I was watching Sportsnet last night, following the Leafs game, and they did a whole segment on UFC. I changed the channel. I have zero interest in UFC or MMA and I'm not ashamed to admit I don't get it at all. I tweeted about this fact earlier today, and
I've loved music for as long as I can remember. I used to buy my favourite singles on vinyl as 7" 45 RPM records. We called these 45s. I used to buy my 45s at the Sam the Record man that used to exist on Bloor Street just east of
YouTube user Retrontario frequently uploads fantastic retro-Toronto-centric gems. These clips never fail to bring back a ton of memories for me, so I feature them from time to time. If you were of a certain age in 1986, you'll remember this classic PSA featuring Wayne Gretzky and Joey Moss of
Back in 1983, I watched a made for TV movie starring Gary Coleman. It was called "The Kid with the 200 I.Q.". I was only 8 or 9 at the time, and I thought it was the greatest movie in the history of the world. It was perfect. Gary
A few years ago, I shared my memories of Elmer the Safety Elephant. Elmer was a character who would visit my primary school back in the 80s to teach us about bike safety, not walking on train tracks and such. I just received the following email regarding Elmer the Safety
Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon is far and away the book I enjoyed reading to my children most. Those beautiful illustrations by Clement Hurd, that gentle prose... For years my kids fell asleep to this book, it was a staple. At some point over the past year or so, my
When I was playing house league hockey at Rennie Park in the Swansea Hockey Association, you could always tell the best players. They wore Cooperalls. The SHA gave all players jerseys and socks, but the highly skilled forwards all played in other leagues as well, and in those leagues they
YouTube user Retrontario frequently uploads fantastic retro-Toronto-centric gems. These clips never fail to bring back a ton of memories for me, so I feature them from time to time. One of the stranger flukes of fame in the 1980s belonged to an Aussie known as Jacko. You likely know Jacko
Right after getting married in the mid-90s, my wife and I moved into a bachelor apartment near Yonge and Bloor. That's when we discovered the best movies, the films critics raved about and the masses rejected, could always be found at The Carlton cinema. We've since moved west of the
YouTube user Retrontario frequently uploads fantastic retro-Toronto-centric gems. These clips never fail to bring back a ton of memories for me, so I feature them from time to time. We chewed Big League Chew gum because it looked like chewing tobacco. In the early 80s, when I enjoyed Big League
About ten years ago, while learning HTML and practising the trade with a couple of websites, I had an idea. I called this idea "HyperLists" and I was sure it would take off. HyperLists were simply "Top 10" lists in which each item on the list linked to the most
I grew up on Sesame Street. I watched it daily as a toddler. In the mid-70s, it was the show for us kids. I recently revisited the late-70s Sesame Street episodes that included Eleven Twelve, one of my favourite bits. Sesame Street became common ground for my kids and I,
I've saved a lot of stuff. I've got scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, baseball sticker books, ticketstubs and a bunch of old Maple Leaf programs stored away in boxes. They're sitting in my basement right now. Here's a ticket stub from a game I attended at Maple Leaf Gardens on November 29,
It's hard to believe it's already been 16 years since Joe Carter went deep in game 6 of the Blue Jays ~ Phillies World Series. The Jays led the series 3 games to 2, but trailed in the game 6-5. With Mitch Williams on the mound for Philadelphia and Ricky Henderson
YouTube user Retrontario frequently uploads fantastic retro-Toronto-centric gems. These clips never fail to bring back a ton of memories for me, so I feature them from time to time. When I was a kid, a few cereals we were never allowed to have were Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo
On September 11, I posted a picture of the Globe and Mail newspaper I've kept from September 12, 2001. Just as I'd keep newspapers following significant news events, I used to record significant sporting events to VHS. Kids, in the days before PVRs and DVRs, we had these things called
This is a picture of a newspaper I saved. When significant world events occur, I would always save the paper. This is a practice that is sure to go the way of the dodo bird. For many, the 9/11 newspapers will be the last one they keep. Did you
YouTube user Retrontario frequently uploads fantastic retro-Toronto-centric gems. These clips never fail to bring back a ton of memories for me, so I feature them from time to time. Fellow Michael Power grad @joanneacri just tweeted about this old ad that aired in 1986. It's a catchy as all hell
We never owned a Commodore Pet, but my dad would bring it home from work on selective weekends. That made the Commodore Pet the first computer I ever enjoyed. One of my favourite games was Eat-Man. I just Googled the crap out of "Eat-Man" and there's surprisingly nothing out there.
I shared the story five years ago and I like the story so I'm going to share it again. Remember this when you're snickering at the carnies working at the Ex. During the 125th Canadian National Exhibition, I'm sharing stories from my three years working there as a game booth
The camper's enemy is mosquitoes. Luckily for me, I'm protected by CFNY's High Frequency Anti-Mosquito Tone. You can hear all about CFNY's High Frequency Anti-Mosquito Tone in the ad below. It's making the summer of '85 the best ever. Your browser does not support the audio element.
One of the cool things about having a blog that's almost 8 years old is that you can go back and read how things seemed at the time they were happening. For example, six years ago today was The Blackout. Six years ago tomorrow, I wrote all about it. 24
There's an ad airing these days for Sharks at Stingray Bay at the Toronto Zoo. The ad features Russian submariners and concludes with the national anthem of the Soviet Union. Here's the ad, if you haven't seen it. One note of that Soviet Union anthem and I'm a kid again
Sometimes I'll delve into the archives of this very site to revisit the entries of July 2004. I started blogging in late 2002, several months after my first child was born, but I was already blogging up a storm when my daughter arrived almost five years ago. Here are some
YouTube user Retrontario frequently uploads fantastic retro-Toronto-centric gems. These clips never fail to bring back a ton of memories for me, so I feature them from time to time. One of my brothers used to tell me they knew the girl who appeared in the "Happiness is Marineland" ads that
