Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

Family round  cup.  L to Rt: Juede, Divahd, Lievi, Susanna Noel and Don Morelan It Happened Monday Night In Toronto By Stephen Weir -   as seen in the Caribbean Camera newspaper ...  The Grey Cup came to a Mas Camp event at Nickel 9 Distillery in Toronto’s Junction district. For three hours the famed Canadian Football League sat on a round bar table in the middle of a room filled with barrels and vats of   vodka in the making. The Toronto Argonauts won the 105th annual Grey Cup game last November. Argo wide receiver and special teams player, Llevi Noel got   to borrow the cup for a day (as does each member of the winning team).   “ I wanted to share the cup for a little while with my family and friends,” explained 26 year-old Toronto Argonaut Llevi Noel.   “I took it down to U of T this afternoon, and finished off my day here with the Cup at the distillery.” Llevi and his family trace their   roots to Grenada, but is a Torontonian through and through.   He atten

K.J. Mullins interviews Taylor Prize Finalist James Maskalyk By K.J. Mullins The first thing you notice about author James Maskalyk is how comforting his voice is. That voice is one that many people hear at during their hardest hours. When not writing Maskalyk is an Emergency Room doctor in Toronto and Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he has helped to train the 25 emergency doctors that treat people in that country. James Maskalyk photo by George Socka Maskalyk's latest award-winning book Life on The Ground Floor was recently shortlisted for this year’s RBC Taylor Prize. The doctor takes readers through the A, B, Cs of emergency medicine in both a modern hospital and one where doctors have to deal with broken equipment while repairing hearts and limbs. During the brief moments of downtime, Maskalyk is with his beloved grandfather, a true man's man. Living in a trapper's cabin in Alberta the older man's last years are thoughtfully arc

Feature story by Stephen Weir in today's Caribbean Camera Shake it? Rhoma Spencer is going to Rock, Dazzle And Amaze downtown millennials at the Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario bills its February evening millennial bash as Shake It. But, actress playwright Rhoma Spencer plans to take it up a notch, dazzling, rocking and ‘Carnivalizing” hundreds of downtown hipsters who will be taking in the First Thursday party this February 1st, from 7-11:30pm. Shake It is a unique programme meant to attract new (and younger) audiences to the downtown Toronto art institution. Shake It looks at traditional in a contemporary way, and as always through the eyes of the artist,” reports the art gallery about next month’s event. “ We will be honouring the season, history of Carnival.”  Rhoma Spencer Headlining the event will be Rhoma Spencer, Macomere Fifi, traditional costumed carnival performers, dancer Jasmyn Fyffe and New York artist and DJ Juliana Huxtable. She is

Damiãn Garth Brown outfront of the Scotiabank movie theatre in Toronto By Stephen Weir  for Caribbean Camera newspaper At 6ft 2, Damiãn Garth Brown is a really big man for a very small part in a new Hollywood blockbuster. But, come to think of it, so is principal star Matt Damon, who, like Damiãn, is only five inches tall in the new Lilliputian comedy Downsizing. Damiãn  Brown on his way up Set in the near future, scientists have discovered how to shrink humans to five inches tall as a solution to overpopulation. Matt Damon and his wife Kristen Wiig decide to abandon their big world stress filled lives by   getting small and moving to a new downsized community — a choice that triggers life-changing adventures. The 37-year Jamaican Canadian plays an orderly who helps Damon adjust when he wakes up small in Downsizing. “This was the first big budget film I have worked on – I even had (albeit briefly) a trailer on set at the Pinewood Studio in Toronto.   I met Matt Da

Santacide Hits Toronto Big This Winter By Stephen Weir for the Caribbean Camera Toronto night Skulkers kill Santa Claus every night.   They also deflate Santa snowmen and crush festive penguins. Even Rudolf and all his darn reindeer aren’t safe this holiday season.   It is a Toronto phenomenon that is rapidly growing by stabs and slashes.   Christmas inflatables left outside at night have suddenly become targets.   I call it Santacide, others might say I am just full of hot air! Toronto Real Estate office jokes with  faux Santa killing Last week I was visited by a CBC TV news videographer who followed me as I inspected the remains of blown up blow-up lawn ornaments that have fallen prey to knife, hatpin and a porto weed wacker attacks overnight. (CTV TV News did a story the same night about   teenagers caught on film stabbing a fully inflated lawn Santa in Etobicoke). The newsman came out because of my on-line reputation as the Santacide detective. For the past