Follow the banana peelsMonkey on the back...

Follow the banana peels

Monkey on the back porch? Folks in Beachwood Canyon woke up Friday to find mysterious notices posted about an escape of rare primates into the hills. Residents were urged to keep their pets inside. Since no phone number was posted, some Beachwoodites suspected it was a hoax--reminiscent of the warnings about a Loch Ness monster seen in a Silver Lake reservoir last year (we’d like to apologize once more for our somewhat hasty demand that the reservoir be drained and the National Guard be activated).

The latest warning gave some Beachwoodites safety concerns . . . about the primates. What if the poor creatures come in contact with the wildlife on nearby Hollywood Boulevard?

WE’LL DRINK TO THAT: On our recent jaunt through Central California, we came upon one of the longest continuing endorsement gigs by a celebrity.

Sad to say, the endorser doesn’t make any TV pitches for the company, Producers Dairy Foods of Fresno, because he died in 1972. He’s William Boyd, the actor who personified cowboy hero Hopalong Cassidy for several decades (see accompanying ad).

Boyd was a personal friend of Larry Shehadey, the founder of Producers. And although some young milk drinkers of today (and yesterday) might be a bit puzzled over the 40-year-old slogan, “Hoppy’s Favorite,” Shehadey refuses to remove Boyd’s likeness.

Come to think of it, that’s the sort of Old West loyalty that Hoppy also endorsed.

UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT: Henk Friezer saw a woman speedwalking through South Pasadena while wearing an “I Walk for Fitness” T-shirt--and smoking a cigarette.

EASY, WRITER: Touting a local company that rents motorcycles to vacationers, a Long Beach Convention Bureau newsletter said: “Visitors with the dream of riding a Harley hawg like Dennis Hopper in ‘Six Easy Pieces’ are in for a real treat.”

Whoa. Let’s put on the brakes there.

First, the movie’s correct title was “Five Easy Pieces,” and Dennis Hopper wasn’t in it. Also, it wasn’t a motorcycle movie. The writer was no doubt thinking of “Easy Rider,” which co-starred Hopper. But we’re not sure a motorcycle company would want to conjure up visions of “Easy Rider” inasmuch as the stars are eventually blown away by killers while cruising down a highway.

BUT NO ONE’S PERFECT: In Friday’s column, we forgot to mention that L. Paul Cook’s photo of a sign whose arrows seemed to warn motorists they could “only” turn left and “only” turn right from the same lane was taken on Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

miscelLAny Divine Brown, the Hollywood prostitute arrested with actor Hugh Grant, has been invited to parade in Rio de Janeiro’s 1996 Carnival on a float depicting primitive sex rituals. The float will take its inspiration from graphic 17,000-year-old cave paintings in Brazil, said Milton Cunha, the artistic director of the project. Brown said she’ll discuss the idea with advisers. Have to be careful about the image, you know.