Kudos to Acadiana Soy
To the editor, I have just a few clarifications to Angelina Chapin’s article on Acadiana Soy, “Tough tofu biz” (Food & Drink, Sep. 18), in which I am quoted. Acadiana owner Anna Anderson makes excellent fresh tofu and numerous tofu-based products. Bacteria levels are natural and unrelated to her process or conditions of her facility.…
Movie review ageist
To the editor, Your movie listings page contained the following remark about the film Nights in Rodanthe: “Ew. Old-people sex!” (On Screen, Oct. 2). I should like to ask the author of that observation a question. Had the relationship been between two lesbians, two gays or an interracial couple, would you have made such a…
Think outside the box
To the editor, We should be skeptical of the results of the 2008 HRM municipal election. With no direct paper trail to back up the more than 29,000 votes that were cast online, there is no way we can know for sure that they weren’t tampered with either deliberately or accidentally. Just a few lines…
The Quinpool Road bridge over the CN tracks is crumbling.
Who’s Responsible?: Jeff Spares, design and construction services, HRM, 490-7141.
J-walkers at Dal
Hey listen MF’s, if you arent at a crosswalk, don’t expect me to slow down! This bitch-jest goes out to the dumb POS that jumped out in front of my car last week on university ave at DAL, from behind a parked car, listening to his music on HEADPHONES. I take it you are trying…
Overbooked Pop Explosion
So there are a number of Halifax Pop Explosion shows playing this year at St.Matthews church on Barrington. Lovely place, the acoustics are fantastic.. But these shows are being oversold – You cannot see anything from 50% of these seats. (80% of which being the overcrowded balcony). This forces people to stand (understandably so), forcing…
Pictures of you
Photography has evolved dramatically in the past 10 years, and film has almost become a historic artifact. Digital took over and there’s no turning back. Founded in 1942, Atlantic Photo Supply (5505 Spring Garden) might be Halifax’s oldest camera shop, but it certainly isn’t out dated. “Obviously just like everyone else in the photo business…
Healthy pillars
Dartmouth will be well equipped health-wise as Pillars of Health (10 Portland Place) opens November 1. Owner Jennifer Petley believes firmly in the basics of health, meaning healthy in mind, body and spirit. The multi-disciplinary wellness clinic is merely an umbrella term, as the Pillars of Health offers naturopathic medicine, clinical nutrition, botanical medicine, traditional…
Asshole Driver
To the asshole driver on Dutch Village Rad yesterday right by the sight of the old halifax high school. You were in a turqouise colored car. WTF??? You couldn’t wait for the red light to turn green and all the other cars in front of you to move? You decide it’d be better to drive…
Double Standards
I told you I wanted an open relationship right from the beginning and you said no… so I only had sex with you, and then you cheated on me a year later and lied to me about it. Then I forgave you, we moved in together and a year later you fucked someone else and…
Weirdest election result
The strangest election returns come from District 17— Armdale-Purcells Cove. For council, 73.83% of voters went for incumbent Linda Mosher. But for mayor, 51.17% of the same voters went for Sheila Fougere. I’m not saying anything one way or the other about either Mosher or Fougere, but the two were on completely opposite sides of…
Before you get a piercing in Halifax, be aware you might end up in the hospital
Not mentioning any tattooo shops, but for you to say it was my fault that I ended up in the ER, shame on you. CLEARLY YOU PIERCED IT WRONG, piercings just don’t start pouring and squirting out blood like you see in the movies for no reason. AND TRUST ME, I know how to take…
YOU MAKE ME SO MAD.
I HATE YOU. There I said it. And you stop making me the middle of your drama, you have to learn enough is enough. And you, you’re a bitch. Swizzle
Trash dumpers
whoever the fuck dumped their 3 bags of recycles that had fucking food in them & 2 bags of ripped open trash bags infront of my house.. first of all who the fuck do you think you are? you have no right to dump your garbage infront of my house cause you dont know how…
STROLLER MADNESS
Why does METRO TRANSIT allow strollers on buses? They block the aisles with them and when I ask the mother to move the stroller so I can get by, I am given a dirty look. SICK OF STROLLERS ON BUSES.
Use a leash, duhhhhh!!!
For the people who think they are too cool to walk their dogs on leashes, especially pitbulls/mastiffs/rotties… Please stop this shit! I know you are intending to be intimidating and threatening looking, but it is really super scary to other dog walkers, runners, and kids. Can’t dogs sense and smell fear? If one of your…
code red….. blank the mission
somebody please go and protest the protesters. they are a waste of air . seriously I’m all for free speech but if I was headed in there with my girlfriend and they as much as looked my way those signs would be folded around their faces. I’m all for free speech but have a little…
Breaking news: Halifax council votes down Waterside development
On a 9-9 tie vote, the Halifax council defeated the controversial Waterside development proposed for the heart of the downtown Halifax historic district. Tie votes are considered a “no” vote. If approved, the development would have seen the razing of five buildings on a block bound by Upper Water, Hollis and Duke Streets and by…
Dear Asshole
Someday I’d love to hear about how it feels to be so universally loathed by your coworkers and acquaintances and clients. I’m guessing you have a different theory about your employability that doesn’t involve your brother owning the company. I’m guessing you are still telling yourself and everyone else who will listen (or feign interest)…
Chamber calls for ending of gas regulation
A press release: The Halifax Chamber of Commerce is calling on the provincial government to bring an end to gas regulation when the house resumes later this month. Gas regulation in Nova Scotia has been in effect since July 1, 2007. Promises of stable gasoline prices and increased opportunities for independent gasoline retailers to make…
nubodys clayton pk
when after many complants will you tune down the radio.people are in for a work-out not ear pop-out!And one more thing,a healthy gym will refuse to have promos for an un healthy pizza joint sitting in the newspaper rack,maybe this time you’ll get it! a former member
Waterside vote today
As I discussed before, it was a brilliant procdure move on the part of the Armour Group to get the vote on the controversial Waterside development postponed until after the election. It was unclear at the time exactly when the vote would happen, but by holding it today developer Ben McCrea and city staff don’t…
Can someone explain this to me?
Following up on politics and various arguments, it seems that Harper has offended some people when he said something about the arts profession. If my memory serves me right, the main issue was the funding and that Harper is cutting it, is that true? If that’s mainly the issue, I have no idea why people…
STOP WHISPERING
What is it with people who just whisper and refuse to speak up when I ask you to. I have a hearing loss and thats why I asked for you to speak up. GET A VOICEBOX.
Pssst section
Is it just me or has the Pssst section gotten either SUPER creepy (“I saw you on the bus and really want to smell your hair”) or just plain mean spirited? (“You broke up with me so I got double teamed by your 2 best friends…sorry) For serious people. A-ron
School board responses
To the editor, I am the parent of a student attending St. Mary’s Elementary. It is one of the schools mentioned in your cover story, Stephen Kimber’s “Class dismissed” (Oct. 2) as under review for closure by one-man school board, Howard Windsor. Windsor’s reasoning is that St. Mary’s is an old school that can’t deliver…
Throw That Anchorman an Anchor
Steve Murphy you ought to be ashamed of yourself… You are a disgrace to the profession of journalism. You are an embarrassment to the Atlantic Region… Your decision to air the Dion outtakes and the wishy-washy rationale for doing so, only serve to confirm that the principles of fairness and integrity are very low on…
World Animation Day–October 28
If you’re Tintin or Madame Tutli-Putli, I’m guessing October 28, World Animation Day, is marked on your calendar. The National Film Board is celebrating the occasion with a country-wide tour of free international screenings. On Tuesday, there’s a children’s program at Dartmouth High School (95 Victoria), and a future all-ages screening is scheduled for November…
10 cents saved isn’t my incentive
Taking my travel mug over to Tim Horton’s is starting to feel like an empty act of civic responsibility when I ask for a medium and the counter person fills up a medium cup, pours it into my mug, and then DISPOSES of the cup. Do you not get the idea behind bringing a reusable…
Biggest Douche In the UNIVERSE award goes to…….
PETER KELLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! dissatisfied citizen
District 2 is now hell
I just heard Barry Dalrymple beat Krista Snow in District 2. oH JOY. now a childish satan can frolic in fall river and watch the district time forgot fall ever closer to utter despair…or sackville. whichever comes first. someone made a mistake
honesty is the best policy
Earlier I was talking to an ex. He says within thirty seconds, “Let’s go have sex” and I said “What the hell is the matter with you?” I have hardly talked to him for weeks, and out of the blue he says this. But then he said something which applies to most if not all…
To The Dumb Ass on Kline St.
Thanks to the drunken Idiot that scared the hell out of my wife… trashed my bbq…tossed all the plants off our 3rd floor balcony on Kline street this past Thurs. at 3:00am. Your only reply to “WTF are you doing?” from me was “what’s the address here?” and “i didn’t do it” Grow up.. don’t…
You in the orange and white dress
To the woman at Daniel Lanois show on Sat nite: if the music at a show is too loud for you to talk over, consider not trying. Consider that people actually came to soak up a sublime performance, not cause they wanted to listen to you shrieking about your cupcakes, your iPod, the shit you…
Why.
I bought a TV recently for $287 without tax. I notice now from looking at the receipt that I was charged an NS “eco-fee,” of $25, which is meant to go toward funding gov’t electronics disposal depots. Fine. But my question is why did they apply the HST on top of the original amount AND…
Peter Kelly gets the nursing home vote
The HRM Election office placed polling places in 25 retirement homes, assisted living complexes and nursing homes. Collectively they had the following results: Boyd- 41 (2.9%)Fougere- 289 (20.6%)Kelly- 1,076 (76.5%) Now, I’m all for placing polling places in retirement homes, even if in some cases there is a miniscule return on the resources spent— some…
Wanna Do Something About Transit?
You complain about transit, but do you know what the other side is like? Maybe you hate your job and want something different. You know you’re curious to see exactly what this place is like, or why drivers seem to be early/late. You want to put your money where your mouth is. Hopefully, you want…
Pogue Fado men wearing perfume
I like to inhale the women at the pogue.Almost all dont wear perfume,its great.So why are the men wearing it?Whats with the ton of axe?If you guys want to be a woman so bad why not just get a sex change?Smelling like a french hooker on a saturday nite tells me you’re trying to bring…
Pumpkin Thief on Williams St
To the asshole that stole my 5 year olds pumpkins and also my neighbours kids pumpkins: MAY YOU ROT IN HELL! He took 2 trips to the valley to pick those from a pumpkin patch himself and he woke up this morning saw that 2 of them were gone. He wonders why anyone would do…
David Boyd wins!
Weirdest result of the election: David Boyd actually won the internet portion of the District 11 vote. He brought in 552 votes, to Shelia Fougere’s 547 and Peter Kelly’s 18. Only 52 other people voted for Boyd at the conventional polling places, bringing his total to 604. But even that is wildly out of proportion…
Fougere lost in the suburbs, rural areas
A district-by-district breakdown of the mayoral race shows that Sheila Fougere won the four districts on the Halifax peninsula (11, 12, 13 and 14) as well as two districts that were once in the old city of Halifax (16 and 17), although she lost two others that were in the old city– Clayton Park West…
Did internet voting effect the election outcome?
I’m now going through the final election results by district. This will likely take most of the evening, so check back, but I was most curious to see how internet voting affected the closest local race– the council race for District 12, downtown Halifax. Here are the numbers: Internet votingDowney- 116 (12.7%)Ells- 24 (2.6%)Sloane- 360…
I Dislike Cowardly People
to the fucking coward who keyed my truck on maple street last night…DIE DIE DIE. there is no bigger piece of shit than you…very brave to skulk around under cover of darkness. i hope u wake up tomorrow with ebola, on top of a case of necrotizing fasciitis. nice slow and painful. that is of…
Seriously
To the person who messed up my order in the BK Drive Thru: It wasn’t bad enough that I drove all the way home, parked my car, went all the way to my third floor apartment before realizing that someone had messed up my order..no, I had to go all the way back there and…
a thankful Nocturne bitch
I know this isn’t a ‘bitch’ bitch but hey, sometimes there’s people who deserve a shout-out. To all the artists and organizers who made Nocturne possible: thanks for the fantastic night! And thanks for proving Harper wrong. being an artist in halifax just got a little better
Clubhouse & a coke
To the two assholes who come into my pub every single day at lunch and order a clubhouse with no tomato, no cheese, no coleslaw and no pickle and a coke…… GO FUCK YOURSELF. You see, I have to tip out which means it actually costs me money to serve you when you don’t tip.…
Nocturne nabs popular vote
It occured to me, watching groups of people walking around downtown Halifax enjoying Nocturne, why people don’t vote in elections (and why there was little enthusiasm for any of our leadership candidates, federal or municipal)—there’s no real engagement with other people, with our senses, and our need for beauty, vision and creativity, or the unexpected.…
Who doesn’t love arsenic?
Hello Dal smokers, If you’re going to suck down toxic chemicals and slowly kill yourselves, kindly do it in an area not on campus. I must be weird or something because I don’t really enjoy breathing in the toxic fumes and you blow in my face as I walk to class. I thought Dal was…
Voter turnout way, way down
The elections office hasn’t yet released final figures, but it appears that voter turnout in the municipal election is way down. In the race for mayor 100,708 people, or about 38 percent of registered voters, have cast votes this year (there is still a single unreporting table out of 570), compared to 125,035, or about…
WTF Tattoo ban?
What the fuck, a friend just told me they were barely let into a club downtown with a oceanic themed name because suddenly, if you have visible ink on hands, necks or forearms, you can’t come in(I would LOVE confirmation on this). Fuck it if they’re dressed nice, gotta keep that undesirable element out, huh?…
Sloane wins
Well, there’s still one box out, but with 21 of 22 tables reporting, Sloane has 1,083 votes to Stuewe’s 980.
Sloane takes the lead
10:19pm. District 12 is by far the most exciting race of the night. Dawn Sloane just went up by about 100 votes, but only 12 of 22 tables have reported.
Incumbents
All but three council incumbents have won. Patrick Murphy has lost his seat to Jerry Blumenthal.Krista Snow has lost to Barry Dalrymple. It’s still to close to call between Dawn Sloane and James Stuewe.
Interesting council races
The most interesting races, as returns are coming in Saturday night– District 2– Incumbent Krista Snow looks to be losing to challenger Barry Dalrymple. District 11– Incumbent Patrick Murphy probably won’t be able to catch up with challenger (and former councillor) Jerry Blumenthal. District 12– With 8 of 22 tables reporting, Dawn Sloane is just…
Kelly wins
Peter Kelly handedly defeated Sheila Fougere for HRM mayor. The count as of 9:30pm, with 486 out of 570 ballot boxes counted, is 48,034 votes for Kelly, 35,447 for Fougere.
Please stay home (or at least away from my gym)
This is to all the old guys who “workout” at my gym. Please realize that I do not think you are cool because you are old and yet still go to the gym. Please stop your intense, beseeching eye contact with me. I do not want to talk, joke, or flirt with you. I will…
Dog walkers hogging the sidewalk
It is super annoying to try to walk/run/jog/exist on the sidewalk when people hog it while walking rambunctious or poorly trained dogs!!! I am sorry, I love dogs, but really…why can’t you either hold them back or make room when others are coming towards you? Some people are naturally timid around unfamiliar dogs (I tend…
Blue Bag Collectors
I really don’t mind having sometimes creepy people in my front yard digging through my blue bags for the refundable containers but coming home to an orange sticker on my other blue bag because you combined my non-refundable containers with my cardboard is a fucking piss off. Have the decency to not screw up my…
sign B.S.
I just read Dawn Sloane’s verbal diahrrea in the paper complaining about everyone putting their signs everywhere. Uh, yeah…ask her about her little adventure in Park Vic when Downey caught her red-handed ripping his pamphlets off. What a scum-dog thing to do. I hope your $50k/yr half-wit bottom-feeder ghetto ass gets booted out of your…
(un) Reliable Metro Transit
What is up with Metro transit’s Go Time system? And the schedule, buses are SO rarely on time. Too many times have I made it to the bus stop with 5 minutes to spare and the bus has already gone by. So I have to wait for another 30 minutes. Argh. What’s more though, there…
Nocturne tomorrow night!
Don’t forget! Tomorrow night is Nocturne: Art at Night. We’ll be there, roaming the streets, taking in all the art you possibly can, all night, from 6pm to midnight. And whatever happens afterwards. To grab a program, they’re around the city at various coffee shops and galleries, or download a copy at nocturnehalifax.ca and check…
Election tomorrow!
Don’t forget to vote! Lots of helpful info at The Coast’s election centre. Also, I’ll be on CBC Radio One after the polls close, sometime after 7:30pm, for commentary about what it all means. And I’ll be blogging results here Saturday night and into Sunday.
I don’t let people smoke in my home
To the woman Smoking at the top of Cornwallis Street Wednesday afternoon (waiting for the Community Cruiser, I’m guessing you work with the project based on your sweater) : Don’t smoke in front on my window on a nice day. I can’t enjoy fresh air while reading because you need to dirty your lungs and…
the Chronicle Herald
If you read the Herald, you need the Harold http://chronicallyharold.blogspot.com/ Chronically Harold
Economizing on Service
The Economy Shoeshop has a nice atmosphere, and I respect Victor Syperek as an astute local entrepreneur but the service at the Shoeshop is mindblowingly awful. I recently took an out of town friend there for those famous nachos and some beers and he was baffled by the lack of service. I’ve eaten there no…
My son won’t move out
You’d think after living at home for 2 decades, he’d get a job. I work my butt off all day only to come home and find my son on the internet posting on the coast ads in hopes to boost his self confidence because nobody in the real world thinks he’s entertaining. Maybe i should…
He won’t move out
My son won’t move out of my apartment. He has no gf, no job and all he does is sit in front of the computer drooling on chatboards posting 30 times a day with lame replies that only he thinks are funny and uses different aliases so it looks like he has a following but…
Hobo Junction
Is it just me or is the hobo population expanding? And not only that, but they’re getting pretty fucking rude too, not only do I have to say “no, sorry I don’t have any” once a block, but I get fucking attitude! Now they’re interupting me when I’m home sitting on the deck in a…
Ignorant Thug Bitch
I have seen a lot of bitches about people wearing too much smelly stuff on the buses. I have allergies but deal with this. They think they smell nice so let them. HOWEVER to the ignorant thug bitch on the bus last night thanks a fucking lot for not just wearing an excess of your…
How to make a recession
Sensibly, we’re all tightening all belts—only people who really need one would rush out to buy a car or a refrigerator or other big-ticket item right now, given the economic uncertainty. But governments are following course: Nova Scotia’s response to dealing with the potential effects of a downturn in the world economy will not include…
Obama….yes please….
why, oh why can’t we have a candidate with one ounce of the personality that Obama has. Our election is an absolute grim-out for those 20 somethings. We need a leader in Canada with a bit a grit, a bit touch of reality, and someone that can string together a sentence that makes sense for…
Intersection Woes
As I approached the yellow light at the intersection where I intended to make a left turn, I looked back over my shoulder. I saw you about 70-80 m behind me. Plenty of time for me to change lanes in order to make my turn. I signaled, and moved carefully into the left hand lane.…
Canada has Electoral Dysfunction
Dear Canada, Quit bitching. Sure, more conservatives in Ottawas is complete bogus but if don’t like it, then maybe its time to take a Political science 101 class and realize there other ways of going about democracy. It’s called Proportional representation. If you don’t like how this system works, do something about it and get…
cock rock
Would it be possible for the radio stations here to stop playing Phil Collins and OZZY every ten seconds? MINGLISH
CAPA makes me sad
I’m sure there are tons of university students who have felt the dreaded agony from a certain math and science program known as CAPA. You are an annoying, time consuming, useless assignment that does not help further my understanding of physics. You pop up every single week with more frustrating questions to drive us mad…
More cops, whether you need them or not
Cops, cops, cops! Nova Scotia is boosting the number of police officers that are being hired in the next year. Justice Minister Cecil Clarke says 45 new officers will be hired in the next year, which is 25 more than it originally planned to recruit during that period. Clarke says people want to see more…
Emerging artist award on Friday
This Friday at Saint Mary’s Boat Club, we’ll know the first recipient of The Mayor’s Emerging Artist Award–will this be Peter Kelly’s last big handshake???–which will be presented at Visual Arts Nova Scotia’s fundraiser, along with several other prizes. The fundraiser sounds like hands-on fun: a collaborative night spent painting and drawing a large spontaneous…
Listen here you fucking morons
Death threats ain’t going into The Coast. I don’t give a shit if it’s only a joke or whatever. You fucking morons. Yea OK, the people hitting you up for quarters on the street are the worst fucking thing in your otherwise perfect universe, I get it. But do you really have to threaten to…
bad coffee
why does coffee from a certain franchise that rhymes with “Jimmie’s” have to taste like absolute shit? going anywhere else
It’s an Odd One
My bitch is an odd one as a single woman in her 30’s. I have a great dating life and am not looking to settle down with anyone just yet. My bitch is about the men I seem to be attracting or finding. After 3 dates they think they are my signifigant other and want…
This week’s live gig snap
Dammien Alexander at PhotopolisThursday, Oct 9, 9:01pm, at Cargo & James Teas.
You littering bastard
To the dipshit construction worker who threw that Godforsaken Tim Horton’s cup over a fence onto the ground the other day over by the queen st. sobeys…what the fuck do you think you’re doing? Decorating the Earth….giving it a sip of your shitty watered down coffee? Um..I think not. Why must people litter…is it funny,…
Elimination of a piece of Halifax lore.
Remarks: Haligonians have for decades told themselves that Spring Hill is the world’s only “cemetery with a traffic light”—the light for the Robie/Jubilee intersection sat just inside its fence. We’re skeptical (there are some pretty big cemeteries out there in the world), but we’ve even seen tour buses stop for a lookie, so what do…
Mixed messages at Ahern and Cogswell.
Remarks: This way or that? One lane, three lanes or two? The signs on the side of the street say one thing, and the arrows on the roadway say two other conflicting things. Blame a crappy painting job and work still to be done. But Reashor, who is evidently the only city manager who hasn’t…
Fuck
Fuck you for being a fucking bitch sometimes. Stop complaining about everything. fuck! Fuck you too
Move to the back
Please people, move to the back of the bus. I always see the bus become crowded at the front as a person in the middle doesn’t bother moving back when people get off. He just stands there like a moron as everyone looks back hoping he’ll move. I’m going to start pointing you out as…
Jenn, Josh, Fred and Mike
Gather around children, and let me tell you about the days back when granny was little and MuchMusic actually played music! And VJs were walking encyclopedias of musical knowledge and not vapid timefillers between Girlicious and Ice T’s Rap School (back then the only schooling Ice T was involved in had a body count). In…
Government by sweater
Thank God for Danny Williams. And for the people of Quebec. And for Bill Casey. And, of course, for Stephen Harper, whose stubborn, sweater’s-off-now arrogance helped save us all from a fate worse than George Bush—which is to say a Stephen Harper Conservative majority government. It is easy to imagine what might have happened Tuesday…
Gross’ war words
Paul Gross spends his morning in a conference room at the Westin, entertaining journalists with a Venti Starbucks in hand, while a publicist and makeup artist stand guard. There’s no way Gross will be mistaken for any of the barristers milling around in the hallway for a real estate conference—he’s way too blessed with that…
Pop eyes
TUESDAY Emm Gryner The Music Room (6181 Lady Hammond), 9:30pm, $15 Emm Gryner is one of those musicians who can make people collapse from the power of her blinding, all-encompassing coolness. Most of you know bits and pieces of the Gryner lore: She started her own label at 23, she played keys in David Bowie’s…
Jay Reatard at the Marquee
The attendance list of the Jay Reatard show at the Marquee tonight was like a who’s who of the local music scene. I think everyone who’s in a band in Halifax was there. A History Of is high on my list of local bands that don’t play enough, and they played an awesome set- their…
Nocturne: all work and lots of play
Wes JohnsonPhantom Stacks (1790-92 Granville) Describe your installation: This installation requires your personal attendance to be fully “realized.” If nothing happens, you might try a different spot. What emotions will people leave with? Depends on the crowd. I would anticipate from the drunken Split Crow patrons, confusion and/or some howling. For a more sober audience,…
Sex Drive
An era’s teen movies are often a reflection of when their makers grew up. The late-’90s saturation of Sex Drive plays obvious by copying the “parents walking in on a child in a sexually vulnerable state” scene that opens American Pie (already spoofed in Not Another Teen Movie.) When writers Sean Anders and John Morris…
The full Reatard
In 2006, after over 10 years of writing and recording with multiple bands including the Reatards, Lost Sounds and the Final Solutions, Jay Reatard released his first proper solo album, Blood Visions, on In The Red Records. In 2008 he signed with Matador Records for a multi-album deal. His first project with the label was…
City of Ember
The lure of intelligent and exciting kids’ fantasy isn’t met in City of Ember. The latest from Walden Media, who specialize in adaptations of children’s books, misses the experience of growing up that elevates their best movies (Because of Winn Dixie, Bridge to Terabithia, the first hour of the first Narnia.) Based on Jeanne Duprau’s…
Rust and rescue
A kid stands on the roof of the Halifax North Memorial Public Library on Gottingen and watches the scene of a young woman helping a young man to the top of a 20-foot-high steel monolith play out in the square below. They are local students from Saint Patrick-Alexandra School, cast in bronze. They are unfinished…
Nocturne: sight night
Susan Dobson, temporary architectureSaint Mary’s University Art Gallery (5865 Gorsebrook) Guelph-based photographer Susan Dobson has built a career documenting industrial sites, housing developments and other throwaway architecture. There’s a lot of work motivated by this type of architecture out there, and there are a lot of these buildings. Temporary Architectures shows her series Retail, imposing…
What is the traditional method?
The Traditional Method Diehard fans of Champagne often justify paying the minimum $50 price tag by explaining that only Champagne has that taste. What they are referring to is the bready, yeasty, toasty aroma and flavour that comes from long aging on the lees—the dead yeast cells—which break down and release flavour notes, in a…
On the Bubble
Winemaker Bruce Ewert is well-known in Canadian wine circles for his still and sparkling wines. He received multiple awards at BC wineries and won double gold for his 2007 L’Acadie Star at this year’s All Canadian championships. But what interests me is his bubbly. L’Acadie Vineyards in the Gaspereau Valley is the first Nova Scotia…
Stunt
StuntClaudia Dey(Coach House)I’ve always felt a kinship to Claudia Dey, both of us being right-brained alumni of the same lawyer- and engineer-producing high school. The florid style of her plays and her Globe and Mail advice column has a timeless, nearly ethereal quality. Stunt, her first novel, brings to mind the poetry of Gwendolyn Mac-Ewen…
GZA/The Genius
GZA/The GeniusPro Tools(Babygrand)Gary “GZA/The Genius” Grice cemented his place in the annals of hip-hop history with his sophomore album, Liquid Swords, which he’ll perform in its entirety at the Halifax Pop Explosion on October 24. Its success was both a blessing and a curse—GZA’s success set a high expectation that would not fully be met…
Fred
FredGo God Go(Sparks Music)If you were to judge Cork, Ireland’s Fred from the first track, “Skyscrapers,” you’d think they were cut from the same sparkled cloth as Scissor Sisters. But then Fred does the hustle from disco hand-claps to 1980s Housemartins happiness on the next track, “Running,” then build up to an Arcade Fire reference,…
Passchendaele
If the title Passchendaele were spelled Passion Dale, it would still fit. Paul Gross’s prestigious directorial effort isn’t much as a historical film, but it makes an adequate soap opera. It isn’t until the movie’s last third that the battle of Passchendaele (a 1917 linchpin of Canadian valour and sacrifice) is fought. Until that point,…
Savage Grace
[image-4]Published October 16, 2008.Savage GraceDirected by: Directed by Tom Kalin (IFC Films)Reviewing this movie is an exercise in saying “unsettling” in numerous ways. If anything that happens in Savage Grace is accurate, then the tone of the film—at once dream-like and off-putting—is more about being true to the characters than making the audience feel comfortable…
A Rough Start
Wooooo! It’s the eve of the Pop Explosion! I’m very excited to finally be able to see all the bands I want and not be so broke that I end up eating cheese and crackers for two weeks afterwards. However, I am ultimately foolish and perhaps undeserving of this honour. Y’see, I was really hoping…
Nocturne: the how-to guide
* Grab a Nocturne program, which contains maps, locations and descriptions of the galleries and public art installations. Programs are available around the city, including all the galleries, or download a copy at nocturnehalifax.ca. * Plan a route. With 28 galleries and 24 special projects, there’s no way you’re going to take in everything, so…
Roots Manuva
Roots Manuva Slime & Reason(Big Dada)Roots Manuva possesses one of the most underappreciated flows and remains one of the most interesting production minds in the business but often, on this fourth full-length release, it feels as though the London rapper is phoning it in, lyrically and vocally. (Often, backing vocals/choruses are more interesting than verses/rhymes.)…
Alison, Laura and Sue.
Welcome, festival goers. Our team will cover it all, starting today – when the sun sets.
Paint City Hall green
It’s typical of modern democracy that in an October 8 debate—covering big topics like uranium mining, alternative energy, sustainable transportation, pesticide use, food supply, planning, green building and waste management—a comment that road tolls are not such a bad idea may have cost Sheila Fougere her remote shot at becoming mayor. “Asphalt is a petroleum…
Kimya Dawson
[image-4]Published October 16, 2008.Kimya DawsonAlphabutt (K Records)With indie-rock stars catching on to the celebrity baby trend, what we get is a boom in indie children’s records. Dawson (Moldy Peaches) recorded Alphabutt following the success of the Juno soundtrack and her first child’s birth. Though more nonsensical, many songs aren’t discernibly different from Dawson’s grown-up work,…
A Slow Start
I don’t know what it is, but I’m really slow on the take today. So slow that I actually watched Holmes on Holmes tonight for the first time. (This was after I suggested getting rid of our free cable. Duh.) Did you know that if you own a house, there’s a good chance you’ll get…
No more cops
We don’t need any more cops, says Don Clairmont, the man who literally wrote the book on violence in Halifax. Clairmont, a criminologist and head of the Atlantic Institute of Criminology at Dalhousie University, was hired by mayor Peter Kelly to study violence in Halifax and to make suggestions for addressing violence. The resulting report…
Pop: Halifax versus Montreal
I’m already so broke that the only cheese I eat is at gallery openings or my roommate’s, but unlike Alison I’m in impeccable health and have already got myself on a schedule of going to bed at 4 AM. I was just in Montreal for the Pop Montreal festival and found the experience of attending…
HPX Playlist!
And now, a mid-afternoon musical interlude brought to you by the same people who made my lunch. Actually, this is the fine work of our web editor, Andy Murdoch, who assembled this poppin’ playlist. HPX 2008 HPX 2008
Land of Lanois
Life is measured in more than the quantity of years spent on Earth. There are qualities to be considered too, says artist/producer Daniel Lanois, in a broad conversation on the phone from Los Angeles. “What wisdom comes your way and for what reasons, it’s not just age. It’s the blows along the way,” he says,…
