Either there’s no sentiment left or it...

Either there’s no sentiment left or it doesn’t have a CD player: The promoters of the Newport Beach Classic & Collector Car Auction have announced that one of the items on the block this spring will be “the 1977 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow that Frank Sinatra gave to wife, Barbara, on their wedding night.”

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Mind if our gang smokes?If the tobacco industry thinks it has taken some public relations flak in the past, wait until it sees the treatment it receives from Hollywood in the coming disaster movie “Waterworld.”

The futuristic drama, set in a time when most of the world (not just Malibu) lies under water, involves a struggle between a good guy survivor (Kevin Costner) and a colony of cigarette-loving bad guys, the Smokers. The latter group is led by the Lord of Marlboro, who blesses his followers by showering them with cigarettes from the drenched world’s last tobacco stash.

It’s easy to see why the Lord’s gang is such a threat. Costner lives on a no-smoking atoll.

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Be careful you choose the right booth: Scott Dewees of West Hollywood found a spot in Santa Barbara that provides two of the essential facilities required by any true Southern Californian.

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The era of eating dangerously: We’ve mentioned the trend toward scary names in local establishments, such as the Shark Club and Epicentre (Downtown), the Viper Room (Hollywood), Typhoon (Santa Monica), Arsenal (West L.A. ) and the Piranha Room (Venice). Alas, we’re sad to report that the roster has shortened with the closure of Redondo Beach’s Killer Grill--with its provocative logo.

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A separate court ruling could be needed: If O.J. Simpson is found guilty, will his book “I Want to Tell You” be shifted from the “nonfiction” to the “fiction” side of the bestseller lists?

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Music to his ears: As luck would have it, Dolores Smith of Santa Ana had tickets to hear Pavarotti at the Forum on one of last month’s rainiest days. And she was taking her 92-year-old father, Joseph Anselmi, on the 35-mile haul.

“We made the drive there all right,” she says, “but when we got inside, my father said, ‘My hearing aid battery is dead.’ I didn’t know what to do. The Forum didn’t have one. Finally I called the Prairie Pharmacy, which is nearby. I talked to a young man named Victor Cancino. They had a battery but I said I didn’t want to leave my father. ‘I’ll come over,’ he said.

“Not only did he deliver it to us, but he almost turned away before I could pay him. I talked to his boss and he said that that’s the type of person Victor is. I think he deserves a mention in your column.”

We hear you, Dolores.

miscelLAny The Mission Inn is running magazine ads that point out that actress Bette Davis was so fond of the Riverside landmark that she was married there twice. Any time a hotel can bat .500 in this category, we’re impressed. So what if Davis was married (and divorced) four times?