Company gets its money’s worth, even out of ghosts

When a company called Ghost Expeditions was shown a supposedly haunted building in Little Tokyo, did it bust the ghosts? Nope. It rented office space there. Now the team offers three-hour tours of the edifice, the century-old Sperl Building on 1st Street. The price: $75 a head (preferably not the disembodied type).

“It’s sort of a paranormal boot camp,” explained expedition boss Larry Montz. “We teach people how to communicate with the entities [spirits] with scientific equipment as well as through their own psychic abilities.”

They won’t encounter things that go bump in the night, however. “It’s not scary, like in the movies; this is the real world,” Montz said, though he added that the spirits can answer yes and no questions by causing rods held by the customers to move.

One of the resident ghosts is the great-grandmother of the owner. “This building was last used as a video store,” Montz said. “Guys who would come in to buy or rent porn tapes said they would see a ghost, this very small elderly woman. She would be glaring at them as if to say, ‘Get the hell out of here.’ ”

Unclear on the concept: Laurie McCulloch of Huntington Beach noticed a pharmacy product that had “simple instructions” (see accompanying).

The part about swallowing the same tablet three times seemed simply strange, though.

Such a deal: Teresa Snow of Monrovia pointed out that whoever came up with the sale price for “Poker for Dummies” needs to read the book “Mathematics for Dummies” (see accompanying).

I beg your pardon! Sure, tourists are restricted in China, but the wording of one sign encountered by Patrick Stalnaker of San Diego sounded as though there were even rules for sleeping (see photo). Actually, he said, it meant “no climbing over the fence [and jumping into the Yangtze River].”

There’s a dress for every occasion: Leila McDermott of Sylmar found a laundry that specializes in outfits for women who wear gowns when they do yard work (see photo).

miscelLAny: Humorist Art Buchwald has fond memories of his days as a USC student. Buchwald, 80, spoke at one USC graduation ceremony -- even though he didn’t graduate. He also established a $2,000 scholarship for the USC journalist who is most “anti-establishment, contemptuous of the scholarship and willing to bite the hand that feeds him.”

In his latest book, “Too Soon to Say Goodbye,” Buchwald jokes about his romantic exploits on campus. He lists the “five people I don’t want to meet in heaven,” including “the USC coed who dumped me in college for a fraternity jock.”