LESSONS LEARNED: Cypress College administrators are taking...

LESSONS LEARNED: Cypress College administrators are taking a cue from “Search and Destroy,” a school play about a film producer whose scheme to raise money by dealing drugs ends in murder. . . . The college needs $10,000 to send its production to Northern California for the annual American College Theater Festival, but they definitely won’t be selling any drugs to get the money. “We learned our lesson from the plot,” said a laughing department chairwoman Kaleta Brown.

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AVOCADO SUNDAY: More avocados are consumed on Super Bowl Sunday than on any other day of the year except Cinco de Mayo, says the Santa Ana-based California Avocado Commission, and most of them are eaten as guacamole dip. . . . California avocado growers are shipping 5.5 million pounds across the nation this week. “I’ve seen a lot of avocados come through this week,” says Michelle McQuade, assistant grocery manager at Ralphs supermarket in Costa Mesa.

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YABBA DABBA: Film buffs viewing Universal Picture’s upcoming cinematic version of “The Flintstones” won’t really be seeing Elizabeth Taylor as Fred Flintstone’s mother in one scene. Instead they’ll be watching Carole Reed, above, a Taylor look-alike, who traveled to the desert set to double for the star. . . . “There were a lot of snakes and scorpions there,” said Reed, who runs a talent agency in Lake Forest. “They took me on location so that Liz wouldn’t hurt herself.”

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SPIC AND SPAN: Antique car enthusiast Arnold S. Beckman likes his cars looking spiffy. . . . This week, he tried but failed to get the Costa Mesa planning commissioners to let him expand his garage to a six-car working area, which they pointed out would be bigger than his house. In one area, Beckman said, he planned to prepare his restored 1956 Ford pickup truck for a summer tour by spending two weeks detailing it with a box of Q-Tips. “And you enjoy that?” asked Commissioner Libby Cowan. “I love it,” Beckman said proudly.

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TONIGHT: Chris Gaffney & the Cold Hard Facts play country music at 8 at the Canyon Inn, Yorba Linda. Information: (714) 779-0880.

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WEATHER: Morning fog then partly cloudy with highs in the low 60s and lows in the low 40s. Slight chance of showers tonight. (B6)