Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

CNW photograph -  Josh Basseches Trending At Toronto's Cultural Attractions: Hire Out Of Canada . Just got a CNW release about the new head of the Royal Ontario Museum here in Toronto. In the press release ROM welcomes its new Director & CEO, Josh Basseches . He was previously the Deputy Director of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. Basseches is well qualified to take-over a museum the stature and budget of the ROM. However, by passing over, once again, worthy Canadian candidates for the job (last CEO, an Australian, lef t her post early), ROM has continued a disturbing trend here in Toronto -- most of the high profile roles at this city's key cultural institutions have been handed over, at a huge expense, to foreign nationals. Earlier this year the Art Gallery of Ontario announced that after a 7-month worldwide search it had hired Stephan Jost as CEO of the Gallery. A Michigan born art expert, Jost does not appear to have a background in ...

ONE QUESTION ON BEHALF OF CANADIANS WHO JUST LIKE TO WRECK DIVE At the ROM  - live broadcast from the deck of the wreck of the Erebus I  got just one question in this afternoon at a packed media event, organized to watch in real time footage being shot on the wreck of the HMS Erebus under the ice in Canada's high arctic. When can sport divers like me dive on this recently discovered 19th century 4-masted schooner? When the divers turned off their cameras underwater, Marc-André Bernier, underwater archaeologist and Head of the Underwater Archaeology Team at Parks Canada, held a Question and Answer session with Toronto reporters whi le standing in a tent, on the ice, near the dive hole over the wreck of the Erebus. " The 9 ft of ice not withstanding, today's dive on the Erebus looked pretty easy - good viz, sport diver depth and current free." I asked Bernier, " will sport divers be allowed to dive on the Erebus?" The answer? "We hope so...

  Toronto Museum Has A Small (but important) Wreck Exhibition 3-D printer was used to make this replica bell.  On display in Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum In 1845 the British Franklin Expedition sailed into Canada’s Northern waters to look for the Northwest Passage. There were 129 men, on two ships – the Erebus and the Terror – in the expedition. Early into their planned 3-year quest both ships and all hands were lost somewhere near the Victoria Straits in the Eastern Arctic. The search for Sir John Franklin, his crew and the two ships, began in 1859 and continues to this day.  Earlier this year a Canadian expedition did locate the shallow wreck of the Erebus. Parks Canada underwater archaeologists – the first to lay eyes on the ship in nearly 170 years – conducted seven dives to the shipwreck over two intensive days of on-site investigation, taking diagnostic measurements, high-resolution photography, and high-definition video. The artifact was ide...

Toronto Carnival’s offical media launch attendees - photo and story by Stephen Weir  Caribbean Graphic Canada Magazine 618 Strouds Lane, Pickering, ON L1V 4S9 • Tel: 905.831-4402 • Fax: 416.292.2943 • Email: caribbeangraphic@rogers.com Canada All Set For Toronto’s Carnival (May 30, 2012) ... The stage is all set for the Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival’s big parade on August 4th. As the 45th year for the festival formerly known as Caribana, 2012 promises to be much bigger with new events, new locations and additional corporate sponsors. It all starts July 17th at Toronto’s Nathan Phillip’s Square, home of Toronto’s City Hall, That’s the date and venue for the Festival’s Official Public Launch. On July 21st, Downsview Park will host the Junior Carnival Parade, a Kiddie’s version of the big parade. Last year over 2,000 children performed for the judges and played Mas along the streets of the Jane Finch corridor. Downsview Park, better suited to handle the growing...