Chez Lucian in Ottawa

No question about it. My favorite pub in Ottawa is Chez Lucian on Murray street just off the Market, far enough to keep the tourist trade down.

It has a really friendly, local atmosphere, a good beer selection and some great food.

A chatty local sitting at the bar suggested Shelley try the Pan Seared Scallops in a Lemon Champagne Cream sauce. Delicious!

I am told the Hambourgeoisie is very good, they even have Baby Beef Liver with Onions and bacon in red wine  demi glaze for those who eat organ meat and I can recommend the Moules et Frites (mussels and chips for the unilingual)

They have the best, free jukebox ever, not individual cuts but with complete albums containing artists like Dave Van Ronk, Big Bill Broonzy, early Bob Dylan, Steve Earl, and a great jazz section. You relax, have a cold beer and listen to your own great playlists.

I also love a bar with TV sets so you might be able to watch an important game but...that are usually turned off.

Parliament Hill Quiz

On a horse, of course

We were in Ottawa earlier this week and after breakfast we joined the hordes of tourists wandering around Parliament Hill. At some point we noticed that several of them had little blue quiz sheets to help them track down things of interest.

We heard several people say, "Now what about this one. Can you find Elizabeth II and what is she on?

I thought, at her age probably high blood pressure medication but my partner suggested it was probably hallucinogenics considering that "She actually thinks she is the Queen"

I think the correct answer was "A horse"

Good Payback

I know I am not the only one out there who that thinks that for the most part Twitter is pretty much a waste of time.

Oh, I know it provides up to the minute coverage of political events and we all long to be constantly in the loop of whatever Mike Duffy is up to but...who really cares about most of it. I remember trying to follow a CBC reporter's tweets during an election campaign most of which seemed to be mostly about her trying to connect with another journalist. "I am across the street beside the mailbox #Harpercampaign"

The CBC has become obsessed with Twitter. Sometimes you would think that in these tough economic times, if that is what they are, the CBC is relying on the public to tweet what is happening within our communities instead of getting out there on the street.

Nowhere has it become more apparent than in the CBC Radio Public Affairs programming and it is starting to drive me mad. Listeners are constantly asked to tweet about what is happening. After hearing "Bob tweeted that it is really snowing in Maple Creek" too many times, I just quit listening to ocal CBC programming.

At the Saskatchewan Book Awards Sheila Coles told us, "If it looks like I am just up here playing with my i-phone it isn't really what I am doing. I am actually tweeting about this event." As in any living person was actually out there reading her tweets.

It has become the ultimate sellout of CBC Radio to the Twitterverse.

That is why it shouldn't come as a surprise that Kirstine Stewart, one of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s senior executives, left the CBC recently to become the managing director of Twitter Canada where reportedly will she will focus on partnerships with media companies, other brands and advertisers.

Good payback.