No one wants to get caught at...

No one wants to get caught at an epicenter.

But what about at the Epicentre, L.A.’s first earthquake-themed restaurant?

“Our feeling was that so many people from out of state talk about L.A. falling into the ocean that we’d have a positive attitude about it,” said A. L. Wehmeyer, assistant general manager of the downtown Kawada Hotel. “Besides, Californians have a good sense of humor.”

The Kawada’s Epicentre, located at the corner of Hill and 2nd streets, will open to epicures in October, three years after the Whittier quake struck.

Wehmeyer said that the restaurant’s decor will include walls designed to appear as if they’re cracked, a map that shows California taking a dive into the Pacific and a work of art that depicts City Hall “as it is now and after it has crumbled in an earthquake.”

No doubt the dessert menu will include pineapple upside-down cake.

Speaking of the shifting Earth, have you ever noticed the world map sculpture on the Pacific Bell building on Grand Avenue?

California’s still in place, but South America has moved up alongside it. Meanwhile, Africa has drifted up toward Canada. And Australia’s where Brazil used to be.

Keep Pac Bell’s map in mind the next time you have trouble making a connection on an international phone call.

This is about that sports team that shifted its base to L.A. and left many embittered fans behind. We mean the Dodgers, of course.

The club’s heavy hitters--its lawyers--have filed a lawsuit against two men who are using the name “Brooklyn Dodgers” on two restaurants in Brooklyn. The team claims it has sole rights to “Brooklyn Dodgers.”

Now, Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden has asked New York to seek a court order declaring the name part of the public domain, meaning anyone could use it.

First employed in 1890, the term originally described the baseball fans who had to dodge trolley cars to get to the park.

“The name ‘Brooklyn Dodgers’ cannot be owned by a Los Angeles corporation which turned its back on us more than 30 years ago,” Golden declared.

As a public service to the two cities involved, Only in L.A. has decided to combine two of its recent crusades: How Can Irwindale Fill Up Its Pits? and What Can Long Beach Do With the Spruce Goose?

miscelLAny:

A bronze plaque at the peristyle end of the Coliseum commemorates the gold medal winners of the 1932 L.A. Olympics, including Eddie Tolan (100-meter dash), Babe Didrikson (javelin throw) and Lee Blair (water colors and drawings). Blair’s little-remembered division--fine arts--was later dropped from the Olympics.