Spy, sixth grade:As if raising kids isn’t...

Spy, sixth grade:

As if raising kids isn’t difficult enough, Paramount Pictures plans to help teach children how to eavesdrop on Mom and Dad as a promotion for “Harriet the Spy.” The movie is about an 11-year-old girl who snoops on her parents, neighbors and friends.

Paramount and Pinkerton’s Inc., the detective agency, will hold clinics revealing “trademark espionage skills such as surveillance (including using binoculars and making pinhole cameras), fingerprint-dusting, composite sketching and identity transformation.”

The clinics will be held in 20 cities, including L.A., at advance screenings of “Harriet” on Saturday.

Who knows? Maybe a successful grad will some day get a job in the White House snooping through FBI files.

OPEN WIDE: Carol Ortiz of L.A. came upon a sign for a professional whose name fits his occupation (see photo).

DEMAND JUST OUTSTRIPPED CAPACITY: A scheduled clothing-optional night for a minor league game received too much media exposure, so the event has been called off. Instead, it will be clothing-mandatory when the Palm Springs Suns host the Grays Harbor (Wash.) Gulls on July 8.

The idea had been to place a tent along the left-field picnic area for nude baseball fans. Word of the promotion spread worldwide, prompting people from Europe to Australia to call for tickets. Even the “Tonight Show” phoned.

The Suns’ stadium seats 4,440. “We could probably have ended up filling Dodger Stadium,” said team sponsor Tom Mulhall, who owns a clothing-optional hotel.

Team owner Don DiCarlo said even the players were enthusiastic. “I had infielders who volunteered to play left field that night,” he said.

WELL, THIS IS THE ENTERTAINMENT CAPITAL: Silvia Terrones of L.A. found a recycling center that seems to require entrants in a drawing to belt out a song (see excerpt). We’d recommend the Coasters’ “Yakety Yak” (“Take out the papers and the trash . . .”).

PLACES WHERE YOU WON’T GROW RUSTY: The problem with all the places-rated surveys is that they’re concerned with people.

As any Angeleno can tell you, the more important question is: What city’s environment is kindest to a car’s paint job?

Such a survey was recently conducted by Meguiar’s, an Irvine-based manufacturer of surface-care products for autos. Several experts examined 216 cities, paying close attention to enemies including sunlight, ozone, acid rain, precipitation, dew, humidity and salty air.

The company found that Chico, Calif., was No. 1 in the nation for preserving a car finish while Tampa, Fla., was 216th. Other California cities rated included Santa Barbara (No. 7), San Bernardino (10), San Diego (27), Santa Ana (31), L.A. (33), Sacramento (39), Bakersfield (43) and Palm Springs (61).

Obviously, cars in Palm Springs, like baseball fans, should not be left uncovered in the sun.

NOT JUST ANY SAN VICENTE GROUP: A litter cleanup sign in Westwood says the sponsoring group is: “Residents on San Vicente, north of Wilshire.”

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In the Leo Baeck Temple newsletter, Dan Fink of L.A. read that an international dental organization had given Dr. Edward F. Furstman the prestigious Pierre Fauchard Plaque. We presume Furstman will set aside his profession’s usual objection to plaque.