As the Court Turns:A jury candidate in...

As the Court Turns:

A jury candidate in a downtown courtroom was answering the standard personal questions about her hometown, her occupation, the occupation of her spouse, etc. She mentioned she was divorced. “What did your ex-husband do?” the judge asked.

“He cheated,” she responded.

ONE-DAY SERVICE? Ralph DeYette of Canoga Park sent along a photo of a service station, commenting that “24 hours seems quite long for a ‘fast lube,’ if you ask me.”

CHILLING REPERTOIRE: The Maestros, a 60-year-old club of amateur musicians, is offering a program of traditionals with a Halloween theme at the Shakespeare Club in Pasadena tonight. The public is invited to sing along with such vampire faves as:

* “I Left My Neck in San Francisco”

* “I’ve Got You Under Your Skin”

* “Rhapsody in Red”

* “Ain’t She Sweet”

And, of course:

* “Peg in My Heart”

COUNT ON IT: Helen Oxley of Canoga Park sent a copy of an employment ad and wonders whether any applicants for one job lacked the necessary qualification.

THE PUZZLE OF VICTORY: “60 Years of Winners,” sportswriter Bob Oates’ new book, profiles champions from Knute Rockne to Joe DiMaggio to Michael Jordan. “What did you do to win?” is the theme that Oates explores in his graceful, understated writing style.

Though he isn’t a major character in the book, Oates does admit playing a part in one competition of a sort. As a young man in the 1930s, he was working alone in the newsroom of the old L.A. Examiner when the boss--William Randolph Hearst--phoned from San Simeon one night.

“I want you to look up something for me, young man,” Hearst said. “What’s the name of the third stomach of a cow?”

Oates, assuming Hearst was “writing another stern anti-Roosevelt, farm-policy editorial,” phoned back with the answer in 10 minutes. There was silence on the other end of the line. “Are you still there?” Oates asked.

“Yes, I’m here,” Hearst said. “But it doesn’t fit.”

Hearst then explained that he had entered the crossword puzzle contest of the rival L.A. Times, which offered a prize of $10,000. Oates eventually came up with an alternate answer that satisfied his boss.

“I never learned if he won,” Oates writes. “All I heard was that when our people sent in his entry, they used a false name.”

miscelLAny:

Stand proud, L.A.! The Wall Street Journal notes that the $30-million-plus shack that Microsoft mogul BIll Gates is building in the state of Washington doesn’t measure up to the $50-million castle of TV producer Aaron Spelling on L.A.’s Westside. After all, Spelling’s duchy is spacious enough to include “a bowling alley, a doll museum and two gift-wrapping rooms.”