While admiring the numerous, colourful flower beds today at Ottawa’s annual tulip festival, I was reminded that a sea of beauty may make a stirring show, but result in a crowded and competitive marketplace. On the other hand, a few in a more select location may not draw as big a crowd, but any attention drawn is their opportunity to stand out, to impress in their own light.
The insertion of safety speed posts is inevitably going to cause navigation problems when placed by a popular parking area or curb. This is one of several recently placed on our street which are asking for trouble.
Here are a couple of pictures taken today from the frozen Rideau canal, towards the south end of Ottawa, part of the world’s largest outdoor skating rink, under almost ideal weather conditions (except for the lack of sun).
This is a small part of the spread flock of probably at least one hundred Canada (more…)
Here are pictures of the lane intended for bicyclists to use on a feeder road near Ottawa Int’l. airport. (more…)
This picture was taken yesterday at the annual buskers festival on the Sparks St. Mall in Ottawa, Ontario, on a hot & mainly sunny day. You have to admire the work ethic of the performers, in this case handling flaming torches while on nine-foot and six-foot unicycles. Their dexterity, as well as interacting capacity with amorphous audiences, are strong points. (more…)
the watch of time 
Words in Pictures
What do words like cognoscenta and volte-face have in common?
Allowing that the first of these has a seemingly unrecognized end spelling issue (presumably should end in i or e), these are both rather uncommon words I have found in re-reading a book by sci-fi master John Wyndham, perhaps best known as author of “The Day of the Triffids”. His writings stem from the middle of the last century, so he may be excused for using a little older, ornate language, but it is certainly not arcane. (more…)
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Arts commentary, Pictures speak volumes, Social & political commentary, Uncategorized
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