Rob Ford's fantastic year? Well, I'm not sure if that's how most Torontonians would categorize it, but that's what the mayor told John Oakley of AM640 radio, and therein lies Ford's gift, according to the Globe's Marcus Gee: nothing can get Ford down. Not even the facts. This guy boasts about the number of city employees who took his "lucrative" buyout packages, when figures show the number was well below what the city had hoped. He even called the $65-million Transit City cancellation fees "completely fictitious numbers," which came from the TTC chief general manager Gary Webster. So what is it? Confidence? Optimism? Is he delusional?

Scientists now believe music is good medicine, and with that news comes word that Toronto will be home to a new centre on music and health research.The proposed centre, which would be based at the University of Toronto, would connect experts in music, neuroscience, medicine and psychology to help improve ailments such as strokes, Alzheimers, and chronic pain.

Yesterday, the TTC's final five GM buses went out of service for good. Though the buses were built by GM In the '80s, their legacy goes back to 1959 when the car manufacturer first unveiled the now-iconic symbol for the city. Now, Orion Bus Industries rule the roost.

OpenFile takes a look back at Maple Leaf Stadium, which some of us younger folk may not even remember or have even heard of. The stadium was home to the Maple Leafs - no, not those ones - the once-successful minor league baseball team that started back in the 1920s. A record-low attendance sank the team in 1967 and it was was sold and moved to Louisville, Kentucky. Hmm...1967 was an interesting year for hometeams called Maple Leafs, wasn't it? If you're interested in getting a sense for what the facility looked like, check out our post on the history of sports stadiums in Toronto.

IN BRIEF:

• Leafs lose to Sabres
• Canadian Press gets Don Cherry quote wrong
• Your exit strategy from Pearson

Photo by Mauricio Calero in the blogTO Flickr pool