Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR. Man about town and music blogger Ming Wu captured some amazing images at last weekend’s House of Paint. Ottawa’s only annual free outdoor hiphop jam, House of Paint showcased graffiti, breakdancing, DJs and MCs from across Canada. This year’s event was stellar – as you’ll see in the photos above – and brought frenetic, booming energy to the underpass at Brewer Park. Bboying and Bgirling abounded, set against a backdrop of emerging graffiti art by some of Ottawa’s best urban artists. Check out the slideshow above... | Continue reading article

Hey audiophiles, missed us? Unfortunately, the armoured Brinks security truck that ferrets the Apartment613 Live file from CHUO 89.1 FM to our top secret headquarters made a wrong turn somewhere last week. We haven’t heard from them since, but rumour has it they’re lost in the Quebec wilderness north of Maniwaki, surviving only on our mouthwatering tunes and highly-nutritional interviews. No such problem, however, with this week’s podcast! It’s a packed hour, as we chat with Rob Reid of urban art festival House of PainT and Marc Andre Clement, executive... | Continue reading article

Video of former city councillor and mayoral candidate Clive Doucet at the 2010 House of Paint Urban Arts Festival, courtesy of Mike.Geiger.ca. Many people living Ottawa have an unspoken agreement with the city: Ottawa won’t present us with too many fun things to do, and in return, we citizens refrain from making too many bitter comparisons with Montreal or Toronto. Ottawa has increasingly been breaking its side of the contract, but this weekend, its transgressions are too blatant to ignore. We at Apartment613 have no choice but to retaliate. Case in point, what kind of city has... | Continue reading article

The last weekend of July! Summer is slipping away so fast… mostly because there’s just too much to do! This long weekend is no exception, with a ton of stuff going on in addition to the usual selection of summer festivals (this weekend it’s Busker Fest, Rideau Canal Fest, Ottawa Lumière Festival and Chamber Fest up on the agenda). Those of you looking for a little greenery (other then the leafy kind) should check out Friday’s edition of Cafe Scientifique, which features a talk and film on carbon footprints and lifestyle choices. Then you can head to the Environmental... | Continue reading article

Post by Vera Grbic Where do culture and the Canadian project meet? Some would say that the easy answer is in multiculturalism. That’s been the go-to answer for decades, ever since Trudeau presided over its recognition in the Charter and Mulroney oversaw the enactment of a Multiculturalism Act. And even though the topic has lately hit a contentious snag internationally and even in Canada, Canadians can’t deny that we’re still the more unique for it – a veritable jumble of nth generation and first generation Canadians. We not only make... | Continue reading article

When Ottawa decides to pick up on a trend, it doesn’t go halfway. Aside from the non-stop proliferation of cupcake bakeries (seriously, the market alone now has TWO), perhaps the best example of this adage is the burlesque scene. A few years ago audiences in search of a good tease from some lovely ladies would have to content themselves with Heart-On burlesque, a yearly ladies-only fundraiser. These days hardly a season passes without a show or two from one of the national capital’s four burlesque or sexual satire troupes. Capital... | Continue reading article

You’ll be hard-pressed to find an Apartment613 editor anywhere but the Fringe Festival this weekend – we’ll be slaving away in the beer tent (as much as you can slave away in a beer tent), working on reviews for our pet project, www.fullyfringed.ca. If you’re wondering which plays to take in during the next ten days, that little site will be able to help you out! A big shout out to our 20+ volunteers who are reviewing all 52 of this year’s theatrical adventures. It’s pretty safe to say there’s... | Continue reading article

Childless people in their twenties to early thirties have entered the awkward age: way too old to enjoy children-oriented activities without feeling self-conscious, but often too young to have spawned a plausible excuse. Luckily,  those of you unable to procure a child for the Ottawa Children’s Festival have an alternative cover: you can just go for the art. This year’s festival includes eight performances of dance, theatre, clowning and puppetry, some of which are quite innovative. Case in point is h.g., a piece from Switzerland that combines installation art with... | Continue reading article

Calling all board game lovers: it’s CanGames 2011 weekend down at the Rideau Curling Club. Tired of beating your friends at Settlers? Go kick some stranger’s hopes of Catan domination to the wayside! If you’re not into a little friendly competition, perhaps beekeeping courses are more your style? Tonight in music, Bad Astronaut can be found at Mavericks and The Beauties are at the Elmdale, while it’s a night of soul at the Mercury Lounge with the Hornettes and Houndstooth. This being the third weekend of the month means Timekode... | Continue reading article

Post by Vera Grbic This weekend, I experienced a ballet … and a light show, a collage of geometric shape, a golden-age Hollywood film, and a meta-exercise. In short, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Wonderland, which took place April 28 to 30 at the NAC, makes proper use of the concept of multimedia. Yet, while something is proper, it doesn’t follow that it’s necessarily a success – and in Wonderland, we get a mixed bag. The show begins with the metaphorical headline “modernity and multimedia cometh.” We’re greeted by the director... | Continue reading article