U.S.-Japanese relations may not be warm at...

U.S.-Japanese relations may not be warm at the moment, but let’s not forget that a famous American is the subject of a Japanese architect’s permanent tribute at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Arata Isozaki, who designed the museum, is such an admirer of a famous nude pinup of Marilyn Monroe that he refers to the undulating aspect of several indoor and outdoor walls at MOCA as the “Monroe Curve.”

This item should be read to the tune of “What the World Needs Now”:

Los Angeles Lawyer magazine contains an ad for “the computer game for lawyers.” Its name: “Objection.”

No doubt the sequel to the above will be: “Hourly Fees.”

For the prospective maker of that game, we pass along some billing rates of local attorneys, according to California Law Business, a biweekly publication of the Daily Journal:

1--Feminist and family rights lawyer Gloria Allred, L.A., $375 per hour.

2--Criminal defense lawyer Gerald L. Chaleff, Santa Monica, $275 per hour.

3--Entertainment lawyer Lee Phillips, West L.A., $350 per hour.

4--”Divorce lawyer to the stars” Marvin Mitchelson, Century City, $400 per hour, or contingency rate of 10% to 20% for divorce cases and 33% for palimony suits.

5--Median rate for partners of large California law firms: $250 per hour. Associates: $155.

We object.

Author Martin Elkort (“The Secret Life of Food”) contributes one more item to our file of restaurant firsts originating in L.A.

In the 1930s, Robert Cobb, owner of the Brown Derby in Beverly Hills, “invented a harmless concoction of soda water and flavored syrups that allowed children the fantasy of drinking a real cocktail with their parents. He named it the ‘Shirley Temple,’ in honor of the . . . famous child star.”

The boy’s version, of course, was dubbed the “Roy Rogers”--at most places. We remember, however, dining in Anaheim Stadium, where we heard a waiter refer to the same drink there as the . . . “Gene Autry.”

Congratulations to Dr. Jay Cohn of L.A. and his twin brother, Eric, of Rye, N.Y., who turn 70 on Sunday. Yup, the two were born 2-2-22. Naturally, each had two children.

miscelLAny:

The first inductees into Downey High’s new Hall of Fame were graduates Karen and Richard Carpenter, the brother-sister singing team. After the Carpenters became successful, by the way, they became the owners of some property in the area that they named after one hit--the Close to You Apartments.