The Toronto Maple Leafs have won the bidding war for Mike Babcock with a monster $50 million deal over 8-years. There's plenty of work to do before this team is competitive again, but this is a solid start.
May 17, 2026
No word if Disney will produce it, but based on Titanic: The Musical, Mirvish's new show in Toronto, perhaps 9/11 On Ice could make it's way to New York, Chicago, London and Hogtown at some point. Perhaps the historical pattern with grand tragedy is that you first make a
As a kid, I saw many films at the Runnymede Theatre. I saw a Star Trek there, the second Poltergeist movie, a Lethal Weapon, Beatlejuice, and a bunch of others. It was a great little theatre on Bloor near Runnymede. Then, it became a Chapters. Chapters did a great job
I distinctly remember initially being disappointed by The Sopranos finale. It cut to black, and I felt cheated, as if David Chase copped out. Then, the final scene churned through my mind over and over again and by the next day I had completely changed my tune. The Sopranos finale
Yesterday, I took my family to the Canadian Tulip Festival at Dow's Lake in Ottawa. We happened to be staying in nearby Gatineau, so this was a short trip. I had previously written about our gift of tulips from Princess Juliana of the Netherlands, but I had never seen the
B.B. King was 89. He was one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, earning the nickname "The King of Blues." He's best known for such hits as The Thrill is Gone and Every Day I Have the Blues. You might remember him from When Love Comes
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.
They recently renewed The Simpsons for two more seasons, which will bring them to 28. But the big news is that Harry Shearer will not be a part of the cast. Shearer voiced Ned Flanders, Charles Montgomery Burns, Waylon Smithers, Seymour Skinner, Dr. Hibbert, Lenny Leonard, Kent Brockman, Scratchy, Kang,
Mad Men is one of my all-time favourite television programs. Already I've got it sitting comfortably in third place, just behind Six Feet Under and just ahead of The Sopranos. In time, we'll see where it ends up. The Mad Men finale airs Sunday night. That's as good a reason
When Late Night with Conan O'Brien debuted in '93, I was instantly smitten. I watched every night and laughed my ass off. Those early years at 12:30 were magic. No wonder... check out this 1993 pic of Conan O’Brien with his writers for Late Night with Conan O’
Captain John's, the floating restaurant in the water at Yonge and Queen's Quay, will be gone by May 26. It'll be tugged through the Welland Canal to Port Colborne where it will be dismantled for scrap. These are indeed the final days of Captain John's. Captain John's Restaurant has been
I pass this sign almost daily and it irks me every single time. It's been this way for years, and the owner doesn't seem the least bit interested in fixing it. I'm assuming he or she is aware there's an extra "p" in there.
I attended the Canadian premiere of I Am What I Play at The Royal last night. You might recall me writing about this documentary. It features Meg Griffin, Charles Laquidara, Pat O'Day and our very own David Marsden. Marsden was at the premiere, and we chatted before the curtains went
Demographics are everything to a station. Performances in a targeted demo determine a station's revenue generation potential. Dave Shoalts writes in today's Globe and Mail about Dean Blundell's rating improvement in The Fan's targeted demo of men aged 18-34. I have it on good authority that The Fan is actually
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.
I loved my clock radio. I'd fall asleep to the sweet sounds of Tom and Jerry calling Blue Jays games, but waking up to CJCL 1430 meant "music of your life" mouldy syrup, so I'd wake up to this: This is my current alarm on my LG G3. It's called
In this 121st episode, Mike chats with broadcaster Billie Holiday about getting fired from the Maddog and Billie show, what Maddog said about that, working with Dean Blundell and whether she has any regrets. This episode is exactly 57:38. You can listen to this episode in a variety of
I just rode my bike to High Park to see the cherry blossoms in bloom. I make the pilgrimage annually to shoot the Somei-Yoshino cherry trees, and here are a few of my favourite pics from this year. And here's something they've never had before.
Toronto home prices are awfully high, and getting higher. This past April, for example, prices were up 10% year-over-year. Detached home sales saw a 17 per cent spike across the GTA, with sales gains stronger (18.2 per cent) in the 905 regions than the City of Toronto (up 13.
The following are topics I choose not to write about. Luckily for you interested parties there are thousands of other websites covering all three in great detail. 1. The Royal Birth I hear a young British couple just welcomed a healthy daughter into the world. Good for them. I wish
The midges along the lake in Toronto are in full effect. They come out every spring for a few weeks and although they look like mosquitoes, they don't bite. They're completely harmless. Last May, the midges in my neck of the woods were worse than ever. They appeared in larger
April was pretty awesome for cycling in Toronto. It warmed up considerably, was relatively dry and almost completely bug-free. Here's how my cycling in April 2015 measured up against April 2014. April 2015: 542.78 kmApril 2014: 291.72 kmIn defence of April 2014, I was a little busy with
Ben E. King was 76. He was the soul and R&B singer best known as the singer and co-composer of "Stand by Me" which hit the top ten twice, in 1961 and 1986.
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.
At the 1:05:00 mark of Police Academy, Hightower is speeding down Lake Shore in New Toronto while Mahoney teaches him to drive. He blasts by a gas station, as you'll see in the screen cap below. That gas station is now Maple Leaf House, a grill & lounge.
