A Drive Takes SUV Way Off Course

At 1:07 a.m. one recent morning, a motorist “was found with his white Ford Explorer stuck in a sand trap at Old Ranch Golf Course,” the Seal Beach Sun reported.

To use a golf term -- out of bounds. Definitely out of bounds.

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Speaking of wayward objects: L.S. Larsson of Upland found a park where it’s apparently just fine to throw trash on the ground (see photo).

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Post-holiday bargains: Today’s treasures (see accompanying) include a guest towel with a past (contributed by Gilbert Krause of Pomona) and some gender-based furniture (from Jim and Joan Schlegel of Long Beach).

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Rat race dropout? “In a further sign of tension at the top of one of the nation’s media giants,” wrote the off-beat Watley Review, “Walt Disney Co. icon and executive vice president Mickey Mouse stepped down from the board of directors and, in a scathing letter, called on chairman and chief executive Michael Eisner to resign.” The rodent complained that Disney was pushing him to become “edgier in order to broaden his appeal.”

Explained Mouse: “They wanted me to start a fight outside a nightclub to bolster my ‘street cred.’ ”

Now if it were Daffy Duck, it would make sense.

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Enough to turn anyone into a Scrooge: On vacation, I was watching the local news on Channel 2, which had a segment on the possibility of terrorists striking here during the holidays.

Then, a little later in the broadcast, a map of North America appeared on the screen and the news anchor spoke of an unknown object in the sky.

Air traffic controllers were in the dark.

It turned out to be a cliche Christmas Eve piece about Santa being sighted.

Great timing, Channel 2.

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More Christmas leftovers: A while back, I wrote about my sister’s new dog Bella, the sweetest pit bull in L.A. When attacked by another hound, she rolled over, stuck her paws in the air and whimpered.

After that item ran, I heard from some other owners of pit bulls who said their dogs had suffered similar indignities. These owners warned me that the attacks had brought out something fierce in their formerly mild-mannered animals, which were never quite so calm again.

And I must admit that the expression on Bella’s face on the enclosed Christmas card is a bit unsettling (see photo).

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miscelLAny: One of my New Year’s resolutions is to have my beard cut regularly. As one who still considers himself somewhat athletic, I must admit that there was something startling about being stopped in a Big Bear hotel lobby by a 2-year-old who pointed at me and said worshipfully, “Santa!”

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, 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.