Donna Summer was 63. She was the Queen of Disco, known for such hits as "Last Dance," "Love to Love You Baby," "I Feel Love," "Bad Girls" and "Hot Stuff."
It's the May 2-4 long weekend, and most of us will enjoy at least one BBQ. Who doesn't love a tasty barbecued hamburger? In the good old days, when I didn't give a hot damn about nutrition labels, I'd likely gravitate towards the Presidents Choice Gigantico burgers. Don't they look
There's a new girl on my ball team and on Monday night I picked her up to drive her to our games. She lived in a nice neighbourhood so I told her Beaver Cleaver must live nearby. I'll bet you know where this story's going... "Who's that?", was her reply.
Here are the top 5 names for births in the USA from 1912-2011. As a male named Michael, I'm always interested in where that name ranks. Incredibly, from 1949 to 2010, the name Michael has ranked in the top four. Even more incredibly, from 1953 to 2010, it ranked in
I was perusing the spirit of radio site when I stumbled upon the Top 102 Albums of 1993 according to CFNY a.k.a. 102.1 The Edge. Through the years I've shared a number of CFNY lists, all of which can be found at http://www.torontomike.com/cfny_
People definitely have personal preferences when it comes to mobile phone notification settings. We'll start with my preferences, then we'll get to you. These settings are currently applied to my Samsung GALAXY S II, but it was pretty much the same when I had a BlackBerry. I'm going to ignore
The graphic below has been floating around. It's totally accurate. Here's the car stereo I wanted 10 years ago and the one I want now. And here's the car stereo I actually have today. Please suppress your laughter. The CD player hasn't worked since 2006... My kingdom for an Aux-in!
I meant to post this following round 2, but here it is with round 3 already underway The Lamster Line will remain in tact as my Palma Pasta buddy tied it with 22. But who of the 14 poolies will be taking home cold hard cash? There are three with
I haven't seen The Avengers yet, but I'll bet you have. I hear it's pretty good, but it can't possibly be as good as this Open Mike. It was a quieter week in the city. Our mayor didn't mug a single reporter, the 2nd round of the NHL playoffs is
YouTube videos have been embedded in blogs since the dawn of time. Actually, that's not true. YouTube didn't exist until 2005. Out of curiosity, I wanted to find out when I embedded a YouTube video on this blog for the first time. It was February 4, 2006 when I shared
President Barack Obama has endorsed the right of same-sex couples to marry. I was happy to hear it, it's the right thing, but it's time we stop making a big deal out of things we shouldn't be making a deal out of. I borrow that sentiment from Clint Eastwood, who
Vidal Sassoon was 84. He was a widely recognized British hairdresser, credited with creating a simple geometric, "Bauhaus-inspired" hair style, also called the bob. I only know his name because of ads like this and couldn't be escaped in the 80s.
The Canadian Design Resource is sharing this warning about Toronto. They don't know the original source, so if you do, please let us know in the comments. I can dig it.
Someone posted this picture on Reddit and I was blown away when I saw it. It was taken June 5, 1989 in Beijing, China. That of course is Tank Man, he of the iconic photo below. I've always just known this second photo. I didn't realize there were other angles
I helped an old friend with her new site. It's called My Toronto Scoop and she posts all sort of deals in the GTA. Check it out, won't you? I saw she recently posted a promotion from one of those star naming companies. Basically, you adopt a star and give
Maurice Sendak was 83. He was the children's book author and illustrator who saw the sometimes-dark side of childhood in books like "Where the Wild Things Are" and "In the Night Kitchen."
I still love my WWWD t-shirt. I bought it from puckinghilarious.com over two years ago and it remains my go-to tee when I need an extra dose of intensity. WWWD, of course, stands for What Would Wendel Do. Here I am wearing it yesterday at High Park. Pic courtesy
I've been listening to a lot of Beastie Boys since learning about Adam Yauch's passing. I've also been watching footage of the Beasties, but my favourite clip so far is this unaired performance for Dave Chappelle's show. This was filmed for the 3rd season of Chappelle's Show which never happened.
It's amazing what time does for the critical reception of music. Let's look at Weezer's second album for example. Pinkerton was released in 1996 and was initially panned by Rolling Stone magazine. Furthermore, the readers of the magazine named the album the third worst of 1996. Fast forward to 2002
George Lindsey was 83. He spent nearly 30 years as the grinning Goober Pyle, Gomer's cousin, on "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Hee Haw."
Every time I smell burnt toast, I ask aloud "burnt toast, Dr. Penfield? That's what happens when you see this ad a million times during your formative years. Who else does this? There's no way I'm the only one...
Adam "MCA" Yauch was 47. He co-founded the Beastie Boys in 1979 with Mike D, Mix Master Mike, and Ad-Rock. I'm a big Beastie Boys fan. Paul's Boutique and Check Your Head rank among my favourite albums of all time. Adam Yauch was a practising Buddhist, and because of that,
May the Fourth be with you. On this fine Star Wars Day, let's have some good, clean fun with an Open Mike. Discuss anything you want. And if you have a question, I'll drop by throughout the day to answer questions.
At my former place of employment, I worked on the 10th floor. The men's bathroom had urinal dividers between the urinals. It felt nice and private when taking a leak beside a colleague. At some point, I was moved to the 9th floor. It was nicer on the 9th floor,
I've had a few emails asking me when I'm going to write about the incident at Rob Ford's house yesterday evening. Here's Daniel Dale's account of what happened, if you're a bit behind. The fact is, I don't want to write about this. This story annoys the shit out of