Has it been twenty years already? I have vivid memories of watching the Maple Leafs-Oilers game that took place on January 8th, 1986. The reason I remember the game so well is because of what transpired that night when my lowly Leafs met the best team in the league at
I have vivid memories of a class trip to the Runnymede Public Library I took in 1983. We were assembled in a room on the second floor and shown a program on video cassette. The show we watched was "The Kids of Degrassi Street". I would soon discover other episodes
I was just talking with Taryn about what's going on in the city and on television tonight as we welcome 2006. We were trying to remember the last time one of us was actually awake when the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve. We were guessing it's been a
Listening to the second last live broadcast of Howard Stern's radio show on WBUF this morning I started thinking about my Toronto morning radio history. I've been with Howard for about eight years but before that I spent time with several other morning shows in Toronto. Here's a brief recount
The murder of John Lennon 25 years ago today is my first memory of a news event. I was quite young at the time, but I vividly remember telling a grade one class mate at St. Cecilia's that a Beatle had died. I can even visualize the coat rack behind
Earlier today I was invited to a holiday luncheon featuring a bunch of sushi. I'm not really a sushi guy, but I immediately thought of Homer. Homer wasn't a sushi guy either, but he tried it for Lisa and ended up loving it. Of course, it almost killed him, but
Yesterday I heard The Pursuit of Happiness' "Hard To Laugh" on CFNY Edge 102. It was the first time I've heard a song on the radio from TPOH that wasn't "I'm An Adult Now" in many years. Earlier in the week, I read this which discusses "When We Ruled: The
I just raided the remnants of James' Halloween treats and there's not much left. We're down to the nitty gritty here. I did find a package of Popeye cigarettes which I've already devoured. Of course, they aren't called Popeye cigarettes anymore. They're called Popeye candy sticks and they're exactly like
During last year's Santa Claus Parade in downtown Toronto, I took this picture of the famous upside-down clowns. Those damn clowns were around when I was a kid and, although they're kinda creepy, it's always good to see them. Popular local blog BlogTO posted this entry today which includes that
During the 1988-1989 NHL season, Daniel Marois scored 31 goals for the Toronto Maple Leafs. There was no sophomore curse for Marois as he scored another 39 goals the next season. Simply based on that solid rookie campaign, my friend Joe and I anointed him our savoir. Perhaps it was
I just learned about a new action hero in Africa who goes by the name Michael Power. He's an invention of Guinness and he stars in shorts as a James Bond type who enjoys a pint now and then. It's an extremely popular campaign in Africa. The name Michael Power
Every summer the Toronto Star hosts a contest called Star Ball. In the days before the World Wide Web we registered our team by mail, picking a player from each position and earning a point for every run, RBI, home run and stolen base. Needless to say, my team was
In 1985 I was a member of the CN Towers, a team that went 0-15 playing at Swansea's Rennie Park. I just dug up this team photo. Our coaches used to joke that we were watching too many Leafs games. They too were at the bottom of the standings but
My favourite moments during Blue Jays games I attended James' first game, my first game ball (read more) (2004)Roy Halladay goes 26 outs with a no-hitter (1998)Skipping school to attend the final opening day at Exhibition stadium and witnessing a Jimmy Key 3-0 victory (1989)Being part of
Seeing an 88¢ bin in WalMart last June got me thinking about the old Popeye VHS cassette we used to watch. It featured "Popeye Meets Sinbad The Sailor" and "Ali Baba's Forty Thieves" and we just loved it. This past weekend James, Steve and I were walking along Yonge Street
I'd like to thank Farley, the Patterson's sheepdog who passed away a few years ago. It's no secret that I read For Better or For Worse every day and have since I was a very young lad. Lynn Johnston's strip has that perfect blend of realism, humour and Canadiana and
Four years ago today, 2,749 people were killed in Manhattan, 184 people died in Washington and 40 died in Pennsylvania as a result of the worst act of terrorism ever to take place on North American soil. Last year on this day, I wrote a detailed account of what
The meme is out there, but Accordion Guy put a spin on it I dig so much I'm going to follow suit. The challenge is to find the Top 100 songs from the year you graduated from high school, list 'em on your site, highlight the ones you like and
This morning, with my automobile running on fumes, I was forced to fill the gas tank. My lifelong streak of never paying more than 99.9¢ a litre for regular unleaded gasoline has come to a resounding halt. Today, I paid 122.4¢ at the pumps. That's over 20% more
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues lost their 25th consecutive football game yesterday, a streak going back four years. How the hell did that happen? During my first year at the University of Toronto, we had an exceptional football team. It was 1993 and Mario Sturino was leading the Varsity
I recently uncovered some gems from my past and I've been sharing excerpts from the documents I found. Below are thoughts I jotted down on December 15, 1996. A couple of days ago, my beloved Blue Jays signed another significant free agent. Did I say significant? I meant monumental. Mister
Like his father before him, James has grown quite fond of Sesame Street. He even owns a few Sesame Street DVDs which he loves playing. The clever bastards at Sesame Workshop know exactly what they're doing. In between new skits and bits on these DVDs they've sprinkled vintage segments from
In The Recurring Nightmare (Part 1 of 3), I revisited a nightmare I began having after the space shuttle Challenger exploded almost twenty years ago. In The Recurring Nightmare (Part 2 of 3), I wrote about the bear nightmares I'd have as a very young lad. Today, I'll revisit a
In The Recurring Nightmare (Part 1 of 3), I revisited a nightmare I began having after the space shuttle Challenger exploded almost twenty years ago. Today, I'll revisit a recurring nightmare I had even earlier in my life. Although it's difficult to pinpoint, my fear of bears probably started in
I was in grade five when the space shuttle Challenger exploded during launch, killing the seven on board. We were outside playing in the playground at St. Pius X primary school during lunch break when a classmate who had been home for some reason ran up to our group to
