Peter Kelly continues to mis-execute
As of Tuesday, mayor Peter Kelly has still not completed his duties as executor of the estate of Mary Thibeault. As The Coast revealed in an exclusive report earlier this year—see “Peter Kelly’s Failure of Will,” March 24—the 91-year-old Thibeault died in her St. Petersburg, Florida home on December 7, 2004. A former Bedford resident,…
Pretty Things Boutique suffers from lack of city communication
Cadence Macmichael, owner of Pretty Things Boutique (5240 Blowers Street, 492-8329), emailed recently to relate her frustrations with some construction on the street in front of her store. Her story is compelling, and echoes complaints I’ve been hearing from other downtown business owners. Macmichael took a cab to work one Tuesday morning, only to find…
Nightmare Factory airs on The Movie Network starting this week
Nightmare Factory, the new documentary by Halifax filmmaker Donna Davies (Pretty Bloody: The Women of Horror, Zombiemania) takes a look at the career of special make-up FX guru Greg Nicotero (Hostel, Evil Dead 2, Sin City, Inglourious Basterds). It debuts on The Movie Network on Thursday, October 27 and airs regularly on TMN and affiliated…
Ratineaud French Cuisine opens November 1
The Feed has learned that Ratinaud French Cuisine is opening at 2082 Gottingen on November 1. The business is a catering operation and deli, offering a selection of different charcuterie (pate, rillette, sausage, dry cured meat) and take-home prepared food for north enders and whomever else would like to stop by.
Idealbikes changes hands
On September 30, Dave Schuhlein of Idealbikes ( 1678 Barrington Street, 444-7433) sold his store. The legendary bike shop, started on Agricola Street in 2003, is now owned by Troy MacQuarrie and Matt Canning, who Schuhlein says have a background in construction. “They’re completely revamping the store,” says Schuhlein, who agreed to stay on as…
HPX Saturday
i diggit Woke up on Saturday morning under a blanket of cat body and felt the week weighing down my bones. I walked through my apartment and it looked like a bomb had gone off. We rapidly fled the house to go to the CKDU brunch at Gus’. The burritos looked delicious but I got…
BREAKING NEWS: Five Bridge Lake area gains wilderness status
The Five Bridge Lake area will be accorded official wilderness status tomorrow, The Coast has learned. The area is designated on this map: The total area to be protected is larger than that proposed, and will exceed 25,000 acres, but we don’t yet have exact boundaries. We’ll have more after tomorrow’s announcement, at 1pm.
Local doc Facebook Follies airs Thursday
Facebook Follies is a hour-long doc written and directed by local CBC wizard Geoff D’Eon and produced by Tell Tale Productions. It’s airing Thursday, October 17 on CBC’s Doc Zone, 9pm. The doc takes a look at the unexpected consequences of people sharing their personal information on the world’s most successful social networking site. It…
HPX Friday
This blog is coming to you, live n direct, from me lying supine on a futon. What a doozer of a couple of days folks. I’m so happy and tired and hung over and I can’t believe it’s over already. Lots to cover so let’s get to it. FRIDAY After a slow-ish start to the…
HPX 2011: Thursday
I’m exhausted today and will try to keep it short. Went to a new Russian place for breakfast and someone from my party ordered borscht for breakfast, and I found this totally disgusting. And oh hey look, it’s Quaker Parents and Bloodhouse at the Coast HPX party. If you missed this, you missed free beers…
Greenlyph becomes Downtown Digital
Greenlyph is no more. The south end computer retail and repair shop was sold recently by former owners Jeremy McNeil and Wade Prue to the guys who run Full Spectrum Computers, Jamie MacDonald, Michael Pillai and Chris Harborne. With a largely new staff in place, things should remain business as usual, says store manager Mitch…
Genetically modified fish in the works
Get ready, mutant lovers! The production of the world’s first genetically modified food animal is waiting on Environment Canada’s approval of a GM fish hatchery in PEI. The US company, AquaBounty, plans to grow redesigned Atlantic salmon eggs in PEI, then fly them to Panama where they would be raised and processed, eventually arriving…
Halifax council chases stadium
With lots of qualifiers and making sure there are “off ramps” to reverse direction, if needed, Halifax council Tuesday night agreed in concept to spending $20 million for a potential $60 million stadium, so long as the provincial and federal governments pay the other $40 million. Never mind that there’s no actual plan for a…
HPX 2011: Wednesday
After watching what is singlehandedly the most disgusting Kenny vs. Spenny episode of all time, we took off, still gagging, to CKDU for the first free lobby show of the year featuring the Weekend Dads and Cold Warps. The bands calmed my nausea and provided a welcome kick in the face. Cold Warps tried a…
Ships Start Here? So Do Shitty Salaries
Ok great – you got the contract. Here is the problem. The pay in NS is unrealistic. I left a few years ago for this very reason. Professional Jobs there offering 35K a year for what I can do in Ontario for 75K a year (starting). Been missing home a lot lately – thinking about…
Musicians These Days
While reading a certain local newspaper this morning I read an article on a certain country singer. The full page article was about her trying something new… Co-writing 6 out of 11 songs on her upcoming album. Is this what music has come to? We’re congratulating artists who, well into their careers, just begin to…
Good Dog Owner
To the guy in PPPark walking his Dobie pup, Thanks for being cool about our dogs having a little grumble at each other. Most people would immediately walk away if either dog let out a little growl at the other, hence not solving the issue. But you stuck around and after a minute we got…
Shut the F*** Up!
You come in 20 mins late 3 out of 5 mornings a week. You play on Facebook for a lot of your day. When you arrive late you are on the company cellphone making plans for your weekend. WTF! When you are actually doing your job you make more mistakes than us coworkers can keep…
Oldies
We are old, you and I, at least in the eyes of many today – but not in our hearts, or in the eyes of each other. You ignite my passions today just as much – if not more – than in those far off years when we were both just starting out and exploring…
CFAT’s new home
The north end happily welcomes the Centre for Art Tapes into its loving arms come Spring 2012. CFAT has partnered with Hub Halifax in a new development purchased on Gottingen Street, bringing the artist-run not-for-profit into closer contact with such esteemed neighbours as the Eyelevel Gallery and (ahem) The Coast.
Evil Mother
It’s horrible how you use our children against me for your own profit. The other day you tell me you need more money for for “daycare.” Daycare? WTF. You’re a stay-at-home mom. Why do you need daycare? So you can fuck off and screw around with your new stoner boyfriend? You say it’s so you…
The Shit Starts Here
WAR SHIPS, just what we need. If you make it, they/it will come. Here we are in the hospital trying to figure out ways to cut costs since the Feds cut our budget by 3% while they give 25 billion to Irving to build WAR ships. What is wrong with this picture and an NDP…
My Phone!
To the lovely woman on the number one bus on October 17th around 3:30: Thank you so much for handing my phone to the bus driver after it fell out of my pocket and I proceeded to get off the bus. Buying a new phone would not have been an option as I don’t have…
Mother Lover
To the guy in a white van on the corner of Agricola & Cunard at 12:30 pm on August 19th, 2009 who blared his horn at my mother because he didn’t like the way she was riding her bicycle: She pulled up to you and said “Hey, I have my rights, too.” and you yelled…
Stranger Than Fiction
To the tortured artist: it’s painfully clear you just took your last relationship, changed a name or two, and put it all on paper to read aloud. You took really intimate details and paraded them around for strangers, which is mean – and also lazy, since you’re supposed to be some kind of writer. Maybe…
MOVE PLZ
I’m a waitress. Why is it that when I bring food to a table, more often than not the customer has their newspapers, bags, random crap spread out on every possible inch of the table. And they just sit there all dumbfounded staring at me, the person who is standing there with two hands full…
I Have a Dream
Public washrooms are an unfortunate necessity to 90% of people out there. And yet we’re still afraid to go #2 in any of them unless we’re 100% certain that we’re in there alone. Yes. That sounds like a lot of math. It’s a serious subject. Some of us have actually perfected the art of cutting…
Bruce Peninsula gets fired up
Bruce Peninsula was supposed to be on this tour last March. The record was done, the dates were booked, the celebrations had happened. And then frontman Neil Haverty was diagnosed with leukemia. After a hard winter, and teasing fans with videos for B-sides and covers (better known as the Bruce Peninsula Fire Sale) BP back…
Plastic rules
The recycled plastics market “used to be so bad everything was going to China,” Ken Donnelly says. Donnelly specializes in large-scale public participation in environmental initiatives, and was involved in the creation of Halifax’s much-lauded solid waste program. It’s a strange phenomenon he describes, the lack of markets for recycled plastics. Much of our plastics…
Fall for Olenka and the Autumn Lovers
Olenka Krakus says she writes more when she’s alone. So on this eastern tour with her Autumn Lovers, new songs might not come as easily as they did the last time she was in town when she wrote a one while walking through the north end. But that’s OK, the once literature student has a…
Sharp blades but dull wit of The Three Musketeers
Once upon a time, we didn’t need CGI to be lured into theatres. It’s now a staple of any action flick, including Paul W.S. Anderson’s (Resident Evil) iteration of Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel. It does a good job pretending it’s part of the Pirates franchise—befuddled plot, sword fights and Orlando Bloom included—only in Louis XIII’s…
A Drummer’s Dream director John Walker
John Walker was 17 when his band was invited to open for Frank Zappa. The young Montreal drummer desperately wanted to go to California, but he had been offered a chance to fulfill his other passion working at a film studio. Walker gave away his drums and wished his friends well. The band became ’70s…
Atkinson shines as Johnny English Reborn
Rowan Atkinson doesn’t need a gargantuan budget to be funny. (Remember Mr. Bean or the Blackadder series?) Oliver Parker’s Johnny English Reborn, the sequel to Peter Howitt’s 2003 English debut, reinstates English as an MI7 agent after his five-year retreat as a Tibetan monk. His mission: to stop Vortex, a CIA-MI7-KGB assassination trio, from killing…
Lost memories
In August of 1995, Cathy Ostlere’s brother David and his girlfriend set off on a voyage in a 27-foot sailboat, from the coast of Ireland to the Island of Madeira 1,200 miles away. It was a voyage that ended in mystery and tragedy. The story of the ill-fated journey was originally told by Ostlere in…
Let’s Golf 3D
Nintendo’s eShop, on its 3DS platform, is probably one of the best examples of how to run a digital download store. One of the best games available there is Let’s Golf 3D. Using simple, but fun controls you command a variety of upgradable characters while golfing through unique courses from England to ancient Greece. Sometimes…
Sink your teeth into Dracula
Leave it to the creative minds at SBTS to bring to life a gothic tale that ranges from Transylvania to London and back again in tiny black box theatre and on a shoestring budget. The vampire in this show is a far cry from Twilight’s sparkly, cold-as-ice Edward. David Patrick Flemming is a steamy Dracula…
Daily Picks: Friday
Dog Day w/Shotgun Jimmie, The Skeletones Four, Reversing Falls, Old and Weird Friday, October 21, Gus’ Pub, 9pm, $10 Friday’s Pigeon Row Showcase is going to be a doozy. To celebrate the fifth year of being a rootin’-tootin’ promotin’ machine, Pigeon Row gathered some of their favourites to make a very sweet lineup. If you…
Flamenco on film
The passion of flamenco dance and music is displayed in every pose, gesture and facial expression in the collection Seeking Duende: Halifax Flamenco. On the heels of the upcoming Atlantic Flamenco festival, photographers from across Nova Scotia sought to find the duende (soul) of their subjects with varying success. Each photographer takes a different stance…
Ovulating makes me find you hot
Q I broke up with a girl who wasn’t hot enough for me. I tried my whole life to not be that kind of guy. I treated her carelessly because she wasn’t that important to me. I was self-indulgent and rude and disrespectful, and it made her cry. She’s perfectly attractive, but not in an…
HPX Zine Fair explodes
On Saturday afternoon your ears will likely need a rest from music overload and yelling concert-goers. It’ll be a lovely break to shift the workload over to your eyes for a few hours and check out the annual HPX Zine Fair where loads and loads of amazing zines, small-press books, indie record labels and cool…
La Quinta Camera: The Fifth Room
Natsume Ono is a manga artist who can shift her art style from cartoony to detailed depending on the subject matter. For La Quinta Camera, the story of four middle-aged bachelors living as roommates in Italy, she goes the cartoony route, keeping things simple but expressive. The graphic novel is laid-back and episodic with much…
Wilco
Wilco has come a long way since the Chicago folk-rockers hit the mainstream with 2002’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. But after a brief foray into chilled out ’70s-inspired stoner rock with Sky Blue Sky and Wilco (The Album), the band is back to their more experimental roots with The Whole Love, a schizophrenic sound collage that…
Not Anyone’s Anything
Is the medium the message? With Ian Williams’ Not Anyone’s Anything, it could be. The three times three stories are experimentally told using musical notations, flashcards and simultaneous narratives broken up by horizontal or vertical striations. At times, readers are taken out of their comfort zones as if they are witnessing Williams’ brainstorming sessions—but this…
Haven Season One
Haven is like CSI meets The Twilight Zone. Haven, Maine—actually Lunenburg—is a small town with lots of bizarre things going on, from freak weather to psychic neighbours to people who draw voodoo dolls. The weirdest and most unbelievable part of this town is that nobody seems to care or notice. That is until FBI agent…
Lost memories
In August of 1995, Cathy Ostlere’s brother David and his girlfriend set off on a voyage in a 27-foot sailboat, from the coast of Ireland to the Island of Madeira 1,200 miles away. It was a voyage that ended in mystery and tragedy. The story of the ill-fated journey was originally told by Ostlere in…
Stone Mary
Bluesy and full of hooks, Stone Mary’s latest release is a must-own. Christine Campbell teases the mic with her seductive, soulful lyrics and her big voice; she is amazing even down on the boardwalk, where sometimes she can be found performing acoustically. From opening track “Ain’t No Lady” to the powerful ending track “It’s Alright,”…
Sable Island designated as national park reserve
It’s official: Sable Island will become a national park reserve. Environmentalists are welcoming the decision because it will raise the level of protection for the island’s unique biodiversity and extremely fragile sand-dune ecosystems. Well known for its population of wild horses, Sable is also significant for having the largest dunes in eastern North America, the…
Sushi outshined
Momoya is a little sushi spot on Barrington Street—one of oldest places in town—I’ve often walked by, but never ventured into. When I look inside, there are normally a few occupied tables, but this Sunday evening it is empty save for a single diner. It’s 5pm and we’re greeted by a friendly server and offered…
Vaccines
The Vaccines stormed North American shores with a press kit touting these Brit lads as the next big thing in rock. The album launches with a catchy opening blast of punk-rock (clocking in at 1:22): “Wrecking Ball” evokes a young Ramones. This is a decent album from a band that wears its influences proudly on its…
Daily Picks: Thursday
DAN MANGAN w/The Crackling, The Daredevil Christopher Wright Thursday, October 20, St. Matthew’s United Church, $20/$25, 7:30pm People talk about record ‘cycle,'” says Vancouver’s Dan Mangan in a tone that suggests he finds the concept a bit odd. “There’s this idea that you tour your album, then lay low for a little while and take…
Blu
In hip-hop right now, experts busy themselves with anointing the next big thing—Drake, J. Cole, Big K.R.I.T, your next-door neighbour. But what’s defined this generation of rappers so far is an absence of artistic integrity, from a hit-hungry B.O.B. to a characterless Wale. But Los Angeles’s Blu, whose 2007 Below the Heavens caused hype to…
Ami McKay’s doctor’s notes
Ami McKay’s second novel, The Virgin Cure, (being launched Tuesday, October 25 at Bayers Lake Chapters, 7pm, followed by a Q&A) began with her curiosity about the life of her great great grandmother, Dr. Sarah Fonda Mackintosh, one of the first female physicians in 1870s New York City. The painted portrait of Mackintosh that hung…
Daily Picks: Saturday
JENNIFER CASTLE w/ The Belle Comedians, The Weather Station, Spring Standards Saturday, October 22, The Company House, 8pm, $10 Many of the songs on Jennifer Castle’s major-label debut Castlemusic are unadorned; tunes like “Powers” make their mark with delicate strumming, spare, rattling percussion and whispers of flute. Though the music is low-key, an enormous strength…
Free Will Astrology
Happy Birthday! LIBRA(September 23-October 22) Meraki is a Greek word that refers to the bliss you feel when you’re engaged in a task that’s important to you and that you’re doing really well. It’s your theme right now, Libra. According to my reading of the astrological omens, everything’s in place for you to experience meraki…
Fucked Up
It’s kind of hard to fully grasp how a band with a swear word in its name could become one of the biggest punk bands on the planet. But that is exactly what happened to Fucked Up, a Toronto six-piece that has gone from relative obscurity to the most important punk group of its generation.…
Paranormal Activity 3 familiar but scarily effective
Like the charity haunted house at your nearest community centre, Paranormal Activity 3 arrives in time for Halloween with familiar but nevertheless effective scares. A prequel to its two predecessors, the film travels back to 1988 and the childhoods of sisters Kristi and Katie as they are plagued by a sinister apparition. Mom’s boyfriend attempts…
How to build a music career
This weekend at the Pop Explosion, Wendy Day wants to tell you exactly how to make it in the music biz. And right now you’re going to read some of the best advice she has for struggling musicians living in Halifax. First: her bio. Twenty years ago, disgusted by record labels mistreating musicians in the…
Down The Road Again revisits classic Canadiana
Donald Shebib’s 1970 classic Goin’ Down The Road didn’t shy away from tragedy. The result is a depressingly realistic take on two Cape Breton pals, Joey(Paul Bradley) and Pete(Doug McGrath) going to Toronto to make their fortune but leaving with their tails between their legs. The sequel picks up 40 years later and asks the…
On Lady Hammond
I have a serious crush on you. You like me too I can see it! I said “I am sorry I act so stupid around you,” you smiled, looking me right in the eye and said, “That’s okay.” If you read this D, and I come into your store… please tell me. —Shy Dark Girl
JA
I love you still… —Miamo
Wimps!
Teach children how to play together. So, we are at a birthday party. My kid takes your kid’s toy. I say, “No. You cannot take the toy.” (My next move would have been to help your kid and my kid share the toy somehow, or some distraction.) You say it is okay and take the…
Another Mouth to Feed
Why are teenagers so stupid? Why are there still teen pregnancies? There are many birth control options available. Pregnancy is not an Assbook status. Babies are not accessories. Welfare is not going to cover the very real cost of this… I am! Your boyfriend is a loser. I book time off work to drive you…
Missing Person Farce
I didn’t want to write this bitch, but this increasingly weird situation has driven me to share my observations on this whole thing. I’m sure by now everyone in Nova Scotia has heard of a certain missing girl. There are many people who have taken this situation and shown exactly what a strong community does…
No Need for Speed
Simple question: Why are cars made to go far faster than most posted speed limits? Why does any average joe need to drive 180 km/h? Speeding wastes gas and is very dangerous. Other than emergency vehicles, I see no need for cars to travel any more than 100 km/h maybe less. I’d rather see police…
Scent Free Please!
There are so many people living with illnesses that are affected negatively by scents. That’s why government buildings are scent free, that’s why many public buildings like universities and gyms are scent free, that’s why it’s actually against the law to wear scented products in a health office, clinic, or hospital in NS. Please realize…
We Want Something for Nothing Generation
I am relatively young. I am baffled by these protesters all over the world, occupying city streets, protesting what they call inequality. Give me a break you iphone using, blogging, self righteous nuts. Go try on a life in Liberia or East Africa, or somewhere where there is real inequality. We have it damm good…
Wrong Cuts
As an employee who is forced to pay into a pension – that I have no illusions will be there for me when I retire – why it is this government is focused on forcing DHAs to be a part of unsustainable and expensive pension and benefit program at the detriment of patient care? If…
I Don’t Get It
Why is it when you tell people, “I’m sorry, we can’t help you” and direct them to the appropriate place they do this snide laugh and reply “Well what do you do here?” We do many things, we just don’t do the thing you’re looking for. —Sorry
Nova Scotia wins big at Canadian Comedy Awards
Homegrown comedians and creative folks won at the Canadian Comedy Awards last night in Toronto. Best Sketch Comedy troupe went to Picnicface, whose eponymous sketch comedy show is now airing on The Comedy Network Wednesday nights. Best Television Performance (Male) was won by Jason Priestley for his outrageous series Call Me Fitz, about an amoral…
Occupy Puff Puff Pass
Congrats on maintaining the peace during your protest. Although smoking pot and sitting around all day stoned out of your mind doesn’t help at all to strengthen the public’s opinion of the Occupy movement. People walk through Parade Square and it’s not hard to smell that you’ve been hot-boxing your tent. Not to mention, marijuana…
Gum
WHAT is it with people sticking gum under tables? I put my hand on my lap, manage to graze under the desk and felt lumps. When I had a look, red gum, blue gum and white gum, etc. Not cool people! —Trash It
What the Hell?
So a friend of mine tells me she went out on the weekend and met some really cool people. Ok. She goes on to tell me that her and 9 other people were playing drinking games and decided on the ‘Never Have I Ever’ game. You drink if you’ve done whatever the asker says. The…
My Mermaid
Dear Honeybee, I would love to see you over the rainbow someday. I know now that twilight is not enough. Waiting in the middle of the night for the dawn simply will not do. I want to be with you in the mid morning sun, when the light plays off of the ocean and water…
Tired of the Same Old Song and Dance
Dear Narcissist, try looking at your own behaviour before you pin the blame for your woes on others. The only person being victimized here is you by your own actions and misfired responses. Time for a new chorus. You should get some professional help for that nasty personality disorder. If not for your own inner…
Bitch About a Bag
I recently visited a popular bookstore, purchased a few books, then waited for purchases to be put in a bag. The cashier smiled, and slid the books across the counter to me, no bag. Now, I understand the concept of saving the planet, etc. But are some of these companies confusing being green with being…
Idiots, Too Many Idiots
I’m getting really sick and tired of everyone complaining about bus drivers sitting there and doing nothing when there is a disturbance on their bus. They have a few things they can do and getting up out of their seat is not one of them! If they get up and go engage the problem they…
Opposition Critic for Veterans’ Affairs
I left a message on your answering machine Saturday afternoon concerning a situation in the Grand Parade. 3 hours later you called me back, in person, asking for more details. I freely confess to being one of those who sits on his couch, swearing at the widescreen and tarring politicians with the same brush. I…
The Grass IS Greener
To the young woman who took the time to let the Bengal Lancer horse graze on actual growing green grass Saturday AM instead of letting it pine for it from the circle of muck and chew it’s frustrations out on the fence – I’m sure s/he loved you for it! I do too! Why can’t…
My Sweet Guy
Today was not our anniversary, it was not Valentine’s day or my birthday. No, it was a day like any other… I sat at home in front of the computer doing school work and you had gone out to buy more lightbulbs. When I heard the door open I turned around and saw you standing…
I Contemplated Having the Nurse Pass Along My Number
After two hours in the waiting room together, I finally got up the nerve to talk to you. You were studying contracts for your law class and I was reading a book on performance art. Had I not just made plans to hang out with my friend on the phone, I would have suggested we…
Love Should Be Spread Among the Masses
In today’s economic state, and supposed “democracy” a lot of people are feeling the pain, most of those who are pan-handling on Spring Garden are doing it because they are trying to survive. Yes there are some who use the change for drugs, but there are more who are trying to feed themselves and get…
They Say You Should Love Your Neighbourhood
But when shit moves in above your head… I miss my house. It used to be a nice house until FUCKING STUDENTS MOVED IN UPSTAIRS!!!!! I moved here because it wasn’t a student house. Now my quiet lifestyle is full of slamming doors that shake the house (which no past tenants were even capable of),…
Taxi Please
So I was sitting with a friend outside the Public Gardens on Saturday chatting and having a coffee. After all it was a wonderful day. The intersection in front of us SGR and South Park. There are crosswalks and traffic lights. But both seem to be invisible to taxis. We witnessed taxis speeding through the…
Caring Cabby
To the cab driver who gave me a free ride back over the bridge when I had already cabbed to Dartmouth, and had to cab back to Halifax because I forgot my keys. You showed me there are still nice people in the world. —Charmed Customer
Daily Picks: Friday
DOG DAY w/Shotgun Jimmie, The Skeletones Four, Reversing Falls, Old and Weird Friday, October 21, Gus’ Pub, 9pm, $10 Friday’s Pigeon Row Showcase is going to be a doozy. To celebrate the fifth year of being a rootin’-tootin’ promotin’ machine, Pigeon Row gathered some of their favourites to make a very sweet lineup. If you…
Nova Scotia Labour Laws
Perhaps someone out there can explain to me why here in Nova Scotia does the average worker have to work 48 hrs before we are paid overtime while the rest of Canada is paid after 40-44 hrs. It’s not like Nova Scotia is a cheap place to live. Another way the government just makes it…
