Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

On Saturday, May 31st, the Toronto Star ran a story I wrote about the new Trump Tower Hotel and Condo project in Toronto. The story, with an illustration by ED SCHNURR can be see at: /www.thestar.com/article/432040. Below is the original version which was edited by the Star for accuracy and length. Donald Trump’s new vision of luxury Small, Tall and Tight. Really really tight. By Stephen Weir Stephen@stephenweir.com May 22, 2008 Shoe-horning a luxury hotel and condo tower into the already hyper-crowded financial district of downtown Toronto is forcing Donald Trump's real estate company to think small while building tall. The 924 ft (282 metres) Trump International Hotel and Tower is finally underway and as the hole is being dug in a miniscule plot of land at the southeast corner of Adelaide and Bay Streets, a team of architects and builders are importing both people and different construction techniques to build a $400 million tower where a tiny five and dime store used to

ORIGINAL SIDEBAR TO TRUMP STORY BY STEPHEN WEIR Trump Tower's: Tale of the Tape ß The first Trump property to be built in Canada, Trump International Hotel & Tower will be one of the tallest buildings in the country when completed. ß Opened for sales in September 2004. Ground breaking event held in October 2007. ß Lot size 15,520 square feet ß Building footprint – 98% of the lot ß Height: 281.6 m / 924 ft. 60 storeys tall ß Hotel Condominiums: 261 (600 - 4,000 sq. ft.) ß The Residences: 118 (1,300 - 7,700 sq. ft.) ß Sticker Shock $900,000 to $14 million. ß Total Suites: 379 ß Model Suites – 11am to 6pm, Amy Richards, 416-214-9285 ß Owners: Trump Organization and Talon International Development Inc ß /www.trumptoronto.ca

Mermaid on the Rocks – has Diver Magazine hatched a trend? Swimming our way back to November 2007, Diver Magazine featured Malena Sharkey on the cover wearing nothing but her mermaid costume. The Florida-based diver has a unique moonlighting career as a mermaid model and the magazine wanted to give her career some exposure. That particular issue turned out to be extremely popular. Does that mean that nearly nude mermaid models will be the next big thing? Is Diver the first publication to grab the mermaid craze by the tail? Check out the latest Compari calendar and you will see that Diver has jumped onto the mermaid popularity wave long before it is even close to cresting. The makers of Compari aperitif have issued a new 2008 calender featuring Eva Mendes posed in 12 different fairytale scenes – one story picture for each month of the year. This month, the American actress (2 Fast 2 Furious, Hitch, Training Day and We Own the Night) appears as a sultry mature Little Mermaid. The c

March 26, 2008 Title: NEW HAMPSHIIRE'S MOOSE SPOT HUMANS WHILE HUMANS SPOT THE MOOSE RIGHT BACK GREAT NORTH WOODS LEAD THE MOOSE-ON-THE-LOOSE PARADE By Stephen Weir Toronto – A trained eye means everything. One New Hampshire moose, his velvet antlers skimming the surface of the water, didn’t even have to stop munching on water weeds and lift his massive head to spot the six humans standing on the opposite shore of the pristine lake. He tilted his head sideways and looked for the telltale reflection of dawn’s early light on the telephoto lens of a digital camera. “Gotcha” snorted the moose, “my first people spotting of the day.” And while some of New Hampshire’s estimated 10,000 moose (no the plural isn’t meese) are avid people watchers, from May to October, the real sport is Moose Spotting and it is pursued by thousands and thousands of avid animal watchers wanting to get close to New Hampshire’s gentle giants. Most of the moose live in the Great North Woods section of the st

Title: If group can find $2 million Warship that saw Gulf War service could become the St Lawrence River’s first artificial reef By Stephen Weir (April 2008, Diver Magazine - unedited version of feature including sidebars that didn't make it into print): Canadian divers along the north shore of the St Lawrence River know what ship they want and where they want to sink it, but what they don’t have is the money to make it happen … yet. Late last December a small group of divers in Brockville kicked off a bold plan to create an artificial reef near this small Ontario city. The Eastern Ontario Artificial Reef Association, (EOARA), have set their sights on the now mothballed HMCS Terra Nova. The “paid-off” 112 meter long warship, is currently docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A second warship, the HMCS Gatineau, is also available to the group. She has also been mothballed by the Canadian Navy. “We really want the Terra Nova, it is the right height for where we want to sink her i

The article printed below is a work of fiction, and it is not new ( I have updated it twice. The latest was submitted to the CBC two years ago - this is that version).   I think I wrote Version One in the Eighties. It was used in a long-gone magazine called Valley . It was published by General Store Publishing House in Burnstown, Ontario.  The faded clipping has been pinned to my corked lined office wall for over 20 years. I wanted to post it on my website before the clipping (my only copy) fell apart and the story returned to being just a fading memory.  I figured out the Optical Character Reader on my printer this weekend and so Presto Chango ... another story in my ongoing mostly fiction series about Renfrew in the Sixties and is now on stephenweir.com. Title : TIME IS A BOUNCING BALL by Stephen Weir  It's too long ago now to remember how we got onto the roof of the Howard Haramis restaurant. I can't imagine climbing up the fire escape, but 50 years ago there was o

Sub-Title : Photo at left: Rendering of a proposed downtown Toronto condo: One Bedford The Toronto Star, like every publication I write for, edits and rewrites my copy. Don't mind, always amazed at how many mistakes I make. I send in what I think is a bullet proof story and then the questions from the editor begins (I call it death by a thousand questions). My answers/changes, are one of the reasons that the story gets modified. I also hand in copy that it is too long ( hey, we freelancers are geared towards being paid by the inch). So, to make a short story long, the Toronto Star ran a story yesterday: http://www.thestar.com/living/Athome/article/298644 that I wrote after a month of research. The story was about how new buildings in Toronto are casting long shadows over the city and rate payers are unhappy. Anyway, check out the link above to see the Star's version of my piece. Below is the original text -- mistakes and all. Star headline: OUR PLACES IN THE SUN The shadow