Unions and small coffee shops
How does it even make sense to have a union for a small local coffee shop? And my god, are baristas ever full of themselves. Somehow, I dislike you even more. I hope you know you’re a joke to the entire food industry–way before this, but even more so now. You have managed to become…
I’ll show you a bitch…
…your face! — Facial
Construction — Attention new owner
To the Woman who bought the house on Kane Place: Could you please call off your workers on weekends and evenings! You are not making any friends in the neighbourhood. We cannot enjoy our own homes with the sound of someone drilling through concrete reverberating through our homes EVERY NIGHT AND ALL WEEKEND LONG. Please…
Halifax Pride prepares for annual festival
Halifax Pride Festival is not for another two months (July 18-28) but Halifax Pride is already taking community submissions. Those interested in being featured in the Halifax Pride guide must submit their event using this form by Wednesday, May 15. Wednesday is also the deadline to submit an emerging artist to be Halifax Pride’s Featured…
Dirty pirates
Well I’m very happy to hear that illegal downloads will hopefully be prosecuted here in Canada. The States has succesfully recovered funds from over 200,000 (in less than 2 years) individuals and countless others that have complied and paid the fines to avoid being named in a lawsuit. I have great faith in the Montreal…
Chill out dude!
To the … (I don’t know how to call you because asshole is not enough of a word and f*cktard would insult too many, so I will use “thing”). So, this is to the THING who decided to cut me off on Robie/Welsford last week. I remember what your car looked like and your plate.…
Happy graduation lanky lady
I’m so proud of you for finishing your undergrad and for your acceptance into your grad program! I love you more than a little and I admire you every day. Best 1 year and 1 month ever, here’s to many more together. (Congrats to all the 2013 Graduates everywhere!) —Your Galway Girl
Watch Halifax sprawl over nearly 30 years
Timelapse is an amazing new project from Google, Time magazine, NASA et al, that’s basically Google Earth animated with satellite photos from 1984 to 2012. In case you don’t get how watchable that is, the Timelapse lords suggest you check out cities that have experience development on steroids over the last 30 years, like Dubai…
F U Scalpers!
That is all. —True Fan
Came back to share a little more
To the kind woman who came back to share a little more. Thank you for coming back and talking to us again. It gave me goosebumps and butterflies when you came back to share a little bit more of your story and of your past. That kind of emotional vulnerability, strength, and openness is inspiring…
Buying and selling online
1. Don’t get offended if you are offered a lower price. It is expected that this will happen, and you factor this into your asking price. 2. Offer a lower price, but don’t be a jerk / lowball. Be reasonable. 3. Don’t contact a seller just to say you can get it new elsewhere for…
Thanks for running
You sucker punched my friend after he asked how the hockey game ended, and then ran off as his unconcious head cracked off the pavement. My friends chased you down until the cops picked you up as I had to put my jacket under my friends head, which proceeded to bleed onto the sidewalk. We…
You bought three small chairs and I one…
Love the way you say excuse me 2 times in the aisles, in the line up I asked you where you got the 3 small chairs and because of you I got one for my son. Sorry I said hi to that TV guy. When I finished I was looking for you outside with no…
To the jerks verbally harassing me on Quinpool…
It is NOT okay (or witty) for you and your friends to drive by, yelling at me, (a complete stranger), calling me names such as “red dressed bitch” and threatening to run me over with your car. I have no idea who any of you are and hope you all realize how socially unacceptable what…
I love you
I love you more than cheese, so will you please be mine or at least give me a chance 😉 I’m not shy, just inexperienced, you can change that 😉 waiting… Maybe someday. —Mystery Woman
Happy mother’s day!
To all you hard working moms out there! You kick ass, and you work harder than most. I hope you all get spoiled on this day of yours. <3 —Mother Lover
Open City warms my heart!
I love living in a city where local business is celebrated! Thank you Haligonians for making Open City a great success! I loved seeing your smiling faces wandering the city for treasures. As a long time employee of a small local business, my heart was warmed by the line up out the door; I could…
Pro-life idiots
I was listening to this stunned ‘pro-life’ woman on talk radio this afternoon. She said there was no valid reason for a woman to have an abortion. Doesn’t matter that you were brutally raped or poorer than cockroach shit, you should still pop out your sprog. O.K., bitch, let’s level the playing field. Why not…
Kiosk queens
Keep up the fantastic work ladies. You are ALL doing a great job! I hope all of you know that your hard work is appreciated by patients and by staff memebers. Front line staff always makes an impact of the experience that patients have. Hard work is never left unnoticed. Again thank you. —Your Favourite
Consultation costs
So, I contacted ( by email) a certain cosmetic centre to inquire about a procedure I had read about online. Basically it’s Botox but done in a way that it helps with teeth grinder and clenchers such as myself without changing one’s appearance. I wanted to get a price estimate, I was told I HAD…
Moosehead tickets available on Kijiji!
The Halifax Mooseheads face the Baie-Comeau Drakkar tonight at 7pm at the Metro Centre in Game five of the President Cup. If the Mooseheads win, the team will claim its first-ever QMJHL title. Ticket sales went through the roof. Games one and two of the series were both sold out. For tonight’s game, fans were…
“Gee whiz!”
You’re sweet and fun, and very smart. Also absolutely gorgeous. My stomach flips when you look at me and I can’t stop smiling long after our little hang-outs… and whenever you touch me, I’m surprised you can’t hear my heart pounding. I’m really going to miss sitting next to you in lectures next year. Maybe…
Charter ruling
If a product is legally available for sale, a consumer should have the right to visually identify and inspect what it is they are intending to purchase before the sale. Our government spends vast sums of tax dollars, utilizing every delay in the book in court, to try and bankrupt small business owners in their…
Fast forward
This is a love for all of the people who need love, want love, found love, are searching for love, are love, and those who make love real. Last year I was so broken hearted that I didn’t know if I would ever get out of bed, much less meet love again. My life and…
No respect
Who the F are you to call me a fruit? You are no different. Sure, you are hot, and your cousin, Bell, is sweet. Sure, it might be great to specialize, but unlike you, I’m versatile… —T. Mato
Let’s get Wild Leek
Local vegans (and hungry people in general, for that matter) prepare to say many thank-yous to Kirsten Taggart. By the end of May, your life (and diet) will be a lot greater thanks to her. She’s the brains, and culinary skills behind the Wild Leek Food & Juice Bar (2156 Windsor Street, 210-5335) the vegan…
Anti-abortion activist honoured. WTF?
It’s an old joke that anytime an institution uses words like “family,” “morality” or “decency” it usually means the exact opposite. That appears to be the case in the upcoming Family Values Awards, which is set to give longtime local anti-abortion advocate Herm Wills recognition for his work with the Campaign Life Coalition. Wills has…
Wasted time
You never really had any work for me. You talked down to me in your shop, pretty much told me to can it and to get to the point–once again. Then, after a month of waffling, of nothing, I guess you mentioned some work. Bad timing. I was pissed off and left in a surly…
Steve Moore’s If These Walls Could Talk
Steve Moore’s show If These Walls Could Talk is so personal to Moore, the audience doesn’t even need him there to explain his artwork. A series of postcard-sized quick sketches line the wall portraying different faces and bodies, all taken from Moore’s own experiences. The cozy space of Parentheses Gallery (2180 Gottingen Street), where the…
Enough
Dear Me, Ok, so you’ve been depressed lately; no job, gaining weight, lonely, low self esteem, etc. Well boo fuckin hoo. I’ve had enough of this, and now it’s gonna change. God damnit, you’re gonna like yourself, live with yourself, and be happy!!! Got it? Ok, good. —Love, Me
To my crush
Oh my goodness. You don’t know how attractive you are, which makes you even more attractive to me. When you touch me, my stomach flips. I say the stupidest things when I’m around you, because just looking at you makes my mind go blank and all I can focus on is trying to make my…
Navy blues
Crossing the bridge the other day I spotted one of our Navy’s submarines, surfaced in the basin like a giant black whale. One doesn’t often witness submarines in their natural habitat, them being one of the world’s most secret weapons, so I kept turning my head as I drove over. Then it hit me: that…
Eyecare woes
Fuck you welfare for only giving someone $50 for an eye appointment when most respectable opticians cost at least $75-80, forcing them to go to a certain crappy optometrist. Fuck you eye industry for allowing them to have a licence. And, fuck you for lying to patients and writing unclear prescriptions to make it impossible…
Mind ya bizznezz
Why is it ok for a utility to inform my neighbours how much power I use? How is this helpful to anyone? Unless we all live in duplicate houses, with exactly the same appliances, I fail to see how this is helpful. Maybe next year, Revenue Canada can publish our neighbours salaries, how much we…
Stars
I used to wish upon the endless stars, that I would be with you, fate brought us together and I can’t live without you, you are my heart, my love, my everything, you make me smile and I am happiest when I’m with you – laying next to me counting the shooting stars, as we…
Better why?
I am so tired of arrogant pretentious left wing extremists. Halifax seems to be overrun with these zubats. For some reason you think that because you are pro-everything makes you open minded and radical. All you are doing is being a complete hypocrite. In fact, that puts in the exact place of your arch-enemy, the…
BBQ
I’m sick and damn tired of buying BBQ sauce only to find out it has a twist top. No one uses this twist tip shit and hasn’t in a hundred years. Ketchup and mustard figured this shit out before I was born so why can’t BBQ sauce? Cheap pricks is what it comes down to.…
Oil is abiogenic
Dear Students, The numbers and facts do not support your ignorance of the topic. Oil is a renewable resource, and will be available for centuries to come. I feel sorry for you, please feel free to use my information to educate yourselves. It is easy to see why the world is like it is when…
mother earth, its beautiful creatures, endless sky and galaxy
thank you oh great cosmic force, for this beautiful world we get to live in, with all the wonders and magical places, the endless oceans and trees to climb. thank you for your nourishment oh great divine, you breathe life and birth new life thank you kind world for the endless divine oh mother nature…
Keith’s can-do attitude
Loyal Keith’s and Oland drinkers may be wondering why there have been fewer cans then normal at the liquor store. Oland Brewery’s can line was down at the end of April which delayed production for a while. “We have been working to rebuild our supply of beer,” says Wade Keller, spokesperson for Oland. “Several brands were…
Cool Karachi
We love it when a restaurant pops up and really fills a void in the food scene. The newbie Cafe Karachi (16 Titus Street, 431-4949) is doing just that, serving fresh, home-cooked Pakistani and Indian cuisine. This Sunday (May 12, 10am-2pm) Karachi’s cooking up a centuries-old, traditional Pakistani “lazy breakfast” that’ll feature national dishes, plus…
FRED. makes a Statement
Statement Design is moving in with FRED.! The two stylish north end businesses are collaborating this summer because, in the words of the owner Fred Connors, “Sometimes you need to shrink in order to grow”. The cafe will be downsizing in order to make some room for the furniture store to move into the 2606…
Thanks drivers!
On Tuesday around 9:15am I was sideswiped by a white SUV while riding my bicycle at the intersection of North and Robie. Although the SUV driver sped off, many drivers stopped to see if I was okay, gave me the licence number of the SUV, and one driver even went off after the SUV. I…
Wanted: Shubie Cafe
In January, in The Coast’s annual “Fix the city” issue, we called for more concession stands and cafes in public parks. Now, one community group is taking up the challenge. The Shubenacadie Canal Commission is a non-profit organization charged with stewarding and promoting the Shubenacadie Canal, which stretches from downtown Dartmouth to the Bay of…
Check mate
At what stage of the home-buying process should I bring in an inspector? Once you have found a home you would like to buy, negotiate a purchase price with the seller. At that point you have a number of days to organize and complete several things, one of them being a home inspection. It is best…
Decked out
It’s hard to believe this backyard escape was once the sad backside of a 100-plus-year-old house in the north end of Halifax. Mike Burns, of MRB Contracting, was living in the home as he and his team tore it apart and put it back together, and when summertime rolled he got to thinking about some…
In the market
Herring Cove The digs: This very bright two-bedroom home offers 1,118 square feet at 3 Keddy Road, a quiet, dead-end street. It boasts new bathroom, stainless steel appliances, lots of windows and an insulated basement. The ‘hood: While we’re categorizing this as Herring Cove, this is actually a stone’s throw from the rotary and Quinpool…
I don’t want to give up
Q I’m a 24-year-old straight, married female. I have been reading your column in the Portland Mercury since I was 16. Thank you for explaining things that my parents wouldn’t and for helping me clear the hurdles of adolescence! I turn to you now for advice. Five months ago, I married the man of my…
Neighbourhood watch: Downtown Dartmouth
Few communities in the HRM wear neighbourhood pride on their sleeves like Dartmouth. (Actually, in this ‘hood, they wear it on their t-shirts, their buttons and their sandwich boards, too.) Downtown Dartmouth has been certainly been working its way out of the shadow of its big sister, downtown Halifax, for the past few years, so…
Chasing the horizon
Upon entering the gallery, you are confronted by a six-foot tall tangle of metal cables that seems both chaotic and somehow methodical. To your right, you glimpse a storyboard-esque arrangement of distorted colour photographs; behind you, a monochromatic photo of New Mexico, a circular diagram and a story of a boy who is bitten by…
Welcome to the 2013 City Council Report Card
Last year was a low point for Halifax city politics. “Council dealt with many highly contentious issues—and screwed up each and every one of them,” we wrote in our annual report card. We went on to award a record number of F grades—five—and for the first time, flat-out expelled one politician, then-mayor Peter Kelly. Our…
Neighbourhood watch: Downtown Dartmouth
Few communities in the HRM wear neighbourhood pride on their sleeves like Dartmouth. (Actually, in this ‘hood, they wear it on their t-shirts, their buttons and their sandwich boards, too.) Downtown Dartmouth has been certainly been working its way out of the shadow of its big sister, downtown Halifax, for the past few years, so…
Into the wild
Kevin Muise Interiors, 2063 Gottingen Street, 405-8455 Lazy Susan buck antlers $180 Put this pair of weathered resin antlers on a pedestal and bring a little natural beauty (and a hint of your wild side) into any room. Trunk Studio trunkstudio.com and J&R Grimsmo, 1533 Barrington Street The Station Chair $1950-2150 Local designer Jess Tasker…
The Caretakers
A visionary warning about the escalating military economy from President Eisenhower came at the end of his second term. The old general sounds pretty wise now. As a backdrop to the music on the Caretakers’ “Love is Lost,” it leaves a lasting impression. Then there’s “On Becoming Noam Chomsky”, comparing the tireless dissenter to Socrates.…
Free Will Astrology
Happy Birthday! Taurus (APRIL 20 – MAY 20) You may have only a dim idea about how your smart phone and computer work, but that doesn’t prevent you from using their many wonderful features. While you’re swimming, you know almost nothing about the physiological processes that are active inside you and yet you have no…
Reg Rankin
2013 grade: B+ 2012 grade: C- 2011 grade: C- 2010 grade: D 2009 grade: D Cell: 499-3744 The UARB created a new electoral district by taking the population-heavy West Clayton Park and tacking on Reg Rankin’s old district of Timberlea. Rankin won the new district, in part due to his politicking skills, in part because…
Home is where the heart is
Bob Morouney’s pandemonium diary is a delightful series that challenges the everyday assumptions of life. The artist uses the image of houses as metaphors for his interpretation of society and culture. His copperplate etchings, mostly black and white, are amusing and thought-provoking. There’s the tongue-in-cheek humour in “strangers enemies friends,” where the homes appear in…
Mike Savage
2013 grade: A- 2012 grade: N/A Phone: 490-4010 Imagine moving into a house once occupied by a serial killer, who stashed the body parts of his victims willy-nilly under the couch cushions, in the hallway closet, the refrigerator, behind the drapes. First you’ve got to clean up the mess, but no matter how much you…
Matt Whitman
2013 grade: C- 2012 grade: N/A Cell: 240-3330 Before he was elected, all we knew about Matt Whitman was he laid claim to inventing something he calls “reverse networking,” which as far as we can determine means saying nice things about people. Not exactly our cup of tea, but neither does it strike us as…
Small wonder
Shay Ingram and her fiance Mathew Dunn are the ultimate first-time homeowner dynamic duo. She’s a decorator who spends her days helping people beautify their living spaces at M Home and he tears it up as carpenter, so it’s fitting that when the time came for the pair to buy their first home they picked…
Pamela Morgan
This is a re-emergence for Morgan as a songwriter. It’s the first album of mostly originals by the former Figgy Duff lead singer in a decade. Recorded in the UK and Newfoundland, Play On has more than a dozen musicians stepping in and out. Jim Bennion’s guitar is a dead ringer for Mark Knopfler on…
Real talk
I’m buying my first home. What should my first steps be? One of the biggest new buyer heartaches is having the excitement of finding the perfect place dashed by being unable to secure financing. Before you start pounding the pavement with a realtor, it’s a wise idea to talk to a mortgage broker first to…
Paradise found
The past is very present on Suzanne Taker and Sheryl Grant’s dreamy Seaforth property. Flanked by ocean and trees, the land that that was once Taker’s grandfather’s farm has been in her family for nearly 60 years, making it just as rich historically as it is aesthetically. A few years ago the only structure that…
Forever Eighteen
Admit it. You’ve sometimes wished that life would give you a mulligan, a chance to go back and do things differently. Well, in Michael Melski’s Eighteen, unhappy senior citizens Ben and Claire (played by Robbie O’Neil and Elizabeth Richardson) get that chance when they fall into the Fountain of Youth. But it soon becomes apparent…
Brad Johns
2013 grade: B+ 2012 grade: C 2011 grade: B- 2010 grade: D 2009 grade: C 2008 grade: D 2007 grade: D Cell: 476-1234 Brad Johns is probably the most underrated councillor. He consistently offers worthy insight, which goes unvalued by his colleagues. He does good constituency work, and everyone in the district knows where to…
A novel concept
Solterre Design’s concept cottage is where work, play and home intersect for Keith Robertson and Jennifer Corson. It’s a demonstration project—and a bit of an experiment—for the pair of architects, but it’s also their second home, a place they hope to retire. Built at 3 Pastures on the stunning Second Peninsula of Nova Scotia’s south…
Sloan
The last band standing from the early ’90s Halifax-Moncton scene, Sloan has always been into punk, more prominent in the Pentland/Murphy catalogues than Ferguson/Scott. Written in ’88, “Jenny,” about Murphy’s ex/jale’s Jennifer Pierce, nails power hardcore. “It’s in You, It’s in Me” veers a bit back into Sloan-pop (see rock solo, The Offspring, harmonic outro)…
Steve Craig
2013 grade: A- 2012 grade: N/A Cell: 240-0441 We have never seen a non-politician enter the council realm as successfully as has Steve Craig. He has hit the ground running, and is well representing his constituents. Craig’s first act was to bring forward problems with stormwater systems in his beleaguered Sackville. It’s a problem faced…
Waye Mason
Grade this year: B+ Grade last year: N/A Cell: 483-7283 Rookie councillor Waye Mason came out of the gates swiftly, offering up first a council order breaking city staff’s habit of dropping material on council at the last moment, then getting council on board with a stronger commitment to spend $50 million on downtown improvements.…
Put a Banned Aid on it
Mike Chandler first made his mark on Taboo Theatre when he joined the cast of Porn Shoppe, written by Taboo’s founder Charles Crosby. “I played a cop who was very uninhibited sexually,” says Chandler, “and I remember making Charles laugh by pronouncing ‘penis’ in a really strange way and by whipping out a prosthetic member…
Refit for a queen
To the average apartment hunter, this Windsor Street one-bedroom was just another charmingly weathered rental property. But Claire Leger saw nothing but potential, which is what lead her to sign a lease for the little bare-bones flat in west end Halifax. After years living in university residence, sublets and shared spaces, she was craving a…
Jennifer Watts
2013 grade: A- 2012 grade: C+ 2011 grade: B+ 2010 grade: A- 2009 grade: B Cell: 497-4748 With Waye Mason, Jennifer Watts cast a symbolic vote against expanding the Bayers Lake business park. She also made a poignant comment on the disposition of the former Northcliffe Rec Centre in Clayton Park: The city will lose…
Splash dance
Building on a youth of musicals, choir solos and sheer passion, by 18 years old Samm “Splash” Reid was a hype girl, singing with Shevy Price while she rapped. “I had to have my mom with me,” she says, laughing. “I thought ‘I can’t wait until I can do this on my own,’ that’s when…
Tim Outhit
2013 grade: B- 2012 grade: C+ 2011 grade: C+ 2010 grade: C- 2009 grade: C Phone: 490-5679 Since getting re-elected, Tim Outhit hasn’t been particularly outspoken about any issue. But there’s been a general gestalt about him, a noticeable shift into the ornery. It’s like watching a volcano. He just sits there, maybe shifts around…
Buried Truths
Buried Truths tells the story of 14-year-old Zoë, who after the death of her mother moves from Toronto to small town Newfoundland to live with a father she believed was dead. Whenever you delve into the mind of a teenager you are bound to wind up with a certain amount of selfishness and—while not lacking…
Freshman guitars and Econoline vans
Aidan Knight’s father, an avid guitar collector, bought him his first guitar—a gorgeous 1958 Guild M-65 Freshman, manufactured in Hoboken, New Jersey—when Knight was still a teenager. It remains his favourite guitar. Small coincidence, perhaps, that one of the character-driven songs off his new LP, Small Reveal, chronicles a lonely clerk dreaming of love while…
David Hendsbee
2013 grade: C- 2012 grade: F 2011 grade: C- 2010 grade: D 2009 grade: C 2008 grade: D 2007 grade: D+ Cell: 483-0705 Last year, David Hendsbee distinguished himself as the worst of a sad lot of councillors, pointlessly attacking the harmless Occupiers at Grand Parade while defending the chief grifter in the mayor’s office.…
Linda Mosher
2013 grade: B- 2012 grade: C 2011 grade: B- 2010 grade: B- 2009 grade: C- 2008 grade: C- 2007 grade: D Cell: 476-4117 The longer Linda Mosher is on council, the more enigmatic she becomes. We can’t ascribe any coherent political ideology to her, nor can we say what else might motivate her. That’s not…
Nena’s breakfast of champions
As a shiftless 20-something I spent a calendar of mornings at Fog City Diner—or Tasty Food, as you may choose to recall—leaning into the unwaveringly comfortable, dilapidated booths, drinking cup after cup of shitty coffee. I’d read magazines, do crossword puzzles and push fluffy pieces of omelet around my plate in montage-worthy marathon breakfasts. Kelsey…
Letters to the editor, May 9, 2013
<font size="+1"GROUP WORK Re: “Bigger love,” Feature by Katie Toth (May 1): For an entire generation, right-wing political movements have hit us on the head with “the return to family values” as a top-shelf intoxicant in their political agenda. Yet equally political is the personal choice of living a more honest, egalitarian way of life.…
Bill Karsten
2013 grade: C- 2012 grade: D 2011 grade: C+ 2010 grade: C+ 2009 grade: C+ 2008 grade: C 2007 grade: C- Cell: 476-1855 In what was undoubtedly the meanest and most contested council election last year, Bill Karsten defeated Jackie Barkhouse by just 68 votes. The contest was so close that Karsten had to sit…
Eat Your Heart Out
I really wanted to like this book, but I found the stories in Eat Your Heart Out to be, overall, a bit weak and repetitive. Boland is obviously rooting for the underdog here. Her characters are victims—people-in-progress just trying to get their shit together. Depicted over and over again are half-uttered intimacies between men and…
My first time
“First things first: it’s easy to get carried away when daydreaming about your renovation project, but it is very important to keep reminding yourself that you are not filming one of those home reno reality shows you’ve been watching for months. Everything looks less messy, less time-consuming and less expensive on TV. Unfortunately, real-life renos…
Barry Dalrymple
2013 grade: C+ 2012 Grade: F 2011 grade: F 2010 grade: D- 2009 grade: D Cell: 222-0740 Barry Dalrymple hasn’t been our favourite councillor. After getting elected, he earned a D in 2009, a D- in 2010 and then fell into seemingly permanent F mode for 2011 and 2012. Dalrymple is still needlessly cantankerous (purposefully…
Paper chase
What happened to wallpaper? What we remember as wallpaper is a thing of the past, thank god! What we are seeing now is known as wall covering. With all the colours, textures and patterns available, there is something for everyone’s style, and budget. The wall coverings are made from products such as laminate, vinyl, fabric,…
Seeing green
Project 9, 5525 Artillery Place, 422-7463 Draper chair $1,249 There’ll be no place like home if this bad boy’s waiting for you plant yourself on it. Made of distressed Dallas leather, available in a variety of colours (though who could argue with seafoam). If it’s good enough for Don Draper, that means it’s perfect. Thornbloom,…
Let’s save $3 billion by cutting suburban sprawl
It’s ironic that less than 24 hours after Halifax council approved the municipal budget, a report by Stantec Consulting was made public which outlines how HRM could save almost $3 billion by the year 2031. That would free up $148 million per year to invest in better services, or to reduce taxes. And Stantec was…
Russell Walker
2013 grade: D 2012 grade: F 2011 grade: D 2010 grade: B 2009 grade: B- 2008 grade: C- 2001 grade: D Cell: 497-7215 Old cranky dude living in Fairview gets reelected to council every four years, just to demonstrate the poor state of political education in Fairview, apparently. Except for the Solar City issue, Russell…
Lorelei Nicoll
2013 grade: B 2012 grade: C- 2011 grade: C 2010 grade: C 2009 grade: C- Cell: 478-2705 Slowly, ever so slowly, Lorelei Nicoll is coming into her own. She’s whatever the opposite of brash is, inoffensively finding her way through the thicket of loud and stupid that is Halifax council. For too long, Nicoll seemed…
Life After Life
The only thing I didn’t like about this book was the fact that I almost didn’t read it because it bore a Chatelaine Book Club sticker. Life After Life taught me to swallow my pride, dump my prejudices and get back to judging a book by its first sentence, not its cover. This is an…
David Myles’ two minds
Juno-winning musician David Myles has the unique ability to shift between soft-seaters and stadiums, playing to relax retirees or amp up 20-somethings, depending. “I just did 25 shows in rural Saskatchewan in community centres with my trio. Ninety-five percent of the audience was over 65,” Myles says. “That’s a good portion of my career and…
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American classic gets the splashy 3D adaptation no one was particularly asking for in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. To recount the plot every high schooler knows; Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) moves to West Egg, New York and befriends the mysterious Jay Gatsby. The young millionaire throws opulent parties, but longs for…
Suite view
King’s Wharf Location: The Dartmouth waterfront View: The second biggest natural harbour in the world, McNabs and Georges Islands and the babe that is Halifax. Price range: $249,900 and up Reasons to brag: King’s Wharf is essentially going to be a mini-town of its own, so the location alone is bragworthy, housing multiple condo buildings,…
Gloria McCluskey
2013 grade: B+ 2012 grade: C- 2011 grade: C+ 2010 grade: B+ 2009 grade: B- 2008 grade: B 2007 grade: C Cell: 476-1667 Gloria McCluskey is, has always been and always will be, well, Gloria McCluskely. A force unto herself, McCluskey has come to define Dartmouth Centre, for better and for worse. The “better” is…
The Deer Yard
The exquisite craftsmanship of the words inside The Deer Yard match its beautiful exterior. The collection of 21 poems begins with an explanation of the format, which uses the Wang River Sequence as a model. Thurston, living in British Columbia, would write four lines and send them to Cooper, who, living in New Brunswick, would…
Poirier’s eclectic circus
Did you know that you love dancehall, soca and afropop music? Montreal-based DJ and producer Poirier is going to prove that you do, even if you may not know it yet. Poirier’s music is a fresh blend of big sexy beats and deep bass, with an international feel that you don’t often hear in Halifax.…
Tyler Perry Presents: Peeples
Everyone involved in Tyler Perry Presents: Peeples, a lacklustre meet-the-parents romantic comedy, deserves some sort of medal for keeping out anything even resembling Perry’s trademark cinematic poison. Regular guy Wade (ever loveable Craig Robinson) crashes his girlfriend’s family reunion in the Hamptons to ask for her hand in marriage, only to find that his lady…
Stephen Adams
2013 grade: B- 2012 grade: D 2011 grade: D 2010 grade: D 2009 grade: B- 2008 grade: C- 2007 grade: B- Cell: 497-8818 Stephen Adams has been uncharacteristically quiet these past six months. Maybe he’s worried about something, or just reflective or overwhelmed at his “day job” as a Big Pharma rep. Yep, Adams is…
Darren Fisher
2013 grade: B- 2012 grade: F 2011 grade: C- 2010 grade: C+ 2009 grade: N/A Cell: 497-7166 Darren Fisher had by far the most embarrassing council moment this year. The business he started, Nic Nax convenience stores, ended up on the city’s uncollectable debt list, owing $82,000 for bus passes sold, but not paid back…
Phoenix
From its early disco singles to its last two records of killer guitar pop, Phoenix seemed to be on a continuous, upward trajectory. With Bankrupt, however, the band has taken a big step back. Each track here echoes the style and structure of 2009’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, but they end up feeling lesser in every…
Vital Remains’ devil’s path
Vital Remains is having a bit of the hair of the dog. Calling on the road from Toronto, guitarist Tony Lazaro is washing down some eggs and hot sauce with a Heineken. Our conversation is broken up with the odd mumbled “good morning” from his bandmates. It’s 1pm. That alone should go to show, even…
To the Wonder
King of the summer blockbusters, Terrence Malick returns with a vengeance in the broody slab of melancholia, To the Wonder. Olga Kurylenko is a French ex-pat brought to small town America with her precocious daughter by stoic boyfriend Ben Affleck. Under the shadow of her poetic narration, the two struggle to stay together as Affleck…
OMG, it’s Open City
Celebrate Mother’s Day weekend with one mother of an event—the second annual Open City, where I LOVE LOCAL and over 100 retailers and restos team up to make bring Halifax to the next level, takes place on this Saturday, May 11. After the resounding success of last year’s event (seriously, people freaked out, new businesses…
Close call! Sprinkler system glitch closes down Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
“No art or people were harmed in the making of this situation,” says the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia’s marketing and communications representative Donna Wellard, laughing. It’s been an understandingly long day for the gallery after last night’s announcement that a flaw in the sprinkler system will have the gallery’s north building, including the permanent…
