UPDATE: Snake found, alive and well.

This just in from Craigslist:

penelope- lost snake (T-between park and andrew)

she is a very mellow snake- never hisses or bites and is very timid. she is a bit under 3 feet long with a brownish, almost pinkish paisley looking pattern on her back. she is 3 years old and ive had her since she was 5 days old. if you see her, if you find her- please call me @413-530-6350 ANYTIME. you will be rewarded and will also be a hero. please help!

The Globe interviews the snake lady, who said "she is accustomed to taking Penelope everywhere, and was wearing her around her neck, concealed by a scarf, when she boarded the T Thursday."

Yesterday:
This is Samuel L. Jackson, reminding you to keep your mothereffin' snakes off this mothereffin' train.

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today that two banks can't claim ownership of two foreclosed Springfield homes because of their shoddy paperwork.

The ruling is a possible blow against banks seeking to foreclose on mortgages that were sold and resold or bundled as "securitized" investments in the years leading up to the near collapse of the financial industry, at least if they failed to dot all their i's as they would normally expect their customers to do. In its ruling, the court said:

Recognizing the substantial power that the statutory scheme affords to a mortgage holder to foreclose without immediate judicial oversight, we adhere to the familiar rule that "one who sells under a power [of sale] must follow strictly its terms. If he fails to do so there is no valid execution of the power, and the sale is wholly void."

Two of the justices went even further in expressing their disgust:

[We] concur fully in the opinion of the court, and write separately only to underscore that what is surprising about these cases is not the statement of principles articulated by the court regarding title law and the law of foreclosure in Massachusetts, but rather the utter carelessness with which the plaintiff banks documented the titles to their assets.

In one of the Springfield cases, the court said U.S. Bank was unable to provide proof the property was actually included in a bundle of securitized mortgages. In another, the current mortgage holder was unable to offer proof the morgage was actually transferred from the initial lender to Bank of America.

The court also noted the banks' alleged attempt to comply with a legal requirement to place foreclosure notices in a newspaper "of general circulation" by putting ads in the Boston Globe for the properties in Springfield.

In one case, the court noted:

According to U.S. Bank, the assignment of the Ibanez mortgage to U.S. Bank occurred pursuant to a December 1, 2006, trust agreement, which is not in the record.

In the other case:

Wells Fargo did not provide the judge with a copy of the flow sale and servicing agreement, so there is no document in the record reflecting an assignment of the LaRace mortgage by Option One to Bank of America.

• Complete ruling

Paul Levy announces his resignation to medical-center staffers and readers of his blog.

DrinkBoston.com reports on efforts to develop a Boston bartenders guild:

Most meetings take place in one of the members' bars during a weekday. The next one, at Craigie on Main January 10, will feature John Mayer of Craigie and Tyler Wang of Drink talking about ice and dilution in cocktails. Other topics in the works include an interactive roundtable about cocktail formulas and discussions on speed and volume, guest relations and managing inventory.