Ice Cube Won’t Rap Cops for This Move

Redondo Beach police couldn’t overlook the irony after they recovered approximately $1.5 million worth of songs and equipment stolen from the rapper Ice Cube in an Inglewood burglary. Ice Cube is, of course, known for his anti-police lyrics. “It was not known if one of the original recordings returned included the now famous cult classic, ‘---- the Police,’ ” police said in a prepared statement. The department added that “one way to gauge Ice Cube’s satisfaction with the Redondo Beach Police Department is to wait and listen to see if his next rap song is ‘Thank the Police.’ ”

*

FOR THE SKIN DIVER WHO HAS EVERYTHING: L.A. Traut of La Mirada came across a listing for a Christmas “reef” (see accompanying). Not sure how the decorations stay attached underwater.

*

GOOD PLACE TO STORE WALNUTS? Jan Greer of Long Beach wonders if the “Chip and Dale” furniture (see accompanying) she noticed for sale is for chipmunks.

*

THE POSTMAN ALWAYS KNOCKS TWICE: Rich Roberts of Wilmington was intrigued by a doorbell at his local post office that apparently no one is allowed to ring (see photo).

*

MAKING AN IMPRESSION: While the remake of “Psycho” greatly resembles the 1960 original, there are differences. For example, after Marian Crane flees Phoenix with someone else’s money, she trades in her car in L.A., not in Bakersfield, Jerome Kleinsasser points out. Also, in the new version, when she checks in at the country lodge of Mom Bates, there is more drama attached to the whereabouts of her hometown. Instead of merely writing it in the guest book, she tells friendly clerk Norman Bates that she is from Los Angeles. As she says this, he is reaching for the key to Room 2. He changes his mind and grabs the key to Room 1--the one next to his office.

*

LINDY IN LIGHTS: In Friday’s column, I mentioned that Redondo Union High’s most famous alumnus--Charles Lindbergh--was pulled over by the cops one night in 1917 for driving with defective headlights, according to A. Scott Berg’s new biography. Lindy, who spent just a semester in the Southland, was 15 at the time.

Eleven years later, he had another light named for him in L.A.--the Lindbergh Beacon atop City Hall. The tribute to the famous aviator was activated by President Calvin Coolidge via a special hookup with the White House.

The beacon was later taken down and forgotten. Found in a storehouse a few years ago, it is now on display at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX as a “welcoming symbol to the millions of visitors and immigrants who come to L.A. from around the world.”

*

HOLLYWOOD CHANT: Calling entertainment “the most inexorable force of the 20th century,” author Neal Gabler recalled in the New York Times how he once thought that no one was immune to it, except perhaps Tibetan monks. Gabler added that when he advanced this theory to a friend, the friend laughed and recalled how he “had once run into the Dalai Lama at the Formosa Cafe,” the old star haunt in Hollywood.

miscelLAny:

A Jewish hip-hop comedy group called M.O.T. (Members of the Tribe) will perform in honor of Hanukkah at two locations, Rudolpho’s in Silver Lake on Saturday night, and outside Moby Disc in Sherman Oaks on Tuesday evening. The stars of M.O.T.? Dr. Dreidel and Ice Berg. (You had to ask, didn’t you?) Perhaps Ice Berg can write a friendly song about the Redondo Beach police.