Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

On the last Sunday of 2007, the Toronto Sun ran a feature that I wrote about diving aboard the Wind Dancer in the waters of Grenada. The story is about diving, but, it is about ghosts too. I have received a couple of emails about the cover photo that the Sun published. It shows asmall eel with tiny yellow cleaning fish perched on its head. Unfortunately, someone at the Sun thought the cleaning fish was actually the eel's mouth and as a result the photograph was run upside down. The Sun gets about a million readers on Sunday and so far only three people have noticed. I have reprinted the cover and the original photograph above. A Scuba Vacation Aboard The Wind Dancer A ghost of a chance for eerie underwater sightings in warm Grenadian waters By Stephen Weir June 19, 2007 Not counting mermaid sightings, underwater ghost encounters are hard to come by. On land, specters rattle chains, throw pottery and hide car keys (at least mine do), But underwater? Well, at least in Gre

Grenada Sidebar: Useful Information All Canadian citizens require a valid passport and return (or onward) ticket is required to enter any of the three islands of Grenada, (Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique). However, proof of citizenship bearing a photograph is acceptable from Canadian, British, and U.S. citizens, if accompanied with a copy of a birth certificate. Travellers are charged a $20 Cdn departure tax at its internatonal airport. The official currency of Grenada is Eastern Carribean Dollar Air Canada, SkyService and Zoom Airlines have weekly flights to Grenada from Toronto and Montreal. Caribean Airlines services Grenada from Toronto. MS Wind Dancer www.peterhughes.com 305-669-9391 Phone 800-932-6237 Toll Free Grenada Tourism www.grenadagrenadines.com 439 University Ave. Suite 920 Toronto, Ontario M5G 1Y8 Tel: (416) 595-1339 Fax: (416) 595-8278 Grenada Scuba Diving Association www.grenadascubadivingassociation.com/ president@grenadascubadivingassociation.com Tilley

author Stephen Weir in his Tilley hat aboard the Wind Dancer CANADIAN OUTFITTER STOP AIRPORTS FROM CHARGING WEIGHT SURCHARGE By Stephen Weir The new realities of international travel have made carrying scuba gear difficult and sometimes expensive. Luckily travel clothing manufacturers have helped take the weight off flying with scuba equipment. Not only are airport authorities now red flagging dive equipment (dive regulators look “funny” on the X-ray screens) airlines are, seemingly in tandem, strictly enforcing weight restrictions. Flying to Barbados I was restricted to two pieces of checked luggage. Transferring to a small regional airplane to reach Grenada I met more onerous rules - the two bags couldn’t have a combined weight of more than 23 kilos. Trouble is – my scuba and camera gear weighs in at 22 kilos. If I take clothes, shaving kit, books and IPod my bags set the airline cash re

The December 1st Saturday Star ran a feature story and lengthy sidebar that I wrote about Curtain Wall windows for high-end Toronto high-rise condos. Both the feature and the sidebar article is available for reading on the Star's website . BUILDING TECHNOLOGY Curtain rising on glass walls High-profile projects are trading concrete walls for massive windows thanks to curtain-wall' technology http://www.thestar.com/living/article/280592 Dec 01, 2007 04:30 AM Stephen Weir Special to the Star Is the curtain set to come down on the traditional, aluminum-framed condo window? Is a new industrial style about to eliminate condominium owners' two biggest pains in the glass – moisture and mould? Toronto is about to find out as several highrise project designers have decided that ultra-expensive curtain wall glass is the chic way to let light in and keep water out. Windows come in many tints, shapes and sizes but almost all are installed using what builders call a window wall system:

This article appeared in Diver Magazine. No, I didn't get a by-line. sigh. (And I am the travel editor). Here is the orginal story, it was edited before appearing in the November issue of Diver. Art to inspire people to respect the planet Bateman retrospective takes aim at industrial fishing By Stephen Weir 11 September 2007 World-famous wildlife artist figures that the most important work he has painted isn’t a soaring eagle or a majestic lion, but rather it is a painting that shows a dead albatross and a drowned dolphin caught in a drift net. The canvas, entitled Driftnet, is the showcase work in a new traveling Bateman exhibition that will visit five cities in Canada and the United States over the next year and a half. “ The scene is painted inside a drift net. There is a dead Pacific White-sided dolphin and a dead Lysan Albatross,” explained Robert Bateman at the opening of his exhibition at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection near Toronto last month. “ It is a comm

Writing for Diver Magazine's Website I have been helping add content to Diver Magazine's website (divermag.com). There is a real person power shortage at Diver's headquarters. They are down an employee or two and keeping the website going appears to be a catch as catch can assignment. Most of the material I have written for the site never has been posted. For some reason there is a problem posting photographs on the site. During September I wrote to the Georgia Aquarium and conducted an email interview about two new whale sharks they had been given by an aquarium in Taiwan. The story, picture and interview have been lanquishing in my growing file of not-yet published stories. So, before the factoids raised by the Georgia Aquarium are stale dated, I have decided to run the story and photo on this web page. Whale Sharks and the Aquarium Keeper Early this summer the Georgia Aquarium welcomed two new live whale sharks to their Ocean Voyager exhibit. The whale sharks, both m

Green roofs take root on city buildings More than 100 in the GTA have adapted the pioneer practice for the eco-conscious present Sep 29, 2007 04:30 AM Stephen Weir Special to the Star http://www.thestar.com/article/260983 The drive to develop environmentally friendly, energy-efficient condominiums has given new meaning to sod-turning ceremonies. More than 100 commercial and condo buildings in the Greater Toronto Area have unveiled "green roofs" – a 21st-century take on the sod-roof homes that were popular in pioneer days. Condominium roofs, patios and decks covered in flowers, shrubbery and slow-growing plants are sprouting up all over, so much so that the International Home Show (running from this Friday until Oct. 8) at the International Centre has set up a Green Home Theatre with four daily seminars on eco-building issues, including the living roof. "Toronto has stepped into an era where the protection of the environment and sustainability are major focuses of our