A massive international sting involving the FBI and Canadian authorities has broken the scamming ring, the Boston Globe reported. Investigators developed leads that resulted over the last several weeks in 100 charges against 21 people, including alleged middlemen, vendors, and ringleaders.

In February, Toronto police arrested three Canadian brothers: Reginald Beason, 47, and Alexander Beason, 36, who were charged with fraud; and Alfredo Beason, 49, who was charged with possession of fake tokens, the Globe said.

From Massachusetts, court documents say, the tokens were shipped in boxes of 20,000 via UPS and FedEx to Niagara Falls, N.Y., where runners loaded them into cars and drove them across the border.

Howard Moscoe, chairman of the Toronto Transit Commission, said Canadian authorities are considering charges against a Bay State coin-manufacturing firm that allegedly produced most of the counterfeit tokens.

Moscoe said the coins were perfectly weighted to slip through Toronto’s collection boxes.

“It seems pretty unlikely to me that somebody could produce a transit token and not check out who they were making it for,” Moscoe said.
source

Happy (almost)April people:)

The night started at 5:45 pm, with my sister and I jumping excitedly off the 511 streetcar at the intersection of Bathurst and Queen. Like two kids hyped up on sugar, we were all smiles. Following the intersection was the line up outside Healey’s and without even reading the board, we knew we landed at the right place (God bless the TTC). What followed was a 45-minute session of standing in the -3 degrees wind-chill surrounded by a crowd of almost 400 strangers who evidently shared the Petrucci-loving. It was a warm feeling to know people around you, for once, knew the music you were into and didn’t give you the ‘omg, what’s wrong with you to be listening to that trash’ look (yes, absolute un-holy words they).

After being in the toe numbing and teeth clattering and perpetually secondary smoking for 45 minutes, they finally opened the gates and everyone rushed in. The bouncer announced no video or sound recording was allowed and if anyone were caught doing so would be thrown out. My sister and I gulped at hearing that but no way in hell was I letting anyone touch my camcorder, and without handing it in to the bouncers, we walked right into the dark interior of the basement at Healey’s. The dim lights, the speakers pumping rock classics, the internal heating and the run towards the stage finally made us realise that was worth all that lining up in the cold and the hour commute preceding the queue. My sister and I found us a perfect place on the left side of the stage, from where the view was anything of the whole stage was anything but clear. After finding the spot to begin the gruesome wait for Petrucci to come out. About 15 songs, four watermelon and lemon tridents later, the L&M crew introduced John Petrucci on to the stage.

All hell broke lose when Mr Extraordinaire walked the line between the crowd and up to the stage. Devil horns were raised, some beer bottles followed and several ‘woo hoos’ later, he finally took the mic.
‘Hello everyone’
‘HELLO JOHN’.
‘Its cold in Canada’
‘Hahahahahahahahahaha’.
The ice was finally broken, no more nerves just a lot of Petrucci loving in the crowd followed. Larger than life was the aura of his presence yet his attitude so humble and honest that it made every one feel as if you were interacting with a laymen like yourself, not to a maestro like him. Dressed in a loosely fitted blue jeans and a black round-neck T shirt along with a grey toque on his head, he stood poised and perfect with the axe in his hand.

He talked to us about the layout of the clinic, which was going to include three songs, tutorials on guitar techniques he uses followed by a question answer session. Without further a-do, he went into Glasgow Kiss. It got the crowd pumped as hell, the jumping, screaming, head-banging crowd slowly quietened down, everyone was mesmerised. All eyes on his fingers, which were sliding, up and down the fret board with the speed and smoothness that defied friction. I think it made me shed a tear (of course privately) and I wiped it off before anyone including my sister had a chance to even realise what happened. The silence persisted but the ground seemed to be shaking now, the rooftop, the speaker above us, the pillar next to us trembled at the amplitude of the sound. Petrucci was surely in the house and everyone was fixated in his playing. Magic was happening in there because Glasgow Kiss and Curve (another track) aren’t surreal until you are three feet away from Petrucci and he is playing and improvising live.

Between the tracks, he showed us a few legato techniques, followed by e-Lydian, blues scale, and arpeggios and not to forget the wonders of the wah wah and the whammy pedal. John even did some sleazy guitar tricks to please the crowd by doing an aeroplane, the train and some Steve Ray Vaughan licks. His eyes were sparkling with joy as people shouted out questions regarding music he made years ago, music he hadn’t played in years. His passion for Hendrix, Steve Morse, and Rush showed in his answer about inspirations. His love and respect for Vai and Satriani and being part of the G3 was crystal clear in his smile and the brightness of his cheeks. But despite the madness of the crowd and the roaring of the fans, John kept his composure and tamed the crowd at the right time when he went into Damage Control (from his solo album). He talked about his custom made two-headed guitar that several people in the crowd were dying to buy. Of course his own signature line of Music Man guitars that shunned the crowd with the technical brilliance that complimented his own technique.

The clock said 9:15 pm, he had just finished Damage Control, one last shout out, rounds of screams and cheering later, a satisfied and happy Petrucci, said ‘good night’ and ‘thankyou’ to the crowd, to L&M and Healey’s. He left the stage with a warm smile on his face and I left the club with a pounding head and almost deaf ears. It was a night to remember, so close to a magician like him was a once in a lifetime experience for me. We all left with ear-to-ear smiles on our faces and the night just felt full of musical notes, guitar geeks, happy hearts and a whole lot of Petrucci loving.

The night belonged to JP. It really did. =)

Now if I could only upload pictures:S

Saint Patrick’s Day Parades & Events in Toronto
PARADES

Toronto St. Patrick’s Day Parade
March 19th 2006
This year’s parade begins at 12 noon, starting from Bloor Street West & St. George, proceeding along Bloor, down Yonge Street and finishes at Nathan Philips Square on Queen Street West.

I have never been to a parade, I feel like its going to be fun-ness. As retarded as it may sound, I am excited:p

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Everyone!!

DREAM THEATER guitarist John Petrucci will be holding a clinic on Tuesday, March 21 at Long & McQuade (925 Bloor Street West) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada beginning at 7:00 p.m. For more information, call (416) 588-7886 or e-mail Info@long-mcquade.com or jonlong@long-mcquade.com.

Now this is brilliance. I don’t know how many Dream Theater fans are out there but if you are into the progressive genre, this is just grand. A great opportunity to see the maestro giving a few tips etc, I strongly urge you to come because it doesn’t get better than Petrucci.

Even if you don’t like Dream Theatre, You ofcourse respect the dude’s skill with those electrifying solos and mind blowing riffs. John’s technical brilliance with the axe would leave you craving to pick up and axe and improvise yourself something involving chords and scales(or at least consider it:P).Oh and the best part is that the event is absolutely FREE.

So check out : Long and Mcquade for details.

Happy Sun-Day y’all!

I had THREE yesterday, not because I am chronic chocolate eater, but those screeens just make them look heavenly. How that divine chocolate syrup is spread all over that warm plump piece of bread(*drools*) and done so flawlessly!!

So, pop into the nearest Timmy’s just for the view and buy stuff while you are at it. Believe me, you can be broke as a stick and still eat at Timmys:D

Hails Timmy’s:P

The festival was started in 2002, under the management of Hart House Theatre, aiming to promote the unversity’s rich contribution to the Arts by alumni and student filmmakers. The festival has since gained popularity and is now supported by U of T agencies, student groups and community sponsors.

Come and Join the celebration of art this year at University of Toronoto(down town campus) at Innis College, Hart House or Sage Restaurant.The Map and details of the filimings and their timings are found at the website at :
http://www.uoftfilmfest.ca/