In the spirit of summary, I have assembled many of my best photos onto a single page. They can also be viewed as a slideshow.
My photos are covered by a Creative Commons License.
Category: Daily updates
Generally musings of the day, usually accompanied by a photograph
Fringe Festival suggestions
The Ottawa Fringe Festival is ongoing and, while I am a big fan of theatre, I was having some difficulty in picking out which plays to see. Thankfully, I was recently able to secure some suggestions from someone familiar with the festival and those performing in it:
- Totem Figures – monologue
- Boat Load – storyteller
- Wooster Sauce – P.G. Wodehouse inspired comedy
- Singing at the Edge of the World
- Without a Clue – Comedic murder mystery
- A Leave of Absinthe
Between now and when the festival ends on the 29th, I aim to see and report on at least a couple of these.
Two bicycles built for one
Emily got a gorgeous Montreal-made hybrid bike yesterday. It’s an Opus Urbano, and should prompt much exploration of the areas in and around Ottawa.
Fellow cyclists should consider attending the June Critical Mass ride, happening in cities throughout the world. The Ottawa version starts next Friday (the 25th) at 5:30pm in Confederation Park, near City Hall.
Summer solstice 2008
Summer has officially begun in the northern hemisphere. Though the days will now be shortening, most of the heat is yet to come.
Personally, I am most curious about how the Arctic sea ice will fare between now and when it starts to re-freeze in the winter.
iTunes movie rentals
Last night, Emily and I tried renting a film through iTunes. I think it’s fair to say that this is another media technology that Apple got right. There are endless problems with systems that promise to let you buy films in the form of downloads. There are limitations on usage, and no guarantees that you can use them on future devices. Renting is quite different. Apple offers a service akin to that of a video store for a comparable price and without the bother of picking up and returning discs. With a bit of equally convenient competition, costs may even fall further.
Indeed, it seems pretty fair to predict that video shops have no future among those customers with computers and broadband access. Eventually, web based services will offer far more films at similar quality and far greater convenience.
Personally, I am rather looking forward to the day when it will be possible to spend $4-5 for two days worth of access to most any film ever made.
WestFest 2008 II
Today’s festival occurred amidst alternating periods of harsh sun and explosive thunderstorm. Several times, the artists had to clear the stage due to the danger of bolts being drawn their way. The audience scattered and artists, staff, VIPs, and volunteers huddled in whichever tents were not collapsing. Thankfully, everything was clear and beautiful for Andrea‘s set.
Today made for a nice winding-down after yesterday’s powerhouse performances, and I got to meet a few interesting people too. If only the BluesFest volunteering system wasn’t so inflexible and demanding, I would definitely volunteer my services there as well.
WestFest 2008 I
For me, WestFest has been divided into two rather different elements: the volunteering portion and the event portion.
Volunteering
For the first time in rather a while, this let me feel like I was making an immediate and concrete difference in an outcome of some importance – that someone else could have done a lot worse at responding to the same conditions.
I should volunteer more.
Event
Tonight’s artists were very talented and I will definitely need to investigate a few. Buffy Sainte-Marie was extremely powerful and impressive, though many of her songs raised difficult questions about the degree to which we can inherit guilt or grievance from our ancestors.
Tomorrow morning, I will be back among the volunteers.
P.S. Supposedly, the plastic cups and bottles being used by this festival are made from corn and biodegradable. I collected several dozen tonight to determine whether I will be able to find a method of biodegrading them.
End of the shoulder season?
In anticipation of the season itself, the pervasive heat of summer seems to have arrived. A winter’s worth of unfamiliarity means that, every few minutes, my brain starts assessing just why it is so curiously hot. Am I standing near a burner that has been left on? Am I beside a recently used shower?
One possibility I am considering for this summer is a relatively low-cost, low-energy cooling system of my own devising. My basement is large and markedly cooler than my flat. I am curious whether opening the windows down there and then placing fans at the bottom and top of the stairs might generate a flow of cooling air.
It would be overkill right now, but I may feel differently in August.
WestFest
Residents of Ottawa should strongly consider attending WestFest this year. It is a free five day festival happening in Westboro Village between June 11th and 15th. An entire street will be closed off to make room for stages, vendors, and the like. It only takes five minutes to walk there from the Westboro Transitway station.
Performers this year include:
- 1755 (Acadian group on Thursday)
- Joel Plaskett (Friday)
- Buffy Sainte-Marie (Saturday)
- Holly McNarland (Saturday)
- Lynn Miles & Sue Foley (Sunday)
- Andrea Simms Karp (Sunday)
There will also be authors, theatre performers, and artists about.
Emily and I are both volunteering, so you may see us there.
Health and organs
Today, I registered for the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP). Once I get the card, I will no longer need to pay $60 up front and time I want to see a doctor.
I also took the opportunity to register as an organ and tissue donor (any organ or tissue they want, for transplant or medical experiments). If I do manage to die in a sudden and non-organ-destructive manner, there is no reason for which my loss should not be someone else’s gain.