Peter Kelly ‘s laughable claim that he wants less secrecy
Peter Kelly’s press release yesterday, which called for an “overhaul” of the way city council meets in secret, was met with a round of laughter, disbelief and ridicule. “You know,” said Chronicle-Herald editor Dan Leger on Twitter, “I’ve been in this business almost 35 years, and that might be the strangest, most surreal [news release]…
Viewpoint 2012 Calendar Show on Thursday
The exhibition runs from now until December 25, but the opening is Thursday night, December 1, from 6-8pm at Viewpoint Gallery (1272 Barrington Street, 420-0854). The 2012 Calendar Show features 24 diverse images featured in the two different versions of the Gallery’s 2012 calendar (available at the Gallery and through ViewPoint members). In addition, you’ll…
Nurtured grand reopening this weekend
Nurtured Products for Parenting (2571 Robie Street, 405-4367) has expanded and renovated their space. The north end business’s grand reopening will be on Saturday December 3 from 10am-5pm and Sunday December 4, 12-5pm. Drop by this weekend and receive 15 percent off your total purchase. You’ll find baby carriers, cloth diapers and an assortment of…
There ARE honest people out there!
This love goes out to the wonderful, splendid, awesome, fabulous, lovely, HONEST individual who found my iPhone in the bathroom in a certain university’s student building and turned it in to the info desk. I was in a hurry to get out of there due to a family emergency yesterday, and obviously didn’t have my…
New Rich Aucoin Video
Rich Aucoin’s soaring new video for “It” (directed by Noah Pink) puts our favorite rock n ‘roll evangelist into a series of movie clips, creating a piece that is a “time-traveling homage to film.” How many movies can you pick out?
Bus Pass McCarthyism
To the driver of the 18 this morning who harassed a student to the point of insanity: please find a more useful hobby. Stopping every student with a bus pass as they got on as though the were all criminals in the rain hence preventing others from getting on was insulting and unproductive. That guy…
I enjoy being a pr*ck at Xmas
I enjoy being a pr*ck at Xmas. I enjoy giving people a scowl when they smile at me for no reason. I generally try not to make eye contact. I don’t care if you smile… it’s all an act. Most of the year you don’t acknowledge my existence and you treat me like a leper……
Free coffee love!
To the gentleman who gave me a free coffee at a cafe downtown yesterday, thank you. Your rare gesture didn’t go unappreciated. —Starving Student
Butch dyke in a man’s body
It started at a certain convenience store, you bought me a pack of smokes when I was in need. I didn’t even know you, but your personality stroked mine with such great resonance that your smile is still echoing in my mind. Thanks for the bike, and the hilarious chat. I’m sure Halifax will miss…
Next time I’ll….
I get a kick out of reading the various bitches where you say “Next time I’ll call the cops”, “Next time I’ll let you hit me”, “Next time I’ll punch you out”, “Next time I’ll call Child Services”, etc. Why can’t you do it the first time? Why do I have to read this crap…
Here’s a New Mike O’Neill Song
A song from Mike O’Neill’s upcoming album Wild Lines has been posted at his website. “This is Who I Am” is pretty, honest and ruminative in the way that only O’Neill can be, bolstered by Laura Peek on piano, Mike Clattenberg on drums and Charles Austin on guitar. It’s an upbeat song that will haunt…
Put those damn lights on
Just because it’s 6:30 am does not mean you allowed to put to keep your tail lights off. —AN
Fuck off
Note to the rabid “IT’S MERRY CHRISTMAS NOT HAPPY HOLIDAYS” people on FB and elsewhere? You just proved your own point that telling people what to say is annoying. Way to suck all the joy out of Christmas. —The Grinch
Oval naming rights
For all the poor decisions the cowardly HRM council has made in recent weeks, months and years, I thought they would get this one right. But if it turns out the successful bid goes to Emera instead of one of the beer companies, I will be truly pissed. Adding the cost of the rink to…
Eva Madden-Hagen gives Dave Cullen the Proust Questionnaire
You can click here for Eva Madden-Hagen’s new blog post. It’s a preface to her Thursday evening (7pm) chat at the Atlantic Filmmakers Co-op (5663 Cornwallis Street). She’ll be talking about her Super8 films, her new work POSE and discussing POSE with its subject, artist and raconteur Dave Cullen.
GET OVA YERSELF!
Haven’t you noticed nobody else is talking in the lunchroom cause you took over? You obnoxious-think-you’re-better-than-anyone-else! You talk too loud and you have no respect for others if they don’t kiss the grass you walk on. Guess what?? You don’t impress me one bit! —Git Outta My Face
Eva talks about Super8, Dave Cullen
This Thursday, December 1, as part of the Filmmaker in Residence Program, I will be giving an artist talk at AFCOOP. I will be showing some of my Super8 films, discussing my new work POSE and engaging in a discussion with the subject of POSE, artist and raconteur Dave Cullen. Dave and I will be…
Welfare is for the lazy and entitled
So before I get down to the bulk of my bitch, let me explain my situation a bit: For about 7 years of my life I was a party girl. Had bad problems with drugs and alcohol and never really did anything in my life worth being proud of. However, my irresponsibility was funded entirely…
Terrible tree lighting
To the person(s) who organized this year’s HRM Tree Lighting – what were you thinking?! I went with a few friends expecting a holiday themed, fun and upbeat event… instead I was bored out of my mind, along with most of the audience that left with their children half way through the event. Shrek was…
Stop when you see the stop sign!
This is to the silver volkswagon bug going at least 55km/hr going down Lady Hammond Road heading towards the Bedford Hwy on Tues afternoon, you are an idiot. When a yellow school bus has its stop sign out and the red lights are flashing, that means you are to stop on both sides of the…
Electricity Subsidy – Thanks NDP
Fidel Dexter has allowed the taxpayers the pleasure of subsidizing 2 dead and dying pulp mills by increasing all our power rates. Both places are unionized, so this really isn’t a shocker. I’m waiting for the other shoe to fall when we’re all asked to kick in over $100 Million to top up the under-funded…
Peter Kelly says– get this!– he wants less secrecy
Peter Kelly just issued the following press release: Mayor wants overhaul of in-camera (November 29, 2011) Halifax – Mayor Peter Kelly today called on Council and HRM staff to change the way business is conducted so that in-camera meetings become the exception, rather than the rule. “As elected officials, we are responsible to residents and…
Halifax paid for Shrek’s appearance at Christmas tree lighting
I just received the city’s budget for last weekend’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony. It is: Expenses Promotions: 12,800 Production: 4,750 Security: 2,760 Transportation: 520 Entertainment: 19,100 Elecricat, Streets & Roads, City staff: 1,650 Tents, stage heater, fencing: 1,770 Tree install, trimming, removal: 3,500 Fireworks: 3,150 Total: $50,000 Revenue HRM: 30,000 Corporate Sponsors: 20,000 Total: $50,000…
Fuck Movember
Listen up all you assholes that think you look cool for growing some wimpo face hair. (1) You look a fucking idiot. (2) This does absolutely nothing to help cancer prevention. —The Drug Companies Have Been Holding Back The CURE For Years
Clean up after your dogs!
I live up in Fairview and this bitch goes out to the 2 inconsiderate dog walkers who watched as their large dogs had massive dumps on my front lawn and then didn’t clean up afterwards. I’m slow getting around due to recent knee replacement surgery, so I didn’t get outside quick enough to yell at…
Recently Engaged: Chelsey & Brock
In November 2009 Brock asked me out on our first date. We went to Rainbow Haven, where he made an impressive bonfire and we laughed hysterically all night. A couple of months later, on New years Eve, he asked me to be his girlfriend while confetti and balloons fell from the ceiling at exactly midnight.…
Crosswalk bitch
To the older man at the crosswalk In downtown dartmouth the other day. Yes I saw you. You pressed the button pretty much as I was going through the crosswalk. I also saw you yell and shake your fist. It wasn’t safe for me to stop the car. I would have had to slam on…
We ruin romantic moments
We look at each other wide-eyed when one of us farts really loud, then giggle like children. We can duet A Whole New World like no one’s business. We have the comfiest bed EVAR. All of our friends can’t imagine what they’d do if we broke up, and honestly neither can I. So lets never…
I don’t want to leave this dump but…
There are no jobs here. I can’t believe I’m writing a ‘no job’ bitch, but really, it is alarming how few postings there are for upper-level positions since September. It is disappointing and sad. With over 5 years of experience and 2 advanced degrees, I haven’t had an interview in 3 months. I don’t want…
Stay in your lane!
This bitch goes out to the dick in the big grey truck turning left into the Halifax shopping center from Bayers Rd. on Sat. If your lane is obstructed by snow or anything for that matter, you must yield to traffic in the other lane then make a safe lane change to avoid said obstruction.…
Free n’ Easy
Cursed Arrows In these economically fraught times, it’s always nice when a band elects to share its music for free. It’s even nicer when the music is local and great. If you have a free release that you would like to share, please email me about it at scene@thecoast.cascene@thecoast.ca. Here’s some new free local music…
Sewage plant failure: design error coupled with electrical configuration problems
Friday, at 4:30pm, Halifax Water finally released the forensic audit of the January 14, 2009 failure of the Halifax sewage plant. The forensic audit confirms almost everything I wrote in my August, 2009 investigation of the plant failure, “How the sewage plant broke.” Here’s what I wrote two years ago, with minor adjustments, corrections and…
Sticky-fingered sonavabitch
To the shitsmear that stole my laptop this Sunday, you got balls kid, walking into my house and walking off with my Dell in broad daylight. I’m not that pissed about the hardware itself (it’s old and kinda broken, as you’ll find out), it’s the—years—of graphic design work and photos that are on the harddrive…
Joanne David Accessories to close
Joanne David Accessories (1276 Barrington Street, 404-1276) is closing it’s doors on December 15 due to owner Joanne David— now Joanne Lawen—moving. “I have much enjoyed the last five years at JDA Barrington, and a few at Spring Garden (handed over to Pink Mascara),” writes Lawen in an email to Shoptalk. JDA will have a…
Kiss my…
I’m from Ontario and have been living here for a year. I loved a certain so-called restaurant up until yesterday, at which point I felt as though I had to grow a stache to justify my age. They insisted on carding us after 10pm, which would have been fine but apparently a government piece of…
Granola bitch with no eyes
Wake up and open your eyes. You say we can’t be trusted, you have prejudicially padded your stereotype of who ‘we’ are. We aren’t low life scumbags that rape and murder, we must pass a criminal record check by the police. Stereotype that, bitch. We aren’t the inexperienced and naive kind of person like you,…
To K&L
I’ve only known the two of you for a few months, but I can sincerely say, you are the best friends I’ve ever had. Thank you so much for ALWAYS being here for me and making sure I’m happy when I’m not. You guys mean the world to me. I love you lots. —Let’s Steal…
We are always right. It sucks to be you.
To my High School teacher with an eastern block accent. What gives you the right to say “Most Canadians should not be allowed to vote”? Do you not realize how fundamentally fucked up your opinion is? If we replaced the voting power of Canadian citizens with any alternative, it would lead our country astray. I…
Awesome customers
I work at a movie theatre. You and your girlfriend made my night. You were wearing either a purple or black toque, glasses, and had longish brown hair. The girl with you was radiant. Darkish skin, dark hair. The two of you carried on conversation, rather than being the stereotypical “blah” customer. I don’t regret…
You DON’T own the parking lot, asshole!
This is for the idiot, driving the white car along the shops in Bayers Lake on Friday around 1:30pm, and her mouthy, IGNORANT passenger. I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume today was your FIRST TIME EVER out in public. That’s the only assumption I can make based on your…
Bad ass punk
You’re always on the 2 Wedgewood via Main around 4:00. You used to have spiky blond hair, but you buzzed it. You wear black boots all the time and look totally bad ass. You’re always jamming out to what is probably wicked tunes. You seem cool as hell. That is all. —Lacewood Gal
Wipe your ass
It makes me sick seeing you walk around the house in your underwear with a brown stain in the ass. Don’t you use toilet paper? I won’t sit in that chair you always park your dirty ass in. I hope you don’t sit on the furniture nude when I’m not home. —Don’t Sit There
To the beautiful, paper girls
It’s a pleasure to come to your downtown coffee shop and sit all day while you putter around and serve uber delicious breakfast plates and perfectly made lattes. You girls are my Saturday-study-fest inspirations! Keep up the good work! —Your Breakfast Plate Eatn’, Latte Drinkn’, Study Buddy
3AM Blackberry lost!! Kate to the rescue!
Sunday morning, Nov 26th, 3AM. You walking home on Lacewood Drive and under your foot… a Blackberry rings. Me calling frantically for my boyfriend who had just lost his phone on his way home. I ran to meet you on the street and tried to give you a cash reward but no way would you…
Shovel it, assholes!
Fuck, I hate you lazy-ass people who don’t shovel the snow off your sidewalk. I don’t care if the landlord is supposed to do it. I don’t care if it’s not your turn. Fucking think for a minute about what walking by your place would be like if you used a wheelchair or a cane…
Sushi Love
Dreaming of spicy tuna, I almost keeled over when I turned the corner and saw a new sign where the waving kitty used to be… but went inside and all is well! New name, new sign – same place! The best sushi in the city, friendly staff, and cute little booths to feast in… what…
Beautiful, late-night grocery boy
Getting off work at ten sucks so my girlfriend and I went to the grocery store after, to buy random foods I was craving. There you were at the checkout. The dreamiest of boys. You made a comment on my kettle chips, star fruit, chocolate and pomegranate, but I was too flabbergasted to actually act…
Snowy sidewalk saviours
A big thanks to all of the strangers who helped me navigate my baby and stroller around the city’s snowy sidewalks and curbs today. It’s amazing how many curbs were blocked and equally amazing how many wonderful people of all ages stopped to help lift us up and over. If my baby could say ‘thanks’…
TypicalHfxGirl
Listen- I don’t know where to start. The way you look at me makes me feel like I’m adored, admired, respected, and loved. You touch me like you are savouring my skin, and not just doing the same motions you’ve done with your other boys. I get butterflies every time we talk, and usually whenever…
Small plates at Fid Resto
They’ve done it before and will do it again: Dennis Johnston and the chefs at Fid Resto (1569 Dresden Row, 422-9162) will be offering their Small Plates special menu December 7 and 14. It’s a collection of 20 to 30 dishes, each between $4 and $7. There’ll be no advance publication of the menu and…
Technical audit of sewage plant failure made public
When government agencies release embarrassing information, they often release that information on Friday at 4:30pm— that’s too late for TV reporters to get the story on the 5pm news, and many print reporters get off work at 5pm, so there’s not time enough to do detailed stories for the Saturday paper. Instead, short and not…
Artist & criminal
Having to put some time in at my work it was only near the last hour mark where we discovered we had much more in common musically and artistically than expected. Thank you for providing me with a splendid brief conversation that didn’t consist of the weather or current and upcoming sales. —K
Local company Supplement King grows across Canada
Six years ago, Saint Mary’s University student Roger King started his company, Supplement King (Park Lane Mall, 5657 Spring Garden Road, 877-5464, and other locations in the HRM including Scotia Square and Bedford Place Mall). “I was into fitness and using these products,” says King. “I had a roommate that was a varsity athlete. The…
Professor Kindness
To a certain professor who shops at a store where I work in Dartmouth: You seriously brighten up my day! I have to deal with mundane customers who can’t carry a conversation beyond how much their merchandise is… but you come in so gracious and talk about your day with me and notice the slightest…
To the attractive Bob Dylan-esque young man
Each time I walk by you, you’re playing some obscure folk song, but it always happens to be one of my most-loved ones. It makes me feel a little less lonely, as I’m sure it lifts the spirits of many others every day. I wish I had the ovaries to one day pipe in and…
Are you happy?
T, are you happy with your life and the choices that you made? —Me
Chives hits 10 years
It’s hard to imagine Halifax without Chives Canadian Bistro (1537 Barrington Street, 420-9626), and it’s food author and chef, Craig Flinn, given the impact he and his restaurant have had on the city and the local food movement. Chives will be turning 10 on December 4. Sometime soon (between late November and early December) the…
You are a REAL CHARM
I think that you are a real blessing, secret agent. Your comment to my issue on ‘identical outfits’ made me feel so much better. You sound like a very nice and friendly person. You told me to gain some confidence. You advised me to brush up on my personality. Just one thing, though, men do…
Batshit crazy in the basement
Ok, it’s enough that everyone in the house/flats can hear your regular drunken tirades. We especially love it when you decide to walk around the house and rant at your partner who remains inside!!! We all love to hear about your dead daughter, not being cold, but we don’t know you and don’t want all…
Thank you Dartmouth city sidewalk plow guy
Ok, so today: not the best day. BUT I was just shovelling my driveway (after getting my car stuck trying to power my way into it) and the city sidewalk clearing guy, who I embarrassingly had been secretly cursing for the last half hour, came over and plowed not only the street area in front…
Poutine boy
To the cutie working on Blowers street; we think you’re adorable!! You were so sweet and sly and your cuteness melted our hearts like the delicious cheese curds on our poutine. You are divine, you are sublime, and your poutine skills blew our minds. We will be back for more… —Sophie Times Two
Left hanging
Yes, you as a pedestrian have the right of way. LISTEN, if you look up and around at the streets colliding with your walking route there are cars. These cars have drivers in them navigating with other cars and yes, pedestrians and cyclists. We try to vigil the road so as not to have any…
BAN the sale of animals in pet stores
It’s disgusting how pet stores treat their so called “pets”. Just when it couldn’t possibly get ANY worse than the large chain stores, in walk the little people who think they are going to make a difference. Did you make a difference? No you make it f’ing worse! Not even local owned independent stores who…
Clearing your driveway
Hey! You have a fancy plow stuck on the front of your 4×4, you clear your drive and shovel it into the road so when the plow comes by, it will fill up someone elses driveway. Instead of showing everyone your fancy driving in the middle of the road, how about doing a bit for…
NS Transportation is Saltarded
To the Brain Trust at the NS Dept of Transportation, thanks for deciding to use less salt on our roads. (Note, Our roads, not Your roads.) The snowfall of November 23 gave us all a taste of your Low Salt Menu… more accidents, roads that are rutted with packed ice and battered suspensions for everyone!…
Breaking the bank for a haircut
Why is it so expensive for a hair cut? I went in and got my hair trimmed with a #2, it honestly took about 4 minutes including the time it took to ring it through the cash. The final price was $17.24. So basically at that price it works out the same as $258.60/hour. People…
Selling our municipal soul: council monetizes The Oval and the Christmas Tree Lighting celebration
As I was writing the below commentary, a reader emailed the pictures above to me. These are the front and back of a flyer delivered to elementary school children in the Halifax area—and apparently to each and every child, directly, by their teachers, who, it appears, were ordered to distribute the flyers. The incident fits…
Dog Day’s New Video: “Part Girl”
cuteweird! Dog Day dropped another video for your watching pleasure. “Part Girl” might make you feel a) like a fly on the wall, watching all the fun little things people do in the gaps between shows on tour b) like you want to cuddle something (what is the animal at 1:14, please?) c) groovy. Thanks!…
Hounds Around Town sold to Three Dog Bakery
Angela Granchelli has sold her online doggie boutique Hounds Around Town (houndsaroundtown.com) to Leanne Dowe, who also owns the Three Dog Bakery in Dartmouth Crossing (22 Logiealmond Close, 405-3364). “For out of town customers there is no change in the weather as the online store will remain the same (although Leanne will be adding more…
Local Source puts the “squeeze” on Seaport Farmers’ Market
Sean Gallagher and his cohorts at Local Source Market (5783 Charles Street, 454-6014) is supplying and supporting the start-up of The Main Squeeze. It’s a juice bar at the Saturday Seaport Farmers’ Market (1209 Marginal Road) offering super-tasty, fresh-juiced drinks, full of enzymes, vitamins, minerals and lip-licking flavour.
Thank you, driver
To the Metro Transit driver driving the 20 yesterday afternoon—thank you. Thank you for remaining calm and courteous to all of the passengers, even when they didn’t show you the same respect. Thank you for getting me home safely. Thank you for being calm when other drivers cut you off. Thank you for the smile.…
Way to go Mr. Mayor
This is a quick one, hey Mr. Mayor I bet the $100,000 you spent on police overtime on November 11 and the $300,000 plus spent on the concert fiasco is doing you good right now. You sure did lose my vote this time around imagine if you would have taken the $400,000 and spent it…
Thanks Metro Transit
Even though my bus was late yesterday during the snow storm, the bus did come, and it got me—and others—home safe. Thank you for putting other buses on and for giving us somewhere warm and dry and safe to be while we got to where we needed to be. —Home Safe
Faith, Fraud and Minimum Wage on Movie Central
The Nova Scotia-created and filmed comedy/drama Faith, Fraud and Minimum Wage is now available to be seen on Movie Central (go here to check out the schedule of screenings). The film—which I always think of as being called Holy Grounds, an alternative title I gather was the preference of some—is about a coffee shop employee…
The Prince Vortex
Ever watch three hours of Prince videos straight? I did the other night, for, uh, “research” in preparation for his November 30 show at the Metro Centre. I ended up locked within a vortex from which I could not escape. “Tell me more, Prince,” I murmured as the flickering images of thrusting hips, lips and…
Big business bullies small business
I think it is ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING that a certain long-standing “mom and pop” restaurant is being evicted to make room for a well-known, large franchise!!! I hope the regular customers will step forward and support the wonderful couple who have run the soon-to-be-evicted restaurant for 21 years. They are the most awesome people you could…
FIRED CHEF
You and your “Sous chef” were the worst “team” I have ever worked with. You both made my summer hell, and FINALLY you got let go. Good luck finding a job like you had, have fun this winter when EI cuts you off for sucking the system dry. Your food sucked, and your attitude sucked…
Winter
I have positive things to say about winter, but this is a bitch board, so here goes. 1) Clean off your $%#^ vehicle! All of it! I am tired of driving on the highway getting pummeled by people’s car ice caps. 2) When the highway is completely clear of snow and ice, you can drive…
A commissionaire who cares
To the wonderful bridge commissionaire on the day of the snowstorm, I thank you. My gas light came on after an hour of crawling to the toll station and there was still an hour of crawling afterwards. I waved you over and told you how worried I was about running out of gas on the…
Condo residents object to proposed Reflections move
Some north enders received a note in mail last week urging them to “maintain the integrity” of the neighborhood by signing a petition to reject Reflections’ application for cabaret license on Gottingen Street. The bar is applying for the license as part of their move to the old Marquee location, after their Sackville Street spot…
Stop trying to “pick up” on the LTWWB boards
There is a certain creepy guy who always puts down some stupid message on the Bitch boards somewhere along the lines of “your house or mine baby?” for example. Really!? What do you think is going to happen? Do you think that women think this is cool when you say shit like that? It just…
Occupy 2.0
Reeling from what increasingly appears to have been a well-coordinated, nationwide crackdown upon Occupy encampments, the imminent question now facing Occupy Nova Scotia is, “What now?” The notion of maintaining a communal space remains of paramount importance, and some have devoted themselves to finding an alternate living arrangement. Despite an open invitation from Eddie Carvery…
Oval secrecy
Halifax council Tuesday voted—in secret—to award naming rights to the long track skating Oval on the Halifax Common. But council refused to make public the details of the deal(s)—including not only the name(s) of the corporation(s) awarded naming rights, but also, remarkably, the dollar amount(s) for selling off a piece of city legacy. (See thecoast.ca/bites…
Winter bus bitch
OK you assholes. Yes, yesterday during not only the first snowfall of the year, but a heavy one, the buses were late and for a while, they couldn’t go over the bridge. Get over it, calm down, and be glad you’re on one at all instead of out in the cold. The people who were…
Will Fisher goes Coastal
Coffee and limited sleep fuel Will Fisher’s master’s in jazz/debut-album balancing act. It’s hard to imagine chipping away at a degree on top of making an album, sending press releases, having Skype meetings and then touring said album, but he’s pulling it off. After a just handful of performances and practices, Portage was recorded this…
Review roundup: The Descendants, The Muppets, Hugo, My Week with Marilyn, and Arthur Christmas
Click on the movie title for the review: My Week With Marilyn The Muppets Hugo The Descendants Arthur Christmas
The Extremities
In hip-hop at large, few beatsmiths dare to release albums predicated largely on instrumental work. Once, LPs driven by rapper-free beats like Pete Rock’s Petestrumentals served as documents reminding hip-hop heads the culture was born on DJ tables; today, producers let their voices be heard through their rapper Rolodexes instead of beat machines. At its…
Real Estate
For a second time, New Jersey’s Real Estate has delivered a faultless set of dreamy, guitar pop gems. Everything on this sophomore effort sounds tighter, crisper and clearer, without losing any of the easygoing charm of the 2009 debut. The most immediate draw is, once again, the impeccable guitar playing; the dual work of Matthew…
Don’t be subject to “batshittery”
Q I’m 26, straight and male. I consider myself a socially progressive person, have been a vocal supporter of LGBT issues since high school and was president of my college Gay-Straight Alliance. Here’s my issue: I fully support the trans community. I have numerous friends in varying states of transition and I’m 100 percent behind…
Drake
Some movies are unapologetically desperate cries for Oscar consideration (hello, J. Edgar), and Take Care sounds like Drake’s attempt at the sonic equivalent. It’s more focused than 2010’s Thank Me Later, and goes harder without losing the smoky instrumentalism that defines his best work. Take Care’s title track, paired with the raw “Marvin’s Room,” captures…
Free Will Astrology
Happy Birthday! SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21) “It is a tremendous act of violence to begin anything,” said Sagittarian poet Rainer Maria Rilke. “I am not able to begin. I simply skip what should be the beginning.” I urge you to consider trying that approach yourself, Sagittarius. Instead of worrying about how to launch your rebirth,…
Sarah Slean
Sarah Slean has made her timeless masterpiece. Exploring the ocean’s depths and vastness of landscape, this double disc—Land produced by Joel Plaskett, Sea produced by Slean and Jonathan Goldsmith— showcases a sophisticated songstress at the height of her classical-pop poetic powers. Slean’s sorted through the muck of being human and settled the score with herself.…
Kelly’s folly
There are too many other more pressing community needs to be able to elevate a recreational project when scarce capital resource must be diverted to solid waste, roads, water treatment, etc.” That quote is found on the second page of a 1997 thesis titled “A business plan for Bedford Memorial Sportsplex and the Bedford Memorial…
The Great Leader
When Sunderson retires from the police force, he refuses to give up on his last unsolved case. Recently divorced, drunk more often than not and lonely, the search for a cult leader and suspected pedophile is the only thing he has left, and he stumbles blindly toward it even as he gets beaten black and…
Moscovitch’s rise and shine
SCENE: A condo in Toronto, Ontario. (Enter HANNAH MOSCOVITCH, a 33-year-old playwright whose ascent in Canadian theatre over the last six years has been meteoric. Recently, she’s written for CBC Radio One’s Afghanada, worked on nearly a dozen plays on the go, opened a play and had a script commissioned by the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.…
The Mi’kmaq Anthology, Volume Two: In Celebration of the Life of Rita Joe
Fourteen years ago, The Mi’kmaq Anthology was published. Elder Rita Joe, poet laureate of the Mi’kmaq people, known for poems such as “I Lost my Talk” and “Five Hundred Years,” approached Lesley Choyce with the idea of inspiring Mi’kmaq writers and compiling their works to form the collection. When Theresa Meuse heard of Joe’s passing…
Road runners
By now Nova Scotia has—or should have—shed its image as an isolated backwater destination that’s difficult to reach and even harder to leave. It’s no surprise that bands from Nova Scotia are successful and constantly touring. What may come as a surprise is that there are bands in this city who are becoming more widely…
The Marriage Plot
What encore does Jeffrey Eugenides perform following his 2003 Pulitzer Prize for the universally acclaimed Middlesex? Writing an even better book. The Marriage Plot may initially underwhelm, as Eugenides’ detailed narration of one college clique’s graduation week at Brown University resembles an elitist scrapbook illustrating his brilliantly tight first novel, he Virgin Suicides. Once off-campus,…
Arthur Christmas plucky fun
Sarah Smith’s animated feature begins with an exhilarating presentation of Santa’s worldwide Christmas Eve gift drop as a high-tech military mission overseen by the bearded one’s humourless son and heir apparent, Steve (Hugh Laurie). Meanwhile, Steve’s good-hearted but clumsy brother Arthur (James McAvoy) just tries to stay out of the way. But when Steve’s operation…
Battlefield 3
Battlefield 3 has been given its fair share of hype, especially because of the marketing war with Activision’s golden goose Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. In the end, what we’re left with is the same game we’ve been playing for half a decade. The campaign is short, dull and pointless; the developers clearly put…
Going solo
Bradleyboy Mac Arthur’s songs are populated by characters who wake up in trains, find blood caked on their hands, sell their souls and search for truth. His bluesy stories are delivered with a growling, hollering energy and fleshed out with banjo, harmonica, bass drum, guitar and the occasional eerie whistle—all delivered by Mac Arthur himself.…
Halifax’s Asian food golden age
Less than 10 years ago, Asian food in Halifax consisted of dishes tweaked for western palates. But in a city where Chinese food used to mean dishes drizzled with cornstarch-laden sauces, we now have places like JiXiang serving mouth-numbing Szechuan dishes such as ma po tofu or pork tongue salad. And it’s usually worth asking…
Atlantic Minds Wide Open Film Festival opens in Dartmouth
Laura Burke just wanted to be normal. While Burke was finishing her final year in drama studies at Concordia University, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. After coming back home to Liverpool, Burke documented her journey to normality in Superhero. It, along with others showcased at the Atlantic Minds Wide Open Film Festival, uncovers the hardships…
Halifax hotels as dining destinations
Sometimes I think lobby doors scare people off,” says Luis Clavel, nodding toward the bright lobby of the Atlantica Hotel. These aren’t the gilded lobby doors of hotels from Toronto to New York and Paris to Hong Kong, doors behind which you’re not surprised to discover some of the best restaurants in the world. The…
The Muppets fresh and sweet
Jim Henson’s Muppets return in all their musical, wisecracking glory 30 years after their eponymous show ended. Gary (Jason Segel), his girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) and his Muppet brother Walter (voiced by Peter Linz) head to Hollywood and rally up Kermit and co. to rescue the abandoned Muppet studios from oil baron Tex Richmond (Chris…
My Week With Marilyn tells the wrong story
Consider first half of the title My Week With Marilyn when setting your expectations for the film. Far from an insightful biopic about an iconic star, it’s the (apparently true) story of a young man’s masturbatory fantasy come to life. That fantasy belongs to Colin (Eddie Redmayne), whose job as an assistant to acting legend…
Beautiful Blood Wedding
The Dal production of Blood Wedding draws you immediately in with a gorgeous scene of people making preparations for a celebration. But in this poetic tragedy by Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, the celebration is not to be. There is bad blood between the two uniting families, and blood will be spilled in the end.…
Top 3 new restaurants of 2011
Dozens of delicious places opened their doors this year, which is great for the city but bad for the task at hand. Choosing just a few outstanding restaurants from such a large field of contenders is hard work. Tasty, enjoyable work maybe, athough still difficult. Add to that the whole “one person’s meat is another’s…
Living Evidence of the lost
Rosalie Favell puts her heart on display in her latest collection Living Evidence. The Aboriginal artist tactfully uses her self-portraits with her past lovers to showcase the perils and triumphs of romantic relationships. Her subjects’ eyes are hidden by tape, which creates a sense of voyeurism. The combination of words on the Polaroid pictures is…
Welcome to the supper club
What do you think about holding a dinner here one night? Renée Lavallée pitched that to the owners of Dartmouth’s Two If By Sea Cafe a year ago. Neither Tara MacDonald nor Zane Kelsall had professional restaurant experience, but they loved the idea. The rest, as they say, is history. Not only do these three…
Night magic
Happy first birthday to you, Night Flea Market. It was exactly a year ago that we were writing about Natalie Slater and Chloe Anderson’s Seoul-full dreams. Slater, after some heavy blog reading, was pumping herself up to move to Korea and Anderson had just returned from a year living there. The two bonded over just…
Hugo full of nostalgic magic
Martin Scorsese makes 3D magic out of Brian Selznick’s book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Orphan Hugo (Asa Butterfield) lives in a bustling Paris train station, where he tinkers with clocks and ponders the riddle behind an automaton, a souvenir of his late father. Verbose bookworm Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz) befriends Hugo—the two unfurl a…
Mike Trask goes back to basics
By the time he turned 26, Mike Trask had released five full- length records. In other words, he must have been making music in his sleep. But there was something missing. “I wasn’t able to fully express myself,” says Trask. “A lot of it had to do with getting to know myself and having the…
