The Judge’s Missing Robe Was Doing Divine Double Duty

“Your item on the missing judge’s robe (lent to a student for a high school mock trial) reminded me of one my dad’s favorite stories,” wrote John Newman, whose father, Philip, was a judge.

“One Monday morning as he was about to take the bench, he couldn’t find his robe in his chamber’s closet. A few minutes later, one of the Hill Street courthouse janitors came in with the robe -- apparently a little later than he had been doing on previous Monday mornings.

“Turns out the guy had a weekend job as a pastor, and my Dad’s weekday robe had been doubling as weekend vestments.” Added Newman: “The janitor/preacher confessed all, and was given absolution by my dad, who never sweated the small stuff.”

Guide to Adventurous Dining: On the menu today (see photos):

* In Tallinn, Estonia, Terry Kirker chanced upon none other than a Southwest-themed eatery with that classic cowboy dish, Swedish potato hash.

* “In the department of ‘No Matter Where You Go, You’re Always in L.A.,’ ” wrote Mike Jelf of Lomita, “driving through the most out-in-the-country part of the Netherlands, one unexpectedly comes upon a Mexican restaurant among the windmills and Friesian cows.” (Jelf also observed that a movie house in the town of Sneek offers “Sneek Previews.”)

* While in Rome, I, having a sensitive stomach, did not do as the Romans do in the case of one evidently popular breakfast combination (see accompanying).

* And, back home, in Anaheim, Kim Airs found a somewhat unsettling hotel notice (see accompanying). I mean, if the place has to station an employee in each room to test the food, how safe can it be?

When ‘goodbye’ isn’t enough: “You stay classy, San Diego,” the sign-off of TV newscaster Ron Burgundy in the ‘70s-era comedy, “Anchorman,” recalls a time when corny and overly dramatic catch phrases were in vogue.

In a discussion of the movie, the New York Post mentioned two exit lines of years ago from Big Apple broadcasters: “Hoping your news is good news” (from Roger Grimsby). And: “Thanking you for your time this time, until next time” (from Bill Jorgensen).

In L.A., George Putnam’s sign-off for years was: “And that’s the up-to-the-minute news, up to the minute, that’s all the news.” On the network side, Walter Cronkite was known for concluding with: “And that’s the way it is....” But do you recall when Cronkite’s replacement, Dan Rather, introduced a one-word farewell (“Courage”) in 1986?

Critics laughed, and Bryant Gumbel of NBC’s “Today” show lampooned Rather with his own sign-offs, including “Valor,” “Mazel tov” and “Hot dogs.”

Rather lost “Courage” after a week.

miscelLAny: And, now, to quote the sign-off of the late disc jockey Emperor Bob Hudson: “Get off the freeways, peasants, His Highness is coming!”

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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.