Here’s a great idea from the Modern Ottawa blog about a way to spruce up the exterior of the former Big Bud’s store at Bank & Somerset. Now it’s home to Dollar It! , Knit-Knackers and Biogene Aesthetics . ...

[  ](http://www.flickr.com/photos/steve-brandon/423479322/) Photo by [ Steve Brandon ](http://www.flickr.com/photos/steve-brandon/423479322/) , used by permission. Yes, this is actually happening. Not a joke, apparantly. ...

[ ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/manwestboro.jpg) Westboro - Eyewitness reports of a normal, non-sporty male wearing a regular button- up plaid shirt and khaki pants have been recorded early Wednesday morning after two joggers spotted the unusual creature on their way to yoga class. The rare sighting of a normally dressed, slow moving male with no visible signs of active living, has many residents in the area concerned and demanding city bylaw officers hunt down and remove the creature from the upscale neighbourhood. ...

[ ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/current.jpg) You should go watch this video called “Currents” that’s playing as part of a digital art installation at the new Marketplace Transit station in Barrhaven. It’s a strangely calming collection of photos and stills of mostly Barrhaven things. ...

It’s the 10th edition of Doors Open Ottawa this Saturday and Sunday. I’m sure you’ve heard about (and possibly visited) the popular destinations like the U.S. Embassy, Rideau Hall, and a bunch of downtown churches. Here are our picks for a few under-appreciated buildings on the tour this year, in alphabetical order. ...

Yannick Beauvalet sent us these amazing photos of Ottawa’s downtown at night. Nice city we live in, isn’t it? We’re always on the look-out for great photos of our great city, please send them to feedback@ottawastart.com [  ](http://ottawastart. ...

[  ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/2007-11-12-armchair.jpg) ** Used Armchair #2. ** Photo by [ Eric Charlebois ](http://whitebalance.ca/?key=706fa51d9c50c34ca2213d6e3478c5fd702742b7) . It's kind of like the Great Glebe Garage Sale, but it's city-wide, and it's free. From a [ press release ](http://www. ...

 Photo from Stephen Smith over at [ SensTown ](http://www.senstown.com/2011/05/sign-of-times.html) , used here with permission. I would like to suggest to all store owners in Ottawa to adopt the "HEY ALFIE, CALL ME!" meme for their promotional [ signage ](http://ottawastart. ...

[ ](http://www.flickr.com/photos/fromhereonend/5756813066/) Dandelions and an old barn near Almonte. A great photo by Robert L. , who included a nice quote with this photo on his Flickr page: _ "He who hunts for flowers will finds flowers; and he who loves weeds will find weeds" ...

Inspired by one of Andrea’s blog posts last week, I started looking into how much electricity we’re using at our house, and found MyHydroLink , a new tool from Hydro Ottawa . Once you’ve set up an online account, you can log in and see your daily hydro usage, broken down by hour. ...