Crunch time for Big Monkey Kettle Corn
What’s a movie without snacks? An incomplete experience, we’d say. As Atlantic Film Festival gets rolling we can practically smell the popcorn in the air, and it’s likely coming straight from Big Monkey Kettle Corn (404-4444), maker of sweet and salty kettle-popped corn (in both classic and Cinnamon Toast flavours). “Chief Monkey” Ken Hollingum has…
End of Storey
We were really sad to hear that Second Storey (1526 Queen Street, above Put Me On) is bowing out of business this month. The “girls upstairs”—five uber-talented women who run the boutique together—have decided to pursue different paths that lead some of them to new cities, new careers or back to school, and instead of…
Je T’aime hits the Hydrostone
If home is where the heart is, Alice Patterson’s brainchild, Je T’aime Eco-Artistic Family Space and Cafe, really could have moved in anywhere and been just fine. But she found her dream space instead, on the corner of Gottingen and Kaye streets (in the former Caribbean Twist location). “I live in the area and my…
Locked Keys & baby in car
I did something very stupid. I strapped the toddler in the car seat and shut the door, leaving the keys behind like a complete MORON. Thank God for you driving past on your bike. You stopped and helped me while I ran to my friends house across the street to use his cell phone. I…
Where are all the GP Psychotherapists?
Back where I came from, you could see a psychotherapist under the government health program (i.e. OHIP in Ontario) just like you would if you caught the flu, broke your arm or had an infection. They were called GP Psychotherapists. Since moving to NOva Scotia, I really need professional help in dealing with the bullshit…
Bar love
You were possibly the nicest, cutest server I have ever interacted with. You happily served our awkward group of lesbians, and didnt even flinch when we played the “what is our servers name – game” We’re weird, you embraced it & took it all in stride. You’re awesome dude, and the bar should be lucky…
Flouride in Hfx water supply
I found out that Halifax puts flouride in its water supply. There’s a site that lists all municipalities for flouride and Hfx was a yes. Pockwock was listed. All of HRM in fact. Sodium flouride has been used as rat poison. It has no benefit to humans unless you live in some 3rd world country…
Mexico
You’re the coolest kid. It’s silly that you’re the one who makes me want to change my Lonely Days and Whiskey Nights. Wish I could be that one for you too. But, I’ll settle for late night music introductions, your girlish giggle and the sex that I plan to only make hotter. Tu estas muy…
asshole radar maybe?
Listen up lady (and ladies), I’m sick and tired of hearing you complain about guys being assholes. Of course they’re assholes. You keep going to the bars and spreading your legs for the next ‘hot shit bad boy’ in line, and then complain about it? What the fuck did you expect? If I was an…
TIFF views, reviews, overviews
REVIEWS TOO LONG FOR TWITTER BUT NOT REALLY THAT LONG BECAUSE YOU DON’T CARE YET Gravity There’s no sound in space and I have no words to justify this beautiful epic thriller starring Sandra Bullock in one of the key roles of her lifetime. Read more when it opens in October. Enough Said Nicole Holofcener…
Best of Halifax prize patrol
You’ve already voted in our Best of Halifax poll, right? If yes, we’ve got some great news for you. If no, we’ve got some enticing news for you. It’s time to talk prizes. We promised you “brag-about-it-to-your-peers-incredible” prizes that you could win just for voting, and today we reveal three of our uniquely Halifax offerings.…
The Coast Inflaming
Really cost. Yes the SMU thing was bad, (although i really think this is really getting blown out of control but its a news story with the in news thing of the year here, bulllying/consent so what do you expect). But in your own article your “prestigious” writer threw in on the last line “I…
The rape chant: background and updates
Saint Mary’s University isn’t the only Canadian university that has a rape chant. The now-infamous “N is for No consent” chant has been “going on for many years” at the Sauder School of Business at UBC, reports The Ubyssey, the school’s student newspaper, albeit at UBC the last line was “Go to jail” as opposed…
Bring back Pssst
What happened to the Pssst section in The Coast? What a treasure trove of emotion, short-lined poetry, and the deafening glimpses into strangers lives. That was one of the best parts; Bring it back instead of the comics; those are beyond awful. I hope y’er not paying for them —Muse-less romanticist
Day 11!
What a fantastic year at the Atlantic Fringe! Happy patrons. Happy artists. Shattered records. In fact, the festival reportedly made $68,727 in box office, a 31% increase over 2012. This year also set a new attendance record of 11,600 people. That’s 24% higher than last year. And the top 5 shows based on attendance are:…
It’s alllll about you!
We had a road trip planned for the past few months and it was supposed to happen this weekend, Friday to Sunday. You, me and our other friend were going–just us gals. The day before we were to leave, my boyfriend got really sick with the flu and showed no signs of getting better any…
Light of the Market
You were in front of me in the lineup at the grocer’s today. I just wanted you to know that you are absolutely stunning (should I have just said that on the spot?)! I suspect there were mutual feelings, and only wish I had just invited you out tonight! Who knows, maybe I’ll be lucky…
Just an afterthought..
To the two girls in the red car that sped through the stop sign (yes, through – you stop at the white line not past the sign itself) and came to a quick halt in front of me.. relax. Yes I looked at you and pointed to the stop sign, because you clearly need a…
Animal Vets – Biggest rip off since dentists
A friend’s dog got porcupine quills in his snout following an outdoor walk. The dog was taken to the vet where all kinds of tests were performed and the . 15-20 quills that were extracted. The bill was $500 for this service. Plus the dog had an ear infection and was told it would be…
Honest citizens rock!!
A big thank you to the customer who turned in my daughter’s iPhone last night! We were shopping in Bayer’s Lake and when we were about to leave my daughter noticed she didn’t have her phone. We were at the bookstore and a ‘popular discount store’. The staff at both stores were friendly and helpful…
What ever happened to…..
What ever happened to, compassion, empathy, forgiveness? What ever happened to doing unto others as you would have them do unto you? What ever happened to saying please, thank-you, excuse me? What ever happened to saying hello to someone who said hello to you? What ever happened to helping someone, anyone who you see is…
TIFF List, Days 1-3
BULLOCK
Day 10 of the Fringe
Monument Valley by Stewart Delo Despite the fact that Monument Valley is a dark comedy thriller in need of more laughs and more action, there’s a kernel of something fascinating in its plot and writing style. Jessica Pellerin plays a a surprisingly likeable killer-for-hire named May sent to dispatch a weakened old lady (Jozel Bennett).…
I suck at flirting
This is a bitch to myself. There may be others like me. I empathize. I have been cursed with a complete inability to flirt and to recognise when others are flirting with me. I know the theoretical mechanics of what constitutes flirting: prolonged eye contact, smiles, compliments, mirroring body language, casual touching of arms and…
Spawn of Satan
You sick, twisted, self entitled, spoiled little shit. You lied about being pregnant, you lied about the fallout from telling your family, and when you got caught, instead of just fessing up like a real human with a soul would have- you lied and said you WERE preggers… last week, but miscarried and didn’t know…
Wrrraaasstlin
Hello everyone, I see all these pro wrestlers who were once extremely famous come to this city every month or so to do a show or two…and when I see them they are not looking too good my friends….one could argue that our infamous pan handlers on a certain road are looking more presentable. Not…
The Coast…
What…. My “hockey” post had the F word scattered throughout too many times for you? Don’t want to post it? Fuck you too —An X Reader
I am so tired
I am so tired of all the sexism. I’m tired of people making light of sexual assault. I’m tired of people blaming the victims and defending the rapists. I’m tired of people saying rape is a “grey area”. I’m tired of slut shaming, rape culture, and patriarchy. I’m tired of being called a feminazi whenever…
F.U. Parents with Rugrats In Front of My House ALL THE TIME
You make me sick….the street hockey game in front of my house, 20 feet from my front steps ALL THE FUCKING TIME. 6-7 kids screaming in front of my home EVERY FUCKING day (evening) of the week. It’s a cul-de-sac….not a f’in hockey arena. I bought a home on a cul-de-sac hoping to avoid traffic/noise…..FUCK…
Day 9 at the Fringe
For anyone who’s counting, it appears my Fringe binge has had two “Day 6’s” and no “Day 8”. You may blame this on a temporal disturbance, time/space dissonance or whatever fringey convention works best. Invasion: A Musical by Steven Heisler I gave this show a standing ovation. Anyone who knows me, will know I’m pretty…
Orange Crushed
So the NDP is unveiling their election platform BEFORE they call an election. I wouldn’t vote for those deceitful scumbags if you held a nail gun to my head. For decades in opposition, the Dippers were always screaming for ‘openness and accountability’ only to show they were anything but since they’ve been in power. They…
Be on lookout for Bank Scammers
Had an interesting phone call yesterday from a person claiming to be working for a certain bank, trying to get me on board for Identity fraud protection…I didn’t divulge any personal information, the conversation continued until the question was asked ” Have you checked your credit lately? ” told this person that I just did…
One Block Barbershop’s contest to dye for
You down with OBB? Well, you should be. The fashionable people over at One Block Barbershop (2010 Gottingen Street, 404-9494) are bringing back the salon’s annual Adult Colouring Contest. You were dying for an excuse to break out the crayons anyway, right? Stop by the salon to pick up you entry piece, colour the hell…
Oddbottle needs your empties
You might remember a Shop Talk shout-out earlier this summer that shone the spotlight on the sweet, handmade craft soda Oddbottle, sold at Plan B Merchants Co-op and now Boneheads, Sully’s Roast Beef & Smoked Meat and the European Pantry. Well, now that things are really popping for Oddbottle, and its creator Alex Hagen need…
bad habits
to the person(s) who let their dog shit in front of the house chebucto rd: the first time you didn’t pick it up, it was an accident. the second time, it was just plain rude. now it has essentially become a habit, or an allowed part of your dogs routine. if your dog shits in…
RE: Barrington Bus Stop Guy!
I tend to smile warmly to people all the time, and was at that bus stop that day. It might have been me? If so, you’re most welcome. If it wasn’t, well, I’m glad the person who it was brightened your day 🙂 I’m usually at that stop every sunday and wednesday, as I’m leaving…
Fringe Binge Day 7
Love in the Time of Time Machines by Ned Petrie and David Tichauer Would you choose to fall in love, knowing for certain that it would end in heartache? That’s the question that Bingo-supply salesman Klein (Ned Petrie) asks himself when his girlfriend Gabrielle (Gillian English) tells him their five-year relationship is over. For Klein,…
cycles and smiles
you were on a bicycle, going through the cemetary and presumably across robie afterward. i was walking down the sidewalk with 2 coffees as it started to rain. you told me i have a beautiful smile, and you totally made my day. thank you so much! your most sincere compliment couldn’t have come at a…
Asshole Metro Transit Drivers
This goes out to all you Metro Transit drivers who are convinced that since they drive the buses, they and their friends are exempt from the posted rules on the bus. If I can’t bring my non travel mug cup of coffee on the bus, and you make me throw it out, then you and…
50 shades of red
To all you woman who have their knickers in a knot over the recent casting of an upcoming blockbuster which is based off of a certain steamy novel GET OVER IT! You want your complete re-enactment?? Then rent/buy/download the porn film that was made months after the books went viral which basically plays out the…
Quit now, Losers!
Traffic sucks again. It is due to all the stupid and lazy students. Don’t believe me? Just wait until January. Enough of them will have failed or dropped out, traffic will be back to normal again. —educated and working
some of us just aren’t supposed to be those people..
i’m still waiting to be cher in clueless. and to be the cheerleader dating the football player. or to just live out one of those pre-planned cookie cutter lives that *work* for people. instead i’m a statistic, six ways from sunday. i can change the course of my life if i want to, but i’m…
Qqqew
Your message made me feel better and giggle after a shitty day. You know maybe if you were still around you could tap that; only if that wasn’t a generic made up message. I may never know you, but thanks. —Heavenly Blessed Beauty
The Yuppers Intelligence
I have a pet peeve. Yes indeed another one. Ever encounter those whom want people to know that they know things that they don’t really know, while you give a brief to a group, that he / she for me it’s a he, inserts “yup” quasi quietly as to affirm to the crowd that he…
SMU’s pro-rape chant: a teachable moment
Editor’s note: the rape chant story is updated, here. The cluelessness of it is exceeded only by its ugliness. Yesterday, 80 student “leaders” at Saint Mary’s University led 300-to-400 newly arriving students in a chant advocating rape: “Y is for Your little sister, O is for Oh so tight, U is for Underage, N is…
FOR THE SKATEBOARDER AT DUBLIN AND SUMMIT
While cycling home with a blueberry crop boxed in my bike bag, I heard the load drop; I sidelined the bike; got down with a hop; slowly turned to a sight that made my heart stop. As swift as a seagull, a man on his board swung ’round and swooped in on the black lump,…
Day 6 at the Fringe
Down for the Count by James Boyer James Boyer writes middle-aged women very well. In his short play Down for the Count , he manages to celebrate both the power and confidence that can be gained with age while also recognizing the vulnerability that comes with realizing there are fewer days ahead than behind. The…
Pop go the Crafters
There’s a lot to love about any Halifax Crafters event. More than a lot. So much talent, so much creativity, so much stuff you’ll want to buy for yourself (or if you’re less-selfish than I, for someone else). The Crafters’ markets help us ring in the spring and winter every year with massive fairs, but…
Cocoa and Honey, I’m home
Cocoa and Honey’s Heather Oliveira calls these babies Sea Turtles, but you might call them little clusters of heaven on earth. Oliveira’s been making organic, fair-trade small-batch chocolates, candied nuts and sauces in Halifax for two years, using local ingredients as much as she can and using preservatives absolutely never. These dark-chocolate-dipped, caramel-dunked, toasted pecans…
Church is still a Thing
Dear Twenty-Something-Church Your promo “Hey Girl, I’m headed to — on Sept 20th…Save me a seat?” is very offensive to me. Don’t get me wrong, I like many a ‘Hey Girl’ images on Pinterest, but using Ryan Gosling in your poster to attract twenty somethings to church, not only is in bad taste, but it…
Trade Centre Limited’s preferred vendor squeezes out small local firms, says the owner of one
Trade Centre Limited’s preferred vendor policy is harming small and locally owned companies, says the owner of a Halifax audio visual company. Bruce DeMond is owner of Advanced Systems, a Halifax firm that primarily provides sound and multi-media equipment for conferences and meetings. He says he has annual sales of about a million dollars a…
Mayor Mike Savage to join Mayors For Peace
Halifax mayor Mike Savage will give peace a chance. Soon after he was elected, Savage told The Coast that he was “open to” joining Mayors For Peace, the international movement that has mayors symbolically declare their cities nuclear-free zones. Now, says Savage, he’s ready to fulfill that pledge. Mayors For Peace was started in 1982…
Vomit Lodge
Keep up the good work! —Creighton St.
Who do you think you’re fooling?!
You need a man. We all know you do. We all know you’re in denial. You don’t truly like being single. How do we know? For the past year, every now and then, you would make subtle complaints about not having anyone to share your life with. You tried a dating site once and closed…
Go To Hell
Michael Best wants you to Go To Hell. After the success of his award-winning Gay White Trash in 2008, Best returns with a play following Johnson, a self-obsessed gay lawyer, who dies and finds himself in one circle of hell. Turns out the Christians were right—all gays do go to Hell. Best questions values, identity…
Christine Campbell
Breaking loose for a spell from the hard rock outfit Stone Mary, Christine Campbell is full of surprises. The mostly acoustic setting gives her room to display a vast vocal range and fluid guitar style that would get lost in amps turned to 11. Thom Swift contributes a rich helping of slide to make “Gleam”…
Backstage
Since the 1500s, playwrights have been experimenting with meta-theatre. From Hamlet to Chekov to Six Characters in Search of an Author, theatre has always confronted the idea of theatre itself. Devices like plays within plays, audience interaction and overt personal references turn performance into theory right before the eyes of the audience. It is disorienting…
The Sh*t Show: Misconceptions and Nuggets of Truth Deep Within
It might seem like comic Josh Dunn and theatre regular Howard Beye make an odd couple, but together they have created a one-person Fringe performance that will challenge expectations and inspire. The Sh*t Show: Misconceptions and Nuggets of Truth Deep Within uses the real-life experience of Dunn’s cerebral palsy and builds a world around it…
Terry Vassallo’s awesome sauce
“That’s Amore” is playing in the dining room at Cafe Chianti as I sit in the dining room, perusing the menu of classic Italian and Italian-American dishes— beef carpaccio, cioppino, handmade potato gnocchi, linguine vongole, insalata Caprese, and various pizzas. It’s fitting—Cafe Chianti is a classic. “It is a little bit, maybe right off the bat,…
Riddick
It’s been 13 years and six Fast & Furiouses since Pitch Black, yet Vin Diesel is as dominating a screen presence as ever in the gruff Riddick. Left for dead on a hostile world, survivalist predator Riddick has to deal with a broken leg and vicious beasties in a sparse, nearly wordless first act. The…
Nothin’ but a g fing
If you ask three people the same question, you’re going to get three different answers. Or, you will unless you ask a question of Will Dray, Dylan Ryan and Corey Henderson, AKA Billie Dre & The Poor Boys. If you ask these three affable buddies a question, what follows is a narrative told in three…
Free Will Astrology
HAPPY BIRTHDAY VIRGO! (August 23-September 22) In his “Song of the Open Road,” Walt Whitman wrote some lyrics that I hope will provide you with just the right spark. Even if you’re not embarking on a literal journey along a big wide highway, my guess is that you are at least going to do the…
Full of spirit
There’s no end to the master list of forlorn, lonely songs. But Jenn Grant isn’t lamenting solitude in her music. She’s celebrating it. “I was tired of debating,” the Halifax bred songstress says of her recent stab at self-management, breaking free from the type of professional support that most aspiring artists dream of. While Grant…
Superchunk
In interviews, Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan has said that I Hate Music’s title is about coming to terms with music’s limits in the face of adult concerns like death and loss. But just like on 2010’s masterful Majesty Shredding, Superchunk’s way of communicating that sobering message is with some of the most joyous, life-affirming power pop…
Here’s to Health
The Heavy Blinkers celebrate their good Health with a cabaret-style album release at The Seahorse September 10. Bill Wood sets the mystical tone with a magic show. “Originally, the album was called As Long As You Have Your Health, which was a bit of a joke vis a vis the fact the characters that populate…
Honey LTD.
Honey Ltd. was a Detroit vocal group on Lee Hazlewood’s imprint Lee Hazlewood Industries. Like Hazlewood, the band never quite achieved the stardom it deserved in its heyday, but thanks to the efforts of Light In The Attic Honey Ltd.’s album is available once again. The songs’ arrangements lend themselves more to the lush, ’60s…
Letters to the editor, September 5, 2013
Breakfast options That little box Adria Young wrote about breakfast places in Halifax for the Back to School issue (“Breakfast specials,” August 29) was missing a pretty stellar breakfast option. Norbert’s Good Food is down in the Seaport Market building. It uses great local ingredients and organic produce from its farm Selwood Green. And it…
Cimex lectularius report
Day One On way to bed see first bed bug on floor. Time: 11:24pm. Momentarily paralyzed by shock and sense of disaster. Apprehend with wad of toilet paper. Flush. Return to the bed, flick down top sheet. Bed bug skitters away from light. Apprehend. Flush. Retreat to the living room. Fire up computer. Play games.…
The Ocean At the End of the Lane
What the hell just happened? I waited half the summer for Neil Gaiman’s new book (his first in 10 years!) to come out, and I’m speechless with disappointment. There were moments within the first 50 pages where I thought, This could be my new favourite book. Gaiman’s dark, dreamlike prose and ability to slip into…
Acting funny
“Have you ever gone to a party and thought you’d have a bad time but then had the best time ever? That’s the Fringe,” says comedian Bill Wood. “The fun that you have when you take a risk is always better than the easy fun–which is usually TV. Take a risk, see a play.” Taking…
In A World…
The very compelling Lake Bell—you may remember her as the singular female character with substance on HBO’s How to Make It in America, AKA Jeantourage—has written and directed herself a modest, funny starring vehicle with In A World…. Set in the world of LA voice actors (get it?), Bell stars as Carol, daughter of industry…
Spike Heels
Director Sam Horak went hands-on with Theresa Rebek’s Spike Heels. Though many Fringe productions are original works, Horak (who recently directed and co-produced Sissydude: a dandy rock musical) has loved the piece since high school and felt the need to vindicate the play after seeing a less than satisfying Toronto production. Though Spike Heels is…
Low
Low is a tapestry of things that are broken: broken families, broken hearts, broken people. It chronicles a mental health care system that is, in many ways, broken. But it also explores the love that lives in the cracks between the broken pieces, and the reservoir of strength inside each of us. When the novel’s…
Alien
Playwright Annie Valentina is anxious about her tell-all autobiographic production, Alien. Directed by Margaret Legere, Alien is based on Valentina’s experiences as an immigrant, born in Bulgaria, whose parents moved her family to Norway in 1990, and eventually her solo move to Canada in 2000. “Neither relocation was supposed to be permanent, but things don’t…
The Virgins
The boarding school epic is not a new genre, but Pamela Errans writes, through her uniquely outcast-ish protagonists, Aviva and Seung, a slightly off-kilter tale in The Virgins. First of all, the two lustbirds maintain their virginity until the bitter (tragic) end: different. Their courtship takes place in abandoned chemistry buildings, in patrolled dorm rooms,…
Unsex’d
At the core of Unsex’d is the struggle between talent and beauty. In a world where beauty bizarrely trumps talent, director Richie Wilcox adds humour and glitz to our society’s fear of aging and loss of good looks with a wildly historically inaccurate take on two boy-players in Elizabethan times fighting over the role of…
On The Floor: A Novel
Nominated for the Orange Prize, On The Floor by Aifric Campbell is the story of 28-year-old Geri Golloy, an investment banker in London. She’s made her name by doing business with a star client in Hong Kong who is now insisting that she move there, even though she doesn’t want to. The novel takes place…
Birdy
When Karie Richards was asked to write for a monologue for the most extreme version of herself, she began imagining a character who felt guilty for something they failed to do before they were even born. “What kept inspiring me is how impossible it is to know a person’s whole story. What is hidden from us,…
A run of quickies
Q Which is the bigger ask: a one-time, once-in-a-lifetime threesome or regular (and pretty damn elaborate) bondage sessions? –Ruling On Private Enquiry Required A Let me guess: Your partner is into bondage, ROPER, and you’re not. But you’ve been doing the hard work of tying him/her/some-other-point-along-the-gender-spectrum up for months, years or decades…and the partner you’ve…
Understudy
“I wrote a version of this play two years ago as my final project for Roberta Barker’s Gender in Theatre class at Dalhousie,” says Gillian Clarke, playwright of Understudy. “Although the script has evolved since then, I have always wanted the central focus of the play to discuss the consequences of the social roles and…
Kim Wempe
A prairie gal who travelled east years ago and liked the supportive atmosphere, Wempe writes songs that would stand up solo if needed. On Coalition, she engages a robust roster of players for a set that will get the folkies up to shake it out. There’s a gospel, or at least inspirational, fervour throughout. The…
L: A Fragmentation Subway Waltz
Kristin Slaney is an elusive subway conductor: you will hear her voice, but you won’t see her. Recently landing at Columbia University’s playwright program in New York, the Fringe Fest veteran was here long enough to get L: A Fragmentation Subway Waltz on the tracks. In the able hands of director Keelin Jack, starring Lesley…
