A Northridge sculptor who goes by the...

A Northridge sculptor who goes by the name of Michael was delighted last spring when his creation was installed near the entrance to the Magic Castle in Hollywood.

Now, he says, the magicians’ club wants it to disappear.

“They said it looks like a pig,” lamented Michael.

Titled “The Magician,” the 20-foot-tall waterfall sculpture is made of old auto parts, including a 1967 Volvo hood that serves as the red cape.

It does “have a pig face,” Michael admitted. And it has “a squiggly tail.” But, he added, “it’s not a pig. It’s a primitive piece. They knew what it looked like when they chose it.”

“We’ve had a lot of members complaining that it doesn’t fit in with our Victorian motif,” explained Al Davis, the club general manager (no relation to the Raiders’ boss). “Besides the agreement was that it could be taken down anytime.”

If it’s any comfort to Michael, there are worse things that could have happened to his piece. At least none of the magicians sawed it in half.

List of the Day:

Some dishes served at downtown L.A.’s new Epicentre Restaurant, which bills itself as the world’s first earthquake-themed eatery:

1--1906 Omelet (“three broken eggs”).

2--San Andreas Soup (featuring “a sour cream fault line”).

3--Curry on the Richter Scale (“spiced to order--1.0 thru 10.0”).

(For what it’s worth, on a recent lunchtime visit, Only in L.A. received a mild aftershock from the bill--centered in the $7.75 charge for the chicken salad).

The Epicentre may have the most L.A.-ish restaurant name. But a close second, for a different reason, might be the downtown diner overlooking the Harbor Freeway in the Coast Federal Bank Building. It’s called the Harbor View Restaurant.

“I had shrimp there for lunch,” reports Betsy Bates of L.A., “and, sure enough, they tasted like they were fresh out of the harbor.”

We’re certain she meant the waterway, not the freeway.

From our Whatever-Happened-to-This-Business? File:

“A.E. Smith of Illinois has conceived the idea of a taxi service between New York and L.A.,” the Auto Club’s Touring Topics magazine declared in 1915.

“He not only will attend to the driving but also will carry a valet to look after the baggage, serve picnic luncheons and make himself generally useful. As the business grows, it is said that Mr. Smith proposes to add a manicure and massage service.”

Noting the statistics on the number of divorced adults in San Diego (10.2%), San Francisco, (9.4%), San Jose (9.2%) and Los Angeles (8.8%), Louis Luck of Culver City writes that he’s comforted to learn that “even 8% to 10% of saints and angels can’t get along with each other.”

One of the few people upset with Mayor Bradley’s campaign to reduce junk mail is Warren Meyer, owner of an L.A. bulk-mail business and self-styled “junk mail king.”

A spokesman for Meyer says that he will handle, free of charge, the mass mailings of any opponent of Bradley in the 1993 mayoral race.

If he really wants to damage Bradley’s chances, shouldn’t he declare his support for the mayor?

miscelLAny:

L.A.’s first golf course, nine holes (actually, tin cups) opened in 1897 at Pico Boulevard and Alvarado Street.