The South Bayview Bulldog

A six-year-old British Columbia boy has written to the Canadian spy agency CSIS asking it to start a kid’s spy club for him and his friends. Jacob St. Jean is enthralled with spies and their exciting work. He begged his mother Erin for help to write a letter. She did and for four months Mrs. St. Jean had to explain to her son that it takes time for busy spies to reply to a little boy. Finally a bulky package arrived with a letter from the CSIS regional office. The letter said the agency was sorry to have taken so long to reply but the first letter had been written in invisible ink and had been lost. The second letter had been written in code but had to be discarded because the spies realized Jacob didn’t know the code. So finally, it was explained, they just decided to write it in plain English.  It was a thrilling reward for the long wait. The package included everything Jacob needed to become a junior secret agent: a cap with a CSIS patch, a CSIS pin and a CSIS medallion etched with his own, unique number. “There’s a code on it,” Jacob says. “Special for me … I don’t think I should tell it.”

Looking good ladies

The Comicon Phenomenon is back. Officially it’s Fan Expo, an annual gaudy celebration of private enterprise and self-promotion held at the Toronto Convention Centre. Prices are quoted at $15 to 45, so it appears there is entry-level and some kind of first class passport. Cosplay — or playing around with costumes — is the thing at Comicon. Everybody wants to dress up. Many people are conventionally costumed to look like Mr. Spock. But inevitably, Comicon attracts some people who are further out there. This is reflected in the event’s harassment and costume policy. The first no-no is that you may not come to Comicon with no clothes. That’s not a costume. Hey, and you know what, you can’t wear a costume that makes you look nude. Any costume that is too revealing in the sole judgment of the management will get you sent home, so to speak. You really get an insight into Comicon culture however when you ponder its “weapons” policy. Of course there are no real weapons allowed but you can’t have anything too sharp or pointy. You can’t go around like a yahoo with Yaoi paddle either. That’s the device used by people who think it’s fun to whack others on the bottom out in public. Yeah. All in all you have to know you want to be at Comicon, costumed or otherwise.

Two senior employees of the TTC have paid with their jobs for the cost over-runs on the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension. TTC Chief Capital Officer Sameh Ghaly and Andy Bertolo, chief project manager for the TYSSE, “are no longer with the organization.” Andy Byford, chief general manager, said:  “As CEO I felt a change in leadership at the TTC was required at this crucial time,” he said. It is not clear what Mr. Byford knew about the over-run and the public may wonder how a sum of $400 million in unplanned expenditures would not be noticed by many people.  Earlier this month, Byford told Mayor John Tory and TTC chair Josh Colle about the “possibility of a significant cost overrun” for the Spadina extension. It runs from University-Spadina line through York University and up to Vaughan.

The United Kingdom and large parts of Europe are reporting a “spectacular’ eclipse of the sun by the moon. It produced this classic photo of the “diamond ring” effect which occurs when the sun begins to emerge from behind the moon. Check out The Bulldog video page for video of the full eclipse with commentary.. 

An hour-long motorcycle chase, both slow and high speed, with many close calls in Los Angeles. The stunting which you may have seen briefly on TV news in Toronto is at about 7.25 of the video. The chase occurs through two Southern California counties. At the end he is arrested without a struggle in a gas station and tells a reporter “I just want to say I love my family and my two baby girls and I’m sorry I disappointed them.” Perhaps a bit of insight into this young man’s dangerous conduct today.

The home at 114 Brentcliffe Rd up near the valley has sold for its full listing price of $2,249,000. It was built in 2013 as infill and fetched $2,010,000 at that time. The Globe and Mail reports that the owners had ten showings with in three days and they had no trouble getting their price. It is a very desirable corner of Leaside. In 2013, Cezanne Homes completed the home to great dimensions. It has 3,000 square feet of living space, including four bedrooms with hardwood floors and either private or semi-private access to one of five bathrooms, plus a large built-in garage and private driveway.

A man has walked out of North York General Hospital dressed only in his hospital clothes. Chu Fay Chong, 60, was last seen on Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at approximately 5:30 p.m. leaving the hospital at Leslie Street and Sheppard Avenue area.  He is described as Asian, 5’11”, 150 lbs., brown eyes, shoulder-length black/grey hair with black-and-grey goatee. He was wearing light-blue hospital pants with a light-blue hospital gown, a white T-shirt and black shoes.  Police are concerned for his safety.

Shocking case of a knife attack and removal of a baby from the womb in Colorado. MailOnline