The Bulldog

Small condo at Leslie-Eglinton fetches $417,000

A 909 square foot condominium at 1101 Leslie St. near Eglinton Ave. E. fetched $417,000 in recent days, 98% of its $424,900 price. It is known as Carrington on the Park and is quite near the Shops of Don Mills, a short distance from South Bayview. Toronto Star

“Facebook ads for luxury goods are for fakes”

Bloomberg is reporting on new research by two Italian cyber-security experts, who found that about a quarter of the fashion and luxury ads on Facebook are actually touting knockoffs. The findings are based on a review of more than a thousand ads, including 180 in the luxury and fashion space. Of that 180, 43 turned out to be pointing to counterfeit goods. Stylecaster 

Leaside Burger a fixed feature of Grilltime menu

Host, store keep and raconteur Andy Elder is tweeting tonight that the Leaside (Grilltime) Burger is now a permanent fixture on the “cooked for you” menu boards at Grilltime on Laird Drive.  Lunch Friday?

Concrete utility poles removed from Manor Road

The 60-year-old concrete utility poles were coming down along Manor Road on this cold Thursday. Here we see workers (left) yanking out a pole. At right, truck will take this load to the hydro pole graveyard.  For many months the neighborhood has seen the installation of new fir poles.  

Tori & Cates $10,000 Movember challenge

Tori and Cates Cupcakes is donating ten percent of all sales this month to a Movember fundraising challenge. The goal is $10,000 (to help fight prostate cancer) and the shop at 1592 Bayview Ave. is offering gift cards and special order Movember Celebration Cakes. The cards are good all the way over to October 31, 2015.

U2’s Bono suffers broken bones piercing the skin

Bono has been injured more seriously than was previously reported as the result of a motorcycle crash in New York’s Central Park on Sunday. Bono, the U2 boss guy, suffered numerous severe fractures including one the orbit of his eye,  In addition to his facial injury, Bono’s left shoulder blade was fractured into three pieces, a medical statement said.  The 54-year-old suffered a compound fracture to the elbow where “the bone of the humerus was driven through his skin, and the bone was in six different pieces.”  His elbow was repaired with three metal plates and 18 screws, according to the release. The singer also suffered a broken finger on his left hand. hand. They say he will recover but it’s likely all of this will cause some painful reminders of his biking time. 

Whole She-Bang 2 at Sleuth Sat. November 22

Sleuth of Baker Street on Millwood Road reminds us that the delightfully named group of authors, Sisters in Crime Canada, has produced another anthology of shoot and kill tales. The first was The Whole She-Bang. This year they are offering The Whole She-Bang 2! It is a collection of  24 stories written by 21 members and edited by Janet Costello. Many of the contributors will be at Sleuth on Saturday, November 22, 2014 between 2 and 4 p.m. Copies are autographed by all writers and you can learn more at this website

Black widows seldom stop at one or two old gents

Police in Japan think that  67-year-old Chisako Kakehi has fatally poisoned her husband and that her total handiwork in this regard may be seven late husbands and boyfriends. She has denied involvement in the deaths but the Kyoto prefectural police think the cyanide in her 75-year-old husband’s body is just too compelling a reason to arrest her. The couple was married one month before he died in December 2013, reports said. Kyodo news service said that Kakehi had married four times, and that several partners had died within a few years of marrying her or starting relationships with her. Cyanide has also been found in the blood of a 71-year-old partner who fell while riding a minibike in 2012, Kyodo said. In the early going it is often possible for black widows to pull the wool over the eyes of unsuspecting authorities. Readers will remember the case of  the New Glasgow Nova Scotia lady, Melissa Ann Weeks, who extinguished one husband by running over him on a country road. She got but 14 months in jail and then went on to kill two more husbands. Black widow of New Glasgow  Nation

Leaside twins win first prize for well-groomed chickens

hen Andrew and Matthew Patel of South Leaside were just kids they were frequently under the motherly eye of Marjorie Noakes, a neighbor across the street. Neither of the twins could quite manage Mrs. Noakes three syllable first name so they shortened it up to Muffy. She liked that. Mrs. Noakes is now a bright 91 years old and was delighted to be with Andrew and Matthew again at the Royal Winter Fair this month. It was here that the boys were showing their carefully groomed and coddled family of 14 urban chickens, a rooster and two geese. To their amazement, they picked up dozens of wins including two first-place finishes and a best-in-class. Mrs. Noakes was tickled to find that one of the chickens was named Muffy, a tribute to her. The inset picture is a charming piece of family history on all sides.

Entertaining account by Vanessa Lu

Some readers may have seen the entertaining account written by Vanessa Lu in the Toronto Star in recent days. She describes the meticulous washing and grooming routine that Andrew and Matthew pursued to get their birds ready. A fancy china cup from their mother’s collection was sneaked off to create a vinegar rinse, Lu reports. The Patel family’s road to urban chicken farming is said to have had various origins. The childhood farm of the twins grandmother in Slovenia was an inspiration. Locally a few visits to the Royal had created a fascination for the poultry competition. The boys will finish up Grade 12 at Upper Canada College next Spring and be off to university next year. This fall it was now or never for a go at entering the competition. Vanessa Lu, Toronto Star

Ontario conceded $468 million to teachers

Globe and Mail 

Uber accused of having misogynistic culture

Vox  New York Times 

One time CP worker gets 9 months for robo-calls

Reuters