The Grand Prize Is a Visit to Your Favorite Nail Salon
Every city goes through an identity crisis, and the latest victim seems to be Seal Beach, which is asking residents to come up with a civic slogan.
“Mayberry by the Sea,” “Pier Pleasure” and “Sun Fun” are some of the serious entries, while jokesters have submitted “You Missed the Long Beach Exit,” “Sludge City” and “More Nail Salons Per Capita.”
Speaking of salons: In Lawndale, Frank Gross found a shop that seems to offer follicular conversation. It’s now part of my collection of eye-catching hair salon names, including two that hinted at violence (see photos). Oddly enough, none of these salons are in Seal Beach.
You can relax, Mr. Mayor: Steven Spielberg plans a remake of “War of the Worlds,” the Martian invasion epic, but L.A.’s City Hall is apparently going to be spared.
Whereas the 1953 movie version was set in L.A., early reports have it that Spielberg plans to shoot his film in New Jersey. That’s where Orson Welles set his classic 1938 radio version.
In the 1953 movie, the U.S. Air Force drops an atomic bomb on a nest of spaceships in the La Puente area, but the little green men shrug it off and move on L.A., where they level City Hall.
Eventually, though, the Martians begin to drop dead and their occupation of the City of Angels ends. What does them in? The air, of course.
Out for a walk: The November issue of Smithsonian magazine tells of a 26-year-old photographer who walked 3,349 miles from Encinitas, Calif., to New York City in search of the unexpected.
“In America, the way we travel is so well planned and predictable there’s no adventure,” Aaron Huey said of his 154-day trip.
He found people to be very generous -- some would leave money at roadside restaurants ahead of him for his meals -- though he attributes some of the good feelings to the fact that he was accompanied by his dog, Cosmo.
The magazine noted, “Originally, Huey wanted a llama, but it turns out llamas get lonely and two llamas were just too much.”
I’d be nervous about going to sleep out on the prairie with a lonely llama lurking nearby.
miscelLAny: The media website www.ronfineman.com notes that weathercasters Johnny Mountain and Dallas Raines not only both work for Channel 7 but share the same birthday. And both swear those are their real names.
Steve Harvey (not his real name) 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.
