Ottawa Tulips: 5,850 flickr photos and counting

We just added this great pic by local photographer Ray Pilon as our "Featured Photo" section on OttawaStart. It got us thinking: what are the most photographed events or locations in Ottawa?

Here's what we found in a totally random sample of Flickr photos:

• ottawa maman - 493
• ottawa war memorial - 1,249
• ottawa war museum - 2,165
• ottawa byward market - 2,166
  
• ottawa museum civilization - 2356
  
• ottawa bluesfest - 3,084
• ottawa tulips - 5,850
• rideau canal - 7,751
• ottawa senators - 8,241
• winterlude - 8,583
• ottawa canada day - 10,262
• parliament hill - 14,187
• gatineau - 22,969
• ottawa - 309,445

Any other keywords with lots of photos on flickr?

Related: Ottawa Tulip Festival Guide

OttawaStart's new Ottawa Golf Guide

Some housekeeping notes:

• Yesterday we introduced a new Ottawa Golf Guide on OttawaStart.
• We also renamed a couple of guides. The Traffic Guide becomes the Ottawa Driving Guide, and the Transit Guide becomes the OC Transpo Guide.
• As always, you can suggest great local web sites, blogs, etc. by visiting our Suggest A Site page.
  

Related: Ottawa Sports Guide

Photos from the Police show

Check out these amazing photos of the Police show last night -- amazing because they were taken on a cell phone. Alec Saunders put his 5-megapixel Nokia N95 phone to the test, with great results.

Related: Ottawa Music Guide

Cool Graffiti on Somerset

Check out some great photos today of graffiti on a wall on Somerset Street, from the Watawa life blog. Photographer Robin Kelsey shows us what happened after some old graffiti was painted over with beige...

Related: Ottawa Photography Guide

Ask OttawaStart: How much tax do I pay when I fill up my tank?

We received this email from Tim, a visitor to OttawaGasPrices.com:

"What is breakdown of the price per litre we pay at the pump? Specifically, how much is Provincial & Federal Tax?"

That's a pretty common question these days as prices hover around the $1.20 per litre mark. The best answer we can find comes Fuel Focus, a web site created by Natural Resources Canada. The amount of tax varies from province to province, and it depends on the price of gas.

In Toronto, the price of gas in January broke down as follows, with taxes accounting for just under a third of the price per litre:

• Estimated price of crude: 59.4 cents
• Federal Taxes: 14.9 cents
• Provincial Taxes: 14.7 cents
• Refining costs, marketing costs & margins: 13.0 cents
• Total: 102.0 cents per litre
  

Related: Ottawa Traffic Guide

It's snowing

The winter that never ends: the flurries are falling today, on April 30th.

Related: Ottawa Weather Guide

Rant of the Day: 10 Things I Hate About Sparks Street

Here's a fun post from the Elgin Street Irregulars blog: Ten Things I Hate About You -- all about the Sparks Street Mall. Highlights:

• 4. Wanna ride your relatively unobtrusive eco-friendly bicycle down Sparks? Pay a hefty fine.
• 8. Remote regions of Antarctica have more exciting nightlife.
• 9. Sadly, most distinctive Canadian feature is Tim Hortons.
• 10. All street, no sparks.
• Read more...
  

Related: Ottawa Shopping Guide

The 2008 Ottawa Bluesfest line-up so far

Here are the confirmed performers for the 2008 Ottawa Bluesfest so far:

• Alice Smith
• Angelique Kidjo
• Balkan Beat Box
• Brian Wilson
• Corb Lund
• Donna Summer
• Feist
• Fergie
• Gina Sicillia
• Great Big Sea
• Harper
• HiLoTrons
• Infected Mushroom
• Jakob Dylan
• James Taylor
• Jully Black
• JW Jones Band
• Les Breastfeeders
• Michael Burks
• Nikki Yanofsky
• Secret Machines
• Sharon Riley & Faith Chorale
• Soirée
• Steely Dan
• The Black Crowes
• The Cooper Brothers
• The Tragically Hip
• Trevor James and the Perfect Gentlemen
• Widespread Panic
• Wyclef Jean

Tickets go on sale April 26 via CapitalTickets.ca

Related: Ottawa Bluesfest Guide

Ottawa's $1000 ham

From Ottawa Citizen food columnist Ron Eade's blog, the tale of the $1,000 ham at La Bottega Nicastro:

About six kilos of prized Iberico Spanish ham that arrived Friday at La Bottega Nicastro in the ByWard Market has all but sold out in less than 48 hours, despite its eye-popping price of $20 for 100 grams, owner Pat Nicastro tells me today. In fact, that single ham had a retail value of more than $1,000. It seems a lot of people heard about it on this blog.
...
The prized ham takes up to three years from the time the animal is slaughtered until it is cured and ready for the plate, compared to between nine and 12 months for Canadian versions of ordinary prosciutto. But, then again, Canadian prosciutto costs $2.50 for 100 grams, Italian prosciutto and Spanish Serrano costs about $5, and this special Iberico costs $20.
Read more...

Related: Ottawa Food Guide

Rideau River water pics & video

Check out these great photos and videos from Alec Saunders, of high water levels on the Rideau River. In particular -- check out the videos of the falls at Hog's Back and Watson's Mill in Manotick.

Related: Ottawa Nature Guide