JUICEBOXdotcom gives a lot of love to Toronto but the North End of Halifax is a creative mecca that packs the energy of a place like Montreal into a few city blocks. It is better than Greenwich Village in its heyday [Ed's note: If New York was full of middle-class hippies from Ontario] and home to one of the coolest collections of people in Canada. These are some of the artists, musicians and all around awesome individuals that call this place home.

All photos by Courtney Kelsey.

Matthew Carswell is an installation artist and filmmaker. At the time of this photograph, Matt boasted the single-most impressive beard in the north end. Sadly, his girthy ginger beard was not white enough for his new job as a shopping mall Santa Claus. He keeps its remains hidden in a safety deposit box and is selling locks of hair on Ebay China.

You wish you were dating Kate McGuire. She is an interdisciplinary artist with a knack for anything to do with textiles. She would love to cozy-on-up to you with a bowl of popcorn and a movie, but she is taken. So step off fellas.

Travis Driscoll is a drawer, painter and professional tattoo artist. He swears by Rock Star energy drinks and curses those “pussy little redbull cans.” Travis is a romantic. He relaxes to the crushing tunes of Job for a Cowboy while smelling flowers in his bathroom. His shit does not stink.

Super High Me…. Super Size Me? Whoa, they almost sound the same! Comedian Doug Benson was pinned down by sweet Mary Jayne when he discovered this gem. If I was baked right now, that might make me laugh along with him. A little. Unfortunately for Doug, I am only high on instant coffee.

Armed with a catchy one-liner, Doug sets out on a quest to get baked for thirty days. On the surface, it’s a funny concept, but one that isn’t foreign to many of us. I could pick any number of my friends and follow them around all day and they would be funnier than this dope.

To make his bogus investigation seem credible, Doug goes sober for a month. He consults with a doctor and a psychologist. He has his sperm count checked, does his SAT’s, and even does a test for Extra Sensory Perception! After the control month, he gets ripped and does the tests again.

If you haven’t given up already, or are too stoned to give a damn, hold on! Yes, there is a deeper theme in this cloud of smoke. During one stand-up bit, our man Doug actually brags that he has a license to smoke weed because he whined to a doctor about some back pain. But throughout the film there is no discussion with his doctor, or anyone for that matter, about this crippling back pain that can only be cured by cannabis. Like many of us, he just wants to get baked.

At the peak of the film, the DEA raids several Californian clinics that hook sick folks up with their meds. Why? The Governator and his crew running the state are cool with medicinal marijuana, aren’t they? But those pesky feds are not stoked. What! These people are sick! Well, as this film demonstrates, fuck-bags like Doug are inconsiderate and will abuse the system. He laughs at how easy it was for him to get medicinal marijuana. This undermines any serious discussion Super High Me presents about the right for sick people to smoke up.

If you are bored at work like I am and drugs are not an option, give this a go. If not, fuck it – go burn one with your friends. Your friends are funnier than Doug Benson.

Photo by Robin Hart-Hiltz

ANGO is a stand-up guy. Sure, he just came off a tour highlighted by an opening set for Megasoid (Wolf Parade, anyone?) at one of Montreal’s renowned Turbocrunk parties. And yea, he is the top rated major label artist in each of his Myspace genres, without even being officially signed to any label. But what really sets ANGO apart, if you can forgive my bias, is the futon he gave my roommate and I before the show to replace the busted-ass one in our living room. Stand up!

DJ Cosmo opened the show. By this point not a single soul had arrived at Hell’s Kitchen. Cosmo mixed and scratched a solid set of old school tracks on the 1’s and 2’s, like Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message” and “Everyday I’m Hustlin’” by our favorite bearded pimp, Rick Ross. Easily one of the most hype DJs in Halifax, and he has the DMC DJ finalist spot to prove it.

ANGO tore into his set of wild mixes, with thick beats punctuated by ‘lazer bass’. What really makes this guy unique is his fluidity. He blends elements prepared in advance with live loops of many instruments. So with his party intuition and musical/production skills, he is able to adapt to the ebb and flow of the crowd. And thankfully, a small crowd had gathered in the bar. He peered through the stage lights, using his hand to extend the beak of his Expos hat. “Shit,” he laughed. “I think I personally know every one of you here.” The whole city bailed on the show, but so what? ANGO and DJ Cosmo party with or without you.