Organisers at Eventful Capital are looking for a local photographer to cover the Alice Russell show at Ritual (137 Besserer St) this Sat. Oct 19.
DM @EllyLXO on Twitter or email eventfulcapital@gmail.com.
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It’s the weekend JUMP UP and head out!
The event of the weekend is undoubtedly UK soul singer Alice Russell performing Saturday night at Ritual Nightclub (137 Besserer St) 21$ 10pm A rising star not to be missed at such an intimate venue. Get in and see the UK’s latest export – bringing her own original soul sound. Reminiscent of Amy & Adele in that Alice Russell is another powerful inimitable vocal tour de force.
FreshMeat Theatre Festiv
al kicks off this weekend at the Lunenburg Pub promising a selection of 20minute plays from stand-out troupes, many from this year’s Fringe Festival. Emerging is my favourite kind of theatre and no better place then at a pub with drink in hand. Conviviality and culture make a fantastic mix. Oct 17-19 & 24-26 7pm
The Ottawa Dance Directive launches the new season with performances of Too Near Friday & Saturday night ramping up to a silent auction and Dance Party on Sunday evening. All takes place from 7:30 nightly at ArtsCourt.
Oktoberfest has arrived in the Byward Market and it wouldn’t be a celebration without Sandy Hill culinary star Andree Riffou on the scene. Sunday – and Monday – C’est Bon Cooking will be hosting OktoberFest Food Tours. Sounds tasty!
Sunday its the Good Food Market Sandy Hill open from 11am-2pm at 731A Chapel st for all your healty eats.
Final mention is OperaLyra launches Pirates of Penzance on Sunday at Arts Court Theatre 2 Daly Ave. Tickets are going so fast they’ve added a fifth performance due to overwhelming demand. If you fancy a light-hearted comical production with great songs and talent book in fast.
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Welcome (almost) to the long weekend! Start off tonight by heading down to Ottawa’s only Jail bar Mugshots 75 Nicholas. It might be a bit cold on the terrace but bundle up cuz it’s fun out there. Tonight presented by CKCU Mugshots has bands Doomsquad, Blue Angel & HSY starting at 9pm 7$. It’s a lock-in!
With the extra day off we thought we’d list some fun and games slightly further afield as well as in our hood – after all time is on your side if your not cooking up a feast to feed the masses!
Saturday and Sunday Mont Ste-Marie will be holding their annual Festival of Colours / Festival des Couleurs. Take a ride in the chairlift to experience the full grandeur of the fall foliage or get even higher with the helicopter rides on offer. Relax at the BBQ where there’ll be vintage cars, a euro (trampoline) bungee, musicians and family activities throughout both days. Mountain biking and walking tours are also on the program. Adults 11$ kids between 7-17 $7 and under 7 free.
The NCC’s Fall Rhapsody continues for it’s final weekend in Gatineau Park. Stroll or bike the over 90km of trails then take a break over at the MacKenzie King Estate Tea Rooms. The Visitor Centre will be hosting a free 2hour tour and educational program “Follies of the Fall Forest” on Monday at 12:30 (French) and 2:30 (English).
Want some wildlife in town? Flutter over to Carleton University for the concluding weekend of the Annual Butterfly Show. The free exhibit features more than 1000 butterflies representing 41 species worldwide and is open daily from 9:00-4:00 in the Nesbitt Building.
David Heath – Untitled
Get your art fix at the OAG 2 Daly Ave. On-going shows include the intriguing photography of David Heath A Heritage of Meaning, An Introspective and Sook-Yin Lee’s very personal exhibit We are Light Rays. Lee and her sister explore the immediacy of the present moment through photography following her siblings cancer diagnosis in 2011. The series spans 2 years and is presented atop light boxes creating ephemeral even ghostly images.
On Sunday the OAG welcomes back Creative Sundays from 1:00-3:00. An opportunity to visit the gallery with family and friends and even take home your own masterpiece.
Thanksgiving Monday Sandy Hill bucks the trend of store closures with the Metro on Rideau operating 24hrs, Loblaws open from 10:00-6pm and the Rideau Centre meeting your need for retail therapy and as an escape from family “fun”.
As ever our neighbours in the Byward Market will have most shops and restaurants open for business.
Breaking News from this mornings meeting at City Hall “@JimWatsonOttawa: October 23 draft budget includes funds for the Donald-Somerset bridge from Vanier to Sandy Hill. #ottwalk #ottbike”
“@JimWatsonOttawa: Le budget préliminaire du 23 oct. a des fonds pour le pont Donald-Somerset de Vanier à la Côte-de-Sable.#ottawa #ottvelo”
Well for starters you could take in the fall colours – whether snapping pictures or simply engaging your retina this is breathtaking foliage .
Throughout the weekend, head over to Arts Court where you can shake off – with laughter – any lingering raindrops. Arts Court (amongst other venues) are co-hosting the Canadian Comedy Awards Festival.
Go culturally abroad to Brazil on Friday Night at Dende Do Recife‘s weekly Roda. Marrying the discipline of martial arts to dance Capoeira’s quick-fire Brazilian acrobatic flips & spins are set to rhythmic music. Roda is a musical circle of instruments and traditional songs – where capoeiristas take turns, two at a time, to enter the circle and perform a spiralling fighting dance “game”. Event is at 450 Rideau St 6:00-7:30pm
Saturday at 2pm there is a free curated tour of photographer Dave Heath’s exhibit “A Heritage of Meaning: An Introspective” at the Ottawa Art Gallery 2 Daly Ave, FREE 2-3:30pm
If you’re a fan of Star Wars as part of the Star Wars Reads Chapters on Rideau St will be hosting events and meet & greets with characters at 3pm on Saturday.
Finally, budding film-makers may want to book off Saturday for the SAW Media & Documentary Org of Canada presented workshop “How to Make LSD: Logline, Synopsis, Demo… & Pitch ” with Fernanda Rossi. Here is a Q&A session SAW did with Rossi – an internationally reknown consultant to Academy Award winning documentaries that will surely whet your appetite for knowledge.
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Yowzers! There’s a flurry of activity on Rideau Street today.
Djembe players lent beats to the proceedings as the Mayor, Councillor Fleury, local businesses and the Downtown Rideau BIA came together for the ribbon cutting ceremony & BBQ to mark the official re-opening – if not completion (Friel through Wurtemburg & Rideau River bridge still in progress) of the Rideau Street redevelopment project.
Mark Thompson
Mark Thompson & his beautiful light art was displayed – on a smaller scale – while awaiting road work completion. The 4 LED visual art installations will be situated between Waller & Coburg streets and stand 9 feet tall sparkling in the daylight whilst shimmering at night. I seriously can’t wait for these beauties.
Rideau Bakery outdid themselves; their cake decorated with historic pictures from the streets elegant past. Businesses up and down Rideau set up sidewalk displays offering discounts, gifts and taking the time to get to know their neighbours.
I picked up some lovely reflector straps and bike lights outside the EnviroCentre. I love this organisation they are so involved with Ottawa happenings and they’re offering discounts of 25-50% off today at the Rideau Street location where we chatted with the lovely Sheila & Melissa.
Later we discovered the Rideau Homeopathy wellness centre with physiotherapist & homeopath Mokhtar Akbari and massage therapist & acupuncturist Lori Mackay – 418 Rideau.
So many businesses were set up it’s a hard to name them all from Loblaw’s with a free BBQ to jamaican patties at the DJ Market by the African Heritage Centre, the local Library, Cony’s Nail Spa, Bytowne Cinema, Riccioli – such a fun time.
A final highlight was meeting Indigo who not only set up the most beautiful table but filled us in on the monthly Sandy Hill Good Food Market at 731 Chapel St. September’s market is tomorrow Saturday the 28th from 11am-3pm and they are hosting a community harvest BBQ from 1pm. Come for the market and stay for the great eats!! Future market dates will definitely be posted on the SandyHillSeen website from now on.
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Tagged EnviroCentre, Good Food Market, Mark Thompson, Mathieu Fleury, Rideau Bakery, Rideau Street
Today marked the ground breaking ceremony for the $360 million Rideau Centre refit.
In conjunction with a sleek and bright re-design the Rideau Centre is welcoming 30 new shops including Simons, Victoria’s Secret, J Crew & Nordstrom.
The dinning hall is being moved to a location with greater natural light and features a contemporary layout with bar seating and enclave-positioned higher-end food offerings making it a destination experience where one can refuel and relax.
In keeping with the visionary progress made by the Downtown Rideau and the Byward Market BIAs in building local beautification and desirability – think Nuit Blanche, Public Seating – the Olgilvy building facade destroyed last year will be recreated and incorporated in to the modern design of the Centre.
Further the Centre will have great transit links with LRT stops and buses bringing it in-line with successful urban retail development across the US and Europe.
This ambitious redevelopment and expansion project is wonderful news for the surrounding neighbourhoods who use it as their local shop.
One small request would be that the Rideau Centre please encourage the City of Ottawa to install bike lanes and beautify pedestrian access to give this project a real boutique edge in the urban & historical heart of Ottawa. Retail profits stand to increase – The NYC Dept of Transportation 2012 Study found that in Manhattan businesses saw an improvement in retail sales of up to 49 percent if they were near protected bicycle lanes.
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Tagged @rideaucentreott, Byward Market, Byward Market BIA, DowntownRideau, J Crew, Nordstorm, Ottawa, Rideau Centre, Simons, Victoria's Secret
Got weekend plans? Now you do. Details & links on Events page.
The undeniable pick of the week is Arts Court double-header comedy/horror revival from the 2013 Ottawa Fringe Festival: Bent Springs & Shambling Things. The two sold-out-during- Fringe plays “Chesterfield” & “Die Zombie Die” are hilarious and macabre. In “Chesterfield” a newly married couple cope with both the trials of their relationship and a carnivorous sofa. In “Zombie” as the un-dead rampage continues questions arise over who is fighting them and whether it is all a zombie slayer set up. Witty entertainment +there is a cash bar to steady your jangly nerves for $18. Runs Thursday 26-Saturday 28.
Saturday and Sunday look to be hot & sunny making it a spot on weekend to get outside. Take part in a C’est Bon Cooking Culinary Tour – Saturday morning at 10:30 it’s a tour of Lowertown while Sunday you can have a foodie walkaround the Byward Market. Yummy.
In the afternoon enjoy the weather while helping out your community. The Sandy Hill Fall Clean-Up is an later day affair, cuz we like a weekend lie-in, that kicks off at Strathcona Park (parking lot) at 1pm Saturday and at Chapel Street Park at 3pm Sunday.
Also on sunny Sunday you can take in a guided tour of the 1.5km of roof gardens atop the Rideau Centre and the NAC with stunning views over Ottawa.
Need another hit of art and culture? Check out Transformer: The Body Remixed at SAW Gallery. The mixed media exhibit explores the digitally manipulated human form in Western culture. Literally bombarded daily by unrealistic body imagery has led many to dysmorphia, isolation and a growing sense of imperfection. See how SAW tackles these subjects through sculpture, video, photography and more. Continues until November 2nd 2013.
A new initiative – Vision Sandy Hill – was launched by ASH committee member Suneeta Millington to harness wider public opinion within Sandy Hill in defining the future needs of our neighbourhood.
“Vision Sandy Hill” plans to step outside the community organisation and take the pulse of Sandy Hill residents on the needs and wants of the community. Millington’s group is engaged with the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study’s (ONS) which launched detailed findings on communities in Ottawa only two weeks ago. The ONS comprehensive blueprint of the neighbourhood will provide a rich backdrop against which to analyse Vision feedback. (Sandy Hill Seen will review the findings of the ONS in a future post once the data containing several errors has been corrected).
The Vision mandate is to engage with local “stakeholders” within the Sandy Hill community to bring about positive change through stand-alone projects that essentially brand our neighbourhood as the place to live, work and do business in Ottawa.
Out of the initial Vision launch and brainstorm held late last month at TAN coffee such projects as “Banners on our Main Streets” Rideau and Laurier, Revitalisation of the Chapel Street Park and creating a community garden on the railway bike bridge were amongst many other ideas suggested.
Click link for more about Vision Sandy Hill Special Projects Initiative & List.
We look forward to more details in the coming weeks and months as Vision takes hold across Sandy Hill.
Action Sandy Hill – Action Cote de Sable has announced this morning that the Sandy Hill Yard Sale has been moved to Sunday 22nd Sept due to an inclement forecast. Come one, come all this Sunday for treats and treasures galore.
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Sandy Hill Seen 