Everybody’s a Critic When It Comes to the Valley

The Wall Street Journal recently warned its readers to “avoid Los Angeles” during the Democratic Convention “unless you’re prepared to stay in the boonies or spend serious cash.” The newspaper added there were rooms available “if you don’t mind spending nights in ‘The Valley.’ ”

More of that Eastern snobbery. Who wouldn’t want to spend nights in “The Valley”? (I’ve never done so myself, but I understand it can be quite enjoyable.)

*

THE VIEW FROM THE SOUTH: San Diego, meanwhile, is trying to woo Angelenos with freeway billboards that say, “Support Plastic Surgery. Deepen Your Laugh Lines.” No, I don’t quite get the message either, San Diego never having struck me as a barrel of laughs. But the pitch is still preferable to that city’s last billboard campaign, which littered Southern California freeways with the theme, “Don’t Hate Us Because We’re Beautiful.”

*

HOPEFULLY, IT HAS SINCE BEEN IRONED: Arline Miller of Thousand Oaks noticed a wedding dress ad containing some intimate details that I really didn’t need to know (see accompanying).

*

BUGGED: No one was deepening their laugh lines at one table in a Palm Springs-area restaurant recently. Rich Molony of San Pedro sent along a copy of the bill, which was reduced because of some unexpected dinner companions (see accompanying).

*

Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A., 90012 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com