millbank

Bag Lady misses out on cut Things couldn't have turned out better for Jim Wallenberg, a veteran violinist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Wallenberg lost the $77,000 violin on Saturday when he left it at the streetcar shelter at Queens Quay and Spadina and then boarded a streetcar bound for Union Station. Unable to find the violin upon his return to the shelter, he offered a reward for its safe return. What he didn't know was that a bag lady, well known among Queens Quay Blvd. residents as a loud woman with a shopping cart filled with bottles, bags and licence plates, had picked up the violin, placed it in her cart and carried on down the street. On Monday, after hearing of the reward, Wayne Wulff, a local animal rescue investigator, spotted the violin case in the bag lady's cart and called Wallenberg to confirm the reward. "I said: `I might have seen a case in a homeless person's cart in the area. I don't know if it's a violin case, it's sort of a long brown oblong case,'" Wulff recounted moments after the handover. "He said, `Oh my god, can you go and find this lady or do what you can to track her down?'" Knowing for the first time of the total amount of the reward, Wulff went looking again for the bag lady, finally catching up with her in a park at the south corner of Bathurst St. and Queens Quay Blvd. and began bartering for the violin. "I told her: `That case there belongs to a friend of mine and I'm willing to give you everything I have,'" Wulff said. Everything Wulff had amounted to $35 and a shiny silver ring worth no more than $40, which he exchanged with the lady – whom he described as "very angry" – for the violin. Then he called Wallenberg back to announce that he had retrieved the instrument and the two men set a time and place for the exchange. Neither Wulff nor Wallenberg seemed terribly bothered by the absence of the bag lady from the scene of the exchange. "I don't think she was robbed of $1,000," said Wallenberg, adding he was extremely relieved to have the 36-year-old violin that had once belonged to his mother back in his possession. "She took the violin and kept it for herself and didn't contact me. She could have contacted me, she could have left it there, but maybe she didn't know what it was and might have thought that it was up for grabs. If she had contacted me and said: `I'm so and so and I've found this violin,' I would have given her the $1,000." Wulff, who didn't tell the woman about the reward money before cutting the deal for a fist full of dollars and a shiny ring, said she wouldn't have understood what he was saying had he told her the value of what was resting in her cart. "There was obviously a problem with communicating with her. She's constantly talking to herself, so I don't think she understood the magnitude of what was in the case," Wulff said. Wulff is adamant that he did what he had to to get the violin back safely, but said he would consider giving a larger portion of the $1,000 to the bag lady if he sees her again. In the meantime, he's planning to put the money toward a trip to Las Vegas. I think the man was deceitful and the very least he should share the reward each getting $500. The guy is a weasel.

Anyone had time to listen to Brad's new evening program and if so how is it?

Tammy Thomas , Then and Now Scary , she flat out looked like a male. I can re-call in the sixties watching wide world of sports and the great east german athletes, many of the women with staches and beards, this is close to sixty years ago. It something that the perceived import of Tammy's case is the Prosecution will perhaps reveal the tact they will use to deal with Barry Bonds.

Giants Super Bowl Ring The rings will be made by Tiffany & Co. and will be made of white gold, plenty of diamonds and a design on top that features three Super Bowl trophies – one for each Super Bowl win in Giants history. The design was created with input from co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch, GM Jerry Reese, coach Tom Coughlin, and four players – Eli Manning, Michael Strahan, Amani Toomer and Shaun O’Hara. As you can see, the ring celebrates their Super Bowl championship on one side, where the Super Bowl XLII logo is engraved underneath the final score. And the other side celebrates one of their proudest achievements with the engraving “Eleven Straight on the Road”. (I suppose I should point out that the NFL officially credits them with 10 straight road wins – seven in the regular season and three in the playoffs. The Super Bowl is technically considered a neutral site game).

Kyle Rogers went undrafted in the junior hockey draft , but continued his career at Niagara. Given that he was undrafted he was a free agent who could sign with any team of his choice.

one minute until lights out.....

Students Get Free Ride, Hotel and Ticket To Game Thanks to the deep pockets of the school's Board of Trustees, nearly 300 students will travel to Detroit to watch their beloved men's basketball team continue its surprising run in the NCAA tournament tonight. Students are getting bus transportation, two nights' lodging and a ticket to see Davidson play Wisconsin in the Midwest Regional - all for free. Trustees pledged Wednesday to pay for any student. Within a day, 275 students - nearly 20 percent of the student body - had signed up. That sent officials at the small liberal-arts college, about 20 miles north of Charlotte and about 650 miles south of Detroit, scrambling. "The response was tremendous and frankly, surprisingly large," school spokeswoman Stacey Schmeidel said yesterday. "We actually have a lot more students who want to go, but we're trying to find more buses." Behind sophomore sensation Stephen Curry, Davidson upset Gonzaga and Georgetown last week for the school's first NCAA tournament wins in 39 years. Curry, the son of NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry, has led the Wildcats to a 28-6 season that they hope to extend tonight. When students learned they could see Curry and the Wildcats in person, they jumped, even though the seven buses pull out at 5 a.m. for the 11-hour trip. -excellent good for them....

22 cannibals

Earth Hour Copenhagen's doing it. So are Toronto, Chicago, Melbourne, Brisbane and Tel Aviv. Now a Scio Township woman is hoping Ann Arbor joins the number of international cities in Earth Hour 2008. During that hour - 8-9 p.m. Saturday - people will turn off all unnecessary lights to spread the message about global warming. "We hope to increase people's awareness of global warming and how each one of us is actually responsible and can make a difference," said Robin Kahler, who lives in Touchstone Cohousing. Earth Hour started last year in Sydney, Australia, when two million Sydney businesses and households turned off their lights for one hour. Now the idea is spreading around the world, with endorsements from organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund. Mike Garfield, executive director of the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor, said Earth Hour is great theater if it's done on a large scale. He said it had a huge impact last year in Australia. "The first thing is that an event like Earth Hour shows the world how much of an impact an individual has the environment," he said. "To see the aerial photographs of cities lit up at night all of a sudden going dark almost has the impact of seeing the Earth from outer space." So what will you be doing between 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Read this you could be subject to retribution tomorrow: In more modern times, the tradition continued when farm boys in Poland wanted to attract notice from the girls of their choice. It was custom to throw water and hit the girls on their legs with twigs or pussywillows. Cologne was used instead of water by the more gallant lads. The ladies would reciprocate by throwing dishes & crockery and Tuesday was their day of revenge, imitating the same tactics.

I think it would be right if you moved on. Its possible he could have been your friend, but you had him slotted as Brother. It would be interesting to know better just what you gave to relationship.

Sheltie - 7 years

I didn't say it was

Do you have a dirty mind

Georgetown, I think they learned from last years experience and they have a excellent defensive scheme. Playing in the conference they do they are battle hardened and ready to go....

Playing Catcher, the batter missed a squeeze play , the runner ran through to the plate and crashed me, both he and I went down, held the ball this time for the out , but had a great deal of pain coming from the top of my head. The runner as he crashed into me bit the top of my head and broke his tooth in it. Some say I have never been the same since.

I think we all enjoy who and what we enjoy, and need not make any apologies . I am a little bit surprised as I can remember Sinatra's Main Event from Madison Square Garden, seeing that concert with peoples who spanned the entire age and social economic spectrum. The Man made a great impression in his lifetime.

you will all be sorry they are all likely hearing and reading everything you say.....

I like them, they have a sense of fun.....

Go Frank Almost everyone has a favorite Frank Song , what is yours. ?

Left Handed

A cold winter evening after a hard day logs put on the fires. All the family together , the women folk have made roast beef , mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, sour bean salad, got out the preserves , fruit relish , the pickels, baby corn, fresh rolls, and home made butter. Plenty of cider for everyone and coffee to go with the rhubarb and elderberry pies and cookies for dunking. Nothing better anywhere..

This Can Be Sang Now, "I Believe I Can Fly" I used to think that I could not go on And life was nothing but an awful song But now I know the meaning of true love I'm leaning on the everlasting arms If I can see it, then I can do it If I just believe it, there's nothing to it [1] I believe I can fly I believe I can touch the sky I think about it every night and day Spread my wings and fly away I believe I can soar I see me running through that open door I believe I can fly I believe I can fly I believe I can fly See I was on the verge of breaking down Sometimes silence can seem so loud There are miracles in life I must achieve But first I know it starts inside of me, oh If I can see it, then I can do it If I just believe it, there's nothing to it [Repeat 1] Hey, cuz I believe in me, oh If I can see it, then I can be it If I just believe it, there's nothing to it [Repeat 1] Hey, if I just spread my wings I can fly I can fly I can fly, hey If I just spread my wings I can fly Fly-eye-eye

There is more to story Ex-detective back in jail a week after her DUI arrest By SCOTT GUTIERREZ P-I REPORTER A former Seattle police detective whose breath-alcohol content was measured at nearly six times the legal limit when police stopped her last week for drunken driving was arrested again Thursday on charges of being a "danger to public safety." King County prosecutors obtained a warrant for Deana F. Jarrett, 54, who was pulled over twice last week for investigation of drunken driving, the second time registering a record .47 on a field breath-alcohol test, police say. The legal limit is .08. Jarrett was booked again Thursday into the King County Jail, with bail set at $250,000, after State Patrol troopers served the warrant on her Woodinville home. "She had the extremely high breath-alcohol, two incidents in two days, plus a reckless driving case in February and we wanted her back in custody," said Dan Donohoe, prosecutor's office spokesman. Jarrett worked for the Seattle Police Department from 1979 to 1998, leaving shortly after a judge dismissed her lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and defamation against the department. At the time, her name was Deana Karst. According to her lawsuit, she suffered severe depression, humiliation and stress from her treatment at the hands of male officers in the department. Court records indicate she has struggled with alcoholism for the past several years. Her first drunken-driving conviction was in 2001. Redmond police arrested Jarrett on April 10 this year. The next day, Jarrett allegedly struck two cars in Redmond. She drove away from the first collision and tried to drive away from the second, the State Patrol reported. "She pulled back into traffic and attempted to leave but she rear-ended a Lexus and that vehicle stopped and wouldn't get out of the way," Merrill said. The State Patrol said Jarrett collapsed and drifted in and out of consciousness. Several empty vodka bottles and beer cans were spotted in her car, according to police reports. A trooper took her to Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland. There, she refused to submit to a blood-alcohol test, which could mean an automatic suspension of her license. Merrill said the trooper waited 15 minutes before administering the field breath test to avoid skewing the results if she had recently swigged alcohol. In 2003, King County sheriff's reports show that her 11-year-old daughter twice called 911 about her mother's intoxication. In one incident, sheriff's deputes found her unconscious. In another case, the daughter described how her mother pulled a gun from her purse and placed it in her lap while intoxicated, according to police reports. In both cases, authorities placed the daughter into protective custody, court records say. When a reporter contacted Jarrett at her home Thursday, she threatened to call police. She filed two complaints of sexual harassment against male officers that were sustained by the Equal Opportunity Employment Opportunity Commission, according to the lawsuit. But many of her legal claims stemmed from early in her career and were dismissed because they were beyond a three-year statute of limitations.

I think you Sabre fans need go lay down and let your wives rub your stomachs for awhile.....