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

Like most people, we here at Apartment613 appreciate the opportunity to save money where we can. When it comes to grocery shopping, that means occasionally looking to purchase bulk goods, but not all bulk stores are created equal so we’re here to give you the rundown on some of Ottawa’s best bulk options (by the way, if anybody has an idea about why so many of these places set up shop on Bank St. we’d love to hear it). We also have a price comparison chart that lets you see... | Continue reading article

Guest post from Kym Shumsky, an Ottawa writer shares her thoughts and pictures of things she likes on her blog at Relishing.ca. This post is the final post of a three-part series on Fitness in the Capital Region. When I hired Avril Patrick a few weeks ago, I really only wanted a new weightlifting plan.  I wasn’t making any progress with the old one anymore, and I was frustrated with the last five pounds – the mythical threshold to utopia, and really short skirts, allegedly. But whereas I expected to... | 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 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

There are many reasons to buy used or vintage clothing. You can find pieces made with high quality fabrics and exquisite craftsmanship. There’s much less of a chance that you will deal with  a fashion doppelganger. Recycling and being environmentally conscious is fashionable in itself. All the cool kids are doing it. But the best reason of all – how else is a clothes horse like me going to get her fix without risking financial insolvency? Here are the best vendors of previously-owned fashion that we’ve come across so far.... | Continue reading article

Saturday, I took a stroll in Central Park in the Glebe to check out The New Art Festival. I was truly impressed with the diversity and quality of the art exposed.  I had the chance to chat with some great folks like Sylvie Parisien from Sun Slip Ceramics, Christina Lovisa from St. Elmo’s Fire, Paul Sharp (love the t-shirt!), Allyson Green and Cori Lee Marvin. Below, you’ll find some of the interesting art and artists I photographed over the weekend. Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

There could be no better place for such an unveiling than the colourful, inspiring space in which Samuel Jan first sketched many of the works on display. A regular at the whimsical coffee house, Jan can often be spotted with his art spread out on one of the retro tabletops, so it’s only natural that his paintings have found their way onto the walls. Inspired by the work of self-taught artist Joseph Cornell – a pioneer of assemblage art during the mid-twentieth century – Jan first began experimenting with art... | Continue reading article

For fans of independent bookstores – there is now one more reason to stop by Perfect Books on Elgin. The store has gotten a facelift, adding some fancy new shelves and a redone window display. Perfect Books was a great store to begin with, with a huge section of Science Fiction (the manager used to own a sci-fi only store). The staff picks are worth paying attention to and the section on award winners always has something great. Worth stopping by!

Guest post from Kym Shumsky, an Ottawa writer shares her thoughts and pictures of things she likes on her blog at Relishing.ca. This post is part two of a three-part series on Fitness in the Capital Region. It’s only our second session, and already, my trainer is giving me hell.  But not about my lunges. “You made it sound like you were a beginner,” says Avril Patrick, a petite and energetic woman of ageless countenance.  She’s grilling me on Part One, what I thought was a fairly generic set-up into... | Continue reading article