My friend  and once-upon-a-time brother-in-law Peter Barss of West Dublin has a habit of getting swept away on wings of artistic invention. His projects often have humble beginnings that somehow spiral out of control. Two years ago, Peter stumbled onto a homemade wooden airplane at Value Village—the sort of thing a boy's grandfather might have made. He snapped it up for $2.75. Also at Value Village, he found a beat-up wooden chest:  $7.75. He fixed them both up, then got the idea of filling the chest with retro, non-digital toys for his grandsons. For more than a year, he visited thrift stores and antique shops. As...

02 April, 2014

Does this scene ring a bell? It's Contrarian's Google Street View recreation of one of the most viewed images in human history: the default home screen for the Window's XP operating system. I pumped the colours a bit, but so did Microsoft, when it adopted the Chuck O'Rear photograph, called "Bliss," from the then fledgling stock photo service Corbiss, founded by Bill Gates and subsequently purchased by Microsoft. In four days, Microsoft will officially stop supporting what some regard as the last best version of its Window's operating system. In honour of the event, Lexy Savvides wrote an interesting account of the photo's backstory...

02 April, 2014

There is a reason why NSGEU president Joan Jessome always wants a new public sector bargaining cycle to begin with nurses. The public adores nurses. When Gallop or Angus Reid ask the public to rate the level of respect they hold for various professions, nurses always come out on top. Here's what Angus Reid found when he asked that question in Canada, the US, and Britain in 2012: Ninety-six percent. The Gallop Poll got similar results asking the public to rank the honesty and ethics of various professions. So in pushing nurses to the head of the bargaining queue, Jessome is simply leading...

31 March, 2014

I have not seen it stated more aptly than this: [T]he symbolic politics of the Obama presidency — the same factors that drive right-wingers crazy — are exactly what liberals and progressives like about it. I mean, what other explanation is there? Here we have an administration conducting a worldwide drone war that has killed unknown numbers of innocents, managing an ultra-secretive surveillance state beyond Dick Cheney’s wildest dreams, paying lip service to the existential crisis of climate change while doing nothing about it, and protecting and nurturing exactly the same cabal of bankers who brought us to the brink of...

30 March, 2014

Each December, the L'Arche Cape Breton theatre group stages a Christmas pageant at the SAERC auditorium in Port Hawkesbury. This year's show, on December 8, was a dramatization of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Christmas poem, The Three Kings. Hollywood Oommen, Jamie Stewart, and Joan MacDonald starred as the Kings Melchior, Gaspar, and Baltasar. Esther Akurut played Mary, Buddy Payne played Joseph, and Simon Zavo was the baby Jesus. David Gunn played Herod (with the help of a fantastic costume designed by Dennis Murphy). Dancing Maggie Power (my granddaughter) portrayed the star that led the kings to the stable where Jesus was born. Find the complete credits here, and a...

25 December, 2013

Simone Uriartt, a Brazilian artist studying at NSCAD University, takes an affectionate look at our bustling port-side capital city: Simone's studies in Nova Scotia are supported by the Science Without Borders Scholarship Program of the Brazilian National Council for Science and Technological Development. You might also enjoy her Flickr stream. H/T: Marla Cranston  ...

12 December, 2013

Contrarian's friend and neighbour Valerie Patterson was in the North Sydney liquor commission Wednesday, picking up supplies for Darts Night at the Ross Ferry Volunteer Fire Department. She was surprised to find our recently defeated MLA, Keith Bain, a member of the United Church, staffing the Salvation Army kettle. Why? He had heard the Sally Ann was having trouble finding members to staff the kettles. So he volunteered. Perhaps in "retirement," Keith will do for MLAs what Jimmy Carter has done for former U.S. Presidents: find ever more imaginative outlets for his leadership and compassion.  ...

12 December, 2013

My friend and former Halifax Daily News colleague David Rodenhiser, who has met more than his share of worthy Nova Scotians, both celebrated and unsung, has been thinking about the nameless February holiday: Our February holiday should recognize the everyday Nova Scotians who make this a great place to live. I’m talking about the community volunteers, small business owners, and all-around interesting people who give Nova Scotia character. These are the people we all know in our communities, but they’re not the ones who get celebrated with regular media coverage, the Order of Nova Scotia, or the Order of Canada. (Order recipients...

11 December, 2013

Our curmudgeonly friend is fine with the Grits' plan to create a mid- winter statutory holiday, but not with letting schoolchildren name it. What a load of precious crap. Why children? They're cute, but they don't know anything. A substantial number would solemnly recommend Fart Day or Dinosaur Day. Why not Treaty Day? First Nations in NS already celebrate it. Why shouldn't "we." They're "our" treaties, too. After enduring centuries of de facto apartheid, First Nations deserve to be welcomed as an important community in NS. The worst of it is: think of all the treacly interviews we'll have to suffer through...

05 December, 2013
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