During Morning Rush Hour, Commuters Now Have to Watch Out for Bees

Sting alert for motorists: KNX radio’s Donna Page reported that traffic slowed on the San Diego Freeway on Wednesday morning when a beehive was discovered hanging from an Irvine overpass. A brave firm named Bee Busters whisked the hive away before the inhabitants lost their tempers.

Guide to adventurous dining: Today’s selections (see accompanying) include:

* An “asorted” breakfast food, which, as Pat Langdon of Cypress says, undoubtedly will have “animal rights activists up in arms.”

* Some hors d’oeuvres that seem to be made out of canvas (Harriet May of Thousand Oaks).

* Liquid refreshment sold in unusual quantities (Anthony D’Amico of Hacienda Heights).

* And a French car powered by alcohol (J. McWilliams).

It’s always better to settle disputes with words: The L.A. Independent’s police log reports that “two men were arguing at a gym over a business dispute when the suspect hit the victim with a book.”

What’s down: So lawyers for an entertainment company filed suit in L.A. to shield the firm from being sued by Anheuser-Busch Inc. over use of the phrase “Whassup?” on some T-shirts. The brewer has a trademark for the phrase, which has been uttered (ad nauseum) in its commercials by beer-guzzling types.

My reaction: I’d almost pay to see a bunch of high-priced attorneys engaged in a courtroom discussion that requires them to continually utter “whassup” in serious tones.

More imitation Orange: Steve Lustro of Pomona points out that the high school scenes in the movie “Orange County” were shot at Diamond Ranch High in Pomona (in L.A. County). And, I might add, Occidental College in Eagle Rock stood in for Stanford, the school of choice for the young writer in the movie. The school he dreads he’ll have to attend is “Orange County University.” He never visits there, so we don’t know what campus might have been used to portray it. USC, perhaps?

Out-of-car experiences: Remember the UCLA scandal involving the football players who obtained handicapped parking placards at the school? Well, Brian Lowe writes that while attending a UCLA-USC women’s basketball game, “we saw a Trojan fan’s car, sporting USC flags and covered with bumper stickers, receive a ticket on the UCLA campus--for parking in a handicapped space.” Theorized Lowe: “Maybe it’s something in the air?”

Thanks, we think: Not long ago, someone donated a 1969 Cadillac hearse to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in L.A. “I had to drive it around into our parking lot,” said Tony Terrazas, the society’s thrift store director. “I was a little leery getting inside. I’ll be in one someday I know, but not now.”

Society workers never know what folks are going to drop off there. The thrift shop has sold such donated items as an antique Spanish gun ($600), a 1979 Rolls-Royce ($20,000) and a 1936 Ford coupe ($2,600).

The society is awaiting a buyer for “an original designer gown by Oleg Cassini.” It was worn to the inaugural ball at President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration. (No, I don’t know the name of this female Clinton admirer.)

miscelLAny:

Cyber-commentator Jeff Schimmel notes that singer Wayne Newton was selected for a commendation from the Pentagon for entertaining the troops in Afghanistan. “Although the soldiers didn’t really like his performance,” Schimmel said, “thousands of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters surrendered when they heard his rendition of ‘Danke Schoen.’ ”

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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., Los Angeles, 90012 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.