December in Halifax tends to be Christmas-centric, but not everyone celebrates with a wreath and a tree. We call them “the holidays” now, because there’s more than one. So, how to be sensitive? Here are some thoughts from a few people whose festival falls on a day other than December 25. “The kids do get […]
Holiday Planner
Posted inLifestyle
How to buy books as gifts
When it comes to books, Heidi Hallett knows best. She loves to give books almost as much as she loves receiving them. But Hallett agrees, if you’re looking for an easy way out this holiday, buying books isn’t it. “You have to be a bit of a detective and do some snooping and sleuthing,” she […]
Posted inLifestyle
How to make a gift rap video
For the raps I go over to [fellow Picnicface member] Mark Little’s house with my Casio keyboard. We sit in his kitchen and we separately write a verse and put them together. People have been sending lists of things about themselves so we’ve been working that in. Some of them are not about the people […]
Posted inLifestyle
Complete guide to New Year’s Eve
NEIGHBOURHOOD TOP PICK DJ Anderoc If you live in the west end (or you’re up for cabbing there), The Armview has a solid neighbourhood gathering set up for New Year’s Eve. Chef Troy is making hors d’oeuvres to serve all evening, with bubbly at midnight. The lounge side of the restaurant will magically transform into […]
Posted inArts + Music
Boxed in: Coast staff picks
Forget those yuletide carols: Team Coast picks the TV and film box sets that will give their holidays a real fa-la-la-la-la. Felicity (Walt Disney Video) Disney has re-packaged and re-priced The WB’s signature series, so you can own all four seasons for a little more than what one would’ve cost you five years ago. Keri […]
Posted inLifestyle
Amy jones, writer
I’ve received some really great gifts over the years, but the one that stands out in my memory as the most exciting was (and I’m exposing myself as a huge geek here) the Apple IIe my parents bought for me and my sister when I was in sixth grade. Up until then I had been […]
Posted inLifestyle
Buy Nothing Season in Halifax
If all of the gift-giving at Christmastime gets to be too much, you might want to consider having a Buy Nothing Christmas. Buy Nothing is a movement started by a group of Mennonites in Western Canada in 2001 as a way of saying no “to the patterns of over-consumption of middle-class North Americans,” says its […]
Posted inLifestyle
Jackie Torrens, Writer-Actor
I’ve been given many nice things over the years: good books, straight talk from someone who loves me, one time a stranger gave me money to cover a prescription when I was young and broke and crying in a drugstore…but one of the nicest gifts anyone has ever given me had to do with my […]
Posted inLifestyle
The Best Books and Comics of 2009
BOOKS Boy in the Moon, Ian Brown (Random House) The old cliche of “you’ll laugh, you’ll cry” stands true for Ian Brown’s essays on his son, who was born with a rare genetic defect. Brown lets down his macho journalist persona and delivers an incredibly honest reflection on manhood. —SCF February, Lisa Moore (Anansi) I […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Holiday parties: Drinking on the company’s bill
Trying to find the right place to drink too many rum and eggnogs and sloppily make-out with that guy from accounting? Whether you have a small crew or a full staff, consider these places for your next drunken rendition of “Frosty the Snowman.” –Kyle Wells Victory Arms Pub This Lord Nelson Hotel bar can hold […]
Posted inLifestyle
Glorious gift-giving and other wonderful holiday stuff
For the fantasy nerd It’s a fair bet that most local nerds will want to catch the release of the new Jim Cameron science-fiction feature Avatar later this month. Help them do it by giving an Empire Theatres Gift Card. Until December 24, if you put $30 or more on a gift card, you get […]
Posted inLifestyle
Lisa Phinney Langley, Dance Artist
The best Christmas gift I received recently was from my now-hubby, the first year we were living together. His gift was his old badminton racquet, beautifully wrapped. He had just found out that I hated badminton in school, so he gave it to me as a joke but it made me realize that he would […]
