space, Sweet Light is a poppier album. Album opener “Hey Jane” is an eight-minute Kraut-rock groove inspired by early Rolling Stones, while…
Slow and steady
The coiled fronds of fiddleheads are like leafy green fingers, beckoning warm weather ever closer with the curl of each leafy stem. With its wild, green flavour, this young fern is the perfect ambassador for each spring’s new harvest. It’s also a perfect ingredient for Slow Food Nova Scotia’s Spring Supper. Last year, Graeme Ruppel—then…
Free Will Astrology
Happy Birthday! TAURUS (April 20-May 20) (April 20-May 20) From an astrological perspective, it’s the New Year season; you’re beginning a fresh cycle. How would you like to celebrate? You could make a few resolutions—maybe pledge to wean yourself from a wasteful habit or self-sabotaging vice. You could also invite the universe to show you…
Fat records
Yeah, Fat Stupids is a low-pressure kind of name. A punk name. You take a name like that and you know that no one could ever really like us,” guitarist Craig Hamlin says. “We’re just the Rockin 4 Dollars band playing Ramones chords, and you know that’s not going to be popular. Who would wear…
Summerhill breeze
Most of the advocacy of the environmental movement focuses on governments. Industry is more likely to be the target of protests and boycotts than gentler forms of persuasion. There are good reasons for that. As difficult as governments are to access at times, no one does secrecy and closed doors quite like the private sector.…
Nashville Pussy power
Atlanta, Georgia-based rockers Nashville Pussy are known for their songs about getting drunk, getting high and having sex, not to mention their raucous, boozy live shows, but that doesn’t mean touring is all crazy, all the time. “It’s pretty boring,” says guitarist and vocalist Blaine Cartwright, on the phone from Oshawa. “We’re all crammed into…
Cousin & wife
A group of volunteers sits in a circle of chairs in the lunch room of The Red Cross in Halifax. They’re all activists for different kinds of equality: an environmentalist; a social worker; a children’s rights activist; a gay rights advocate and a youth worker with the YMCA named Fadi. Fadi, 28, is a Kuwaiti-born…
North Lakes bridge the gap
North Lakes have been crossing the Confederation Bridge a lot since the release of their 2010 debut, Cobra. That recording earned them not only a nod from their home province in the form of a Music PEI Award for Best Alternative Album, but also showcases at Canadian Music Week and the East Coast Music Awards…
Gotta getta fund
Social networks and online media have a similar tendency to fly into rapid-fire frenzies over an announcement, drawing the attention of thousands of attentive audience members and few facts. Take last week’s mourning procession for Nocturne: Following a Metro article reporting that the city declined grant funding for the annual arts bonanza, Facebook and Twitter…
