Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - TMLX4: Toronto Mike'd #514

Episode Date: September 19, 2019

Mike chats with listeners and former guests at TMLX4 at Great Lakes Brewery...

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Toronto Welcome to episode 514 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. Live from Great Lakes Brewery. That's what we should be saying here. Propertyinthe6.com Palma Pasta StickerU.com Capadia LLP
Starting point is 00:00:50 CPAs and Pumpkins After Dark I'm Mike from TorontoMike.com and my guest this episode is all of you! What was that second last sponsor?
Starting point is 00:01:07 No offense, but what was that? Capadia LLP CPAs. Yeah, all right. I need a pause. By a valve or? You don't even listen to this show. When I do this, everyone applaud, okay? Oh, this.
Starting point is 00:01:19 Very good. Cool. Excellent. It's a great theme song, isn't it, Elvis? Yeah. That's why I come back. Okay, so we are live from the patio of Great Lakes Brewery. This is TMLX4.
Starting point is 00:01:37 And to my left right now is the man who helped me set up these speakers, my new Andrew Stokely, please skip ahead two minutes. My new audio guru, Al Grego from the Royal Pains. That would be guru adjacent. This is the first time you've come to a TMLX event and didn't have to perform, correct? Yes, yet I'm on the mic once again.
Starting point is 00:02:05 I see Stephanie Wilkinson. Make sure she gets a name tag. She's a VIP, okay? Extra beer for her. So, Al, thanks for helping me set things up. So far, so good. Sounds great in the headphones. Yeah, my pleasure. I hope it sounds good out there. How's it sound out there?
Starting point is 00:02:22 Good. This audience knows how to follow instructions. To my right. They're fucking fired up too. Oh. Wow. I should point out, I am literally between two beards right now. We could name this episode Between Two Beards.
Starting point is 00:02:37 Al's rocking a gray beard, just making me jealous. But Elvis is here. Elvis is here. Hello. Hi. I'm here against my will. Elvis has been expected at all the TMLXs, but usually sends me a text around five or so. I did that once.
Starting point is 00:02:56 And then one time I didn't send you a text. So twice you did not show up, even though I expected you. This is my second time. One time I told you I wasn't coming. All right. One time I just didn't show up. I'm glad you're here live from the great lakes brewery patio now the weather times you're gonna say brewery am i saying it right no because uh it's the best one is here married to leave a fumka the infamous leave a fumka and one likes to correct me on the the
Starting point is 00:03:24 spanish words i mispronounced but the me on the Spanish words I mispronounce. But the joke is I actually mispronounce a lot of English words as well. You do, you do. Which is ironic that you have your own podcast. So what is your first language then, Mike? That's it. I'm muting your mic, Al. Come on.
Starting point is 00:03:42 So, Al, I've got the fourth mic, which is currently unoccupied. I have it muted right now. Let me just hear how it sounds if I unmute it here. I think I'll leave it open. And then if somebody, literally, if somebody wanted to jump on, it's A-OK with me. That's the only rule tonight is there's no rules. So, even this table, there is a table here. There's three
Starting point is 00:04:00 left at the table. You're not listeners, right? No, you don't know what's going on, right? That is a lot longer than I expected 50% of the table. You're not listeners, right? No, you don't know what's going on, right? That is a lot longer than I expected 50% of the table to be there for. Hey, can I give you guys each a sticker? Would you take a sticker? Okay. I'll be your Vanna. And by the way, if one of
Starting point is 00:04:18 you wanted to jump on the MD mic, I want to find out why you're not listening to this program. I'm very interested. So Elvis, okay, Elvis and Al are with me to begin, and then what I'm going to do is I'm going to rotate people in and out. So I have a list of people who want to be
Starting point is 00:04:33 on the mic, and I'll, just trust me, I'm going to record for two and a half hours. By the way, Monica said to me, Monica said, oh, by the way, all my notes are flying away, so I'm now freestyling, but Monica said, Mike, how are you going to do two and a half hours like how do you talk for two and a half hours I said literally that's
Starting point is 00:04:50 exactly what happens when Mark Weisblock comes over like we do two and a half hours straight so this will be easy I wouldn't know I didn't listen to that episode I did a 48 hour radio marathon or radio charity telethon that's it radiothon we called it 48 hours straight on the air it was brutal brutal so two and a half hours is well i couldn't
Starting point is 00:05:14 stay up that long yeah that was forget talking but yeah it was tough and then we would take donations for people who wanted to hear songs and then take donations for people who wanted us to turn the songs off. It was quite good. It was quite good. Good. Now, my only tip for you, Elvis, because you're going to be on the mic a lot tonight, is to talk into the mic.
Starting point is 00:05:35 I don't have the swing boom thing. These are stands. You're going to have to eat the mic a little bit here. Isn't that a bingo card square, Al? Al, tell us about the bingo card. We've never talked. Did we talk about it when you did the best of one through 255? No, we didn't.
Starting point is 00:05:51 And I'd like to take full credit for it, but I really can't. Somebody on Twitter once said that they need to do a drinking game where, you know, you take a drink every time Mike mispronounces brewery or women or something like that... Or talks about his wife being from Edmonton or mentions... Whoa, whoa! Sorry. Who are these little people? Okay, Jarvis. Jarvis, go sit beside Elvis.
Starting point is 00:06:15 Okay? Hold on, this is breaking right off the top here before their bedtime here. This is breaking right off. Oh, he's never going to reach that mic. Can you hold it for him? All right, hold on. Sorry, my five-year-old and my three-year-old just right up. Oh, he's never going to reach that mic. Can you hold it for him? I'll hold it. All right, hold on. Sorry, my five-year-old and my three-year-old just showed up.
Starting point is 00:06:29 Love you, Morgan. All right. Love you. And Monica's here. Oh, I thought the kids came alone, but no. Okay, good. Okay, say hi. Hi, Jarvis.
Starting point is 00:06:40 Do you want to say something? You can say hi. Hi. But on the microphone, not in your hand. Hi. Hi, Jarvis. You're say something? Hi. But on the microphone, not in your hand. Hi. Hi, Jarvis. You're learning French? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:06:49 Because you're in French immersion now. Do you want to just give us one French word? Bonjour. Bonjour. Very good. Wouldn't it be great if he said tabernacle? That'd be fantastic. Jarvis, I saw you on TV this morning.
Starting point is 00:07:02 Oh, yeah. Okay. So, Jarvis, were you on TV yesterday this morning. Oh, yeah. Okay. So, Jarvis, were you on TV yesterday? Yeah. Yeah, it was yesterday. And did you see yourself on the television, on the CTV, the Ben Mulroney show? Yeah. Your morning?
Starting point is 00:07:14 Yeah. Did you do a good job? Yeah. Yeah. Thanks. Nice talking to you. Okay. Can we ask him a yes or no question, maybe?
Starting point is 00:07:22 You can ask him something. I don't know how to talk to children. Don't you have like eight kids or something? Rumor has it, yeah. All right, Jarvis. Thank you so much. Love you. How long are you here for?
Starting point is 00:07:34 Does Morgan want to talk before I get rolling here? Morgan, do you want to talk? Talk into the microphone over there. Morgan, I thought you'd be way too shy for this. Come on over, Morgan. Do you want to say hi into the microphone? Oh, way when we did the uh ctv your morning thing two mornings ago she was so nice beside me and then like 30 seconds before we went to air she had some she just got like ticked off and ran away so i lost her but it ticked off she screamed at the top of
Starting point is 00:08:00 her lungs it was quite fantastic yeah monica do you want to jump on real quick while we do the intros here she's run away to the car okay so I'll talk to us about the bingo card you still do it or no it was just passing time I mean I created it for other people to play along it wasn't my thing I just created it put it out there to see if anybody used it. Nobody used it, so it's no longer a thing. Oh, by the way, Monica's here. She's from Edmonton. Yes. Check that off. And where do you live? You live in New Toronto or Mimico?
Starting point is 00:08:34 It's New Toronto. New Toronto, right. Of course. Come on. Once you get to the numbered streets. And David Clarkson's from there, right? David Clarkson, Dave Boland, and Shanahan. Brendan Shanahan. Fantastic. There we go. Bingo. Our famous... Oh, oh, he went to power. That's another one. So Al, this is the first time you've been to one of these events
Starting point is 00:08:52 and you're not performing live. Correct. How come a lot of people like Levi Fumka were upset that there's no live music today? Why is there no Royal Pains playing this event? Scheduling conflict? Shut up, Elvis. Is that true?
Starting point is 00:09:08 It's kind of true. Okay, but can you share? Are you comfortable sharing the fact you have another band? Sure, why not? I started up a new band, and it's called The Weekends, and we played our first gig last weekend, and it was a lot of fun. I think there's already a musician named The Weekend. No, it's not The Weekend. It's The Weekends, and we played our first gig last weekend, and it was a lot of fun. I think there's already a musician named The Weekend. No, it's not The Weekend.
Starting point is 00:09:27 It's The Weekends. How does your other band feel about you moonlighting with another band? Oh, fine. Stu, the guitarist from the Royal Pains, he's got five other bands. Oh, really? Okay. So, yeah, The Weekends, it's a little different from The Pains. We've got a female co-lead singer.
Starting point is 00:09:42 Oh. Very progressive, a little Fleetwood Mac-y. Yes. Actually, one of the songs that we're going to play is a Fleetwood Mac song. There we go. And my brother is the lead guitarist in it. It's all completely different players, but it's a different vibe, but a lot of fun.
Starting point is 00:09:56 So there's no Steven Tyler, Joe Perry kind of situation happening? No. No? Okay. Does anyone else here have a big beard? I just had an idea for a photo. That's not big enough. This guy who doesn't listen but got a sticker anyways. Any big beards?
Starting point is 00:10:11 See, Beats. We got to give a shout out to Beats who wanted to be here. Beats came to TMLX3 and he said he came all the way from Colberg to meet Elvis and you didn't show up at TMLX3. Yeah. Well, I mean, he's got more problems than just driving up from Colbert if he wants to come here and meet me. That seems like a problem. Jarvis came back.
Starting point is 00:10:30 Just sat down like he belongs up here. What's going on? Do you want something to say? Okay. Do you want to say something? So, Al, do you want to promote the, there's a local appearance. So, we're at Great Lakes Brewery, which is like down the street. Is it okay if I touch your shoulder? It is now, I guess.
Starting point is 00:10:45 We'll talk later. You're strong. Sure. Okay. Do you want to promote the fact you're playing live in the hood? Yeah, we're playing in Etobicoke on October 25th at the Dakota Sports Bar and Grill. We haven't played in this area ever, so we're looking forward to it. Mike said he's going to come by.
Starting point is 00:11:04 What day is it? October 25th. Liev said she's coming, and I believe Hebsey said he was going to come. I saw Hebsey here. Hebsey, just yes or no, are you going to show up for the Royal Pains at the Dakota?
Starting point is 00:11:22 He doesn't have a mic. You already forgot a great thing. October 25th. October 25th. It's a Friday night and it's literally like 10 minutes from here. Five minutes from here. Yeah, but he's a Clinton and college guy. Like he's not a new Toronto resident.
Starting point is 00:11:35 He seems to make his way over here for you. All because he slept on my couch a little bit. That doesn't mean he lives here. And I have purchased one of his books, so he owes me. Oh, by the way, to anybody who's here in attendance tonight, Mark Hebger, you know, the Sportsline Nostalgia is through the roof right now because he golfed with Jim Taddy. This just happened.
Starting point is 00:11:52 We're going to talk about it with him later. But if you want to buy Hebsey's book, he's got books for sale, right? And he's going to sign the books, and he'll do a selfie with you. I think Al's going to buy one right now. He's adjusting the speakers there.
Starting point is 00:12:07 If you're here and you want a Mark Hebbs book, even you guys who don't listen to Toronto Mites can buy a Hebbs book. He's a freaking legend. Pay your respects. Do you maybe want to tell people what the book is about so it's not just a Hebbs book? You can do it. Why don't we get Mark on to talk about it? Later I'll get Mark on. I'm sure he'll
Starting point is 00:12:23 mention a thing or two about what it's about. I will say I've gotten through the first few chapters, and it's an enjoyable read. I'm really enjoying it. Elvis, we haven't talked in a while. We actually did go to a Wolfpack match. We have talked in a while. How are things?
Starting point is 00:12:39 Things are good. And do you have a band you want to promote? No. I have nothing to promote. I have no reason to be here. I'm supporting you. Who's your barber? Jamie.
Starting point is 00:12:51 Jamie? Yeah. I've had a bad string of luck with barbers. I had a barber a number of years ago, great guy. And then I went to his barber shop one day, and he started talking about how Barack Obama wasama was this like zionist and how it was you know yeah so i couldn't obviously couldn't go back and get my haircut episode when elaine had to break up with that great guy because he was uh pro-life do you remember this episode
Starting point is 00:13:17 so the trick is never ask your barber about like where he was talking about it with someone else i would never talk about politics but yeah so I clearly couldn't go back. And then I fell in love with Jamie. So we've been together for a long time. Are you guys ready to put a listener on the fourth mic? Are you ready? By the way, I'm not going to go in order because I'm going to randomly pick somebody. Don't lie.
Starting point is 00:13:36 He's going to go with his favorite first. They're pointing at the guy who has no idea what's going on here. But he does have a bit of a beard, actually. Yeah, let's get him on. All right, do you want to start us off? Guy in blue. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:13:50 I didn't even have to raise a sign. He didn't even sign in here, so he's not moving. I don't think he's going on the mic. No, do you want to come on? Levi Fumka just took the sign-in sheet, but I was about to name a name randomly. She's giving it to Lou, but he's already on it. Oh, we signed Lou in.
Starting point is 00:14:07 We signed him in. Okay. You signed him in, right? Okay, so we'll go to somebody who actually listens to the program. Is Michael Lang here? Is Michael Lang here? I think I'm going to call...
Starting point is 00:14:17 He's ordering beer. Okay, so are you able to talk right now? Okay, run. Let the poor man get a beer. Okay, he's wearing a Watchmen shirt, so I'm going to play a little Watchmen here. Okay.
Starting point is 00:14:36 Wow, he gets walk-up music. That's awesome. I have it for another guy, too. I was hoping some of the lowest of the low would be here so we could keep that feud going. Yes, I know. I'm doing my best. Trust me. If I can divide and conquer the 90s CanCon alt-rock bands, my work
Starting point is 00:14:56 here is done. Boneyard Tree, Great Jam, The Watchmen. By the way, a little tip, maybe a teaser, is that TMLX5 is looking like it's going to feature the Watchmen live on the patio of Great Lakes Brewery. Fantastic. Which is exciting.
Starting point is 00:15:11 Unless it snows or something. I don't know. I was going to say, when is this happening? It was going to be a June 2020 thing. But it might be TMLX 6. It's up to Retro Ontario if my idea for TMLX 5 actually happens. But Michael Lang, you were at the Opera House last week. Yes, I was.
Starting point is 00:15:28 It was fantastic. Sorry, you were performing at the Opera House? Absolutely not. Can you fill us in on your inside conversation here? Tell us... I forget that not everybody knows what's going on. Elvis doesn't listen to Tronel, Mike. No, if it's for someone who didn't want to be here. You should be at that
Starting point is 00:15:43 table right there. There's an empty seat for you right there. Langer. Langer is a fan of Martin Streak. Absolutely. So I wouldn't say necessarily Martin Streak, but the music that he played every Friday night. You're not a fan of Martin. No, no, I'm not saying that.
Starting point is 00:15:59 Every Friday night and Saturday night, the soundtrack of my youth, so to speak, he was there. So, you know so his aura lives on in my memories. So I'm recording with May Potts and Danny Elwell and Alan Cross and David Marsden, and I'm doing my thing, and then I see one of these things
Starting point is 00:16:17 is not like the other. I'm like, that guy, he's a fan. He's such a big fan of the podcast, Elvis, that he took Jarvis and I to a Brampton. What's the team called again? The Brampton Beast. The Brampton Beast. Good seats are still available.
Starting point is 00:16:32 We were the only two in the arena. Pretty much, yeah. Remind us what league they play in. The East Coast Hockey League, which is just a bit above AA Pee Wee Hockey. But it is the one that feeds the AHL? Correct. That's not bad. It's a third level.
Starting point is 00:16:48 Yeah, but Brampton's not on the East Coast. I was going to say, it's not even East Toronto. We played in the AL East forever, so I don't think that matters. But Michael Lang, I want to say thank you to you because when I was recording three hours at the Opera House and it was, you know, a lot of stuff going on, but nobody ever during that three hours offered me any beverage of any kind.
Starting point is 00:17:11 So tonight, there's going to be a constant flow of Great Lakes beer, which is fantastic. But all of a sudden, like an angel from the heavens, Michael Lang bought me a shot, and it was like, that was it for the whole night. That was it? Yeah, no one bought me anything, man. Assholes assholes i know everyone i mean they knew that after one shot it's game over i was i was messaging elvis and i said i was gonna get hammered tonight and then elvis said
Starting point is 00:17:36 so i was gonna have two beers he said that's right and i said no it takes three to get me hammered come on but uh michael lang can you tell us when you discovered this podcast? I think I've been listening since about episode 80. You missed 79 good episodes. I listened to probably all of them except the Elvis episodes. Me too. The opposite. The opposite, he means. So did you ever listen to this Your Blog Sucks? me too the opposite the opposite
Starting point is 00:18:05 he means so you never did you ever listen to this your blog sucks what's that no he didn't
Starting point is 00:18:11 and so Rosie was Rosie was well done by 79 too yeah she was gone by like 60 I think first 50 or so
Starting point is 00:18:19 were Rosie Rosie again I say this every TMLX but I could throw a rock and hit her car in fact give me a rock. I'm going to try to do it.
Starting point is 00:18:28 But Rosie cannot be here. She's busy with parental duties. She lives near here is what you're trying to say? Very close. That's what I mean by that. If you were slow in the uptake. So, do you have a favorite episode of Toronto Mic'd? The best, the episode's when you have a favorite episode of Toronto Mic'd? The best
Starting point is 00:18:45 The episode's when you have musical guests And probably the Most surprising one was Keith Hampshire Because of his backstory And his pirate radio And singing the OK Blue Jay song And this Should we do a sing-along?
Starting point is 00:19:02 Did you I would have given you All of my heart But there's along? Did you... Guys, can you excuse us for a second? Mike and I need some time. Is Elvis starting to cry? That's what he does, right? That should be a bingo square too, right? Yeah, good one. I hope Keith lives to be 100, but if he passed away, Elvis would be in tears right now.
Starting point is 00:19:28 Oh, we have to talk about Mike's throne. Okay, talk about the throne, and then we'll get back to Keith. Mike is literally sitting on a throne. It's like, did you order... Is this in your rider? Do we have a photographer for TMO? Purple M&Ms and a throne. A goddamn throne.
Starting point is 00:19:44 That's what you're sitting on. And the Keith Hampshire episode, it's the pirate radio stuff, right? Right. Right by the throne. Keith Hampshire, I thought was fascinating too, even though I made him very late for a funeral. Fun fact.
Starting point is 00:19:57 And he hit his head very hard on the ceiling because he was so anxious to get to the funeral. And ever since that, I've been warning guests when they take off their headphone not to leap up because they could hurt themselves. Did you say that to Peter Gross, too? No. Is Peter here?
Starting point is 00:20:11 He's vertically challenged, so he was okay. But he knows it. I like it. I'm not a tall man. I would hit my head on the ceiling. Peter's okay. What did you think of the Gino Vannelli episode? Fantastic. Black cars? What did you think of the Gino Vannelli episode? Fantastic. Black cars?
Starting point is 00:20:27 What did you think of the Gino Vannelli recap episode? What was that one? Every subsequent one? Pretty much right after that. Yeah. That was a whole lot of Mike asking Elvis, did you listen to the episode? And Elvis saying no. I did listen to that one.
Starting point is 00:20:44 Now, Michael, thanks so much for being here, my friend. I might call for you later, but the table of non-listeners has left the facility. So thank you. And that means there's good spaces available. Tell all your friends. So Sean, Stephanie, Looskieses, Mark Hebbshire, if you want to get on the balcony, come on in now. They didn't even eat their food. They just said, this is not for me, this podcast.
Starting point is 00:21:09 I am out of here. Thank you so much. Could I get, again, all random, but Stephanie, do you want to jump on real quick? No, you're not going to come on? Come on. Stephanie Wilkinson is not interested in coming on. Okay. Moose Grumpy, do you want to come on?
Starting point is 00:21:25 Moose Grumpy is going to come on. Stephanie Wilkinson is not interested in coming on. Okay. Moose Grumpy. Do you want to come on? Moose Grumpy is going to come on. She's been at every single Toronto Mike listener experience, I think. Oh, no. Not all of them. I apologize. Oh, I can check off when they've been taken care of. Oh, Sean's here. Good.
Starting point is 00:21:42 He wore a Humble and Friend t-shirt. He represents. Wow. Moose. He even mentioned that on the website or on the podcast this morning that he was wearing the shirt he's actually here on uh representing humble and fred like he's like their proxy they said they weren't invited so i thought i invited the world okay moose yes thanks for being here for having me. What's the origin of the nickname Moose Grumpy? I'll bring down Gino for you. So if you're really old, when the internet first started, you didn't realize that things were going to expand, that everybody had their own titles. So my husband and I actually shared this at one point.
Starting point is 00:22:21 I'm Moose, he's Grumpy, and then I inherited it and he got his own. So I've since then stayed Moose Grumpy and then I inherited it and he got his own. So I've since then stayed Moose Grumpy. Is your husband here today? No. He doesn't get my whole podcast. What's that last for? What's his new name? Jake.
Starting point is 00:22:38 Wait, he went, hold on, wait a minute. He was Jake, then went to Grumpy and then went back to Jake? No, Jake's his nickname. That's not his real name. Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, like two Jakes, the Chinatown sequel.
Starting point is 00:22:50 What's that? It's like naming your dog Kevin. Your nickname is like a real person's name. All right. Fair enough. That's like if Elvis had a name like Perry or something. Yeah, exactly. There was some guy around here named Perry.
Starting point is 00:23:01 Very strange. So Moose Grumpy. Yes. I'll be honest. I only know you as Moose Grumpy. Yes. I'll be honest. I only know you as Moose Grumpy. Like, I don't know if you have a real name. You do so. Do I?
Starting point is 00:23:09 Okay, I probably do. But I think of you, when I think of you, which is often, I think of you as Moose Grumpy. Sorry, Monica. Is Monica gone? Monica's gone. Yeah, okay. It's probably something I said. Okay.
Starting point is 00:23:21 So Moose Grumpy, when did you discover Toronto Mike? Very early on. Probably just after Rosie left, but not... You're not a Rosie fan? No. I'm trying to create some controversies here.
Starting point is 00:23:37 I was a hardcore Humble and Fred listener and kind of discovered you through Humble and Fred when you were helping them and that you were doing your own podcast. So I owe a debt of gratitude to Humble and Fred when you were helping them and that you were doing your own podcast. So I owe a debt of gratitude
Starting point is 00:23:48 to Humble and Fred for sending you over. Which is better, the Toronto Mike or Humble and Fred, which is the better podcast? Oh, don't do that. And do you live like in the west end of the city? Yes, in Mississauga. Oh, that's super wet. Oh, by the way, Monica is here.
Starting point is 00:24:05 Babe, you sure you don't want to jump on for a second? Because I don't have to be between two beards the whole night. Are you leaving now? Okay, you want to come give me a high five or a fist bump or something? Bye, Jarvis. Oh, wow. This is awesome. It won't work well
Starting point is 00:24:23 on podcasts, but it's great. Okay, these two sweeties are leaving now, going to bed. I love you both. I love you too, Moose Grumpy. Oh, sorry. Sorry, babe. I love you too. Okay.
Starting point is 00:24:40 You were very helpful at the last TMLX. Which TMLX did you not attend? The first one. You wanted to make sure it was... That one did suck. Elvis, which ones did you attend? He was here at the second one. The second one and this one, I guess.
Starting point is 00:24:56 I don't know why I missed the first one. I must have been out of town or something. The first one was at the end of June, and that's when all our kids have stuff, too. So I think that's why I wasn't here. You didn't like the band. The Royal Pains weren't your cup of tea.
Starting point is 00:25:07 That's a lie. Big fan. How come Jake is not here? Like he doesn't care for the Toronto Mike podcast. He doesn't get my podcast obsession.
Starting point is 00:25:16 So. How many podcasts do you listen to? I'm not judging. Judging. Mark, how many? A hundred. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:25:23 Wow. What the fuck? Do you not work? I do. But I work by myself in my house at my desk and have no one to talk to. So I just listen to podcasts all day long. Oh, wow. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:25:32 That's fascinating. Do you listen at one time speed? I listen to none. Elvis listens to no podcast. Listen to none. And I can't do like Mark Weisblatt. I can't do the one and a half to half times. I need to listen at normal speed.
Starting point is 00:25:45 I like it at normal speed. I like it at normal speed too. Do you listen to the Elvis episodes? Okay, I'm not pandering. I really am not pandering. You are honestly my favorite. When yours drop, I listen to them right away. I am a big fan. Let's move on. How does that make you feel?
Starting point is 00:26:00 How does that make you feel? I like people that say it like it is and you say it like it is she'll be the one to get you the beers as you require no problem I have a top I've met Elvis' wife, I actually was at a Wolfpack match with her recently, you like him more than she does
Starting point is 00:26:16 your children are gorgeous too I don't know what my children look like do you follow me on Instagram or something? yeah, you follow me too I do? we have a great relationship How do you know what my children look like? Do you follow me on Instagram or something? Yeah, you follow me too. I do? Yeah. All right.
Starting point is 00:26:28 So, well, we have a great relationship. I think I should leave you alone. You have any romantic music you want to put on? No, because he doesn't really care. So that's fine. I have romantic traffic. Is that close enough? Oh, yeah. Because your name is not Moose Grumpy on here.
Starting point is 00:26:47 Oh, true. Okay. I know where her real name is. Yeah, I have a real name. Just like some guy named Perry. Perry Como? That's ridiculous. Al, okay. Can I cycle you out and bring you back? I don't want to be a jerk here, but I actually want to get Lieve Fumka on because of
Starting point is 00:27:02 all the work I have her doing for the TMLX4. We started following each other now after the last TMLX that I was at. You started following me. I've been following you.
Starting point is 00:27:12 Right. Okay, I'm not a creepy stalker. Oh my God. I like this. First of all, you do these, you know these podcasts are public.
Starting point is 00:27:20 Like when you do episodes of show the stalking is just they enjoy the entertainment. All right, just let it ride. I'm actually kind of upset that your favorite episodes like when you do episodes of show the stalking is just the enjoyment entertainment I'm actually kind of upset that your favorite episodes are Elvis episodes because they're my least favorite episodes shut up
Starting point is 00:27:33 leave a fumka alright yeah come on you never heard the show you gotta get on that mic you are a wonderful human being because you, uh, you made, uh,
Starting point is 00:27:47 name tags for everybody. Yes. And you were here early to help, uh, carry heavy things. So Elvis and I didn't have to do it. Not Elvis. And I,
Starting point is 00:27:56 Al and I, Elvis came late as well. Uh, I was here at six o'clock. Yeah. Thank you so much for like all your support. Uh, you're,
Starting point is 00:28:04 uh, even in the open mics. Yes, of course. You sound so scared. Except for TMLX3 when she felt she needed to go to France more than come hang out with us. That was controversial when she wasn't here. Because I actually was upset because who was going to do the name tags? You really gave her the gears. Did Andy do it?
Starting point is 00:28:23 Andy, did you do the name tags? Yes. Okay, Andy's going to jump on in a minute. Okay, because I thought Moose Grumpy was going to do the name tag you really gave her the gears did andy do it andy did you do the name tags yes okay andy's gonna jump on in a minute because i thought moose grumpy was gonna take over my job well moose grumpy and he was on it and he was handing out the gift bag she she was on it she we don't need to be here it takes two people to uh take your spot so okay and whenever i again i mentioned this earlier but if i say a spanish word wrong your husband corrects me like even sometimes i get audio recordings like he's uh that's awesome that's fantastic that is fantastic but that's only because he doesn't he wants to rub it in he doesn't listen to toronto mike so I will play him the words that you say incorrectly. And then he has a good laugh.
Starting point is 00:29:10 He doesn't listen. Hold on. I'm stuck on that. Is he Spanish? Yes, he is. That would be even better if he wasn't Spanish. No, I know. He's correcting you.
Starting point is 00:29:17 But even before I met him, I knew how to say Bogota. Not Bogota. How do I say it? You said Bogota. Does anyone else say Bogota? It's Bogota. Bogota. Not Bogota. How do I say it? You said Bogota. Does anyone else say Bogota? It's Bogota. Okay. Now we'll move on from that.
Starting point is 00:29:31 I don't know. You guys treat me like I'm differently abled. I feel like you should be more respectful. You should miss one of people with disabilities, right? Right. It's kind of a Toronto Mike roast tonight, I think. Yes, exactly. It's fantastic.
Starting point is 00:29:47 I'm going to mute your microphone exactly It is an Elvis episode So, Lieve Fumka When did you discover Toronto Mike? I heard you on Humble and Fred That's two in a row If it gets to three, they're going to take credit for the whole thing Unfortunately Yeah, I know, Sean, but
Starting point is 00:30:01 when I'm choosing my favorite... I've got to turn up the mic for this one. I go to Toronto mic. I'm sorry. But when you're on, Sean, it's great. Sean talks science? Great. If you were going to watch something on Twitch, you would watch Sean on his new show.
Starting point is 00:30:23 Yes. What the fuck is Twitch? What is Twitch? Well, when Sean gets up, he can talk all about it. Okay, so if I'm hearing you correctly and I love Humble and Fred, of course, I invited them here. They said no. Now, if
Starting point is 00:30:37 I'm hearing you correctly, if you have an episode of Humble and Fred and an episode of Toronto Mic'd and you can only listen to one, it's Toronto Mic'd. Thank you can only listen to one, you listen to Toronto Mic'd. Thank you, Lieve Fumka. You're welcome. That's amazing. Oh, I got a high five, too.
Starting point is 00:30:52 I got to ask my question. I've now decided I'm going to ask every guest this. Do you listen to the Elvis episodes or not? Oh, yeah. I'm Moose Grumpy. That's fine. Just yes or no is good. No, no, no. Moose Grumpy and I are like fangirls.
Starting point is 00:31:02 We are totally fangirls. Because didn't you remember TMLX2? We came up to you. Oh, no. Moose Grumpy and I are like fangirls. We are totally fangirls. Didn't you remember TMLX2? We came up to you. Yeah, there was an incident. I'm shocked. Me too. I don't understand it. Are you going to tell all the cool kids at work that you got the suburban mom
Starting point is 00:31:19 to hit on you? It's hot. There's a whole category on the internet for that Moose Grumpy thank you so much I might call for you again later
Starting point is 00:31:31 so you don't go very far I won't because you know I'm like a conductor here I had my training at the opera house
Starting point is 00:31:38 so I'm well versed in this I'm going to ask and he won't want me to call for him but I'm calling for Rick oh he is fine with it okay good Rick T oh sorry I'm going to ask, and he won't want me to call for him, but I'm calling for Rick. Oh, he is fine with it.
Starting point is 00:31:47 Okay, good. Rick T. Oh, sorry. Rick C? No, Rick C's coming. He's coming. I've got to save him. My brother Steve is here, everybody.
Starting point is 00:31:55 I actually hope he comes on the mic so you can hear how we have the same voice. Like, no one's heard Steve in public because he's shy. Oh, there's Steve. But he sounds like me, Elvis. Can he pronounce words? No, I don't think so.
Starting point is 00:32:08 Yeah, he pronounces words perfectly. He is the more intelligent brother. If you took me and you made him enunciate correctly, you would have Steve. Okay. Do you still listen to every single episode? And do you provide notes every single episode as well? No.
Starting point is 00:32:22 But he listens to a lot. He said every single episode. Oh, he does. Do you listen to the Elvis episodes or no? He does, yeah, of course. That seemed like a lying face. How come Ryan's... Why isn't Ryan here? My other brother doesn't listen, doesn't come to these events.
Starting point is 00:32:37 Rick, not Rick, C in Oakville, who we'll talk to later. Rick, how you doing, buddy? Alright, how are you? Good. Who the hell are you Rick, how you doing, buddy? All right, how are you? Good. Who the hell are you? What are you doing here? What am I doing here?
Starting point is 00:32:49 I guess twofold. I'm a listener, and I'm also working with the Pumpkins After Dark folks. Okay. Speak it into the mic aggressively. I got to get a booming voice? Yeah, I like that. All right. I really like that.
Starting point is 00:33:03 Wow. I think I moved there. Okay. So we'll talk about Pumpkins After Dark in a minute. But when did you discover Toronto Mic'd? I discovered Toronto Mic'd because I now have two small children and we were watching Treehouse. And Splashin' Boots came on and my wife said, I wonder if they're married. And I said, I'll Google that.
Starting point is 00:33:22 So I Googled it. I found you. They're not and but they were they were she's the she's the woman who has one of the most controversial photos on the I thought you're gonna say she's the woman of nipples and I was the old it's the same thing that's what Mike come on that's a family show no she's wonderful of course but she that's the that's her. This is a family show. No, she's wonderful, of course. But that's the woman?
Starting point is 00:33:47 Okay. I just wanted to make sure I knew who I was talking about. Do you get Treehouse? There's an Apple TV app for it. Okay, Charlie never watched any Splashin' Boots? I don't know. I don't remember that show being... You don't know your children's viewing habits. Well, it's mostly superhero stuff on the iPad now. We watch
Starting point is 00:34:06 Endgame together and stuff like that. He's four. It's fine. Are you kidding me? My three-year-olds watch Pulp Fiction. Are you kidding me? Nice. Do you have a favorite episode? The one where Splash and Boots were on.
Starting point is 00:34:22 They were on twice, you know. I know. The second one. 335. Okay, and they kick out the jams. Yes. And the one I haven't seen yet that I want to is Mr. Troy Burch's kick out of the jams from... Yeah, there's a Troy... I don't think Troy's here.
Starting point is 00:34:35 I haven't seen him anyways. But Troy did kick out the jams, and you should listen to that as well. I would love to. And tell us a little bit about the Pumpkins After Dark. Are they coming? I don't think so. Do you have an update?
Starting point is 00:34:45 Unfortunately, I've not heard of them. Where are they coming from? I want to know. Milton? Oakville, Milton, yeah. Okay. Do you want to tell everybody about Pumpkins After Dark? Sure.
Starting point is 00:34:53 Yeah, so I'm working with a group that are doing, we're sponsors now for the next couple months, which is great. We love the show. And there's an event in Milton starting in one week today for about six weeks, where you'll be able to see 5,000 carved pumpkins, 100 sculptures. It's about an hour
Starting point is 00:35:08 to get through in Country Heritage Park in Milton. Pretty cool little thing. Okay, so I'm trying to visually... You've got 5,000 pumpkins and they're illuminated and it's dark, right? So it looks cool. What kind of music you got going on there? I don't know. Oh, yeah, because you're not... Maybe the Waltons.
Starting point is 00:35:24 Like my tractor, You got that album? Yeah. Okay. Rain. The Naked Rain is on that album. And it's fantastic. I love that. Is this an all-ages thing?
Starting point is 00:35:32 It is an all-ages. Yeah, there's actually discounts for kids. And there is a discount code if you are a Toronto Mike listener. How about if you're not a listener, but you just appear on the podcast? If you were that table that was here a minute ago, you could still get a discount. If you don't use the promo code Pump minute ago, you could still get a discount. If you don't use the promo code Pumpkin Mike, then you're doing it wrong.
Starting point is 00:35:49 The promo code is Pumpkin Mike? That's fantastic. You really don't listen to Trump. Of course not. I'm fucking lying. It's true. So, Rick,
Starting point is 00:35:58 I'm doing a new thing. I've decided I'm going to size up my guests. I'm going to look them in the eyes, and I'm going to decide on the spot whether they're a ministry Every Day is Halloween person
Starting point is 00:36:07 or a Monster Mash person. Oh, man. This is what I've been doing. So this is something bonus for people who listen to episodes in September and October. You'll hear what I play, and you'll know how I viewed my guests. What do you think of that, Lieve Femke?
Starting point is 00:36:27 I think that's a good idea, but what am I? You're a ministry girl. Yep. See? I'm good at this. Can you tell the people what Lieve Femke means? Lovely darling? It's a Dutch term of endearment. Because people think that's your name. Just like they think Moose Grumpy is really Moose Grumpy. It's a Dutch term of endearment. Because people think that's your name.
Starting point is 00:36:47 Just like they think Moose Grumpy is really Moose Grumpy. That's right. And Elvis is really Elvis. Exactly the same. When you need a new one, Moose has got you covered. I'll just yell at him. And Rick, did you get your free beer here today?
Starting point is 00:37:01 I did. I got a Grimace's Tears. And how was it? It was great. Blueberry milkshake IPA. Rick, thanks so much for considering Toronto Mic'd when Pumpkins After Dark wanted to make a little noise. Very progressive of you guys. You know, seriously. So they're definitely not coming.
Starting point is 00:37:20 I wouldn't say definitely, but I have not heard a thing. Okay, Pumpkin Mic. And what's the website again? The website, pumpkinsafterdark.com. Awesome. Revolutionary. Thanks for being here, my friend. Rick, I'm going to actually replace you with another Rick,
Starting point is 00:37:34 if there's a Rick C. in Oakville here. Let me pass you the headphones. Is there a Rick C.? Oh, this is going to be good. It's too bad Stephanie Wilkinson won't come on, because I somehow put them together. If I see a Rick Cianocville, I expect to see a Stephanie. But no, she's definitely not interested.
Starting point is 00:37:51 Okay. All right, Rick, get on that mic and talk to me, buddy. So can I do a humble Howard look here? Half on? Sure. Sure. You, Moose Grumpy, and Levi Fumka. For sure.
Starting point is 00:38:02 I don't like my ears fully closed. Get in there. Get in there, brother. Make it with that mic. Get on that mic.. I don't like my ears fully closed. Get in there. Get in there, brother. Get on that mic. I don't have to ask you where you're from because your name is Rick C. Inogville. Fair enough. I don't have to say anymore. Now, I'm going to
Starting point is 00:38:18 tell the listeners that way before I started Toronto Mic'd, I would see Rick C. Inogville leaving comments on Torontoontomic.com. What I'm talking about... Here, you mind if I touch you? I touched Al earlier, but I'm only going to touch the dudes.
Starting point is 00:38:33 That's my plan, okay? Rick C., come over here. I want to touch you. Rick, this is going... How far back do we go together here? Well, you came up in a Google search for what had happened to Humble and Fred. Because I was always a large fan of theirs. Whatever did happen to those guys?
Starting point is 00:38:53 I don't know. 2006, I want to say, that Humble got fired. Yes, I think that, he started, I found yours, and he also had a blog at the time. Yeah, I was the guy behind it. In fact, if Anthony Petrucci, is he still here? If he comes on later. Oh, do we not call him by his name? Oh, yeah, why not?
Starting point is 00:39:14 Because he's not undercover like you. It's not really the greatest name. It's a great cover, but he probably doesn't want to be called by in front of a large group of people. Anthony Petrucci? No, his other name. I think he's okay with it. Il Duce. You're right. You can say it. I think he's okay with it. Il Duce. You're right.
Starting point is 00:39:25 You can say it. I think he's proud of it. Okay. I just saw Peter Gross. Rixie in Oakville. I'm going to have to follow up Rixie with a famous person, I think. Not that you're not famous, Rick. Sorry.
Starting point is 00:39:37 I don't mean to demean you that way. You're really going to have to pry everything out of me, Mike, because... I think I need to go do my name tags. Okay, do your name tags yeah and um thank you so much i did just touch leave a funk guy just for the record there gentle okay rick uh so we go back to 2006 together yes and what do you think of the podcast i've listened since the rosie days day one from day one. Because I was commenting on your blog for, when did you start your podcast? 2002.
Starting point is 00:40:10 Oh, the podcast was 2012. Okay. August 2012. So for six years I was commenting on your blog. And when you immediately launched podcasting, I travel a lot. And needless to say, listening to the radio is pretty boring. And I needed something, and you were, you know, original and from the heart kind of person. And it wasn't very refined, and it's not in a bad way.
Starting point is 00:40:35 Whoa, whoa, whoa, back that up there. I can attest to that. Yes. It wasn't very refined. In the beginning, you were clutching at what you wanted, how you wanted to do this, and what your subject matter was going to be. But then I think you caught your groove. When did I catch my groove?
Starting point is 00:40:52 Episode 420, 421? 500. I think with the musical guests, because those are the ones I'm really the most interested in. And I'm older than you, Mike, but you're bringing in genres of music and like just Mishimi and Biff Naked. I'd never heard of these people. But when you listen to their stories and how hard everybody works. Like Chuck D, I've heard of Public Enemy and all that. But it wasn't my era to listen to the music.
Starting point is 00:41:21 But listen to the stories of this guy. And then he was starting to rhyme off all these little towns in Northern Ontario that he spent all his time. Oh, Chuck D, yeah. Are you kidding me? Oh, he played a little bit of Naked,
Starting point is 00:41:31 just a little taste because she's truly a sweetheart. Yeah. And I won't tell her that you never heard of her. It'll break her heart. She's probably
Starting point is 00:41:41 never heard of me. That's what Hebsey always says. I'll say, oh, I never heard of him and he'll tell me, he probably never heard of me. That's what Hebsey always says. I'll say, oh, I never heard of him, and he'll tell me, he's never heard of you either. This is the Hebsey joke. I see Hebsey. I'm looking over there. I see Hebsey and Peter Gross are having a good conversation. There's a podcast for you, Hebsey and Peter Gross.
Starting point is 00:42:00 Ricksy, you know, Phil, I got to say, man, I always look forward to your comments on the open mics, and I'm just so happy that you're still listening after all these years. Cheers to Rick C. Oh, I almost spilled my beer on my soundboard. Here's to Rick. Cheers, Rick. To Rick C. Awesome guy.
Starting point is 00:42:16 Do you listen to the Elvis episodes, Rick? Always. Really? Yes. All right. Religiously, when they do come on, but it's been quite the drought. Maybe four or five times a year. Yeah, when was the last one?
Starting point is 00:42:28 The last one is probably May, maybe? May. By the way, I should tell the world, you're the bottleneck on the Elvis episodes. I am, I am. I travel a lot and I live far away. I would do it every week if I could. Well, good luck.
Starting point is 00:42:45 Ricksy, thanks so much for being here, buddy. I can't believe it. Have you been to all the TMLXs? I missed out in June. I was in Poland and Germany. You and Levi Fumka were in Europe. Come on, you chose poorly. But thank you for being here.
Starting point is 00:42:58 But you always bring good weather by the sounds of it. Yes. I'm scoring 1,000% there. Is Anthony Petrucci here? Because I want to follow up the humblehoward.com reference that Rick C. and Oakville made. He's coming here. This is the gentleman whose family owns Palma Pasta. Can we talk about how good that fucking lasagna is?
Starting point is 00:43:17 That's the only real reason why I do this podcast is because I get a free lasagna, and it's fantastic. By the way, Anthony told me you're cut off. I don't. You should have cut me off a long time ago. Anthony, how are you By the way, Anthony told me you're cut off. I don't. You should have cut me off a long time ago. Anthony, how are you doing? Good, how are you? Good. Get on that mic, Anthony.
Starting point is 00:43:31 I don't want to miss a syllable. Thanks for being here, buddy. My pleasure. Because you're the hardest working man in Italian in foodery. Well, yeah, you invite the poor guy to your wedding and then make him work it. That's true. What a story. That's a true story so right
Starting point is 00:43:46 now is there anyone else here who's at my wedding because right now i'm flanked by two people who were at my wedding that's pretty cool who else is here who was at my wedding i just want to see if i can pull me okay steve can you come on your brother just for just sit there you don't have to talk no steve i can't believe he won't come to the mic. You guys should hear his voice. It's like mine. Okay. Il Duce, may I call you that? Absolutely.
Starting point is 00:44:11 Elvis said it. I'll say it too. But the food you get from Palma Pasta is unbelievably good. Did you hear Sunil Joshi talking about it on the last episode? Actually, I did. I listened to it. I guess he lived in Mississauga for a little while. I think a long time. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:44:28 And even before we pressed record, I was asking him meat or veggie because I forgot to ask him. And I was getting him his lasagna. And he was saying he knows it well. And he says it is the very best Italian food that doesn't come from like mom's oven. It comes from your mom's oven, right? Yes, it does. Because your mom is Palma. Your mom's Palma.
Starting point is 00:44:48 Right. Mama Palma. Back in the day, way before you were sponsored, by the way, thank you for being a partner of Toronto Mic'd. Let's give it up for Palma Pasta for fueling the real talk. Our pleasure. I mean, you talk about real talk. This guy back in the day, i loved his comments on the blog because he was just he was a bigger asshole than me and it was fantastic okay he would just come in from
Starting point is 00:45:10 left field and be like completely outrageous and i i just love the guy this is perfect can we tell briefly here because i have you two guys are the part parts of the story if humble howard was here would complete the uh quadrant here but uh il duche do you remember the comments you would leave on humblehoward.com which i was the back end guy so i built up humblehoward.com for humble howard to blog on and he would you tell us what kind of comments you would leave there well i was first reading on toronto mike's blog first and then i think you started humble's uh blog so i went on there and i was commenting on certain things. And I seen that something must have tweaked Mike a little bit.
Starting point is 00:45:48 So I knew that I had to hook him. So I kept on going on. And I think he blocked me at one point from posting. I blocked your IP address from commenting on HumbleHoward.com. Because you said you were going to sue him and your lawyer, Mr. Lipschitz. And then I told Elvis and our buddies, so I would tell Elvis. That's fantastic. I told him what was going on and I'm like, I said the IP address belonged to something called Palma Pasta.
Starting point is 00:46:16 Remember this? And you thought it was Italpasta? Yes. And you were leaving comments about how Italpasta sucks. Yeah, I did. Italpasta does suck, actually. Like, for real. The funny story was that I was on, and then Mike had allowed me back on to post certain things. And I think it was one week I was in our store, and I seen someone that looked very similar to Toronto Mike. I thought this was a gig or something because he had a gag or something because Mike had come in there, and I don't think he recognized anything,
Starting point is 00:46:44 but I'd recognize him because I see his him because I remember this day vividly okay so I'm having I'm with colleagues having lunch at Palma's well not wasn't Palma's kitchen but it was the same like right next door right yes it was our previous place that we were in but right next door to it in our manufacturing plant so I had seen him there and I was looking around I didn't know if it was a gag or whatever so I thought maybe let me see what's happening so finally he was on his own and I had seen him there and I was looking around. I didn't know if it was a gag or whatever, so I thought maybe let me see what's happening. So finally he was on his own and I cornered him and he looked at me with these white eyes.
Starting point is 00:47:12 He was so scared shitless. It's fantastic. Because this angry looking Italian guy in a smock was coming towards me and I thought I'd be hanging from the meat freezer. You're racist. I saw Goodfellas. You're racist. Is that a race? You're racist. Yes. a race? You're racist. Yes.
Starting point is 00:47:26 My father will tell you that he's not white. He's Italian. I apologize to the Italian community before this gets out of hand. I don't want any trouble. No. Well, that's how we got to know each other
Starting point is 00:47:35 and from then we've been friends. I can't remember what year that was. That was around because if HumbleHoward.com was online, it was probably 2006 or 2007. Probably in and around there. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:47:46 And what took you so long to be a sponsor of Toronto Mike? What took you so long? It wasn't that long. It wasn't that long. I was on episode like 400 when you showed up. Come on. You kept on. We were in discussions and so forth.
Starting point is 00:48:01 But then we finally jumped on. And it's been. How's it going for you? It's been fun. It's been great. Any exposure that you get, and especially with the guests that you're getting, it's a very unique and organic podcast. Now, every guest... We bring on a lot of different guests.
Starting point is 00:48:15 Every guest. This is straight up. Every guest, except Elvis going forward, he's cut off. But every guest gets a large... Elvis should get one too. Wow. See? Absolutely.
Starting point is 00:48:23 He likes you. The Italians got to stick together. That's racist. Take it easy. Every guest gets a lasagna. Yes. Yes, everyone. Can you buy me a bigger freezer?
Starting point is 00:48:34 Only four at a time, I think, that you can handle. My freezer fits four of your large lasagnas at a time. What if you bought a freezer for the basement and then I just kept it? I'll buy you a retail shop. I'll set you up with a retail shop down there. That's all I'm looking for, buddy. So tell the people, Palma's Kitchen just turned one. One year, but we've been in business for close to 35 years in Mississauga, four locations, three in Mississauga, one in Oakville, And we have our manufacturing plant. We just opened up Palma's Kitchen at the corner of Seminick and Central Parkway West. If you're familiar with Mississauga, it's right in front of the Mississauga Bus Transit Depot.
Starting point is 00:49:14 And again, it's been family. We started with my mom, my dad, my sister, and myself 35 years ago. And right now, currently, we have 100 employees. And we opened our fourth location. Listen, that's way more than TMDS. I'm impressed. Your parents are still with us? Yes.
Starting point is 00:49:34 My dad's 95, still comes in every day. And my mom, occasionally, she's 88, just has a little bit of issue walking around with her knee. And your mom is Palma? Mama Palma. Honestly, God bless you, man. That's fantastic. God bless?
Starting point is 00:49:48 What kind of podcast is this? There's a long story about me and Neil Ducey where he's trying to convert me back to the flock. He wants me back in the fold of Catholicism. And he wants me to baptize my children. I hear that from my mother, too. And I said, if I baptize my kids, it'll be with Palma Pasta tomato sauce. That stuff's the best.
Starting point is 00:50:14 Thank you. Appreciate it. And it's been a pleasure supporting the Toronto Mike podcast. So if you guys like Toronto Mike, you need to... At palmapasta.com. And skip the dishes, is that correct? Yes, we are. Oh, nice.
Starting point is 00:50:28 It's good stuff. Thank you. Thank you. I can't believe you went on the mic. That's fantastic. Do you want to... Can you tell in like 60 seconds or less? I want to get Hebsey on here.
Starting point is 00:50:37 Actually, Hebsey, are you in the building? Can you come on this fourth mic? Are you signing books right now? I guess. Okay, come on and tell them to buy a book. You did sell like 100 books at the last Toronto Mic Listener Experience. They probably already have your book.
Starting point is 00:50:52 You're double dipping. So you get on the mic. Because Hebsey, you know Anthony from Palma Pasta. I know Anthony quite well. I've been to Palma's Kitchen. It's fabulous. I was just telling Peter Gross over there and Bryna and everybody about Palmer's Kitchen. What a nice spot that is.
Starting point is 00:51:11 Thank you, sir. And I see Gare Joyce showed up, so I want to say hi to Gare. I'm just glad he's anywhere. Like, he was, it's nice to see him anywhere. He almost died. I'll get him to tell that story in a bit. You just, you know what? You just, you, you? You just ruined it.
Starting point is 00:51:25 You just, you know, that's... Oh, I spoiled it. It's the punchline, Mike. Come on. He almost died. Now tell us the story about how you almost died. You're putting the guy on the spot there, Mike. Well, Hebsey can tell a story.
Starting point is 00:51:36 That is for sure. Okay, so, Il Duce, you're amazing. I'm going to ask Hebsey about your book. Can we, someone cut that out? Il Duce, you're amazing. Did you just call him El Duce? That's not racist, is it? It's not racist, but you don't want to say El Duce is amazing.
Starting point is 00:51:53 He's kind of an asshole. It's fascist. It's not racist. It's fascist. Mussolini is not who I'm referring to. That's who El Duce is. You told me to call you El Duce, right? No, he wants nothing to do with this.
Starting point is 00:52:05 Antonio. Okay. He's out of here. He's gone now. This is a controversial episode. is. Can you, you know, you told me to call you a buchet, right? No, he wants nothing to do with this. Antonio! Okay. He's out of here. He's gone now. This is a controversial episode. I'm going to have to do my first editing work on Toronto Mike. Holy smokes. Hebsey, long time no see. Listen, I was watching. We're in the car on the way. By the way, I could have biked here quicker than it took the car from downtown.
Starting point is 00:52:22 It's ridiculous, the traffic. But I'm watching you because I get a notification when Toronto Mike comes on Periscope. So I saw the car from downtown. It's ridiculous, the traffic. But I'm watching you because I get a notification when Toronto Mike comes on Periscope. So I saw the red carpet show. So Brian is driving and I'm watching. Look, there's Mike there. Okay. And I'm like, I'm on my way.
Starting point is 00:52:37 See, yeah, it's right there. And I can't see all the wonderful comments coming in. I hope they're nice. I can't see them. But Hebsey, you recorded with me this morning. We did Hebsey on Sports. Did we determine, by the way, what the best
Starting point is 00:52:52 way for the Maple Leafs to have a captain is? Either the players elect the captain or management appoints the captain. Did we come to a consensus there? Yeah, we're going to let... They're going to go in a room and then if black smoke comes out of the kitchen, they've elected a captain. Then it's been up in the Pope. I'd like to know what your opinion is.
Starting point is 00:53:08 What's your opinion? I think it should be the players. In fact, I was talking with the great Peter Gross a little earlier on and we agree that really if you're going to have a captain representing a team of 20 players Tell Peter to come here. Peter, can you come up here and collaborate? I'm going to get an open mic because
Starting point is 00:53:22 Anthony left his mic vacant. So we're going to put Peter Gross in here. You know, Peter was the sports director at City TV for 100 years. You know that, huh? Like, back when I was doing sports, Peter was the... He was the sports director at City. I think I know everything about this man right now. He was the guy, man. He's the man.
Starting point is 00:53:39 Hi, Mike. Nice to see you, Peter. Now, put these on. And then, okay, you got the wonky... This mic is the wonk. This mic is not wonky. Did you hear that polite applause? That was like golf applause.
Starting point is 00:53:51 You know what? You know what? I don't know where you're going. This story about Trudeau and the blackface. I told you we're not talking about this mic. Well, Peter can talk about it. What about it? Because I did blackface way before Trudeau. In 1955, my public school put on a minstrel show.
Starting point is 00:54:10 Okay, now I'm blameless because at five years old. Yeah, you're following orders. But how high is your consciousness? Wait, wait. There was like six blacks in major league baseball in 1955 there were no blacks in york mills and i i'm in black face with the white lips and um there was a white sort of you know condescending interviewer and all the black characters looking pathetic and and you know identified as stupid and inferior of course and. And the interviewer comes on, and I was Rasmus.
Starting point is 00:54:47 And he says, where's Rasmus? Because I wasn't on the stand. And I was told to run through the crowd. And my line was, I had to ditch my parole officer. Now, that's racist. Oh, of course it is. But the crowd erupted in laughter. And it was the first time.
Starting point is 00:55:06 And all I knew was that I wanted to hear that sound again. And a star was born. And the rest is history. Am I ineligible for any other broadcasting gigs now? Because in 1955, I had blackface. So do we elect the captain? Yeah, so Peter, do we elect the captain? We get the players in a room, they take a secret ballot,
Starting point is 00:55:27 and they vote on who they think the captain should be. I would definitely, that would look so good. The optics of that would be fantastic. Do you think it's, I think it was done, I think teams have done that before. I think the coach said, all right, you guys decide who the captain's going to be. I'm not sure that back in the day,
Starting point is 00:55:42 George Armstrong was told, all right, you're the captain. I think they they might have said do you guys want to vote for a captain because that's the way it was in high school football who guys who do you guys want to be your captain well i mean especially today the captain role is really it doesn't really mean anything and they haven't had a captain in two three years four years right so who voted for dion for nothing by the way yeah that's just it i think that was management that was okay yeah r Brian Burke said, you're going to be the captain. He had to make that trade. And everybody went, no, no, not him. Yeah, so I think it should be an election as well.
Starting point is 00:56:12 Because again, if you're going to have a captain, they represent the players. And it doesn't really mean anything anyway. So give them the opportunity to say who's going to be captain. Does soccer have captains? Yes. Yeah. Yes, it does.
Starting point is 00:56:21 Can you tell, Hebsey and I were talking about how the TFC has to go play in some Canadian league championship. It's a Canadian championship. So they had their first game last night. Right. And they play again on the 25th. But we're all right.
Starting point is 00:56:33 Meanwhile, we're at a playoff race, right? Correct. Including the team. Only in soccer. I know. Yeah, it's conflict, right? Only in soccer do you have a game outside of your league at the most important time of the year.
Starting point is 00:56:43 You play in concurrent tournaments. I should point out, Elvis is a season's ticket holder for TSC. I am, since day one. He loves soccer. It doesn't mean that I suggest it's the best sport in the world and doesn't have its flaws. Oh, it's got its flaws, all right. He's diving all over the place.
Starting point is 00:57:03 I wouldn't say all over the place. Oh, man, Neymar. That guy, too bad he's hurt because I like watching him dive more than I like watching him score goals. Because he's, I mean, he did this one, like a double, two and a half gainer with a twist, right? And the guy barely kicked him. And he was like, whoa.
Starting point is 00:57:19 Isn't there an internet theme of him diving through? Yeah, there's a YouTube video. It's about 10 minutes worth of the great dives of Neymar. He looked like Greg Louganis out there. But it's also like they superimpose it across just random things. He could come diving across this deck.
Starting point is 00:57:38 But don't you think that if a guy takes a dive, and I don't care if it's hockey or if it's in soccer, if the guy takes a dive and it's obvious that he was diving, that he should be penalized. He should be booked for simulation. It should be a revealable play. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:57:51 Like post-game. Because it makes the sport look bad. I'm trying to get a referee to buy the fact that I was hit, but I wasn't even touched. If you do it for one season, guaranteed it's over. In any sport. Nazem Khadri was like that for the Leafs. I have to break up this first dog do it for one season, guaranteed it's over. In any sport. Nazem Khadri was like that for the Leafs.
Starting point is 00:58:07 I have to break up Nazem Khadri would die all over. He would be diving and he would draw penalties and the other team would go, you son of a bitch, you can't do that. Okay.
Starting point is 00:58:14 And he would get away with it. If somebody wants to hear more of Mark Hebbshire and his fantastic opinions on sports. And yours too. And mine too, yeah. Yours too.
Starting point is 00:58:25 You're fairly opinionated. I have opinions. You're a very kind, brash son of a gun that you are. Where do they go? They search their favorite podcast, like iTunes or Google or Spotify. They search for Hebsey on sports. Hebsey on sports.
Starting point is 00:58:40 And it's free. A guy tweeted out today, he goes, it's the best free. I saw that. He said it's the best free non-tech podcast he'd ever heard. Is that a backhanded compliment? That's very niche. The best free non-tech podcast.
Starting point is 00:58:52 What podcast is he paying for? I like this tweet, Hebzee, because in that tweet he said I was entertaining too. I was really like the first compliment I've got for my Hebzion Sports co-hosting duties. We should ask the guests that, too. Like, when they listen to Hebzion Sports, do they care about your opinion? Right. I think they do. I care about his opinion.
Starting point is 00:59:11 I want to know. I'll ask him straight out. Like, today, I asked you straight out, should the Leafs be appointing a captain, or should the players elect the captain? So, what did you answer, Mike? Did you not answer? Yeah, I said that I wish the players would anoint their own captain. But then he thinks Austin Matthews should be the captain.
Starting point is 00:59:25 Yeah, I do feel that. But if they give it to Morgan Riley, it makes sense. I like Morgan Riley better. But I think Tavares would make a great captain, too. Yeah, we've got a few options. I would put Tavares in there. What about you, Peter? Peter, who should be the new captain of the Leafs?
Starting point is 00:59:39 You know, I haven't done sports for two months. And what I'm finding lately is I don't give a shit. Except one sport, right? Horse racing. I do. Well, I publish my own paper, so I have to have concerns about that. Can we tease the audience on what's coming here? This is my move I'm going to do.
Starting point is 00:59:59 Whoever sits on my left, I'm going to touch their shoulder. That's acceptable. Peter Gross, what are you willing to share at this time about what's coming down the pipe? I spent four of the most exciting hours of my life in your studio
Starting point is 01:00:16 Tuesday afternoon. I'm working with John Gallagher. We're doing a podcast called Gallagher and Gross Save the World because we like irony. Applause, everybody. Are you kidding me? Okay.
Starting point is 01:00:29 And I have to tell you that when the premise first crossed my twisted brain, I thought, I've got some interesting stories to tell. Nothing compared to Gallagher. Gallagher has the encyclopedia of bizarre sex, drugs, sports, rock and roll stories. Nobody can top him. After every episode, I realized that whatever anecdote I've told is inferior to the seven that he told. Now, I was in the room for these eight episodes, so let's tell that this is going to just drop. At some point, I will get these indexed by Google and Spotify and Apple and all those places, and then I will urge you all to subscribe, because then at some point, when you least expect it, eight episodes are going to drop of Gallagher and Gross Save the World,
Starting point is 01:01:21 and I was in the room for the recordings, and you're kind of wrong there. Like, Gallagher's Gross saved the world and I was in the I was in the room for the recordings and you're kind of wrong there like Gallagher's stories are unbelievable but Peter my stories are believable? no wait wait wait
Starting point is 01:01:33 you said Gallagher's stories are unbelievable as in he's got crazy stories no but as in you don't really believe the story maybe it was embellished
Starting point is 01:01:42 no I believe him I guess that's an unbelievable as in no normal person would have done this. But Peter Gross, I mean, I'm knocking no spoilers, but there's a story in there that might get you arrested.
Starting point is 01:01:54 It's funny. I was talking to McKinney today and I told him that story. He says, why would you tell that story? Are you insane? I'm legitimately concerned for your freedom. Did you bring McKinney with you tonight? I've thought about that whole episode, and here's the thing I'm worried about. We did a whole episode of Gallagher and me
Starting point is 01:02:11 talking about our sex lives. 20 minutes of Gallagher, 2 minutes of me. And, pause, Gallagher reveals in this episode how many different lovers he has had in his lifetime. Oh, no. Which episode is that, by the way? Is it the third or fourth? I'll skip that one. I'm worried that people are going to
Starting point is 01:02:28 think, here are two profoundly immature little boys bragging about sneaking a feel. It may come off like that. It was fun while we were talking about it. I control your future now, my friend, because I have the source file. I have the source file.
Starting point is 01:02:45 I have the web server. I basically, I'm going to tell you, this is going to blow a lot of minds in the city. This is an incredible eight-episode series that's going to drop on this city, and it's going to smack them right in the head. Is it all eight at the same time? Yes.
Starting point is 01:03:03 That's what Mike wants to do. He thinks people will binge. I have a vision. I had a vision. I think it needs some kind of qualifier that it would be dangerous to listen to all eight at once. You could become mentally ill. It's going to be a Netflix series, isn't it?
Starting point is 01:03:17 It's going to be a Netflix series. Here's hoping. Hebsey, tell us what's your book about because that should be a Netflix movie. It may be. Actually, PBS is interested in the story. Really? Yeah, it's a story. You know what?
Starting point is 01:03:29 Details. Yeah, my son at the time was a teenager, and he asked me, he had a Canadian trivia book, a book of Canadian trivia. And one of the questions was, who was the first Canadian to win an Olympic gold medal? So naturally, I know everything about sports, and I thought I knew the answer. And he said, no, that's wrong. The guy's name was George Orton, to which I said I've never heard of him before.
Starting point is 01:03:50 Rowing. Was he a rower? No. If you read the frickin' book, you'd find out. He was a lawn bowler. What? Peter, do you have 25 bucks? 25 bucks?
Starting point is 01:04:01 I'll leave him alone. Leave Peter alone. That money's reserved for the four horse in the third race tomorrow. Come on. So anyway, my son asked me the question. I didn't know. I go to Google to find out about George Orton. That was stereotyping, by the way. It's okay. You were in blackface in 1955.
Starting point is 01:04:16 You can get over that. And where was I with the story? Anyway, I knew nothing about this guy. No one I'd ever spoken to knew anything about this guy, George Orton. I went to Google. They, I knew nothing about this guy. No one I'd ever spoken to knew anything about this guy, George Orton. I went to Google. They didn't know anything about this guy. So I had to do real research. I got to go to the library and look at microfilm and old
Starting point is 01:04:32 newspapers and actually call people and interview people. Like, that kind of reporting. Journalism. From the 50s. This guy's been dead since 1958. He won the gold medal in 1900. But what happened was, he was a Canadian guy and when he left Canada, like nobody like the great writers of Canada
Starting point is 01:04:48 back in the day never wrote a thing about this guy after he left Canada. It was like, oh, you're going to the States, are you? Fine, to hell with you. And so he's not part of it. Stop it. He was a runner. We won a gold medal in golf in 1904 though, didn't we? Yeah, but that was a
Starting point is 01:05:04 demonstration sport at the time, right? That was a demonstration sport. Because you were there, right, Peter? No, but I'm writing a book called The Greatest Golfer of All Time in Canada. You are. You are correct. That was 1904. But anyway, what I found out about the guy was that he spoke nine languages.
Starting point is 01:05:18 He had been injured as a child, fell out of a tree. He was told by doctors he'd never walk again. Ended up setting the world record for the mile run. Came up with the idea of putting numbers on football jerseys in, like, 1914. Started hockey in the, was one of the prominent guys of starting hockey in the States. When he went to Philadelphia, they didn't know what a hockey stick or a hockey puck was. So he introduced the game to them and stuff like that. Came up with some really cool innovations about sport.
Starting point is 01:05:42 And he was Canadian. So when you go back, when you go to the Canadian dictionary of biography, there's nothing on this guy at all. So when I contacted him, I said, you know, this guy, George Orton was born in Canada, raised, went to University of Toronto, said all these records. And they went, well, we've never heard of him before. We need corroboration. I said, well, I've just written a book. Is that enough for you? And they still won't put them in. They won't put them in the dictionary of Canadian biography, but they'll put the names of the guys who they thought had won
Starting point is 01:06:07 the first gold medal in 1904. Their names are in there, but I can't get this guy. This guy can't get a dinner. He's like Red Buttons. But in the States, he's a superstar down there. He's in the Hall of Fame in Philadelphia. He's revered. He's in the track and field. Here in Canada,
Starting point is 01:06:24 it's like, no, try to get on the shows here like CTV or CBC's morning show or City. What about the agenda? We've never heard of Steve Paikin. Paikin's going to pitch it to his producers. He's going to pitch it to his producers. Paikin's coming over to my house on Monday.
Starting point is 01:06:38 He's going to pitch it to the producers. I can rough him up a little bit. How many prominent Canadian athletes are there? Like, you know, are there thousands of them? A couple dozen? Why can't this guy get in? That's insane. Why can't he?
Starting point is 01:06:53 Just a little, just, you know, one little thing. It's like, I don't know, he's been dead since 1958. He's got one family member remaining. She doesn't really care that much about him. She lives in California. I feel like I'm his long-lost great-grandson going, could somebody please pay attention? Look at all the accomplishments
Starting point is 01:07:09 this guy has. So Hebsey is selling his book at this event. So if you're here and you didn't buy a book at the last John Mitzvah experience, you're pretty much obligated, right? You can sign it, and I want to ask you about Taddy in a minute. But back to Gross. Well, let's ask Gross about Taddy, because he hired him. Didn't you hire Taddy years ago? Did you hire Jim Taddy? I didn't you about Taddy in a minute. But back to Gross. Well, let's ask Gross about Taddy because he hired him.
Starting point is 01:07:25 Didn't you hire Taddy years ago? Did you hire Jim Taddy? I didn't hire Jim Taddy, but he was, for a short period of time, in the sports department. Do you know Sunil Joshi was over a couple days ago? I know Sunil. I'm sure I've talked to him. Gallagher took his job, right? So when Sunil Joshi, it's kind of weird how my life is right now, where it's like Gallagher's hanging out with me and then senile josh he's dropping by and then hebs he's over
Starting point is 01:07:48 you had dave hodge on the show every sportscaster from toronto for the last 50 years has been on mike's show so wait let me get this right so when when senile josh he quit city tv because he got a gig at cfto that spot is filled by John Gallagher, as far as I know. Peter, you're there. I can't confirm or deny. Okay. I knew nothing about Gallagher until I met him at your house two weeks ago. How long did you work with him for?
Starting point is 01:08:15 How long did you overlap? I never worked with Gallagher, but from 2000 to 2004, we were both in the same building. Okay, that's okay, because when did you leave City? Remind me. I left City in 1986, came back in 2000, left in the same building. Okay, that's okay, because when did you leave City, remind me? I left City in 1986, came back in 2000, left in 2004. Gotcha.
Starting point is 01:08:29 Okay, so for that later stint. Okay, okay, okay. Now, Jim Taddy was at City with you. Yeah. Do you want to hear a Taddy story? Yes. I want to hear this too. I hope he's not listening to this.
Starting point is 01:08:40 No, believe me, believe me, he doesn't know what a podcast is. Excellent. There was a gay basketball a podcast is. Excellent. There was a gay basketball league. Yes. And they were playing a game and I wanted to, I'm a sports director,
Starting point is 01:08:53 and I assigned Taddy, I said, would you go cover this? He goes, oh no. And he refused. He refused. He refused. He refused the assignment? Yeah, because people would think he was gay because he covered it. In his defense, this was 1955. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 01:09:08 It was. It was 1955. Before we throw him under the bus, let's- Wait a second. He thought that people would think he was gay because he was covering a gay baseball game? Possibly. Oh, you're not. He just didn't want anything to do with it.
Starting point is 01:09:22 Guys. That's very interesting. Can someone please jerk the wheel and make me go on the guardrail? Lord Honickman, my new lawyer, tells me I need to be careful about these things. Lipschitz, isn't it? It's in Lipschitz. Peter, you alleged it. To the best of my memory.
Starting point is 01:09:37 That is what went down. I could be wrong. That's a pretty good story. I'll have to mention that to him next time I see him. So, Hebsey, do you know Jim Taddy? Yes. To the best of your memory, do you know Jim Taddy? Yes, yes.
Starting point is 01:09:51 He hired me. He hired you? He hired me. I think his boss said, go see if you can get Hebsey. I was working in radio at the time. At 1430? No, I was at 590. Where was I at the time?
Starting point is 01:10:05 590 with Jim Hunt? No, you're right. I was. I was at... I know his life better than he does. No, I was doing the Blue Jays pre- and post-game show, which was wild because you take phone calls. Yeah, I think the Jays should shut up.
Starting point is 01:10:15 And I'd hang up on people. Like, I'd hang up on them. And the producer would go, you can't do that. I'd go, well, I just did. The guy's an idiot. He goes, no, no, that's a fan. I go, well, trust me if I tell you this. The guy will continue to listen. Some people like to be abused on the telephone
Starting point is 01:10:28 on these phone-in shows. They like to phone in and go, yeah, I think the Leafs should trade for Connor McDavid. You know, how did you dial the phone wearing a straight jacket? And then hang up on them. Like, hang up. And people go, you can't do that. That's being rude. So, Taddy heard this. Wilner has built a career on this. Oh, Wilner learned that from me. He learned that from me because I can't do that. That's being rude. So, Taddy heard this. Wilner has built a career on this. Oh, Wilner learned that from me. He learned that from me because I can't stand people who think they know what they're talking about. Now that they hear their voice on the radio, they're going, oh, yes, thanks for taking my call. Here's what I think about the salary cap.
Starting point is 01:10:56 Shut up. And as a listener, it's fantastic. It is. There's nothing better than a host that just rips apart the caller. Because when you hear a caller on the air and you say, get this guy off the air, like you say to yourself, oh, this guy's horrible, and then the host gets rid of the guy, you go, I love this host.
Starting point is 01:11:11 He knows exactly when to get rid of the caller. By the way, real quick aside, Wilner was at TMLX2, and Gear Joyce made a joke about him, which I'm going to ask him about later. And I see Gear Joyce here, but Wilner's not here because the Jays are actually playing
Starting point is 01:11:25 tonight. There's a Jays game. So, we'll find out from Gare what he said about Wilner that was offensive. Now, so, obviously, Taddy hears you, Mark, on this radio, 1430, and says, I need that as part of Sportsline.
Starting point is 01:11:42 Yeah, I don't think that was it. He was battling with McCallum at the time. McCallum wouldn't't think that was it. He was battling with McCowan at the time. McCowan wouldn't give him any air time. He was supposed to come in. I believe the story was this. He was supposed to join Global, and he was supposed to co-host with McCowan on Sportsline. And McCowan said, no fucking way.
Starting point is 01:11:59 There's no way. He'd been doing the show. Now, think about this. You've been doing the show by yourself. You've been anchoring the show by yourself for three years. And then they bring someone in and say, we're going to have this person co-host with you. Naturally, you're going to go, no, I don't want to.
Starting point is 01:12:11 It's my show. So he resisted that. And then the story goes is that his agent, Jerry Sternberg, went into the bosses at Global and took out all these newspaper clippings that had Bob's, you know, talked about Bob, laid them all out on the floor and said, this is how much my man wants. We want $150,000 a year.
Starting point is 01:12:28 And Global looked and said, bye. And they basically let him go. And then they contacted me and said, would you like to... You took McCowan's spot. Not really. Because McCowan and Taddy never co-hosted the show. So they wanted to have a two-man show.
Starting point is 01:12:42 And they said to Jim, I think they said, hey, who are we going to get to co-host? And Jim, I think Jim said, well, Hepshire's pretty good and whatever. So they put us together and he got me drunk and got me to agree to terms with Global. And then we did, we started doing Sportsline, the two-man show. And what happened was I remember saying, well, what's the format? And he said, well, there really is no format. Like there's, we just, we'll get highlights and we'll just do whatever the hell we want. To which I said, that sounds like a good gig. Do whatever the hell you want.
Starting point is 01:13:11 And we did, and I guess we revolutionized sports television in that we weren't buttoned down stiff like TSN was, and we didn't have to, or CBC or whatever, and I sort of followed these formats. And Global was a very forward-thinking company at the time. You know, a lot of the shows that were on Global were pretty progressive. And I guess Sportsline kind of fit into that. So it was a good gig.
Starting point is 01:13:34 Okay, so when you left Sportsline, what was your relationship like with Jim Taddy? It was frayed because he was my boss as well as my co-host. That never came out on the air, because when you're on the air together, you're like partners. It's a 50-50 equal split. But there was a, you know, he was the boss, so he would assign me to certain things
Starting point is 01:13:52 maybe I didn't want to do, you know. Like, for example, if he would have said, go cover gay baseball, I would have said, for sure. It's a good story. But, you know, instead it was like, go to Napanee and do a story on Alan McCauley or something like that. I don't want to go to Napanee.
Starting point is 01:14:05 So he was the boss. And he made the scheduling and that type of thing. But also, and I never told Jim this. If he ever listens to this podcast, he will know. That he insisted that he had the lead story every night. And I thought, wouldn't it be great if we alternated? I do it one night. He does it the next night.
Starting point is 01:14:23 But he insisted that he had to have the lead story. That was his thing. Would be if you were in the newspaper business, I've got the front page story. And I kind of was, you know, resentful of that. But I got over it after about 25 years. And I'm good with it now. Tell us what this wonderful occurrence that I witnessed on social media only a couple of weekends ago. What happened?
Starting point is 01:14:47 Did hell freeze over? What happened was it was my 35th anniversary of joining Sportsline with Jim where we started that show. And so what I found, I found an old clip of a 10-year anniversary show we did
Starting point is 01:14:59 where we're wearing tuxedos and we're going over all these. It was like a 10-minute show where... What the hell? It's ambient noise. It comes across nice. Anyway, I posted it on Facebook. Ambient.
Starting point is 01:15:10 What did I say? Hold on, sorry. Ambient. What did you say? What did he say? Can we add this is a woman brewery. And what did you say? What kind of noise is that?
Starting point is 01:15:22 Ambient. What's the word? He's not a broadcaster. Ambient. Ambient noise? Ambient. What's the word? He's not a broadcaster. Ambient. Ambient noise. Ambient noise. It's not ambient. It's noise in the background. Ambient noise. Oh, boy. Is that true? I know it's not Spanish, but am I getting this wrong? It's ambient noise.
Starting point is 01:15:38 The word's ambient. Sorry, go ahead. Finish your story because I... Anyway, so I post this thing, 10-year anniversary. It's me and Jim wearing tuxedos. We're laughing. I'm running the Hebsey Awards, laughing, laughing, laughing. Guys punching each other, laughing, laughing.
Starting point is 01:15:51 People see this, and it takes them back to their childhood, I guess. And Jim sees it on Facebook, and he comments something like, hey, this is great, Heb, something like that. And then someone else commented, a friend of ours, Brian Salvatore, saying, why don't we get together and play some golf? And then Jim, I'm available Monday. And I just went, Monday? And I called my friend Mitch's area, who
Starting point is 01:16:11 we used to be on Sportsline with, and I said, hey, do you want to go play golf with Jim Taddy out at Crosswinds in Burlington, who's our sponsor? And before you knew it, we're playing golf together. He says, you want to be partners? I'm like, yeah. And now we're golf partners. I hadn't seen him in, I don't know, 10, 10 12 years we've never played golf together for fans of sports we had we had such a hoot but the funniest part of the story was is that a lot of people recognize me at that
Starting point is 01:16:34 golf course because i'm the spokesman there and so we stop at this one hole and the group and now we have to wait on the hole and the group behind us comes up and the guy sees me goes hey ebsey how are you and he's shaking my hand. What's going on? How are things? Da-da-da, stuff like that. And so Jim is standing like two feet away. He's going, ah, I used to love you guys on Sportslight. Da-da-da-da-da-da.
Starting point is 01:16:52 So I go, I swear to you, I go, and I turn to him, I said, this is my golf partner. This is Jim. And the guy looks at Jim, and he goes, the guy with the stash. Right? Yeah, you're the guy with the stash. And the guy flipped out, and his playing partners are flipping out because we used to watch you guys. I tell you, we hear you all the guy with the stash and the guy flipped out and his playing partners are flipping out because we need to
Starting point is 01:17:07 watch you guys I tell you all the time three or four holes later there's another backup the group comes up behind us again and the guy jumps
Starting point is 01:17:13 out of his cart and he points to Jim and he goes you're Jim Taddy he couldn't remember his name for like three holes in his body
Starting point is 01:17:19 what's that guy's name it was the stash you're Jim Taddy it was the funniest thing we had a great time and I think we're going to go out there again. And who knows? We may.
Starting point is 01:17:28 Look, if you and Gallagher can get together and tell stories about your sex life, I'm sure Jim and I have got six or eight podcast episodes about the glory days at Sportsline. Oh, I'm sure you do. I can tell you something about Taddy. No, this is nice. Hold on. Let me call my lawyer first. He's going to find out.
Starting point is 01:17:44 No, this won't cause a problem for a short period of time we invented this thing on friday nights on the the late sportscast i remember democratic sports the best and tatty was wonderful at it he would just say okay here's here's the menu and he would list all the stories and people would phone in and say i want the blue jay highlights first or i want to see that football play yeah what happened was he would list all the stories and people would phone in and say, I want the Blue Jay highlights first or I want to see that football play. Yeah, what happened was he would start on Friday nights and he would be like, okay, we've got three stories.
Starting point is 01:18:11 We've got the Leafs story, we've got the Blue Jay story and we've got the Toronto Blizzard story. Now call in and vote on which story we should run. Which one do you want first? It was all Democratic and then whatever the callers decided they wanted to see, that's what you guys would play, which was a great idea. Back those days in City,
Starting point is 01:18:26 we had the freedom to do anything we wanted on the air. It simply probably doesn't exist anymore. No, not for sure it doesn't exist. Well, people who want to hear more about that, it's Gallagher and Gross Save the World, not yet available. I just want to whet your appetite here, get you all excited, but that's going to drop soon. But the good news is Hebzeon Sports, you could subscribe right now.
Starting point is 01:18:48 Why don't I see smartphones being whipped out of the pockets right now and people subscribing to Hebzeon Sports? Smartphones. Leave your non-smartphone in your pocket if you happen to have one. Some people have non- smartphones. It's true. Who? I've seen them. Really? I've seen them in the wild. Ron Hawkins from Lowest to the Low
Starting point is 01:19:04 for example. They're out there. So thank you so much. I now, after that, I feel I need a little estrogen. So I'm hoping is... That's my cue to go? Yes, and I might summon you later, but go buy... Because I have no estrogen. Buy Hebsey's book.
Starting point is 01:19:19 It's tremendous. Buy it. And who am I looking for? Is Andy here? I saw her here, but she's not there anymore. Is Andy here? I will see you Monday. I love this guy, Hebsey, by the way.
Starting point is 01:19:33 He's a good dude. Twice a week, I'm lucky enough I get to talk sports with him for an hour. He's a good dude. He's a good man. I pump his tires. Literally, I pump his bike tires when he bikes over. That's what I do. Hey, Mike.
Starting point is 01:19:44 Peter. You know what's cool? Yeah. Is the free condoms that are on the table here. Jesus. That is so thoughtful. As revealed in Gallagher and Gross Saved the World, it's been a while for you, buddy. That was cruel.
Starting point is 01:19:59 It was truthful. You got to listen. But it was cruel. This guy, by the way, what I liked about recording Gallagher and Gross Save the World is they're out of, I can swear, it's my podcast, they're out of fucks to give. So they just tell it complete honesty. It's unbelievable.
Starting point is 01:20:13 Unbelievable. Warts and all, as they say. That's an expression. I can't believe you swore on the podcast. So Andy, I can swear. By the way, you're the swearing right here. If Andy's not around, is Stephanie Wilkinson here? Stephanie, come over here.
Starting point is 01:20:28 There's an open mic. And Peter, I might call on you later. You know I love you, Peter. But I'm going to give your seat to She-Witch. Is She-Witch here? These are gifts that I can take. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 01:20:40 So help yourself to those condoms there. They are actually Capadia. So thank you, Capadia LLP CPAs. Those are pocket sockets. Pocket sockets? Yeah. Do you have to say all the letters? Is that in their contract?
Starting point is 01:20:55 Well, okay. Well, they're called Capadia LLP. That's their company name. And they wanted me to point out, because it gets confusing. You think lawyers and stuff, but they're actually CPAs. So they're Capadia LLP CPAs. Listen, they're the sponsor. Yeah, I and stuff, but they're actually CPAs. So they're Capadilla, LLPC. Listen, they're the sponsor. I'll call them whatever they want to be called.
Starting point is 01:21:09 I'm just asking. I feel like there's some estrogen on the mics right now. Good. Too much sports talk there. Stephanie. Hello. Hello. How are you? I'm so glad you decided to come on the mic, because originally you were not going to come on the mic
Starting point is 01:21:25 but here you are just like you Stephanie, do you comment on the blog with your full name, correct? yeah, when I do yeah she used to comment a lot more back in the day but not as much lately I just started to get tired of
Starting point is 01:21:41 sort of the same people saying the same things whether it was relevant or not. That is the open mics. Come on. That's the charm. Are you a Cheryl fan? Is Cheryl here? I'd like to put Cheryl on the microphone.
Starting point is 01:21:55 Are there any Cheryl fans here? Am I the only Cheryl fan? I love Cheryl. I could read Cheryl all day. All day long. I defend her a lot. Yeah, you do. Have you ever met her?
Starting point is 01:22:07 Never, never. No, no. Never met her. I'm sure I'll never meet her. Have you met her trainer? Maybe. Her manager. Her what manager?
Starting point is 01:22:17 Oh, property manager is the new character. Property manager. Leave a focus point out there. Gotcha. So, Stephanie, when did you discover the pod? Okay, you, like Rixie and oakville you were commenting well before a podcast yes yeah i met at like humble and fred events yeah that's how i found you it was the the the search for what happened to humble and what happened what happened
Starting point is 01:22:38 to humble that's what rixie said yeah and that is exactly the are you the same person you and rixie no you're different you look different yeah and do you and Rixie? No, you're different. You look different. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And do you have, like, the podcast? Were you there since day one? Of your podcast? Yes. Yeah, yeah. From the mic? Yeah.
Starting point is 01:22:53 Yes. So you listen to Rosie episodes? Yeah, I listen to the Rosie ones. Do you listen to the Elvis ones? I did. You did? Yeah. Past tense.
Starting point is 01:23:00 Well, you know, I kind of laugh because you've got season tickets to the TFC, but you can't come like five minutes. That's true. You're in like the Liberty Village kind of hood there. What do you mean? I can't come. You always say you're too far away to come. Oh, right. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:23:20 But you're often at BMO Field. You can be at BMO Field. That's a destination. That's something I actually want to do. We've done. Mike and I Field. That's true, Stephanie. That's a destination. That's something I actually want to do. We've done... Mike and I have... It does actually work out. We should do more of that
Starting point is 01:23:30 because we do Wolfpack Games and TFC Games together. And we have done the occasional recording before one of those and then go. I didn't mean to... No, it's fine. No, she's causing trouble here. No, it's fine. I need a new co-host here.
Starting point is 01:23:42 I appreciate that. Give me Al Grego back. Okay, so Stephanie, do you have a favorite episode by any chance? You know, it was funny She's causing trouble here. That's fine. I need a new co-host here. I appreciate that. Give me Al Grego back. Okay. So, Stephanie, do you have a favorite episode by any chance? You know, it was funny when I started hearing what other people were saying. I have to say that I did like the Molly Johnson. Yes! And that was really because it's the only one that is completely different.
Starting point is 01:24:05 I mean, there's other great ones. I mean, I like Ron McLean. I really enjoyed his. But that Molly Johnson, that was a different one. It was very different, wasn't it? I loved it. I could listen to that for hours, too. Well, I never listened to it twice, but it was good. Oh, because I've actually listened to it several times.
Starting point is 01:24:23 That's the only episode I've listened to twice it's there and i love it i think it's memorable because it's so different and it uh it's kind of like kind of like watching a train wreck kind of like there's a bit of a you know you want to see the both of you go at it but we talked about this but both of you there's only like two people who said that it was on me that episode. You and the... I never said it was on you. Oh, I thought you were one of the two people. No, I mean there was... Probably shouldn't have
Starting point is 01:24:48 called her a diva, but... Can we just spend a moment since we're in an era... Can we talk about blackface again, please? I'm just here to point out that I've done a lot of Googling.
Starting point is 01:24:57 Diva's not a racial... There's no race to diva as far as I can tell. I'll take the opinion of someone versus over Google. Some first over Google some people over Google it was a topic of conversation at work around the connotations to diva quite literally around the lunch table and people
Starting point is 01:25:16 agreed or people suggested that that was in not a great thing for you to have said could you have said worse things sureWitch is also with me over to my left here. So, Stephanie, don't go anywhere. SheWitch, do you want to give your real name? Yeah, it's Sheila. And you're SheWitch on Twitter. Yes. You're nasty on Twitter.
Starting point is 01:25:37 Can be. She's a witch. I'm boosting you. You've got to get right on that mic there. I don't want to miss a word here. And have you missed any TMLXs uh yes I was only at the first one for me was this past summer oh so that you're only at your second one right now yes and uh you're also very helpful thank you so much you helped a lot at TMLX3 so if I didn't't say thank you, there's thank you. Do you, I have a,
Starting point is 01:26:05 this is a controversial question. Do you assume a persona on Twitter that's different from your real persona? Because on Twitter I find you're like scary. Oh, is that right? Yeah. I find you scary on Twitter. I find you, and then
Starting point is 01:26:21 in real life you're so sweet. I just wondered if you were like... I think maybe Twitter is more the real me. Oh. Okay, because, yeah, I'm scared of you on Twitter. And we have a bet going. Do you want to tell the world what our little bet is? Yes, as of today, we opened up a bet if the Liberals were going to form the next government.
Starting point is 01:26:43 You said no, you would bet a dollar. And I said I would bet you a double-double that they'll form a minority government next month. And again, this is not what I want, but this is my prediction. And I'm bad at predictions because I thought Hillary was going to be president. And I was really sure about it.
Starting point is 01:26:58 Like, I would have put more than a loonie on that, and I'm glad I didn't. And so I'm really bad at this. But, yeah, I hope I'm wrong. How's that go? But let's say we're going to have to meet for coffee at some point and one of us is buying. Absolutely.
Starting point is 01:27:14 When did you discover Toronto Mike, the podcast? I, too, found you through Humble and Fred. That's like all the, what are they called? Leave a thump, what do I call them? Toronto Mike's Angels or whatever. They're all from Humble and Fred. So Humble and Fred, you heard me on there or they referenced me or something like that? Yeah, I think I probably heard you on there because you said in a fair bit when they were first getting started.
Starting point is 01:27:40 And so that was what, 2012, they really got going. Yeah, maybe October 2011 maybe okay and so then i immediately went and started following subscribing to you and i listened to i don't think i've missed one yet now leave a funk says she prefers trottle mic to humble and fred are you going to uh go on a limb and make a call there and i won't be heard if you don't say me of course i'm going to go out on a limb and make a call there? And I won't be heard if you don't say me, of course. I'm going to say that it's a different kind of podcast. And it, I mean, while you talk about my Twitter persona, you seem to have a little bit more interest about doing it regularly.
Starting point is 01:28:22 Humble and Fred seem to take more time off these days. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Boom. Singer. That's true. We'll yeah. Yeah. Boom. Singer. It's true. We'll get Sean Sargent on soon here. But I really appreciate you listening. And Stephanie, we go, I feel like,
Starting point is 01:28:35 I feel like we're pals from way back in the day. I'm glad you're here. And quick story is your cousin was a big fan of Mark Hebbshire, right? Is he your cousin? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there was a Toronto Mic Listener experience where your cousin came to meet Mark Hebbshire. Right. And Mark Hebbshire, right? Is he your cousin? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there was a Toronto Mic Listener experience where your cousin came to meet Mark Hebbshire, and Mark Hebbshire came, but they never met. They never met.
Starting point is 01:28:50 I can't remember why. I find it tragic that they were both together and not together. But amazing. Now, do you have anything you want to share with everybody before I kick you off the mic and give it to somebody else? Anything you want to share while you have this massive forum here?
Starting point is 01:29:06 Stephanie, no? How about you? She-Witch? Nothing more, Dad, no. She-Witch, do you listen to the Elvis episodes? Yes, I do. Oh, cool. And, yeah, the only ones that I sort of have to whiz through at double speed are Mike Wasblot. Sorry about that. Okay, Mark Wasblot is
Starting point is 01:29:21 two and a half hours each shot. And that takes a lot of effort for me to make it two and a half, by the way. I can well imagine. But this is me speaking, and this is why he comes on every month. I think he's God's gift. See, I'm talking a lot about God today. Just for Elvis. Why do you look at me both times?
Starting point is 01:29:38 Because you know why. You know why. God's gift to podcasts. I think the man, and he's probably watching on Periscope, although I see now it's nighttime. How can you see anything on Periscope? It looks very black. It's very black.
Starting point is 01:29:48 But he's fantastic. I think he's fantastic. Now, you listed at twice the speed because you don't have that kind of time. No, his knowledge is exceptional, and I love everything that he has to say. As I told you in feedback once, it's his shrieking I can't stand. Oh, the shrieking. Yeah. He shrieks?
Starting point is 01:30:04 I have to edit this out. It'll upset Mark. He shrieks? He doesn't shrieking. I can't stand it. Oh, the shrieking. He shrieks? I'll have to edit this out. It'll upset Mark. He shrieks? He doesn't shriek. He's like me. When he gets excited, he gets higher pitched, maybe? I do that, too. I just never get excited. That's my secret. SheWitch, thank you so much for being here.
Starting point is 01:30:20 Andy's here now. Okay, so what I'm going to do now is I'm going to do Laura. Is Laura here? Okay, Laura. do now is I'm going to do Laura. Is Laura here? Okay, Laura. And we're going to do Andy. And then next up, I'm going to do this now on deck. Gear Joyce and Lou Skeezes.
Starting point is 01:30:36 How's that for a dynamic duo? So Andy's coming on. And Laura. Now ladies, please eat the microphone. It's an ice cream cone. Fabulous. Who I'm trying to decide who I pick first,
Starting point is 01:30:56 since Andy's struggling with the headphones and going to Laura first. She has a little head. Okay. Okay. Laura, thank you for being here. I'm glad to be here. Now, I need you to project into the microphone, though. I don't want to miss anything.
Starting point is 01:31:10 Got it. Okay. Also, I'm boosting you full there. Okay. Laura, you work with StickerU. I do. So you're responsible for these Toronto Mike stickers that I've been mailing as far away as Germany. Really? Germany. Germany. That's've been mailing as far away as Germany. Really?
Starting point is 01:31:28 Germany. Germany. That's a true story. A fan in Germany. I do. Is there a dash in between the R and the M? Germany. Germany. I thought it was Germany. Germany? Deutschland. Is that better?
Starting point is 01:31:43 Please don't pick up my enunciations. It's a disability. But you do these fantastic Toronto Mike stickers. Yes. And at the last Toronto Mike listener experience, you did up these wonderful lowest of the low agitpop stickers. Yes, we did. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:31:59 Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you, Laura. I did write about this, and I have mentioned it a few dozen times. But tell us about the Bricks and Mortar store. Okay, cool. We just opened the world's largest sticker store in downtown Toronto. It's at Queen and Bathurst.
Starting point is 01:32:17 It's got all different kinds of stickers. A lot of them are pretty amazing, and I brought a bunch for the crowd here. So if anybody wants one. Everybody gets, what is it again? Everybody a sticker stickers for everybody and by the way if anyone here does not have a toronto mic sticker i have toronto mic stickers for you so uh yes uh now they're just before i get to andy uh so happy you're here andy thank you for being here laura tell us about about the exciting new contest for listeners of Toronto Mike
Starting point is 01:32:48 okay so what we want to do is expose everybody to stickers because stickers are happy and fun and great and so what I'd like to do is invite all Toronto Mike listeners to hashtag sticker U T O with your iconic pictures of Toronto.
Starting point is 01:33:06 So it has to be either a picture you took yourself or a design you made yourself, but something that says Toronto. Hashtag it and the winner will get $100 of free stickers from the Sticker You store. And we will make a sheet of that image of stickers for you to take home and give to all your friends.
Starting point is 01:33:22 Okay, fantastic. That's great. So you take a picture that's like an iconic Toronto picture. And is that subjective? Like is there a jury that's going to decide that's not an iconic photo? Well, I think you're going to decide, Mike. Am I? Okay, so come on. You're going to be responsible for it.
Starting point is 01:33:39 Okay, so let's say somebody let's imagine somebody takes a picture of the Toronto skyline, okay? There's the CN Tower, the skyline, and that's an iconic photo. And then they win $100 that they can spend on stickers. Yes. Am I with you? And what's the hashtag again?
Starting point is 01:33:55 And by the way, is it Twitter and Instagram? Or is it which one again? It's both. Both. Okay. So Instagram or Twitter, you share this image. And again, what is that hashtag again? This is Kate.
Starting point is 01:34:08 Sticker U-T-O. Sticker U-T-O. And I will like write about this and talk about this in future episodes. But you do that. And then when's the decision going to be made on the winner? I think we're going to decide on the winner on November 1st. November 1st. Okay. So on November 1st, I have to pick the winner
Starting point is 01:34:26 because I'm just going to pick my own photo. I want the $100 for stickers. But no, I almost don't even want this responsibility. It's too crushing here. But a winner will be decided and they get the $100 and you're going to make up, what did you say? You're going to take that image and make stickers?
Starting point is 01:34:42 Yep, we're going to take that image and make stickers for the winner. So you'll get a sheet of the stickers and you can distribute them however you want. Awesome. You can stick them on things or give them to friends. Whatever you like. And who is Andrew at StickerU? Who's Andrew? Andrew's the founder of the company. He's the founder. He's the big kahuna.
Starting point is 01:34:58 He is the big kahuna, yes. Okay, because Andrew's going to kick out the jams with me at some point. Yes, he is. That's in October at some point. Will there be any pitbull on that list? Do you know? Oh, that's going to kick out the jams with me at some point. Yes, he is. That's in October at some point. Will there be any Pitbull on that list? Do you know? Oh, that's going to have to be something the listeners will have to wait and see. But I feel like Pitbull should be on every list. Are you a big
Starting point is 01:35:14 Pitbull fan? I'm not a big Pitbull fan. I was interested to I like music that's not Pitbull. But I do remember what was really surprising was last year he was hawking a real estate show or something like that he was on all these posters it just seemed like a weird thing
Starting point is 01:35:31 for him to do well there's a paycheck at the end of that rainbow that's what happens there Laura fantastic that contest sticker you T.O. and there'll be Twitter and Instagram and I'll blab about it ad nauseum does your sponsor listen to the podcast?
Starting point is 01:35:46 Do you listen to the podcast, Laura? I am now. Laura, have you ever listened to an episode of Trotter Might? I listened today. Oh my goodness. Elvis is... I'm upset. I'm upset right now.
Starting point is 01:36:01 She doesn't need to listen to shit. I'm going to storm off the set here. Laura, I forgive you. Thank you. Because you gave me a t-shirt, which is I'm going to be wearing. I love t-shirts. Fun fact. Speaking of t-shirts, hold on.
Starting point is 01:36:14 I have a t-shirt that says I read the liner notes. And I have it. It's referencing the Molly Johnson episode where she told me to read the liner notes for The Wire. Because her brother created The Wire. He directed episode four. That's a fun, no, episode one. And a few more. Is that episode one?
Starting point is 01:36:29 Yeah, the pilot. I should read the liner notes. I call this a false fun fact. Andy, where did I get that t-shirt from? You got it from me, apparently. What do you mean apparently? You don't remember? Yeah, I came across it on the internet just by chance.
Starting point is 01:36:47 I was Googling something and there it was. And I was like, I think I know someone that needs to own this shirt. And you bought it for me. I did. With real money. That's lovely. With real money. Well, and you know what?
Starting point is 01:36:57 It was a perfect coincidence because it was also your birthday for the last Toronto mic. It's actually my birthday today as well. I'm aging rapidly. I came empty handedhanded this time, sorry. Andy, wonderful supporter of the show. Love seeing you at Toronto Mic Listener Experience. I think, when I look back, this is the fourth one. And I'm glad I, did I invent these?
Starting point is 01:37:19 I invented these, right? Because they didn't exist until I made them. So I invented them. Sure. Like the Toronto Mic Listener Experience. I can guarantee you no one gathered around and said, oh, let's didn't exist until I made them. So I invented them. Sure. Like the Toronto Mike listener experience? I can guarantee you no one gathered around and said, oh, let's talk about Toronto Mike now. Right.
Starting point is 01:37:29 So I invented Toronto Mike. I did invent Toronto Mike listener experience. Yeah. Okay. So I'm so glad I did. Just because I get to meet in the flesh. I get to meet people like yourself instead of just like on Twitter or in the comments or whatever. Like, I totally dig it. So thank you for being here. Thank you for the
Starting point is 01:37:45 I Read the Liner Notes t-shirt. When did you discover, and please don't say Humble and Fred. I'm tired of that answer. I hope there's an answer. When did you discover Toronto Mike? So I am one of the only women here, I think, who didn't come to you through Humble and Fred. Thank goodness. Let's applaud that, everybody.
Starting point is 01:38:02 Come on. Nothing against them, but I think it was just more that I was trying to think about what it was, how I found you. And I've narrowed it down to two things. We shared two strange obsessions. One of them was Ann Romer. And the other one was Rob Ford. So I was Googling one or the other. My two favorite people.
Starting point is 01:38:24 Back in the day. um must have come across your blog and then came across your podcast and just started listening and then as soon as I started listening I think the first one I listened to was maybe Steve Anthony and then I was I love that guy and I had never actually listened to a podcast before so I didn't think I'd like podcasts but I was like I'm gonna listen to this and I did and i was like wow this is cool and then i went back and i listened to every single podcast you did from the very beginning from the early days have you seen have you listened to sineel joshi okay so i haven't got there yet the last one i listened to was the um was uh the mishimi and uh oh yeah that's as far as i got i'm a little bit behind but yeah which is awesome that was tough to coordinate because i'm like i need biff Naked. Biff Naked. That's as far as I got. I'm a little bit behind, but yeah,
Starting point is 01:39:05 which is awesome. That was tough to coordinate because I'm like, I need Biff. I'm like, Biff, come at 11 and we'll do our thing. She brings her husband
Starting point is 01:39:11 and we're doing this whole thing. But meanwhile, I've already told Mishimi that at 1130, she should come and the door will be unlocked and she should just let herself in and come down.
Starting point is 01:39:20 And then, so like that whole, like, yeah. Whose idea was that to do that? My idea. That's awesome. Andyy i'm always thinking this is okay since episode 500 i might as well well i'm being honest because i'm uh i'm a little tipsy right now i'm just kidding i've had two drinks huh so i'm fine i'm fine i'm on a bicycle everybody don't worry but andy um since episode 500, I've actually, this is not the right word,
Starting point is 01:39:46 it's not boredom, it's that I have an itch to shake things up and do different things, like this right now, like that opera house thing, Party for Marty, like the Ann Romer, you mentioned Ann,
Starting point is 01:39:57 like the calling up Steve Anthony and David Onley, and see, Elvis has no idea all this excitement happened, but the Biff Naked, Mishy Me collaboration that I kind of forced, I'm interested in doing things like that.
Starting point is 01:40:12 It was awesome. Really awesome. Oh, thank you so much. I knew they were on the show. I look at the blog, I see the pictures, but... Okay. I don't listen. And is my hair okay?
Starting point is 01:40:21 I was going to ask Lieve Femke this, and I forgot. Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that. Because I got a lot of criticism for my hair. Yeah, it was horrible. But you said it was a work in progress. You're calling my hair okay i was gonna ask leave a femca this and i wanted to talk to you because uh i got a lot of criticism for my hair yeah it was horrible but you said it was a work in progress yeah yeah yeah uh but you said it was a work in progress but it looks your hair now looks normal well actually on the top it's longer than normal like uh i know it still looks kind of short. So Monica is my hairdresser. Right. And she did the back and sides,
Starting point is 01:40:48 but she left the top pretty much as it was. It's just because it was all like mushrooming, it looked ridiculous. But having it just on the top. Was there any product? There was no product. No, no product. Yeah, well.
Starting point is 01:40:59 I'm supposed to use product. Yeah, you're a star. You're in the industry. You're in the industry. You're in the industry. But I'm the real talk guy. This is me, man. This is me. Bad hair and all. No product required. But my hair looks
Starting point is 01:41:14 better now? 100% better. Okay. It was getting a little out of control there. Taking my list here because... Hold on. Do you listen to the Elvis episodes? I've listened to every single Toronto Mike episode.
Starting point is 01:41:29 Oh, wow. Except for the ones after Mishimi and Biff. So you've got to catch up. And there's one that I got really annoyed with the person who was on. And I was like, I can't listen to this anymore. And I stopped it. And that was it. Who was that?
Starting point is 01:41:41 I will not say. No, you have to say. No, I can't. I need to know. Molly Johnson. No. No, he's not here. He, I can't. I need to know. Molly Johnson. No, no, he's not here. He's definitely not here. It's a person?
Starting point is 01:41:49 Yeah. I mean, like a man, I mean? Yes. It's a man. Women are people too, Elvis. Wisewad? No, I love the Mark Wisewad episodes. No, not you.
Starting point is 01:42:00 Who could it be? I would ask Laura to guess, but she's never heard an episode of Tron on Mic. Sorry. Can you give me a clue? Is it a musician? You know what? It got really kind of like political and kind of annoyed me, and I was like, no.
Starting point is 01:42:10 Is it Lou Skieses? It might be. He's here. That's fantastic. That's wonderful. Can Lou Skieses please come to the microphone? Please tell me. Is he really here?
Starting point is 01:42:24 Yeah, he's right over there. Lou Skieses please come to the microphone? Please tell me, is he really here? Yeah, he's right over there. Lou Skeezes, please. Now, Laura, we're going to catch up in a bit here. That contest is amazing. Thank you. By the way, thank Andrew and thanks StickerU for partnering with Toronto Mike and bringing the real talk. You guys are amazing. Well, I put my foot in my mouth.
Starting point is 01:42:39 Thank you so much for having us. Now I'm going to create a little friction here. So Lou is going to take this microphone. Why are you taking friction? Happy capitalism, everybody. This is going to be quick. Actually, this is going to be good. You can just turn off my mic so I can watch.
Starting point is 01:43:07 Lou's taking off some fantastic hats. Yes, this is a... Yeah, okay, right on. So what's going on? What did I miss? Nothing. Andy, is there anything you want to say to Mr. Lou Skeezes? I don't make her do it herself.
Starting point is 01:43:23 Why? Why? You can't stand your words there? No, I just said that the only episode of Toronto Mics that I could not listen to was the one that you were on because it got too political and it annoyed me and I turned it off. I don't recall doing politics with Mike. I recall talking about transitions in my career. I remember I recall talking about transitions in my career. I recall talking, I mean, we did the kicking out the jams. I don't remember doing politics.
Starting point is 01:43:52 By the way, what were the odds? Like, think about it. Do you have me confused with somebody else? I knew I shouldn't have said anything. That's fantastic. Do you have, like, do you have me confused with somebody else? Maybe I do. Maybe with Peter Sherman. Maybe I do. Oh, okay. There you have me confused with somebody else? Maybe I do. Maybe with Peter Sherman.
Starting point is 01:44:06 Maybe I do. Oh, okay. There you go. Steve Anthony. All right. Good thing we cleared that up, huh? All right, Andy, I'm sorry for putting you on the spot there. Lou would like to meet you in the parking lot right after this.
Starting point is 01:44:17 No, that's not required. You know, I have a personality where I attract people that get it, and I repel people that don't. So please, stay in the repelled kettle place. I'm fine with that. What place was that? Well, it sounds like hell to me. Andy, listen, I love you, Andy,
Starting point is 01:44:38 and thank you so much for listening to all the other, the non-Lew episodes. Thank you so much. My to all the other non-Lew episodes. Thank you so much. My pleasure. I'm hoping Andy, Andy the Pandy, is Gare Joyce in the house? Is Gare
Starting point is 01:44:56 Joyce still alive? Am I allowed to joke about this? This is okay, right? I think he has a good sense of humor. Why are you looking at me? You're my voice of reason. Hey, you, Lewskies and Gear Joyce have interesting hats. Yeah, well, we're into hats.
Starting point is 01:45:15 Yeah, I was out on the golf course all day long. I can't do that with this. There's no more sun. Yeah. I was on location with Private Eyes all day long on the golf course How's Jason doing? Jason's amazing
Starting point is 01:45:32 It was a real trip watching him work behind the scenes I mean, we shot one scene for about four hours today and he was the man in charge He was great Let me say right off the bat, I'm glad you're more like Jason Priestley and less like
Starting point is 01:45:48 Luke Perry. You mean from a talent perspective or just oxygen processing? I'm glad you're alive is what I'm trying to say here. I'm sorry everybody. I'm sorry. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:46:04 It was dire. Here's what we'm trying to say here. I'm sorry everybody. I'm sorry. No, it was dire. Okay. So here's what we're going to do. This is live so anything can happen. Gare's going to tell the story of how he almost died and then I'm going to come back and talk to you, Lou and Gare. I'm actually going to the washroom. I need
Starting point is 01:46:20 to go pee. Oh my gosh. That's usually my move. I do that. So Elvis is in church for like oh no give me like 90 seconds okay it's like all about eve laurie uh let me let me see how i can uh dive into this so um i was in boston uh covering the stanley cup final when sorry when was this what final this past one yeah one? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And so I came down with what I thought was a bad cold, and then what I thought was bronchitis,
Starting point is 01:46:52 but it ended up being bacterial pneumonia. Do not recommend it. I really don't recommend it. It was going to take me eight hours to get into a walk-in clinic in Boston, and I thought, you know what, I can fly home in that time. I flew back from Boston, went to my doctor, collapsed, rode in an ambulance to the hospital. When I checked in, my blood pressure was 60 over 30-something.
Starting point is 01:47:24 The doctor told me that he had a real hard time finding a pulse. And I said, keep looking. Can I pause you there for a second? Sure. A couple of questions. Were you contagious at the time? I'll get to that. Okay.
Starting point is 01:47:40 But that's in the cake. How do you get that? Is that something that you just... Dumb luck. Okay. Dumb's in the cake. How do you get that? Is that something that you just... Dumb luck. Okay. Dumb luck. Yeah. I've tried to go back and figure that out.
Starting point is 01:47:52 There wasn't anyone that I knew that was contagious or anything like that. Okay. I ended up being in hospital a total of 11 days. I didn't eat for 17 days. My heart was out of rhythm. They had trouble diagnosing me. I didn't respond to antibiotics. They were checking me for everything. They checked me for Legionnaires, even though I told them it had been years since I drank at the Legion. I'm doing material. No, it sort of defied treatment for about five days,
Starting point is 01:48:39 and then I started pulling out of it. But it was really nasty. I mean mean I was having I guess the doctor said that my oxygen intake was 15% of of what people's oxygen a normal person's oxygen intake would be and you know I just said give it to me straight doc you know You know, should I get a yearly parking permit or just go monthly? So, yeah. What are you?
Starting point is 01:49:15 I've got one more. Because Mike's coming back, so I can do one more. No, and the doctor was like, do you smoke? And I'm like, no, my teeth are naturally yellow, right? Do you drink? And I'm like, recreationally, you know, and he's like, well, I'm going to put you on a heavy duty drug. And I am on some pretty heavy duty drugs. I'm going to put you on a heavy duty drug. And you're, you know, it's going to be a period of adjustment, but in time you're going to be able to do everything that you normally do. You'll even be able to golf. And I was like, well, I don't golf.
Starting point is 01:49:56 He goes, you're a white man, 60 years old, you're reasonably successful, you don't golf, right? And I was like, no. He goes, well, what do you do to let off steam? Right? And I said, well, you know, I do stand-up comedy. And he said, have you ever thought about taking up a nice relaxing hobby like smoking? Anyways, enjoy the veal. No. So you're in a hospital room in bed for 11 days, you said?
Starting point is 01:50:31 Yeah, on an IV. I literally couldn't choke down food. For 17 days you didn't eat? 17 days I didn't really eat a scrap. I was basically on liquids through that time. Wow. And do you have a catheter at this point in time?
Starting point is 01:50:48 Not here. Well, no, not now. Then. No, you know what? I was, oh, wait a minute. There was a time when I was catheterized, but that's, there is a period where... For pleasure. No, there was a period when I literally can't remember
Starting point is 01:51:04 people coming in to visit me. Like, I was so, so out of it. What was funny, what was funny, I was talking about this earlier tonight. One person from my workplace where I've been for eight years came and visited me, and eight comics came. And I was actually telling comics to stop coming. Who was the one person? John Grigg, my editor.
Starting point is 01:51:31 And now I say that there were people that were out of town working you know, it's hard to do but like I'm not throwing all of them under the bus, just some of them under the bus. Now Gare, I just want to point out that this is episode 514.
Starting point is 01:51:50 Not a single guest of Toronto Mike has died. Not a single one. You said this last time I was on. It's like you're wanting someone to. I don't want anyone to. You really do. I really do believe you do. It's been many years.
Starting point is 01:52:02 You're going to be able to dedicate an episode. Yeah, you would have like a funeral. I hope none of my guests ever die. Like a podcast funeral. It's the best part of the Oscars, right? In Memorial, right? Right. Now, Gare, we have been to a Wolfpack match.
Starting point is 01:52:17 I was so happy Gare lived, I took him to a Wolfpack match. Was that the one Elvis was at? It was a good time. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, okay, okay. Yeah, it was great. He met my kids. Honest to God, though, I will tell you this.
Starting point is 01:52:28 I don't know if you knew it at the time. I was pretty wobbly at that game. Oh, I can tell because you had to go sit at the bleachers. I had to go sit down. Yeah, I was struggling. Elvis was giving you that back rub. Like literally the week before, the week before, I went to get my hair cut, and the barber asked me, should I call an ambulance? I mean, I was...
Starting point is 01:52:49 So how long is it going to be before you can play golf? Well, I couldn't be golfing. Not in this lifetime. You're still... No, no, I don't golf. I do stand-up. But seriously, is there a point in time where you get back to 100% or is there... I think I'm pretty close.
Starting point is 01:53:06 I got to the gym, got swimming this week. So I think I'm on track. But they said it could be up to six months for 100% full recovery. And yeah, I checked into hospital on June 5th, which was probably two or three days too late. But I'm doing a lot better. I'm here to tell the tale. When did you find out who won the Stanley Cup? Who won?
Starting point is 01:53:34 No. Do you remember? I feel like that would be something that, or was it not important at that point in time? It was not important. Not at that time, but after? Did you care at all? Given that you were there covering the game?
Starting point is 01:53:46 Well, no. What I would say is that although I have no friends in the Boston organization, I have friends in the St. Louis organization. So Doug Armstrong is one of my best friends in the biz. So I was super happy for him. But he already had a ring. So what the hell? Kieran, glad you're looking so much better.
Starting point is 01:54:08 You feeling better? I'm here. Give it up for Gary Joyce. Speaking of looking great, Lou, you look great. Thanks, Mike. Always a pleasure to be with you. Are you still shedding the beef, as you once told Mike Stafford? Because I pulled that clip, and I remember you were shedding beef.
Starting point is 01:54:27 Yeah, you know, it's a struggle to keep it off, but I'm constantly, you know, working the nutrition program. And tell us now, like, okay, since you were on Toronto Mic, that was shortly after being... Gassed. Gassed. Gassed at 640. Right.
Starting point is 01:54:48 Are you on any radio stations now? I am. Okay, tell us where you can be heard now. No, I'm not going to do that. No? No, I'm just going to... You know, because it's part of a settlement. Oh, you don't have to tell them.
Starting point is 01:55:01 Okay, so... Andy wants to know. No, she really doesn't. No. I don't have to tell them. Okay, so... Andy wants to know. No, she really doesn't. No. I don't want her to listen. And how are things? It's good, yeah. I mean, what's the complaint, right?
Starting point is 01:55:14 I mean, you're living in North America, young, good-looking, rich. I mean, shit. Life's good. It is the happy capitalism thing. Did a lot of people, like, when you were let go from 640, did a lot of people sarcastically say, hey, that's capitalism, Lou? You know, there might have been some of that. But I have, like I said, I have a personality that attracts people that get it
Starting point is 01:55:37 and repels people that don't. And I'm happy with that. I just want to associate with people that get it. And, you know, like you, Mike, like Rick from Oakville. You know, I come to events like this and there's a sense of community talking with Steve today. And, you know, it's like, yeah, we all get it. But if you don't get it, I can't explain it to you. Right?
Starting point is 01:56:03 Are you talking to Andy right now? No, I'm saying to that part of the population that doesn't get it you know what can I say except good luck can I interrupt for a sec speaking of getting it would anyone be able to get me another beer please tab under you know the big my real name at the bar My big takeaway from this event is how beloved you are by the listeners. Listen, for someone who didn't want to come. Yeah, what is it with that? I don't even want to come.
Starting point is 01:56:34 Come on. I don't know. I just listen for you. I get the love from Mike. I don't understand why anyone cares about a co-host that shows up once a quarter. So in listening to Hebsey talking about his book, I wanted to mention for those of you that want to read the story, it's available in the libraries.
Starting point is 01:56:58 I was in the library in Milton. I don't think he wants you to share that information. No, no, he gets paid for those. Those are not free. He gets a check. But not $25. I'm not sure what the deal is, but I saw it. It's even worse when your friends tell you that they picked it up used.
Starting point is 01:57:17 But, you know, I mean, it's in the library. And, you know, they were talking about, you know, who's going to be the captain of the Leafs and so on. There's a great book about captains in sports and how they make a big difference. If you get the right one, it really stirs that drink. Elvis's drink has arrived. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, Moose.
Starting point is 01:57:37 Thank you, Moose Compy. It's last call. Do you want another one? Oh, last call? No, I'm okay because I'm already mispronouncing it. Lou, I'm a big fan. Do you want to say anything at all about the... I'm wondering if I should even say it. Go ahead.
Starting point is 01:57:58 Mike, are you getting shy and bashful all of a sudden? But the Mike Stafford comments about me that were made after your last episode. So you did your second appearance on Toronto Mike. Right. I asked you,
Starting point is 01:58:10 and I listened back to the replay. I can tell you all I asked you about Mike Stafford was, did he reach out to you after you were gassed? And you said no.
Starting point is 01:58:18 And then we kind of moved on. Right, yeah. That's all we can do, right? The answer is self-evident. Well, that apparently triggered Mr. Stafford, and he called me a turd in his basement.
Starting point is 01:58:29 In your basement, not his basement. Yeah, my basement. Fantastic. Please, don't go to his basement. I love it. And prior to that, I felt like Stafford and I were okay. He came on twice, was great. I was a fan of his work,
Starting point is 01:58:43 and then I became a turd in his basement, and it's all your fault. In your basement. My basement. Right. Come on. What do you think? Do you have any statement you want to make about that? It's kind of irrelevant.
Starting point is 01:58:58 You know what I mean? Like, I got my lawyer to work out a settlement. From 640? That's right. Not from Stafford? No. I have one rule. When the money stops, that's when I stop giving a shit.
Starting point is 01:59:16 Why would I invest any more emotion in something that is flaccid? On that note, flaccid. Too many note, flaccid. Too many jokes. All right. Now, I'm looking at my list of people who are going to appear on the podcast,
Starting point is 01:59:31 and I also see we have a half an hour left. So I'm not rude. I'm actually going to just get some more bodies on here. Yeah, no problem. Thank you. And thanks for supporting the show. You're one of the best supporters of this program. Hey, love you, Lou.
Starting point is 01:59:44 Happy capitalism. Happy capitalism to you. And, one of the best supporters of this program. Love you, Lou. Happy capitalism. Happy capitalism to you. And Gare, always a pleasure seeing you. You're a funny and great writer. And now you have all that priestly money. I wish I had some of his money. I have to get you out to the book launch for my Crosby book. She's in my calendar.
Starting point is 02:00:02 Yes. Is Crosby going to be there? Crosby will not be there. There will be hockey celebrities there. Yeah. And you. Now speaking of hockey, is Rob here? Rob Del Mundo.
Starting point is 02:00:17 He left? Now I feel like a rotten jerk because he was one of the first ones here. He's the second name on the list. James Edgar. You haven't left, have you? Have a seat.
Starting point is 02:00:32 So James Edgar and... I did the Langer. Hold on here. Is Rush Mike here? Yes. I have a song for Rush Mike, so I'm going to start with him. Okay. Anne-Marie. Yeah.
Starting point is 02:00:52 Anne-Marie. I'd like to get Anne-Marie on Toronto Mike. I think she'd be a great guest. She would. Yes. Okay, because Rush Mike is here. Yes. And now, Rush Mike, nice to see you here, buddy.
Starting point is 02:01:29 Thanks for coming out. Thank you. Four for four. Is there anyone else here who's been at all four? Just put up your hand or scream or something. Andy Elgrego, because he performed at three of the four. James as well. James as well. So glad I have the four-timer club here.
Starting point is 02:01:46 Why are you touching everyone? He didn't actually touch me. I reached and I missed, actually. I also think he leaned away. I haven't touched everybody. I'm glad I'm on this side. A lucky few. Okay, so Rush Mike, when did you discover this podcast?
Starting point is 02:02:03 So I was listening to Rick C. from Oakville, and very similar. So I'm probably, I want to say 2006. You were searching for Humble Howard information. Actually, I was. And I used to listen or read Freddie P's Canadian Thinker, I believe it was called. I built Canadian Thinker.
Starting point is 02:02:24 I'm the back-end guy. So that was Thinker. That was on the back end guy. So that was the start. Even though I disagreed with all of his politics, including his very rampant no public breastfeeding policy, I would get furious at him. Yeah, yeah. So that's what... What are your thoughts on public breastfeeding?
Starting point is 02:02:39 Well, Elvis, it's such a strange thing to have a visceral opinion on, I find. It's very strange. Like, what do you care if a mother's going to feed her kid on a patio at Great Lakes Brewery? Who cares? I'm with you. I don't care. I think it's an old person thing. Yeah, it's definitely an old person thing, and nobody should give a shit.
Starting point is 02:02:56 So you're okay with this, James? I'm totally fine. Yeah. Okay, good. I just want to clear that up. Okay. So you came along in 2005 or something like that? Yeah, yeah. A long time. good i just want to clear that up okay uh so you came along in 05 or something like that yeah yeah
Starting point is 02:03:05 long time and i've been listening since uh on the podcast i think number one okay yeah do you have do you have an opinion on the loose skis episodes uh you know a little political but you said but okay but you like you liked canadian thinker who's had a right-wing slant. Yeah, but I agree. I didn't necessarily agree with that. You just wanted to hear about Freddy's Tin Palace. Fixing the toilet at the Tin Palace was probably one of my funniest reads.
Starting point is 02:03:37 I still remember all that. That's how I got here, too. You know, I actually keep it alive so Freddy could always return to it. He'd have to actually type in those words. But it's actually waiting for him. I wish he would go back to it because it was actually a great little blog.
Starting point is 02:03:54 It was. And it's brought us all together. I know. I'm realizing that. That's fantastic. Mike, do you have a favorite episode? Honestly, they're all good. I listen all the time in the car. I've got a long commute, and I'll put something on,
Starting point is 02:04:13 and I really don't try to touch my phone when I'm driving, but I'll flip around, and something will come on. I'm like, ah, I didn't really think I wanted to listen to that. But it ends up being a great episode. So all of them are great. Even the Elvis episodes. Even the Elvis episodes. No.
Starting point is 02:04:29 Did you hear that in his voice? Even. No. Do you have a favorite one? I like the Ann Marszkowski because I love that quote. Do you think she knew we were recording? Or do you think she thought that was a private conversation? Out of fucks to give.
Starting point is 02:04:45 And that's a great line because it's true. And I think when you have that in an interview, it's great. No, I mean, you said it, man. She's coming back. Awesome. I tweeted at her, like, we should do it again. And she's all in. Like, I think it's going to part two coming soon.
Starting point is 02:05:03 Great. Ann Moroskowski. I can't spell her name, but she's wonderful. James Edgar. Again, just like Stephanie Wilkinson, just like Rick Cianocville, I feel like I've been seeing your comments on TorontoMic.com
Starting point is 02:05:15 for like 15 years. Am I going crazy here? I don't know if it's 15, but it's certainly a long time. How many years is it, James? I'm guessing it, you know what, it could be. See, come on, never doubt me. When did you start the blog?
Starting point is 02:05:29 2002. Probably not that long after you started then. Again, with the Humble and Fred thing and I can't recall exactly what but somewhere in there I got into following the blog
Starting point is 02:05:43 and I have to admit I don't listen to the podcast as much as many other people do. Not because I don't want to. Just because it quite often doesn't work with what I'm doing. I can't sit and work and do it. Oh, sorry. Not on the mic. Much better. Okay, so there you go.
Starting point is 02:06:00 I try to listen at work sometimes. But until my wife bought me some wireless headphones recently. And she's here, right? She is here, actually. But she doesn't want to come on the mic? I don't know. Because I would happily boot Rush Mike off the mic for her. Speaking of, you know what?
Starting point is 02:06:17 You put on the Rush for Rush. That could have been my walk-up music, too. Oh, wow. Although, actually, I bet between the two of us, only one of us has a Rush tattoo, right? You're right. Yeah. And it's not me. And it's not him.
Starting point is 02:06:29 Rush is in my number one band. It's the hip. My brother Steve is still here. I'm very honored he stuck it out because he won't come to the mic.
Starting point is 02:06:36 That's Steve in the blue jay cap back there. Yes. He hates Rush. Like, I know this for a fact because I like Rush and he hates Rush.
Starting point is 02:06:45 Let's get him, guys. It's a great way to get your brother to come on the show. My wife's not a big fan either, if you want the truth. Yeah, because she's female. Exactly. Oh, no. All these controversial statements today. No more live recordings from the brewery.
Starting point is 02:07:03 No more. I love Rush. I've been a Rush fan since like 19, I don't know, 74? Maybe even a little earlier because I had an older neighbor whose older cousin was introduced You don't even look like you were alive in 74.
Starting point is 02:07:17 I was, trust me. I was. And yeah, no, but Did you go to school with Peter Gross at all? I did not. No? No, I, no. He... Did you go to school with Peter Gross at all? I did not. No? No, I... No, he's just a little tiny bit older than me. Not much, but a little bit.
Starting point is 02:07:32 But I did... Did you ever wear blackface, James? Come on. I've never actually worn blackface, no. Although I could see that being something that people would do in my school in 1970, 1968, something like that. I could, yeah.
Starting point is 02:07:49 But not you. I'm not actually condemning Peter Gross for that. I'm doing it. No, no. Kids in school do what they're told. He was fine. He was 55 when he was five. He was fine. But remember the reader, the woman who worked as a guard at Auschwitz was in big trouble. Like she was following orders, but she still got...
Starting point is 02:08:05 Where are we going? When you're older... Do you remember the reader, Elvis? Elvis is more of a Four Christmases guy. You know what? I have to actually say one thing. Yes, James.
Starting point is 02:08:17 It's my son's name. I don't... Yes, it is. And I have a daughter, Morgan. So there you go. I don't listen as much to the podcast as I, especially over the summer when I'm riding my motorcycle. You can't listen. I've tried.
Starting point is 02:08:30 You can't listen to a podcast on a motorcycle. Because you'll crash. Well, no. It's just you can't hear it, actually. That's the problem. Oh, right. But of all the podcasts I don't like, it's the ones with Elvis. I'm not.
Starting point is 02:08:42 Yeah. I've tried a couple of times. Wow. He's not doing a bit here. This is real. Yeah, he's mentioned it on the blog before. Real talk. What is it about Elvis? He swears too much.
Starting point is 02:08:51 Oh, no. No, I'm pretty fucking good with the swearing. That's fine. No problem. Is it the fact he's not very funny? Yeah, that could be it. Could be it. That could be it.
Starting point is 02:09:01 Makes sense. No offense, but... I have to look at the guy when I'm talking to him, okay? You're making more sense than anyone else has been on the microphone. That is a change for me. There you go. Rush Mike, do you have any coupons for me today? I do.
Starting point is 02:09:17 Oh, you do? I got a pocketful. I said that as being a dick, but you do. Honestly, amazing. We'll keep you anonymous or whatever. It's up to you, actually. It's your life. I'm going to just call you Rush Mike. And if you want to disclose anything further, that's up to you.
Starting point is 02:09:33 Amazing. What's the inside joke here? There's no inside joke, except he's... Just don't say my name on that. I won't say his real name. Don't say his name. I see what you're saying. And he works for a company that should be sponsoring this podcast. They should.
Starting point is 02:09:49 They should. It's not a conflict of Palma Pasta. It's a different kind of. Not at all. Speaking of Palmas. Yeah. Is Duce still here? No, I think Anthony left.
Starting point is 02:09:57 He's got to wake up early. I won the gift card. Yeah, last time. At TMLX3, you won the gift card. Did you redeem it? I have not yet. I've been saving it. Really? That's a long time ago. Yeah. At TMLX3 you won the gift card. Did you redeem it? I have not yet. I've been saving it. Really? That's a long time ago. Wow.
Starting point is 02:10:08 Anyway, we have family coming from France next week. We're going to actually go out and get some pasta because my brother-in-law loves lasagna. So there you go. Okay. Good for you. Enjoy that. Now I'm upset Anthony didn't give away another gift card today. He should have done that. James, do you have a favorite
Starting point is 02:10:24 episode or did I ask you that? No. Do you have a favorite episode or did I ask you that? No. Do you have a favorite? Actually, I think it was Dave Hodge when he did his top. 100 of all time? Yeah, that was astounding. He's unbelievable.
Starting point is 02:10:34 That music is still sort of going for me. I discovered like 15 new great artists at least. That's absolutely. And there's no chance of me getting your wife on the microphone. She's filming right now. She's busy filming. James, thanks for your support.
Starting point is 02:10:53 4 for 4. Mike, you're also 4 for 4. Mike, you're one of many Mikes I meet at TMLX's. That's why you are Rush Mike. Because there's only one Rush Mike. Always a pleasure, man. Thanks for doing this. Take care. Sean Sargent. Is there a Sean in the
Starting point is 02:11:10 house? Is there a Sean? And is there a Brother Neil? Yeah, Linda, I'm saving you for next, so warm up in the bullpen, okay? Thank you. Okay, so Sean's coming to my left,
Starting point is 02:11:25 and then Brother Neil's going to come to Elvis' right. How are you, brother? How are you doing? Nice to meet you. When you say brother, that's really his first name. Yeah, well, I read his name tag. Hello, everybody. Sean, you're wearing the Humble and Fred shirt.
Starting point is 02:11:41 I am. Representing. Did they pay you to wear that? No, I bought it myself, too. You paid for that? I paid for this shirt. But before you worked with them? I created this shirt.
Starting point is 02:11:50 No. While I was working for them, I decided it's time they brought back some merch. But they have to give you the shirt because you work there. Well, you know. No, we need to talk about this.
Starting point is 02:12:04 Well, you know, you got to pay for some things in life, and they try to tell me to do that often. I got a million questions. Yeah, we're going to get to you, brother. We're going to get to you, brother. I always feel like I'm Hulk Hogan when I say brother. Yeah, that should be a bingo square, too, because you do go into a bad Hulk Hogan.
Starting point is 02:12:20 Thank you, brother. Okay, Sean. Yes. I know you because you're helping Hum and fred with a variety of things and i'm gonna be nice to you well we'd be nice to you anyways but your mom and dad are here right i brought my parents hello mom and dad waving over here they won't come on the microphone i begged i begged your mom i was on my knees and i was pleading with her please come on a microphone she said no they're mic shy, but I brought my girlfriend last time for your Toronto
Starting point is 02:12:47 Mic XL3. She didn't break up with you afterwards. No, she's still around somehow. Even after Humble and Fred too, I don't know how. This has stuck around. She's a good girl. For those who don't know, tell us what you do for Humble and Fred.
Starting point is 02:13:03 I'm one of the producers. I started as the intern with Humble and Fred. So I'm one of the producers. I started as the intern with Humble and Fred, and now I've kind of stepped up. I'm doing a little bit more. I'm on air every day, but I produce their Twitch channel. So we have a live streaming Twitch feed. I don't know if anyone really knows what Twitch is. Awesome.
Starting point is 02:13:21 We got a couple. We got one. We got two. Twitch is gamers go on Twitch, and then people watch them play video games. Yeah. Which never made sense to me, but the kids like it. It's mainly gaming, but we're kind of using it like a YouTube platform and that's kind of what it's kind of, it's taking off into.
Starting point is 02:13:36 Okay. Let's real talk. Okay. Like what's we do here? But the guy, Don Collins is the guy who brought Dean Blundell to 590. Boo. Boo. Boo. Boo earns.
Starting point is 02:13:48 What? Okay. That seemed out of left field. I don't know where you're going with that. Okay. I'm going somewhere. Work with me here. Come on.
Starting point is 02:13:56 Don Collins, not his real name, reached out to Humble and Fred about getting on Twitch TV. Yep. And my interpretation of this is that Humble and Fred said, Hey, Sean, you're like an unpaid intern or a paid intern? At the time, I was unpaid. Right. So they're like, here's something you could work on that would be a transferable skill set for you in your young career here because you're only 19 years old, so you can work on that.
Starting point is 02:14:23 I'll take that every day. And then you can also potentially generate revenue from Twitch because Don Collins had an idea of generating revenue. And then that would be like your pay, right? Yeah, so Don's a really great guy. He kind of reached out to a bunch of other
Starting point is 02:14:40 broadcasters and anybody else that was... He reached out to me. He reached out to you. And then I tried to reach out to you. And that's why you're here today. You can have fun on that. That's okay. One day we'll get you to switch. We'll see what happens.
Starting point is 02:14:56 Don reached out. How many people are watching you on Twitch TV? I mean, humble and friend. We were just on a month off. What's the number? Right now, we average around I mean, humble and frank. We were just on a month off, so I mean... Just what's the number here, Sean? The numbers went down a bit. What's the number? Right now, we average around 30,
Starting point is 02:15:09 but in total views of each broadcast, it increases exponentially. So just like YouTube views... Exponentially. No, it goes up to... We reach within... We have thousands of people actually watching the whole show.
Starting point is 02:15:23 And I actually... With Twitch, you get these little bits of information and all that data. So I know. I know we're doing it. I know we're reaching people. So you help them by, like, there's multi-cameras, right? Because I just actually stick an old iPhone on a tripod and then I go. In fact, no one can see us because it's dark.
Starting point is 02:15:39 But we've been doing it for the whole episode here. Yeah. You have multi-cameras at play. I've thrown in three cameras in the Humble and Fred studio. And we also have, I can turn on their computer mic or webcams there. So there's the potential to have up to,
Starting point is 02:15:56 we could have 10, 20. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter actually how many. We could have a whole Zoom conference meeting if you want to. We could just talk for hours. That's kind of the goal with Twitch is to be broadcasting and creating a whole TV schedule of your own.
Starting point is 02:16:11 Now, I like your initiative here. You've taken ownership of this video live streaming for Humble and Fred. And I guess I'm curious, what's the goal here? You want to get a job in the industry, I guess. Yeah, obviously I want to get a job in the industry i guess yeah obviously i want to get a goal and the job goal is right now mom and dad are um are helping you out is that right or am i jumping to conclusion yeah they seem like nice people that's why i'm saying i drove them but i am living in their home so uh i'll give it to them that's fantastic and okay hang in there i'm gonna talk I'm going to talk to brother right now.
Starting point is 02:16:45 Brother. All right. Hey, brother. Brother Neil. What's going on, Mike? Elvis. Hey, brother. You brought your own Artie, I see.
Starting point is 02:16:56 Oh, yeah, he's Artie. It's like Howard Stern joke. Different noses. No, I get it. I get it. I watch Dirty Work many, many times. He's leaning me now, too. Yeah.
Starting point is 02:17:05 Yeah, he's looking good. Yeah, he's clean. But can he fix the nose or does it matter? It doesn't matter. He needs surgery. That's what's stored in the coat. But I imagine he's not going to get a fix because he would have to go under and they probably, you know, probably not a good idea for him to be going under anything.
Starting point is 02:17:18 I like Artie Lang. I root for the guy. I'm a big Norm MacDonald fan and I know they're buddies and I listen to Howard Stern. As do I. Do you, brother? Oh, yeah. I love Howard. Dirty Work, one of the best movies. It was filmed in Toronto, including a lot of locations. Are you kidding me? Great.
Starting point is 02:17:37 We're all big Dirty Work fans. Gord Martineau's in Dirty Work. Gord Martineau. That's right. I didn't know that. Gord Martineau's in Dirty Work. What? Gord Martineau. Oh, yeah, that's right. I didn't know that. Yeah. Gord Martineau's in Dirty Work. He's a star of Dirty Work. Is he coming back for the Anna Roszkowski sequel? Oh, my God. Can you imagine if I had the door unlocked and Gord came in and said,
Starting point is 02:17:55 Anne, I heard you've been... That'd be fantastic. Gord, I'll leave the door open at 1130. Just walk down. So tell me, who are you, brother? I know you digitally... This sounds brother? I know you digitally. This sounds dirty. I know you digitally.
Starting point is 02:18:10 Yeah, I've been posting, I mean, as a commenter, as the brother for years, I guess, on your blog. But I recognize you. You've been to another Toronto Mic listeners. I've definitely been to. Yeah. I recognize that handsome face. There we go. Yeah.
Starting point is 02:18:24 I just missed the first one. Okay. Well, you're beating Elvis in his track record. So how and when did you discover Tronamite? I think it was definitely one of the radio shuffles or firings. It was like a Mad Dog or Humble and Fred firing or somebody that got turfed. That's my specialty. Yeah, exactly.
Starting point is 02:18:44 You're the first to blog because it used to be the big yellow board. Everybody would go on there. Can I ask you, Raina quit her gig at CBC Radio 2, which is called CBC Music now, for a job at NPR, and Mark Weisblatt and I talked about it in the last episode. But then the story broke like nine days later or something, but we broke that story, right? I broke that.
Starting point is 02:19:07 Well, Mark Weisblatt broke that story on Toronto Mic. Raina going to NPR. Well, who else would break it? I don't think there's any other late breaking site. Because no one else cares. Yeah, exactly. No. Nobody listens to studies.
Starting point is 02:19:18 You're so right. You're so right. Please continue. Sorry. But I want to do. No. And so I was posting as a brother, and whenever the radio stuff would come up,
Starting point is 02:19:30 I would always jump in on your page there and put a comment and make something silly remark. But, of course, I got engulfed in your podcast, and I love the Elvis episodes. You love the Elvis episodes. The 1236 episodes, I listen to those religiously. It's a monthly tradition now, and I listen to the Sunil Joshi episode. I think I tweeted out to you
Starting point is 02:19:47 that I was watching it live on Periscope while I was painting out in the backyard. So I heard the whole thing live as it was happening. It was cool. Very cool. Now there was some misunderstanding at the beginning when you showed up because you were your brother Neil. And brother Bill is Neil
Starting point is 02:20:03 Morrison. There's been a few moments of like people thinking you're him my appearance has been long time coming because you reached out to me i think in the comment section and you're like oh brother i'd love to have you yeah yeah okay i forgot about that i forgot about that so yes that was embarrassing thank you for bringing it up yeah sure i'd love to come down We could kick out the jams or some shit like that. Who's the guy who hates you, though? Can you be more specific? Isn't he a brother or something or other?
Starting point is 02:20:33 There's one guy who... A brother who hates me? There's a couple of guys who got banned recently. No, no, no. There's been some trouble spots in the TorontoMike.com universe. No, no, no. There's a guy that I always bust your balls. I haven't done it in a while, clearly.
Starting point is 02:20:44 But I bust your balls over this guy who no, no. There's a guy that I always bust your balls. I haven't done it in a while, clearly. But I bust your balls over this guy who has this imaginary... He's a fearless Fred. Oh, fearless. He has this imaginary feud with you that he thinks
Starting point is 02:20:53 that you trashed him. That's a long time ago because he came in... Well, he got... Martin Streak and Barry Taylor were let go 10 years ago.
Starting point is 02:21:02 Right. Right. Like over 10 years ago. And they recruited out of Edmonton, home of Monica. They recruited Fearless Fred to take like the
Starting point is 02:21:11 Barry Taylor spot or whatever. And he came to town and he, Humble and Fred, again, Mr. Sergeant. Sergeant,
Starting point is 02:21:18 that's the best last name I've ever heard. It's not too bad. It is. Your dad gave you that. Sergeant Bob over there. He knows it all. Sergeant's the real last name. That's where I get it from. That's not a fake name. That's right. That's not a radio name. It's not too bad. It is. Your dad gave you that. Sergeant Bob over there. He knows it all. Sergeant's the real last name.
Starting point is 02:21:25 That's where I get it from. That's not a fake name. That's right. That's not a radio name. It's tattooed on me, actually. Wow. You got the sergeant stripes on there. Have you ever heard of that Sergeant has a last name, Mike?
Starting point is 02:21:34 Is that a new thing? I don't know. I haven't thought about it. Got to come to Georgetown. Sergeant Road. So, yes, Fearless Fred. My first radio rivalry was with Fearless Fred. So he assumed that because he took over DJs that you liked,
Starting point is 02:21:52 that he thought you were trashing him, right? Because he was the person who took over from someone that you liked. The commenters were upset because they were big fans of the other guys. Of course, that's how it works. And he thought the commenters were me. But that's happened many times well Bob McCowan basically he said basically I heard you think I'm a dinosaur
Starting point is 02:22:10 or whatever but that was me I posted it was brother Neil I never called him a fucking dinosaur that's fantastic so brother what's your favorite episode I would say one of the turning point episodes in Toronto Mike history was way back to the Kate Wheeler and Christine Bentley episode.
Starting point is 02:22:31 So I think that was a huge transition point in the genre of Toronto Mike. You know, did you really get fired? I mean, did you really quit? Christine Bentley and I didn't see it coming, to be honest. This just happened. The mic was on. She was sitting there and she just started to tell the truth about what happened. And you're right.
Starting point is 02:22:48 I've now heard that same story 100 times. But that was the first time where somebody who we thought retired decided to tell the truth. Nope. They told me I had two choices. Walk out with a box, like Kate, or we can pretend you're retiring. And it's like, I'm an idiot. I never worked in this industry I'm like oh these retirements with the
Starting point is 02:23:08 cakes are fake it's like finding out wrestling is fake okay and then once you realize they're fake you realize they're all fake and Gallagher drops a bombshell in Gallagher and Gross Save the World about a beloved guest of Toronto Mike that's gonna blow your mind
Starting point is 02:23:24 well recently you alluded... How's that for a teaser? I think we're asking one of your guests, is Ken Shaw from CTV the... I'm Ken Shaw. Yeah, you did that impression. The 6 o'clock news on CTV, is he on his way out? And I noticed recently they dropped him from lunchtime news.
Starting point is 02:23:43 I got to be careful. I actually am having an issue remembering what's said to me off mic and what's said to me on mic. But I am led to believe that Ken is on his way out. Right. Because they were auditioning people during the summer. There was about a four-week period where they had a substitute host for the lunch hour newscast. And then after Labor Day, they dropped him. And he only does the 6 o'clock news. Brother, I should have
Starting point is 02:24:08 started with you. I could have done the whole episode with you. I brought you on too late. I've got lots of tidbits. What do you do? Are you in the industry, brother, or no? No. I host it. Because he's got a good voice, right? He's got a way better voice than I have. He does have a good voice. I do YouTube. That's what I wanted to talk to Mike about.
Starting point is 02:24:25 Okay. I was going to say, because I wanted to talk to Mike about. Okay. I was going to say, because I'm dying to get Linda in here. So here, let me pause you. Sure. Sean. Yes, sir. Okay. Other than the fact you're affiliated with Humble and Fred, who I'm affiliated with,
Starting point is 02:24:38 because, you know, I gave birth to Humble and Fred. I recognize. There's some web knowledge here that they don't have. Oh, how's Phil doing? Phil's doing a good job over there, right? Phil is the most beautiful, awesome soul in the world. Brilliant. I don't know how he knows things from like 1994 provincial politics.
Starting point is 02:25:00 Come on. He knows a lot of stuff, this guy. But he's a pleasure to work with every day. He is the best. So every day I've got to deal with the Phil Vortex, and I'm fine with that because it gives me a chance to really poke the bear and see, do you really actually know all of these facts that you throw out every day? Yeah, he does. But what I need to know before I give your seat to Linda, who works with Steve Paken now, who's my next guest
Starting point is 02:25:26 by the way, on Monday. If you have a question for Steve Paken, let me know. Do you, Sean Sargent, listen to Toronto Mike? Of course. Since I met you that first day that you rode in on a bike in the Humble Fred Studios, I looked up.
Starting point is 02:25:42 Master T was probably my favorite interview. Elvis, have you heard the Master T was probably my favorite interview. Elvis, have you heard the Master T episode? No. So you came in a bit late, but you've been catching up. I've been trying to catch up. I've been trying to watch all the interviews of people that I really know from my generation. How old are you?
Starting point is 02:26:01 Because I know I jokingly called you 19, but you're really 39 years old. Is that correct? Right in between there, 29. I'll take 19 every day. Get into the bar first in line. So you enjoy the Master T. Is there anything, any other episode you want to share? Master T.
Starting point is 02:26:17 Any of your sports interviews that you've done, a lot of the Blue Jay... Jerry Howarth was on. Yeah, Jerry Howarth. That was one of my favorites, to be honest. Wilner was on many times. Wilner. Yeah, anybody that's talking to Blue Jays.
Starting point is 02:26:29 Scott MacArthur. Yeah, all those outlets. And music, too. You have music performance, Biff Naked. I know. I was expecting to see Biff Naked at our Humble and Fred Christmas party last year, which ended up switching. We didn't have Biff Naked, but I watched that in preparation,
Starting point is 02:26:46 thinking, what's she going to say? It's been 10 years, I haven't seen her. She knows it's true. Biff Naked is the nicest human being on the planet. She is. She's totally. And I'm so proud to call her a neighbor. Really?
Starting point is 02:26:58 Yeah, well, she's in Mimico. Okay, yeah. It's not quite New Toronto, but it's close. Not like North Oshawa. And where do you live? You live in Georgetown, right? I live in Georgetown, yeah. I commute to the Humble and Fred studios here every
Starting point is 02:27:13 Monday to Thursday. Alonzo Mourning was a great Hoya. Nice. And yeah, I'm trying to remember. I was a big fan of the Hoyas, but that's a long time ago now. Now, Sean, thank you so much, my friend. So honored you'd be here. You brought your girlfriend last time.
Starting point is 02:27:28 Now you brought your parents. Anytime. It's a family affair. It is. I love it, man. We're family now, I think. You're a good man. Give me five.
Starting point is 02:27:36 I'm not going to twitch because I think I'm happier on Periscope. But if you have any tips for multi-camera approach to Periscope, Hebsey and I are listening, man. We're both Periscope, but if you have any tips for like multi camera approach to Periscope, Hebsey and I are listening, man. We're both Periscoping. We'd be honored to have some tips from you, man. Yeah, lots of Twitch things coming soon, and I'm getting a lot more work in this, so
Starting point is 02:27:58 I can throw it your way. I'm willing to happily throw it your way. Linda, thank you, Sean with the cool last name Sergeant. That sounds like a fake name, but I'm going to let that go. Linda, who's got a long name. Am I allowed to say the whole thing? Brother, you stick around, buddy.
Starting point is 02:28:17 Linda Bishovashan. Isn't that like the moon pies or the what are those Joe Louis that's Vachon right yeah but not on the microphone
Starting point is 02:28:30 Linda you knew come on by the way can I catch whatever Gare Joyce had
Starting point is 02:28:35 through these headphones pretty much Gare almost died he almost Luke Perry'd himself he never told us if he was contagious did he
Starting point is 02:28:42 because I asked him that question and I think he might have thought that I was busting his balls about being on an airplane but he didn told us if he was contagious, did he? Because I asked him that question. And I think he might have thought that I was busting his balls about being on an airplane, but he didn't know if he was contagious. I just kind of wanted to know. Okay, I'm going to go through my intro from here. We made out at the Wolfpack game.
Starting point is 02:28:54 Did Brenda leave? Oh, did you want on, brother? Yeah, come over here because you're not signed in. Okay, leave a thumb cut. This guy's not signed in. You're going to be fired. Isn't he 19? I think he said he was 19.
Starting point is 02:29:09 I actually, you know how I know this guy? He wanted a Toronto Mike sticker. And am I allowed to say where you work? Or is that no? Yeah, okay. He works at Rogers, the media, Rogers Media. I biked to Rogers Media to bring him a sticker once. I bike all over the city with sticker you stickers.
Starting point is 02:29:24 That's way up on Jarvis. None of us would have known that. Jarvis and Bluer. Right. Is it Aaron Davis Way? This is Lucas the intern from Kiss 92.5. Do you know him? Of course I know him. Oh, you guys are friends? This is Lucas the intern. Lucas Iannetta.
Starting point is 02:29:39 And Jay Miller is here as well. Two up and coming broadcasters. Who's the guy's name? Jay. Jay's back there. Does Jay want on the mic? I think Jay. Jay's back there. Okay. Does Jay want on the mic? Because I'm going to do my Linda thing because this is fascinating. Okay. All right.
Starting point is 02:29:51 So, okay. Exciting that everybody knows each other here. Linda, I'm so happy you're here. You want a sticker? Yeah. Do you want? Also, Laura from StickerU would like you to have one of those. Awesome.
Starting point is 02:30:06 Oh, by the way, everyone should get a sticker from Sticker U that's up here and a Capadilla pop socket? Anyway, not a condom. Peter Gross, that was a condom. He's doing it wrong. You realize he could have saved a trip up to the Rogers building because Lucas is here tonight. Lucas with the lid off. Catch the vibe, catch the vibe.
Starting point is 02:30:21 Okay, Linda. Yes. So glad to see you. I'm really glad to see you too, Mike. Is that true? Because you weren't at the last Toronto Mike Listener Experience. Yeah, no, I was in Antigua. Bad excuse. Yeah, and I actually...
Starting point is 02:30:34 As bad as Levi Fumka's excuse. But I tweeted you a picture on your birthday. And I appreciated that. Very good. Now, your husband's not here. He is. Oh, he is? Yeah, he's taking a picture.
Starting point is 02:30:44 Oh, yeah, okay. I met him at a Toronto Mike Listener is. Yeah, he's taking a picture. Oh, yeah, okay. I met him at a Toronto Mic listener experience. Yeah, he's a big... I love you guys. He's a big cycler, too. He cycles as well. Let's compare notes afterwards. Yeah. For days. I have to say, I'm so happy that Elvis is here.
Starting point is 02:30:59 His episodes, I laugh out loud, and like, I'm usually in public, and I'll just start howling at something. And so he's great. You should have these on a weekly basis. I really enjoy the Elvis and of course the 1236.
Starting point is 02:31:16 Yeah, Mark Wiseblood is missed tonight. Oh, before I wrap up, I'll throw a couple more people quickly. I want to say hi to Brian Gerstein who couldn't be here today because he's ABC. This is what Alec Baldwin said. Did he say that? I don't know if he said that.
Starting point is 02:31:31 Always be closing. Coffee's for closers only. I sent that gift to my team today. Because you're a tough boss who wants business. Start fucking closing shit. Do you want to know how I found out about your podcast? Yes, I do. Please tell me. Martin Streak. I was looking up something about Martin Streak, and
Starting point is 02:31:49 I saw your comments. And that's when I got, and I've been listening since episode 60 or 70 or something, so I just caught myself up. Let me guess, your first episode was Alan Cross, 66. It might have been. I knew I did all the CFNY guys first.
Starting point is 02:32:05 Right. I love the CFNY guys. And then it was all caught up. And then I remember George. I heard that one. I can't decide which I like better, the CFNY guys or the City TV guys. Because both of those crowds get me very, very excited. Yeah.
Starting point is 02:32:20 They're both really great. Very innovative. Linda, we're in overtime. Okay. Can I say something, though, first? Yeah. Quickly innovative. Linda, we're in overtime. Okay. Can I say something, though, first? Yeah. Quickly, sorry. You mentioned a good point.
Starting point is 02:32:28 I think the George episode might have been where the show shifted. Yeah. Because that was probably... You haven't listened to episode 500, right? I say exactly that. Of course I have. Of course I have. You should listen to it.
Starting point is 02:32:40 It's just me. I'm not listening to it. Okay, leave a... Oh, by the way, Juan, did you want to come on? No, it's okay. Don't worry. But do you want to? Yeah, yeah, here. Because now or listening. Okay, leave a... Oh, by the way, Juan, did you want to come on? No, it's okay. But do you want to? Yeah, yeah, here. Because now or never, brother.
Starting point is 02:32:48 Speak some Spanish. Because now or never, brother. Anyways, Mike, you're awesome. Thank you for the pants, Juan. I wear your pants in the... Not now. It's too nice, though. But I wear your pants in the cooler weather.
Starting point is 02:32:59 Thank you so much for being here. Leave a... You were amazing. The name tags were amazing. Yeah. Thank you so much. Mike, you're awesome. I love your podcast. Linda... Fumka, you were amazing. The name tags were amazing. Yeah. Thank you so much. Mike, you're awesome. I love your podcast.
Starting point is 02:33:07 Linda, fuck, I love you, man. I'm just saying it right now. I don't care who's listening. So thank you for doing this. Lucas, with the lid off, get over here.
Starting point is 02:33:18 And you stay here, brother, because you're friends of Lucas. Yeah. We're going to do this. And this chant, this is going to be it. He's filming it. This is Lucas. Yeah, we know each other. Lucas is agent, friends of Lucas. Yeah. We're going to do this. And this chant, this is going to be it. He's filming it. This is Lucas.
Starting point is 02:33:26 We know each other. Lucas is agent. Lucas. I met Lucas for the first time in real life. Yes. At the Roger Ashby retirement party at the Sheraton. But you got 15. You got 20 years on Lucas, right?
Starting point is 02:33:37 Am I wrong? Yeah, well. I think we were in the same class. Last semester. But Lucas is 16 years old. What are you? Actually 19. Correction. But Lucas is 16 years old. What are you? Actually 19. Correction.
Starting point is 02:33:47 Correction. 19. Wow. He's got the voice of a 55-year-old man. Holy shit. Look at that, Lucas. Nice pipes, dude. Is this good?
Starting point is 02:33:57 Oh, much better. Yeah. So Lucas is the intern on KISS 92.5 on the Darren Jones Show. Yeah. I went to University of Darren. You did? Yeah. St. Michael's College at U of T. I Yeah. I went to the University of Darren. You did? Yeah, St. Michael's College at U of T. I think you've got a few years on Darren.
Starting point is 02:34:09 Oh, my God, you should have him on. I should tell him to come on. I do have a few years on him, but we still were there together. He was very smart. Yeah. Bring him on. Tell Darren to come on Toronto Mike. Absolutely.
Starting point is 02:34:17 I used to watch him with Mo. What is it called? That show, The Buzz. I'm seeing him tomorrow because I go into Rogers Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and I sit across from him three hours for his show. When you're sitting across from Darren, just be saying,
Starting point is 02:34:32 go on Toronto Mike. And maybe bring on Mad Dog as well because they were the first morning shows on Kiss 22. Dear friend of the show. Mad Dog I think was one of the best episodes. That was amazing. That's the only episode Elvis listened to. Mad Dog, I think, was one of the best episodes. That was amazing. That's the only episode
Starting point is 02:34:46 Elvis listened to. The funny thing about Lucas, though, is that he doesn't listen to the music on Kiss 92. No, I don't. If I have to choose a Roger station, I'm a CHFI person. I kind of had you pegged
Starting point is 02:34:58 as a Sinatra guy. Am I wrong? Oh, no, not Sinatra. Oh, Mariah Carey, yes. You know how to push Lucas's buttons. Yes. Lucas, where did you put, I know with the answer, but I'm going to ask anyways, where did you put the Trottle Mike sticker?
Starting point is 02:35:14 So I put the sticker directly on my computer, my computer top. Does that upset Rogers Media people? Well, I don't use that computer to go into Rogers. So... Is there anyone at Rogers I should have on Toronto Mike that I haven't had on yet? I had attempted to get Michelle Butterly for you,
Starting point is 02:35:36 which I still stand by. She watches a lot of these episodes on Periscope. Really? I don't know if people know this. I should guess. I mean, I'm real top, right? Oh my god, that's amazing. When you watch this program on periscope we can i can see you you're not anonymous wow did you not know that no but i'm okay with not being anonymous well yeah right but yeah so michelle butterly yes butterfly butterly which one butterly butterly she's amazing You're really selling it Mike I want Michelle Butterly She sounds tasty
Starting point is 02:36:08 Jesus Christ How many beers? I'm totally sober Lucas, when did you discover Toronto Mike? So I discovered Oh, a couple years back now I think it was I'd seen you on Twitter and you had discussed a lot of insider news.
Starting point is 02:36:27 And I'm all for that when there's changes in radio and all that kind of stuff. And I think it's been a few years now. I can't remember the actual year. Oh, I wasn't 12. I like this guy oh thank you Mike forget the Elvis episode it's such an honor to be like behind
Starting point is 02:36:51 this mic I can't even begin to tell you do you want another sticker oh thank you that one's going above his back does your videographer want on a mic like remind me what's the name of your videographer want on a mic? Remind me, what's the name of your videographer?
Starting point is 02:37:07 Jay. His full name is Giovanni. Giovanni? Yeah. He's Italian, like Elvis. We met through radio, and I told him about Toronto Mic, actually. Does Giovanni like Toronto Mic? Yeah, he does. He does, definitely.
Starting point is 02:37:24 Every time I mention Toronto Mic to him or he does. He does, definitely. He was telling... Every time I mention Toronto Mike to him or we talk about Toronto Mike, he's always like, Kevin Frankish episode. The Kevin Frankish episode. He's gold, eh? Are you a behind-the-mic guy, Giovanni, or are you in front-of-the-mic guy? Is he doing
Starting point is 02:37:40 broadcasting, too? No. Does he have a good voice? Yeah, that's what I feel like. Instead of asking him questions off-mic, he should come on mic. Can he go a good voice? Yeah, that's what I feel like. Instead of asking him questions off mic. Can he go on the mic? Can we kick brother off the mic and just hear some Giovanni just for a minute? Bye, brother Neil. Okay, bye Lucas.
Starting point is 02:37:54 Listen, brother. Thanks for being here, buddy. This was great to see you here. Thank you. Nice meeting you, brother. I think my periscope's about the batteries about to die, but that's neither here nor there
Starting point is 02:38:03 except to say we're wrapping up soon. I had some gifts, though, for you. Oh, my God. Okay, gifts and then Giovanni, because he didn't bring me anything. Because one of your quotes on your bingo card is that nostalgia is a potent drug. Yes. So I brought you some retro chips.
Starting point is 02:38:20 Here you go. I like this guy. You used to like Lucas, now I like Brother. Some of my favorite stuff. Make sure you share some of that with Lucas. Lucas, you brought me nothing, Brother. He's 19. He doesn't even have a job.
Starting point is 02:38:34 It goes great with Great Lakes. He's Darren's intern. Yeah, I'm Darren's intern. Is he nice, Darren? Yes, he's very nice. To tell you 100%, he's very nice. As if you'd tell me if he wasn't nice. Well, no, but he's very nice to me. We like 100%, he's very nice. As if you'd tell me if he wasn't nice. Well, no, but he's very nice to me.
Starting point is 02:38:47 We're going to close with Giovanni. I can't believe we're closing with Giovanni. This is it. Okay. It's you, man. You're up. I got my... Giovanni's coming in hot.
Starting point is 02:38:55 Bring it in, Giovanni. My extra script. Hold on. I want to hear if he's got pipes. What if he sounds like Mike Tyson or something is your brother disappointed that I didn't cry he's my radio buddy
Starting point is 02:39:08 Steve's still here okay can I tell you something he's fantastic he's talked to zero people no one in my family okay stayed 30 feet away from anything
Starting point is 02:39:17 but he's here the whole time the teenagers told me sorry dad we're not coming to this one okay I got this message they weren't coming Monica surprised me with the two little ones.
Starting point is 02:39:25 That was fantastic. That's nice. My mom? My mom's not here? Yeah, Mary's usually here. Yeah, she didn't come. But Steve, he's representing. He's there through the whole thing.
Starting point is 02:39:34 He'd much rather be home watching Gilmore Girls or something, I'm sure. Okay, talk to me, Giovanna. No. You can call me You can call me Jay Miller Jay Miller When did you discover Toronto Mike? A few years ago
Starting point is 02:39:53 through Lucas, pretty much Lucas, you're a good ambassador for the program Hey, you're real talk Can you get any better than that? Come on now Elvis, can I kiss this guy? I love this guy That's what I tune in for. Keep listening. Keep telling
Starting point is 02:40:08 everyone to listen. What's your favorite episode, Giovanni? Am I saying it wrong? Giovanni. Okay, Giovanni. You can call me J, J Miller. J, what's your favorite episode? I have a lot.
Starting point is 02:40:23 Kevin Frankish, Ann Romer, mostly the City TV people. They're cool. What do you think of Peter Gross and John Gallagher, way before your time? No, I actually watched Peter Gross back in the day. How old is this guy, Jay? Are you 19 as well, Jay? Yeah, there's a big age difference between the two of us. How old do you think I am?
Starting point is 02:40:40 Okay, do you remember the Summit Series, Russia versus Canada? I don't know about that. I don't think so. Do you remember the Blue Jays winning their first AL East pennant? Okay, I'm going to say I was three when that happened. Oh, we know the answer then. You are 37? Oh, gosh, no.
Starting point is 02:41:02 Wow. Their first pennant. No, no, no. It was in the 80s. It's been a miscommunication. No, no, no. Wow. Her first pennant. No, no, no. It was in the 80s. No, no, no. It was in the 80s. There's been a miscommunication. No, no, no.
Starting point is 02:41:09 Miscommunication. He means the World Series. How old? He's 1990. Yeah, yeah. It seems like it. Elvis, do the math for me. I'm winding down.
Starting point is 02:41:18 29. 29 years old. 29? No. Okay, I'm 28. 28. Okay. So you remember Gallagher? You remember Peter Grohl? Oh, that's 680 News. Yeah, I'm 28. 28. Okay. So you remember Gallagher?
Starting point is 02:41:25 You remember Peter Gross? Oh, that's 680 News. Yeah, he's... Right. He only got let go in like June or July. I was there. Were you in the room when he got the paper? Not the room, but I was in the building.
Starting point is 02:41:35 Did you fire Peter Gross? No, I did not, Mike. I am just an intern, okay? I have no say in that. This is the future of Rogers. We have at the table, Elvis, the future of Rogers Communications. Giovano and... Jay and...
Starting point is 02:41:51 Lucas. Lucas, of course. If my dear friend Maureen Holloway should ever retire, do I have the right company? Yes, I do. Yes, yes, you do. You should take her place. I would be like, wow.
Starting point is 02:42:06 I don't even know what to say to that. Lucas and Jay. It would be Darren and Lucas. What is the goal? Give it to Jay. Is it to be on air? Oh, 100%. It never has been anything else. Morning or afternoon?
Starting point is 02:42:17 It doesn't matter. Wherever I can get in at this point. All right. I'm a big fan of radio. Do they pay you? No, I have serious questions now. Serious questions. Yes, serious questions. You want to Do they pay you? I have serious questions now. Serious questions. You want to be on the air?
Starting point is 02:42:27 Yes. Yeah, that'd be nice. Yeah, Jay, you would be great on the air. You too, Lucas. Do they pay you? In the summer, but not now. So how many hours are you giving to this very, very rich corporation? About 15 hours a week.
Starting point is 02:42:46 And they won't give you like... Well, it's for Ryerson. It's for... Because I'm at Ryerson. So it's for a course, you know. Okay. Yeah. What do you think of that?
Starting point is 02:42:55 Because you work for... They're not doing anything illegal. Okay. I don't think they're doing anything illegal. Because it's part of... Is it unethical? It's part of the requirements for them to get...
Starting point is 02:43:03 To graduate. Yes. Don't you think these big companies should... Which is why they would get paid in the summertime. Okay. They're working in an industry of the requirements for them to graduate. Yes, 100%. Which is why they would get paid in the summertime. They're working in an industry. Sorry to tell you guys, but that is really dying. Don't say it's dying.
Starting point is 02:43:16 There's not a lot of money in radio. CHFI still makes a lot of money. They're not paying anybody a lot of money. They're making the money themselves. Maureen Holloway is getting it all. No comment. Who is it that you Number one stations. Yeah, but they're not paying anybody a lot of money. They're making the money themselves. Maureen Holloway's getting it all. Okay. No comment. Okay.
Starting point is 02:43:30 Who is it that you don't like? Is it Rogers or Bell? Is it Bell that... No, I like them both equally. But isn't there one company that makes you go through someone to get people on there? Yeah, but since that update, the other one has become more difficult for me. Gotcha. So they swapped everything. Gotcha. They swapped it. Do you still have
Starting point is 02:43:48 the no working through a PR person rule? I broke it for a couple of recent musicians where a recent guest helped me get them on. Gotcha. Like Gino Vanelli, for example.
Starting point is 02:44:03 Black cars. Oh yeah, you want to hear? Here, we're close out with some of that. So, I do need to wind down. I was supposed to wind down at nine, but... Do you like this one, Lucas?
Starting point is 02:44:12 Yes, and I love when people intro it on the radio, like May Potts introing it. Ooh! Ooh! But she works
Starting point is 02:44:19 for the competition. Okay, well... Oh, bro. Who wants to hit the post here? Too late. This is a good song to hit the post here? Too late. This is a good song to hit the post on. Yeah. Jay Lucas.
Starting point is 02:44:31 I couldn't imagine a better way to close out TMLX4. When I met Al Grego for lunch and I told him, how do I top TMLX3, Louis Lolo played and it was like 100 plus people and it was crazy and amazing and Elvis was not there. I said, how do we top this? And we talked me and Al during this lunch and
Starting point is 02:44:52 we discussed, what if we brought it back to the bare bones basics? Like a true listener experience of an actual recording, no live music. And I said, well, let's give it a go and let's see. And now that I look to my left and I see Lucas and the bright eyes and I look to my left and I see Lucas and the bright eyes, and I look to my right and there's Jay,
Starting point is 02:45:08 and I see the future of broadcasting. Giovano. Giovano. And I look and I see. I have many nicknames now. And I see Elvis is here, and I see my brother's over there, and I look over there, Gear Joyce is still. Oh, no, is Gear Joyce?
Starting point is 02:45:23 Gear Joyce is still. I couldn't tell from that hat if he was a Looskies or a Gare Joyce. They both have these ridiculous hats. But, oh, my God, what a wonderful event. I had a great time. What did you think, Elvis? It was fun. I enjoyed it.
Starting point is 02:45:36 Thank you, Mike. Thanks for having us all and inviting us into the studio outside. It was a lot of fun. Thank you, Great Lakes Brewery, for hosting. Amazing. And thanks for the free beverages and for being a partner of the program. I wanted to get someone on from Great Lakes Beer
Starting point is 02:45:56 to talk about the pig roast, which is Saturday. So come to Great Lakes Brewery on Saturday and they have a pig roast and it's a lot of fun. There's live music and it's fantastic. And that brings us to the end of our 514th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. I can't name everybody on this episode and all their Twitter handles, but Lucas and Jay are on Twitter, right?
Starting point is 02:46:21 Yes, yes. Ask Lucas. Oh, what is it? Shameless plug. Ask Lucas. Sign that up. You want it, Jay? Do, yes. Ask Lucas Aynetta. Oh, what is it? Shameless plug. At Lucas Aynetta. You want a J? Do you want to get the same one? At Giovano. At J Miller.
Starting point is 02:46:34 At J Miller? Is that available? I'm surprised. It's double Y. At the hour. Now you're talking. Double Y underscore. Find J Miller. Great Lakes Brewery is at Great Lakes Beer.
Starting point is 02:46:51 Propertyinthe6.com is at Raptor's Devotee. We missed you, Brian. By the way, Brian's amazing. If you're looking to buy and sell ever, you should contact Brian. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. It was nice to have Anthony on. Sticker U is at Sticker U it was great to hear from Laura
Starting point is 02:47:07 Capadia LLP is at Capadia LLP I have pop sockets here for anyone else who wants one and Pumpkins After Dark are at Pumpkins After Dark see you all Monday when Steve Pakin is on. you but i'm a much better man for having known you oh you know that's true because everything is coming up rosy and gray yeah the wind is cold but the smell of snow
Starting point is 02:47:56 won't stay today and your smile is fine and it's just like mine and it won't go away

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