I'm Not TorontoMike on Reddit
Published by Toronto Mike on May 19, 2013 @ 17:15 in Miscellaneous

I'm Not TorontoMike on RedditIt seems there's a Redditor who goes by the name TorontoMike who is quite active on the /r/Canada subreddit. I am definitely not Reddit's TorontoMike.

Members of /r/MetaCanada, however, believe we're one and the same and that I'm the "neckbeard" they love to hate.

I actually had to Google the term neckbeard to find out what they were actually calling Reddit's TorontoMike. Here's what a neckbeard is, according to Urban Dictionary.

Talkative, self-important nerdy men (usually age 30 and up) who, through an inability to properly decode social cues, mistake others' strained tolerance of their blather for evidence of their own charm.

That doesn't sound like me at all!

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The Comment From Rinse about Rob Ford's Crack Use
Published by Toronto Mike on May 18, 2013 @ 17:07 in Rob Ford Watch

The Comment From Rinse about Rob Ford's Crack UseOver the past few days there's been tons of traffic from Gawker, Reddit, Twitter and elsewhere to this comment left by Rinse on March 26. Here's everything I know about it...

First, here's what Rinse wrote at 9:09pm that March 26 night in response to allegations Rob Ford has battled alcohol abuse:

Here's the thing: Rob Ford DOES use crack cocaine. A friend of mine, her mother is a serious drug addict. Rob Ford regularly goes over to her house to smoke crack.

The problem is this: The daughter wants to expose Rob Ford's drug abuse, but her oldschool Italian grandmother won't allow her to "bring shame" upon the family, long story short. So basically the daughter has become complicit with the entire thing instead of doing the right thing. Shame on you Jasmin.

Rinse commented from an IP address that has never commented on TorontoMike.com before or since. The IP address belongs to a Toronto Rogers customer.

Rinse left his/her email address as rinse@rinseout.com. I've written this address and it bounced back as invalid.

I have no idea who Rinse is and cannot comment on his/her integrity. When the comment showed up on March 26, I completely dismissed it and gave it little thought. Once Gawker broke the story about Rob Ford being caught on tape smoking crack, it suddenly seemed far more plausible.

With so many new eyeballs suddenly reading Rinse's comment, I felt I should share everything I know about it so there's no confusion.

Rinse, if you're out there and want to elaborate, please contact me.

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Victoria Day Weekend Open Mike
Published by Toronto Mike on May 17, 2013 @ 09:05 in Open Mike

Open MikeIsn't it nuts that we have a holiday to celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday? Surely we can do better, Canada!

What's on your mind this long weekend?

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Video of Rob Ford Smoking Crack Cocaine
Published by Toronto Mike on May 16, 2013 @ 21:04 in Rob Ford Watch, Toronto News ~ Toronto Focus

Video of Rob Ford Smoking Crack Cocaine: GawkerThis entry will contain no editorializing. I'm merely going to report facts.

Gawker just wrote about a video of Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine. John Cook, the author, has seen the video, supposedly taken within the past six months.

Here is what the video shows: Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto, is the only person visible in the frame. Prior to the trip, I spent a lot of time looking at photographs of Rob Ford. The man in the video is Rob Ford. It is well-lit, clear. Ford is seated, in a room in a house. In one hand is a a clear, glass pipe. The kind with a big globe and two glass cylinders sticking out of it. In the other hand is a lighter. A slurred voice off-camera is ranting about Canadian politics in what sounds like an attempt to goad Ford. "Pierre Trudeau was a faggot!" is the one phrase the lodges in my mind. Ford, pipe in one hand and lighter in the other, is laughing, and mildly protesting at the sacrilege. He seems to keep trying to light the pipe, but keeps stopping to laugh. He is red-faced and sweaty, heaving with each breath. Finally, he finds his moment and lights up. He inhales.

You may recall the recent controversy when Sarah Thompson described Rob Ford's behaviour as that of a man on cocaine and the even more recent allegations that Rob Ford has a substance abuse problem.

ford

The photo above from the Gawker story "shows Ford hanging out with a number of people. The gentleman standing to his right, flipping the camera the bird, is Anthony Smith. Smith, a 21-year-old college student, was killed two months ago outside a Toronto nightclub in a gangland-style shooting".

Update: The Toronto Star's Robyn Doolittle and Kevin Donovan have also seen the video and believe it to be Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. They have many more details here.

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Your Blog Sucks: My New Podcast
Published by Toronto Mike on May 15, 2013 @ 16:47 in Podcasting, Your Blog Sucks Podcast

Your Blog Sucks: My New PodcastIt's been a blast co-hosting Toronto Mike'd with my good friend Rose, so we're going to keep going. That's right, after some stressful negotiation sessions, I've managed to lock Rose up with a sweet 5-year contract. We're recording episode 38 next week.

I will be launching a new podcast, however, with my buddy Elvis. Elvis and I will start recording Your Blog Sucks next week. The tone of Your Blog Sucks will be a little brasher, a little more sarcastic and slightly less mature. It'll be a completely different show from Toronto Mike'd and we hope you'll give it a listen.

your-blog-sucks

We'll try to keep it to 30 minutes a week and keep it interesting and funny. Fear not Elvis, there's a first time for everything.

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Still Stunned... Still Bummed #Leafs
Published by Toronto Mike on May 14, 2013 @ 16:41 in Toronto Maple Leafs

Still Stunned... Still Bummed #LeafsI still can't believe it...

You follow a team for decades... watch them in the preseason, catch every regular season game you can, then buckle up for the playoffs. Heading in, you have reasonable expectations. I thought Boston would beat us in 5 or 6. I never liked the matchup, in fact, I think it was the worst matchup possible.

Last night's collapse with a 4-1 lead in game seven and only 10 minutes left in the game was so cruel, so intensely painful, a day later I'm still stunned and totally bummed. I feel awful.... like a good friend just punched me in the gut. I still can't believe it happened.

I remember the loss to LA in the Campbell Conference finals. Game 7 was a devastating loss, with a finals against Montreal waiting in the wings, but this feel so much worse. Up 4-1, I was planning Leafs parties for the Leafs-Rangers series, a series in which we'd have home-ice advantage. I was so excited for my kids, my city and myself, a lifelong Leafs fan who jumped 4-feet in the air when Kadri scored.

Go Leafs Go!

I realize it was just a game, and when I step back and get perspective, I realize how silly it is that I feel this way, but this one hurts.

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It's Just a Game Open MIke
Published by Toronto Mike on May 14, 2013 @ 08:54 in Open Mike

Open MikeIt's just a game...

What's on your mind this Tuesday?

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Joyce Brothers, Dead at 85
Published by Toronto Mike on May 13, 2013 @ 22:37 in Celebrity Deaths

In MemoriumJoyce Brothers was 85. She was the pop psychologist who pioneered the television advice show in the 1950s and enjoyed a long and prolific career as a syndicated columnist, author, and television and film personality.

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