Hey, Ottawa: those extra strains of music you’re suddenly hearing? That haunting melody and those catchy beats? They’re the result of the latest national event to stop by our city. The Junos are in town, bringing along Deadmau5, City and Colour, Feist,  Austra, Socalled and yup, a few hockey greats too (our money is on the rockers). Needless to say, these musical visitors are dominating our venues for Friday and Saturday – check out the full list of shows, and get your fill of Canadian music all weekend long. You’ll... | Continue reading article

This year, Apt613 will be partnering with Artengine for the 2012 Critical Blogging Residency. This residency is for an art critic or cultural journalist from the Ottawa-Gatineau area, who will pen in-depth posts on the Artengine blog and Apt613 throughout the year. The Critical Blogging Residency was originally conceived by Artengine as a creative space for expression and research into culture and technology.  The content and direction will be developed in consultation with Artistic Director of Artengine and with Apt613. The resident will also travel to Montréal for the 2012... | Continue reading article

By Kyle Sergeant, who attended the inaugural TedxRideauCanal event last weekend. They designed something – the coordinators of TedxRideauCanal.  It was a dynamic something.  And it was about design.  Different ones.  And those differences are our strengths.   And inclusivity and integration are our mortar.  Design is not finite and trending.  It is curvaceous and expanding – but simple.  And I saw it all.  And I took notes…. The first speakers were the kind, intuitive women of Propeller Dance. They voiced the “societal barriers” to their art form: physical, mental, and... | Continue reading article

Suckuary (aka February) fast approaches – the dreaded month of slushy streets and minus 30 degree cold snaps that drains even the most dedicated scenester’s will to have fun. No wonder some medieval visionary decided to sex up the month with a little romance. Fortunately, this year you don’t have to wait until the 14th to get a little action… at least of the literary sort. This Thursday, February 2, Venus Envy will be featuring a reading from three local authors – Barbara Sibbald, Jasmine Aziz and Patricia K. McCarthy - whose latest works... | Continue reading article

By Sabrina Bowman, who works for the Ottawa River Keeper, but is soon embarking on new adventures in San Francisco. The Ottawa River has been in the news a lot lately, and as we all know, the occurrence of raw sewage being dumped in the River happens much too often for comfort.  This issue, among many others, is why Ottawa Riverkeeper embarked on the Great River Project this summer, in an effort to document the state of the Ottawa River and share the ecology of the Kichi sipi (or “Great... | Continue reading article

By Alessandro Marcon A couple of nights ago, I was rollin’ down on Bank, jammin’ B.Blade, thinkin’ on Siggy Freud. Laid back, though pensive I was, with my mind on my Muslims and my Muslims on my mind. Not two days previous, with hand extended in fistbump position, I had found myself in the midst of cultural clash. “Teacher, I can’t do that” my student told me. “Sure you can,” I responded, while swiveling and fistbumping the chipper Korea woman on my right. “No teacher, I really can’t. I can’t... | Continue reading article

Post by Robin Levinson Malorie Bertrand and Amie Beausoleil want women to stop shaving their armpits and start fundraising for breast cancer. Inspired by such fundraising campaigns as “Movember” and “Mustaches for Kids,” the two decided to brainstorm ways that women could raise money for breast cancer that were quirky, humorous, and fun. Under the name “Unshaven Mavens,” they are asking women to forgo shaving their underarm hair for the month of October, all while raising funds for Rethink Breast Cancer, a Canadian charity that brings education and support to... | Continue reading article

Post by Alessandro Marcon, who took in the opening night of the Ottawa International Writers Festival’s fall season. The man who sat before me last night was Michael Ondaatje. Actually, before he was sitting, he was standing, and reading from a copy of his newest novel The Cat’s Tale.  Adorned with piercing eyes and white hair, sporadic and sparse, the legendary Canadian novelist sort of mumbled, sort of sauntered, through a few sections of his layered and soft narrative. I wouldn’t consider myself the biggest of Ondaatje fans, having only... | Continue reading article

Andrew Cohen’s piece in the Ottawa Citizen last week certainly struck a nerve. At our latest “Urban drinks” at Shanghai, a few fellow bloggers spent some time discussing our annoyance at the suggestion that despite our “education and affluence” we were all working so hard to make a creative and interesting life in a city that (according to Cohen) can’t seem to do anything interesting or creative. We’re obviously Ottawa “apologists” here on Apartment613. We have a great time in Ottawa and we write about a lot of what we... | Continue reading article

You may have heard that the 417 was closing this weekend to replace the Carling Bridge. Above, is a stop motion video created by Terri Oda using data from the webcams showing the replacement. From the Ottawa Citizen: Using what’s known as self-propelled modular transporters — SPMTS — the decks of the old bridges were lifted section by section and set aside, and then the new ones are put in their place. The SPMTS, which are assembled at the site to suit the work at hand, are powerful and highly... | Continue reading article