AJA Silver: David Harper’s Wild things
Five bearskin rugs lie cushioned in layers of plastic bags, under a utility table in David Harper’s Almon Street studio. Only their heads are visible, stacked in a semi-circle chorus—count two tan, one brown, one white, one black. Their jaws are open and wet, shiny with vampirish fangs and pale pink tongues. What makes these…
Arts funding available?
To the editor, It was great to read Chris Benjamin’s article on the community arts projects, A Sense of Africvilleand Smardon’s Free Lab project (“Art history,” September 4). Please let your readers know that Halifax’s 4Cs Foundation provided the grant that made A Sense of Africville possible. We are extremely proud to have been a…
250 years of what?
To the editor, It’s funny. I went to school here in NS, then Ontario, have a grad degree and am working on another and consider myself reasonably well-informed. I was, though, caught way off guard when I learned that this province has had democracy for 250 years! I had no idea until I saw the…
Holding out for a hero
Every year there’s some sort of scandal-driven doc at any festival. Think Party Monster, think Deep Throat, think Trumbo—something with sex usually helps, but censorship pulls in at a close second. TIFF’s entry this year is American Swing, which is about Larry Levenson, who opened a swingers club in New York when it was still…
Peek-a-boo Harper
To the editor, Stephen Harper’s election strategy started September 2 around 6am with an announcement by a high-profile Conservative MP…with the PM (gag!) to “flesh out” that announcement later in the day. Ironic, given His Highnez shunned the media for four years. It seems a bit like pimp and whore: Harper suddenly needs to expose…
It “Don”ed on me today…
that if Blindness was opening the film fest, there was a good chance that its screenwriter/actor Don McKellar was coming to town. And he is! And so I will have one more chance to stand beside him, and ignore him and think of all sorts of dumbass things to say to him from afar. This…
Fenwick Street Laundry Dummies
There is ONE washer and ONE dryer in our building people. And we ALL have to use it. So, in case your mother never taught you manners, it is wildly insensitive to A: do your laundry after the posted “Do not operate machines” time frame. B: leave your clothes in the machines for HOURS. A…
Mac, Pizza and Nectar Social House
MAC cosmetics have opened a new counter at the Bay in Mic Mac Mall (21 MicMac Blvd)…Fashionably Dead (5329 Blowers) opened their doors last weekend…Dimitris Pizza (6469 Chebucto) have opened a new location in the New Palace Cabaret (1721 Brunswick)…This past weekend Nick-N-Willy’s (6169 Quinpool) was revamped to newly opened Bramoso Gourmet Pizza, which features…
Medicine Shoppe Address
Last week Shoptalk reported that the Medicine Shoppe was celebrating its grand opening. Please note the address is 117 Kearney Lake…
Day zero
Finally got the list of Industry Screenings late last night…. was wondering why I hadn’t received them by email or carrier pigeon or something. They’re the weekday showing of many of the Gala presentations. It allows sundry industry and press types a chance to see movies in advance of the actual public screenings. Besides making…
Trailers, part one
Hey everyone, my name is Hillary Titley – first-time Coast Fest blogger/old-hat Fest audience member. I have attended the festival both as a journalist and as a civilian, and, let me tell you, it is ten times better as a journalist. The experience can be summed up in three words: more finger-foods. Heaven! Here are…
Dear tropical fruit inspired nameless hair salon,
Published September 07, 2008. Dear tropical fruit inspired nameless hair salon, Thank-you for forcing me to boycott a local, enviro-friendly, independently owned business. When I asked how much a service would cost, and then was charged more than double that amount, I was understandably annoyed. Rather than make a fuss, and happy with the stylists…
Conservative Party missteps
Two articles on the front page of this morning’s Chronicle The first, from Canadian Press: OTTAWA — An animated puffin with a well-aimed dislike for Stephane Dion managed to derail the Conservative campaign machine Tuesday as Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized for an election website that showed the bird defecating on his Liberal rival’s shoulder.…
It’s like a giant, soulless snail…
I wish I had someone in particular to bitch at, I really do, but my monster is the faceless medical establishment. Currently, I’m in the position of waiting a week or more for them to fax (that’s right, fax) my immunization records to my doctor and watch as the spaces in the program I needed…
Test
Just ignore this, if you will. Better yet, use it as a “Bitch at each other” thread. Web site nazi
Bus times
There were a couple of things I left out of my opus on Halifax transit, and I was reminded of one of them again last night as I waited for a bus to take me home to Dartmouth from the city council meeting at city hall. Now, there are lots of buses connecting downtown Halifax…
Take a frakkin’ number.
Listen. I know, you think you’re important. You have places to go, people to see, things to do. Unfortunately, just because you huff and puff and drum your fingers and give me dirty looks for making you wait your turn to see my boss, I will not suddenly clear his schedule any faster so he…
smell free bus rides!
Ok all I ask is if you are going on the bus wear some deoderant if you smell like ass!! riding the bus sucks enough let alone smelling someones nasty body odour and wanting to gag. Oh yeah and could people please tone down on the perfume/cologne… you don’t need to wear the whole bottle!…
Eye Candy on TV
If you love funny lady Candy Palmater, listen up. The live Halifax taping of The Candy Show is airing on the Aboriginal Peoples Network (APTN) on September 13 at 1am. There are interviews on Candy’s big pink bed, plus the house band, Nasty Habits; Eastern Eagle, a seven-piece traditional Mi’kmaq drum group; Charlie A’Court; some…
Locas Moves
The once hush-hush location of last summer’s White Stripes secret Halifax show Locas Bar and Billards (5187 Salter), has moved up the road to a spot above Rogue’s Roost (5435 Spring Garden)…
tell ya what FREAKS ME OUT –
Cyclists actin’ like they are cars.! do dee do! la la la. When I am in my car – strangely enough -I DONT WANT TO HIT YOU !! COME ON!- steal a little look at the car, is it turning? are YOU turning?OR ZIPPIN UP BESIDE ME WHEN I AM TURNING?? SHEESH! How ’bout you…
Candidate notes
The candidate filing deadline has passed, so the list is complete. These are my random thoughts on the Halifax councillor races, as I’m unwinding from tonight’s council meeting. I’m sure I’ll have more intelligent things to say over the next few weeks… Unopposed candidates: Gloria McCluskey, Andrew Younger, Bill Karsten, Russell Walker I don’t know…
Over the hump
Two shutouts—Dungeons and Dragons doc The Dungeon Masters was in a tiny 30-seat theatre and Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler won Venice the night before, so the line was literally out to the street—flipped me into two documentaries about subjects I think have little worth: exploitation films and fashion. But we must play the cards the…
Uniforms
If you see somebody with a work uniform on and they are not at/in their respective place of employment, leave them alone! Do you really think we want to talk about what we do at work all day on the way home or while we’re? No. So please stop or I’ll hit you with my…
Horse Manure Free
Ok so you browse through the free section on the internet classifieds and see Free Horse Manure! You load it and haul it yourself. What the fuck! Don’t these people have a method for dealing with their horse shit?! That was just plain fucking disgusting. smells like shit around here
Get. The fuck. Out. Of my. Way.
There is nothing in this world that pisses me off more than trying to move around hurdles of people to catch my bus in the morning. Every morning i get off on one bus at the dartmouth terminal, and get on another one that is waiting on the other end of the station. And every…
hypocrits.
This is to the bus driver of the 2 Wedgewood, Monday March 4th. We had just arrived into wedgewood, it was around 4:35, perhaps a bit later. You walked off the bus, lit a cigarette and stood inside the bus shelter. You think that of all the people who should be following the “no smoking…
out in the cold
Thanks for taking winter coat from the gay bar on Friday night. It was really nice to walk home in the cold, and have to rely on my roommate to be home because my keys were in the pocket. Oh. my ID was in the pocket as well, so if you are done with my…
Time out!
Okay, over the past day I’ve received maybe a dozen bitches with you all bitching at each other. You’re welcome to bitch at each other in the comment threads all you want, but it just doesn’t make interesting reading for people not caught up with your internal battles. Enough already. Also, PLEASE– no names in…
Horny or what
To the metro transit driver on the #9 bus that left Munford at 925 am on September 8, it doesnt good to be kissing your girlfriend in front of everybody right on the bus and then leaving late. Late for work.
Bus Driver….Go drive your bus for fuck sake!
To the bus driver who was so quick to bear false witness on Dal campass! Fuck YOU ASSHOLE! Learn the rules before trying to apply them find out the facts instead of assuming you know what has went down. First of all I wasn’t yelling at the Dal truck operator. I could understand he couldn’t…
I’m glad I’m single women are too hard to figure out
I’m glad I’m single women are too hard to figure out. I think the thing that really turned me off to them is their mood swings. One minute they’re nice as pie and the next out come the claws. Is there a stable non-psycho one of them to be found? I seriuosly doubt it. me’n…
Free Bowl on the Freebowl Freeway
This Saturday, September 12, from 7-10pm, the Khyber ICA (1588 Barrington) is hosting the Khyber Legends Cup 2008, to kick off Calgary-based artist Michael Coolidge’s exhibition, which runs until September 27. “Intent on exploring the structures and aesthetics of leisure-play in relation to art and public spaces, Calgary-based artist Michael Coolidge is organizing a knockout-style…
Dumb Ass Driver
This is to the transit driver on the #9 at 1230 on Sept.5. Why the fucking hell did your toothless boyfriend tell my wife where to sit and then have the nerve to block the doorway when a blind woman was getting on the bus.ALL TRANSIT DRIVERS WHO HAVE TO BRING THEIR SPOUSES WITH TO…
Little Idiots
Monday evening, on the #80…the 3 young chicks sitting in the front with the little girl- WTF were you on??? I felt sooo bad for that little child, because she was easily the most mature one of you all! Bouncing on a seat like a toddler, when you’re at least 15? Oh, and making fun…
dear fellow transit riders,
there is nothing to fear beyond those two steps leading to the back of the bus. there’s just more bus back there. so when it’s standing room only, please, please move to the back of the bus instead of bunching up in the front until the driver has to herd you to the back, like…
Shitty Bus Service
To wait for the 20 Downtown on Lancaster Drive is to take a gamble. Sometimes the bus shows up fifteen minutes early and sometimes it doesn’t show up at all. Either way, you miss the bus and get to class or work half an hour late. I’m sick and tired of it. It’s been three…
Hear Hear For A Fat Tax
That’s right, you tubs of lard out there…fast food joints should have to charge a fat tax to cover the medical expenses of those fat, sloppy pigs who trough this shit daily. Why should the rest of us have to pay for their preventable conditions like diabetes and heart disease? Maybe it would force these…
Un-reported Sketch in Sketchville
Why is it that so many sketchy things go down in our city that NEVER get reported…. even in the daily police blotter. A few days ago I was riding motorcycle on Spring Garden Road and saw a man walking with his shirt covered in blood, blood gushing onto the sidewalk and an open wound…
I hate long line-ups!
Why must I stand in line for so long to get a fucking coffee on campus? It doesn’t seem to matter what time of the day it is, there’s always about 15-30 other students in the line-up! It must be because it’s the first few days of school. OMG, I can’t wait for the slackers…
You’re Pitiful (It’s True)
So yes. It’s true. James Blunt is coming to the Halifax Metro Centre on Dec 2. We don’t have any beefs with James Blunt. Seriously. He’s such an easy target. Quite inoffensive, really. Nope, we don’t have any problems with French-beach-frolicking, Petra Nemcova-dating, whiney-voiced, ferret-faced British wanker minstrels. Nor are we particularly concerned about the…
Fair reviewing “flies the coop”
Well done Liz Feltham for going once again beyond the call of duty to attempt to ruin the business of a popular and successful restaurant! Congratulations on showing us all one more time what little respect you have for servers and how petty you really are. The fries were from a bag? At a brewpub?…
GLOBAL WARMING
caused ENTIRELY by the JOSEPH HOWE MANOR??ON VICTORIA ROAD? YES . THE HEAT IS ON. REDUCED INCOME PEOPLE ARE MELTING LIKE CRAYONS. THE CITY WHACKS UP THE HEAT AND LEAVES IT UP. WHY ?/ CATHY
Candidate list
Candidates running in the HRM and school board elections are listed on the HRM website. The nomination period doesn’t end until the end of the day, so there could be a few more added as the day progresses.
Vacation Time denied
What can you do when you have vacation time availble to you, but everytime you apply for a vacation day off, your supervisor denies it? What good is vacation when you can’t use it?? Lulu
Goddamn That DJ Saved My Day!
I was gearing down for the day when I received glorious and unexpected news: the new Buck 65 album is now streaming and downloadable online. Well, a third of it, anyway. And it’s fo’ free. Say whaat?! Connected/generous local rapperJesse Dangerously has the good word on the situation in this blog entry, while the actual…
murderer
To the fucking douchbag piece of shit who ran over my baby on chebucto Rd the evening of Sept 4th. Fuck you asshole, you could have slowed the fuck down seeing as it was 1 in the morning and the chance of a milticar pile up was…impossible. Fucking murdering son of a bitch. Wheezy was…
“He was Hawkeye on M.A.S.H..” “OHHHH I was thinking of Alan Arkin.”
This festival’s been motoring along finely enough, with little controversy or love-bombing, or at least not any I am aware of. It’s subway-screening-screening-eat-screening-screening-subway on a good day, replacing screenings with time-sucking press conferences every now and then. I like the press conferences; it’s just that for convenience’s sake they are not convenient. Neither is the…
Queen of Passive Aggresive
To my one of my bosses this year I want you to know that we ALL HATED YOU SO fucking much. You think you’re all kind and innocent but in reality no. You’re pretty much the worst most evil deceiving bitch we have ever had the misfortune to meet. And in case you call me…
Dr. Asshole PhD
To the professor who has for many years been teaching your students how to skim profits and evade taxation. You tell them to make sure they take a fixed amout of cash everyday to establish a trend of lower revenue. Seems to me that is both unethical and unlawful. Sure you’ve got tenure, and that…
Boom, Bust and ECHO
So—is it redundant to say that Wintersleep had a pretty good year? I mean, I was ass-deep in West Africa for a considerable chunk of the time and even I heard that “Weighty Ghost” was blowing up. Now the boys are getting yet another shout-out for their efforts by being nominated for the SOCAN 2008…
Sandel Vandels.
I cannot help but feel the need to puke in my mouth a little bit, when I see people who wear open toed shoes, or sandals and have unkempt feet. I cannot stress how important it is to a daily regiment of personal hygiene. A person doesent walk out the door without brushing there teeth…
“And it would be called Dead Baby”
The thing about Sean Penn, besides all the things there can be about Sean Penn, is that Into the Wild was a) too reverent of someone who didn’t deserve it and b) half an hour too long. So I was low on patience with that guy when I went into Witch Hunt, a wild card…
Taxis
WTF is up with cabs in Halifax? How the fuck am I supposed to be able to find an available taxi when they don’t turn their lights off when they have a passenger? pedestrian, apparently
Fireworks
Why does the city hire a fireworks company from Montreal when there is a perfectly good fireworks company based out of the valley . Their fireworks are always remembered to be better. The city needs to think more about who matters instead of just taking the cheaper and much less enjoyable approach. Support local businesses!…
Me & Josephine
While wordy but worthy wordsmith Graham Pilsworth and I disagreed mightily on the merit of Daniel MacIvor’s “Wild Abandon”, we definitely agree on Leslie’s Carvery’s “Me and Josephine”. Carvery has that illusive “it”. She’s a star in need of a vehicle and while the story of entertainer extraordinaire Josephine Baker may well fit the bill,…
Carleton Brunches
The Carleton (1685 Argyle) has added a brunch menu. The post-hangover meal starts this Sunday, September 7 from 11:00 to 2:00PM.
toilet abuse.
Thank you for failing to close the lid of the toilet once you have finished with your business. I don’t enjoy getting your bodily secreations on my fingers while pulling down the seat so I can pee. It’s bad enough you have that stupid habit, but is it really necessary for your friends to do…
ANTIC
To the writers of the coast LOL at ‘Mouldylox’ playing at Antic! You mis-spelled the Dj’s name! It’s ‘Moldylox’.. lol it’s printed in the Events By Day section, under September 6th. Fox Force Five
Pirates of Quinpool
Aarrr maties! Quinpool Road Mainstream sets sail with a pirate-themed fall fair on September 13. Get out the eye-patches, black make up and tear up some old sheets –don’t forget the plastic sword and faux skull tattoos –as the annual fair runs from 11:00 – 3:00PM and stretches from Connaught to Windsor Street. “The annual…
Students: Be Your Own Boss
Over the years I’ve had countless part-time jobs, from dressing up as Franklin the Turtle while working at a children’s bookstore to a Starbucks barista (and those are the least embarrassing). Ashley Urquhart, the outreach facilitator with the Students in Business program, wants to help students; including, high school, college and university in specific, to…
NY Hearts NS
Five Nova Scotia-basd chefs recently returned from a prestigious culinary event in New York City held at the historic James Beard House in Greenwich Village this past August. FID’s (1569 Dresdon Row) Dennis Johnston collaborated with Craig Flinn of Chives Canadian Bistro (1537 Barrington), Michael Howell of Tempest in Wolfville, Martin Ruiz Salvador of Fleur…
Medea Redux
“It’s interesting how things work out”, says a pretty-in- pink young woman seated at a plain basic table; a glass of water near her right hand ; a piece of paper and pen before her. No kidding. In a beautifully, emotionally nuanced performance, actor Mary Fay Coady brings to stunning life American fimmaker and playwright…
Just US! Forget the little guy!
So I stopped by IDEALBIKES the other day and it was sweltering in there. I asked the guys why it was so hot and they explained that the hot AC exhaust from just us would blow directly into their window if they were to open it. Apparently Just Us has been promising for a year…
Gottingen Street
So am I the only one who has noticed that over the past few months Gottingen Street has become wose. Maybe its the summer weather that brings all the crazies out but wow. I have lived in Vancouver and have seen East Hastings in the day and the night. Being a small town girl up…
To my old work
Wow, way to tell me I was fired. Way to call me back, after you had said you would. Way to be up and out of your way to let me know to not walk the 40 minutes it takes to get there this afternoon. Good on you. You’re my heros. Fox Force Five
spare some change?
I’m sick and tired of walking down the street minding my own business and having a cup shoved in my face. I see you on the side walk it’s hard not to if I want to give you money than I will but I don’t so get a job like the rest of society! I…
I just want my bed
To a certain used furniture shop: fuck you and your stupid logo with something hard and sandpapery! I bought I bed from you, I paid the delivery charge, you said it would be there sometime this afternoon, I said no problem, I may be at work but someone will be around. THIS AFTERNOON DOES NOT…
“I’ve got The Duchess circled here because I like Kiera Knightley. In that I want to marry her and have her babies.”
First things first: I do not like change. And guess what? I really like routine. And the three places I have obtained quick, affordable nourishment-on-the-fly from for the past three years at TIFF – a Second Cup, a Harvey’s, and a Green Mango – are either holes in the ground, for lease or expanding soon…
Bone Jacked
It’s rarely a good thing to leave a playing muttering “What the fuck?” and in the case of “Bone Jacked”, there was simply nothing else to say. Imagine Shakespeare memorized and spouted by a four-year-old. Nope. Scrap that. It would be obscene to hold Shakespeare and “Bone Jacked” in the same thought. Imagine the phone…
Go North! installations on Saturday
If you’re planning on heading to Go North! on Saturday (noon-6pm), don’t forget the following installations: Brendan Dunlop at Finer Thing’s Antiques and Curios, 2797 AgricolaAs an artist, Brendan strives to work towards a multidisciplinary practice that is socially based, thoughtfully critical, accessible, interactive, collaborative and entertaining. His window space installation will transform the window…
Shinerama v squeegeers
This week the Dal Student Union is running its annual Shinerama campaign, a fund-raiser to raise money for research into Cystic Fibrosis. Near as I can tell (the Dal students seem disinclined to respond to my email query), this campaign consists mostly of jumping out into traffic along Spring Garden Road and hitting motorists up…
Stéphane Dion election platform? What is wrong with this picture?
Three more troops just died in Afghanistan, the economy in Ontario is in the the toilet….there’s an election coming and all Stéphane Dion can talk about is his “green shift”? What is wrong with this picture? He is the sorriest excuse of a leader for a political party as I have ever seen. His command…
Support the cure, not the disease!
Good job all you Dal frosh standing on the corners collecting donations for a worthy cause. NOW STOP SAYING YOU’RE SUPPORTING CYSTIC FIBROSIS!!! You’re supporting the cure, not the disease. That’s a really important distinction. The disease is doing well without your support, thanks. The research, on the other hand, costs money and that’s what…
BLOC PARTY! TICKETS! ON SALE! RIGHT NOW!
Say whaaaaat? We just heard that there’s a limited number of Bloc Party tickets being released for sale todayfor the show at the Marquee on Monday Sept. 15. Tickets are $32.50 in advance (including tax) and will be available at all Ticketpro outlets including United Bookstore (1669 Barrington Street) Greenlyph Computers (1078 Queen Street), CD…
Rules of the Road
Before you get behind the wheel of your vehicle, do yourself and everyone a favour and know the rules of the god damn road. Case in point–last Monday my car got T-boned by a douchebag who decided to turn left because some assclown was being a good Samaritan and waved them through. Now I’m scrambling…
Friday Weekend Roundup
There are many great shows that we’re feelin’ this weekend. Alas, Listings Mom and Listings Pop are in town all the way from the hood in Southern Ontario and thus our only jam will be tonight at the Lion’s Head Tavern singing karaoke with Laurie the Guy. (Listings Pop got the love jones for Mountain’s…
Pave it or save it
An ugly muddy war-zone looking mess. The strong smell of urine for 5 days and counting. (that’s 24 hours a day for those of us living next to the Commons) NOT WORTH IT. Green grass lover
People who are “regular” at work
There is nothing more annoying than going to the bathroom to take a leak, than to walk into the thick stench of a ripe bowel movement. There are several people with whom I work, that have various fixtures they carry with them like custom drinking mugs, etc. One particular individual (the guy with the red…
Whiny women
To all the whiny-piny women out there who cry, fret, whine, whatever you want to call it, over the men who aren’t interested in you, get over it already! If he doesn’t call you, email you, or see you in person, he doesn’t like you as more than friends (if even). So grow up, get…
Day 0.5
First big post coming late Friday.
The encouragement of binge drinking?
I noticed in this weeks Coast that there are a number ads. for bargain basement drinks….doubles, triples, picthers, etc….now I know the bars want to make money….but aren’t there better ways of doing it??? Does this not encourage people to over-indulge? some old coote
the Commons Carpet
well, there goes another $100,000 wasted, on a ‘Commons Carpet’ of all things! and that doesn’t even include the cost of the clean-up & repair to a significant area of the common (again) – which is now a muddy swamp of very expensive astroturf (which was also destroyed) – leaving much of the common inaccessible…
Whose job is it to promote live music
Since when are bar owners incapable of driving traffic into their own establishments? There was a time when Halifax bars actually a) paid their bands an actual rate instead of “the door”, and b) advertised to get people in the bar. These days, bars that do either of these things are few and far between.…
girlfriends go home
To all the metro transit drivers out there please leave your girlfriends at home when you go to work. It is distracting and dangerous. I am tired of getting on the bus only to have to try and get by her because she is blocking the aisle and acting like a horny fool. I wish…
Indie Girls – the new Plastics?
Is it just me or have the stereotypical ditzy, popular girls been replaced by indie/scene girls? They’re exactly the same, only the uniform has changed. Think about it. A-Ron
Leave low density alone
Re: “A good development proposal” (posted Aug. 27 in Tim Bousquet’s Reality Bites blog at thecoast.ca). When I looked at the staff report on this proposal for the Metledge development on Iseville and Kaye streets, what stuck out was the HRM staff’s more general theme that they are looking to increase density in all developments…
Don’t wanna swim there
Dear Lezlie Lowe, I am ever so greatful that someone shares my exact thoughts upon the Dingle, Black Rock beach and other harbour points being opened back up to the general public for swimming (“Worth the risk?” Lowedown, Aug.14). When I was but the age of 12 I was kayaking at the Dingle and I…
Sculpture suggests success
In response to Scott Smith’s letter regarding the North Halifax Memorial Library’s new sculpture (“Sculpture suggests failure,” Letterhead, Aug. 28), I remember being very moved the first time I saw the sculpture. It represented hope for better things to come despite my misery and despair. I could visualize overcoming my oppression of the mind, of…
Apparently theres no crime in Halifax.
a few days ago i was in my appartment, when i saw police lights out the window. i went to check it out. there was 2 cop cars that had one car pulled over. one officer went to the car that had a women driving it. shortly after 2 more cops came over to the…
Stair Hoppers
To the group of people who bounce around on the stairs leading up to the town clock. I feel embarassed watching the tourists trying to navigate around you Xtreme dudes. Instead of doing the crabwalk up a flight of stairs, you could at least do something cool. Like backflips off tall buildings. Put that shit…
Taxi drivers are assholes
For some reason, taxi drivers assume they have the right of way always.. well fuck you. Just because someone’s sitting in your backseat doesn’t mean you can’t stop for 5 seconds to let someone cross the street, asshole, and to proceed to give me a dirty look like I was doing something wrong? Bullshit. Go…
pizza shop gauging its customers
To anyone who visited the pizza place near the Commons on saturday night, i hope you were as digusted as I was about the blatant way in which it upped its prices to the tune of $4 slices, as the ‘Keith Urban Special”. its sad to think a once decent spot would try to rip…
Southern Time
It is to cry. Or have a muffin. Writer/actor/composer/musician Tim Bartsch shoots the pooch, I fear, with Southern Time, his “spectacular two-person original rock opera”. Rock opera squats lumpenly as an odd musical theatre hybrid that, let’s face it, “jumped the shark” at conception. Pete Townsend’s Tommy came close to making rock opera work. And…
Yard Sale Signs
For a progressive city such as HRM, we often take pride in how “clean” our city can be. For the ones who want to make a quick buck during summer yard sales, for god sakes, don’t tack up your neon posters advertising the event if you are not willing to take them down after. The…
walk the bike lane
Thanks to the city for the new bike lanes on South Park street. As a cyclist it is an appreciated step in a good direction. I am however baffled by the number of pedestrians who use the lanes as an extension of the sidewalk to saunter down or stand in to chat it up. Three…
Bus Blunders
To the bus # 1090 and the driver that decided to stop at McDoalds for breakfast, read the paper & saunter back to the bus with your greasy bag and violation pop cup!!! I am pissed because I have been turned away from buses in the rain if I had those cups, full of an…
Too dumb to use doorbell
There’s these guy living next door in an apartment building whose friend and girlfriend are either too dumb to use the doorbell, or he’s too cheap to get an extra key made. Every night they come by screaming “tony! tony!” so he can climb down to let them in. geesh! tony’s neighbour
Up In The North
Hey, it’s your friendly neighbourhood Listings Ed here, taking over for Tara Thorne, who jetted off today to hobnobb with the stars at the Toronto International Film Festival. Keep yer eyes peeled for her TIFF blog. And don’t get your panties in a twist: she’ll be back soon. In the meantime, can we tell you…
Late Fragment
Late FragmentDirected by: Daryl Cloran, Anita Doron, Mateo Guez(Mongrel Media)Sometimes stripper Theo (Jeffrey Parazzo) surprises his girlfriend with birthday cake; sometimes he bleeds on her from his self-inflicted wounds. One time, he kidnapped his former molester at gunpoint. All these events—and more!—take place, non-chronologically, in Canadian-made Late Fragment, an “interactive film.” Bored by Theo’s story…
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten
Joe Strummer: The Future Is UnwrittenDirected by: Julien Temple(Sony Legacy)Julien Temple has already proven his punk-doc chops with The Filth and the Fury, focusing on the tempestuous relationship between The Sex Pistols and their Svengali manager Malcolm McLaren. Temple employs the same beautiful collaged style to document the life of his friend, Joe Strummer, The…
Sebastien Tellier
Sebastien TellierSexuality(Record Makers) Enough already with the fey guys, their antique-analog synthesizers and canned (female) moans and giggles, a combination that doesn’t itself constitute a genre, despite the efforts of adoring writers and fans to make it so. Parisian Sebastien Tellier’s Sexuality reproduces late ’70s and ’80s electro-pop, but that was a time when the…
Send a Bullet (Manda Bala)
Send a Bullet (Manda Bala)Directed by: Jason KohnCity Lights Home EntertainmentIt makes sense that Jason Kohn, director of the engrossing documentary Manda Bala, once served as a research assistant for legendary filmmaker Errol Morris. Kohn remains unseen throughout Manda Bala, but his presence is felt: The insightful questions the director lobs at his fascinating subjects…
The Stolen Minks
The Stolen MinksHigh Kicks (New Romance For Kids Records) Not a lot has changed with the latest release from Halifax’s premier garage rock foursome—and that’s wicked. The Minks still play a combination of sassy punk rock and fuzzed-out garage scorchers. Opener “Bring It” sets the scene on a slow groove with hipsters readying for the…
Camille
CamilleMusic Hole (EMI) Known mainly as the singer for Nouvelle Vague, Camille has become a star in France through her elastic voice and kinetic presence. Music Holeuses minimal instrumentation, relying on body percussion by Brazil’s Barbatuques, animal impressions and a larynx on the loose. “The Monk” begins as a showcase of range before “do-la-la-lis” and…
What’s at the Fringe Festival?
2B (Or Not 2B) A.A. Amirault (Halifax). A bewitching, funny two-hander about the strange seduction of Franny—a once-promising visual artist specializing in the use of bodily fluids on canvas. Vanessa Walton-Bone as Franny gives a masterful, hilarious, in-character comic performance. (Graham Pilsworth) Comedy, 30min. Imperial Room, Neptune Theatre, Sat. Sept. 6, 3:45pm, 9pm; Sun. Sept.…
Elfin Saddle
Elfin SaddleGigantic Mother/ Wounded Child(Kill Devil Hills) Elfin Saddle’s Sappyfest set stopped the crowd in action and drew wide-eyed listeners to sit on the ground in front of the stage intently. A Montreal-based two-piece who freely rotate instruments, they relate stories and myths in both English and Japanese. The contrast between Jordan Mackenzie’s soulful, old-man-style…
Miriam Toews hits the road
Three for the road Miriam Toews’ energetic new novel The Flying Troutmans depicts an unlikely family trip. Holly Gordon gets sucked into her characters’ lives. You wouldn’t know Miriam Toews’ voiceto hear it on the phone. Speaking from her home in Winnipeg, Toews’ upbeat, quick-to-laugh demeanor is unexpected after reading her Governor General’s award-winning A…
Stereolab
[image-4]Published August 28, 2008.StereolabChemical Chords(4AD)Post-modern pop group Stereolab has returned with a fantastical ninth studio album, Chemical Chords. Opening with the sweepingly optimistic “Neon Beanbag,” vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Laetitia Sadier explores the narratives of her dreams, layered over loops of bopping rhythmic instrumentation. The horn arrangements on “Silver Sands” and “Self Portrait with ‘Electric Brain'” are stunning,…
Atlantic Film Festival flick picks
With more than 250 films, and a festival guide bulky enough to act as a doorstop, it can be a tricky business deciding what movies to see at the Atlantic Film Festival. Here are a few tips to help you choose, depending on your mood, values or personal taste. If you’re dreading the election call…Oh…
Bitter Sweet Basil
Last weekend the chalkboard street sign outside Sweet Basil Bistro read: “Come on in and enjoy brunch with us on our last weekend in business.” After 19 successful years nestled in the brick walls across from Historic Properties, Sweet Basil Bistro, known for its quality ingredients and local flavour, closed its doors August 31. “It’s…
The Mindscape of Alan Moore
The Mindscape of Alan MooreDirected by: DeZ Vylenz (Shadowsnake Films) Prodigiously bearded Alan Moore (the genius behind Watchmen and V for Vendetta) is one of the world’s most celebrated comics scribes, but he’s a man uncomfortable with celebrity. Yet, when you get him talking, charming Moore has fascinating things to say about sexuality in art,…
Something fishy
What a relief for guilty shrimp lovers. The Marine Stewardship Council has stamped the northern shrimp with its coveted eco-certification as a sustainable and well-managed fishery. The first in Canada. MSC is the non-governmental organization responsible for certifying fisheries as sustainable. An MSC label on your dinner-to-be means it comes from plentiful fish stocks, caught…
Steven Bowers
Steven BowersHoming(indie)Steven Bowers stands as an anecdotal, somewhat downbeat counterpart to David Myles among Atlantic Canadian singer-songwriters breaking big this year. His detail and character are worthy of a novelist. An observation like “little merchants” selling lemonade “to an angry, angry world” from “The Boy Who Lost an Eye” shows an empathy that lends weight…
The Wackness
I recently received the humour book Stuff White People Like as a gift. The book is a numbered compendium of the cliched tropes of white, liberal folk, such as indie music, farmers’ markets and Barack Obama, and can be pretty cutting when you reach an entry that personally applies to you. I laughed and cringed…
Husband and Knife’s edge
Face it: most things come to an end. Relationships die, flowers wilt, cheese goes mouldy, milk goes sour and George W. Bush only serves two terms as America’s president. As KC Spidle sees it, an end doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. “An end is a new beginning, as cheesy as that sounds,…
Ladytron
LadytronVelocifero RCAVelocifero contains what appears to be the standard elements of today’s electro-pop releases. “Burning Up” sounds like an Air tune. “Tomorrow,” with its orchestral layers of lush synth sounds, recalls the Pet Shop Boys. “They Gave You A Heart…” pounds with an edge that would have easily been called punk a couple of decades…
Traitor
In Traitor, Don Cheadle plays Samir, a Somalia-born, American-raised Muslim man who—double trouble!—is also a bomb expert, and who is swept up, willingly or not, in a terrorist cell executing bombings across Europe and eventually the US. Cheadle is such a good actor that there is always more to Samir than meets the eye and,…
GPI’s farm alarm
The president of Maple Leaf Foods sat in front of a TV camera a couple of weeks ago to deliver a sombre apology. “To Canadians who are ill and to the families who have lost loved ones, I offer my deepest sympathies,” he said. “Words cannot begin to express our sadness for your pain.” Michael…
Oneida
OneidaPreteen Weaponry(Jagjaguwar/Brah Records)It’s highly unlikely this Brooklyn band’s newest album, Preteen Weaponry —Andrew Robinson
NDP squabble
The search for Alexa McDonough’s successor is off to a rocky start. And the party has yet to nominate its candidate. But it isn’t clear what—if any—effect a messy misunderstanding between the Nova Scotia federal NDP campaign office and wannabe-standard bearer Irvine Carvery over membership fees might have on the upcoming campaign and/or —and perhaps…
Facetime for May
There’s now a Facebook group—of course—for anyone who wants to vent their anger at the decision by Canada’s national broadcasting consortium/cabal to bow to the fears of the Tories, NDP and Bloc, and exclude Green Party Leader Elizabeth May from the federal political leaders’ debate. The group is for “Canadians of any and all political…
Savage Love
Q: I’m a 38-year-old straight male in a long-term relationship. We have two children, still quite young. I am not sure what killed the intimacy of our relationship, but my spouse and I have been physically disconnected for years. This led to some sleazy adulterate behaviour on my part. We discussed the topic at length…
Flobots
FlobotsFight With ToolsUniversal/RepublicFans of hip-hop realize that long before the musical genre became mired in bullets, bling and bitches, it was a socially conscious, thought-provoking medium. Many of these same fans also realize that the message has gotten lost with the current crop of disposable emcees. However, on Fight With Tools, the Flobots are striving…
NDP squabble: Update 1
Irvine Carvery concedes his difficulties with the NDP’s provincial campaign office were likely the result of a simple “miscommunication,” but he says that misunderstanding “puts the screws to me.” Carvery is one of three hopefuls vying to be the party’s candidate in the riding of Halifax in the October 14 federal election. Carvery says his…
Good question… Just don’t expect an answer
“Uh…Uh….Mmmm-mmm… (Silence)… Uh… Um…” Rob Batherson’s monosyllabic musing had gone on for at least 15 seconds before I thought to look at my watch, and lasted another 33 before he finally didn’t answer my question. It wasn’t a complicated question, and it was one for which Batherson obviously knew the correct answer. I just wanted…
This roost lacks roguish charm
Rogue’s Roost is a microbrewery and best known for beers. I’ve enjoyed the raspberry wheat (though I’m not convinced that fruit should be in beer, this one’s a good argument) and oatmeal stout (a meal in itself). On this lazy summer evening, we’re here to try the food. The decor of Rogue’s Roost is anything…
VirgoFest
A night of “dirty hippies and hip-hop” is the way that Joe Landry, one of many musicians making up the second annual VirgoFest, describes this unique event. The eclectic bands featured at this year’s VirgoFest, hosted by Nightowls Records, include: The Missing City Starlight, Mary Grace Koile, Heavy Meadows and The Caravan (vocally lead by…
Chad VanGaalen
Chad VanGaalenSoft Airplane(Flemish Eye Records)That Calgarian Chad VanGaalen has signed an international deal to release this third album with the storied Sub Pop label makes perfect sense. This is arguably something more like the album fans were hoping to get from label-mates The Shins on their last outing, Wincing the Night Away—still quite good but…
Leslie wins NDP nod
Megan Leslie will carry the NDP colours in the upcoming federal election campaign in Halifax. The 30something Dalhousie legal aid community legal worker won the nod on the second ballot at a nominating meeting attended by more than 600 people tonight (Sept. 8) at the Dalhousie Student Union Building in south end Halifax. Leslie defeated…
The Pack A.D. w/Big Game Hunt
The Pack A.D. are back on the road, driving from Vancouver, across the country—through the golden prairies and scenic Quebec—for their show at Gus’ Pub on Friday night. Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that I can’t get through to their cell phone; there’s something quarters and payphones about their bluesy, garage-rock sound. On their…
Turning Green
I don’t plan to vote Green—or at least I didn’t until Stephen Harper and Jack Layton became kissing cousins in an unseemly and unworthy attempt to keep Green Party leader Elizabeth May from taking part in the national leaders’ debate next month. The Green Party is a legitimate national political party. In the last federal…
Seaview shame, suburban sprawl
“Hello!” I shout, as I descend an embankment from the road into a makeshift campsite on the backside of Seaview Park. I’d been drawn here by the “Africville Protest” sign nailed to a telephone pole, but only now get a full view on the camp, which includes a camper trailer, about five tents, a couple…
Familiar faces
There’s something comfortably old shoe about attending an NDP gathering in Halifax. You’re almost certain to run into someone you know. The neighbour down the street you saw mowing his lawn in the rain last week, the young couple with the toddler who just bought the fixer-upper on the next block, the sales clerk from…
Africville art marks the spot
The stories of Africville, some horrifying and some inspirational, have been told many ways by many artists: At spoken word events, in the news, in the poetry of George Elliot Clarke. On street murals, inside public schools, at NSCAD University’s new campus, visual representations of Africville abound. This Saturday’s Go North! celebration of creativity and…
