All-Powerful Bumper Sticker
Driving through Santa Barbara, Jeff Bliss spotted a Lincoln with a license plate that said THELORD.
I forgot to ask Bliss if the car also displayed one of those bumper stickers that say, “AS A MATTER OF FACT, I DO OWN THE ROAD.”
NO SMALL FEET: Adding to this column’s long list of oddly named advertised items, from chip and dale furniture and chester drawers to rod iron and krafts of wine, Anne Miller noticed that a famous shoe brand had been misspelled in a creative fashion (see accompanying).
CROUCHING TIGER, DUELING CITIES: I mentioned the critical editorial that appeared in the Los Alamitos News-Enterprise after Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill said that Tiger Woods “belongs to Long Beach.”
The newspaper pointed out that while Woods may have played a little golf in Long Beach as a youth, he grew up in Cypress.
“Well, EXCUSE ME--a third city is heard from,” wrote Bob Lloyd. “Tiger Woods did live in a corner of Cypress but he ATTENDED Western High School in Anaheim. His banner and achievements hang in our gym. His foundation has helped our school on various occasions.”
AERIAL SYMPHONY: The pilot of the Goodyear blimp Eagle, a Carson landmark familiar to commuters on the San Diego Freeway, recounts this adventure in the May / June issue of Westways magazine:
“One night I had to fly to the Walt Disney Studios, over Cahuenga Pass, past the Hollywood Bowl,” said pilot L.J. “Nick” Nicolary.
“I was at 2,000 feet, and evidently I drowned out the piano concerto as I went over. The director was furious. He said I did it on purpose. That’s absurd. If I’d deliberately wanted to ruin a concert, why would I take the biggest, most visible airship in the world to do it?”
Maybe the director had seen “Black Sunday,” the movie about terrorists in a blimp trying to blow up the Super Bowl at the L.A. Coliseum.
BACK ON THE GROUND: The parking authorities sure are strict in Glendale. Look at the time limit they posted for a nine-hour period (see photo).
LIVELY EXCHANGE: Another excerpt from a courtroom transcript compiled by Mike Ascolese in the Star News, an L.A. County Sheriff’s Department publication:
Question: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
Answer: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
Q.: And Mr. --- was dead at the time?
A: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy.
MYSTERY OF THE DAY: My thanks to those who sent me theories about what type of animal is depicted as the state symbol on the “Welcome to California” signs. I’ll release the results next week.
Now I have another question. I came across an architect’s sketch of an L.A. building (see photo). I can’t quite place it. Any helpers out there?
miscelLAny:
USC student Emmett Mavy tells me he’s willing to sell his license plates, which say WEB CEO, for $45,000.
Mavy insists they’re just the thing for the CEO who wants to attract some attention. I brought the offer to the attention of the DMV, and a spokesman said the agency’s lawyers are researching the legality of such a transaction.
But $45,000 for license plates? MYLORD.
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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, 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.