Ah, the Smell of Success: L.A. Shouldn’t Sweat Its Abysmal Survey Ranking

Asurvey by Old Spice found that Phoenix was the sweatiest city in America, with L.A. ranking 94th. I’m surprised that Sacramento was ranked only 72nd, considering all the perspiring that Gov. Gray Davis must be doing over the recall campaign.

Guide to adventurous dining: Today’s specials du column (see accompanying) include an unusual vessel for garlic (from Gloria Hayes of South Pasadena) and an Australian zoo’s warning to visitors that they could become lunch meat (Marvin Popkin of Laguna Woods).

And for a nightcap ... : Filmmaker Tom Greene of L.A. found a Norco store that combines what he suspects are two of the great loves of folks in the horsy town (see photo).

I phoned owner Randy Leonti, who confirmed that both signs referred to his business. He explained that his western clothes concern had swallowed (well, he didn’t use that word) a liquor store.

I’ve heard of a drinker getting a snoot full, but a boot full?

Also on the drink list: Robert Sharp of South Pasadena alerted me to a beverage that sounds like something cowboys might be in danger of stepping in (see photo).

Speaking of double businesses: Loyola Bannon of Huntington Park recalls that when he was growing up in a small North Dakota town in the 1920s, “the building next door to Grandma’s house was both the local furniture store and funeral home.

“The family also lived on the premises and I played with their kids. We’d have a great time jumping on and off a stack of mattresses piled high in one room.

“Then, we’d peek with wide-eyed awe into another blue-lit, hushed room at a spotlighted open casket -- complete with the recent dearly departed. Children can be oblivious to the macabre at the time.”

Bannon added that long before child actor Haley Joel Osment uttered the line in the hit movie, “The Sixth Sense,” he himself had said: “I see dead people.”

miscelLAny: You may recall that Pat Wright, a Libertarian candidate for lieutenant governor, listed himself as “Ferret Legalization Coordinator” on the ballot. And lost. Nor was his cause bolstered by the TV show “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” A recent episode showed a ferret owner leaning forward to give her darling a little kiss only to be bitten on the nose.

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