Become an Ottawa insider

▪️ Preorder your Advent calendar by La boîte à bonbons.

▪️ The party’s at Whiprsnapr this Saturday, as the brewery celebrates an incredible 10 years in business.

▪️ While you’re visiting Juniper Farm to pick your own pumpkin, stock up on autumnal veggies and sample the spicy seasonal drinks. The farm is also selling a Squash Box of 10 different varieties for pick up or delivery.

▪️ Purdy’s Chocolates has released its Diwali collection, a range of packs designed for giving (and eating, obvs). From simple chocolate medallions to the lux gold-boxed Diwali Delights, there’s something for every chocolate lover.

▪️ Peter Hum in the Ottawa Citizen continues on his quest to eat every sweet treat in the Capital with a discovery of Toro Eats & Treats’ Sin-Namon Churro Stuffed Cookie, a soft cookie ‘stuffed with dulce de leche, rolled in cinnamon sugar and topped with bits of house-made toffee’.

▪️ At Eat the Strip, Danielle Jeffery found that the chicken parmesan sliders at Grounded Kitchen, Coffee & Bar ‘had a Goldilocks level of perfection with the ratio and flavours of the tomato sauce, havarti, parmesan, basil oil, and panko breaded chicken’.

▪️ After 20 years in the ByWard Market, Oz Kafé has closed. The National Capital Commission dropped the hammer after it was owed $38,000 in rent.

▪️ It’s been 10 years since an old Bank Street shoe repair shop was converted into the gorgeous Fauna.

▪️In her Apt613 Best Bites column Kiersten Vuorimaki ate at Lapointe Street Food (‘The single piece of fish is enormous, with a lovely flaky batter, fried to juicy perfection’), Headquarters (‘The bread choices were sublime, with challah, marble rye, white sourdough, focaccia and gluten free bread as options’), and All Out Burger (‘They started as a chip truck, so the pedigree is legit’).

▪️Gatineau’s Artist in Residency distillery has opened a new location in Hawkesbury. THE OTTAWAN relives the 80s with their Mint and Chocolate liqueur.

– The amount in minutes that the Canadian National Railway is adding to some VIA Rail trains going through Ottawa. Canadian National says that the year-old Siemens-built trainsets that VIA is starting to use sometimes do not trigger crossing gates and has ordered VIA to slow down, or add more cars to each train. VIA generally doesn’t have more cars available.

- The Guardians collect turtle eggs – mostly to protect them from getting eaten by coyotes and skunks – and incubate them. When they hatch, they bring the tiny turtles back to the beach and set them free.

– Waterloo councillor Chantal Huinink in a letter to Mayor Mark Sutcliffe over her experience as a wheelchair user when she was in town for a conference. She was appalled by Para Transpo’s one hour window for pickups in particular.

▪️There are unexploded Second World War bombs sunk in Mer Bleue bog says the Department of National Defence. The Department says that it knows where they are – deep in boggy bits where people can’t walk — but it doesn’t really know how many there are. Between 1942 and 1945, the bog was used as a testing range for bombs of up to 1,000 pounds. A 1960s task force decided that clearing it was more trouble than it was worth.

▪️Halfway through testing, and the Trillium Line is doing well. The latest day’s results – Monday, October 14 – found 99.4 per cent reliability. Over the past eight days, that’s 99.6 per cent. To pass, the O Train must average 98.5 per cent reliability over 14 days.

However, it wasn’t all sunshine and non-square wheels, as 29 trains on the spur line to the airport did not run on Saturday due to a lack of drivers. These skipped trains did not count as ‘reliability’ and did not affect the per centage.

▪️The vaccine to combat RSV is now available for infants in Ottawa. This is the first time in Canada that the vaccine has been okayed for babies. Other countries have seen a reduction in contagion of up to 80 per cent when infants are immunized. RSV is a severe respiratory illness that is particularly harmful to infants and seniors. The vaccines will be provided by hospitals after birth and for those kids at high risk.

▪️ Male strippers and improv collide in the hilarious show The Comic Strippers.

▪️ Tonight ArohaFest encounters Kathak Dance, with Anjali Patil & Company performing. $25.

▪️ Watch as mysterious, acrobatic beings explore the Shenkman Arts Centre in Machine de Cirque: La galerie.

▪️ Plosive Productions and Sunny Ryan Productions present a double bill of works by Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor. See Bob Run and Never Swim Alone run at the Gladstone Theatre until October 26.

▪️ ByTowne Cinema: The Apprentice, Japanese Film Night - Itomichi, Lee

▪️ Mayfair Theatre: How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies

Gigs

▪️ Otis Strange. Rainbow Bistro

▪️ Hania Rani. Bronson Centre

▪️ Open Mic. Pour Boy

▪️ The Peter Hum Trio. Montgomery Scotch Lounge

▪️ Dave Meslin, author of how-to-fix-democracy book Teardown will be live at a screening of his show Unrigged. 5:30 pm, Ben Franklin Place, 101 Centrepointe Drive.

▪️ Signatures Handmade Market brings 130 makers and artisans to Aberdeen Pavilion this weekend.

▪️ Listen to the premiere of Westboro-raised Frank Horvat’s work ‘Almost Homeless: Ottawa’ as well as other exciting new pieces at the Ottawa New Music Festival. Today and tomorrow at the Alma Duncan Salon, Ottawa Art Gallery.

▪️ Crack Up Comedy Festival stops In Ottawa tonight bringing Evan Carter, Ava Val, Kamar Babar, Ryan Zeitz, Simone Holder, and Trevor Thompson to the stage.

▪️ Get a taste of ArohaFest with the free performance of Bharatanatyam dance by Jegatheeswaralaya Fine Arts Centre, Seena Nair and Anitha Varun, 6:00 pm at the NAC’s Peter A. Hernndorf Place.

▪️ Part science fiction, part sublime discovery, Symbiotic explores the potential for art and science to come together to showcase the interdependency of all living things. Until October 31 at SPAO and Canada Agriculture and Food Museum.

▪️ Screening at the ByTowne Cinema tonight. FAQ follows young Dong-chun as she discovers a magical bottle while navigating myriad after-school activities. Part of the Ottawa Korean Film Festival.

▪️ ByTowne Cinema: Lee, Ottawa Korean Film Festival (OKFF): FAQ, The Apprentice

▪️ Mayfair Theatre: Girls Will Be Girls, Calm Beneath Castles

Gigs

▪️ OK Naledi. The Laff

▪️ Noise Hotel, Areans, Joey Bird. Rainbow Bistro

▪️ Jay Willow. LIVE on Elgin

▪️ Mark Crissinger. Irene’s Pub

▪️ Road Trip: Brockville comes alive for Ladies’ Shopping Night with swag, photo ops, limo rides, giveaways and major retail therapy.

▪️ On the topic of shopping, there’s lots of it at the National Women’s Show, plus food and drink, entertainment, and demos.

▪️ Speak to psychics, palm readers, numerologists, and Tarot card readers at Ottawa Psychic and Crystal Fair.

▪️ Tonight’s ArohaFest programming — including Kathak dance by Aroha Fine Arts and Garba dance and workshop by the Gujarati Cultural Association of Ottawa — is free.

▪️ Halifax-based cellist, composer, and improviser India Gailey, Montreal-based percussionist David Brongo, and Ottawa-based harpist Michelle Gott perform their latest compositions at Ottawa New Music Festival.

▪️ Enjoy a season-appropriate visit to the Creepy Doll Museum, which is spending a couple of spooky days at House of Commons Studio.

▪️ ByTowne Cinema: Widow Clicquot, The Outrun, Rumours, Boo-Tone Burlesque: Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

▪️ Mayfair Theatre: A Different Man, Lee, Häxan

Gigs

▪️ Slo’ Tom & The Handsome Devils. Irene’s Pub

▪️ Aeroforce: A Tribute to Aerosmith. Overflow Brewing

▪️ River City Junction. Rainbow Bistro

▪️ Terra Spencer. Red Bird

▪️ Live Animals. Café Dekcuf

▪️ Emblematics. Avant-Garde Bar

▪️ Second Hand Stories began as an Instagram book store four years ago and has evolved into a fully operational chicken sanctuary in the countryside. This Saturday the bookstore will be liquidated forever, with incredible deals of $1 or less on books as well as reduced prices on eight Billy bookcases. Tours of the sanctuary will be available every hour. 10:00 to 3:00 om. At 21 Pegg Road, Rideau Lakes.