Bruiser looking for a fight attacks Sleepwalker's dog

"Stray Dog" hits the streets of Manhattan.
Photo: Supertouchart.com

Look, the guy couldn't have been too smart. When I saw the Tony Matelli dog sculpture at Wellesley College, I sniffed it just to be sure, then moved on, and never was fooled again.

But a giant pit bull terrier mix at Broadway and 73rd in New York City was fooled. Mom and Dad, in town to support their beloved Boston College Eagles in the Pinstripe Bowl, recognized Matelli's "Stray Dog" by the subway stop. The beast, bent on picking a fight, rammed his square snout at top speed into the dog. He bounced off, bruised and shaken. Passerby laughed, and lots of them petted the fake pup.

The city rejected Matelli's "Sleepwalker" piece as part of a public art display and went for the dog instead, apparently put off by the ruckus caused by the sculpture of a paunchy, balding guy in his skivvies.

About the installations, the Times noted: "Parks Department officials thought better of putting Tony Matelli’s “Sleepwalker,” a realistic sculpture of a nearly naked man...which recently caused a debate on the Wellesley campus in Massachusetts, where students protested it as stalkerlike."

Despite the terrier's best efforts, "Stray Dog" hasn't been vandalized. Mom and Dad reported that lots of people petted the fake pup. And it turns out that "Sleepwalker" is on display, just not stalking subway riders. He's safe on a rooftop at Marlborough Chelsea on W. 25th, where artsy types don't seem bothered by him at all.

Walpole woman calls cops on piano-playing squirrel

First, though I have been accused of many crimes and guilty of most of them, I have never caused Mom to call 911.

Well, I guess she did once, when I escaped and was trying to break into the SmartPak saddlery on Rte. 9 in Natick.

But I digress. I assume you want to know about the squirrel, not me.

A writer friend of mom's, upon arriving home this week, was startled to hear music wafting from her piano. A ghost? An intruder who just couldn't resist tickling the ivories as he or she lifted the family silver?

She calls 911. Walpole police arrive, and find—a squirrel.

Squirrel still at large. But how did he learn to play the piano? I sleep right next to ours, and the magic just hasn't happened for me.