Getting Just the Right Tone in an Invitation Often Involves Trial and Error
The Surfing Lawyers Assn., which is inducting a new member, faxed The Times an invitation that concluded: “If you do not come, we will have the O.C. Register attend in your place.” I can’t blame the group for the intimidating tone. Sure, this is a surfing matter but the members are, after all, still lawyers. They can’t help acting that way.
Don’t stop, thief! The current issue of City Talk, the newsletter of always-exciting Paramount, listed some of the offbeat stories of 2002 in the area. A sampling:
* Sheriff’s deputies left a pair of keys in an unlocked car in an area where several auto thefts had occurred. But when a would-be thief began to enter the car, he was chased off by a resident who yelled: “Get away from that car! That’s not your car!”
* Another car-theft suspect stopped by police didn’t become agitated until officers put one of his possessions on the roof of the vehicle in plain sight: a bottle of Viagra.
* Inspectors thought they saw bats hanging in a cage on the roof of a meat market, but the objects turned out to be drying strips of beef jerky.
* A motorist crashed into a fire hydrant and fled but he left one clue behind: a license plate.
Custom-built indeed! Roger Iwig of Glendora spotted a listing for a mansion that seemed elegant enough, if you didn’t mind having to crawl around inside (see accompanying).
Identity crisis: It’s bad enough for the folks in Westwood that UCLA’s basketball team is always losing games. Now the school seems to have lost the name of its arena, points out Peter Lee. An ad for a recent high school all-star game on campus had rechristened Pauley Pavilion (see photo).
Unclear on the concept: Gil Montalvo of L.A. saw a sign that prompted him to write, “I’ve never heard of 100% down on anything. If you’re putting 100% down, aren’t you buying it outright?” (see photo).
Perfect for a big sleep: Lance and Becky Larsen of Irvine sent a snapshot of an inn that seemed to have a lot in common with the Eagles’ Hotel California -- you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave (see photo).
miscelLAny: As for the police log item about three men in nun’s outfits allegedly jumping on a trampoline in Laguna Beach, Albert Cardenas wrote: “The scene actually makes sense, but only if the men were followers of St. Beryl, who inspired the Order of Leaping Berelians (nuns dedicated to bouncing on trampolines) in the 1967 film ‘Bedazzled.’
“Since two of the three leapers in the movie were men (Peter Cook and Dudley Moore), the Laguna Beach branch was actually quite consistent.” I knew there must be a logical explanation.
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Steve Harvey, who avoids trampolines, can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012 and steve.harvey@latimes.com.