Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Toronto Mike'd #58

Episode Date: December 12, 2013

Mike and his wife unveil the name of their unborn son.

Welcome to the 58th episode of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything, often with a distinctly Toronto flavour. I'm Mike from TorontoMic.com. Joining me is my wife, Monica. And hosting this audio file are the good people at Core Fusion. Welcome to episode 58, babe. Thanks for having me, babe. I'm sorry I ate all your cookies. I'm so upset right now. I don't even know if I could do this whole recording. I came home expecting to enjoy my favorite cookies hand delivered to me by my mom who lives thousands of kilometers away. And they were all gone.

This sounds really bad. You took took cookies favorite cookies away from a pregnant woman this sounds awful awful and i'm i'm disgusted with myself but i didn't understand the uh i don't want to go too deep into this tragic personal story of ours, but I didn't understand how limited the supply was and how important these cookies were to you. I was starving after lunch. I did a good bike ride and I was starving and I saw some cookies and I ate them and I'm so sorry. How many cookies were in the bag?

I don't know, babe. I don't know. Enough for two of us. We got a very busy schedule. We had to move on on i can't remember but in hindsight it was an asshole thing to do i i think if i were hearing this story about myself i would say what that's what an asshole forget like forgetting to use the grocery store dividers this is a completely different level and i am so sorry please uh know that i'm going to try to bake you some new uh what are they called pinwheels they're cinnamon pinwheel cookies never heard and you better get the recipe right i'm giving you

two weeks christmas day i'm expecting to to have them. I'm going to bake you cinnamon pinwheel cookies by Christmas, and then you're going to come back on and review them. Okay. Sounds good. I'm glad you're the guest. What are you, a co-host today, a special guest? Maybe you're both. I'm so happy to have you here because you are having my baby. Yes.

And you know what? I haven't sat in this room. Oh, because... This is my first time in this studio. In the new Toronto, no pun intended, Mike Studios. That's amazing because we've been here a while.

I stood in here, but I haven't actually sat down. It's actually kind of cold in here. I don't know if it's a good room for a baby. So at some point, this studio you're in right now will become the new baby's room. Right. So let me ask you some questions. We know it's going to be a boy. And this is your first child, right?

Yes. And are you excited? Very excited. How pregnant are you? and this is your first child, right? Yes. And are you excited? Very excited. How pregnant are you? How many weeks are you? I'm 22 weeks today. And how many weeks is a pregnancy?

Should I know this? 40, right? 40 weeks. 40 weeks. And you're 22, so you're more than halfway there. Yeah. And I'm feeling very good, surprisingly. I'm enjoying this pregnancy. You look good. Thank you. And smell good. I thought you're, I smelled your hair earlier

and it was really nice. Thanks. And yeah, you seem fit. You're doing your exercises and things and you seem active and you're having a good pregnancy. Yeah, I'm enjoying it. and you're having a good pregnancy. Yeah, I'm enjoying it. Do you have a name for this boy, this golden child? I was given a name. Who gave you this name? You did.

You did. I did. You brought it up. I didn't hate it, so I didn't veto it. I've been thinking of other names and nothing has been able to compete with it. So right now, I guess we do have a name. With your permission, may I unveil the name of our unborn son?

Yes. Coming April 2014. I wish I had a drumroll. I'm looking for... I don't have a drumroll. I'm looking for a... I don't have a drum roll. I was wondering what you were doing there. Hold on.

Oh, I don't have a freaking drum roll. Can you remind me to bring in a drum roll? Okay. Jarvis Henry. Jarvis Henry. Jarvis Henry. So Jarvis Henry. Sounds good. Okay.

At first, I wasn't sure about Jarvis because I don't know. You don't hear Jarvis very often. Which I like. That's part of what I like. I like it starts with a J because like my firstborn son, James, I thought we need a J because uh michelle is an m like mike or monica so james is on his own he needs another j so this is a j this is not a name you hear a lot but it's a solid solid name michelle picked this name that story is we were

walking uh near one young street where we parked our car. We were going to a concert. We were going to see Selena Gomez. And we started to talk about what we would name this boy. And we were just saying names. I think Captain Morgan ad was there for the rum. And then we said, oh, we could call it Morgan. And then we said, oh, that's a good name.

And then there was a sign for Jarvis the street. And she said, Jarvis. And I said oh that's a good name and then there was a sign for Jarvis the street and she said Jarvis and I said that's the name really that's how it went yep and uh she was joking but I didn't but that's how it went so I didn't know she was joking she said the name Jarvis as the name because she saw Jarvis and I said that's the name and I was I was sold instantly instantly I never even had a okay that's not bad it was that's the name huh and henry uh i like as a middle name just i like the name i have an uncle henry we're gonna name him uncle hank well we can no one uses have you ever used my middle name no no so don't worry about middle names but But Jarvis Henry. Okay. And you're documenting this pregnancy on your brand new blog, which I quite enjoy. You are a very good writer. And you write about this pregnancy at torontomommy.com. I'm trying to write as often as possible. And I'm trying to keep it interesting I like it like not just first of all I should like

it you speak about you know being a stepmother to my kids and you talk about you know carrying my child so if I don't like this blog we're in some big friggin trouble well I'm hoping at some point we'll show it to Jarvis and he could learn about his parents or or me at least before he was born. And that's a great idea. So if anyone's listening and wants to bookmark TorontoMommy.com, I think anyone who has a kid or is expecting their first child, I think there's be some, or anyone who gives a shit about our kid, this would be an interesting blog to follow. shit about our kid, this would be an interesting blog to follow.

So recently we went to the Etobicoke Lakeshore Santa Claus Parade. It was interesting. I didn't have high hopes for it, but it was interesting. Okay. But had you ever been to the Toronto Santa Claus Parade, the Metro Toronto one? Yes, I have. Okay. So the Etobicoke Lakeshore one will not hold up well in a comparison. Is that fair to say?

Right. Okay. Now, the advantages are that we got to walk to this one from our home. You could see it from our home. Yeah, you could see it. So the advantages are you could see it from our home. You could see it from our home. Yeah, you could see it. So the advantages are you could see it from our home.

We did not have to get there four hours early to get a good spot on the curb. We could show up as it was sort of rolling by and get a good spot. Yeah. So those are the two big advantages. That's really it. Everything else would be a disadvantage. The floats are underwhelming and... I thought there was a bit of charm to it.

Like a small town, right? Yeah, everyone there was having a good time. They didn't expect all the frills and the fancy floats. Everyone was just having a good time, which was really nice. So it was less commercialized, you could say. I doonto uh santa claus parade has become ridiculously commercialized you know walmart's this floats by walmart and they're going to push product on you and this floats from uh what's a good sears or whatever they're going to push product on you and this one's from mattel and here's the new barbie you need to buy for this christmas so it's just this one had a lot less of that yeah and did you hear what i said to uh mike pinball clemens yeah

he was he was wearing a nice velvet purple velvet jacket and you yelled out to him nice jacket which sounded like sarcasm to me no that's what steve said and you said no you thought it was sincere i thought i thought steve's thought i wasastic. No, I thought it sounded like a sarcastic remark. But he did say thank you. I never meant it sarcastically. I meant it sincerely. And I repeated it twice because I had to yell it. And then I said, pinball, I love your jacket.

Like that, I love your jacket. And then he looked at me and he smiled, that great big pinball smile. And he said, thank you, Merry Christmas. And I said, thank you. Merry Christmas. And I said, Merry Christmas. And now what did you yell out to Mr. Rob Ford? Nothing. I did not. He was on the wrong side. I did

get a Merry Christmas from his driver. Yeah, his driver was nice and friendly and smiley. Well, he's just a hired gun. But he was very cheerful friendly and smiley. Well, he's just a hired gun. But he was very cheerful. I liked it. He didn't throw candy canes at us.

Robbie there was throwing candy canes at the poor kids. But, you know, that was our experience with the Santa Claus parade. A lot of people ask me, babe, what happened to your podcast? So you actually had your own podcast called In Her Shoes. Yes. In fact, if you would... Does this song bring back any memories? This is, was, the opening theme to In Her Shoes.

It's a great song. What happened to your podcast tell us i got busy this i think the last time i recorded was before the wedding so it's the wedding was in june yeah and it's now uh december wow it's been six months already. My issue is this, okay? So a little under a year ago, I bought this quality podcast studio setup. We just talked about it. I spent real money on this. Yeah. And I had Andrew Stokely, the audio guru,

help me set it up. And he helped me pick the equipment and put it together. And so, you know, at the beginning, you had a podcast. Michelle had a podcast, my daughter. My brother Ryan had a podcast, sports. I had Toronto Mic'd, which we're recording right now. And then shortly thereafter, I started a second podcast called Your Blog Sucks.

But today, I actually only have two podcasts that ever get recorded in here. Toronto Mic'd and Your Blog Sucks. My daughter. The others died. Michelle did one recently, but now she does like one every quarter, one every three months or so. My brother, Ryan, I don't know what happened to his podcast, but it's a dead podcast walking.

It's not coming back. And then yours has disappeared. And you live at the home of the recording studio. I know. So do you have any plans to bring it back or you just want to come on Toronto Mic once in a while? I haven't decided yet. Okay. Will you let us know when you decide a while? I haven't decided yet. Okay. Will you let us know when you decide?

Sure. I will. All right. You know, you don't talk as much as Rosie, if I may say so. I know. I think I need to be 12. I realize I do. That's great. He needs to be 12.

I do stuff to produce. I'm doing things. And she'll start talking. Keep the people entertained. That's great. He needs to be 12. I do stuff to produce. Like I'm doing things. Right. And then she talks over that. I mean, she'll start talking. Keep the people entertained. Three and a half minutes later, I've got my shit done. I'm not a professional like she is. But I realize you talk for 3.5 seconds.

So I really, then there'll be this like. You're put on the spot. So you're done. You talk, which was 3.5 seconds. I'm still doing stuff on. I'm doing stuff. So you feel more pressure. It's just she talks a lot more than you. That's very true.

We got a card from her. It's the only piece of snail mail. I've personalized snail mail I think I've got in forever. It was nice to see it. I think I got a piece of mail two months ago okay so now we're talking back in the day it used to be you used to get mail like personalized mail every week so now it's like rare so will you because just today uh canada post announced that they're going to stop delivering mail to our home will you miss that I will not miss that because like you said,

we don't get a lot of personal mail and there's nothing exciting about opening your mailbox to see a bunch of bank statements or flyers. So if we have to go to a community mailbox and that's totally fine to see the not so exciting things. If we were rich, do you think that would be really awesome? Like we'd open our bank statements because we'd count the zeros. Like we'd get off on it. Would that be different?

No, I don't think so. Plus with the community mailboxes, you have a bigger box for parcels, which I really like. I think. Because of all my online shopping so you envision this okay so that you like that yeah i'm i think i'd like the i think i'd like the um ritual of like the daily walk to the communal mailbox where maybe i'll see some neighbors i just envision this like very uh mayberry type hey bill how you doing today just

here to get my mail like i i don't think i don't think it'll be like that in reality oh it won't be that exciting well then darn it well i i won't miss it i don't have any personal mail coming to the home i think we should still keep the mailbox yeah well just like maybe we should plant something in it, maybe. Like flowers. No. Well, we got five years. We got five years. We'll keep it.

We have five years to figure this out. I don't think they're going to be pulling the switch on this anytime too soon. Babe, what? You're a younger person, but let's, can I say your age? Sure. So you're 32? Right. And you moved to Toronto when you were how old? I think I was 21. Okay. So you've been here over a decade now. What rate, what Toronto radio has captured your attention over the past decade? What,

what radio stations have you been listening to? When I first moved here, I listened to Chum 104.5 for a while. Oh, just like my mom. And then I think Low 93.5. I think they were just coming out then. So you like Top 40? Low 93.5. I don't think that was top 40 that was um

r&b and hip hop yeah yeah okay what else and then um 92.5 and then the edge i was listening to the edge for a while and then now 88.1 so So when did you listen to The Edge? Probably, I started listening a couple years ago. Oh, recently? Yeah, recently. So you just listen for the music or is there personalities on that station you enjoy? Okay. I don't enjoy the personalities too much. Okay.

So are you familiar with the Dean Blundell show? Yes. And have you heard them have you heard this show i've heard yeah i've heard of it but um i listened to it but i'm not a fan okay that's what i'm trying to get at like did are you entertained by the dean blundell show no are you familiar with the recent controversy surrounding the dean blendel show no so i there's a it's funny because very recently there was like dean said some shit about humble and fred uh remind me at the end of this podcast ask you what you thought of humble's speech at her wedding okay so dean said some shit about humble and f Fred and Humble and Fred responded.

So I kind of chopped up the audio and hosted it. So there was this little controversy there. And then Todd Shapiro came on Humble and Fred's podcast to kind of discuss the whole thing. So there was like this little mini fun little controversy, you could say. And then there was this real controversy in which Blind Derek, the producer, was the foreman of a jury on a sexual assault case and he convicted this guy they found him guilty uh and they went then then he went on this show dean blendel show and made homophobic remarks i heard about that so that to me was a serious disrespect for the judicial system not to mention uh not very respectful to homosexuals and anyone who cares about a homosexual or cares about civil rights right exactly so i wondered if you uh had any opinion on that um well i understand they're it's a it's a comedy show i mean they're

trying to entertain their their listeners but i just don't i think the content was totally off regardless of whether he was on the the jury or not they shouldn't be joking about it but the fact he was the foreman of this jury yeah he should have known to shut up on the topic only i speak from this perspective that so was he not told so that he's not no you were told he was told well first of all i i can speak uh as a former foreman of a jury on a big trial in tor. So this is not me guessing or I've been there. And there's a couple of rules. One is what happens in the jury room stays in the jury room.

You're never to speak about what happens in the jury room. And secondly, basically, you're not to just... Basically, that's the big one, I guess. That is the big one because you're allowed to discuss the case. Okay, so did he discuss what happened? I think he spoke about some thoughts and stuff discussed in the jury room. But mainly, he presented what I would call a negative view of the lifestyle. So if you don't have an open mind to the fact this was an openly gay man

who was practicing gay sex in Toronto bathhouses. So if you find that gross and you're disgusted by that lifestyle, what are the odds that you would be unbiased? If you enter a jury with a negative perception of the person's lifestyle, you may not give them a fair trial. They may be guilty by association, so to speak. You may find them guilty before you hear the evidence. You need to, the last day, when you deliberate in a jury,

you must have an open mind. And as foreman, you must make sure everyone on the jury has an open mind upon deliberation. You must take everything into account, weigh all the evidence, and then, you know, make a, with your conscience, come up with the verdict. Do not be, if you find it gross, I don't know if you can get a fair trial. Yeah, that's fair, but I think he clearly didn't, he thought it was safe to talk about his

real opinion after the trial was done. But that's naivety? I think so. Not knowing that it could affect it, even though it's already done. Well, it's too bad. I don't think he'll be charged. In fact, I know he won't be charged, but the accused, who very well may be guilty, who was found guilty,

will now be able to appeal and it could result in a mistrial. So that's why it's unfortunate. That is very unfortunate. I did hear today that they made Dean Blundell record an apology and they had some pretty stern words on the site about they're going to do better in the future. And then I noticed for a brief period, Dean Blundell's Twitter feed went to locked mode, I guess you call it, whatever it's called, when it's not open to the public. And Blind Eric's was removed at Blind Eric. This all happened tonight.

Then I noticed Dean Blundell's twitter feed reopened to the public but i don't know so what was the point of that i we don't know except i was just wondering if it was a sign of the next shoe to fall how much will chorus put up with they're gonna put up with this until their sales guys say i can't sell this anymore. Dollars are everything in that world. And as soon as the sales guys can't sell the Dean Blundell show, Dean Blundell is going to be turfed. But put up with what exactly? Put up with the controversy and just the perception of the show

as sort of a Cro-Magnon man's radio show, lowest common denominator offensive. Because of that one instance? Or have they done it before? No, but there's been several of these instances. But this one is one of the more severe ones because it involves the judicial system. Okay.

So we'll see what happens. But don't be surprised if it's fearless fred in the morning on 102.1 fearless fearless fred is from my hometown he is from edmonton yes and i guess i don't know him which is a surprise because i thought everyone in edmonton knew each other no uh fred getting fred kennedy uh hates me and if anybody wants to hear more about that, it's not too hard to find it. Just actually just Google Fearless Fred on Toronto Mike and you'll find the audio very quickly.

But he's basically blaming me for things my commenters have said and done. And it's completely misdirected anger, but he won't even consider, because Howard Humble offered to like broker us, like have us get together like a peace proposal. I'm open to it. I have nothing against Fearless Fred. So you never said anything negative? It was your commenters? Yeah, I said it's too bad we fired Barry Taylor to bring in a guy who sounded, from the audio I heard,

sounded like Barry Taylor to me. It's like, what was the point to firing Barry Taylor to bring in another Barry Taylor? But I never trashed Fearless Fred. Never said anything negative about the guy. It was stuff said by commenters and done by commenters.

I'm always taking the heat for the commenters. done by commenters. I'm always taking the heat for the commenters. Just ask Brian Burke. Okay. See, Rosie would have stepped in there. That's fine, babe. We'll get used to it. It's fine.

So I want to close up with a couple of things. First of all, it's Christmas, and you are a massive fan of Christmas music. I love Christmas music. I wanted to start playing it in November. Yeah, that's wrong. Like you would play November 1st. If you were in charge, you would be November 15th.

Okay. And you don't get tired of it. No. And do you like it because it reminds you of Christmas? Yes. Because it doesn't stand alone. It's particularly great music, except that it's. it reminds you of Christmas? Yes. Because it doesn't stand alone as particularly great music, except that it reminds you of Christmas. And you love Christmas.

Yes. What is it you love about Christmas so much? The smell of cinnamon pinwheel cookies. Well, you're going to smell it soon, babe. The warmth. It feels so much warmer with all the decorations up. And the snow. Although we don't have any snow here.

In Edmonton, there's always snow by November. Sometimes October. So it just feels warmer. Even though it's cold out, it's a warmer feeling. And this is one of your favorite Christmas songs, but not this version, right? Right.

So this is... I like this song. But isn't that Steel Drums? Yes, but there was another version that I heard. Are you sure this is not it? This is Boney M? Yeah. Yeah, this is was another version that I heard. Are you sure this is not it? This is Boney M? Yeah. Yeah, this is not the version.

So there's another version of Mary's Boy Child with steel drums that you love. Right. And it's not by Boney M. Right. I'm going to find that and play it while I make your cinnamon pinwheel. That would be perfect. It's a very religious song, by the way. I learned this song in grade four,

and I think that's what I think of when I hear this song. It was a happy Christmas play that we did. What's your favorite song? Oh, The Pogues with Christy McColl, Fairy Tale of New York. i haven't heard that you have i don't have it loaded up so i'm not gonna play it but you have heard it it's a staple it's absolutely yeah it is um it is one of my uh favorite songs let alone my favorite christmas song but i try not to play it out of season because you get a lot of it in December. But I love how her voice interacts with his.

I love the sentiment of the song. I love how it makes me feel. It is like the perfect Christmas song. I thought you really liked that Christmas shoe song. Very funny. Maybe the most horrible Christmas song ever heard is Christmas shoe. But you like that song, right? No, I don't. I thought you liked it. It's, it's, but you like that song, right? And I'll joke it aside.

No, I don't. I thought you liked it. It's really depressing. I don't like it. It's, it's terrible. Terrible song.

There's a great Patton Oswalt bit about why it's such a horrible song, which you, you really need to check out. And that's a positive vibe. Christmas is coming. Uh, we got Christmas music going. It's now time for Christmas music because you're now well into December.

I think it's okay. It's fair game. Your November 1st Christmas wish is unacceptable, but I wanted to give a shout out and much love to my dear friend, Mike kick, who is fighting the battle, the battle of all time, the battle of our age, the battle of ages, and he's going to slay cancer.

And I just wanted to, I saw him on the weekend, and I'm getting updates all the time, and I got a tweet from him the other day that he loves me, which I favorited. I favorited that tweet. And we're all rooting for him and thinking about him. And I know he's going to kick cancer's ass. Thinking about him and his wife

and their young baby. When do you stop being a baby? I'd say one. I think she just turned one. I say 18 months. Okay, that's fair. I have say one. I think she just turned one. So we could... I say 18 months. Okay, that's fair. I have no idea. We do know your baby is coming out in April, Jarvis Henry.

Yeah. So we'll need an update on that as this progresses. Of course. It's very exciting. And that brings us to the end of our 58th show. You can follow me on Twitter at Toronto Mike and Monica at Miss Monica Rina. See you all next week. Bye everyone. I want to take a streetcar downtown

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