Eighth Commandment refresher?Martha Barron sent along an...

Eighth Commandment refresher?

Martha Barron sent along an item in the Downey Eagle about a man who robbed a bicyclist of $12 in cash, a wallet and a Bible.

WHOSE VOICE WAS THAT ON THE P.A. SYSTEM? It was time for some friends of ours to board an L.A. to New York flight when the airline announced there would be a slight delay until one passenger arrived. A few moments later, the crowd parted like the Red Sea to make way for Charlton Heston. Swear on the Bible.

L.A.-N.Y. (10 STOPS): Speaking of flying, travelers who grumble about airline conditions should remember that it took two days to make it from New York to L.A. in 1929. Industry Week magazine recalled that Charles Lindbergh took a band of brave travelers on the first commercial plane-train trip between those two cities that year. The itinerary:

* Train from New York to Port Columbus, Ohio.

* Fly Port Columbus to Indianapolis.

* Fly Indianapolis to St. Louis.

* Fly St. Louis to Wichita.

* Fly Wichita to Waynoka, Okla.

* Train from Waynoka to Amarillo, Tex.

* Train from Amarillo to Clovis, N.M.

* Fly Clovis to Albuquerque.

* Fly Albuquerque to Winslow, Ariz.

* Fly Winslow to Kingman, Ariz.

* Fly Kingman to L.A.

A plaque in Amarillo calls the trip “man’s first significant conquest of time and space on the North American continent.”

Especially if no one’s luggage was lost in Waynoka.

ANAGRAMS OF THE DAY: Some more towns whose names can be scrambled to reveal secret, even shocking, meanings:

SAN GABRIEL--SNAIL BARGE (contributed by Chris Reed).

EL SEGUNDO--SLUDGE ONE (Reed).

ROWLAND HEIGHTS--HOT WHIG SLANDER (Reed).

PETALUMA: PAT A MULE (Zachary Charles).

SAN PEDRO--SOAP NERD (Art Vinsel).

EQUAL TIME: Arthur Cohen of UCLA came upon an announcement of a colloquia (sic) that, he notes, “seems directed toward lady professors. [see excerpt]. We acadudes are hoping for one of our own.”

CITE THEM FOR CONTEMPT OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: The Simpson trial could have been greatly shortened, points out Martin Finkel of Playa del Rey, if Judge Lance Ito and the lawyers weren’t constantly using such redundant expressions as “at that point in time”--or worse, “at that particular point in time.”

miscelLAny We noted earlier that the Caliente Future Sports Book in Tijuana had listed Bill Clinton as a 2-1 favorite to be reelected. Well, Caliente has now improved his chances to 3-2, still ahead of Bob Dole (2-1) and Phil Gramm (3-1). The odds on two of Southern California’s favorite sons, Pete Wilson and Robert Dornan, are unchanged at 5-1 and 250-1 respectively--at least, at this point in time.