Death and the Maiden Duke It Out at The NEW Gladstone

 Ariel Dorfman’s dark and daring drama Death and the Maiden provides a thrilling conclusion to The Gladstone’s 2012 season. The play deals with the stark, painful transition to democracy of a former dictatorship through the eyes of three tormented people. The dictatorship of an unnamed Latin American country has fallen,

Controversial Public Servant Cuts Coming – Canada’s Magic Shrinking Trick

 Public Servants Series What will Canada look like if tens of thousands of public sector jobs are lost by the end of this year? That is the question plaguing economists, unions and political analysts alike. These potential job losses follow the federal Conservative government’s announcement to freeze wages and deliver

Recipe: Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies (Chewy)

 Very few things are better comfort foods then a glass of milk with a delicious gooey-chewy chocolate chip cookie - any day of the year. Now imagine that cookie in jumbo form and you have a heavenly combination. Here is an easy recipe for jumbo chocolate chip cookies (first tried

DIY: Metal Frame Collar for your Blouse

 Blouses are one of the staples in anyone’s wardrobe. They can be dressed up with pencil skirts or dressed down with a pair of boyfriend jeans. Blouses are always in style and one can see that the metal collar blouses are the latest trend. Instead of buying a new blouse,

Travel Diary: Maputsoe, Lesotho

 A big, white pickup truck pulled into the compound, one afternoon at Rachel’s Children Home, an HIV/AIDS orphanage  in Maputsoe Lesotho. A tiny figure cowered in the truck’s bed. Two police officers emerged from the truck and instructed the figure to hop out. The officers explained this figure-a young girl-was

Father Knows Best

 With my parents’ 48th wedding anniversary approaching this month, there is cause for a lot of reminiscing. Recently, I took my children to spend a Sunday afternoon with their grandparents and, before I knew it, we were all sitting together viewing my parents’ home videos of their wedding, from the

Sin: The Russia You Never Knew

 Book Review by: Damira Davletyarova  Zahar Prilepin's  book Sin is a collection of short stories written in non-chronological order. Yet, by the end, they merge into a full complex picture, giving the novel its unique form. The main character of the stories is Zahar, who incidentally, has the same name as the

Searching for Style on Two Wheels

 Last year, Michelle President and Zara Ansar, were bouncing at trampoline class as they gabbed about fashionable cyclists they encountered during their commutes to work. The avid cyclists realized they had found a hole in the blogosphere, which would later manifest into their biking fashion blog, Ottawa Velo Vogue. “It was

Bette’s Etiquette Beat – Deadiquette

 Spring has sprung in the Nations’ Capital!  It is always one of my favourite seasons- buds blossoming, winter coats and boots being stored away, new beginnings. Spring is also a melancholy time for me personally, since it was the first day of spring, 11 years ago, that my father died

New Burger Place Opens Downtown

 Watch out, Ottawa; there's a new burger place in town. Burgers on Main is located on Sommerset between Bank and O'Connor. Also referred to as BOM, Burgers on Main first opened in Manotick in October 2011. Since then, the restaurant has been quite successful and is quickly becoming an important

Painting the Town

 The name Beauty School Dropouts,conjures images of the Pink Ladies, poodle skirts and summer lovin’, but the local nail art company of the same name is anything but. Beauty School Dropouts is a mobile manicure company, specializing in one-of-a-kind nail art. Emilie Gauvreau, 23, and Kristina Smith, 27, started their

The Expendables: Political Advisors, Consultants and Media Commentators

 It is said that there is no honour among thieves. After watching the reaction from both the White House and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to recent comments made by one Hilary Rosen concerning Ann Romney, wife of the Republican Party’s likely presidential nominee, we could safely expand this old

Two Canadian Fashion Designers with a Green Vision

 The fashion industry is a lot of things – glamorous, ever-changing, and certainly big business. However, in terms of being environmentally conscious, many argue the industry needs to clean up its act. From the fast trend cycle, which promotes disposable clothing, to the wasteful and harmful practices during production, we

Recipe: One of Everything Spicy Tomato Soup

 This tasty tomato soup is easy to make and very adaptable. You can substitute any of your favourite herbs and spices. As the recipe is very straight forward, it is an ideal base recipe with which to experiment. The sodium content in canned soup is actually pretty shocking. Homemade soup

Greenstream Series: Polar Expert – Dr. Peter Harrison

 Dr. Peter Harrison has devoted his career to understanding Canada’s northern and Arctic oceans. As global warming threatens the planet, his knowledge on the subject is needed now more than ever. Harrison, a professor at Queen’s University who specializes in ocean and coastal management, has run the gamut of his

Maple Magic

 April means maple syrup and according to National Geographic, the best sticky stuff in Ontario is in Lanark County just outside Ottawa, in Ontario’s Highlands. Known as the Maple Syrup Capital of Ontario, Lanark’s maple syrup was ranked first in a list of top ten foods to eat in Ontario.

GreenStream Series: The Human Face of Climate Change

 In April, the world’s top polar scientists will descend on Montreal to answer the world’s most pressing question – how is climate change affecting our planet and what should we do about it? The International Polar Year 2012 (IPY) conference will examine all aspects of the changing polar environment –

Ottawa Senators Monthly Report: March and April

 In several previous monthly reports, I’ve used this space to skewer Adam Proteau and The Hockey News for predicting the Ottawa Senators would finish dead last in the Eastern Conference in their September season preview. While the forecast certainly wasn’t uncommon (nearly every major hockey publication, website and Toronto media

Juno Weekend Lights Up Ottawa

 This weekend, Ottawa was undeniably alive. During the weeks leading up to Canada’s biggest night in music, it seemed as if there was a portion of the population still unaware the event was coming to town. But as the last week of March passed, the Juno flags began to sway

A True Story of Marriage Fraud and Justice Found

 Lainie Towell’s new book How to Catch an African Chicken – A Canadian Woman’s Outrageous but True Story of Marriage Fraud could be making history. Towell’s ordeal prompted Immigration Minister Jason Kenney to get cracking with new marriage fraud laws. The story begins in 2004, when Ottawa dance artist Lainie Towell traveled

No Silver Lining to Golden Years

 Pensions & peace of mind series Retirement issues are hot these days. The Tories’ muse about increasing the retirement age and the words ‘pension reform’ are loaded ones. There is no question Canada is facing a pension crunch. In the coming years, the number of Canadian retirees will dramatically increase

JUNO Awards: Q & A with MAC Cosmetics Senior Makeup Artist Melissa Gibson

 The 2012 JUNO Awards capped off a tremendous week of music in the capital all while celebrating some of Canada’s best talent.  Ottawa Life Magazine’s Fashion Editor, Alexandra Gunn went behind-the-scenes to meet with veteran MAC Cosmetics Senior Artist Melissa Gibson who created Carly Rae Jepsen’s look for the Awards.

Global Trade Wars Past and Present: the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of the Sky

 In 1930, as the United States of America and much of the Western world slipped further into what would later be called the Great Depression, the American Congress and Republican President Herbert Hoover were convinced that the best way to stop the hemorrhaging economy was to pursue a path of

The Environment Loses in 2012 Federal Budget

 While there are always winners and losers come federal budget time, there’s an issue when our own government is putting the interests of big oil corporations ahead of the interest of Canadians. Our right to a clean and healthy environment, as well as our right to democratic debate, is under