Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

. ... AND THE FOOD? IT IS HOT BEAVER TAILS TO 5-STAR DINING Toronto, January 13, 2010 – It's a mid-winter post-holidaze festival. Ottawa is once again getting ready to launch Winterlude, a two week February celebration of the best the season has to offer. The annual festival runs from February 5th to February 21st and presents a variety of amazing winter weather activities including, skating, skiing, dog sledding, an outdoor animated shorts film festival with a snow screen and even an outdoor musical concert featuring music performed on instruments made out of ice. And, don’t forget the food, indoors many restaurants have created an affordable Taste of Winterlude culinary program, while outside, ice hog grog and hot beaver tails (pastries) are mainstays. Each year, over 1-million Canadian and international visitors experience the cold weather sights and sounds of dozen and dozens of Winterlude events (most of them free), including the largest skating rink in the world (the Rideau

High Impact Eco-Tourism A Galapagos Shark Encounter By Stephen Weir in the Galapagos Islands A mammoth shark to the left, an equally hefty one to the right. Two noble sharks so huge that as they glided by I could feel the wake of the water as it was pushed across their broad three-metre-long frames. In a snap I'd gone from a happy-go-lucky Galapagos Islands tourist to being the jam in a shark tooth sandwich. For scuba divers, the Galapagos Archipelago is the place to see schoolinghammerhead sharks, sleepy white tip reef sharks and the odd whale or two. Like most divers, I'm not averse to swimming with sharks. But when the sharkis bigger, wider [THAN ME] and of a species suspected to enjoy the tasteof [HUMAN] flesh, well, it is time to reflect on why one got into the waterin the first place. The Galapagos Islands are unique. Situated on the equator some 950 kilometres west off the coast of Equador, this remote volcanic archipelago remains much as it was millions of years ago. I

Side Bar: Ecuador Hot Spot for Diving and Volcanoes Ah, Ecuador. Erupting volcanoes are your fitting metaphor. This is a democratic country where the president's name is pencilled in, foreign workers disappear into the amazing rain forest and the national currency takes a dump - daily. [Ecuador got rid of its currency - the sucra - after this article was written and adopted the US dollar as its currency of record] For the most part I was on tour with the Quito-based Metropolitan Touring Company. This is a family-run business that gives five-star service and tries to leave nothing to luck. But, as chance would have it, a few things beyond their control did occur, including the following: Volcanoes. An inability to speak Spanish left me ignorant of the fact that, while I was in Quito, a nearby volcano had started to spew smoke and ash. I thought the locals wore face masks because of industrial pollution! Funny money. The dive shop charged me US$110 for the rental of the scuba gear

. THE LODGE - LIVE LARGE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE On-going series - hotels of note in the Granite State It is a compliment when travellers leave notes that say things like “The Lodge at Jackson Village doesn’t really feel like a lodge”. There is a good reason why the four season award-winning White Mountain inn doesn’t feel like a Lodge – it is too roomy to be called a Lodge. Built almost twenty years ago, the Lodge almost began life as a townhouse complex, that plan didn’t come to be; instead the project was modified to create an upscale 33-room hotel within walking distance of the picturesque and historic Jackson Village. The conversion has resulted in The Lodge having more spacious suites than what even the most discerning tourists would expect! The Belcher family who own and operate the establishment operate The Lodge. Continental breakfasts are served mornings throughout the winter, and all guests are offered access to free snowshoes! The Lodge is located on the Ellis River, and more t

. Beer Me Up Homer! Homer Simpson might be able to smell a brewery 100kms away, but for the rest of the world a map sure comes in handy. New Hampshire is home to some of the best breweries not only in New England but in the United States , and, to help beer lovers find them, the tourism department has published an informative locator map and online brochure. Finding out where to find the best brew is only a mouse click away. The new Brewery Map lists 16 establishments visitors should visit. The breweries range from small craft breweries like the Smuttynose Brewing Company in Portsmouth to the full scale Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Merrimack. The Brewery Map explores the wide range of award-winning breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs located throughout the state and the fresh, handcrafted, New Hampshire-made beer found along the way. By necessity the new publication hops all across the state. And while it is a full-bodied online brochure, it is also very stout with trivia. Each pag

. PAINTINGS AND PHOTOS FROM AN URBAN PRISON . Stephen Weir here. I want to briefly tell you about a special "Christmas" art show that should be of interest to you. There is a special exhibition that opened today in Guelph featuring the work of Toronto's Bryce Christmas Bryce Christmas is a young artist who has been confined by court order to a 2-bedroom apartment in downtown Toronto. For the past 9-months his world has been confined to what he can see and paint from his balcony and to the junk he can find and photograph in the apartment building's musty old basement. Bryce is waiting for his trial on a variety of drug related charges. The courts have put him under the care of Bernard Gauthier, the driving force behind Bravo TV. He has turned his life around because of art and the influence of Bernard. To keep sane Bryce has been creating art every day in his comfortable but claustrophobic prison. Well known Toronto curator Shelley Falconer has just seen Bryce's a

. New Scuba Products For The Holiday This Year - The Fifth Day of Christmas ( Unedited story in 5-parts - Feature for December issue of Canada's Diver Magazine www.divermag.com ) By Stephen Weir With only a few weeks left until Christmas, the expert buyers at Diver Magazine have once again come to the rescue of weary holiday shoppers with our well-informed gift suggestions. This time, the buyers have zeroed in over 20 last-minute gift suggestions that are all new (or improved) this year. HELP FLAG: When closed a new expandable dive flag is so small that it can easily fit into a loved ones Christmas stocking. When open fully the 150 grams H.E.L.P flag extends to over 1500 mm in height and can be seen up to 3kms away. The yellow colour flag The flag sells for $50 US (plus shipping charges) and can be ordered on line at: www.thediveflag.com/ . Grand Bahama goes all inclusive – shark dive thrown in - The island of Grand Bahamas has long been synonymous with dive tourism in the Cari