Is there an Endangered Monsters List?We understand...

Is there an Endangered Monsters List?We understand that TriStar Pictures, which is making a “Godzilla” movie, planned at one point to have the marauding reptile blown up by the Air Force. But the military wouldn’t cooperate out of fear that it might come off as the bad guy. After all, in the politically correct ‘90s, you never know when you might be hit with a cruelty-to-prehistoric-creatures rap.

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The Unknown Diner: We dropped in at the cafe-without-a-name for the first time in ages and were surprised to discover that it was now calling itself Nick’s.

“We went 41 years without a name,” said waitress Lois Fuentes, refreshing our memory. “People would call it the Corner Cafe, the Ham House, all sorts of things. Nick (the original owner) was afraid if he gave it a name it might bring in more people. ‘Then you gotta hire more help,’ he’d say.”

Nick Viropolous retired a couple of years ago and the North Spring Street eatery was purchased by two Los Angeles police officers who christened the place in his honor.

Now the building can be ID’d from the outside. The interior, with its horseshoe-shaped, Formica counter, looks pretty much the same, though. Except for an unplugged cappuccino machine on a shelf.

“Oh, that’s just for decoration,” Fuentes explained.

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Dum de dum dum: One Pasadena school board candidate recently sent out a stirring campaign mailer about the need to uplift education. Problem was, it contained sort of a dumb spelling error.

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Tales of the Westside: A couple bought a $1-million property, but didn’t like the house, which was too small for their taste. Plus there was the matter of the interior. The previous owners, who rented out the place, hadn’t bothered to remove the furnishings. The solution was obvious. The new owners had the whole enchilada bulldozed: house, furniture, drapes, plants, everything. The next day, they posed for humorous photos among the ruins--on the bulldozer.

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Pedaling his philosophy: A colleague turned on a re-run of the PBS TV show “Puzzle Place,” and saw some puppet kids exhorted to exercise by a guy in a garish jogging suit pedaling away on a stationary bike. It was none other than former Mayor Tom Bradley. He told the tots: “Feel that? That’s your body getting a burst of energy from the City Council of your muscles.”

As we recall from his Administration, the problem is you sometimes encounter resistance from the Police Chief of your muscles.

miscelLAny A Columbus, Ohio, company called Battelle sent us a news release with the exciting news that it has “been testing prototype driver’s licenses to help the California Department of Motor Vehicles select a license with improved durability.” The prototypes have been run through washing machines, exposed to sunlamps and, in one test, “flexed 5,000 times.” Great. But can’t they do something about the lousy license photos?