Some Things Just Weren’t Meant to Be Recycled
A resident phoned Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick to ask what items could be placed in the city’s new recyclables containers. After aide Biniko Nwokoro furnished him with a list, the homeowner was saddened that there was no mention of one item--lint. He had a lot of washer and dryer lint, he told Nwokoro. At least he didn’t mention the bellybutton variety.
HMO (OH NO): Adele Baquet can’t recall the last time she heard “a movie audience applaud DURING a movie, rather than AFTER.” But it happened during a showing of “As Good As It Gets” at a Pasadena theater. The clapping followed a scene in which Helen Hunt is having problems with her new doctor and expresses her frustration by cursing HMOs. “Sounds like there is a pretty strong undercurrent of feeling for this HMO business, huh?” added Baquet.
SNOOPY WOULD BE PROUD: One of the Southland’s greatest contributions to the world--the Zamboni ice resurfacer--will be saluted this weekend. The contraption, sometimes piloted by Snoopy in the Peanuts comic strip, was invented in 1949 by Frank Zamboni of Paramount (the city, not the studio) and is used on ice rinks around the nation. The original Zamboni Model A will be on display this weekend in Vancouver, Canada, during ceremonies surrounding the National Hockey League All-Star Game. You’ll notice from this ancient company photo that the first Zamboni was a woody.
BUT DOES THE CITY GET ANY RESPECT? Jamie Lopez of Paramount received a phone bill that had, in addition to a misspelled street name, a rendering of the city name that sounded more like a horror movie made by Paramount, the studio (see accompanying).
SPEAKING OF TERROR: S.J. Perrello Jr. of San Diego noticed a a scary-sounding ad that was placed in the L.A. Daily Journal by a Pasadena firm. Gee, what a surprise--a law firm (see accompanying).
GREAT MOMENTS IN COMMUTING: Seven years ago, Raider linebacker Riki Ellison found himself trapped in traffic on King Boulevard on the way to the Coliseum, where the team had a game. So he merely jumped out of his car, a Porsche, handed his keys to a passenger in another car and asked the stranger to park it in the VIP lot. Ellison then walked the rest of the way to the stadium. Afterward, the trusting Raider found his car in the VIP lot--intact.
GOVS WE LOVE: Gov. Pete Wilson’s term is up this year, meaning it’s time to start thinking about dedicating places in his name. (Come on--think!) After all, former governors have been memorialized in the form of Earl Warren Drive and George Deukmejian Drive in Long Beach, as well as the Ronald Reagan Freeway in the Simi Valley. And Lucy’s El Adobe Restaurant on Melrose Avenue honors still another former governor with the Jerry Brown Special, a chicken plate.
KIDS ORDER THE DARNDEST THINGS: Every time I print a story about a kid’s funny exchange with a waitress, I figure I’ve run out of variations. But it ain’t so. Up steps Alan Bosshardt of Lawndale, who says that when his boy was 7, he ordered a steak and the waitress asked how he wanted it. The lad thought for a moment and replied, “You can bring it whole. My dad will cut it up for me.”
miscelLAny
In her “Hot Property” column, The Times’ Ruth Ryon reported that former Simpson prosecutor Christopher Darden is selling his home now that he has gotten married. Which reminded me of the notice that appeared in Daily Variety after Darden and Marcia Carter were wed. The two were described this way in the show-biz publication’s compressed style: “Bride’s entertainment exec VP and corporate controller of Rysher Entertainment; groom’s non-pro.”
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.