Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

  July 31st., 2022 - 11.00 PM The Annual Emancipation Day Underground Freedom Train Ride Is Back On Track at Toronto's   Union Station  The Emancipation Day Underground Freedom Train Ride is back on track and in-person this year. The annual train ride aboard a private TTC train takes 1,000 people on a ride to mark Emancipation Day. The 2022 Conductor will be the  Honourable Elder Dr. Jean Augustine as she blows the whistle to start the 2022  Toronto Underground Freedom Train Ride at 11.00 PM on July 31 st  at Union Station. Everyone is welcome to get on board this annual Toronto Freedom Train ride as the people of this city recognise the challenges and opportunities provided by Canada’s proclaimed Emancipation Day. The ride will be an incredible journey and experience about the Underground Railroad, the route enslaved Africans used to escape American slave plantations, seeking freedom in Canada and ultimately Emancipation Day on August 1 st . The theme of this year’s Freedom Train

Old Time Blocko Brings Out the Calypso in Toronto By Stephen Weir for Tomorrow's Caribbean Camera Connector is no dummy; he knows that it pays to have a sense of humour to be a Calypso singer these days. When the 2016 Calypso Monarch was asked to pose for a fun picture with a member of the audience at a new weekly Blocko, he said he knew someone just stupid enough to help him out. He was right; a blond haired mannequin in the Epic Carnival costume showroom was an excellent m odel for this Caribbean Camera photographer. The Toronto singer came by the Epic Carnival mas camp at the Tam Heather Curling Club in Scarborough last Friday to perform at their new Friday night Blocko parties. It was perfect weather for a fete that was held both inside and outside the large sports building for the new series. He sang, danced and performed to about 100 people (and costumed mannequins) both inside the hall and outside looking in from the parking lot. “It was a bit of old time Carnival sin

.  The Dress :  Joel Was Man Enough To Wear It ... A nd Has Tara's Crown To Prove It. .... from Facebook  Tara Banks and Joel Davis at the Calypso Monarch contest in Toronto Last night's Calypso Monarch competition had an ending that made one cross dresser happy and had the competition's most winning singer losing to her imitator! Connector / Macomere CeeCee (Joel Davis) is Toronto’s New 2016 Calypso Monarch! He was the most popular choice at the competition, beating perennial winner Macomere Fifi (Tara Woods) with his winning composition entitled “The Dress”. He beat o ut 12 contestants on Sunday night at the Latvian Canadian Cultural Centre. Macomere CeeCee Joel Davis, who had hinted earlier in the year he may not compete made it into the finals by coming up with a good song, innovative lyrics and a willingness to appear on stage in drag. This is not the first time that a Calypso singer has dressed as the opposite gender, but, Connect

Crowning Glory - Fourpeat For Calypso Winner    The scrum - photographers take pictures of the coronation Canada has a new monarch. She was crowned last night. All hail Macomere FiFi. She is one of Canada's most successful Calypso singers, and last night, in Toronto, she won Canada’s top calypso music prize – Kaiso 365 – before a capacity crowd in the P.C. Ho Theatre, Chinese Cultural Centre. In a hotly contested battle between nine singers performing two songs each, Trinidadian-born Macomere Fifi also won the coveted People’s Choice Award and Special Awards for Best Composition On A Local Topic and Best Arrangement. Fifi’s first song, “Never Again”, was a powerful commentary about the honour killing of the Shafia sisters; her second number titled “Tell Me Why” probed the issues surrounding the death of Trayvon Martin. OCPA president Colin Benjamin is hugged by the new Monarch Eulith Tara Woods Trinidadian-born Macomere Fifi also won the

. Lord Black fills the cracks in the Calypso Monarch programme - Scotiabank Caribana event at Science Centre Jokes about Conrad Black Itah Sadu has been making a living as a storyteller for almost twenty years in Toronto. She has the ability to make up a humourous story in a New York minute ( I guess I should say a North York minute) and give an Oscar winning performance delivering the goods. She is so fast that audiences don't even realize that when she takes a deep breath on stage she is actually dreaming up her next 2-minute bit to keep everyone amused. Her talents were put to the test on Saturday night at the Ontario Science Centre. Itah was the MC for the annual Soca Monarch Contest. This contest is the culmination of a summer of performances by Calypso singers who fight it out to see who can compete at the Monarch for the right to wear the Calypso crown (there is indeed an actual crown). The evening was plagued with delays. A late drummer meant that the doors opened almost