Planning to fly east for a family...

Planning to fly east for a family Thanksgiving, Brett Stone of L.A. pulled out his trusty Postal Service wallet calendar and made a reservation for Nov. 21.

“That was easy,” he told the airline clerk afterward. “I expected a hassle for Thanksgiving weekend.”

She responded: “Thanksgiving is the next weekend, the 28th.”

That was the first indication that the post office had made an early delivery of a couple of holidays this year--Columbus Day was shoved forward a week too, from Oct. 14 to Oct. 7. A spokesman said that that calendar was ordered recalled several months ago after the mistakes were detected, emphasizing that postal workers will celebrate Thanksgiving the same day as the rest of us.

Stone, who was unable to change his reservation--there had been a hassle for the Thanksgiving weekend--will have his turkey on the third Thursday of November, anyway. And he has some basis for remarking that the holiday season seems to come earlier every year.

Speaking of other species of early birds, a Santa Claus in full regalia was spotted in Union Station’s lobby Tuesday. Maybe he also had one of the post office’s bum calendars.

Or could he have misheard that report about the arrival of Santa Anas ?

Mayor Bradley and City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky picked their spot when they lambasted local cable companies for hiking their rates.

The two were appearing on the first ever broadcast of a live press conference on cable television (Channel 35) here.

The proposal by Redding Assemblyman Stan Statham to carve the 51st state of Northern California out of the area north of Sacramento has not been received warmly in the Bay Area. One preservationist told the San Francisco Chronicle that that city’s only alternative in such an event would be to become a city-state.

Why? Under the Statham plan, San Francisco would become a part of Southern California.

Edson Andre Johnson of Altadena, holder of several “UFO Contactee Day” walks, writes to say that he’s planning a UFO/ET Beauty Contest Dec. 15 at the Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge.

Visitors are invited to bring drawings--or better yet, photos--of impressive-looking space aliens that they’ve encountered.

“This,” promises Johnson, “will be a real Miss Universe contest.”

Here’s today’s surf report:

But, first, a word from our sponsor--a Marina del Rey video company.

Yes, L.A. County, which brought you commercials on beach trash cans, beach vehicles and lifeguard towers, is trying to generate a bit more income by playing a 10-second ad for a surfing video on some of its taped surf reports.

And callers must now perform a new version of “hanging 10.”

miscelLAny:

L.A.’s first policewoman was Alice Stebbins Wells, who was appointed to the force in 1910. A widely sought speaker, she encountered one man in New Orleans who begged her to arrest him. “I want to be arrested by a lady,” he explained. She responded that he was out of her jurisdiction.