Chicken Boy Is Still Standing Tall -- and He May Have the Last Laugh

Chicken Boy has done it all in show biz.

The 22-foot-tall creature (see photo) faced extinction as a rooftop symbol when the downtown fast-food eatery underneath folded in 1984.

But since being rescued from a wrecking crew by designer/writer Amy Inouye, the fowl lad has become the star of a clothing catalog (Chicken Boy strap-on beaks, Chicken Boy fezzes, etc.), a short film (“Chicken Boy: The Movie”) and a song (“The Chicken Boy Polka” by Those Darn Accordions).

And now CB will be featured in a weekly comic strip in the downtown L.A. newspaper Garment and Citizen. The strip “will allow Chicken Boy some room to get back downtown, where he can take in all of the changes and even sound off with his own thoughts on developments around his old stomping grounds,” the newspaper said.

I think we can all derive inspiration from Inouye’s slogan for Chicken Boy: “Too big to live, too weird to die.” Inouye, by the way, is still searching for a spot to display CB’s statue in public. I think he’d fit right in on top of City Hall.

Guide to Adventurous Dining: Today’s specials du column (see accompanying) include:

* A meat dish that has been victimized (J. Kokenis).

* A steakhouse dressing that might victimize your digestive system (Catherine Wynne).

* And, finally, a dining arrangement that would seem prone to huge vehicular jams (Emily Zelden).

Continuing education: When I spoke on Career Day at Fremont Elementary School in Long Beach, I pointed out that I have homework (this column) five times a week. Afterward, the kids sent me notes of sympathy.

“Do you get enough sleep?” asked Brian Guadameiz.

Brandon Gutierrez wrote: “I hope you get better at your job.”

Then there was the girl who got me mixed up with a speaker who had a different occupation.

“I learned a lot of things about being a chef,” she wrote. “Thanks again.”

How the neighbors talk: “Paris has the Eiffel Tower,” wrote San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Diane Bell. “New York City has the Statue of Liberty. St. Louis has its Gateway Arch. San Francisco has the Golden Gate Bridge. And San Diego could have its own ‘Spirit of the Seas’ landmark if a proposal ....”

I interrupt here to point out that Bell couldn’t think of a landmark for L.A. But then again, who can fault her? What is there in L.A. since the dismantling of Chicken Boy?

miscelLAny: This week’s “Duh!” winner, spotted by Philip Spenny of Northridge, is a company selling an American flag that “comes in red, white and blue.”

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.