Today I get to share a picture of St. Patrick I took myself during Toronto's St. Patrick's Day Parade.  St. Patrick died in 461, which makes this a very special pic. It's the magic phone booth they stick him in as he's driven around in the back of a pick

I like to take my 1.5 litre water bottle, fill it with spring water and freeze it.  I freeze it for about 8 hours until it's freezing cold with chunks of ice that will fit through the mouth of the bottle.  Then, I take it down. Many people have

Over the past six weeks or so, I've been receiving spam calls on my Blackberry.  These calls come from a number of phone numbers, all starting with 415-000.  When I answer, the recording tells me the warranty on my car is about to expire. I know I'm not the only

I was checking out the nine weirdest PSAs ever made and one has me hankering for some coke.  No, not the cola kind, but good ol' cociane. Watch this PSA which comes across as more of an ad for cocaine than anything.  It's pretty convincing. The antidote?  Pee Wee Herman

My refusal to pick The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for any awards did not serve me well tonight.  It was my worst Oscar pool showing ever, but it's not all about me... This year's winner is Elvis with 19.  Congrats, Elvis.... and thank you. Thank you very much. Toronto

Thanks to everyone who entered my little Oscar pool.  Here is everyone's picks. Good luck to all.  I'll declare a winner tomorrow. Toronto MikeBest Picture: Slumdog Millionaire Best Director: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire Best Actor: Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler Best Actress: Kate Winslet in The Reader Best Supporting

I'm heading for downtown and leaving the laptop at home, but I'll be updating my Twitter account throughout the day. If you're a Twitter user, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/torontomike.  For everyone else, this entry will update with my most recent tweets, so just reload this

Here are recent comments left on this site you may have missed.  All of these comments were left in 2009. From the time I was a kid, the place always had a bit of magic:  Dream a little ... fill out a blue-inked, white piece of paper ... and ... ummm ... sometimes you

Ten years ago, it was 1999.  We called that year "nineteen-ninety-nine".  Canada became a nation in 1867.  We called that year "eighteen-sixty-seven".  For the past nine years, however, we took a different approach to how we say our calendar years. This is 2009.  We all say "two-thousand-and-nine". For some reason,

Last month I offered up a Toronto Mommy Blog.  A Toronto mom took me up on the offer and has been blogging at http://www.torontomommy.com/ for a couple of weeks now. I think she's ready for her close-up.  If you're a mother, even if you don't live in

Here in Toronto, we've had Russell Oliver's schlocky ads shoved in our faces for decades.  He's the guy who wants to buy your used jewellery, calls himself the Cashman or Loan Arranger, and works out of Oliver Jewellery on Eglinton Avenue West.  We expect him to offer well below fair

I had high hopes for Barack Obama, but after seeing these photos, I'm thinking he's kind of a jerk. I'm so disappointed...

I got so pissed off at Ticketmaster after buying Hip tickets through them in 2004 that I secured the #1 spot in Google for I hate Ticketmaster searches.  The way they gouge us is criminal, but this recent TicketNow nonsense is total bullshit. If you haven't heard... There was a

Google is having a rough morning. Right now, Google searches are tagging every site on the web as malware.  Everything is getting the "This site may harm your computer" warning. Click the image below to see it full-sized.

Today is January 24.  I took James to hockey, it was team picture day, and now I'm chilling with Michelle watching Chicken Little.  Later today, the extended family drops by for James' birthday party.  I hear there will be pizza and cake.  Today is a good day. I've taken note

Occasionally, I have ideas.  Some of these ideas make it further than others.  One idea I had, about 18-months ago, was for a blog catering to Toronto mothers.  My wife was to author this blog and it would include "what to do with your kids in the GTA" info. She

It's been a week since I separated my shoulder playing hockey. This is my first experience with a separated shoulder, so I'm throwing down notes about the first week after. The first few days were the worst.  I took the percocets every 4-6 hours just to stay ahead of the

Billy Werber died today.  He lived a nice long life, passing away at the age of 100, and he's a nice slice of trivia.  Not only was Billy Werber the oldest living major league ballplayer, but he was the final surviving teammate of Babe Ruth, as well as the last

Obama is addicted to his BlackBerry.  I can't say I blame him, I feel naked without mine.  There's something about having all that info at your fingertips that becomes addictive. Normally, Presidents don't use email as it can be subpoenaed by Congress and courts and may be subject to public

On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. I share this video every year, but this year King's words carry more weight than ever.  The content of

What's the point of having a blog if you can't bitch about stuff?  Last night I separated my left shoulder playing hockey, and 24 hours later the whole thing is seriously bumming me out. First and foremost, the pain is constant and intense.  I haven't been using the sling as

If you've got a younger child at home, you've probably heard of Webkinz.  For the unaware, a Webkinz is a plush toy pet you register online.  Then, in a very safe web environment, your child plays with the pet and does all sorts of neat things. My son has adopted

Google has a new favicon.  For the less geeky, that's the icon you see in the tab of your browser, assuming you've upgraded IE from 6 or are using a decent browser, like Firefox. The new Google favicon is the Google "g" surrounded by blocks of blue, red, yellow and