What an incredible, surreal photo by Chuck Clark, showing downtown Ottawa during a sunset. [ ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/centretown-aerial-sunset.jpg) The original photo (and more from the flight) can be seen here on Flickr . I’ve republished it here with Chuck’s permission. He says: ...

[ ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/snowperson.jpg) _ Westboro _ In keeping with her parenting philosophy that children should not be forced into gender specific activities, a Westboro mother of two helped her daughters build a racially diverse and gender neutral snowperson after last night’s snow fall. ...

Received this email today from Shad Qadri, the City Councillor for Stittsville: Dear Residents, I wanted to share some good news with the community after working on the Scotia Bank Park & Ride program for some time. ...

Not only is this weekend the last one to check out the 300,000 Christmas lights on government buildings downtown , it’s also the last weekend to see this display at Mark Bell’s house on Markland Cres. (near Mayford) in Barrhaven : ...

[ ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/weekly-event-roundup250.gif) _ Here are our contributors' picks for the best events in Ottawa for the week of January 5-11. Share your picks for great Ottawa events in the comments below. _ _ _ ** Kaitlin Wainwright , blogger & twitter-er: ** ...

[  ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/AiQfaxDCAAMd-W.jpg) The [ 2012 NHL All-Star Game ](http://ottawastart.com/nhl-allstar-2012.php) logo was added to centre ice at Scotiabank Place on Tuesday. From the [ Ottawa Senators Twitter feed ](http://twitter.com/nhl_sens) . You probably saw a lot of local politicians tweeting and talking this week about [ a very important election ](http://senators. ...

Congrats to Brad Wood and his girlfriend Stacey, who got engaged on New Year’s Eve. I think it’s safe to say that Brad is the top balloon artist in Ottawa. He is a true balloon master , as you can see from this piece he created to celebrate the upcoming nuptials. ...

[  ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/invisible-cinema.jpg) Inside [ Invisible Cinema ](http://invisiblecinema.ca/) , a great movie rental shop at Lisgar and Bank. Photo by [ veganbackpacker ](http://www.flickr.com/photos/jillpyle/) . Last week, reader Darcie Walker asked, “Where to rent foreign films now that DVD stores are closing? ...

What better way to bring in the New Year than with some fresh Bluesfest speculation and rumours. Based on your comments below, some possible performers include: * Blue Rodeo is confirmed (but you can pretty much pencil them in for every year) * Coldplay (they're on a North American tour this summer with no date yet in Ottawa) * Foster The People * Silversun Pickups * Steve Miller * Iron Maiden * The Beach Boys * Scorpions * Kiss * Boston * George Thorogood * Flaming Lips * John Mellencamp * Dave Matthews Band * Metric Keep in mind this is all speculative based on touring schedules and wishful thinking. ...

[  ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/1c0il.jpg) [ Andrew King's ](http://www.andrewkingstudio.com/) "Stage Fright", depicting the dramatic final night of Bluesfest. This painting was auctioned off as part of the [ Portraits of Bluesfest ](http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2011/08/31/stage-crumpling-storm-produces-unique-art-for-portraits-of-bluesfest-3/) fundraiser. ** ** ** Ottawa was obsessed with [ weather ](http://ottawastart. ...