Pasadena may still pride itself as a...

Pasadena may still pride itself as a bastion of conservatism but the Crown City has its share of eccentrics, judging from a local newspaper’s poll.

The Pasadena Weekly’s “Best of Pasadena” survey occasioned such wild nominations as:

Best Place to Live: Ralphs’ Parking Lot (the market also got a vote for Best Place to Have a Glass of Wine.)

Best Car Repair Facility: RTD (“the guy . . . must have a lawsuit in mind and a plan to run into a bus,” commented columnist Dan O’Heron).

Best Happy Hour: “No Traffic on the 210.”

One of the more mordant observations came from a voter who nominated “Suicide Bridge” (the Colorado Street Bridge) as Best Place to Watch People.

Winner of the Best Local Actor category was Pasadena resident Kevin Costner, who outpolled several thespians, including weathercaster Johnny Mountain and evangelist Gene Scott.

Here are the Dodgers, in the thick of the pennant race, battling Cincinnati and San Francisco, and who’s the ball player you see on L.A. Gear’s L.A. billboards? The Giants’ Will Clark. Football season is about to begin, and who’s the football player on display on L.A. Gear’s L.A. billboards? The 49ers’ Joe Montana.

Shouldn’t the company change its name to S.F. Gear?

Well, responds a spokesman, when basketball season rolls around, L.A. Gear will honor a former Forum star--Ex-Lakers cheerleader Paula Abdul.

From Our Stop the Presses Dept.:

“This is regarding a fax we sent July 23, 1990, regarding a man flying from Dallas, Tex., to bring some In-N-Out burgers back to his co-workers. We stated that this was taking place Aug. 24, 1990, but it took place July 24, 1990. It has already occurred, so please do not make any plans for coverage.”

More and more, L.A. seems as congested as a mini-mall. But there was a time when it was a bit more wide open, as this 1954 photo from the L.A. Public Library’s collection shows. The drag strip’s probably a doughnut stand now.

Come to think of it, maybe we’ve sniffed too many rush-hour gasoline fumes lately. Discussing scary freeway maneuvers Tuesday, we misquoted reader Jerry Cowle’s letter. He was referring to the difficulty of trying to exit on Valley Vista--not Valley View--from the southbound San Diego Freeway.

As the crisis in the Persian Gulf deepens, radio station KFWB and some TV outlets have begun broadcasting the high and low temperatures for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Driving past a Burbank hotel on Hollywood Way the other day, you could have been excused for thinking you were in Saudi Arabia. Chris Brozek of Sylmar noticed that the temperature gauge read “124” at 10:30 a.m. “That’s kinda high, even for the Valley,” he observed.

miscelLAny:

The C. C. Brown ice cream shop in Hollywood claims it invented the hot fudge sundae in 1906 at its original location at 7th and Hill Streets.