They’re Giving Holiday Cheer a Custom Job

By now your kitchen tables and desks are probably littered with dopey holiday cards. Kittens with snowflakes on their noses, cold kids on frosty sleds, penguins ice skating . . . you’ve seen them all. Well, one local business is providing some comic relief.

Steve Ball and Gary Grantham, founders of California Touch Up, are pictured in their 1999 holiday card posing for the cover of “Fumes: A Magazine for the Touch Up Aficionado.” Past cards have placed the duo in mock movie posters for “Touch Up!,” a noir thriller carrying the tag line, “In the City of Angels, Paint Is Thicker than Blood!” and a swingin’ ‘60s flick titled “Martinis and Mistletoe.”

“Since we conduct our business with a little personality,” said Grantham, 40, “we figured our cards should have some personality.”

California Touch Up is a mobile car-paint repair service that makes house calls primarily in ritzy neighborhoods such as Bel-Air and Beverly Hills.

“When we started three years ago, we fantasized about becoming the touch-up guys to the stars, and we’ve slowly become that,” Grantham said. “We get to see houses that look like museums.”

He prefers not to drop names but can’t resist mentioning a certain “Starfleet commander” who is a regular customer. “He has to turn a sharp corner to get into his garage,” Grantham said. “The front bumper of his Jag is practically made out of touch-up paint.”

The Starfleet commander, together with 500 other California Touch Up clients, received this year’s holiday card, which pokes fun at magazines like Cigar Aficionado.

Next year, the duo may send a video greeting because, as Grantham said, “we think there aren’t enough roles being written in Hollywood for touch-up guys.”

Can a feature film be far behind?

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We’ve noticed that potluck suppers are being embraced by the younger generation. And why not? Potlucks spread the cost of a party around and force even shy guests to bring something to the table, so to speak.

Los Angeles comic Retta, 27, recently hosted 16 women at her Hollywood apartment for a food fest, chick style. Guests quickly bonded over Blondies, artichoke spread and chili-cheese dip, gorging themselves while dishing on boys, the biz and celebs who don’t deserve their own fame. Delicious.

Lisa LaCommare Block, 35, eyebrow-shaping maven at Valerie Cosmetics in Beverly Hills, told us about a gourmet version of the potluck she and her husband are planning for New Year’s Eve with four other couples. Each couple will be responsible for one course--split pea soup, pasta and lobster tails are on the menu--and a festive cocktail or an appropriate wine to go with it. Sounds like a fabulous way to spend the last evening of the Nesting ‘90s.

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For those not planning to celebrate at home, the Automobile Club of Southern California is offering “Tipsy Tows” between 6 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Saturday for revelers. Call (800) 400-4AAA for a free tow home of up to seven miles. Sorry, passengers, tows are available for drivers only.

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Woody Harrelson’s Sunset Strip oxygen bar has deflated. O2, which served flavored oxygen through nose hoses along with vegan victuals, has shut its doors after just a year in business.

Now that L.A.’s smog ratings have improved, guess the market for $15 shots of gas has gone bust.

Booth Moore can be reached at booth.moore@latimes.com.