More powerful than the studio bosses: Most...
More powerful than the studio bosses: Most Angelenos “pay little attention to the opinions of professional movie critics,” wrote William Cash of the Times of London recently. But “the moment they step inside their local video store,” he told his British readers, Angelenos consult the clerks.
While living here, Cash found one Studio City shop that had a “Recommendations” section featuring the picks of clerks “Tim, Jerry, Greg and so on. . . .” And the staff wasn’t shy about throwing around its power--Cash says his choice of films often drew unsolicited criticism at the counter.
L.A. shoppers, whom he described as “dithering,” appreciate the counseling. Cash says “the video store is to L.A. what the launderette or sub post office is to Britain.” At Christmas, he noticed, video customers always “seemed to be dropping off presents, flowers and books.”
As well as overdue fines, which account for 45% of the Studio City store’s income. The local record-holder is said to be singer Michael Jackson, who held a “Star Wars” video hostage for more than a year and paid a $600 fine--in cash.
*
Hey! Some dads are recyclable!Jerry Cowle heard a K mart commercial for Father’s Day that began: “Isn’t it time to get rid of the old rake?” Only after a pause did it continue: “Or old clippers or edgers?”
*
“Your honor, it was this way. . . .”: Some common parking excuses and the city of L.A.’s responses, as discussed in its Parking Citation Administration Adjudication Manual:
* The officer apologized but wrote the citation: This “only indicates that the officer may not have wanted to fight about the violation. . . .”
* Only part of the car was illegally parked: “If part of the vehicle extends into a restricted area, the violation is the same as if the entire vehicle did.”
* Going to the bathroom: “This is never an adequate excuse for illegal parking.”
*
Surf Topanga Canyon: Jordan Crittenden, who contributed today’s menu item from a restaurant on the Santa Monica Pier, comments: “I guess in Malibu when they say the surf is up, they’re not kidding.”
*
Taking the fun out of being lost: We’ve figured out why Thomas Bros. enlarged its 1993 map guide to a cumbersome one foot wide. And why it renumbered the pages in such an incomprehensible fashion; page 825 of the L.A. edition is followed by an apparently conglomerate page: 826-852.
Obviously, traffic safety experts requested the changes to eliminate the custom of motorists looking up an unfamiliar location at 70 m.p.h. while easily balancing the book on the steering wheel.
Oh, well, now drivers have more time to shave or apply their makeup.
miscelLAny:
The 6th annual Pasadena Chili Cook-Off, an Aug. 7 charity event in Old Pasadena’s Mercantile Alley, has added a new delicacy: goat chili.
