Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

. Linda Crane and myself have been hired as publicists to promote Robert Bateman's first Russian traveling show. CP received our press release and decided to do a story. After 14 hours over 24 newsources used the story and/or picture Robert Bateman set to head to Russia for his first major European show By Victoria Ahearn (CP) – 23 hours ago TORONTO — Famed wildlife artist Robert Bateman is preparing for his first major European exhibition, a four-gallery tour in Russia that will highlight his passion for protecting nature. "I presume it's a feather in my cap," Bateman, 79, said Friday in a telephone interview from his home in Salt Spring Island, B.C. "Although I have been in a few art museums in Canada, often art museums in Canada turn up their nose at wildlife art so it's nice to be hanging under the same roof for example as Kandinsky." "Robert Bateman in Russia" will open at the Russian Museum's main building, Mikhailovsky Palace, in St....

FINAL UPDATE - Following the announcement that the search for Charles Lynn Titus has ended, his family issued a statement to the media. “On behalf of the entire family of Charles Lynn Titus, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for all the unconditional support and kindness from the community of Grand Cayman in the search and ongoing recovery of our beloved family member,” the statement said. “The amount of time, resources and dedication to this tragic situation from the staff of Divers Down, the Grand Cayman police department, the staff at the Marriott Grand Cayman Resort and from all the volunteer boaters and divers has been unequivocal. Our family will be forever grateful for the immediate and relentless attention to this catastrophic event.” THURSDAY UPDATE - The Cayman Police announced today (Thursday 24th) that the search for a missing American Diver has been called off. The 60 year old missing diver has been identified as Charles Lynn Titus. A Las Vegas television stat...

. . Sidebar #3 Five Great Places To Dive and Take Underwater Photographs in the Florida Keys Sidebars for Stephen Weir article in Diver Magazine October 2009 1. Biscayne National Park - 95% of this park is underwater. Outstanding reefs covered in picturesque elk horn coral. Shipwrecks abound. Northern tip of the Florida Keys. 2. Wreck of the USN Spiegel Grove. 510ft retired warship scuttled to create artificial reef, 6 mi offshore of Key Largo. Ship originally lay on its side but after Hurricane Dennis (‘05), the ship is now upright 130 ft down. Experienced divers only. 3. Jules’ Undersea Lodge. La Chalupa Underwater Research Lab has been converted to world’s only underwater hotel. Its 2 rooms have glass picture windows onto the reef, air-conditioning, hot showers, a stocked galley, and unlimited diving! Key Largo 4. Ten-Fathom Ledge - Unusual coral caves and dramatic overhangs provide refuge for both lobster and grouper, while pelagic life frequently cruises by. Key West 5. Tortugas...

. SIDEBAR# 1 FOR DIVER MAGAZINE ARTICLE (printed in next item below this) South Florida Diving Headquarters’ Manifest: A slice of Americana (with a Canuck thrown in) The Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick Maker is so one hour ago. Try three legless vets, three holidaying tattooed DEA divers, a spear totting husband and wife and a self-confessed air points whore. One morning late in April, the following signed up for a morning of diving. • Three members of SUDS (Soldiers Undertaking Disabled Scuba). One man lost both legs in Afghanistan. The other two each lost a leg in Iran. They are accompanied by a wife and Captain John W. Thompson, president of SUDS. The group tries to dive in Pompano once every 3-months. The men don’t talk much, but, the Afghanistan vet, walking in full gear on two stumps cut above the knees, says that underwater he “isn’t disabled”. The trip is sponsored in part by Body Glove. • Seth Miller is a freelance computer expert and an avid collector of air miles. F...

. SIDEBAR #2 - STAYING IN TOUCH Florida Keys & Key West Visitors Bureau, Key West FL 800-FLA-KEYS. www.fla-keys.com . Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Fort Lauderdale, FL 800-356-1662 www.sunny.org Olympus Imaging America Inc. Center Valley, PA www.getolympus.com underwater@olympus.com Pro Dive International 429 Seabreeze Blvd. www.prodiveusa.com Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 776-3483 Quiescence Diving Services, Inc Key Largo, FL 33037 305.451.2440 phone www.keylargodiving.com South Florida Diving Headquarters 101 N. Riverside Dive Pompano Beach, Florida www.southfloridadiving.com MV Spree Live Aboard Charter Boat Key West, Florida http://www.spreeexpeditions.com/dry_tortugas.asp Martin Štěpánek Performance Free Diving Pompano Beach, Florida martin.stepanek@performancefreediving.com Underwater Music Festival Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce Big Pine Key, FL 33043 Phone:(305)872-2411 www.lowerkeyschamber.com/underwatermusicfest.htm Visit Florida Toronto, Onta...

. SIDEBAR 3 All of the photographs used in Diver Magazine's feature on diving in south Florida were taken with Olympus cameras -- most using a new Tough 8000. The camera is shock proof, waterproof to 33 feet and is relatively goof proof (perfect for a writer who has been taking bad underwater pictures for more than 30 years). The use of the shockproof camera had me thinking about Tough jokes. Here is a sample. Tough underwater camera humour Police call to the wife of a diver. We have good news and bad news. The bad news? Your husband is dead; he was run over twice by a van. The good news? His Tough 8000 waterproof camera still works!

. Original version of story which appears in this month's Diver Magazine ( http://www.divermag.com/v2/index.php ) Florida Redux Battered, Shaken and Baked, But Still Going Strong By Stephen Weir Bleeding ankle – rusty spur lurking inside a sunken tanker. Sliced shin – rogue wave hits while seal-hopping onto bobbing stern platform. A divine blessing – but no miracle cures – from a reef bound Jesus. From Key West to Pompano Beach, field-testing an underwater camera is a full contact sport. There is a scuba highway that stretches from the tip of the Florida Keys to the hyper-busy Greater Fort Lauderdale Airport. More than 650,000 snorkelers and divers travel this route every year, making it the most popular dive destination in the world. Accessible. A rich variety of dive sites. Government regulated boats. North America’s biggest scuba stores. Relatively cheap places. No wonder the southern tip of Florida is the place to dive, dive, dive. And, if you are testing a camera, the place ...

. Photo provided to Toronto Weekly Newspaper First West Coast totem pole raised at an Ontario public institution in decades Haida artist and carver Don Yeomans came to Toronto yesterday (September 1, 2009) to oversee the installation of a totem pole he carved for the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. The 1,000 lb red cedar carving was trucked to the public gallery in Kleinburg and installed in the building's lobby. Don Yeomans is one of the most highly respected artists on the Northwest Coast of British Columbia. The gallery, with funding provided by the McMichael Canadian Art Foundation, commissioned the full-scale totem pole by this artist to create a new, unique piece for the Collection that will remain on permanent view in the gallery’s Grand Hall. On the totem pole, Yeomans uses traditional iconography and totemic animals as a point of departure to comment on today’s different modes of technological communication. With this imagery, which includes an eagle holding a cell ph...

Photos provided to Toronto Daily Newspaper First West Coast Totem Pole Raised At An Ontario Public Institution in Decades Haida artist and carver Don Yeomans stands beside his totem pole outside the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. The 1,000 lb red cedar carving was delivered today to the public gallery in Kleinburg and installed in the building's lobby. Don Yeomans is one of the most highly respected artists on the Northwest Coast of British Columbia. Also pictured above is the20ft totem being raised inside the gallery. A gantry lifts Don Yeomans totem pole upright inside the McMichael Canadian Art Collection lobby in Kleinburg, Ontario. The west coast artist and carver oversaw the installation. The gallery, with funding provided by the McMichael Canadian Art Foundation, commissioned the full-scale totem pole by this artist to create a new, unique piece for the Collection that will remain on permanent view in the gallery’s Grand Hall. On the totem pole, Yeomans uses traditio...