If you live or work anywhere near Centretown, you’ve probably frequented the Hartman’s Independant Grocer on Bank Street. It’s likely that you noticed that there was something especially nice about this otherwise typical big box store.  It wasn’t the produce, or the selection, or especially not the prices. It was the fact that in this age of  heartless corporatism, the store had set aside a few square meters of commercial space for the community – nothing special, just a couple of armchairs and, of course, the piano. You’d hardly ever... | Continue reading article

A friend of mine recently commented that Apt613 needed to beef up its sports section. Not a bad idea, I thought. With most of the hockey nations announcing their rosters in the past couple of weeks I decided to have a look at the Sens that will be representing their various teams in Vancouver. Before we look at who made their national teams, let’s first look at who did not make the cut. Many thought Mike Fisher was on the bubble for making Team Canada. Despite what appears to be... | Continue reading article

The month of December has kept Ottawa firefighters busy with no less than 26 fires – ranging from flames in the kitchen to blazes in highrise apartments, including one that killed two residents of a building. Dalton McGuinty gave us some good news a couple of weeks ago when he confirmed that the Ontario government is willing to provide $600 million for Ottawa’s Light Rail Transit (LRT). If the project’s total budget remains at 2.1 billion, this leaves a gap of $200 million to cover. A lot of money for... | Continue reading article

On Wednesday, two people that were treated for swine-flu in Ottawa hospitals died. Only one of the Ottawa deaths has been confirmed as being directly caused by swine flu; however, the other person had also tested positive for the H1N1 virus. LCBO employees have reached a tentative deal to avert a summer strike at more than 600 Ontario liquor stores. With the fear of a strike coming, people flocked to their LCBO’s, making last Tuesday  “the largest single day of retail sales in the history of the LCBO,” LCBO spokesperson... | Continue reading article

We’ve been hitting the Fringe in search of the good, the bad and the “why did I just pay $10 to see that?” We’ll add more as we go, but please point us towards (or away) from the productions you have seen. It’s the last weekend for the Fringe – can’t decide which plays to see? Here are some reviews we’ve already found helpful: This is a Recording Review from Patrick Langston of the Ottawa Fringe Fest Excerpt: Ottawa performers Kelly Rigole and Simon Bradshaw lend their considerable acting chops... | Continue reading article

Update 2: So it turns out that it may not be legal to transport alcohol across provincial boundaries, therefore apartment613 does not condone this activity and would caution you to please consult a legal expert before moving any beverages from the SAQ into Ottawa Update: The LCBO and the Union have delayed a strike until a deal is signed or talks break-down. Just as we’re cooling off from the transit strike that ruined our winter,  Ottawans are realizing that BBQ season may be without refreshments if LCBO workers strike tonight... | Continue reading article

This review of the Ottawa Small Press Book Fair is courtesy of Jeremy Hanson-Finger, an editor at the Moose and Pussy, Carleton’s best (and only) erotic literature magazine. Despite attending two funerals this week, rob mclennan, the Frank Zappa of the Ottawa literary scene (moustache-wise, at least), was in a remarkably chipper mood last Saturday about the Ottawa Small Press Book Fair and the future of small presses in general. mclennan, a local  poet and fiction writer, is a fervent supporter of small presses – the local, independent labels of... | Continue reading article

Nortel continues to sell its assets. This week the company announced that it is has sold its wireless business to Finnish giant Nokia Siemens for $650 million US. The sale of the wireless business to Nokia Siemens includes a provision that at least 2,500 employees have the opportunity to continue working with the buyer. According to CBC, Nortel is also in talks with a number of other buyers to sell the rest of its operations. The Federal Government will finally comply with the decision taken by Justice Zinn to repatriate Canadian citizen... | Continue reading article

The first day of summer has dawned upon us (and gone). Most people will probably want to take advantage of the nice weather and do things outside. For those of us who are less inclined to frolic around shirtless on the beach, or to do any kind of physical activity whatsoever, I’d like to propose a summer alternative. A Manhattan-based blogger named Jason Kottke came up with the crazy idea of an Infinite Summer. The Infinite Summer doesn’t involve any time machines or black magic. No, it entails something far... | Continue reading article

This list comes courtesy of Jeremy Hanson-Finger, an editor at the Moose and Pussy, Carleton’s best (and only) erotic literature magazine. Please let us know about your experiences with Ottawa’s literary scene, or if there are any other publications that we should know about! Although the current economic climate is far from friendly to the publishing industry, a number of local literary magazines are still publishing works by writers from Ottawa and beyond.  Many of these journals will be available at the upcoming Ottawa Small Press Fair this Saturday at... | Continue reading article