Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Toronto Mike'd #7

Episode Date: October 17, 2012

Toronto Mike talks about the flu shot, SongPop and talk to elvis

And now here's Toronto Mike. And now here's Toronto Mike. Welcome everybody. Episode 7. 7 for Damasol Garcia who hit the bases loaded triple during the first ball game I ever attended at CNE's Exhibition Stadium. Gotta hand it to you for keeping it up Mike. Number seven. How you doing? I was going to say, how you doing, Rosie?

I'm good. Every week there's more and more spiffy men in the studio. We're up one this week. Well, more on that later when we formally introduce him, the special guest. But first, I was just going gonna see how Mike Wixon's doing. How you doing, Mike? Good, thank you. How are you doing? Excellent, excellent. And Rosie, how are you doing? I'm doing great. I gave away, though, a secret. Yeah, I know. Just before the podcast, I said, he's just gonna sit there and be quiet, and we're gonna do our normal podcast,

and then I'll bring them in and the first words out of your mouth are there's some extra guy at the table listening you know how you said beforehand you weren't listening to anything we said for the last five minutes well neither was i apparently sorry mike there is a surprise coming later can we just should we just avert our eyes i usually do that anyways when he's in the room, so no big deal. Oh, God. Now, something new I wanted to bring to this podcast. Every episode, I'm going to do a

shout-out to a couple of regular commenters. So, I wanted to say hi to Mrs. Saga Phil and Argy. Awesome. Argy, I thought until last week, I thought he was Argy.

And he corrected me. It's Argy. Well, that's good. That's good to know because when you're reading the names, it's actually nice to know how they're pronounced in your head. I'm glad we said hi to Mississauga Phil because Mississauga Phil really helped me out with an amazing suggestion. I have such issues feeding my little guy. He's very, very fussy, doesn't want to eat.

I was venting about it on Mike's website and Mississauga Phil had a similar experience with his little guy. Suggested I buy veggie applesauce. So this is regular Motz applesauce infused with veggies. It's amazing. Totally works. So he eats the veggies because he doesn't know there's veggies in there. That's the thing. The nutrition of the veggies is infused into the applesauce. Tastes like sweet, delicious applesauce. Clearly, I was not shopping in the right grocery stores because I'd never seen this before.

I've never heard of it. Yeah, it's Mott's applesauce. It's got veggies in it. And I'm able to mix the chicken and the pork with the applesauce. He gets the veggies. I'm so happy. Thank you, Mrs. Saga-Phil. I already did thank him on your site because I was so happy about it.

But he actually wanted to mention it last podcast. But we got to talking about a lot of other stuff. And I picked him. It's a complete coincidence. I had no idea that you won. Yeah, I had no idea. That was going to be one of my shout-outs. You ever thought about spanking him?

No. You'll eat what you're told to eat, Mr. Spank, Spank, Spank. Mississauga Phil? Yes. I wouldn't do that to a child. I actually have another, it's funny, it kind of gives it away, another little story about all your commentators, but well, we can save that. Save it because he might be getting a shoutout in episode 8.

So you don't know. Yeah, so Argy, just just quick note on rg long time commenter uh always kind of controversial because he's a he's fairly right wing i suppose his political on the political spectrum he's uh far to the right you know a devout roman catholic and he's got very uh he's got certain opinions that almost all of which I disagree with. I get an amen. Yeah. So it's always fun to kind of have an alternative voice on my left wing blog. There's a lot of, definitely it's, you know, the liberal, the liberal ideals. He finds you too liberal. He wants us to disagree more.

I think that was his input. I think I actually read that and it made me laugh because I feel like we disagree all the time because, you know, quite often you're wrong about things like the way the newsroom ended not like and you're often wrong about things like the wire so so but I mean maybe that's not enough for him maybe we need to get more I watched the newsroom thanks to you too it's such a critical eye last night I was like oh I don't even like it anymore that's actually the worst when that happens when yeah well that's the integrity I have when I tell you a show is not that happens. Well, that's the integrity I have. When I tell you a show's not very good, you can take that

to the bank. I think that you turned it bad for me, Mike. He ruined it for you. He's a jerk. And that lady does, her eyes are way too close together. Which lady? The blonde chick who bumps into things. What's her name? Her name is Maggie. It's Alison Pill, a Toronto actress that shows her boobs

on Twitter. That was the other thing. Did you see her boobs on Twitter? I saw her boobs. No. Oh, my gosh. Find her boobs on Twitter. I'm sure they're everywhere on the internet. Are they delightful?

So this actress, Alison Pill, she's a Toronto actress. She plays Maggie. And apparently one day she accidentally tweeted a picture of her boobs. And she's wearing glasses to her boyfriend who who's actually, he's Canadian as well. The guy from Goon. Barachel. Barachel? And I didn't believe it for a second.

It was like, really? Oops, you tweeted your boobs. I don't believe you. I don't believe you. And then the next day, it was poorly timed because then the next day, the princess's boobs were everywhere. So it's like, no one's paying attention to your boobs. But Alison Pill had better boobs than the princess.

Do we agree? I don't know. Are these like little wee boobies? They're little and wee. I just feel that if she was trying to do it for publicity, then the Duchess... You're such a small boob hater. But more to the point, I can't look at the boobs at all almost because how are her eyes so close together? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you. Yeah, I know. I would have noticed that. It distracts me. I can't even at the boobs at all, almost, because how are her eyes so close together? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Thank you. Yeah, I know. I would have noticed that. And now I can't even look at her. She's horrified. She's a freak. Her eyes, her nose, and her mouth are all within a teacup. Okay, so moving on, because if we do another newsroom rant, we'll have nobody left except

Rosie's aunt and uncle, who I just want to say, hi, guys. Hi, guys. They'll definitely be listening. They are big, big fans. Everybody is a parent in this room. My question for you guys is, do your kids get the flu shot? And do you get the flu shot? Rosie, you first.

I used to get the flu shot. I no longer get the flu shot. Why don't you get the flu shot? I used to get the flu shot. I no longer get the flu shot. Why don't you get the flu shot? I don't. Frankly, the only reason I used to get it was because my doctor is a huge believer in it.

Every doctor is. Go on. And my doctor is, he wasn't one to be like, get it if you want. He was very much, you need to get it. So basically I would go and I have to admit I was a bit, I wasn't completely opposed to it. I didn't mind. He basically just stabbed me in the arm with it and I would get it. And if I didn't happen to go to the doctor at the time when it was getting given out. Why don't you do it anymore? I'm not sure. I frankly, I just, I'm not sure that I believe that it actually. Yeah. When did you go to medical school that suddenly you know more than every single doctor in this country?

I'm not purporting that I do. I just don't feel that. I feel that I'd rather get the flu and fight it off. It's so selfish. If you think of herd immunity and what you bring to others you come in contact with, such as all the wonderful people at this table. No, because if I feel like I'm getting sick, I work from home, so I feel that if I'm getting sick, I'm able to sufficiently quarantine myself.

I have really elderly grandparents. I saw that your grandma turned 90 this month. No, that was actually, just so you know, that was 2005. If you look at the date when Dalton McGinty... You made it sound like she just turned... I was all excited. I was like, Mike's grandma's 90. She's like 96

now. That's wonderful. I have another grandma who's 101. Wow. That's amazing. No, because I have a grandpa that's turned 93 this month, and if I feel like I'm unwell, I will stay away from them because they're obviously more susceptible. Now,

if I didn't work from home, maybe I would think about it differently. But no, I don't get the flu shot anymore. Will you get the flu shot for your son? I probably would get it for Nicholas. Do you have to disguise it as a measles shot because he doesn't like the flu shot? I can't even.

Honestly, I had to have his blood taken. Rosie, this is as upsetting to me as the time that I found out you sold those U2 tickets. I was just about to say, I could tell Mike, you can't see Mike's face, but he's glowering at me. He's glowering. He's not impressed. Do your kids get a flu shot? I don't know. Oh, yes, your wife takes care of this.

Do they? I'm going to say no. Okay, do you get one? I'm going to say no. Okay. Do you get one? I'd have to ask my wife. Before I tell you the answer to this, I want you to know, Mike, to your favor, in the last six years, I've had the flu once. No, I do not get a flu shot. Okay. I believe you are putting the virus in your body.

Dum-Dum doesn't get it. No, you guys are just not doctors. I think that's the problem. Yeah, well, I, you're not giving yourself the flu. I only play one on podcast. Okay. I was just curious

because there's, you know, now pharmacists will be able to deliver the flu shot and there's some controversy in BC. I think it's BC. They're trying to make it mandatory for nurses to get the flu shot. And I was just thinking that freaking makes sense.

Like anyone in a healthcare, somebody who works with my 96-year-old grandmother in that healthcare facility, they should have to get the flu shot. Because every doctor in this country will tell you there's no downside. It's just going to help you. It's going to reduce your chances of getting influenza

and reduce the symptoms should you get it. I don't disagree. I make sure my kids get it every year. 60% of the time it works, 100% of the time. Right. Yeah, no, I don't disagree. I'm not one of those people that think if I give my child that I don't think vaccines cause illnesses.

I don't think that's giving them. I just personally... I just don't think we can keep up with the flu virus that's out there next. I mean, it arrives from some banana republic on an airplane, and it's a qualifier. Yeah, but it's still the best show in town, if you will. Right, but I think as a healthy, when I'm older, more susceptible, I think as a young, healthy person, I think you should be exercising, you should be washing your hands.

I think there's a way, there's much better ways. I think sometimes we get lazy. Oh, I got the flu shot. I don't need to be careful. You still need to be careful. But I think we should be emphasizing those things first before stabbing everybody with the flu shot. That's all. Wash your hands. Don't touch

your face. Don't cough. All of the above, though. Don't pick your nose. That's a big one, by the way. We can just start there. You need to do that and get the flu shot. Rosie, do you think that you and You need to do that and get the flu shot. It's... Rosie, do you think that you and I are capitalizing on everybody got the flu shot and so there's not a lot of illness going around?

So, woohoo! Herd immunity. Anyway, herd immunity. You guys can all Google it. But I won't dwell on this point except that I wish people like you got the flu shot. That's all. Okay. Okay.

And stop acting like doctors when you guys aren't doctors. I think the only person trying to act like a doctor in here is Trotter Mike. No, I'm quoting every single doctor in Canada. And I know what herd immunity is. And that's why I would have my son have the flu shot. Because I don't want him going to school. And I don't want him... But don't you go shopping?

Like you don't leave the house? If I'm feeling unwell, I will try to minimize contact. Sometimes you carry it before you feel unwell. That's the problem. But that can be the same for somebody who got the flu shot, Mike. Okay, one lighter note. No more flu shot fights. But I wanted to have a little fight with you for RG.

So that was for RG. There you go. It was for RG. We disagreed on an important issue. And you knew that. Even though we've never talked about this before, you knew that we would disagree. You had a feeling, didn't you? I just sensed you would.

I had no idea, but I was hoping you'd have that point of view all right we should have a fight every podcast for rg and one last quick thing uh by the way this herd herd immunity stuff that you're talking about just reading up on it here it's kind of cool because it's pretty much eliminated smallpox rubella polio pertussis yep when was the last time you saw somebody with smallpox? Vaccines and the flu shot, let's not confuse them, very different. So when you bring up herd immunity, they're similar but somebody not

getting a vaccine compared to somebody not getting a flu shot, very different issues. It actually does say that it applies to flu situations as well. Influenza. But it says also that there's no way to get rid of influenza entirely.

Yeah, there's too many rosies out there. Anyway, moving on real quick because I have a special guest I want to talk to. And I want to get to him real quick. Real fast, does anybody at this table, other than my special guest, play Songpop? Songpop is an app for iPhone and Android devices and it's basically name that tune. You compete with other people remotely.

You get a song plays and you have to pick which song it is and it's like a speed race naming that tune. I freaking love this game. If anyone out there is playing Songpop I'm Tormike on Songpop. T-O-R-M-I-K-E.

And I'd love to take on anybody. I have a great deal of fun every night before I go to bed. I do a bit of Songpop. Anyone else doing it? How many people? I haven't played it. Sorry. No, I haven't played it.

Yeah. So I just tried to get secret guest number one to interact. Yeah, I'm about to move in. It's a terrible secret. And I got a nod. Okay. So I'm just going to recommend one to interact. Yeah, I'm about to move in. It's a terrible secret. And I got to nod. Okay, so I'm just going to recommend that to everybody.

Can you play with a group of people? Can people watch you competing or is it just one-on-one? No, one-on-one. And you're Tor Mike. I'm Tor Mike. I'm going to be Wixoroo.

W-I-X-E-R-O-O. Yeah, add me and then I would love to take you on. I'm not going to play with you. Oh, it's amazing though. What? I hate games.

It's a weird thing about me. I like one game. You don't like flu shots or games? What game do you like? I just like Connect Four. It's really weird. I like Connect Four except the funny bone is hard to get out. I just like Connect Four.

I don't like games. I hate board games too. Do you have a sound effect for Big Guest coming? Yeah, just a second. Hold on. A secret. Here we go. It's ending.

Toronto mic readers. It's almost done. Toronto mic readers know him as the commenter Elvis. I'll refer to him as Elvis in this room, but I know him by another name and I've known him for many years and I quite like him. But I'd like to welcome Elvis to the show.

Hey! Thank you. Argy's a douchebag. Argy. You don't like games? That's just a ridiculously general statement that doesn't make any sense whatsoever. It's kind of hot how crazy she is. I don't like games. That's just a ridiculously general statement that doesn't make any sense whatsoever. It's kind of hot how crazy she is.

I don't like games. I don't. I hate them. Even just when he started talking about a game, it's annoying. Elvis, is it true you... It's just annoying. Elvis, your nickname comes from your love of figure skating and Elvis Stoico. Is that correct?

Not at all. You'll notice that on the site site I comment Elvis all lowercase. And that's not because I'm a hipster. It's because I believe that there's only one person who deserves to have their first name capitalized with E. Costello. And it's L-V-I-S at the end. And that's the king of rock and roll. Greatest entertainer of all time.

Been to Graceland twice. Love Elvis. Aaron Presley. And you have sideburns. I used to have extremely long sideburns. Some people tell me that my sideburns are still long. I would suggest that they're not long. Tell you what, man.

They're moderate. What happened to that jumpsuit? What happened to the jumpsuit? I don't dress up. I don't do the imitations. But I do love Elvis. You say you're not a hipster, but you do have a soul patch. Is that correct?

That is correct. When I shaved my mutton chops, they immediately went into the soul patch. Now, I've had a soul patch since 2000, so I think that's pre-hipster days. In the year 2000. If anyone ever, I can't imagine that anybody would actually think I'm a hipster if they actually met me in person. You're so not a hipster. You're a hipster. That's the thing about hipsterness.

Why are hipsters really needed? Because they ride old bicycles and they're always in the way. No. It's because... Yes, they do ride old bicycles and they are always in the way. And they always have a basket on their bicycle with a thing they bought at a flea market. Swear to God, that's my bike to a T. I'm not even kidding.

I believe it. And hipsters would never be found dead in Etobicoke. This is way west. This might as well be Burlington. So the annex is as west as they'll go. Is that correct? Maybe to Parkdale. They're all over Ossington Village. Or have they spread into the suburbs

as sort of suburbanite hipsters? Exactly. That's what I think. I feel like I'm seeing them creeping along the lakeshore. Oh, Mimico's got some hipsters now. They're creeping along the lakeshore on their old bicycles. Yeah, going up for Halloween as a hipster. Okay, so Elvis, I wish this was an hour-long podcast because I got lots of questions. Why not? Go ahead.

Now, we had a good discussion last, I think two podcast episodes ago about CFNY and Mobile Mike. And we talked about Martin Streak and we talked about some of the old time djs from cf and y elvis was a dj at chrw correct at western university yes it's the uh the independent uh radio station out there and i was a dj i worked there for five years, got paid to be on the air, so it was legit. Wow. Yeah, good times. That was a lot of fun times. What would they pay you to be on the air?

Not very much. But I was a student. Yeah, but that's great. For me, it was awesome. Think about it. You made more back then on the air than Humble and Fred make today. Have you seen their income taxes?

You don't know that. No, but I know they don't listen because I did that love letter to them last episode and neither of them, I talked to them both today, neither of them referenced it. I could tell they don't listen. Maybe they were shy. They were shy.

No, no, I asked them flat out, have you heard the Toronto Mike show? Because I like it. It's really good. And he said, no. Well, they don't want to be the first one. They want to wait until somebody else listens other than

Rosie's aunt and uncle and now you so now you're definitely going to download this and speaking of the first one I think your claim

to fame at CHRW is being the first person to spin lens steal my sunshine myself and my co-host Josh Jones we played steal my sunshine off of the

what was it it was on a soundtrack. I can't even remember what soundtrack it was. Oh, I don't remember. That's when it first came out, and we were the first DJs in London to play it. And we played it pretty much every week for, I don't know. So you broke that song? We popped the cherry.

Okay, I'm sorry. Okay, go. I love Len's story. Please go. I love that song. I went to King City Secondary School. I was in a band called Troubled Sleep. The guy who put all the sound engineering for us together was brilliant.

He had been on tour with, we couldn't believe it, Corey Hart. Wow. He knew some stuff. It was Mark, the lead singer of Len. Costanzo. Mark Costanzo. And his buddies, the Goodwins, Len Goodwin was my

buddy's brother and he was just kind of a goofy, fun guy and they named the band after him. I went to high school with those guys. That's insane. We love those guys. That's really cool. I was at Edgefest in 1999. They were doing a small stage. They only had the one hit, I think

still to this day, actually. But I digress. They were on the small stage. They only had the one hit, I think, still to this day, actually. But I digress. They were on the small stage at Molson Park in Barrie, and somebody threw a quarter. In fact, I think somebody on the blog took credit for doing it. I don't know if I believe them or not, but somebody threw a quarter at one of the Costanzos. I think Mark.

What's his name? Mark? Mark. I don't remember his sister's name, unfortunately. Sharon. Sharon. Okay. Cool song, I think.

He said something to the effect of, if anyone else throws something at us, we're going to walk off the stage. And everybody in unison threw their bottles at these. Well, it's like the Barenaked Ladies when they said, don't throw Kraft Dinner up on the stage anymore. And it just became an avalanche of Kraft Dinner. But they walked off the stage. They didn't perform.

And I remember, that's how I remember Len. 1999 Edge Fest. Do you remember that video? That was one of those songs where when you see the video, it was just so, I wish I was traipsing around with them. It looked so much fun. I think they got a bunch of money maybe and they just decided to have fun with the money. So they did it.

I honestly think they've made enough money to live their lives now. That's the news that I got. Thanks to guys like you. Thanks to Elvis who broke Len. We were very advanced. You know how much money they received from SoCan because of our stupid show on THRW? $6.99. SoCan pays big.

At least. Just this week, I posted a brand new single from Len called It's My Neighborhood. And the video is super... It's all about Toronto. The song's about Toronto. Toronto. And the video is great scenes from Toronto. And I posted that video maybe yesterday. And the video is Great Scenes from Toronto. And I posted that video maybe yesterday.

I'll have to take a look for that. It all comes full circle. It's a very hipster thing to do, posting that video, Mike. I think they're probably in Woodbridge or something. I don't know. Who watches videos anymore, though? I was thinking about that the other day. Like, videos are not what they used to be. Well, they don't watch them on TV. They watch them on YouTube. Is that what it is now? Because I remember seeing

I was watching, my wife was watching some stupid show on that MTV. And there was this little scroller on the bottom that said, go to MTV.ca to watch the videos from the show. So is that how kids are watching music videos these

days? Is they're watching them online and then they're watching their Jersey Shore on TV? And they try and link it as much to purchasing and to ticket sales and all that that they can, but it's really TV. And they try and link it as much to purchasing and to ticket sales and all that that they can, but it's really difficult. So it's totally not the same as what it was before. What other songs do you remember playing? I'd love to know some of your favorite ones that you played back then. It was a quote-unquote

alternative station, right? So we didn't play hits or anything, which was nice, actually, because there is another college station in London 106, that plays, that was where the radio broadcasting school was, and they would play all the top 40 hits and stuff. So we played, our show, our theme was pretty much rock and roll.

So we would play a lot of stuff that people listening would have never heard of and probably will never hear of again. But I would also then throw in my occasional choice of Kiss, one of the greatest bands. I heard that about you. ACDC as well. Throw them in every once in a while. A little better. But a lot of it would be stuff that you probably haven't heard of.

Very cool. Like obscure songs like Steal My Sunshine. Well, back then it was. You were a hipster back then. This is C-H-W-R and this is Poi Dog Pondering. Is the Warped Tour still around? Vans Warped Tour is still around. Yeah, so like a lot of those bands that would be on the Warped Tour, we would have played.

Nice. Hey. Beastie Boys was huge. They always charted at number one. I did a little research on your Western career. So I'm hoping you'll tell us a little bit about the marathons. Yeah, sure. Well, that would be after Western.

My research is wrong. How did that pre-interview go? Hey, how was the pre-interview? There was no pre-interview. It was awesome. Okay, tell me about the marathons. That's a cool story. Yeah, I decided in 2001.

Do you want the whole story? Well, only if it's cool. Well, I don't know really. I remember getting a diagnosis from a doctor at the time suggesting that I was on the wrong way down the health track. So I decided that I was going to start to work out. So I did. And I was in my gym one day and noticed a pamphlet advertising a program called Team Diabetes, which was a program where they would send you to an exotic location around the world to run a marathon if you raised a certain amount of money for them. So I signed up within 24 hours and realized that I was now committed to running 42.2 kilometers. I was now committed to running 42.2 kilometers.

And added to that, I had to raise $5,500 or something. And I was like, holy shit, this is insane. And fast forward a year later, I was at the start line at the Dublin Marathon in Ireland, obviously. Where's my sweater? Raising $25,000. I was the top fundraiser in the country. That's incredible. $25,000. I was the top fundraiser in the country. That's incredible. And then

over the course of the next four and a half years, I ran eight marathons and raised over $150,000 for the Canadian Diabetes Association. So that was fantastic. That is absolutely incredible. Thank you. You know what? Anyone can run a marathon. You just have to want to do it. I really believe that.

Oh no, I cannot run a marathon. I could totally tell you how to do it right now. You just have to do it. I really do believe that. You can do whatever you want. In another podcast, I'll explain how I can't really do it because my leg doesn't work. Well, obviously there can be physical limitations, but I could guide you like I guide a blind guy. You and I could take one of those little motorized rascals

and follow along beside you. That's right. Or I could pull you along like I ran with a blind guy in Dublin one other time and I ran with him. Did he know that you were going to pull him? No. Yes. Of course. I didn't actually pull him.

He ran with me, but we were physically tied together. So he knew where to go. Yeah. That's cool. That was really cool. That was really, really sort of life changing. So when you're running all these marathons, how much weight did you lose through this process? I lost over 100 pounds.

Wow. So I was close to, I don't know how much I weighed. My ex-girlfriend figured that I was well 100 pounds. Wow. So I was close to, I don't know how much I weighed. My ex-girlfriend figured that I was well over 300. She would know. She would. She would. She would have felt

the entire brunt of that 300 pounds. And I got down to below, what? It wasn't forced or anything. Dude, this is not that kind of podcast, okay? I'm looking for that.

I don't understand. Why are you giggling? Because you love that. This isn't turd pants. You like the big man thing? All rosy. And so my running weight, my prime running weight, probably marathon number four was 175 pounds. There's not a lot of fat runners.

Running for diabetes makes a lot of sense because you were definitely going to be... Totally. Yeah. Yeah, totally. That's excellent. I love that story. Do you still actively run marathons uh no things happen that prevented me from doing that but i am going to run one next fall and i

make my make my comeback so well when you uh when that's coming up i want you back on the pod sure yeah absolutely my hope is to run new york again that would be a fantastic comeback race after a couple of years i've often wondered where the hell do do you stay in New York when that marathon is on? It's insane. You've got to book now, and the hotels obviously jack up the room rates. So I'll be staying with a friend. Smart. Slash hooker.

Gotcha. And how neat to be able to run through the streets of New York. I think that would be a pretty cool experience. I've run through Rome, which was phenomenal. What time of year? Rome in March. You ran through Rome? which was phenomenal. What time of year? Rome in March. You ran through Rome? Twice, twice.

Rosie just hit Elvis. Rosie, don't get violent. I've assaulted our first guest. Rome was great because 16 miles in, I'm like, I'm in Rome. Fuck, I'm not going to just run. So we actually, my wife, I was running with my girlfriend, now wife, at the time. And we stopped and I ran into a gelato store, got some gelato and then we kept running. Wait, you stopped during your marathon?

I'm so Italian to stop and get a gelato and keep going. We were running with the gelato. Can you get a slice of pizza as well? It was good. But in Dublin, when we were running the marathon there with the blind guy, I don't know how this guy saw

this. He obviously didn't. He must have smelled it. But there was two guys on the side of the road outside of a bar smoking. They had just enacted non-smoking laws in Ireland. And of course, in Ireland, when you can't smoke inside, you smoke outside, but you also can bring your beer. Which was a much more civilized way than

fucking what we can do here. And they're out there smoking, having their beer, and he pulls over and he's like, do you mind if we have a sip of your Guinness? So mile seven into the Dublin Marathon, we're sipping Guinness with these guys. And there was probably some nutrient reasons for that too, right? Well, they say it's good for you, right?

Yeah. Yeah. You know who says that? The alcoholic doctors. Yeah, that's right. That's right. The ones handing out the flu shots. You need a flu shot.

They used to give it to mothers, right, when they were breastfeeding and stuff because they said it was good and would stimulate milk production and stuff. Why, sure. One or two cigarettes an hour should be fine for the baby. Only in Ireland. My husband used to have a doctor who smoked, and I never trusted anything from that doctor because I feel- Clearly.

No, no. How can you be a doctor and smoke? I've got two buddies that are doctors now, and I've lost all faith in the whole thing. Forget it. We're all going to die or whatever. It's like when you grow up and you have friends that are teachers. You're like, this guy is a fucking douchebag, and now he's leading the youth of tomorrow. How can this person implant information into a child's head?

That's not right. That's right. I want to apologize to Rosie's aunt and uncle for all the cursing. That's right. I'm making heads a little. I'm bringing this down. My apologies. That's right. This is like nobody else. I'm thinking hands alone. I'm bringing this down. My apologies. And the implication that teachers are all potheads.

That was me, not you. Okay, they're not teachers. They'll be A-okay. They are potheads, though. All right, I got to get a little serious for a moment. All right. If I had serious music, if Wixson was a half-decent producer, he'd be playing serious music right now.

Wow. Did you provide me with such? I gave you my USB key. Oh, is there more serious stuff on there? It's okay, fine. It's fine. You're still a good producer, but I do want to talk about something. Where is this going now?

Whoa. Is that the music we were talking about? That's what I'm looking for. Very inspirational. That's actually... I think that could be the theme of the song. I got to ask Elvis. I know we're a little long in time, but...

I'm going to ask him about a recent challenge he had regarding his health. Yeah. Because he told me we could talk about anything. Sure. It's all on the table. So, recently, you were diagnosed with cancer. Yes. Three years ago, September 15th.

So, what is that, 2009? Mm-hmm. A month and a half after my daughter was born. I've only recently been able to actually talk about it and blogged about it on Mike's... It's TorontoMike.com. That's right. Yeah, whatever your stupid thing is.

You get a plug during the guy's cancer story, really? He was struggling to come up with a name. I'm so glad you said that. No, he was struggling to come up with a name. I was trying to figure out what to call it. So anyway, so yeah, I found a lump in my neck and went to the doctor. And my doctor obviously had no idea what it was, but did the right thing and sent me for tests.

So I went through a bunch of tests. And then on the 15th of September, he told me that I had cancer. So then on October 21st, I had nine-hour surgery where they put me on a table and bent my head backwards and cut my neck open and ripped out my thyroid and 44 lymph nodes. And then in December, I had radiation. And so I was in isolation from December 16th to December 31st. So I missed my daughter's first Christmas, which was not so much fun. And then went back to work.

And the one thing about the health care system, as great as they do treat you here in terms of treating you and all that kind of stuff is that there is really no support afterwards once you get thrown back into the real world because as far as the doctors were concerned i was now healthy um but there was a lot of um stuff that uh we had to go through as a family and and me as an individual to get back to where i am today and literally it's it's taken me this long to be able to, you know, come to terms with it and be able to feel comfortable enough to talk about it. But at the same time, you know, it's still not totally there. I'm definitely a different person.

But my big thing now is that we need to make sure that we understand that cancer is not just a physical disease. It certainly is a mental and emotional and all that other kind of stuff. And people need time to get better. It's not just a physical recovery, as Mike has been on the receiving end of many, many random emails, texts, chats and stuff that probably would, for a normal person, if Mike was, would be pretty scary. So it's not fun, but definitely here to be able to talk about it now.

That's an amazing story. What kind of cancer was it? It was thyroid cancer, which is sort of a cancer that people tend to refer to as the good cancer, which if anyone ever says that to me, I will literally punch you in the fucking face. I came so close just a second ago. That's a good cancer, isn't it?

No, it wasn't. But a lot of people will say that. Doctors will say that too because it is, in a lot of people's minds, curable. However, I have no thyroid, and for me to properly balance my metabolism right now is a fucking nightmare. So it's not something that is curable. They can't tell me after five years that I'm cancer-free. They never will be able to tell me that.

And 80% of the cases, over 80% of the cases are women. So to have a guy get this. I've had two or three guy friends have this problem. Now I have a chick cancer and they have no idea how the fuck and treat it. It's really difficult, especially when you want to have sex with your wife afterwards. And they don't know if you're going to be able to hurt your wife. That was a big thing for us. We wanted to have another baby.

We had no idea. Like, you know, last thing I want to do is hurt my wife. Right. So it was just a it's very, very strange and very, very weird. And you're a father with two little. Yeah. Now, well, I now have another one, which is great. And both of them are healthy.

But, you know, to have to go to go have you know a little newborn go through that really you know my wife at one point in time she said you know you need to leave uh the house briefly now she wasn't kicking me out but she's like you're being very toxic you're toxic at home and this is transferring to uh your your baby and and that was sort of a wake-up call one wake-up call of many but the second baby that I had six months ago, I've now realized that I'm experiencing fatherhood of that period of time for the first time. Because the first time around, I was extremely selfish, justifiably so, because I was worried about myself. So for me, to experience fatherhood the second time around has just been an amazing experience. I'm so happy that you got to experience it.

Yeah, I mean, so am I. Thank you. It's been awesome. And for your wife, too, because for her to watch you, how much she must love you and want you to have that experience. So I'm so happy for both of you. Totally, and there's a lot of guilt, too. Like, she didn't sign up for this bullshit, right? Like, if it was just me, that would be different.

But, you know, she survived it as well. And that's also another point is that, you know, individuals who survive this kind of stuff are not just the people who are diagnosed. It's also the family and friends that are around you because they go through different emotions. They go through different feelings and they go through the disease in a very, very different way. It's terrifying for family and friends. Her feeling through all of this is very, very different from mine, right, and vice versa. And so, you know, it's hard for me to appreciate what she went through and the other way around. So there's a lot of struggle that goes through being diagnosed and going through the treatment and stuff. Now, Elvis, on a personal note, my sister-in-law had thyroid cancer.

Yes, and we've communicated. I was going to say thank you because you were a great uh when she was going through the same thing you went through with the uh the surgery and everything the radiation where you she had an you know she went through pretty similar pretty similar experience she did yeah and you know what i like to that's sort of what i like to do is i like to talk to people about this kind of stuff because it is important to talk and i'm italian so we do like to talk with your hands that's right well my hands are moving underneath the desk and I've banged the table a million times already

but you know that I think that's important for you know us to stick together as a community and help each other out because it's always good to know what's coming up so you know well listen I'm glad that you're feeling better and you look great and I can't wait to see you at my wedding.

You look amazing. You're getting married? Yeah. Holy shit. Come back to episode eight and we'll continue this discussion. Sounds good. Thanks, everybody, for listening. Thanks, guys.

Appreciate it. Thank you.