A tour of the new Bridge Terminal
I’ve been anticipating the opening of the new Bridge Terminal since the day it was proposed. It’s a great idea, is a wonderful advance for transit and will serve Dartmouth well. So I started pestering city officials for a tour of the new terminal months ago. It’s not unusual for reporters to tour construction sites,…
The Cold Light of Day
Saddled with an overused premise, and a horrendous title, there’s still some glimmers of fun in The Cold Light of Day. When vacationing businessman Will Shaw (Henry Cavill) is forced to rescue his kidnapped family, he’s consequently thrown into a world of espionage and trigger-happy spies. All routine stuff, but director Mabrouk El Merchri (who…
Candidates for HRM mayoral and city council elections
Here’s the official list of candidates for the October 20 city election: Mayor: Apparently as simply an act of narcissism, Peter Kelly continued to dangle the prospect of running for reelection before the public right up to the very last moment, then bowed out in his usual ungainly manner. This leaves former Liberal MP Mike…
Dave Gunning’s pennies are a pain in the ass
Dave Gunning has raised the ire of the Canadian Mint for using a photographic depiction of pennies on the cover of his newest album, an ode to the soon-to-be-extinct penny, No More Pennies, to be released September 18. The Mint considers it a copyright infringement as it’s for profit and to be fair, Gunning sure…
Boy-crazy bestie is bonkers
Dear best friend, we’re both single and we have each other’s backs… I want to always be there for you, but for the love of god please stop obsessing over your men or lack-thereof. Surely there are other important things in life to discuss—music, politics, art, hobbies, books—ANYTHING! I cannot sit for hours on these…
Next please!
Six dates, a few brief meetings, messages every day and you just disappear. You tool! You waste of nine months! OK, that was a little harsh but seriously… Not interested? That’s cool, just tell me. It was casual, I didn’t have set expectations (in fact you brought up relationship couple tripe) so I’d say a…
Brolly bullies
I understand the appeal of umbrellas, don’t get me wrong, but don’t forget that you’re wielding a semi-dangerous weapon. I got two scratches on my face so far from people who forget that their personal rain-shields have pointy edges which are perfect for poking the eyes out of taller people. If you’re not willing to…
Butter mouth bully
Do you know what a butter mouth bully is? It is a person who has a list of ignorant and arrogant characteristics towards a certain person that they know can get away with mentally ruining their victim’s life. I have a longtime friend who has a butter mouth bully for a husband. She is a…
Peter Kelly won’t run for any elected office
It’s official: Peter Kelly isn’t running for mayor, and he isn’t running for council. His office released this statement this afternoon: Mayor Kelly steps back (September 11, 2012) Halifax – Mayor Peter Kelly announced Tuesday that he will not be seeking elected office in October’s municipal election, despite growing public pressure on him to do…
ER abusers
My 20-year-old daughter has been through months of pain due to a chronic condition…but you, little miss south end who wants to park herself in the ER with your pricey laptop and phone friends to complain about how long you have to wait to get refilled your prescription to maintain your effing high level of…
Traffic
Traffic in our city is always a concern I drive roughly 600 to 700km a week, and I have a few things I’d like to share. I will state I am not the best driver on the roads, but I work very hard at being a safe driver, I have worked too long and hard…
TIFF update one
Hello friends, how was all your rain? We got that here in Toronto first thing Saturday, a record-setting torrential downpour that soaked both my shoes first thing in the morning and gave me some nice blisters for the rest of the festival. Any-y-way!. Here’s what’s been happening at TIFF: MAJOR VS. MAJOR: So you know…
Peter Kelly still playing cat and mouse game
Mayor Peter Kelly tells CBC he still hasn’t made up his mind about whether he’s going to retire, run for mayor or run for council: “The deadline is tomorrow, I can honestly say I have not made a final decision one way or the other.” Decisive leadership!
Grand theft mani
To the two red bandana bandits who stole a fully clothed mannequin from my store in Bayers Lake, I hope the rush from your little initiation stunt was worth it you disrespectful, thieving little bitches!! No self respecting, honourable group, team or organization is worth breaking the law for, nor should they ask you to…
Doing the 69
What is it with some guys wanting to be on top while doing the 69? Are you insane? What kind of woman want some guy’s hairy ass and balls on top of her! Not this chick. Yuck! In my opinion, it’s much sexier for the woman to sit on the man’s face, with the man…
You little shits
To the university frosh skanks that decided it would be funny to steal a fully dressed mannequin from my store tonight, here’s a big FUCK YOU to you too. —One Seriously Unimpressed Ass Man
Butt out!
Here is some firm concert etiquette that everybody should know: you should not, under any circumstances, light up a cigarette at a crowded show. Your back is pressed up against some stranger’s front and you are going to light up and blow carcinogens in their face?? That’s the rudest most disgusting thing you can ever…
107—the highway of the beast
When you’re driving from Cole Harbour to Burnside, please remember there are ZERO passing lanes or safe opportunities to go around you. If you cannot drive at least 10 below the 100km/hr speed limit on an ideal day, stay off the highway and take Main Street instead. The cops keep a heavy traffic presence there…
The coolest artist ever
It is amazing to see a huge artist keep it so friggin real and call out those obviously abusing their authority. “Dump the beer in the fucking bushes, not in the middle of the skate park.” Come live here man, we love you. —Excuse Me, Mr.
Quinpool thieves!
We are small business, just trying to make a living. A couple of guys on Saturday night lifted our sidewalk sign ($400 to replace). Don’t know if it is a Frosh week prank or just thoughtless stupidity, I would like our sign back. —Signless on Quinpool
Peter Kelly misses filing deadline for next week’s court hearing
Mayor Peter Kelly has failed to meet an important deadline leading up to next week’s court hearing to determine if Kelly should be removed as executor of the estate of Mary Thibeault. In her will, Thibeault named Kelly as executor of her estate, charging him with handling her property and making sure it was properly…
Shitty city
Hey assholes, when your dogs shit, PICK IT UP! —Shitty
Penniless thoughts
To the guy standing to the side on the SW corner of Sackville and Argyle on Friday night asking everyone for change, including me. When I politely responded “No sorry,” you responded under your breath with “it’s ‘cus I’m black right?” just like you did for the group of guys that walked past you before…
Amazing service excellence
It’s Saturday afternoon…I just went to my usual bank who I pass over 30 bucks per month in fees; and the teller service isn’t even open. Their hours are Monday to Friday only…like HELLO? What about those of us who WORK Monday to Friday?? Then I go down the street to another bank, I get…
Bad coffee
At a certain gas bar and a small famous coffee shop, ONE of the long time employees cannot make coffee for beans. The coffee either tastes burnt, is not stirred up enough or is luke-warm. That particular employee has been told about how she serves this coffee to her customers but nothing is ever done…
Three Metro Transit buses lost to fire Sunday
There was an odd fire last night in the Metro Transit garage in Burnside. The police report reads: At 9:55 pm officers were dispatched to assist HRM Fire Dept. with several buses that were on fire in the Metro Transit compound in Burnside. HRM Fire Dept. were able to quickly extinguish the fire but 3…
Cool kid
To the kid up on his dad’s shoulders, at the front of the K’Naan show on Friday, singing along to every word—You. Are. Awesome. —A Fan
Fed up driver
OK Halifax, what the hell is up with unmarked lanes at intersections? So, you’re driving along and suddenly there is a solid white line dissecting the lane. Choose your own adventure, I guess. What happens, though, when you’re at the red light intending to go straight, but the vehicle beside you has the same intention?…
Recently Engaged: Maryanne & Mark
Timing, they say, is everything. Mark was home in town for a few days before returning to work in Ontario, and Maryanne had recently returned from a summer in Europe. Mark saw Maryanne’s profile online and contacted her. She ignored him. He tried again, and this time she replied because he had made her smile.…
The bus stops here… then leaves without you
This is more of a bitch by proxy, as I only witnessed the event which was so out there I had to laugh. Shortly after 5pm on Friday, the woman driving the 84 pulls up to the stop I’m standing at on Barrington in front of the CIBC Building. As she stops, she leans out…
Parenting: you’re doing it right
“Yeah, I have two boys and I love them very much.” It made my day to overhear a mom saying this to her two little boys on Gottingen, Friday afternoon. I smiled at the mother as I walked past her to let her know that I think she’s awesome and amazing. —The Girl Wearing Sunglasses…
About as green as concrete
Halifax is my hometown, and one of the things I’ve loved the most about this city is all the trees. And after all it IS the “city of trees.” So for those who decide to move into a neighbourhood with beautiful old trees, and then cut them down!?!? You don’t deserve to live here. I…
Stay At Home Dead
The grim punning of Stay at Home Dead’s title had me expecting a black comedy. Boy, was I wrong. The play begins with the psychological evaluation of ex-businessman Dave (Andrew Chandler), who has done A Terrible Thing (alert audiences will guess his crime). Unfortunately, Dave’s more complex criminal motivations, such as his parenting insecurities, are…
The Harvester
There’s been lots of buzz about The Harvester, or as I’ve heard it called, “the science fiction play”. It tells the tale of a man who bottles time (played by writer/director Paul Van Dyck) confronted by a phantom from his past (Margaret Legere). Both Legere and Van Dyck are compelling, but the runaway star of…
Cheap online daters
So I bought a membership for an online dating site and I have guys emailing me and supplying their home phone and personal email address on the first email. You cheap bastards why don’t you spring for a $30 membership like the rest of us who pay through the dating site. Don’t sent me anymore…
Love letter
Even though we are young, I truly believe we are soul mates and always have been, since you were in grade nine, if not earlier than that. All these years and you still look at me the same way. I am scared that I will never love anyone the way I love you. I know…
You’re not a dog
But you are a fucking imbecile. You chased a bus from Scotia Square, down Barrington Street—in traffic—to the stop before Prince Street…almost two blocks. When you darted out in front of me, I had to slam the brakes on to avoid flattening you out like a pancake. You risked your safety and the safety of…
Outdoor cats
I do not understand how people can let their cats outside to roam free. Forget about how outdoor cats annoy the neighbours by digging in gardens, what about the safety of the cat? This morning on my drive to work there was a poor cat who presumably been hit by a car near Barrington and…
Fringe Invocation Experiment: Rhys, Gina, Ailsa
Fringe Invocation Experiment: Rhys, Gina, Ailsa is a collective creation piece by Rhys Bevan-John, Gina Thornhill and Ailsa Galbreath in conjunction with Misery Loves (theatre) Company as part of the Atlantic Fringe Festival. Collective Creation is often more about the process of creating theatre than the product that comes from it and often these pieces…
Obsession
Choreographer Petra O’Toole brings Obsession to the Atlantic Fringe Festival, which is like a very short play, or the early stages of one, with an extended dance sequence melded into it to help dramatically express the intense emotions of our protagonist. According to the notes in the Fringe guide this 25 minute piece is a…
Love is about LOVE
I debated writing this for awhile but you know what? I’m still pissed. My sister chose to get married on Pride Day. Why? Because despite the fact that she’s straight, she wanted to celebrate her love for her awesome husband on a day when the whole city was also celebrating love in whatever form it…
I’d like my bike back now that you’ve had your kidney transplant
Dear person whom stole my bike outside of the Killiam at the end of July at the back entrance, I’d like it back. I realize that you needed it more than I did on that particular day as you most likely had something very important to do… Pregnant, kidney transplant? and I’m glad that my…
The ones that get away
It’s a dangerous thing to compare the one you’re with to the one that got away, but I can’t help doing it. Despite all the issues we had, through all the intensity… you showed me what it was like to be loved, and come on, let’s be real… the sex was stellar. This is not…
Willing to come back?
To the loser who broke into my vehicle on Radcliffe Drive late Tuesday night: my young daughter is afraid to get into her family car now. I’ll pay you $500 to come for a second visit, you lowlife piece of shit. —Watching and Waiting
Who do you think you are?
I have no idea what I did to you, I was just walking up Spring Garden Road on my way home from my first day at my new job in fantastic cheer. You stopped and as I passed you mumbled something my way. I turned and say “I’m sorry I didn’t hear you,” genuinely wondering…
You’re the best kind of ketchup
It’s been nine months since I left Halifax for a life in the West. I thought you knew, and that’s why I never told you; three little words that I just couldn’t spit out. I have a life and a love here, but it doesn’t stop me from thinking about you every day. As crazy…
The Dome turns 30 years old next week
The Dome turns 30 years old next week, and is celebrating with four days of events, September 12 trough 15, with pretty stiff discounts and a number of great performers and DJs at the various venues. The history of the place is becoming lost as memories fade, explains Gary Muise, VP of operations at the…
Labour day love
My Labour Day was spent with my closest friends soaking up the sun and surf, playing games, singing and laughing lots. It was such a fun filled time and a great end to the summer. Bring on the fall! —Blessed with Amazing Friends
7 Deadly Sins
One of my favourite things about the Fringe is the chance to see quirky pieces in quirky spaces. Thom Fitzgerald’s 7 Deadly Sins certainly fits the bill. The tiny audience (two people at a time) enters one of Pier 21’s train compartments where they are confronted by a living, breathing fallen angel or a by…
Guess I’m just somebody that you used to know
KB: How did we go from lazy afternoon naps, and Banjo Kazooie stoned…to blackmail, lies and the police? Thought we were better then all of this. Guess maybe not. I may never forgive you, but my heart will always have a place for you. Thank you for the best and worst two years of my…
Sex in the city
As a young, attractive and smart girl, I find it a very discouraging experience to find someone on my level. Mind you, I do work full-time and I am a single mom, but I either get really old creepy men hitting on me or I scare the younger guys away, and I can only simmer…
A Quartet of Devious Dealings
A Quartet of Devious Dealings by Janet Godsell is a collection of four very short plays, each one building up to the punch line that ends the show. They play at the North Street Church as part of the Atlantic Fringe Festival. These plays, each one ten minutes in length, have all been winners at…
The Panel Show
The Panel Show comes to the Atlantic Fringe Festival from Toronto and plays at the DanSpace. It is a game show hosted by Ned Petrie where a panel of three comedians are asked questions pulled from REAL LIFE Stupid News and then points are allotted for the chance to win a giant mock-up cheque for…
Under new (and stupid) management
Is there anywhere you can go to find a job in this town where you can be HONEST with your future employer? Where during the interview you can say “I know I’ve had a lot of jobs/contracts/whatever, but that’s because I can’t stand working for IDIOTS. So, Ms. Interviewer, if you are an IDIOT, can…
Recently Engaged: Nancy & David
David and I met five years ago through a mutual friend. After only eight months, we had bought a house together and knew that we were in it for the long haul. Although we knew from the start that we would end up spending the rest of our lives together, life threw us a few…
Love you my love
I know this summer is not what you thought it would be and I know things have not been easy for you. Leaving you alone is the best thing I can do for you right now. I will always love you and I care about you more than you know. You will forever have a…
Go, boy, go!
Sweet merciful crap, doesn’t it get old? I get it, I get it. You’re 23 and the stereotypical, juice-injected, rugged good looks, carrying around a couple mild STDs, navy idiot extraordinaire, but don’t you wonder what else there is to life outside of picking up beach bunnies and emotionally fragile freshmen? And Christ, lay off…
Confessions of a Mormon Boy
Could you turn your life story into a business—script it, package it, take it on the road—and maintain your authenticity? Steven Fales’s autobiographical one-man Confessions of a Mormon Boy (directed by Jack Hofsiss) seems to do just that, charting Fales’s journey from LDS missionary to NYC hustler and beyond. It’s a polished piece of theatre…
Bill Wood Presents: Magic You’ll Enjoy
Bill Wood Presents: Magic You’ll Enjoy consists of a string of standard parlor magic tricks – minds are mysteriously read, ropes do unropely things, and so on—linked together by Bill Wood’s self-effacing banter. Perhaps unintentionally, the show demonstrates that the actual “magic” in a magic act can be largely incidental: Wood is a competent illusionist,…
Hey Duh
Hey Duh, why do you get on the 80 Sackville (clearly displayed in the destination sign area) and when we arrive at Cobequid terminal you come to the front of the bus and ask when we will be arriving in downtown Halifax??? DUHHHHH!!! When I ask where you got on you tell me on Joseph…
Hansel and Gretel
Fairy tales are powerful: reduce them to their bare bones, and they’ll still hold children rapt. Hansel and Gretel, directed by Zara Tufts, retells the classic story of baked architecture and witchicide by oven. Adults Emily Pettet and Nick Piovesan give earnestly unwinking performances as the frightened children, and the set is ingenious, if minimal…
Milking machine for five years?!
As a mother, I am totally disgusted and grossed out with an old friend who still breastfeeds her five-year-old son. What the fuck is she thinking??? Don’t tell me this kid won’t have issues. —When The Ankle Biters Have Teeth, Breastfeeding Should Stop
Shakespeare on Trial
Shakespeare on Trial gets a lot of laughs at its audience’s expense, batting us back and forth between drama (“to be or not to be” is performed in full, beautifully) and farce (Ophelia has a beard). You won’t mind the theatrical whiplash: it’s all in the service of taking the Immortal Bard down a peg…
Stranger things have happened
Christina Martin’s Sleeping With a Stranger is being called a sort- of coming of age record. She says that comes with a “reflection of experience,” and if practice makes perfect Martin must be getting close. “I’ve had a couple gos at it,” she says about her fifth release, from a car somewhere near Amherst. “Working…
Wrestle mania
Eighteen-year-old Fran Whiteway (Republic of Doyle’s Marthe Bernard) is a pint-sized wrestling pitbull. She yearns to become a pro but her overprotective father, Whitey (Trailer Park Boys’ Robb Wells), is dead set against it. Discovering her father’s wrestling ban originated with her parents’ prior wrestling careers tearing them apart (oh, and that her mother’s not…
North pole
Until you’ve tried to propel yourself on a pole you couldn’t possibly understand how difficult it actually is. It takes a set of pipes. And to do it gracefully is an art. There’s a new spin on pole fitness: it’s a serious thing. It’s where art and sport meet, and that deadly combination is why…
The Possession
Labelling this “the Jewish Exorcist” wouldn’t begin to cover the recycled influences at work in the tamely titled The Possession, but it’s a good start. Divorced dad (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) wants to be there for his daughters and reconcile with overprotective mother (Kyra Sedgwick). But their boring lives are threatened when daughter Emily acquires the…
Portraits on Portland capture Dartmouth old and new
“The idea really came when I moved to Dartmouth and started walking around the neighbourhood,” says Hannah Minzloff of Portraits on Portland, an exhibit which captures the essence of a five-block section of Old Dartmouth’s main street through photos of it’s local business owners. Since making the move across the bridge in 2009 Minzloff’s done…
Chez Guevarra
Kayo Guevarra—AKA The Caribbean Carter, born Filbert Salton—is gearing up to transform the Canadian hip-hop scene with his emotive lyrics and melodic beats. The charismatic lyricist fuses sounds from different genres—like alternative rock, soca, reggae and soul—to create an intense musical brew. Earlier this year, Kayo signed a five-album deal with EMI. Since then, he’s…
Give Propagandhi a chance
We’re living in the future. All-in-all it’s a pretty cool future. But it’s definitely the kind of future you can get bummed out about pretty easily. Michael Jackson is dead, Kim and Thurston aren’t a thing anymore and there’s an honest-to-gosh genre of music called seapunk (which may or may not have everything/nothing to do…
Bahamas papa
Even as the season draws to a close, the sweet strains of summer continue to echo through the streets of Halifax. This weekend, the Summersonic festival returns to the Garrison Grounds to squeeze the final drops of enjoyment from hospitable climes. The festival opens with Bahamas, the misleadingly tropical title chosen by Toronto-based Afie Jurvanen.…
Switch Halifax
Early August: Ross Soward sits in a room full of bureaucrats from the provincial energy department, regional municipality culture wonks and health authorities. He’s been working with them for months to organize an open street, car-free Sunday based on the weekly cyclovia, held in several Colombian cities since 1976. The Nova Scotian bureaucrats have slowly…
Beat Down
A spunky teenager defies her dad and become a pro wrestler, but the rumble’s far from royal in this low-budget, Newfoundland comedy. Fran (Republic of Doyle’s Marthe Bernard) has always dreamed of pile-drivers and headlocks, but her ex-wrestling, alcoholic father (Trailer Park Boys’ Robb Wells) is dead set against it. When his ex-rival offers to…
The burning of men
Q I have been in a long-term relationship with a wonderful woman who doesn’t have a lot of people she socializes with in her daily life. She is a Burning Man person and converses online with other “burners.” I confronted her when I realized she was discussing the ups and downs of our relationship in…
Vince Hall ends his candidacy for mayor
Vince hall has dropped his candidacy for mayor. His press release: I am announcing that I am dropping out of the race for HRM Mayor and supporting the candidacy of Mike Savage. I entered this race because I believe I have good ideas for the city accompanied by a strong skill set and I also…
Merv’n Out
Mild-mannered advertising agent Merv Hartlen’s alter ego Super Merv makes a brief appearance in Merv’n Out, Hartlen’s Atlantic Fringe Festival debut. Super Merv doesn’t stop a runaway train or save someone from falling into Niagara Falls, he just offers a spare umbrella or help carrying groceries. Similarly, forcing himself to participate in the Halifax comedy…
Farewell, My Queen
In the early days of the French Revolution, the court at Versailles is in denial, trying to maintain its extravagant normalcy, as the Parisian masses are circulating a list of heads-to-be-chopped—Benoît Jacquot’s Versailles is claustrophobic and insular, as tension builds and luxury loses its shine. We learn of these events through Sidonie Laborde (Léa Seydoux),…
Bhowesa Nkazana (You Go Girl)
Goosebump-inducing harmonies, pounding drums and evocative dance are the meat and potatoes of Bhowesa Nkazana (You Go Girl). Female-centric, right down to the instrument for which the all-female troupe Intombi Zomqangala is named—The Breast Calabash Ladies, after their use of the traditional Ndebele instrument the breast calabash— the performance is lively and encourages audience participation—even dancing…
The Words
When a self-absorbed white dude, Rory Jansen (Bradley Cooper), has writers block, it’s hard to sympathize with him as he plagiarizes an old, stumbled-upon manuscript. Cooper cannot even pass himself off as a failed novelist. But, this movie has layers: this entire story is being told through the voice of another author, Clay Hammond (Dennis…
Free Will Astrology
Happy Birthday! VIRGO (August 23-September 22) I’ll bet that a-ha! experiences will arrive at a faster rate than you’ve seen in a long time. Breakthroughs and brainstorms will be your specialty. Surprises and serendipitous adventures should be your delight. The only factor that might possibly obstruct the flow would be if you clung too tightly…
Problems with Authority
In the summer of 2000, Evan Brown waited in line at the Charlottetown Civic Centre with locals eager to shake then-prime minister Jean Chrétien’s hand. But Brown had other plans up his sleeve. Actually, he had a paper plate of whipped cream in his jacket, which he deftly delivered to the PM’s face. The act…
Room Six
If you only see one play with impeccably choreographed fight scenes this Fringe, make it Room Six. Six women negotiate the rising tension in a pressure cooker of a small cell after a riot, revealing secrets, breaking down and forging tenuous truces, making for a politically-charged play. “The play was a concept Juliana Fombona brought…
Blue Moons and Waiting Rooms
As the audience at The Bus Stop Theatre finds its seats, Marta (Claire Seringhaus) paces back and forth across the stage, twisting her hair and checking her cell phone. By the time Kristin Slaney’s Blue Moons and Waiting Rooms begins, a taut atmosphere of waiting has already been established. Characters wait for minds to be…
Balls!
I always wished I was one of the guys, shooting hoops, telling fart jokes, grasping the simple codes of masculinity. I wanted in on the exclusive camaraderie of all the boys down all the streets of my youth. I could never really belong because I was a girl, after all. But Toronto’s Rob Salerno confirms…
Lawless
If you don’t have an iron stomach, you should probably miss John Hillcoat’s Lawless, a prohibition-era story of three Bondurant brothers’ bootlegging ventures in Virginia. The Bondurants run the town until a deputy from Chicago (Guy Pearce) arrives, wanting a cut of the action, inciting bloodshed to get his way. Forrest (Tom Hardy), the “invincible”…
The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure
Sixty million dollars was somehow spent on The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure, a torturously awful singalong puppet pile of trash. A trio of rainbow-coloured monstrosities, Oogieloves Zoozie, Toofie and Goobie work with goldfish Ruffy and vacuum cleaner J. Edgar to rescue five magic balloons lost in Lovelyloveville and throw a birthday party for…
Bright Brea
Here’s the thing about Dartmouth: it isn’t just the little triangle of streets caught up between Alderney Drive and Ochterloney Street. Sure, everybody hearts that part of Dartmouth, but where are the love letters to Woodlawn, Port Wallace and Portland Estates? “Um, that letter must be lost in the mail,” says everybody. OK, not everybody.…
Jerry Pye announces candidacy in District 6
Former Dartmouth alderman and MLA Jerry Pye has announced his candidacy for city council, running in District 6 against Darren Fisher. Pye is an old school lefty, fiery and deeply knowledgeable on the issues. He lists several issues he’s concerned with on his website, but I’m particularly interested in this one: Revitalization of Communities-In 1995-96…
Solid Rococode
Vancouver’s Rococode is having a picnic when I reach Andrew Braun on the phone. They’ve just spent six long, show-less days driving across the country and they’re taking a load off before beginning a 20-plus date tour back home. The four-piece arty pop band came together when jazz school pals Braun and Laura Smith started…
Robot and Frank
Technology, like the elderly, is often thought obsolete as soon as its out of date. Or so feels Frank (a charmingly grumpy Frank Langella), the retired cat burglar whose children don’t want to visit him. When Frank’s memory begins to fade, his son brings him an ASIMO-like robotic helper which Frank dismisses as a nuisance…
Halifax gets ramped up
Accessibility advocate Gus Reed caused quite a storm last month when he called for a boycott of The Chickenburger (1466 Queen Street,) because the restaurant was built without a ramp to the interior. Reed caught a bit of flack for his activism, but it’s had its intended effect: After some awkward back-and-forths, that story ended…
Halifax office of Bermuda firm may soon close, 90 jobs at risk
Up to 90 Haligonians working in the financial industry will soon lose their jobs. They work for the reinsurance company Flagstone Re, which announced last week that it would be purchased by a larger company called Validus. Both firms are based in Bermuda, and have back offices in Canada. The functions served by Flagstone’s office…
