You have to hand it to this sock puppet movie

It’s difficult to believe that anyone could pass up a movie about a sock puppet who is being chased through the Middle East by fanatics of several religious groups, all of whom are trying to circumcise him.

But that was the case with the suspenseful “Sneaky Snake Lost in the Holy Land,” a short that was rejected by the Smogdance film festival in Claremont.

Fortunately, Sneaky Snake had the last laugh. The film recently played at the Vine Shorts Fest in Santa Monica and won the Audience Choice award, worth $1,500. So, how about a hand for Sneaky Snake? After all, he plays not only himself but the priest, rabbi and mullah who are doing the chasing. Ah, the magic of motion pictures!

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Objection!

In a recent discussion of mascots, I questioned the ferocity of the Banana Slug, the symbol of UC Santa Cruz’s sports teams. Little did I know that the creature was associated with a famous hit man of the movies.

I was reminded of this fact by Superior Court Judge Kelvin Filer, a 1977 grad of the school -- a “PROUD” grad, as he put it in his e-mail.

“I have to stand up for our Banana Slugs,” Filer wrote. “How many other mascots have been displayed on a T-shirt worn by a leading actor in a major movie? I assume you saw John Travolta in ‘Pulp Fiction’?”

Motion granted.

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Cat got your Toyota?

John Flynn found evidence of a feline in a Venice neighborhood who is something of a joy rider (see photo).

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Names that don’t translate so well

On one vacation, Deloris St. John of Laguna Niguel rode Emu Airlines, a small commuter service in Australia. “Emu was an unfortunate name for an airline since the Emu is a flightless bird,” she said. “Many passengers were concerned when I laughingly pointed this out.”

This time around, she chanced upon a brochure for an airline with a name that makes you wonder whether you should be inoculated before boarding (see accompanying). Or at least make sure you have an airsickness bag at your seat.

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Don’t know much about geography . . .

Ralph Porter of Rancho Palos Verdes forwarded a map of the Washington, D.C., area from an Eastern newspaper that indicated that L.A.’s urban sprawl has really gotten out of hand (see accompanying). And the ad was for a warehouse sale of goods of National Geographic, a publication that you’d think would know Anaheim Stadium from the Lincoln Memorial. Porter theorizes that the newspaper used the map that was supposed to accompany a similar sale in Long Beach.

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Learning on the move

It’s not uncommon for university students to transfer. But what about universities that transfer? Mention was made in The Times about the 100th anniversary of Biola University of La Mirada, a Christian school that originally was located at Hope and 6th streets in L.A.

Other local schools that switched homes include Occidental, which moved to Eagle Rock from Highland Park in 1914; UCLA, which moved to Westwood in 1929 from its previous location on Vermont Avenue (site of Los Angeles City College); and Pepperdine, which moved to Malibu in 1972 after 35 years at the corner of Vermont Avenue and 79th Street in South L.A.

Interestingly enough, Pepperdine called its teams the Waves even when it was located on Vermont Avenue, miles from the Pacific. Perhaps it was trying to attract a few students who were not majoring in geography.

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miscelLAny

Referring to terms that, sadly enough, are outmoded, Tom Blair’s column in San Diego magazine asks: “If it’s really 2008, why are gas stations still listed in the Yellow Pages under ‘service stations’?”

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012, and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com