DMV May Call It a Convenience Fee, But It Seems Closer to a Car Tax

“Is this a sample of the state of California’s way of doing arithmetic?” asks Barbara Smith of Seal Beach. She received a flier from the DMV touting online registration for a “convenience fee,” reminding her that this process would require “no stamps” (see accompanying).

Smith decided to mail hers in with a 37-cent stamp -- less than one-tenth the cost of the online process. “Not the least bit inconvenient,” she added.

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

* Some food that may crawl (or fly) off your plate.

* An opening for a food preparer -- possibly only for Halloween (M. Johnson).

* And, a sign that reaffirms how hungry the Chinese government is for tourists (photo by Richard Kimball).

Anaheim plays hardball: The World Series is over but not the speculation about which jinxes prompted the dramatic collapses of the Red Sox and Cubs in post-season play. I’m surprised that no one has mentioned the dreaded O.C. Curse.

It befell manager Dusty Baker, whose teams blew big leads in the World Series last year and the league playoffs this year.

Baker has had nothing but bad luck ever since he declared on the eve of the 2002 Giants-Angels World Series: “Our focus is ‘Beat L.A.’ ” When it was pointed out that Anaheim isn’t in L.A., Baker insisted, “It’s Southern L.A.” You insult Anaheim that way, you pay for it.

Which reminds me: Did you see the cast members of Fox TV’s “The O.C.” series in the stands during the Fox broadcast of the World Series? Or so they were billed. But something was wrong. They were smiling, getting along famously. The lead star wasn’t getting beaten up by the others like he always does. No one was passed out on drugs. Couldn’t have been them.

Sounds like ... : An L.A. County sheriff’s dispatcher had this conversation with an alarm company rep, says the Star News, a department publication:

Alarm rep: The address is on Stud or Baker Road.

Dispatcher: What? It is on Baker Road?

Alarm rep: No, it’s Stud Baker ... yeah, Stud Baker Road.

Dispatcher: Is it Studebaker Road?

Studebaker Road it was.

MiscelLAny: The Wall Street Journal says that NBA officials are concerned over reports that ESPN may produce “a reality show” about partying former pro basketballer Dennis Rodman.

Newport Beach police have visited Rodman’s house more than 80 times in recent years following complaints about his noisy bashes.

I guess he has an alibi now: He’s just in rehearsals.

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Steve Harvey can be reached by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com