Here's a great article on "the truth about Saint Patrick". Turns out he didn't rid Ireland of snakes, and he wasn't even actually Irish! He also apparently went through a phase where he prayed 100 times a day, which would make anyone thirsty.

There's also this old article, also from Slate.com, about the worldwide development and marketing of a "faux" Irish pub culture, with the help of the Guinness Brewing folks, its parent company Diageo, and something called the Irish Pub Company.

As fer meself, I'll be heading to the Mayfair to catch The Commitments at 9pm; and I may grab a pint of Guinness or six at Quinn's next door, if there's room in that tiny box of a place tonight.

"play" is Stephen Beckta's second restaurant in Ottawa, following up on "Beckta," which opened in 2003. "play" is more casual, and less expensive, but still a great experience. I was there on three separate occasions, the first two just killing time after work, and the third was a Saturday night dinner.

 The dinner involved an appetizer of san daniele prosciutto with fig compote, followed by a duck confit with white beans and sherry reduction (fantastically tasty), a light salad, and a plate of three different kinds of cheese to finish up. The atmosphere was lively but not too noisy, and the service was impeccable - prompt and friendly and never overbearing.

A bartender told me that they're going to work on making the bar area feel a little more intimate - high ceilings with industrial pipes currently give it a bit of a "cold" look - which should make it even nicer.

The Carleton University basketball team won their sixth CIS championship in seven years, beating the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 87-77 at Scotiabank Place yesterday.

The Ottawa Citizen and the Ottawa Sun have the full story.

 Congratulations to my alma mater!

Gatineau: Nadine Bariteau and Dan Bernyk have a show opening tonight from 6 to 8 at Maison de la culture (855, Boul. de la Gappe). It's a combination of steel sculpture (Bernyk) and silk screen canvases (Bariteau). Show's on until May 3rd. Bertrand R. Pitt has a new video installation, "Horizon Incertains," at Studiõ de DAÏMÕN (78, rue Hansen, Hull Sector) on until March 29th. 

Bank St: The Patrick Mikhail Gallery (2401 Bank St.) present Susan McEachern's new series, "Structures of Meaning" (pictured: Information Dependence from Backyard Community). The opening reception is tonight from 5:30 to 9, and the works will be exhibit until April 6th. Artguise Gallery (590 Bank St.) also has an opening tonight for new work by Bill McCann. It's on from 7:30 to 10:30. Show closes April 13th. 

A new adaptation of Peer Gynt, put on by the Third Wall Theatre Company, opens tonight at the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre (1222 Wellington St. West). Tickets are pay what you can. The show runs until March 21.

The Capital Cupcake Camp is coming to Ottawa on March 29th! Check out the link: http://cupcakecamp.ca/about/

Holly Hutchings, writer for (Cult)ure's food section will be at this event promoting L'OVEN.  L'OVEN will be signed up as bakers and how cool would it be to have you come out for a fun day as a taster (only $5 for the day!) and supporter :)  Register here: http://cupcakecamp.ca/taster-registration/

 To tempt you to join L'OVEN on March 29th, here is the list of cupcakes
they'll be making for the event - c'mon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Friday brings this year's first big opening weekend with Watchmen. Maybe you've heard of it? If you didn't go see it last night and want to save yourself from the fanboy rush, you can head over to the Bytowne for Cadillac Records about the heyday of Chess Records when the likes of Etta James, Chuck Berry, and Muddy Waters were recording there or One Week, where Joshua Jackson gets movie cancer* and decides to ride his motorcycle (picture: and a horse?) across Canada. It sounds pretty mushy, but Jackson's a careful and talented actor capable of grounding far fetched material in real human emotion (he's probably the reason I watched Dawson's Creek as long as I did, which is to say: too long), so I have hope.

Tomorrow night, hit Library and Archives Canada (395 Wellington St.) for the CFI screening of the restored print of Guy Maddin's Archangel at 7 p.m. "A weird and wild melodrama of obsessive love, Archangel is set in the northernmost tip of old imperial Russia in the winter of 1919. The Great War has been over for three months, but no one has remembered to tell those who remain in the town of Archangel. Maddin's powerful black and white cinematography and memorably stylized set design make this a film quite unlike any other." It's $10 without a membership and $6 with membership.

The trio 'Trilium' is performing Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. at St. Luke's Church (760 Somerset St. West). The trio consists of flute, cello, and piano and will be performing works by Martineu, Piazzolla, and Ottawa composer Margrit Cattell. Admission by donation. 

 If that's not your thing, hit the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre (1233 Wellington Street at Holland) for the CBC Radio 2 "Canada Live" recording session with Jim Bryson and Meredith Luce thanks to the GCTC and the Ottawa Folk Festival. Tickets are $20.

 

12:30: You can meet Michael Harrington at 12:30 this afternoon if you happen by the Ottawa Art Gallery (2 Daly Ave). It's part of the exhibit Mannish, which runs until March 29. Admission is free for this artist guided tour. 

Bank St: Terrorism, Democracy and Leisure opens tonight at 7 p.m. at Gallery 101 (301 1/2 Bank St between Somerset and Maclaren). Artist Afshin Matlabi will be on hand to discuss his work starting at 7:30. Admission is free. 

MaryAnn Camps and Anita Utas have a joint exhibition, Ebb and Flow, on right now at Johnny Farina (216 Elgin St.). When you go, do yourself a favour and order the Warm Goat Cheese and Strawberry Salad or Portebello & Chicken wood oven pizza. If you're into the non-alcoholic vibe, grab a Limoncello while you are at it. Oh, goodness. I love that place.

Technically it's on Saturday, but you can kick off your celebrations tonight by heading down to Library and Archives Canada (395 Wellington St.) for a short film, a debate, and Ottawa's first ever "femmy" awards.

The title of this poster reminds of a fantastic article by Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, "I'm not a feminist, but . . ." I really wish I could find it online for you, so you could all read it. I think it's from an issue of Fireweed. 

This Friday sees the release of the much anticipated superhero epic Watchman. For those of you who just can't wait until Friday to see the most acclaimed comic book series of all time adapted to the big screen, the AMC Kanata and the Silver City Gloucester are having midnight screenings Thursday night. (Take note: the film is nearly three hours long; meaning you'll be crawling into bed only a handful of hours before it's time to get up and head to work.)

I've been to several midnight screenings of films of this sort, and the experience has been mixed. Watching Brian Singer's original X-Men film at the stroke of midnight in the theatre full of geeks clutching to their chests the free comic books handed out beforehand was a blast. But watching this summer's X-Files: I Want to Believe in a three-quarter empty theatre on a cold, rainy night was nearly as dismal as the film itself.

Still... everyone deserves to see a midnight movie at some point in their lives, and I think Watchmen is going to surprise a lot of people. With Ironman, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy II, the Dark Knight, and now Watchmen all being released this year, we're undeniably in the golden age of superhero cinema. Let's celebrate while it lasts!

It's opening tonight, March 2, from 4:30 to 7:30 at Gallery 115 (a.k.a. U of O's visual arts gallery, a.k.a. something that I did know exists). This "ensemble of heroic video vignettes" features a new installation by Edward Janzen and runs until Friday. 

 

Art: There is a free screening of recent works by Wyn Geleynse tonight at Club SAW, Arts Court Building, 67 Nicholas Street. It starts at 7:30 p.m., and it's part of the exhibition Mannish, which is on the Ottawa Art Gallery until March 29. After that, head down to La Petit Mort Gallery (306 Cumberland) between 7 and 10 p.m. for a One Night Stand with new works by Kara Williams.

Cinema: If you really hate yourself, I assume you're going to see Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience. Otherwise you're catching up on Oscar fare or hitting the Bytowne to see either Ce qu'il faut pour vivre (The Necessities of Life) or Che: Part One. 

Music/Spoken word: Tonight's also the inaugural edition of the capital's newest annual multi-arts showcase, Scribology. It's an annual spoken word/music concert series, and it's on at Library and Archives Canada Auditorium, 395 Wellington St at 7 p.m. Doors open at six. Tickets cost money (don't ask me, they only listed the advance price, and clearly you're not buying in advance now). If you're into the Young Griot Collective, the Kalumnity Vibe Collective, or The Fugitives, this would be your chance to see them. 

When Lipton gets to the "What profession other than your own would you like to attempt" question, do you have your answer ready? Depending on my mood, sometimes my answer is, "Curator." It's one of those jobs that seems like you get to take grand ideas that are largely in your head and create them for others to see and respond to, and that's always cool to me. If it's cool to you, hit the National Gallery tonight at 6 p.m. to meet Stephen Loft, Curator in Residence, Indigenous Art. It's only 5 jack trippers (or dollars, if that's how you roll) for an adult. Then on Sunday, March 1, you can meet Arthur Renwick, Rosalie Favell, and Jeff Thomas between 1 and 3 p.m. That fun is included in the gallery admission. Both events are in conjunction with Steeling the Gaze: Portraits by Aboriginal Artists, which runs until March 22. 

Two new exhibits opened yesterday at the Carleton University Art Gallery: Construction Work, with pieces by U of O profs Josée Dubeau, Lorraine Gilbert, and Jinny Yu, and The Art of Transformation: The Fantastic in Inuit and Northwest Coast Art. Being as how the fact that Carleton even has an art gallery is news to me, I'm certainly going to make time for the shows. They're on until April 12th.

We've finally hit that mid-winter wall where literally nothing of interest is coming out in theatres. Which is fine, really, given that it's mid-winter, and I can see even more snow coming down as I type this. So, you've got options:

 If you do want to go out, Dan Campbell has a one night only exhibit from 7-10 pm tonight at La Petite Mort Gallery (306 Cumberland). As Campbell explains, "I try to show the human body and the emotions it conveys in as simple and striking way I can, being high contrast. Contrast in the shapes and colours, but also with the sharp lines of the subjects on the hand weathered and distressed backgrounds where they find themselves." 

 If you only want to go as far as your local video store, do yourself a favour and pick up Zombie Strippers!. I cannot recommend this little parody enough. Strippers become zombies, which makes them super-strippers, so no one cares when they start eating the patrons. If you don't laugh at the rapid-fire patter between the soldiers in the opening minutes, I don't know what to do with you. 

It's Oscar weekend ladies and gentlemen; also known as Christmas for Movie Geeks - a full weekend where the world-at-large obsesses over all things Hollywood!

Didn't get invited to an Oscar party this year? Interested in seeing the 81st Academy Awards on the big screen?

With coffee? Excellent. Tonight Lou Hayden has a new show opening at the Raw Sugar Café at 692 Somerset West (Somerset and Cambridge). It's called 'Lost Shoes,' and it starts at 5:30.

(Cult)ure contributer Medhi Hamdad has an upcoming show here in Ottawa that you should check out: It's February 20th at 8pm at la Nouvelle-Scène (333 King Edward). Also, download his latest (Cult)ure podcast while you're at it.