Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

. To Russia and back on a Sea Doo Pack Ice Pas De Deux In 1998 I worked on an adventure TV show that saw a group of Canadian and American boaters travel from Alaska to Russia on Sea Doos. I wrote the show script and went on the trip. The Globe and Mail took the following story and held onto it for almost a year before giving it back (with a kill fee check) ... a boating magazine and a Vancouver based boating newspaper subsequently bought and carried the piece. The actual adventure aired as part of Power Boat TV. By Stephen Weir Passing through the Anchorage airport, Russian wilderness expert Andrey Velikanov stopped in front of the departure lounge newsstand, looked at the stack of clear plastic wrapped Playboy Magazines and gave loud thanks to Hugh Hefner. “Yeah, and to Jim Beam and the Marlboro Man too.” Mr. Velikanov was tipping his baseball cap to the American icons of sin because a gift of cigarettes, alcohol and “adult” magazines helped facilitate his release from arrest on a r

. Cutline: left: Dick Wehrs masks fight for wall space in a Water Tower Pisan window filled condo. Far Left: No room for art in this small downtown condo. Below: Roving I, a Flickr photographer took this picture of art in a bathroom in Macau. BIG CANVAS OR FLAT PANEL TELEVISION. FLOOR SCULPTURE OR UMBRELLA STAND. HOW DO CONDO OWNERS BRING ORIGINAL ART INTO THEIR LIVES. JOURNALIST NEEDS YOUR HELP IN RESEARCHING A FEATURE STORY ABOUT THE ART OF CONDO ZEN Has the downtown condo boom hurt the sale of original art? If you don't have wall space do you just buy smaller art? The Zen of Condos (according to an article I wrote for the US trade magazine Paint Decorating Retailer) says that when you live in a finite space you must remove something old to make room for something new. Buy a chair? Throw out a coffee table! What about art? Buy a painting throw out a wall clock? In space challenged downtown condos the norm is for the builder to provide as much natural light as possible ... at

Toronto based Defence Company appoints Malcolm Stanton -- Director for Business Development Highland Integrated Surveillance Systems , Inc. (HISS Inc). is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Malcolm Stanton as Director for Business Development for HISS, Inc. for the Middle East and Asian region. Malcolm brings over 40 years of experience that covers Customer Service, Program Management and Business Development in the Canadian and International Aerospace / Defence community. Most recently Malcolm Stanton was Director, Business Development for L-3 Communications - WESCAM, responsible for Business Development in the Asia- Pacific region. “We are pleased to welcome Malcolm to the HISS team and wish him every success in this challenging role,” said Roger Smibert, president and CEO of HISS Inc. HISS, Inc is an internationally recognized surveillance mission system solution integrator with a focus on applications in the military and paramilitary airborne, ground and marine sectors. H

. The Recycled Condo. EVERYTHING old is new again By Stephen Weir It looks news. It smells fresh. It has a new home warranty. Yet, some of the parts of its sum have been around at least once before. Recycled materials are beginning to be used in the construction of new condos, not to save money but to save the planet. When it comes to constructing Toronto condominiums EVERTHING old, from broken glass to discarded animal skin, is new again. In a drive to be green, developers are using recycled materials in almost every aspect of the building cycle. There isn’t a totally recycled condominium in Canada … yet. But a visit to a number of new building projects offers a glimpse of the future fast approaching. One building uses century-old wood for flooring in new half-million dollar condos, another uses concrete blocks made with old broken wine bottles. And then there is the building that has recycled leather car upholstery on the walls and floor. “ There is a consumer demand for all th

. SIDEBAR: Three different types of recycling Recycling is the cornerstone of the Three R’s. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. However, there are several different ways to recycle. In the condo construction industry there are three different types of recycled building material. Salvage – The purest form of recycling is to make use of salvaged “stuff”. This means taking used building material (like bricks or wooden beams) and with little or no processing using them in the construction of a new structure. Since there is no mixing, treating, or processing the use of salvage is carbon neutral. It is so golden it is green! Post-consumer recycled content – This refers to recyclable items that are components within the manufacturing process of new building material. When glass bottles are ground and then mixed with new material to create insulation, the insulation is said to contain post-consumer recycled content. The finished product is good but not squeaky green. That is because new materials

The Charles Taylor Writers Circle on television tonight Seamus O"Regan has an intimate conversation with the four Short Listed authors TV personality Seamus O'Regan hosts a personal and revealing televised conversation with all four authors shortlisted for the 2010 Prize on Sunday, January 31st at 7:00 p.m. Bravo! Television will be airing The Charles Taylor Writer's Circle. a half-hour show featuring all four authors shortlisted for The 2010 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. The four authors talk unscripted with CTV's Seamus O'Regan in this special edition of the weekly Arts&Minds program. Taped in Toronto's famed Masonic Temple before a live studio audience, this special edition of Arts&Minds features an intimate conversation with the four CTP finalists that gives the audience a first-hand account of the inspiration behind the authors' books, and an opportunity to speak directly to the authors and ask questions, town-hall style. The 2

. Warning to Cayman’s Rick the Pirate: Talk up East End diving and you get the Black Dot. By Stephen Weir Diver Magazine November 2006 Rick the Pirate needs to be seriously bribed. The next diver to visit Georgetown, Grand Cayman owes it to the scuba community to slip a C-note to the official Caribbean island greeter and ask him not to tell people just how good the diving is on the Island’s remote East End. Rick the Pirate is an American born, Cayman resident and works for a number of the fine shops in Georgetown. Every morning he puts on his hoop-earrings, knee high boots and sword and heads down to the waterfront. When he’s feeling particularly piratey he sticks a flintlock pistol into his wide black belt. His job is to “Ahoy” loudly at every “bilge rat” sporting an Hawaiian shirt and Tilley Hat that passes through the cruise ship gates. He posses for pictures with the Lubbers and recommends the best places to shop, to drink grog, to sunbathe and to dive. “Arr Matey” said the 6ft

. ... 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