Toronto Mike's Blog

What a Week Open Mike (Toronto Mike)

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:15:26 -0500

What a week!

What's on your mind?

Rob Ford Has Fired His Chief of Staff (Toronto Mike)

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:56:15 -0500

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has fired his chief of staff, Mark Towhey. No reason has been given. He was relieved of his duties and escorted from the premises by security this afternoon.

Meanwhile, it's been an entire week since three reporters from two different publications revealed what they witnessed in a video that allegedly shows Rob Ford smoking crack, calling Justin Trudeau a "fag" and the students at Don Bosco "just fucking minorities". It's been a whole week, and our mayor has said almost nothing. He hasn't admitted he has a problem nor strongly denied the allegations. I'm convinced his strategy is to avoid the issue in the hopes it will simply blow over.

Has Mark Towhey been fired because he disagreed with this awful strategy? Has Mark Towhey been fired because of this crack controversy?

With Rob Ford still in office, we have many questions but few answers.

Your Blog Sucks: Episode 1 (Toronto Mike)

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:13:29 -0500

In this 1st episode of Your Blog Sucks, elvis and I discuss things that suck. Let us know in the comments if we suck. This episode is exactly 30:22.

You can listen to this episode in a variety of ways:

Subscribe in iTunes
Subscribe directly to the feed at http://www.torontomike.com/yourblogsucks.xml
Download the MP3 directly
Click the play button below

Catch up on all episodes of Your Blog Sucks at http://www.torontomike.com/your_blog_sucks_podcast/.

Toronto Huskies (Toronto Mike)

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:12:55 -0500

Tim Leiweke, the new CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, seems to be open to a Raptors re-branding.

I will acknowledge that we absolutely have had conversations about the colour and make-up of our brand, our uniforms and our image.

Now's the time to erase one of many mistakes made by the Toronto Raptors since we were granted an NBA franchise. At the time, Jurassic Park was all the rage. Kids naturally love dinosaurs, and Jurassic Park was so damn cool, dinos were everywhere.

We were essentially named after a fad. At the time I wanted our team to be named the Toronto Huskies because we had a team named the Toronto Huskies in the Basketball Association of America during the 1946-47 season. It's a cool name with history so I thought it was a slam-dunk.

I was wrong and the Jurassic Park fad won the day. Now's our chance to correct this oversight. It's time to change our nickname from Raptors to Huskies. Let's be the Toronto Huskies!

Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 38: The Rob Ford Scandal (Toronto Mike)

Wed, 22 May 2013 15:01:51 -0500

In this 38th episode, Monica and I chat about what happend to Rosie, the latest Rob Ford scandal, what makes a Facebook friend, the Leafs collapse and Mad Men. This episode is exactly 31:17.

You can listen to this episode in a variety of ways:

Subscribe in iTunes
Subscribe directly to the feed at http://www.torontomike.com/torontomiked.xml
Download the MP3 directly
Click the play button below

Catch up on all episodes of Toronto Mike'd at http://www.torontomike.com/podcast/.

My Mark McCoy and The Toronto Star Story (Toronto Mike)

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:00:26 -0500

I went to high school at Michael Power / St. Joseph's. Today the school is located near Centennial Park in Etobicoke, but when I attended the school, it was nested between Bloor and Dundas just west of Islington. Today, you'll find Michael Power Place condos where I once studied history.

During the warmer months, I would bike to school. I had a great route along Dundas that would get me to school in 15 minutes. This little story took place after school one afternoon as I was set to depart on my bike.

Across the street from the school was the 22 Division police station. I saw a camera man taking pictures and decided to get a closer look. That's when the camera man spotted me and asked me to come over.

He introduced me to Mark McCoy, who would go on to win an Olympic gold medal in the 110 metres hurdles. I was a sports nut, and I knew who Mark McCoy was. The photographer told me he was with the Toronto Star and wanted a picture of me on my bike talking to Mark McCoy. I posed for a few shots, enjoyed some humourous exchanges with Mark McCoy and went on my way, expecting to be in the next day's Toronto Star.

Then, I told my brothers... I was going to be in The Star! I grew up with home delivery of The Star, so getting a copy would be easy. The next morning I grabbed the paper and started searching for the picture of me and Mark McCoy. It didn't exist.

I continued to check for the next week or so before giving up. For a very long time my brothers would suggest I made the whole thing up. I didn't of course, because if I were going to make up a story about posing with an athlete for the Toronto Star, I'd have had myself posing with Doug Gilmour or Wendel Clark or Roberto Alomar.

There's a lesson for all of us in this true tale.... if a photographer ever snaps your picture for the paper, don't tell a soul until it's published.

Was That Thunder or Fireworks Open Mike (Toronto Mike)

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:59:18 -0500

All good things come to an end.

What's on your mind this Tuesday?

Ray Manzarek, Dead at 74 (Toronto Mike)

Mon, 20 May 2013 20:45:46 -0500

Ray Manzarek was 74. He was a founding member and keyboardist of 1960s rock group The Doors.

The Office: A Finale Well Done (Toronto Mike)

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:42:43 -0500

I watched the US version of The Office until Steve Carell left. The last episode I watched, prior to last week's finale, was "Goodbye, Michael" in season seven.

I did something similar with ER. I followed and enjoyed ER until Dr. Mark Greene died. That was it for me. I felt no need to continue watching, although I did return for the seres finale.

The Office finale, which I just watched yesterday, was very well done. It was sweet, funny and sad with just the right amount of nostalgia and closure. The return of Michael Scott was the icing on the cake.

Did you see The Office finale? What did you think?

Picking the Last Song of the Night Was Easy (Toronto Mike)

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:44:26 -0500

I'm getting married in a few weeks, so we're now finalizing the music for the big event.

There's been some fun debate with regards to what song will play before the ceremony and after the ceremony and while we sign the marriage certificate and all of that, but picking the last song of the night was easy.

The last song will be Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World". This one was a no-brainer for me. Its place in the soundtrack of my life was solidified 24 summers ago when it was played on the Polar Express every night during the CNE after closing. It became the thought provoking anthem of my summer of '89.

It's the perfect cap to a magical evening. I'm just glad Monica agrees.

I'm Not TorontoMike on Reddit (Toronto Mike)

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:15:12 -0500

It seems there's a Redditor who goes by the name TorontoMike who is quite active on the /r/Canada subreddit. I am definitely not Reddit's TorontoMike.

Members of /r/MetaCanada, however, believe we're one and the same and that I'm the "neckbeard" they love to hate.

I actually had to Google the term neckbeard to find out what they were actually calling Reddit's TorontoMike. Here's what a neckbeard is, according to Urban Dictionary.

Talkative, self-important nerdy men (usually age 30 and up) who, through an inability to properly decode social cues, mistake others' strained tolerance of their blather for evidence of their own charm.

That doesn't sound like me at all!

The Comment From Rinse about Rob Ford's Crack Use (Toronto Mike)

Sat, 18 May 2013 17:07:10 -0500

Over the past few days there's been tons of traffic from Gawker, Reddit, Twitter and elsewhere to this comment left by Rinse on March 26. Here's everything I know about it...

First, here's what Rinse wrote at 9:09pm that March 26 night in response to allegations Rob Ford has battled alcohol abuse:

Here's the thing: Rob Ford DOES use crack cocaine. A friend of mine, her mother is a serious drug addict. Rob Ford regularly goes over to her house to smoke crack.

The problem is this: The daughter wants to expose Rob Ford's drug abuse, but her oldschool Italian grandmother won't allow her to "bring shame" upon the family, long story short. So basically the daughter has become complicit with the entire thing instead of doing the right thing. Shame on you Jasmin.

Rinse commented from an IP address that has never commented on TorontoMike.com before or since. The IP address belongs to a Toronto Rogers customer.

Rinse left his/her email address as rinse@rinseout.com. I've written this address and it bounced back as invalid.

I have no idea who Rinse is and cannot comment on his/her integrity. When the comment showed up on March 26, I completely dismissed it and gave it little thought. Once Gawker broke the story about Rob Ford being caught on tape smoking crack, it suddenly seemed far more plausible.

With so many new eyeballs suddenly reading Rinse's comment, I felt I should share everything I know about it so there's no confusion.

Rinse, if you're out there and want to elaborate, please contact me.

Victoria Day Weekend Open Mike (Toronto Mike)

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:05:50 -0500

Isn't it nuts that we have a holiday to celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday? Surely we can do better, Canada!

What's on your mind this long weekend?

Video of Rob Ford Smoking Crack Cocaine (Toronto Mike)

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:04:04 -0500

This entry will contain no editorializing. I'm merely going to report facts.

Gawker just wrote about a video of Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine. John Cook, the author, has seen the video, supposedly taken within the past six months.

Here is what the video shows: Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto, is the only person visible in the frame. Prior to the trip, I spent a lot of time looking at photographs of Rob Ford. The man in the video is Rob Ford. It is well-lit, clear. Ford is seated, in a room in a house. In one hand is a a clear, glass pipe. The kind with a big globe and two glass cylinders sticking out of it. In the other hand is a lighter. A slurred voice off-camera is ranting about Canadian politics in what sounds like an attempt to goad Ford. "Pierre Trudeau was a faggot!" is the one phrase the lodges in my mind. Ford, pipe in one hand and lighter in the other, is laughing, and mildly protesting at the sacrilege. He seems to keep trying to light the pipe, but keeps stopping to laugh. He is red-faced and sweaty, heaving with each breath. Finally, he finds his moment and lights up. He inhales.

You may recall the recent controversy when Sarah Thompson described Rob Ford's behaviour as that of a man on cocaine and the even more recent allegations that Rob Ford has a substance abuse problem.

The photo above from the Gawker story "shows Ford hanging out with a number of people. The gentleman standing to his right, flipping the camera the bird, is Anthony Smith. Smith, a 21-year-old college student, was killed two months ago outside a Toronto nightclub in a gangland-style shooting".

Update: The Toronto Star's Robyn Doolittle and Kevin Donovan have also seen the video and believe it to be Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. They have many more details here.

Your Blog Sucks: My New Podcast (Toronto Mike)

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:47:54 -0500

It's been a blast co-hosting Toronto Mike'd with my good friend Rose, so we're going to keep going. That's right, after some stressful negotiation sessions, I've managed to lock Rose up with a sweet 5-year contract. We're recording episode 38 next week.

I will be launching a new podcast, however, with my buddy Elvis. Elvis and I will start recording Your Blog Sucks next week. The tone of Your Blog Sucks will be a little brasher, a little more sarcastic and slightly less mature. It'll be a completely different show from Toronto Mike'd and we hope you'll give it a listen.

We'll try to keep it to 30 minutes a week and keep it interesting and funny. Fear not Elvis, there's a first time for everything.