Dan Conlin has kept track of the trick-or-treaters who called at his Duncan St., Halifax, home for the last 17 years. Yesterday's numbers showed a modest uptick, but the overall trend is dramatic and downward: This year's visitors began arriving at 5:35 pm, peaked at 7 p.m., and had vanished into the night by 8:15. Vampires, Princesses, and Ninjas led the parade, at six each. Only one cat made an appearance, likely the one pictured, feline fancier Rosa Eileen Barss Donham, who lives one street over from Dan. Conlin gives his Best Overall Costume Award to an eight-year-old walking box of Ritz Crackers, English in...

01 November, 2013

A lo-tech texter has been leaving messages in the Lawrence Street area of in West End Halifax.  From simple labels...

19 September, 2011

Contrarian needed to make a reservation yesterday from Toronto to Sydney. The fact I had to get all the way to Sydney meant I couldn't use Porter Airlines' magnificent service from Toronto Island Airport. Porter is the upstart airline known for its curious, retro habit of treating passengers as welcome guests. Leaving from the Island Airport avoids the time and money wasted getting to and from unspeakable Pearson. So I made a quick check to see if Air Canada could accommodate me from Toronto Island. To my astonishment, I found the following: $219.36 is an almost unheard of low fare. As I snapped...

19 September, 2011

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to eat local: A huge throng of regulars, plus tire-kickers, overwhelmed the Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market's opening day this morning, forcing shoppers to wrestle with traffic tie-ups, inadequate parking, and impossibly long coffee lineups. It is a gorgeous space, however, and congestion will likely ease once construction is complete and the market starts opening throughout the week. Lead designer Keith Tufts, of the Halifax architectural firm Lydon Lynch, describes the building's advanced environmental features in this video. One sour note: US imposed, Homeland Security regulations prevent the market from opening the huge water-facing doors on...

07 August, 2010