No sooner did we bemoan the lack...
No sooner did we bemoan the lack of a local version of Spy Magazine’s “100 Most Annoying, Alarming and Appalling People, Places and Things” than the L.A. Reader published its “Guide to L.A.: The Good, the Bad and the Utterly Repugnant.”
Are you stumped when an outsider asks why you live in L.A.? The newspaper’s staff and readers offered several reasons, including “the feeling it’s the cutting edge of the planet,” its “proximity to the Sierra,” and, of course, the presence of “the wackos.”
Speaking of the latter, Venice Beach was deemed L.A.’s “best value,” followed by such runners-up as “the free samples at Price Club.”
Most honest politician? The No. 1 response, overwhelmingly, was: “You must be kidding.”
The “bad and utterly repugnant” list, aside from smog and the other obvious villains, was interesting for revealing the things that get on our nerves, such as:
* “People who spend all their time thinking about, going to, and talking about gyms.”
* “People whose names are ‘Mike’ but spell it ‘Myq.’ ”
* “The bum who stands in front” of a Beverly Hills bank “who the bank manager claims is a wealthy bank customer.”
Sounds like just another wealthy wacko.
A vant-garde art works are no stranger to Manhattan Beach. This is the city that unveiled “Ddumbbells,” the dumbbells sculpture that was later lifted by thieves--the ultimate good or bad review, depending on how you look at it. Then there was the city’s three-part welcoming sign, depicting a man, a hat and the word “tan” (get it?).
Now the most daring: Resident Jay Berman snapped a photo of one of the city’s beachfront signs, which sport an international symbol that gives dog-owners the scoop on their responsibilities.
City officials failed to return our phone calls so we can’t tell you whether they went to an outside design firm for the art work.
The name fits: The seventh-ranking college tennis player in the nation is UCLA’s Jason Netter.
Janet Salter of Beverly Hills says that when Secretary of State March Fong Eu handed out bags bearing her likeness at a campaign function, an onlooker was overheard saying:
“I didn’t even know she was missing.”
You have to admire the persistence of a bank guard who embarks on a chase of 487 miles. Especially when he isn’t even pursuing a robber. Zoltan (Nick) Kraynik, a 42-year-old guard at the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco, made the run from the Bay City to L.A. in two weeks. Rather than recovering money, he was raising it--more than $5,000 for charity.
This being Rideshare Week, we pass along an ad from the Auto Club’s 1909 Tour Book, courtesy of Gene Wilstach of Murrieta Hot Springs. The ad’s claims are a reminder, tired commuter, that there was a time when the masses weren’t entirely sold on motorcars.
Many merchants could see the future, though. The handbook lists such items for “autoists” as “glass fronts” (windshields), “auto goggles,” “auto dusters,” “auto puttees,” and “auto shoes” for those occasions when it’s “necessary to dismount in dusty and muddy roads.”
Not everyone realized how tragically destructive the machines could be, though. The innocence of the era is reflected in the many alcohol ads that appeared in the handbook, including one by a Spring Street emporium that bragged that “no automobile trip is complete without a bottle of Bond and Lillard whiskey.”
miscelLAny:
The inhabitants of L.A. County produce about 50,000 tons of waste per day, which county Supervisor Mike Antonovich’s office has calculated is enough to fill Dodger Stadium every nine days.