My brother Mica, whose videos have been featured here in the past, has cooked up a radio show based on Bob Dylan’s “Theme Time Radio Hour.” This first episode is entitled Up North.
It is worth a listen.
Category: Daily updates
Generally musings of the day, usually accompanied by a photograph
July book club selection
Somewhat belatedly, I have posted my review of Jared Diamond’s Collapse. I hope others will put up their thoughts, as well.
For July, I think we should choose something relatively light and accessible, in the hope of getting more than two or three people to read it. Suggestions?
2009 Ottawa Fringe Festival recommendations
A note to fellow Ottawa residents: this year’s Ottawa Fringe Festival will be running between June 18th and 28th. Last year’s was a lot of fun.
Some shows that have been recommended to me include:
- Countries Shaped Like Stars and Inclement Weather by Mi Casa
- On Second Thought, a one-man comedy from Toronto.
- Jonno Katz’s The Accident
- Lana Schwartz’s Grandpa Sol & Grandma Roise
- Tricklock’s Catgut Strung Violin
At a minimum, I will post a quick comment on any shows I see.
[Update: 27 June 2009] I saw Catgut Strung Violin tonight and was most impressed. It was a three-man show on the ‘innocent young man gets sent to war’ theme. It mixed the sober moments into a great deal of intricate, acrobatic slapstick comedy. The sheer number of props and bits of timing to remember must have demanded quite a rehearsal schedule. The end result was poignant and deeply entertaining, in alternating fashion.
There is one more show, tomorrow at 3:00pm.
[Update: 28 Jun 2009] I saw We Never Clothed this afternoon, and found it enjoyable. I liked the musical numbers and the interaction of the actresses. The artistic intent behind the costumes and nudity wasn’t entirely clear to me.
Threaded comments
WordPress now supports the option of threaded comments, where people can respond to a specific comment in a sub-thread, rather than just adding to the bottom of a single list.
Do people think incorporating this feature would improve this site, or make it less functional?
I would have no objections to giving it a whirl if doing so was easily reversible, but it seems certain that any switch back to linear comments would turn threaded conversations into confusing messes. As such, I would have to be pretty certain the shift would be beneficial in order to make it.
Gyms in Ottawa
Do any readers have experience with gyms in Ottawa? I am thinking about joining one as a complement to cycling – especially for the winter months, when the roads are all serious ice hazards. Benefits would include being close to LeBreton Flats, being open at unusual hours, being inexpensive, and offering a discount to government workers.
Any advice or suggestions?
Energy efficiency and Ottawa’s Dominion Observatory
Wandering around the experimental farm, I ran across one of my new favourite buildings in Ottawa. Natural Resources Canada has an Office of Energy Efficiency housed in an old observatory that would look at home in Oxford, Myst, or a neo-Victorian steampunk fantasy. It has great brickwork, an attractive green copper dome, interesting detailing, and a nice setting uphill from Dow’s Lake. The building is called the Dominion Observatory, and served in that capacity from 1905 to 1974, with a 15″ refracting telescope installed in the main dome.
I will need to find some pretense for getting invited in. I will also need to go back at a time when the lighting is more favourable, and when I have a tripod with me.
Photographing birds in Ontario and Quebec
I enjoy photographing birds, and been having increasing luck doing so with my new 70-200mm lens. I think it might be a good project to collect images of birds that congregate around Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal, use them as photos of the day, and identify their species.
It can be a project a bit like collecting the Oxford colleges, though it is obviously much more open-ended.
A few I have shot with the new lens:
- Species unknown – near the Rideau Canal locks
- Rock Pigeons (Columba livia) – on Somerset
- Species unknown – Kensington Market area, Toronto
- Species unknown, possibly a House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) – Victoria University, Toronto
Can anyone put a name to the unknowns above? I will try to come up with some new bird photos during the next week or so.
P.S. Has anyone tried the Canon 1.4X or 2.0X teleconverters? Does either work with the f/4 70-200mm zoom (I remember the box saying the lens is compatible with them). Do the focusing and metering systems still work properly, despite the lost 1-2 f-stops?
Avian puffballs
Ottawans should consider going for a stroll or bike ride along the southern side of the Ottawa River in the next few days. It is populated with large numbers of adorable, fuzzy, yellow goslings.
I saw them in four or five clusters, between LeBreton Flats and Andrew Haydon Park. I will need to go back with a better camera.
Sci-fi book sale Sunday
Ottawa geeks take note: this Sunday, there is a science fiction book sale taking place just across from the Plant Recreation Centre (near Somerset and Preston). It runs from 11:00am to 7:00pm and will apparently feature a large number of books, a wide variety of authors, and refreshments.
June book selection
With the May book club reviews due Friday, it seems a good time to start discussing what’s we will read for June.
Here are my nominations:
- Stern, Nicholas. The Global Deal: Climate Change and the Creation of a New Era of Progress and Prosperity.
- MacKay, David. Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air. (Available free online)
- Jaccard, Mark. Sustainable Fossil Fuels: The Unusual Suspect in the Quest for Clean and Enduring Energy.
- Toobin, Jeffrey. The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court.
- Mackay, Charles. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.
Prior discussions: April selection, April review, May selection.