I think I watched a lot of TVOntario in the late 70s and early 80s. Most of my television memories are from shows airing on cable 2. TVO brought me Jeremy and Dr. Snuggles and Fables of the Green Forest. I'll never forget that opening with the blue jay warning
Next week is Valentine's Day. I'll be the first to admit I suck at these things. The whole "holiday" seems so contrived, I'd rather ignore it in protest. That, however, wouldn't go over well with Taryn. In 1996, I actually paid to profess my love in the Toronto Star. That
For some reason, I've kept a bag of button for the past twenty years. It's not a particularly large collection or special collection, it's just 27 buttons from my youth. Three are buttons with my name on it, one is to celebrate Toronto's 150th birthday, a few are to celebrate
Prince is all over the news today because he used his guitar as a phallic symbol during his half-time show at Super Bowl XLI. Imagine that, Prince being sexually suggestive. Will wonders never cease. Have these people never listened to Darling Nikki? The summer of 1989 was the summer I
The day after my last university exam I started my first full time job. I was with this company from 1998 until the spring of 2000 and at some point during my tenure there the "My Cup" email was sent. We called it the "My Cup" email, because that was
Since this blog is all about me, I'm going to write about Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon... again. Beautifully illustrated by Clement Hurd, it's the book I most fondly recall from my childhood. When James was younger, we read it every night. In fact, at two he was reading it
Last night a song entered my head. That's not unusual, except this was a song that hadn't been in my head for at least 25 years. In fact, at first I didn't know where it came from or whether it was an old memory or something I invented. I sang
I just wrote about the Elmo and Zooey bit I do with the kids. We've been playing that boo / yay game for over a year now. There was actually a time last year when Michelle refused to wear her Elmo pyjamas because she didn't think I'd like them. I had
There's an running gag in our house regarding Elmo and his gal pal Zooey. They are Sesame Street characters that weren't around in my Sesame Street watching days, so whenever James or Michelle say their names, I give them a angry "Booooooo!!". They have to throw me a Cookie Monster,
As a child, I owned this plastic toy radio that only played one song. It played the tune from Clint Holmes' "Playground In My Mind" and on the back it had the lyrics to this verse from that song. My name is Michael, I got a nickel I got a
I wish I had kept my Transformers. Naturally, I favoured the Autobots, collecting Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Hot Rod, and of course, Optimus Prime. I also had some Decepticons, like Rampage, Ramjet and Megatron. There are now Star Wars Transformers, and James has a few. There's also a movie coming out, so
A few years ago, I wrote about Mr. Mugs. He was a sheep dog who starred in a series of books I read in kindergarten. That mutt taught me how to read. Earlier today, Charity Maggio left a comment on that entry. Here's what she wrote. Hey Mike, Just so
The dental hygienist this morning asked me what kind of toothbrush I use. I told her I use some battery operated thing that spins. My kids have similar toothbrushes, only James' is Superman themed and Michelle's is in the shape of a princess. Both require batteries and both spin as
I could get used to this type of non-winter. It's 5° right now in downtown Toronto and the sun is shining. I've just returned from the most refreshing walk. I decided to just walk without a destination in mind, and I ended up at the University of Toronto's St. Mike's
The first concert I ever attended was Chalk Circle at the Ontario Place Forum. I couldn't tell you the year, but I'm guessing it was 1986 or 1987. The Ontario Place Forum was pretty cool at the time for two reasons. They had a revolving stage and admission was free
There's an awful lot of chatter about our minimum wage hike to $8 an hour. For one thing, Ontario MPPs just gave themselves 25% raise while throwing the working poor an extra quarter. This 25¢ raise reminds me of the time McDoug rewarded me with a great deal less. As
Taryn and I have started watching season two of Lost on DVD. We enjoyed watching season one this way and now we're three episodes into the season you all watched last year. The first couple of episodes featured a song sung by Mama Cass Eliot called "Make Your Own Kind
I was at Howard's house earlier today and he was telling us about his friend Jeff Hamilton who passed away in 1987. Every time he hears Steely Dan, he thinks about his friend. Hearing this story made me think about Warren Blackwood. Warren and I went to Michael Power high
This entry sort of ties in with my blue transistor radio. In the 80s I'd always see television commercials for music compilations available in vinyl or cassette formats. They'd scroll the songs in the collection and play a quick snippet of the big hits. This is essentially how I first
In my lifetime I've probably received hundreds of Christmas gifts, but there are a few I remember best. I never lobbied for an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle so what I got on Christmas morning was always a surprise. On one particular Christmas in the early
On the day of my birth, Foo-Foo was a gift from my great-grandmother, Mary Whelan. I think every child latches on to one stuffed animal as a toddler. My James has his Tom and I had my Foo-Foo. Other toys came and went through the years, but Foo-Foo remained a
I just learned my four year old son has a friend named Honour. Hearing that took me back about three decades when I too had a friend named Honour. Honour was one of my three imaginary friends. A few years ago I opened up about Honour, Grrr and Lion, three
My generation wasn't alive for Pearl Harbour, the Bay of Pigs invasion or the assination of JFK. We have no memories of Viet Nam or Watergate. We were too young to appreciate the social impact of the murder of John Lennon and the lingering Cold War. Five years ago today,
Today is the last day of Frosh week at U of T. I just watched the parade shut down traffic along Bloor. I took some photos I'll share tonight. During my first year of university at the University of Toronto, I made a point to skip Frosh week entirely. I
I'm going to let you in on a little secret. If you're a student at the University of Toronto, there's a way to save a bundle on rent. There's only one catch. You have to be married. In 1996 I was married and therefore qualified for subsidized housing through the
