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The Coast | News, events, restaurants, concerts and Burger Week for Halifax, Nova Scotia
Home of the Best of Halifax Reader's Choice Awards, the award-winning independent newspaper covers the Halifax news, politics, events, concerts, movies, restaurants, and nightlife scene.
One characteristic of the Chain of Lakes Trail sewage issue is that accurate reporting by The Coast is characterized as inaccurate by the people we have been reporting on. We first saw this in August, when I reported that the entire $20-to-25 million cost of the sewage project would be financed by Halifax Water ratepayers.…
Daniel Baldwin has launched a Kickstarter campaign to get some help from the public to fund some start-up costs associated with having a space for a Halifax Vintage Arcade and Museum. This venture really began when Baldwin played around trading things on Kijiji. When he came across some arcade games while trying to make a…
why don’t you watch your kids better, instead of your computer. you suck at it, your a fart face that shouldn’t have kids, poo poo kids. and you fart like a woman or a man, but your kids don’t. why don’t you pay better attention to them fart face? your husband also stinks. he smells…
we complain about how pandas pee on other pandas…what the hell are they bullies or something? why don’t they poop on eachother or something?why cant they just go on the toilet???? WHY CANT PANDAS BE PINK AND PURPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! —TROY
This one goes out to the Neighbors living above me. Now I know living in an apartment there will be noise from neighbors etc, I knew this when I signed the lease. What I don’t appreciate is the constant running around and heel walking, all day everyday. Now we have a newborn, and your stomping…
To the beautiful grils who were at Gus’ Pub last night around 8:00 with the dark brown undercut who kept smiling at my friend and I over beers. I think you guys are lovely & we should have said hi! If we ever cross paths again, I won’t hesitate to talk to you. I think…
After a couple of weeks of election promises AKA bullshit, who would like to place a bet and/or give odds on the following classic statement being issued? “Now that we’ve had a chance to look at the books we’ve discovered that NS is in worse shape financially than promised and therefore we cannot deliver any…
The Neptune Theatre production of The Comedy of Errors is set on a Greek Island in 1974, and according to Mauralea Austin, the details are just right. “I travelled in Greece in the ‘70s,” recalls Austin, who is playing the parts of the gruff maid Nell and the upright Abbess Amelia. “I lived in those…
Closing night at the AFF was filled with some of the best films of the festival including the epic adventure film Tracks. The movie tells the true-life story of Robyn Davidson’s 2700km solo journey in 1977 through the western Australian desert with her four camels and faithful dog Diggity. Her journey is mesmerizing and powerful.…
but if I have to hear one more fucking time how great your kid is, how beautiful he is, how you can’t believe how you made something so great, how awesome you are, how blessed you are,blah blah blah I will lose my shit. Yep he is cute and yes you are blessed but remember…
There is a child in the balance here. There is a shared interim custody order in place. For years now… I say black… you say white… I say up… you say down. It never ends. It just goes on and on and on. Endless emails back and forth back and forth… thousands over the years.…
To the granny geezer who honked like hell at me as I crossed North Street at the corner of Gladstone: 1. A crosswalk exists at EVERY intersection whether it is painted or not. 2. Drivers MUST yield the right of way to pedestrians who are lawfully within a crosswalk. So calm the fuck down. —Lawful…
Sitting in my backyard on any given day, I might hear the bagpipes two blocks down, the poor bastard nearby trying to learn to play the bugle, the muffled sounds of the band down the street dreaming of fame and fortune, the passing rush hour traffic, squawking crows in the trees overhead, neighbours’ dogs barking,…
To the thief who stole my friend’s turquoise LL Bean Gore Tech cycling jacket on the “Rails to Trails” near Halifax last Friday: how can you live with yourself? It wasn’t fifteen minutes from the time we set off sprinting and she lost it and then noticed it gone. Some person we learned had put…
The Centre for Law and Democracy has published its most recent report, which reviews Nova Scotia’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and the results, while not at all surprising, are also not at all good. Says CLD: The RTI Rating, a comparative system for assessing right to information laws developed by Centre…
Editor’s note: an earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Newcombe as the former president at ISI. His actual title was senior project manager. The Irving family is continuing its long tradition of heavy-handed legal attacks on former employees. Last week, one division of the billionaire family’s holdings, Irving Shipyards Incorporated, which runs the Halifax…
To the three steroid freaks at the facility I train at I would kindly ask that you keep your opinions about other peoples techniques and appearance to yourselves…also we don’t want to here about who you “banged the f out last night ” and there is no need to stare people down in the change…
Last night is raining cats and dogs and my car got a flat on the old sambro road. 2 am and no phone. Me panicking. YOU. You came out of nowhere and spent nearly an hour in worst rain ever with no coat, just to change my tire and then refused a ride home exclaiming…
I literally cringe every time I see a homeless person being followed by a dog. If you can’t provide for yourself. what makes you think you are capable of providing for a dog? Get a job or don’t have a pet, there is no in between, there is no justification. If you’re lonely, too bad.…
To the folks who sing and make music outside in the evenings on Duncan: thanks for the loveliness! it alleviates the day’s drudgery. now I always keep my window open. —Lullaby-lover
Attention all pitbull owners, you are in possession of a very powerful dog, for eff sakes, keep it on a leach and do your best to prevent a potentially horrible situation. I have a pitbull, who happens to be very gentle and kind, and she still wears a muzzle. I have seen far too many…
I’ve regretted ending things between us for the past three years. Everything was amazing. We were so happy. Everything to live for. Had fun, an amazing group of friends, and even though we were recently graduated/in grad school; the lack of money didn’t stop us having fun. When I found out what you did. I…
I have it with the pot culture! I’m not talking about the occasional Toker, I’m addressing the Lifer’s the full blown addicts of marijuana. The brainless fucks how think “it will never happen to me” idiots. Heads-up. You are destroying you brain one cell at a time. If you as a Full-timer that spends more…
I saw you in line at a coffee place with your kid waiting to be served. Your toddler wondered off and you didn’t even notice. He started running away while you were glued to your phone. I was worried this child was going to get snatched up by the wrong person. So I approached him,…
Fuck You. Fuck you for sounding your stupid horns at 2 in the morning. Some of us actually LIKE to be asleep at night. Fuck You. —Missing a Full Nights Sleep
I keep going back to a guy that likes to be in control. He has shagged others behind my back, breaks up w me, kicks me and kids out of the house for months at a time, hurt me physically. I wish this man had learned, you’re not allowed to hit people. I wish I…
I hate living in this city! Sadly a lot of drivers just don’t get it. Posted speed limits are ignored, nobody stops at stop signs, same for yield/merge signs. Tailgaters are the norm, not the exception. Why do people who drive BMW, Audi, Lexus and other high priced cars think they have the right to…
Dear club goers, Please wear proper clothing when going downtown! Dressing like a prositute is not classy in any shape, way or form. Wearing shorts or a skirt that barely covers your ass cheeks and in some case does not at all, is very trashy. Wearing a belly top is whorish and if you have…
To the two young women who were walking a young German shepherd on the trail near Lawrencetown Beach 09.20 at 7p.m. I didn’t think much of the out of the blue bite your pup gave me (and thanks for your concern), until it started to bleed. On my way to the emerg. I realized, had…
By chance I’m wearing a camouflage shirt that says “hiding out in northern ontario”, those dark blue jeans where the yellow string seams show bright, unshaven, balding and I’ve got leather shoes that sort of look like running shoes. If I go out to the Seahorse I’ll get approached by one of those generic rich…
I love you, oh my gosh I love you so so so so so much! Even when we fight, or when you toot in your sleep I still love you! You’re an amazing man, you make me feel so wonderfully happy and loved I could never ask for more! I think you’re the sexiest man…
My university gym is at capacity every time I try to use it. Glad I’m paying for the chance to be active! Oh wait. I’m only paying, not active. —Marathon waiter
And, yes, it’s true that you don’t remember my name. Nor do I recall ever having much of a conversation with you. However unlikely it was, our paths crossed 7 years ago and I haven’t been able to forget you. We were awkward with each other then, and in subsequent meetings, but it was endearing.…
What’s with your front-page preoccupation with bike helmets in this mother-hen, over-legislated little outpost? If this was a back yard, strewn with dangers such as broken glass, landmines, conservatives and whatnot, would you keep yelling at your kids and punish them for not wearing shoes, or would you clean up the g.d. yard and let…
I was worried about my appointment I was waiting for at the HI and stupidly left my cellphone at the Tim Horton’s on the fourth floor. You found my phone and made my day, I thought for sure I would never see it again. All I could think about was the pictures I didn’t have…
jazzers ‘new to the route’ busdriver ..I have been taking this bus for 5 years and getting off at the same stop for 5 years…So when I pull the ‘stop requested’ ringer with plenty of time and you blow by my stop ( and the next one) just offer up an apology and all will…
Why do you continue to smile/make eye contact with me? I’m 30 years senior to you. I’m unattractive, curmudgeonly and don’t smile. So, I am beginning to think that you think I need cheering-up. You’re right. I do. So thank-you! —some random old fart on the bus
Traffic sucks, and every year it gets better in January when students flunk out of their school. And, others have switched to the bus because they have used up too much of their student loans. —Waiting
life certainly dealt you a difficult hand but i believe in you and think you can trade in some cards to up your hand. if you arnt finding gratitude in your job you can and will find something that makes you happy. dont evercount yourself out. you have people out there thinking of you and…
She could get past your cigg smoke stained teeth, ape-like hairiness and crooked nose, but you couldn’t get past her FRECKLES?? Did I hear that right??? Dude, this is why you’re 39 and still single! Next time take a look in the mirror and then maybe you’ll think twice before rejecting a girl who actually…
The 28th Annual Joy Awards were held Thursday as part of the 33rd Atlantic Film Festival, honouring three Atlantic filmmakers in what was the first round of the 2013 Joy Awards. Three awards were handed out today in the backyard of Jim MacSwain’s beautiful heritage home on Brunswick Street, making it seem more an informal,…
Listen you old fuck, Don’t you shush me in a coffee shop just because I had to answer a phone call. Coffee shops are full of life – people talk, laugh, cry, whatever. Music is playing loudly. It’s not a fucking library. If you want peace and quiet stay home. The day people have to…
Thanks for being such a class act, so mature, repeatedly giving me the finger in traffic at the Windsor Street exchange after I had changed lanes. Properly, with space and a proper signal. It is busy there, get over it. Had my son in the car. Nice. My son is not with me now, so…
I would like to express my gratitude to the person at our community college who anonymously paid for my breakfast in the cafeteria on Wednesday. I had only gone up the hall to retrieve my forgotten debit card; I was shocked by the news that you had stepped in and paid for my nearly $10…
I get that when people are in love they like to express it in many ways, both verbally and physically. However; if you’re going to express it physically please do the respectful thing and CLOSE YOUR DAMN WINDOW! Everyone in Woodside does not need to hear the graphic dialogue and skin flapping that I heard…
When I leave work to go home, I catch the bus at the corner of Spring Garden and Summer, by the Public Gardens. For the last few weeks there has been the ‘DO ME a favour’ ad on the bus stop shelter. I am not the target market, but I get it (and the ‘TAKE…
should have taken a trade! Tons of trades earn a ton of coin, yet you prattle on and on and on about being a scientist and not earning enough money. guess what sugar i went to community college got a 2 year diploma in a science tech trade and now i make 3 and a…
This is for the people who feel that because they love their dog, everyone else should and does. NO not the case. Please don’t let your dog jump on me and my child as I walk down a public street. Dont leave your dog outside the front of your house to use the bathroom and…
Ah yes, a global COP. Bite me. What I choose to do or not do (in this case having a nice cigar with the roof down and windows open is none of you business. I so wish you had run into me. When you were whining. I hadn’t even lighted up. I was SHOWING and…
I love you, I love you, I love you. Idiot 🙂 Of COURSE I’ll marry you. I don’t even get why you had to ask. —fork
How is it, that in today’s day and age, people are actually excited about one of the most wasteful inventions in modern day? When the focus has been movign to conserving energy, reducing waste, etc., intelligent, rational human beings are excited about Keurig. I simply cannot understand how my friends and coworkers are creating so…
A very kind lady saw a set of keys fly off of the top of my husbands Jeep. He had our 4 year old helping him to unload items out of his vehicle and into our underground storage unit. He also had my set of keys with him to get into that area of our…
Three weeks ago I went to a ?A meeting to support my wife who is battling addiction. It was an “Open” meeting so she felt that I could go with her to understand what she is doing. I have never been looked at or treated with such suspicion in all of my life. After the…
Thank you to the lady on Barrington St., in the window above the ‘T’ Room. I heard you playing MacPherson’s Lament on the fiddle and you made a lovely September day even better! Cheers! —Redhaired guy walking
The little path from Novalea Drive to the parking lot of Acadia Lodge South is being paved. The path had a tiny flight of stairs (just three), but enough to made it difficult for those with strollers, bundle buggies, bikes and skateboards during the best weather . . . and impassable during the winter when…
When you go to a coffee shop and you leave your dog tied up outside, if the dog immediately proceeds to bark, and bark, and bark, and bark louder up until the moment you come outside – you need to know that every single person living and working within a kilometre radius of your dog…
Colette (Andrea Riseborough) was born into a family tied to the IRA. It’s 1993 and she’s caught carrying a bomb onto the London Underground. Mac (Clive Owen), the British intelligence’s man in Northern Ireland, gives Colette one chance to avoid life in prison away from her young son: report to the Brits on what her…
In early 2013, frontman Asif Illyas resurfaced from the ashes of MIR with his solo debut Synesthesia. This is an album not beholden to the typical trappings of east coast music, but one which manages to bring together world music elements in the vein of a Peter Gabriel, or a Midnight Oil (see “Slave 2…
The wine list at Onyx is extensive, to say the least, with 320 bottles of red, white and sparkling wine ranging from $29 to thousands. Appropriately, they label their wines by occasion–”everyday,” “celebratory,” “special occasion” and “you only live once”–to organize, and perhaps to legitimize, the small fortune one might pay for a wine in…
Some guy overheard some kids saying breakdancing wasn’t cool anymore and now we all have to suffer. In this near-incompetent, half-assed “fictionalization” of Planet B-Boy (a “dope” documentary that’s “like our Bible” from which many clips are shown), Lost’s Josh Holloway does a Drunk History version of Coach Eric Taylor (catchphrase: “You are champions. Be…
Jost Vineyards are piercing green this time of year. Hundreds of rows of vines run down the slopes of the grassy hills toward the Northumberland Straight. The fruit hangs low–light green, dusty pink, deep purple–waiting for the last inklings of warmth to bring them to ideal ripeness. The birds and bears are just as eager…
By now, it’s safe to say that Seth Smith is an institute of Halifax art. A prolific musician, printmaker and a budding filmmaker, Smith has proven himself an idiosyncratic wizard on all fronts. This soundtrack only serves to further that reputation. It may just be the darkest thing in Smith’s catalogue: it trudges through the…
Who knew we were missing Kurt Russell until he showed up in this completely fine Canadian heist movie? A stunt motorcyclist slash art thief working under the awesome name Crunch Calhoun (the guy Ryan Gosling would’ve grown up to be if he hadn’t been murdered in The Place Beyond the Pines), Russell carries a weirdo…
It’s harvest season, people, which means our annual wine issue is ripe for the picking. This year we’ve popped the cork on alternative tips for pairing, Grape Escapes Nova Scotia Wine Tours, Moira Peters’ portable tasting parties with Unwined, plus we raise a glass Jost’s new vision (JOLO!) and much more. Click HERE for the…
The Spectacular Now A beautiful rarity of a coming-of-age story, from that title to note-perfect casting, The Spectacular Now is one of the year’s finest discoveries. Starring Miles Teller (Rabbit Hole) as Sutter, Lloyd Dobler with a drinking problem, and Shailene Woodley (The Descendants) as bookish Aimee, the film follows their last few months of…
Sommelier and co-owner of Obladee, A Wine Bar, Heather Rankin, guides us on how to elevate drink and dish through harmonious pairings using basic wine styles and popular snacks. Pairing principles 1. “Match strength with strength,” in flavor and weight. 2. “What grows together often goes together,” therefore the produce, cheese or traditional food from…
They’ll push in those ladies, where they came out as a baby. Ain’t no doubt this shit is crazy, fucking each other’s moms in the Australian drama Adore. Set in a breezy, beachfront New South Wales, Naomi Watts and Robin Wright play two best friends who prove they’re not lesbians by diddling each other’s 18-year-old…
If the first page of this brilliant debut doesn’t hook you, you should probably get your eyes checked. Long-listed for the Giller Prize, Y is that rare breed of novel that deftly employs a complex pattern of image and metaphor with a steady hand—does not choke you by shoving its purpose down your throat, but…
Salinger is an adoring portrait of a great writer that unwittingly paints its subject as terrible, awful human being. Using archival footage, a plethora of interviews with critics and some laughably melodramatic reenactments, the film follows J. D. Salinger’s life as a young, unpublished author up to his reclusive years in New Hampshire. Strong focus…
After fending off two stylish robots and a last-minute push from a twerking young pop star, Robin Thicke stands alone on the podium, confetti falling, holding his well-earned Song of the Summer trophy to the skies. With the season’s top prize already in-hand, Blurred Lines the album sounds more like a leisurely victory lap than…
Nova Scotia wines have gained momentum to the point that the rest of Canada takes notice, especially of our aromatic Tidal Bay white blends and bubblies made using the “traditional method” as per Champagne. But the main thing is that Nova Scotians are drinking more of our own wines—that’s what creates a sustainable industry. Blomidon…
Picture this: apes sprouting flowers from every orifice; a person made out of a pancake offering therapy to a “half deerdog, half pony;” a wild turkey wearing a “rock ’n’ roll mixed tape bonnet;” a dove dressed up like Prince with the caption, “When doves cry;” questionable uses for wedding registry items; sections like “How…
Caught between N64’s Wave Race soundtrack and Warpaint on synth steroids, Toronto’s Diana drops a debut album that is both danceable and deep. Though somewhat typical of shoegaze revival, these are serious cuts—slightly schizoid, but never boring. Strongest showings are “Born Again,” an ultra-addictive relaxation groove, “Anna,” which would belong to the genre of Final…
Moira Peters doesn’t think there’s any room for snobbery in wine tasting. “Snobbery around wine really irks me. That’s probably my Nova Scotia character coming out,” she admits. “Sometimes drinking cheap red wine out of a tumbler is the best way to go about it.” Peters, a Cape Breton-born, New York-trained sommelier, grew up in…
Mayor Peace Kris Larsen makes a big error as well as some good points in her letter (“Give peace a chance,” September 12): Peter Kelly did not consider the points she addressed; he stated the he would not join Mayors for Peace because Halifax was a military town, a ridiculous logic as no place wants…
Olympos If there is a genre for approachable, engaging and relevant non-fiction, The Virtual Self by Canadian journalist Nora Young definitely belongs in it. The book tracks our self-tracking, or online-reporting, habits, which have exploded along with websites like Facebook and Twitter. In accessible language, Young, the host of CBC Radio’s Spark, discusses the history…
Piling into a van to explore Nova Scotia’s wine country with Susan Downey feels closer to a road trip with pals than a stuffy, scripted tour. She knows her stuff, but also knows how to read a crowd in order to flex just the right amount of expertise. “I wanted to offer people a guided…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY VIGRO! (August 23-September 22) Chinese entrepreneur named Nin Nan dreamed up a unique way to generate capital: He sold dead mosquitoes online for a dollar apiece, advertising them as useful for scientific research and decoration. Within two days, he received 10,000 orders. Let’s make him your patron saint and role model for the…
Upon arriving at the Motorhome (the two-flat house that Like A Motorcycle share), Jillian Comeau is yelling, Kim Carson is ignoring her and texting and Michelle Skelding is in her slippers. They kindly turn off the volume on the Blur videos streaming in the background in Carson and Skelding’s living room. As the girls crack…
Flamenco. It’s a centuries-old art form that has its roots in southern Spain where Andalusian Gypsies first used solo voice, and later added guitar and dance, to express the pain of persecution. It’s also a wonderful medium for telling stories of all kinds, says Dan MacNeil, guitarist and composer with the Halifax-based flamenco troupe Compañía…
Was I surprised? No, and that’s sad. I’m outraged that I wasn’t surprised but that so many people were. All I have to say is, OPEN YOUR EYES. Start looking around you, and please intervene where you can to point out the blatant acts, tweets, words, posts, songs, posters and media that feed into rape…
Q My question is one of etiquette. My lesbian wife and I live in an apartment. The noise pollution between flats can be pretty bad. Anyone who lives in the building is aware of this, and keeping noise down after certain hours is a common courtesy. I wouldn’t play loud music after a certain hour,…
