Aerial Photographers May Get Lensful of Sunbathers in the Buff in the ‘Bu

A proposal before the Malibu City Council to have digital aerial color photos made of the city’s landscape prompted some locals to wonder if backyard sunbathers might get more exposure than they want.

“I was told they are getting down to two to three pixels, which is nearly getting down to a gnat’s rear end,” Councilman Ken Kearsley was quoted as saying in the Malibu Times.

“Can we get 30 days’ notice so we can tell people in advance that they might not want to engage in nude sunbathing?” asked Jeff Jennings, a colleague.

Action was delayed in order to see if the proposal could be dressed up and made more presentable.

I hope they can do something about those pixels.

Enter very carefully: Ron Yarbrough of Coronado saw a sign for a parking area that he figures “must be for compact cars” (see photo).

Did Fritz know about this? With winter almost here, one can only wonder if there’ll be a repeat of the meteorological phenomenon that Craig and Daniel Strickland saw mentioned in a mountain newspaper last year (see accompanying).

Two fingers of whiskey, please: Arthur Wisot of Redondo Beach spotted an job opening that is evidently for a specialist who can polish glasses as well as nails (see accompanying).

Too late to polish this gaffe: Steve Propes of Long Beach caught a tongue-tied radio newscaster saying, in the middle of a commercial, “. . . give Outhouse . . . that should be, give Outback Steak House gift certificates . . . “

Sticky question: My partial rendition of the 1940s classic song “Pico and Sepulveda” brought a note from Ruthann Yuhas, a docent at the Page Museum, home of the La Brea Tar Pits.

These lyrics caught her eye: “Vine may be fine, but for mine I want to feel alive! And settle down in my La Brea Tar Pits.”

Yuhas, who edits the Page’s newsletter--named the Cat’s Meow, naturally--wondered if I knew of any other songs that mention the Tar Pits.

Well, I found songs that salute many storied features of L.A., including:

* The L.A. River: “I was born by a river but it was paved with cement” (“Dry River” by Dave Alvin)

* The 10 Freeway: “Santa Monica Freeway sometimes makes a country girl blue--oooh-oooh” (David Frizzell and Shelly West, “You’re the Reason God Made Oklahoma”)

* LAX: “L.A. International Airport (where the big jet engines roar)” by Leanne Scott

* Santa Monica Pier: “When Veronica Plays Her Harmonica (on the pier at Santa Monica)” by Kay Kyser

* Even discount stores: “Under the rainbow and behind Versailles/From the aisles of Fedco to the 405” (“Culver Moon” by Jackson Browne)

But no other songs about the Tar Pits. Anyone out there know of any?

miscelLAny:

In Pinnacle, a Southland real estate brochure, Phil Proctor of Beverly Hills noticed a property for those who really want to get away--a 250-acre volcanic island in Tahiti, available for just $3 million.

“In the beginning of the 18th century,” the brochure says, “there were approximately 150 inhabitants who enjoyed the few springs of the whole island. The population left and the springs were buried by landslides.”

Does this mean there’s no Starbucks?

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.