Map of all of Ottawa's outdoor skating rinks

Check out this great map showing the locations of all of Ottawa's outdoor skating rinks.Chris Taggart created the map, and says: "I just thought I'd point you to this Google Map of all the outdoor rinks in Ottawa. The list on the City site was pretty hard to figure out which rink was closest to my house, so I dropped them into a map. I thought it could also be helpful to your readers."Related:

Ottawa firefighter featured on "The Onion"

CBC had an interesting story today about Capt. Rudy Lindia, an Ottawa firefighter whose photo was used to accompany a fake news story on "The Onion".Lindia agreed to have his photo taken a few years ago, believing it would be used by the City of Ottawa (his employer) for publicity purposes. It ended up in the hands of a stock photo agency, which is where the Onion probably got a hold of it.Then

Recommended reading: King John of Canada

Just finished reading Scott Gardiner's King John of Canada. Set in the not-too-distant future, Gardiner tells the story about how Canada chooses a home-grown monarch to fix the country. It's a really fun read.King John solves all of the country's big problems -- Quebec separatists, Aboriginal issues, Canada-U.S. relations, and the Canadian Football League. He even mentions the future of

A brief history of Throop Photographic

Reader Ken Waplington writes:Re: Late local CTV Ottawa news(Jan 17/08). It was noted the closing of Throop Photo on Merivale Rd., sad! But in it's evolution, Throop Photo had an earlier life.When Westgate Shopping Center was opened on Carling Avenue, the shopping centre was touted as one of the largest & most modern in North Americal!Long before "Shopper's Drug Mart" was a concept or in existance

James Duthie: Ottawa could be Hockeytown

From James Duthie's blog:Recently, Sports Illustrated declared St. Paul Minnesota the new Hockeytown U.S.A, replacing Detroit. That angered folks in the 313 (which probably is not a good idea…I’m just sayin’). Throw Canada into the mix and you have an argument that will lead to either: a. A lively debate b. Canadian Civil War ...With puck passion so equally spread across Canada (and a couple

Nominate a local blog for the Canadian Blog Awards

Dani from Postcards from the Mothership asked me to highlight the Canadian Blog Awards (CBAs). They're accepting nominations until January 11th for Canada's best blogs in a number of categories.Some Ottawa blogs that I'll nominate:Best Photo Blog: Watawa Life. Photographer Robin Kelsey posts great photos almost every day. Most of them capture details from from around his neighbourhood in the

Remembering the 1998 ice storm

It was ten years ago this week that a massive ice storm crippled our region. Several web sites are looking back on the events with some great photos and stories. Here are some links:Ottawa CitizenHydro OttawaCBC Ottawa: photos, storiesCBC ArchivesEnvironment CanadaRelated: Ottawa Weather Guide

The Ottawa Flapjacks? New baseball team searches for a new name

Too bad we didn't hear about this until after the contest was finished: Ottawa's new Can-Am League baseball team -- the one that will replace the Lynx as the main tenant at Ottawa's baseball stadium -- held a contest last month to name the team. They had 500 entries, including the ones listed below on the league's web site:Alliteration is one of the favored themes and such names as the Ottawa

Loopholes in the idling bylaw

Miss Vicky has an interesting look at Ottawa's new no-idling bylaw on her blog, pointing out at least twelve exceptions that allow vehicles to idle without penalty.I thought I heard that idling at drive-throughs was also permissible. Does anyone know which one of the exceptions covers that?Related: Ottawa Traffic Guide

New Year's Eve fireworks

Ottawa had a big fireworks show downtown on New Year's Eve for the first time since New Year's Eve 1999. It was two fireworks shows, in fact - one just before 7:00pm and one at midnight.Ottawa photographers were out in full force. Here are some pics:Watawa LifeThrough the Broken ViewfinderFlickr: cynnerzFlickr: mintyfreshFlickr: LuciaBFlickr: ToriaURUFlickr: Klattu01Flickr: A2.Flickr: