Right after Mad Men on Sunday night, I clicked over to TVO to watch Last Call at the Gladstone Hotel. I had seen the documentary about the dramatic transformation of Toronto's oldest working hotel from post-war flophouse to its current incarnation as a hip, artist-driven boutique hotel before, but wanted
In this 35th episode, Rosie and I chat about so many things, including Freddie P's appearance, Mike's hair, Craigslist, Portage La Prairie, Rita MacNeil, the Computer Man, the Jays, the Leafs, my hockey pool, Sevenly, our blue jeans and shrinking chocolate bars. This episode is exactly 39:30. You can
Allan Arbus was 95. He was the actor most known for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman on the television series MASH.
I'm rarely impressed with customer service these days, but I just had an experience so fine I had to write about it. My son cracked the screen of our Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook so I called Dell up and dealt with a lovely woman named Linda. Linda owned this case
Waiting for Mad Men to start last night, we checked out a little of the Juno Awards. They were honouring k.d. lang, who made a great speech about letting your freak flag fly. That's when my girlfriend Monica told me k.d. lang and I share the same hair.
Richie Havens was 72. He was a veteran folk singer and a star of the Woodstock festival and film.
Chrissy Amphlett was 53. She was the lead singer of the rock band Divinyls whose hit "I Touch Myself" brought her international fame in the early 1990s.
Vid Kids was a show that aired on CBC in the mid 80s for a couple of seasons. I stumbled upon it in 1985 and was completely mesmerized by this performance by Bob Schneider of a song I called "I Am The Computer Man". That was almost 30 years ago,
"We've got a good team. I like this team." - John Gibbons, Blue Jays Manager, April 20, 2013. John Gibbons and I disagree about at least one thing. I don't like this team. At least not yet. 18 games into the season I've caught good parts of at least 15
When my Leafs defeated the Sens last night, we secured a playoff spot for the first time since 2004. That was nine long years ago. So what's new? My favourite barometer for measuring our playoff drought is my daughter Michelle. She's turning nine this summer. The Leafs haven't played a
My son plays for the Hawks in the Atom division of the George Bell Hockey Association. Today, they took on the Jets in the finals. It was a great game that we won in a shootout. A big congrats to my son James who played with hustle and heart, especially
The Leafs' first playoff appearance in nine years is all but certain, but it would be nice if we could go ahead and clinch already. This English and History major is tired of doing all that math. What's on your mind?
In this 34th episode, I'm joined by Fred Patterson from the Humble and Fred show for a great chat about his radio career, the state of terrestrial radio today, the future of Humble and Fred, the Leafs and Rob Ford. This episode is exactly 1:08:26. You can listen
My pal Freddie P from the Humble and Fred Podcast is dropping by my studio this afternoon to record an episode of my podcast Toronto Mike'd. I've got some questions for him, but I'd love to add some of yours. What would you like me to ask Fred Patterson?
The first wave of invitations have gone out for my little wedding and the very first RSVP response had a surprise waiting for us on the back. This was courtesy of good friend and frequent Toronto Mike commenter and Toronto Mike'd guest elvis. Thanks, elvis!
Rita MacNeil was 68. She was the popular singer known as Cape Breton’s first lady of song.
In this 33rd episode, I'm joined by Rosie as we chat about Boston, Rehteah, a perceived Italian bias, my brother's intensity, the casino vote and Rosie's top ten TV shows of all-time. She even snaps at me for suggesting Sex and the City was aimed at a particular gender. This
Pat Summerall was 82. He was the deep-voiced NFL player-turned-broadcaster who spent four decades calling sports, most notably the NFL with John Madden.
I wake up every morning with pain in my left shoulder. I've accepted the fact I'll have this pain for the rest of my life, the result of a separated shoulder from a hockey game in 2009. Listening to the Humble and Fred podcast today, they were talking about their
Hey Mike;I'm teaching a music course in the TDSB; as a career musician, enjoying it immensely (no sound checks).The other day, a bright kid comes with this question: "Mr. Corby, what was the first rock song?"He was , of course not referring to rock...AND ROLL!!!! but to
We all know John Wilkes Booth assisinated President Lincoln. But did you know that John Wilkes Booth's brother, Edwin Booth, once saved Abraham Lincoln's son's life? Edwin Booth saved Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert, from serious injury or even death. The incident occurred on a train platform in Jersey City, New
While touring in Amsterdam, Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber visited the Anne Frank House. He left a note in the guestbook as he departed. Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.The entire episode is reminiscent of
I recently revisited the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy. Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises were all great. It might be my favourite trilogy not starring Mark Hamill. I remember the Batman buzz during the summer of '89. Tim Burton's Batman didn't disappoint this 15-year old, and
Frank Bank was 71. He was the actor best known for his role as Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford on Leave it to Beaver.
Jonathan Winters was 87. He was the comedian who appeared in nearly 50 films and TV shows including Mork and Mindy where he played Mearth, Mork and Mindy's son.
