Last one. It’s very close to the house next door, known as The Sycamore, which is not being demolished (or so its owner fervently hopes), so they’ve put up a wall to protect it.

There is also a worker stationed in the gap. Not sure what he’s supposed to do. Start yelling if things go wrong I guess.

The Sycamore

4 1/2 houses reduced to rubble.

Found cat

Maybe this will be better news.

The demo

Updated Oct.22: Four down. This is the remains of 160, the one closest to Yangtze restaurant, which you can see in the background.

Updated Oct.18: Here’s the second house on its way down. Two have been levelled now.

Demolition of the five derelict houses on my street has now begun. I’ll post more pictures from time to time.

It’s a sad day. They were good old houses. Want to bet they get replaced by really bad-looking condos? And a parking lot for Yangtze restaurant.

demo 1

Window. Nobody home.

One down, four to go

Maple blight

I was wondering if anyone knows what’s causing the brown spots on the maple leaves.

Updated Nov.13: The Ottawa Citizen has the answer. It’s a fungus caused by damp springs, and it’s not harmful to the trees. Here is the Citizen’s story.

The election

Ho-hum, Liberal majority, business as usual. But the Greens increased their share of the popular vote to 8%. This is good news.

Also good news: That the Conservative party’s silly bid to fund schools for every crackpot religion has been scuttled.

In my opinion they are all crackpot. Next thing is to stop funding the Catholic schools. This is part of the Green party’s platform.

The CBC

I got used to Kathleen Petty in the morning. She’s ok. I’m tired of resisting.

I don’t think Lucy Van Oldenbarneveld will last on local TV. It’s a job for a clothes horse, and she wants to be a reporter. Rita Celli dumped the TV gig and went back to radio; maybe Lucy will do the same.

I’m so glad they got rid of that awful afternoon show. I think the replacement, Jian Ghomeshi’s Q, is great radio. I love it when his guests go over to the piano and play a song live.

I’m also getting used to puffy George Stroumboulopoulos on The Hour. He’s not as insufferable as I thought he was. I think it’s funny when he says “I’m your boyfriend, George Stroumboulopoulos.” It’s sort of his trademark. And he can be self-deprecating.

I’m still not a fan, but I don’t hate him anymore. That’s progress.

Still can’t listen to Brent Bambury. He’s just too oily for me.

The Mayor

Evidence is mounting that Mayor Larry is guilty of trying to bribe Terry Kilrea to leave the mayoral race. If true it’s not only unethical, it’s a crime. I hope everyone who voted for Mayor Larry because they wanted a business guy for their mayor is happy now! I think his goose is cooked.

So I was wondering, is it too late to get that little Alex Munter back?

What else?

I don’t know, but I’ll probably think of something. Come back later for more demo pics. Bye for now!