In the morning paper a few weeks ago, I was excited to read that many levels of government were putting a little money into keeping Nova Scotia's tiniest drawbridge in tip top condition. It was particularly interesting to see that the new Develop Nova Scotia (the old Waterfront Development Corporation with an expanded mandate) was… Read More

Recently I was at an event in town and someone I don't know well introduced me to his friend. He thought for a moment about how to describe me, and then brightened and said "Stephen appears to be the only person Tim Bousquet actually likes." This was clearly not true, because all month Tim has… Read More

We were recently in Paris for a week; sometimes we would think of home. When you attend meetings about the future of Halifax, there is talk of Density and her saucy friend Height. Often folks will evoke Paris, where density is particularly dense, in the centre of the city, without the unseemliness of tall buildings.… Read More

Do you do anything special on Remembrance Day? When I was a child, in the early 1950s, we always went to see the large parade. I don't know where the parade started; we watched as it came down Robie Street and passed Jubilee Road. Large formations of army, navy and air force, each in their… Read More

We often forget to show up. But last weekend we made the effort (it's really not that hard), and showed up at four exhibitions around town that turned out to be complementary to one another. Some of the exhibits close in the next few days (showing up "just in time" is a special category), so… Read More

Makes a nice light snack Halloween, the festival of snacks, reminded me to review my candy wrapper collection (mostly saved in the 1970s). I've posted a couple of blogs before about candy ephemera but it turns out I have not shown you some of my favourites. (Blogs here and here.) For example, look at these… Read More

As we change our clocks (and renew our supply of candles), it's a good time to notice some of the public clocks around town, and acknowledge a few others that have disappeared. Halifax is clock-centric; we celebrate a 215-year-old clock as the icon of the city. I've always thought the base of the Old Town… Read More

It was the vending machine for cheese that confirmed we had arrived in a special place. This was our first evening in the Bregenzerwald, and the vending machine was outside a small village dairy, because local people get nervous if they can't get cheese at all hours. Over the next three days, many more cheesy… Read More

To grow as a noticer you need to be challenged so your understanding of materials, and design, and technique is constantly expanding. Recently three people, whose work helped to train my eye, died. I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge them and their creativity. Hal Forbes If you live in Halifax you have seen… Read More

At the end of summer there are usually a few choice beach cobbles rattling around in the trunk of our car. They were selected during walks on the shore, because humans are wired to search for the perfect stone out of the billions spread along our coast. … Read More