Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Mike Stafford: Toronto Mike'd #1373

Episode Date: November 25, 2023

In this 1373rd episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike catches up with Mike Stafford six months after his last visit. We learn what's happened with Mike since episode 1250 regarding his pursuit of severance... from Corus, his family, his home, his health and more. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, Electronic Products Recycling Association, Raymond James Canada and Moneris. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at mike@torontomike.com

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to episode 1373 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entre GTA. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. RecycleMyElectronics.ca. Committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past.
Starting point is 00:01:00 The Advantage Investor Podcast from Raymond James Canada. Valuable perspective for Canadian investors who want to remain knowledgeable, informed, and focused on long-term success. Season 5 of Yes, We Are Open, an award-winning podcast for Moneris. Hosted by FOTM Al Grego and Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Today, returning to Toronto Mic miked is mike stafford by unpopular demand actually that's not a joke uh i did get a note uh from a judy a judy lot and it was a lovely note and judy was basically like worried about you because of facebook posts that you've been posting.
Starting point is 00:01:45 And she was asking me all these questions. The best way to find out how Mike Stafford is doing is to get Mike Stafford in the basement. So before we dive into all that, though, I was chatting with you about FOTM Hall of Famer Peter Gross. And he's going to come on in. That's why I'm here, man. That's why you're here. I've never met Peter. is that right yeah no i mean worked in the business you know approximately i think he's a little long longer in the tooth than i am i put him at 73 yeah but uh yeah i've never
Starting point is 00:02:16 had a chance to meet peter but i heard peter was coming in i won't be able to see them, I'm sure. But I have five favorite movies of all time. Now, today it could be Local Hero, which is a fantastic film with Burt Lancaster. I haven't even seen that movie. Yeah, it's terrific. Mark Knopfler did the soundtrack. Goodfellas would be on a Sunday. Going Down the Road would be up there.
Starting point is 00:02:42 It's a documentary. It's about as real a film as you'll ever see. Pauline Kael loved it. Roger Ebert loved it. 1969, I think, filmed in Toronto. 1970. 1970. Okay.
Starting point is 00:02:55 Pete and Buddy there. And, of course, the great, great satire, spoof they did on SCTV. Wasn't that amazing? See, I'm a big fan of jobs doctor and jobs and they use the stomp and tom song and it just it's so perfect with the stomp and tom oh uh there's a the young street song when they're right let's go up young street uh donald shabib passed recently the director of going down the road and i think i'm probably one of the few people in a non-youtube way on a saturday night back in the 70s when the cbc would just blow on some canadian
Starting point is 00:03:32 film a film called ripoff okay i'm glad you're bringing up ripoff what did you think of ripoff the follow-up by the way the donald shabib follow-up to going down the road uh unfortunately i think i think it was a film of its time a lot of groovies uh far outs and stuff like that and of course just post uh post um what was the motorcycle easy ride easy rider and we got to make a kid's film you know right it's not very good but peter's in it so that's richie so that's why peter's dropping by because we lost donald shabib and uh peter's gonna come in and talk about his relationship with donald because peter was in ripoff when i think a couple of summer a couple of winters ago maybe summers ago i don't know a couple years ago peter came over and we had donald shabib on toronto mic'd because peter recorded
Starting point is 00:04:20 phone conversations with donald about ripoff like's literally like, if you are bored one day, Michael Stafford, there is the definitive deep dive into rip-off featuring Donald Shabib and Peter Groves in the Toronto Mike feed. So that's some homework for you. It's getting to listen. Absolutely it is. Yeah, he played Richie. Don Scardino, who I think plays Mike, he is now a top television director.
Starting point is 00:04:46 Did 30 Rocks. He's won a couple of Emmys and stuff like that. Didn't have much of an acting career. Later married Pamela Blair, who was an actress in the original cast of Chorus Line. She played Val, who sings Tits and Ass. So just very cool that Peter Gross is coming in and please. Well,
Starting point is 00:05:06 you're going to miss him by this much. Yeah. Cause he'll be here at one o'clock. That's not too much. That's not too bad. But what a photo, that photo would break the internet. If I could get a photo of Mike Stafford with Peter Gross.
Starting point is 00:05:15 Two of our greatest. And I'll say this, even though, let me check the clock here to get this right, but we've only been talking for five minutes, Michael and Michael, I'm calling you Michael. That's respect. That's fine. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I can go either way too. I get a little nervous when I'm called Michael. right but we've only been talking for five minutes michael and michael i'm calling you michael that's
Starting point is 00:05:25 respect it's fine yeah yeah you know i can go either way kind of like that i get a little nervous when i'm called michael like i got pulled over for speeding or something like that but okay so mike even listening to you in the headphones for five minutes i'm like i miss this voice and i miss your you've got a vast pop culture knowledge i used to tune in for uh simpsons trivia yeah okay because i love that so much and where else am i going to tune in for uh simpsons trivia okay because i love that so much and where else am i going to get that that fix right uh although now with podcasts there's probably a couple of places yeah but back then no but i will say it is great to hear your pipes and i have a million questions are you comfortable absolutely sir yeah absolutely sir makes me do you
Starting point is 00:06:01 want me to get you a beer i'll have a beer beer. Okay, so would you drink, because I think it's 11 o'clock, but it's 5 o'clock somewhere. Okay, ale, lager, or IPA? Lager. Okay, you're going to get a lager. I'm going to run up and do it. But, you know, I don't feel like editing this episode, so you'll have to say something to the listeners now while I'm gone.
Starting point is 00:06:20 I'll be right back. Great Lakes Brewery is an iconic institution. I think it makes the west part of Toronto exactly what the west Toronto part should be. And that is filled with delicious, crafted. You know what? When this whole beer store thing collapses, and apparently it's going to in a few years, I predict they are going to be even huger than they are right now. And I just made that word up because Mike's upstairs getting me a beer.
Starting point is 00:06:53 And I haven't really had a chance to, oh, it's been, what, two and a half years where I've had to maybe fill because the phones aren't working very well, et cetera, et cetera. Could you pop it on the mic? Yeah. Oh, below the mic. Below the mic, yeah. My technique has dropped a bit as well, Michael cetera, et cetera. Could you pop it on the mic? Yeah. Oh, below the mic. Below the mic, yeah. My technique has dropped a bit as well, Michael. Cheers to you.
Starting point is 00:07:09 GLB, and I'll tell you, the Palma passed as soon as you said Palma. Oh, man. You hooked me up with one for my wife's birthday. Tell me about that, because I want to shout out Anthony Petrucci at Palma Pasta, because I literally, when I saw your car pull into the driveway, I was on the phone with Anthony. His family owns Palma Pasta because I literally, when I saw your car pull into the driveway, I was on the phone with Anthony. His family owns Palma Pasta, the four locations. We're having TMLX 14 at Palma's Kitchen on December 9th from noon to 3 p.m.
Starting point is 00:07:36 You, of course, Mike, you're invited. We're all going to get complimentary pasta and we're going to get fresh beer from Great Lakes. Tell me about your experience with Anthony and then I have an exciting announcement yeah absolutely i know it was um my wife's birthday was coming up when i brought the palma back from oh episode 1250 i forget when that was 1250 i can tell you it was a little over six months ago okay um of course i got the palma pasta took it home i'm not blowing smoke here anthony or mike it It was, according to Jodi, and she knows her pasta. It was the best lasagna she has ever had. You know, speaking of Peter Gross, he says this too.
Starting point is 00:08:14 Any chance he gets, I think that's why he pops over so often. He absolutely adores it, and everybody who tries it, shout out to Peter Myers. That's Mike Myers' brother, Paul Myers' brother, who often on Twitter lets me know that his family, that's mike myers brother paul myers brother who often on twitter lets me know that uh his family that's that's it it's palm of pasta so here's the exciting news for you before we get to judy lot's note and we find out what's going on with you i don't know in fact this will come out in our conversation but i have a feeling you're living in a hotel is that possible
Starting point is 00:08:41 uh we're in a motel right now okay so one of of those delicious examples up on Dundas in Mississauga. Well, we're going to get into that, like why and all that, except my thought was, and you'll tell me, Mike, you're nuts, but you don't have an oven in there, do you? We have a microwave. Okay, so here's where I was on the phone with Anthony because I could give you this big block of frozen lasagna, and then I'm like, how's Mike going to prepare this for the family?
Starting point is 00:09:04 But this is even better okay you tell me when you can get to a uh to palma's kitchen and anthony's gonna have a uh prepared hot meal for the stafford family in fact you can invite friends and people over there's gonna be a lot of this but you're basically you're gonna get a whole bunch of delicious palma pasta courtesy of of Anthony Picciucci. No one else has had this offer. It's just you, Mike. Everybody gets, and that's a great frozen lasagna. But for you, it's going to be much, much more.
Starting point is 00:09:34 That'll help things, hopefully. It's a beautiful place Anthony has. I got a chance to meet him because I guess the end of the story was I hooked up with you and said, can I find out where do I get this stuff? And you told me about Anthony and I met him. We sat down, had a good chat for about a half an hour and walked out with a delicious birthday lasagna. Okay, well, you're going to get more treats from Palma Pazza.
Starting point is 00:10:01 He's a gentleman. Yeah, he is. Love that man. Love that man. I'll just throw this in there. We were just chatting and he's looking forward to listening to Peter Kent. Peter Kent was here yesterday. I saw that.
Starting point is 00:10:11 What an amazing story that was. He was just full of wild stories from his career, not only in media, which was, he used to anchor the national, for goodness sake. Yeah. He took over for Lloyd Robertson. Global for years. Absolutely. And then he became a politician and a Harper MP. And he was the environment minister.
Starting point is 00:10:32 And we had a fantastic chat. So I'm just going to let people know that Peter Kent, very interesting. Did you get into the Middle East a lot? Big time. Because, yeah, he's a very, very big time. He follows it very closely. And at NBC, they did a, with the Yom Kippur War there, there was a 20-year anniversary thing they did in 87.
Starting point is 00:10:51 And he's been following it very closely. So we've got to tell that. Do you remember his brother, the stud scud? We talked about Arthur, too. Yeah. Yeah, of course. He's the brother of the studs. I'm old enough to remember studs.
Starting point is 00:11:01 Scud studs. Scud studs. Okay, so Judy, here's what Judy wrote. And then I'll walk you through it. I'll even revisit six months ago. Okay. Judy Lott is her name. Two Ts on Lott.
Starting point is 00:11:11 Hi, Mike. I am a regular listener to your podcast. That's how you get me to be interested, Mike. You just got to put that first line. I'm a regular. Now I know I need to pay attention. This is somebody I care about. Okay.
Starting point is 00:11:20 I am a regular listener to your podcast and was wondering if you have seen Mike Stafford's Facebook post just yesterday. He's in a real financial bind and he also hinted there were health issues with his family. In brackets, she puts in cancer. I am a huge Stafford fan since his days at CFNY
Starting point is 00:11:35 and would be heartbroken if he is sick. Maybe he would do your podcast again for a fourth time for an update. Maybe it's too private a topic a couple of question marks thanks mike so that note came in now you're here just to give this a little context before we hear more of your great voice and my mediocre voice may 4th 2023 that's over six months ago that's when you dropped by and we discussed your your broken neck why you deleted your twitter account yeah why you were fired by AM640,
Starting point is 00:12:06 how you've been doing since, and what's next for you. And we even addressed the turd in the basement comment, and now we're friends. We got through that. So let's hear from you. I guess before we get the specifics, how did you feel after that episode? Because I got so much feedback from episode 1250.
Starting point is 00:12:25 That's your episode. It was pretty cathartic, to be truthful, Mike, for a couple of reasons. One, it was taking me on the drive that I used to take for 20 years. Well, 12 since I lived in Mississauga. To actually sitting down and opening up with you, I got a tremendous amount of response. A lot of it good. good quite honestly some of it was you got what you deserved you bastard whatever yeah i've worked in radio for 40 years i'm used
Starting point is 00:12:52 to that it was polarizing yeah it was it was somewhat polarizing and um the situation unfortunately went from um not good to bad okay so it got worse since six months ago. Okay, so here. So we're going to give this more context. Okay. From my perspective, people like when there's an interesting episode, not that they're not all interesting,
Starting point is 00:13:16 but some episodes get more feedback than others. Yours got a ton of feedback, and it was very polarizing. Like from my perspective, there were these two camps. One camp believed you were done dirty by chorus and you're entitled to something. And I'm actually in that camp for what it's worth.
Starting point is 00:13:33 And then there's a camp and I won't name names, but people you know, and there's people who lack compassion. They feel that this is self-inflicted and you got what you deserve. And yeah, so there's the two polarizing camps. And I heard from both camps. I urge people listening to us now,
Starting point is 00:13:49 if they haven't heard it yet, go back to 1250. That's like the prequel. And then you can come back to this episode. But in that episode, we talked about how you were fired with cause by chorus. So they didn't give you any money. They just sort of booted you out after 20 years, but you had no money to pay upfront for a lawyer.
Starting point is 00:14:04 So my first question, Mr. Staffordord so you're on the stand now is there any update at all regarding uh chorus and any uh legal channels to receive some severance that you're you're entitled to in my humble opinion all right well um we talked on the show how i could not afford what's called a retainer how in employment, very few employment lawyers work on what's called contingency, which you'll remember from Lionel Hutz. Attorney at law. Contingency. No, money front.
Starting point is 00:14:40 No money down. That was what it is. Anyway, I got a uh can i mention who contacted yeah of course lauren honickman fotm lauren honickman who listens and great he was a client for some time and he might be again but great friend i've used him when i had legal issues with this show and uh just a gentleman and a scholar and a great guy lauren honickman um loved him when he was in tv for all those years and also worked with him at 640 he filled in for a lot and um yeah phone call out of the blue one day from lauren that voice you can't mistake it michael
Starting point is 00:15:17 uh well not out of the blue right because he heard episode well he did hear it he did hear it absolutely because i got a call too uh from lauren after he reached out he said mike you are running out of time right june 9th would have been my date of termination you have two years wow and we tape may 4th it was may 4th yeah may the 4th be with you he said mike i have a friend his name is justin i'll just give his first name he's um he's young he's eager he's just gone out on his own. He used to work with, and he speaks of him very highly, Lior Sanfiro, who I obviously would have had to represent me, except he would have been in conflict because he's on chorus. He hooked me up with Justin and,
Starting point is 00:15:57 Lauren, you saved me there, brother. Unfortunately, this is a drag of a process. All summer, obviously summer is summer anyway in the legal profession. I don't want to get into the specifics of where we are, but it is a slower process than I thought it would be. But it's ongoing. It's ongoing. And the thing is, and this is the key here,
Starting point is 00:16:23 thank you to you and to lauren and eventually to justin for taking the case i you know i i could be sitting here saying no no you know time times up uh at least now i have some hope i mean they're fighting it obviously it's a company that is in severe financial trouble, as we all know. I mean, when I started working there, their stock was $34. Now I think it's just a buck. My biggest fear is they're going to declare bankruptcy, and I'm screwed. But they're too big for that, too big to fail that way. I've heard that story before.
Starting point is 00:16:58 Yeah. So the update from a legal standpoint is good. And that's the best news i can bring into this basement my friend okay so we start with the good news and then we get to the shitty news okay yeah but that's good news because there was a clock ticking that you didn't even know about that clock right there's also two years vaguely okay so we were we talked on may 4th and you had only a little bit of time and again much love to lauren honickman love this guy just you know if you ever want to talk bob dylan with somebody lauren's your guy oh he'll bore you for dylan's 80th birthday lauren
Starting point is 00:17:31 came on over and we just talked dylan for like 90 minutes i don't know if you love dylan you'll love that episode so lauren honickman uh here's the episode wants to help you gets his justin to and justin works with you so you do get in under the wire this is ongoing but no money from chorus has reached your bank account not a dime no i mean they've they've got a they've got a pretty respected firm obviously backing them i mean they're a big company uh they have to but um the fact that the ball got rolling this is hope and yeah and I didn't have to front thousands and thousands of dollars.
Starting point is 00:18:07 I mean, it'll be contingency. It'll, you know, they'll take their whatever percentage. I'm going to send a large frozen lasagna to this Justin character, okay? I don't even know who Justin's last name is myself. Maybe I'll find out later. But yeah, Justin, if you're listening right now, send me a note because we'll get you the frozen lasagna and then you get the fresh
Starting point is 00:18:28 pasta absolutely okay so there we're starting on such a positive note here where do i go next okay so uh let me go to this next okay so at the time of course you you're and i'm i used what is again what is your ailment uh Curvature of the spine? Ankylosing spondylitis. Okay. The spine is fused. Then the neck breaking didn't help that. Right, because you broke your neck.
Starting point is 00:18:53 And we talked all about this in 1250. So it's difficult for you to work. I mean, you can't go roofing or whatever. I can't. I cannot. I mean, I've got accessible parking and stuff like that I it's it kills me because my wife loves to go out for walks and I can't go more than 30 yards um because well you see me when you came out to shake my hand in your driveway I'm
Starting point is 00:19:17 just kind of bent over um so standing anything physical I can't do it. And the other thing too is one of the things when we first did this in 1250, people were saying, Mike, do a podcast, do a podcast. Right. You don't, this man sitting right across from me understands technically and the fact that the saturation of the market right now, I mean, that's why you do dig and work with i work hard
Starting point is 00:19:45 but i know mike stafford like you have a name in this market you've got a legacy and you have those pipes i don't have these three fantastic mics and your setup and a house a place to live we're gonna get to that yes okay so after episode 1250 i did hear so remember i heard from lauren like the next morning my phone starts beeping people, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. People are like, I got to help this guy. So we need an answer to this one. So I did get a, I did hear from an FOTM, I won't name him, but an FOTM who owns radio stations.
Starting point is 00:20:15 That should narrow it down, okay? Yeah. How many FOTMs own radio stations? So he had this idea that if I could help you with a USB mic, which I would have happily done, that you could do some voiceover work remotely for his radio station. So my question to you, Mike Stafford, did that ever come to fruition? Did you ever hear from this gentleman? I did. I know who you're talking about.
Starting point is 00:20:37 And if you want to name him, you can name him. Yeah. So John Pohl, who's also great, much like Lorne, a wonderful FOTM. He listens, he heard you, he wanted to help. What happened with that? Nothing, because at the time, a wonderful FOTM. He listens, he heard you, he wanted to help. What happened with that? Nothing, because at the time, and this is now where I am, you know, if I'm podcasting, I'm doing it from the lobby of a motel on Dundas. Right. Things were just falling apart around me.
Starting point is 00:20:57 We had a landlord and, you know, it's not his fault. He wanted to rebuild. I i mean we lived in the miniola section of mississauga including the old house which has now been destroyed and being rebuilt uh he was tearing it down he wanted us out right we had the finance i mean people did reach out and help me out but financially on a month-to-month basis, I could not continue. Our lease had ended. We only had a six-month lease. And, you know, eventually, you know,
Starting point is 00:21:34 we were asked to leave. So he evicted you and your family? We were evicted. Yeah, we were evicted. And fair and square to him. I mean, fair and square to him. Right. I mean, I won't be writing him christmas
Starting point is 00:21:45 cards but uh it's tough he didn't break any laws it's no no no no bad luck on top of bad on top of you know landlord tenant when you sign a lease you sign a lease right um okay so when you so basically you get a little notice i guess and they're like you got to go somewhere but you uh what give us the at this point we might as well give us the real talk here. Like you, cause you're in a hotel. So there was nowhere else to rent. I mean,
Starting point is 00:22:10 we're in a rent crisis in the GTA. I think a hotel might be a motel might be cheaper. I don't know, but not this one. Not this one. Okay. So what happened? You just basically,
Starting point is 00:22:19 it's like, get out of here. And then you're like, I have nowhere to go. And you end up at a motel. Basically, um, the two guys show up from the bailiff's office and say, you've got 15 minutes to get your stuff together.
Starting point is 00:22:30 And take what you can. The rest of it's still there. The house, I don't think the permit process was as far advanced as he claimed. But it was his place. I'm not even going to worry about that anymore. Yeah, basically, we we're you know we we got to find something um and who's we remind us who is who is the we well there's my wife jody and her son my stepson who is 15 he's at his dad's right now uh but just dealing with Jody and I, that's where we are.
Starting point is 00:23:05 I mean, it's, you know, some good days, but it's not exactly an uplifting way to live. So where's your stuff? Stuff is there still. But we have stuff with us. Anyway, all that stuff aside, we're in a state of limbo right now. I've already even been in
Starting point is 00:23:28 contact with Peel Social Services. They're swamped. I can imagine. They're 300% capacity for shelter space and stuff like that. Right. And I mean, again, if these questions are out of bounds,
Starting point is 00:23:43 just tell me. Does Jody work uh no we'd be into that right now okay so here so so obviously if you started with the good news is which is there's a i don't know there's a puncher's chance of something going down with with chorus we just it's a long process and there's not a dime yet from chorus and we got that news now we're learning you've been evicted from your, the home you were renting in Mississauga and you're living in a, in a motel. Okay.
Starting point is 00:24:09 Let's get it. Let's, why not just throw all the shit out there? Okay. So, uh, how is the, uh,
Starting point is 00:24:14 the physical health of the, uh, Stafford family that were, my situation is, you know, my, whatever you do, it is what it is.
Starting point is 00:24:22 Uh, in August, Jody started having some issues with her kidney. We assumed it was a kidney stone. My mother had them constantly. Rest in peace, Mom. We went to the hospital. It was my birthday, August 10th.
Starting point is 00:24:42 Went to Trillium on Queensway. She was so bad, she actually collapsed to the floor in ER with the pain. Wow. I've never had one of these things. Apparently, they're a bastard. You know, she was bleeding and stuff you don't have to get into, but we just thought it was a kidney stone, and they did too, I think, at first. Right.
Starting point is 00:25:02 They sent her home, gave her some painkillillers gave her some antibiotics for an infection three nights later we're back and this is like twice as bad where they actually did had to actually give her hydromorphone and i was on that with my broken neck that's that's some killer stuff they went they ct'd her because the first time we were there, it was by six in the morning. They just said, just go home. If this clears up and the pain goes away, then it's a stone. It obviously didn't. They gave her a CT scan and the doctor came back.
Starting point is 00:25:38 They were fantastic. I mean, I know there's a lot of shit in the healthcare system, but man, there's a lot of good stories too. Anyway, the doctor, the doctor came back and said, we're a little concerned, Jody. We found a mass on your right kidney and it doesn't look good. We're going to book you with a urologist who is also an oncologist up at Credit Valley. And she went in and she got more scans.
Starting point is 00:26:07 She went and met this doctor, who we've become very close to. And he called her in, and I came in with her into his office, and he said, yeah, it's cancer. He says, I see it all the time. It's on the kidney. But we're concerned, Jody, because kidney cancer is not a problem. Usually what they, they usually do is they just take the kidney out. You've got another one. Right.
Starting point is 00:26:30 Uh, but we're concerned that there might be some involvement up in the chest area. And then we didn't hear back. We had more scans in September, more in October. Then she got a phone call. No, she got, she got a call to confirm the kidney removal was going to happen at Queensway, or at Credit Valley, rather, on December 14th.
Starting point is 00:26:53 Okay, great. We'll have to leave the motel. Jody was going to spend a couple of nights in hospital. Then she got a call back from the oncologist, the urologist. And he said, we've had to postpone the surgery. We are very concerned about some shadows on the lung and on the lymph node, which is metastasization, obviously. And that's what you don't want to hear.
Starting point is 00:27:17 He explained that the kidney mass is like the mothership. He says, I'm not really worried about it. I'm just going to yank it out. But if it has moved into the lungs or in the lymph nodes and they don't know that yet um it's just suspected she's got a a scan scheduled i think next week okay um so she does have cancer but she's been getting the good news and then they oh no she was all she was all jones to go for this you know kidney removal and uh to have it postponed like that again these these people are amazing and i know what they do what they have to do um it just there's a lot of questions you have
Starting point is 00:27:59 like why is it only on the right side and stuff like that? But yeah, that's where we are, Mike. Well, I'm so sorry to hear this. Like this is awful, awful news. And it's awful news if everything else is going swimmingly. Like if everything else in your life is aces, this is shitty, shitty news. And, you know, next week I hope things go well at the hospital and you find out it's just in the kidney. That's the best case scenario at this point, right? Well, you just take it out and let the other one.
Starting point is 00:28:27 My grandmother lived on one her whole life, but it's just been a bad year. I mean, one of my good friends, you remember Supriya. Of course. Did you hear the news about her hospital? Of course I did, yes, of course. Terrible. Yeah, just a wonderful man, 40 years of age, lung cancer.
Starting point is 00:28:43 Didn't smoke. Right. a wonderful man 40 years of age lung cancer didn't smoke right um anyway uh so that's where we are physically you said mentally i wouldn't even go in that well i'll make time for the mental discussion here okay so all right so does that answer so i asked earlier like does jody work but jody's got a uh very serious crisis going on. Is she able to work right now? No. So there's no money coming into the family. Gotta get the 15-year-old out there.
Starting point is 00:29:15 We'll get him a gig. God love him. I mean, he's 15. He's gonna be 16 in March. And he's got no privacy. He's, you know what they're like, you've got 80 of them. Well, two of them have hit that age already. Yeah. And yeah, it's true.
Starting point is 00:29:34 So he's at his dad's sometimes and then sometimes he's at his mom's. Yeah, we're working on that right now. Trying to deal with, you know, the constant calls, you know, oh, it's the hospital, oh, it's doctor this, oh, it's doctor that. And this hotel, again. Motel. Sorry, yeah. Hotel, motel, holiday.
Starting point is 00:29:56 You need drugs, Michael? Do you need to find yourself the services of a woman? Michael, my neighbors, you set me up with Lorne Honickman. You set me up with Justin. You want a little crack? Dude, guy's on the right side of me. You want a lovely lady? No questions asked? Dude on the
Starting point is 00:30:16 left side of me. It's all going on at this Dundas motel. Oh, this is, yeah. So why is it so expensive? I feel like you should get a crack motel discount. Oh, I know. It's just the way it is. Jodi did her best. This is unsustainable.
Starting point is 00:30:29 Like, I'm... No, it is. So how long... You've been in the motel for how long? I don't know. Too long. Three weeks. Three weeks.
Starting point is 00:30:37 Like, what's the plan? I know you have the social services. You mentioned they're jammed or whatever. Like, it's expensive enough in the motel. We need to find the Stafford family a shelter shelter this is like one of your basic human rights the best note i got from my lawyer this week i should mention when i said what's the update and he said i should have an update very soon now it's now saturday but um i i know he reached out to the opposing attorneys, and I know they're soulless, godless bastards.
Starting point is 00:31:07 Yes, they are, like Mr. Burns' lawyers. Exactly. But he did reach out and say, look, this is the situation this guy is in. I know they don't want Chorus to have to pay a dime, but at least he reached out to them. So I don't know, maybe... So it's a hope that maybe chorus will settle
Starting point is 00:31:25 so some money can find its way to you so you can take care of the family. That would be the last page of my novel, yeah. Because I guess it's been six months since your last visit and I keep thinking that this will end with a happy ending but it's getting worse, Mike. So I'm worried we're going the wrong direction here. Well, that's where the mental thing comes in.
Starting point is 00:31:43 Okay, so we're going to get to that. Let me just really quickly shout out some partners that make this a real talk possible. So we've talked GLB. I hope it'll help. I can send you home with some Great Lakes beer, obviously,
Starting point is 00:31:56 and we're going to arrange with Anthony for the Palma Pasta. All of it. That's right. All of it. And if you do, you know, that's so I can do that for sure. I do have this. Maybe the 15-year-old would like this, but it's a, well, you might like you do, you know, that's so I can do that for sure. I do have this.
Starting point is 00:32:05 Maybe the 15-year-old would like this. But it's a, well, you might like it too, of course. A wireless speaker. It's, you know, that can be in the stocking. How's that? A stocking stuffer. But that is a quality Bluetooth speaker from Moneris. And the intent is that you can listen to season five of Yes, We Are Open,
Starting point is 00:32:21 which is an award-winning podcast by Moneris, hosted by Al Grego. He was here last... What week are we in? He was here like a few days ago. Yeah, right. So we kicked out jams related to season five. Always interesting. Christ, do you need a producer? I got track of it. It wasn't yesterday, Mike.
Starting point is 00:32:39 Peter Kent was yesterday. It was a couple days ago. And then Michelle McAdory's in the mix. You know when you do a lot of these conversations. You got a nice kiss from her. You know what? It was a spicy chat. Like, I'll admit, it was like there was a good chemistry in that chat. Ah.
Starting point is 00:32:52 I had to IP block my wife from listening to Michelle McAdory. I didn't kiss her back, but okay. But she was actually really great. We talked about Crash Bandicoot. And when I do want to feel better, by the way i do uh re-roll your molly johnson in a reason she's always promoting her kensington jazz festival and often she uh she asks eric alper to be her publicist this is something so eric and i have a great relationship and he loves putting people on the show but it's always sometimes we chat privately me and eric and not so private that i'm talking about now like Should we do a part two? And we always end up, nah.
Starting point is 00:33:25 This is where we always end up. But I always have a moment where, okay, she could visit again and we could talk about what happened. But then we always end up like, let's not do that. So we'll just leave the Molly as a one and done. She's got the Order of Canada, by the way.
Starting point is 00:33:39 Big deal, Molly. And every time she comes up on the show, everyone's like, oh, she's wonderful. What are your thoughts on Buffy? I have to say I am on Facebook with a lot of people who are FOTMs and a lot of them and I won't name them but there's a number of them who are very
Starting point is 00:33:51 much like leave Buffy alone she's a talented wonderful artist who has done more for indigenous people than you ever will none of this matters CBC should be ashamed fifth estate what's wrong with you going after our angel angel buffy this is a common sentiment i can't wait to hear your take on it except my my take on this is i
Starting point is 00:34:11 loved buffy so much but she's been lying to us for decades and uh that's bullshit and i wish he'd give back the order of canada but what do you think mike staff i truly truly truly and i've talked to this with jody and stuff. I just don't give a shit. She's 82. But the one thing I didn't like was how she tried to torpedo her brother. Right. Right. With some very, you know.
Starting point is 00:34:35 A handwritten note. Yeah. I will go public about you being a pedophile if you pursue this. Which turns out he was pursuing the truth. He was. That's all he was doing. I mean, at the end of the day, does it affect me
Starting point is 00:34:46 given the circumstances I'm in? No. But yeah, it's not the first time either. You know how many Italian-American actors, Sicilians, played natives?
Starting point is 00:34:57 Iron Eyes Cody. Right. And you see the guy like when the garbage by the freeway or whatever, he's got a tear in his eye? Of course. And yes, right.
Starting point is 00:35:05 And also when Marlon Brando won the Oscar. Sashene. Right. She's not indigenous. No, no. I love that scene in The Sopranos. They try to tell the casino owner. They say, you know, Iron Eyes Cody, he's Sicilian.
Starting point is 00:35:19 And they're like, holy shit, is that true? Yeah, everyone knows that. Right. But anyway, my answer answer and i'm being very um you don't care middle here i just yeah well that's also the third take you can have which is i don't give a fuck except what she did to her brother yeah also i didn't like her like she knew this was dropping because she's known for a long time this was coming and then right before it drops the fifth estate i mean before that episode drops she uh sort of does this i know i know who i love and who loves me and peace out like she did
Starting point is 00:35:51 this and i don't think that's the move i feel like the move is buffy comes in the basement and talks to me and we we hash this out and we find out what she knew when and we you know and maybe she apologizes and maybe says yeah she's a pretendian but maybe it comes from i love that new word i know i'm using it all the time now she's a pretendian so buffy if you're listening uh you know you could follow uh mike stafford's lead and take a trip in the basement and uh we can talk about this i don't want her to be killed or jailed i just think we need to talk about this and it can't just be i know who loves me and who i love and peace out it's got to we got to have a conversation like i don't think that's fair i'm glad we're taking her her problems that's good and she can get maybe some pasta from uh she's italian she'll know she'll know good stuff she'll
Starting point is 00:36:35 know good pasta shout out to palm pasta oh yeah and quickly i want to say unfortunately mike you probably don't have a lot of money for investment right now but when you when the cash fall comes your way uh and hopefully it does at some point, I will just tell you there's a great podcast called Advantage Investor from Raymond James Canada and Chris Cooksey. This is just great investment advice. You can learn how to plan, invest, and live smarter.
Starting point is 00:37:00 So Raymond James Canada is the Advantage Investor, hosted by Chris Cooksey. You got to subscribe. And recyclemyelectronics.ca. Cliff Hacking was here recently. What a wonderful conversation with Cliff. He's the founder and CEO of recyclemyelectronics.ca. And that's where you go if you have old electronics, old cables, old tech that you need to dispose of.
Starting point is 00:37:20 You don't throw it in the garbage and then all the chemicals end up in the landfill. You go to recyclemyelectronics.ca and find out a place near you where you can drop that off. That's what you do. Okay. Here we go. We're comfy. We're feeling good. Oh, I have a measuring tape for you. This might change your life. Hold on.
Starting point is 00:37:37 At least I can do. That's from Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of this community. I gotta say, Brad Jones at Ridley Funeral Home, he's got a great podcast called Life's Undertaking i get to co-host we talked all about monty python and spam a lot in the most recent episode oh yeah really interesting yeah because he saw it in strafford uh very interesting okay all right mr stafford we talked about the physical health yours is unchanged uh could be better you've got the uh the name of the disorder I cannot ever remember to say. You got to write it down phonetically. Okay. What is the status of your mental health?
Starting point is 00:38:11 How are things going for you inside that big brain of yours? Well, I mean, embarrassment, humiliation, obviously. I can't listen to radio anymore. I listen to 680 to get the traffic and the written at a great eight level news that they do. I still dream about work. Not as much as episode 1250. When I was telling you, it was almost every fricking day. Right.
Starting point is 00:38:43 I still dream about work. I still, you know, I'll see somebody on TV that, I remember interviewing them. I remember interviewing. was telling you it was almost every freaking day right i still dream about work i still you know i'll see somebody on tv that i remember interviewing them i remember interview just like yeah like every other old man sitting in the empty you know seats at a baseball park just going to oh there was a time you should have seen me when i was at the plate and there were three on and i had and he was throwing heat. It's like Al Bundy talking about that high school game. That's one game, yeah, that one game. But the thing is, at least I think Bundy got to replay it, didn't he?
Starting point is 00:39:12 Right, he did, absolutely. That's another thing, and I mentioned it. Do a podcast. Why don't you just apply for another station? You don't understand. One, this industry is dying, and I hate to say it, when I say this industry, I mean obviously terrestrial radio, as they call it.
Starting point is 00:39:30 And that's the problem. They give it important names. Terrestrial radio. That sounds like something NASA put together. It is an impressive term, absolutely. Did you hear those three stations in Hamilton were sold by Bell Media? I think the total cost to the new owner was something like $450,000. That doesn't even get you a condo in the city.
Starting point is 00:39:54 But you could get three, including Cham there. I saw that on the Sony board, and I kept thinking there's a zero missing. Yeah, I don't know if you said guess what they're going to go for. I'm not sure what number I would have come up with, but I didn't think you could pick up all three for, you know, less than half a million.
Starting point is 00:40:10 I guess that's, you know, but you said that they're Bell Media, right? Well, Bell Media sold it, yeah. Well, I can suck my, I can actually measure it now. Yeah, it'll work. How is, you know, and again, we breeze through the whole, like people say,
Starting point is 00:40:25 because yes, I get those notes too. Why doesn't Stanford have a podcast? Because people miss your voice and your take on things and they want to hear it. So they selfishly get Stanford. And I will say. You want to live in a room with me with two beds and a bathroom? You are welcome here anytime you want.
Starting point is 00:40:39 You will be sick of my voice. Believe me. Talk to my wife. I don't think that's true. Maybe your wife would say so. but I will say that if I did anything I could do personally to help you broadcast. And I know you would. I just want you to know. Like if you said to
Starting point is 00:40:54 me, I literally had this aforementioned Peter Gross, and if we talk long enough, you'll see him. But Peter Gross literally, when he started his podcast, he needed to make money and he had no cash for it I did them for free until he monetized them and then we talked about
Starting point is 00:41:10 payment but I would offer you the same back to the mental part of this whole thing mentally I can't freaking do it right now my wife is sick you're homeless your wife has cancer and you have no money Right now. So, yeah, back to your mental state. My wife is sick. Yeah. You know, I'm...
Starting point is 00:41:25 You're homeless, your wife has cancer, and you have no money. Anything else? No, I could go to Nashville and record it and sell a million copies on Fox News. Right. I don't know. It's a pretty sad story, but... Do you ever think, and before we dive further into that, do you ever think, well, you know, shit could be worse. Yeah. Like, the fact that, you know, Jody still we dive further into that, do you ever think, well, you know, shit could be worse. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:41:45 Like the fact that, you know, Jody still can enjoy a nice walk, right? Like things actually could be worse. Absolutely. I mean, God love her. She's still in, you know, in pretty good, you know, pretty good shape. Right now it's just the unknowing of the knowing. But what about the pain? Like what did we do about the pain?
Starting point is 00:42:05 The pain is not an issue right now. That was mostly infection-related back when this was involved, when she first learned of it, thank God. Okay. I should say they've got a great, great website that you link into when you're dealing with Trillium Health Partners. And it gives you latest results, latest notes from doctors. Yes.
Starting point is 00:42:30 And you can actually see the size of the nodules that they saw on the lymph node and stuff. Okay, you know what? Those are pretty small. It's pretty early. The doctor's not worried about the big mass. So there's some good stuff to come out of this so we have to hope the shading that we're hearing about we just have exactly i mean they could be other things i guess shading obviously i i had a ankylosing spondylitis is the
Starting point is 00:42:56 thing i have i actually went to the chiropractic college up on bayview for a study of ankylosing spondylitis because it's obviously very chiropractic related. Right. And they did massive x-rays, which chiropractors do, as you all know. And this was when I was in my late 20s. They said they were very concerned about some spots on my lungs back then.
Starting point is 00:43:21 Right. That's 40 years ago. Right. And I don't think I've quit smoking since then. No. No, in fact, funny, interestingly, the tragic news that Supriya experienced with her husband, and you mentioned that, you know, he had lung
Starting point is 00:43:36 cancer and didn't even smoke. It does beg the question, is there any part of you that thinks that if a long-time smoker gets lung cancer, that they deserve that? Like this is not that they deserve it because no one deserves cancer, but that it comes with the territory in some regard. What did you expect? I mean, that's one of the old standbys of talk radio. You run out of ideas.
Starting point is 00:44:00 Should people diagnosed with smoking or drinking-related diseases lose their OHIP privileges? No, because it's the system we work under. Not only that, but it is an addiction. You're not smoking for shits and giggles, right? I mean, you speak for yourself, but you're addicted to nicotine, right? Yeah. Yeah, it's not an easy. Recidivism rate for nicotine withdrawal is higher than heroin.
Starting point is 00:44:24 Right. So, no, it's not an easy thing to quit and same with drinking it's the same with the booze so yeah all right on the mental health front mr stafford we talked very openly and honestly in episode 1250 about you know any thoughts of like ending it all and maybe this was a way to help the family if you exit stage right. And I'm for one glad you have never done this and I'm glad you're still here
Starting point is 00:44:52 and I hope you never do this, but I need to ask how you're doing on that, in that regard. Well, you just weigh the pros and the cons and there's not a lot of pros. There's not a lot of cons either. not a lot of cons either it's one of those zero sum games that you know does anybody win yeah yeah i mean you sometimes you just get so damn frustrated but now that jody's in the situation she i can't i can't even consider it um you know
Starting point is 00:45:24 there's a there's a silver lining. She's got a battle. Yeah, she's got a battle. She needs someone with her right now. There's not a lot of family support, it seems. We both lost our parents. So, yeah, you've got to be there. You've got to be there.
Starting point is 00:45:41 And that's what I've always said about that situation when people start thinking those thoughts that there's somebody somebody could be one person who needs you and even though you know the dark nights or me it's the early mornings it seems because i'm so used to waking up at 3 30 right you start wondering what's the point what's the point what's the point you go well she's the point or the kid's the point or my sister's the point my sisters are the points as well because they're both um you know in physical issues that they're dealing with as well so yeah i would say i'm in a better head space there. It just doesn't put food on my table. No, no, no. But that is key.
Starting point is 00:46:28 I mean, you wake up every morning, there's another opportunity for things to turn around, for things to improve. I love falling asleep. I don't know about you. When you're feeling shit, when you're going through shit, that night time, maybe you're taking a night haul or something to help, but just to get
Starting point is 00:46:45 your eyes closed. And then that time when you open in the, in the morning, you open your eyes and it's, oh shit. It's another day. Oh man. That's tough. Tough to hear that actually. But the fact is you're not going to off yourself,
Starting point is 00:46:59 Stafford. I'm not going to be adding you to the, uh, Ridley Funeral Home Memorial episode anytime soon. I got my tape. Do you want me to write my name on it? All right. This is good. And in those dark times, yeah, always remember,
Starting point is 00:47:10 not only, of course, you talked about Jody and 15-year-old, et cetera, but there are, I mean, I know from the notes I received after episode 1250 that there are so many people out there who care about you. I mean, there are people who listen to you, you know, every weekday for years and years. You were like a member of their family and they loved your take, your spin, how your brain works, and they love your voice. And we
Starting point is 00:47:32 need that around as long as possible. There's a lot of us who care about you. And I care about you. You called me a turd in my basement and you know what? I'm still a Stafford fan. Yeah, I got an expanded GLB case as well. So we did take a short break. Yes, there's an eight-pack now.
Starting point is 00:47:49 And thank you to everyone who did write. The other stuff we were talking about, it was polarizing. But I found that there were people who were like, Chorus is the most evil company that's ever existed. They're worse than the chemical company that polluted Love canal in new york no they're not they were very good to me for 20 years and then shit happened they were good to you until they weren't until they weren't and then there are the people on the other side who you know for whatever reason uh probably i say this is i couldn't believe oh this is what you you reap what you sow mike you spent years as the most right-wing ideological shithead uh wait well then why were people calling
Starting point is 00:48:40 me a cuck when i worked with supria right you can't haveriya. You can't have a both ways. You can't have a both ways, man. Was I Sean Hannity or was I, you know? I'm trying to think of another Sean. Sean Lennon. That'll do. That'll do. You know, very interesting to hear the reaction and we'll see what the reaction is to this. But in that last episode, one of the things you did was you gave out your email address.
Starting point is 00:49:05 Yeah. And again, you talked about, you know, feeling ashamed and maybe like, at this point I would say that that ship has sailed. We got to get you to whatever comes out of this lawsuit and into brighter days. Like you're living day to day here in a motel. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:49:21 Your wife can't work because she has cancer. I mean, this is, you don't, you know, tough times for the Stafford family. There might be one or two people listening who would help you out here financially, and they could email money to an address if you drop the address right now. Yeah, or you know what?
Starting point is 00:49:40 If you want to send me a note of support, because I know it's tough out there it is really tough i you know with the limited money i have going shopping is talk about feeling suicidal no yeah it's tough for anyone and particularly tough for your family but yeah so of course you don't have to send money you can just send a note of encouragement but if you wish to you're not going to say no uh the e-transfer at my it's my bell address it's michael m-i-c-h a-e-l dot stafford s-t-a-f-f-o-r-d at bell dot net michael dot staff michael.stafford at bell.net um if you can help out i god love you um they taught people talk about it's such a nap is such a bromide i'm gonna pay it forward
Starting point is 00:50:36 if i get out of this freaking right i have i've i've always because i sometimes i just look at jody in the morning i said what what did i do in my life or past lives, if you believe in that shit? What did I do that we're like this right now? Because I try to get along with people at work. I've always volunteered. I'm not obviously without sin, but you question sometimes, especially at this age, Mike. I'm 63, man.
Starting point is 00:51:12 I should be like Ivor Hamilton, all my old buddies, and wrapping up great careers, great guys like, hello, Michael, David Marsden. Right. That's a good name. Who's still kicking ass, by the way. why the spirit.com yeah which unfortunately david i had to unsubscribe because everything's uh kind of tight right now but i still watch those songs on youtube put me in a very happy place back in the 80s at cfny is that is that feel good? Is it Mad Men
Starting point is 00:51:45 where Don talks about nostalgia and Teddy and he talks about this pang where it's like you look back, but it's not all great looking back. There's this pang. When you think back to the CFNY days and even the 640 days and
Starting point is 00:52:02 everything in between, does that hurt because it's gone? Or do you think, like, you're glad that happened? I'm glad it happened is a perfect way of putting it. I'm not a believer in the, I have no regrets in my life. I'm not Frank Sinatra. I have regrets about a few. Paul Anka wrote that, though.
Starting point is 00:52:23 Yeah, he did. He did. But if you... Paul Anka wrote that, though. Yeah, he did. He did. Life is filled with regrets, but sometimes even regrets are great to remember because they hammer home the point that don't do that again.
Starting point is 00:52:39 Don't do that. Don't treat people that way, et cetera, et cetera. I had great times at CFNY. I had some great times at CFRB. I had some horrible times at CFRB. Chorus? Horrible times. In fact, two of the gentlemen who were involved,
Starting point is 00:52:55 and I'm not blaming them for what happened because I obviously started it. They're gone now. They were cut. Jeff Story and Larry Gifford. Okay. They were fired back in June. Now, they didn't go out the way I did, and I'm sure they got some nice red envelopes,
Starting point is 00:53:13 but it's a cutthroat business. And if I didn't say it in episode 1250, I'll repeat it in, what is this, 1330? 1373. 1373. What a great year of medieval crap um if if your kid mentions mom i want to be in stop them stop them take them to a hockey rink something even though what one out of the 10,000 kids make it to hockey i'd probably lower who knows but yeah get into podcasting like this dude
Starting point is 00:53:46 i'm not pointing at me this guy you know don't let your kids grow up don't let your babies grow up to be radio uh broadcasters i mean a great gig it used to be a great job you know it was i have always agreed with howard though, when he said that radio, in terms of the entertainment hierarchy, radio on-air people are like the red-headed stepchild. Worked out for him, but he's the.001%. Yeah, but I don't think he's happy, so screw him. Man, I was listening to him the other day.
Starting point is 00:54:25 I don't have SiriusXM, but I borrowed a car, a Hyundai Palisade, because I drove to Montreal. Oh, you went to Montreal. Yeah, to see my daughters live in there, and it was a great trip. But it had SiriusXM in it, so I tune in to Howard, and he's talking to Dolly Parton. And I had this moment of like, oh, Howard does with Dolly Parton what I do with people like Mike Stafford.
Starting point is 00:54:45 So essentially, I think Dolly doesn't come in the basement, but I get Peter Kent in the basement. I'll get Mike Stafford in the basement. And, you know, I'll get John Donabee down here. And by the way, Donabee, yeah, he's another Dylan guy. So we get Donabee and Honickman together. The band is his big thing. Oh, yeah. He was at the last Waltz.
Starting point is 00:55:04 Yeah. They just did this Massey Hall thing. I yeah, he was at the Last Waltz. They just did this Massey Hall thing. I'm over here. Don Stevenson. Are you a Moby Grape fan? Moby Grape? What, they have like one album? They had more than that, but absolutely. I think a lot of people in their 60s, I said,
Starting point is 00:55:17 oh, I have the drummer from Moby Grape coming on, and a lot of them were like, I don't know Moby Grape at all. This is one of those bands that just was completely forgotten. But anyway, they did this tribute to the last waltz at massey hall like about a week ago but i digress okay so since you were here six months ago uh i've got thorough updates from people you mentioned ivor hamilton a lot like alan cross and i've had these these updates regarding the cfny documentary which sounds like we're going to be able to see this documentary in 2024. Is this going to be vaporware, as they used to say in the software industry?
Starting point is 00:55:52 No offense to Scott Turner and all the great guys who are good friends. We were anyway. It's just like, what are they saying now, fall of 2024? Yeah, that's about when. Yeah, I think they're trying to get it 2024? Yeah, that's about when, yeah, I think they're trying to get it like in TIFF. So yeah, fall 2024. Well, they sound like they're having this completely self-financed
Starting point is 00:56:11 and can carry this thing physically. So maybe you know more than me. I feel like, I don't know what chorus's role. I know you love talking about chorus. But I'm curious if anyone talked to you for this documentary. Did they, because they talked to people adjacent to you in the CFNY history.
Starting point is 00:56:26 Scott Turner reached out to me and said, would you be interested in maybe doing a, and quite honestly, no. As, I don't know what Freddie would say. Well, he did talk to. Well, he should because he became a star. Yeah. A star, right?
Starting point is 00:56:41 With Humble, yeah. With Humble and even before that with Steve. Right. But I was the news guy, for? With Humble, yeah. With Humble and even before that with Steve. Right. But I was the news guy, for God's sakes, and I left in 87. I left before it kind of imploded. But this is covered, as far as I understand, this is not the ongoing history of CFY, if you will.
Starting point is 00:56:56 It's like about the spirit of radio CFY. Maybe they leak past Marsden into the early to mid-90s. That's way beyond me. Yeah, that's way beyond me. And quite truthfully, I was just the guy who did the voices, did some writing and did the news. Uh, you know, the, the stars were Earl
Starting point is 00:57:12 Jive and Jim Reed and, and, and Marsden, you know, Pete and Geetz. Uh, so I quite. So you said no. I said, yeah, thanks, but no, but I'm really looking forward to hearing it. Yeah. It should be available in 20. Well, I think it's coming along. There's a yeah, thanks, but no, but I'm really looking forward to hearing it. Yeah, it should be available in 20, well, I think it's coming along.
Starting point is 00:57:28 There's a lot, they're trying to get some big musical acts to kind of round it out, some CFNY bands, if you will. The music costs alone, the licensing. Right. My God. Can you have a CFNY doc and not license how soon is now? Like a second, right? I don't i i remember you get a sound alike i remember when i first got netflix and i was watching everything they had and i
Starting point is 00:57:52 watched a bowie documentary they didn't license any of his music right i'm watching the three same old women talk about david david jones was his name and he lived down the street. Right. And then they're playing some sort of, I don't know, studio recreated, you know. Like a sound alike? That's a big movie. The sound alike shit they do.
Starting point is 00:58:12 The sound alike shit. Yes, exactly. Yeah. Like when you, I haven't experienced this. There's a car man driving down the road. The Wonder Years
Starting point is 00:58:21 had a big problem licensing their music. Well, WKRP. That's another one, yeah. Yeah, trying to get the actual DVDs. Get Kiss in there, the Who. Kiss in the Who. I love WKRP.
Starting point is 00:58:35 I also love The Wonder Years. If you go on YouTube, you can find that instead of Light My Fire by The Doors, they have a sound-alike, like some other song singing about fire that might sound like it's from the 60s or whatever? Not quite the same thing, but my goodness gracious. But Mike Stafford, it's been six months, so we're saying goodbye now. But it's been six months since you were on a microphone, right? Did you get on a mic between 1250 and 1373?
Starting point is 00:58:59 A couple of times, Dundas and Dixie at the Walmart. I was like, where is, yes is yes and actually you know what 11 division they put you up free for the night so it worked out well let's get your mail uh forwarded to 11 division mike okay michael.stafford at bell.net so yes if you love Stafford, you write them there. If you have some money to spare in the holiday season, send them some hate money. Uh, michael.stafford at bell.net. I will again, broker that deal with Anthony.
Starting point is 00:59:35 Anthony wants to take care of you and your family with some, uh, fresh hot pasta. So that's happening a hundred percent. I just got off the phone with him. He's a sweetheart. They're good people there. Uh,
Starting point is 00:59:44 any final thoughts? And you're back on a mic uh you miss this feeling like even the fact that you can hear your voice in the headphones it's been a while like how is it feeling to be here and will you come back in six months and tell us how everything got better well i would hope that if it's going to get better i will be closer than six months yeah um, that's true. Be optimistic. Secondly, Michael, I got to say, or Mike. Either or. Sitting here, headphones on.
Starting point is 01:00:10 What are these, Sennheisers again? Yeah, the Sennheiser cans, yeah. They weren't that expensive either. I've had them 10 years. They were like 17 bucks, but then they stopped making them because it was too good a value. You got to spend the 90 bucks now
Starting point is 01:00:21 to get these headphones. Oh. I know. Isn't your life bad? And on that note, the light just came on here okay finish that thought though uh very uh quickly um you you make me feel 15 years younger coming down talking to you man and that is very important to me thank you mike you want to hit me with some simpsons trivia no don't do it actually i don't want to embarrass myself what What episode did Baby Gerald first appear? Oh, that's the unibrow, right? That's
Starting point is 01:00:47 Unibrow Baby Gerald. What episode? Great question. It's an early episode. It is. And I couldn't even, I don't even have a... The title of the episode is a takeoff on a movie that Melvin Van Peebles Sweet Sweet Facts Oh, Skinner's Badass Song.
Starting point is 01:01:04 This is a Skinner episode. Sweet Sweet Skinners. Yes, when he's badass song. This is a Skinner episode. Sweet, sweet Skinner's. Yes, when he gets fired. Right. I love that episode. That's where he's trying to choose which detergent to wash
Starting point is 01:01:13 his clothes in and then Bart sees he's a civilian. I'm a civilian now. That's a great episode. Well, that and, you know, Burns trying to decide is it ketchup?
Starting point is 01:01:20 Ketchup. Yes. Ketchup. How long does that show go considering they haven't lost a principal voice? We talked about Phil Hartman earlier with Attorney of the Law
Starting point is 01:01:30 and they have lost Marsha Wallace and there's been some, yes, but the core group still alive even though somebody's in their 80s,
Starting point is 01:01:37 I'd say. Is Shearer in his 80s? Shearer's got to be close to 80. He's got to be in his 80s. My question for you on the outs here is if somebody, let's say, sadly, somebody in the principal voice cast passes away,
Starting point is 01:01:50 does Disney replace them? Does Disney get an AI to do it? Does Disney just write? I mean, it could be a principal character. You can't write out Homer or Marge. What happens to the Simpsons when that happens? Well, much like I said about Belle, Disney can suck my...
Starting point is 01:02:04 No, I mean the right move would be to kill it, but they wouldn't. Disney wouldn't do that, right? No, if there's money to be made... If there's money to be made, send it to michael.stafford at belle.net. Mike, thanks for doing this. It always makes me happy to see you
Starting point is 01:02:21 and hopefully it's much sooner than six months for another update and hopefully that update a little better than this one although i wish you much luck on the legal front with chorus we're all rooting for you thank you all and uh thank you mike and that brings us to the end of our 1373rd show you can follow me on twitter and blue sky i'm at uh toronto Mike. Don't follow Stafford on Twitter. He blew that up. You can learn more about that in 1250. We find out why Stafford blew up his Twitter
Starting point is 01:02:52 account, but he is on Facebook, so you can follow Michael Stafford on Facebook. I want to give some love to everyone who made this possible. That is, of course, Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Raymond James Canada, Moneris, Re Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Raymond James Canada, Moneris, Recycle My Electronics, and Ridley Funeral Home.
Starting point is 01:03:11 See you all tomorrow because you don't get to hear Peter Gross. That's a secret episode that's going to be dropped later this month. But tomorrow is another episode of Toast. We're kicking out Radio Jams. We'll dedicate it to Mike Stafford here. We're kicking out Radio Jams. It's Rob Pruce from Spoons. CFNY played a lot of Spast. We're kicking out Radio Jams. We'll dedicate it to Mike Stafford here. We're kicking out Radio Jams. It's Rob Pruse from Spoons. CFNY played a lot of Spoons. And
Starting point is 01:03:30 Bob Ouellette, who worked as a producer for Humble and Fred on CFNY. Bingo Bob. Bingo Bob. So Bingo Bob, Rob Pruse in the basement tomorrow at 7. It'll live stream at live.torontomike.com. We're kicking out Radio Jams. See you all then. I guess I'm down because everything is coming up rosy and gray.
Starting point is 01:04:08 Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms me today. And your smile is fine, it's just like mine, it won't go away. Because everything is rosy and gray. Well, I've kissed you in France And I've kissed you in Spain And I've kissed you in places I've never been

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