Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - TMLX5: Toronto Mike'd #553
Episode Date: December 7, 2019Mike chats with listeners and former guests at TMLX5 at Palma's Kitchen. Guests include Mike Wilner, Peter Gross, Humble Howard, Gene Valaitis, Brian Master, Lou Schizas, Perry Lefko, Stu Stone and La...rry Fedoruk.
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live from palma's kitchen at 3485 Seminick Court in Mississauga, it's TMLX5.
Toronto Mic'd is a weekly podcast about anything and everything.
Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, StickerU.com,
Brian Master from KW Realty,
and Banjo Dunk from
Whiskey Jack.
Thank you, everybody,
for being here.
You're all
sweethearts.
To my right.
Totally fine, by the way.
You can call someone a sweetheart.
Well, thank you, because I'm going to use that term often.
You know what happens when something gets stuck in my head?
I go hard at it.
I love the guy on Twitter who says,
so I'm not homophobic, but let me say something homophobic.
Elvis is in the building.
Thank you, Elvis. Thank building. Thank you, Elvis.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
You've already popped
a fresh,
cold,
craft brew
from Great Lakes.
I have.
What have you opened there?
I have Canuck Pale Ale.
It's one of my favorites.
So everyone here
should know,
and as people come in,
I'm hoping
the great Lieve Fumke
will remind them,
but there is
to my left, if you're
here for the Toronto Mic Podcast
experience, so no vagrants off the street,
but if you're here for the listener experience,
Great Lakes Brewery
have sent over some fresh craft
beer as a festive
holiday treat for everybody.
So come on up and grab a can.
If you're 19 or over, you get a can.
I'm going to be checking ID.
I'm SmartServe certified.
You said no vagrants allowed just as Gerstein walked in.
Hey.
He's right over here.
I have a song for Brian when he shows up.
So Elvis, you're here to my right.
Nice to see you.
To my left, the man who helped put together
the audio that we're using inside
Palma's Kitchen right now, a man
I owe a lasagna
to, Al Grego
from the Royal Pains.
And Elvis
came from Oshawa, but you came from
Holland's Landing. Holland Landing.
There's no S.
My first of many Elvis came from Oshawa, but you came from Holland's Landing. Holland Landing. There's no S. Yes, that's where we came from.
My first of many TMLX5 mistakes here today.
First of many.
Al, thanks for being here.
Your beautiful daughter, Veronica, made me a special card.
I hold it up for the periscope here.
But it says, Merry Christmas.
Love, Veronica.
And she drew the Toronto Mike logo, and it's amazing.
So shout out to new FOTM, Veronica.
I think she should get a magnet.
Magnets are here.
So, yes, attendees get the beer from Great Lakes Brewery.
You get the amazing Toronto Mic magnets that are here on the table.
They're courtesy of Sticker U.
They sent those over for the holidays.
And we're here at Palma's Kitchen, which means everyone gets a voucher from Anthony.
Is Anthony here right now?
He's on the phone.
He's on the phone.
He's doing business.
Always doing business.
He's closing deals.
Selling pasta.
Yeah.
Anthony will give you, so go to Anthony and say,
you're here for TMLX 5.
He'll give you a voucher.
And then when you go to this amazing hot table
with all the delicious fresh pasta,
that voucher means you don't have to pay for the pasta.
So thank you, Anthony, and thank you, Palmas Kitchen,
for hosting TMLX 5.
Thank you, Palmas Kitchen, for hosting TMLX5.
This is like retro Howard Stern 80s and 90s where everyone applauded.
Absolutely.
I have a sound clip of applause in case they don't applaud.
I get to play it.
Also here, as we get things going here, is wonderful FOTM.
And in a moment, I'll give him more praise.
The praise I was going to give Elvis, I'm going to give it to Tyler. Tyler Campbell's here.
Hello. Great to be here.
I'm not clapping for anything.
Everybody wants to know, Elvis,
are you going to be able to do TMLX5
without dropping an F-bomb?
No, probably not.
I got my sensor button ready.
You need to get Toronto Mike branded earmuffs
for the next one.
I'm worried about the poor, the people coming here to get their fresh pasta
because they're having some big Sunday meal.
The normies.
The non-FOTM.
All right, where do I begin?
What is it?
What did you?
FOTM.
That's twice now.
What is that?
Really?
Someone doesn't listen to the podcast.
Wow, you really don't listen.
FOTM, that's twice now. What is that? Really? Someone doesn't listen to the podcast. Wow, you really don't listen. FOTM.
What?
Even Bernie Finkelstein knows what FOTM means.
Can we get a boo for Elvis?
There's a, yeah, thank you.
Thank you.
That's fantastic.
There's a, who's Bernie, there's a Bernie Finkelstein there?
I don't think he's here today.
Oh, is that that Finkel My Bernie guy?
Yeah, right. You don't know Bernie? No, I don't know Bernie. Oh, he that that Finkle My Bernie guy? Yeah, right.
You don't know Bernie?
No, I don't know Bernie.
Oh, he's the founder of True North Records.
That's right.
The Bruce Colburn guy.
Yes, I saw him.
And Murray McLaughlin, who's also an FOTM.
Yeah.
See how it works?
Great.
You're an FOTM.
Tyler, I'm going to start with you.
Has he figured it out yet, though?
I don't think he...
Friends of Toronto Mike.
Okay, there we go.
Oh, by the way, my wife is here today
and my mom is here.
So let's give them
a little love
off the get-go there.
What are we supposed
to call your mom?
Do we call her mom,
Mary, grandma?
Toronto Mary.
Toronto Mary
and Toronto Monica.
That's right.
Although it's really
Edmonton Monica,
so I don't know
how that works.
She lives in Toronto now.
She does.
You would be Mimico Toronto.
Do you know she lives with me?
Or Mimico Mike.
New Toronto Mike.
Come on now, this doesn't exist.
Your wife lives with you?
Is that what you said?
Tyler.
How novel.
Take some credit here.
Who are some recent guests who appeared on Toronto Mike because of your effort?
Oh, man, my diligent emailing.
Well, Bernie Finkelstein, of course.
Bernie is a result of Tyler.
Yeah, I emailed him.
I think Bernie is bored
because he emailed me back
in about five minutes
to say, yeah, I'd love to.
And for the record, though,
he didn't come from Prince Edward County.
No, he has a condo in town.
Because I like the story better
when he was coming in
from Prince Edward County.
No, he had business in the city.
Okay.
And who else?
One of my favorite recent guests.
Huxley Workman.
Huxley Workman.
You did that one as well.
I did.
I did.
Anyone else?
You get all the guests with made up names.
That's right.
Cool.
Who else?
Bernie's his real name.
Yeah.
Is it?
Are we sure?
He showed me his birth certificate.
You check ID at the door.
Any other recent guests you want to take credit for?
Yeah, sure.
Dabna Doyle was a good one.
Who else?
Who else?
Oh, man.
Now I'm blanking on all the guests.
Okay, but those are some monster episodes.
Everyone in this room has probably listened to them all except for Elvis.
So those are big deals.
Although I did deliver one guest who's been multiple times.
Greg Brady. That's right. That's been multiple, multiple times. Greg Brady.
That's right.
That's it.
Just the one.
Greg Brady.
Is he coming in from Ajax?
We got to see if he shows up today.
Now.
Okay.
So Tyler,
I want to thank you.
I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank you for the help you've been giving.
I think we got together around episode 500 and you said you were willing to lend a hand.
And I said,
well,
I can't really pay you.
And you said,
uh, that's okay.
That's fine.
Which got you the job right away.
Free stickers.
Yeah, free stickers.
Free stickers.
The occasional Great Lakes beer.
Right.
So thank you for all your help.
And I know you're pursuing some other amazing guests.
And I think Rod Black, for example.
Rod Black is, he's just waiting for his schedule to firm up.
And then Rod will be here.
Because he's in my calendar. We share a calendar, a Google calendar. I've got Rod in there. What is he's just waiting for his schedule to firm up and then Rod will be here. Because he's in my calendar.
We share a calendar,
a Google calendar.
I've got Rod in there.
What is he doing?
Does he still do CFL?
CFL.
So that's over.
So he's waiting
for his rapper schedule.
Gotcha.
Now,
Elvis,
be patient
because I'm going to give
a little love
to Al Grego here
who is also
better known as perhaps...
Be patient.
Better known as the lead singer of the
royal pains and a number of people i see leave a funk is here moose grumpy is here i saw them at
the wonderful event you held uh you had at uh like a local it wasn't my event but yeah we had a gig
locally it sounds bigger if it's your event yeah we threw it yeah no so yeah we played at the
dakota sports bar and grill in i'm afraid to say is it new toronto it's your event. Yeah, we threw it, yeah. So yeah, we played at the Dakota Sports Bar and Grill in, I'm afraid to say, is it New Toronto?
It's New Toronto.
It's New Toronto.
But Hebsey thought you were playing the Dakota Tavern.
Yeah, no, yeah.
He went to the wrong place.
Okay, you were amazing.
Thanks so much.
And which song did you dedicate to me?
Bounce, I believe.
Right, by a friend of Dave Hodge.
I booked Danko Jones.
Yes. Oh, did you? There you go. Because Danko Jones, he's been on, right? Yeah. Yeah, I friend of Dave Hodge. I booked Danko Jones. He's been on, right?
I wanted to listen to that.
Have you listened to any episodes since
TMLX4? I asked for
homework and was given none.
I love Elvis and I love
Elvis episodes, but why is he on this panel
right now?
I don't know, man. It's like
Stockholm Syndrome.
Have him on. Elvis, thank you for
making the drive from Oshawa.
Pleasure. Pleasure.
Why did you trim your beard?
The easiest
way to put it is that I lost a bet.
The longer story is that I challenged
my team for a month to be
kind and to
log their acts of kindness and if they
got past a certain number of acts then I said I would shave my beard so a team of
30 did a significant number of acts of kindness in the month of October
November and we got some really good stories about it like really cool like
people we had a flu clinic at work and one woman really wanted the flu shot but
was definitely afraid of needles.
So her colleague said, I will hold your hand while you get your needle.
Got her needle, and then she also held her hand while she then got her needle.
And this is like at work.
These are grown-ups at work, and this kind of stuff is happening.
And just bringing the consciousness to people to be kind to one another
makes for a better place.
So then I shaved my beard beard and I hate it.
Sounds like you have a team of sweethearts.
I do.
They are.
That's a group of sweethearts.
They are sweethearts.
They absolutely are sweethearts.
Have you considered converting these sweethearts into FOTMs?
Have you recommended?
Actually, I think given the content of this particular episode is one that I could probably
share and feel comfortable that I wouldn't get fired.
It'll be one of those do as I say, not as I do things.
That's right. I need you to listen to Toronto Mike.
Not that I listen, but you should listen.
You have to listen, Al, because some credit
to you for putting together the best
of episodes 1 to
250, which we did a while ago, and then
episodes 251 to 500
and you came by and we...
Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Do the
Festivus episodes make that? No, never. No, okay. He a lot of fun. Do the Festivus episodes make that?
No, never.
No, okay.
He has a rule.
I like those Festivus episodes.
Those are good.
So Elvis, I'm shocked you have a team.
I do.
Yes, I brought a bunch of people with me,
namely my children, two of them.
Oh, I meant like the team
that was doing the acts of kindness.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Yes, they're all in the States.'re leading people i yeah yeah i lead i lead leaders who
lead people which is even crazier that's uh wow pretty weird yeah somebody trusted him yeah yeah
and you brought two of your three children i did they're back there watching space buddies i think
on the ipad uh little grace and little Charlie. I like that I see new faces
here today. We're going to get some of them on
very shortly. I see Humble Howard has entered
the building, so from Humble and Fred, just say hello
to Humble. We'll call him on the mic
shortly. And I see
walking behind me is Michael Lang, who
bought me a drink at the
Watchmen show at the Danforth
Music Hall, so I owe him a
beer. Again, anyone who's coming in late here,
there's fresh beer to my left.
If you're 19 or over, you can grab a can.
And if you want free pasta, which you should
because Palma Pasta is amazing,
Anthony is somewhere with vouchers,
and he'll give you a voucher and take care of you here.
So Al, I'm going to start throwing people in on the mic,
but you don't go too far,
because if there's an audio emergency,
Stokely's not here, so I need your help.
I'm going to sit right there with my wife and kids.
All right, thank you, Al Grego from the Royal Pains.
Way to go, Al.
So, Leve, when I need to...
Is Leve here?
I see Mr. Leve Fumka is here.
You've given her so many tasks,
she can't possibly pay attention to the show.
When I need to reference the list of people
who want to come on the microphone,
I realize where is it that I could reference it.
So, come on to my left here, Humble Howard.
So, the first guest will welcome on the mic...
I'm a little shy.
Do you want to have a song for you?
Thanks for coming.
Oh, you're very welcome.
Humble Howard Glassman from Humble & Fred, everybody.
How are you?
This is exciting.
This is exciting.
This is like, you know, one of those old, you know, hip shows from the 60s
where they had all these groovy cats and playing music
and they had a cool host like you.
Wow.
Well, here's a throwback for everybody.
The Edge.
CFNY 102.1.
The Edge.
That's a pretty ballsy voice you got there.
I'm impressed.
Well, you know, here's the thing.
If I wanted to,
I could literally have spent the last 30 years
talking like this.
Toronto Mike.
This is Toronto Mike's listener experience
for the crusade
of the loud five.
He doesn't listen either.
It's fantastic. The crusade of the loud
and proud. This Christmas,
Toronto Mike brings you
Toronto Mike's listener experience five.
Are you recording this?
Yes.
So it's funny, small world story is I spent some quality time with you yesterday
because you were one of the first guests on the brand new but unlaunched,
it's coming soon, Ralph Ben-Murgy podcast.
And you and Ralph were kind of having a fantastic conversation
while I got to enjoy the show.
Two Jews and a gooy sat around a microphone.
It was like a Christmas miracle.
Ralph Ben-Murray,
Humble Howard, and a little baby-faced
Mike. Hi, Mikey.
I had such a great time
at your house yesterday.
It was exciting.
I don't know if you know about this, but there's been
some controversy
a couple times ago.
And then that was also the time I hit my head on the thing.
How are you guys?
We're good.
You seem very nice.
Well, you know Elvis because we've met a hundred times. I know, I know.
Don't get pissy with me, Elvis.
I'll get over there, you sweet angel.
Tyler, what's going on?
All right, fun fact.
I just came back from America, so I'm a bit aggressive right now.
Here's the difference.
You know, like everyone knows, does that, oh, Americans, Canadians are different.
But here's a subtle thing you don't know about Americans and Canadians.
It's the shoe-on, shoe-off policy.
For instance, if you go to somebody's house in Canada, you know, you'll take off your shoes.
If you go to somebody's house in the States, they'll shoot you in the face.
Anyway.
So that's the joke.
By the way,
I literally just wrote that joke
and I'm really proud of it.
So shut up.
A quick small world tale is that
He's going to drop an F-bomb
before I do, by the way.
Oh yeah, we're not swearing
on this episode,
I should point out.
So Humble and Elvis
shared a table
at my beautiful wedding.
Oh no, Tim, come on.
Again, we're going back to this.
You shared a table.
Can't we just get past
the wedding?
Monica and I
are just finally,
you know,
I said,
hi, Monica,
and she finally
looked at me,
you know,
with at least
some less than
greatest speech ever.
Thank you.
Oh, please.
It's fantastic.
Well, that's because
her family's not here,
so it's safe.
So it's open season,
is that what you're saying?
Listen, I came here
to say hi, Toronto Mike,
and to congratulate you
on Toronto Mike listenerer Experience 7.
I think you've done such a great job.
And on Monday's Humble and Fred show,
we would like you to tune in for a very special announcement.
And we can't tell you what that is,
but it concerns Toronto Mike and the...
Yes, I know if you heard, Monica,
I'm going to be hanging around.
Anyway.
Well, this is it.
This has been great.
I wish the periscope was on her face.
I can't believe you came by.
It means a lot to me.
I got Stan in the car.
I went and picked up Stan at the farm.
And when I go away, which I was just away, I always say to Stan,
well, we're going to the farm.
And Stan's like, please don't kill me.
So I went and picked him up at this buddy's house
north of Fred.
Dropped by here, a little Palmer's Kitchen,
and I wanted to say congratulations.
Is Stan your father or roommate or husband?
Don't be.
Yeah, Stan's my husband.
I don't know.
Stan's my dog.
Okay.
Did you not figure that out?
I should have made that more clearer.
Festive spirit here.
Humble Howard, everybody. Stan is actually, I'm not done. Humive spirit here. Humble Howard, everybody.
I'm not done.
You're getting played off.
Humbleandfredradio.com
Fantastic podcast.
It inspired this podcast.
This podcast does not exist
without Humbleandfredradio.com
I love my relationship with Howard.
It's great. It's always fun.
I'm the one who fights with Howard around here.
You have real fights with him.
We just jab each other.
So the best part, real quick,
is that when Humble and Fred came on together,
a few weeks ago they came on Toronto Mike together,
it was a lot of tension
and there was people storming off and some anger.
And then Howard said to me,
I am never doing your podcast again.
This is what he said to me.
And he was back doing my podcast five days later.
That's fantastic.
I've said that numerous times myself, actually.
Amazing.
Levi Fumka, do you want to come on now or do you want to come later?
She's too busy.
Because you can come on now and tell us all the amazing things you're doing.
And Tyler, is it okay if I boot you for a bit?
Yeah, yeah. I will leave. Bye.
Juan, you don't want to come on, right?
You don't want to come on the microphone, Juan?
Oh, he signed up.
Get over here.
Juan is the other half.
I won't even say better half.
There's no better half of Lieve Femke.
Thank you for being here.
Oh, you're welcome.
My pleasure. Get on that microphone. Are you new here?
Did Tyler get you on the show?
Yeah. Personal invitation.
It's the name again. Tyler with those
names.
You're doing a lot of important work here today.
Do you remember on Seinfeld when you would go to
Dr. Watley's
party, like the dentist,
and you would be assigned tasks.
Okay.
Right?
So that's what's happening here.
You are, of course, invited to TMLX 5.
There's a beer here for you.
In fact, for you, I might get you a second beer.
There is fresh pasta for you.
If you go see Anthony, he'll give you a voucher.
But you are also helping people sign up
if they want to be on the microphone.
You're giving out name tags.
Yep.
Are you giving out these? Yes.
Giving out the Toronto mic magnets from Sticker U.
This could not happen without you.
I want a round of applause for Lieve Fumka.
Thank you.
When Elvis was on the Toronto mic blog and he said,
what episode should I listen to before this?
And you said all of them.
He took that as none of them. Is that correct?
Yeah. Yeah. That wasn't
constructive at all whatsoever. And from someone
who is rarely constructive myself, I
can identify when someone is not being constructive
very well. Because you needed a specific
episode to listen to. Correct.
Is there a specific recent episode you wish
he had listened to?
I know I'm putting you on the spot here.
Is there one that you thought,
oh, Elvis would like this episode?
You did tell me that I would like one
recently on the blog
and I can't remember
what it was.
You said Elvis needs
to listen to this episode.
Steve Paikin was really good.
Oh, yeah, I'm sure he was.
Steve Paikin here,
just checking out here.
Paikin has become
a super fan,
a super FOTM,
if you will,
and he's making
his way through it
and he keeps sending me notes and tweets
and stuff about how much he's loving Toronto
Mike, so high praise. He's coming
back in January, by the way.
In fact, he's coming in with Duncan
Fremlin. Oh, actually
he's not coming in with Duncan
Fremlin. Scratch that. I'll edit that in post
here. He's not coming in, but Duncan Fremlin
no one has banjo
dunk. I'll play a little bit of his music here
because I have a giveaway for some
lucky attendee here.
This is TTC
Skedadler.
Maybe I'll invite him on with Steve Bacon
just so I don't have to edit that out.
Okay, so Banjo Dunk cannot be here
because he's sunning on some tropical island or something.
But he has a book here.
This is a fantastic book called
My Good Times of Stompin' Tom.
And I'm going to give it away to somebody in the audience.
Who would like a copy of Duncan Fremlin's excellent My Good Times with Stompin' Tom?
The first hand that goes up gets a copy.
How did you, how are you going to pick, Mike?
Look at all the hands in the air.
Fantastic.
He's not listening to this.
Brian, come get your copy of Stompin' Tom.
My good times of Stompin' Tom.
I have a great head she's still in.
I'm not a big reader.
Brian will be on later.
Lieve Fumke, will you introduce the guest completely opposite you,
the gentleman in this nice striped red shirt here?
This is my husband, Juan, and he's not a listener,
except when I tell him or play something for him.
So, Juan, let me hear you.
Why don't you just listen on your own?
Like, why do you need to be forced to listen?
I'm not forced.
Goodbye, humble.
I'm not forced to listen.
I just listen when she's listening to your podcast.
So you hear it in the background.
It's like a romantic thing, though.
I can imagine both of you laying in bed listening to Toronto Mike.
Yeah, exactly.
Maybe even an Elvis episode.
That's exactly how it happens.
Yeah, perfect.
Do you enjoy the Elvis episodes?
Oh, love them.
Love them.
I did that last time, right?
I did that.
I did that. I did that.
Sorry.
There was only one person who said that they didn't listen to Elvis.
Or they didn't like the Elvis episodes.
And that was, no, the guy with the, I can't remember.
James Edgar.
James Edgar.
That's who it was.
I think he's coming today.
I appreciated the honesty because I felt as though as the.
Oh, okay.
I have two copies of that book.
I have so...
Okay.
Mike gave away his signed copy of the book.
That's how much he loves the book.
I have two copies of the...
Fantastic.
My Good Times of Stomp and Tom,
and I gave...
By the way, Brian,
last time I gave you a book,
it was signed by Jerry Howarth.
So, okay.
So, Juan,
do you have a favorite episode?
Yeah.
Every Time Elvis is On.
Thank you.
Those are pretty funny.
Ever since he mentioned that he has a Costco room,
I've been more on the idea.
Oh, he does listen.
Yeah.
The Costco room.
Must be nice to have so much real estate.
Yeah.
Do you know how crammed my house is?
I don't want to brag or anything,
but I do have a fairly large abode.
It's pretty huge.
Because it's in North Oshawa.
Yeah, it's about 7,500 square feet or so, I think.
And then we have about seven and a half acres as well.
It's pretty big.
That is amazing.
We have a Costco building now.
Putting in a new addition.
So can we come over and go shopping?
Sure.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, if you need toilet paper.
Yeah, toilet paper, toothpaste.
All the things you'll need until you die.
I don't need any sidewalk ice until like for the next five years.
I don't need that stuff because I live in a condo, but I'll go for the toilet paper and paper towel.
Perfect. I was thinking, like, if there's ever a short, we've had shortages in the past of ice storms,
and there's a big shortage of, like, salt, road salt and stuff, that you could, like,
charge, like, 20, maybe 50 bucks a bag.
Don't think I haven't thought about it.
Don't think I haven't thought about it.
And I do, I do that.
Like, I go once a year, and I buy a ton of everything, and then just put it in the room.
That's amazing.
He's a cost-giver.
But how long is your driveway if you have a seven acre plot of land?
Oh, it's really long.
It's super long.
And you shovel it yourself?
No, of course.
I hire people.
Come on.
What do you think this is?
I don't actually do anything.
You haven't trained your kids yet?
No, they're not going to do anything either.
I'm going to completely raise them so that they're useless adults.
So Juan, I want to thank you for,
I would say, like, supporting Lieve Fumke,
who means a lot to this show.
So thank you for being, like, the,
is that right, the Lieve Fumke support system
so that she can handle all these tasks I assigned her?
Well, I thought you were going another route.
Which way should I have gone? Please.
Supporting you on your bike.
Oh, okay.
And your, you know.
Did you bike here today, Mike?
I was wondering that.
Actually, I always bike here,
except this is the first time I didn't bike here,
because I had all that gear in the trailer.
Right.
And I came with Monica and Mary.
I assumed that, knowing Anthony,
that he would have removed all of the bike racks,
knowing that you would have biked here today.
There's no bike racks here.
Of course.
I've complained multiple times.
I lock up on this signpost here.
No, there wouldn't be
bike racks here.
This is Mississauga, dude.
Like, you know what?
Everyone drives everywhere.
Actually, I believe
I'm going to be here
for the ribbon cutting ceremony
when we unveil
the new bike lock system.
Are you sponsoring
the bike rack here?
In spring 2020.
In spring 2020, I think it's going to happen here.
I'll believe it when I see it. Anthony is not putting in a bike rack here.
Okay, so, yes. Juan is the gentleman.
I sometimes, not in the winter, but in the
fall and spring,
I will wear biking
pants that were once yours.
So we're pants twins.
Like, that's as close as you can get to a guy.
Yeah, we share pants. We're still talking about the pants?
Like, where's Howard again? You need to, like, you know,
get the subjects to move on. I think this is the first time
Juan's ever been on the show. I remember talking about the pants.
Yes, it is. This is the first time.
It's a charity that Miriam
started. Oh, we don't
know Miriam. Who's this Miriam?
I know. That's Lieve Femke's...
Oh, Lieve Femke. Sorry. Please, Lieve Femke. Hard to keep track of all? I know. That's Lieve Femke's... Sorry. Please, Lieve Femke.
Hard to keep track of all these nicknames.
And Lieve Femke is
Dutch for sweetie pie or sweetie.
Yep. Sweetheart.
Is she a sweetheart? How dare you?
You're the original sweetheart. Exactly.
Who is that guy? Is that guy the guy who's not a homophobic
but is homophobic here? So that person,
I won't name him. I think I cropped out the name.
You did, which is unfortunate.
You shouldn't have done that.
DM'd me to give me
some constructive feedback
which is that yes,
he cringes every time
I call a male
that I think is a nice person
a sweetheart.
And during the Bernie episode,
I referred to Tom Wilson
and Stephen Fearing.
I said, they're sweethearts.
And then I got the note
that it makes him uncomfortable.
And then I think that there was conversation on the blog
that if you were to say someone was a sweetheart, that's okay.
But if you were to say that someone is a sweetheart to their face,
that's not okay.
I didn't see that, actually.
I saw that somewhere.
I think you saw it.
I did see that.
On Twitter, maybe.
But thank you, Lieve Fumke.
You need to get back to work.
You are earning your pasta and your beer.
There's some new attendees that need to sign up here.
I do see Moose Grumpy.
Okay, so would you mind if Moose Grumpy takes your seat?
Nope.
Get over here, Moose Grumpy.
And Juan, I know you're itching to go as well.
So you get over here and tell Rush Mike.
Go tap Rush Mike on the shoulder and tell him he's been summoned here.
I can't believe Beats is here.
Like, I look over,
and I see Beats all the way from Coburg.
It's awesome.
Unbelievable.
I thought it was Coburn.
Coburn?
I've been educated.
It's Coburg.
Is that where the apple is?
Coburg's.
Coburg?
So Coburn is where the apple is.
He's in Coburg.
Have we ever settled?
We need Gerstein on here, because I'm still not sure if it's Gerstein or Gerstein.
It's definitely Gerstein.
Is it?
Yeah, for sure.
And do you know about the American Stein versus Steen thing?
You've heard about this?
Okay, wait.
He's going to come on.
Have your conversation with Brian when he's on the microphone.
I would prefer to have a conversation with Brian when he's off mic.
Because we cannot hear him right now.
He's coming on soon.
In fact, you know what, Brian, since Rush
mic didn't jump, you can take this mic right
now. Okay, so Moose Grumpy,
I haven't seen you since the Royal Pains
gig. That's correct. It was nice to see you
there. Thank you. And thank you for being here.
Have you missed a
TMLX yet? I did miss the first
one. Okay, get out of here.
Get someone else over here. No.
That's four in a row, and I'm so happy that you're here.
And do you have any, is there any recent episodes?
Am I allowed to tell people that you were concerned about my relationship with Humble and Fred?
Yes, you may.
As you've called it out on Humble and Fred.
Yeah, but no one listens over there.
No, that's true.
And Howard's already left, so we can't address it.
And he'll never listen.
No, no, we know that. So it's a safe zone here. Yes. So you, it's true. And Howard's already left, so we can't address it. And he'll never listen. No, no. We know that.
So it's a safe zone here.
Yes.
So it's true.
There was a lot of anger after that episode from Fred and Howard for different reasons,
neither of which was this anonymous listener whose question I played.
People think that was the trigger, but actually there were other things.
And it's interesting that I will say that from that moment where it looked like Humble and Fred and Mike, Toronto Mike, were breaking up, okay?
From that moment, it was burned down, and then it was built up stronger than ever.
Isn't that amazing?
It is.
And there's an announcement coming Monday, which I'm not supposed to reveal, but if you're listening to Humble and Fred, you'll hear Monday.
I may have some friends that have given me a little idea.
Where do we listen to that show, by the way?
Serious question, not trying to be a...
820.
Funny 820.
Funny 820.
Or the podcast, but we know you don't listen to podcasts.
Like 820 AM?
Yeah, it's a station in Hamilton.
Oh, the Hammer.
The Hammer.
Is anyone here from Hamilton?
The home of the second place CFL Toronto, our Hamilton Tiger Cats. Yes, the second place. Is anyone here from Hamilton? The home of the second place CFL Toronto,
our Hamilton Tiger Cats.
Yes, the second place.
Is that how it works?
They choked.
Did you watch?
I did, of course.
Oh, I wanted to ask you before I get to...
I watch the Grey Cup every year.
Wait, wait, sorry.
So you can't listen to a podcast,
but you can watch a CFL Cup?
Yeah, yeah.
Interesting.
I actually was going to ask you...
I was going to offer my condolences
that TFC did make the final, but they did not win.
Yeah, I was really disappointed.
I watched that too.
That was really tough.
You didn't fly to Seattle to support them?
No, I actually, as soon as they won that game,
I went on my Air Canada app and checked the prices,
and they had immediately gone up $500.
So it would be normally like $700 or so,
and the flights to Seattle were $1,200.
The flights to Vancouver were even more.
If anyone thinks that Uber is the one who has started the surge pricing,
airline's been doing it for a long time.
My condolences to you.
I had to crop out the ill vibe part.
It's a conflict of interest.
Welcome back to the program.
It's catchy.
All right.
I've missed this.
A definite FOTM.
There's just not
got to be anymore.
It's not fear of Toronto Mike
and his friend of Toronto Mike.
That's right.
I'll have to fill you in later,
but things have changed.
You don't play this anymore.
I love this.
Do you still ask questions?
I did 230 episodes, so I had a good run.
So let someone else carry the load.
Your ignorance astounds me.
I see.
I see why you need to listen to the podcast.
No, I don't need to listen.
I don't want to confuse you.
Later in the program, another Brian is going to be on the microphone.
Also a real estate sales representative.
Oh, dear.
So don't make it really awkward.
This is awkward.
Thank you for letting me know so I can make it awkward.
Brian,
your Raptors
are NBA champions.
F-A.
Okay,
I can't use the word,
but yeah.
And don't get me started
on the parade, please.
That'll bring back
really horrific,
you know, PTSD.
I think he did experience
some trauma this week,
though,
from what I saw on Twitter
with his playoff games.
Oh, tell us about this.
Oh, my goodness, yes.
I have now added Rogers Ignite to my home because we're doing a complete main floor renovation.
And as a result, I was told there was no way to save and transfer my endless hours of Raptors playoff coverage.
So I had to painfully delete probably about 60 hours of
30 and 30 games or 60 games
whatever they did. The sounds of the finals.
Actual full games.
All the American broadcasts that were just
pissed off that Raptors were doing
so well. And I had to say goodbye to it.
So it'll be YouTube from here on in.
I could feel your emotion just through that tweet.
Yes. It was one of the hardest things
I've ever had to do. Don't they sell DVDs or something?
I thought I read that they were releasing a DVD.
I will get it.
I will definitely get it.
Do you have a DVD player?
Somewhere.
Yeah, I do, actually.
Yeah.
It's not hooked up, but I do.
Just making sure.
Anyone in new arrivals, I see some wonderful FOTMs have arrived.
I can't believe I see Lucas with the lid off.
I see Jay Miller has arrived.
Oh, are those those two guys from the end of the last one?
Wait, is Neil?
Bring him on now.
Hold on.
Hold on.
Save it.
Save it.
Come on, Elvis.
Oh, I can talk to that guy forever.
He's coming.
Yeah, he's on his way.
He's not here yet.
Carlo, have a beer, my friend.
Everyone else, I want to let you know, to my left is Great Lakes beer.
Fresh, cold.
Please make sure you grab a can.
Don't forget to do that.
And see Anthony for your voucher that will get you the complimentary pasta.
Anthony is, where are you, Anthony?
Just wave to us all.
Anthony, where are you?
Over here.
Okay.
So this trim, handsome gentleman who will be on the mic soon,
he has vouchers and he will give you one,
and you can go get a fresh pasta from the hot table back there,
and then they won't charge you.
The nice ladies at the counter will not charge you if you have a voucher.
So please remember to do that.
Brian, please compare the NBA champion Raptor parade to TMLX5.
That's a good one.
Where were you for the parade?
Were you at City Hall?
I was at Nathan Phillips.
That was an episode?
It was a 45-minute episode of me basically
having a therapy session with Mike.
I remember reading those tweets that you sent about.
It was brutal, man.
You should listen to Brian Gerstein
talking about that parade.
We did on the phone, right?
We did, yeah.
About 7.30 in the evening.
The best is at the end of this.
He goes for 45 minutes.
He rants and raves.
And at the end of it, he says,
so, what did you say?
Did you record this?
Was that the question?
That's fantastic.
And I said, yes, I did record this.
Can you just leave a thumb cut too?
Okay.
So, Brian, how are things going otherwise?
Everything's amazing, Mike.
I've sold a couple of gallery units, by the way.
They are still available.
So feel free to contact me if you're interested.
This is the property on DuckDuck.
I don't know if you're allowed to do that on this show.
This is on Dufferin.
Did you sneak that in?
Dufferin.
Because we discussed this and I said, Brian, you're here as a Raptors fanatic,
a listener of the program.
What do you,
how's business, Brian?
Business is very well.
Business is good.
What have you sold recently?
I sold a nice condo
at Bathurst and Front,
which went well.
See?
I think he's also
a very proud father
from what I've seen too.
Yes, I am.
My oldest daughter
has basically covered
half her tuition first year
and she's already covered
next year's tuition.
And, yeah, getting a free ride.
She's living at home.
So that's why we're doing the main floor reno,
because my daughter is just cleaning up in awards right now.
So it's awesome.
Oh, you mean like she's won the money?
Yeah.
Like it's not like I thought she, like, worked for it.
No, no, no.
This is like just her own.
Good for her.
Yeah.
Smart cookie.
All right.
Hold on, Brian.
So Moose Grumpy, you're amazing.
Thank you.
There's a gentleman. I don't believe he's ever been on a mic here before, Craig.
Can you find me Craig?
It's Craig right here.
Also, he's one of the early arrivals.
Mike, do you mind if I go feed my children while Craig comes on the mic?
Is that cool?
Yeah, go ahead.
Do you want me to pass the mic off?
Moose Grumpy is going to give it to Craig.
You stick around for a moment, my friend.
I'm watching Tyler's sandwich.
It looks good.
I'm just looking over here.
Did I see JJ a moment ago?
Did JJ arrive?
Okay.
Okay, so let's talk to Craig, and then I need to ask JJ.
I believe JJ was like transportation for a number of long-time listeners,
coming from the East End, so I need to
find out what's going on here. I see my brother has arrived,
so there's some excitement there as well.
Now, and Sheila's
here as well. Nice to see you, Sheila.
There's a way for you. Alright, Craig,
welcome. You were not on
a microphone at TMLX4.
No, I didn't attend that one. I did
attend TMLX3, but
there was no live podcasting at that one.
And 3 is the one with Lowest of the Low, is that right?
That is correct, yeah.
And Royal Pains.
Royal Pains were great, and then Lowest of the Low just made my birthday ever so sweet.
So tell us a little bit about, because I love it when there's some fresh meat up here.
When did you discover Toronto Mike the Podcast?
Well, it would be an interesting story.
When did you discover Toronto Mike the podcast?
Well, it would be an interesting story.
I discovered it about five years ago,
and I believe you posted a link on the Soundy board,
and I saw it there. And I can't remember whether it was the Dave Marsden one
or the Strombo one.
It was one of those two.
And they were, like, close together, right?
They were, yeah.
They were very close around episode 102 or something,
because I remember you talking to Strombo and saying
you wanted to make up 102.1, the episode.
Well, here's how good my memory is.
102 was Scott Turner.
I always remember that,
because Scott Turner was a long-time CFNY guy
who's coming back to kick out the jams in January, by the way.
And I do know that Strombo was 103,
because we did spin it as 102.1.
And he did promise to come back for 590.
And I remember joking, like, 590, are you kidding me?
That's in 100 years.
We're pretty close, right?
Yeah, we're getting there.
What number is this?
Okay, this is 553.
So I think we'll be hearing from Strombo in, like, March if we keep this up.
So, Craig, so you liked what you heard and you subscribed? Yes, I did.
And some of it had to do with the fact that I
was working in security at the time
and I was driving, and as you're
probably aware with security, it's night work.
Well, I might need you here today because
Gene Valaitis might show up.
So, would you be willing to be my security?
Well, I'm retired now.
Well, you're no help to me then.
That's why I have Beats back there.
I still do have my license, though.
My license doesn't expire until the spring,
so I'm still licensed.
But sorry to interrupt.
I just heard you say security,
and I realized I might need you at this event.
So do you have a favorite episode?
Actually, one recently, the Jeff Domet one.
I like that a lot.
Oh, wow.
And the reason I liked it,
it was kind of a microcosm of how the business is going now.
Because he started out in terrestrial radio, moved to SiriusXM.
And it was amazing.
I could tell when you interviewed him that it definitely sounded as though he felt he was out of the business.
And then he got a call to go work and do podcasts for The Athletic.
You make a good point, which I didn't even connect this thread,
but yeah, he's a guy who was on terrestrial radio,
went to satellite radio, and now produces podcasts.
He really is like the living, breathing epitome of where broadcasting seems to be evolving towards.
Definitely, and it also gave you some encouragement
because sadly there's a lot of good people out there
that were in broadcasting that are out of work well half of them are here today I think and
they've had to find other jobs and it was nice that somebody found a job kind
of in the new media it was very encouraging awesome by the way Brian did
you know notice with those radio ratings that came out I voraciously absorbed
them yes I would love to know your thoughts.
Oh, that was
blew me away.
Yeah, there's a guy
named Bray.
Yeah, Jonah from
Toronto Sports Media,
but there's a guy, Bray.
What's his first name?
Steve?
No.
There's a guy in
Montreal that usually
does stuff, that Fagan
guy or whatever.
Fagstein.
Yeah, Fagstein,
that's it, yeah.
Right.
You have to be careful
when you say that.
But this gentleman,
Bray, and I can't
remember his first name right now,
he supplies some numbers, and it looks like 1050 has caught 590.
They've leveled the playing field.
It is shocking, absolutely shocking.
It's the Macallan effect.
I don't think it helped 590 letting the Bobcat go either.
I think that was predictable.
I think eventually Overdrive will probably be number one in that period.
I agree. Definitely seems to be trending that way uh yeah it's hard to believe bobcat like you know we grew
up bobcat was the guy right this is the the kingpin here and he's gone so wild i think what
happened there was i think the gap between him and overdrive was narrowing and i just think they
looked at it and say we can't justify the salary for maybe one more rating point.
That's what I think happened there.
The other
thing I watch, I know you're the sports media
guy Brian, but I like to watch
88.1 versus 102.1
I watch this.
Same things happen there. The Heritage Station
102.1 has been caught
in some key demos surpassed
by 88.1 and And if you told me
five years ago, 1050
will beat 590, and
88.1 will beat 102.1,
I would have bet a lot of money. Remember when Mike Richards was
talking, I love Mike Richards' episodes,
and he was talking about literally we get like no ratings
at all. It was literally at one point
TSM was getting.001.
It was like literally not even measuring.
What is curious about that is the stations that seem to be doing TSN was getting.001. It was literally not even measuring.
What is curious about that is the stations that seem to be doing
all the cutting back.
TSN 1050 has been fairly stable.
Same with Indy.
It's the ones that are doing
a lot of voice tracking
and out-of-market work.
I think they're gradually turning off the listeners.
I think they're losing their base.
They're all coming to Toronto, Mike.
So Jonah pointed this out in the blog,
but it seems like the young demographic
has completely disappeared from terrestrial radio.
That's right.
My teens aren't here.
They're watching the little ones at home,
but they don't turn on a radio radio,
like a terrestrial radio.
Neither do mine.
So where are they?
My daughter listens to a lot of podcasts,
but she's like Elvis.
She doesn't listen to this one, but she does listen to a lot of podcasts, but she's like Elvis. She doesn't listen to this one.
But she does listen to a lot of podcasts.
There are a lot of YouTubers they watch.
But this is where the youngsters seem to be getting their...
Well, never mind.
People my age,
I hardly ever listen to terrestrial radio.
Only in the car, basically.
At home, it's all podcasts.
Yeah, I'm the same.
I can't remember, honestly,
the last time I've listened to terrestrial radio.
Just, it doesn't make any sense sense why would I listen to anything with advertising
no offense to your
sponsors
but I mean
I also have a better connection
to the sponsors of
any podcast I would listen to because I have
a vested interest in the success of it
whereas with terrestrial radio it's just a big
corporation and so it's just a big corporation.
And so it's a different connection I think to
advertising on podcasts or
anything else you may see versus what's
on the radio. The problem with terrestrial radio
there's so much
voice tracking now and so many
syndicated shows. If it's not
local it's just not interesting anymore.
I'm with you man. And the
time limit is frustrating. when you listen to a
podcast or you listen to anything else I can read or anything yeah it gives you
the opportunity to really sort of go in depth in the subject that you're talking
about whereas you know the last segment on primetime or whatever it is a maybe
listen to is five minutes and what could he possibly talk about especially when
you have a roundtable of four people that all have an opinion. It's just not
doable anymore.
Too many ads on Terrestrial Radio. On that note,
I just want to remind people that the
Stompin' Tom Christmas Ornament
giveaway is taking place now.
If you go to whiskeyjackmusic.com,
you click on Store at the top of the
page, and if you buy a copy of Duncan
Fremlin's book, My Good Times of
Stompin' Tom, or any of the Good Times of Stompin' Tom or any of the Whiskey Jack
Stompin' Tom CDs, you
can win the Stompin' Tom
ornament which plays the hockey song.
It's very cool. So thank you
Banjo Dunk. They're going to announce the
winner on December 15th and then they're going to
express post the ornament to the next day.
By the way, hello to Vanessa and Natasha
to my left. Enjoy your pasta. There's fresh
beer here for you.
Cold, fresh from Great Lakes beer.
I think we need to card them.
I'm not entirely sure that they're 19.
Your brother's here.
My brother is here.
Steve is here.
Mike Wilner is here, everybody.
Say hello, Mike.
Your brother is Mike Wilner?
Or your brother and Mike Wilner?
Imagine I had a brother named Mike. Yeah, well, hey, could happen. Yes, Toronto Mike Wilner or your brother and Mike Willner? Imagine I had a brother named Mike.
Yeah, well, hey, could happen.
Yes, Toronto Mike Willner is here.
Nice to see you, Mike.
There's some more special guests coming.
In fact, I'm not even going to talk to Mike until a very special guest arrives.
He had some business to take care of at Woodbine Racetrack before you came here.
That's a clue.
That is a clue of what's going on here.
Craig, thanks so much for being here, buddy.
Amazing.
This gentleman, is that Brian?
Yeah, what's your name?
Yeah, come here, please.
I recognize his face from Twitter.
That's amazing, yeah.
I recognize that haircut.
He looks like a wrestler.
Craig, amazing.
There was a wrestler back in the day that had a similar...
Jim Andal Neidhart.
No, no, no, no. I see a little bit in the day that had a Jim Andal Neidhart. No, no,
no, no. Good one, though. Good one.
Yeah. The same haircut.
Oh, and you bring... So, is this two Bryans I have on the mic at the same time?
Two Bryans. Hi, Brian.
Nice to meet you. Same spelling, too.
The right way.
Who's your friend? This is my daughter, Luna.
Hi, Luna. She's watching
right now, but she's been a very good girl today. We're good. I'm going to guess, because I wouldn't miss you before. This is my daughter, Luna. Hi, Luna. She's watching Public Big right now, but she's been a very good
girl today. We're good. I'm going to
guess, because I wouldn't miss you before. This is your first
Toronto Mic listener experience. First time.
I'm so excited
to be here. Wow, you got a radio voice
that's blowing me away. I did some
radio and TV. Brian is blowing
Brian away. I think you could take
Elvis' spot here.
Thank you. Great.
So I am your fan from Korea.
I remember on Twitter, you said,
who is listening to me in Korea?
That was me.
Okay, thank you,
because I was climbing the charts in Korea,
and now it's all thanks to you.
It's just I kept clicking the episodes.
So I'm going to climb.
That's South Korea, correct?
South Korea, yes. I just wanted to make sure.
What were you doing in Korea?
I was actually doing radio and TV in Korea.
Oh, wow, cool.
Yeah.
And you're back here now.
I'm back here.
This is my first time to come to a Toronto Mic event.
Amazing.
I was in Korea for three years.
Luna was born over in Korea, and now we're back here in Toronto.
So is Luna a dual citizen?
Can you be a dual citizen?
Yes, she's got two passports.
That's awesome.
Way to go, Luna. Toronto. So is Luna a dual citizen? Can you be a dual citizen? She's got two passports. That's awesome. Yeah.
Way to go, Luna.
And she's watching Korean Peppa Pig right now just to mix things up.
Wow.
I didn't know there was such a thing.
That's a nice name, Luna.
That means moon.
She was actually born after a full moon.
That was not planned at all.
Yeah.
Wow.
And my guinea pig, no longer with us, was named Luna.
Oh, my gosh. Yeah. And we don't have a guinea pig. Well, you should get one. Wow. And my guinea pig, no longer with us, was named Luna. Oh, my gosh.
Yeah.
And we don't have a guinea pig.
Well, you should get one.
That's crazy.
Huh.
There was also a wrestler named Luna, too, and I'm trying to remember who it is that
you look like, but there was a female wrestler named Luna.
Well, we could make a really big list, I'm sure.
When did you discover Brian Nongerstein?
Do you have a last name?
Do you want to give it?
Brian Dunn.
Brian Dunn.
When did you discover Toronto Mic'd?
I'm a huge Bare Naked Ladies fan
and I discovered
you through your interview with Tyler Stewart
through like a B&L
fan page.
So that got linked on some B&L fan page.
I love hearing that. It's called
Get Bare Naked. It's one of their fan pages.
So through there, I was like
hey, this guy interviews a ton of Toronto personalities
and even some of my friends.
I used to work with Jason Agnew, and I went to school with John and Wade from Post Wrestling.
Jason Agnew went to school with that gentleman over there, Steve.
Oh, my gosh.
And also, guess who else went to school with him?
Justin Rutledge, who just got booked for early January.
Gene Volaitis is here.
Hello, Gene, from Jesse and Gene.
Peter, I didn't want you to...
Peter Gross is here.
I did not want you talking to Wilner until you were on the microphone.
Okay?
Please keep your distance.
We have a moment planned here later.
Brian, I can't believe you're here.
I'm so happy you're here.
I love it when new people come out to their first event.
I hope you come out to more. Did you get a beer yet from Great Lakes?
I don't drink, but I'll take one from my father.
What a sweetheart.
Does Brian get a prize for traveling the furthest to get here?
He didn't come from Korea.
He didn't come from Korea.
I drove from poor credits.
How about that?
I think he gets the award for least distance traveled to be here, like on the Simpsons here.
But Brian, amazing.
Thanks so much for coming out.
And Luna, thank you for being here as well.
Yay.
Don't go too far.
I might pull you back there, but amazing.
Brian, I need to give up some seats here because I've got to get everybody on.
But I see a gentleman named Carlo.
Thank you, everybody.
Are you ready or are you still eating?
I don't have to pick on you yet.
You're going to eat first?
Beats, maybe. Are you ready or are you still eating? I don't have to pick on you yet. You're going to eat first? Beats, maybe.
Beats.
Beats.
Beats is the gentleman who traveled the furthest to be here,
but I've decided not to let him on the show.
Just kidding.
Get over here, Beats.
That Brian guy is a real sweetheart.
Which one?
He really is.
You know, there's another Brian coming.
Super sweetheart.
Okay, you only get...
You know what, Beats...
Beats, he's aggressive today.
Beats is really aggressive.
He's got to get off.
Can you sit beside Elvis?
Only because I want to have you two as close together as possible.
We already met.
We're good.
Hey, Michael Lang, are you able to jump on a mic?
Sure.
Get over here.
I think he just had a sandwich or maybe some pizza.
Thank you, Beats, for cracking that can on the microphone.
How's the pasta, by the way?
Is the palma pasta good?
It looks fantastic.
I fed my children, and they are loving it.
Should I reveal their secret?
It is the sauce.
That is the best sauce, and the sauce makes the pasta.
The sauce.
You've got to have good sauce.
You're half Italian, right?
I am half Sicilian, actually.
My father would correct you.
I'm not Italian.
But you still can't get made because you're only half.
Correct.
Correct.
It's like I wouldn't be full Jewish either.
Michael Lang beats.
Michael Lang, you did not.
Where did you come from?
Oh, don't tell me.
Don't tell me.
Brampton.
Yes, correct.
Because we've attended a Brampton Battalion game together.
Beast game.
Oh, my God.
It was not the Battalion. It was not the Battalion.
It was not the Battalion.
They've been gone for six years.
They changed their name?
Something happened there.
Where did they go?
They went to North Bay, and now they're in North Bay Battalion.
Right.
Oh, yeah, that I knew.
I did know that.
So then who are the Beast?
They are in the East Coast Hockey League.
Oh, really?
So like double A.
I also drove by the Hershey Center, and it's now the Paramount thing.
Paramount Fine Food Center.
That's still the Mississauga Steelheads OHL.
Really?
Yeah.
Steelheads.
I thought the St. Mike's Majors played in there.
They moved to Niagara.
Niagara?
Yeah.
Wow.
Got to keep track here.
Michael, I saw you last, and patience beats.
We're going to do some-
No worries.
Give you some major love here.
But Michael Lang, I saw you at the Danforth Music
Hall. You were at the Watchmen show.
Yep. We've got to give some credit
to Grapes of Wrath as well, who were fantastic.
They were fantastic. Second time I'd seen them. They were great.
You know, Andrew Stokely on this show
once told a story about witnessing the breakup
of Grapes of Wrath. So he's
relieved to know they're still performing together.
Although there was only two of the original members
up there. Right, because someone was overseas or something.
Right, right.
So you bought me a beer, but unfortunately,
Danforth Music Hall does not serve Great Lakes beer.
Correct.
But thank you regardless.
It was fantastic.
And Lou Skizes is here, everybody.
Shout out to Lou.
F-O-T-M, Lou Skizes.
Proof that you don't have to be politically aligned to be friends.
I think that's important to know.
Who was it that would...
He fought someone.
Andy.
Someone fought him.
There was fisticuffs last time.
You're amazing.
With Lou.
Okay.
No, it was a woman.
Oh.
Who was the woman?
There was a woman, Lou.
Do you remember?
I'm sure it was Andy.
No, it was a woman.
But Andy's a woman. Oh, is remember? I'm sure it was Andy. No, it was a woman. But Andy's a woman.
Oh, is she? Okay, maybe it was Andy.
Yeah, it was awesome.
Last time Lou was on,
Mike purposely called Lou up with this other woman who was very
made for good radio.
Absolutely threw her under the bus.
Big time. There was
fisticuffs. It was awesome.
Michael Lang, honestly, I want to thank you for your support
because you go above and beyond.
I mean, you took Jervis and I to a Brampton Beast game.
You bought me a beer.
You bought me a shot at that party for Marty.
You're at all these amazing events.
Am I going to see you Friday night?
I'm actually going on Saturday.
I'll see you there then, too.
Okay, so Friday night, Lois and Lo are at Horseshoe.
Right. And Saturday they're at
Lee's Palace. That's the one I'm going to be at.
In fact, I have to give away
tickets to that on Monday. It's not too late. If you tweet
at me your favorite Lois and Lo song, I have
two tickets to give away for that event.
But you have a recent episode
that you loved. Episode of Toronto Mike.
Probably Kyle Bukoskis.
I can yell at yourself. Maybe because of the shout out for me. So Beats, did you listen to Probably Kyle Bukoskis. Maybe because of the shout out
for me. So Beats, did you listen to
the Kyle Bukoskis episode?
Yes.
I don't want to say no in honor of Elvis, but yes
I did. Okay, you might know Beats and you
might know Michael Lang. There's been some negative
feedback around that episode.
Why? What happened?
Multiple people listened to my
wonderful 90-minute conversation
with Kyle Bukowskis and told me I mentioned his hair too often.
45 minutes of that episode was hair.
That's well-deserved.
Does he drive a black car by chance?
Does Kyle drive a black car?
That is well-deserved.
That gentleman has a good hair situation going on.
I set him up.
You spike him down, Mike.
I listened to this episode.
And I also participated in the...
We did an episode about this episode.
Yeah, we did. This is a good episode. This was my favorite
episode. This is my favorite
episode. Pagan just listened to the
Molly Johnson episode and he wanted me to know.
Second favorite episode.
Second favorite episode. Second favorite episode.
It's fantastic.
Thank you, Gino Vanelli.
Did you guys think
that I mentioned the hair
too often?
Be honest with me.
I don't really pay attention
to what you say
for the most part.
I'm here for Elvis.
That's it.
I feel like I should be
calling you Toronto Me-Ike
in honor of you
butchering brewery
for 500 plus episodes.
Is that correct or should I pronounce it a little different?
Wamen.
Look at all the wamen that are here.
There's so many wamen.
I also want to say by the appearance of my beard that my colleagues are all jerks and
have done no acts of kindness.
So I just wanted to get that out there.
I noticed a big drop off from Beats in the open mics when he got promoted.
So you had a promotion of some sorts at work?
Head prostitute now.
I'm in charge of all the
Hey, I recognize another guy from Twitter.
So Brian Dunn, I recognize him from
his Twitter profile. You're going to let that go?
Head prostitute? I want to know what that means.
But I want to know what that means. Is he like
the chief prostitute or just
the prostitute of heads?
I want to know what's happening there.
You're the co-host here. I asked earlier if anyone
was here from Hamilton. Now I know
somebody's here from Hamilton. Michael Moniz is here.
Later we'll get you on the mic. In fact,
I've got to burn through. You've got a lot of people.
We'll go. Tiger Cats, baby.
So I didn't talk about the hair too much, Kyle Bukoskis.
You mentioned it one too many times.
Is that true? Yes.
You're asking too bald, gentlemen. I actually don't have
much experience in that department. Both guys are bald? Yes. You're asking two bald gentlemen. I actually don't have much experience in that department.
Both guys are bald up here and you're asking
if you talked about hair too much. No love for our
hair. Exactly. And they're both gingers
too, which is fantastic. Two bald gingers.
Double whammy.
I feel like that's a category on the internet.
If anybody has any souls for sale, please let me know.
Beats, are you going to leave right away? Because at 3 o'clock
when I have more time, I'd like to... I wanted to leave 10 minutes ago.
I'll be here. I'd like to take a wanted to leave 10 minutes ago. I'll be here.
I'd like to take a photo
with you and Elvis
before you go.
Success.
I'm just here
to make Elvis laugh.
That's it.
That's my only purpose
of being here.
Michael Lang,
thank you for being
a great fan.
Beats, you're amazing as well.
I need Peter Gross
and Mike Wilner
on these microphones
right now.
And if Peter needs a hand
getting up in these high chairs,
I'm here to help him.
Wow.
Wow. That's high-tist. here to help him. Wow. Wow.
That's high-tist.
Now he's shaking his hand.
He doesn't even know the guy, and he's ripping him.
I like this guy beats.
I have celebrity for you right there.
Peter Gross back from, is it Woodbine Racetrack you were at?
Doing business.
He's going to get out of the mic.
You want to stick on the headphones maybe?
Help you out?
You know, I think Mike Wilner would be a fan of black cars.
Mike, do you like black cars?
Are you going to wear those?
They do tend to look better in the shade,
but yes, I like them.
You were a very early jam kicker, Mike.
One of the first few.
Were you the second jam kicker?
Second jam kicker.
Tyler Campbell maintains
a meticulous spreadsheet
of all the jam kickings,
and he does Apple playlists and Spotify playlists, and it's amazing.
He tells you who's got the most jams from the 30s, the 40s, the 50s.
Willner has the oldest jam ever, right?
The one that said that a hot dog was a sandwich?
That's right.
Yes, we have no bananas.
Right.
Mike Willner.
I like how he beat her at that point.
Remember that song, Pete?
Pete, you were a teenager
when that was a big hit
my parents used to
sing it
yeah
you don't have
this is not the
TMLX
where you can tell us
more blackface stories
because this is the
festive
family friendly
so
I want to be quiet
that'll make everyone
happy
a round of applause
I want to be quiet because I would love if maybe Mike and Peter have an exchange
and tell us how you know each other.
Please, the mic is all yours, Mr. Wilner.
Okay, well, I don't know how much Peter remembers
because I was one of, I'm sure, thousands of people who walked into his home.
You are.
That's right.
sure thousands of people who walked into his home.
You are.
That's right.
By the way, if there's anyone in here who is not a fan of mine, couldn't stand me on Jay's talk, doesn't want me on Blue Jay's broadcast or anything like that, blame him.
Peter Gross is responsible for my career in radio.
And without him, I'm like some accountant somewhere.
Peter, do you remember it this way? Not an actuary. Never accountant somewhere. Or an actuary.
Peter, do you remember it this way?
Not an actuary.
Never had the brain for an actuary.
He's kindly exaggerating.
Not at all.
Not even slightly exaggerating.
Here's what happened.
You tell your version, I'll tell mine. All right.
In 1994, I was working for the University of Toronto for the Department of Athletics and Recreation,
and I was the in-house public address guy.
And I did basketball and football and hockey and volleyball and even a water polo game.
And one day after a basketball game, thankfully, the U of T sports information director got sick of calling radio stations and wire services with final scores in the pre-internet days.
And he dumped that work off on me.
And I called the fan to offer them a score.
The guy who was working there was named Tim Haffey, who originally brought me into University of Toronto Radio.
And he asked me for a 30-second
report on the game and I did and then the next week I called the fan again gave them 30 seconds
called 680 News and boldly asked them if they wanted a 30-second report and whoever answered
the phone there I don't I still don't know her name because she wasn't there when I started working there. But she said yes
and that was a Sunday
afternoon and by Tuesday
Gross had called U of T to say
who was that guy? I want to talk
to him, bring him in for an audition.
That would be my version, yeah.
There was along the way, especially in the early days
of 680 News, people who
wanted to be on the radio and they would would phone in stuff, and it sucked.
And Wilner phoned in something that was broadcast ready,
and we had a lot of opportunities for fledgling the sportscasters
in the first few days, the first few months of 680 News.
So I recognize that it was a fairly skillful piece of business.
Are you already doing Let's Talk Sports
on Cable 10? I was done with Let's Talk
Sports. So that's where he got his
wonderful broadcasting. But I should point out
that U of T Radio. So he
needed a little kick in the pants to come in and
audition and I think we
put him on the air almost immediately.
The first thing. Or eight months later.
But the beautiful thing was, like, when I did that audition, you said to me,
I don't have anything for you now, but when I do, I'll call you.
And I'm sure that happens across the business to a lot of people who never get a phone call.
So the fact that you did.
And I did.
I did.
Yes.
But one of the very first things Mike Willner said to me in 1994 was,
I wanted to play-by-play a baseball.
What a dreamer, right?
Wow.
And you probably said, good luck, kid.
Like, that's not going to happen.
And here we are.
He does play-by-play for the Toronto Blue Jays.
I think that, let's give a round of applause to Mike Willner,
who was dying on the vine until he appeared on Toronto Mic'd,
and now is the play-by-play guy for the Toronto Blue Jays.
And perhaps the reason I still have the job
is I haven't been invited back on Toronto Mic'd
since I became the play-by-play guy for the Blue Jays.
Well, I figured you're now out of my reach now.
That's right.
But didn't you do, like, a single-A baseball play-by-play?
In 89, the Wellin Pirates.
The Wellin Pirates?
Yeah, with Pete Marina
on Seahaw, 1470.
Didn't you do
a New York State team?
I did a New York,
I did a Penn League,
well, the Well and Pirates
were the Penn League.
I did the Watertown Indians
in 97
while I was working for you.
You made sure
I would have
Mondays off
to do Monday night baseball.
What an enabler I was.
Yeah.
Jeez.
But I was in between my audition for you
and your call to say, come work for me.
I worked for the Hardware City Rock Cats
in the Eastern League in New Britain, Connecticut.
And what would that pay?
Room and board.
I also, while I was working for them,
I was also working at Pizzeria Uno as a waiter.
What do you get now for doing the Blue Jays?
It's a little more than room and board, but you know radio.
Can you be more specific, please?
Peter knows radio, and Peter knows Rogers, and he knows it.
John Gallagher and I did a whole episode of Gallagher and Go Save the World, our podcast,
talking about the money we made.
And it's obscene how much money he made for a couple of years.
Him, for sure. Yeah. Like half a million him for sure yeah like half a million radio guys and and working for city at night very jealous but you were rolling
in it on when you were on city the first time around no i i can tell you honestly the last
year i was at city 80 000 i don't know i. What is that in 2019, though? Yeah, that's big money
now. I was very pleased at the time,
but there were a lot. I mean, McKinney
made
$240,000 in his last year at
City. Wow. Is he
here today, by the way?
That's fantastic. He's going to love to hear this.
No, he's not. No, I know this
because there was one day I was looking
for a golf ball for a prop for a story,
and I went into his drawer and I found his contract.
Okay, let me interject for a moment.
$20,000 car allowance.
Keep going.
Hold on.
Is this factual or is this innuendo?
I think that's what I saw.
You went into his drawer, huh?
I went into his drawer, yeah.
I opened his drawer
and that was his contract.
I want to ask the FOTMs
who are here at Palma's Kitchen.
By the way, it's filled up nicely.
I want to ask you,
is everyone here listening
to Gallagher and Gross Save the World?
Clap if you've listened.
Is anyone sponsoring it?
Clap if you've listened. Is anyone sponsoring it? Clap if you're sponsoring it.
Peter, when you go to this trim gentleman, Anthony,
you see in the glasses back there for your voucher to get the free hot table.
He's the guy to talk to?
You just heard the applause.
Everyone is listening.
It's number 279 in its category.
Well, don't worry about that, Peter.
To talk about notes how to sell a show.
This guy's a salesman.
Mike Wilner.
First of all, how's your brother Norm doing? Also in FOTM.
He's swell
right now. He's out here on the west end
in Oakville somewhere visiting
his in-laws. He's having...
He couldn't pop over.
He has this drop-in same sort of thing,
but not at a major pasta venue.
Every year.
And last year, I went a week early.
So he sent me a text message today saying,
it's next week, not today.
Don't show up at my house today.
So there you go.
Now it's just purchased, right?
Right, yeah.
And I don't know what's going to happen with that.
And I'm not sure he knows what's going to happen with that either.
They say they'll keep printing.
So let's hope they keep their promise.
But this now got purchased by a cannabis, I don't know, some mouth.
Mike, I have to ask you this question.
Before you came on, we were talking about how none of us listen to Trusted Radio anymore.
But the one thing I would listen to was Jay's talk.
I really enjoyed you on Jay's talk.
Thank you.
What I wanted to ask you was.
Yes.
Seriously.
Thank you.
How do you like the whole Howard Stern clapping after everything people say from the 1980s and 90s theme of the show, apparently.
But seriously, how do you um do you
miss arguing with the fans every single evening because you were fantastic at it wonderful i don't
miss arguing with people i i um i just felt like you had so much joy no it was i could feel the
energy from you it just seemed like you love to argue with people. I love to try to get people to really understand what they were talking about.
And sports fans, you know, after a ball game, it's not about, it's rarely about rational thought and ideas.
But no, I mean, for me, it was always, if you tell me X and X is incorrect,
especially if you're angry about it,
then I'm going to try to tell you what the truth is.
And maybe every once in a while there were people who said,
oh, you know what, I didn't think of it that way.
Or, yeah, that's, you know, but rarely.
Mike, it made for great radio
it really did
because you
it just made
usually when Vito
from Woodbridge calls in
it's boring
and you just made
for a great show
so
I think it's
I think it's still
even though I'm not
doing it anymore
I think it's still
the only show
on the station
that regularly
takes phone calls
I don't think
that there are
any more call in shows
on the fan
because McCowan used to McCowan used to.
McCowan used to for an hour, like once or twice a week.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah, because even he was five days a week.
That four to five hour used to be phone calls, and then he got rid of it.
Then it became like only Mondays or something.
Is Bob McCowan here, by the way?
Is Bob here?
Just checking here.
Real quick announcement.
This is very key to everybody in attendance.
here just checking here real quick announcement this is very key to everybody in attendance by the way uh warren uh that periscope feed died so we can we can get rid of that tripod there
something something killed it i can see it but okay so the we have a book here this is written
by peter gross it's called the boy who turned into a cat and it is uh for children right peter yeah
like what age range would you guess?
You know, just to compare, the Gallagher and Gross podcast is filled with drugs, sex, pornography, swearing.
This is my lighter side.
Okay.
I would say that, you know, an eight or a nine-year-old that's a little advanced in reading up to 15, 16.
So the call to action here is...
Or any adult that likes cats.
Peter is selling these books for how much?
$10.
Well, don't look at me.
He shrugged his shoulders.
Am I needing the price?
For $10 or spare change or...
$20 I get half.
Frozen lasagna.
So he's not a very good businessman.
His show is 279th on the charts.
Peter, you need a business
assistant. I think Lou Skizes can help you out.
He's a business minded fellow.
Now, anybody who would like a copy
of the boy who turned into a cat,
Peter will sign it.
We have a sale. This guy wants it.
Okay, 10 bucks.
Great stocking stuffer.
It is because it's small.
Well, who can't stuff it in his stocking?
He knows he's getting it.
It's like 110 pages.
It's a real, it's an easy read.
Okay, so take this copy, Peter.
Sell all your books.
We need to buy these books so Peter doesn't end up living under a bridge.
Is that correct?
But if I do live under a bridge, you can bring the mic for the podcast.
You can still come to me.
By the way, on that note, real quick, did you lose all your money on this cruise you took?
You stopped gambling for a while, and then you were taking a cruise where you were going to gamble like crazy.
Yes, I did.
I gambled like crazy.
Do you have anything left?
Yes.
Fortunately, the last day I ran my final 300 into 1,000.
Will there be more episodes of Gallagher and Gross Save the World?
Yes. Yes, there will be.
That's great news!
For you, because we pay you to produce it for us.
Do you still remember the Peter Gross streak theory that you taught me of gambling?
Oh, well, it applied the other day to the Raptors.
That's right.
Raptors had won seven in a row.
They lost the streak theory.
It's the most potent gambling tip you can have.
If a team wins five in a row, it works great for basketball and baseball.
A team wins five in a row or more, then loses.
They'll lose the next game, but because they won several games in a row they'll
be favored so you end up getting the long shot so after they lose the first game after the streak
you bet them to lose again right that's what you're saying okay i'm gonna try that boston
boston broods won nine in a row they lost in overtime the other day so if they're playing
tonight you should bet the other team gotcha. They'll be big favorites too. And I remember once when we were deep into the weeds of the streak theory,
and it applies to individuals as well,
Greg Maddox was pitching for Atlanta, maybe the greatest pitcher ever.
He was pitching.
He had won eight games in a row, then lost,
and was pitching some Sunday night against a terrible team,
against a terrible pitcher who was pitching against him,
and they were huge favorites, and he lost.
Well, there you go.
Yeah, the Peter Gross streak theory.
Well, you should use this theory more often because you'd win more money.
That's my thought.
It happens about 60% of the time.
In other words, you will lose four times out of ten when you do it
because sports is perfect.
But it almost always gives you the underdog.
So that's pretty powerful in sports betting.
All right.
Now, I see Cam Gordon from Twitter is here.
But, Cam, can you just tell me with your facial expressions,
is Stu Stone coming?
Or is he?
50-50.
Oh, okay.
Only because if I knew he was imminent,
because I was going to have Stu Stone on with Mike Wilner.
And Mike, do you know why I was going to have Stu Stone on with you?
Because he said he would set me up with Lunette, but he never did.
Well, I was going to say, and I will say this if Stu shows up, but there's a documentary on Netflix right now that Stu Stone put together called Jack of
All Trades. Yeah, watch it. It's amazing.
Not because I'm
in it for 15 seconds, but
it's an incredible story.
I've been promoting it as
Starring Mike Willner. What's it about?
Thank you. So,
Stu Stone's father ran a
memorabilia shop in, I think, North York?
I think? There was one in Thornhill, but they'd expanded to a lot.
It was called Sluggers, a baseball card store.
And it was a story of, it began, it begins as a story of why this big baseball boom,
baseball card boom happened in the late 80s, but nothing ever became of it.
That all these cards that were worth so much then
are worth, oh, there he is.
Okay, so Peter, love you, man.
Can't wait for you to come back
for more episodes of Gallatin Gross.
Set up shop maybe over here with your books,
and we'll have a lineup of people
with $10 bills in their hand
waiting to buy copies of
The Boy Who Turned Into a Cat.
So it's a great stocking stuffer.
I urge everybody to buy multiple copies
and you're going to take
selfies with these guys
and sign the book.
Sure, sure.
Kiss babies.
All right.
Thank you, Peter Gross
from Gallagher and Gross
Save the World.
If you buy the last copy
that Gross has,
for another five bucks,
he'll give you
a reusable Longo's bag.
There's another celebrity.
Oh, Peter, you're going to have to set up shop somewhere else.
There's another celebrity
here that I think is trying to be incognito.
To my right, there is a
gentleman who's brought his son
and he's wearing a name tag that says Mike
but he looks like
Vinnie Dombrowski, the lead singer of
Sponge. He's the Hamilton guy.
Exactly. He looks exactly like Vinnie Dombrowski. Wait, what's his name? Vinnie Dombrowski. the lead singer of Sponge. He's the Hamilton guy. Exactly. He looks exactly
like Vinnie Dombrowski. Wait, what? What's his name?
Vinnie Dombrowski. I don't know this person.
He's the lead singer of Sponge. Mike,
are you Vinnie? And he has no idea what I'm
talking about. I don't know this guy. Mike.
He will be on in a minute. Hold on, Mike. Don't go anywhere.
I'm putting Stu Stone straight on.
Stu Stone, please
come straight to the microphone. I feel like that's
a made up name, too. I want you on ahead of Cam Gordon.
By the way, I want to promote a future episode of Toronto Mike.
Coming very soon is Cam Gordon and Stu Stone.
And I can't remember the premise, but when Cam comes on the mic, he'll remind us.
But it's a very exciting premise.
So, Stu Stone, stick on headphones.
Great to see you. The star of Jack of all trades to my right. Yeah, he'll remind us, but it's a very exciting premise. So Stu Stone, stick on headphones. Great to see you.
The star of Jack of All Trades
to my right. Yeah, he's here.
Mike Wilner. And how are you involved
with Jack of All Trades? Please tell us.
I was the director
and the subject
of the film along with Mr. Wilner.
And yeah, it's been
the Toronto Mike show.
I should say today, the Mississauga Mike show.
It has been a great...
I'm playing that for him.
Just a little tiny taste and then...
Oh, someone criticized me if multiple people
didn't like the music underneath Laurie Brown.
Anyway.
Oh, boy, this is embarrassing.
Yeah, you should stop with this. stop hold on i want to hear your rap
we're gonna just hold on a minute here
i didn't even know this existed but i would have
mike is fantastic okay please i didn't mean to, but I need to play a little Stu Stone.
No, it's all good.
I was going to say your show has been like, this has been a beacon for promotion for this movie
since I first made an appearance on here.
Can you make the check out to TMDS?
Yes.
So I can put in my business account.
Yes, yes, yes, I can.
But it's been incredible, man. I just added it to my list on Netflix. Oh, you've got to watch it, man. Yeah, yeah. You've got can put it in my business account. Yes, yes, yes I can. But it's been incredible, man.
I just added it to my list on Netflix.
Oh, you've got to watch it, man.
Yeah, yeah.
You've got to watch it when I get home.
You've got to watch it.
It's fantastic.
Because I was that age buying baseball cards in that time.
All of my newspaper money went into cards.
That's really telling of our age when you had newspaper money and baseball cards.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's true. it's true.
It's true.
There was two cards.
I lived in Streetsville, and there was two card shops near my house, and I walked there
with my buddies, and we'd spend all of our money on cards.
Wow.
And comics, but mostly cards.
I still have a box of score 89s.
I saw that.
Oh, that's the iconic set.
What's the one with Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card?
89 Upper Deck.
Okay.
Yeah.
I remember that was like the holy grail. We were all
going to retire on
money that we were going to make
by holding onto that card.
It didn't work out.
Okay. I just want to ask
the audience here, the FOTMs
that are at Palmas Kitchen right now,
has everyone seen
Jack of All Trades? Put up your hand if you've seen Jack of All Trades.
Nice.
That's pretty good.
Levi Fumka, Juan.
I see Rush Mike.
Steve has seen it.
Awesome, man.
Cam Gordon and his gal pal who I saw on CBC.
Gal pal.
Gal pal.
Nice.
Nice.
Actually, Megan, will you be on the mic later?
Yeah, you're mic friendly.
Well, I'll pay you with a beer here.
By the way, everyone who's new here, grab a beer.
To my left, there's Fresh Craft Beer.
Okay, so Stu, how is the documentary doing?
It's on Canada's Netflix now.
Yeah, it's been incredible.
It's life-changing stuff, man.
I'm going to be going to Los Angeles next week to make an appearance at some baseball card show.
Oh, wow.
They still have those?
They do.
Really?
Bring Wilner with you.
I'd love to.
I'd love to travel with Wilner, believe me.
Yeah, it's been really like a life-changing kind of experience.
The power of a platform
like Netflix
is you don't even
realize the type
of power that it has
until you live it
and
might be a stupid
question but do they
still have baseball
cards
they do
they still make them
Topps still makes
baseball cards
is there gum in there
well there's no gum
in there but I
brought packs
okay
oh wow
is this for
nice
okay
yeah
I got 1987 Topps I was hoping maybe we could like try to but I brought packs. Okay. Oh, wow. Is this for... Nice. Okay. Yeah.
I got 1987 tops.
I was hoping that maybe we could try to stump Wilner
by listing off stats
or fun facts
and see if he can nail the player.
That's pretty Wilhouse-y
in 87 for me, so...
I would think so.
Is there anything else
that I want to...
He's bringing a tear to my eye.
Maybe a listener wants to come up
and eat some gum
and...
Oh, but here,
this guy right here. That's Lou Skeezes, everybody. Lou Skeezes. Are you going to my eye. Maybe a listener wants to come up and eat some gum. Oh, but here, this guy right here.
That's Lou Skeezes, everybody.
Lou Skeezes.
Are you going to make Lou eat that gum?
Yeah, he might be the only one here older than the gum.
Stu, can I grab?
Well, Peter Gross is over there somewhere.
Stu, can I grab one for my son?
He's sitting over there.
I'm going to use five, and hopefully this starts compulsion for him.
Wow.
Thank you.
Yeah, I ate this gum. And where did that end up? On Instagram or something? Thank you. I ate this gum
and where did that end up?
On Instagram or something?
But you recorded me
eating this gum
and you don't want to eat gum
that was put into
the 1987 Tops baseball cards.
That's a little pro tip.
No, I think you do want
to eat the gum.
It's got no gum consistency
you left.
You don't.
No, you want to wash it down
with some, you know,
pasta here.
Oh, grab a Great Lakes beer. Make sure you get your voucher for the pasta from Anthony. You get a free to eat the gum. No, you want to wash it down with some pasta here. Oh, grab a Great Lakes beer.
Make sure you get your voucher for the pasta from Anthony.
You get a free pasta here for sure.
Sprinkle the gum over your palm of pasta.
Can we still win the trip to 1988 spring training?
If you fix your blood capacitor, you can.
Okay, there's the gum.
I think what we should do is there's a game that you can play called Pack Poker
where everybody opens up their pack and presents their best card,
and that person doesn't have to eat the gum.
Okay, so we all open up our pack and we randomly pick one?
No, no, you have to decide which one is the most valuable, and I'll be the judge,
and the person with the best card isn't going to have to eat gum.
But I can't eat gum and produce this wonderful podcast.
I have Roy Lee Jackson, former Jay.
Yes, he sang the National...
Roy Lee Jackson sang the National Anthem.
Yes, he sang the National Anthem, right.
And yet, he doesn't have...
This is interesting.
Oh, he does.
He has the twins.
George Bell.
Wow.
Nice.
I have something I could play right now
from George Bell,
but hold on.
Steve, can you tap my son on the shoulder
and tell him to come on up here?
Fun fact, Willer.
Roy Lee Jackson, there's a 1984 Fleer card, if you remember Fleer,
that actually the card is a picture of Roy Lee Jackson singing the National Anthem.
Really?
Yes.
That's amazing.
Yes.
I have a Rob Deere card, Rob Deere.
Lots of homers and lots of...
The largest hands of anyone, any athlete that I've ever shaken hands with is Rob Deere.
But the best thing, the funnest fact,
the most fun fact about Rob Deere,
like you said, lots of homers, lots of strikeouts.
There was a season when he played with the Tigers
and he played every day
and he didn't get his first RBI single
until the end of August.
Whoa.
But he probably had like 25 home runs.
At least.
Oh, 40.
Homers, walks, and strikeouts.
Bill Madlock, everybody. Bill Madlock was a big BFT. I got a Hall of home runs. Oh, 40. Homers, walks, and strikeouts. Bill Madlock, everybody.
Bill Madlock was a big BFT.
I got a Hall of Famer.
Oh, yeah.
Burt Blylevins.
Burt Blylevins in the Hall of Fame.
Arguably.
Best curveball ever.
Okay.
They waited far too long to put him in.
Wait, Stu, before I forget, when are you returning to Toronto Mic'd with Cam Gordon?
Yeah, next weekend I'll be with Cam Gordon, and we're going to be, we have another surprise
sort of music,
kick out the jam sort of episode.
Do you remember the specifics of this premise?
I do.
It's morbid because Cam is a morbid kind of guy,
but it's sort of an immemorium of artists that we lost in the 2000s.
I love it.
Wow.
Sponsored by Ridley Funeral Home.
Exactly.
Charlie got a Cal Ripken.
That's pretty good.
He's pretty good.
I've never heard of him.
I'm more of a Billy Ripken guy.
Okay, Stu, please, I want to get, go ahead.
I have a Ripken thing that I wanted to see if maybe Willner might be able to verify a Ripken story.
So there's this story about the streak.
Oh, that's a good card that you just passed right there.
That's a Ripken card.
Will the Thrill?
Yeah. There's a rumor, good card that you just passed right there. That's a rookie card. Will the Thrill?
Yeah.
There's a rumor, Mike.
Maybe you've heard it, but apparently Cal Ripken and Kevin Costner were really great friends back in the day.
And he was staying at – Kevin Costner was in Baltimore shooting something, and he was staying at Ripken's house.
Ripken left to go – and you can Google this, but I wonder if you've ever heard this story. I've never heard this story.
Ripken is heading to the ballpark.
He forgets something.
He turns around to go home and finds Kevin Costner doing things with his wife.
Whoa!
Apparently, Ripken beats the shit out of part of my language.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
He beats the snot out of him.
It wasn't me.
It wasn't me.
He beats the snot out of him, and then he calls the Orioles. He says, I'm not coming in today. It wasn't me. It wasn't me. He beats the snot out of him
and then he calls the Orioles.
He says,
I'm not coming in today.
I don't care.
I'm not coming in.
It's over.
And apparently that night
there was like an electrical
outage at the stadium.
Game got canceled.
Street continues.
Really?
Yeah.
No, I had never heard that one.
Oh, wow.
That's unbelievable.
That's a Toronto Mike's
exclusive, everybody.
That's cool.
That will be on the radio next year on a Blue Jays broadcast.
My source for that, by the way, is Cam Gordon is my source for that story.
Okay, my friends.
Lots of people need to get on the microphones,
and we're only doing a three-hour show.
So, Stu, we can't wait to have you back on Toronto Mike.
Everybody who has not watched your documentary, Jack of All Trades,
if you have Netflix, do it
tonight. If you don't have Netflix,
borrow someone's account and watch it
tonight. Yes. Yeah. And then tweet at
Stu Stone about how amazing it is. I appreciate it, man.
You get to see my living room if you're
watching. Great living room. Hubba hubba.
All right. That's a different
video, I think. That's streaming on a different
service. There's no Kevin Costner
action. Mike Wilner, I wanted to
say before I kick you off the microphone that
when I had you on the first time,
I had numerous emails
that I humanized the
beast. Do you remember this? Yeah, and I do.
I appreciate that a lot.
Because you were people, for some reason, found
you, I remember the terms. Mike and I
have talked about this a lot. We are very polarizing.
They found you condescending and arrogant. Mike and I have talked about this a lot. We are very polarizing. They found you
condescending and arrogant. Have you heard
that before? Oh, yeah. And you came on Toronto Mic'd
and everyone loved you all of a sudden.
I mean, I've always loved Mike,
so you didn't... I always loved
Mike, too. I always loved Mike Willner. I've always
loved Mike Willner. But I know you converted a few
and I appreciate it.
So that's why
I keep coming back, even though you never ask me.
Will you come back
before spring training 2020?
Sure, absolutely.
Mike Willner, everybody.
Stu Stone.
Okay, thank you.
There's a gentleman
in this room right now
who I've never met
but I'm a big fan of.
In fact, he's been on Toronto Mike
but I've never actually met this guy.
So you're going to witness me
meeting him for the first time.
Is Gene Valaitis here?
Gene from Jesse and Gene.
Would you mind coming on the microphone to my left?
How has he been on your show and you've never met him?
I'll explain in a moment.
JJ, JJ, stop looking at your phone.
Could you come on a mic?
You won't come on a mic, JJ.
Okay, Cam, do you want to sit on a mic, actually, right now?
Do you have to go? Okay, go do it.
We'll do you first before Gene.
Cam Gordon, by the way, has
a giveaway. Say
hello to everybody. Hi, everyone. It's
two stone heights.
Okay, before
I get into it with Gene Valaitis,
Cam Gordon only has five minutes. I'm
sorry Megan won't come on a mic because
I'm all interested in the school
strike issue.
She's covering the strike issue.
Monica, who's taking a photo of us right
now, was homesick
one day recently and we watched Megan
Fitzpatrick on CBC
educate us as to what's going on with
the PC party.
She knows what's up.
She's covering vaping, a lot about vaping this week.
How long have you been
dating that beautiful woman over there?
You know, this is probably a separate podcast.
I mean, you know, maybe we'll revisit
this when I'm in Friday.
In between, talk about that.
In your final two minutes, what do you have
to give away to a FOTM here today?
I'm sure. I did this in the summer
as well. I think we gave away a football.
So one's for you, Mike.
And then I guess for one of the attendees,
this is a Twitter mug.
It's got the Twitter logo.
Twitter loves Toronto.
It's metal, so great for
camping or if you're at the cottage or just around
the house. And yeah, I guess
we'll do a trivia question. Okay okay here's here's one okay so on a sticker um okay so 2019 on twitter what day
had the single most mentions of toronto what what happened that day that's easy i know i
literally just thought of that half the time.
Who gets it right?
I think like...
Okay, Brian,
guess the mic then.
Okay, but didn't he win a book already?
I feel like he's...
Okay.
He's also sitting closest.
Congratulations, Brian.
Cam, we'll have you on Toronto Mic
next week, is it?
I think it's Friday
we're coming in.
Okay.
What's the premise of this show?
Yeah, so we're going to do a countdown of 10 musicians we lost over the last 10 years.
Kind of an end of decade.
We're going to self-reflect.
Why don't you call it Rigamortis Roundup?
That's not bad.
Well, now with Ridley, maybe they can do it.
He's a creative guy, Gene.
I can't wait to jump into it.
Okay, so everybody tune into that.
Thank you, Cam Gordon.
Thanks for making an appearance.
Did you want a beer on your way out here from Goobers?
I'm good.
I'm going to Sherwood Gardens, so I don't think they need something like this.
All right.
So thank you, Megan.
Megan wants a beer, it looks like.
I don't know.
Megan wants a beer.
By the way, Megan Fitzpatrick is very talented.
I always tell my wife, that guy's dating a guy I know.
I feel like I'm hooked up in there.
So thank you, Cam. Lou, would you mind sitting in this seat dating a guy I know. I feel like I'm hooked up in there. Thank you, Cam.
Lou, would you mind sitting in this
seat for a moment? Now, Gene,
this is our first time meeting. May I
shake your hand?
First time I met Gene Valaitis, even
though I was a fan of Jesse and Gene
and he was on my podcast because
we did it. He was in Vancouver.
I was in California.
You were in California.
Jesse was in Vancouver. And was in California. You were in California. Jesse was in Vancouver.
Right.
And we did it by Skype.
Wow.
So this is cool.
I mean, for me as a kid.
Careful.
Tom Rivers, Jesse, and Gene.
Oh, by the way, in a moment I'm going to have someone on the mic who was on the Tom Rivers show.
Okay.
So we had Humble Howard for Humble and Fred.
I have a gentleman, Larry Fedorik, who was on the Tom Rivers show. Okay, so we had Humble Howard for Humble and Fred. I have a gentleman, Larry Fedorik, who was on the Tom Rivers show.
I saw him earlier.
So here's a little taste of Jesse and Gene.
Q-Warning Zoo. Jesse and Gene asked the 107th caller to spin the wheel of cash. Q-107 is
giving away a total of $107,000 cash. Other radio stations would spend this amount of money
on a fancy TV commercial
with marching bands, monkeys, and rock videos,
but we'd rather give it away.
Listen every weekday morning at 710
for your chance to spin the wheel of cash
on Toronto's best rock, Q107.
Any PTSD from that? You okay?
No, but I can tell you exactly what happened
when we gave the $107,000 away,
back when radio stations actually gave away a lot of money.
We gave it away at 7.10 in the morning,
which was the top quarter hour.
This guy was the qualifying caller.
He won the $107,000.
And we did sound effects.
We went crazy.
And Jesse said, well, how do you feel he goes
oh yeah and and jet jesse literally said look asshole if you don't get effing excited right now
and start screaming we're keeping the dough and he and he got a little excited. No, this is live, yeah, but Jesse used the complete F-bomb.
On the air?
Yeah, and just totally derailed this
guy. I mean, he just
won $107,000. He's like, okay,
that's nice. Okay, but when there's that
many people paying attention, because you're giving away
a big chunk of money, don't they
complain about the F-bomb, or were you guys
okay there?
Oh, the Canadian Radio Standards Council knows us very, very well.
No, actually, you know what?
That was one occasion where Jesse lost it and used the F-bomb.
But, you know, we got fired once because we wouldn't follow directions
and we were using bad language, and we were replaced by Howard Stern.
And that program director is now dead.
No, he is.
That's a fact. No, no, he means the
Q107 program director.
But you know what?
We never swore on the air
or did that. And in comparison
to what came after
the two of us doing the morning show,
if you listen to our CDs
and that, we're actually pretty tame.
I think we did more things that were funny
and irreverent than were shocking.
Now, a lot of the stuff, though,
wouldn't play today, right?
Like, you can't do accents of...
Sure you can.
You can?
Yeah.
You know what?
People say, well, I'm offended.
I say, so what?
Okay, so you're offended.
So what does that mean, you're offended? You have a right to
be offended, and you have a right to offend.
So the guy who
we made fun of was a guy
by the name of Jag Badiria,
who was a member of parliament,
and he sounded like this.
And so we imitated his voice.
And the complaint was made
to the Canadian Radio Standards
Council, and the CRTC got involved.
And they listened to it and they said,
well, guess what, that's exactly how he sounds.
Now, we weren't making fun of his accent.
We were imitating him, much like somebody would imitate a celebrity.
And you know what?
Jag wasn't the one who complained.
It was some listener who had a really tight rear end.
Now, what came first, Jesse and Gene or Humble and Fred?
Oh, jeez, that's a good question.
I feel like you came first, but I don't know for sure.
I know 89 is the year Humble and Fred start.
I would have listened to Jesse and Gene first, I think.
They were on cue, and then they came to CFTR, right?
Yeah.
Did you take over for Tom Rivers?
No.
At first, we were doing the afternoon show,
and then they put us in for Rivers
just because ratings and things like that.
I think that's where I probably first was introduced to you,
maybe, was that afternoon show.
Yeah, it was a big deal.
CFTR was the station for me until I graduated to FM,
and then it was Q107, and then CFNY.
And then we went to AM640
where
we took it from a 0.1 chair
to a 7 chair.
And now it's back to a 0.1.
Was that Mojo?
No, it wasn't Mojo then.
It was just AM640 to beat a Toronto.
And a couple of quarter hours we beat
Chum FM, which was very nice.
But you know, Jesse and I were really never into the
whole competition
thing. Our attitude was more
of all boats rise in the tide.
And you know, I used to take
Humble and Fred
and I would go home and listen to them
and laugh hysterically. I still
love Humble and Fred. I think they're great.
You know, Jesse and I were really
we were preparation
kings and we were always, we were preparation kings,
and we were always on, and we wanted to do a good show.
But in terms of competition in the market,
we were very complimentary to other people and quite liked them.
So you're back living in Toronto now?
Well, who knows for now, for a little while.
I do follow you on Twitter, as you know.
You have, I'm kind of surprised you're back. People take me too seriously on social media.
I have a lot, many chats
with Mark Hebbshire, who's
not here today, because Mark Hebbshire's
in some top secret location.
Sunning, I think. But
Hebbsy's normally at these events, but
where I actually sometimes
get fooled by Eugene on Twitter,
where I think you're being serious, but you told me never take you seriously.
No, don't ever take me seriously.
I give Lou here a hard time. I don't mean it.
I'm just joking around. People should never take me seriously.
I don't take myself seriously.
What are you up to these days? And tell us an update on Jesse as well.
Well, he's in a nursing home where it takes him about three and a half cans of spinach
just to cut the cheese.
And, you know, I visit him and wipe his rear end as is my want in life.
So, yeah, he seems to be getting along well now, walking around in a daze, not knowing
where he is.
And so, you know, I guess, you know, the key word when we say, how is Jesse?
You know, the only one word that comes to mind is depends.
So it just depends.
He's quite wealthy now.
Is that fair to say?
He's done well financially.
Mike, we're all wealthy when we wake up in the morning and we're alive.
Bravo.
That's beautiful, right?
That is wonderful.
But that's true.
Talk to Lou.
This is one of the guys who I...
You know, when you were on with Bill Carroll,
I was living in California,
and one of the highlights of my day was listening to Lou.
Well, thank you so much, Gene.
And here's another guy I give a hard time to on social media.
He takes me way too seriously.
No, I don't.
I just respond to you one way or the other,
whether you see it as serious or not. But I wanted
to, Mike, say thank you to
Anthony for hosting this today. What a
fabulous venue. Okay, shout out again.
Clap for Anthony, Petrucci,
Palma Pasta. Is everybody
enjoying their pasta? Wow, what a great
venue. Great service.
Gotta tell you, it's
the best priced cappuccino I've
found in Toronto.
Yes, you're right.
Unbelievable, right?
Just a real value.
So, you know, it's funny.
You were talking with Stu about his movie, and I sent that to you.
I saw it on Netflix.
I don't know what year it came out.
But I was intrigued by the whole value proposition, right? Because I know something about collectibles.
And collectibles are a dangerous market to be in because the market can fall right out of you
if there's no integrity with the distribution of the collectible.
You can see a real headache coming up.
And you know this because of your large collection of Beanie Babies.
No.
You can see it. I never collected Beanie Babies. Wow, this is... And you know this because of your large collection of beanie babies. No.
You can see it.
I never collected beanie babies.
Wow.
Can we write this down?
That was the first good joke Mike has told this entire podcast.
Hey, give a guy a chance.
He's barely been on air with all the air traffic controllers that he's had next to him. But the reality is collectibles are difficult.
Like right now, if you're in the market for old Dutch masters,
you're going to find a deal because the market isn't there anymore.
People don't want to collect them.
What's that exactly?
Old Dutch masters.
They used to be a cigar, but they really were.
I think Peter Gross would know what that is, maybe.
cigar, but there really were.
I think Peter Gross would know what that is, maybe.
So,
and you were talking with one of your guests, 1236.
Mark Weisblot. Mark.
Unfortunately not here because he had
cataract surgery. Oh, did he?
And he couldn't be here, yeah. But he will be on Toronto
Mike December 30th. He might
have a cane. Right, so you were
in conversation with Mark, and Gene
brought up the Standards
Council. Oh no, Mark wasn't here
today. No, he was on your
show. Oh yeah, sorry.
You do a thing called Toronto Mike.
I'm with you now. It's called a podcast.
It's a collectible as well.
Yeah, it is.
It's a collection of gray-haired
old radio guys talking about how they got fired yeah so the Commission you
know when you were talking to mark about it and as Jean brought it up it's a
self regulatory organization so much of old broadcasters who get together for a
lunch and get hammered right and you would much rather have them deciding whether you were on-side or off-side
than some officious government regulator.
Yeah, from the Canada-turning-really-communist, better known as the CRTC.
Right, you don't want them regulating you.
So it's a good outcome to have an SRO.
And they have a hell of a lunch.
Quick, quick, quick, quick PSA for everyone in attendance.
If there's anyone here who wants on the mic but actually has, like, they have an appointment they have to get to because for whatever reason you have, like, a five-minute warning, put up your hand and wave it at me.
Okay, so you're going to be up on deck, okay?
So Basement Dweller is on deck.
All right.
Oh, Basement Dweller.
I know that guy.
Yeah, he's never appeared on a Toronto Mic Deaths guy. He's never appeared on a Toronto
Mic Death before. He's prolific
on your blog. Well, Fedorov's got a lot of
time because I put a gun to his head and he
was forced to retire. So he's
living a life of leisure now.
The other thing I wanted to say, Mike,
is these magnets.
Yes, from StickerU. Thank you, StickerU
for the magnets, everyone. Make sure you get one.
Let me tell you something. You could be StickerU, for the magnets, everyone. Make sure you get one. Let me tell you something.
You could be running a space shuttle on the magnets that these things have,
trying to pull them apart.
Like, look, this thing is sticking to my head.
Oh, wow.
I don't know how many layers of fabric.
Like, where did they get those magnets?
Where did the magnetism come from?
Some asteroid that they lassoed?
It's unbelievable.
They do good work at StickerU.
Lou, tell us, give us an update. Where can
we hear you?
On Toronto Mike. The last listener
experience, you said that you couldn't talk about it or something like that.
Well, I'm just not, you know, so I'm
wrapping up my settlement. Gotcha.
Right? My last on-air
appearance will be on Tuesday.
And then, you know, I'll probably be on Toronto Mike. Where is this on-air appearance will be on Tuesday. And then I'll probably be on Toronto Mike.
Where is this on-air appearance on Tuesday?
It's irrelevant.
I'm not about to give them any airtime on Toronto Mike.
Because Mike's got more listeners than they do.
Hey now.
Just the way it is.
Hey now.
I've got to collect that last check, so hold the broadcast.
Congratulations to Lou Skies's daughter, Madeline,
for her tremendous success in figure skating.
Do some bragging, Lou.
Yeah, so Madeline has gotten a gold medal at the Skate Canada Challenge as a senior.
She moved up to senior from junior,
and now she's qualified to go to nationals in january so
she's doing really well what are the odds i know you're where's peter gross yeah the over under
could she ever appear when you talk about peter well could she ever with madeline skis has ever
appeared at an olympic games is that even? Well, you know, as a Canadian,
there's only two chairs, right?
So Canada will only send two women figure skaters to the Olympics.
So, you know, if you think about it
as a competitive mountain to climb,
it's not going to be that easy.
So she's the third best woman figure skater
in the country.
She doesn't go.
Right now, she...
No, well, there's
also politics, right?
There's also politics. But anyway,
is it possible? Yes. And the outcome
for me is that I'll be living with Peter
under a bridge in a van.
And you'll be bringing the podcast to us.
And the pasta to you.
Lou Skeezes, I love
how every TMLX
you've attended, you wore a different hat.
How many hats do you own?
I stopped buying them. I have
a summer spring hat collection.
I have a fall collection.
This is part of my early
winter collection. And then
I have fur.
I like to refer to them as my pets.
Raccoon, muskrat,
that whole gamut.
Honestly, Lou, what an FOTM you are.
You know I have so much respect.
And again, I really mean this sincerely.
Like two people can be polar opposites on the political spectrum.
Oh, let's not do politics.
No, what I'm saying is.
Let's not do politics.
Can be friends.
Well, I think that, you know, there's a certain civility, right?
So we don't agree
on a lot on the political spectrum but that doesn't stop you and i from being civil about it
right and you know the only time politics comes up is when you want to drag it out like some dead
thing you want to kick right i'm not about to get in your grill about what you believe in, even though there's so wrong.
Is Andy here, by the way?
Did Andy ever show up here?
No.
Okay.
She had a conflict of interest, right?
Okay.
So this is the woman who wasn't a Lou fan at the last show.
Oh, who was in my grill and expected me to take it?
Yeah, no.
No, she was.
No, no, no, no.
Mike totally set her up. Well, I mean, that may be the case,
but the reality is when you say that my time with Mike was too political,
I have to disagree.
I would disagree as well.
And that's what I did.
I disagree.
Now, Lou, always a pleasure.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Lou Skiezis.
I need to get Basement Dweller in here before he has to leave.
Is Basement Dweller...
Okay, this is a big moment.
I want to tell everyone what a big moment this is.
This gentleman is the most prolific
and one of my personal favorite commenters
on torontomic.com, especially in the open mic,
but everywhere.
Fantastic.
And put on those headphones,
Basement Dweller.
Let's hear that voice of yours.
Let the people know you speak.
Okay, get closer to that mic.
That good?
Hello.
Basement Dweller,
thank you for being here.
You're welcome.
How did you get here today?
We got a lift from the lovely JJ.
So JJ said no to coming on the mic, right?
That's correct.
Okay, now try to even get closer. Sorry, that's correct the mic, right? That's correct. Okay, now try to even get closer.
Sorry, that's correct.
Eat that mic.
That's correct.
I'm disappointed JJ won't come on the mic
because how many people did JJ drive to this event?
Me and my friend, Kiri.
Okay, so not Marcasaur.
No.
Because there was a time where she was going to pick up you and Marcasaur
and it sounded like she called it the Magic School Bus,
and then I told her the star of the Magic School Bus was going to be at this event,
and her brain exploded.
Yeah, I pointed him out to her.
So, thank you for being here.
I saw you at the Royal Pains gig.
That's right, yes.
And they kick ass, right?
Yeah, they were great.
Can I ask you, I've never asked you, what's your all yes. And they kick ass, right? Yeah, they were great. Can I ask you,
I've never asked you,
what's your all-time
favorite episode
of Toronto Mic'd?
That's a tough one.
Maybe the first
Stu Stone appearance.
Is that right?
Yeah, yeah.
Is Stu still here?
Yeah, deep cut.
Okay, so Stu is still here.
He's getting some pasta.
That's amazing.
Did you listen to the Jesse and Gene, but it was
by Skype, but they were great. Yeah, I heard that one.
Are you a fan of Jesse and Gene? Yeah, I listened back
in the day. Oh, good. Thank you.
You're welcome.
Honestly,
is there anything, now that you have the microphone,
is there anything, because I want to say thank you
for your comments.
Every once in a while you stop commenting, and I actually get worried.
Like I should be, I'm a weary as basement dweller.
I'm cuddling a blanket.
And you're a Parkdale resident.
Unfortunately, yes.
I know you were born there, I know.
Well, I was born there, but they have a hospital there. On the side of that hospital right now is a picture of Brendan Shanahan, by the way.
Do you know where he went to high school?
Your alma mater?
Oh, my God.
Al, where's the bingo card?
Where's the bingo card?
Shanahan, New Toronto, Parkdale.
So basement dwellers, I'm going to give you a big responsibility right now.
Who that you see out here would you like to be next on the microphone?
I don't have a personal preference. would you like to be next on the microphone? I don't
have a personal preference. Sheila is
going to be next on this. Are you willing to go on a mic?
Okay, come on.
Can you give this fine gentleman
some freedom
here to walk away? Oh, sorry. Gene.
Yes. Gene's
been sitting here and he's like, why am I
sitting across from this person called Basement
Dweller? Do you know who I am? He's my co-host now.
I'm happy to listen. By the way,
Gene has become... He's like a
real broadcaster. He's sitting across from
Basement Dollar. Gene, do you want to give us an update before I talk
to Sheila here? Would you give us an update of what you're up
to these days? Because you had that
great gig in Vancouver
and then something happened with that gig.
Do you want to tell us? And then you came back here.
What are you doing? You're doing some work with the company that Jesse works at.
Is that right?
Yes, and two other projects.
Okay, well, do you want, is it top secret or can you?
No, but it's, I mean, it's severely boring and it's really not worth talking about.
You know, it's the old thing about radio, you know.
Don't be boring.
Tell a story.
So I don't want to tell you a story that's going to be boring because it'll bore people to tears.
Do you know Brian Master from the radio gig?
Yes, we worked together at Q107.
I've known Brian for a gazillion years.
He's one of the great Canadian broadcasters along with Larry Fedork.
Let me tell you a great Larry Fedork story.
Yes, please.
At CFTR, everybody who worked there, not myself, they were all guys who would go fishing and hunting.
And these guys would show up and they would have pictures of themselves
holding up fish that they caught in lakes in northern Ontario.
So Fedoruk, like me, was not somebody who would go fishing.
Larry shows up one day and he's got a picture of himself
holding, with a hook, frozen
fish in the grocery store.
And Fedorek was,
honest to God, Larry is
one of the most brilliant Canadian
storytellers. He will be back on
the air again very, very soon.
And you know what? Of anybody in this room,
Fedorek is your top guy today.
You know what? That means Fedorek's
going to take your microphone right now. Larry Fedorek, your top guy today. You know what? That means Fedorek's got to take your microphone right now.
Larry Fedorek, come on up.
Now, while Larry gets settled in, Sheila, F-O-T-M, Sheila, good to see you.
Nice to be here.
Thank you again, Mike.
And thank you, Anthony.
And thank you, Anthony.
By the way, did you get your complimentary palma pasta?
I did, and it was delicious, and I'm taking some home.
What did you get?
I got the tortellini, and I think I might take a lasagna home.
Okay.
I am slightly biased in that they are a sponsor of the show,
but before, I can say this,
because I see Monica taking a photo of us right now.
Well before palma pasta was a sponsor of the show,
I hired them to cater my wedding
to the beautiful
There's no humble story here
Oh my god, I just saw Larry's sweater
Babe, can you get a picture of Larry's sweater?
I think it's done
I want to just take a moment to say
I love you Monica! Shout out to Monica!
I want a periscope of Monica's face
this entire podcast.
It would be fantastic.
I'm still upset.
The periscope quit on me,
and I don't know why.
I think the Wi-Fi that I went on
was unsatisfactory,
so it's iffy, and it dropped.
But Sheila, great to see you here.
Since you did appear on TMLX4,
this is now TMLX5.
And I'm setting the table here.
Do you know what the next TMLX will be called?
Six?
TMLX6?
Correct.
TML6.
Possibly at Sticker U.
Did you get yourself a Sticker U thing?
I did.
It's in my bag, yes.
Oh, you're not wearing it, though.
Sorry about that.
I'm hurt, actually.
So last time you were on, I made a comment about how you scared me on Twitter.
Oh, yeah.
So I'm just here to say I apologize for saying that.
Now that I know you better, you're not scary at all.
Thank you.
I just wanted to say that.
And will you be listening, because I know you have listened occasionally,
will you be listening to Humble and Fred on Monday?
Absolutely.
Are they back yet?
Well, they're back Monday.
Oh, okay.
In fact, ready for this? This is the accidental greatest segue ever.
I booked a guest for Monday's show
on Humble and Fred, and that guest
is sitting to my right,
Larry Fedorek, everybody.
Yes, I will be there.
I will be there. Tell me where you got
this sweater. I got this. This sweater
has got Christmas lights and Christmas stuff on it,
and it's Run DMC.
So it's totally late 80s, 90s.
Well, they had the big Christmas song, Christmas in Hollis?
Yes.
Now, I got this at a very reputable, popular chain,
yet I have my suspicion that Run DMC is not seeing a penny
from this sweater or any other Run DMC sweater,
even though it's a very reputable, popular chain. So yeah, it's my new ugly Christmas sweater.
Okay. So Gene Valaitis was in that seat before you. Earlier in the show, we had Humble Howard. So
that's Jesse and Gene, Humble and Fred. Please remind us how you're connected to Tom Rivers.
remind us how you're connected to tom rivers uh well i a couple of times actually uh cftr in the great glory days and there were many before it and it's wonderful as 680 news of course but
uh in the music days when we were uh when we were number one music station tom rivers was the morning
host that was my first morning show really mine too wow and uh you know lots of tom
stories and i miss tom he's left us for uh a number of reasons and i'll tell you one quickly
in a second but only one reason right but it was it was it was uh it was sort of so i eventually
i became tom's co-host i worked on tom's show i you know contributed i was a creative director
at the station i had my own weekend show.
And eventually it was just like, you should be on the morning show with Tom.
And it kind of became that.
And we tried to repeat that magic at Mix 99.9.
And it didn't quite happen the same way, but that's fine.
So twice I worked with Tom.
Okay, here's what I'm going to do.
Yes, Sheila, would you mind tapping Brian Master on the shoulder and tell him to come here?
But shout out to Sheila, one of the best FOTMs.
Thank you, Mike.
Not scary on Twitter.
I take that back.
I'll just really add quickly.
What I miss most about Tom and people like Tom was that when these were the days that when the program director, the boss,
looked at Tom Rivers and says, please don't do that,
Tom's first reaction was, okay, how do we do it anyway?
And I'm not saying that's always the best possible result for radio,
but man, it was fun.
It was fun because that's the way we did it.
It was always kind of like, all right, this is the spirit of how do we do it?
How do we do it anyway?
I'm tickled pink. I can't
believe that I had
somebody from Tom River's
show, somebody from Jesse
and Gene, somebody from Humble and Fred
at TMLX5, because three of my
first favorite kind of morning
shows were those three right there.
This is just amazing to me. After Tom moved on,
Jesse and Gene were on CFTR.
I don't think a lot of people remember that, but they were.
I think most people remember that.
I remember that.
But they were on CFTR.
And then, of course, I worked with Humble at the mix before.
Was this before Tom?
Yes, before Tom.
So like 1990?
I'm connected to everybody.
Amazing.
Now, Larry, I've got to ask you some tough questions now
because we have to do a little real talk on this show.
Sure, okay.
You came on Toronto Mike twice
and we learned that you were at 610 CKTB.
Yep.
For many, many, many years.
My mom is leaving.
Vanessa's leaving.
And Steve is leaving.
That tells you how poorly it's going.
They've all flown the coop here.
Hi, Brian.
And Steve listens to every show, right?
Yeah. Maybe just not this one. He might be behind. I'm too prolific, apparently.
Larry Fedorik,
what happened at 610?
The Christmas corporate
bloodletting?
I mean, that's mostly what people call it.
Is that what they call it in the press release?
Almost. Everybody else does. I'm not
making that up. Everybody else does. It's twice a year year it's sometime in the spring or summer and just before christmas
because uh the fiscal year is the calendar year in many companies i believe it is at bell
and numbers have to make sense every quarter and at the end of the year at the fourth quarter they
really have to make sense well you make big bucks big bucks, right? It's all huge. So the number, I can afford a sweater like this.
Are you kidding me?
So, I mean, that's it.
I mean, if it's that, I mean, it's just kind of a corporate downsizing.
And that's how they put it to me.
It's like, sorry, your position has been eliminated.
Now, this is pretty magical because my position actually involves hours in a day on
a clock. And Bell Media
has figured out a way to eliminate hours
out of a day.
So my whole
position was eliminated.
On behalf of all FOTMs
throughout the universe, let me just say
it's their loss. No finer a
broadcaster. And I
always pegged you as like you're at 610 but
i always felt and i hope i got the right company but i always felt like you were just being groomed
to move over to 1010 is that the same company yeah it is and i actually did the weekend morning
show there for two years because you're excellent and uh and you're on cftr which i loved came today
excellent this is like why why would I just not be here
all day?
By the way,
is your daughter here?
Yeah.
Okay.
Would she,
it's not,
obviously,
I have no,
no, it's not weird.
Your daughter is very,
maybe the,
maybe best friends
with Tara?
Is that,
am I,
okay.
So one of my great friends,
which you know,
if you ever drafted
a hockey pool with me,
Elvis,
Alex Patino. Yeah, yeah, I've been to one or two. Patino's you ever drafted a hockey pool with me, Elvis, Alex Patino.
Yeah, I've been to one or two.
Patino's wife is best friends with Larry's daughter Kelly, who's over there.
We just got somehow, the first time we met to do your Toronto mic, and then we realized we had all these other connections.
Oh yeah, I had no idea.
It's one of those wonderful small world stories here.
So Larry, tell us what's next for you.
Because first of all, are you okay?
Like, it's tough to lose your gig near Christmas.
It is.
You get now an exit package, which in my case was about a year.
And it works out by time of service to about 5%.
I should note that you tip your server about 15.
So bring eggs to the table, 15%, up to 20, exactly.
I like to go 20.
5% for 20 years of dedicated service.
And people call that fair,
which kind of shows you
that the bar has been lowered corporately
as to what's fair and what's not fair.
Let's call it fair.
Let's say I have a year to kind of decide
and let's say,
other than a podcast I'm planning,
I'm going to decide.
Okay, can you be more specific?
Do you want to give a teaser
as to what you're planning?
The podcast is going to hopefully
launch in
January, by mid-January
I hope, at the latest.
And it's going to be storytelling.
And it's going to be my
stories. And
I hope that the stories have
value to others.
Which, not that they're going to be big lessons
or parables or anything.
I just hope they have value to others,
and I want to tell some stories.
I know you'd be excellent at this
because you have been excellent at this for decades.
You're an FOTM,
but I consider myself an F-O-L-F.
Yes.
Did I get that right?
Yes.
Fall.
And I was lucky. What's fall? Brian, doesn't that sound just like awful? and F-O-L-F. Yes. Did I get that right? Yes. Fall. Yes.
And I was lucky.
What's fall?
Brian, doesn't that sound just like awful?
F-O-L-F.
You're not allowed to say that.
Brian, do you know Larry
through the radio world?
I love this guy.
We work together.
Yeah, he's a wonderful guy.
Yep.
Great storyteller.
And he'll get back on his feet.
Unfortunately, he was the victim
of a typical classless corporate let go.
But the doors are open. and you will do so well.
Thank you.
You're known.
Your credit's getting better.
Seriously, no.
You'll land on your feet.
All the good ones do.
Thanks, man.
Where did you work together?
At Rogers.
He was at CFTR, and I was at CHFI.
The 10th floor was corporate.
The 11th floor was CFTR and the 12th floor was CHFI.
Yeah, Victoria Street or Adelaide Street.
What you guys have in common,
which I'm extremely jealous of,
is you both have fantastic voices.
How do I get one of those?
I don't think mine compares
anything with the master. Come on. I'm serious. This sounds like one of those? I don't think mine compares anything with the master.
Come on.
I'm serious.
Come on.
This sounds like one of those things you're saying,
but I mean, when I listened to you at FI back in the day,
I was like, if I could sound like that, oh my God.
Really?
Yes.
I thought if I could sound like J. Michael Wilson,
who used to be on 1050 Chum, he was my idol.
And Larry O'Brien.
Can I tell you a quick story?
Yes, please.
I don't mean to impede on your time, but this is your time.
This guy at WCFL, the Voice of Labor in Chicago, Larry O'Brien, he was on in the evening.
And I was on in the evening at Seahawks.
But I loved this guy so much, I had a little portable radio in the studio.
And I'd hear him do his breaks.
And he'd come roaring out of a song, Big Ten, WCFL, the Voice of Labor, Larry O'Brien.
And I got so caught up in it once.
It was coming to an end of a record. And I opened the mic and I said, Larry O'Brien. And I got so caught up in it once it was coming to an end of a record and I opened the mic
and I said, Larry O'Brien! Oh no,
I'm Brian Master.
You know, that's what you do
when you're starting something
new. You find a mentor
or an idol and you might emulate
them and then eventually your own
style pops in. Now when you were at CFTR,
you were doing Strictly News,
weren't you? No.
No.
I was actually, what did I start?
I started as a writer, and I had an on-air background,
so I was trying to get back on air.
But this was CFTR, and like, oh, my God,
I could never be good enough to work here.
And then I got a weekend show, and then the Rivers sort of,
they said, you would sound good with Rivers,
because occasionally we did bits together during the week if I was in early,
and then it just became that.
A legendary team.
Wow.
I thought you did news for a while for some reason.
I didn't do anything related.
Well, I guess early in my career I did some news,
but most of my news stuff was in CKTV, in News Talk,
which is a little different than news.
CKTV, the TV was the Burgoynes.
They owned the station and the newspaper in town.
And just to go back to Rogers for a sec,
when we were at that building on Adelaide or Victoria,
Ted would come over once in a while to give us a little pep talk
and let us know the state of the universe and what was going on.
We'd gather at Theo's Cafe, and it was very one-on-one.
It was friendly.
It was great.
And then there used to, Ted's son was 11 or 12 at the time, used to come in in his little
school uniform and loosen his tie and take off his shoes and play in the hallway outside
my office.
And I always said, one day I'm going to be working for him. Almost did.
That's Edward, who is now
the corporate bigwig. But I used to
watch him. I talk about sort of aging.
But I used to watch him as a little kid playing the hall.
Ted's son, born into the family. There you are.
Right. So, Larry
Fedorek, I think I speak on behalf of all
the FEO TMs. When we
have more information on your new
podcast,
I'll share it.
I'll scream it from the mountaintops.
No one in this room will be able to miss the detail of how to subscribe.
But thank you for coming here today.
And when it comes,
if only there was some sort of other media
that I could share these informations with.
If I find a site or something where I can share my stuff,
I will let you know.
Thank you.
You get one of those sandwich boards
at a Tyler Carpenter store. They're out on the road. I could paint a sign on my car and drive, I will let you know. Thank you. You get one of those sandwich boards at a Tyler Carver place
where they're out on the road.
I could paint a sign on my car
and drive around.
I don't know.
I'll think of something.
I know people.
We'll take care of you, Larry.
You're a good man.
You're a good man.
And good luck with everything.
And again, their loss.
Thank you.
I've never worked in the industry,
but I can tell you that
when they do that,
that bloodletting you speak of it,
very disturbing to me. Okay, I am going to go. But what I think do that, that bloodletting you speak of it, very disturbing to me.
Okay, I am going to go,
but what I think, honestly, I've never told you,
is what I think you're doing for the industry is fantastic.
Slow down, slow down, Larry.
You're recording...
This industry does very little to chronicle its history
and to save, sure sure the big reports or the
famous footages and all that
but just everything that has happened in radio
that's kind of disappeared, the stories
are there because you are getting people to tell
them and you're
I think you are, no pun
intended, a boon to our industry
Clever
Thank you for doing what you do at Toronto Mic
Oh gosh I'll clap to that Even Elvis is clapping today, maybe one day he'll listen thank you for doing what you do at Toronto Mike oh gosh
I'll clap to that
even Elvis is clapping today
maybe one day he'll listen to this great show
Larry thanks so much
Kelly you didn't want to come on a mic
okay
now is the time
thank you so much
I would love to get
can't wait to talk to Brian Master here
fantastic but can I get Hamilton
Mike on this mic?
Because he looks like...
Is that Perry Lefkoe?
Wow, Perry Lefkoe is here
everybody. Big clap for Perry.
That's a fantastic name.
I don't know any other Perry. It's a fantastic name.
Perry is such a great name.
I once had a guy from LinkedIn on Toronto Mike.
This is a true story. Perry something,
I can't remember.
Not a memorable episode.
Really good dude.
Really good dude.
Brian, you're a Seahawks fan.
Big time Seahawks fan.
When did that start?
About three years ago.
My wife was a huge NFL fan.
I mean, mammoth.
And you just adopted
that team
because they were good?
Yeah, because I like Pete.
I love Pete Carroll.
I was going to say.
By the way, if anyone here has not had a Great Lakes beer yet,
basement dweller, you've got to go.
Thanks for coming on, buddy.
This means a lot to me.
I know this is a long trek for you from Parkdale,
so thanks so much, buddy.
Best commenter a blog has ever known.
Good man, good man.
I want to remind everyone that to my left is still cold.
I see the ice is still intact.
Great Lakes beer, grab a can.
And because of the time of the episode,
I can tell you if you want a second can,
there actually is a, you could have a second can.
I know that Brad is here from Ridley Funeral Homes.
If you want a Great Lakes beer, it's here for you.
Hello, Brad.
Talk to you soon.
Brian, talk to me, my friend.
So Seahawks is your team.
How are they doing this year?
They're doing pretty good.
I'm not a real stats kind of guy.
I just know they're doing good.
They're number one in their division.
Ten and two, I hear, from another Brian.
The big game they're facing is the last game of the regular season.
They're back against playing the 49ers.
So you should be interested to see how it shakes out. But the football this year is thrilling. The game they're facing is the last game of the regular season. They're back against playing the 49ers.
So should be interesting to see how it shakes out.
But you got, I mean, the football this year is thrilling.
You're seeing the new style, the new young quarterbacks,
the Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson, of course.
And what's his name from the Bears?
Trubisky.
Unbelievable.
I mean, it's fun to watch. Is this your favorite league?
Or you're also a baseball guy, right?
Baseball is my fave.
So did you meet Mike Willner earlier?
He was here.
We worked together at Rogers.
Oh, right.
Everybody worked together.
He's just to the right.
Yeah.
Oh, and he's still here.
Okay, not too late to meet Mike.
So apparently you worked together.
What do I know?
Okay.
At Rogers.
He was at...
CHFI.
He was at 680 News.
680 News. Yeah. There you go. He's looking you over.. He was at 680 News. 680 News.
Yeah.
There you go.
He's looking you over.
Do I recognize this guy?
Probably not.
Tell us about the great work you're doing.
We all know you're a radio...
50 years?
Am I...
Yeah.
50.
Which is amazing.
I think that's amazing.
50 years.
It's a long time to be a radio legend.
I haven't done anything for 50 years.
Yeah, but you know, Mike, in terms of the universe, it's that.
Is it?
Okay, in the universe.
But I've got other things going on, too.
Yeah, tell us about the other things.
I play in a jazz trio.
We played last night.
We do a book now for New Year's because we do some corporate and private stuff.
What's the name of your trio?
It's the Howard Lopez Trio.
He plays keyboards.
We have a wonderful sax, flute clarinet player named Tom Skubic.
I play the drums.
Wow.
And we did a corporate gig last night at Millcroft Inn.
It was really great.
And I'm also a realtor.
So tell us about KW Realty.
Yeah, Keller Williams Realty Solutions Brokerage.
I'm a sales representative with Keller Williams.
And keeping an eye on the market, there's some big changes coming down from the Real Estate Council of Ontario
that I talked about in the bit we did yesterday that's going to totally benefit
and even protect the consumer even more.
And is there a way that people can be kept abreast of some of, you have a newsletter,
right? Snail Mail, right?
Yeah, it goes out via Snail Mail. And if you want, I'll follow it up a few weeks later
with an email. And it's all about lifestyle.
I mean, it talks about real estate here and there,
but it's mostly all about lifestyle.
For example, it would be identity theft,
how to throw a great party,
tips for traveling close or far.
And if you want to get in on it,
may I give it a shameless plug?
Please. Just email me at letsgetyouhomeatkw.com.
Letsgetyouhomeatkw.com and ask about the CAP, the Client Appreciation Program.
Okay, so that's a takeaway.
You got your free pasta.
You got your free Great Lakes beer.
You got your free Sticker U magnet.
I hope I kept one for myself.
Oh, I see there's still four left here.
Those are great.
But it's letsget, yeah, they're from Sticker U.
They're in Liberty Village.
Fantastic people.
So let's get you home
at kw.com
and you receive
those emails yourself.
I do.
Yeah,
that's my site.
I was going to say,
you could also say,
yes,
I want on your mailing list
but I want you to know
I loved it when you kicked out
this song
or that song
or the other song
because
Wasn't that fun?
You're jam kicking
thanks to Tyler who might have left actually. Tyler's gone, yeah. Tyler's gone. Wasn't that fun? Your jam kicking, thanks to Tyler,
who might have left, actually.
Tyler's gone, yeah.
Tyler's gone.
What a great guy Tyler is.
He put that on the spreadsheet
so people can see your jams
and they can listen to an Apple or Spotify playlist
of your jams and you kick them.
Oh, fabulous.
Fantastic.
The pleasure was all mine.
Fantastic.
Brian Master, radio legend,
because Rush Mike is up next.
Is that okay, Rush Mike?
I got a song for you.
But Brian, anything.
I just want to say that further to what Larry was talking about earlier on
about how you're really the epitome of what radio should be about
is because you connect with people.
You connect us to people.
And, I mean, it's one thing to communicate.
It's another thing to connect.
So just keep doing it. You're doing really well. Well, thank you, Brian, so much. That means a lot to people. And I mean, it's one thing to communicate. It's another thing to connect. So just keep doing it. You're doing
really well. Well, thank you, Brian, so much.
That means a lot to me. And by the way, thank
you for being a partner of the program. It's people
like you. It's people like Brian Master
that fuel this real talk and help keep it
going. And honestly, we all owe
a great debt of gratitude to Brian
Master. Grab yourself a beer or
two on your way out. You're a good man. I'm good.
You gave me beer every time I come.
I mean, I get it all stacked up at home. I'm starting to
sell it out of the house now.
Brian Master, everybody.
Proud sponsor of Toronto Mike's.
Alright, Rush
Mike, you're going to make your way over here. Can I make
a request first before that happens?
Well, he can walk over, but I want to make a request.
Of course. Before we talk to Vinny Dombrovski over here.
I have a $5 bill in my pocket,
and I would really love a double espresso
from anyone who would be willing to get that for me.
If you could grab me a double espresso.
Well, I know people.
Where's Anthony?
He'll do it himself.
No, he...
Come on.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Okay, look.
Levi Fumka steps up once more.
If I haven't said it before,
I'm going to say it again.
What a great FOTM.
Mike,
this is the first time we've met.
Yes, it is.
Hello, nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you,
finally in person.
I've been Twitter friends of yours
and I recognize you right away
from your Twitter profile pic.
Apparently, I have that look.
It's very distinctive.
I've been a fan of his
since the 90s, really.
So, Sponge,
I don't even know a single Sponge song. Yes, you do. Plowed. Great song. Sing it for me. It's a distinctive. I've been a fan of his since the 90s. So Sponge? I don't even know a single Sponge song.
Yes, you do. Plowed. Great song.
Sing it for me. It's a fantastic song.
I can pull up my full tune.
So you came from Hamilton. Yes.
And who did you bring with you? My son, Hugh.
Hey! And is Hugh named
after Hugh Dillon from the Headstones?
Yes, I say so. My wife just liked the name
because I kind of pushed it. But she's like, Hugh Laurie, Hugh Jackman, Hugh Hefner. I'm like, well, I like Hugh Dillon, so Headstones. Yes, I say so. My wife just liked the name because, well, I kind of pushed it,
but she's like,
Hugh Laurie, Hugh Jackman,
Hugh Hefner.
I'm like, well,
I like Hugh Dillon,
so I want to name him Hugh.
Do you know that
Hugh Dillon came this close?
Oh, I know.
He was booked.
I was locked, loaded.
I still have the notes
from the research I did
for that episode,
and then this close,
Hugh Dillon came
to being on Toronto Mike.
And I don't think
it was because of him.
And his PR person
said he was going to do,
I don't know,
breakfast television or something. Gotcha. But I think't think it was because of him. And his PR person said he was going to do, I don't know, Breakfast Television or something.
Gotcha.
But I think I am.
Does anyone watch that anymore?
Someone must watch it.
Does anyone hear from Breakfast Television?
There is a perception that there is going to be more buzz,
I guess, for being on Breakfast Television.
Mike, tell us why it's false.
I don't buy that.
No.
I mean, the type of music that Headstones make and whatnot,
it's a very niche kind of, I guess, rock and roll.
But I don't think you're going to get that crowd on breakfast television,
whereas you get a more engaged, you know, small, more engaged audience.
Yeah, who's listening to breakfast television?
Well, I would say that when in our house in the morning,
breakfast television is on.
But how engaged are you with it?
As my wife is making lunches
and we're getting the kids ready to go to school,
I'm not watching it at all.
And it's funny, you know what? She said something the other day that really... I laughed a little bit. making lunches and we're getting the kids ready to go to school, I'm not watching it at all.
Yeah.
And it's funny.
You know what? She said something the other day that really, I laughed a little bit.
She said, my son was asking her a question and she said, hold on, I need to listen to
what the weather is going to be today.
And I didn't know that people still did that.
Because when I want to know what the weather is, if I ever do, I just look at my phone.
Right.
So apparently there is a market for it. But it's a passive audience. I would imagine. people still did that because when I want to know what the weather is, if I ever do, I just look at my phone. Right.
So apparently there is a market for it because...
But it's a passive audience.
I would imagine.
Have you ever...
Here, Mike,
you're a big podcast listener?
Yes.
Have you ever passively...
When you listen to a podcast,
you actually listen.
Am I guessing correctly?
Even when I'm mowing the lawn
or doing other things,
it's like I'm still paying attention
and if all of a sudden
it really gets really intense,
I stop and like,
okay, I tune in a little more.
But it's not completely passive.
Like I said,
it's background noise.
You're making lunch, just doing whatever.
And when they do those segments, again, unless it's very specific to you, and then again,
you've got to think of the market of who's watching this
stuff. I'm like, is it really Hugh Dillon
other than his acting stuff, which is fantastic.
I love it. And that's the crowd
that's really going to make me interested. But if he's promoting his music,
are moms
making lunches at 7 in the morning really going to care?
I think it's almost as if they did him
a complete disservice.
Does Frankie Flowers still do breakfast television?
I think so.
Is he still there?
I believe so, yeah.
Because wasn't there a controversy and stuff
about breakfast television five years ago
and now there's like a dueling breakfast television?
Well, the CP24 breakfast.
Right, right, right.
And that's with Pooja and Lagajanis.
What's his name?
Greg Lagajanis.
Is that his name?
But he was on City TV.
Wasn't he the Olympic diver?
No, that's Greg Louganis.
George.
George Lagajanis.
Not Greg.
My apologies.
But he was on Electric Circus, if I remember correctly.
Oh, yeah.
I watched that.
I used to watch that.
Mike, do you only listen to episodes with Hamilton people like Steve Paikin or Tom Wilson or Ralph Ben-Murray?
No, I'll listen to a lot.
I'll be honest.
The sports stuff, not my thing.
It's just not my interest.
I know you have this big sports focus, and that's great, but those are just the ones I kind of skip over because I'm not really a big sports guy.
Did you grow up in the Hammer?
Yeah, I was born and raised.
Do you still live there?
On the mountain or off the mountain?
No, down below.
I'm down in the inner city.
Well, actually, I'm out in Winona, which is like the outer borough before you hit the
agri-region.
But my parents are still downtown in the inner city.
And you know what?
It's a great place.
The judgment people get from outside of Hamilton, I mean, what's going on now, if it's made
nationally used, is a complete different thing.
But actually, the people, the way Hamilton is, it's a no BS,
unpretentious kind of town.
And people are finally,
I slowly discovered it from Hamilton.
Like the amount of,
I mean, our real estate prices
are getting ridiculous.
Like it's...
Like tell me,
like because,
like give me an idea.
Like a detached three bedroom house
in Hamilton.
You're looking at about,
and something you don't have to put much or any work into,
you're looking at, even in the inner city, you know, about $700,000, $800,000.
Okay, yeah, you're up there.
You're up there.
Which, 10 years ago, you would have got in there for $150,000, $200,000.
Wow.
I mean, it's...
No wonder Ben Merge moved the family.
People, I mean, priced out their own city.
But it's good for you, though, right?
Because if you've already got something.
I'm more than double in my house.
But the problem is, we live on the out of the boroughs.
I'd love one day to move back into the city.
And I can't afford to move back into the city.
Wow.
I run out of court for my parents' house.
They built some new homes that took an old lot and level it.
But this beautiful semi-attached home.
I look at the price.
I'm like, holy moly.
Even my parents don't believe the value of their house.
Like, no, it can't be worth that much you go yes it is
it's insane
Hamilton
I used to go to
Hamilton a lot as a kid
and a teenager
because we had
family there
I'm Italian
so obviously
lots of Italian
what does that mean
we always went on
to the top of the mountain
oh you guys
yeah
top of the mountain
yeah
sorry Mike
I didn't mean to
interrupt you
Hamilton Mike
but special guest at the table here.
Rush Mike, everybody.
Hello, Rush Mike.
How many TMLXs?
I know that Mike Monez is making his debut.
Yeah.
How many have you been to?
I'm five for five.
Is anyone else here five for five at the TMLX?
Al, Greg, Olive, Fumka, Monica, Juan.
Do they get jackets?
This is B's second TMLX.
I guess another jacket.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Awesome to see you.
Thank you.
Al, is this four or five for me?
Or, I mean, three or four for me?
Three?
Four?
Three.
Three?
Who's keeping track here?
I just realized
Andy just broke her streak
because I don't see her yet
and I don't think she's coming.
She mentioned she had a conflict.
Well, last time you made her cry
with Luke Skeezis.
Why didn't you show up?
Oh, maybe there is
a connection there, actually.
Rush Mike,
thanks for coming here today.
Thank you.
Since, I don't know,
I didn't even know
what time boundaries
have been on,
but is there any recent episodes
you've enjoyed?
You know, last time I was on the mic,
we talked about Ann Marskowski being my number one.
And I think Jim McKinney.
Number one episode or just like the number one on the hall pass?
Number one on the hall pass.
Number one on the hall pass.
All right.
Why not both?
Why not both?
Yeah, no, it was a great episode.
But Jim McKinney has, I think, taken the lead.
I love the McKinney episode
because he just came being so honest.
He was going to be so honest
about his struggles of addiction
and about the, he has the Maple Leaf thing.
Then he has the City TV thing.
Like, that's a dream Toronto Mike guest.
Am I right?
Absolutely.
That was actually an episode
you told me that I should really listen to.
So maybe I'll do that before Festivus.
And I think because his best friend, Peter Gross, was sitting beside him, we got Jim
McKinney disarmed.
Gotcha.
He was just talking to me like we were at a bar.
Well, not at a bar.
I don't think Peter's going to be.
I hope Jim's not at a bar.
Oh, God.
That was a great episode.
Thank you.
Yeah.
And somebody after that, somebody was, I made a comment that Andy Frost was the first guest
to have a child score an NHL goal because Morgan Frost.
Right.
That's right.
Yeah.
You tweet about him all the time.
And then Hebsey tweeted at me like, who's your first guest to have an NHL goal?
And I said, I've yet to have one because I actually and I think Tyler reminded me I forgot I had
Jim McKinney on the show because in my mind
Jim McKinney was the city TV guy
I remember
watching him and being like
he was just like a staple in the house you watched
him every night and then it was like wait a minute
this guy was a Toronto Maple Leaf
he was a legend
he was a good broadcaster
we're all similar vintage here none of us remember seeing Jim McKinney play for the Maple Leafs.
No, not at all.
He was a broadcaster first and foremost.
To me, it was City TV.
That's all I know.
Okay, I'm going to look at you.
I mean this sincerely.
Rush Mike.
I know where it's going.
I have a feeling.
Hey, I'm just making...
What do you mean?
How can you know where it's going?
I don't even know where it's going.
But I just want to say sincerely,
no,
I'm just,
nothing to rush or anything except I want to thank you
for being here.
Five for five,
like the thought
that I could start a podcast,
have events like this
and somebody beyond Monica
beside you to your left
would show up at this event
and that you're at your fifth one.
Do you guys mind if I cry?
Can I cry now?
Go right ahead.
I'm all out of tears.
We need your brother here
and we need to be talking about Gord Downie.
That's generally when the tears happen.
Don't start.
Actually, lately,
John Mann has been getting me crying lately
because I keep hearing in my head
Political.
The song Political
and it's bouncing in my head.
We played it at the Wise Blood.
By the way,
every time we do that memorial section
and we open with Political
and we
talked about john mann that segment of toronto mic'd is now sponsored by ridley funeral home
and very shortly you're on deck my friend brad's gonna come in from ridley funeral home but uh
when we play that political and it's in my head all the time and i'm really it's really getting
to me because he was 57, Alzheimer's
and he was a part
of our scene, right?
That was our...
Home for a rest.
I mean,
how many times
were my friends
at the bars
on, you know,
Tuesday night
during that whole
college university era?
As soon as you hear
those opening chords
and the crowd,
you're waiting for that
little beer twist sound
and it kicks in
and we all just
start pogoing.
It's funny
because we knew
Gord Downie was,
I knew it was coming,
I braced myself
and that,
my favorite band
of all time still is and I still have the picture of Gord Downie was I knew it was coming. I braced myself and that my favorite band of all time still is
and I still have the picture of Gord Downie in my
studio. But man
for some reason it's striking me in a different
way. The John Man thing.
Oh yeah. You're a big hip fan too.
Really? The John Man thing is...
It's because I knew he had Alzheimer's
and he couldn't perform anymore
because we all know what Alzheimer's does.
But for some reason I never realized he was going to be passing away in the next couple of years.
It was quick.
Yeah, really sad.
I never think of Alzheimer's.
For some reason, I don't, because I don't have a family member.
Luckily, I don't have a family member who's had Alzheimer's.
I never think of Alzheimer's as, because I think of Ronald Reagan.
And I think of him passing away at 95 years old.
I have a friend with a father right now with Alzheimer's.
Well, didn't it happen really quick when we were there too, didn't it?
But that's ALS.
Oh, yeah.
But my friend, his dad...
Yeah, you're right.
You're dead before you're actually physically dead.
It's so sad.
Unless you've had the unfortunate experience of having a family member go through it.
I honestly think, I know that you won't know my name anymore,
and this is terrible in itself.
That's almost a death unto itself.
But you actually passing away at 57, I never put Alzheimer's,
I never think of it that way.
For some reason, I didn't.
It's a degenerative brain disease.
So, I mean, it's just a matter of where and how it attacks the brain.
It could be quicker or a long, drawn-out process.
And of all the songs, because Home for Rest
is the one we all go to, and Venice is Sinking
is the big radio hit, if you will.
And I always remember 5...
5 Free Minutes. Right, I always say it wrong.
But that was a big CFNY hit.
But that song, Political, is the one I can't get
out of my head, and there's something about that.
But Mike, so many years
of tweeting with you and having
your great feedback, and you've helped out with pronunciation of Portuguese names when I had Jess Salguero on.
Right?
So I honestly, you are a tremendous FOTM.
I'm so glad I got to finally meet you.
Me too.
And Rush Mike, five for five, man.
If I wasn't in front of this microphone, I'd give you a big hug right now.
No problem.
I hope you make it six for six.
I'm going.
I'm working on something.
Okay.
Thank you so much. I actually now need something. Okay. Thank you so much.
I actually now need Brad and Anthony.
And don't worry, we're going to get to everybody.
I am mad.
Vinny, have a great...
Is anyone missing from this list?
I see Perry on my right is not on this list.
By the way, Sponge is playing in Providence, Rhode Island tomorrow,
or Sunday, excuse me, 7 o'clock at the Alchemy.
Have a great show.
And then, of course, on the course, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Safe travels. Love your stuff.
Thanks, Elvis. Do you realize right now there's
two Perrys to my right?
Has this ever been in the history of
mankind? Has there ever been two Perrys
on your right? I've never met a third.
Oh.
You know who loves it? This beautiful
woman to your left right now is the
woman who's going to love this. I love it too.
Rush Mike, honestly.
Hopefully I see you at 3 o'clock.
Okay, yeah, those three I'm thinking of.
I might kick Elvis out and get them all in the same time.
I've met other Perrys.
Love you guys.
But I've never met two Perrys at the same time.
Soon, soon, soon.
I've never met two Perrys at the same time.
Two in addition to yourself?
Correct.
Oh, wait a minute.
Did Natasha and Vanessa leave?
I think they did.
I think they did.
But they were supposed to tell me.
Five minute warning.
I was very clear.
Oh, I didn't say it yet.
Okay.
Do you want me to get out of here?
No, I want to say Ariel.
If anyone in the Mississauga Ariel wants to buy...
Ariel.
You'll see where I'm going.
The Mississauga area wanted to get a Christmas gift or something for their girlfriend or their wife
or their sister or their mom,
that Aerial 52 is a fantastic, fantastic pole dancing studio in Mississauga.
And I've been doing some work.
They don't sponsor the show, obviously,
or you would know about them by now,
but I've been doing some search engine marketing work for them. And they're a wonderful
young woman. Vanessa and Natasha
own this studio.
How do you say that word?
You said woman, as though it was singular.
There's two women.
Woman.
Woman.
I'm sorry
they had to leave and didn't tell me.
But at least they came from Mississauga so I don't feel too guilty
you know what I mean?
Do you know where the studio is?
Can you give them a plug?
What's it called? I'll Google it
Aerial 52
You Google it
I have two mics open because I'm hoping
is Anthony Petrucci available
to come on a microphone?
Is Anthony available to come on a microphone?
Are you able to come on a microphone my friend? You're going to come on a microphone? Is Anthony available to come on a microphone? Are you able to come on a microphone, my friend?
Okay, you're going to come on a microphone.
Is Brad Jones here?
There's a mic for you right here, sir.
All right.
These are two wonderful partners of Toronto Mic'd.
Hello.
So who's who?
Let's start with Brad because I don't think we've ever heard Brad's voice
on an episode of Toronto Mike before.
Brad Jones, what is your title at Ridley Funeral Home?
I guess I'd be the president.
You are the man.
That's what they tell me.
They call him president.
What's your title, Anthony, at Palma Pasta?
President.
I am surrounded by Perrys and presidents.
This is a very exciting moment for me.
It's fantastic.
It's the P-Day.
So, Brad, you were at...
In fact, it's funny that Monica's taking photos beside you,
but I actually was at the Lakeshore Santa Claus Parade,
and I had to leave it early to get here and set up and everything.
I saw the first float was Zanta.
Did you see Zanta come by?
Zanta was a float?
That's fantastic.
I don't think that's an official float.
Do we know how he's doing?
Is he all right?
Well, he did some push-ups.
Good for him.
So he's not all right then, apparently.
But Brad, where is Ridley Funeral Home located?
We're in southern Etobicoke,
right on Lakeshore Boulevard,
the corner of 14th and Lakeshore.
We've been there since 1921.
And what were you doing?
You were giving away hot chocolate, is that right?
Yeah, for about the last 15, 17 years,
we've been doing Tim Horton's hot chocolate and coffee.
And I was slightly east of you,
and Monica, next Lakeshore Santa Claus Parade,
we've got to move a little bit west and get this hot chocolate from Brad here.
So interestingly, Brad described where he was as South Etobicoke.
I'd love to hear your interpretation of what that is because you probably have some sort of village or hamlet that you would call it.
It was an Elvis, Stop Causing Trouble.
If you go any further south, you're in Lake Ontario.
So you would agree with it's South Etobicoke.
It's not... You'd agree, Brad. I'm glad you're here.
Brad, so you have Long Branch. I knew it.
New Toronto, where you're located
and I'm located. Then Mimico.
Correct. All of it is South Etobicoke.
Yeah, and a little bit north would be Alderwood.
Right, Alderwood. We'll let them in the
club, South Etobicoke. Yeah, anything
south of the Queensway. Yeah, you have a
416 area code. It's all Toronto. It's Toronto. Toronto's a big city we're not all from north oshawa okay you're the
only one that calls it that i don't call it that at all i get off at the 401 and i make my way north
for a long time you do so brad i was at your event so i've been talking about it all november
the uh what's the official title uh
i've been reading it all this time it's called our holidays and hope and i was there and it was
beautiful like who's the singer again that we had mary bella she's from imoco there's no way mary
bella is her real name that's her real name is that right yeah mary bella yep that's too good
to be true she sounds like an angel she's got a great name. Beautiful flowers. The candles were gorgeous.
The speakers were inspirational.
And I was, like, honored to be a part of it all.
So you do that every year.
Well, I'm actually happy you said it was inspirational
because I actually spoke a little bit too.
So thank you.
Well, you were the first voice I heard on the microphone
and the last voice I heard.
So that's the most important voice.
So, Brad, tell us when you discovered Toronto Mike,
the podcast.
Probably about a year and a half ago.
I started listening to it about a year and a half ago
and it all became because of Great Lakes.
I followed Great Lakes on Twitter
and I saw that you had hosted an event up at their location.
Okay.
Sorry.
Go ahead.
I need to let everyone in the room know.
So that's the funny thing.
It's going to appear on the podcast,
but it only applies to people in the room.
There's some beer left.
So grab yourself a can of cold Great Lakes beer.
Which one did you grab there, Brad?
I grabbed the blonde because my wife's not one.
Hey, now.
Do you listen to the Elvis episodes, Brad?
No.
Did you call Brian?
No, I said Brad.
Okay, just making sure. I'm reading his name literally off of his chest
there's been a lot of
Brian's on the show
so that's two people
that have actually been honest
when they've answered
that question
thank you Brad
yeah you're smart
to skip the Elvis episodes
it's your show
it's more of a charitable
thing I do
to help
North Oshawa
I'll take that
do you have a favorite
episode Brad
no
I've liked
the many that I've listened to.
I've liked them all, but there's none that I would say are my favorite.
How current are you?
That's another thing.
I've been told I'm too prolific,
and it's very difficult to slow down this 18-wheeler.
You know what I mean?
I've got this thing going now.
It's tough to slow it down.
But are you behind?
I am behind.
I am definitely behind.
Is anyone in this room caught up on
Toronto Mic'd episodes?
Now get out of here, Elvis. He doesn't have a good...
Al's caught up.
I did like the Leo Rotten's
interview, and that's because you asked one of my questions.
Okay, yeah, so that's
the first time I probably saw your name.
And then you reached out and invited
me on that long commute
to your office,
which is a very long commute.
Six blocks?
Something like that.
And then, more or less, right, Monica?
And then it was wonderful.
I want to thank you so much for being a partner of the program.
You sponsored the show in November,
and you're going to continue to support us
by sponsoring the 1236 episodes we do at the end
of every month, especially that
memorial section, which is kind of
really key to me. And I want to thank you so
much. Amazing. We're happy to be a part of it.
Brad
Jones. And is there anything
you'd like to tell everyone about
Ridley Funeral Home here before I
move over to delicious pasta
talk? I thought you were going to say delicious
Anthony. Hey now. Oh boy.
Just that we're really, really
pleased to be a part of this. And that's about
it. Thank you very much for having us. Brad, you're
a good man. Everyone, give it up to Brad.
It's a cool name too.
Brad's are always kind of
cool people, I feel.
I don't know. Don't you feel that, Brad Pitt?
Nope. Not at all. By the way, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is like the best movie of all time. I don't know. Don't you feel that Brad Pitt? Nope. Not at all. By the way, Once Upon
a Time in Hollywood is like the best
movie of all time. I'm so in love
with this. I re-watched it with my teenagers the other
night. I love this movie.
So thank you Quentin
Tarantino. Thank you Brad. Thank you.
The chicken. My notes
there. Flip that. Okay.
I have a question. Is there anyone
besides Lucas,
Jay, and Brother Neil?
I love that he's Brother Neil. That's really
cool. Is there anyone else here
that wants to be on a microphone?
James, do you want to be on a microphone?
Aren't you fighting with a brother?
Who's the guy that you're in a feud with that works at
97.7?
I'm in a feud with... Fearless Fred. Oh, Fearless Fred's not a brother. You're in a feud with that works at 97.7? I'm in a feud. Fearless Fred.
Oh, Fearless Fred,
my brother.
You're in a feud with him, right?
He works at Q107,
first of all.
That's right, sure.
That feud is way before the podcast.
Like, that predates the podcast
by a few years.
I think it's time
that you guys settled your scores
because it's intense.
I have no...
I like Fearless Fred.
He said things about me that were wrong before I had a podcast. You said things about him that were inappropriate, rude. I have no... I like Fearless Fred. He said things about me that were wrong
before I had a podcast.
You said things about him
that were inappropriate and rude.
I never said anything rude about Fearless Fred.
I would love to have him on.
If anyone knows Fred,
tell him Fred Kennedy, I believe his name is.
Come on, Toronto Mic'd.
Let's figure this out.
Fred and Bob, right?
Those are the two people you have a feud with
because you keep posting negative things
about Bob McCown on your blog, right?
This guy trying to cause trouble here. Let me move on to something much more delightful here.
Did everyone here enjoy the Palma pasta?
Did you give out lots of vouchers, Anthony? Absolutely.
And everybody, I mean, I noticed everybody's devouring their applause, so they all seem very happy.
Thank you, Anthony, for hosting us today at TMLX5.
And another applause for hosting TMLX5.
He's getting serious because there's photos being taken,
so he's taking his glasses off.
Okay, hold on.
Who's taking this?
Make sure he's looking good.
Hold on. I've got to do my smile.
This is the first ever Toronto
Mike Listener experience that took place
at a location other than Great Lakes
Brewery. They put us up the first four times.
We will be back there, but
the patio is cold right now.
I don't know.
And I wanted to do something more festive.
And I really wanted to do it here because you have a fantastic 10,000 square foot space here.
It's beautiful.
It's retail store.
It's hot table.
You have these awesome seats you can eat.
You've done a fantastic job here.
Thank you.
Long time in planning.
We started this, I think, way back in 2015.
It was a three-year process to actually plan completion.
Not that I'm an expert or anything, but I am a paisano, as you know.
Yes.
And every time I'm on the show, I get a lasagna.
And I have to say again, I'm not getting paid for this.
It's not a cheap plug.
This lasagna is, okay, we're in a family place.
I can't say it.
But the lasagna is okay we're in a family place I can't say it but this is
the lasagna is fantastic
the
one of the many reasons
why I don't like
living in Oshawa
is because I cannot
get here more often
so I'm so happy
to be here
I'm happy that you're hosting
thank you again
and I'm looking forward
to spending
quite a bit of money
as the show
when the show is over
to be able to
take it out
thank you for the kind words
super good food here
really is good
it's my hope that people will come here for TMLX 5
and will return because of how
freaking amazing this food is.
I have heard not one peep
out of my two children because
they have eaten
all of their food, which means their bellies are full.
Can someone do a wellness check on Elvis' children?
We haven't heard from them in a very long time.
Alright, we got beats.
Everybody's checking in.
I think they're watching Space Buddy 17 at this point in time.
What more is left to say with Anthony?
But you've been a friend of the show long before you were a sponsor.
Thank you for becoming a partner and sponsoring the program.
Thank you, Larry, and thank you, Kelly.
Say hi to our mutual friend.
Anthony, are you here in the...
How many days a week
are you here in the store?
Seven days.
Seven days.
How about your...
I saw your lovely wife
walking around earlier, too.
Right?
Yes?
Yes.
Do you know what his wife's name is?
I can't remember.
Carmela.
Carmela, that's right.
Like the Sopranos,
Tony and Carmela.
And you both put them
to work at your wedding
it was fantastic
how
actually I was the only
one working there
how often is
how often is she here
at the store
she doesn't work with me
she actually
is a teacher
gotcha
part time
and then
so she's on strike
no no no
what other members
of your family are involved
this is a family business
yes my son and my two daughters work here part-time as well.
Well, talk about your dad.
How often does your dad come in the office?
My dad's here seven days a week, too.
And how old is your father?
95.
He's going to be 96 in a year.
Whoa!
And why is he not at TMLX5?
I think he's next door just making sure everything's running okay.
I'd put him on a microphone.
I could ask him about his son.
If he could hear you.
Have you ever slept over here?
No.
No, you've never slept here?
No, no, no, no.
Amazing.
And you're a good friend
in addition to being
a partner of your friends.
He's a good dude.
Anthony's a good dude.
He's a good dude.
And I won't read,
I feel like we told it
too many times.
I told it last time.
I'm not going to tell you.
Okay, so in a nutshell though,
us three have a very interesting origin
story.
So Anthony has
an amazing way of being able to
nudge Mike a little bit on his blog
and I enjoyed doing that too a little bit and
some of Anthony's comments were just
really out there. Fantastic, but really
out there and so I became a fan of
Anthony's alter ego online first and
then we all had the
opportunity to meet i don't know when the first time we met was maybe it was at the wedding i'm
not sure you probably met for the first time at the wedding i still remember the first time i met
this guy because next door was your original location for it wasn't called palma's kitchen
but palma pasta and i came in and uh you recognized me right away and you were in a smock and you came
up to me and you thought it. I thought it was a joke because
we had to be going back and forth. You had blocked me
because you got really, really upset.
Well, because Humble Howard, he was here earlier,
but he was upset because you said your lawyer,
Mr. Lipschitz, was going to
sue him. It's funny, you know,
Howard has been mad at me as well.
Oh yeah, Humble and Elmets, did you
sense the friction? Humble wasn't
mad at me, you were mad at me.
You blocked me from commenting on his post.
I had my blog for a long time, and commenters come in, and they say stupid stuff, and I don't block.
I don't worry about it.
I said nothing vulgar or anything like that.
So Mike got very upset.
I was going to have pause on my lunch break.
Let me finish.
Go ahead, Godfather.
He decided to block me on his comment site, so I reached out to Humble.
So I think it was probably a day later Mike had walked
into my shop. I thought it was a joke
or something going wrong.
So I had to figure it out. I seen him there and
he was getting pop or something so
I cornered him and he looked at me
and his mouth dropped open. I said I'm Il Duce
and this guy almost dropped
his meal.
We have exchanged multiple
text messages years and years and years ago
about your comments.
I'm like,
because he thought you were
from Italpasta,
as I recall.
That's right.
Yes.
Yes.
And I would,
so I would bash Italpasta,
which is horrible pasta.
Now remember,
this is a man,
a man in a smock
and you had sauce on it,
which I thought was blood.
We should,
we should mention
that Anthony is dressed
completely in black today
like he's definitely playing the part
so if I was afraid of you it's because I thought
you were going to kill me
I wish I took a picture of your face
when I said I'm Anthony
you said you were Il Duce
even scarier to be honest
so again
thank you so much for giving
for feeding my guests
the FOTMs I hope everybody's
well fed
thank you so much for hosting
this has been an amazing experience
I still got more people to get a mic I got another Perry
who's going to be on next and
I see he's got an Eddie Olchek book
go ahead Anthony
just to say this again we have to do this again
and hopefully we'll make it a tradition before Christmas. If I may
say, let's make this an annual
festive Christmas event
early December every single
year. We get together at Palma's Kitchen.
Sold. Done.
Whoa!
That means I come to
Mississauga once a year now. Thanks, Mike.
That's great. Don't your parents live here?
Exactly.
I come here once a year.
Somebody, Perry, would you come on the mic?
Yes.
I know Rush Mike, he thinks this is his theme song, but don't tell him.
But this is actually your theme song, James.
Yeah, that's great.
Get on on, Mike.
The only Rush song I kind of don't like.
So he doesn't like this song, and he doesn't like me either.
It's fantastic.
Oh, yeah.
No, I love you.
I love you.
We forgive James Edgar for his excellent taste.
Of course.
Tool, though.
I could have played Tool.
That looks like I'm looking at your T-shirt here.
James Edgar, you're a true FOTM.
I saw you with Moose Grumpy and Lieve Femke and Michael Lang at the, what's your band
called again?
I've had too many.
Royal Pains.
The Royal Pains gig.
He's had one beer, everyone.
And I'm all fine, of course.
Yeah, it's empty, but he's had one beer.
And it was great to see you there.
How many TMLXs have you attended?
This is all of them.
Five.
So I almost didn't make it here today.
The two guys who love Rush are the two who have been five for five.
So, Monica, the question is, do you love Rush?
No.
I love Tool. Do you love Rush? No. I love Tool.
Do you love Tool?
Trust me.
Probably not.
Trust me.
Oh, that joke is inappropriate.
I'm going to be bored.
Good.
Good idea.
Oh, probably.
I showed great restraint.
I did not mean.
I meant.
We have to move on now.
This is a family event here.
James, thanks for being here.
Amazing.
Is there any recent episodes that you
particularly enjoyed?
No, because
I have been... No? Wait a minute.
So, I used to listen to my car
but the thingy broke
and I can't really do in the car
so at work it has been
basically insane since the
1st of October. So you've
fallen behind. I am way behind at the moment.
Actually, the last
one I listened to was the
TMLX4.
Wow, that is really behind.
Are you sure you're at FOSC Edsdown?
He listens to the Elvis episode then.
That's fantastic. I barely got to listen.
I have barely even been able to
comment on open mics.
It's been manic. It's been crazy.
Will it ever calm down?
You'll get a break at Christmas, maybe.
Well, I will get a break at Christmas.
I will listen at Christmas to a few of...
There's a few that I really want to listen to.
I think, actually, I got halfway through Kim Hughes.
Yeah, she was great.
Yeah, she was fantastic.
But I really want to finish that off.
And there's a time that I need to go back.
James has been around forever, too.
Especially Dave Dodge.
I remember James commenting 100 years ago.
Yeah.
You are an OG, as they say.
Yeah, something 2008.
Is your wife here today?
She could not come.
And is Morgan here today?
She also could not come.
That's why my wife couldn't come, because Morgan got a last-minute invitation to a boy's birthday party.
Ooh.
Yes, I'm not going to.
And how old is Morgan again again 15 15 okay that's
gonna happen yeah yeah yeah i have a 15 year old daughter i'm not that big a fan of it so
james amazing thank you for being here true fotm uh wear that badge of pride that toronto
mike badge from sticker you one of these and stick it on the back of my car. Yeah, take a sticker.
I didn't even mention that I have some StickerU Toronto Mike stickers.
If anyone here hasn't got one yet.
So, Carlo, you're not coming on the mic.
Is that correct?
You're mic shy.
Okay.
Just making sure here.
So, James, amazing.
I need to just do a little mental check here that I have.
Of course, the three amigos are coming on shortly. Is there anyone else? Gentlemen with the glasses, I've been spotting you.
Are you coming on the microphone? No, it's okay. You're allowed to be mic shy. My wife won't come
on the microphone either. Has she ever appeared on an episode? Yeah, she had an episode, like 109
or something like that. She definitely had an episode. So let's do it this way.
Let's get Lucas to take the James Edgar spot.
Just, yeah, Lucas sit here.
And then I'll bring in Joe and Neil in a moment here.
But thank you so much, James Edgar.
James Edgar, everybody.
This is kind of interesting.
Perry Lefkoe.
I've never, I don't, have I met, have we ever met?
First of all, I don't know how to use these mics, so can you guys, thanks.
No, we've never actually met, though we have many similarities,
beginning with the owner, Anthony, who used to train at the same place that I did.
I live like five minutes from here.
Mississauga is the greatest city in the entire world.
Give it up to Mississauga!
I grew up here and I don't know if I would
say that. That's fantastic.
It is great.
I also am the one that gave
you Peter Gross and John Gallagher.
Please explain.
Because I know both those guys and they were
looking to do a podcast. Peter was looking to do
a podcast or maybe it was Gallagher, I don't remember.
I said, you guys should do it together, because you guys are the craziest guys in the world.
You've both been in broadcasting, both worked at City TV.
It just seemed like the perfect symmetry, and I guess they're well on their way saving the world.
I have met you before.
I'm not sure if we spoke, but I was at John Gallagher's book launch at the Cadillac Lounge
and I was the one that told John
he showed me the manuscript
I said John don't change a word
it's unbelievable right
that book's unbelievable
it's crazy it's like
a rock star's book
but done by a broadcaster
because it's sex, drugs and rock and roll
it's the funniest thing I've ever read.
But Perry, it's exuberance, over the top, excess,
and then the last chapter where he talks about his father,
it's like, bam, that's where it hits you.
It's funny, it's crazy, it's nuts, yeah.
And then he comes to the part about the relationship he had
with his father growing up, and it's pretty shocking's pretty, like, shocking. Alright, Perry, some
real talk for you. I know it's our first time meeting, but
you're still working with Frank D'Angelo.
It got the,
thank you. You see, we say Frank D'Angelo
gets the, what? Or giggle or whatever.
You guys did it perfectly. Thank you.
No, I've been released from
Frank D'Angelo's prison, okay?
And as soon as he hears that, he's going to come after me, right?
Beginning with 8,000 F-bombs.
But you were on with John Gallagher at the same time?
Gallagher and I did a show together, and the best part of it,
five minutes before the show, we had great conversation,
then Frank would come on, and we were never heard from again.
If we were paid by the word,
it wasn't a lot.
This was his nighttime show?
No, Next Sports Superstar.
You have to understand that Frank,
everything called being Frank relates to
Frank D'Angelo.
We were on the nextsportstar.com
which quickly became another version
of the Frank D'Angelo being Frank.
He's got the show every Friday night from 11.30 to 12.30 being Frank.
It's the number one rated show on Channel 11 that starts at 1 a.m.
That's how he describes it.
I'm not even sure that's true.
It's true.
Frank used to always say it's the number one longest running talk show in Canada.
And then I would say, yeah yeah but you're paying for it but i never said that because i was worried he's gonna
cut off my head or something like that and frank's done about 8 000 movies of which he is the producer
director writer star singer he puts his songs and he's surrounded himself with like serious actors
like i have cut i cut the cable probably five years ago.
Yeah.
The only thing
that makes me reconsider
going back to Rogers
is so that I can watch
his movies on demand
because I am fascinated
with this man
and I really want to see
his movies.
So if anyone has
bootleg copies,
please send them to me.
Who actually fed this guy
the Kool-Aid today?
I absolutely,
I absolutely want to see
his movies.
You need your head examined,
man.
No,
because it's going to be a train wreck. I'm not expecting this to be good. I just need to see his movies. You need your head examined, man. No, because it's going to be a train wreck.
I'm not expecting it to be good.
I just need to see what disaster is happening on the screen.
By the way, how is this?
I mean, we know where his money came from,
and now that's sort of gone.
Do you know where it came from?
Because no one seems to know.
Can I speak?
Yes.
Okay.
I recently bumped into Kevin Donovan, okay?
He did a hit on Humble and Fred.
I was there anyways.
We were chatting.
I was telling him about Rince.
Does anyone remember Rince?
The guy who smoked crack with Rob Ford way before it came public?
Oh, yeah, right.
Anyway, so I'm talking to Kevin Donovan about Rince.
And Kevin Donovan just wrote a book about the murders of Peter and what's his wife's name?
Sherman.
Barry and Honey.
Barry and Honey.
Sorry.
Yeah, Barry Sherman. I would know all this. Peter and Honey. Sherman. Barry and Honey. Barry and Honey. Sorry. Barry Sherman. I would know
all this. Peter and Honey. Peter.
Barry and Honey Sherman. Right.
Gotta get the names right. Yeah, they were murdered.
In fact, he told me who he thinks
did it and if you catch me afterwards
privately in Arnold and Rick Gordon, I'll tell you.
Is it somebody who even everybody thinks
it was him? No. No, it's not him.
I will say this. In defense of Frank
If anybody knows Frank, I think he, we have never said those words.
If anybody knows Frank,
I think he's the greatest guy
in the world, okay?
And I never had
this conversation.
Can you introduce me to him?
I really want to meet this guy.
No, I don't want to introduce
him to him, okay?
I really want to have
a conversation with Frank D'Angelo.
But why would Frank...
When you've been paroled,
you don't want to go back
to jail, okay?
I would argue Frank
is the last person
who would want
Barry Sherman to be. Right, yeah, yeah, because he funded everything. the last person who would want Barry Sherman
Right, yeah, yeah, because he funded everything. The last person
because Barry Sherman funded all that
even the brewery
Steelback? The what?
Steelback Brewery. Correct.
I'll give you the whole history, okay?
I wish I had another three
hours, Perry. No, you don't. I don't want to
have three hours to talk about that.
I'm looking at the clock, so here's what we have to do.
You have to promise me now, look me in the eyes,
will you come on and have a proper
deep dive on Toronto Mike?
Yes, but what I also want to do is, this is
my latest book. Can I promo it? Yes, please.
This is a book about Eddie Olchuk
played for the Leafs in the late 1980s.
I got his autograph at the Hockey Hall
of Fame at the Exhibition Grounds. I was a
big time Eddie Olch O fan. Eddie O.
Eddie O, we've known each other for 30 years
as we were interested in horse racing and I was working
at the Toronto Sunny on some horses with Gary
Lehman. I just wrote this book and the real
reason we wrote this book is
Eddie beat stage 3 colon cancer and he
wanted to use the book
to be an inspiration for people who are going
through cancer, caregivers, caretakers
so it's a pretty good book.
I'm selfish in saying that, but it's also very
emotional, honest, and raw.
Everybody should pick this up for
Christmas, right? You got a hockey fan,
be it a mom or a dad,
a brother or a sister.
Because once I did screw up, and I
said, hey, if your dad or your brother
wants a gift for Christmas, and then
I think it was Levi Fumko who said.
And then I called you out on the podcast too.
Do only boys like hockey?
And I realized, of course not.
I'm so ignorant and ashamed.
Can I ask Perry one last question?
Anything.
I know a Perry really well.
Is there only one other one?
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, there's one that's amazing.
Go ahead.
Are you named after anyone?
Are you Perry because of?
It's a long story, but believe it or not, this is the absolute truth.
May God strike me right now.
I'm named after Perry Como.
This is the absolute truth.
So am I.
Absolutely.
Okay, you ready?
He's your mother, my mother.
100%.
One quick story.
Yeah, yeah.
Stomping Tom Connors?
Yeah.
For one year, he lived five houses away from our house.
242 Searle.
I was 232 Searle.
My brother is a somewhat famous rock promoter and he told me all that and it's actually in stomping tom connor's book
and i added i had a chance to ask him about it and he said it's true that was me shout out to
banjo dunk and that's perry bow tell us a little bit about how we would you write obviously but
you also do a lot of work about the CFL. Do you still do any writing?
I still do some of it.
I did it for a long time.
I wrote books about Pinball Clemens.
I wrote a book about Doug Flutie.
So, yeah.
Love that guy.
It was ten years.
Which one?
Both of them, actually.
Like, both of those guys.
You said love that guy.
You know, both of them.
Okay.
Both of them.
But, yeah, I have a Doug Flutie bobblehead on my studio table.
Yeah.
Can I do my imitation of pinball?
Yes.
That's pretty good, actually.
Mike, I listen to your show all the time.
It's really nice, really, really nice.
Mike, oh, you're a great guy.
Was that good?
Oh, I'm getting mixed reactions on that.
Do you want me to do the Frank D'Angelo, but I'd have to swear every other word.
That guy's like a conversation piece.
You say his name and you get the reaction.
Like, boo, or really?
Like, your reaction.
Like, I want to meet him.
I want to be in one of his movies.
I never said that.
I don't want to.
I'm shocked by that.
Come on, man.
Can anyone hook me up with a Rogers subscription for one month?
I just want to watch the On Demand movies.
Really, that's it.
I was in one of those movies.
Believe it or not, I was in one. You were in one. I was in one of those movies. Believe it or not, I was in one.
I was in one of those movies, yeah.
You need to talk to this guy.
He's coming in
for, we just agreed, I recorded
that. You're coming in for your own episode,
Perry Lefkoe is worthy of his own
Toronto Mic'd episode. We're going to do it. We're going to talk
about Frank D'Angelo for like 90 minutes. No, we're not.
We're going to talk about
books. We're not going to talk about Frank.
Lots of things.
You're taking a page
out of the Peter Gross
book of selling.
You're not really selling
this guy and coming on
if you're getting him
to talk about Frank D'Angelo.
Well, how about this?
You get some free lasagna
from Palma Pasta
and some free Great Lakes beer
and some...
Can I have one of those beers,
by the way?
I actually wrote an article
about that brewery one time
for Good Life Magazine.
It's based here in Mississauga.
This is the truth.
Okay.
You're looking at me skeptically.
No, I'm positive, I'm sure.
I don't lie, okay?
Here's what we're going to do.
Jay Miller, you're going to take the Perry Lefkoe mic,
because I know we're short on time.
Perry, you're going to get yourself over here
and grab yourself a Great Lakes beer.
Sorry, which one?
By the way, this is the first time in the history of broadcasting
two Perrys have been on at the same time. Probably. By the way, can I get you guys to take a picture with. Sorry, which one? By the way, this is the first time in the history of broadcasting two Perry's have been on
at the same time.
Probably.
By the way,
can I get you guys
to take a picture with a book
because on Facebook I take...
Yeah, yeah.
Who's taking the...
Oh, my lovely bride.
Do you really want me in this?
Yeah, yeah.
So sorry listeners,
it'll be quiet for a moment.
Are you coming in?
Lucas, you come and talk to us.
It's a picture that's so sad.
And now look my way, okay?
All right. You're now going to be in the Hall of Fame And now look my way, okay?
You're now going to be in the Hall of Fame. It's on Facebook.
Perry Lefkoe, everybody!
What a great surprise.
Please don't tell Frank I said anything about him, okay?
Lucas with the lid up.
Why don't I have that song loaded up?
I'm ashamed of myself.
I'm ashamed of myself.
It was going to be
a good sell here.
One of the highlights
of TMLX4
was very late
and just,
I think it's a tradition,
you'll come in late.
Jay's coming in here.
Elvis,
this is an awful request.
Would you vacate
for like five minutes?
Don't go home or anything.
Now that Lucas
and Jamie are here,
great.
My boyfriend over here
in New York I need to get Brother Neil on. Don't go too far. I might pull you back in. Can Brother Neil Now that Lucas and Jamie are here, great. My boyfriend over here.
I need to get Brother Neil on.
Don't go too far.
I might pull you back in.
Can Brother Neil come on this microphone?
Brother Neil is going to come in here.
So where do I begin?
Jay, who, by the way, Jay, is that a short form of Giovanni?
Yeah, that's my real name, Giovanni.
So why do I call you Jay?
Because that's my social media name.
Okay, because I can't pronounce Giovanni.
Yeah, Jay is like my middle name, though.
Brother Neil, good to see you.
Brother Neil, we never talked last time about you have something on YouTube about,
you have to make sure you mention it this time, okay?
Okay.
Your YouTube show.
And I'm the one who gets the sweaty Elvis headphones.
All right, you guys, we're going to close here.
Now, Lucas.
Yes.
How come you were unable to deliver Darren Jones on Toronto Mike?
Well, it was still in progress, right?
Yeah, I mean, I had asked him about coming on the show, and...
He rushed you off.
Well, no, he was just...
He doesn't want to come on.
I can handle it.
Does he know Toronto Lake?
Yes, yes, yes. He has heard of you,
and he said thank you for the invitation.
For sure.
He did say that.
So you're still working on it,
or have you abandoned this mission?
Well, I mean,
he knows that I like listening to your stuff,
and so it's there. But, you know, he knows that I like listening to your stuff. And so it's there.
But, you know, there comes a certain point where it's just kind of like,
okay, Darren, if you want to do it, then you do it.
And, yeah, it's in his hands because I've put it out there.
I know that many, many people I've wanted on the show, I get the no.
And then you realize, if I ask him again i'm like annoying in a dink like you
stop asking like you just take the hint i don't ask odog anymore because odog said no and i don't
invite him on anymore so lucas uh i want to say that and i you probably heard this on the mark
wiseblood episode but i listened to this podcast called uh the gravy train the gravy yes and i'm
listening to the recent episode because i lived this gravy train, okay?
We talked about Rinse a Minute ago.
Yes.
And at the end, your name is dropped, Lucas Iannetta.
Yes, because I did the transcribing for all of those eight episodes.
And while I was in the summer, when I originally got hired for podcasting, that was one of my jobs.
That's a lot of work.
Yeah, yeah.
Good for you.
And what are you doing right now at rogers i'm still with kiss so what happened was i was hired for podcasting and then
kiss pulled me in and then it just continued like that and i was able i i just wrapped up my
internship with them and then now i'm staying on part-time oh so i am more than thrilled
and anyone who listens to Darren Jones' show,
you're a part of the show, right?
Yes, and it's great.
He's had my brother on now, my grandmother.
It's been quite the I am at a hoopla.
Amazing.
This guy, great passion, right, Neil?
Oh, yeah, totally.
I mean, from a young age, Lucas knows so much.
I mean, he knows as much as I do.
I'm a little bit older than Lucas.
I'm always all ears for radio.
That's just how I've been.
Old soul in a young body.
That's a good way to put it, right?
Sure.
And Jay, always a pleasure to see you,
even though now I feel I should call you Giovanni.
Sir, if you want.
It says it on his name tag.
If you had to choose, yeah, you put it on your name tag.
So Giovanni.
None of this Jay nonsense.
It's okay.
You can still call me Jay.
That's my middle name.
I always call him Giovanni.
I just got used to that.
Giovanni just sounds more exotic, I find.
You know what I mean?
Jay.
Who's this?
So what are you up to these days, Giovanni?
I'm still listening to media.
Yeah. So I'm still listening to media. Yeah. So I'm still
listening to the media.
I actually work around here.
Little known fact, he works across the street.
Like next door, literally.
Do you ever come into Palma Pasta for lunch?
Oh, definitely.
You should. I'm glad you do.
Fantastic.
Do you have any radio aspirations?
Oh yeah, well, I enjoy going on Lucas' show on Spirit Life.
Yeah.
What's your show?
With Ryerson.
I do a show with Ryerson, and it's a 50-minute show once a week.
And now I just wrapped up the season, but I'll be back in January.
And it's called Throwback Central.
Yes.
So that's where I did play Lucas
with the Lid Off. CKLN?
That's now CJRU.
And before I did my stuff with
Kiss and got really busy, I was a host
on there too. And I'm looking to
do that in January again.
Because I'll have more time.
In the Elvis chair
I have with me
Brother Neil. Not to be confused with Brother Bill,
who is Neil Morrison.
He's in White Rock.
But tell us about this YouTube show you've got.
It's not really a show.
I mean, we do the occasional...
Pretend it's a show.
With 700 followers.
But no, we have...
Just doing food reviews and stuff,
and we've reviewed different junk food.
It's called Junk Food Junction. Come and check it out. We different junk food it's called Junk Food Junction
come and check it out
we're on YouTube
and Instagram
at Junk Food Junction
and my girlfriend
Lindsay
and that's your girlfriend
right
and I told you this last time
way too pretty for you
did I tell you that last time
totally
we're both out of our league
I think
no
well I'm used to hearing
the same thing
so
it was due
and she doesn't want to come on a mic
right no she's mic the phone shy
I see a lot of FOTMs are mic shy
that's okay
you three in the final moments here before I wrap
things up I say I went nine minutes go ahead yeah
I had something I wanted to bring up anything
touched on this last time
Ken Shaw and you posted this I just saw
Ken Shaw
and we were talking off mic right was this a Ken Shaw. And you posted this. I just saw it. Ken Shaw. He announced his retirement yesterday.
And we were talking off mic.
Right.
Was this a retirement or a re-retirement? Okay.
So, okay.
I'm glad you brought this up.
I had a very good inside source tell me in the summer,
Ken Shaw was retiring.
And then I saw Ken Shaw removed.
And I don't watch this channel news program.
So, I actually don't really follow it.
So I saw that he was removed from maybe the six, no, the noon maybe.
Okay.
Yeah, from the noon.
But he still did six.
Yeah, he's still doing six.
Correct.
Okay.
And now the announcements come out, and I'll never know if,
I mean, you're all fans of Roger Ashby, right?
Yes.
Oh, definitely.
We went to his party.
We were all there.
I gave him butter tarts.
Do any of you three believe Roger Ashby decided one morning,
I'm going to retire from this gig on 104.5?
To be honest, for me personally, yes.
Really?
You believe he wanted to stop being on the radio every morning?
Okay, because, you know, Chum has changed.
It's not as, okay, I'm going to be honest.
It's not really like a variety station.
Yeah, this is real talk.
It's not as much of a variety station as it used to be.
So I feel like it has to do with some of the music that's been playing.
And you think he just said, I'm done doing mornings.
Let someone else do it.
Most likely.
I think Giovanni is in their key demographic now, the one that they're aiming towards.
What is that demo?
Young people?
No, but I mean, soccer pumps and Giovanni's.
But I think that they want people,
they're trying to young it up a bit
and you notice that with the on-air talent
that they changed it up.
So I think it was a bit of both.
He could see the writing on the wall.
Why not step down?
Okay, so we all know about the famous
Toronto Mike stories from Christine Bentley.
We all know that story.
We all know Kevin Frankish's story.
So we're all used to retirements
being a corporate spin on you're fired.
I don't know the answer, so I'm not speaking like I know the answer,
but I suspect this is not that.
This might be Kensha deciding to retire.
As far as I know.
Interesting.
I feel like it could just be Kensha retiring because I've heard about it for so long.
But it could also be a bit of the Roger Ashby where somebody taps you on the shoulder and says, you're retiring.
Well, I did hear that.
I don't know.
I can't remember where I heard it from.
But the final contract that Roger Ashby had, they had said to him, hey, this might be your last contract type thing.
Just a heads up.
I can't remember where I heard it from, but I did hear that.
And what happened to his mysterious
iHeartRadio channel?
I'm working on getting Ashby
back on Toronto Mic'd, and that'll be my first question.
Where the hell is that oldie show that I heard you
promised? We all want the
answer to that. And the second question is,
did you really want to retire from doing mornings
on 104.5? Because I don't
believe it like Jamari does.
Would you come back?
How's the new morning show?
Does anybody listen?
Well, you know, Jamar is an FOTM.
Yes.
Yeah, he is.
Oh, I'm...
Okay, hang in there, Levi Fumka.
You got to leave right now?
Because I'm now playing the lowest...
Okay.
Guys, honestly, Lucas, Jay, Neil,
I can't imagine a better way to end.
TMLX 5, this is how I ended TMLX 4.
This will be part of the yearly tradition.
Can I just say one thing real quick?
It's about Ken Shaw.
We'll stick around on Monday at 6 p.m.
He's going to announce who's going to replace him.
Do you have any guesses?
Nick Dixon.
So Nick Dixon is the guy from CHCH, Hamilton, who made his way over to CP24.
I crashed his broadcast for Maple Leaf Square for Darren.
So Nick, okay, that's a great guess.
Does anyone else agree it's going to be Nick Dixon?
I would think so, yeah.
I would take Nick, I think, in the betting over Nathan.
Yeah.
So Nathan's a competitor in this pursuit?
Yeah.
So I'm going to go to
Lemming, pick the only
FOTM in the running.
Colin DeMello.
Oh, that'd be cool.
Because, you know,
I got to root for the FOTM,
so I understand.
Yeah, maybe.
Okay, thank you everybody
for coming out
from Coburg
and Holland Landing
and Oshawa
and places much closer.
Thanks so much.
This has been a great,
great,
great,
great day.
Thank you.
Palma pasta for hosting.
Thank you.
Great lakes for sending over the beer and the ice and the trough.
And that was tremendous.
And thank you.
Sticker you for making up the hope.
Everybody got a badge.
I see three remain here.
So if you didn't get a badge,
it's still time for you to,
to grab one of these amazing magnet badges.
Thanks for everyone who came
out from the listeners who I
love just as much as the Gene
Volaitis' and the Larry Fedorik's and the Humble
Howard's and the Mike Wilner's and the
Stu Stone's. And man, this has been
awesome. I can't wait for TMLX
6. See you
all. I am
definitely trying to be a
sweetheart. Elvis, thank you for co-hosting here.
Come on and say goodbye to everybody.
Thanks for having me on again, Mike.
It's an honor and a privilege to co-host with you.
And I love you, man.
You're doing a good work here.
Love it.
Thanks.
Woo!
Woo! Thank you.