When the Dinosaurs Take Over L.A., Here’s Where They’ll Hide
“Casual Rex” is a comic mystery novel set in contemporary L.A. about a secret population of dinosaurs that dress in latex costumes to disguise themselves as humans.
Author Eric Garcia’s private-eye narrator, a dino named Vincent Rubio, sprinkles the narrative with smart-aleck observations on various subjects, including dying in the La Brea Tar Pits (“like waiting in line at the DMV, only it smells better”).
Rubio also visits a dino drag club in West Hollywood where members must partake of a secret rite at the door to gain admittance (“a quick knuckle-rap of the theme from ‘Yentl’ ”). And how do the dinos travel about to avoid bumping into humans? They use an area avoided by most humans: L.A.’s subway.
O.C. Confidential: “Casual Rex,” by the way, is a funny book. I can’t remember an author pulling off a more difficult premise, unless it’s T. Jefferson Parker.
“Silent Joe,” by Parker, is a riveting novel (a current best-seller), despite the fact that it centers on the life of a member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors. A supervisor involved in issues such as toll roads and the proposed El Toro airport, yet. Parker really must like challenges.
Food for thought: When a waitress charged Charles Greenberg for two items he didn’t order, she printed a new bill--on which she seemed to joke about her job status (see accompanying).
Some other food findings:
* A spot that inexplicably says it offers karaoke from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. 24 hours a day (Everette Breaux).
* And, finally, a restaurant whose name and opening date make perfect sense (Shelby Grad).
Relax, check-cashers: Matt Minguez brazenly submitted his personalized license plate, AFORGER, to the monthly list of uncommon plates on the KNX1070.com Web site. Actually, explains the Lakewood resident, “I started and still operate (for 30 years) my own company, which forges metal plates for aerospace and aircraft engines.”
Letter imperfect: When Ian Campbell of San Diego showed up at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel in Anaheim, a young parking lot attendant asked him his name.
“Campbell,” he replied.
To which the attendant replied, “K, A . . . “ as he began to jot Campbell’s name down. Here’s what followed, reports columnist Diane Bell of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
“No,” Campbell told the attendant. “Campbell--as in soup.”
“Ah!” the attendant said. And the youth uttered, “S, O . . . “ as he began to write.
miscelLAny: Julie Dock of Torrance, who is moving to Oregon, says that one thing she won’t miss down here is being caught in tar pit-like jams on the San Diego Freeway. Dock recalls being surprised the day she saw a motorist with a bumper sticker that read “I Love to Drive the 405.” Then she noticed the car’s second sticker: “I Also Love to Beat My Head With Bricks.”