The Guns Of War Are Silent

 Army Run weekend takes place in Ottawa in September. It consists of a 5K, 10K, and half-marathon through the streets of Ottawa and Gatineau, organized by the military, with fundraising going to organizations that work with soldiers and their families, particularly after military service. Thousands take part in the runs, and it's the second largest such event in the capital after the May Ottawa Race Weekend. At City Hall, it is tradition for military equipment to be on display for the weekend. Here at one entrance is a formidable weapon, the M777 Howitzer, pointed across the street towards Confederation Park. All of this equipment would likely have come down for the weekend from CFB Petawawa, which is a couple of hours drive up the valley from the city.

This is the vehicle that tows that Howitzer.

I noticed this trailer. It was adorned with the faces of deceased Canadian servicemen and women, most of them young, and from the dates, most of them from the Afghan War.

Across from it, this medical truck. St. John Ambulance is an international first aid/ medical organization that among other things offers first aid training. My last course on emergency first aid was from a really good instructor with them, and it's time to get that renewed. You never know when you might need it.

At one of the tents, this display from the Canadian Forces. This is a UAV.

Big trucks were parked in the shade of City Hall.

One of them, as it turns out, was a mobile workshop. The tools and work tables were left at home, a soldier told me, but these are meant for repairs that are part of military operations in the field.

Another big truck along the way.

And armoured transport.

This is another armoured transport, in front of Cartier Square Drill Hall, a legacy of the days of Canadian cities building armories at the end of the 19th century and into the early 20th century. It is a neighbour to City Hall. This LAV was open at the back, and I took a look inside. No bit of space is wasted in one of these.

The Time That Is Given To Us

 One of the vendors I bought some goods from was this one, whose primary specialty was cutting boards and coasters in wood, with a pop culture theme.

The map of Middle Earth on this cutting board was particularly appreciated. If I had a larger kitchen- or to be more precise did any cooking- I would have picked it up.

Thor's Trinkets is the name of an eastern Ontario artisan who does pop culture on beer mugs and other glassware as the bulk of her work. I have a good number of beer mugs and other glasses from her, and picked up a couple of glass coffee mugs this time out. Note the various genres represented here.

Another place I stopped by sells these t-shirts. They are pop culture icons largely done as silhouette, and most of them brown on a black t-shirt, but not all as you can see. I have several of them already, including the Batman one at top left, and bought two more this time out- a Star Wars one and a Godzilla one.

These cosplayers caught my eye- Wolverine, Juggernaut, and Mystique, all of the X-Men corner of Marvel.

The woman's Mystique make up was particularly effective- the character is a shape changer, and this woman decided to depict Mystique mid-transformation from her usual blue skinned self into whoever she's impersonating.

I chatted with a longtime Marvel artist who always turns up at these things, and bought some graphic novels from him to add to the others I had bought from other dealers. And I bought a few more things, shown here at home. While walking through, I had noticed several dinosaurs like this from one vendor; I returned and bought a triceratops. It now sits on top of my desk.

One of my favourite quotes from the Lord of the Rings; this sign came home with me.

My two new mugs. The one at left is definitely me, while the one at the right shows my LOTR fandom.

And I got four coasters- three of which were Star Wars related, and another featuring Groot from Marvel comics- and a bottle opener from the Harry Potter side of things.

A Foul Mouthed Droid Of Film

 Ottawa Comiccon is held in early September at the EY Centre, a convention centre near the airport. I go each year, for photo ops and for buying merchandise, and always enjoy myself. There are a lot of vendors, and a lot of cosplayers about.

These swords caught my eye, though I'd never buy something like that. I'm too concerned with getting myself hurt handling these.

Cinema's most foul-mouthed character in history was present- more than one, rolling about, chattering constantly, every obscenity bleeped out. R2-D2 has a way of drawing attention. This droid was rolling through this aisle- I didn't notice Darth Vader in the background until putting this post together. And the fellow at left in the Joker costume- take a look at what's written on his bag.

There's a lot to see and buy.

The Capital City Garrison, also called the 501st Legion, is a local group of Star Wars fans, and they always have a big set up here. Both cosplayers and stationary props can be found.

This cosplayer had a great Iron Man costume.

I asked these two for a shot or two, and they obliged. Didn't recognize the costumes, but a colleague said they were of the video game and anime persuasion. More of this tomorrow.

Odds And Ends Within The City

I begin today in the Glebe neighbourhood. Late one afternoon, I saw this car, which I've featured before. I consider it hideous and ugly, but the car (and its owner) have drawn a lot of attention in social media locally, where a lot of people seem to like it. Each year, the owner seems to add more junk to it, and when he's not at work, he likes to drive around from place to place in the city.

This is a photograph from the archives- obviously with the snow. I featured this building for a theme day in February 2024. At the time, it was still in use as an office building, and there was a retail unit on the ground floor still in operation- a running store. 

This is a more recent photograph, taken just a bit further east along Slater. The building is presently being demolished in favour of a complete rebuild, and the company doing it is demolishing it from the top down- as you can see, there are less floors now.

The same building is seen in the background in this shot, from the west. Its neighbour is a former parking garage awaiting demolition. This is the garage I featured several months ago, the one that suffered a partial collapse of its roof due to heavy snow packed in one area (plus the negligence of the ownership).

One day I stopped in a downtown office building for lunch at one of the food vendors. I didn't buy from this one, but noticed this sign in the neighbouring unit to where I was buying from. 

And now a real cat. This one lives close to home from me.

I headed out to the campus at the University of Ottawa one day, with this church in mind. The Paroisse Sacre-Coeur d'Ottawa is a French language Catholic church on the campus, one of two Catholic churches found here. It is very contemporary- its predecessor building burned in a fire. This one is open to students during the week, as the university has some classes here. And it also has a beautiful chapel, with stained glass windows that I had intended to use for the theme day.

Alas, the building was still locked. I photographed the front bell tower.

On my way out, I passed by Tabaret Hall, one of the university buildings, and my favourite on campus in terms of architectural style.

The National Arts Centre has a statue outside of the great Canadian jazz musician and composer Oscar Peterson. This year marks the centennial of his birth. The statue, by Ruth Abernethy, was unveiled by the Queen in 2010, and feels very lifelike. Music by Oscar comes from speakers mounted overhead. In my opinion, one of the greatest in jazz, and the greatest musician this country ever gave to the world.

Just down the street is Confederation Park, which has a number of monuments. This is the largest of them. The National Aboriginal Veterans Monument pays tribute to indigenous warriors who have served the country in war and the military, featuring four warriors, an eagle, and four animals around the base- the bear, the wolf, the elk, and the bison.

Here it is from the far side, with the Lord Elgin Hotel across the street.

Some of our national birds could be seen in the park eating. They're all on the way south.

And I end nearby. The main Ottawa Courthouse shares the property with City Hall. I spent some days here in late April and early May. I was testifying for the Crown in a criminal trial. The accused was later found guilty on multiple charges. 

I personally found the experience of testifying in court to be draining, particularly since some of those days I wasn't testifying at all, just waiting. The building itself I have always liked.