The Coast Halifax Weekly

THINGS TO DO THIS AUTUMN H A L I FA X ’ S W E E K L Y C A L E N DA R •

VOLUME 27 NUMBER 17

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SEPTEMBER 19 - SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

Cover Climaing te Now Page 4

The city’s best time of year for cultural happenings has returned.

To help form your plan of attack, we deliver a bushel of bright apples from the season’s bounty—including dance highlights from the Atlantic Flamenco Festival to Mocean Dance to Brazilian cover stars Focus Via de Dança.

Climate catalysts Naomi Klein talks white privilege and climate change p5 Patty party Brawta brings authentic Jamaican to Pizza Corner p20 Movie-making magic Meet the local crew who brought Robert Eggers’ Lighthouse dreams to life p22

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This week

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SUREST THING

What if Brett Ruskin is actually a time traveling Bruce Frisko?

Issue #1,120

@Seebo429. Posted on August 14.

VOLUME 27, NUMBER 18 SEPTEMBER 19 - OCTOBER @, 2019

CANADA VOTES

On the cover: Paula Kossatz shot Brazilian dance company Focus Cia de Dança, which is travelling to Halifax to share its show Ímpar on Sep 20 and 21.

The City Voice of the City Cover Story: Fall Arts Preview Shoptalk Food+Drink

BEST OF TWITTER

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Are you registered to vote in Canada’s 43rd federal election? It’s on October 22, and there are many ways to vote.

Arts Entertainment listings Love The Way We Bitch The Comic Free Will Astrology Savage Love

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Bet the passengers on the Queen Mary II had a great view of the harvest moon last night.

For students living away from home, you can vote by special ballot. If you don’t have a permanent address, a shelter you’ve been to can provide you with a “letter of confirmation of residence.” Or you can bring someone with a permanent address with you to a polling station to vouch for you. If you’re not sure, visit elections. ca and check your options.

Congrats to Haviah Mighty, the first Black woman and first hip hop artist to win the Polaris Prize, which she nabbed for her album 13th Floor on Monday. Halifax fans have two chances to see the Brampton powerhouse post-win: Oct 26 with Arkells and Mother Mother at the Scotiabank Centre at 6pm and later that same night at The Seahorse, where she headlines a set with Just John x Dom Dias, Hua Li and Yohvn Blvck, both as part of the Halifax Pop Explosion.

The legend continues.

@KYLEREMCGREGOR

Reply all

The Coast welcomes your thoughts on all aspects of the paper’s performance and city life.

Deliver letters to the editor to 2309 Maynard Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3K 3T8 fax: 902-425-0013, email: letters@thecoast.ca. Post comments on any story at thecoast.ca

Vote the climate

Trans Mountain?!

The mess made by my generation and those before me has fallen to the generation that includes people who are too young to vote. Even without the voting privilege, they have decided to do what we could not—protest. They are doing so with a mass student strike. And I hope it brings all generations to a realization of what is coming next: global warming as a central theme in all future elections.

No more support for the use of coal and oil, but an understanding that the world economy has to move on to clean, renewable energy, or we will not survive. Well done and thank you for taking up the challenge. Remember to think about the global and long-term picture when electing your future governments. I urge you to not think selfishly. That was our failing.

I am shocked and appalled that the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is going ahead.

In this day and age of the environmental and Indigenous well-being and respect, our government is letting this proceed? I’m completely disgusted.

The Trans Mountain pipeline is a financial burden for taxpayers and needs to be cancelled. Not only is it a disaster for the climate, the coast and Indigenous rights, but it’s fast becoming a government boondoggle of epic proportions. A new report released by Stand. earth shows costs are piling up beyond the $4.5 billion purchase price as delays mount.

Construction activities haven’t once been on schedule. The pipeline route hasn’t been approved yet, and ongoing route hearings are adding even more delays (and even more costs to taxpayers!).

The report describes how its analysts “reviewed thousands of documents and consulted with experts and local residents tracking the project to provide this in-depth review of what can be expected if construction begins.”

—Mike McFarland

I am going to be looking very closely at climate change plans when deciding on who to vote for. Right now I’m undecided, but it will be climate policy that forms my decision.

—Sarah Jenson, Hubbards

It details seven key hotspots along the pipeline route that are sure to face determined public resistance. These hotspots pose serious risks to communities—for example, to finish construction the federal government plans to drill under the Fraser River and Burnaby Mountain, tunnel under several drinking water aquifers, and increase fire risk by expanding oil storage tank farms in Burnaby and Sumas.

The government also plans to bring man camps for temporary worker to several communities in British Columbia.

“These camps are typically located far from cities and close to rural Indigenous communities,” says the report, “bringing an influx of mostly non-Indigenous workers to profit from the resource economy.” Moreover, man camps have historically been “strongly correlated with dramatic increases in rates of sexual violence towards women in the communities surrounding the camps.” This is the government putting the safety of Indigenous women and girls at risk, when the same government is also committed to addressing the ongoing crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

—Jane Walton, Dartmouth

Vote the shroom Legalize magic mushrooms NOW! As proven in many recent clinical trials—and by thousands of knowledgeable and experienced individuals self-medicating every year without any complications—psychedelic psilocybin in magic mushrooms is a safe and effective medicine for OCD, PTSD, depression, anxiety and addiction. Psychedelics were used effectively by doctors in Canada to save lives for many years before misguided and politically motivated prohibition became law.

A recent commission on drug policy in Canada found that “problems have more to do with the legal status of the drugs than with the nature of the drug itself.”

In other words, the greatest danger from magic mushrooms is lives and families destroyed by incarceration and criminal records due to outdated laws based on incomplete facts.

Please help make this an election issue by sharing this with your friends and by writing to your MP. Your VOTE can Free The Shroom! and save lives! —Magic Mushroom

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WEEK OF CLIMATE ACTION

Power to the peaceful Climate crisis events that see you getting aware and getting involved. BY MORGAN MULLIN

EDITED BY CAORA MCKENNA / SEND TIPS TO NEWS@THECOAST.CA

Willa Fisher (left) and Julia Sampson organized the first Fridays for Future strike. DANIEL DOMINIC

Young people aren’t fucking around with the climate Halifax chapter of national climate action week gets lots of help from local youth. BY MALLORY BURNSIDE-HOLMES

O

n a Friday afternoon in February, 17-year-old Citadel High School students Willa Fisher and Julia Sampson stood among the 300 hundred youth they’d organized chanting for Halifax’s first Fridays for Future student strike.

Now, with three strikes under their belts and the support of a community of resources, Fisher and Sampson are organizing their most intensive project to date.

The K’jipuktuk-Halifax Week of Climate Action is a peaceful rebellion that invites

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all members of the Mi’kmaq and Halifax community to participate in various events throughout the city from September 20 to 27.

In collaboration with The Extinction Rebellion, Climate Strike Canada and several local and provincial organizations, Fisher and Sampson have been organizing with Halifax Youth for Climate Action in solidarity with the city’s School Strike for Climate.

“It’s an amazing community of organizers. I know that anytime I need help, there will be someone there to help me,” Sampson says.

The timing of the nation-wide climate justice campaign coincides with the UN Climate Action Summit on the 23rd and is even more fitting given the upcoming federal election.

“We want to send a message to everyone who can vote to vote for climate,” says Fisher.

“The Week of Action helps to reach out to the rest of the community. It goes from a bunch of students walking out of school to building community with the rest of the population who want climate justice,” she adds.

The Youth National Die-In on September 20 is one of Fisher and Sampson’s organized events. It’s a non-violent protest practice where protesters lie down on the ground, typically in a public space, in order to disrupt business-as-usual and draw attention to a cause.

“It represents the death caused by climate change and the death that will be caused by climate change. It’s been used in a lot of social movements before, like the AIDS crisis,” Sampson says. “It’s about the coverage of it.

We want people to notice us and notice our cause.”

Climate justice is tireless and often thankless work. One of the largest obstacles young climate organizers confront regularly is climate anxiety: an experience defined by emotions ranging from frustration and panic to hopelessness.

Fisher and Sampson combat climate anxiety in a number of ways, including weekly wellness phone calls with Climate Strike Canada where members share experiences and ideas, vent and offer one another support.

The night before a protest Sampson gears up by listening to young climate catalyst Greta Thunberg’s TED Talk while Fisher looks to the strides being made in Europe to fuel her fire.

“It gives me hope that if they can change actual governmental decisions, then I think we really have a chance to as well.”

Fisher and Sampson want to encourage youth to use their power by joining the Fridays for Future student strikes. For adults, on the other hand, Sampson has a different message.

“Don’t just support the youth,” says Sampson, “we want adults to do something themselves. They have more power than youth in our community and government. Use that power to everyone’s advantage.”

Their message for adults comes from the impact their passion for climate justice has had closer to home.

“My family have always been climate activists at heart, but we’ve never done anything like this before. Now, the whole family is in on it,” Fisher says.

Sampson’s mother, an elementary school teacher, has expressed excitement in introducing elements of climate justice to her students this year. While Sampson’s father, a former Nova Scotia Power employee, has turned his interest towards exploring sustainable options of securing renewable energy.

The week culminates with a general strike and march on September 27, leaving from Victoria Park at 11am.

“We are here and we are able to organize.

We have the power to make a difference, and if you don’t starting listening to us we are going to be striking a lot more,” Fisher says. a

INTERFAITH GATHERING AND CLIMATE ACTION RALLY

A moment of silence to honour victims of the climate crisis kicks off this gathering, followed by speeches from climate activists and faith leaders on how meaningful action can be made.

Fri Sep 20, noon-1pm, Grand Parade Square 1770 Barrington Street, free YOUTH NATIONAL DIE-IN

Look left to read more.

Fri Sep 20, 3:30pm, Mumford Station 7002 Mumford Road CLIMATE CRISIS: HEADED FOR EXTINCTION

A public talk that’s been given hundreds of times around the world, this lecture sees the latest climate science shared, the psychology of climate denial unpacked and solutions offered.

Sat Sep 21, 3:30-5pm, Halifax North Memorial Library, 2285 Gottingen Street, free Mon Sep 23, 3pm, Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road STOP ALTON GAS: FUNDRAISER FOR WATER PROTECTORS

An open-mic concert to help the efforts of Indigenous water protectors.

Mon Sep 23, 7pm, Open Mic House, 2539 Agricola Street DAVID SUZUKI AND STEPHEN LEWIS: CLIMATE FIRST TOUR

Two of the OG climate crusaders combine forces for this speaking tour.

Tue Sep 24, 7pm, Dalhousie Arts Centre, 6101 University Ave, $14-$26 STANDING ROCK PARTS 1 & 2 SCREENING

The Radical Imagination Film and Discussion Series and Extinction Rebellion combine forces for this double bill, a pair of documentaries tracing the events and aftermath of Standing Rock.

Wed Sep 25, 6-8:30pm, The Khyber Centre for the Arts, 1880 Hollis Street, free PARTY FOR THE PLANET

A zero-waste community market fills the Granville Mall by day (from 9am-5pm to be exact) and, once your reusable containers are filled with treasures, the music starts pumping for you to bust a move.

Thu Sep 26, 9am-9pm, Granville Mall, Granville Street WHOSE WATER IS IT ANYWAY BOOK LAUNCH AND TALK

Maude Barlow discusses her new book —and taking water protection into public hands—at this chat.

Thu Sep 26, 7pm, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, 1675 Lower Water Street Sure Thing

GENERAL STRIKE AND RALLY

Halifax joins climate strikers the world over for a general strike demanding immediate, meaningful action against the climate crisis. If you go to one event, go to this one.

Fri Sep 27, 11am, Victoria Park, Corner of Spring Garden Road and South Street

The Coast

2019-09-18 4:11 PM

The City

Voice of The City WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU voice@thecoast.ca

‘We are seeing the beginnings of the era of climate barbarism’ Excerpts from a Q&A with Naomi Klein for The Guardian.

BY NATALIE HANMAN Do you feel encouraged by talk of the Green New Deal?

Fallen branches and debris litter Dublin Street after Hurricane Dorian ripped through Halifax. COREY ISNOR

CLIMATE CHANGE

It doesn’t have to be like this How to keep on keeping on amid environmental racism and climate-induced dread in wake of Hurricane Dorian.

BY LAURA CUTMORE

W

hen Hurricane Dorian hit Nova Scotia on September 7 as a post-tropical storm, it reminded many of destructive Hurricane Juan. It was also a taste of what the future holds. Climate change is contributing to the increasing frequency and intensity of tropical storms and hurricanes. As the planet warms, we can expect more storms like Juan and Dorian. And as Dorian was example of our climate-changed reality, it’s also a case study of climate injustice.

As Sheri Lecker, executive director of Adsum House for Women & Children stated in an open letter, “the folks who fare the worst in such circumstances are the most marginalized in our communities. The storm’s adverse effects aren’t just arbitrary. They are most impactful on those of us with the fewest resources. It’s not just luck of the draw.” Lecker says for low-income folks, buying supplies to prepare for the storm was not an option.

Already-overburdened community services have been stretched beyond capacity to provide assistance. “While climate change promises to unleash increasing weather events like Dorian upon us, we need to better prepare for our community’s most vulnerable,” Lecker says.

On September 14, the movie adaptation (co-directed by Ellen Page) of Ingrid Waldron’s book, There’s Something in the Water, showed Haligonians that climate change does not impact individuals by “luck of the draw.”

Waldron says in an email “it is crucial that the climate change movement in Canada makes space for a deeper engagement with a ‘climate justice’ framework that considers how race, gender identity, sexual orientation, class, poverty, disability and other social identities intersect to disproportionately expose Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities, poor communities, women, persons with disabilities and those living in isolated and rural areas to the impacts of climate change.”

Climate change will affect us all—but not equally. So our efforts to address climate change must also address the various injustices the most vulnerable among us face.

Our climate plans must address social and economic inequality to ensure that when storms hit, the most vulnerable in our communities do not slip through the cracks.

Right now we’re in a window of climate momentum and opportunity. Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are preparing to strike for climate in what promises to be the largest ever global mobilization for climate in history. Recently published data shows that Canadians in every riding across the county support action on climate change and 93 of respondents in Halifax say climate change is happening and needs to be acted upon.

The Nova Scotia government is finally asking the public to provide input on the renewal of the province’s environmental goals. And with the federal election a month away, climate change is a major election issue. These are real opportunities to push the need for climate plans that meet the scale of the crisis and ensure that no one is left behind.

Amid doomsday threats and climateinduced dread, the reality is that if we can reduce our emissions quickly enough, we can prevent a lot of harm. But climate change is here, so whether we decarbonize next year or blow past our targets completely, more storms will come. What we have the power to influence is how many will come, how severe they will be, and how we respond to them when they hit.

We’re already seeing reactions to a warming world: increased border security, spreading xenophobia, racism and Islamophobia; austerity governments claiming there’s not enough to go around, leaving those with the fewest resources to suffer.

Meanwhile, the wealthiest and most privileged are stalling climate action because they can leverage the crisis to benefit themselves by hoarding wealth and power.

It doesn’t have to be like this. We can respond to this crisis in a way that protects the many, not the wealthiest few. We can start by paying attention to moments like these where we can see clearly who is most affected and least supported. And then work to ensure that when the next storm hits, we’ll do better. a

I feel a tremendous excitement and a sense of relief, that we are finally talking about solutions on the scale of the crisis we face. That we’re not talking about a little carbon tax or a cap and trade scheme as a silver bullet. We’re talking about transforming our economy. This system is failing the majority of people anyway, which is why we’re in this period of such profound political destabilization–that is giving us the Trumps and the Brexits, and all of these strongman leaders–so why don’t we figure out how to change everything from bottom to top, and do it in a way that addresses all of these other crises at the same time?

There is every chance we will miss the mark, but every fraction of a degree warming that we are able to hold off is a victory and every policy that we are able to win that makes our societies more humane, the more we will weather the inevitable shocks and storms to come without slipping into barbarism. Because what really terrifies me is what we are seeing at our borders in Europe and North America and Australia–I don’t think it’s coincidental that the settler colonial states and the countries that are the engines of that colonialism are at the forefront of this. We are seeing the beginnings of the era of climate barbarism. We saw it in Christchurch, we saw it in El Paso, where you have this marrying of white supremacist violence with vicious antiimmigrant racism.

One criticism you hear about the environment movement is that it is dominated by white people. How do you address that?

When you have a movement that is overwhelmingly representative of the most privileged sector of society then the approach is going to be much more fearful of change, because people who have a lot to lose tend to be more fearful of change, whereas people who have a lot to gain will tend to fight harder for it. That’s the big benefit of having an approach to climate change that links it to those so-called bread and butter issues: how are we going to get better paid jobs, affordable housing, a way for people to take care of their families? I have had many conversations with environmentalists over the years where they seem really to believe that by linking fighting climate change with fighting poverty, or fighting for racial justice, it’s going to make the fight harder. We have to get out of this “my crisis is bigger than your crisis: first we save the planet and then we fight poverty and rac-

Naomi Klein is a journalist. KOUROSH KESHIRI

ism and violence against women.”

That doesn’t work. That alienates the people who would fight hardest for change.

In your book On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal here, you write: “The hard truth is that the answer to the question ‘What can I, as an individual, do to stop climate change?’ is: nothing.” Do you still believe that?

In terms of the carbon, the individual decisions that we make are not going to add up to anything like the kind of scale of change that we need. And I do believe that the fact that for so many people it’s so much more comfortable to talk about our own personal consumption, than to talk about systemic change, is a product of neoliberalism, that we have been trained to see ourselves as consumers first.

To me that’s the benefit of bringing up these historical analogies, like the New Deal or the Marshall Plan [which saw the US give over $12 billion to help rebuild Western Europe after World War II]–it brings our minds back to a time when we were able to think of change on that scale. Because we’ve been trained to think very small. It is incredibly significant that Greta Thunberg has turned her life into a living emergency. a This story originally appeared in The Guardian.

It is republished here as part of The Coast’s partnership with Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story.

$4.25

The new cost of the MetroX 320 Fall River-airport bus—as per a motion from councillor Steve Streatch to hold off on the originally suggested increase to $6 for the 320 route. It will stay at $4.25 until staff gets back to council with a report on how to possibly make sure that residents from the Fall River area who take the bus infrequently aren’t affected by the increase meant to capitalize on tourists. The rest of transit’s fare changes were also finally approved by council. Starting September 30 adult transit fare will be $2.75, senior fares $2, MetroX fares $4.25 and kids under 13 ride free. Increases are also coming to monthly passes, but they are on average less than the individual ticket increases. —CM

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The Coast

2019-09-18 4:17 PM

COVER STORY

The pumpkin-spiced plans you need for the season ahead.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year: The season when shorter days are the perfect excuse to flock to indoor havens like galleries and theatres. It is also, luckily for you, the time those very places are stuffed to the rafters with unmissable concerts, theatre, dance and more. Here, we share a selection of the season’s bounty.

Prepare to pack your day planner.

A month-by-month roundup of unmissable theatre, comedy, drag and dance

SUBMITTED

BY MORGAN MULLIN

Sara Coffin’s wild side The local dance artist’s production Wild Within takes a look at our connection to the earth. BY BRANDON YOUNG Wild Within

November 14-16, 8:00pm Alderney Landing Theatre, 2 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth $17-$28 www.moceandance.com

T

he ties between ourselves and the natural world are vast and deeply connected to a part of us we might not be conscious of—but what does that bond look like? This is a question Mocean Dance’s co-artistic director Sara Coffin hopes to explore through her latest production, Wild Within.

“We all have a wild body within us that’s sleeping,” says Coffin.

Paddling 700 kilometres from Whitehorse to Dawson while participating in the Canadian Wilderness Artist Residency, Coffin says she had an epiphany: “Paddling for four to six hours a day—it was like that wild body in me woke up. I wasn’t in my city body. I was connected to the land, the water, the weather.”

With the inspiration to explore her wild side, Coffin began creating a work of art implementing contemporary dance to express her wilderness-induced feelings. “I was trying to hang on to that feeling,” says Coffin. “That’s what inspired the piece, like ‘how do you share something that you can’t describe?’”

Love and loss and respect for the land are two main themes the production focuses

on—using contemporary dance styles and techniques to communicate her profound ideas. An interdisciplinary work, Wild Within employs the talents of dance artists Lydia Zimmer, Georgia Skinner, Julie Robert and Anastasia Wiebe; composer Brian Riley; and multimedia artist Nick Bottomley.

“I’m comfortable with being in the unknown,” says Coffin. “I look for collaborators who have a level of comfortability trying things out and seeing what happens—I like people who aren’t afraid to fall in sweat hard.”

While she’s not giving away any surprises, Coffin hopes her production gives attendees something to think about.

“Our sense of self is shaped by our experience; when our experience is related to the natural world, how does that change our perception?” says Coffin. “After experiencing Wild Within, I’d like the audience to think about what their connection to the land is and how their body feels in different landscapes, and why it’s important to have respect for our own bodies and the land.” a

September THE LAST WIFE The Merritt Award-winning, Dora Award-nominated Stephanie MacDonald takes pride in playing tough women—“like your cousin who isn’t gonna let that shit slide at family dinner,” she tells The Coast.

Here, she brings her considerable talent and same ain’t-no-pushover attitude to the role of Catherine Parr in Neptune’s season opener, The Last Wife. A play about the careful dance of power and progress, see MacDonald and Jodee Richardson (who plays leading man as King Henry VII) as the ultimate power couple. Neptune Theatre, 1593 Argyle Street, Sep 11-Oct 6, tickets from $30 DISNEY FROZEN JR. Take a trip to the frosty world of Elsa and Anna with this play based on the Broadway musical of the same name. Neptune Theatre, 1593 Argyle Street, Sep 18-22, $19.95 FOCUS VIA DE DANÇA The Brazilian dance troupe—and our cover stars—Focus Via de Dança arrives in Halifax thanks to Live Art Dance and Prismatic Arts Festival, ready to wow with Ímpar.

The troupe have toured extensively throughout Europe and the US, delivering dance inspired by daily life in Rio de Janeiro since 1997. Its latest offering uses seven bodies to tell a story both absurd and magical.

Sir James Dunn Theatre, Dalhousie Arts Centre, 6101 University Avenue, Sep 20-21, 8pm, $32.50/$20

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FALL ARTS PREVIEW

Decidedly Jazz Danceworks

SCOTT REID

Nov. 14 - 15

RINGS THROUGH WATER The Coast theatre critic Micheal Lake bills this production, the latest show by Xara Choral Theatre, as “part ode to water protectors, part call to action.” Created with Anishinaabe dancer Sarain Fox and Inuk classical soloist and storyteller Deantha Edmunds, the impactful piece rings on.

Sir James Dunn Theatre, Dalhousie Arts Centre, 6101 University Avenue, Tue Sep 24, 8pm, $25 TRAVIS LINDSAY HEADLINES YUK YUK’S The local comedy scene mainstay finally snags headliner status at the Hollis Street laugh emporium. Yuk Yuk’s, 1181 Hollis Street, Sep 26 & 28, 8pm, $12.18 CORONATION STREET: ROY CROPPER & BRIAN PACKHAM LIVE Your favourite English soap sees its most loveable (slash least hate-able?) stars land on this side of the pond. Spatz Theatre, 1855 Trollope Street, Sep 28, 1pm, $39.95-$49.95 ANNE OF GREEN GABLES: THE BALLET Ballet Jörgen and Symphony Nova Scotia have combined forces to deliver this redux of the story of the girl from Avonlea; a freckle-faced, feel-good show that makes its world premiere here in Halifax. Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, Dalhousie Arts Centre, 6101 University Avenue, Sep 28, 7:30pm; Sep 29, 2pm; tickets from $35 adult/$15 student

October PLEASUREVILLE Neptune’s season rolls on with this world premiere play that traces the story of a down-on-her-luck academic who decides to open up a sex shop in a sleepy, small town. Neptune

Theatre, 1593 Argyle Street, Oct 1-20, tickets from $30 ATLANTIC FLAMENCO FESTIVAL: DANCE AS IF NOBODY IS WATCHING The queen of stomping feet and coiling wrists, Marie Osende herself, storms the stage—backed with her full ensemble—for the highlight show of this year’s Atlantic Flamenco Festival. Alderney Landing Theatre, 2 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth, Oct 4-5, 7:30pm; $10-$27 NONNA’S VERY OWN: A COMEDY SHOWCASE WITH MARC-ANTHONY SINAGOGA Up-and-coming comic Marc-Anthony Sinagoga makes you LOL hard enough to fuggetabout your worries. The Bus Stop Theatre, 2203 Gottingen Street, Oct 10, 8:30pm. $12/$15 TRIXIE MATTEL: SKINNY LEGEND The grand dame of drag—and winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ third season—arrives at the Spatz to take it from Thanksgiving to ThanksLIVING. Spatz Theatre, 1855 Trollope Street, Oct 11, 9pm, $40-$100 ALAN LAKE FACTORI(E) Live Art Dance brings this Quebec City phenom to town for its rich, gilded performance Le cri des méduses.

Choreographed by Alan Lake and incorporating Théodore Géricault’s painting “The Raft of the Medusa,” the audience is left with a vision of humanity adrift. Sir James Dunn Theatre, Dalhousie Arts Centre, 6101 University Avenue, Oct 1516, 8pm, $32.50/$20 BETWEEN BREATHS The dramatic retelling of the life of Jon Lien, the famed Newfoundland doctor who saved over 500 whales, breeches at Neptune. Neptune Theatre, 1593 Argyle Street, Oct 22-Nov 10, tickets from $30

OLD STOCK: A REFUGEE LOVE STORY The 2018 Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Masterworks Arts Award-winning play by 2B Theatre arrives at Neptune after wowing critics during a stint in New York. See Ben Caplan take a star turn in this folk music-theatre hybrid tracing the true story of two Jewish-Romanian refugees coming to Canada in 1908. Neptune Theatre, 1593 Argyle Street, Oct 30-Nov 17, tickets from $30

November MOZART’S LE NOZZE DI FIGARO The comic opera tracing a love triangle between a valet, his bride-to-be and a count, Le Nozze sees the stage flooded with up-andcoming Canadian opera talent.

Lilian Piercey Concert Hall at the Maritime Conservatory, 6199 Chebucto Road, Nov 2, 7:30pm; $35 FIDDLER ON THE ROOF The classic story of poor milkman Tevye is restaged by St Joseph’s Stage Prophets Theatre Company.

Spatz Theatre, 1855 Trollope Street, Nov 2, 7:30pm; Nov 3, 1:30pm & 7pm, $20-$30 DECIDEDLY JAZZ DANCEWORKS Live Art Dance brings the Calgary movement troupe to town to showcase Juliet and Romeo, a decidedly jazz take on Shakespeare created by Kimberley Cooper and Cory Bowles.

Spatz Theatre, 1855 Trollope Street, Nov 9, 8pm; $32.50-$20 WILD WITHIN Mocean Dance’s latest work explores the ways which we connect to the natural world.

Read more on the previous page.

Alderney Landing Theatre, 2 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth, Nov 14-15, 8pm; Nov 16, 2pm, 8pm, $33.75

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SUBMITTED

FALL ARTS PREVIEW

LITERARY

Summoned casts a spell Mckayla Eaton’s YA fantasy novel is an all-ages thrill ride that ain’t no Harry Potter. BY JADE NAUSS

Y

ou may have glimpsed Mckayla Eaton hunched over her laptop at Uncommon Grounds or Trident Booksellers & Cafe. But while you were focused on your daily caffeine fix, Eaton was thinking (and writing) about something a bit more magical than a caramel macchiato.

Eaton’s debut novel, Summoned, is the first book in a young-adult fantasy trilogy—and it’s populated by familiar tropes: hell demons, forbidden spells, student magicians, a mysterious professor and, of course, a boy wizard.

“YA wasn’t my intended genre, actually, and to be honest I haven’t read a lot of it,” admits Eaton of the book, which was released September 3 from The Parliament House publishing.

“But I ended up going with YA for Summoned because I wanted to play with the stereotypical boy-wizard trope.”

Alton, Eaton’s boy wizard, is a normal Canadian teenager—except instead of math, he’s learning magic. He wears sweatpants around the house and neglects his mother’s texts. To be clear, he’s no Harry Potter.

“The main difference between Summoned and similar novels is the character of Alton,” explains Eaton. “There’s nothing special about him. He isn’t the chosen one. He has no superpowers, no secret royal lineage, no magic sword or stone; and he has no stakes—not

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at first.”

What he does have is a fraught, will-theyor-won’t-they relationship with a fellow student, a witch named Reagan who listens to Metallica and doesn’t like wearing pants.

Alton and Reagan are less like Hogwarts kids and more like students at the Academy of the Unseen Arts in the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina—they’re damaged, quarrelsome teenagers with supernatural powers. They swear, trade insults and hurl dangerous spells at each other.

“They end up working together so well in the end because they learn how to hurt each other before they learn to love each other,” explains Eaton.

“Love, there, is a loaded term. Not to give too much away, but their relationship isn’t exactly a Cinderella story.

At least, not by the end of book one.”

Stay tuned for all the trilogy has in store by checking out mckaylaeaton.com

The Coast

2019-09-18 5:04 PM

FALL ARTS PREVIEW

LITERARY

Four local reads you’ll love From slice-of-life essays to a Vonnegut-esque classic-in-the-making, here are the books to curl up with this autumn. BY JADE NAUSS Are You Kidding Me?!: Chronicles of an Ordinary Life

Lesley Crewe has written a boatload of novels. One of them, Relative Happiness, was made into a feature film and enjoyed by audiences at the (then) Atlantic Film Festival in 2014. Crewe is known for her long-form fiction, but she’s also known for taking the details of everyday life—the panic over a misplaced wallet, the pleasant memories of long-gone loved ones, the smothering affections of elderly cats—and crafting them into hilarious and poignant newspaper columns. Are You Kidding Me?! is a collection of the best examples of the eponymous Chronicle Herald column.

This book is a sure thing. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. And the best thing? You can read a whole column in five minutes flat!

Release: September Published by Nimbus Crocuses Hatch from Snow

You may remember Jaime Burnet from those bygone days when she worked at Venus Envy and sang for punk band Eekum Seekum. But recently, she’s been busy practicing labour and human rights law at Pink Larkin and writing queer literary fiction. Crocuses Hatch from Snow is Burnet’s debut novel—and it’s a must read. Burnet introduces readers to a cast of characters that rivals an Atom Egoyan film: There’s a body-piercer, a grieving widower, a young woman in love, a grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s and a Mi’kmaw survivor of the residential school system. These characters’ lives intersect in a story about history, obsession, and gentrification set in the north end of Halifax. If that’s not enough of a reason to go grab this book as soon as it’s released, how about this: One of the characters has an affair with a ghost.

Release: September Published by Vagrant Press Sitelines

Calling all art lovers: This book is for you! Eyelevel is Halifax’s longrunning, not-for-profit, artist-run centre dedicated to contemporary art. This month, it’s releasing a self-published multimedia art collection in book form. Sitelines combines case studies written by gallery staff with commissioned works by Halifax artists. Inside, you’ll find contributions from local notables including (among others) craft maven Julie Hollenbach and writer/filmmaker/artist Francesca Ekwuyasi. At only five by eight inches and 66 pages, this neat little art book needn’t be confined to coffee tables.

Release: September 19 Published by Eyelevel Dirty Birds

Morgan Murray lives in Cape Breton with his wife—the talented cartoonist Kate Beaton, who is best known for the webcomic Hark! A Vagrant—daughter and dog. Dirty Birds is his

first novel. It’s the story of a mediocre young man from Bellybutton, Saskatchewan who heads to Montreal in search of that coveted bigcity life. Dirty Birds won’t be released until Halloween, but it’s already won critical acclaim: Scotiabank Giller Prize-winner Will Ferguson compared Murray to Kurt Vonnegut. At a whopping 432 pages, this book is approximately 200 pages longer than Slaughterhouse-Five—certainly not light as the proverbial feather—but it does share the straightforward realism and black humour characteristic of Vonnegut’s novels.

Make the time to pick it up and settle down with what might well become a contemporary Canadian classic.

Release: October 31 Published by Breakwater Books

All Booked Up A to-do list for literature lovers.

BY ALLISON SAUNDERS Wed Oct 2-Sun Oct 6 AFTERWORDS LITERARY FESTIVAL The brainchild of some of very best and brightest folks putting pen to paper—Stephanie Domet, Sue Goyette, Stephens Gerard Malone, Rebecca Thomas and Ryan Turner—Afterwords aims to bring top-notch writers, both local and visiting, off their pages and into listening rooms around town. Treat your brain to live readings, panel discussions and both fiction and non-fiction authors in conversation (folks like Caroline Adderson, Christy Ann Conlin and Kamal Al-Solaylee). Or, if you’re a writer yourself and looking to glean some wisdom, sit in on workshops tackling character development, screenwriting and getting grants.

The schedule in its entirety can be found at afterwordsliteraryfestival.com.

Various locations Thu Oct 3 MARGARET ATWOOD AT HALIFAX CENTRAL LIBRARY Thirty-four years after The Handmaid’s Tale first published—and two years after the Hulu series of the same name sky-rocketed into TV stardom— Canada’s most famous author is back with the novel’s sequel, The Testaments. And she’s bringing it to our dearly beloved library. True Atwood stans know this event’s free seats “sold out” in minutes. But you need not worry. The library will be streaming the event on YouTube.

Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road 7-8pm BOOK ME! WITH COSTAS HALAVREZOS Not an event, but you could make it one in the comfort of your very own home and your very own pyjamas. This book nerd podcast is a Costas Halavrezos/Nimbus Publishing co-pro bringing local literature to your earbuds, featuring interview with authors who’ve been printed under the Nimbus/ Vagrant umbrella. You’ve got two seasons to catch up on.

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2019-09-18 4:08 PM

FALL ARTS PREVIEW

Can’t-miss art exhibits BY MOLLIE CRONIN

Tylo McNer il Sept 2 8Nov 2

September AFRICVILLE: A SPIRIT THAT LIVES ON – A REFLECTION PROJECT MSVU Art Gallery, Mount Saint Vincent University, 166 Bedford Highway, Aug 17-Nov 10 ATMOSPHERIC EVENTS Dalhousie Art Gallery, Dalhousie Arts Centre, 6101 University Avenue, Aug 30-Nov 24 21 DAYS TO MAKE OR BREAK A HABIT For the first 21 days of November 2018, artist Maddie Alexander embarked on a performance piece that concluded the day after Trans Day of Remembrance. Each day during the performance, Alexander would document whether or not they were misgendered, marking this with self-tattooing on their hands. A year later, the resulting photographs—as well as 21 needles, written notes, and an empty container of ink—will be displayed in the Khyber’s window gallery. See photo on page 13. The Khyber Centre for the Arts, 1880 Hollis Street, Halifax, Sept-Nov

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ALTHEA THAUBERGER: THE STATE OF THE SITUATION Althea Thauberger has garnered international attention since the AGNS first showed her work in 2004, and now, in The State of the Situation, the gallery presents the first overview of her practice and collaborative art making process.

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 1723 Hollis Street, Sep 1 – Oct 27

THE BIRDS AND THE BEES The Craig Gallery, Alderney Landing, Dartmouth, Sep 11-29

CELEBRATING MARY PRATT At this year’s FIN Atlantic International Film Festival, the flick It was All so Wonderful: The Everyday Magic of Mary Pratt will debut. The AGNS joins in on celebrating one of Canada’s most beloved artists by displaying her piece Artifacts on Astroturf in the gallery’s main lobby. Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 1723 Hollis Street, Sep 1-Oct 27, Admission $5-12 (free to view lobby)

KIMZ-MET : WHAT BRINGS US TOGETHER It is sometimes the strangest things that bring artists together, and in Kimz-Met it is the simple fact that the artists included all share a first name: Kim. Argyle Fine Art, 1559 Barrington Street, Sep 13-Oct 1

BEING IN THE BREATHABLE: 44.649589,-63.574150 Hermes, 5682 North Street, Sep 7-29 OBJECTS OF AFFECTION Anna Leonowens Gallery, 1891 Granville Street, Sept 10-21, free

MY LINE OF WORK… In this joint exhibition, artists Sara HartlandRowe, Matthew Reichertz and Richard Mueller consider the art making process. Chase Exhibition Gallery, 6016 University Avenue, Halifax, Sep 11-29

REMEMBERING: SUSAN WOOD An exhibition celebrating the art and life of Susan Wood, who passed away in 2018. Insect carapaces, birds and other natural ephemera are a recurring theme in her work, presented with an almost archival collecting flair. Wood was an exhibitor at Studio 21 close to twenty years. Studio 21, 5431 Doyle Street, Halifax, Sep 13-Oct 16

The Coast

2019-09-18 5:35 PM

FALL ARTS PREVIEW LETITIA FRASER A descendant of North Preston, Fraser’s paintings explore personal and cultural histories of African Nova Scotians, often incorporating textiles as the background for her images. MSVU Art Gallery, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, 166 Bedford Highway, Sep 14Nov 3 TOM HAMMICK: LUNAR VOYAGE In a series of woodcut prints, Hammick explores an “existential road journey taken through space.” Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery, 923 Robie Street, Sep 14-Nov 17

JAMES GEURTS FATHOM

AGE OF AQUARIUS The Craft Nova Scotia Annual Member’s Exhibition highlights works in a swath of mediums. Mary E. Black Gallery, 1061 Marginal Road, Sep 20–Nov 3

SHINE A LIGHT

Review: Atmospheric Events is brutally soft The Dalhousie Art Gallery’s contribution to RESPONSIVE: International Light Art Project Halifax balances the building itself. BY MOLLIE CRONIN Atmospheric Events

Daily to Nov 24 Dalhousie Art Gallery

I

t’s hard to love a brute—at least, hard to love a Brutalist building. Severe concrete structures like the one that makes up the Dalhousie Arts Centre—home to the University’s art gallery—have fallen out of fashion. They are seen as ugly remnants of misguided 20th century socialist optimism.

But, artwork like the ones in Atmospheric Events can help demonstrate that these Brutalist structures—ones that make up so many universities, art galleries, and government buildings across the world—are willing canvases worthy of our consideration.

When you descend the staircase from the Rebecca Cohn lobby into the subterranean exhibition space, it immediately feels as though you have been transported under the sea (rather than under University Avenue). In a large-scale commissioned work, artist Christine Sciulli has softened the strict, high walls of the gallery with tulle, bunched and piled as though it has blossomed through the cracks in cement. White rings of light are then projected onto these

shapes, ebbing and flowing like waves or a heartbeat.

James Guerts’ glitch video work FATHOM I: Wilkinson’s Point (above) shows the effect of industrial waste in a river in Tasmania, exposing the circuitry of his camera to the atmosphere there and capturing magnetic anomalies that read in the projected video like breaks, inverted colours, and over-saturation.

In Andrea Schmid’s Lichtungen (Clearings), tall fluorescent tubes in pink, white, apple green and turquoise seem to grow out of a rock patch. The tubes change in intensity and colour, like clouds moving quickly across the sky. They are placed well within this concrete structure, the harshness of the fluorescence somehow working to curb the harshness of cement.

In a moment where museums are filling their walls with art well-suited for visitors’ selfies, it is refreshing to spend time with something ephemeral: Light art that resists documentation, in a gallery many wouldn’t consider worthy of the same. It is these strange qualities that make this show so enjoyable: The robotic heart of the ocean, florescent sunsets and the deep, dark concrete walls of the Dalhousie Art Gallery. a

//RESPONSIVE LIGHT ART PROJECT HALIFAX The Anna showcases two artists for 2019’s //RESPONSIVE Light Art project: Marian Nicholson and Marek Radke. Anna Leonowens Gallery, 1891 Granville Street, September 25-28, free BITS Emily Ross’ starburst paper art will be familiar to anyone who remembers the days of Big Pony (which Ross co-ran with Lindsay Stewart) and the prints she displayed there—but Lost & Found hosts Ross’ first ever exhibition.

In Bits, Ross has cut colourful, patterned, metallic paper into triangular shapes that create dynamic fireworks across the shop’s walls.

Lost & Found, 2383 Agricola Sreet, Opening reception Sep 27, 6-8 pm New Work: Tylor McNeil Vancouver-based artist Tylor McNeil showcases large, frothy florals painted on birch panels. 14 BELLS, 5523 Young Street, Sep 28-Nov 2, free

October A SHOW ABOUT HEROES Mindy Harris’ delicate and detailed embroidery of important women, SUBMITTED

SUBMITTED

Rich Thomard a Davis s N ov 15 Dec 1 2

from Frida Kahlo to Jane Goodall, is a highlight in this group showcase.

Argyle Fine Art, 1559 Barrington Street, October DARTMOUTH VISUAL ARTS: SEMI-ANNUAL SHOW & SALE The Craig Gallery, Alderney Landing, Dartmouth, Oct 2-13 NOCTURNE 2019 Art’s annual night out returns. This year’s theme? Scaffold. Stay tuned for The Coast’s special Nocturnethemed issue later this fall.

Various locations, Oct 19

November PENANCE AND RECONCILE Francesca Ekwuyasi’s Penance and Reconcile results in two complimentary pieces exploring queerness and faith. The Khyber Centre for the Arts, 1880 Hollis Street, Halifax, November MID AIR Jenny Yujia Shi’s work looks at her ongoing pursuit of permanent resident status in Canada.

The Craig Gallery, Alderney Landing, Dartmouth, Nov 6-24

OILS; BIG & LITTLE In this joint exhibition, local artists Kim Aerts and Eleni Manolakos approach the shores and skies of Nova Scotia with two very different perspectives: Manolakos painting in large, expansive canvases and Aerts in miniature. 14 BELLS, 5523 Young Street, Oct 26-Nov 2

OLD HABITS: LEE CRIPPS In a series of surreal figurative sculptures, artist Lee Cripps will seek new expressions for women’s empowerment. The Craig Gallery, Alderney Landing, Dartmouth, Nov 6-24

OVER HOME Photographer Mikayla Victoria Anne Halliday examines the decay of a family home. Anna Leonowens Gallery, 1891 Granville Street, Oct 29-Nov 2

THE GARDEN OF DELIGHT: MARJOLEIN DALLINGA Marjolein Dallinga’s felted sculptures are fleshy and strange– beautiful and red, they pool like blood vessels and climb like spiked vertebrae. Mary E. Black Gallery, 1061 Marginal Rd, Nov 8-Dec 22

(RE)TRACING In this joint exhibition, best friends and collaborators Brody Weaver and Britt Moore-Shirley explore queer theories through social research. Anna Leonowens Gallery, 1891 Granville Street, Oct 29-Nov 2

WORKS BY RICHARD THOMAS DAVIS The Studio 21 artist returns with familiar scenes of overlooked places like gas stations and highways. Studio 21 Fine Art, 5431 Doyle Street, Nov 15-Dec 12

21 D to Br ays e a Hab ak it S ept -

Oct

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2019-09-18 5:35 PM

FALL ARTS PREVIEW

A host of hot tickets that’ll give you earworms till the first snowfall BY ANDREW BETHUNE

MAT DUNLAP

Old Lued Man ec Oct. ke 2

September VORTEX W/ENEMY DESIGNED, IGNIGHTOR Gus’ Pub, 2605 Agricola Street, $8, Sep 20,10pm KIDS LOSING SLEEP W/SOCIAL SMOKERS CLUB, IZRA FITCH The local four-piece calls it “heartbreak you can dance to.”

Gus’ Pub 2605 Agricola Street, $8, Sep 21, 10pm NAMU Prismatic Arts Festival brings this traditional Korean music three-piece to town. Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, $16/$18, Sep 23, 7pm BIG WRECK W/TEXAS KING Marquee Ballroom, 2037 Gottingen Street, $43.49/$48.49, Sep 26, 8pm DEAN BRODY AND DALLAS SMITH W/THE REKLAWS, CHAD BROWNLEE, MACKENZIE PORTER Scotiabank Centre, 5284 Duke Street, $48-$108, Sep 26, 7pm GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS The Seahorse, 2037 Gottingen Street, $25, Sep 26, 8pm MADCHILD & DIZZY WRIGHT Fans of Swollen Members don’t miss Madchild spit—but true obsessives will be just as amped for Dizzy Wright as he stops in Halifax on his comeback tour. Reflections Cabaret, 5187 Salter Street, $34.19-$65.69, Sep 26, 10pm RYAN MCMAHON W/ADAM WASHBURN The Carleton, 1685 Argyle Street, $11.50, Sep 26, 8-11pm

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HOPSCOTCH X: YBN CORDAE W/GUESTS Roger’s Square Halifax, Nova Centre, $25, Sep 28, 6-10pm

scrappy, punky fun that is The Cathartics. Gus’ Pub, 2605 Agricola Street, $10, Oct 3, 9pm-12am

THRUSH HERMIT W/SHOTGUN JIMMIE, THE BROOD This sold-out show celebrates the 20th anniversary of 1999 album Clayton Park. Marquee Ballroom, 2037 Gottingen Street, $38.49-$43.49, Sep 27,9pm; Sep 28, 11pm

HOLLERADO W/BAD WAITRESS This dance-y show will make you love Hollerado. And it couldn’t happen a moment too soon: The band swears up-and-down this show marks its farewell. The Seahorse Tavern, 2037 Gottigen Street, $20, Oct 3, 8-11pm

BURGERFRIESPOP W/DARK SKY PARKS, RETROVERSE, THE COUCH All-ages music mecca The Pavilion continues the be a beacon of rock ’n’ roll for everyone with this lineup of hot, fast, greasy noise.

The Pavilion, 5816 Cogswell Street, $5-$7, Sep 28, 6:25-9:45pm $ROCKIN 4 DOLLARS$ 14-YEAR ANNIVERSARY BASH An open mic night unlike any other, R4D spent over a decade bringing local music acts of all sizes together on a Monday night. The While the showcase is currently on the hunt for a new venue, this anniversary bash proves its a hibernation, not a retrospective. A Black Flag cover band and R4D faves like The Cathartics, Hemineglect and Bullet Bill Club round out the fun.

Gus’ Pub, 2605 Agricola Street, Sep 28, 8:30pm-1:30am

October OLD MAN LUEDECKE St. Matthew’s Church, 1479 Barrington Street, $29.99/$34.99, Oct 2, 8pm EXCUSES EXCUSES W/URSA BRIGHT, THE CATHARTICS While Ontario’s Excuses Excuses might be top of the bill, this show’s stars—to us at least—are the

T. THOMASON W/ZAMANI, X The singer-songwriter T. Thomason stripped away the guitar and built songs around a drum machine on his long-awaited upcoming LP, out Oct 3. Here, he celebrates the record—and what feels like his arrival at a new, hard-won identity both sonically and personally. The Bus Stop Theatre, 2203 Gottingen Street, $12/$15, Oct 3, 8pm THE NORTHERN PIKES Schooner Room, Casino Nova Scotia, 1983 Upper Water Street. $42/ $47, Oct 4, 8pm STÉPHANE TÉTREAULT & MIREILLE LAGACÉ: CELLO & ORGAN St. George’s Round Church, 2222 Brunswick Street, $10-$35, Oct 6, 2pm DAVE GUNNING The Carleton, 1685 Argyle Street, $32.50, Oct 5-Oct 6, 7-10pm ADAM BALDWIN W/SUNDAE GIRL Americana-tinged tunes are Baldwin’s signature and here, he makes good on your expectations, letting rip on his guitar while your toes tap. Marquee Ballroom, 2037 Gottingen Street, $24.99/$29.99, Oct 5, 9pm

The Coast

2019-09-18 5:40 PM

The Coast • SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 • 15

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FALL ARTS THE CHIEFTTANS AND FRIENDS: THE IRISH GOODBYE TOUR Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, 6101 University Avenue, PINK MARTINI W/CHINA FROBES, MEOW MEOW Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, 6101 University Avenue, $59.50-$89.50, Oct 10, 8pm LEGENDS A night of tributes to greats like Patsy Cline and Buddy Holly. Schooner Room, Casino Nova Scotia, 1983 Upper Water Street. $39.99-$49.99, Oct 11, 8pm THE FOLLOW UPS W/THE CATHARTICS, THE INVERTIBRATES Radstorm, 2177 Gottingen Street, $5/PWYC, Oct 12, 7-11pm JESSICA RHAYE—JUST LIKE A WOMAN: THE SONGS OF BOB DYLAN The Carleton, 1685 Argyle Street, $22.50, Oct 12, 7-9pm JACQUEES The R&B-hip hop crossover of Ca$h Money Records, Jacquees brings a Dirty South sound that’s prime for bottle-crackin‘, booty-shakin‘ and party-startin’.

Spatz Theatre, 1855 Trollope Street, $50-$55, Oct 13, 8pm HOTEL CALIFORNIA: THE ORIGINAL EAGLES TRIBUTE SHOW Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, 6101 University Avenue, $42-$52, Oct 14, 7:30pm SYMPHONY NS AND HPX PRESENT: JEREMY DUTCHER Dutcher’s classically trained background means a match with the symphony is a no-brainer. Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, 6101 University Avenue,

$35-$95, Oct 17, 7:30pm BRUCE GUTHRO’S SONGWRITERS’ CIRCLE Schooner Room, Casino Nova Scotia, 1983 Upper Water Street. $52, Oct 19, 8pm DAVE SAMPSON The Marquee Ballroom, 2037 Gottingen Street, $19.99/$24.99, Oct 19, 9-11:30pm FEAR OF LIPSTICK W/THE NEW CALLING, DARTS, WHMIS Radstorm, 2177 Gottingen Street, $10/PWYC, Oct 19, 8-11pm HALIFAX POP EXPLOSION The multi-venue music festival returns with 2019 Polaris Prize winner Haviah Mighty. Various venues, Oct 23-29 STÉPHANE TÉTREAULT & LORRAINE DESMARAIS: CELLO & PIANO Lilian Piercey Concert Hall, 6199 Chebucto Road, $15-$35, Oct 26, 7:30pm

November ATLANTIC BLUE: A CELEBRATION OF EAST COAST SONGWRITERS Tara MacLean tells the story of how music came to the East Coast and how it took the shape it has today. Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, 6101 University Avenue, $53, Nov 4,7:30pm

Cecilia Concerts pays tribute to the iconic performance, with lyric coloratura soprano and Broadway star Harolyn Blackwell delivering a notefor-note tribute, complete with live piano backing. St. George’s Round Church, 2222 Brunswick Street, $37.50, Nov 9, 7:30pm THE OFFSPRING W/SUM 41 Scotiabank Centre 5284 Duke Street, $61.25-$91.25, Nov 12, 8pm DANIEL CAESAR The R&B king returns to drizzle smoky honey on your ears. Scotiabank Centre Concert Bowl 1800 Argyle Street, $43.50/$63.50, Nov 14, 7pm HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE IN CONCERT The only possible way to make Harry Potter more epic is to have a full orchestra play the soundtrack while the movie shows on a giant screen in the Scotiabank Centre.

Scotiabank Centre, 5284 Duke Street, $65.25-$106, Nov 15, 7:30pm MATT MAYS W/SKYE WALLACE Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, 6101 University Avenue, $46.50/$51.50, Nov 15-16, 8pm CRASH TEST DUMMIES Schooner Room, Casino Nova Scotia 1983 Upper Water Street, $52/$57, Nov 22, 8pm

THE DEAD SOUTH W/ DEVARROW. More below. Marquee Ballroom, 2037 Gottingen Street, $32.99/$38.49, Nov 4, 8pm

GORDON LIGHTFOOT Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, 6101 University Avenue, $39.50-$99.50, Nov 22-24, 8pm

GENIUS CHILD: PORTIA WHITE AT TOWN HALL FEAT. HAROLYN BLACKWELL Here,

COCO LOVE ALCORN The Carleton, 1685 Argyle Street, $25/$30, Nov 27, 7:30pm

Devarrow on adulthood versus #adulting The singer-songwriter’s second album contemplates balance, community and phone addiction.

BY JONATHAN BRIGGINS

T

he questions pondered on the upcoming Devarrow album are more than just hashtag millennial problems.

When indie folk singer-songwriter Graham Ereaux started recording songs for a new Devarrow LP, the original plan was to create a narrative-based record built around a person moving from small town to big city and the often conflicting concepts of community and individualism.

“The more I wrote and the more I was touring at the time, the more I realized it was quite a personal record,” says Ereaux. “A lot about…how I feel about being someone in my mid-20s and living in the time of, I guess, being a millennial and what defines those experiences.”’

Opening track “Heart Attack”—from the self-titled sophomore album due out on October 4 via Paper Bag Records—sets the tone with feelings of anxiety coming through every soft word: “Heart attack in the middle of the night/Even though my hearts all right/I don’t know what the hell I’m gonna do,” the lyrics declare.

“Throughout the record, [I] keep coming back kind of to those themes of technology, our phone use, or addictions with those things and trying to keep asking these questions of, well how do we find balance?”

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ponders Ereaux.

After talking to friends and people of other generations, it became apparent these questions aren’t limited to millennials.

“While being in your mid-20s now is very much defined by technology and our relationship with technology, the same kind of feelings have kind of been present for any generation and trying to navigate what it means to find balance as well, but like feeling incredibly unbalanced.”

Ereaux goes the extra mile on the record, capturing sounds on his phone and laptop to create what he calls a “gritty kind of depressed lo-fi sound” aimed at recording sound on the same devices he consumes information on.

While the record is more personal, Ereaux has brought in more friends to perform under the Devarrow moniker. His debut album The Great Escape was more of a solo affair, entirely self-recorded in his room in Vancouver. Now his Halifax-based band features Evan Matthews on percussion, Peter Gillis on bass and Daniel Crowther on guitar.

“It’s been really exciting to share this process with my band. And they’re all incredibly talented musicians and can play their instruments way better than I ever could,” Ereaux adds.

The Coast

2019-09-18 5:41 PM

GUDIED TOUR QUINPOOL ROAD PAID CONTENT

Quinfest. SUBMITTED

GUIDED TOUR

QUINPOOL ROAD Where family tradition and small business thrive.

Follow the road to fun The Quinpool Road Mainstreet District Association is teaming up with the HFX Wanderers to bring the most action-packed Quinfest to date! It’s their way of saying thank you to the wonderful community members for supporting them all year long.

The family-friendly event brings fun to the open street, and this year they’re including more attractions that showcase the diversity in food and products found on Quinpool Road.

Halifax’s favourite pub band Shameless will kick off the March Rally to get you in the party mood with live music. And it doesn’t end there. Attendees can expect photo-ops with Ambassador Quinpool Rhoda (11-11:30 am) with an additional appearance by the Wanderer’s mascot Rover, a poster-making session discussing the schools’ climate strike, face painting, an obstacle course, bouncy castle and other carnival goodness. Make sure to get there early so you don’t miss out on free food samplings at some of Quinpool’s finest restaurants.

With all of the exciting Quinpool destination spots, visitors won’t know what to check out first! For more information visit quinfest.com

The Coast • SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 • 17

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GUDIED TOUR QUINPOOL ROAD PAID CONTENT

Saving soles Bring your favourite footwear back to life at Quinpool Shoe Repair. With high-quality dye, new colourful soles and a quick shine— voila! You’ll think they’re brand new (and everyone else will, too). That’s why we’ve trusted them with our shoe repair needs since 1958.

Their new location right across the street still brings a little slice of NYC to the HRM. Look around the walls and say hello to Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra as you get your shoes shined.

Between key cutting, waterproofing by hand, rubber soles for winter and heel and zipper fixes, Quinpool Shoe Repair can do it all. You can even trust them with your belts and leather purses. Did we mention they have the tools to fix sports equipment and to sharpen your skates? And why not get some colourful new laces while you’re at it? Your pieces deserve the best.

Quinpool Shoe Repair helps maintain the things we love, so we never have to say goodbye to old friends.

Quinpool Shoe Repair, 6424 Quinpool Road

Innovative care at your fingertips

Quinpool Shoe Repair. LENNY MULLINS

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Step into the oldest independently-owned physiotherapy clinic in Halifax for an individualized approach to patient care. Scotia Physiotherapy’s accurate assessments help you identify where manual therapy and exercise fit into your life.

Their clinic buzzes with a collaborative staff,

ensuring patients are receiving the most accurate advice and are treated accordingly. Scotia’s team leads with transparency, empathy, and compassion for the many ways in which people experience physical difficulty, treating them effectively and efficiently.

The physiotherapists’ breadth of knowledge brings clients a constant stream of innovative care. With their extensive post-graduate training, they come armed with understanding of manual and manipulative therapy, sports specialization, acupuncture and functional dry needling, concussion management, treatment of the jaw complex (TMD), movement impairment diagnosis, and specialized exercise training.

Working one-on-one with a Scotia therapist means each client can develop a customized rehabilitation plan to suit their unique physical condition, lifestyle, and personal goals.

Scotia Physiotherapy, 6178 Quinpool Road

Equipped for the great outdoors The crispy leaves are begging you to embark on some autumn hikes, but is your bag packed with the necessary gear?

The Trail Shop prepares you to embark on the boldest of adventures, all while bringing ease to the outdoor gear shopping experience.

Don’t worry about doing your research first– the shop’s team is there to guide you through their well-stocked store and find you the products that will take your trip to the next level.

This independent store has been refining their offerings to meet the needs of their life-

time shoppers, and always welcome in new clients like family. Whether you like to roughit or glamp, The Trail Shop has the right accessories to bring comfort to your wilderness travels.

Once you’re set up with your gear needs, they can send you off into the wild knowing you’re equipped with the best.

All you have to focus on is reconnecting with nature.

The Trail Shop, 6112 Quinpool Road

Called to Greece The key to serving the Halifax community for 37 years is listening to what the people crave.

Athens Restaurant knows what makes your stomachs growl on a Saturday afternoon, and we can’t resist answering the call to one of Halifax’s original Greek restaurants.

Don’t worry about checking the menu beforehand, Athens pleases the palette with traditional dishes and beyond. They’re stocked with favourites like souvlaki and chicken gyro, while bringing in the classic burgers, sandwiches, pasta and seafood dishes. Did we mention the food is homemade by the same family who started it all? The Athens family is committed to satisfying everyone in yours, so you can sit back and enjoy a stress-free, fresh meal.

Whether you’re a frequent traveler to Athens or not, you’ll be yelling “Opa!” for their returning all-you-can-eat weekend breakfast/ brunch buffet. Their hours stretch breakfast to 3 pm, allowing you to shake up any part of your day with true Mediterranean spices.

Athens Restaurant, 6273 Quinpool Road

The Coast

2019-09-18 4:50 PM

MUSIC AND ARTS NEWS EDITED BY MORGAN MULLIN SEND TIPS TO ARTS@THECOAST.CA

FILM

To The Lighthouse THE LOCATION Matt Likely has spent years working his way up the gilded ladder of the film industry, starting as a graphic designer “making signs that are used in the background of a movie,” to roles like artistic director or production designer.

When luminary auteur Robert Eggers decided that Yarmouth—in particular, what Likely describes as “a spit of land that could be made to look like an island” outside of town—was the perfect spot to film his latest saga The Lighthouse, Likely was brought on deck to make Eggers’ detail-rich vision come to life. “The art department on a film, they’re responsible for the look of everything in the movie,” Likely explains.

Working under the guide of production designer Craig Lathrop, Likely’s crew built the salt-sprayed world Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson inhabit as they fall prey to crippling isolation.

SUBMITTED

SUBMITTED

Robert Eggers’ horror-tinged film set in 1890s Maine was brought to life in southern Nova Scotia. BY MORGAN MULLIN

FIN Closing Gala: The Lighthouse Thu Sep 19, 9pm Maritime Museum of the Atlantic

THE BACKGROUND Matt Likely and the rest of the movie crew split their time between the outside shoot in Cape Forchu and studio locations in Yarmouth proper and Burnside. “A big misconception people have is that we had the structures, but everything was built by Nova Scotian crew members,” Likely adds.

After the film tax credit vanished in 2015, Likely adds the prospect of working on a major Hollywood picture like this felt like a thing of the past: “We lost a lot of crew to other places—mostly Toronto. We had a rough couple of years.

Now we’re trying to train new crew. It’s scary when a big movie like this comes along because we want to make a good impression,” he explains. A success like The Lighthouse “builds our momentum—helps build our case” as a movie-making destination province.

THE PROJECT With a resume that features work on movies like Hobo With A Shotgun and Weirdos, Likely knows the physical work that goes into making the fantasy-scape of film: “A large part of what the art department on a movie does is fill in the blanks from the script,” he shares. “Eggers has an art department background himself, so he’s in tune with what he wants.”

And what did the director who shot to fame on the back of 2015’s modern horror classic The VVItch want? A small cluster of clapboard-clad buildings—a coal house, a machine room—crowned with a towering lighthouse

straight out of 1880s Maine. The structure—which Likely says is 70 feet tall from the ground to the top of the needle—was made in three main components. “One of the hardest parts was the tapering at the top. When you build something not from brick that looks brick, how do you fake that cone shape?” he adds. The answer? fake brick panels made from specific molds. “It was a challenge after a challenge after a challenge, like putting a puzzle together.”

The winding staircase the lighthouse sports was doused in saltwater to look like aged iron rather than its actual aluminum.

THE RESULTS “I didn’t know a thing about lighthouses—I’d been to Peggy’s Cove,” Likely says with a laugh. Eggers brought old photos and lighthouse keepers’ logs for the crew to use as reference, meaning that they could fact-check the smallest detail. “We build a lot of hospitals, morgues, police stations, so the uniqueness of these sets were the best part,” Likely adds. “The chance to use modern methods for making traditional buildings and old stuff.”

–With files from Erin Christie.

The Coast • SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 • 19

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2019-09-18 4:20 PM

EDITED BY ALLISON SAUNDERS SEND TIPS TO ALLISONS@THECOAST.CA

Christine Allen (centre) serves jerk chicken, stewed oxtail and Jamaican patties at her new location. IAN SELIG

OPENINGS

More than a feeling

From farmers’ market to downtown jerk joint, Christine Allen’s dreams come true with her Jamaican restaurant, Brawta.

BY ALLISON SAUNDERS Brawta Jamaican Jerk Joint 1567 Grafton Street

B

aking was always a side hustle for Christine Allen, a hobby she’d been working at since she was a six-year-old in Jamaica, burning things in her mother’s kitchen. Heavily influenced by the women in her life and their handed-down recipes, Allen’s first foray into selling her food—long before she brought Brawta Jamaican Jerk Joint to life—came thanks to her grandmother’s Christmas fruit cake.

“At 17 I started a little baking business after my aunt taught me what she’d learned from my grandmother,” she says. “Christmas cakes are really popular in Jamaica, it’s a dark fruit cake with fruit that’s soaking in rum sometimes for a year. They sold off like crazy, and every year after that they just grew.”

With her cakes on the back-burner, she pursued community development and social work. While she had visions of running her own bakeshop or restaurant one day, Allen says she didn’t feel the need to take it to the next level in Jamaica—there wasn’t a void for her fill, and she loved cooking as a complement to her career.

In 2014, Allen and her family moved to Nova Scotia—she says, “the quality of life I wanted for them, I wasn’t really getting there”—and continued chasing a career in community health care. “I wasn’t able to cook as often for my family, I was busy and I decided I need to find somewhere to get them food,” she says.

But the grocery store Jamaican patties just weren’t cutting it. “I thought, if I can bake—I can make Jamaican patties.”

20 • SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 •

20-27.17.Food1NEW.indd 1

So she did. Then friends, and friends of friends, began asking to buy her patties for themselves. By 2016, the beginnings of Brawta were born.

Allen started selling at various famers’ markets in town and expanding her menu to keep up with the requests of regulars: jerk chicken, oxtail, curry goat and dumplings.

“I really wanted to give people authentic food, what I would have at home. Good from the ground, from the earth, flavourful food,” she says. “Not everyone can afford to take a vacation and people are curious about what Jamaican food is—and we want to do it right.

We are not going to water it down.”

Finally, in August Allen opened a permanent location for her jerk joint on Grafton Street, right next to pizza corner, and made her two young daughters her business partners. She wanted them to feel a sense of ownership.

Brawta serves lunch and dinner from a relaxed, open concept space where the the vibe is casual, the music is playful and boisterous conversation is not just welcomed, but encouraged. (The louder, the better, she says.)

On its menu, you’ll find an evolving selection of authentic dishes—including the Christmas cake that started it all, Naomi’s fruit cake.

“I’ve always seen myself having a place like this, that vision became clearer when I came here,” Allen says. “I wanted to have a little place, somewhere people can feel comfortable, where I can interact with people. I don’t see this as just somewhere just for food. It’s more of a feeling. I want people to be able to enjoy the atmosphere, feel comfortable and chat. That’s how it is in Jamaica—we’re laid back.” a

The Coast

2019-09-18 4:27 PM

Food+Drink

KYLEE NUNN

POP-UP

Propeller’s on the level

T

place Friday, September 20 and Saturday, September 21 (from 4pm to midnight) and again on Sunday, September 22 (from noon to 6pm for all ages, and until 10pm for the 19+ crowd) when Hopyard Beer Bar will join in on the fun, with snacks on hand.

“It’s all about having fun really,” says Matheson. “I just really wanted to fill a room with fun stuff, and thankfully they let me.” —AS

Reader Review Kyo Kitchen & Bar 1715 Barrington Street

My surprise in the city. I was walking to another restaurant and changed my mind... for this casual bistro style place.

The food, service and the cocktails were just great. A really good experience. —posted by Marc Perreault Write a review thecoast.ca

SUBMITTED

he closest thing to getting inside Ian Matheson’s brain is spending some time at the Propeller Arcade. The Propeller Brewing Company staffer and resident pinball nerd was the champion behind the north end brewery’s no-frills, ultra-lax basement bar, which opened about nine months ago. Now he’s helping it level up.

“We thought it would be so cool if we could use the brewery floor for something. Fifty percent of the people who come down here are in shock and awe of these games they haven’t seen in a long time, but so many others are taken aback by the brewery itself.

When people see it, so many want to go down and explore,” says Matheson of the idea to expand the Propeller Arcade offerings—and square footage—for one weekend only. After calling up some friends and collectors (“I love to get stoked on this stuff, and so do they,” says Matheson) the brewery is ushering in fall by hosting Level Up—three days of maximum fun. Think black lights, disco balls, classic arcade basketball, air hockey, driving games and a claw machine, plus the usual old school classics you can always find at 2015 Gottingen Street.

The XL Propeller Arcade experience takes

The fourth annual Halifax Veg Fest takes over the Halifax Forum’s Multi-Purpose Centre (2901 Windsor Street) this Sunday, September 22. A food-focused celebration of plant-based lifestyle (for vegans and non-vegans alike) Veg Fest brings cooking demos, vendors, special guests (like the hosts of the Vegan Warrior Princesses Attack podcast) workshops and local animal-loving organizations into the spotlight from 10am-5pm.

The Coast • SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 • 21

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2019-09-18 4:23 PM

ShopTalk S M A L L B U S I N E S S N E W S C O M P I L E D A N D W R I T T E N BY ALLISON SAUNDERS Send tips to shoptalk@thecoast.ca

Hannah Kovacs has a Masters degree in policy but her real passion lies in fitness. SUBMITTED

FITNESS

Move East moves in

H

annah Kovacs’ career path might have been, as she puts it, “very non-linear” but eventually it led her back home. The born-and-raised Haligonian, who spent the last number of years living in Toronto, fell for fitness after dabbling in a few other worlds— earning a Masters in policy, working for a tech start-up and exploring the world of marketing and branding. But sitting at a desk didn’t really do it for her.

“I really missed playing soccer at a competitive level,” says Kovacs of the team mindset that drove her to take the workouts she’d lead for her friends to the next level. She became a certified fitness instructor and started building her own brand: HIIT with Hannah.

“It started for just me and my friends but word spread and my classes were quite busy,” she says. “I would wake up every day looking to bring people together to sweat it out, and take that hour of their day to connect with

themselves and other people.” After putting in the work on the ground level, working with and learning from other studios, Kovacs decided to come back to Halifax and open her own, Move East (6130 Quinpool Road, in The Keep).

Aiming debut in mid-October, she’ll offer high intensity interval training, fast- and slow-paced yoga, technique focused strength training and military-style fitness classes, for starters. Move East will also have a heated infrared room for hot classes and mobility work.

There’ll be major focus on team, community and offering something for folks of all fitness levels.

“I have always been the friend that brings people together, and I’m so lucky I get to do that through owning a fitness studio,” says Kovacs. “I love that people from all walks of life and backgrounds can connect with each other in one space.” —AS

POP-UP

OPENINGS

Night time’s the right time Who doesn’t love a Friday night boardwalk stroll? Or ferry ride? Dartmouth at Dusk is back in action, gathering locally-minded shoppers on the Dartmouth waterfront (Alderney Landing, 2 Ochterloney Street, to be exact) to browse art, accessories, home wares and treats, sending the week off under the fading daylight. This wholesome round up of local artists and vendors takes place Friday, September 20 from 4-9pm. —AS 22 • SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 •

22-27.17.Shoptalk.indd 1

Flýja fires up Spa industry veteran, Lauren Hogeboom wanted to capture the sublime beauty of Iceland in her own self-care space. Her new addition to downtown Dartmouth, Flýja Micro Spa (68 Queen Street) opened last month, offering a variety of services like massage, waxing, nails, brows) and all-Canadian products for folks looking to unwind after a long day at the office. This Friday, September 20 from 5-7pm, Flýja (which means escape in Icelandic, by the way) celebrates its grand opening with sample treatments, a raffle and more. —AS

The Coast

2019-09-18 4:19 PM

Entertainment Listings Music You’re here!

Events To the right

› ENTERTAINMENT AND EVENTS PICKS WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY MORGAN MULLIN

Send event listings to listings@thecoast.ca. Print deadline Thursday, 5pm

Music

SURE THINGS

Thursday

Saturday

Monday

September 19 September 21 September 23 DJs

DJs

90s Night w/DJ Rewind Toothy Moose, 1661 Argyle Street DJ IV w/DJ OKAY TK Vinyl, 1575 Argyle Street, midnight DJ Randy Montes, 245 Waverley Rd, 10pm, free DJ Danderson Menz & Mollyz Bar, 2182 Gottingen Street, 10pm

DJ Frost and XS 7 Red Stag, 1496 Lower Water Street, 10pm DJ Randy Montes, 245 Waverley Road, 10pm The Jam The Seahorse, 2037 Gottingen St, 10pm

Live Music

Bruce & Jay MacKinnon Durty Nelly’s, 1645 Argyle Street, 4pm The Carleton Collective The Carleton, 1685 Argyle Street, 10pm, $5 Chris Kirby (CD release tour) Patchwork House Concerts, 30 First Ave, 8pm Dave Goyetche The Old Triangle Halifax, 5136 Prince Street, 5pm Dodge Levatte Durty Nelly’s, 1645 Argyle Street, 8pm Frankie Wood, TheMobiustripper, & Marzipan Menz & Mollyz Bar, 2182 Gottingen Street, 8pm Geoff Kennedy The Carleton, 1685 Argyle Street, 6pm, free Gordie Tucker Matinee Show Bearly’s, 1269 Barrington Street, 4:30pm Joe Murphy & The Water Street Blues Band Your Father’s Moustache, 5686 Spring Garden Road, 4pm, free McGinty The Lower Deck, 1887 Upper Water Street, midnight Michael Lloyd Durty Nelly’s, 1645 Argyle Street, 10:30pm Mike Cowie and Co. The Press Gang, 5218 Prince Street, 8pm Nimo Patel & Daniel Nahmod Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Rd, 4pm, free On Tap Split Crow Halifax, 1855 Granville Street, 9:30pm Symphony NS presents: Opera Gala, with Renée Fleming Dalhousie Arts Centre, 6101 University Avenue, 7pm, $90 - $155

The 6 Star Review Garrison Brewing, 1149 Marginal Road,9:30pm Anthony & Jordan Split Crow, 1855 Granville Street, 9pm Corey Isenor, Mushkat w/ Darrel Cameron and Liam Frier Seahorse Tavern, 2037 Gottingen Street,8pm Dodge Levatte Durty Nelly’s, 1645 Argyle Street, 10:30pm McGinty The Lower Deck, 1887 Upper Water Street, midnight Brad Conrad & Band Bearly’s, 1269 Barrington Street, 10pm Landing Sound The Loose Cannon,1566 Argyle Street, 9pm, free The Legendary Goldblooms Sniggily Wiggily’s,1655 Argyle Street, 7pm, free Salsa dancing 1313 Hollis Street, 9pm, $3

Friday September 20 DJs All Request DJ Night Big Leagues Pub, 920 Cole Harbour Road, 9:30pm, free DJ Randy Montes, 245 Waverley Rd, 10pm, free DJ Savory Toothy Moose, 1661 Argyle Street, midnight, $10 DJ Tony Haze Bitter End, 1572 Argyle Street, 10pm, free Since U Been Gone The Seahorse, 2037 Gottingen Street, 10pm

Live Music Dodge Levatte Durty Nelly’s, 1645 Argyle Street, 7pm Maximum Overdrive The Carleton, 1685 Argyle Street, 10pm, $10 McGinty The Lower Deck, 1887 Upper Water Street, 12am Michael Lloyd Durty Nelly’s, 1645 Argyle Street, 10:30pm Mike Cowie and Co. The Press Gang, 5218 Prince Street, 8pm On Tap Split Crow, 1855 Granville Street, 9:30pm Vortex w/ Enemy Designed & Ignightor Gus’ Pub and Grill, 2605 Agricola St, 10pm

Live Music

Sunday September 22 DJs DJ Mike G Toothy Moose Cabaret, 1661 Argyle Street, midnight, free

Live Music Anthony & Jordan Split Crow, 1855 Granville Street, 8pm Jeff Goodspeed and His Ultimate Band of Super Heroes Stayner’s, 5075 George Street, 5pm, free Them Other Johns The Local, 2037 Gottingen Street, 4pm

DJs DJ Tony Haze Bitter End, 1572 Argyle Street, 10pm, free DJ Skeeter B Toothy Moose, 1661 Argyle Street, 12am, free

Live Music Mike Lloyd Split Crow, 1855 Granville Street, 8pm Dave MacIsaac & Louis Benoit The Old Triangle, 5136 Prince Street, 7pm, free NAMU Halifax Central Library,5440 Spring Garden Road, 7pm, $16-20 One Man Band Halifax Alehouse, 1717 Brunswick Street, midnight

Tuesday September 24 DJs DJ Master Menz & Mollyz Bar, 2182 Gottingen Street, midnight

Live Music Jordan Leblanc Split Crow, 1855 Granville Street, 8pm Tyler & Scott Durty Nelly’s, 1645 Argyle Street, 10pm, free Garrett Mason Bearly’s, 1269 Barrington Street, 8:30pm, pwyc GOTTIJAM Menz & Mollyz, 2182 Gottingen Street, 10:30pm,$3

Wednesday September 25 Live Music Joe Murphy and Brad Conrad The Loose Cannon, 1566 Argyle Street, 9pm, free Colin Burke Duo Split Crow, 1855 Granville Street, 8pm Dodge Levatte Durty Nelly’s, 1645 Argyle Street, 9:30pm Almasy The Carleton, 1685 Argyle Street, 6pm Gillian Smith Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, 7pm Jazz Night with Willem Paynter Obladee, 1600 Barrington Sreett, 8pm, free The Strolling Bones The Daily Grind, 1479 Birmingham Street, 9pm, free Damien Moynihan, Silvio Pupo, Ronald Hynes The Local, 2037 Gottingen Street, 9pm, free

Events Thursday September 19 Atlantic Fashion Week Opening Night Showcase This all-ages runway extravaganzatitled “Fashion For All” starts AFW off on a highly accessible note, with lines like Shotgun Vintage, tREv Clothing and LORE strutting their stuff at your favourite mall.

Halifax Shopping Centre, 7001 Mumford Road, 7pm, $10, tickethalifax.ca FIN, the Atlantic International Film Festival Call it FIN or AIFF or late for dinner, as long as you know that “the film festival” is eight days of movie magic, and this is the last one.

Cineplex Park Lane, 5657 Spring Garden Road, various ticket prices, finfestival.ca Healing Earth: An Ecologist’s Journey of Innovation and Stewardship John Todd delivers this lecture. Ondaatje Hall, Marion McCain Building, 6135 University Ave, 7pm, free Heritage Trust NS talk by Scott Robson: Nova Scotia in 1819 Museum of Natural History, 1747 Summer Street, 7:30pm, free Jokes n Tokes New Scotland Brewing, 91 Alderney Drive, 8pm The Open Smoke Comedy Show High Life Social Club, 5982 Spring Garden Road, 9pm, $8 Sibling Rivalry: Sleepover with Bob & Monét A stage adaptation of the fabulous podcast adventures of Drag Race winners and sisters in fierceness, Bob and Monétt X. Spatz Theatre, 1855 Trollope Street, 9pm, $40105, tickethalifax.ca

Friday September 20 Atlantic Fashion Week Runway Showcase 2 Get major closet envy by ogling the lastest from lines like Cellophxne, Saxon Lenehan, Kamen McKay and Sueno Swimwear.Canadian Museum of Immigration 1055 Marginal Road, 8:30pm (doors at 7pm), $25-50,tickethalifax.ca

Dartmouth at Dusk See page 22.

Alderney Landing, 2 Ochterloney Street, 4pm Level Up Weekend The Propeller Arcade—tucked away inside Propeller Brewing Company—celebrates an expansion.

Read more on page 21.

Propeller Brewing Co, 2015 Gottingen Street, Fri Sep 20-Sat Sep 21, 4pm-midnight; Sun Sep 22, noon-10pm Newcomers Conversation Club Captain William Spry Community Centre, 10 Kidston Road, 1pm, free Sugar Sammy The funny guy The New York Times calls “a fearless comic with a talent for provoking both laughter and outrage.” Sugar Sammy brings his particular brand of stand-up.

Spatz Theatre, 1855 Trollope Street, 8pm, $38.50/$42.50, tickethalifax.com

Saturday

Week of ction Climate A on ts n eve page 4

Sunday September 22 BYOBB: Bring Your Own Baby A kid-friendly spin on brunch awaits with menu items suited for all ages and activities for wee ones.

Chain Yard Cider, 2606 Agricola Street, 11:30am-3pm RobieScope Revel in the joy that is watching Victoria Beckham drive a doubledecker bus with this screening of Spice World. Good Robot Brewing Company, 2736 Robie St,8pm, free Halifax Pop-Up Wedding Dress Sale Atlantica Hotel Halifax, 1980 Robie Street, 9am Epic Let’s Roam’s Scavenger Hunt Halifax: Halifax’s Hopping Harbour! 1209 Marginal Road, 10am, $39-79, eventbrite.com

September 21 Tuesday September 24 Atlantic Fashion Week Final Showcase Get inspired to re-vamp your look one last time with a showstopping display of local talent, including work from Donn Sabean, TUCY, Nicole Daigle, Kelsey Erin and Melanie Jacqueline. Canadian Museum of Immigration 1055 Marginal Road, 8:30pm (doors at 7pm), $25-50, tickethalifax.ca Electric Avenue Test-drive electric vehicles and e-bikes. 1233 Lower Water Street,10am-3pm Fighting Fires Since 1754: The History of the Halifax Fire Department Saint Mary’s University, McNally Theatre, 923 Robie Street, 9:30am, $20-25 Epic Let’s Roam’s Scavenger Hunt Halifax: Halifax’s Hopping Harbour!

1209 Marginal Road, 10am

Art Pays Me LIVE Podcast Recording See photo below.

The Foggy Goggle, 2057 Gottingen Street, 6pm

Wednesday September 25 RobieScope A mid-week lol thanks to Ghostbusters. (The “lady” one.) Good Robot, 2736 Robie St, 8pm Board Room Trivia: Disney! The Board Room Game Cafe,

HFX Wanderers FC vs Valour FC Root for the hometeam as it takes on Winnipeg’s soccer squad. Wanderers Grounds Stadium, 5819 Sackville Steet, 2pm, $23.50-$51.75

Sure Thing

Art Pays Me LIVE Podcast Recording Streetwear king Duane Jones keeps building his empire Art Pays Me, branching off from branded sweatshirts with a podcast that explores the business strategies of successful creatives. Here, Jones delivers a live taping of the pod that will surely feature some #OOTD inspo on the side. Tue Sep 24, Foggy Goggle, 2057 Gottingen Street, 6-9pm, $10 ED ITT BM SU

The Coast • SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 • 23

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2019-09-18 4:41 PM

LOVE THE WAY WE BITCH / LOVE 2309 Maynard Street, Halifax, NS B3K 3T8 Phone: 902-422-6278, Fax: 902-425-0013 Email: coast@thecoast.ca EDITORIAL Editor Kyle Shaw (editor@thecoast.ca) Deputy Editor Allison Saunders (allisons@thecoast.ca) Arts & Entertainment Editor Morgan Mullin (arts@thecoast.ca) City Editor Caora McKenna (news@thecoast.ca) Copy Editor Fadila Chater Cannabis Editor Meg Hubley (thereef@thecoast.ca) Senior Features Writer Stephen Kimber (stephenk@thecoast.ca) Contributing Writers Chris Benjamin, Jane Kansas, Carsten Knox, Brennan McCracken Contributing Editors Melissa Buote, Lezlie Lowe, Stephanie Johns, Happy Birthday You Awesome Tara Thorne You Contributing Photographers Meghan Tansey Whitton, Lenny Mullins, Alexa Cude, Riley Smith Contributing Illustrators Paul Hammond, Tim Carpenter, Mollie Cronin, Jordyn Bochon Housing Reporter Sandra C. Hannebohm (housing@thecoast.ca) ACTIVE MARKETING PROFESSIONALS Director of Sales and Marketing Christa Harrie (christah@thecoast.ca) Account Executive Kate Spurr (kate@thecoast.ca) Account Executive Haley Clarke (haley@thecoast.ca) PRODUCTION & ONLINE Production Manager Pam Nicoll (pamn@thecoast.ca) Production Designer Jess Hartjes (jess@thecoast.ca) Production Assistant Kirsten Aitken Imaging Consultant Kevin Cunningham

Our hurricane-ravaged city is NOT a Kodak moment!!!

As I stroll through our Dorian-defiled city, streets and parks chock-full of emergency workers, city employees, and volunteers amongst all of the people doing anything they can to help and others salvaging and repair what they can from the mess that’s been made. Then there is you, having friends take photos of you while posing in front of fallen trees in parks. Or having your children stand as close as they can to the caution tape while you capture the perfect Insta-pic of them with the fallen crane in the background. Or the guys that had their bro take that sweet pic of them while they stood in front of the vehicles that were crushed by the roof that flew off of the nearby building! None of these things are fun or cool, these are things that have caused people trouble that they now have to take care of. It’s a blessing no one was seriously injured! Maybe put your camera away and see if there’s anything you can do to help, rather than using this mess for photo content! —Yes, I Am Shaking My Head At You

!

❤ Where are you?

Hey Mr. Postman: We stopped and talked two summers in a row on the steps to the beach. You had lots of time to spend there because of an injury. How about meeting again on Monday, September 23, rain or shine around 4pm?

—Missed Chance Maybe

❤ The power of laughter

Just another Tuesday evening, laughing with a friend on the 1 bus.

We probably looked like fools. But still, some of you accepted the memes we airdropped, and the laughter grew from just us two, to a community of passengers on transit as a whole. Some of you even airdropped memes back. We were all strangers, still are, but in that moment I think we all felt the strength of our community, coming together, to laugh at funny photos.

—Anonymous Airdropper

THE COMIC

OPERATIONS Office Manager Audra McKenna (audram@thecoast.ca) Distribution Team David MacPhee, Bob Mitchell, Steve Amero Front Desk Enforcer Kyla Derry (kylad@thecoast.ca) Publisher Christine Oreskovich (christineo@thecoast.ca) The Coast is Halifax’s weekly newspaper, published every Thursday

by Coast Publishing Limited. The Coast’s goal is to be provocative, entertaining and truthful. Coast Publishing Limited takes absolutely no responsibility for the condo that goes up next door thanks to the Centre Plan. The Coast is printed locally on recycled stock with 23,000 copies distributed throughout Halifax, Dartmouth and Bedford. Mailed under Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40027554.

Please return undeliverable addresses to the Distribution Department, 2309 Maynard Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3K 3T8 (email distribution@thecoast.ca). Staff and management of The Coast neither advocate nor encourage the use of products or services advertised herein for illegal purposes. All rights reserved. © 2019. Independent and locally owned, founded in 1993.

❤ To the carpenter/artist with

the moves Thanks again for being the right kind of weirdo! I’ve had the most emotionally draining week, and you made everything seem a little less bitter. If I weren’t happily coupled I would have gladly let you hit on me.

Perhaps in another dimension my doppleganger gave you a ride home and her number. In this dimension, I thank you for brightening my night and being a complete gentleman.

—She With The Moves (And The Clumsy Twirl)

!

❤

❤ Sorry I scared you

To the 7 bus driver on Tuesday afternoon: Sorry I jumped in to ask you if you could call transit dispatch and report a bus with serious mechanical problems. It was leaking a lot of smoking fluid all over Gottingen Street, and I kinda panicked and must have seemed intense with urgency. You seemed worried, maybe about your personal safety, and said no and drove on. I totally get it, and I wish I had been more composed, I know you already put up with all sorts of difficult situations every day on the job. Sorry!

—A Chastised Alarm-giver

What do we want to eat/drink this week?

More popcorn at FIN Pumpkin spice lattes

Ready to drop your pitchforks yet?

Toxic callout culture mob mentality “warriors”—are you ready to drop your pitchforks yet? Callout culture is ending, and everyone now notices how every time your group disagrees with people or has conflict, they’re cancelled. YOU are scarier to people in the community than the people you cancel, but people are too afraid of your social power to stand up to you—mostly for fear of being blacklisted and isolated from any community contact. How does it feel knowing that the marginalized and underprivileged hoard that you blacklisted from accessing any resources in their own community are coming back with a vengeance?

Have you come to terms with your own privilege? Are you able to move past your own stumbling blocks?

Hmm. —Human Fucking Being

!

More bitching Go online to post your rant at thecoast.ca/bitch

24 • SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 •

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The Coast

2019-09-18 4:59 PM

Free Will Astrology ROB BREZSNY wants

Virgo

you to be creative with your generosity, Capricorn.

(Aug 23-Sep 22)

In 1959, scandal erupted among Americans who loved to eat peanut butter. Studies revealed that manufacturers had added so much hydrogenated vegetable oil and glycerin to their product that only 75 percent of it could truly be called peanut butter. So began a long legal process to restore high standards. Finally there was a new law specifying that no company could sell a product called “peanut butter” unless it contained at least 90 percent peanuts. I hope this fight for purity inspires you to conduct a metaphorically comparable campaign. It’s time to ensure that all the important resources and influences in your life are at peak intensity and efficiency. Say NO to dilution and adulteration.

This week’s birthdays: Jodie Callaghan, Mya Brothers, Andy Pedersen, Jill Bulmer, Andrea Townsend, Josh MacDonald, Aya Al-Hakim.

Sharing your big day with the world is as easy as emailing the name/date details to bday@thecoast.ca

Libra

(Sep 23-Oct 22)

In 1936, the city of Cleveland, Ohio staged the Great Lakes Exposition, a 135-acre fair with thrill rides, art galleries, gardens and sideshows. One of its fun features was The Golden Book of Cleveland, a 2.3-tonne, 6,000-page text the size of a mattress. After the expo closed down, the “biggest book in the world” went missing. If it still exists today, no one knows where it is. I’m going to speculate that there’s a metaphorical version of The Golden Book of Cleveland in your life. You, too, have lost track of a major Something that would seem hard to misplace. Here’s the good news: If you intensify your search now, I bet you’ll find it before the end of 2019.

Scorpio

(Oct 23-Nov 21)

In 1990, the New Zealand government appointed educator, magician and comedian Ian Brackenbury Channell to be the official Wizard of New Zealand. His jobs include protecting the government, blessing new enterprises, casting out evil spirits, upsetting fanatics and cheering people up. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to find your personal equivalents of an inspirational force like that. There’s really no need to scrimp. According to my reading of the cosmic energies, you have license to be extravagant in getting what you need to thrive.

Sagittarius

(Nov 22-Dec 21)

“Do silly things,” advised playwright Anton Chekhov. “Foolishness is a great deal more vital and healthy than our straining and striving after a meaningful life.” I think that’s a perspective worth adopting now and then. Most of us go through phases when we take things too seriously and too personally and too literally.

Bouts of fun absurdity can be healing agents for that affliction. But now is NOT one of those times for you, in my opinion. Just the reverse is true, in fact. I encourage you to cultivate majestic moods and seek out aweinspiring experiences and induce sublime perspectives. Your serious and noble quest for a meaningful life can be especially rewarding in the coming weeks.

Capricorn

(Dec 22-Jan 19)

Before comedian Jack Benny died in 1974, he arranged to have a florist deliver a single red rose to his wife every day for the rest of her life.

She lived another nine years, and received more than 3,000 of these gifts. Even though you’ll be around on this earth for a long time, I think the coming weeks would be an excellent time to establish a comparable custom—a commitment to providing regular blessings to a person or persons for whom you care deeply.

This bold decision would be in alignment with astrological omens, which suggest that you can generate substantial benefits for yourself by being creative with your generosity.

Aquarius

(Jan 20-Feb 18)

Actor and author Ruby Dee formulated an unusual prayer. “God,” she wrote, “make me so uncomfortable that I will do the very thing I fear.” As you might imagine, she was a brave activist who risked her reputation and career working for the Civil Rights Movement and other idealistic causes. I think her exceptional request to a higher power makes good sense for you right now. You’re in a phase when you can generate practical blessings by doing the very things that intimidate you or make you nervous. And maybe the best way to motivate and mobilize yourself is by getting at least a bit flustered or unsettled.

Pisces

(Feb 19-Mar 20)

Syndicated cartoon strip “Calvin and Hobbes” appeared for 10 years in 2,400 newspapers in 50 countries. It wielded a sizeable cultural influence.

For example, in 1992, six-year-old Calvin decided “The Big Bang” was a boring term for how the universe began, and instead proposed we call it the “Horrendous Space Kablooie.”

A number of real scientists subsequently adopted Calvin’s innovation, and it has been invoked playfully but seriously in university courses and textbooks. In that spirit, I encourage you to give fun new names to anything and everything you feel like spicing up. You now have substantial power to reshape and revamp the components of your world. It’s Identify-Shifting Time.

Aries

(Mar 21-Apr 19)

We’re in the equinoctial season.

During this pregnant pause, the sun seems to hover directly over the equator; the lengths of night and day are equal. For all of us, but especially for you, it’s a favourable phase to conjure and cultivate more sweet symmetry, calming balance and healing harmony. In that spirit, I encourage you to temporarily suspend any rough, tough approaches

you might have in regard to those themes. Resist the temptation to slam two opposites together simply to see what happens. Avoid engaging in the pseudo-fun of purging by day and bingeing by night. And don’t you dare get swept up in hating what you love or loving what you hate.

Taurus

(Apr 20-May 20)

“I tell you what freedom is to me: no fear.” So said singer and activist Nina Simone. But it’s doubtful there ever came a time when she reached the perfect embodiment of that idyllic state. How can any of us empty out our anxiety so completely as to be utterly emancipated? It’s not possible. That’s the bad news, Taurus. The good news is that in the coming weeks you will have the potential to be as unafraid as you have ever been. For best results, try to ensure that love is your primary motivation in everything you do and say and think.

Gemini

(May 21-Jun 20)

Some things don’t change much.

The beautiful marine animal species known as the pearly nautilus, which lives in the South Pacific, is mostly the same as it was 150 million years ago. Then there’s Fuggerei, a walled enclave within the German city of Augsburg. The rent is cheap, about one US dollar per year, and that fee hasn’t increased in almost 500 years. While I am in awe of these bastions of stability, and wish we had more such symbolic anchors, I advise you to head in a different direction. During the coming weeks, you’ll be wise to be a maestro of mutability, a connoisseur of transformation, an adept of novelty.

Cancer

(Jun 21-Jul 22)

Granny Smith apples are widely available. But before 1868, the tart, crispy, juicy fruit never existed on planet Earth. Around that time, an Australian mother of eight named Maria Ann Smith threw the cores of French crab apples out her window while she was cooking. The seeds were fertilized by the pollen from a different, unknown variety of apple, and a new type was born: Granny Smith. I foresee the possibility of a metaphorically comparable event in your future: a lucky accident that enables you to weave together two interesting threads into a fascinating third thread.

Leo

(Jul 23-Aug 22)

“Every masterpiece is just dirt and ash put together in some perfect way,” writes storyteller Chuck Palahniuk, who has completed several novelistic masterpieces.

According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you Leos have assembled much of the dirt and ash necessary to create your next masterpiece, and are now ready to move on to the next phase. And what is that phase? Identifying the help and support you’ll need for the rest of the process. a Go to freewillastrology.com for Rob Brezsny’s EXPANDED WEEKLY AUDIO and DAILY TEXT MESSAGE HOROSCOPES. The audio horoscopes are also available at 877-873-4888.

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Savage Love SEX ADVICE FROM DAN SAVAGE mail@savagelove.net

Parents and puberty How to do right by your pre-teen son when his thing for handcuffs is likely a bondage kink. son has always liked handcuffs and Q My tying people up as a form of play. He is 12

now, and the delight he finds in cuffing has not faded. He lobbied hard to be allowed to buy a hefty pair of handcuffs. We cautioned him strongly about consent—he has a younger brother—and he has been good about it. In the last year, I found out he’s been cuffing himself while alone in the house. When discovered, he becomes embarrassed, insisting it’s a joke.

I found him asleep one night with his wrists cuffed. I removed the cuffs and spoke to him the next morning about safety. Recently, when returning home late, I saw him (through his window, from the back of the house) naked and cuffed with a leather belt around his waist, which seemed attached to the cuffs.

This escalation was scarier. I haven’t spoken to him about it. My concern about the bondage stuff is that there are some risks (like escaping a fire), particularly if he gets more adventurous. This is something he is doing secretly and alone. He is a smart kid, an athlete and a fairly conscientious scholar. He has friends but sometimes feels lonely. He is going through puberty with its attendant madness but he is also very loving and kind. He is also quite boastful, which I interpret as insecurity.

I can’t help feeling that this bondage stuff is related to these issues, and I worry about selfesteem and self-loathing. We are considering getting him some help. Any advice for us?

—Completely Understandable Fears For Son

A

When a concerned parent reaches out to an advice columnist with a question like yours, CUFFS, the columnist is supposed to call in the child psychologists.

But I thought it might be more interesting— perhaps more helpful—if I shared your letter with a different class of experts: adult men who were tying themselves up when they were 12 years old.

“This boy sounds a lot like how I was,” says James “Jimmy” Woelfel, a bondage porn star with a huge online following. “I want to reassure CUFFS that the discovery of things like this, even at a young age, is extremely common. We may not know why we like this stuff at the time, we just know we do.”

Jimmy is correct: Many adults who are into bondage became aware of their bondage kinks at a very early age.

“The vast majority of BDSM practitioners report that their sexual interests developed relatively early in life, specifically before the age of 25,” Justin Lehmiller wrote in a recent post on his Sex and Psychology blog. “Further, a minority of these folks (seven to 12 percent across studies) report that their interests actually developed around the time of puberty (ages 10 to 12), which is when other traditional aspects of sexual orientation develop (e.g. attraction based on sex/gender).”

While an obsession with handcuffs at age six isn’t proof a kid is going to grow up with an erotic interest in bondage—lots of kids like to play cops and robbers—a boy who cuffs himself in the throes of puberty and doing so in the nude and in secret… yeah, that boy is almost certainly going to be into bondage when he grows up. And that boy is also going to be embarrassed when his parents discover him in handcuffs for the exact same reason a boy

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is going to be embarrassed when his parents walk in on him masturbating—because he’s having a private sexual experience that he really doesn’t want to discuss with his parents.

As for your son’s insecurities and loneliness, CUFFS, they may not be related to his interest in bondage at all. They’re more likely a reaction to the shame about his kinks than to the kinks themselves.

“People do bondage for various reasons,” says Trikoot, a kink educator from Helsinki, Finland. “It’s not always sexual, and it’s almost never a symptom of self-loathing—and a counsellor will not ‘erase’ a taste for bondage.

Too many kinksters had young lives full of shame and hiding, only to accept themselves years later and then discover what they’ve missed out on.”

In other words, CUFFS, parents and counsellors can’t talk a child out of their kinks any more than they can talk a child out of their sexual orientation. This stuff is hardwired.

And once someone accepts their kinks, whatever anxiety they feel about them eventually evaporates.

All that said, however awkward it was for you and mortifying for your son when you found him asleep in his handcuffs, Jimmy thinks there may be an upside.

“I was extremely embarrassed when my mom caught me,” says Jimmy. “She didn’t know how to respond and neither did I at the time. We merely went on as if it never happened. But it was somewhat comforting to know there wasn’t going to be a major backlash. It was better than living in fear.”

Now that you know what you know about your son, CUFFS, what do you do? Well, with the burden of knowing comes the responsibility—not just to educate and warn, but to offer your son a little hope for his future.

“Consent and safety are two of the most important universal issues in bondage, and CUFFS has wisely addressed both of them,” says Trikoot. And you should stress both in a follow-up conversation. “There are boundaries that should never be crossed, such as solo breath play, which regularly kills even experienced adults. But dabbling with wrist and ankle restraints while being within shouting distance of the rest of the family is not a serious safety issue.”

Sleeping in handcuffs is a serious safety issue—they can twist, compress nerves and damage the delicate bones of the wrist. He should not be sleeping in them.

Now for the tricky and super awkward and what will definitely feel age-inappropriate part: At some point—maybe in a year or two— you need to let your son know that he has a community out there.

“When done safely, bondage/kink can be an extremely rewarding experience as he grows into adulthood,” Jimmy says. “Some of the most important people in my life are those whom I’ve shared this love with. It is nothing to be ashamed of—though at his age, it is unfortunately inevitable. How you react can help mitigate such a reaction.”

Oh, and stop peeping in your son’s bedroom window at night. That’s creepy. a Listen to Dan Savage’s Weekly Lovecast at thecoast .ca/savage

The Coast

2019-09-18 4:24 PM

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