Forget Tea for Two! Let’s Make It Manhattans for Me and You

Former Times columnist Robert Scheer, speaking to a group of retired journalists, recalled an editor at the newspaper who would meet with him only at the nearby Redwood bar. And would insist that Scheer order the same drink as he.

At this point in the story, Scheer’s memory failed him, and he asked the many Redwood veterans in the audience, “What was the drink?”

“Early Times Manhattan,” barked Alice Broude, sounding as though she were relaying the order to a bartender.

In fact, Broude, age 87, is not an ex-journalist but an honorary member of the group -- being an ex-waitress at the Redwood.

Dueling signs: John Aston of South Gate found a fast-food marquee that was having an internal argument over the number of hours in a day (see photo).

Lost in time (cont.): Fred Tuck of L.A. isn’t seeing eye to eye with one doctor’s record-keeping -- inasmuch as Tuck was born in 1929 (see accompanying).

To live and drive in L.A.: Bob Sitzman of Tarzana figures you might become overheated in a van if you were one of the seven passengers in the third row (see accompanying).

Not so streetwise: Southern California’s offbeat image has taken a beating from www.TheCarConnection.com, which unaccountably snubbed the area in its Top 10 ratings of unusual street names and intersections.

Sure, it’s tough to argue with some of the website’s choices -- for instance, Psycho Path in Michigan, Divorce Court in Pennsylvania and the intersection of Lonesome and Hardup in Georgia.

But not a single local rue made the ratings. Are we that normal?

I can think of several that at least deserved honorable mentions, including Ups (Circle) and Downs (Street) in Oceanside, Thisaway and Thataway in Silverado Canyon, Gregory (Way)/Peck (Drive) in Beverly Hills and Easy Street in El Monte.

I guess the only consolation for us out here is that a State Farm Insurance poll once rated a Rancho Santa Margarita intersection one of the nation’s 10 funniest. It shares the same name as a Spanish-born actor (see photo).

miscelLAny: The Pasadena Unified School District, as The Times reported, imported musicians from other school districts to march in its band during the 2006 Rose Parade. This is not, however, the first time that ringers have been used in the parade. In 1973, when USC’s band marched behind a convertible carrying then-First Lady Pat Nixon, the uniformed, instrument-toting Trojans in the front row were actually Secret Service agents.

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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.