Well-Meaning Birthday Well-Wisher
When Eleanor Cooper of West L.A. turned 86 the other day, she answered the phone and heard an old friend crooning “Happy Birthday.” Well, most of it. The well-wisher, attempting to conclude the rendition, sang, “Happy birthday, dear ... uh.... “ Suddenly there was silence.
“Yes, well, come on,” Cooper said.
Then she heard her name and the two buddies had a good laugh about a slight senior moment.
Talk about targeting a niche market: Deborah Muller found a house that would seem ideal for nursing moms (see accompanying).
Which reminds me: Ralph Wiltamuth noticed a census document that asked whether businesses should get into raising kids. Perhaps this philosophy will inspire a sequel to Hillary Clinton’s book, titled “It Takes a Corporation” (see accompanying).
Sorry, Bowser: Lanny Aplanalp of Rosemead chanced upon a hotel that discriminates in favor of felines (see accompanying).
Just a memory: The makers of the movie “Ladder 49” know something about water pumps. But gasoline pumps? Not when you consider that the film is supposed to be set in the present. Mike Roush e-mailed: “Catch the shot of the Baltimore firefighters racing past a Citgo station that’s selling gas for $1.46 a gallon!”
Where there’s no smoke ... : Don’t even think about lighting up in the pristine shop spotted by the Cooper/Hickman family of Torrance (see photo).
School daze (cont.): For our course in college pseudonyms, Ed Schlossman of Thousand Oaks writes:
“When local students either want to impress or perhaps haven’t been accepted to a four-year college or possibly want to stay close to home, they say, ‘I’m going to MIT.’ ” That’s short for Moorpark In Town, a.k.a. Moorpark College.
Covering all the bases: Items here about unusual multi-businesses reminded Merrill Sarty of West L.A. of a visit he made to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, almost 50 years ago:
“My girlfriend (now my wife) and I, strolling down the street hand-in-hand, were hailed from across the street. ‘Hey, mister, you wanna get married?’ We waved him off and continued. On our return an hour or so later, perhaps not holding hands, came the call, ‘Hey, mister, you wanna divorce?’ ”
They left before the merchant could make a third inquiry. Sarty recalled that the man was standing in front of a shop that advertised “Marriages, Divorces & Seat Covers.”
miscelLAny: Westways magazine reports that Culver City’s 80-year-old Culver Hotel, home of numerous little-people actors during the making of “The Wizard of Oz” (1938), calls its new restaurant Munchkins.
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.
