The wicked Valley: Russell Bell of Pasadena...

The wicked Valley: Russell Bell of Pasadena heard that couples in the San Fernando Valley have been indulging in inter-spousal transfers and openly bifurcating. Such talk could give new meaning to the concept of “bedroom communities.”

Actually, Bell added, these were merely real estate terms uttered at a Century 21 meeting.

“Inter-spousal transfer is the not-so-intimate step of transferring a one-time capital gains exemption to a new spouse,” Bell said. And bifurcating is “the IRS’ division of income between capital gains and ordinary income.”

Our faith in the goodness of Reseda has been restored.

*

Say “Cheese” 1,700 times: Gary Leonard snapped a photo of a van that was covered with 1,700 cameras as it cruised through Downtown L.A., obviously trying to catch every sight. The photo first appeared in the newsletter of the L.A. River Artists and Business Assn., which was kind enough to ferry it over to us. The all-seeing van was one of several artist-decorated vehicles headed toward a Roadside Attractions parade in Houston. Hope the driver remembered to take some film.

*

Heavy metal art?Thomas Paul of Studio City found an ad for what appears to be a performance artist. Do plumber/artists get paid by the hour?

*

List of the Day: “Los Angeles Radio People,” by Don Barrett, contains biographies of more than 1,600 disc jockeys, from Al (“Make Believe Ballroom”) Jarvis, through the Zootmeister Network’s Gary Owens, Paraquat Kelley and today’s freeway billboard personalities. The book is also full of offbeat anecdotes, including these:

* While at KDAY in 1960, Tom Clay staged a hoax in which he invited listeners to phone in to talk to Elvis. He gave them KFWB’s number, thinking that “if I could impress KFWB with how many listeners I had, they would hire me.” KFWB, which didn’t hire him, had its lines tied up for two days.

* Jimmie Rabbit ended his career at KGBS in 1975 after “playing ‘Texas,’ by the Charlie Daniels Band, 16 times in a row.”

* As a child actor, Harry Shearer “played the role of Eddie Haskell in the pilot episode of ‘Leave It to Beaver.’ ”

* While sifting through faxed listener requests during one stay at KLSX, Shana learned that she had been fired when she came upon a contract for her replacement.

* Emperor Bob Hudson was forced to leave KRLA in 1986 for quipping “that the U.S. space shuttle blew up because the crew was freebasing Tang.”

* Sweet Dick Whittington’s outdoor stunts for KGIL (and others) included marrying the Queen Mary to a tugboat, leading an invasion of Catalina and dropping Alka-Seltzer from a helicopter into the Atlantic to relieve discomfort caused by a government nerve gas spill.

miscelLAny From the “What’s Happening in June!” section of Long Beach’s Marina Reader--”June 10, Shipwrecked at the Isthmus. Outdoor costume party where participants dress as though shipwrecked and stranded.” If only Whittington were here to lead another invasion.