The Other Kennedy and Other Michael Jackson

KRLA radio talk show host Michael Jackson was on the receiving end of one of the bloopers in the new book “The 267 Stupidest Things Democrats Ever Said/The 267 Stupidest Things Republicans Ever Said.”

And he was equal to the occasion.

The book, by UCLA professor Ted Rueter, recounts how Sen. Edward Kennedy told Jackson at the outset of a phone interview: “The music of you and your brothers has been an inspiration to millions.”

Jackson--heretofore known as the Jackson One--told me what happened next:

“I responded: ‘Sir, you are the Kennedy who had the charisma bypass, aren’t you?’

“And the interview continued with great natural rhythm.”

NO STYLE POINTS: Harry Hornett of San Juan Capistrano spotted an ad for an that needed to be reprinted with the correct of spelling Epson Stylus (see accompanying).

ON THE ROAD: In Northern California, L. Frederiksen came across a shop offering some old fruits and nuts (see accompanying). Wonder if any of those olives swam in martinis in their previous lives?

JUST ANOTHER DAY ON THE SUNSET STRIP: Denis Rubin noticed a limo, hobbled by a Denver boot, the other morning outside a “gentleman’s club.” (see photo). Were the occupants customers? And how many days had they been gone?

RISING TO THE OCCASION: A traffic officer was about to write a ticket for a car parked in the red when the owner happened by on a forklift, the city of Paramount’s newsletter reports. The owner had been carting materials in and out of a nearby business with the machine. He appealed to the officer, who told him he wouldn’t get a ticket if he moved the car immediately.

The officer, the newsletter said, “was quite surprised when the man lowered the forks on the forklift, settled them under the car and lifted it off the ground.

“The officer tried to get the man’s attention to let him know he could take a minute and get the car keys, but the man was too focused on moving the car to hear.”

YOU CAN CALL IT L.A.--FOR NOW: Los Angeles has evolved into Los Andiegoles in the new novel “A Friend of the Earth” by T.C. Boyle, set in the year 2025. Don’t feel smug about the union of L.A. and S.D., S.F. Your city is now called San Jose Francisco.

Some years when L.A. acquires other names in futuristic works:

* 2032: San Angeles, the result of a merger of San Diego, L.A. and Santa Barbara (the movie “Demolition Man”). Don’t even think of being on your own, San Fernando Valley.

* Mid-2000s: Rattown (the novel “Dr. Adder,” by K.W. Jeter).

* 2091: Mega City 2 (the movie “Judge Dredd”). On the other side of the country, Frank Sinatra’s hit would have to be renamed “Mega City 1, Mega City 1.”

OLD BUSINESS: I think Pepperdine University ought to shelve that blurb for its business school that I heard on the radio Tuesday. The one that begins; “The year 2000 is nearly here . . . “ Especially when the ad talks about getting students on the fast track.

miscelLAny:

Rick Shafarman and Doug Stokes noticed in a story in The Times that the manager of American City Pest Control is named Darrell Roach.