Toronto News ~ Toronto Focus
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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.
I've been blogging here for 14 years, and during that time there were some pretty low times in Toronto sports. Just four years ago I wrote this about the new bottom for Toronto sports teams. Things were very, very bad for the big five. In 2016, things got a whole
The beginning of the end for Honest Ed's was July 2013. Now, the end is nigh. When Ed Mirvish passed away in 2007, I first shared my memories of the Toronto institution at Bathurst and Bloor. My grandmother loved Ed Mirvish and his discount store. She dragged me there many
It snowed last night. I just shovelled my first snow of the season. Are you wondering when the City of Toronto is going to plow your street? Follow @TO_WinterOps for real-time updates. I'm a fan of this new map that lets you know when roads have been salted and
I'm writing this entry out of frustration. My pal Freddie P thinks I'm "a fool" because I told him TFC was more popular in Toronto than the Argos. In my humble opinion, TFC is more popular than the Argonauts in this city. Fred, obviously, strongly disagrees. Fred bases 100% of
My youngest son has taken a shine to a statue of a lion situated by the off-lease dog park just west of Windermere by the Waterfront Trail. Yesterday, I snapped a pic of him and his lion friend. You're forgiven if you didn't know about this lion. I have probably
Entertainment Tonight Canada is all atwitter about Katie Holmes and Matthew Perry filming The Kennedys After Camelot here in the GTA. They're reporting the mini-series is filming in Toronto, but as someone who watched the set being built from his bike seat, a great deal is actually being filmed on
I've written about Whimbrel Point before, a spot in Samuel Smith Park where whimbrels rest for a day or two every May. This morning, I finally spotted these whimbrels. Apparently, they had just arrived from an overnight flight from Virginia. They're just resting on their way to the arctic. I
If you caught episode 167 of my podcast, you heard Retrontario talking about the Laurie Bower Singers. We played "Season of the Yonge" by the Laurie Bower Singers, a song about our very own Yonge Street. Today, I received this tweet from Laurie Bower's daughter. @torontomike @retrontario Fun fact: The
I just read that Queen Video is closing its historic Queen Street location. Danier Leather is also winding down, and will shutter all locations before you know it. The more things change... One southwest Toronto store seems to defy the laws of economics and still stands at the corner of
I distinctly remember last Christmas Eve we had unseasonably warm weather, but it was nothing like this. The temperature in Toronto right now is 17°C. Since we're on the topic, my preferred source for our weather is the Government of Canada where I get all of the fact without
During the Grey Cup, I wondered aloud on Twitter how many Torontonians under the age of 40 were tuned in. There was a Raptors game on, which I was watching, and if my Twitter feed was any indication, the only tweets about the Grey Cup were from those paid to
If you're on Instagram, I recommend you follow https://www.instagram.com/torontobingo/. The comics are typically spot on and always good for a smile. Basics act like the Bloor Viaduct leads to some alternate reality where apartments are cheaper and WHERE NO MAN HAS WALKED BEFORE #toronto #eastend #westend
During the first twenty minutes of episode 130 of my podcast, me and my friend Elvis discuss the 2015 Pan Am Games. Spoiler alert: we completely disagree. It all happens here if you've yet to listen. As recently as early June, I was all set to hate these games. The
In early June, I wrote that I was still completely underwhelmed by the Pan Am Games. Now that they're finally here, it's time for an update. I attended a couple of torch relay celebrations over the past week. Here's something I wrote about seeing Natalie Spooner light the cauldron in
I want to be snarky about the Pan Am Games Torch Relay I attended in Sam Smith Park this evening, but I'm going to have to leave my snark at the door. It was actually a lot of fun. I got there early with my youngest and watched him run
Edutainment isn't just a 1990 album from Boogie Down Productions that made its way into my collection, it's also something I'm constantly on the lookout for my kids. I seek activities that make science fun, and the MythBusters exhibition currently at the Ontario Science Centre is precisely that. We visited
As you may know from reading this blog, I rediscovered my love of cycling a few years ago. A great deal of my riding is done on the Waterfront Trail, which runs along Lake Ontario. I know every nook and cranny of that trail. On the days I decide to
Firstly, this entry is about NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB championships. I realize Toronto has had great success in lacrosse and has won Grey Cups recently, but with all due respect, I'm not counting them as major championships. For Toronto, I'm only counting the Maple Leafs, Blue Jays and Raptors.
We're a little over a month away from the 2015 Pan American Games. Toronto's the host city and we'll be welcoming approximately 6,135 athletes from 41 nations who will participate in 36 sports. The Pan Am Games are not the Olympics. The Olympics are the world's biggest stage for
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
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
