Halifax Bus Drivers
There is something odd about being on a bus, being loaded in close proximity with people whose only common goal with you might be your destination. People come from all different socioeconomic statuses and racial backgrounds. That being said, bus drivers must interact with people who have just been relieved from a tough day at…
Another go for The Rodeo Lounge
After 30 years as touring musicians, Gary and Denise Julien have seen their fair share of country bars. So when the opportunity to take over Dartmouth’s infamous The Rodeo Lounge (121 Ilsley Avenue), of course they jumped on it. “We just didn’t do well with retired,” laughs Denise. “We needed a project and we got…
Pericles
Stunning! That’s the word that sums up the DalTheatre production of Shakespeare’s shaggy dog story Pericles. The play, which tells an outlandish tale of a young prince’s adventures including multiple shipwrecks, the death (and resurrection) of his true love and the prostitution of his steadfastly virginal daughter, is all over the map (literally). However, the…
You save my life…
Oh brown pickup truck hero on the bi-hi one week ago Tuesday. You saved our lives. Me, the dark blonde in a green Hyundai and was merging onto the highway. A normally good driver, I had a moment of very bad judgment, very bad judgment, and made a critical error. You were in my blind…
What will they think of next?
WTF? Peanut Butter and honey or cranberry or cinnamon raisin or banana in the same jar? Because preservative-ridden peanut butter on it’s own is too hard to put on one slice of bread with fresh ingredients on another? Apparently sales are down so much due to peanut allergies that the market calls for MORE peanut…
Murray Carter: your mid-week inspiration
Murray Carter is an amazing person. After living in Japan for half his life, and spending six years as an apprentice there, he became 17th generation Yoshimoto bladesmith. Now, with 26 years experience in the field he’s made over 18,000 (very beautiful) knives, he works out of his own shop, Carter Cutlery in Oregon, he…
Dear 2013
I have had enough of the negative crap this year. Job loss and subsequent screwover by EI followed by inability to get hired because I’m apparently “overqualified” for everything I can find in the job market, debilitating illness, mounting debt, multiple deaths, struggles with depression (mine and my partner’s), and now the looming loss of…
Cold Feet
We ended our long-standing relationship quite a few months ago, and after a long time of no contact, we have been hanging out a bunch. While I am not sure I want to rush back into things, you still have so much to do and so much to see. I wanted to let you know…
Arianne Pollet-Brannen’s warrior costumes
How many pairs of shoes does it take to make a dress? Art, fashion and sculpture collide in the powerful exhibit FLESH at Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery. Arianne Pollet-Brannen’s display of work stays true to the artist’s creative leanings with plenty of unique shapes, colours and textures in her garment-sculptures. The exhibit features…
Check out Taste of Nova Scotia’s Prestige Award winners
This afternoon during the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia’s Tourism Summit, Taste of Nova Scotia presented its annual Prestige Awards—nominated by the public and Taste of Nova Scotia members, and voted for by a panel of judges. Over a local lunch, ToNS and guests celebrated all of the great things entrepreneurs in the restaurant…
I gave you a year
All the shit that happened to you, school, family, and work, I tried to support you and do whatever I could to make your life easier. Even after you dumped me, when we were supposed to be friends, I was there for you to talk to about all your problems. But when I needed you,…
Beauty on the Bus
To the girl on the #1 on Monday, Nov 25. When you smiled at me it took my breath away. Turned a mediocre day into a brighter one. I smiled back and when we got off the bus I got stuck behind some people. I seen you again and spent way too long trying to…
education and its finest
You know who you are and for what school you claim to work hard for. I heard you. You were on your cell complaining about the ” retards” you oversee and even openly stated its part time and explained that the school “will hire anyone”. Who are you?! How’d you get that position?! You’re gross;…
Cyclone Cycling’s expanding
It was two Christmases ago that Elana Liberman had the idea for Cylcone Cycling, her spin-class-centric fitness studio that would open at 2-5187 Salter Street just over six months later. And it’s been a wild ride since then. A recent nominee for the Halifax Business Awards’ New Business of the Year, Cyclone’s grown its membership…
Priority Seating?
There are these stickers on the bus. They say “reserved for the handicapped/disabled wheelchair users and/or expectant mothers”. They do not say “strollers”. Parents: I understand your need to use these seats (you can’t block the aisle/you have bulky equipment) but these are reserved for people like me for a reason. I don’t come with…
Jealous bitch?
This is to the asshat who slipped the note that said “Your sex stinks” underneath my apartment door: Who does that fucking shit? What kind of a miserable person are you that you felt the need to write something like that to someone who hasn’t wronged you ever? You’re also a coward. Too afraid to…
Gran Turismo on the Bedford Highway
Just who do you think you are weaving in and out of traffic down the Bedford Highway in your shitty little red and black Honda? No turn signal. You almost collided with my front end you fucking moron. And for what?! To get one or two cars ahead of me. But it didn’t stop there.…
Dartmouth beauty
You: 40s ish dark haired lady. You ride the bus every morning, like I do. I work very early and I end work pretty late. You sit around the front a lot. Sobeys canvas bag with you. Me:Very shy lady. You’re stunning. Not sure if you knew that. —So shy
Black Sabbeth Tickets
Tickets on sale Sat the 23rd at 10 am.Superstore counter 10:10 only tickets left upper bowl.All the floor and lower bowl sold by pre order.The people in the lineup do not buy online or paid in cash as I do.Because of this we wind up with crappy seats.Ticket seller should limit the presale to 70…
Right of Way
How the fuck do I keep getting cut off in marked, signaled crosswalks though? Motherfucker just turn your damned eyes right before you turn right, it’s not hard. —Tryna cross a damned street over here
I hate you
How’s your hairy back doing? Did you finally grow a second ball? Still beating up your women? Still got the genital warts? Drink drink drink… you idiot your girlfriend with the acne problem is sleeping with someone behind your back. You are going bald so sad. —hate you
vasectomy gone bad
You pretending to be a man below the belt had to be the most disappointing, and the worst 5 waisted, unsatisfying sexual encounters I have ever had in my life. I cut ties on you as soon as I got under another as it were. Enjoy riding your motorcycle…that’s all you’ll be riding. —hate a…
the most dangerous game
sometimes things happen that are complicated and strange but they make sense. meeting you was a catalyst for so much happiness in my life that i will always be grateful. you make me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside in both non- and completely sexual ways. i hope i can give you back everything…
bad business
I am so angry at a certain home reno type business and the crap service that they provided. They said they were the best….far from it. Can I take out an ad in the paper and name them and detail my situation or is it considered slander. I wasted thousands on them, what a few…
C.O.P.
Back in the day I found myself in the centre of much reading around Conspiracy Oriented Paranoia. Alien coverups, Government directed distractions…. all very interesting and some even logically plausable…. True Story. I’ve seen the Zapruder showing the motorcade lazing it’s way through the Dallas square, moments before jfk’s murder, his murder, and the aftermath,…
Fuck these dating sites!
Is it so much to ask for a woman on my level? I’m a 34-year-old gainfully employed CMA and I’m confident my looks are definitely above average. I’m also smart, funny and family oriented. My job has me booked solid, so it’s hard to meet single women, which is why I’m using a dating site.…
a letter to me
Everyday, you start the same way. You struggle through the disparity and threadbare days hardly speaking to anyone, but me. I am harsh on you, perhaps I pick on the things that no one really sees. Or I might find a way to needle you with the fact you are alone,and the one man you…
So there I was LOVING the single life when:
Oh No! I think I just met the man of my Dreams! Sh*t. Now what?! —Well, I WAAAS Single and Loving it
Bass Player
I love you. —Groupie
You suck as a dad!
You alienated my grandpa from everyone then drugged him into such a stupor he signed over everything to you. You stole everything from him and left him to die alone. I hope something far more horrible happens to you than this. —And really, really soon.
To the Jerk Driver Turning Left off of Bloomfield onto Agricola
I am not sorry that I didn’t see you were turning left off of Bloomfield onto Agricola tonight (thursday) and thus expected me too late to leave you space to do so while I waited for the light to change. In fact, I am very glad I didn’t notice you wanted to do that in…
I Just Love How You’re A Team Player!
Listen Mrs. ‘I know Best’ Your management skills are less than lacking and your self righteous attitude towards your other “team” members is astonishingly destructive. Even though you are “above” us we are only here to help and always try our best so stop with your sarcastic comments such as “I love how nothing gets…
Coast Comics
What in actual Fuck! Visually and Comically poor comics. —Bring back True Story!!!
Be With Me
For years, I have been on my own. Quietly. Happily. Then, something happened. I met the person I want to be with. I see the big picture – home, family, loved ones, trials and struggles, but joy and happiness. I know this is truly meant for me. I’ve never wanted anything so much. Of course,…
Death Doesn’t Become Her
A family member is sick in the hospital, and has ZERO idea anyone is there to visit. You’re right, I was not there to see them when they were “coherent”, maybe you should have contacted me to let me know they were sick in hospital! I IMMEDIATELY went when someone mentioned how sick they actually…
Cerebrum
Being with you is like having two brains. —Cerebellum
Apple of my eye
You work in the produce section. I was having a terrible day and you took me around the store with a paring knife and let me sample all the apples. It made a terrible day so much better. Another day I asked you for advice about making an apple pie — I explained that I…
hey you, way over there!
i anticipate a joy-induced heart attack when i see you. let’s never not kiss again. —uaeugh
Violin Princess
To the pretty little lady sitting in her 3rd floor window in the south end of Barrington st. on a cold and windy Wednesday afternoon playing beautifully on her violin. Your music was as breathe taking as the flying wind. I stopped to listen and gave you a thumbs up and you returned a thank…
Dear asshat senior manager
I was dismissed by my employer this week because someone reported my jacket smelled like marijuana. I worked at this company’s contact center. Access to the building is governed by a swipe card system. When I was brought into the senior manager’s office I was given the chance to come clean. I told them that…
Auditor General’s Swan Song
I just read a small portion of outgoing AG Jacques Lapointes review of the NDP’s Nova Scotia Job Fund, and here’s the shocker, we, the taxpayers, were boned to the tune of Half a Billion Dollars with little or no financial analysis carried out! Say it isn’t so, the Dippers were elected as the Party…
Government Pinheads
Banning 50/50 draws for (lets face reality here…) a mostly aged crowd trying to get in some exercise unless they apply and pay for some specialty license… is beyond stupid. “Oh, but it’s the law”… regardless that they fucking rake in how much out of the VLT’s the alley’s have installed? gambling is gambling and…
The “housing first” approach to homelessness
People involved in agencies that help and advocate for the homeless are good people, trying to make the world a better place, but they can get caught up in the inside baseball of the non-profit and social service agency world, employing buzzwords and acronyms at a head-spinning rate, sometimes losing the forest for the trees.…
The Coast’s 17-year switch
In 1996, three years after its launch, The Coast was a bi-weekly paper without a staff. Most of the founders had departed Halifax for jobs that paid a salary, leaving just myself and Christine Oreskovich from the original group of six. Figuring it would be good to get advice from our alternative publishing peers, we…
Get a taste of 2013’s New Restaurants
This year brought over 50 fresh faces on the foodscape—from big breakfasts to pizza, Pakistani to Friulano, vegan to Mexican and a ton of local—it’s a lot of eating to keep up with. But we’ve always got room for more, which is why we’ve welcomed these newbies with open arms (and mouths). In this year’s…
Dalhousie libraries saved from proposed budget cuts
Recent cuts to Dalhousie University’s library acquisitions budget have been stopped, but the battle isn’t over yet. “The shortfall’s covered for this year,” says student representative John Hutton, from Dalhousie’s board of governors. “The crisis hasn’t disappeared. It’s just sort of been put off.” Last winter, facing 3.5 percent cuts to all departments, Dalhousie’s budget…
Festival Man
This mighty book is much like a festival in many ways: it throws in a dash of the unexpected—unruly, unlikeable yet endearing characters, life-changing musical interludes and conversations—and it ends much too quickly. In just over 150 pages, this novella follows the fictional Campbell Ouinette, “maverick” manager of odd musical acts who made the move…
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Having won her society’s grandest contest, Jennifer Lawrence finds herself weary from constant celebrity scrutiny and false platitudes meant to waylay fears about the land’s brutal living conditions. But enough about the Oscars (wocka wocka), Lawrence returns as Katniss Everdeen in eventual sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Suffering from PTSD, Katniss isn’t too thrilled…
Good spirits
I had The Big Boss at Field Guide, which is a mix of dark and amber rum with fresh lime, mint and cinnamon syrup. It was simple, clean, balanced and highlighted the warm flavours you find in both rums, great cocktail for this time of year. La Frasca Cibi + Vini leans heavily towards cocktails…
Delivery Man
Creating an almost identical remake of his 2011 film, Starbuck, Canadian writer/director Ken Scott should have used the chance to refresh the material in Delivery Man. Vince Vaughan, playing a slightly more pathetic Vince Vaughan than he’s been playing the last decade, stars as a broke meat truck driver who inadvertently fathered 533 children 20…
Lotería
This little gem of a book is, in the way that only Mexican, Central and South American literature can be, as dark and gritty as it is poetic; as fanciful as it is starkly realist. Using the deck of the Mexican Bingo-style card game, Lotería, as its visual and contextual muse, a family saga is…
All the new restaurants in Halifax in 2013
2 Doors Down 1533 Barrington Street Agricola Street Brasserie 2540 Agricola Street THE AUCTION HOUSE 1726 Argyle Street Big Life Whole Foods 84 Portland Street Bite Me Urban Diner Gourmet Food Truck various locations The Board Room Game Cafe 1256 Barrington Street Boneheads BBQ, Fairview 3625 Dutch Village Road Cafe Karachi 16 Titus Street Canadian Bacon Cookhouse Queen’s Wharf…
Dallas Buyers Club
A skeletal Matthew McConaughey is a fitting lead in the gaunt Dallas Buyers Club. Based, in part, on a real story, McConaughey plays homophobic, alcoholic, sexpot cowboy Ron Woodroof—a sinewy sonuvabitch who becomes diagnosed with AIDS in 1985 and is given 30 days to live. Unimpressed, Woodroof finds a semblance of health in Mexican drugs…
The Widow Tree
“We are widows. We are mothers. Above all, we are the women of our beautiful country, and we will endure.” This book, before you even open it, is amazing for two reasons. It heralds dual return of Newfoundland’s completely overlooked wordsmith Nicole Lundrigan, and phoenix publishing house Douglas and McIntyre. The story, ultimately about endurance…
One kind day
I only want one of my three sisters in my wedding party. Do I have none of them stand with me, or choose the one and do damage control? You should not feel pressured to ask anyone you’re not close with to be in your bridal party. The main thing to keep in mind when…
Rumpelstiltskin
From the reaction of the kids in the audience of Rumpelstiltskin, I’d say Child’s Play Theatre has struck a chord. Their short (45 minute), simple retelling of the classic fairy tale seemed a lovely introduction to theatre for children under the age of eight. There’s nothing fancy about the production (a bare stage with a…
Fresh meat
Don’t think we’ve been sleeping on the job. It’s been a very awesome fall for the resto scene, highly anticipated (and super promising) newbies like Mother’s (5710 Young Street), The Stubborn Goat Gastropub (1579 Grafton Street) and, in the last week alone Stillwell Beer Bar (1672 Barrington Street), The Field Guide (2082 Gottingen Street) and…
Best buds
What are some new trends you’re noticing? The trends that are becoming more popular are people wanting to incorporate something old into their bouquets. Such as charms or a brooch from a mother or grandmother. I had a bride this year bring in a piece of material from her mother’s wedding gown and I used…
The Wisdom of Psychopaths
The Wisdom of Psychopaths is an intriguing non-fiction book that promises to reveal “what saints, spies and serial killers can teach us about success.” The scientific content was well-researched and detailed, as Dutton, a research psychologist at the University of Oxford, delves into both contemporary and historical studies. His search for psychopaths isn’t limited to…
Avalon Sexual Assault Centre’s ads get the numbers wrong
I am waiting for the 52 Crosstown at the Dartmouth Bridge Terminal. Across from the platform is the row of parked out-of-service buses. The one right across from me has a placard on its side promoting the Start By Believing campaign of Avalon Sexual Assault Centre. It’s a nice seafoam green. The text says, “25%…
Out there Outlier
Chris Sullivan and his colleagues took 15 years to finish his animated epic Consuming Spirits. Of the painstakingly deliberate process required to make it, he says, “It’s actually a little more pleasant than it looks, but not as pleasant as many things.” His ambivalent assessment applies to the film as well, a queasy and dense…
Come away with me
What are logistical things to consider with a destination wedding? Every country has different requirements and processes for couples getting married. The couples will need to research these requirements and fill out necessary paperwork, often in advance. Some countries, such as Cuba, have rules where you have to be in the country a certain amount…
hermitofthewoods
Land of the Lotus Eaters, Halifax rapper, hip-hop scholar and spoken word artist hermitofthewoods’ most recent release combines his talents to create a body of work that is both rap album and manifesto. Rooting itself in musical traditions from classic hip-hop to industrial noise poetics with equal ease, delivering sober reality checks with driving raps, rabble…
A vine romance
What are some safe people- pleasing wines I can provide on the tables at my reception? There are two main categories of wine drinkers here on the east coast: “I like dry white wine, but not Chardonnay” and “full-bodied reds, do you have Shiraz.” Appeal to both categories while defying them: For a people-pleasing, sexy white,…
Freelove Fenner
I can’t help thinking of the term “caper” when I hear the new LP from Montreal’s Freelove Fenner. Not the pickled flower buds, but the kind of mischief that usually involves concealed motives, hushed breath and stealthy movements. The vocals are at once icy and impelling (recalling the late Trish Keenan of Broadcast), the guitar…
Confessions of a bridesmaid
[iamge-1] They say when you know, you just know. So maybe they were talking about finding the love of your life, but it can just as easily be applied to picking the perfect wedding party, too. It’s a fine balance of not alienating your best friends, but ensuring you might actually have a little help…
Pet Shop Boys
Though the hit-making peak for Pet Shop Boys was 25 years ago, that’s more a reflection of mass obsession today for the new and transgressive than a reduced pop flair. Nothing on Electric will make you forget West End Girls, but there’s still jump in the fastball. Now into their 50s, Neil Tennant and Chris…
Letters to the editor, November 21, 2013
Our Buddington Here at the IWK, we really enjoyed reading your article about local clowns who have helped to bring much joy to our community (“Clown town,” Feature by Beth Brown, November 14). We couldn’t agree more about the healing power and therapeutic benefit of clowning—the art of clowning offers great opportunity for some meaningful…
Que Tal Restaurante Mexicano
Elizabeth Acosta and David Fillmore are a little bit distracted. It’s the first day a new chef is working the lunch service at Que Tal without either of them in the kitchen. They are excited and confident, but also nervous. They haven’t had three full days away from the restaurant since it opened in May,…
Cheryl Thibideau
This album crosses the line between independent and vanity. It’s well-packaged and -produced, with notable cameos (Ian Tyson, Johnny Burke) and countrified hits (Dave Clark Five, Buffy Sainte-Marie). Even an original, “Honeymoon,” borrows liberally from an Anne Murray chestnut. The sense is of someone moving to make their pastime a second career. A melding of…
New restaurants 2013: EDNA
EDNA, 2053 Gottingen Street, 902-431-5683 Jenna Mooers can pinpoint the moment she fell in love with the restaurant industry. “I was in grade nine,” she says. “And it was midnight, painting the black chairs hoping they wouldn’t be tacky in the morning.” The chairs were for jane’s on the common, which her mother Jane Wright…
Free Will Astrology
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sagittarius! (November 22-December 21) Costa Rica will be closing its zoos in 2014. What will happen to the 400 or so animals that are housed there? They will have to be rehabilitated at animal rescue centers and then released into the wild. I suspect there will be a metaphorically similar process going on…
New restaurants 2013: 2 Doors Down Food + Wine
Andrew Farrell uses words like relaxed, rustic and nostalgic to describe the personality he, as a chef, brings to food. “I always feel a bit conflicted when asked to describe my style, because I appreciate the precious side of fine dining, but I love the practicality and sheer deliciousness of down home cooking,” he says.…
Bridging the intimacy gap
Q I’m a heterosexual guy in my early 20s. I’ve been dating my girlfriend for about six months, and we’ve been having some fights recently. The problem: I have a high sex drive in comparison to hers. I want to be intimate on a weekly basis (at least!), and she’s told me that she’s more…
The Shack
It was only a matter of time before longtime pals Nick Budreski and Renée Lavallée put their masterful minds–he’s a seafood distributor, she’s the Feisty Chef–together in the name of good eatin’. But the collaboration came to fruition last year when Budreski bid for a waterfront stall, hoping to open a deep fryer-free shanty to…
This Ship’s sea of noise
This Ship might be the heaviest east coast band to wield synth keytar. But the lighthearted bunch gets serious in a heartbeat, just as quickly as a melodious Ship verse shifts into chorus roar. The band’s latest EP, What’s Left to Burn, trades the hypnotizing layers of its debut for three live-off-the-floor burners. The songs…
The Kitchen Table
Sitting court-side at a basketball game can completely change the experience. Being right in the thick of it, close enough to see the intricacies of each play or hear chatter between teammates, might even give you a new appreciation for the game. Pulling up a chair at Ratinaud’s Kitchen Table is kind of like that.…
Quiet Parade and Acres and Acres take it to church
Two of Halifax’s Best Bands to Listen to Quietly, as voted by readers of The Coast two years running, are teaming up for a very special night at St. George’s Round Church. The union of acoustic mainstay Quiet Parade and folk ensemble Acres and Acres is a heavenly one. “We searched for the most inspiring…
enVie
It’s amazing what a step outside of your comfort zone can inspire. Diandra Phipps was working front of house at her friend’s busy vegan restaurant, Velo, in Germany when she was first yanked into the kitchen to help with food prep. A self-taught cook, she watched, learned, adjusted and was so hooked she and her…
Kings of the Nihil
The songs are very philosophical, apocalyptic, thoughtful, cerebral,” says Brett Campaigne, vocalist of Halifax heavy metal band River Nihil. For the last two years, River Nihil has been crafting songs for its debut five-track album, and you can pick one up at Gus’ Pub on Friday. With Christian Oulette (guitar), brothers Dan Dorran (guitar) and…
Flip for (and through) Cook With Kindness
Chantal Coolen started experimenting in the kitchen in the face of limited options for her vegan and gluten-free lifestyle. She learned a lot, and baked even more. “When I suddenly found myself unemployed, I thought, ‘You know, I bet there are people out there who are just as frustrated as I was when I first…
