Rather Than Being Lost, This Pooch Might Be Having an Identity Crisis
Norm Sklarewitz of West Hollywood saw a “lost-dog” notice but wonders if the beige and white pooch merely ran off for a while to “find its identity.”
Reason: The dog’s name is Kitty. (Information: [310] 859-1638).
A problem with the Big Cheese in Sacramento? No, it was just a coincidental juxtaposition of items in one newspaper that caught the attention of Bob Browning and Nat Read (see accompanying).
Write 100 times on the chalkboard ... : Jack Hallin of Monterey Park spotted a spelling-challenged marquee -- put up, perhaps, by someone as excited as my 10-year-old son about the four-day school holiday (see photo).
Is there a carpool lane? Proof that Southern Californians won’t walk ANYWHERE if they can help it was submitted by Willie McNally of Simi Valley (see accompanying).
Unreal estate (cont.): Nickola Miller of Marina del Rey saw a listing for a property that ain’t cheap despite being jinxed (see accompanying). What kind of jinx? Well, the house, which has a “golf course view,” is in what is described as a “smashing gated community.” Hope the windows are double-plated.
Missed connection: Cecilia Rasmussen’s column on vanished flier Amelia Earhart reminded author Chuck Hillinger of an incident involving an assistant city editor of The Times in the early 1950s.
The editor, Bill Bastedo, “was always reading paperback novels and would rock back and forth in his chair at the city desk,” Hillinger said. “He answered the phones, and no matter who called, his standard remark was, ‘Just a minute. I’ll give you a reporter.’ ” Photographer Harry Watson, a renowned prankster, phoned one day to see if Bastedo would change his routine if presented with one of the scoops of the century.
“I was standing right there when the phone rang,” Hillinger said. “ ‘City Desk,’ bellowed Bastedo. Watson said: ‘This is Amelia Earhart. Where the heck is everybody?’ Bastedo answered, ‘Just a minute. I’ll give you a reporter.’ ”
miscelLAny: How the neighbors do talk. Of new L.A. Laker Karl “The Mailman” Malone, Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle writes: “In Los Angeles, where a man’s stature is measured by the length of his commute, Mailman Malone is livin’ large -- in Newport Beach. That’s either a very long drive to work or a fairly short flight. Lakers don’t do things the easy way.”
Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, Ext. 77083, and by fax at (213) 237-4712.
