Taking aim on the next century:Just two...

Taking aim on the next century:

Just two months after he took up archery, Ben Levinson won a gold medal in the event at the Crown Valley Senior Games. The modest Levinson pointed out, however, that he was the only entrant in his age category at the Pasadena Senior Center: 100 years and older. He is 101.

GREAT HORSE D’OEUVRES: The Publicity Club of Los Angeles turns 50 this year and would like to, well, publicize that fact. So it’s conducting a poll to come up with “L.A.’s 50 Greatest Publicity Events of the Past 50 Years.”

As a fellow 50-year-old, we were asked to enter the competition. We nominate a 1974 extravaganza mentioned in the book “Publicity Stunt” by Candice Jacobson Fuhrman. That was the special premiere of Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles”--for horses.

It was staged at an L.A. drive-in near a stable and drew more than 250 horses, “each one standing in a car space next to a sound hookup pole,” according to the book. The concession stands served oats. In popcorn containers, of course.

MULTI-MOMS: Ruth Garino of Canoga Park writes that she saw nothing unusual about the store coupon that was good for a $1 discount for anyone purchasing three Mother’s Day cards. “From the time my first child was born until my mother-in-law died,” she said, “I bought four Mother’s Day cards--two from me and my husband for our mothers and two from our children to their grandmothers.”

Well, there was one thing . . .

“The only thing I found unusual about the coupon,” Garino said, “was its expiration date, May 15.”

That, of course, was three days after Mother’s Day.

TOUGH TO GET THAT SORT OF LIFT WITH A PUTTER: L. Paul Cook of Topanga came upon a set of signs (see photo) at the Balboa Golf Course in the San Fernando Valley. “Rather than putting into trash cans,” he adds, “I decided to move on to the driving range.”

LIST OF THE DAY: More strange findings submitted by Only in L.A.’s force of guerrilla proofreaders:

* A flier from a dog licensing clinic that listed its prices as “$29, unaltered; $14, altered, and $10, senior citizens”) (from Jim Stein).

* A reminder that if his car’s “mileage now reads more than 918,563 miles, you are due for maintenance” (Robert Blinick) .

* A mansion with a “spinal” staircase (Sylvia Sullivan, who speculates it’s “probably the backbone of the house.”).

* A CD-ROM encyclopedia touted as a must for “scool” (Sam Suitt, Lewis Cohen and others).

* An “explosive gas” alarm above a restroom sign at the L.A. Central Library (Larry Herbst).

* A for-rent sign that said “large single” (Mark Hinds). Isn’t that discriminatory?

* A job opening in the “Silicone” Valley (Lyn Harris). We wonder if that’s in the Beverly Hills area.

* And, a voucher offering three free days of child care for children “2 years old to 132 years old” (Dain Heald). Does that include archers?

miscelLAny:

You think you have it rough? A study by First Republic Bancorp Inc. found that the average value of L.A.’s $1 million-plus homes has declined 7.4% in the last year.