Saving Money With an Artistic Touch
Wendy Wainwright of L.A. saw this ironic notice in a catalog for night courses at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena:
“Typo Alert! The tuition for the Typography Workshop on pages 4 & 11 is $557 (not $933 as printed).”
The “typo alert” was handsomely printed, by the way.
*
FOR ADVENTUROUS DINERS: Always in search of new treats for Only in L.A. readers, may I recommend for your dining, uh, pleasure: A milkshake for those without a sweet tooth (from Phil Proctor), some chicken cooked under the hood of a truck (from Daniel D. Love) and a hamburger for those who do have a sweet tooth (from Tris Wykes).
*
TEN YEARS AGO: When Mr. and Mrs. Sean Penn were confronted by prowlers after a trip to the market, Mrs. Penn--first name Madonna--went inside their Malibu home to call the police. Penn and his wife’s brother made a citizen’s arrest of the five young men. One suspect tried to fight but Penn subdued him by conking him with a bottle--of tofu salad dressing.
*
WHERE WERE THE WHITE HOUSE REPORTERS? When UCLA played Stanford up north in basketball the other day, it drew what surely was the first crowd to include a daughter of the president of the United States as well as a group of fans who chanted the name of the wife of a former president.
The daughter, of course, is Chelsea Clinton. The chants--”Betty Ford! Betty Ford!”--were actually shorthand references to the Palm Springs-area drug-treatment facility. They were directed at two UCLA players who, according to some media reports, were suspended earlier this year for marijuana use.
My reaction to the chants? Bush-league stuff.
*
FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE: Hugh Hoskins noticed a “Soup de Jour” listing on a menu and asked the waitress, quite logically, “What’s the Soup du Jour?”
And she responded, “That’s the Soup of the Day.”
*
ART THAT DOESN’T ENDURE: Actor Sylvester Stallone told the Hollywood Reporter that he’s selling his collection of contemporary art, especially after his experience with a painting for which he paid $1.7 million. Stallone said he later noticed that the artwork was falling apart but, when he complained, was told by the artist that the “painting was still evolving.”
*
THE PAST COMES ALIVE: Fred Hartley of Pasadena, who recently wrote the book “Old Pasadena Then and Now,” says he was perusing another Southern California history book when he made a stunning discovery.
On the dust jacket of Fred Basten’s “Paradise by the Sea, Santa Monica Bay” is a 1920s photo of strollers on Ocean Front Walk in old Ocean Park--and one of them is Hartley’s father.
“He was easily recognizable in his suit and tie and his old style ‘skimmer’ straw hat,” Hartley said.
*
FROM OUR “KIDS SAY” FILE: Bernice Merryman of Pomona recalls that when her nephew Brian was 4 he visited a doctor’s office, where a nurse asked the lad for some personal information. His birthday? “Feb. 5,” he responded. “And what year?” she asked. After a moment of puzzlement, he answered, “Every year!”
miscelLAny:
In the 1954 Golden Globes Awards, Spencer Tracy was voted best actor for the movie “The Actress.”
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.