Aging Baby Boomers, Once Wild, Are Reborn to Be Mild at Rock Concert

As he took his seat for a rock concert at the Wiltern, Greg Horbachevsky of Glendale noticed that the woman on his left was knitting. Two people on his right were reading books. Another fan, apparently afflicted with a bad hip, was being helped up the steps by an usher and a 30-ish man, perhaps her son.

“I suddenly realized how old I am,” said Horbachevsky, 57. This was a baby-boomer concert starring Joe Cocker, the onetime wild-living English rocker, now 58.

Thirty years ago, when Horbachevsky attended a Cocker concert at the Forum, the spectators were much noisier. Something else also was different this time at the Wiltern.

“There wasn’t a whiff of pot,” Horbachevsky said.

Speaking of aging: Tony Litwinko of Glendale noticed that a real estate agent listed some pastries among one property’s charms (see accompanying). Let’s hope they were in the freezer.

Of course, the agent might have meant to say “sconce,” which is a bracket attached to a wall, often to hold a candle. (OK, I admit it. I had to look up the meaning of the word.)

Roadside wonders: As if driving around here weren’t adventurous enough, Richard Hoffman of Manhattan Beach found a pair of signs arguing over the legality -- indeed, the necessity! -- of making a left turn (see photo).

Laying down the law: “Somebody has to work!” Marvin Wolf of Beverly Hills said of one business that has a job opening (see accompanying).

The devil you say: In this uncertain economy, it’s a heckuva time to start a business, especially one with the name taken by a San Fernando Valley company (see accompanying).

Some baseball, some of the time: All-news station KFWB-AM (980) will start broadcasting Dodger games next year, and it’s been trying to drum up excitement by having celebrities recall favorite Dodger moments.

Problem is, the team hasn’t won a playoff game since last century (1988, to be precise). So a lot of the spots mention long-gone oldsters like Kirk Gibson and Fernando Valenzuela -- not all from the world of sports.

My colleague Patt Morrison was asked for her top Dodger memory and said it was the visit of Pope John Paul II to the stadium in 1987. In her spot, Morrison fondly recalled that the pontiff did a “victory lap” around the field in his Popemobile.

miscelLAny: The Dodgers just don’t seem to have it together yet. Season ticket-holder Michael Horowicz said he visited the stadium gift shop the other day and noticed that the T in the giant “THINK BLUE” sign on the nearby hillside had blown down.

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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.