Outspoken Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove),...

Outspoken Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), who subbed for syndicated broadcaster Rush Limbaugh this week, obviously hasn’t had as much practice as Limbaugh when it comes to reaching for the “kill-switch.” That’s the time-delay device that enables talk-show hosts to bleep out obscenities uttered by callers.

In the midst of Dornan’s stint, broadcast on member station KFI, one caller branded the congressman a “. . . Nazi” before he was cut off.

Luckily, there was no chance of that caller’s adjective getting past Only in L.A.’s “kill-switch.”

Movie-makers have been known to isolate positive-sounding blurbs from unfavorable reviews and quote them in ads.

The Church of Scientology, whose controversial inner workings were recently revealed in an analytical six-part series in The Times, seems to have taken a similar tact.

Scientology is now running ads on billboards and RTD buses that say:

“ ‘There is little question that Scientology is here to stay--and doing its best to meet expectations . . .’--Joel Sappell and Robert W. Welkos, Los Angeles Times.”

A spokeswoman for the movement replied: “The L.A. Times gave the Church of Scientology widespread exposure and now we return the favor.”

C an it be that interest in a seminar with the compelling theme “Malibu: Microcosm for Surfriding’s Future” is at low ebb?

Hard to believe but that may be the case. Geosurf Symposium 1990 originally announced a $90 ticket price for today’s event at Pepperdine University. Since cresting at that figure, the price has plunged to $15.

Winner of this week’s Dueling Signs Competition is the head-spinning photo taken in Hollywood’s Barnsdall Park by Jerry Martz.

Incidentally, the “Bevery” Glen street sign, pictured here recently, has been corrected, if it was, indeed, a misspelling. Kerem Bilge, a psychology major at nearby UCLA, points out that “bever” in British English means “tremble” or “shiver.” He noticed the “Bevery” spelling during that nervous period known as finals week. So his theory is that “the city temporarily renamed the street ‘Trembling Glen’ just to show solidarity with us Bruins.”

During Mensa’s recent convention, Diana Altman bid $186 at an auction for what spokesman Ken Rosenhek described as “a gifted kid.”

It was a 20-day-old goat. The little critter, donated by some Mensa members from Washington, was then given to a Maryland family that has a farm. In all, the auction raised $8,000 for the gifted children’s fund of the high-IQ society.

The goat attended the convention at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel and presented no problems. “It’s potty-trained,” Rosenhek explained.

Our Only in L.A. Weekend Menu Item will be offered this morning at Perkins Palace during the Pasadena Chili Cookoff, a fund-raiser for abused children. It promises to have lots of bite. Layne Wootten of RJ’s restaurant in Beverly Hills has entered a batch of chili featuring rattlesnake meat.

For your file of L.A. insults:

A cartoon in the New Yorker depicts a man talking to his wife while watering the lawn.

“You know what I like about L.A.?” he says. “We don’t have to be interesting anymore.”

In reply, L.A. magazine should run a cartoon of a man saying to his wife in their cramped living room:

“You know what I like about Manhattan? We don’t have a lawn to water anymore.”

miscelLAny:

One orange drink concoction that was invented in L.A. in 1926 is said to have acquired its name because customers would often say to owner Julius Freed, “Give me an orange, Julius.”