Buy Local Week begins
You’d think we planned this, and perhaps there was a little forethought to all of it. The Nova Scotia chapter of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (go to ballens for more information) is promoting Buy Local Week from November 26 through December 5, just as The Coast has its Buy Local Halifax guide…
You have got to be kidding me
I have seen this before upon occasion, but today in the rain at night it bothered me more than ever. Not once, not twice but three times tonight I saw people parking, parked or sitting in their car in front of a bus stop. Give me a break. Can you not see the bus in…
I am a complete idiot!
Almost 10 years ago we married, About 6 years ago you had an affair. Told me I let myself go and you have always has a crush on her. I was so stressed and depressed that I lost over 60lbs. Was down to 126lbs and I still thought I was fat and ugly. Found out…
Coffee Complainer
To the lady that came in to my coffee shop today and ripped on me and my fellow employees for being too slow: eat shit, you miserable slag! Fuck off to another coffee shop if you don’t like it. Clearly, you’re bothered by our service and we don’t want your negative, asshole attitude around anyway.…
Real in a fake world…
Dear tanning salon, home of all the desperate money hungry spoiled bitchy house wives.. I dont like you. You’re pretty pathetic actually.. you say “my heart wasn’t in the job” well I’m GLAD!!!!! I’m sorry I don’t wake up and live to clean tanning beds and wash and fold your little white towels. To place…
Pop Explosion Insensitivity
The “Halifax Pop Explosion” name really bothers me. I doubt there will be a “9/11 Band Terror Battle” in New York any time soon. Really stupid to name a music festival after a tragic event. —Sensitive
Asshole
You are a user. You use girls for money, sex and whatever else they’ll give you. You’re a slacker who thinks he isn’t. You spend money on drugs instead of spending it on those who are owed it. You won’t go far and you are one messed up individual. Realize that fact and that you…
Sarah McLachlan Fumbles Towards the Metro Centre
sarah mcgothlan Yep, Ms. Lilith Fair herself is coming to play a shoo at the Metro Centre on March 22nd, with Melissa McClelland and Butterfly Boucher opening. Tickets will go on sale this Satuday through ticketatlantic.com. Anyway, I just noticed that someone set her song “Silence” to a Buffy the Vampire Slayer montage on the…
Why aren’t job positions truthful?
Finally I am graduating and now it has come time for the job search. For the field each open position has a report on the branch and position, which is from 10 pgs-40 pgs long, each branch is different. Why if you have a 40 pg report can you not state all the job requirments?…
Don’t bluff with a empty hand and DON’T waste my time!
Gentlemen: If you are wondering why you are date-less on Saturday nights here’s why- If you can’t take a lady out and offer to pay for her meal (and yes I can afford to pay for mine and yours too) and chances are the next time I will (IF there is ever a next time)…
It’s not home-made quality deliciousness anymore, it’s Delissio
The disappointment! I hadn’t eaten supper and was so looking forward to a slice I’ve enjoyed so many times in the past, before the show started….only to have it immediately identified as Delissio by the friends I was with. They were right. The puffy crust, the factory-created seam around the edges, the shitty taste…all of…
AUDI UHOH
LOL…..congrats to the driver of that AUDI grey 2-door coupe in Clayton Park … thought you could cut across oncoming traffic at noon while talking on your phone, and then so casually hold out your hand with the cellphone and shake it at the car that honked at you. Guess all that multitasking prevented you…
A Money Saving Suggestion for Metro Transit
Just a thought, but maybe you should just shred up your charming little bus schedules – it’s not like the numbers inside mean a thing – and use the shredded paper to make bonfires at every bus stop. If someone wants to know when the bus is coming, they can just move to a city…
Distance and Time
…don’t seem to make much of a difference. My heart remains yours. —there you have it
Shut Up and Eat
I’m having a kinda crap day today and this video takes my bitch-frown and not only turns it upside down and sideways, but it bakes it into a sweet, fruity-feeling souffle of happiness. Then it throws itself in your face and is like “WHAT? IT’S OKAY TO FEEL LIKE A HAPPY BITCH!” Maybe it will…
you’re not as perfect as you think
Halifax, I’m sure your mother told you it’s impolite to stare. I don’t care if I’m wearing all only one colour, holding hands with my spouse, wearing a tank because it’s hot outside or laughing just a bit too loud. You can gossip about me when I’m out of earshot but having someone stand and…
You Know Already
I was walking down Argyle, you had a rather large stick/pole in your hand… you asked me if I could tell you how to get to the library and I directed you, blushing madly I’m sure, as your eyes were busily trying to pierce my soul. It was only as you thanked me and called…
Find someone else to get you off
You took my virginity. You were my first for everything. You seemed nice, I trusted you and I wanted to. We talked for a while but only when you wanted to. Sometimes you are so nice to me I forget that you either ignore me or shut me down when I try to contact you,…
Wearing Rose-coloured glasses
I miss you. And I know I might always have to. But I’ve learned first hand there’s no one like you. You were my first and maybe you’re suppost to be my last. Every time I run into you and we talk about life it gives me hope. Maybe one day we can try again…
You dont even know
You left me. Now you think I still love you. I don’t. You think I still want you. I don’t. You think we’re friends. We’re not. You’re oblivious. You’re selfish. You’re soul-less. You’re ugly. I hate your face. I hate the way you smell. I hate you. Take your music and your friends and your…
To the art school hunch back wannabe drummer bitch
I hate your guts, you have no talent and you’re ugly as hell. Your fashion show clothes look like hobos pieced together used dishrags and you suck at playing drums. I hate the fact that he ever tried to get with your dwarfish looking ass. Please drop dead. You’re wasting your time at school, I…
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
The last six months have been a whirlwind of uncertainty and adventure. I ‘quit’ my life in Halifax and flew half way around the world to find something new. New skills, new confidence, new friends. A bigger city has a lot to offer someone crazy like me, both financially & personally, and I’ve enjoyed indulging.…
Yield Means Yield
To all the Halifax drivers who think that a Yield sign means alternating who gets the right of way (I go, you go)… YOU ARE WRONG! In particular the merge of Upper Water Street on to Barrington Street Northbound… The drivers on Barrington have the right of way and the mergers on Upper Water are…
All this waiting is worth it…
When I first met you, you were dating a real jerk, he dumped you, you were hurt. Then I came along, your “night in shining Armour” you asked that we take it slow, I said sure, here we are a month later, we are really close, I feel I know you better than I would…
Rent-A-Cops
If being ID’ed is a compliment then tonight it was overkill. I mosey my way into a liquor boutique (I’ll call it that) which I frequent all the time, cashiers recognize me but sometimes still ask for my ID to impress the boss yaddy yadda… The little rent a cop whom has no real authority…
Khyber Night Flea Market
You know where Shoptalk will be on Saturday, yes? We’ll be at the Night Flea Market at the Khyber (1588 Barrington Street) at some point between 8pm and 11pm. For a measly $2 we all have access to 24 vendors, hawking their wares including clothes, crafts, records, books, baked goods, even VHS tapes for those…
Laura Chenoweth upcoming events
Mark these days in your calendar: this Saturday November 27. Saturday December 11 and Saturday December 18. From 12pm to 5pm on those days you’ll find a studio sale of products by Laura Chenoweth Organic Apparel taking place in Chenoweth’s studio, 2526 Agricola Street, Studio 4 (upstairs, 405-8881). You’ll find from her fall collection cord…
Kid Koala is Coming
Friday January 11 at the Paragon. $12/$15. Tickets available through ticketpro.ca in a couple of days. He has the most fun.
Fuck Snow
I hate winter, go away! You piss me off! Fuck bundling up to stay warm, getting splashed by a douche bag car driver. You are totally shivering by a coffee shop when an idiot walks by in a t shirt! You so want to say to him, HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FUCKING MIND! When it…
Ouch ouch ouch
Damn you, bowels. Damn you for hurting me, twisting and writhing and causing me pain. I should be better to you, maybe feed you some fibre ever now and again, but honestly, do I really deserve this torture? —And ouch again
The 12 Rules of Shopping
As a former retail worker (which everyone who has ever shopped should be required to experience) and a frequent shopper I thought I’d offer unsolicited and probably unwanted advice to all of you shopping shitheads out there. All of these examples are from actual events so don’t think I’m exaggerating for effect. I just felt…
Here for the bitch rants not for the bitch comments
I understand the internet is pretty much full of drama and if you post something online you do get negative remarks back but the this love the way you bitch thing is for people who feel the need to rant a complaint about something in their life that pisses them off. Not to deal with…
I just don’t get it.
This has been eating away at me since I have been forced to use a bus to get back and forth to my university 2 or so years ago, I don’t want anyone to get my opinion wrong so let me say something first. I understand that if a bus is packed, jammed tight, with…
If words could make wishes come true
If unreliable buses and apologies could get you to work on time we would have the greatest transit system in the world. —Walking
Trying not to think about you
I didn’t love you enough when I had the chance and I foolishly let you go. I was scared. I’m going to pay the price for that mistake for a long time to come. I’m genuinely trying my best to move on and I will evenutally, but I miss you more than anything. I learned…
Hit and Run
How could you hit a car, set off the alarm and just drive away? I saw you, and reported it (older model red car with possible damage to the back end). I’m pretty sure you and your 3 friends were drunk, lucky for me the police were only down the block and it was quick…
Numbers
98 days 3,785 kilometres 2025 Air Miles -40 degrees I can’t wait to start over with you. —1 + 1 = <3
5 Silly Questions with the Nymphets
facelove The Nymphets landed in Halifax a couple of months ago on a bit of a tour (they’ve also lived in Montreal and Stockholm) and since then they’ve played a smattering of Gus’ Pub shows and charmed the pants off anyone lucky enough to see them at Rockin4Dollars. Johanna Heldebro (drums) and Jared Leon (guitar)…
E-PIN Korean Grill House opens
As further evidence of Barrington Street recovery—see new area arrivals Obladee Wine Bar, Oddjects, Newcombe’s Ink (more info coming soon), TAO: The Adventure Outfitters, even Starbucks—we now have another delicious downtown destination to discover. E-PIN Korean Grill House (1533 Barrington Street, 431-3839) is a new Korean restaurant that’s gone in at the corner of Barrington…
Trinity Jewellers Party
Head on down to Trinity Jewellers (6226 Quinpool Road, 431-7900) on Sunday between 12 noon and 5pm for their Friends and Family Shopping Party, with food and drinks provided by neighbour Ireland32. This event has loads of in-store promotions and deals, including 20 percent off sterling steel and fashion jewellery, 25 to 50 percent off…
The Caroling Cyclist
To the girl in the red coat biking up south street during the brief snowfall saturday afternoon. Hearing you sing Let It Snow, Let It Snow as you peddled your way by my apartment was absolutely delightful! Thank you kindly. —Wishing for a White X-mas
Comic book shops suck!!
Okay I admit it, I read comic books. I love series like Sandman, Y:The Last Man, and Fables. Because I like these books, I sometimes end up in the comic book store. There is only ONE shop in Halifax where I don’t feel like some kind of bug on display when I walk in. In…
Psycho Ex-GF from the depths of hell
To my boyfriends ex girlfriend from NB who won’t seem to get the point: Get a fucking life and move on. Seriously you dated in HIGH SCHOOL. That was what? 7 or 8 years ago?, he didn’t love you then and he definitely doesn’t love you now. You were a mistake to him, he said…
Kaf on this
Dear hipsterbour; you’re really bad at guitar and singing. Like realllllly bad. You hear those laughs? I know you can. That’s me, laughing at you. I’m pretty sure I can play guitar better than you and I don’t even have one. Me, standing on a stage, doing nothing would get much more money than you…
Poppy Money Thief
So, the police have finally identified this piece of human excrement and are actively looking for him. It seems that he didn’t hit 1 Tims but 3, so it was hardly a crime of opportuntiy. He needs to be paraded down Barrington Street in leg irons and shackles and pelted with rotten produce, all while…
Concert Crowd
Fuck you. I’d been waiting to see this show for years, and I was so excited. first off, we waited in line for over an hour just to get in, even though everyone in the line had tickets. So at midnight we get in, and the coat check is somehow already full, even though more…
We didn’t dance
You looked me in the eye and said “you don’t roll with it – you own it. You are awesome. Really.” And you meant it. And I saw it. And it helped change so many things. When I think I’m not, I remember that you said I was. And that keeps me going upward and…
Grab a hanky, it’s November Christmas
November Christmas. Starring John Corbett, Karen Allen, Sam Elliott and you, dear Nova Scotia. Sunday, 10pm on CBS. A couple weeks ago Matt Semansky wrote about the upcoming hockey movie Goon, and how it’s set in Halifax but shot in Winnipeg. Nothing to worry about, as we seem to have cornered the market for frozen…
Double-double Drama-queen
The Metro Transit doesn’t permit open drinks on their buses; everybody knows that. You could have gotten off and drank your precious coffee and waited for the next one rather than throwing it away and submitting us all to your charming personality. You say you don’t like being treated like a 5 year old, but…
snobs!
I was at a clothing store recently down Spring Garden at the mall. We’ll call the store “fake”. Anyway, a couple of girls that worked there were really snobby and not so nice and welcoming when I walked in. I could see them looking me up and down and whispering. I have no idea why…
Humani-T offers baked goods
Popular north end vitamin and supplements store Super Natural Health Products (5755 Young Street, 454-9999) turned part of its space into a fully fledged cafe in 2010 called Humani-T, and now is offering another weapon in its arsenal of tastiness: baked goods! We’re talking Persian-style baklava, oven-fresh muffins, plate-sized cookies and fluffy, fancy cakes. Also…
Norman Flynn closing/moving
On November 20, Norman Flynn Design closed up its shop on the corner of May and Agricola Streets. Blair Flynn’s exquisite lighting design will be moving to 127 Chain Lake Drive—to be upstairs from Elements Bath and Fireplace—in January. Expect the name to change too, as Bruce Norman’s design business, along with Crey MacFadden Design…
Miss Digital Universe
From the moment you so eagerly approached me it was as if you were practically galloping, I have never forgotten that Purple Jacket, nervous smile, wasted club sandwich and emotionally chaotic first date. It’s been a year for us now, I’m willing to bet it’ll be much much more. —HFX Socrates
Respect of Elders
To the young blonde-haired bespectacled gentleman on SouthPark and University on Thurs. Nov.18. that stopped to help an older man get his wife from the car to her wheelchair – YOU ARE MY HERO! Congratulations to you and the people the raised you, wonderful boy! —sight not unseen
Falling in Love at a Grocery Store
You work at the Young St. Super Store. I was shopping with my parents on a Thursday night and you rang through our food. You were the sweetest, nicest most adorable boy/cashier I have ever met. We both go to Dal, and I know there are 15000+ students, but I sincerely hope we run into…
I Miss You Too
I miss you a lot too. It was the best thing for right now, but I know one day we will be friends. We were broken and this time apart has made us both better people, but I do not think it is because of the absence of each other in our lives. We made…
Metro Transit Lost & Found ROCKS
Twice in the past 3 months I’ve left stuff on the bus. First it was my cell phone, and most recently my handmade mittens. Both times Metro Transit’s bus drivers have turned them in to lost and found and both times I’ve gotten my stuff back. I just wanted to say THANKS!!! You guys rock!…
creature care
To the lady on Eaton Ave who faithfully walks her elderly black lab ever-so-slowly in his custom-made wheelchair: We need more lovelies like you in the world. Despite his age and condition, your dog looks genuinely grateful to be by your side and to be given an opportunity to live out his years in comfort.…
Love LTWWB!
I gotta say, I love the bitches! I am not a regular poster, but I am a regular reader, and the comic responses never cease to make me actually LOL at my desk… When those crappy days weigh particularly heavy, a quick pop onto LLTWB always turns my mood around – so thank you all…
Mypod
I’d like to send a big thanks out to the anonymous do-gooder at Purdy’s Wharf Fitness Center who returned my ipod after I carelessly left it behind. Never in a million years did I think it would have been turned in. It totally made my day, thanks so much! —Sound Tracker
Get it right!
I’m fed up of listening to you pronouncing Halloween as Holloween, and now you’re talking about Harry Potter and the deathly Hollows! You pronounce an ‘A’ as an ‘O’. What is wrong with you? It’s bad enough listening to the rubbish between six and six thirty but this just gives me the screaming shits! —Wordsmith
Unmarked Crosswalks are still Crosswalks HRM Police
Just now as I was crossing a road with a couple of chums. We happened to be using an unmarked crosswalk in front of a Police cruiser whose driver proceeded to threaten us each with a Jay walking fine. Did the officer enter into the intersection while pedestrians were using it? Yes. Was I Jay…
To the woman that honked at me and then almost hit me with her car
If you would like to purchase a vehicle for me to drive, go ahead! Then I would happily drive a car instead of my dinky bicycle. However, right now I have 250 dollars to my name and I still need to get to work and school and back every day. I do my best to…
Arrogant Driving Instructors
I can’t name names, but you all know the place where we get our ID’s done, do our road tests, get vehicle permits, etc. etc. Well I recently did my road test at such place, and was not pleased at all with the instructor. She was very harsh, arrogant and actually came off as rather…
Fix it if you bust it!
A couple weeks ago, a family member borrowed and messed up one of our cars by backing into one of our guest’s cars. Although family member offered to have it fixed,the guest fixed it (but not back to 100%) himself and family member did not insist on having it put 100% right professionally. Right away,…
I Hope Every Driver Who Texts Careens Into A Fucking Tree
Doesn’t matter how much you put up the fines, there are still absolutely assholes out there that not only insist on jawing on their cell while driving but will text or read their fucking Kindle as well. I hope these reckless pricks hurt themselves before they hurt others. —No Sympathy For Texters
Thanks for the Old Man Sweater
Sorry your email doesn’t work so I couldn’t let you know how giving us the old man sweater with the great cowboy on back really made our time here in Nova Scotia. It’s a beautiful sweater and such a gift from a stranger that we met one Saturday morning. We have made a commitment to…
Clean up your fucking dog shit!!!
To the people in my building and the one next door, We share a parking lot in the back where most of us bring our dogs at some point during the day, either to run around or get in the car. Often our dogs shit on the grassy parts, cool. But fucking clean it up!!…
PowerPost turns off the power
Don’t try calling. The Herald reports a major blow to the local film industry, with the closing of audio and video post-production company, PowerPost. According to the article, president and CEO Rob Power says that the company is bankrupt and shutting down immediately. At one point PowerPost employed 25 workers, now, eight staffers will be…
Madman Mini, excuse…Madame, Hwy#103
Okay fine, you needed to hit Exit 2, but speeding past me at 120, at the ramp is just, well so wrong on so many levels. Were you having such a bad morning that, then, I had to be subjected to your Finger waving and cursing? Hope you enjoyed your warp speed Highway entrance to…
Bus Manners
This is for the assholes that sit in the aisle seat on the bus so they won’t have to have anyone sit with them. We all see you – stop pretending you don’t realize exactly what you’re doing. Assholes. —Sickofmorons
Jeanne Beker hosts the Sobey Award
Artists, you make Beks fly so high against the sky. It may not be the popular stance, but I love Jeanne Beker and her diva divineness. She may be the closest this country comes to an André Leon Talley. So I was happy to hear that she’s taking over hosting duties for tonight’s Sobey Art…
Upcoming: Crystal Method DJ set
i guess i didn’t know So Infinity Promotions – the people who nearly brought us Crystal Castles that one time – are now bringing in the Crystal Method on December 3 to the Paragon. (I like the person on my Twitter feed who quipped “Who’s next? Crystal Gayle?”) Now, mind you, this is a DJ…
Congrats RC!!!
Congrats on the baby news…here’s hoping everything goes wonderfully (although I’m sure it will). You seem like you’re a fantastic mother (you know from the anonymous way you post online lol). —PurpleFire <3
To handsome Purolator brother
Thank you for your warm smile and the spark in your eye. You make my day whether you’re there or the thought of you… —Queen Elizabeth 2
One Thoughtful Driver
This goes out to the driver of a red Toyota(?) this morning who was approaching a red light on Portland St near Prince Arthur. You were in the middle of the lane and, I presume, saw me behind you signalling to turn right. With the remaining feet before the intersection you moved your car over…
Afghani delusions
On July 14, 1965, as the US marched into Vietnam, Lyndon Johnson stepped into a White House staff meeting. “Don’t let me interrupt,” the American president said. “But there’s one thing you ought to know. Vietnam is like being in a plane without a parachute when all the engines go out. If you jump, you’ll…
Girl Talk
A magic act, repeated, risks getting stale—especially when there are a zillion copycats ribbing the tricks. So it’s a wonderful surprise that All Day, Girl Talk’s third album since becoming a hipster household name, is every bit the joyous thrill of its predecessors. Released as a free download in the wee hours Monday morning and…
Council debates biosolids
The city will hire a university researcher to give advice on whether to use biosolids from the sewage system for municipal operations, Halifax council decided Tuesday. Before last year, sewage from the older portions of Halifax and Dartmouth was simply dumped in the harbour, and that was the end of it. But with the completion…
Koko be Good
Jon is a young man getting ready to move to Peru with his girlfriend. Koko is a slacker with a broken moral compass. When they meet, it changes the trajectories of both their lives: Jon starts to wonder if he’s making the right choice while Koko decides to become a better, more charitable person. While…
Go Local: South End
From fashion boutiques to Asian groceries to international restos to bookstores to florists, you’ll find more shopping variety than you can shake a stylish fedora at. On one unseasonably warm Friday afternoon, Shoptalk took a stroll through the tony southern portion of downtown and we liked what we found. 50 Hats 1086 Queen Street, 482-4287…
What’s wrong: Point Pleasant Park parking lot fenced off.
[image-1] Who’s responsible? Michele Peveril, Port of Halifax, 426-1060. Remarks: Over the weekend, a fence went up, blocking about a quarter of the lower parking lot, a favourite stop for entering the park or just watching the ships come in. The fenced off area is to be used as staging area for construction in the…
Jenocide
Ms. Clarke packs all the sass she can into her stilettos for Knee Deep and hits the town, stomping on any old Peaches comparisons and ties to that Maritime sound. From beginning to end, the EP is soaked with synths brighter than MJ’s socks on Off the Wall, and moaning melodies that might make you…
20 gifts under $20
Take some stress out of shopping during the holiday season with this handy list of gift suggestions from local stores. These stocking-stuffers and tokens of your affection are sure to make someone smile, without breaking the bank.
Paris bound
Scott Burke was walking down a street in Paris when he heard an accident behind him. He turned around, like the hundreds of other tourists in the crowd. “It stopped everybody,” he remembers. “Everybody stopped in the middle of their beautiful, fabulous trip to Paris, trip of a lifetime.” Burke didn’t see what exactly happened,…
Free Will Astrology
SCORPIO (October 23-November 21) I recently discovered a blues-gospel artist named Famous L. Renfro, who is also known as “The Flying Sweet Angel of Joy.” His soaring, gritty music had a medicinal effect. It seemed to say to me, “You have the power to change your life in the exact way you want to change…
Three’s not a crowd for Fall in Paris
You might think that in romantic comedy, three’s a crowd. But Scott Burke’s fantastique Fall in Paris works beautifully with three characters, perhaps because Paris itself is so lovingly realized that it becomes a kind of fourth character. The gist of the story is that a bitter, battered divorcee (played with heart and humour by…
David Sedaris’ stories
When David Sedaris arrives at the Chapters Dartmouth at Mic Mac Mall on Wednesday, forgive him if he doesn’t take in any local sights. The American playwright, author and New Yorker essayist is on a 60-city tour that ends in Listowel, Ireland, next June. This circuit follows a 35-day theatre lecture tour. Other than maybe…
Kim Morgan sees the light
Seven days a week, 12 hours a day, for nearly a month Kim Morgan and a team of artists and volunteers worked against the weather to capture every inch, inside and out, of a lighthouse in the tiny town of Borden-Carleton, PEI. Morgan calls the result an epitaph that speaks to the decommissioning of regionally…
Art of gold
“Trust your gut instinct. The best thing you can do is love it, because you have to live with it! I deal with NSCAD students and alumni, and people always come in and ask, ‘Who will be successful? Who will be famous?’ It’s hard to say, since we do everything: jewellery, textiles, ceramics and paintings.…
Skyline lacks character
The best that can be said for this sci-fi effort about marauding aliens is that it occasionally rises to the level of decent mindless diversion. Only occasionally, though. The creatures are interesting enough, a physiologically varied bunch that descends on Los Angeles and unleashes claws, tentacles and blinding beams of light that vacuum up the…
All Rights Reserved has a way with words
Wise Words All Rights Reserved Fall Launch Party Once a year All Rights Reserved publishes their journal and as usual, it’s chock-full of untapped local literature. Managing editor Ryan Jones says while each issue follows a theme, they try not to limit writers, “Our goal is to be a venue for writers, to get them…
Novelty meal
This place is very expensive,” says Don Draper as the sizzle of cooking meat and clang of spatulas soundtracks the scene in Mad Men. He’s with Bethany, who, while sitting alongside the grill at Benihana complains that her “hair smells like [she’s] been frying chicken.” That scene was set 35 years ago, when the now-famous…
Local tech 2011
“Apple is very secretive and they’re very good at that. They don’t let stuff leak. We know as soon as the public does. But I suspect there’ll be a new iPad in 2011. They’ll probably put a camera in it or have a small version and a large version. And Apple TV will become more…
Radio Free Northwood
The Northwood Broadcasting Club booth is not easy to find. It’s in Northwood’s Edward L. Roach Centre for Living building, part of the Halifax seniors’ residence and nursing home facility at the corner of North Street and Northwood Terrace. Go past the busy lobby, filled with men and women in walkers and wheelchairs, visitors and…
Book tour bevvies
Tis the season to be a mall-rat, but your next retail retreat might not be about the shopping ’cause David Sedaris is coming to a mall near you! The always revealing and hilarious author, humorist and wordsmith extraordinaire will be at the Chapters Dartmouth on Wednesday promoting his new book Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk Here are…
Morning Glory charms
This comedy about a low-rated morning television show revitalized by a young producer and a grouchy old news anchor is the finest kind of undemanding Hollywood serotonin-releaser. It’s got a straightforward story and a sharp script that gives headliners Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton plenty of chance to radiate star wattage. Ford is…
Jenn Grant
Recorded as a gift for Dan Ledwell’s newborn niece (Siigoun in Cree means “spring”), Jenn Grant is offering this extremely limited four-song EP at her shows. Pick one up Thursday at the Paragon as a tide-over until her new record Honeymoon Punch drops in January. Each one, with its individually hand-painted sleeve (collector junkies take…
RJD2 everywhere
In early 2007 when American television network AMC released the first episode of the widely popular show Mad Men, a lot of people took notice. Sure, there was some fine acting and storytelling, but two things really stood out about the show. One: A properly tailored suit makes a bold impact in the workplace. Two:…
Between a Stone and a hard place
Up for parole, Gerald “Stone” Creeson (Edward Norton) sits across from his parole officer, Jack Mabry (Robert DeNiro), and begins an impassioned, coarse and ultimately manipulative campaign for his release. Stone sets his perpetually aroused wife, Lucetta (Mila Jovovich), on Jack to aid his cause, tacitly relying on his wife’s ability to deploy sexuality when…
Eiyn Sof
Melissa Boraski is Eiyn Sof. As such, she uses her tenor voice, acoustic as well as electric guitar and analogue keys to moody effect. She tells stories of solitude, motherhood, love, having a place in the natural world and longing to understand it all, sometimes to get away from it all. Through layered vocals, chants,…
d’bi.young’s words
Many artists work from or toward an ideal. Call it a vision, or a manifesto. Or, in the case of Toronto-based d’bi.young anitafrika, a “wombanifesto.” Besides being the name of her 2010 release, it’s also her guiding principle. She publishes it at dbiyoung.net and opens the text with a clear declaration: “I am an afrikan-jamaican-canadian…
Inside Job gets a grip
According to Inside Job, the seeds of America’s current bleak economic situation were sown all the way in the 1980s, when decades of care and caution gave way to ruthless deregulation. Since then, the financial system has been held hostage by blue-chip boobs like Larry Summers, Allan Greenspan and Harry Paulsen, who insulate themselves from…
Burnin’ Down the House heats up the Co Ho
Talk about the coolest class project ever. Five NSCC Music Business students have collaborated to organize Burnin’ Down the House, a showcase of local music that is part of a monthly series of rockin’ student assignments. “I kind of got into the class with a broad sense of wanting to be involved in the music…
Unstoppable rings true
Snicker all you like at this runaway freight-train movie, it is really only inspiring your wonder at how it turned out so damn entertaining. Frank (Denzel Washington) and Will (Chris Pine) take it upon themselves to stop a speeding engineer-less train hauling gallons of hazardous, flammable material. The result is one of the most satisfying…
You can dance if you want to
Put on your dancin’ pants for this one. Steve Aoki, the high-energy DJ and brains behind Dim Mak Records, is stopping in on Halifax for his only eastern Canadian tour date. With support from openers DJ Mike G , DJ Trixxx and DJ Jay Andrews this show will be nothing short of major. Sunday November…
How it pays to buy local
When Ian Fraser opened Obsolete Records in May 2010, he was a veteran of the retail music business, having served a decade as assistant manager at CD Plus on Barrington Street. When the Winnipeg-based company abandoned downtown Halifax, Fraser says what frustrated him the most was that CD Plus was “still a profitable store, still…
The future of local business
Since 1992, along with business partner Ann Caverzan, Liz Crocker has been running P’Lovers, the environmental store in Park Lane. She’s seen the complexion of local business change, become more self-aware and more sensitive to ecology. She’s also seen the locovore and slow food movements go mainstream, overtaking the message that spending money in locally…
Rounding up sexual identity
Q I have been married for 16 years and have three children. My marriage isn’t the best, nor is the sex. I have strayed many times, and it’s always been with women—I love women and I love having sex with women. However, for years I have had a fantasy about being with a transsexual. I…
Tanya Davis keeps going
Tanya Davis is a mighty busy lady. The poet, songstress, YouTube superstar and recent Music Nova Scotia Award winner just released her third album Clocks and Hearts Keep Going, and it seems that she does too. Recorded last May in Ottawa and produced by Jim Bryson, Davis says the album brings bigger arrangements and instrumentation…
The expert shopper’s list
Sherry Lynn Jollymore is a Halifax designer. With her label, Fancy Pants (fancy-pantsdesigns.com) she upcycles vintage clothing, reimagining jackets and shirts by applying stenciled rock-related imagery. She went to NSCAD but never finished, though that doesn’t seem to have hurt her career at all. She’s also a veteran of the local retail clothing scene, having…
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk
If you’re expecting some Aesop-like morality tales from David Sedaris’ book of animal short stories, head back down the rabbit hole. Through these paw-sized character sketches and scenes, Sedaris exposes some of the most rude, contradictory and head-scratching truths about modern living, like a crow hating on part-time vegetarians (it gets worse), and a potty-mouthed,…
The secret of my success
Gaudet Optical 6465 Quinpool Road, 423-6255 Doug Gaudet, owner Products We currently deal with 75 international frame-makers, mainly based in Europe, where our profession has a very proud and established heritage. We’re known for taking risks and promoting design, with the mantra “a great pair of eyeglasses is the best accessory you can possibly have.…
Former QE2 high school site could become urban farm
Queen Elizabeth High School is nothing but an empty building, but new initiatives from Capital Health’s Partners for Care, a charity organization in charge of Capital Health’s business plans, may bring about some growth. The group has been toying with the idea of an urban farm and hopes to discuss its ideas with the community…
The Geography of Arrival
George Sipos, a poet and former bookseller in Prince George, BC, recounts his youth in London, Ontario. He arrived there in 1957 with his parents after they left Hungary and before they moved to the west coast. Sipos considers a series of sites for their ordinary, quotidian resonance. One of the best is the shuttered…
Let’s get it online
They may not have a storefront, but a lot of Nova Scotia artisans, crafters and business owners do well working from home or their studio and selling products online. While you may find their work in the occasional Halifax boutique, you can definitely find them at their own local websites.
Bridge Terminal may not have pedestrian bridge
Whatever happened to the new Bridge Terminal? Plans for new $9.5 million Bridge Terminal were approved by Halifax council at the end of the summer, with a tender put out in late July, with the expectation that the winning bid would be approved in early September, with construction starting by October 1. But into November,…
we match
To the guy on his way out of the convenient store on Windsor last week. You stopped to comment on our matching scarfs, and I just laughed. I wish I had stopped to talk. —green and sparkly
Thanks for taking the time…
I’ve wanted to know you for months now, and recently finally got the chance. We have so much in common and I feel like we could be great friends but I am afraid to trust you for fear of getting burned, as I have been in the past. I hope you read this because I…
Bus-Friend
Dear Boy-From-Portland, I was horribly dreading the 12 hour bus trip down to Maine, then you said hi in Moncton. Having someone [not a smelly stranger or a crazy old lady] to sit beside and chat with made the trip a breeze. Thanks!! —Girl With Laptop
Why does the library here even exist
So my classes today finished at 1PM, I figured I would go down to my school’s library to work on assignments and study for a few hours. I get there and find that I will have to face the problem I always do, that the fifty or so computers that are open to students (and…
Hey civil engineer!
Yeah, you! Tallest member of the Lacoste brigade! You’ve lost a ton of weight over the last few years and I think you’re still hiding. I’d say stop being so shy, but that’s what’s most endearing. Just wanted to say… You’re gorgeous! —Admirer
No Convention Centre, Please.
To those fucking bozos who are all in favour of this new, UNNEEDED convention center: This stupid city can’t even get a handle on cleaning up Barrington Street, for Christ’s sake. What a wonderful tourist attraction that would be for people coming to the city: a bum on every corner and empty storefronts. Why not…
Parade of lame!
Halifax…Great city… Lousy Xmas parade! Move it to daylight hours and on a Sunday. Take a look at most other major Canadian cities and how they do it. Take the hint! That’s how it’s supposed to be! —Scrooge
Very belated thank-you to my first-aid rescuer
This is an overdue note of gratitiude to the woman (30-something, tall-ish build, long brown hair) who assisted me after a nasty fall at the Queen and South bus stop in July. Your help in getting a nasty cut under control and hailing a cab to emerg. made all the difference. I hope you read…
Spring Garden and Queen forever
I was standing at the other corner mentally bitching about being cold and having puddles in my shoes. You always sing with your guitar on that corner and I’m surprised you were out in such heavy rain. I listened and realized you were singing “Strawberry Fields Forever.” I blinked and for a minute while I…
Hey bikers, stop ruining our park
I live in north end and use Upper Seaview Park for my dog almost daily. I pick up my shit as do most owners I know that go there. My bitch is about the fucking bikers on weekends. I dont know if you’re training for some stupid marathon or are just yuppie douchbags but we…
A little too distracted…
I’m distracted right now… from the flashbacks…the lake, the bee’s the picnic table..I want to rub my toes in the sand…i need a playday Baby! —your devil wears prada…xoxo
Teens and Camera Phones
I was in a cafe with my good friend in downtown Annapolis Royal and I thought it was a cozy spot to snuggle and sip our lattes, till we both noticed some teen girl hiding behind her super tight gray hoodie, was filming us with her camera phone, then watching the video with her friend,…
Thought I was cold
Until I met you, you have awakened something deep inside I did not know existed. A longing so strong that it tortures me by day and keeps me up at night. I do love you and there is no doubt in my mind, I would have easily walked off the face of the earth with…
Thank you Landlords!
Imagine my surprise to find out Barrington Towers will be closed all day Sunday December 12th..giving me a much needed 3 day weekend from work. Thank you Landlords! You just made my day.:) P.S. P, if your reading this…I still think your the most adorable man on the planet. —Appreciative call center girl
Tis the Season, lets commit a Robbery
Seriously, this freaking city is going to hell. Do not get me wrong, the police are (for the most part) very professional. But with the Christmas season approaching – lets rob some innocent seems to be the mantra – forget goodwill to your fellow man! Sure, while holding a 7″ knife with full face mask…
Men can disregard, it’s another entry in period-bashing week
Hey period…. FUCK OFF! I know it’s not your fault that you’ve been here for three months and I’m sorry that I have to go get another depo-provera shot because my brain is also being an asshole by giving me migraines. I appreciate that you’re a lot lighter and less painful than you used to…
Author says NS legislature should be world heritage site
Author of new book on legislative buildings in the Maritime Provinces calls Nova Scotia’s Province House “truly spectacular” and worthy of designation as a UNESCO world heritage site.
