Neither Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor Traffic Ticket Can Keep Commuters From Home
My colleague Pat Rathbun was bound for Union Station in a DASH bus the other evening when the driver appeared to run a red light, nearly hitting a car crossing the intersection.
A police officer walking the beat saw the incident. The cop hopped on board the bus and scolded the driver. But before he could whip out his ticket book, the passengers started to protest. Many were in a rush to connect with Metrolink trains leaving Union Station.
The riled riders told the officer to leave, including one woman who stated she worked at City Hall. Sensing a mutiny, the cop let the driver off with a (quick) warning.
You don’t mess with folks’ commute in L.A.
Unclear on the concept: In their never-ending search for the little contradictions of life, readers submit the following (see accompanying):
* A six-pack in name only (spotted by Dean Terlinden).
* A drinking glass that doesn’t measure up to its billing (Terlinden).
* One place where you wouldn’t expect to see a ban on drinking wine (photo by Cathy Nagy).
* A self-dueling set of parking instructions (photo by Colin Whiting).
* Bathroom tissue measured in a new way.
* And finally, evidence of more poaching in California by Florida, which, as you know, previously stole such concepts as Universal Studios and Disneyland from this state (Joe Dymkowski).
Take me out to the poetry reading: Baseball fans who are angry about the possibility of a strike might consider a change of pace: the Monrovia-based Baseball Reliquary, a whimsical traveling museum. Over the years, the Reliquary has displayed such items as a “partially smoked cigar” supposedly left behind at a brothel by Babe Ruth, hair curlers worn during a game by pitcher Dock Ellis, and a baseball bearing the forged signature of Mother Teresa (it was seized by federal agents).
The Reliquary’s next show is Sunday, when it will present a reading of baseball poetry and prose at the Pasadena Central Library. And, of course, there will be exhibits, most prominently “a tortilla that bears an image with an uncanny resemblance to the late Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley.”
Reliquary exhibit (cont.): One thing you don’t have to worry about: If you do attend, you won’t be throwing more money in the direction of major league players and owners. They have nothing to do with this show.
That’s why it’s free.
Dicey timing: I just heard a new radio ad by Alaska Airlines, which makes its pitch by incorporating new lyrics into “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Wonder what Alaska will do if the baseball players strike Friday, outraging fans everywhere? Could be one, two, three strikes you’re out for that commercial.
miscelLAny: Dan Fink was dining in a restaurant when he noticed that the menu misspelled chick peas as “chic peas.” Then again the restaurant was in Beverly Hills.
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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.
