'Nanny' Thompson shows off her funny side at Wild Rumpus

Wild Rumpus received the Nanny McPhee seal of approval.

Oscar winner and author Emma Thompson reportedly called Minneapolis' Wild Rumpus The best bookstore in the world! when she was here last week promoting her latest movie, "Nanny McPhee Returns."

Felicity Britton, exec director of Linden Hills Power and Light, a non-profit dedicated to reducing the neighborhood's carbon footprint, said Thompson "was hilarious answering questions for 30 minutes."

One child inquired about Thompson's willingness to appear naked, save for her makeup and hat, in a future movie. No, but that's a good idea -- Nanny McPhee the extreme version, Thompson replied. Rumpus staffer Franny Gustafson confirmed this one with a laugh on Monday.

Thompson's publicist played with a couple of piglets brought in for the event, but they weren't like the magical variety featured in the movie.

"She was super nice, hugging everyone," Britton wrote me in an e-mail. "Afterwards Emma and her team went to Sebastian Joe's for ice cream before heading to the airport. I recommended either the Pavarotti or Raspberry Chocolate Chip. We'll see if they took my recommendations."

Sebastian Joe's Clare Hoogesteger said Thompson sampled those flavors plus others, "but she ended up getting a strawberry malt."

Florida authorities declined to file sexual assault charges against Santana for what he said was a consensual encounter on a golf course. The woman's lawsuit alleges Santana "forcibly [removed] Jane Doe's clothing ... over her express objection, pleading and begging for him to stop."

The ugly accusations are new blows to the former Twins, now Mets, pitcher's image as a good guy and family man. The lawsuit, posted by TMZ.com, also alleges Santana got the woman pregnant.

Kathy Redmond, founder of the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes, told me Monday that Santana's accuser had a miscarriage approximately three months into the pregnancy. The 35-year-old single mother of two contacted Redmond's organization shortly after filing the alleged assault.

Doe's lawyer John Clune, a Colorado attorney brought into the Florida case because he specializes in representing sexual assault victims, explained the timing of the lawsuit:

"In January, our client learned the case wasn't going to be filed criminally and we had been in negotiations with Mr. Santana pretty much since January. I was brought in a month or two after negotiations started. My client just hasn't felt like Mr. Santana was taking the matter seriously enough. That's when we made a decision to file the case."

Michael Corso, Santana's attorney, countered: "We've taken it seriously. ... We feel we are going to have to let the courts system go its course. The truth will come out, as Johan already said in his brief comments."

Sid in bronze?Will sports columnist Sid Hartman's statue be publicly displayed?

The matter's up for debate Wednesday at a Minneapolis Arts Commission meeting.

The statue would be installed on the sidewalk between Target Center and Target Field.

Tim Gihring, senior editor at Minnesota Monthly and a MAC commissioner, tells me, "The statue is all but completed by Nicholas Legeros. It depicts Sid, circa 1982, with his mic extended and the phrase, 'Close personal friend and true Minnesota sports legend,' on the pedestal." The pose would allow fans to take pictures that make them look as though Sid's interviewing them.

The debate "won't be pretty," Gihring predicts. "A majority of the artsy commissioners probably don't know who the hell Sid is."

So at no point in the past 50 years have these artsy types listened to the radio, watched TV or read this newspaper? Educate yourselves at Google, kids.