Want to Guess What a Person Does for a Living? Try Picking Up Vibrations

‘Yes, there is some unknown rule that requires weathercasters to have quirky names,” said an e-mailer by the name of Scharkie, referring to Storm Field, Dallas Raines, Larry Sprinkle and the others mentioned here.

But Scharkie pointed out that the name game isn’t confined to TV cloud-gazers, asking, “How else would you explain the spokesperson for that national earthquake agency?” Scharkie was referring to the director of the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.: Waverly Person.

Small craft warning: Boats are not supposed to be parked on city streets, but among those ignoring this law is a resident of Cheviot Hills, says Julie May of L.A. Perhaps this commodore figures he deserves an exception. He lives on Anchor Avenue.

Ladies’ day: Our gender-based art display (see photos) includes two different approaches to dealing with pregnant women. Ontario’s warm invitation was snapped by Judith Cogan of Winnetka while the negative notice, snapped by your columnist, was posted at an inner tube snow run at Big Bear (a downhill inner tube snow run).

Malibu Times columnist Pam Linn, meanwhile, noticed an ad that prompted her to comment, “They shouldn’t have any trouble finding 29 moms who need extra ENERGY.” But the company wants to put them to work?

And Esther Kisich of Long Beach found a sign in a senior center that was placed on the wrong door, to say the least.

A new jinx? Sports Illustrated is famous among fans for its cover photos of athletes who then experience misfortune the following week. The syndrome could be spreading. Writer John Morgan Wilson notes that the February issue of Men’s Fitness shows a muscular bare-chested shot of new Laker Karl Malone with this headline: “The NBA’s Fittest Man.” Alas, the NBA’s fittest man has since gone on the injured reserved list.

As if the school’s football team wasn’t insulted enough: California Lawyer magazine discussed how Fireman’s Fund laid off numerous legal secretaries and outsourced their work to India. It pointed out that “going so far abroad does have possible pitfalls [including] garbled syntax.

“As one Fireman’s Fund employee notes, when someone on [a dictated] tape says ‘UCLA,’ it’s a good bet that it’ll be transcribed as ‘You see el lay.’ ”

Rah, rah rah!

miscelLAny: The cost of marriage licenses in L.A. County was raised by $3 to $70 as of Jan. 1, explaining perhaps why Britney Spears didn’t get hitched in L.A. Of course, L.A. County won’t marry you at 5 a.m., either.

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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.