Monthly Archive for March, 2009

Bank St. woes continue: Tommy & Lefebvre burns down

Written
by
Francois
on Tuesday, March 31, 2009
.
Tommy & Lefebvre: not much to salvage

Tommy & Lefebvre: not much to salvage

Geez, I’m really hoping this does not become a regular trend, but yet again Bank St. has suffered a harsh blow with last night’s fire of Tommy & Lefebvre, the popular sports goods store.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but its clear that the store is a complete loss. The estimated damages to the building and its contents hover around the $2 million mark. The Ottawa Citizen reports that Kevin Pidgeon, president of Tommy & Lefebvre, hopes in the short term to be able to find spots for each employee of its Bank St. branch at other store locations. Pidgeon expressedhis desire to rebuild to the Citizen claiming: “We’re going to need some temporary facility to tide us over until we can reconstruct,” he said. “Absolutely, for sure, we’re going to be rebuilding.”

The Vietnamese Kitchen, situated right next to Tommy & Lefebvre sustained smoke and water damage as firefighters successfully stopped the fire from spreading to other buildings.

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Live from New York: it’s George Galloway!

Written
by
trevor
on Tuesday, March 31, 2009
.

photo courtesy davidChief on flickr

I’ll hazard a guess that the average Apartment613 reader - like 97 per cent of Canadians - had no idea who George Galloway was up until a few weeks ago.

photo courtesy davidChief on flickr

However, that was before the outspoken Scottish MP ended up persona non grata in Canada, deemed a security risk by the Canada Border Services Agency for his gift of 100 ambulances filled with medical supplies to the people of Palestine. Which had to go through Hamas. Which is a registered terrorist group - albeit a democratically-elected one - around these parts. Which makes Galloway Osama Bin Laden’s third cousin or something, at least in the eyes of the CBSA.

Of course, this Jason Kenney-sized wrench threatened to muck up plans of the Ottawa Peace Assembly, who had invited Galloway to speak  this Thursday at the Bronson Centre, as part of a fundraiser for humanitarian aid in Palestine and Afghanistan. But thanks to modern technology, the show will go on: Galloway will be beamed in, via video link, from New York City.

Tickets are $15, $10 for students and seniors, and the event is expected to sell out. To continue with my guess-hazarding, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Ottawa Peace Assembly sent the CBSA and Kenney a couple fruit baskets for ensuring their most successful fundraiser yet.

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Maple Festival this Weekend in Vanier

Written
by
Katie
on Tuesday, March 31, 2009
.
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Courtesy of Zanastardust on flickr

Much like everything else, the best part of spring is the sugar - the maple sugar, that is. Most of the time the sugar shacks (aka sugar bushes) which collect and process the sweet sap of the quintessential Canadian tree are waaaaaaaaaaay out in the boonies, meaning you have to have a car or a pony to get there. Luckily for us, the capital region is home to North America’s  only urban cabane à sucre. Even more luckily, there is currently a Maple Festival underway. The event culminates with a Brunch and Show event on Sunday that will feature a Lumberjack Competition (woo hoo), Réjean Desjardins en duo and Michel-André Vallières on stage, Aboriginal Experiences, Face Painters, Snow Dogs, Sugar Shack, SugarFest Brunch, Taffy on snow, Bouchon the Clown, Wagon Rides and Ray’s Reptile Adventure for all of those who want to see a tarantula walk on the snow.

To get there by bus, get to the Rideau Center and take Bus route 5 direction St Laurent. Get off at the DES PÈRES BLANCS stop and walk about 2 minutes until you get to 300 des Pères Blancs. Click here for directions to get there by pony/car.

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Pink Floyd Recital at Centrepoint

Written
by
Katie
on Monday, March 30, 2009
.

Why should Mozart, Handel and Brahms get all the attention? Classic Albums is a group who is trying to get equal treatment for rock musicians on the recital scene:

Classic albums are faithfully recreated live on stage note for note, cut for cut by a group of highly accomplished musicians, assembled specifically for each album presentation. The result is amazing, with absolutely every detail of the album recording performed live.

This is not a tribute band; instead it tries to do for the Beatles’s Abby Road, Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced,  The Rolling Stones’s Let It Bleed and or course, Pink Floyd’s the Dark Side of the Moon what men and women in monkey suits try to do for Beetoven’s ninth. The group will be preforming the Dark Side next Wednesday at Centerpoint Theater. Tickets are $40.

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Plants and Animals gig at Cafe Alt, University of Ottawa

Written
by
Francois
on Monday, March 30, 2009
.
Photo courtesy of Martin Cathrae

Photo courtesy of Martin Cathrae on Flickr.

The lucky kids at Ottawa U are getting another special treat:  Montreal’s Angela Desveaux & the Mighty Ship AND  Plants and Animals will be stopping at Cafe Alt this Thursday, April 2nd…you can be there too, if you’re fast enough. The place only has room for 100 people and you can’t buy tickets in advance.

When: Thursday, April 2nd, doors open at 8pm

Where: Cafe Alt, Basement of Simard Hall,  University of Ottawa campus

Cost: $5 at the door only and its all ages…more questions, email: social@artsuottawa.ca

Websites:

http://www.angeladesveaux.com/main.html#

http://www.myspace.com/plantsandanimals

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Veni Vedi Vici: Cupcake edition

Written
by
Francois
on Monday, March 30, 2009
.
Photo courtesy of Blurasis on Flickr

Photo courtesy of Blurasis on Flickr

We registered, we baked, we ate…Apartment613 is usually about previews but for Capital Cupcake camp we’ll make an exception in both our policies and our diets.

Over 3000 cupcakes were baked and served and the turnout was so much greater than anyone expected; great news for Cupcake Camp organizers  (Awesome job Tanya, Ian, Andrew and Nicole) and also for Ottawa’s Woman Alive/Femme Active Program. With so much to choose from and eat from, the judges, Gay Cook, China Doll, Giacomo Panico and Michael Bhardwaj, certainly had a difficult task in picking out the best ones.

I’ll let the cupcakes speak for themselves. Have a look at our friend Ming’s photos of the event here and check out Cupcake Camp Canada for the winners.

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Apartment613 Week in Review: Google is coming to town, Shrinkage at City Hall, Earth Hour and Ottawa Talent at the Junos

Written
by
Francois
on Sunday, March 29, 2009
.

Apartment613: all the news that's fit to print

Google announced that they are coming to a number of Canadian cities in the coming weeks, including Ottawa, as part of their Google Street View project. Equipped with a special car that carries 30 cameras, they will be driving around all streets of Ottawa  and will provide close-up, 360-degree views of city streets as they would be seen by someone driving along them. The images are linked to the company’s Google Maps and Google Earth applications.
Google assures that they will comply with Canadian privacy laws, but this still leaves many worried…

Mayor O’Brien and city manager Kent Kirkpatrick have cut another 44 jobs from City Hall and hope that a smaller bureaucracy will mean a more efficient one. While all at City Hall were saddened by the layoffs, only Capital city councillor Clive Doucet appeared to disagree with the restructuring plan. Ironically, the number of city employees earning over $100,000 a year tripled in 2008 due to retroactive payments to 646 firemen for contract renegotiation.

According to Mayor Larry O’brien’s blog, Ottawa was able to reduce its power consumptions by 6% during Earth Hour. While we’d love to see the stats on this from Hydro Ottawa, I do agree with Mayor O’brien that it is a positive step forward and we should try to make it a daily event…

The non-air part of the Junos were held Saturday, March 28th in Vancouver, B.C. Alanis Morrissette picked up pop album of the year for Flavors of Entanglement. Other Ottawa natives that are nominated: Kathleen Edwards for adult alternative album of the year (she lost to Serena Ryder), soprano Shannon Mercer was nominated for classical album of the year and for a vocal or choral performance,  rapper DL Incognito was nominated for best rap recording of the year while Angela Hewitt was nominated in the solo or chamber ensemble category.

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Pandamonium 2009 with Metric, Bedouin Soundclash and Malajube

Written
by
Francois
on Sunday, March 29, 2009
.

This almost sounds too good to be true, hopefully it’s not an April fools joke. However, according to the Pandamonium2009 website, the event is for students of  Carleton University, University of Ottawa and Algonquin College…A celebration of the end of classes. Here are the details:

When: April 1st doors open at 6pm

Location: Ottawa Civic Centre

Cost: Tickets are only $10 and are available for sale now at the CUSA office (401 Unicentre), RRRA Office (209 Residence Commons), SFUO Office and Algonquin SA Office. Ticket will also be available at the door for $15 cash only.

ALL AGES:
The show is open to all students of Carleton University, University of Ottawa and Algonquin College.

STUDENTS GUESTS:
Students are permitted to purchase one (1) additional ticket for a guest as long as the ticket is purchased at the same time and the guest follows the same code of conduct set out by Carleton University.

For more details check Pandamonium 2009.

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Latin America Film Festival at Library and Archives Canada

Written
by
Katie
on Sunday, March 29, 2009
.
The Canadian Film Board kicks off spring with its anual Latin American Films Festival at Library and Archives. Check it some south of the border flava!
CHILE CAN DO IT
Chile | 2008 | 85:00
English Subtitles

LIES
Colombia | 2007 | 86:00
English Subtitles

Costa Rican Double Bill: King and Queens & Our Water…Fraglile Treasure
| | 46:00
English Subtitles

Omerta
Pavel Giroud
Cuba | 2008 | 82:00
English Subtitles

HERMAFRODITA
Albert Xavier
Dominican Republic | 2008 | 105:00
English Subtitles

1809-1810: MIENTRAS LLEGA EL DIA
Camilo Luzuriaga
Ecuador | 2004 | 100:00
English Subtitles

1809-1810: MIENTRAS LLEGA EL DIA
Camilo Luzuriaga
Ecuador | 2004 | 100:00
English Subtitles

THE CROSSES, NEXT TOWN
Rafael Rosal
Guatemala | 2006 | 82:00
English Subtitles

MUSIQUE MAESTRO
Frantz Voltaire
Haiti | 2008 | 55:00
English Subtitles

ANGEL DUST
Oscar Blancarte
Mexico | 2007 | 105:00
English Subtitles

THE DEVIL’S ISLAND - COIBA
Alberto Serra
Panama | 2008 | 60:00
English Subtitles

FUEGO
Sergio Marcos
Paraguay | 2008 | 27:00
English Subtitles
A SHADOW IN FRONT
Augusto Tamayo San Román
Peru | 2007 | 135:00
English Subtitles

DISTANT DREAMS
Alejandro Legaspi
Peru | 2007 | 52:00
English Subtitles
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The Best Used Bookstores in Town

Written
by
Karen
on Saturday, March 28, 2009
.
photo courtesy Raul! on flickr

photo courtesy Raul! on flickr

So - looking for an ancient copy of The Iliad? Or want to find the latest bestseller but don’t want to pay full price? Head on over to one of these fabulous finds…

Click to continue reading “The Best Used Bookstores in Town”

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