Ever wanted to learn some basic homebuilding skills? Here's a chance to put some productive time into these great summer days, and do a bit of community good in the process:

The Habitat for Humanity blitz build is well underway in Owen Sound.
It started last Saturday with an average of a hundred volunteers a day on site building three semi detached homes for six families.
Build co-chair Vivian Wade says they're running behind schedule and figures they'll take about a week longer than the planned two weeks.
She says they could still use some help.
Anyone interested can just show up at the build site on Third Avenue West in downtown Owen Sound.

 read more »

There are 76582 registered voters in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, and starting in about 5 minutes you'll be able to watch them in action, live and as it happens and updated every 90 seconds, straight from the horse's mouth at Elections Canada Electoral District 35026

An earthquake? Apparently so. Way back in the rush-hour 5:16 on October 20, a four-point-two worth of tumblin' tectonics, my third earthquake experience, and the third one that I blissfully didn't notice, didn't even know about it until the morning host on CFOS made a side comment about thinking his building's elevator had snapped and fallen. Not totally surprising, tho', as Geological Survey seismologist Janet Drysdale explains it ...

"We certainly don't have many earthquakes in this region, so it does catch people by surprise. I wouldn't expect any damage, except maybe a nick-nack falling off of a shelf. A magnitue 4.2 will definitely be felt by people... and they'll wonder what it is. It may feel like a truck hitting their house."
[ via Scoopt ]

The quake was centered deep below Georgian Bay, about 45km from Owen Sound, and could be felt up to 100km away. Just so you know, Bruce Nuclear was 101km away ...

The galactic centre of all things self-powered on wheels, Jolly Alternative Wheels lists cycling workshops, town and country tours and other calendar notables in the wheeled world.

Were you there last night ?

Im speaking about 18 kilometers of lights..and over 200 displays, along the backdrop of Sydenham River in Owen Sound.If you didn’t there is plenty of time, to catch the annual Festival of Lights

in Owen Sound.Last night was the first night, and it goes to January 16th, so there you have it..make some plans to drop by and enjoy the fun.
For more information on this visit Festival of Lights

The Artists' Co-op was formed in 1994 to offer public exposure for the many fine artists in Grey-Bruce and to serve our customers in their search for a broad range of high quality gifts and collectables.

Ok, now the family can spend the entire day joyously fashion hunting and window shopping in Owen Sound and they can just drop me off downtown because now I have a place to set up camp where I'll be as happy as a pig in a poke for a few hours --- just posted today as a comment on an old article of mine about War-driving Owen Sound, we get word from The Ginger Press

I recently added a wireless router to my mom's cafe, The Ginger Press bookstore in Owen Sound! It's open and ready visitors. The cafe serves lunch during the week and brunch on Saturday. The Internet connection is only available during store hours.

Good to see someone doing their share to make the Owen Sound core into a relevent space again. It's also proof that you don't need to be in Accommodations to become a viable hotspot ... and, if I'm not mistaken, Ginger Press serves up a pretty decent lunch too, with a well primed espresso machine to boot.

oh, they sell books too ... really good books, relevent books, even a few by our local authors.

A pleasant surprise found by chance today at the Heritage Mall in Owen Sound, there's a temporary kiosk in the main atrium selling quality framed prints of selected works of the Group of Seven -- you've probably seen poster art shops selling sundry lithographs of famous works, but it's really something to see a show of affordable Canadian reproductions, and you'd be hard pressed to find them presented with more curatorial care.

It's a little known fact, Tommy Thompson hated his Wildflowers print, so much so he tore it in two. The others found the pieces and taped it back together ... if you look closely at the print across here ... you can still see the seam ...

This is Bob's third year doing these displays at Heritage Mall; it's an apt weekend to be in Owen Sound -- his show marks Tom Thompson's birthday with a splash of Thompson's works along side Frank Carmichael, Johnston, Harris, Jackson, Lismer and Varley as well as other related artists like A.J. Casson.

Safety glasses for protecting the white-footed mouse; Italian mineral water for the masked puddle frog; life insurance and annuities for eleven species of fauna on five continents ...

This could only be the product of Bill Burns and his Safety Gear Museum and if you really care about wildlife -- and I mean really care -- then you're in luck because a world-class exhibit of Burns' best work is on display at the Tom Thompson until October 31, a wild assortment of extreme environmental ideas from the other side of the fence ...
textile1