3D Thursday: China Doll, karaoke queen

Shanghai restaurant on Somerset Street West near Bronson is home to China Doll, the infamous Ottawa drag performer who hosts karaoke every week and every New Year's Eve—each time in a different, outrageously fun outfit.

I caught up with China Doll during the Chinatown Craft Sale earlier in December, wearing something that was screaming for a 3D photo:

Source photos for the 3D image: Left, Right

Of course I'm referring to the hair...

While I'm on the topic, here's China Doll at New Year's a couple of years ago, with a balloon dopplegänger drawn by Chinatown artist Julie Cruikshank:

In fact, China Doll is so famous, the Bytown Museum included some of China Doll's accessories in their 2010 "Evocative Objects" exhibit:

I also ran into China Doll at Bluesfest this past July in advance of the Björk concert. A friend of mine described the ensemble to me and it sounded pretty strange until I met up with her and realized she had been describing China Doll. Though I suppose it can be a bit much for the uninitiated:

Anyhow, whatever your plans are, have a happy new year!

[Tune in on Thursdays at noon for a new 3D image. View the 3D label for other posts with 3D images. 3D FAQ]

Colonel By Day in Ottawa

Here's a photo from April of the Rideau Canal locks at the Ottawa River. In the background are the Bytown Museum (housed in the oldest building in Ottawa), the Canadian Museum of Civilization behind it on the other side of the river, and the Alexandra Bridge connecting Ottawa and Gatineau. Walking across the uppermost lock is a wedding party.

You can celebrate too today: in Ottawa, the first Monday in August is Colonel By Day. There are events going on at the Bytown Museum, and at Confederation Park. It's named for Coloney John By, who was the engineer in charge of the construction of the canal in the 1820s-1830s. Bytown, later renamed Ottawa, was named after him.

Not visible in this photo, but at the bottom of the locks, is a stone Celtic Cross monument honouring the (mostly Irish) workers and their families (as many as a thousand) who died in the construction of the Rideau Canal.

The Corktown Footbridge is also named to honour the many Irish immigrants who built the bridge. They lived in an encampment along the canal which they called "Corktown," named for County Cork in Ireland, where many of them were from. I was on the naming committee for the bridge, and one of the striking aspects of the name is that it isn't named for a single powerful individual, but the everyday people who were just as instrumental for the accomplishment of great projects (it also balances the nationalities of the Laurier and Mackenzie-King bridges crossing the canal in downtown Ottawa). The Corktown Bridge restored some of this balance that was lost when the Sappers and Miners Bridges were merged and renamed the Plaza Bridge.

[Look for more one-photo posts under the label Singles]

Guest Post: Colonel By Day - TODAY

[This guest post was submitted by the Council of Heritage Organizations in Ottawa]

Colonel By Day - Monday August 2, 2010 - 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Bytown Museum/Ottawa Locks
Hosted by the Council of Heritage Organizations in Ottawa in partnership
with the Bytown Museum

Join us for Colonel By Day, a celebration of Ottawa's founding brought about
by the construction of the Rideau Canal under the direction of Lt. Colonel
By. This free, full-filled heritage festival will feature blacksmithing,
lace making, flax and linen weaving, rug braiding, and musketry
demonstrations; performances and music by Scottish dancers, Northern Voices
and Heritage Hands Drum Club; professional face painting; interactive
tabletop exhibits from local heritage groups and museums; a Celtic Cross
Commemoration Ceremony; costumed characters; and free admission to the
Bytown Museum!

Justin Wonnacott: Somerset @ the Bytown Museum

On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of attending the opening of the Bytown Museum's summer exhibition: Justin Wonnacott: Somerset.

Here's the title card:

In case you didn't know, the Bytown museum is located in the oldest building in Ottawa, on the West side of the Rideau Canal, all the way up at the end of the pathway, behind Parliament Hill, down the steps from the Plaza bridge/Confederation Square. Steve Dezort, the museum's curator, was at the door welcoming attendees:

The exhibition is quite a new approach by the museum, which has traditionally focused on the early history of Ottawa (formerly called Bytown).

Here's a description of the exhibition which greets you as you come up to the second floor (pardon the poor lighting; I wasn't using a flash). Justin has taken many, many photos of Somerset street over the last few years and used them to compile a visual record of the street for time immemorial.

You may recall his blog, which was on hiatus for a couple of years. It's been revived, and you can see many of his photos there, as well as on his Flickr and Facebook, from the project website, www.Somersetstreet.ca (www.ruesomerset.ca en français). Plenty of great info there.

The opening was a great event. Lots of people turned out, and free beer was provided by Heritage Brewing, which recently returned to central Ottawa (near Carling and Clyde), serving beer in its trademark stubby bottles. ("Real ones," said Ron, the brewer. Not those knock-off screw caps!). I had a lengthy chat with Ron, who says the brewery enjoys receiving tour groups.

One hundred percent of the Bytown Museum's funding comes from the City of Ottawa (meaning they suffer from the annual chronic funding problems facing Ottawa's cultural community), yet over 80% of the visitors are from out of town, which means that Ottawans are missing out on this gem of our history. Let's hope that the Somerset exhibition initiative is the start of a new trend of more local visitors.

The exhibition is open until November 30, 2009, and the museum is open daily from 10am to 5pm, to 8pm on Wednesdays--so you have no excuse not to go!

Justin's exhibition and blog have inspired me to post more of the things I photograph. I just need to find the time!

[Edit 2009-10-07: Corrected spelling of Justin Wonnacott]