Marathon Entrant Often Had Run-Down Feeling
Sure it’s a bit grueling, but one thing reassuring about Sunday’s L.A. Marathon for entrant Peter Gonzalez is that there will be no cars on the course.
“I have been hit by three different cars at three different times in my life trying to cross the street in Los Angeles ... in 1994, 1997, and the last time [I pray] March of 2003,” Gonzalez told race officials.
Asked what inspired him “to take on the 26.2-mile challenge,” he said, “I want to finish a race of this type before I get hit again and can’t even walk.”
Love-struck driver? Scott DeWees of L.A. noticed a vanity plate that seemed to belong to a contestant on one of the boob tube’s innumerable romantic “reality” shows (see photo).
Watch out for Cadillacs: Dr. Bob Finsten of Palm Springs sent along some additions to our recent list of written medical malapropisms, including:
* “Trouble with the prostrate gland” (prostate)
* “Heart of herring” (hard of hearing)
* “Cadillacs in my eyes” (cataracts)
Memorable self-diagnoses: “When I was a county social worker in Bakersfield in the ‘60s,” said Maureen McConaghy, “one of my clients told me she had ‘roaches of the liver.’ ”
Department of Redundancy Dept.: And the winner is ... a boat sign that is just too cool (see photo).
Unclear on the concept: Marjorie Chronister of L.A. found a soy product with an original (if somewhat confusing) pitch (see accompanying).
On the road: In Cozumel, Mexico, Lynn Dickhoff of Topanga chanced upon a shop owner with a sense of humor (see photo).
Choose your weapon: Keene Matsuda of Huntington Beach saw a Marin County police log item about “a physical fight with a 4x4 involved.” Matsuda’s not sure if the numbers referred to a piece of wood or an SUV.
Going to the dogs? A sentence in one San Diego Magazine story begins: “At Petco, the cages are on the clubhouse level and feature one-way windows.... “ No, the cages are not for animals waiting to be groomed but for baseball players honing their batting skills. Petco Park, in case, you hadn’t heard, is the name of the San Diego Padres’ new stadium.
Petting Petco (cont.): The stadium’s nom de bark has brought national attention, of a sort. The Seattle Times’ Dwight Perry wrote: “The Padres hope the new park will give them a leg up in the National League West.” And the Chicago Tribune’s Mike Downey reported that Petco is just about ready for opening day, except for one sanitary measure. “All they have to do now,” Downey said, “is put down the paper on the floor.”
miscelLAny: Margo Kline says rumor has it the next big corporate merger will unite Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush and the W.R.Grace Co.
“The new corporation,” she said, “will be called Hale Mary Fuller Grace.”
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