RIDEAU CENTRE PANORAMA
I'm particularly proud of this Autostitch composite picture, which shows the entire Rideau Street side of the Rideau Centre, the main shopping centre in downtown Ottawa. While you can see cars chopped in half and ghostly people, as far as I can see, the composite of the architecture of the mall itself is perfectly merged... I don't see any seams anywhere. And I like the perspective distortion, which makes it almost look like a circular building, when, in fact, this wall is flat, and the two skywalks to the Bay department store come across almost like airline loading ramps branching out from an airport terminal.
Anyway, if you were wondering, yes, I did get the volunteer position. I don't think I should say what it is quite yet as I don't really know the people there yet and I don't know how kosher it would be to talk about anything going on, but I'll start showing up maybe a couple of times a week starting later this spring, and it will get me some much-needed experience for my resume doing something I'll probably enjoy a lot.
Psst... here's a photo of the Rideau Street Chapters bookstore that I took last fall. Maybe there's a clue there.
HAIRCUT AND OTTAWA IN SPRING.
I got a haircut on Tuesday evening at my usual discount barbershop of choice, the Friendly Cuts inside the Merivale Road Zellers discount department store. Why did I get a haircut? Because I have a job interview of sorts on Wednesday... but it's a volunteer job, which is a good place to start for someone with nothing in the way of working experience like. I don't think I should give much in the way of details yet, but it involves data entry for an organization that ties in with one of my interests, and it might be good for making contacts with whom I can pitch some ideas I have. That's all I'll say for now.
Unfortunately, that picture is a little
too honest. You can see my haircut, which looks great, but you can see the rest of my face, which doesn't look nearly as good as my full head of hair. Like every zit and blemish and some peeling skin on my nose that I didn't notice before I left. Also, you can see my pin of Peorth from
Ah My Goddess!Now, let's look at a few nice photos. Last Thursday, I went to an appointment with the job finding counselors whom I am currently seeing, and Thursday afternoon was the first really nice day of spring for photography, so, after the appointment, I went around both Westboro and downtown Ottawa, taking pictures against the backdrop of a crystal blue sky.
An Autostitch panorama of people boarding the O-Train at Bayview station.
An Autostitch panorama of OC Transpo buses parked at the Bayview Transitway station with the downtown Ottawa skyline in the background.
An OC Transpo Nova Bus LFS approaching the Dominion Transitway stop with the thawing Ottawa River in the background.
The Minto Metropole luxury condominium tower, the second-tallest skyscraper in all of Ottawa, looms over the Westboro Transitway stop as an OC Transpo New Flyer D60LF articulated bus passes under a pedestrian bridge.
The main Ottawa mosque, run by the
Ottawa Muslim Association. (Eh, they're only mentioned once at
Little Green Footballs, and only as one of many signatories on a CAIR-Canada press release condeming Israel for fighting back against Lebanon in that war that Hezbollah started last summer.)
There was a locksmith fixing locks on the door, but I haven't heard anything about anti-Islamic vandalism in Ottawa over the past week, so I assume that it was just routine maintenance.
The RH Coats building in the Tunney's Pasture government office complex, the fourth-tallest building in Ottawa according to
this chart, and the OC Transpo Tunney's Pasture Transitway station.
An OC Transpo GMC New Look T6H-5307N bus, the most "old school" bus that is current;y active in OC Transpo's fleet, on Slater Street at Lyon in downtown Ottawa.
It was the first really nice day of spring, so I spotted some interesting cars on the streets of Ottawa, like this metallic blue late-1970s Pontiac Trans-Am, or Pontiac Firebird, if you prefer.
I like the weird patterns of reflected sunlight which I think is reflecting off of the Constitution Square Office complex onto the buildings in the background.
An Autostitch composite photograph of the Ottawa Crowne Plaza hotel, which apparently used to be called the "Skyline Hotel".
An Ottawa Police Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor on Lyon Street, passing the Ottawa Crowne Plaza hotel.
An Autostitch composite photo of Place de Ville Tower C, the tallest building in Ottawa.
An Autostitch composite of Tower C's relatively-stunted brothers, Place de Ville Towers B and A.
Bank Street looking south from near the corner of Bank and Sparks Street, and near the Bank Street McDonald's.
The guy in the Honda honked while I was taking the photo. I hope it was in appreciation... maybe he's a fan of my Flickr photos (or of this blog).
A yellow Pontiac Aztek taxi at the corner of Gloucester Street and Bank Street.
Some people find this car/SUV crossover vehicle "fugly", but I think it's cute in a weird way.
If Sega ever does another
Crazy Taxi game, this would be a great candidate.
A slightly-distorted Autostitch composite of one of the L'Esplanade Laurier towers and a somewhat incongruous Shell station at the base.
And three different angles of Place Bell Canada, about my favourite tall building in Ottawa, mainly because it reminds me a bit of Rockefeller Plaza in New York from certain angles.
I'd post more, but I really need to get showered and get to bed. I'll talk to you after the interview.
