OTTAWA -- Panhandler A. Wolf doesn't see many aging heavy metal rock stars and even fewer $20-bill handouts as he works the corner of Rideau St. and Sussex Dr.
So his surprise is understandable when a shuffling Ozzy Osbourne pulled out a crisp Canadian $20 bill and dropped it in his black cap yesterday afternoon.
"That's Ozzy Osbourne?" the tattooed and wheelchair-bound man asked as he pocketed the cash quickly. "I like him."
The 54-year-old rocker and reality TV star strolled through the Market yesterday with a small entourage, first dining at La Famiglia, a Clarence St. restaurant. He's in town for a Corel Centre show later this week.
Osbourne finished up his plate of penne and chicken and got some exercise walking up Clarence St. to Rideau.
Along the way he explained to a visiting Toronto resident that he wasn't afraid of SARS.
"There's more people getting run over by a mother (expletive) truck," he told Carl Lovett.
With every step the black-clad rocker made, more fans seemed to appear. "Ozzy!" and "You rock!" and "Woo hoo!" and the more original "Hey Ozzy, where's the Sweet Leaf?" they yelled.
His handlers politely kept fans at bay as Osbourne strolled down Rideau St. and into the Chapters book store. He made his way to the information desk and was pointed to his next destination -- Starbucks.
He ordered the Red Eye, a shot of espresso in a coffee, and got a table with his pals.
And there they sat, with Ozzy reading rock magazines and his handlers turning away autograph seekers, including a gaggle of high school girls who wanted their yearbooks signed.
But he did make some autograph exceptions and signed "Best Wishes, Ozzy Osbourne" on the Starbucks cup of Abraham Michano.
"My son was a great fan of Ozzy Osbourne and he was killed in a car accident nine months ago," said Michano.
Ozzy seemed upbeat after the drink and began to tell stories to his pals, at one point getting up, grabbing the back of his own pants and kicking one foot again and again.
With two cups of coffee ordered to go, Osbourne slipped a couple of packets of Equal sweetener into his pocket and walked back to the Chateau Laurier.
