Famous first words:As O.J. Simpson testified Friday,...

Famous first words:

As O.J. Simpson testified Friday, we couldn’t help but wonder whether the jury will believe that he’s living up to his own credo, which was printed several years ago in the book “Get Motivated! Daily Psych-Ups.” Simpson’s words back then were: “The day you take complete responsibility for yourself, the day you stop making any excuses, that’s the day you start to the top.”

HEY, RADIO HOSTS HAVE FEELINGS, TOO: A local radio personality objected when his followers started an Internet newsgroup about him--and used the word “Crummy” in the title. How could fans be so insensitive? Well, the problem has since been resolved. “Crummy” was changed to “Crummey,” which is fine with Joe Crummey, a KMPC talk show host.

LITTLE BERLIN: The Berlin Forest, which is located on the Mt. Hollywood hiking trail in Griffith Park, has a directional sign that indicates Berlin is quite a few autobahn miles away.

The park, a tribute to one of L.A.’s sister cities, also boasts a chunk of the Berlin Wall in a plaque at its entrance--and there’s a story that goes with it.

It seems the plaque was set in cement in the morning. When an afternoon work crew checked the site later in the day, the Berlin Wall remnant was mistaken for an imperfection and nearly removed. But the crew postponed action, and so that piece of the Berlin Wall was not torn down for a second time, 6,000-plus miles from its original location.

MAKING ANGELENOS FEEL AT HOME: Berlin, incidentally, has its own park honoring the City of Angels--Los Angeles Platz. Its placement indirectly pays homage to L.A.’s car culture. It’s atop a parking structure.

NAME GAME: Flo Selfman of Los Angeles notes that her contact lens specialist is named Ralph Glance.

GRIDIRON ESPIONAGE? USC and UCLA meet in football today, a cross-city rivalry that has been characterized by spying incidents, hoaxes and practical jokes.

By coincidence, the Wall Street Journal mischievously submitted formal requests under the California Public Records Act recently to see the football playbooks for UCLA, as well as UC Berkeley and UC Davis.

Each university refused. A UCLA lawyer asserted that Coach Bob Toledo’s playbook is not subject to disclosure because it constitutes a trade secret. Furthermore, to make the Bruins’ plays public, the lawyer said, would undermine “the public’s interest in the spontaneity, integrity and quality of UCLA intercollegiate football contests.”

As we said, we’re sure the Wall Street Journal was not plotting against UCLA--although two of our old roommates at USC do write for that newspaper.

Anyway, UCLA has a 4-6 record and stands no chance of defeating USC today.

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With the holiday season here, we’re sad to report that L.A. and yet another of its sister cities, Tehran, are not on speaking terms. The dispute goes back to 1979, when Iranian demonstrators took several Americans hostage and held them for more than a year. L.A. informed Tehran that their relations were “suspended.” Don’t expect to see the two municipal sisters together at any family get-togethers.