DRINKING ART: If you’re museum-hopping across the...

DRINKING ART: If you’re museum-hopping across the country this summer, you won’t have to go far to find one of the best, according to U.S. News and World Report. The current issue lists the newly refurbished Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana as one of its nine “must-see museums.” Especially lauded is its “Head of Bhairava,” a gilt-copper mask that is “particularly impressive . . . a beer-like drink used to flow from the mouth during Tibetan religious celebrations.”

CLASS SEASON? Consensus on the 6-10 Rams last season was that they were at least respectable, after a dismal 3-13 record the year before. And the 1993 Rams? Coach Chuck Knox gives his assessment Wednesday morning at an invitation-only breakfast at the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach, four days before Ram rookies are due to report for training camp at Cal State Fullerton. . . . It’s a guaranteed friendly audience: Knox has already been asked to stick around for autographs.

BIRTHDAY BOY: Judge George Francis was born the year the Old County Courthouse was built: 1901. Long just part time, he’ll still be on the bench for his 92nd birthday on Tuesday. By far the oldest sitting judge in the county, last year he handled more than 200 Superior Court civil cases. . . . Francis admits he hadn’t expected such a long career. “It shocks me now that I realize it,” he says. “I don’t feel 92.”

FRIEND OR FOE? The Bolsa Chica Co. has erected a billboard in Huntington Beach to raise public awareness about wetlands restoration. But critics are concerned the company is simply trying to put its best foot forward. . . . While the company proposes a major restoration project, it also wants to build nearly 5,000 homes in the area, which many environmentalists vehemently oppose. The billboard depicts wetlands wildlife and states: “There’s a plan for their community . . . and ours.” Leading environmental critic Flossie Horgan calls it “advertising spin.”