Prom Night Memories to Dye for: Purple Hair Clashing With White Gown

Asked his biggest prom fear, Beverly Hills High sophomore Rambod Behnam told the school newspaper: “During the slow dance, my hair dye leaks onto my date’s white dress.” That’s purple hair dye, for the record.

The latest trash talk in the sports world: The police log of the Los Alamitos News-Enterprise reported that a resident “claimed the trash collectors took his $360 portable basketball hoop along with the trash.”

Not again! Major-leaguers are talking about going on strike, thereby trashing another baseball season. I’m reminded of the sarcastic sign posted by the Short Stop bar near Dodger Stadium during the 1994 stoppage (see photo).

I say, “Ptooey!”: Don’t know if you heard, but a Northern California assemblyman has proposed that Bodie be named the state’s official ghost town. What an insult to Barstow’s neighbor, Calico! That dusty settlement not only had a colorful era as a boomtown in the last century but is still making history. Why, Calico Ghost Town is where Harbor City native David O’Dell (see photo) qualified for the Guinness Book of Records a few years ago with the longest tobacco spit in history: 49 feet, 51/2 inches.

Escaping L.A.: Adrienne and Steve Dahlerbruch of Beverly Hills found a true fast-food restaurant in the Netherlands (see photo). Its sign is reminiscent of the old Army mess hall exhortation to basic-training recruits: “Eat it here--swallow it outside.”

More food for thought: A couple of police log entries caught my eye in the Hollywood Independent:

* “A robber entered a restaurant and said to an employee, ‘This is a robbery.’ When asked what he wanted, the robber said, ‘Give me the cookies.’ The employee complied.”

* “A man drove up to an apartment building, got out of his car, took 12 lemons off a tree in the yard and then drove off.”

Devil of a trend: Oregon author April Henry, whose Claire Montrose mysteries contain clues in the form of vanity license plates, was in this state recently on a promotional tour. She saw a real-life plate that said S8NLVS, which moved her to comment: “In Oregon, hailing Satan would be a big no-no.” Not so here. No doubt confirming what many people in other parts of the country feel about this depraved state, California is also the home of vanity plates that say SATAN, MESATAN and, one to think about in the future, SATANJR.

Attention, employers: Did you read where one-time college dropout Steven Spielberg has completed the coursework for a bachelor’s degree and will graduate from Cal State Long Beach next month? I’m sure this will improve his job prospects. Still, as biographer Joseph McBride revealed in his book a few years ago, Spielberg’s transcript will always show the surprising grade he received in one TV production course at Cal State: “C.”

miscelLAny: In his intriguing piece on Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Times Sunday magazine, my colleague Mark Barabak discussed the rumors that the Terminator may one day run for governor or for the U.S. Senate.

And I keep thinking of “Demolition Man,” set in San Angeles (the former L.A.) in the year 2032. In the movie, this city is the home of the Arnold Schwarzenegger Presidential Museum.

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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.