No. 1 frequent flier: He’s a travelin’...

No. 1 frequent flier: He’s a travelin’ man, that Tom Bradley, sort of mayor to the world. In this, his last year in office, he’s embarked on a $250,000 European junket to stimulate trade, and he had planned a Southeast Asia trip.

He canceled the latter after City Controller Rick Tuttle said he wouldn’t sign a check unless Bradley could justify the trip. Tuttle quipped: “I haven’t seen this kind of island-hopping since (Gen. Douglas) MacArthur did it in World War II.”

Which raises a question: Are there any countries that Bradley hasn’t visited during his two decades of bouncing about in office? Without checking, we can’t think of any. As we recall, the mayor even booked passage to Hawaiian Gardens once before discovering it was a neighbor of L.A.’s.

Anyway, we’re offering mementos from the Fabulous Only in L.A. Warehouse to the first person who can name 10 nations where Bradley hasn’t planted the flag of L.A. One prize for the first correct fax we receive and one for the first letter; no phone calls, please.

Countries must have landing strips large enough to accommodate jumbo jets to qualify. Contest not open to Bradley appointees.

Readin,’ ritin’ and road signs: Too often when we spotlight Caltrans’ imaginative artwork, such as a sign that proclaims, “Bakersmento” or “Sacrafield,” the agency corrects the gaffe. Posterity is the loser.

It’s of some consolation, then, to learn that a photo of one Caltrans gem that appeared in Only in L.A. will be immortalized in a high school math textbook’s discussion of symmetry.

In “Mathematics: The Human Endeavor,” author Harold R. Jacobs uses a 1991 photo by reader Al MacInnes to demonstrate, among other things, that there are only so many ways to screw up an N.

Had the street-painter merely turned the letter upside down, no one would have noticed because a capital “N has rotational symmetry,” Jacobs noted. . . .”It looks the same way if it’s rotated 180 degrees.”

Caltrans--helping educate America.

Another argument for metal detectors: Diners in the elegant Tea Room of the landmark Bullock’s Wilshire Building were surprised to find white plastic spoons at their place settings the other day. An apologetic waitress explained that, with the building due to close soon, several customers had walked off with the silverware as souvenirs.

miscelLAny:

Hollywood trivia buff Al Hix points out that over more than six decades, the Academy Awards ceremonies have been held at the Hollywood Roosevelt and Ambassador hotels; the Chinese, Academy Awards and Pantages theaters; the Biltmore Bowl; the Santa Monica Civic and Shrine auditoriums, and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. How did they ever overlook the Spruce Goose?