Just the thing for the long-distance commuter...
Just the thing for the long-distance commuter who gulps a lot of Tang at breakfast: The boundaries of space memorabilia sales are only now being tested. Superior Galleries of Beverly Hills recently held what is believed to be the planet’s biggest auction of this type, peddling more than $500,000 worth of collectibles, including an astronaut’s urine-collection jock strap ($320).
“And in our next auction we will have the cosmonauts’ stuff,” enthused Superior’s Michael Orenstein, whose job title is director of space memorabilia.
The auction items, which came from astronauts and other former NASA employees as well as NASA contractors, also included a flag that flew on an Apollo moon mission ($4,000), a Walter Schirra spacesuit ($4,500) and a “space seat” designed by Buzz Aldrin for use on Earth ($400).
“It’s actually a plumber’s helper with a bicycle seat attached,” Orenstein explained. “He jury-rigged it because it took an hour and a half to two hours to get into the damn spacesuit and he didn’t want to stand the whole time.”
Orenstein said the urine-collection holder drew the biggest laughs.
“Someone asked if he could try it on first,” Orenstein said.
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Sure there’s been a snag or two, but . . . Mitchell Dazey of Palos Verdes Estates, who sent along the excerpted passenger schedule, wonders if it isn’t time for the local train service to take on a more confidence-inspiring name.
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He’s just a set of initials to them: During a photo session involving President Clinton and some fire victims in Pasadena, the White House staff handed out a seating chart that identified all of the individuals taking part, except for one who was designated as POTUS. A photographer asked what POTUS meant.
“President of the United States,” he was told.
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The depths of L.A.: Now that POTUS’ NAFTA agreement has been approved by Congress, one wonders if it will result in the return of L.A.’s now-vanished international manhole covers, such as this one, which was photographed on Figueroa Street by Tom LaBonge several years ago.
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For the boss who doesn’t want to take any more guff: Bodies in Motion, a local workout gym, offers a class called Executive Boxing.
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Question of the day: After reading our recent ruminations on the U.S. Forest Service’s mascot, D.R. Manning of L.A. challenged us with this one: “What do Smokey the Bear and Attila the Hun have in common?”
Answer: “Same middle name.”
Don’t blame Manning. He says he heard comic Steve Allen say it.
miscelLAny:
Priest/psychologist/author Charles Ara, who presided over the wedding of Hugh Hefner and Kimberly Conrad four years ago, stamps his press releases: “Love from the Vatican to the Playboy Mansion.”
