Here’s Killer Elite, action junkies
Killer Elite is a jet-set action thriller about an ex-military operative named Danny (Jason Statham) who must rescue his mentor (Robert DeNiro) by uncovering the truth behind a series of assassinations commissioned by the British government. Not to be confused with the mostly terrible James Caan film by the same name, Killer Elite is a…
Moneyball hits for the cycle
Moneyball is an inside-baseball movie about the inside of baseball—there is precious little sports footage; it’s about team-building from statistical and budgetary perspectives, which is a hard sell. Luckily it’s got a terrific Brad Pitt at the centre. Pitt is Billy Beane, the spirited general manager of the worst team in baseball in 2001, the…
Charlie Zone is visceral, gritty and grimy
Having visited the set of Michael Melski’s dark drama Charlie Zone in April, I was eager to catch up with the completed film, which Melski pulled together just in time for the festival. In conversations with the director, he described the movie as a portrayal of the dark side of Halifax—the drug dens, the violence,…
Online Sellers Irritation Syndrome
Ok folks, here we are, on the “WORLD WIDE” web. This is it. Right here in front of you, right bloody now. The single greatest source of (relatively) free information the history of man has yet to see. But somehow people haven’t a clue how to use it, or are too lazy, you decide. BUT,…
Calling to Confirm
Girls that call to confirm shit you planned out together 3 hours ago: SERIOUSLY?! We just talked about it a couple of hours ago! Are you seriously calling me about that shit now??? Seriously??? Like fuck you have a phone, you have a pen and paper, you have a computer, like fuck find something to…
The Inaccessible Access Nova Scotia
For some reason the DMV moved to a remote location, on the far/industrial side of Bayers Lake. While it used to be central/west end Halifax, close to the only shopping center on the Halifax side. CONVENIENT. Only two Metro Transit buses travel by the new location. Interesting, considering to obtain your license you have to…
Too Fast on the Street
To the arsehole driving on my street this morning in the red mazda: Slow the fuck down! You couldn’t have been in that much of a hurry, since you stopped and backed up to confront me for giving you a look. You’re right, 50 is the limit, whether it’s Connaught Street or the little narrow…
Never Again…
…will I be a bridesmaid in a wedding. A big giant fuck you to the bride who didn’t designate a maid of honor to do all the fucking dirty work. So, let me ask you, who ordered the dresses, planned the bridal shower, your bachelorette and listened to you for 6 months while you put…
Zero to Hero Honey
You’re here to study english as a second language, not to bounce from bed to bed of the entire Halifax male population in hopes that you can sucker one of them into marrying you. We’ve all had to listen to your ‘plan’ that you don’t want to return home to South Korea and hope you…
You’re Stupid and I Hate You
To the JERK who stole the milk crate full of spray paint: You had the audacity to take an entire box of paint off of someone’s porch, but you didn’t even TRY to steal the AMAZING vhs collection being stored right next to it?! What? Are our movies not good enough for you!? Asshat. —Never…
Turn that damn music DOWN!
Hey you! You guys in the house on Duncan Street! You student guys who rented the house surrounded by family homes! Families with small children… children who go to bed at 8 pm on week nights. Children who can’t sleep when you’re blasting Mambo Number 5 as loud as it will go and singing along…
Exceptional Customer Service!
If you want exceptional customer service then please visit the lovely pharmacy in the Halifax Shopping Centre! I can’t believe you have the audacity to throw my receipt at me and not say a single word to me throughout the transaction. How do you even still have your job? You’re a rude, negative, miserable cashier…
Niche is the place to be today
More Atlantic Film Festival happenings today, and I’m right in the midst of it. At noon I am hosting a panel of filmmakers at Niche (1505 Barrington Street) featuring Cory Bowles and Preston Hudson (Heart of Rhyme) and Matt MacIsaac (Victim). We’ll be talking inspiration and process and short films in Nova Scotia. At 7pm…
Hit So Hard review
P. David Ebersole’s look at former Hole drummer Patty Schemel is a rough and ready rock doc, assembled in typical rockumentary fashion by including random, reminiscing talking heads, grainy footage from the mid-’90s grunge scene, all rooted in sad tales of drugs and excess. Though big props to Schemel for navigating her many substance addictions,…
Colour Me tells the story of black identity in suburban Ontario
Colour Me is a documentary about six kids in a Brampton, Ontario high school, all of whom identify as black. They’re interviewed by Anthony McLean, whose own mixed ethnicity made for struggles in his youth. He’s a motivational speaker, but also a high school dropout, struggling to make ends meet by working as a waiter…
Love the White Devil
Yahh you’re such a family man you do coke 7 days a week every chance you get in the bathroom at your 3 years old party!! At my pad then do see you driveaway with the child!!!!!!!! I don’t even touch the shit! Who the fuck are you to pass judgment on me I don’t…
Hey “Gangstas”: Get a Life.
So, this bitch is way overdue. I’m sick of all the idiot kids (12-22) running around causing problems. Why can’t the Youth Justice system get its head out of its ass? The newspapers SHOULD be able to name young offenders (especially if they have previous charges). I’m sick of all the kids wearing “colours”. They…
Bridge Terminal construction underway
On my way to work this morning I noted a work crew had begun cutting down trees in the Urban Wilderness Park in the Dartmouth Common, behind the Sportsplex parking lot. This is the beginning of construction for the new, expanded Bridge Terminal, which will stretch from Nantucket Avenue to Thistle Street, consuming most of…
Don’t Believe the Hype
I’ve lived in Highfield Park (A.K.A Crime Field) in Dartmouth for two years. My car has been parked outside in a lot the whole time. No one has even so much as touched my car in that time, not even a scratch from a car door. Last Saturday while Dj’ing a wedding at the Halifax…
Party of Four
Wow, thanks guys, I wasn’t quite sure I knew what a douchebag was. Now I know. You come in at about 6 o’clock, plastered, belligerent, obnoxious, loud, crude. The lone female who was with you was embarrassed and I was embarrassed for her. You make inappropriate comments to the waitress, spit on the floor, play…
Atlantic Film Festival sold-out screenings and changes
Here are the sold-out screenings for the rest of the week, as of Tuesday. Pina in 3D Circumstance The Future Afghan Luke Dolphin Tale Frame x Frame Repeat Screening: Crazy Wisdom, Thursday September 22 at 7:15 replacing Walk Away Renée.
Ohh Baby!
My husband and I have been trying to get pregnant for almost a year and a half. Three months ago, I went to my family doctor and got a referral to see a specialist. While we were waiting for our appointment my doctor sent me for blood tests and my husband for his own analysis.…
What Flavour Dip do you Want?
I was at my favorite chicken drive thru, and the lady asked me “Do you want dipping sauce with your order?” I asked, “What do you have?” She said, “Plum sauce, honey mustard sauce, honey, and BBQ.” I thought to myself, “Well, I don’t like plum sauce… I like almost every type of mustard, but…
Still Melting
The memory haunts my senses Bodies bare, glowing, moist, surrounded by mist Eyes mesmerized, fixated, penetrating Skin hot, tingling, electrified by touch Breath sweet, heavy, hypnotic in the cool night air Our souls together, as one, dancing under the light of the moon I can’t get that moment, or any of the others with you,…
Everything’s Coming Up Ria Mae
So, I’m not sure how many of you have been following Ria Mae’s Facebook fan page since she and longtime collaborator/buddy Margot Durling went out on a U.S. tour a couple of weeks ago to support Melissa Ferrick – but it’s exploding. Every other post is made by a fan mentioning how awesome Mae’s show…
Mayor Peter Kelly declares next week “Right to Know Week”
I don’t know if I should laugh or cry: That’s right: because “Halifax Regional Municipality is dedicated to the principle of open and transparent government and is accountable to the citizens it serves,” mayor Peter Kelly has proclaimed next week “Right to Know Week.” That of course is the very same mayor Peter Kelly who…
Ingrid Veninger brings i am a good person/i am a bad person
When I read blurbs describing a movie as the product of “experimental filmmaking,” it tends to put me on high alert. I’m either going to see some out-of-left-field brilliance or, more often than not, some pretentious twaddle. Those things aren’t mutually exclusive, either—many times they appear in the same movie. As such, I went to…
![Tom Martin for mayor? [updated]](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecoast.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/tom_martin_coast_cover.webp?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1)
Tom Martin for mayor? [updated]
Update: Around noon at a press conference in Dartmouth, Tom Martin doffed his metaphorical hat and threw it into the ring. His campaign slogan: Ask for more. With a bit more than a year to go until next October’s city election, today might bring us the first officially declared challenger to current mayor Peter Kelly.…
Burn On for you are Made of Fire.
My dear we met in a blaze of communication media buzz – all in our heads and escaping slowly through our words, our script, our determined site… your music. So glad things have progressed as they have – even if they are only temporary. You are my best friend, oh Knight of Wands. I may…
New massage therapy at Breathing Space Hair
Massage therapist Melanie Wheaton worked previously at Total Kneads Massage Therapy in the north end but now has her own practice, the delightfully named mel practice massage therapy. “I am now located at 1529 Birmingham Street [shared studio space with Breathing Space Hair] and welcoming new and returning clients.” Wheaton is a registered massage therapist…
Kannon Beach offers a membership deal to beat all
Local surf shop Kannon Beach (20 Lake Shore Drive, Lawrencetown, 471-0025) is currently offering a shop membership for $99.99, with which the individual will be entitled to unlimited full-day surfboard and wetsuit rental from the day of purchase until April 30, 2012 (a sweet deal if you consider a single full-day rental goes for $30).…
Debut Fashions moves up front of Park Lane
Debut Fashions (Park lane Mall, 5657 Spring Garden Road, 429-3444) has recently moved from its original location at the back of the mall to the space vacated by Bentley’s, across from Olsen. With the move, the formerly formal-only fashion boutique has expanded, now offering a wide selection of dresses for every occasion, with labels from…
MIX: Fresh Kitchen closes, new bar mooted
Despite, or maybe because of, its many reinventions, MIX: Fresh Kitchen (5171 Salter Street, 429-9571) has closed. Manager and co-owner Chris Richards did not return any messages requesting comment, and star chef Ray Bear recently Tweeted that he was selling his share in the business and leaving town. With Bear gone it’s hard to imagine…
Details of Phase 2 of Halifax stadium study released
Last week, we reported that Halifax’s top bureaucrat, Richard Butts, had awarded the contract on Phase 2 of the stadium study just one day before council was to vote on a motion that could have killed the awarding of the contract. Media folk rightly concentrated on the questionable optics of Butts’ decision, but left untold…
Not Always in Love with Love
I have nothing against people being in love. I have nothing against them proclaiming that love. I just wish that they didn’t do it twenty times a day online. (Yes, Bitchers, I’m referring to Facebook, so get your keyboards ready to reply.) Couldn’t they just send private messages so that those of us who have…
20 years experience = 20 years of threatening women
To the ‘eatery’ frequented by young drunk people… your bouncer assaulted me. At what point did this 300 lb man think that I (A TINY WOMAN) was going to give him trouble? You didn’t bother to ask me to leave before lifting me off the ground, why? Because you were bored and it was easy…
Sorry, Didn’t Mean to be a Bother
To a certain server at a great south end pub. I’m truly sorry I seem to be inconveniencing you when I come in for a drink or food. You know how I can tell? By the sheer look of annoyance on your face when someone in my party hasn’t quite made up their mind or…
Bathroom Police
To the man who just yelled at me for using the men’s washroom: I admitted that I was in the wrong, apologized & you still chose to lecture me at length. “What if a man needed to use it for an emergency?” – the facilities are equal (single toilet with lock) & identical, there were…
Farmers’ Market
Epic Fail for a certain farmers’ market. Parking? Forget about it… there’s rarely any and you end up driving around and around while trying not to flatten people who are jaywalking and bicycles riding on sidewalks not paying attention. Vendors? Severely overpriced! $6/lb for green peppers? $11/lb for lobster? Everything is overpriced, sometimes double to…
Religious Tolerance (But Only if you’re Christian?)
I’m not sure if it’s media fueled misinformation, or just a lack of knowledge, but it seems like there is a pretty big bias in Halifax against the Muslim community. My little taste of this came from when I posted a few ads around certain Halifax forums in hopes of finding some people who would…
Silver Screen Feet
So I’m sitting at the theatre, laughing my ass off at The Change Up, and it spanks my face…. I can’t quite place the stench. I know I’ve been acquainted with it before. As my girlfriend gets up mid-movie, I see them. Your RANK balance makers. Bare, out of shoe, posing on the armrest through…
Handicapped Parking
Friday at 2:15pm you pulled up and parked in the handicapped parking stop in front of a fast food chicken joint in Fairview, waddled into the restaurant. There was nothing visible wrong with you that would classify you as handicapped, you were just fat; the kind of fat that would make Grimace look like an…
Rejoice and Shout
A couple of years ago on a road trip through the American South, my fellow travelers and I had the good fortune to stumble onto the church where soul legend Al Green serves as a minister. Watching and listening to Green sing his praises to a higher power with his inimitable voice beat the hell…
You know you’re a true Haligonian when…
You call your professor because you need a reference for a minimum wage job as a restaurant server. Not an undergrad professor but a master’s professor… because you are a Haligonian and you have two useless degrees and no job prospects. —Hungry
Thank You
To the nicely dressed young man in a paperboy cap, walking down Harvard on Saturday around 6pm, your smile was just what I needed to see after a lonely day of reading and crying in the park. —The Girl in the Odd Printed Pants
The Doors
Ok all you drivers with your heads up your ass – here’s a clue. Before you open a door LOOK to see if there is a cyclist! 5 times this week I have had doors opened on me narrowly missing your gas guzzling shitbox. WARNING! I touch your door I will make damn sure it…
Upcoming Concerts: James Blunt, A Simple Plan
Today, two big concert announcements popped into my email inbox: James Blunt will be coming here on Sunday November 27, playing a show to the moms of Halifax at the Metro Centre. Also, did you know that A Simple Plan are still a band? They are, and they are playing here Sunday February 26, 2012.…
Protection Officer at the IWK
Incredibly kind and handsome man, thank you for taking the time to help me find my way, you made everything better with your beautiful smile and gorgeous green eyes… Thanks again. —The Lady in Red
Jackasses on Facebook
Not understanding why people write their EVERY move on Facebook. Status update, sure. But the 411 on every minute of your boring life you dirty attention whore? Really? Your status should always say, “Updating my Facebook status,” since that’s all you do all fuckin day long. And then you spill your guts on your status…
New Deli
You work at a certain deli that has recently opened. I just want you to know your beauty had turned my crappy shit fest day into a hope filled night. Keep on smiling and stay beautiful my red headed deli queen. —Until Next Time
Schedule, Motherfucker, Adhere to It
Dear Haligonians/New Students, please, please, please do your fellow passengers on the bus a favour and find a route schedule, invest in a cellphone or check the schedule online. Just do something other than wait until the bus is LEAVING the stop/terminal before you start doing the funky chicken in an attempt to get the…
More Bang for your Butts
Hundreds of grands to hire Dick Butts To do otherwise would show smarts and guts City Hall’s full of dinosaur f—wads “moving forward” five decades backward. They got LA freeways on their brains. They want to make six lanes. Peninsula and peeps feel the pain Multi use lanes would ease the strain. Bikes and buses…
In Solidarity…
I rushed out of a meeting and cycled downtown, hoping to join a certain walk that was going on. Unfortunately, I got the place wrong, and ended up cycling around the city for the next 45 minutes, only to conclude that I must have missed the event entirely. As a young straight man who cares…
Scarlett
You were wearing that red corduroy jacket again-commie star hat. I love your rubies earrings and dark, dark eyes that rival the sparkle in your tiny lobes. You are an exquisite doll. I love the shaved head, by the way. —blondiesmashed
Roller Town Love
To the nice lady who surprised me with a free ticket to Roller Town. I spent 2 hours in a line in the wet weather alone and you handed me one of your spare tickets with a care free ‘here ya go’. I was caught so off guard I didn’t have the time to properly…
Glass & Mirror
To the owner of a certain glass & mirror business, you are one of the best small business owners in Halifax and a really nice guy. I have been your customer twice and both times you have really impressed me- the first occasion either you wrote down the size of the glass I needed wrong…
The Muster Station Tap & Grill opens in Dartmouth
A new option for a tasty brunch, lunch or dinner has opened in Dartmouth: The Muster Station Tap & Grill (590 Portland Street, 405-8545) offers a classic grill style items, appetizers, gourmet stacks, fire-grilled steaks and chops, seafood, pastas and stir-fry, along with salads, soups, sandwiches and desserts. You can also stop in for a…
Irvine Welsh’s Ecstasy revisited with cast and director
Chatting with filmmakers after you’ve seen (and reviewed) their movies is always a curious experience, in that your perspective is always changed in at least some small way. If you read the print edition of this week’s Coast, you know how I felt about Irvine Welsh’s Ecstasy, the Rob Heydon adaptation of the Trainspotting author’s…
Take This Waltz? It’s complicated.
Oh, there’s so much I’d like to say about Sarah Polley’s new Toronto-shot feature film, Take This Waltz, a story about a neurotic woman (Michelle Williams) in a happy marriage (to Seth Rogen) yet falling in love with another man (Luke Kirby). Unfortunately, I’m hamstrung by the embargo, the request of distributors to not fully…
Higher Ground and Jane Alexander
Only have a few minutes to scrawl some notes before rushing off to the next dark room. The first Saturday of the Atlantic Film Festival is crammed with screenings, parties, what have you. Last night I had the good fortune to catch American actor and director Vera Farmiga’s Higher Ground, a really amazing feature film…
Blood In The Mobile shows our complicity
With local director Michael Melski and busting balls to finish Charlie Zone, Melski’s drama-thriller set in Halifax’s seedier neighbourhoods, a planned Thursday morning screening of the film was scrapped. Disappointing, for sure. The good news is that Melski, whom I ran into Thursday afternoon, did finish Charlie Zone that morning and the movie was ready…
Empire Theatres have trouble with their screenings
We here at The Coast love movies, and the we presume the good people at the local branch of the national cinema chain Empire Theatres do too, or why would they be in the business of offering them for our enjoyment? They have a monopoly on first run cinemas in Halifax, so they must really…
Colby Ale House now a wine bar
Don’t call her Colby’s Ale House any longer. She went out and got herself a new dress, and it’s taken years off her: Colby Wine Bar & Bistro (920 Cole Harbour Road) now boasts an all-new look, new furniture and a new menu, with daily specials concocted by Chef Michael. As they say, it’s down-home…
Plan B merchant co-op opens on Gottingen Street
Plan B is a merchants co-op located at 2180 Gottingen Street, opening tomorrow, Saturday, September 17. Hours of operation will be 11am to 7pm, seven days a week. Businesses operating out of Plan B include The Monkey’s Paw (Antiques and Cuiros, known for their Dartmouth Market stall), Toxic Blossom (Japanese street fashion),In Vinyl We Trust…
Minus World Goes On Tour
Minus World Everything’s coming up Minus World these days. The cute orchestral synth pop outfit with a heart like a blinking Nintendo has been nominated for a Music Nova Scotia award for Electronic Recording of the Year- AND they’re embarking on a tour. Holy schnikers. Dates and tunage below. Thursday, Sept. 22nd – Plan B,…
Sept 13th – Hit & Run
Thanks to the person who photographed and reported the accident they witnessed downtown Halifax the night of Sept 13. Never would have been able to resolve the situation without your help. Much appreciated. Also thanks to the police for their swift action. —Grateful
You Don’t Get Your Way
To the adults that think they get to tell me what’s what and verge on disciplining me, think for a moment. We’re equal. Just because I’m younger, I’m still an adult. When you go into your rants of some explanation about why I shouldn’t or should have done something and expect me to listen and…
Midnight Visitor
Babe, you crawl through my window each night and try to get my attention while I’m on the computer with my friends. Go away! I don’t have the time to fuck with you. Yet, you bug and bug me until I get pissed off and threaten to crush your skull. You don’t impress me. You…
Maybe You Need Your Own Bus
To the three students sitting on a crowded bus today in the reserved seats who couldn’t be bothered to look up from their iPhones to notice that the man in his sixties across from them had to get up to offer a seat to the woman in her eighties who got on the bus with…
To the drivers of Halifax…
I recently started riding my bike to work. I had never really ridden in the city before, so it was a little intimidating in the beginning and it took awhile to learn the cycling “rules of the road”. I just want to thank the drivers of Halifax for being so patient and looking out for…
Grey-Haired Princess
I had my hands full of food for my family when we met at the door of the restaurant. You opened the door, and I stepped through it with a smile. I was in a good mood and smiled at you. But, your bitchy attitude took my smile away. What right do you have to…
Disgusting
To the owners of a certain deli, you are the most disgusting, rude, and vile people I have ever met, and unfortunately worked for. You treat your staff like garbage, are incredibly rude to your customers, who for some reason continue to come to your store, and serve old, slimy, rotten fruits and vegetables. If…
SleepWatcher
To the dumb bitch who went to bed and left her house unlocked despite all the warnings from police, are you asking to be murdered or raped? You went to sleep with the doors/windows unlocked so why does it surprise you that you wake up at night to find the SleepWatcher in your room? You’re…
Braindead
To the jerk that I just deleted off my BBM: You have the IQ of a 5 year old! You tracked me down to find my pin because you apparently wanted to get to know me better. When I ask you questions about yourself (a common thing when you are trying to get to know…
Dear sir with the tickets for Roller Town…
Thank you for randomly selecting me as the recipient of your other ticket for the opening night of Roller Town! You saved me some money, and I waited in that rush line for too long to not get a ticket! Sorry for being so speechless, btw. I wasn’t quite sure what happened! —The One with…
To those super brave and inspiring climate activists…
I read about the hoax you pulled on Environment Canada. WELL DONE. I especially liked the way you made it clear that you tried to be nice before you played dirty. Thanks for reminding the country that we need to start demanding action from the government, because those swine won’t do anything without a good…
To the SMOKING hot Frenchman we’d all love to ravish…
Thank you for always having a smile on your face, for telling jokes or giving compliments to make sure we have a smile on ours, and for just being you. You’re a truly wonderful person, and always a breath of fresh air. The office is a better place with you in it. —The girls <3
Dragonslayer and Mark Little
Growing up all I wanted to be was a professional skateboarder. The only thing that got in my way is that almost any time I fell I would end up crying. So instead of actually trying to get over this watery hurdle and realize my dreams of shredding pools and jumping down handrails, I decided…
Thank You Kindly Film Buffs
This might be a bit late, but I feel I need to do something to thank the kind and generous people who helped me. I’ve been busy, but it’s been nagging at me to do something. I want to thank the person who turned in my wallet after a local waterfront specter-filled film event, and…
Just Be…
Baby, you’re so beautiful and sweet and smart and funny and inspiring and strong and brave. You got the sexiest swag I ever did see. I love you. I love your kids. I think you’re a ballin’ momma and a wicked friend. You cut me deep and keep me real. I’m still afflicted by your…
Oppressor?
To the man who, in response to the white woman being hired as executive director of the Africville Heritage Trust, said, “To have someone representative of the oppressor spearheading it does not make sense,” I need to ask, which oppressor is she representing? It can’t possibly be those in charge of the decision to raze…
Noxious Visitor
It’s really effing gross when someone “happens to let one slip out” when they come to your office. I mean, for fucks sake, what is wrong with you? What kind of diet do you have that causes you to produce such paint-peeling gas? For frigs sake, my eyes are watering. And you’re so out of…
Traffic Control
To the lady that took the time to slow to a crawl, roll down her window, and yell at me that, “It doesn’t say WALK!” while I was waiting on the median between two roads. Yeah, I know it doesn’t say walk, that’s why when I met oncoming traffic I stopped at the median. For…
What’s in Your Head?
You were at the bus terminal wearing a shirt that said “Have you seen my pet zombie?” I really wanted to tell you how much the t-shirt rocked, but was worried I would come off as being creepy. So, here’s hoping that you see this because if you ever need help finding your pet zombie,…
Food Whiners
To the couple at a certain pub during trivia night, if you don’t like the food, then don’t eat it! You don’t need to go on and on and on about how terrible the food was, loud enough for half the restaurant to hear. You were an embarrassment to your friends, and if you hate…
I See a Pattern Here
Ok, I really do see a pattern to the way people drive in this city. And it is very fucking annoying. But it appears that there is a huge percentage of drivers (just continue reading the bitch reports & how many are driver related) that just are NOT paying attention to what and who is…
Sick of Metro Transit Drivers
I’m getting sick and tired of Metro Transit drivers making poor decisions regarding traffic lights. On multiple occassions over the last few weeks I’ve seen metro transit drivers decide to go through a yellow light even though the cars in front of the bus are lined up to the intersection. The bus then sits there…
HPX Goes North
animal dance! animal dance! Bad news: This past week, the Elephant and Castle closed, meaning that the restaurant’s basement bar – home to Three Sheet’s Thursday hip-hop parties, along with many other shows — is now gone. Crud! More bad news: the Halifax Pop Explosion had a bunch of shows booked there, including Les Breastfeeders…
Video Game Basher
I am in my late-20s so most of my memorable childhood was in the ’90s, and that would make me part of a generation that grew up playing videos games. So anyway, I was at work recently on lunch break, and I was having a conversation with others who are around my age too. The…
Shame on You
Thanks for ruining the theatre! I mean, I can kind of understand the new sign/general renos… but did you really need to brand your corporation’s awful grey-on-darker-grey colour scheme on one of the area’s most loved and recognized buildings? And on a street known for its unique storefronts? Well, as long as you’re making money…
Tips Please
To you cheap fucks that come to our restaurant and don’t leave tips… who the fuck do you think you are? We work hard to please you and provide you with a pleasant dining experience. I go out of my way to do my best and to find that you don’t leave me a tip…
I’m Sorry, Do You Own the Road?
I’d like to acknowledge the Metro Transit Operator of route #20 who, at about 5:30 p.m. on September 14 on Mumford Road almost pushed a family of four into oncoming traffic. You don’t own the fucking road. Cars have to yield to you as you pull away from a bus stop. I get that. I…
Stupid Bicyclist
To the stupid man bicycling in Burnside the other day who cut off a truck while driving ILLEGALLY down the sidewalk and then through a crosswalk causing him to slam on his breaks and me to have nowhere to go but into the back of the truck… THANKS. No really I truly do enjoy having…
Bayers Road
Instead of expanding roads into downtown Halifax, get better transit and jack up the rates for parking there. Look what happen when they put an extra lane on the MacDonald Bridge it just increased the amount of cars going across the bridge it did not improve the situation. Ottawa and Vancouver have the best bus…
A General Bitch
I am a vehicle owner, however I take the public transit to work due to the crazy parking fees downtown and some people on a bus really should learn how to ‘BE’ in public. 1) Talking on a cell phone so loud that people at the other end of the bus can hear as though…
Welcome to HRM: No Exercise For You or Your Dog Allowed
I just love it when dried up cranky old animal hating HRM councillors decide that since they got phone calls from 3 loud mouthed dried up cranky old obnoxious self righteous other-living-creature-hating pricks about .000000004 % of the animal population misbehaving that it’s time to make it impossible for ANYONE to have a pet any…
Career Killer
I just want to say thank you. Thank you for being such a dick. Watching you perform everyday makes this job a little bit entertaining lately, even though you have destroyed morale. Your ego is so out of control that it’s hard not to watch, just like an expanding balloon about to burst. You’re new…
What’s wrong: Late night construction
Who’s responsible? Earl McMullin, Manager of Special Projects, Halifax Regional School Board. Remarks: Construction at Dartmouth High School is woefully behind schedule, so behind that construction crews have been working well past midnight, using heavy and loud drilling machinery in a residential neighbourhood. It turns out the contractor, Bird Construction, had no approval to work…
Slutwalk comes to Halifax
Evette Awalt was painting a banner for the upcoming SlutWalk Halifax when her 14-year-old son walked into the kitchen. “Can I come?” he asked. She asked him why. “I want to see the sluts,” he said with a smirk. Hearing this all-to-common sentiment from her son, the SlutWalk organizer felt tired. Last February a police…
Quinpool Road guided tour
Recently covered by a fresh coat of asphalt, Quinpool Road is about to celebrate with Quinfest Family Fun day on Saturday, September 17, from 11am to 3pm. It’ll be a chance to check out what Quinpool has to offer, its broad selection of merchant wares. From Greece to China, Korea to the Middle East, Quinpool…
Michael Melski interview
Michael Melski’s Charlie Zone isn’t a horror movie, but the Halifax director was aiming to show the dark side of his city with his film, which portrays such unpleasantness as violence, drug abuse and racism in unflinching detail. So the fact that he’s got test-screening stories to rival scary classics like The Exorcist is a…
Calling all superfans
You’ve got the jerseys hanging on your wall. When you drink beer, it’s from a cup branded with your team’s name, or in one of those weird cozies. You are prone to watching games in full uniform and face-paint, even if it’s just you in your fancave alone. When the topic comes up, you’ll defend…
Film Fest Reviews
FEATURE FILMS Higher Ground – Friday, September 16, Park Lane 7, 7:05pm Naturalism and a radiant intelligence have been the distinguishing features of Vera Farmiga’s acting performances, and it’s a quality she brings to her directorial debut. Farmiga takes command in front of and behind the camera, playing a religious convert whose creeping doubt in…
Craig Jackson interview
Growing up skateboarding in Moncton, NB, Craig Jackson had never seen a longboard before. But when his high school friend Jaret Belliveau ventured out west after high school and returned to town with a new longboard, Jackson was hooked. Moving out to Halifax for school shortly afterwards—with Belliveau studying photography at NSCAD and Jackson studying…
The Devil’s Double delivers
In The Devil’s Double, Dominic Cooper (Band of Brothers, An Education) stars as Latif Yahia, an Iraqi soldier chosen to become the body double for Saddam Hussein’s son, Uday Hussein, during the Gulf War. Cooper does a fantastic job portraying the life of Yahia as he is forced to become property of the Iraqi dictator,…
Teenburger
In many ways, Burgertime—by the Teenburger trio of Ontario rapper Timbuktu and Halifax’s Ghettosocks and DJ Jorun Bombay—is the aural, moral opposite of Watch the Throne, the Kanye and Jay-Z collaboration. Watch the Throne is meticulous luxury rap over airlessly handpicked samples; Burgertime is three friends hanging out and delivering freewheeling wordplay about arriving late…
The deal with Picnicface
Andrew Bush, Kyle Dooley, Cher Hann, Mark Little, Brian Eldon MacQuarrie, Evany Rosen, Scott Vrooman and Bill Wood —-known collectively as comedy powerhouse Picnicface—-have a TV show (Picnicface on The Comedy Network), a feature film (Roller Town) and a book (Picnicface’s Canada from HarperCollins) all available to enjoy in the next month or two. So…
Get behind the wheel and Drive
Fans of Ryan Gosling who grew up watching him in Breaker High and The Notebook, be warned. In the eight years since starring in the Nicholas Sparks blockbuster, he has become a man with increasing levels of badass-ness. This is evident in Drive, a hyper-violent and visually stunning picture that has Gosling playing the role…
Jay-Z and Kanye West
Jay-Z may have called his collaboration with R. Kelly The Best of Both Worlds, but that album sucked. Watch the Throne, the new album by Kanye West and Jay-Z, is the superior crossover album. Feeling like more of an EP than a full length, Jay is back in his prime with wordplay not seen since…
Rouge Fatale’s encore
It seems the Casino just couldn’t get enough Rouge, and can you blame them? Perhaps in efforts to make summer last longer the Casino’s Paradise Buffet decided after what was supposed to be Ms. Fatale’s last show for the season, to extend the weekly event for seven more weeks. Let’s be honest, this is kind…
I Don’t Know How She Does It is dull and unfunny
Sarah Jessica Parker’s new movie, I Don’t Know How She Does It, is a comedy that fails to deliver any laughs. Parker plays Kate Reddy, a mother of two who works during the day as a financial analyst. As a project emerges involving the creation of a new retirement savings plan, Parker must decide between…
Akron/Family
Sounds from nature —songbirds, rain, lava—enrich Akron/Family’s music. In other cases, it has signalled a dearth of musical ideas. Here, it stokes imagination. An eruption blasts after the ringing guitars of “Fuji I (Global Dub),” which works as a climax to some cataclysm where avoiding lava flow is Job One. The narrative style and vigorous thrust…
Sea Glasses sees clearly
You may know Dartmouth’s Garrett Mombourquette as Aux. Out, the musical precursor to Sea Glasses. But after a regular summer of late night recording on a shoddy four-track, and the purchase of a synth, Mombourquette found Sea Glasses better suited the direction his low-fi, drone-pop sound was going in. Mombourquette and his friend Brant Hunter…
Sarah’s Key digs into Nazi history
Sarah’s Key presents Kristin Scott-Thomas as an American journalist whose research on a story about a mass arrest of Jews in Nazi-occupied Paris leads takes an unexpected detour into her husband’s family history. Director Gilles Paquet-Brenner toggles between her story and flashbacks depicting a young girl taken in the Vel d’Hiv Roundup who manages to…
Library Voices
If ever there were a doubt that bookworms are ready to rock out, Library Voices live to dissolve it.“Reluctant Readers make Reluctant Lovers” brandishes Yeats and Hemingway as symbols of youthful virility superior to, say, a Camaro. The Regina septet have the Besnard Lakes’ Jace Lasek producing a more luminous rhythm on this sophomore album…
Bonnie Ste-Croix’s national anthems
When Bonnie Ste-Croix decided to move from Vancouver to Halifax to be closer to her mother, she started thinking about home. The Gaspe-born singer-songwriter started to consider not just the cities from coast-to-coast that she’s lived in, but also all of the towns she’s visited over years of touring and travelling. “I had this moment…
Straw Dogs‘ thrills hit above average
Rod Lurie’s remake of the 1971 Sam Peckinpah thriller makes up for the opacity of its meaning with the assured execution of its tension-and-release formula. James Marsden and Kate Bosworth star as David and Amy, an effete LA screenwriter and his actor wife, who move out to her tiny Mississippi hometown. David’s threatened by the…
Mouse Bros
Mouse Bros is a fun, easy-to-play game that harkens back to a simpler time when things like stories and HD graphics were a long way off. Controlling a jumping mouse (or mice), your goal is to catch food that dangles off of hooks while dodging incoming bad guys like bees, planes and bombs. By tilting…
Elephant, aye
We decide to have a bite at the Elephant’s Eye on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. I call to check their hours and discover that the restaurant closes at 3pm. We hurry down to Barrington Street and when we arrive at 2:30, they’re still accepting tables. It’s muggy in here, as any restaurant would be on…
The Witch of Babylon
Within the first 30 pages, McIntosh had led me so seamlessly from the fall of Ninevah in 612 BCE to the sacking of Iraq in 2003 that I hadn’t realized she had changed scenes, and I was hooked. The Witch of Babylon is an antiquities thriller—like the DaVinci Code, but more interesting and without the…
Daybreak
It’s certainly not the first graphic novel about zombies. Brian Ralph’s got his own take on the genre. He takes you, the reader, into the story. Open the cover. Find yourself ragged, covered in debris. A one-armed man greets you, offers underground safety. Pours you a cup of water. Becomes your protector. Daybreak’s a survival…
No boners in front of parents
Q I am a 16-year-old female. I have been in a monogamous relationship with a boy for seven months. My first, his too. A couple of months in, we began to explore masturbating each other and oral sex. He has gone down on me three times, but I have never given him a blowjob. I’m…
Certified Copy
Abbas Kiarostami questions art and authenticity in his new film Certified Copy (Copie Conforme). Strongly cinematic, quietly dramatic and deeply concerned with perfection, the value of originality and intention of copy, the film follows gallery owner Elle (Juliette Binoche), who took home best actress at Cannes, and author James (William Shimell) through the Tuscan countryside after they meet at a reading. Staggeringly…
Picnicface Q&A (Part One)
The Coast: How did you wind up using this house for the “Picnicface’s home” set? Kyle: We were shooting in this other location that was supposed to be our home. It was really funny. It was weird and new age. Cher: It was like, “Youth! Young people live here!” It was brutal. Kyle: Synthetic youth…
Finding Ana
“My goal with this book is to make some people aware of Ana Mendieta and her work,” says author Redfern. “You never know how it could inspire someone, affect someone, encourage someone. It’s hard to measure the effect of this sort of seepage of knowledge. Sometimes a small leak can spread a long way.” Born…
Driven to death
When I was in college, I worked as a cab driver to supplement my loan money. It’s a difficult job, with long hours, uncertain income and dangerous conditions—statistically, driving cab is more dangerous than being a cop, firefighter or soldier. I stopped driving soon after another driver in my town was shot. Haligonians have a…
Girl Talk parties All Day
Gregg Gillis is currently chilling at his home in Pittsburgh and discussing his baseball team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and their mid-season attempt to gain the wild card. “It was probably the best season they’ve had in the past five to ten years,” he says of the clubs unlikely winning streak. “The excitement level this year…
Picnicface Q&A (Part Two)
The Coast: How’s the show coming together? Mark: It’s been OK. We just need to see how it looks, edited. A few of us, especially Andy, is flying to Toronto as soon as we’re finished shooting. He’ll be digging into the editing, making notes. The Coast: Your executive producer, Mark McKinney, veteran of Kids In…
Rattle and roll
Hoarse Rattle might sound like a symptom of a fall cold. Or, it might sound like a cello, a guitar and drums combining their sounds in unexpected ways—that might surprise even the musicians themselves. Hoarse Rattle is a collaboration between Norman Adams, Isaiah Ceccarelli and Arthur Bull, who bring an improvised performance to the Bus…
Free Will Astrology
Happy Birthday! VIRGO (August 23-September 22) “Everything is unique,” said the 19th-century authors known as the Goncourt brothers, who wrote all their books together. “Nothing happens more than once in a lifetime. The physical pleasure that a certain woman gave you at a certain moment, the exquisite dish that you ate on a certain day—you…
Shores thing
Last September Southern Shores was but a twinkle in the eyes of Ben Dalton and Jamie Townsend. After a whirlwind year of making daydreamy, nostalgia-soaked electro tunes in Berlin and then releasing their debut EP Atlantic on US experimental pop label Cascine, the pair are gearing up for their next move. Answering to their practical sides,…
Sobey Art Award Shortlist exhibit opens
It’s Sobey Art Award time again, which means work from some of Canada’s best contemporary artists will be gracing the walls, and floors of the AGNS. The shortlisted six (Charles Stankeivech, Sarah Anne Johnson, Daniel Young, Christian Giroux, Manon De Pauw and Zeke Moores) bring varied works in video, photography and sculpture to the exhibit.…
Thom Fitzgerald interview
This is a rare moment of solitude for Halifax-based playwright and director Thom Fitzgerald. After spending the past weekend opening the Atlantic Fringe Festival—Fitzgerald was the festival’s recognized agent—he is at home doing some light cleaning. “I have some time to talk. I’m just doing some laundry,” he says. Fitzgerald’s work includes award-winning films like…
Picnicface opens festival with a big bang
I’ve been covering this festival for half a dozen years, and this is the first time it’s rained on the opening night during that span. A couple years back AFF director Lia Rinaldo told me part of the reason they decided to take the gala opening party inside from Argyle Street was because they figured…
Mike Clattenburg interview
Mike Clattenburg is not the kind of guy who seems likely to forget his roots. And that’s important, because the director of one of Canada’s most beloved comic creations, Trailer Park Boys, is primed for a career ascendance. For the first time, one of his films, the war drama-comedy Afghan Luke, will be screened at…
Pearl Jam Twenty and The Interrupters
Though it wasn’t a part of the official Atlantic Film Festival, I attended Pearl Jam Twenty this evening, and it felt very much like a festival film, a rock doc that serves as a fine accompaniment to Wednesday’s doc on Patty Schemel, former drummer for another act out of the Pacific Northwest, Hole (which I…
Bridge Terminal construction finally starting by “end of month”
Work on Dartmouth’s Bridge Terminal should begin by the “end of the month,” city officials say. This is the first public acknowledgement that an important contract has been signed for the much-delayed Metro Transit bus station. Quebec firm Pomerleau was awarded the $12.1 million contract for construction earlier this month, just after the provincial Department…
Famke Janssen to attend AFF
Famke Janssen: Jean-Luc Picard fell for her as Kamala, The Perfect Mate Star Trek: The Next Generation, she crushed men between her thighs in Goldeneye as Xenia Onnatop, and she almost destroyed the world as Jean Grey/Phoenix in X-Men: The Last Stand. Now she’ll be here in Halifax for her writer/directorial feature debut Bringing Up…
Canadian convention business is lagging
When Texas-based professor Heywood Sanders came to Halifax last November and spoke to city council about the state of the convention business, he was treated shabbily as a CFA who doesn’t know anything about Halifax. One objection that was raised several times was that Sanders might know a lot about the convention centre business in…
Michael’s World
Halifax author Michael Murphy’s first novel A Description of the Blazing World weaves together two narratives; one of the slightly maladjusted Morgan Wells, who undertakes a creepy mission to find other Morgan Wellses of Toronto after receiving a postcard addressed to a different Morgan Wells; and the actions of a teenage boy who finds a…
