Where to Play: Michael’s
DOGKISSER.BLOGSPOT.COM Michael’s Bar and Grill Many of us know Michael’s (6100 Young St) as a karaoke spot where we can comfortably mutilate “I Wanna Come Over” and “Semi-Charmed Life” and then ooze home, redolent of tequila sunrises and vague embarrassment. Soon, you’ll be able to embarrass yourselves in front of actual live bands, as the…
Fatty Legs
Tears flowed at the most recent concert by Halifax’s groundbreaking Camerata Xara Young Woman’s Choir. The audience was moved by the stirring music, the jaw-dropping grace, power and beauty of aboriginal dancer Sarain Carson-Fox and, most of all, by the story of a young Inuit girl with an unbreakable spirit who outwits her tormentors at…
Prince Is Coming!
Movember this. Wednesday November 30 will henceforth be known as Prince Day. His Symbolic Freakness is coming to Halifax to play the Metro Centre, solve all your worldly problems and make it rain. Purple rain, that is! I’m exhausted! Get here already you short little lightning bolt of sexgrease! Welcome 2 Canada you fucking sexy…
Tupperware Remix Party Will Crash Your Party
Tupperware Remix Party Those loveable neon maniacs in Tupperware Remix Party just posted on their Facebook that they’ll be hitting the town tonight in their “mobile fun unit”, freaking you out and making you dance at various Halloween and non-Halloween-related events. I have a feeling they might show up at Reflections tonight? But who knows?…
Truth & Reconciliation: Thursday, October 27
WARNING: this transcript contains graphic descriptions of physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Editor’s note: The following is from Tim Bousquet’s Twitter live-blogging of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Atlantic Event, held in Halifax last week. Bousquet has been using Twitter to live-blog many governmental meetings, and we’ve seen the 140-character-burst format works well for a…
Truth & Reconciliation Commission comes to Halifax
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established as part of the settlement of a class-action lawsuit related to the native residential school system in Canada. The purpose of the commission is to take testimony from the thousands of native people who were victimized by the residential schools (both directly, at the schools, and the continuing…
In Time a waste
Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, The Truman Show) brings another clever idea to the screen with a future-world where people’s bodies stop aging at 25 and time literally is money, but doesn’t execute well enough to make the most of it. Justin Timberlake plays a poor worker who’s given an extra century by a suicidal old dude…
Bollywood superhero movie Ra. One exhausts
Anubhav Sinha’s Ra. One links a video game-inspired storyline and liberal dollops of CGI to Bollywood storytelling staples such as high melodrama, raucous musical numbers and an ass-numbingly long running time. Game designer Shekhar (Shah Rukh Khan) impresses his son (Aman Verma) by creating an invincible virtual villain, but things get messy when the bad…
Both Anonymous and forgettable
The Day After Tomorrow director Roland Emmerich’s Anonymous is a melodramatic exploration into William Shakespeare’s true identity. It opens and closes as a modern play and in between we travel to Shakespeare’s time and then jump chaotically within a 45-year period. The gist of the spiraling plot is simple: the Earl of Oxford (Rhys Ifans)…
Puss in Boots is feline fun
The badass Puss (Antonio Banderas) of Shrek 2 is back as a leading feline: an outlaw seeking to clear his name. We’re privy to Puss’ backstory when Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis) reappears—they were “brothers” in a Spanish orphanage. They pursue the magic beans (a dream they’ve shared since childhood), which they must steal from a…
Truth & Reconciliation: Nelson Morris’ aunt’s letter
Today, at the Truth & Reconciliation Commission event in Halifax, Nelson Morris gave testimony before the commission, and had read into the record a letter his aunt had written before her death. Morris’ aunt had attended the Shubanacadie Indian Residential School from 1947 to 1952. I’m posting a recording of the letter being read; listen…
Save NSCAD
NSCAD University, Canada’s oldest fine art degree granting university, is up against it and needs your help. The Friends of NSCAD University (“an ad hoc group of group of faculty, staff and alumni created to promote the continued existence of NSCAD University as one of Canada’s leading autonomous art and design institution,”) have circulated a…
Dear Tantallon Public Library
Lucas Maxwell, the Tantallon Public Library’s youth librarian decided to give the library a gift on its 10th birthday this month. Maxwell wrote a metric tonne of authors asking them to write back, addressed to the Tantallon youth, with a letter describing what they thought the benefits of reading and libraries are. The project has…
A Halloween Playlist For You
siouxie and the banshees: goth talk Loukas Crowther is the Coast’s production guru. Hi Loukas. When he’s not making the paper sexy, Loukas is also a DJ (you can see him many Saturday nights at Tribeca as Loukas Stilldrunk) and he’s rather good at it. For the second year in a row he’s put together…
Road rage page on Barrington Street bus
I caught the #41 bus in to downtown from Dartmouth this morning. I was heading to the Truth & Reconciliation meeting at the convention centre, but I wanted to grab a cup of coffee at Just Us so stayed on the bus when it stopped at the Scotia Square stop. Typically, the bus waits a…
The Rum Diary a hot mess
It’s 1960 and Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) has just arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Going to work at a failing local newspaper staffed by layabouts and alcoholics, Kemp writes horoscopes and stories about tourists bowling, but also sees the dichotomy on the island, the impoverished locals being screwed by American hotel owners and land-grabbers.…
Truth and Reconsiliation: Iris Nicolas gives testimony
This is the testimony of Iris Nicolas, a native woman from New Brunswick who attended the Shubanacadie Indian Residential School. I came in after she began her testimony, but what I’ve recorded here is very moving. I also didn’t have time to get my proper recorder operating— I apologize the quality isn’t great on this.…
Five Probing Questions with Sonic Avenues
Sonic Avenues Montreal punkers Sonic Avenues make bright, effervescent, irresistible power pop. Like The Undertones or Jay Reatard, their songs balance sweet melodies with a plaintive streak that will send shivers down your spine. Their split 7” with the Steve Adamyk Band is current available on P-Trash Records and they have a full-length on Portland’s…
An Evening of Grand Guignol
Taboo Theatre’s An Evening of Grand Guignol is a series of three plays designed to chill your blood and tickle your funny bone. The first play “In the Darkroom” falls into the chilling category, but by today’s standards, the scary payoff to the extended lead-up is not too scary at all. “Chop-Chop!” is an amusing…
Implausible Detroit-Halifax link proposed
A Detroit economics professor is looking to get cordial with Halifax to create a new shipping route to the US Midwest via rail—hoping to transform his city’s crumbling infrastructure into a bustling inland port bringing in trade from Asia. Armed with a vintage website and big dreams, Michael Belzer, the CEO of the non-profit Great…
Barbara Walsh braves the storm
When Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Barbara Walsh told her father she wanted to write a Perfect Storm-style book, she never expected he’d respond with: “You have a story like that in your own family.” He told her about the August gale of 1935, a devastating hurricane that swept through Marystown, Newfoundland, claiming the lives of many…
Phonte
As a lifelong hip-hop fanatic, I sometimes consider what I’ll play in my ’40s, while driving my kids to school. Will The Roots constitute “oldies”? When do The Clipse become The Beatles? Phonte Coleman’s first solo effort eases my forward-thinking mind. Phonte’s always made mature hip-hop about grown-man topics (infidelity, love, mortgages) with Little Brother…
Cosplay for real
The manga selection—Japanese comics—offered by Halifax libraries may not measure up to that found on Tokyo’s legendary anime enthusiast paradise, Otome Road, and costumeplay—or cosplay—photoshoots at the Old Burying Ground don’t necessarily compare to the cosplay mecca of Tokyo’s Harajuku. But cosplayers in Halifax are proving just as dedicated and resourceful as their Japanese counterparts.…
Gypsophilia’s conversations and choruses
Gypsophilia may be based in Halifax, but its instruments are like palimpsests of another time and place: The guitars would be right at home among the best of France’s joueurs de manouche, the horns blaring their klezmer tunes in an Ashkenazy home, while the strings sing like plaintive Roma songs. So what do you do…
Best in (Rocky Horror) Show
This weekend Reflection’s transforms into Transylvania as Dalhousie’s Theatre Society saves Halloween by putting on four live performances of the sexy and spooky holiday classic, Rocky Horror. A team of four directors (Sam Horak, Rebecca Schneidereit, Morgan Melnyk and Mark Oliver) teamed up to make a “more grunge rock” version of the creepily campy production.…
Lou Canon cuts class
Lou Canon’s debut album started as a really great Christmas gift. Her brother-in-law (who also happens to be Hayden) randomly chose her name in the family draw and offered to help her record a couple of tracks. After some time in the studio a couple of songs turned into an EP and soon enough, that…
Fried to a T
Willman’s Fish & Chips is an institution in the north end of Halifax. Open on the corner of Kane and Isleville Streets since 1946, the restaurant recently received a welcomed makeover. When I arrive on a Sunday evening at 5pm, it’s almost full. I choose a large table and await my friends. Taking in my…
Free Will Astrology
Happy Birthday! SCORPIO (October 23-November 21) You could preside over your very own Joy Luck Club in the coming days. According to my reading of the astrological omens, the levels of gratification possible could exceed your normal quota by a substantial margin. You may want to Google the Chinese character that means “double happiness” and…
The eight scariest video games ever
Resident Evil: Probably the most well-known horror video game franchise, the series has been scaring players since the PlayStation One days. Zombified dogs jumping through windows without warning and too little ammo to feel safe, this series keeps the heart pumping while throwing in some B-movie cheese. Resident Evil 4 is the best for gameplay…
Why they protest
Judging by my Twitter feed, the Occupy Nova Scotia demonstrators are annoying some people. “Canada didn’t have American-type financial deregulation, so the protests are misplaced,” is a typical tweet dismissing the group camped out in Grand Parade (and who mayor Peter Kelly is threatening to evict). It’s true that Canada didn’t follow the insane deregulation…
No-flogging rule is a silly ban
Q My boyfriend and I are in college and doing the long-distance thing until June 2013. Over the years, he’s granted me increasing amounts of freedom to be intimate with women— I’m female, and date women while we’re apart— but I still don’t have full autonomy. It’s much better than it used to be, but…
Rich Aucoin’s spectacular spectacular
It’s 10 minutes to showtime and Rich Aucoin is in his street clothes in front of hundreds strong at St. Matthew’s Church. It’s already hot in here. The stage holds four drum kits, a grand piano, eight chairs for the string section, microphone stands, music stands, guitars and horns leaning everywhere—it’s not ready, and neither…
David Lee Roth and Rich Aucoin
The excellent image of this week’s Coast cover star Rich Aucoin by Scott Blackburn has in it the DNA of another rock star and his 1986 solo debut: David Lee Roth with Eat ‘Em And Smile. Certainly you recall the former Van Halen-frontman’s immortal (and still kinda obnoxious) video that went with his first single,…
Big Town
Big Town is a story of friendship more than a story of Africville, as its cover suggests. The friendship between the dim-witted Early, sick and troubled Toby and tomboy Chub unfolds with the community and its destruction as a backdrop. Narrated by Early, seventeen but with the mental age of seven or eight, is a…
Daytripper
Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá are Brazilian twins whose distinct art style has added flair to several comic-book series. With Daytripper, the twins take on art and writing duties to create a graphic novel that is beautiful and thought-provoking. The book, about an obituary writer living in Sao Paulo, meditates on life and death in…
Star Fox 64 3D
One of the best Nintendo 64 classics has been remade for the Japanese developer’s latest piece of hardware. Maintaining most of the original game design, this is a visual and portable upgrade. For those who already own the N64 version or have it on the Wii’s virtual console, paying top dollar for a 15-year-old game…
Transformers: War for Cybertron (Activision)
Video games which coincide with movies are notoriously awful; luckily Transformers: War for Cybertron has nothing to do with Michael Bay’s take on the long-running, toy-selling series. In Cybertron, you play as either the good guys (Autobots) or the baddies (Decepticons). The campaign is long and varied enough to keep you hooked for about 15…
Pure X
On its debut LP, Austin’s Pure X warbles and traipses its way through the reverberating valleys previously explored by the likes of Galaxie 500, The Jesus & Mary Chain and more recently, Real Estate. Their songs are bruised and tender, their playing is loose and hopeful. Recorded live off the floor, the album ambles gently…
The Doppler Effect will CU2morrow
In the fjords of rural Norway, Annie Valentina and Michael McPhee raked grass, drank expensive beer, fenced and wrote—a lot. The pair, who make up The Doppler Effect, attended the International Theatre Lab retreat located in a schoolhouse in Norway, where they took theatre master classes, workshops and focused on their work while surrounded by…
Foster The People
It may have been the fact that the lead single “Pumped up Kicks” had the same sound and feel of fellow indie-rockers Peter Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks”—that will leave some feeling cheated. Torches is an album that could be considered to be a bait-and-switch of sorts: those looking for another indie rock record that…
One-woman powerhouse in Lost – A Memoir
One woman commanding Neptune’s main stage for a full 90 minutes is a tall order, but Calgary actor Jan Alexandra Smith delivers beautifully. She gives a powerful and winning performance as Cathy Ostlere (author of the memoir and co-author of the play) a woman struggling with the loss at sea of her younger brother. The…
Sing the truth
“My people will sleep for one hundred years, but when they awake, it will be the artists who give them their spirit back.” – Louis Riel Olemaun Pokiak was a curious, stubborn eight-year-old girl when she left her home in the High Arctic to attend a residential school in Aklavik. Unlike many Inuit children, Olemaun…
Master minds
For five years now a lucky, local artist-type has been rewarded for their creativity, to the tune of $25,000. It’s the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia’s Masterworks Art Award and it’s all about supporting art that connects with our lovely province, highlighting national or international accomplishments. This year the five finalists offer a really broad…
We’re Doomed
Fresh off of a stint on the Vans Warped Tour, progressive rockers We’re Doomed have unleashed their debut EP Like a Machine. The EP is an aural onslaught of technical guitar wizardry and an unrelenting percussive backbone. Over the course of the five tracks, they blend into each other without being clearly defined, this may be due…
Rich Aucoin Returns
oh hai rich Rich Aucoin will be finishing off a cross-Canada tour here in Halifax on Saturday November 26 at 10pm. Since his show-stopping release party at St. Matt’s last week for HPX, Rich has been on the road in support of his album We’re All Dying To Live, which features over 500 musicians from…
We Missed our Anniversary??? Oh No!!
Hi sweetums! October 21st was our 2 year anniversary, we both forgot and wished each other a tired “Happy Anniversary” after a crazy day/aft/evening. I want to wish you a “Happy Anniversary” in a special way that I can’t mention here. Two years ago, we started dating exclusively, then last year, I moved in with…
Scarlet
Oh you and your Red Army hat and ruby earrings. Your hair is getting longer…EBONY EYES!!! You had a fistful of sharpies. I am so in love with you, when will I say it, Lady of Prophecy? —blondiesmashed
A Girl Who Looks and Sings Like an Angel
I love the pop explosion with all my heart and soul. I love your music even more. I love the fact you were finally given the chance to play and with sns an honour you so royally deserve. I love your new songs they were totally amazing. I’m sorry that boy broke your heart. I…
Owning a Car Does Not Allow You to Assault Anyone
To the asshole in the black Mazda as I crossed Oxford street last night, a very sincere FUCK YOU for stopping to let me cross and then honking obnoxiously at me as I did so. WHY THE FUCK DID YOU STOP IF YOU WERE GOING TO BE SUCH AN ASSHOLE ABOUT IT!? Just because you…
In Need of Help
I want to say a big thank you to the kind gentleman who let me use his company phone on Saturday at his store. I was in a frantic situation. I needed to call home for help. He did not hesitate to let me use the company phone. Most places would have said go use…
You are Awesome!
To the girl at a certain downtown grocery store on Friday evening… You said you felt bad for being in front of me in line because you had so many groceries. You are so nice! And really pretty! I wish I got to talk to you more. —Anonymous Grocery-Buying Girl
Vacuum Sealed Sweatpants
If you’re going to wear sweatpants in public to a restaurant, please for the sake of humanity choose a pair that fit. Having to witness your colossal ass chomping down and engulfing your sweatpants is enough to make babies cry. Are you not aware they don’t fit? Do you not look in the mirror? Or…
To My Curly Haired Man
I can’t even express how much I feel for you except for what my heart feels now… and it’s love. Without a doubt. I have always told you that you were everything I wasn’t looking for. But what’s happened is you. And you, simply put, are amazing. I’ve settled for much less in men in…
To the Perv Outside the Club on Friday
You smug little piece of dog shit. Who grabs a girl’s crotch? My friend, her boyfriend, would have left your face looking like the dog’s breakfast if it wasn’t for some bystander holding him back. I come outside in the middle of this, tell you to just get the fuck out of there so that…
Protest Bongos?
What’s the deal with all the impromptu drum circles at Occupy _______? I mean, no disrespect to djembes, but is this really the most effective way to draw attention to your plight – or to help you be taken seriously? —Benny
Irony in Medication Ads on TV
So you’re having one of those days relaxing at home watching TV. Then a commercial comes on talking about this great medication that can help with depression, sever pain, etc. Then to follow with a big list if things that CAN happen to you while taking it. Kinda ironic how they say it’s so great…
Time to Get a F*$%#’n Clue
So, you piss all over the Occupy Movement, pointing to mainstream news stories that depicts all of the protesters as entitled, spoiled young brats who were too irresponsible for their own good, are now saddled with $40,000+++ debt for an education and are generally just entitled douches as evidence. 1 – You do realize that…
Weekend Renovations
To our neighbours who hire someone to complete their renovations ONLY on the weekend: please give us some reprieve! You leave for the weekend and leave your neighbours subject to continuous sawing, hammering etc etc ALL DAY LONG. Could you please have your carpenter do the sawing in your basement – or at a workshop!!…
Broken Down
On Saturday my brother’s car broke down in the Burnside area of Dartmouth. My brother went for help, in the meantime my 92 year old mother and I were in the car waiting for him to come back. Well I did not realize that there were so many ignorant and very rude people in Dartmouth…
40 Days of Crap
To the guy on the bicycle who circled back around the VG to give the anti-abortion protesters there a piece of his mind. All I managed to hear was ‘ought to be ashamed of yourselves’. Dude, you rock. Thank you for making my day. —Take Your Crazy Someplace Else
A Peculiar Drop in the Bucket
To find an establishment that serves to please the kindness of patrons but for the simple respect of customer service and etiquette leaves but a simple taste of genuine satisfaction. Sadly this was not the flavor of the evening we had. Upon south end’s apparent delicacy of aged delicatessen we have found a ripely senior…
Keep Your Eggs for Breakfast!
To the rude inconsiderate drive by egg shooters. It’s my birthday, I am nine months pregnant, I just had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant with my hubby and friends. I am waiting on the sidewalk at midnight on South St. with my four ways on to pick up my son from the babysitters to…
Barista Babe
To the tallest coffee-slinger on Spring Garden Rd. You are a kindred spirit. You are genuine and that is why it is a pleasure working with you. When you laugh, we laugh. You conquer tasks with vigor and you know when it’s time to play and you know when enough is enough. You brighten my…
Blocking Sidewalks
What’s with people parking their cars on the sidewalk? Did you ever think that possibly someone in a wheelchair or pushing a baby in a stroller could be walking? If there isn’t enough space in the driveway to park you car then find somewhere on the road to park instead. —Annoyed with Bad Park Jobs
Support Group
You are a hero, honestly. I wish more people in Halifax knew you and knew what you do for people and how much you really care about them. You always listen to my problems and support me in my choices unbiasedly and bitch with me when I just need to vent about a dick move.…
Dear Occupy Canada Movement
If you REALLY wanted change, you should have voted during the elections. Just because the leaders of all political parties didn’t address issues that concern the younger population doesn’t mean you need not vote. It’s very easy to complain about poverty and joblessness, and hell, I AGREE with the Occupy movement. But in order to…
Angry Drunk Man
You stumbled out of my work place moments before me, a thick fog of beer stink trailing behind you. You were strutting down the middle of the street when I passed you on my bike (completely legally I might add), when all of a sudden I get hit by a wave of drunken insults issuing…
Don’t Be Pushed Out
Why is the toilet seat LID all convex and built to slide you off when you close it and go to sit on it? Like, can’t I just chill in the bathroom? It’s the cheapest room to heat. I know it’s not classy. But in these times of economic hardships, can we not fashion washrooms…
Students from Ontario
So I’ve come to the conclusion that employers in this city do not hire students from Ontario. Isn’t that fabulous. I am so mad about this, I have been trying to find a job for 13 months now, and NOTHING. Zero. I do not understand this at all. I have a great resume with 3…
Highest Tax Rate City
This 15% tax in Nova Scotia BS is driving me insane. Ever since I moved here in September 2010 I have felt completely taken advantage of by this city with every single thing that I purchase. Why is Nova Scotia’s tax rate so much higher than anywhere else in Canada? Even Starbucks costs more here,…
Our Children Deserve Better
First and foremost … you’re a pathetic fucking idiot. So I was stupid and allowed you to control me during our relationship … then I finally realized that I deserved better and our children didn’t deserve to see you treat their mother like an idiot who supposedly couldn’t do things for herself and only knew…
Neptune Theatre Announces Free Rental Space
The good deed bug must have bitten the kind folks at Neptune hard. Fresh from their generous donation of theatre space for the 2011 Atlantic Fringe Festival, we receive this lovely announcement: “Neptune Theatre in collaboration with Theatre Nova Scotia announces the Open Spaces Program. Three eligible theatre companies will be awarded Studio Theatre rental…
A Thousand Ways to Love
I would race down that escalator if you were waiting for me at the bottom. I can envision throwing myself down the stairs, as perhaps a baby might on Christmas morning, if it meant getting to you faster. You were a beautiful muse for magnificent fantasies. I would have fought to live out each one,…
What in the Name of Fuck?!?!
There’s likely going to be a couple bitches about this – I would hope – but whatever… What the fuck is ‘honourable’ about murdering people whom you attempt to rule with a retarded iron fist? What would you do if roles were reversed? Oh you didn’t think about it that way…. because you’re a huge,…
It Wasn’t My Cart!
To the man who was sitting in his shiny red car with his shiny rims on October 20th around 5pm at the entrance to a smoke shop in Dartmouth: Thank you for threatening to call the police on me because you “assumed” that my cart hit your car… Even after I said, “For the record,…
YES, IT’S ANOTHER G.D. FACEBOOK BITCH!!!
Holy Hell in the last two weeks my eyes have been assaulted with pictures of a pile of euthanized cats “re post to expose what really goes on in shelters” (OK a good message to pass along even though everyone already knows and the least offensive of these images but really no need for the…
Running on Fumes
Everyday for six to seven days a week I wake up and attend my job. Typically these are ten to twelve hour shifts with no concept of a break or lunch. Although there is food to be eaten, time is not taken away from work to eat. Simply eat while working is the policy in…
Hair Staff
So I had one of those internet deals to have my hair done in a little shop in Dartmouth. I had my hair done and I love it the only problem I have is this salon had very unfriendly staff. My hairdresser was corky and funny although her co-worker did nothing but complain about her…
Your Mom Doesn’t Go Here
Walking into any communal sitting area in this supposed university is a nightmare. Minimum, you people are 18 years old, and you still haven’t figured out how to use the goddamn trash can?! This school is disgusting because you fucking morons can’t figure out to put your half eaten shit into the garbage! It is…
Disabled or Just an Asshole?
I was parked downtown this morning in a disability spot just off Spring Garden. It was difficult to get in because someone without a disability tag was parked half in the space with their 4 way flashers on (like that helps anybody) but that’s another story. I usually go to see my doctor once a…
