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Summer's Ending Open MikePublished by Toronto Mike on September 21, 2012 @ 09:13 in Open Mike
I'm sure you have a lot on your mind. So if you do, dump it here. And if you don't, lurk away!
70 Responses to "Summer's Ending Open Mike"Toronto Mike The Ireland weather was interesting, in that it changed all the time throughout the day. It was pretty warm, with spitting rain under the sun which made for nice rainbows. But it never exceeded 19 degrees. Still, it felt better than this... and I expect better from Toronto. Paris, btw, was 30 and sunny every day I was there. That was awesome. Yes, the podcast! Maybe I'll record one on Tuesday... I just have to coordinate the schedules. Elba I rented The Wire Season 1 from the library and got through 1/2 the episodes. I'm pretty meh about it so far. It does get better, right? Toronto Mike @Elba I was hooked by the 3rd episode. If you're half way through season 1 and still feeling meh, I'm thinking you won't get through season 2. Which is a shame, b/c you'll miss that glorious 4th season and the greatest series in the history of the world. I've never known anyone to watch (and focus without multi tasking) six episodes of The Wire and say 'meh'. :) Lorne How's Episode 3 of the podcast coming along? Any chance of contributing to my Monday Morning at work audio? Toronto Mike @Lorne I might have to rant for 30 minutes about how someone could call The Wire 'meh'. I kid, I kid! I'd like to record episode 3 on Tuesday night. I just have to see if Rosie and Wix are available, and the studio is free. Ryan G Boardwalk Empire's season premiere last week was one of the best hours of television I've ever seen. Boardwalk is the proverbial tit I'll gladly suckle on to deal with the incredible level of despair I feel waiting for the return of both Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones. Toronto Mike @Ryan G I hear excellent things... will watch it one day, for sure. When I have more time for viewing, I plan to get back to Sons of Anarchy... and I need to wrap up The Newsroom and season 3 of Louie. Lyle Lanley I heard a funny one the other day. I'm so desperate for new episodes of Breaking Bad, I'm watching Malcolm in the Middle reruns. Mississauga Phil Sons of Anarchy is 2 episodes into season 5 and I'm still hooked. If you haven't watched it yet, grab season 1m you won't be dissapointed....Ron Pearlman is the MAN!!!! @Sammy Yep, I'm going to the Nut Hut Shit Show in November (in the part of town where shit's going down). I know it's going to be excellent! Toronto Mike @Sammy I'm going. I helped give birth to the podcast, I have to be there for the birthday party. Not Dean The Crumble 'n Debt anniversary show sounds amazing. Lets celebrate two hasbeens on a whole year of recording a podcast for a dozen or so people stuck in 1995. Who wouldn't got to an Etobicoke industrial plant for that! Please please please tell me Humble's daughter will sing. I can't wait. I find it funny the amount of hate people get for lining up to get an Apple phone. So they make the second best phone on the market? Who cares? To each their own. Toronto Mike @Not Dean I've seen the numbers and can honestly say more tan a dozen people are listening. Elba @Toronto Mike I will watch the rest of Season 1, no doubt. And, to be honest, I watched the first couple of episodes with no sound, just with CC. The story does seem compelling and I'm liking several characters (Kima and the boss of the department -- can't remember his name), so I'm interested to see how it goes. Omar hasn't made an impression on me yet although I've only seen him a handful of times. Toronto Mike @Elba There are some shows you can watch while texting, surfing the web and cooking dinner. This isn't one of them. I find this show demands true focus b/c it's not dumbed down at all and missing a minute could mess you up for an entire season. The first time I watched The Wire, I remember the culture shock when we left the streets for the ports in season two. Then, I realized the ports were amazing, just a different amazing. Stick with it... and enjoy Bunk and McNulty and Kima and Omar and String and Avon and all the other great characters you've yet to meet. Anonymous @Rob So would you say the best is the Galaxy 3? I have nothing against the iphone or people who like it. I can manage with one, but I just prefer android. My boss, who hates technology, has one, so I've sort of learned to use it on the fly while coaching him through some of the easier tasks. @Toronto Mike I've had a couple of holidays in England, and I learned fast why people carry umbrellas on sunny days. It can go from sun to rain to sun in a blink, and that is a regular occurrence. Sounds like you had an awesome trip! Mississauga phil @ Brad - yeah just go to the corner of Spadina and Bloor and ask for Bobby...he'll hook you up #dumbassquestion Another Lurker @Toronto Mike On the H+F podcast, Humble runs down a list of podcasts on the network. Sounds like everyone and their mother has one. It's a long list of podcasts we'll never here, but he hasn't mentioned Toronto Mike'd in a while. Are you on the network or not? Wayner @Toronto Mike I find that when people rave-on and recommend a show it can and never will live up to expectations...sometimes its best to let it go.. 4x4 Time I have nothing against the good people of Quebec (except the hardcore separtists), but the Canadian Flag being removed from the Quebec Legislative really pisses me off. I have had it with the whole PQ motive and their group of radicals. I see that Ms. Marois wants to “immediately” toughen language laws, abolish tuition hikes and extend public daycare availability. Good for her. Let’s see if Harper has the balls to reduce Federal Transfer payments to Quebec so the rest of Canada does not continue to fund the Quebec Separatists dream…It is highly unlikely the Tories will ever win more seats in Quebec, so why bother. Take tough stances against them, and the rest of Canada will reward them with another majority.
Rosie I'm with Elba. The Wire was a little meh in the first season. (somewhere in the GTA Toronto Mike's head is exploding.) It picks up in Season 2. I didn't love the Sopranos until the second season either. Shows that started out awesome from Season One Episode One: SATC, and Girls. Also the Newsroom was gripping straight away. I wonder if S2 will keep up the pace? Jeff Daniels was so born to play Will McAvoy! Toronto Mike @Rosie and @Elba They say people's tastes in the arts is completely subjective. They're wrong. The Wire is the furthest thing from meh, ever. And @Rosie... save some of this TV talk for Tuesday night! MUST WATCH Will McAvoy Brilliance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7lKNjtvfpc Argie Mike, The Wire is NOT a lady's show. Rosie and Elba would be better off sticking to American Idol and Grey's Anatomy. I say this respectfully, of course. Toronto Mike @Another Lurker Didn't see your comment until now... Humble tells me he's old and forgets to mention Toronto Mike'd. No slight intended. Everyone should catch up on what they've missed here: http://www.torontomike.com/podcast/ Mississauga Phil @ Argie - My Wife loves Sons of Anarchy and the Walking Dead (both shows more simialr to the the Wire than to the shows you mentioned). Women are allowed to have good taste in TV shows now...and did you hear...we let them work and vote too!! Toronto Mike @Argie I've watched The Wire twice, each time with a different woman, and both loved it. Not liked it, but loved it. So it seems women do love The Wire, just not Elba and Rosie. Rosie @Argie You are totally right. The Wire is a boy show. I'm not sure what that means, but that is what it is. I just couldn't get into it despite recognizing its complexity and brilliant writing. But I don't watch American Idol and Grey's Anatomy. I do watch SYTYCD though. @TO Mike, Tuesday night let's discuss your thoughts on the decision to have two winners- one boy, one girl- in season nine. Did it diminish the outcome? I know you have a lot to say about this. ;) Toronto Mike @Rosie If SYTYCD comes up, I'm going to edit it out. Just watch me. Cheryl Well, I'm on Twitter. It's okay. You can't write long messages though. Just had Mr. Case follow me. Apparently they're a grocery delivery place, but the problem is that everything is by the case. I'm a single person. It's lot like I actually need a case of everything. Well, cooler weather means hockey is closer, but there's no hockey because of the stupid lockout. I don't understand why baseball will never get locked out. Why does it always have to be hockey getting locked out. Il Duce @ Toronto Mike Its not subjective, Sopranos was the best show on TV. Yes, I enjoyed the Wire and thought the writing and stories got better deeper in the seasons. Lots of women love The Wire - count me as one! I am now watching it with my hubby and we have just started season 4, which is the BEST. For the record, I watched it with closed captioning and no sound the first time. It is hard to run on the treadmill and listen to a show without the sound turned up really loudly. And this is not a show for younger ears. Neither is Sons of Anarchy, which is my current running show. Enjoy the weekend everyone! 4x4 Time Wow, I have to stop spinning vinyl and watch TV...Not thinking that is gonna happen although, my daughter got me hooked on Lilehammer and I thought it was very cool Toronto Mike I think we need to redefine TV. This is really an entry unto itself, but I can practice here. My digital cable receiver hasn't been turned on in weeks. It's primarily for live sports and news events, and maybe the Oscars or Emmys or live stuff like that. I never watch recorded television programs on it. I watched a lot of Olympics, but I'm waiting for baseball playoffs and completely disinterested in the NFL, so there's nothing for me now. Hockey, as you may have heard, is paused. But I do watch TV. I recently re-watched all 5 seasons of The Wire, caught up on Breaking Bad, saw Girls and The Newsroom and Louie. These are all shows created for television, I just don't watch them on television... if that makes sense. I treat these shows like multi-part movies. And I also watch movies. The kids and I watched Crocodile Dundee on Wednesday night. They loved it. I might watch some of the Emmys on Sunday night, because I enjoyed Mad Men and Breaking Bad and Girls, but that will be the first television I've seen since the Olympic closing ceremony. So it all depends on how we define TV. dale I love hockey but this lockout is a Union problem. I work for a corp. out of the U.S. When they make a profit I don't get a share at all as THE OWNERS pay the employees. Do I challenge them - Of course NOT. NHL players asking for 57% or whatever revenues from the owners is ridiculous. The owners are entitled to their profit. The problem is the NHL owning (subsidizing) 1-2 teams & that is where the profit from other owners is going. IMO - LOCK OUT THE PLAYERS with many of high end players already going overseas & taking jobs from others (including some Cdn. players who have played there previously) who will not be playing now. A disgrace-Hopefully the season is DONE, unless the players realize they are not the OWNERS of the NHL. Toronto Mike @dale You can't really compare yourself to NHL players. How many people can do what you can do? I'm guessing you're readily replaceable. How many people can do what Ovechkin and Crosby and Datsyuk can do? Supply and demand... Rick C in Oakville @Sammy and Liz, see you at the Nut Hut shit show. Just as everyone can't agree on whether they like the Wire, or Sons Of Anarchy, etc. etc., so be it with Radio/Podcast entertainment. If I'm stuck in 1995 so be it, i really enjoy listening to these 2 nit wits, it fits my travel routine. I hate to insult a play by play guy but am I the only one who finds Buck Martinez so boring I cannot listen to him? It also pisses me off that I can't listen to the fan broadcast on my puter cuz its blocked. Also, would love to party with H and F when and where is it? One last thing....I miss Martin Streak :( Patrick went to the International Plowing Match for the first time. Not a farmer but was a great fair. Rick C in Oakville @Patrick. My grandfather hosted this about 50 years ago at his farm in Lindsay. I didn't even know it was still going on. Glad to hear it is. Anon&on Hey- any T. radio listeners from days gone by remember a 'brush with shwarminess' segment (near/minor celebrity sightings( ? It was either H&F (102 or Mojo(, Fan 590 (Big Show, maybe Eric Smith), Mojo (Jeff Merek), mojo (Ripkin!), or Q107. Anon&on Sorry about the brackets. Let me retype that: The Wire, Sopranos, Breaking Bad, yet another Dancing Show... I will happily stick with The Twilight Zone. It still got a fan voting mention on ABC's Greatest TV special this week. Lorne @Rosie: I'm a bit mixed about the two winners decision this season. On one hand, it's far more fair. Almost all the classical dance styles are different for men and women. It's very hard to judge fairly between a guy and a girl doing the same style. Plus, there's a huge gender imbalance in the voters. Since the contest is based on the most popular dancer, rather than the best dancer, that imbalance means one gender is far more likely to win than the other. So I liked all that. But it did take away a bit of the competition. It effectively reduced the amount of competition in half-- the guys were only trying to outdance the other guys, and same for the girls. Combine that with a shortened season, and it seemed-- I dunno-- lessened. That also makes me worry about the future of the show-- when they start cutting episodes. =| What did you think of the winners? Cheon was far the superior dancer, but I honestly thought Cyrus was going to take it. It'd be interesting to know the actual numbers-- I bet it was effectively a coin flip between the two. Of course, it almost doesn't matter who won. Just making the top 20 (and not being a whiny asshole) pretty much means you have your dance career set for life. Just about every contestant goes on to work in movies, stage, on the show, etc. I'm not a big fan of competition reality shows. There's usually far too much manufactured drama, and barely competent contestants, and far too much producer interference, and that awful trend of putting horrible people on stage just to make fun of this (which is what they do, since there's MULTIPLE levels of pre-screening before anyone gets near a camera). BUT-- SYTYCD is one of the few shows that's not only full of talented people, but it's very, very indicative of what the actual dance profession is like. Highly competitive, very demanding-- you dance for anyone, at any time, in any style, with a smile. In heels. And if you're good, learn choreography well, and are easy to work with, you're set. Plus the sheer level of athletic talent put out by these people. I dance, if you can call it that. But man, watching these people-- leaps, lifts, hard hits, being perfectly in sync. Just, wow. I swear, there's sometimes I'm watching, and they'll do something crazy like-- jump six feet straight up, spin in the air and go the other way, and I'm like DO YOU NOT KNOW ABOUT THE LAWS OF PHYSICS?!?! And then choreography-- it took me three months to learn two routines for our recital, and I still mudged a step or two (or three and four and one). They learn multiple routines over three days. So yeah, one of the few shows that has unfakeable talent which is impressive as hell to watch, and an almost/fast-forwardable amount of "human interest" drama/filler. About the only other show that I like to watch that meets that criteria is Face Off, which is: Buncha special effects artists. First 30 seconds of that show is a touch of drama relating to the last contestant voted off. Then, with the requisite amount of "drama" fulfilled, they spend the next 3 days doing amazing shit with special effects makeup. There's been times when one contestant will stop what they're doing and HELP ANOTHER contestant, because "If I'm going to win, it'll be because I'm competing against other talented people, not because someone's mould got stuck". Take that, The Apprentice. Rick C in Oakville @ANON&on: I remember that bit also, thought it might be Steve Anthony maybe doing it. I think he had a another bit called make Momma Cuss that was pretty hilarious too. Toronto Mike @Anon&on I remember that bit, and I think it was either Brother Jake or Jesse and Gene. Toronto Mike @Tim It's November 22 at the Red Fish Studios. 146 Thirtieth Street in Etobicoke, near Browns Line and Horner. And I miss Martin Streek, too. Cheryl Well, this hockey lockout is so stupid. As I said, hockey always gets locked out. Baseball got locked out a couple times, but it was so long ago. It's only fair that baseball gets locked out as well. I would be so happy. Irvine In this day and age of politics few things amaze me. But Mulcair not attending the funeral of Peter Lougheed is about as disrespectful as you can get. I'm no fan of Harper, but when Mr Layton passed away, Harper allowed for a state funeral & attended Mr Layton's funeral. What a douchebag. Mr. Lougheed elevated politics; a sentence I hardly believe can be written about any other politician. He declined the petty roll of robot partisan. He was able to see both or many sides of many questions & declined the vulgarity of many of today’s politicians with their potty mouths and puerile minds. – Rex Murphy Lets keep reaching for the sky. Let's continue to be the party that causes the people not to divide, but to come together in common purpose. - Peter Lougheed Rosie @Lorne I completely agree... the talent of the dancers on the show is outstanding. I cannot stand reality shows, I really hate the ones like the Bachelor and Survivor, etc, I think they are negative and insipid, but I feel that SYTYCD is about talent, hard work and the beauty of dance. It just blows me away how they are able to learn the choreography week to week and never make mistakes! And their athleticism and grace is incredible. I had to stop myself from leaping off the couch after watching Matthew and Audrey perform the Travis Wall routine. (I did stop myself. I do NOT possess even an ounce of their athleticism and grace!) Jason from Sudbury Kinda surprised that no one has brought up the Yunel Escobar suspension yet. Toronto Mike Re: Yunel Escobar I haven't written about it, because it first broke when I was travelling and then I found the whole thing so disturbing I didn't feel like drudging it up. From what I understand, from people I trust, the expression in Spanish essentially means "you're a faggot". For a Toronto Blue Jay to put that under his eyes for a game sickens me. 3 games is a joke for a franchise that has become a joke. Remember when Pat Gillick's Blue Jays was the classiest organization in the league and great players wanted to come here? Those days are long gone. To my podcast friends who say we're all overreacting, I actually think we may be under-reacting. Cheryl Who cares about Yunel Escobar. He's a baseball player. He plays boring baseball and makes millions, so he has tons of money anyway. What's the big deal. Anonymous I was looking for Brush With Shmarminess (or smarminess), not shwarminess- must have been thinking of H&F producer Chicken Shawarma. I found another reference recalling it as a CFNY H&F segment (Brad's Blog). Irvine
Hey Cheryl, you might feel different about him if he called you a stupid blind bimbo. Do you like drink heavily or something? Blind Dave @Irvine Speaking as a former drunkard, I have to say I don't think Cheryl partakes. Her posts just don't have that intoxicated feeling I remember oh so well. But if that player had insulted my low vision, I'd either dismiss it as childish or not even have noticed it. Buck Martinez said in an interview that this year's Jays are very immature. I'd have to agree. Matt @torontomike Spitting on someone is way worse than having "you're a fag" written on your face. One of the worst things you can do to another person. Toronto Mike @Matt I respectfully disagree. The spitting is a dick move to one guy. The "you're a fag" statement is a hurtful slur to hundreds of thousands, and their loved ones. Blind Dave @Toronto Mike Ahh, but... To use your own argument, spitting on someone is a very personal assault, as it is directed at one person in particular. I don't feel that a common slur directed at hundreds or thousands of people really has the same impact, unless it is in the form of organized hate. That doesn't mean it isn't repulsive and wrong, just that it's one person making an ass of himself. Spitting directly on someone (or just insulting one individual, as well) is worse. The Blue Jays - the same Rogers' company that failed to honour pitcher Dave Stieb first. Cheryl I'm not a drunkard. Let me tell you that much. Well, baseball is boring, that's for sure. Give baseball salary caps so they can get locked out and then bring hockey back. Matt @TorontoMike I hear what you're saying. Joke or not, it insinuates that there is something wrong with being gay. Society as a whole needs to change in that regard. @Cheryl Baseball is awesome. You're missing out on a great sport!
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It's September 21, and this weather I've come back to leaves much to be desired. Where's that warm sun I left?
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70 comments
Blind Dave
September 21, 2012 / 09:33
You had warm sun in Ireland? Really?
By the way, when is your next podcast?