Truck’s Spill on the 605 Is a Real Red-Hot Traffic Stopper

KFWB-AM (980) called the 605 Freeway near the Katella Avenue offramp the hottest spot in L.A. on Monday. That’s where a truck spilled a load of red peppers.

Unreal estate: Today’s showing (see accompanying) is an animal that can apparently sleep a family of 10 (from Kenneth and Mary Freund of Irvine).

“Duh!” award: It’s a tie between a sign for unobservant perambulators in Newport Beach (see photo) and a warning for people who don’t realize how hot a certain appliance can be (see accompanying).

How big of a search?: During a discussion of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim name on Sunday, ESPN radio commentator Dave Campbell termed L.A. “73 suburbs in search of a city.”

Oddly enough, during the 1984 Olympics, ABC’s Jim McKay said L.A. was just “seven suburbs in search of a city” -- an observation also credited to director Alfred Hitchcock.

It’s further proof that no one seems to be able to get a handle on L.A.

When the Music Center opened in 1964, UCLA Chancellor Franklin Murphy said L.A. was “no longer 21 suburbs in search....” Years before that, writer Dorothy Parker was credited with saying it was “72 suburbs....”

All of these figures are an unjust summation of L.A., anyway. Now that Los Angeles has acquired Orange County, courtesy of the Angels, it’s at least 150 suburbs in search of a city.

Go, Snails!: Mention of the UC Irvine athletic mascot -- the Anteater -- prompted cyber-columnist Bob Patterson of Just Above Sunset magazine to recommend the website www.tekonsha.k12.mi.us/scaa/teamnames.htm.

There you will encounter such interesting high school nicknames as the Yuma (Ariz.) Criminals, the Dunn Earwigs (Los Olivos, Calif.), the Lawrence (Kan.) Chesty Lions (chesty as in “proud”), the Nashua (Mont.) Porcupines, the Tillamook (Ore.) Cheese Makers and the Madeira (Va.) Snails.

That last name must certainly be a nuisance to the school’s track team, notes the website.

miscelLAny: Columnist Patterson also points out that the teams of L.A.’s John Marshall High are the Barristers.

He wonders if their cheer is “So Sue Me!”

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.