Does Intersection Camera Ever Lie?
The new intersection cameras in West Hollywood (and other cities) may inspire a whole new genre of motorist excuses. Robert Imm of Sunland heard a female caller relate this tale on the “Mark and Brian” radio show on KLOS-FM (95.5):
She drove to a party where she imbibed a few too many drinks. Being a good citizen, she had her sober husband drive them home. But he was unfamiliar with her car’s stick shift.
Stopped at a red light, he lurched forward when it turned green and killed the engine. He started the engine again, lurched a few more feet, and stalled again in the intersection as the light turned red.
Several days later, the wife said, she received a ticket in the mail for running a red light.
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SELLING L.A.: “Which One Best Says Los Angeles to You?” is the theme of a new credit-card campaign.
Seriously.
The choices are:
* “I Love L.A.”--showing a license plate with that message (see accompanying).
* “Los Angeles Skyline”--showing the Civic Center, but at night. (Smog? What smog?)
* “Scenic Drive”--showing a palm-lined street. (You thought it would be the Santa Ana Freeway during morning rush hour?)
A bumper sticker on trams at the L.A. Zoo (see photo) is not one of the options, though it could have been.
Everyone knows it’s a jungle out on L.A.’s roadways.
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WHICH ONE BEST SAYS L.A. TO YOU? (CONT.): At a fruit drink stand, I noticed a display for Rhino Natural Boosts additives, which come in four varieties: “Energy,” “Immunity,” “Mood” and “Memory.”
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PARDON MY FRENCH: Pam Linn spotted a misspelling of “sous” in an ad, pointing out that it sounded as if it was a job opening “for a chef who likes to nip the cooking sherry” (see accompanying).
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THESE ARE ROLE MODELS? The Times received a news release announcing that the “spirit squad” of a fifth-grade class in Manhattan Beach would be visited by some Laker Girls cheerleaders today to help “boost up school spirit.” Yes, the Laker Girls--they of the skimpy outfits and suggestive routines.
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WAIT ‘TIL THE INTERSECTION CAMERAS GET A LOAD OF THIS! In the magazine Bare Issue, Chris Koreivo of Long Beach read that Universal has bought the movie rights to a novel by Jeff Rovin about saber-tooth cats loose in modern-day Los Angeles. It will supposedly star (surprise!) Sly Stallone.
It reminded Koreivo of the “Tar Wars” episode of the kid cartoon show, “Mighty Max.”
In that episode, subway construction in L.A. sets loose a Neanderthal man and a saber-tooth cat. He tries to corral the creature.
At one point, “Neanderthal and the cat have been going at it hand-to-fang in one of the ritzier Beverly Hills hotels,” Koreivo writes. “They destroy the place. After the combatants have departed, Mighty Max (the hero) walks into the scene and says something to the effect of, ‘Look at this mess. Guns ‘n’ Roses must be staying here.”’
miscelLAny:
KFWB reporter Clayton Sandell sent along a police log item that told of a woman who “had reported finding a small piece of chicken fat next to her bed. After some investigation, it was determined the cat took the chicken fat from the garbage and brought it next to the bed.”
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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.
