Toronto Mike

A Month Without Sugary Treats

On Halloween night, I think I consumed about 20 chocolate bars.  They were those smaller sized bars for trick or treaters, but it was still 20.  Both kids scored so much loot, I knew I'd be surrounded by chocolate for all of November. I'm not particularly good at moderation.  I
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"No Interest" in Returning to Edge 102 Following Death of Martin Streek - Strombo

Martin Streek took his own life in July.  The last time I saw Martin, he was chumming around with his pal George Stroumboulopoulos at the Casby Awards.  Here's a clip of them that night. The first Sunday following Martin Streek's death, I tuned in 102.1 the Edge to hear
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Five Years of Firefox

The Mozilla folks are celebrating Five Years of Firefox.  As they say over there, "that's a long time on the Internet, so let's celebrate five years of working together to make the Web better for everyone". Firefox became my default browser in June 2004 when it was version 0.9.
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Son of Rambow Review

Son of Rambow: 6.5 out of 10. Much like Where the Wild Things Are, which I saw the previous day, Son of Rambow is about the wonders of a child's imagination.  It's a very cute and charming little British film about a sheltered boy who is shown a pirated
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Where the Wild Things Are Review

Where the Wild Things Are: 6.5 7 out of 10. I've been looking forward to this Spike Jonze adaptation of Maurice Sendak's book since I first saw that great trailer featuring Arcade Fire's "Wake Up".  But luke-warm reviews removed the urgency.  Yesterday, on a rare afternoon without kids to
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Toronto Radio Ratings (Now with PPM!)

Now that we have Portable People Meter (PPM) technology, we have a better grasp of true Toronto radio ratings.  Mondoville just tipped me off that David Bray has published the latest Toronto PPM figures for September 2009. Toronto % Share of Hours Tuned (Mon.-Sun, 5a-1a)StationA12+W25-54M25-54 PPM            Oct  ‘09PPM
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Big League Chew

YouTube user Retrontario frequently uploads fantastic retro-Toronto-centric gems.  These clips never fail to bring back a ton of memories for me, so I feature them from time to time. We chewed Big League Chew gum because it looked like chewing tobacco.  In the early 80s, when I enjoyed Big League
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Hoop Dreams Fifteen Years Later

Hoop Dreams is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.  I first saw it fifteen years ago after seeing it reviewed on Siskel & Ebert. Here's the review that got me to invest 3 hours in Hoop Dreams, one of the best investments I've made. Roger Ebert looks back
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Raised on Sesame Street

I grew up on Sesame Street.  I watched it daily as a toddler.  In the mid-70s, it was the show for us kids. I recently revisited the late-70s Sesame Street episodes that included Eleven Twelve, one of my favourite bits.  Sesame Street became common ground for my kids and I,
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Maple Leafs 1, Lightning 2

It was Phil Kessel night in Toronto, and he didn't disappoint.  He didn't score either, unfortunately, but he did record a career-high 10 shots on net.  He was everywhere, showing a nose for the net no other Leaf possesses. The script called for Kessel to score the winner in overtime,
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My PVR Hit List These Days

I caved and got a PVR earlier this year.  It has radically altered the way I watch television. Other than live sporting events, everything else I watch is watched at my convenience after I've recorded it.  I watch television when I'm ready to watch television, typically at about 10pm, and
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