From Ruscha with love:A Manhattan gallery is...

From Ruscha with love:

A Manhattan gallery is featuring the photography books of artist Edward Ruscha, including several collections that are devoid of people--”Thirty-Four Parking Lots in Los Angeles” (1967), “Twenty-Six Gasoline Stations” (1962), and, of course, “Some Los Angeles Apartments” (1965).

A New York Times reviewer noted that “every city gets the photographer it deserves” and added “Los Angeles has Ruscha.”

Thanks . . . a lot.

ONE SELF-SERVE ISLAND: After filling up at a 27th gasoline station, we were getting into our car when the pump began to beep at us.

We ignored it because we had paid by cash; what could it want with us? But it wouldn’t stop beeping.

Curious, we walked over and looked at the message screen. The pump was saying, “Thank you.”

We almost felt sorry for the lonely machine until we realized how much it was charging us.

ONE PUBLIC JACUZZI: To us, the Fourth of July weekend is synonymous with going for a dip--even if it’s in a pool in the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.

This Only in L.A. summer traditional, taken two years ago by Guy Marshall, shows a passerby who couldn’t resist taking a bath. We assume he had his clothes on.

We hope he had his clothes on.

ONE WEIRD DUDE: Eight unforgettable titles of songs by Weird Al Yankovic, as recorded in “The Book of Lists for Kids”:

* “My Bologna”

* “Dare to Be Stupid”

* “Stop Draggin’ My Car Around”

* “I Lost on Jeopardy”’

* “Spam”

* “The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota”

* “Attack of the Radioactive Hamsters From a Planet Near Mars”

* “I Just Want a New Duck”

Yankovic, the pride of Lynwood High, also belts out the theme song in the comedy “Spyhard.” During the final credits, he closes with this stirring lyric:

“The name of the movie is ‘Spyhard’/ You just saw ‘Spyhard.’ ”

ONE GROWLING GRETZKY: George Evans, owner of Country Pickins Produce in Eagle Rock, has posted a photo identifying J.T. Evans as Employee of the Month.

J.T., George’s dog, was honored because he entertains shoppers with his uncanny ability to push a hockey puck around with his schnoz.

The pooch thus is the only store employee who isn’t expected to keep his nose clean.

ONE PERSON IS LISTENING: Rep. Robert Dornan (R-Garden Grove) is quoted four times in “More Political Babble: The Dumbest Things Politicians Ever Said,” by David Olive.

Dornan’s gems include this reaction to the Postal Service’s decision to honor Marilyn Monroe: “Imagine putting a loser like that on a stamp.”

miscelLAny:

Many people in the United States find it inconvenient to vote for one reason or another. Not Pomona residents Vicente and Holanda Soriano, who have dual U.S. and Ecuadorean citizenship.

They flew to Ecuador to cast votes in that country’s presidential election. He is 82; she is 74.

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Steve Harvey can be reached by phone at (213) 237-7083, by fax at (213) 237-4712 and on the Internet at steve.harvey@latimes.com