A Nail Polish That’s Named Dog
A new line of nail polish comes in such colors as Dog, Superfly and Testosterone. Sound alluring? Well, maybe your wife or girlfriend will buy you some.
Yes, the era of nail polish for men has arrived, if Hard Candy, a Beverly Hills-based cosmetics company, has its way.
“A lot of women are buying it for their men,” said spokeswoman Janet Sewell. “It also appeals to certain fringe groups . . . young people . . . surfers. . . .”
She said the “male polish,” which costs $12 per bottle, is selling well at such stores as Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. And how could it not, coming in such other colors as Libido, Cowboy, Gigolo and Oedipus?
Sewell noted, by the way, that men wear nail polish differently.
“Some just wear it on a few nails, maybe a couple of fingers and a thumb,” she said. “Some wear more than one color. And men generally aren’t into the perfect manicure.”
TO LIVE AND DRIVE IN L.A.: Today’s column salutes more unusual street signs, including one for a mysterious driveway snapped by Tom McGarry in Redondo Beach, a warning outside a West L.A. middle school where impatient parents honk to get their kids’ attention, and an anti-cruising notice in Long Beach (see photos). As for the cruising prohibition, heaven help the soccer mom or dad who makes three trips past the sign in one afternoon.
DISPOSING OF ONE’S EX? Colleague Mike Castelvecchi saw a high-priced car in the Hollywood area with the license plate: 2 XNTRK.
He added: “The trunk was not sagging on the ground as far as I could tell.”
TAKING THE BOGIE OUT OF BOGARTING: Bob Wells disputes the notion that the drug term “Bogarting” was related to actor Humphrey Bogart.
“In 1950, I started work in one of the Los Angeles forestry camps,” he said. “I became aware of the term ‘bogarding’ as used by the youngsters to describe food hogging. When asked, they thought the term referred to ‘bowl-guarding.’
“Later I learned the term was not only used in all our forestry camps and juvenile halls but was also common to the California Youth Authority. In fact, I believe the term was common to the prison system of the state.
“If the term came to be used when smoking marijuana, its antecedents were in the justice system, not from the movies.”
MYSTERY SOLVED: Judy Pfeffer writes to translate a personalized ad from an Apple Valley newspaper that was reprised here. I wondered how someone could describe herself as “innocent and sweet” as well as being a “5-foot-tall Scorpion.” (Think of the sting!) Pfeffer points out that the nickname of an area school, Hesperia High, is the Scorpions.
GLENDALE FILM FESTIVAL: Winding up this three-day extravaganza, Only in L.A. brings you an excerpt from a Monty Python routine at the Hollywood Bowl. It is one of 18 film references to Glendale that have been compiled in a 12-minute videotape by John Gloske of Reseda. Take it away:
* First man (leering): “Your wife is interested in sport?. . . . She been around?”
* Second man (innocently): “She has traveled, yes. She’s from Glendale.”
* First man (looking out at audience and chuckling): “Say no more! Say no more! Say no more!”
miscelLAny
An electronic marquee at Don Kott’s dealership in Carson offers daily words of wisdom to motorists on the San Diego Freeway. To Kott’s credit, the bits of philosophy rarely seem related to selling cars. In fact, one recent thought for the day might give pause to potential buyers. It said: “Appreciate what you have.”
*
Steve Harvey can be reached by phone at (213) 237-7083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com and by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053.