A Devilish City Name, a Disoriented Goat and an Airport That Flew the Coop

Greg Gilmore of Santa Ana has just the name for a new San Fernando Valley city: Los Diablos.

“After all,” he asks, “aren’t devils supposed to be fallen angels?”

A takeover plot by the Valley? Mike Wren noticed that an advertising supplement in the New York Times published this stunner about “getting to and from” Los Angeles International Airport: “LAX is 15 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.” No wonder the Metro Rail folks decided not to have the Green Line go directly to LAX!

On the road: Ken Romano of Huntington Beach spotted this police blotter item in a Hawaiian newspaper: “9:36 a.m. An anonymous caller reported seeing a disoriented goat near Anahola Bridge.”

Where the stars hang out: In Torrance, John Dowsing found a street sign that lived up to its name (see photo).

The Big Chef in the sky: So important is fine cuisine in these parts that Susan Tellem of Malibu noticed in a local church hymnal that the words for “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” read in part: “All thy woks with joy surround thee.”

Now hear this: Sunday Idowu of Buena Park came upon a cautionary note for patients--even those with huge ears (see accompanying).

Just in time for summer: Bob Hill found a sign for those who want to do something about their tonnage (see accompanying).

Can’t we all get along? Bob Noble saw a For Rent sign in front of a Santa Monica apartment house that noted the unit had a “duel” sink bath.

Reseda fights back: The Web site Resedaweb.blogspot.com accused me of neglect when a recent column mentioned just one movie (“The Karate Kid”) that referred to that storied community.

The site placed Reseda in the background of such films as “Erin Brockovich” and “Boogie Nights” (the porn industry epic), as well as two of my favorites: “Severed Arm” (“bad thriller uses establishing shot of Reseda post office”) and “Fast Sofa” (“Crispin Glover freaks out in discount bird store”).

The Pepsi Challenge: Here was a robber who didn’t know he was facing the world’s bravest service station worker. “A man pulled a shotgun from his duffel bag and demanded money from an employee,” the police log in the Long Beach Press Telegram said. “The employee asked if he was joking.”

The assailant loaded the shotgun and again demanded money. “Then the cashier slammed the security window shut, picked up a two-liter bottle of Pepsi, raised it above his head and approached the man.”

And? “The man ran away.”

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miscelLAny: Bob Kirby spotted this vanity plate/reminder on a nursery school passenger van: PPB4UGO.

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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, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes. com.