In this 215th episode, Mike chats with radio deejay Bob Callahan about his years on 680 CFTR and Mix 99.9 and.... well... every Toronto station you can name and why he left it all to become a detective with the Toronto Police Service. This episode is exactly 1:05:
Is there a pop culture marker you completely missed? For example, are you in your 40s but have never seen Star Wars? Against all odds, I have somehow never seen Top Gun. I'm willing to bet very few movie-watching guys in this country who are my age can make the
In the season four episode of The Simpsons "Marge in Chains" Mayor Quimby spoils the twist of The Crying Game. The episode originally aired on May 6, 1993, less than eight months after the movie's release. From a Simpsons podcast I subscribe to I learned about how Gene Siskel spoiled
About a year ago, Ingrid Schumacher visited my home and shared several great stories about her four decades on the air at 104.5 CHUM-FM. She was even on the air the night John Lennon was shot. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and urge you to listen to it here.
My kids have no appreciation for record stores. They strictly consume music via digital channels and have never purchased a compact disc. When I was a teenager, record stores were vital. My weekends would revolve around trips downtown and I would visit Sam the Record Man, A&A and
John Hurt was 77. His acting career spanned over six decades and included such movies as Midnight Express, The Elephant Man, The Naked Civil Servant, Alien, and three Harry Potter films.
In this 214th episode, Mike chats with Josh Holliday about his three tours of duty at 102.1 the Edge and his new podcast. This episode is exactly 1:52:42. You can listen to this episode in a variety of ways: Subscribe in iTunesListen via Google Play MusicListen via
Welcome to this week's Open Mike. I'm Mike and I'll be your master of ceremonies for the day. Feel free to use this space to vent, rant, share a story and/or ask a question of the hivemind.
Have you ever watched old footage of an NHL hockey game and remarked that the boards are ad-less? They're quaint in their starkness. At some point ads were introduced and we just got used to it. Watching TFC matches, it's impossible to ignore the BMO ad on the jerseys. If
Mary Tyler Moore was 80. She was the actress best known for her television roles in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show. She was also nominated for a best actress Oscar in 1980 for the film Ordinary People.
I remember countless school trips to the McLaughlin Planetarium when I was in primary school. It was an amazing place to learn about the stars, planets, and cosmology. I watched La La Land yesterday and there's a scene in a planetarium that took me back to the 80s when we
I'm not certain when the Joey Bats Rogers vans started popping up around this city, but I think it was the summer if 2015. Seeing Jose Bautista, Russell Martin and Josh Donaldson on the side always made me smile. If a Rogers service van is making you smile, you know
Welcome to this week's Open Mike. I'm Mike and I'll be your master of ceremonies for the day. Feel free to use this space to vent, rant, share a story and/or ask a question of the hivemind.
The 2017 Presidential Inauguration takes place Friday. I don't think I've written a word here or on Twitter about Donald Trump since he was elected in November. Then, last week, I wrote a couple of Tweets about what I call the Trump Paradox. The Trump paradox: You don't want to
I have four children and so far there's no evidence any of them have a tree nut allergy. Two are quite young, so there's still time for such an allergy to manifest itself, but I'm hopeful we've avoided it. I do have a nephew, however, who is allergic to peanuts.
In this 213th episode, Mike chats with TSN's Rod Smith about his years anchoring SportsDesk / SportsCentre, hosting CFL on TSN and more. This episode is exactly 1:14:33. You can listen to this episode in a variety of ways: Subscribe in iTunesListen via Google Play MusicListen via StitcherFollow on
Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka was 73. He was a star in the World Wrestling Federation where he was best known for his signature move the Superfly Splash.
Jim Slotek wrote a piece for the Toronto Sun about how Toronto's live music scene isn't what it used to be. The catalyst was the closing of Hugh's Room, which may be re-opening. In this article Jim listed Toronto's live music venues that have disappeared over the decades. I culled
In September, I sat down with former-Citytv anchor Anne Mroczkowski for an episode of my podcast. She mentioned a video cassette of Speakers Corner outtakes the staff would watch at parties. I took a mental note that I had to see these outtakes. Brother Bill, a popular deejay at 102.
Welcome to this week's Open Mike. I'm Mike and I'll be your master of ceremonies for the day. Feel free to use this space to vent, rant, share a story and/or ask a question of the hivemind.
Tony Rosato was 62. He was the Canadian comedian who starred in SCTV and Saturday Night Live. He was one of only three people to have starred on both programs.
In this 212th episode, Mike chats with Jesse Dylan and Gene Valaitis about their years on Toronto radio as Jesse and Gene, what they've been up to since and what's next for the duo. This episode is exactly 1:09:38. You can listen to this episode in a variety
I have a Skype call scheduled this afternoon with Jesse and Gene. Jesse is in Vancouver and Gene is in California, so Skype will have to do for this reunion episode of Toronto Mike'd. Thinking of Jesse and Gene got me thinking of Toronto radio personalities over the past few
On New Year's Day, Strombo shared four hours of Tragically Hip covers via his show on CBC Radio 2. I shared an MP3 of all four hours the next day. Yesterday, Kevin Archibald left a comment on that entry. What's better than a single, 4 hour MP3?How about it
