Howl of the day: “Mondo Canine,” a...

Howl of the day: “Mondo Canine,” a collection of “doggie joie de vivre “ edited by Jon Winokur of Pacific Palisades, asks the question: “Ever consider what they (dogs) must think of us? I mean, here we come back from the grocery store with the most amazing haul--chicken, pork, half a cow. . . . They must think we’re the greatest hunters on earth!”

Southern California’s tofu-and-bean-sprout crowd must be a real mystery to the canine population.

*

Speaking of food that makes the heart pound: Evidently aware of how much weight we gained over the holidays, author Marya Charles Alexander wrote to ask us to nominate an eatery “that treats solo diners well” for her book, “Solo Dining Savvy for Business Travelers.” The tome will consist of four categories: “Community table, counter/bar, share-table and solo.”

We hereby offer Downtown L.A.’s sidewalk emporium, Vege-Dog, which offers a meatless frankfurter as well as a blood pressure test for $1.65. (Take pity on the test-taker and hold the onions.)

*

And now for dessert: Alan G. Fine photographed an unusual invitation to fuel up in West L.A. “Perhaps the oil company has developed an intriguing new additive,” Fine said.

*

For anyone who says, “It oughta be in a museum” . . . We mentioned that Sunset magazine, in an article titled “Southern California’s Most Unusual Museums,” listed three examples: the Banana Museum of Altadena, the Ralph M. Parsons Insect Zoo at the L.A. County Museum of Natural History and the Jurassic Technology Museum in West L.A.

But we didn’t want to leave the impression that L.A. is losing its reputation for offbeat shrines. There are several others.

Hollywood, alone, boasts the reopened Weird Museum, containing the reputed remains of a werewolf (possibly a Hollywood agent); the Max Factor Museum, whose exhibits include a kissing machine for testing lipstick, and the International Brassiere Museum at Frederick’s (still missing Madonna’s bustier, which was stolen during the L.A. riots).

There’s the Museum of Hair in Pasadena, a hair and art salon whose symbol is the Mona Lisa adorned in a green facial mask with hair rollers. And Long Beach has the Foot and Toe Museum, which is listed in the travel guide “Medical Landmarks USA” and has 9,000 items, though no bananas.

And, still in storage . . . We hold out hope that a mass-mailing executive will deliver on his plans to open a Junk Mail Museum in a Van Nuys mini-mall.

And perhaps new homes will be found for the soon-to-close Hopalong Cassidy Museum in Downey, as well as the Crypto-Phenomena Museum in Malibu.

As for the latter, we’re happy to report that the recent fire did not damage curator Jon Erik Beckjord’s collection of stored treasures. As Crypto fans know, it includes NASA photos of mysterious Martian formations that resemble, among other things, the jowls of Edward M. Kennedy, the eyes and nose of Saddam Hussein, and the profile of Tammy Fae Bakker.

Alas, L.A. seems to have lost forever the Exotic Dancers Hall of Fame, founded in San Pedro by ex-stripper Jennie (Miss Forty-Four and Plenty More) Lee. The last we heard, Miss Forty-Four had moved the institution to Hesperia.

miscelLAny:

A pet food company’s survey found that the most popular dog names nationwide are Duke, Brandy, Max, Sam and Shadow. In L.A., Max is No. 2 and Brandy is No. 4. But L.A. also has some different preferences: Lady (No. 1), Rocky (No. 3) and Bear (No. 5).