Author: Michael Murray

“ Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” –Plato Frequently, I get lunch at a place called Sushi Bar at the corner of Queen and Broadview. I typically phone-in my order and pick it up. Even though I’m a regular and ridiculously predictable customer, (Sushi lunch special #2 with a seaweed…

The news coming out of Japan has been grim, almost apocalyptic, and it was with tremendous relief that a story of hope, perseverance and inspiration has come along to push the devastation of the tsunami to the margins. 37 year-old Tyra Banks says that she has been attending Harvard Business School since last year. If…

The other day while taking the Queen streetcar through the east end no-man’s land, I listened as a man spoke, in a thick and slurry Newfoundland accent, into his cell phone. “What are ya doing, ya old hound?” He lurched when he said this, his black, Dupont Automotive toque tilting ridiculously to the side. “Nah,…

Today I have given the Blog over to Heidi, our Miniature Dachshund. Heidi make list of enemies and things she hate. Many things. Important to get off chest. Very stressed out. Okay, here we go. –Benjamin, pretentious Boxer at park. Strut about like he been to France and ride metro on own, but hasn’t! Very…

Last week I went to the Queen East restaurant Table 17 for dinner. The primary appeal of the place isn’t the food, but the ambience. Catering to a primarily almost-middle-aged professional clientele, Table 17 sports an attractive staff and has the look of a place that was designed by somebody who spent a lot of…

A friend of mine who is presently in the Congo trying to set up a reintegration program for demobilized soldiers, has managed to contract both Typhoid and Malaria. Fever and hallucination can be associated with both these conditions and the medication used to treat them, and what follows are excerpts from letters he has sent…

The cab driver had a hooked nose, unnaturally black hair and was wearing a NYC hoodie. He drove quick and easy down Queen Street, when suddenly he detonated into a fury. “Did you see that?!”, he yelled, pointing excitedly out the window, “did you see that?! That police car there was just waiting for me,…

One thing about Charlie Sheen that hasn’t been getting an awful lot of attention recently is that he’s a huge baseball fan, having long been a participant in fantasy baseball leagues. Baseball is a passion of his, and for the last three years he’s been penning a fantasy baseball advice column over at the Scoresheet…

This is a fake script that Ricky Gervais wrote for Anne Hathaway and James Franco for their Oscar performance last night. It was originally posted on Gervais’ Blog: http://www.rickygervais.com/thissideofthetruth.php V.O. Ladies and Gentlemen. Please welcome your hosts for this evening… James Franco and Anne Hathaway (Music and applause) (James and Anne walk out looking absolutely…