Now comes the really big Simpson case:...
Now comes the really big Simpson case: Jamie DeMatoff, a street vendor, received a letter from a law firm warning “that investigations had revealed sales by your retail outlet of counterfeit and unauthorized O.J. Simpson/Orenthal Productions Inc. products.”
This Simpson law firm is based in Carlsbad, indicating that the famous defendant had apparently used up all the lawyers in L.A. County.
DeMatoff, who operates Disaster Wear, markets numerous O.J. items, including a Simpson wristwatch with a second hand consisting of a Ford Bronco being pursued by two police cars. Slowly pursued, of course. Then there’s DeMatoff’s new “One Year Anniversary” shirt.
“I can’t believe they’re coming after me,” the vendor said. “You know, right after [the murders] happened I was out there with T-shirts that said, ‘O.J. We Love You.’ [Attorney Robert] Shapiro even picked up a couple. Go figure.”
DeMatoff says he hopes to be licensed by Simpson’s company. He said he wants to negotiate. After all, as the letter from Simpson’s representatives points out, this is a “very serious matter.”
Only in L.A. readers sound off: We know you’re not bashful, judging from the mail we receive.
Anyway, we mentioned the other day that the creators of the Dobbertin Surface Orbiter, a milk tanker transformed into an amphibious vehicle, were disappointed at being turned down for a spot on “The Tonight Show.”
Well, soon after our item appeared, co-owner Rick Dobbertin received a phone call from a “Tonight” producer. “He said the phones were off the hook at NBC because so many people were calling to demand that we go on,” Dobbertin said.
And so the show gave in to Only in L.A. In a taped skit that was shown Monday night, a Leno aide stopped the 32-foot-long Orbiter on a Burbank street and asked if he could borrow a musical cassette from its tape deck to give Leno’s band a rest. Sorry, driver Karen Dobbertin responded. The Orbiter only plays CDs.
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Anagram of the Day: Here’s a three-day supply, since we missed Monday and Tuesday.
ROSEMEAD: SOME DARE (from Nissen Davis).
EL SEGUNDO: NO DELUGES (Davis)
INGLEWOOD: ONE OLD WIG (Norman Weiler)
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L.F.! We Don’t Love It!Our apologies, by the way, to Phil Proctor for saying that he had suggested LEGS FOR SALE as an anagram for Los Angeles. He actually said LEGS ON SALE. Sondra Crusor and several other readers wrote to point out our error. LEGS FOR SALE would mean that the name of this metropolis was actually Los Fargeles, presumably home of the UCLF Bruins.
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But is there hair in the soap?James Bird of Ladera Heights found a gas station with an offer that recalls a long-ago era when such businesses offered many amenities to travelers. Yes, what a city Los Fargeles was back then!
miscelLAny The Caliente Future Sports Book in Tijuana has pegged the odds of President Clinton being reelected at 2 to 1 while Bob Dole is 3 to 1 to make it to the White House. Whisperin’ Pete Wilson is 5 to 1. And the Southland’s own Robert Dornan, the Orange County congressman, is 250 to 1. How little do the gamblers think of Dornan’s chances? Even the lowly Rams of St. Louis are only an 80-to-1 long shot to make the Super Bowl.
