Bob Laine was 72. He was a radio broadcasting legend at CHUM known as "The Voice" whose signature opening was "Good morning world, this is Bob-O. Good morning Bob-O, this is world."
April 06, 2026
Like many of you, I'm struggling with the fact that someone as likable and gregarious as Wade Belak would take his own life. As a die-hard Leafs fan, I knew him from interviews and appearances on television. Here's the Wade Belak I knew, appearing on Leafs TV with Jody Vance.
Jon Simonassi took some great shots of the thunderstorm Toronto got last week. He calls this "Lightning TO". The song is called Leg Twitch by Professor Kliq.
Wade Belak was 35. He racked up 1,263 regular-season penalty minutes during a 15 season NHL career. Six of those 15 seasons were with the Toronto Maple Leafs where we enjoyed his sense of humour and friendly demeanor. Here's Wade Belak vs Cam Janssen from a 2-1 victory over
Elvis is really upset about this, so it must be blog-worthy. According to something called Badass News, George Lucas has made edits to the original Star Wars trilogy for its release on Blu-Ray. Some review copies of the Star Wars Blu-rays have gone out to very select outlets (many of
I'm running for Terry on Sunday, September 18 at High Park. I'm aiming to raise $1500 for The Terry Fox Foundation. I'm really going to need your help. Donate to my run. They'll email you a tax receipt in PDF. It's easy, secure and for a good cause. This one's
Our classless, short-sighted, pathetic excuse for a mayor Rob Ford has my blood boiling and gut busting again. Actually, it's not Rob Ford this time, it's his big brother Councillor Doug Ford, although I half suspect they're the same person. Dougie has a vision for our eastern waterfront, and he
Today I learned about the Port-A-Punch from IBM. IBM's Supplies Division introduced the Port-A-Punch in 1958 as a fast, accurate means of manually punching holes in specially scored IBM punched cards. Designed to fit in the pocket, Port-A-Punch made it possible to create punched card documents anywhere. The product was
In 1989, when I was in grade nine, Let Your Backbone Slide broke. It was everywhere, and I loved it. I picked up the 12" single because it contained the Power Mix, the Acapella Version, and the Club Mix . The video was shot in Toronto, naturally, and MuchMusic played it
The Canadian National Exhibition has a week left. Of the 132 years of The Ex's existence, I worked a game booth across from The Polar Express every day it was open for three of 'em: 1989, 1990 and 1991. If you want to revisit my many CNE memories, visit my
The kids and I had been talking about this afternoon's game for weeks. I bought three tickets for the Jays vs. Rays at the diamond formerly known as Skydome, decked the kids out in Jays gear, and got there early. We don't get to many games, so we cross our
I'm trying to play with as many iPad challengers as possible in my little Tablet Talent Show. So far I've got a Touchpad from HP, a Playbook from RIM and now a Xoom from Motorola. The Xoom just arrived yesterday. The Xoom arrived running Android 3.2 Honeycomb, which makes
Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic was 81. He was a Roman Catholic cardinal and Archbishop of Toronto since 1990.
At some point this afternoon, I have to return the Lincoln MKZ + Hybrid I've been driving since last Wednesday. I love this car, and believe Ford should let me keep it! One thing that takes some time getting used to is how completely quiet the Lincoln Hybrid is. When you
We're now live with our new Toronto Mike logo. That's right, I'm using words like "we" and "our" to make this look like it's more than one guy. The clever ones will see through the facade, and the others will just be impressed. Here's a bigger view of the new
No question, it's The Wire. Trust me. If you've seen The Wire, I'm 100% sure you'll agree. And if you've seen The Wire, you'll love this blog I just discovered. It's called Wire Inspire, and the site's "about" description says it all. Everything I need to know, I learned from
Mike Flanagan was 59. He was a pitcher who recorded a 167-143 lifetime record with the Baltimore Orioles and our Toronto Blue Jays from 1975 to 1992. Here's something I wrote about Mike Flanagan a few years back: Mike Flanagan was a decent pitcher for the Jays from 1987-1990, but
All 3 hours, legitimately available on YouTube. To borrow one of the comments on YouTube, who are you and what have you done with Sony? What an age we live in!
When HP sent me a Touchpad in July, I dove into the tablet market for the first time. The Touchpad didn't make it, but it got me wondering if there's a viable iPad alternative out there. No doubt Apple's iPad is a dominating #1, but what's #2? In my quest
This past weekend, I heard I Mother Earth on the radio. I think it was "Used to be Alright", but it might have been "Another Sunday". It was definitely an Edwin tune, because I immediately wondered what had become of him. I know Edwin left I Mother Earth in 1997,
Since Silverman is no longer helpful, I'm here for you. I'm here for the working man, the downtrodden, the prisoners and the hurt. This note comes from Amanda who is looking for answers. Read her story and offer her advice in the comments. I work late nights at a busy
John McDonald and Aaron Hill have been traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for second baseman Kelly Johnson. We all love McDonald, but he's a veteran utility infielder, and Aaron Hill was beloved until he stopped hitting. Let's remember Johnny Mac and Aaron Hill via these two entries from the archives.
I received this email yesterday, and thought I'd share it with you all. Maybe someone at the TTC can reply. I have no idea why this person thinks I'm "a type of transit consultant". You seem to be a good person to inquire with as you are a type of
Nick Ashford was 70. He was one-half of the successful Motown singer-songwriter duo of Ashford and Simpson, who recorded such hits as "Don't Cost You Nothing," "It Seems to Hang On," "Found A Cure" and "Solid."
