A brief pause for this PSA

I try to keep things pretty closely related to house-concert stuff here, but I do need to make a quick digression.

I just discovered a very cool and relatively new place in the city: Umi Cafe. They are, as they describe it:

"a cooperatively run cafe in the heart of Ottawa's china town. We specialize in Fair Trade organic coffee grown by indigenous peasant cooperatives in the South."

They have open-mic nights, film screenings -- it's a bit of a throwback to the legendary coffeehouses of old (think Yellow Door, but on ground-level), combined with new technology and communication and without the clouds of cigarette smoke (which probably means Joni Mitchell will never play there, but...)

They are a small group of people dedicated to principles that are pretty much unassailable. But right now they're in a rough patch. And they need some help.

So if you are in possession of a tenner, a $20-bill, or whatever, why don't you drop by their place (it's the former Chuck Brown Golf store at Somerset and Percy) and buy something, and leave a generous tip. Or check out their events and go to one. Or just give 'em some money. We're going to.

BobCat Bob.