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The Coast | News, events, restaurants, concerts and Burger Week for Halifax, Nova Scotia
Home of the Best of Halifax Reader's Choice Awards, the award-winning independent newspaper covers the Halifax news, politics, events, concerts, movies, restaurants, and nightlife scene.
The new Canadian drama Clara pokes at the big questions: Why are we here? Are we alone in the universe? Is love worth the pain? Isaac (Patrick J. Adams, from Suits) is an astronomer racing fellow scientists for the NASA-funded opportunity to discover new life in the universe, except he fucks up and gets fired…
Two comebacks and an alt version to tell you about on this sweet frosty Friday: In 2012, a ginger-haired dream named Jennah Barry dropped an instant classic called Young Men, entrancing full cities with her deft songwriting, incredible voice and aspirational stage banter. She played and played, and then she stopped. There was vocal surgery,…
Professionally, I never came out when I came out. I just disappeared. I couldn’t deal with it. For most of my career, coming out in any way would have demanded doing so very publicly. I held those kinds of jobs—advocate for people with disabilities, legislative researcher, assistant to a provincial cabinet minister, communications person for…
You are eight years old and today is the first day of fishing season. Your father has finally taken you out with him and even bought you your own pole. Though you’re too young to understand adulthood, you can tell that this is how you become the person you hope to be. Your chest swells…
For his second film of 2018, Jason Reitman follows up the remarkable Tully with a completely different beast. Where the former was a quietly scary, exquisitely wrought depiction of post-partum depression, The Front Runner is a political comedy about a real-life event: Gary Hart’s 1988 presidential campaign, which was ruined by an affair uncovered by…
Errors in a recent ocean warming study illustrate global warming’s complexity. They also show the depths to which climate science deniers will stoop to dismiss or downplay evidence for human-caused climate change. The study by researchers from the U.S., China, France and Germany concluded, “ocean warming is at the high end of previous estimates” and…
Canada’s brand new $10 bill isn’t the only celebration of Viola Desmond happening this week. Businesses and organizations in Halifax’s north end are hosting Celebrate Viola—a multi-day festival honouring the new banknote’s release and Desmond’s legacy as a business leader and Civil Rights activist. Marika Paris, event coordinator for the North End Business Association, says…
Marielle Heller made one of the most striking debuts in recent memory with 2015’s The Diary of a Teenage Girl, the real and unflinching coming-of-age story of a California teen. It was tough, tender, funny and poignant—all qualities found here in her follow-up, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, though it’s toughness that dominates long before…
View this post on Instagram Dear Valued Customers, The purpose of this letter is to reluctantly inform you that The Anchor will be closing our doors after our last service, Thursday November 8, 2018. We have proudly served the Fairview area for the last 2 years, and strived to bring something new and exciting to…
Filmmaker, artist and all-around multihyphenate Cory Bowles is with us reflecting back on when the province killed Nova Scotia’s film tax credit. Then we phone up Megan Leslie to find out why Halifax’s former Member of Parliament left behind politics and the city after 2015’s federal election. All this, plus the city is rendered immobile…
Friday—the day we got nailed by Mother Nature—you came along Spring Garden Road in your shiny bus and ‘rescued’ a group of people standing by a bus stop. You suggested we all get in because even you weren’t sure when the next bus was coming. We climbed in and you made sure no one was…
Every single cab in this city is busy every single weekend, and, for some reason, we still don’t have Uber. Let’s get Uber, or more cabs to accommodate this city’s population. The amount of times I’ve received a recorded message from cab companies this fall telling me that the number was unavailable is ridiculous. And…
Hey The Coast, since you took away our anonymous accounts commenting on everything has gone way down. I often type a comment, only to run into the “log in with facebook or twitter” window, and then close it with disgust, abandoning my input. This sucks and I find it stifling.—Anonymous
To the 20-something guy with the immaculate moustache and rad green gloves with aliens on them who was riding the overcrowded bus during Friday’s snow storm: Although you were visibly soaking wet, cold and shivering, you were the only person willing to give up your seat so an elderly woman didn’t have to stand. Your…
So I read a HUGE article about SOO in The Coast today. Apparently they’re against immigrants, yet Mr. Rushton says they’re not racist. Well, fuck you Mr. Rushton and SOO. I’m not racist, I’m just stating my views!—Muslim, Immigrant and Arab
Now that we have more than a vague notion of each other, I get the feeling that wherever this goes is going to be good.—Heart extractor
To the pedestrians that like to play traffic cop and try to wave cars through AFTER they stop for them at a crosswalk: Just cross the street already! What a waste of time for me to be sitting there in my car, waiting for you to cross, while you flail your arms at me instead…
British Columbia is introducing a ride sharing legislation in November, meaning there’ll be room for Lyft and Uber to follow. The friggin’ NDP government? As a forward-thinking liberal government, why are you failing behind the NDP?—City boy
We somehow made it through youthful on-again-off-agains to find ourselves grown up, both looking for someone to keep growing with. You sometimes hear about couples “losing their spark”, but that won’t be us. I see it so clearly and know that I will keep choosing to love you every moment of my life, even (especially)…
Hey everyone at the gas stations who like to hang out and puff away near the doorway: Guess what? There’s a new law about smoking. Please read and heed it. But here’s something else: It’s illegal to smoke less than 90m from a doorway. I don’t want to inhale your disgusting smoke when I go…
I really don’t get it: People on our street are stealing our paper recycling bags every night before the truck arrives to take it. It means that if I don’t want you taking my paper recycling bag and rifling through my stuff I have to make sure I put my recycling out just before the…
Decked out in leather vests and black hoodies, the Soldiers of Odin are spreading their message of white nationalism on the streets of Halifax. At least, they were up until a couple of weeks ago. The Nova Scotia chapter of the far-right Soldiers of Odin network disbanded earlier this month over disagreements with the mother…
When Charlotte Pierce had her first son, she couldn’t find the classic, quality clothing she wanted to dress him in anywhere in Halifax. She wound up shopping online, falling in love with European brands and when baby number two arrived, watching him put his brother’s hand-me-downs to work. That planted the seed for Flower Child,…
Airbnb likes to position its hosts as everyday people offering up their homes for a little cash when they take a vacation or leave on a work trip. But new data assembled for The Coast shows the exact opposite. Over half of the Airbnb listings in the urban core seemingly belong to property owners with…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCORPIO (October 23-November 21) The US is the world’s top exporter of food. In second place is the Netherlands, which has 0.4 percent as much land as the US How do Dutch farmers accomplish this miraculous feat? In part because of their massive greenhouses, which occupy vast areas of non-urbanized space. Another key…
Artist, maker and instructor Amber Solberg doesn’t actually swear that much in her day-to-day life, but she appreciates a well-timed f-bomb when necessary. “A little quiet ‘fuck’ can get you through the day—there’s a time and place for everything,” she says. “They’re understated, elegant swears.” She’s talking about her cute line of accessories, Cursive Pins…
Mouthpiece To Nov 18, 8pm (2pm Sun mat) Alderney Landing, 2 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth $35 ($25 underwaged) In Mouthpiece, Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava climb out of a bathtub to play both sides of one woman’s brain. They began creating her in 2013, put her on a Toronto stage in 2015, won two Dora Awards…
Donovan Woods and the Opposition w/Raye Zaragoza Saturday, November 17, 2pm and 8pm (sold out) St. Matthew’s Church, 1479 Barrington Street $30 adv/$35 doors sonicconcerts.com Earlier this month, Toronto singer-songwriter Donovan Woods tweeted the question “In your opinion, is 3pm more like 2pm or more like 4pm?” A simple question, it got ratioed with a…
Q I’ve always wanted to tie girls up, but I can never convince a woman to let me. Lately, I’ve been exploring “bondage singles” sites online, but I’m totally new to this. How do I know which ones I can trust? There are hundreds of profiles, but it’s hard for me to believe I can…
Hit the brakes on Creighton St. bikes I have been an owner/resident in the north end’s Creighton Street neighbourhood for almost 20 years. It has always been an amazing area to live in, and continues to have more services all the time, with new people and businesses settling in and making the area more enriched.…
I have had a lot of criticism, eye-rolling and even anxiety about legalization. And still do. Yet I’ll admit (from my privileged stance) walking into the Portland Street NSLC and seeing CANNABIS in huge official letters brought tears to my white lady eyes. It happened! It’s legal! The stores have an airport-security neutrality about them…
Sara Davis Buechner Saturday, November 17, 7pm Lilian Piercey Concert Hall, Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts 6199 Chebucto Road $10-$35 ceciliaconcerts.ca Pianist Sara Davis Buechner is ready to give Halifax concertgoers a recital they won’t soon forget. An acclaimed musician who’s seen her share of personal and professional struggles as a transgender individual, it’s a…
An evening with Kate Inglis Monday, November 19, 7pm ViewPoint Gallery, 1459 Brenton Street Free Kate Inglis talks about death. Kate Inglis doesn’t just talk about death, her new book Notes for the Everlost: A field guide to grief (Shambhala) is all about death. Kate Inglis doesn’t just talk about death and write about death,…
A Nova Scotian bubbly goes great with food. No surprise, then, that contestant chefs at Canada’s Great Kitchen Party in Halifax—the rebranded Gold Medal Plates national culinary competition—choose overwhelmingly to pair their competition dishes with local sparkling wine. This makes for an especially good opportunity to size up some of the top sparkling wines in…
Steve McQueen’s Widows was ballsy before it even showed up: You know going in that all the men, including a famous one (Liam Neeson), die in the beginning. (Note to Hollywood: Start more films like this.) Following McQueen’s brutal, sobering Academy Award winner 12 Years A Slave, Widows looked to be a complete 180: A…
