Author: Michael Murray

On Thursday, while channel surfing, I happened upon the movie Terror Train. Now, this isn’t the sort of movie that anybody is likely to seek out, but still, it’s something of a classic in my mind. Made in 1980, it features Jamie Lee Curtis, who was the undisputed Scream Queen of the era, having established…

When I got up this morning, the first thing I did was open the blinds. Outside the window, just beyond of our balcony, soap bubbles drifting by. On the street below a poet stood on the curb. He took a last, tender drag on his cigarette and then threw it into the street, as if…

As many of you will have already heard, my Yahoo Fantasy Hockey Team—A Fury of Pigeons—is utterly dominating my league. It’s not even close. You should know that I wasn’t “invited” to become a part of this league, but was randomly assigned to it when I signed-up to participate in a Yahoo league. I think…

Beside me at the bar at the Roy Pub sits a couple that have come in for dinner. They’re not looking for anything fancy, just some decent comfort food. Probably around 60, they have the look of people who like to go to sunny, vacation resorts when they travel, and rarely miss any of their…

Friday had November written all over it. A day without character, it was cold and gray, an unwelcome waiting station between seasons. As I coughed joylessly through errands, all I could think about doing was escaping into a movie theatre. Yes, when things aren’t going my way, I like to vanish into someone else’s life…

On Wednesday, The Jesus Cobras–my Coed Rec league floor hockey team– took on our rivals Fat ‘N Lazy. In spite of the fact that only one of their players weighs less than 250 pounds ( a defender named Shawnika, who has to be at least 230), they’re a formidable crew. They’re hard to move from…

  At a certain point, I declared that I didn’t want to live in The Beaches district in Toronto. For those of you who don’t know, it’s a lovely, child friendly area in East Toronto. It’s expensive, and a very desirable place to live, particularly for those who are interested in raising their children in…

As I’ve been looking to increase traffic to my Blog, I decided that like the Heene family– who pretended that their six year-old son was trapped in a balloon and hurtling across America– that I should pull a similar publicity stunt. Although Rachelle and I don’t have any children, we do have a dog, a…

As I was taking our dog on a walk through Old Chinatown, the weather turned and it began to pour rain. Like everybody else on Gerrard Street, we ran for shelter, stopping in the first commercial doorway we found. It turns out we were in the entranceway to Champions Off-Track wagering. Looking down the stairwell,…