music...Ottawa...

This is just a short, nothing-fancy video of a part of the Ottawa River.

I was standing on one of the lookouts along the Rockliffe Parkway.

When I was a kid, I used to go out early in the morning and walk   more...up to the escarpment overlooking the river and climb down to a little ledge and cook breakfast over a little campfire and watch the river flow by.

I used to pretend that I was an Indian looking out over the river, long before the colonists came. It was easier to do in thiose days, before apartment buildings started popping up to ruin the view up towards the hills that form the southern edge of the Canadian Shield.

Sometimes I wondered what Samuel de Champlain would have seen as he paddled along the river below my hiding spot. Certainly, it would have been vast forests of tall pines.... before the lumbermen came and erased the forests.  less

A short video clip of the fountain at the Ottawa airport.

Sunset at Fort William, a Hudson's Bay Company post along the Upper Ottawa River.

Oak furniture 199$ each element. Final liquidation.
Real oak furniture up to 90% off from regular price.
Huge variety of modular furniture from Europe.
Price for each element is 199$ (minimum purchase is   more...3 elements).
Visit our web sites to get more information.
http://www.ottawafurniture.info  less

Oak furniture 199$ each element. Final liquidation.
Real oak furniture up to 90% off from regular price.
Huge variety of modular furniture from Europe.
Price for each element is 199$ (minimum purchase is   more...3 elements).
Visit our web sites to get more information.
http://www.ottawafurniture.info  less

James moons Lady Dive, a tourist bus and boat in Ottawa the Capital of city of Canada.

Some stills of the recent snow, and some music.

We were supposed to get more snow and, when I filmed this...., nary a flake. It has actually started snowing, now. We are supposed to get 40 cm (14" ?). Of course, they always predict a ton of snow   more...and then we get only a few inches, so I am not holding my breath on this one.  less

We had a bit of snow on Tuesday night and during the day Wednesday.

That is our car stuck in the entrance to the co-op, way across the parking lot. Every time the truck backs up, that is our car behind   more...it. The neighbours finally helped Mom get it unstuck.

As I am laid up after falling on the front stairs, I can only hang out at the window and watch. My version of "Rear Window", minus a murder and without much in the way of actual suspense.

We are supposed to have a "big snow storm" tonight and tomorrow.  less

I thought I should turn the videos I took of Ottawa into a tour, as well. This is part 1, the first part of the trip.

360° of the view behind the Supreme Court of Canada, in Ottawa.

The island you see to the right of the tree at the beginning and end of the video is Victoria Island, still owned by the Algonquin Indians.   more...Out of sight behind it is the Chaudiere (cauldron) Falls which powered the lumber mills, the main industry of Bytown (named after Colonel By who designed and built the Rideau Canal between Bytown and Kingston Ontario).

Lumber was the main industry of Ottawa (renamed fron Bytown when it was chosen as Canada's capital) and Hull, on the other side of the river, into the 1960s. I can still remember the huge log booms covering the surface of the river into the mid 1960s. Some of the old mill buildings, including the E.B. Eddy mills can still be seen around the Chaudiere. They are a few which survived the fire that destroyed much of Hull and a good bit of Ottawa when, on April 26, 1900, millions of stacks of lumber caught fire, spreading across the river and up into the city.

Now, the main "industry" in Ottawa and Hull is Government and high-tech. Most of the buildings you see across the river are government offices.

As I scan down-river, you can see the Canadian Museum of Civilization which stands on land once used as the staging area for Native peoples as they conducted their seasonal migrations up and down the Ottawa River. They, and the Voyageurs who brought furs and trade goods up and down the Ottawa, would rest up before and after the big portage on the Hull side, past the Chaudiere.

Spanning the river, just beyond the museum is the Alexandra Bridge used to be one of the rail bridges across the Ottawa but now carried foot and car traffic. On the Ottawa side of the bridge is Nepean Point with the outdoor Astrolab Theatre, The National Gallery (the reddish-glowing glass tower), Notre Dame Catherdral (the two lit spires), The American Embassy (sitting like a prison in the middle of the city -- can you tell I am not impressed?), and Parliament Hill -- Canada's capital buildings.

The Parliament Buildings consist of the main Pariliament building with the domination Peace Tower, rebuilt after the fire destroyed the entire main building with the exception of the Parilamentary Library (the round building behind the main Parliament building), and the East and West Blocks.

The low, white building visible between the West Block and the Supreme Court Building is one of the last remaining wartime "Temprorary Buildings" built during WWII to house wartime government offices on a "temporary" basis. Many survived through the 1960's and some up into the 1980s and 1990s.  less

Intro exhibit at the fair

Just a short clip taken while driving at sunset along a favorite route across town, south of the city.

That's Tom Russell singing "El Paso" in the background

This so rocks! I would have loved to have been at that game!

MOB - Man Over Board performing live at the new bayou, video taped with permission for promotion on facebook and myspace. Website: www.myspace.com/manoverboardlive

MOB - Man OverBoard music video performing live at the New Bayou in Ottawa. Videotaped with permission for promotion with facebook and myspace.

this is me trying not to die....

BOB BRAZEAU
Vocals, Bass, Mandolin, Bass Pedals, Accoustic Guitar

BRIGITTE HAMEL
Vocals, Keyboards, Percussion
Profile on Facebook

FLO
Drums, Percussion, Van

JP LAUZON
Lead Guitar, Back Vocals

A strange advertisement gives new meaning to billboard as this video plays out in an Ottawa storefront window.

NOTE: I filmed this with my hand-held point & shoot Sony Cybershot N50, vertically - forgetting   more...that I can't easily rotate a video as I can a photo.  less

Permission granted by band for website, myspace and facebook promotion. Website: www.myspace.com/scarecrowzband

I was on my way to work and was halted by the return to barracks of the Changing of the Guard from Parliament Hill.

I used to work in a bookstore at the National Arts Centre which faced the street they   more...march up and down every day. There was this kid who marched by every day along with the guard. He had a home-made uniform and a wooden "gun". He'd be well into his 20s now. I wonder if her ever made it into the GG's Foot Guard.  less

Tell me this...

Part 2 of my drive through Ottawa, with "Painting By Matisse" by Midnight Choir