Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Peter Gross: Toronto Mike'd #902

Episode Date: August 17, 2021

Mike chats with Peter Gross about his health, his recent Blue Rodeo discovery, the 106-year-old he may (or may not) have killed, John Gallagher, sports betting, Jim McKenney, Dini Petty and so much more.

Welcome to episode 902 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery and the GTA. online for free local home delivery and the GTA. McKay CEO Forums, the highest impact and least time intensive peer group for over 1200 CEOs, executives and business owners around the world. StickerU.com, create custom stickers, labels, tattoos and decals for your home and your business. Palma Pasta. And let's face it, that's why Peter's here today. Enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees

from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. And Mike Majewski, he's the real estate agent who's ripping up the Mimico real estate scene. Learn more at realestatelove.ca. I'm Mike from torontomike.com, and joining me this week is the host of Down the Stretch, Seniors Moment,

and Gallagher and Gross Save the World? Peter Gross. I've heard of those shows. Well, we'll have to dive into that last one. Lots to cover here, but how are you doing, Peter? Oh, I'm great. Fantastic, really. Now, last time I saw you was TMLX7.

Thank you for making an appearance. You were a big star at that collection of FOTMs in Marie Curtis Park. That's because I crave attention. You came to the right place. But you had a big, big beard, and everybody was excited to see the beard. But as observed by Moose Grumpy on the Facebook live stream, you're beardless. When did you lose the beard and why? On my birthday.

I did it on my birthday. You know the story that I rollerbladed to my mother's to celebrate my birthday and my lovely mother is 98 years old and well you know when the godfather when when he gives away his daughter apparently on a special occasion you can you can make a request of the godfather and he has to grant it right so my mother didn't like the beard at all oh she said lose the beard, Peter. And you said, okay, okay, mom. And quite frankly, when I looked at images of myself with the beard, I said, that's ridiculous. Okay. So you've opened a lot there. Let's dive in here.

Firstly, do you realize how blessed you are? Like how lucky you are that you still have your mother with you? And she, and I've seen the, and we'll talk about this in greater detail, but she seems spry and sharp as a tack, like you're a lucky man. Not everybody has that privilege. 98 years old, not a thing wrong with her. She sees perfectly. She hears perfectly.

Wow. She claims to have a little bit of osteoporosis or whatever. Who doesn't? Yeah. She cooks for a dozen people at a time. She drives. She maintains her own place. She's a medical marvel.

And to describe the video, so on the morning you turned, how old did you turn? 72? 71. 71. So the morning you, and I want to hear you tell, not me, but what did you decide to do that morning? My mother lives 34.4 kilometers from me. I'm at the Cawthra Lakeshore area. She's Don Mills in Eglinton.

I've done this before, but I don't like to do it a lot because it kind of knocks me out. But I got up at 5.30 in the morning and rollerbladed from my house to hers. And how many kilometers is that trip? 34.4. Do you also rollerblade back? No, no, no. That's what... I don't know.

That's right. I think that an actual marathon of, what is that? 42.2, I think. If I found a 42-kilometer route, I might try it once a year. Well, maybe for your 72nd birthday. But okay, firstly, that's just to reiterate, that's rollerblading. So that's a lot harder than biking. So I think doing 34K on a rollerblade is, there's a lot of effort.

Like, is there any hilly parts that are difficult? Oh, yeah. In the video that I posted and got a little bit of response to, when you go past Jane Street towards Royal York, there's about a three-eighths of a mile stretch that's very much uphill. And because you've already gone 15 to 18 kilometers, it's no fun. That's the actual most difficult part that I dread the most. Okay. Well, congratulations on the birthday. Blessings. I'm an atheist, but I'm going to say blessings to your mother. 98 years and still going strong. And that's amazing. And that bodes well

for you because you've got her genes. I'm hoping I've got her genes. I've lost two of my brothers, one to apparently have a heart attack and the other one had lung cancer. My father died when he was 82, I think, of heart disease. Okay, so hopefully you get the mom genes there. There was a note that came in about your brother. I'm just going to skip ahead.

I have a bunch of notes from Peter Gross fans. Somebody said, hold on, I want to get this. Leslie tweeted at me, just don't ask him if his brother is a teacher. His brother hated that. Now, is this the brother who you lost to cancer? My brother, Dan, no, unfortunately just died suddenly about seven years ago. No, unfortunately just died suddenly about seven years ago. He was a high school, one of those part-time teachers that they call on a daily basis. A substitute teacher.

A substitute teacher, yeah. And because I had a certain infamy on TV, and he would say, I'm Mr. Gross, and the class immediately would say, well, are you related? Of course. I just learned now, today I learned you were on television i had no idea you were on tv um okay so uh that roller blade trip 34k across the city to see your mom on your birthday and i'm glad you uh took footage of it that your son could help you edit. If somebody wants to see the video, do they follow you on Facebook to see it? No, real easy.

Just Google Peter Gross' 71st birthday on YouTube, and it comes up. Okay, gotcha. So people should check that out. A lot of ground to cover. A lot of ground. I'm glad you're here. One thing is that you had a stroke last summer.

Yeah, we're just about celebrating the one-year anniversary of my massive stroke. Well, you did spend some nights in the hospital, right? One night. Okay, and that is, correct me if I'm wrong, that is the first time you've spent a night in the hospital in your 71 years. You know what? There was a second time when I um, I had some kind of, uh, spastic colon that, uh, replicated the symptoms of a heart attack and they threw me out after taking a number of tests. It was a false alarm. Yeah, pretty well.

But the stroke, again, let's get serious for a moment. Uh, what was the, tell me the name of this stroke that you had this. It was, uh, uh, a stroke in the, it's called, uh, uh, uh oh what's that i had a stroke so i can't remember oh no uh oh no a schematic uh it's a real mild stroke it was in the uh occipital lobe and it affected mostly my eyesight okay right and that's i remember now you were trying to edit uh an episode of down the stretch and you were uh yeah you were feeling a bit off or something. My right eye went wonky. I got like kaleidoscope vision in my right eye

and when I'm looking at the screen I couldn't identify words on the right of the screen and then for about 45 minutes I recognized that I was unable to perform really easy functions. So half of my brain was laughing at me saying, you're an idiot. What the hell is wrong with you? recognize that I was unable to perform really easy functions. So,

so half of my brain was laughing at me saying, you're an idiot. What the hell is wrong with you? What are you doing? Like, cause I'm thinking if I had that, I think I would say, okay,

I would say, Mike, go brush your teeth. Like I would tell myself to do something that's like a routine that I've done a million times. I feel like I would test myself. I don't know. So what do you do in that 45 minutes? Are you,

are you thinking you might be having a stroke? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I just thought this is going to pass, and it did, although I had some lingering effects for a couple of days, particularly with the kind of flashes in my right eye. And the next day, I was driving, and I realized that I couldn't see stop signs on the right side

of the street. No peripheral vision. Yeah. I lost a little bit of tunnel vision, which by the way, I've had, do you think I had a stroke? Because I've had that and I always chalked it up to like low blood sugar or something, but I've had that where there's cloudy and you have tunnel vision and you feel almost, I felt, I'm now wondering if I had some of these strokes, do you think? By the way, it was a TIA, a transient ischemic attack. It finally came to me. This particular stroke had to do with a lack of appropriate blood getting into a part of my brain, that's all.

Okay, well, I'm glad. And again, just to tell us for the record here, any lingering effects? None at all. And the care I got at the Trillium Hospital in Mississauga was phenomenal. If it had been in Buffalo, it probably would have cost me $15,000. Well, is that here Ontario and Queensway? Yes. Okay, I know it.

And I also know there is a Palma Pasta location also at Queensway and here Ontario because whenever I biked again. And it was interesting because that was referred to me multiple times by the doctors and they said get your ass back to Palma and and again you've said this on Toronto Mike but let's freshen it up is it still the best lasagna that's ever come from the store no no question it's the best lasagna that I've ever eaten it's uh it's a thrill to take this box of palmapasta home. You know my son Roger eats about three times as much as I do.

It's a lot there. I gave it to a band yesterday, and starving artists and all that, they were so excited they'll eat this week. Very exciting. Now, don't take that particular box because yours is in the freezer, and I've got to stick it in that box before you go. This is the demonstration box. That's the box that the frozen lasagna will go into. I thought it was probably best to stick it in that box. That's the box that the frozen lasagna will go into. I thought it was probably best to keep it in the freezer. But yeah, you're going home with your

palma pasta lasagna. And on that note, I have a note from somebody named Garnet Barnsdale. Never heard of him. He wants to know, he says, when do I get a raise? So does Garnet help you with down the stretch? so does garnett help you with down the stretch he does he's an incredible like like i got last night at 9 30 i get a text that a driver named austin sorry had just won his first stakes race and garnett's comments weren't um consider doing a story they were you must do a story on this guy so he's financially compensated for uh efforts on Down the Stretch? Not really. Not really. Okay.

So he needs a raise. No, he has benefited from time to time. He got me a contract with COSA, the Central Ontario Sandbird Association. Oh, and he takes a commission on that. And he gets a commission. And he gets shouted out on his favorite podcast. Because I know Garnet. He's been over.

Back in the good old days when Down the Stretch happened in the TMDS studio before COVID. So he's a good man. I've met his son because I spoke to his college class. I think it's Humber College.

And I know his cousin, Beck, who's a great FOTM and will be at TMLX8 on August 27th. Well, the son, Nicholas, was here very early. Oh, yeah, he was here too. You're right.

He was here. I met him twice. Down the Stretch podcast. Right. So shout the son, Nicholas, was here very early. Oh, yeah, he was here too. You're right. He was here. I met him twice. In the Down the Stretch podcast. Right. So shout out to the Barnsdales and Beck. Nonia, do you know this name? Nonia Binis? B-I-N-I-S.

How would you say that? Binis? Nonia Binis? If I knew her, I might know the pronunciation of her name. I wonder if she was in a movie directed by Don Shabib or Shabib. of her name. I wonder if she was in a movie directed by Don Shabib or Shabib. I'm telling you, it might have been Shabib

when he was making Ripoff, but today I think his son goes by Shabib. I think they've changed that up on you. Okay, so back to Nonia. Nonia says, Dear Peter, you are not gross, despite your namesake.

Let's do brunch. So let me ask you this, Peter. I gross, despite your namesake. Let's do brunch. So let me ask you this, Peter. I looked at her picture on Twitter, attractive woman. Are you single? Are you available to have brunch with an eligible woman? I'd have to say yes. So if Nonia reaches out, maybe you guys can do brunch, and maybe magic will happen.

I think there's a distinct possibility I would agree to have lunch with an attractive woman who wants to date me because she hears me on Toronto Mike. And she says you're not gross. So that's a nice comment. No, she gets a bad mark for that. I hate that pun. It's like saying, are you a boon to society?

I never get that though because nobody thinks that okay so uh non-gross peter is going to uh have brunch with nonia nonia dm me or whatever and we'll hook you up uh here's another question for you from dave watson and we have a lot of ground to cover peter so get comfy over there and then at some point we'll explain why there's a yoga mat on my deck. But Dave Watson asks, does he miss the old days at 299? And where has he been hiding Jim McKinney? Those were the days. Dave Watson reminiscing. Do you miss 299 Queen Street?

Maybe. You know, I don't miss 680 News. My brain doesn't work that way. I don't miss the things I don't miss 680 news. I just, my brain doesn't work that way. I don't miss the things I don't have. But there was a period, a one-of-a-kind kind of two- or three-year period at 299 Queen Street East. Oh, no, but that was 99 East, right? And then it was 299 West.

You're right, yeah. I didn't work there, but I'm a historian. The early days of city TV were just, it was a remarkable time. It can't be captured again. And I have wonderful memories of that. And I was a complete imbecile too. Right. That hurt my reputation, but helped my work.

So it was a mixed bag. But yeah, there was, you know, that Robin Williams movie, Good Morning Vietnam? Of course. Well, there's a parallel there. Good, Good Evening Toronto, the way the late night news was produced in this rule breaking, inventive, theatrical way. On that note, what's your current relationship status like with Moses? Moses Zimer.

Can you say the name again? Zimer. Zimer. Zimer. That Z into N always trips me up. I have no relationship with him. I had a remarkable series of events with him that went from him using me as an example of everything he wanted other reporters to do, to him telling me that I was pathetic, several meetings with him.

I left in 1986 and then begged him multiple times to bring me back, and we'd have a couple of meetings at the end of which he would say, you just don't get it, you just don't get it. And then I was rehired. So I left in 1986. I was rehired in 2000. And both of us were fired essentially from City TV in 2004. Interesting. Now, as you said there, there's no current relationship with Moses. So there's been peaks and valleys through the decades, through the years, and there's currently a freeze there, I guess, and no relationship with Moses.

That is correct. And where have you been hiding Jim McKinney, Dave Watson? Well, unfortunately, I've got to tell you that Jim McKinney is suffering from long-term COVID. Now, he had both of his shots, so he's not desperately ill. He's not in ICU. Is he in the hospital? No, but he's very, very low energy. He's feeling completely whacked out.

It's not very pleasant, and I think he's just been told that he has to just wait it out. Just rest. Okay, because that is the purpose of the vaccination is to, what they say, defang COVID-19. So you can still get it, but it should keep you at a hospital. So here, let's hope Jim McKinney recovers and gets back to his regular self. I'm sorry to hear that. But we talk almost daily. Okay, so he's well enough to talk to Peter Gross daily.

I almost talk to you daily, almost, pretty regularly. That's because I pester you, phone you. But I always take your call. We haven't hit the point in the relationship where I swipe it to the right or whatever and say maybe another day. Did you hear the Mike Epple episode of Toronto Mic'd? I did. I did.

Well, because he said we talk about you a lot. There's a beautiful cardinal. I don't know if you can see it through the thing there. But just at the, oh, it just went behind that tree there. But a beautiful bright red cardinal right there. What a moment. Anyways, please, I didn't mean it. Is that a reference to the Catholic Church?

Or are you talking about a bird? I don't know. Can you see it there now? Do you see the bottom of the beautiful red cardinal right there? I've got foliage between me and the vacuum. Oh, and there's his wife. Less beautiful, but still important, I'm sure. Okay, I apologize to Mike Epple, who's waiting to hear your review.

How did Mike Epple do on his Toronto Mike Disney? Oh, he did much better than he thought he would do. Oh. I mean, he's an extremely bright guy. This is some inside info for me. Please continue. No, it was an excellent episode. I actually listened to the whole thing.

You don't normally do that. I can't even listen to my own podcasts once I make them. Yeah, but that's different. You were there when you made it. It's easier to listen to a program when there's no spoilers. Like, you don't know what's going to happen next. But I'm glad to hear that the Apple episode kept your attention for the 90 minutes. That's good.

There was a lot of name dropping. I love it. Yeah? I do. I love it. You got any names you want to drop here? David Cassidy? Anything? Yeah, David Cassidy. So Epple brought his Toronto Mike mug.

Did you buy a mug? Because if you go to torontomike.com, there's that button that says T's. T-E-E-S. And you can buy t-shirts, but you can also buy things like the mug. I have found in my life the most useless gift ever is a mug. Because I don't drink coffee. Oh, yeah.

So I have no use for a mug. And I've got way more than I need. Tuesday Weld. Tuesday Weld. That's a name drop. Remember, we did an episode and I was trying to tell you a story about being at a small Hollywood party with Tuesday Weldon for the life of me.

Couldn't remember her name. I do remember. That was the ripoff episode. Yeah. And then subsequently, I'm trying to get my facts right. Tom Tebbett. So Tom Tebbett, who covers tennis in this country, is the guy, the journalist who covers tennis in Canada. Tom Tebbett talks about being like a teenager and somehow working on the set of Ripoff,

the Donald Shabib movie that you starred in and we did a deep dive into. And I think it blew his mind a little bit that there was this deep dive with Peter Gross about the movie he worked with or worked on that nobody ever talks about. Nobody's talking about Ripoff anymore except us. But this was exciting to Tom Tebbitt.

I still have not confirmed, nor do I remember anyone named Tom Tebbitt. But I'm sure it's true if he says it's true. All right, now, when Mike Epple called you on his drive home from the TMDS Backyard Studio where he knocked it out of the park, did he say anything to you you can share, like in terms of his experience?

Something about the fact that you might have been the worst interviewer he'd ever... It's not the first time I heard that. He has a certain level of insecurity, and he agonized over it. He was afraid of making a fool of himself, and he was more afraid of not being interesting. Well, he knows I'm not going to edit it,

and I think that can put some pressure on you, especially if you're a listener. Like, you know you got this 90 minutes. Mike's not going to edit a stitch of it. So it can cause some anxiety, I think. How do you feel? Are you anxious about this appearance? No, I enjoy this.

I don't give a fuck. You can edit that out. No, no, no. Swear away, Peter, please. I have a message from Gene. Gene is in British Columbia. Gene writes, No one, and I mean no one on planet Earth,

can eat as many chicken wings as Peter. What's the most he has ever consumed in one seating? My over-under is 75. Again, if you don't know yet, that's Gene Valaitis from Jesse and Gene. Okay, so I was going to say that my fame has gone coast to coast. 75 is a little high. Do you ever watch Card Sharks? That's what they do on Card Sharks.

The question is, how many chicken wings can Peter Gross eat? Well, I'll say 75, and then the other person has to say over and under. But the greatest day in my life, and I've had sex with pretty women. The greatest day in my life was in the early 90s at 680 News when Kentucky Fried Chicken introduced their hot wings, and they brought a bucket of about 100 of them at 630 in the morning. And everyone in the unit was appalled that we had fried chicken at 630 in the morning, and I ate 30 or 40.

75 is Joey chestnut territory. And the funny thing is, uh, that's not the first time Jean has seeded that question with me when Peter Gross was coming on the program. Now you've been on several times, uh, but maybe your first or second appearance,

Jean sent me the same question. So I love that. It's like the greatest hits. I love it. He's kind of pathetically obsessed with one tiny detail. He's a huge fan of Hebsey on Sports. So I do Hebsey on Sports every Friday morning, 9.20 a.m. And he's always there for the live stream on Hebsey's YouTube channel.

Even though if I do the math really quickly, that's 6.20 a.m. Gene time. And he doesn't miss an episode of Hebsey on Sports. And I'm sure he'll listen to Peter Gross on Toronto Mic'd as well. So shout out to FOTM Gene Valaitis. By the way, Gene was at TMLX 5. I saw him there at Palma Pasta. You appeared at TMLX 7, which we had recently in a park.

I just want to invite you, Peter, and confirm that you're going to be there. TMLX 8 is going to be outdoors at Great Lakes Brewery, which is not that far from here, to be honest. And we're going to record the finale of our Pandemic Friday series. But I'm going to have a fourth mic open. And I should just tell you, the reason to come is actually for the food, because Palma Pasta is going to feed every FOTM in attendance. So you're going to have Palma Pasta at this event. Compliments of Palma Pasta. You to feed every FOTM in attendance. So you're going to have Palma Pasta at this event.

Compliments of Palma Pasta. You also get your first pour. I know this won't appeal to you personally, but many listeners will be excited to know your first pour of Fresh Craft beer is going to be courtesy of Great Lakes. They're going to buy you your first pour. And then, of course, you can buy more after that

if you'd like more. But I have a fourth mic open. And Peter, if I see you there, I'm more. But I have a fourth mic open. And Peter, if I see you there, I'm going to put you on the fourth mic for a moment just to chat you up. It'll really excite Cam and Stu. And it's exciting to me to see you at the event. Can you make it?

It's 6 to 9 p.m. This is a Friday evening, August 27. That's not this Friday, but next Friday. Will Peter Gross be there? You must understand that the protocol is you need to contact my people, my agent, my lawyer. Your grandson. Everything in duplicate.

And about the free pour, you realize my body is a temple and nothing illicit. That's the new Peter Gross. But I knew you're not a big beer guy. That's why I let him. But that's for listenership. But you can bring a bottle of water and enjoy the Palma Pasta.

Will you be there? There's a very good chance. Let me say yes. Okay, I'm going to start promoting your appearance because people get excited. But you won't have the beard. I'm just going to warn the FOTMs now. No beard will be worn by Peter Gross. This is from Max D.

Max D wants to know, who is your current QP21 pick and why? Oh. And you have to explain the question to me because I don't know what I just read. QP is Queen's Plate. The Queen's Plate is this Sunday. It's the 162nd Queen's Plate. And that's why you were talking to Laura Dykin.

Is that why? Or am I... Is Laura Dykin covering this for TSN? Yeah, probably. Laura Dykin does a show with Jason Portwando every Friday night called Racing Night Live. She's wonderful. By the way, her dad lives across the street.

Oh, yeah? Can we go back in on it? Yeah, it's the house with the Tesla. That's all I'm going to say. No, she's wonderful. I did an interview with her, basically just to do an interview with her. Yeah, why not?

Any excuse to talk to laura dyke and i feel the same way more so that uh i i like to do what woodbine wants me to do sure you're in their pocket i have a good relationship with them okay so shout out to laura dyke but tell me what's your pick for the queen i i don't have one and the problem is the best three-year-old horse in Canada is a horse called Weyburn who won a big stakes race at 45 to one at aqueduct. And then was second, uh,

by a neck in another stakes race, I think at Monmouth and, and those that on his resume would make him the heavy favorite, but he's owned by chief food stable and they've, uh, determined not to come to the queen's plate. And then I, I, in yesterday's owned by Chief of Woods Stable, and they've determined not to come to the Queen's Plate. And then in yesterday's episode of the Down the Stretch podcast, I had a lovely interview with Mark Cassie,

who has won 13 Sovereign Awards as Canada's top trainer. He doesn't have a horse in the race. So if you want to get me on the spot, Money for Roe is a three-year-old filly that won the Canadian Oaks. We have a reverse chauvinism in this country in which the two biggest races are the Canadian Oaks and the Queen's Plate,

and only fillies are allowed in the Oaks, but the fillies are allowed to run against the boys. So there actually is a greater opportunity in that period of time. Money for Roe ran a mile and an eighth faster on the same day that four colts ran in the plate trial. In other words, if they'd been in the same race, the girl horse would have won.

So my tip... Money for Roe. Is money for Roe. But there's... Can you spell it for me? M-U-N-N-n-n-y f-o then capital r-o i think i'm glad i had you do that because i would have got that completely wrong but money for row uh is a good place to put your money if you're betting on the queen's plate

that's coming up there's going to be 16 17 horses in the race none of them are terrific but there is a history of of the filly that wins the oaks, subsequently winning the queen's plate. So, you know, girl power. Girl power. Okay, money for rogue. Exciting. And speaking of betting here, this comes from FOTM Brian Gerstein.

What does Peter think about single game wagering being legalized? And will OLG give us a fair shake? I don't have much to say on the latter because every product by the olg is uh heavily compromised in the sense that they take a lot of money and they do good things with the money sure but uh for years and years and years there's been pro line in which you have to pick three games right and i i've had the circumstance dozens of times of picking the huge upset and not getting the other game correct and it's very frustrating um that that the government has dragged its heels for so long in allowing the single game wagering which is just allowed allowed to bet one game, you know, or one prize fight. It just makes complete sense. And one of the reasons that both sides of the political equation

have voted heavily in favor of this is that there's literally billions of dollars to be reaped because right now, billions of dollars are being bet in offshore casinos, technically illegal, but there's nothing anyone can do about it. So if Canada can have that benefit and control it, then it's a very good thing. But what you're going to find is that the odds you get through OLG will be less, will be less favorable than the offshore casinos. And that's because the house needs to make more money to, I don't know, help build hospitals and all those other things. In Vegas, for example, if you were to bet the Blue Jays against Washington tonight,

the Blue Jays would be the underdog. You might get a, you know, a buck 70 and Washington would be favored and you'd get 225. That would be the underdog you might get a you know a buck 70 and washington would be favored and you'd get 225 that would be in vegas those same games as a single game on pro line you'd get a dollar 40 for the blue jays and a buck 85 which is less than 50 50 on on the underdog so the the vigorous that they take is is kind of disturbing. Okay, good.

And now I mentioned off the top that you produce three different podcasts and we're going to kind of dive into the status of each one. We've already talked quite a bit about horse racing. So the one that's a weekly podcast, you can set your watch by it, is called Down the Stretch. And that is basically, my understanding is that that's the definitive Ontario horse racing podcast.

If you're only going to listen to one Ontario horse racing podcast, it better be down the stretch because that's the real deal right there. If you're going to listen to one Ontario horse racing podcast, you have to listen to down the stretch. It's the only one in Canada. Well, no one wants to compete with you, to be quite honest, especially if Garnet Barnsdale is giving you all those tips. And you get the big interviews. I mean, we're going to get to one in a moment, a musical-related one. I'll just tease it. The lead singer of a band I'm going

to see next Saturday, so not this coming Saturday, the one after. I'm going to see this band live at the Budweiser stage. So there's your little teaser. Peter Gross, Lorne Honickman, good guy or great guy? Oh, he's your little teaser. Peter Gross, Lorne Honickman, good guy or great guy? Oh,

he's a great guy. Although I've got a long time beef with Lorne Honickman. Tell me. Do you want to hear this story? Of course I do. I talked to him yesterday. We had a new episode. I don't even know if he'll remember this,

but this has been one of these great mysteries in my brain for God, maybe 40 years. He, I think he had a party. Okay. Okay. But this has been one of these great mysteries in my brain for God, maybe 40 years. He, I think he had a party. Okay. Okay. So I met this very attractive woman at the party,

took her back to my place. We smoked a joint, ended up in bed. It was fantastic. And, and I remember afterwards she says, I'm hoping that this is what isn't just one-off and that we can continue this. And the next day, Honickman corners me and says, what happened?

What happened? What happened? And I don't know if I panicked or I couldn't, you know, be cool and go, none of your business. And you told him. I don't know so much that I told him. He determined. And then he may have turned around anyways at that point the woman wanted nothing to do with me oh because you kissed and told like as they say don't kiss and tell in the in the simplified form of the story yeah that's a so i'm surprised you said great guy because uh lauren honigman cost you many a

wonderful night possibly like that is really, something you can never get back. I feel bad for you that Lorne did that to you. Yeah, that's my one. No, but anything, I mean, he's a lawyer. He was a reporter. I run into him. I suppose it's going to happen in a couple of weeks. Every year we go to Bill Atenasoff's party.

You know Bill Atenasoff? Yes, this is the cameraman who was struck by a car yeah yeah and he's he's a quadriplegic and he's blind and uh he's actually inspirational because he's got this wonderful attitude and uh so we we tend to get together once a year at his birthday which i guess is coming up soon well i can tell you that if lauren's son asher is not in need of babysitting the night of August 27, because I guess Lauren's got grandkids from Asher, if those kids don't need to be babysat by grandpa and grandma,

both Lauren and his wife are going to make an appearance at TMLX 8 on August 27. So you'll be there as well. So this will be a nice moment. We get Peter Gross and Lauren Hoffman. And maybe he'll give me the name of this woman because I have no idea what her name is. Well, I mean, I'm going to have him go on the fourth mic, and that's the only question I'm going to ask him. What is the name of the attractive woman

that ended up in bed with Peter Gross after one of your parties? Did you ever see a movie called Sliding Doors? Yeah, this is a Gwyneth Paltrow, yes. And the whole premise is, if she had entered the train and met the man. And it's always been kind of a thought in my brain that what if I'd continued with this woman? Because it was quite a night. There's a gentleman named Rick who is listening to this program right now, actually.

Hello to Rick who's watching on Facebook. But big fan of yours, Peter. Loves Toronto Mic'd as well. And Rick made a bet with you about the 2020, uh, Rick Rattu. Yeah. 2020, uh, US presidential election. And if I remember correctly, Rick said Trump would win. You said Biden would win. So I want to know, did Rick ever pay you back, pay you that, uh,

the money he owed you for losing that bet? Yes, he did. He's one of these people who actually pays the debt. Okay, well, that's a teaser for some John Gallagher talk. He was very honorable about that. Okay, so thank you, Rick, for not squelching on that bet. And I thought it was an easy win for you, but Rick was very confident that his boy, Donald J. Trump, was going to triumph. And he ended up losing by quite a bit actually when you look at the electoral college votes. It turned out to be quite a handy win for a bigger win by Biden over Trump than Trump had over Hillary Clinton four years earlier to give it some perspective. But thank you, Rick. I got a

question about Star Week. I need you to remind me about this. So, recently something went around. I believe you wrote about Sportsline with Mark Hebbshire. By the way, Mark Hebbshire is going to be at TMLX 8, so you better be there. But you used to write for Sports... Sorry, you used to write for Star Week, right? Yeah, the weekly television section that came

on Saturdays with the Star. And how long did you write as a columnist for Star Week? I think just one year. One year. Okay. And do you remember writing about Sportsline, like Jim Taddy and Mark Hatcher? Yeah, I went down to the Global Studio

and spent a night there. It was a good article. I just reread it recently, and it was really interesting. And I also know that Peter Truman was writing for the Toronto Star's Star Week. And Peter Truman, of course, longtime global news anchor who recently passed away.

So shout out. Sorry to hear that, but Peter Truman died. Just bring that up. Talk about injecting a downer into this episode. Sharing that fact that we lost Peter Truman recently. He was writing for Star Week, and you also wrote for Star Week. Star Week, by the way, now is basically under the gun

for only repurposing American articles. So there isn't any more of that Peter Gross hanging out with the local sports line crew and writing about it. Now they just kind of republish American articles. So you'll see things like, oh, here's the U.S. athletes to watch in the Olympics, even though this is Star Week, which is supposed to be, you know, focused on Canadian athletes. But I don't know if you're just throwing that in there, Peter.

If you have any comments on your time as a Star Week columnist, now's the time to share them. I don't. No, okay, fine. We'll move on from the Star Week segment. We're kicking ass taking names. Do you remember your time, as brief as it was, at CFNY 102.1? Yes, I do.

So 1986, I left City TV. Not a bright move. But you were into cocaine at the time. Was that part of it? No, I wasn't. I don't know. You've been spreading that rumor. Well, you set the record straight here.

It's possible I was drug addled at the time. Strangely, by the time I left City TV in 1986, I was dealing with it. And I have not done any cocaine in 35 years. But in the mid-80s, I mean, this is you. I'm not like reading your diary and just reporting what I read. Yeah, but you keep bringing this up to disparage me. Not to disparage you.

That's a long time ago, the mid-'80s. I would never do that. But just in that fog of, you know, cocaine's a hell of a drug. In that fog, you quit City TV. And how many shifts did you have at 102.1? Approximately. You know what? I ended up at CFNY in the fall of 1989

and got fired about a week before Christmas that same year. So I didn't even last three months. And did you meet anybody there that you still keep in contact with? Well, Fred Patterson. Sure, yeah. Freddie P. He would have been there. He's been there for a long time.

Well, he was there a long time. So some people are surprised to hear you were on the air at 102.1, but it was a very brief time. And why did they fire you? Did you fall were on the air at 102.1 but it was a very brief time and uh why did they fire you did you fall asleep on the air i was getting 200 a week to do editorials and and actually recently going through a lot of my papers i stumbled across uh an admonishing letter that was written to me it. It might've been by Danny Kingsbury, who was the program director at the time. It might've been Reiner Schwartz about an editorial that was,

that was tasteless and stupid. And it's very possible that the editorial was tasteless. Do you remember the content of that editorial? Like, was it like, was it politically incorrect or like what, what was tasteless? I gotta be very vague about this,

but it had something to do with sexuality and sexism and i made some quantum statements that uh if i were to look at it today i'd say that's pretty stupid and embarrassing so um so so i was making 200 a week they fired me a week before christmas uh the place i was staying in brampton at the time there's a knock on the door during a winter storm and it was billy van remember billy van hilarious house of frightenstein and apparently more he was making deliveries for that's amazing and and he gave there was a check for a thousand dollars on my dismissal letter wow billy van delivered that check to you.

That's why I need to have you over regularly because that little nugget never came out before. And that's amazing. I got a million little nuggets. Drop them like they're hot. So there's so much still to get to. Let's get to one of the big topics right now. I'm going to let Will Menzies, I'm going to read a note from Will Menzies that will set us up.

But Will Menzies writes, I said, do you have a question for Peter Gross? And Will said, the story behind the sad, strange end to Gallagher and Gross saved the world. I know you revealed some stuff with Mark Weisblatt from 1236. Would love to hear Peter's and your thoughts on this, what you can legally share, ha ha ha. It was such a great podcast. Okay, so Peter, don't say a word

because I'm going to play a couple of minutes of Gallagher and Gross Save the World just to remind everybody how beautifully perfect that series was. So I'm going to play this now, and then we're going to come back and talk about Gallagher and Gross Save the World and John Gallagher. So Gallagher and Gross save the world and John Gallagher. The award you and I might have won is for most egregious consumption of illegal drugs. Tell me about your- Or in this show, name dropping. Because when it comes to rock and roll and movie stars, this is the podcast for you. You have done coke with famous people?

Yes, I have. Hugely famous people. The most famous. We're going to reveal all of our contracts. Your first job in radio, where, when, and how much? 12.5 in that hot, better romance and intrigue, St. John, New Brunswick. What year? 18 years old.

It was the early 80s. I'm doing the 6 o'clock sports on cbc exactly what i want to do all along 12 5 bring it on well that was probably pretty good back then i started at city tv if you can believe this in 1976 7800 did you did you go to training 15 years in a row 15 years how come our cross our past never crossed you know every one of these conversations with me you outdo me you made more money you went to spring training more i think you've slept with more women no i think you got more chicks than i this is really upsetting and i'm sitting right beside muhammad aileen and he says to me and he gives me one of

those uh gives one of those jimmy jimmy uh jagney, like, you know, oh, you killed my brother kind of looks, right? And we pose, and he says, how tall are you? I said, Muhammad. I said, why? He says, how tall? I go, 5'8". I go, why? He says, I want to know how far back I have to step when I knock you down.

Do you have a number of the number of women you've been with? Okay. Because mine's easy. How many, John? Give me a number of the number of women you've been with? Okay. Because mine's easy. How many, John? Give me a number. Well, it's just a number. People will talk about this for decades, this moment. Who doesn't have a number?

I have a number. Warren Beatty says he slept with 12,000 different people. Gene Simmons, who I've met, says about 5,000. And then there's Wilt Chamberlain, who says he has slept with 20 000 women that would have to have okay let's do the math it would be 1.1 1.14 women every day from the time he was 15 All right. there was nothing better than a Gallagher in Gross Save the World. Please tell us what happened. I'm taking a dramatic pause here. Take your time, Peter. What did we do?

We did about 50 episodes or so. I'm not sure of the number anymore. Something like that. And at the beginning, I was pretty convinced that we had a terrific product that we had we actually got into the top 10 in podcasts in canada with one of the first 20 oh sure there was tremendous feedback um john gallagher is possibly the most electric, most charismatic individual in terms of his spontaneity and his sound. And I felt that I was just there to be a shepherd, you know, to stimulate him, to add my own little part of the conversation.

You were a great team, though. Don't diminish your role there. You can't have a Gallagher without a Gross. To me, you can't have somebody like Robin Williams-style, like manic, frenetic, without what you bring to the table, which is not only the great stories

and the great legacy and the great voice, but you are more of a steady presence to guide them along. You need a Gross. You can't just have a Gallagher save the world. Okay. In my opinion, as a listener. I loved what we were doing.

I thought it had great potential. One of the problems was it was difficult to get sponsorship for it. It was so edgy. I don't know. It was really edgy, which is part of its charm. Neither John or I have any specific skills in getting the advertising, but I wanted to continue doing it simply because it was so gratifying and so exciting to do. John, for whatever's going on in John Gallagher's brain,

it was harder and harder to get him to show up. You know, he, he was living up at Lawrence and Avenue road. I said, I'll pick you up and I'll bring you to Mike's place. And we tried doing a few over the phone. That wasn't terribly successful.

The pretty, pretty ragged productions. Those were so basically the truth of the matter is that it just became impossible to pin john down now okay john gallagher uh he used to live there at avenue road in lawrence uh this is episode 902 uh 902 is the area code for Nova Scotia. Is that intentional? Did you pick this number on purpose? Where is John Gallagher today?

I believe he's in Halifax. So you haven't personally chatted with him since he moved? I think I called him several weeks ago and he never called me back. Okay. Now I'm trying to think of what I'm allowed to say and he never called me back. Okay. Now, I'm trying to think of what I'm allowed to say and what I'm not, so I'm just quick. Lauren Honickman's my lawyer. He's just telling me to tread lightly here.

Bottom line is, with the greatness of a John Gallagher, it comes in a bundle. It's not like it's all bread and bread and roses uh there's there's other parts to this package so you get this unbelievable talent and then it comes with other personality traits and uh vices etc that maybe interfered with the gallagher and gross Save the World, like, it's longevity. It was maybe tainted or interfered with by the other parts of the John Gallagher package. Everyone has to read between the lines there. Well, you can fill in some cracks there.

I've got the personal experience of being a mixed bag myself. That there was certainly certainly appeared in my life where I was doing inventive, creative, interesting work while at the same time distracted by some of my habits. Vices, if you will. Yeah, I'm kind of reluctant to piss on John. But we can say this because we witnessed this, that we would record Gallagher and Gross save the world

and he would have a bottle of wine with him. And if he got a little bit soft on the wine, it only made him better. Right. And I mean, I'm the guy who had the freezer space too, because it would be multiple bottles. So you're an enabler. Well, I'm a good host but but but we we didn't feel at the time that the drinking affected the quality so it was none of our business right right it's not our it wasn't our business and we we know what we see and we

understand these things and i think he might have opened up a little bit about it here and there too uh but it's not our role like we're not there to have an intervention uh with john gallagher uh you know we made sure he wasn't driving like that that to me is our role and he was never driving so i'll just say that and uh we really did do our very best and i would do what i needed to do to keep gallagher and gross, save the world, keep it alive. But let's face it, the COVID didn't help matters because he went into this like bunker during COVID and it basically, even getting him into this backyard wasn't going to happen during this pandemic. I'd say. Tell you, if he called me up tomorrow and said, let's do some more episodes, I'd say yes. Sure. we could Zoom him in. You could be here in person. We could have his voice here via Zoom, but

nothing was better than you two in the same room. And you can hear me cackling in the background. I heard that a couple of times. It's interesting, at the beginning, because I'm not really a control freak, but we talked about, well, should Mike be involved? And I went, no, no, it's Gallagher and Gross.

And in retrospect, I admit that was a mistake because it was good to have a referee interject from time to time. So I apologize. There were episodes. No, it's fine. I kept myself muted. See, everyone's different. Hebsey wants me to talk for Hebsey on Sports

because he wants to have a co-host. So I'm happy to chat with Hebsey. But, you know, Lorne Honigman wants me to be muted when he's doing Judgment Day with Lorne Honigman. Everyone Hebsey. But you know, Lauren Honigman wants me to be muted when he's doing judgment day with Lauren Honigman. Everyone's different. And you're right. I was muted. And then at some point though,

I think you and John said I could unmute. Like I got the, I got the word that Mike, you can unmute yourself. And I felt like I had been called up to the big leagues. This was a big moment for me. Like when Homer Simpson was that mascot with, and then he got called up to capital city.

Like it was like that moment for me. And you're right, I was very careful not to pollute it, because this is Gallagher and Gross Save the World. But I felt like I could prompt certain stories, and it's almost like playing a jukebox with Gallagher. Like, I know the stories at this point. And speaking of the stories, hello to Andrew Ward, who's watching this live. He says, this is so much fun to listen to.

So there's at least one person having a good time with us. But he also sent in a question earlier. He said, can you ask Peter if he was ever nervous about appearing in Gallagher's Big League Babble On? That book is nuts. Did you ever get a draft copy with even juicier stories? That's Andrew Ward's question. I've got the book.

Have you read it? Yeah. Did you just scan for your name? No, no, no. I'm not. He doesn't refer to me at all. It's a scan for your name no no i'm not i'm not he doesn't refer to me at all um it's a remarkable book and i'll tell you why because i if you'd asked me before he published the book could john gallagher write a book i'd say no no that's the last thing he would do not only it did he write a book um and it's filled with these wild eccentric bizarre extreme stories nick shows up in there uh

david bowie shows up in there you heard a bit of the muhammad ali story yeah yeah yeah and can we tell i can share this right that sometimes when he's telling that story like the muhammad ali story uh and this and that's i noticed he went into a diatribe about like how many you know he gives the number of how many women he's had sex with. He actually opens his own book, I noticed, and he would start reading his own book when he goes into those rants. There's a little behind the scenes. It's his reference Bible now.

He wrote this book by picking up his phone and just talking stories into the phone, hours and hours and hours. And I think someone else transcribed it for him. But what I wanted to say about the book is not only is it a lot of fun reading these outrageous stories, and he reveals everything. No, not everything.

Oh, no? And I won't reveal this because it's not in the book. But there are stories that were going to go in the book and then he didn't go in the book. Some famous woman that he's bedded, can we say that? Okay. That asked him, you know, who went on to have like families. Like famous, if I told you the name,

and I'm not going to put it on this podcast, but you'd be like, oh my goodness. And now they have families and kids, and they just don't want their husband and their kids to be reading about the fact that they were John Gallagher's lover for many, many years. So there are some stories definitely that John pulled from the final copy, but he did tell me everything was in the draft. And I did ask him for the draft. Not that I would share the stories on this podcast because I wouldn't do that, but he never did share the

draft. So to answer the last part of Andrew Ward's question, I never did see the draft of Big League Babylon. So the only copy I have is the copy that was sold and published. But the thundering point of the book, 230 pages of these wild antics, and then he's got 15 or 20 pages talking about how his father used to beat the crap out of him. And it's awful. But it tells you an awful lot why John is the way John is.

So when he was on my show the first time, I had just read Big League Babylon. And I did the last chapter you're referring to is the one that resonated with me. It's the one I think about. And he talks about being at a David Bowie concert and he's got a song called Suicide Solution. Is that the name of the song? Anyway, I can't think of the name of the damn song, but it's a great song actually.

But he was considering, John Gallagher was considering killing himself because of just basically the treatment, the abuse he received at the hands of his father. And that chapter where he opens up about his father and what he went through as a teenager, Honest to God gave me this like chills and completely explains a great deal of this behavior.

By the way, we're speaking about the man as if he had just passed away. And this is like the obituary. As far as we know, Gallagher is alive and he is living uh in nova scotia which is where he's from uh and we do miss him and and i i'm just sorry that gallagher and gross saved the world didn't have the legs like it was so like a comet it shone so brightly but it wasn't meant to last and for a variety of reasons but no fault of peter gross's no fault of mine. Some things just don't last forever, but just be glad they happened.

I would say like, be glad I'm still hosting those files. But you know, if anyone listening now, uh, has their, uh, curiosity peak,

they should look at the first 20 episodes, uh, are a lot of fun. I almost, those phone ones. If you gave me your blessing, I would actually pull the phoners from the feed. Like let them all be the live ones

and let them be the legacy because people might start with the most recent and then they're going to hear the COVID phone chats and it doesn't capture the same energy. Yeah, no, if you want to kill those, I don't care. They weren't very good. I might make some adjustments to the feed.

But yeah, check out Gallagher and Gross Save the World. Are you willing to share any stories about John Gallagher and money? Yes, I am. Buckle up. Real talk time. I'm a gambler. I have gambled all my life. And one of the things that's sacrosanct to me is if someone places a bet for you, you reimburse them right if somebody gives you a tip on a horse and it comes in you give them a share okay um if someone lends you money yeah uh for gambling you always repay that money so with that that in context, uh, on, uh, I think it was May the

5th of Saturday, the Kentucky Derby was being run. John calls me an hour before the Kentucky Derby, like just after five on a Saturday and says, can you make, can you make a bet for me? I want to make a bet on the Kentucky Derby. And this was fair because he doesn't have a betting account and, and you weren't allowed to go to the racetrack. There was no way that he could make a bet on the Kentucky Derby, but I have a betting account. Right. And so I could place a bet for him. So I was financially very, very compromised at the time. And I said to him, this is only me. This was last May. Are things better now?

No. And I said to him, this is only me. This was last May. Are things better now? No, I, I, I find a magic way to get through every month and pay my mortgage and all my

bills and fill the fridge with food. But, um, whatever. I said to John, I can make the bet for you, but you've got to pay me back by Monday because my mortgage payment's coming through on Tuesday.

Don't worry. I'll email you the money. I'll take care of you. I'll bring you the money. There was a promise to reimburse me. So I bet $100. $100 you really didn't have. Yeah, basically $100 I didn't have.

Well, I needed it. And subsequently, I had to kind of empty out my credit card a few days later to cover my mortgage. So I bet the horse. The horse was a rock and roll name. I can't remember the name. It came 18th. I picked it as well, but no money. I didn't bet any money on it.

I bet it with my family, and it came in like a second last. And to this day, I have not heard from John about that. So in the vernacular, he stiffed me. Okay. You're emptying your credit cards to pay your mortgage? Yep. That's the worst thing you can do. That's the worst thing you can do.

I know desperate times. What would you recommend? Well, the credit card interest is the highest interest. There's got to be something. No, but if I don't make the payment, I get dinged with a... No, I know. I get dinged both ends. My bank dings me for the NSF,

and then the mortgage people fine me $135. It's like 18%, 19% that... I know, this is the intervention. It's not going to be with John. It'll be with you. I know what you're saying. Okay, I take that back. I borrowed the money from my son, okay? No, no, no, no, no. I didn't mean to.

I don't want to shame you. Bottom line is, we'll talk about this one later, of course, of course, but stiffing you at this point in your life with these difficulties you're describing on that hundred dollars that you put on really, really bothers me, to be quite honest. Yeah, no, it, it, it bothers me too. I mean, I mean, I, I've put it in a box and it's, it's a little thing that John did and it wouldn't be like if John suddenly showed up and said, let's do more Gallagher and gross. I wouldn't say, no, I'm not going to because you, and it's a relatively small amount of money, but simply because of,

of my experience gambling and the, the truths and the rules of gambling that exist in my brain, I was upset about that. All right, anything else in the John Gallagher world to say? Just that you haven't heard from him since he moved, he ignored your call, he owes you 100 bucks, he probably owes you more from previous, but who's counting? I guess you are. since he moved. He ignored your call. He owes you a hundred bucks. He probably owes you more from previous but, you know, he was counting.

I guess you are. But here, I'm going to play a song here just to ask you about music for a moment. And while this starts to brew, by the way, at my wedding to Monica, which was, I don't know, eight years ago, whatever it was, I danced with my mom

in the distillery district at an art gallery and this was the song we danced to. This is Try by Blue Rodeo. Great song. Great Jim Cuddy song from Blue Rodeo. Jim Cuddy? Yeah, so Jim Cuddy. So we're going to talk about Jim here.

I'm going to shout out StickerU.com because StickerU.com has been amazing partners of this program for years now and any fotm who needs stickers or decals or anything of that nature i urge you to use sticker you.com they're in liberty village and we've met the owner andrew whitkin and we've talked to his father who drives the sticker mobile and what a wonderful organization. They're global because StickerU.com is global, but they're based right here in Liberty Village in Toronto. So much love to StickerU. Ridley Funeral Home.

Brad Jones from Ridley Funeral Home. He's going to be at TMLX 8 next week. And they're amazing. He was at that TMLX in the park that you were at, TMLX 7. So much love to the pillars of the community, Ridley Funeral Home and Brad and the gang there. They're just awesome. And McKay's CEO forums, they have a podcast called the CEO Edge Podcast, fireside chats with inspiring CEOs and thought leaders. Nancy McCade does a great job of that podcast, and I share an episode every week,

and I urge all FOTMs to check it out. The CEO Edge podcast from McCade's CEO forums. And Peter, when your financial situation improves and you realize you belong in Mimico here, the man to speak to is Mike Majeski. Mike Majeski is in the know in Mimico, and he certainly is, and you can go to realestateski. Mike Majeski is in the know in Mimico, and he certainly is. And you can go to realestatelove.ca to learn more.

Just tell Mike that Toronto Mike sent you. Peter, you've kicked out the jams with me, so I know you're the music that you love. And you revealed to me the other day that you were not familiar with the great band Blue Rodeo. Is that correct? I knew of great band Blue Rodeo. Is that correct? I knew of the band Blue Rodeo, but I couldn't sing any of their lyrics. I couldn't tell you a song. But I recognize that one.

Yeah, this was like late, I'm going to say 87, 88. Like it was late 80s and it was on outskirts. And this was a big hit in this country, Try from Blue Rodeo. They've actually got a bunch of big hits. Again, I'm going to see them at the Budweiser stage next Saturday. Their keyboardist sat where you are now like a few weeks ago

and performed live in this backyard. I love Blue Rodeo. Why did you end up speaking with lead singer, almost co-lead singer, you know, this is Greg and everything, but why did you end up speaking with Jim Cuddy? Well, we were talking about the Queen's Plate this Sunday, and Jim Cuddy's been hired by Woodbine. He's going to perform three songs in mid-afternoon before the race is run. before the race is run. And I instantly recognized,

despite the fact that I wasn't familiar with the music, that having an interview with Jim Cuddy couldn't be less than fascinating. And I contacted, I think it was Warner Music, the publicity department, and ultimately they hooked me up with them and they gave me his, I have his number, by the way. By the way, I want badly Jim Cuddy on Toronto Mic'd. I'm serious.

You can try to broker that deal. Yes, in exchange for that lasagna you're going home with, you have to see. The worst you can say is, no way, I'm not slumming it on Toronto Mic'd. I have his number. I'll give you his number. Jim Cuddy coming soon to Toronto Mic'd.

So you chatted with... Now, I have that clip of you talking to Jim Cuddy that is going to be a part of, is it, is it part of it? Well, it's in yesterday's release of the Down the Stretch podcast. Um, and let me say that was my 82nd Down the Stretch podcast. I would call this interview with Jim Cuddy the most interesting thing that I've done. Can I play it all? Yeah, why not? It's a lot of fun and he's a terrific guy. He was so receptive, and you can hear the humor in his voice that he was having possibly as good a time as I was.

Okay, here's Jim Cuddy speaking with the host of Down the Stretch podcast, Peter Gross. If a full cart of great thoroughbred racing, including the Queen's Plate on Sunday at Woodbine August the 22nd, isn't exciting enough, the Jim Cuddy Band will be performing in the afternoon. I have to admit I was pretty excited when Cuddy's people hooked me up with him over the phone. Thank you very much for doing this. This will be 10 minutes of your life that you'll never get back again. No, but this will be 10 unique minutes because I've never, ever discussed horse racing before. How appropriate is it for the Jim Cuddy band to be performing at a racetrack? Well, I mean, I think that, you know, my son did it two years ago, so it's not usual that I'm following him, but he did it down in the beer

tent before. When we're in Italy, we do charity trips. My son and a bunch of friends and I, we do charity trips and provide the music, and we're often in Italy for the Kentucky Derby, and we do a collective bet. The last bet we did was three years ago. It was a one-eyed horse, and it was on the outside rail. And even when his friend in Ireland said, this is really the bet you want? And that's what we put our money on. Are you aware that a one-eyed horse won the Queen's Plate last year?

No, I'm not. I am not. Really. So you clearly know as much about horse racing as I know about Canadian country music. Yeah, I did not know that. Well, the horse's name is Mighty Hearted. He's a wonderful horse. He won the award as Canada's Outstanding Horse Center. Wow. And he's blind or actually one-eyed? He lost one eye.

Wow. Because our horse was one-eyed. It was just a deep pocket where the other eye should have been. Wow. Wow. I looked that up. That's great. So, Jim, I've been listening to your songs, and it turns out that many of them seem to have a horse racing theme.

For example, you've got a song called Bad Time. Now, is that about a jockey getting his horse to the wire a little late? Could have been, but it's actually about falling in love with somebody at an inappropriate time. What about this lovely song, While I Was Waiting? I mean that's about a horse player sweating on a closed photo finish, isn't it? Well, unfortunately, again, that's not true. It's actually about waiting for the right one to come along. Well, then there's a song that you perform called Maybe Sometime.

Well, maybe sometime, maybe sometime, maybe sometime. I mean, that's about a five-year-old gelding that hasn't won yet, right? Again, I'm so sorry. It should be, but it's not. It's about lamenting love lost. Okay. Well, this one. Everybody cries.

Sometimes everybody cries. That's when eight guys pool all their money into the pick five, and then they lose the first race, right? As much as I know that feeling, that's not what it's about. It was about trying to soothe my daughter, who pretty much cried every day when she was young. Well, you've got a song called Where You Gonna Run. Is that about the trainer thinking,

is it Fort Erie, Presque Isle, Singer Lakes, Tampa Bay? Where you gonna run to now? Is it Fort Erie, Presque Isle, Singer Lakes, Tampa Bay? I wish it was. I really wish it was, Peter. But it's about trying to hide from your demons. Well, you know what? If you're going to perform at the racetrack, you really need titles that reflect that experience. So I'm going to help you out here.

The next time you go into the studio, here's some horse racing themed song titles that you could use. For example, Try, Try, Try to Win the Try, Stand By Your Mayor, Set Lock and Load It, Ode to Philly Joe,

or Take This Exacto box and shove it. You know what? That's a lot of inspiration. Thank you very much for that. The Jim Cuddy Band will be performing three of their hit songs sometime before the Queen's Plate on Sunday afternoon. You rest when you are done.

What to tell the neighbors when they ask what's going on. Great job, Peter. I'll tell you something, because we said at the beginning I wasn't familiar with Blue Rodeo or Jim Cuddy's music, but for the purpose of that interview, I downloaded five of the songs, and they're wonderful.

It's fabulous stuff. Tell me if you've ever heard this one before. Like a diamond mine So you've been talking to Jim Cuddy and Try is a big Jim Cuddy song, but this is a Greg Keeler song. And I'll give it a moment, because it's my favorite Blue Rodeo song. And you say the party's over But like a drunken fool, I never know when to leave.

It's just that in the eyes of this builder, you mean everything to me. And this is actually the song that keyboardist Mike Boguski played when he was over here last month. Of course, he doesn't sing it. He just plays it. It was amazing. A little less country, more hard rock. It's got that psychedelic kind of flavor to it.

Here, I'll bring it down. I'm sorry. I actually really, really like that song. But I really liked your conversation with Jim Cuddy. So congrats for that. And again, hook me up. Hook a brother up. That's what we do in the TMDS family.

We help each other. And I'm glad you got introduced to some great Canadian music that might not be new music, but it's new to you and they're still making new music, Jim Cuddy Band especially. So I'll be back, 30 seconds more of this and then we're going to talk about A Woman You Murdered. Yeah, I love I love shine Like a diamond in the sky Okay, quick note.

Mike Epple is confirmed for TMLX8, so you are now obligated to go there as well and join him. Let's have some Palma Pasta, some Great Lakes beer. Shout out to Mike Epple, who's listening live. There's a couple of Gords listening live, so I want to say hi to Gord G and Gord E. They're both enjoying this live. I know we shouted out Moose Grumpy off the top,

but now I want to hear about you and Jim Cuddy are negotiating a publishing deal. Please fill me in on the details, but you might be writing a Blue Rodeo song. What's going on here? Well, you really ran with that, didn't you? In the body of the conversation, I took a shot. At the end of that interview, I'm proposing to Jim that he needed some horse racing themed songs if he was going to perform at the racetrack and i advised him that i had written a parody version of mama don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys called mama mamas don't let your babies grow up to be jockeys and he he drew a line in the sand he said no i can't do that there's all

kinds of copyright concerns so i wasn't able to talk him into that. However, I did come today equipped with these lyrics if you want to hear them. Okay, let me hear them. And then I have a question about something that came up in a recent episode with Billy Newton Davis. And then I need to talk about Vera Cox. Oh, Vera Cox. Vera Cox, a 106-year-old woman.

And what the heck you did to this poor lady. But please, tell us these lyrics. Okay, these are lyrics to a song called Mama's. Don't let your babies grow up to be jockeys. So I'm going to do my best Willie Nelson here. Stop me when it gets really lame, okay? Okay, first let me stop Blue Rodeo, because it won't interfere with you. I don't know if I should sing this or read this.

Well, is there an instrumental version on YouTube? I can pull it up. Don't worry. Let this be dreadful. Anyways, mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be jockeys. Don't let them ride fillies or two-year-old colts. They're hyper and frightened and ready to bolt. Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be jockeys.

They take all those chances. They'll tear out your hair and they won't eat your chocolate, Eclair. Jockeys aren't easy to feed, but they're ready to ride. Enclaimers or maidens or stakes as their agents decide. Steering a half ton of horse at a furious pace and fear is no factor at all in the heat of the race. So mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be jockeys. Let them be goalies or slide on a luge or run with the bulls if that's what they choose. Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be jockeys. A blink of the eye and the baby fat's gone and they're always at work before dawn. And I think that's about all you need to hear of that. Peter, well done, my friend.

I'm disappointed Jim Cuddy didn't take you up on the offer to record that. Sounded good to me buddy i think at some point i should propose that to woodbine to produce it to maybe get some of the jockeys to sing it to raise money for some charity well it sounds like a hit to me yeah i will be hearing that on kiss 92 i write lyrics and i've never sold one well just first time for everything uh maybe we'll have an auction at TMLX8. Who wants to buy the publishing rights there? Now, on a recent episode of Toronto Mic, Billy Newton Davis

appeared. Do you know who Billy Newton Davis is? No. It's okay if you don't. He's a singer, performer. He was in the Nylons for a little bit, but he also records solo. He recorded some stuff with Deadmau5. I know you're a big Deadmau5 fan.

Oh, yeah. And now he's recording some old standards, but he's a wonderful guy, just a breath of fresh air and a very positive individual. And he was sharing the reason he disclosed to me, the reason he came to Toronto was because of Scientology. He got hooked up with Scientology in New York and Scientology, and that's the reason he ended up in Toronto because he's an American. He's from Ohio, actually. And he kind of was talking about Scientology in Toronto. And I asked like,

who are the famous Torontonians that were a part of Scientology when he was there? And he mentioned Deanie Petty. And my question for you, Peter Gross, because you, of course, worked with Dini Petty at City TV, etc. Did you know Dini Petty was a Scientologist? I suppose I did. There was never any evidence of that at work. She certainly didn't proselytize and try and...

Recruit. Yeah, no, none of that. Okay. So she didn't ever try to push Scientology on you, but at the time you were probably aware that she was involved with Scientology. You want to hear my obscene Dini Petty story? Oh my God. Yes. First of all, Dini Petty was salt of the earth. She was a delight to work with. She, she didn't have any diva sort of behavior. And there were people who thought she was an extremely attractive woman. Well, if I will, she's still an attractor. I had her on last

year and she's still attractive. And she's had quite a career. I'd love to run into Dini again. Strangely, the last time I saw Dini Petty was at a Queen's Plate maybe 10 years ago. She was there with Jojo Cinto. Anyway, this is such a stupid story. I like stupid stories. We covered some hockey games, some senior

men's hockey game, and it might have been maybe it was a collegiate game. And we go into the change room afterwards, and this one individual had quite a fixation on on dini petty so he instructed the camera and he said shoot this and he took off all his clothes and he grabbed his penis and sort of waved it at the camera and said dini petty this is for you and i think we showed it to her and she was quite appreciative well shout, shout out to Dini Petty, who's still going strong.

And I was just curious, that nugget about her in Scientology, I was unaware of that. I don't have a lot to add. The famous Scientologist that we had in this city. And I'm sure, I don't know what her involvement is now, but this is going way back, I should point out, like mid-80s or early 80s or something like that. So shout out to FOTMD, Dini Petty. Let's talk about Vera Cox. How did you hook up with Vera

Cox? I've produced a few episodes of The Seniors Moment, which is a podcast I'm trying to market. I'm trying to market. And at one point, I was speaking to a woman about a senior's retirement home. Right. And this lady was very forthcoming with information about how it works, who should be in a home. And the conversation came to the point where she said, we have a number of 100-year-old people. And it struck me, a little light bulb went off. I need to interview one of these people as well.

There's Vera Cox. She's 106 years old. Wow. And, uh, the, uh, this interview was set up with Vera Cox and it's a phone interview. Yeah.

So, and, um, she, this, this was, this was almost as exciting as the Jim Cuddy. Right.

To imagine that this woman had all of her marbles. She was delightful. She was funny. You have some of these clips, don't you? Well, you sent me something. I hope it got the right one loaded up because I noticed it's six minutes long. Yeah. Okay, okay.

For Vera Cox, 106 years old, I'm giving her six minutes of Toronto Mike. It's my show. It's my decision. I'm doing it. Then maybe we'll reveal the current status of Vera Cox. Yes. But let me just go back to seniors moment for a minute. So we talked about your weekly podcast, Down the Stretch. Anyone who even cares even a

little bit about Ontario horse racing has to subscribe and listen to Down the Stretch. It's the definitive podcast. And you're doing well with that. You have some sponsors, et cetera. We talked about Gallagher and grow, save the world. I was looking at email exchanges.

We were having Gallagher was going after big fish. He talked about, there was a meeting with Michael Weckerly, uh, who now, uh, owns the Alma combo. There was talk about larger,

like even larger breweries, believe it or not, than great lakes, which is family run and independent, fiercely independent. If you will. I can't remember if it was Labatt's or Molson. I don't know. But there were some very big brands John was threatening to bring into the Gallagher and Gross Save the World sponsorship to keep that fueled and going. Obviously, that didn't happen and the rest is history. But this other podcast you recorded a few episodes of called Seniors Moment is excellent. And it's totally like ideal for our senior citizens.

And really, if I understand correctly, you're right here to correct me if I got this wrong. Seniors Moment can be a weekly podcast should a sponsor step up to finance it. You do a great job on it. It's targeting senior citizens and we're looking for like, I don't know, any brand that wants to reach an older population, right? Yeah. I think if you, you go Toronto Mike seniors moment, if you Google that you will find the three episodes that we've produced already and use those as a template.

And those are like, yeah, so we have three episodes essentially as like a proof of concept, if you will, like for somebody, let's say I'm going to make this up. Somebody at shoppers drug Mart is trying to target this audience because of some programs they have with their pharmacies,

et cetera. And they can listen to a few episodes in here, like how it would sound and feel. And do we want this to become the, you know, a title? Do we want title sponsorship of this program and and work with peter so this is this exists peter gross is a great writer we already knew that since gallagher uh since uh the world according to gross we know he's a great writer we know you you're excellent at packaging these things up so i'm just gonna if anyone knows of any brand out there that's trying to target an older

populace, uh, please have a chat with Peter Gross because seniors moment can be a partnership between Peter and your brand. And I really think somebody should step up and keep that going. So we're going to, well, you can interject now before I play Vera Cox,

uh, for the audience. But this was from one of those three episodes. I think the most recent one, if I'm correct, of Seniors Moment. And then we'll come back after we listen to you chat with Vera Cox. We'll talk a little more about Vera on the other

side. Anything to say? Vera on the other side, I like that. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. Are you ready? Yeah, go ahead. Run it. Okay. You may never in your life, which hopefully will be a long one, hear an interview as delightful as this one with Vera Cox. Vera was born June 21st, 1915.

So she's 106. She grew up in Brampton and now lives comfortably in the Woodhall Park Retirement Village in Brampton. This woman still has a wonderful sense of humor. She recalls that she was born just after the start of World War I. Yes, I was around in 1915, but I didn't start the war. It was in 1914. So you're not to blame? No, no, nor the second war either. Your incredible life started before the vehicle age, before television, the internet, a couple of world wars, multiple prime ministers. What events stand out? What are the most important events that you witnessed? That I witnessed? That mattered in your life? It didn't really matter, but one of the highlights was seeing the Queen. It was just in a parade, but I was thrilled to see her coming down the street in her...

Now she had a vehicle. I know she wasn't. Or she might have had a horse. She didn't have a famous horse, didn't she? Do you think that life was better in the 40s and 50s than it is today? Well, technically, no.

But yes, for living, yes. Prayer, I would say. What was so good about the 50s that makes it better than today? That's when everything came alive. Television, central heating, yes. All the new inventions came. Like television. like television.

Whoever thought that we'd have people that could speak and you could see? That was a marvelous creation. What's your favorite television show? Well, I do watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Is there a story about a flood in your store? Oh, you bet. The Etobicoke River ran right at the back of our place. Our basement was filled with water up to the second shelf of the store.

And I recruited my brother, my mother, my father, my young brother, and anyone else I knew. This flood strangely ruined a large shipment of feminine products. Tampax and Modest used to be sort of under the counter. And, of course, the water doesn't do them any good. And there was all these pads floating around in the basement. And my young brother, he wanted to know from Dad what they were. So my dad had to give him a lesson. Vera, I'm told you were never married. Is that the secret

to a long life, never having a husband? Oh, sure. Well, which prime minister did you like the best? Now, that's a difficult question. I wouldn't give any of them a gold star. Well, David Baker lasted a long time. I don't think his policies were that good, but he stayed in power. Did you get a letter from the prime minister

when you turned 100? I got one from the queen. Vera? Yes. Did you ever get in trouble? Were you ever arrested? turned 100? I got one from the queen. Vera? Yes? Did you ever get in trouble? Were you ever arrested? Did you ever do anything that you regret? Oh, I got a ticket for parking once.

The snow was so hot, I didn't see the fire hydrant. And that was the only ticket I got. That's the worst thing you've ever done? Well, the big phone note. Wow. Isn't that delightful? Fantastic.

She got one parking ticket in her life. Is that the worst thing you've ever done? She didn't see the fire hydrant. Well, it's the worst thing that they found out about. She like deefed the chief. It was a really great conversation. Again, it's just amazing you could talk to somebody who's 106 years old and capture that interview. So I must ask Peter, this woman seemed to be doing fine and dandy, like still very sharp,

just doing well. And then she spoke with you. I don't like the direction of the implication, but yes, about four or five days after the interview, she passed away. implication but it yes about four or five days after the interview she passed away wow because you shared this with me before she passed away and i actually put it on youtube and started tweeting it out because i'm like here's peter gross chatting with vera cox 106 years young and then it was like the next day or something you sent me a note vera passed away and i was i felt like very sad like that Vera she's been cruising along for over a century not a problem you know living life enjoying life and bam chats up Peter Gross and dies like and either you can look at it two ways cause and effect one is that you you killed Vera Cox that's one way but or you could look at it where that sort of was like the that she had finished completed

everything she'd ever want to complete in her life and she was finished basically 106 is fantastic and that she was basically exiting after her greatest triumph which is appearing on seniors moment with peter gross i can tell you that i got a couple of really nice notes from uh her children and grandchildren about the interview. Well, that's one thing. Vera will live forever in that recording. I've never had a guest of Toronto Mike to pass away. Like no guest ever has passed away.

But it didn't take you long at senior's moment to have that happen to you. So much love to Vera's family. Vera was fantastic in that clip. And Peter, I'm joking with you. I'm glad you had that conversation with her before she passed. Imagine like you were going to delay this a week for some reason.

And it's like, you know, you can't, you did it when you could and you got it done. And it was tremendous. So before we say goodbye here, we covered a lot of ground. But I have a yoga mat set up on my deck. You said, can you put, I got Monica's yoga mat. I put it out for you.

Why did I do that? Well, as I've indicated to you, I crave attention. You know, see, you remember that I was the morning sportscaster at 680 News for a certain period of time? When Mike Eppa was here, I played that first, the first launch and we heard your voice on it. And after long-term consideration, cause they, they got rid of me two years ago. The number one reason that I love that job was to tell people that I was the morning sportscaster,

as opposed to any kind of passion I had for the subject material. I mean, I like doing it, but I like to attract attention and I have a little stunt that I can do. You know, I'm 71 years old and what I'm going to propose now is that I'm going to get on this yoga mat and do 90 pushups. And I don't think any other, there must be someone my age who can do 90 pushups, but I'm going to attempt to do 90 push-ups on that yoga mat. Right now? Why not? Okay, so again, this is audio, so I will do play-by-play, but Peter Gross has just got up from his seat.

He's walked over to the yoga mat. Now, Peter, before you begin, though, I do want to take video of it on my phone here. So you're going to do it right now? Okay, so let me get my camera here. I'm going to try to stay on mic. I will do play-by-play because I'm not even going to edit this. That's how raw I want this to be here.

So I'm just going to set up my camera. Before you begin, stand by. We're in video mode. Peter Gross. Peter Gross, you may begin, my friend. So Peter Gross is going to do, did he say 100 push-ups? Firstly, I think I'd be done by now, to be quite honest. And I'm only half Peter's age. He's just screamed out the number 10. He's going at quite the clip. I'll share this video on Twitter so everybody can see. Okay. Wow. Peter Gross is

going at a tremendous clip again, 30 already. Wow. And it's not a cool day. There's a, it's a humid day in Toronto. I think that's going to make this even more difficult for Peter Gross. He's already hit 40, Still going at that tremendous clip. Look at those calf muscles. Wow. Putting me to shame. What tremendous shape. I can't believe this man had a stroke a year ago.

Honestly, what an inspiration. He's turning red. I don't know if I should be concerned about that. So I think we're at 50. He's still going strong. I've got to if I should be concerned about that. So I think we're at 50. He's still going strong. I've got to listen for the next number. He's gasping a little bit here. He's slowing down.

72. So he's got to his age, which I would have been happy with that, but he wants to get to 100. He is slowing down, ladies and gentlemen. The clip is not what it was. Now it's sort of like counting the time

between contractions. Now his posture's changed a bit. He's at 80. He's got 20 to go. His form is suffering a little bit. He's really in Peter. You know, there's no shame in this game. I can't get to eight.

I can't get to eight, let alone 80, 86, 87, 88, 89. He got to 90. I know this man. He's going. 91. Okay, 91 91 how are you buddy you collect yourself here congratulations anything you want to say

Peter's going to need a moment but he did it he's got his water and I'll turn off my video okay I captured that video Peter it happened I witnessed it

it looked like 90 something Gordon says I need to work on my play-by-play it's because I was trying to shoot the video at the same time I can't walk and chew gum at the same time shout out to Sammy Cohen so get back on the camera and yeah okay he's bathing okay it's he's breathing heavily we're gonna hear from

peter gross in a moment after he did his uh 92 is that what you did 91 91 come on he's very honest man he's honest to a full all right all right get in there how do you feel really good i've i've uh How do you feel? Really good. I've had times where I did the 90 push-ups where I thought it would die. Are you going to die? No, I feel really good. I'm obviously breathing a little heavily.

You brought a towel and everything. Well, my intention was to splash the water over me. I always do it in the same place in my house, and I thought, being in a different place, I was worried that it would be too hot and I'd get overheated. Right. But we did it. You did it, buddy. Honestly, you're in great shape.

Glad to see it. And I'm glad you did that live on Toronto Mike, because long after you're gone, this audio will survive somewhere and people will be like... I would be curious if anyone else my age or older can do that. I mean, that was the point. I'm showing off. You're showing off.

So you're 71 years old. If anyone knows of someone over 71 or older who can do more than 91 push-ups, let us know. Because we think Peter's in some rarefied air here. Peter, you are great. You always hit it out of the park. And I can't wait to see you at TMLX 8 on August 20th. I'll remind you closer to the date of the event. But we need you there,

especially if Lauren's going to be there and Mike Geppel's going to be there and Hebsey. It's going to be great fun. And it's going to be great fun and it's always fun chatting with you so thanks for doing this buddy any final remarks before I play us out here? I've gone through all of this simply for the box

of the Palma Pasta the best lasagna ever and that brings us to the end of our 902nd show pasta. The best lasagna ever. And that brings us to the end of our 902nd show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Peter is at Peter the Gross.

The name of David Cassidy's horse. Shout out to Perry Lefkoe. Great Lakes Brewery. They're at Great Lakes Beer. McKay CEO Forums are Beer McKay CEO Forums are at McKay CEO Forums Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta I'm going to grab your lasagna in a moment

Sticker U is at Sticker U Ridley Funeral Home they're at Ridley FH and Mimico Mike he's Mike Majeski and he's on Instagram as at Majeski Group Homes see you all later tonight for the penultimate episode of pandemic Fridays with Stu Stone and Cam Gordon.

This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Rome Phone. Rome Phone brings you the most reliable virtual phone service to run your business and protect your home number from unwanted calls. Visit RomePhone.ca to get started.