starcatcher.ca

Major news sources in Halifax are reporting that the news glass towers, or “Twisted Sisters” as they are being called, have cleared a major hurdle toward development. This issue has polarized many residents of the city, some saying that it’s about time that the old Tex-Park location gets a facelift, and others who (as I’ve mentioned before) can’t let go of the past, who want to retain the city’s heritage (and inevitably let progress roll right on by them). I’m all for progress, but I can understand that people would be concerned, given that these buildings may be an eyesore. Consider this artist’s rendition of what the Halifax skyline might look like with this new development:

Doesn’t that just make you wanna ROCK??

Halifax got stomped with its first storm of the season today (of course, it’ll no doubt all be gone by Wednesday or somesuch), and many people suffered the consequences of the bad driving. We were were content with being cold and wet (with our two cars in two pieces, total) as we shovelled the snow out of the driveway before we could park there, for the 10 minutes I could park there, before I had to go to SMU to administer an exam.

In the interest of safety I took Jonathan’s car, mainly because it has Kick-Ass snow tires (as opposed to my Formerly-Kick-Ass snow tires that are now just Still-Better-Than-All-Seasons tires), and I spent around 30 minutes tearing it up and down the Bay Rd, Inglis St, and all points in between. In the meantime, I saw vehicles in the ditch, vehicles spinning out, and pissed off motorists just about everywhere. Fortunately, I didn’t hit nasty (i.e., not moving) traffic, so I was able to get into SMU on time for the exam, but I still haven’t had supper yet, and it’s 8:30PM.

But what is it about the winter weather that turns motorists into total morons? Despite my awesome tires, I was relatively conservative on the drive in: keep lots of space between me and the guy in front of me, and no messing around with lane changes and risk taking. I learned my lesson when I wrote off my Taurus a few years ago, and I’m not going that way again. But cars in ditches, iced-up hills… You’re living in Halifax, folks, and the winters suck, so you’d better have good tires on your cars or it’s going to be a long drive walk home.

All this talk about a huge concert taking place in Halifax in September (The Rolling Stones? The Who? Aerosmith?) has overshadowed something else going on that weekend. My brother is getting married on the 23rd of September.

Fortunately, talk of the concert being at Shearwater instead of on the Commons (which would have probably been a better idea, mainly because you could jam more people into Shearwater than you ever could at the Commons, and it wouldn’t piss off all the homeowners in the area) has been pretty much dismissed, which is a good thing because David’s wedding service is being held in Shearwater (as was ours). However, there is one small rub: as soon as the concert is announced, two things will happen:

1. The prices of hotel rooms in the city for that weekend will skyrocket
2. All available hotel rooms will be snapped up in a HURRY.

SFW, you say? Here’s the rub: as far as I know, none of my family who live in the place we refer to as “away” has actually made any reservations to stay at a hotel yet. As a result, there’s an off chance that the wedding may not be as well attended by family as it could have been. Mind you, by then we’ll be in our new house so we’d probably be able to put up a bunch of people, and some people can stay at David’s, but that’s not everybody.

Here’s my point: FAMILY, IF YOU’RE READING THIS (AND I KNOW SOME OF YOU DO), BOOK YOUR ROOMS NOW! WE CAN’T GUARANTEE ANYTHING!!!

That is all. Now back to your regularly-scheduled reality.

When I was a kid, I started watching Entertainment Tonight a lot.  I don’t know why I was interested in the lives of celebrities, but stranger things have happened.  While my fixation with people who I’ll probably never meet has long since faded, I still fondly recall the kid who took great interest in the goings-on of famous people (that was me, in case you have a bad short-term memory), and I know that kid would have been untra-excited to actually attend an awards show, to see celebrities on the red carpet and to be a part of history.

A friend of mine is working backstage at the Junos tonight, and one of the acts that he has to wrangle is Nickelback, so that’s pretty cool. He’ll have an extra-close look at what’s going on, to see these people whose careers can be validated by winning little trophies (rather than by, I don’t know, record sales, adoring fans at concerts, that kind of stuff…  I mean, the only way you know you’ve made it is if your peers tell you, rather than fans who don’t know any better).  Had I mentioned something a week ago, I could have been with him tonight farting around backstage and giving Bryan Adams his cue or something.  But instead I’ll be in the upper bowl, and you know what?  I’m ok with that.

Being at a nationally-televised event is cool.  Sure, it’s probably not going to be the greatest crowd gathering moment of my life (those honours go to WrestleMania X-8 (Rock vs. Hogan), followed closely by the big masses at World Youth Day in Rome and Toronto), but I know I’ll never forget it.

Eastlink is testing a free WiFi service in the downtown Halifax area. I’d usually say that this is great news, but for the fact that I’m seldom downtown anymore, I spend most of my time in places that have Internet access anyway, and my laptop doesn’t usually leave the house.

Still, it beats wardriving and paying for Internet. Thanks to some knuckleheads in my building leaving their WiFi networks open, I don’t really have to pay for Internet either… Then again, if I were to cripple their connection by downloading a bunch of torrents, they’d probably notice and seal it up. Heh, I should do that when I get home tonight.

The creepiest thing I’d ever seen was last year, driving by MSVU and seeing thousands of crows filling the trees and sky. They’re back at it again this year. If you’re around MSVU or at the top of Flamingo Drive at around 4:30PM, on a clear, cold night, look up into the skies to see them all passing by; it goes on for about an hour, and it’s freakin’ creepy. Apparently they congregate at the MSVU Motherhouse for some big crow powwow. *insert MSVU/crow joke here*

A group of crows is known as a “murder”… I’d say that this is a “genocide” of crows.

I was just listening to the announcement on the net, and it’s official, that the Canadian Commonwealth Games Committee has selected Halifax as its bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games! This is humongous for a city that has tried so many times in the past to prove itself on an international level as a premier attraction for sporting events. It might just be the shot in the arm the city needs to install that much-needed infrastructure that has been holding the CFL back all these years.

Of course, that doesn’t guarantee that we’ll get it, because the final decision is only going to be made in 2007. It’ll be in tough against other cities such as Glasgow, but all we need is a chance to prove ourselves (look at me, speaking on behalf of the city!) to show that we are truly a World-Class City.

When we got to the pumps this morning, it was a veritable zoo! I hadn’t heard anything about prices going up today, but since we were running on fumes we had no choice. After putting exactly $50 in my car (which I thought I’d never have to do, even with the Taurus three years ago), we hit the road again amidst sheer motorist insanity.

Turns out that everyone was going crazy today because someone suggested that gas prices were going to spike today. The problem with rumours like these is that they are self-fulfilling: if people hear that the price of gas is going to jump, they’re going to jump — into their cars, that is — and get the cheap gas before it’s gone. What happens then is that the gas stations’ supply runs low, and many of them believe the rumours, and the prices go up. I’ve heard talk of over $2 at some stations today.

And it turns out apparently that it was all a hoax. Who perpetrated it, I don’t know, but I’m sure many people are very mad as a result. We understand that gas prices will rise again after Hurricane Rita bum-rushes Texas, but it hasn’t yet, so hopefully the gas stations will hold their collective birds a few minutes longer and give us motorists a little extra respite from further ludicrous gas price increases.

$1.30 a litre? Gas distributors are getting brazen. Next thing they’ll be coming to our houses and taking our money while we sleep instead of waiting for us to drive up to their establishments.

I understand that Hurricane Katrina has seriously hampered the Gulf refineries, but I don’t follow the severity of the price flux: apparently, the Gulf-based refineries account for around 10% of the US’s refining as well as 25% of the crude oil output (from this article). I always thought that North America was more dependent on foreign oil… Even accounting for shipping costs and delays, why should the hurricane have had such an impact on domestic/world prices?

The worst part about it is, like I’ve said before, we’re just going to bend over and take it like the good little gas whores that we are. We really have to stop relying on our cars. Thing is, for us to get to the South End, it’s STILL marginally cheaper for us to drive than it is for us to take the bus.

This gas price thing is getting ridiculous. $1.099 for self-serve regular? I thought when it got into the mid-nineties it was getting bad, but this is foolish! What’s more, we’ve seen a 10 cent increase in the last week ALONE! It could cost me $50 to fill my car now! I drive a little Suzuki Esteem!!! For that much money, I should get to fill my tank, then park my car wherever the hell I want, including (but not limited to) the middle of the street, on people’s lawns, or right in the middle of a swimming pool, without having to fear the repercussions.

Read the rest…

It’s a shame that we chide our American brethren for their seemingly uncivilized behaviour, but the actions taken by the vandals who broke the windows of the cars from Massachusetts on Grafton Street yesterday afternoon are nothing but reprehensible.

People have to realize that not all Americans are narrow-minded assholes. Regardless of what kind of people these folk actually happen to be, acting in this manner definitely makes us look less than the image that we’re trying to project. I mean, American people got their negative reputation not by all being conservative rednecks, but by just a few people very VOCALLY being conservative rednecks, which is unfair to the many level-headed Americans who inhabit the vast expanse to our southwest.

Yesterday, a few Dalhousie architecture students erected a sign proclaiming that they were going to build a Walmart on the site of the old Halifax infirmary. While this was a hoax concocted to study people’s reactions, the notion of bringing a big-box store to the downtown area shouldn’t be dismissed so quickly.

First off, anything has to look better than the mess of the old infirmary. It is an eyesore for to anyone who has to spend any time in that part of Halifax. The space is going to waste, and anything would be an improvement.

Secondly, a Walmart in downtown would definitely bring consumers in who wouldn’t normally frequent the neighborhood. This is not to say that it would take business away from the stores on Spring Garden Rd. On the contrary: many of the Spring Garden businesses cater to a certain clientele that probably wouldn’t be able to find what they’re looking for at other stores, especially at Walmart. Furthermore, these businesses might benefit from some spillover spending brought on by people shopping at Walmart, so they might have MORE money coming in. In a sense, it would have the same effect as Walmart has had at Penhorn, being the “anchor store” in the downtown area, attracting traffic, who then stay to eat at the numerous restaurants, or to catch a movie at Park Lane, for example.

Lastly, if people are concerned about “the crowd” that a Walmart might attract (whatever that means), it can’t be any worse than the homeless people who currently infest the downtown area. What more, it might just give some of those an employment opportunity they wouldn’t otherwise have had!

There are downsides, though: some smaller, generic businesses would suffer, and inevitably close down. Also, Walmart doesn’t really fit in with downtown’s “look” (you don’t find one in downtown TO or Montreal, you’ll find more upscale retailers like Sears or Eaton’s). And finally, it would definitely increase traffic on the already congested downtown streets.

Of course, it could never happen now. Big-box stores don’t have a place in downtown Halifax (where are you, Woolco?). It definitely was an eye-opener, though, especially to those who couldn’t catch on to the fact that it was a hoax. Honestly, would walmart ever boast the fact that it employs only “Non-Union” workers? I don’t think so.

Blue Rodeo played the Halifax Metro Centre last night. We were there. It was a good show. We had the greatest seats in the house (as far as I’m concerned… Front row centre on the floor, or as I like to put it, “Section awesome, row awesome, seats freakin’ awesome”) I didn’t bring my camera because the signs always say “no cameras”, but it seems as though a great many people ignored that little request. Oh well, I often find that events are different when you’re watching it yourself as opposed to through a camera lens. It’s also one more thing to worry about.

Nevertheless, they put on a very energetic performance, showing that the last 20 years hasn’t really slowed them down (of course, having to follow Matt Mays & El Torpedo’s smoking set was a pretty tall order. Here’s hoping he makes it real big someday). Their setlist drew somewhat heavily from their new album (6 tracks at least), which isn’t exactly a bad thing, although I often think of concerts in terms of what they didn’t play rather than what they did play. I guess that’s what happens when they’re promoting a new album. They did bust out a few old chestnuts, though, as I’d never heard them do Disappear from 1997’s Tremolo before (the highlight of the night, with some awe-inspiring instrumental breaks, punctuated by a dual-solo by Greg Keelor and Jim Cuddy), along with a acoustic-guitar-only version of “Til I Can Gain Control Again” from their landmark album 5 Days in July (in addition to 4 1/2 other songs from that album — I believe I heard a smattering of Dark Angel amidst the firy “You’re Everywhere” from Casino).

Of course, there were the omissions. They didn’t play anything from Nowhere to Here or The Days In Between, and only played the one song from Tremolo and two from Palace of Gold (of course, the fact that they don’t tour with the horn section anymore precludes most songs from this album anyway), but nice extended versions of Five Days in May and Diamond Mine, along with having Matt Mays and El Torpedo come in to help out on a couple of tracks (the aforementioned You’re Everywhere, and a cover of Bob Dylan’s Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues) made it all worthwhile.

Oh yeah, one other thing. There were all these young girls at the show all hoochied (and hooched) up. I don’t know who they were trying to impress, I mean, most of the BR guys are in committed relationships, so having a sign that says that you want Jim Cuddy to “play her like his mouth organ” might not get you very far, other than the occasional smirk and chuckle from the band. There was this other drunk girl in the dancing area who was trying to show her (lack of) knockers to the band. Lovely.

In any event, it was a great show. I will say, though, that the best thing about front row on the floor has to be the legroom.

In light of the recent news that Pearl Jam is coming to Halifax, many Pearl Jam fans from ALL around North America are going to converge on our little town for the show. Why’s that? That’s because Ten Club members get first crack at tickets for one show on every tour, and many Pearl Jam fans have never been to Halifax before, so they’re gonna come here, and congregate at some local pubs, like the Three Triangles and the Black Crow. Ungrateful types.

It kinda sucks, really… A huge band like Pearl Jam comes to Halifax, and most of the seats are taken up by people who live a considerable distance from here! Now I know that only a certain number of seats are made available to Ten Club members, but still. I didn’t think today’s society still had room in it for the hardest of hard core fans who follow bands around all over the place. I thought that the point of a band touring was to get their music to people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to see them. If it’s the same bunch of people attending all the shows, doesn’t the whole “touring” aspect become moot?

Oh well. We’re going to Pearl Jam if it kills us. Halifax has seen its share of bigger shows lately, which is great. Lots of hip-hop acts… Motorhead yesterday… Blue Rodeo on Sunday (front-row centre BAY-BEE! It’s the little things…), and The Irish Tenors in the fall (if you like that kind of music)… There’s even lots of talk about the Stones playing in Moncton in the fall. Now I don’t care for the Stones much as a live act (past their prime, anyone?), but you can’t deny their cultural impact, their staying power, or the fact that they’ve created some awesome music over the years. Again, not that I’d pay to see them in concert or anything.

We went to see QEH’s production of My Fair Lady last night. By and large, the production went off flawlessly, with excellent vocal work (both spoken and sung) by both of the leads (the female lead, whose name escapes me, had a beautiful soprano voice with a high degree of control over her entire range), and a smattering of other goodness thrown in for good measure. Of course, since it was a high school production, you could see a little shakiness from some of the supporting characters, and the odd wonky note from the pit orchestra (moreso at the beginning, becoming less as they got comfortable), but given that it was a high school production, that can be expected.

Watching live theatre really causes me to have a tremendous amount of respect for the people who can get up on stage and perform like that. Even though I had a bit part in a production in grade 9, I can’t imagine memorizing that amount of material! I think the worst part about it is that it’s only running for a very short period (3 nights. is it?), so you have to do all that work to prepare for the show, there’s all this build up, and then bang, it’s over. There’s a metaphor there, I know there is.

Of course, in honour of My Fair Lady, after the show we came home and I watched the “One If By Clam, Two If By Sea” episode of Family Guy where Stewie tries to rid a little girl appropriately named Eliza of her Cockney accent. “The Life of the Wife was Ended by the Knife”. Hehheh.

It was a beautiful day in Halifax. The sun was shining, the snow was melting, and cars caked with salt lined up at car washes around Metro. We decided to take a little drive over to Fleming Park this afternoon. I took it as an opportunity to take a bunch of pictures.

For those who don’t know, Fleming Park was named after Sir Sanford Fleming, the engineer who thought up “Standard Time Zones”. He was also a prolific expectorator. The main feature of the park is Dingle Tower, so named because it looks like a giant wang. I’m serious! The two lions at the base? Those are commonly known as “the nutters”. I’m not lion!

In any event, the park isn’t quite as nice in the winter as it is in the summer, unfortunately. Lots of cruddy snow piled up everywhere. We took some pictures anyway, including my first attempt at a panorama (although the seam between the first two pictures is clearly visible… I’m still new at this), and then we got cold so we left. Before heading home, we joined some of those cars with caked-on salt at a car wash, leaving with a brand new car! Then we had a change of heart, brought the new car back, and drove our own car home. Doing time for GTA is not really in the cards for us at this stage of the game.

It appears that some stores in and around Metro have some uninvited squatters living in them. By stores, I refer specifically to the SuperStores on Joseph Howe Drive and on Barrington Street, and by “uninvited squatters”, I mean starlings.

Yes, over the past two days, I’ve seen the little bastards flying around inside the SuperStores. Chances are that these aren’t the only stores where these birds have chosen to nest, either. Now tell me if I’m wrong, but this can’t be the most hygienic thing to have inside of a GROCERY STORE. It’s only a matter of time before they start shitting on the produce, contaminating everything in sight, and making it almost as unhealthy to consume as Harbour Water(tm).

I know it’s cold out, but that’s what migration is for, remember? Somebody should complain to management about it. I’m not gonna bother, as I’ll be busy buying groceries at Sobeys.

So George Bush came to Halifax, and now he’s gone, seemingly without incident. Security was very tight downtown today, lots of roads closed, access very limited, with only important dignitaries and other invited guests allowed within spitting distance of the President.

Of course, there were protesters, but these kinds of events breed them like parasites. Some camped out last night in Halifax, which I don’t really understand because if all you’re going to get from this is “political conversation”, you can get that just as easily at home watching “Crossfire” on CNN or chatting in IRC channels.

Apparently, Bush suggested that Canada get more involved with the situation in Iraq, and get on board with the US in their little “missile defense” program, which effectively goes against a treaty signed a while back banning the militarization of space. While many people are harping on Paul Martin’s seemingly accepting stance on many things Bush (as opposed to Chrétien’s “fuck you” approach), it seems as though he isn’t showing all his cards too quickly (by immediately sending troops to Iraq, etc…), which is definitely a good thing.

So what did *I* think about the whole event? It turns out that I didn’t go, since I have big projects to work on and didn’t want to waste an afternoon standing around in drizzle. And that is that.

The details are in place. On Wednesday, December 1st, 2004, at 10:30AM at Pier 21, the President of the United States (I Freudianly almost typed “Uninvited”) will be addressing the Halifax masses. Bring on the protesters!

They say that to accept evil is to contribute to it (badly paraphrasing), but nobody’s every going to agree with EVERY policy that a world leader has. Sure, he might have invaded Iraq under false pretenses, and he might be using faith to sway the masses south of the border, but in the end, he is the one that has to sleep with the deaths of thousands on his conscience. If Bush can do that, then there isn’t much a bunch of protesters will accomplish. I mean, in order for him to take notice, Corporations would have to protest, not just individuals, and they value their bottom line much more than ethics.

We live in a sad, sad place.

Ok so this is pretty big local news. Many news sources are reporting that instead of facing Parliament in Ottawa during his state visit next week, George W. Bush is going to come to little ol’ Halifax! I suppose he figures he’ll miss out on the crush of protesters that were heading down to Ottawa to bitch and moan about the war in Iraq, and instead come here for a much-needed PR opportunity to thank the locals for their involvement in taking care of airline passengers in the wake of 9/11.

Now I’m all for freedom of expression, but I honestly don’t know how much difference yet ANOTHER protest is going to make (and you know there’ll be mobs and riot police on Barrington St. next week). What are they trying to prove? Who are they trying to impress? We know that a large number of people have been critical of Bush and his warring tendancies in the wake of 9/11, but going out en-masse and getting cops to shoot tear gas at you isn’t going to accomplish anything but make you look like a total asshat on TV. Is Bush going to change just because a few thousand people march in the street? No. They may have a point, but if you ask me, they aren’t going to get much sympathy by making fools of themselves. Civility, people!

The American people had their chance to get rid of him, and they didn’t. All that’s left is to let him do whatever he has to do, and try not to piss him off too much. I will not travel to the States, for fear of how I might be treated. I wouldn’t want to goad their Government on, either, for fear of repercussions. Not military, but economic, which can hurt much more, in the long run.