Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

  Canada puts the stamp of approval on Michie Mee and Maestro Fresh Wes By Stephen Weir on I  wouldn't  “I was in disbelief, and I was like, ‘You’re kidding me,’ and then I was just overjoyed,” Michie Mee told  CBC Radio’s As It Happens  host Nil Köksal. “I’m still screaming at the top of my lungs inside.” Canada Post has released Black History Month stamps every year since 2009, but this marks the first time the Crown corporation has honoured hip-hop artists. “It’s been so long in terms of being recognized for women in rap — much less Canadian women in rap,” Michie Mee said. The Black History Month stamps honouring Canadian hip-hop trailblazers Maestro Fresh Wes, Michie Mee and Muzion were unveiled at a special event in Toronto this past week. The stamps highlight the lasting impact these performers have had on Canadian music, culture and identity. Michie Mee is featured on one of Canada Post’s new Black History Month stamps honouring Canadian hip-hop pioneers....

  BIG Doll | XWAT Naaniitus I Opened the Door But Where are the People? By  Stephen Weir   Visiting an art gallery’s special exhibition has always been a serious business for me. Be it the AGO, the National Gallery, or the Windsor Art Gallery, I prepare myself by mentally  reviewing the Four Ws: Who is the artist? When does the exhibition open? Where is the gallery? What’s my time line allowance for touring the show? I read up online on relevant websites, watch any posted videos, read the media reviews of the exhibition, and scour social media for public comment on the show and artist. Well, last Thursday was the day I went to tour Vanessa Dion Fletcher’s exhibition:   Big Doll | XWat Naaulitis   at the Windsor Art Gallery. I went with Canadian art scholar and former Windsor Art Galleries educational curator Chris Finn. He and I worked together at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection for decades and did work on a Marilyn Monroe retrospective art show ...

STEPHEN WEIR  says “I am using a strict lipogrammatic constraint taking out the letter “E,” deliberately removing the most frequently used vowel in English. A STORY ABOUT STEVE WEIR HOLDING HIS BREATH WHEN HE IS IN AN ELEVATOR AND RESCUING CATS FROM SUNKEN LADAS                          (No “E” No Air No Rhyming, Floor 32. Cats Can’t Swim,) Balcony drinks. Upstairs unit guy falls during our cocktail hour (  or went down with aid? )  “Air-holding kings can last 5–10 min” are scrawls in my blog’s talk-back box. “As it was, is, and shall stay, world without limit. Amnhb.”  Bad call moving into our cloud-scraping Toronto condo. I sought always to daily spy on the giant  CN Stick  in sight from our balcony! cocktails in hand. Day winds down as CN lights lit up skyward, and Whoosha Russian spy drops past us on his rapid way to ground — 40 floors straight down. A Russian Air Crash. a man had said i...