The Rodney G. King case could produce...

The Rodney G. King case could produce one of the few courtroom scenes where jury candidates are asked if they read MAD Magazine.

That’s because the cover of the January, 1992, issue depicts an L.A. cop clubbing a prostrate figure while a grinning Alfred E. Neuman records the action with a video camera.

It’s actually a mixed theme because the victim happens to resemble actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose latest movie is brutally referred to as “Interminable Too” in an accompanying story.

Writer Mort Drucker manages to slip in some anti-Angeleno-isms, such as this exchange:

Youth, standing beside several bodies: “I’m glad you’re here to protect me, but you can’t just go around killing people.”

Schwarzenegger character, with smoking gun: “When did that start? Isn’t this L.A.?”

Moving along alphabetically, from MAD to Madonna, we have good news for readers who were alarmed by a story about the Material Girl in the current issue of Spy magazine.

The publication mentioned her as one of several well-known L.A. County property owners who are behind in property tax payments.

Actually, she has since paid off her $450 tab, the tax collector’s office tells us.

Spokesman Dave Collins added that in the case of such debts, “it’s typically an accounting problem or oversight. Celebrities rarely handle their own bills. Usually we get a call from their bookkeeper pleading with us not to assess penalties so he won’t be out of a job.”

In that vein, we’d like to inform the bookkeeper of Fernando Valenzuela that the former Dodger pitcher has a $10,231.08 overdue property tax bill dating back to 1989.

Among the most enthusiastic al fresco diners in L.A. are house sparrows. “Many a customer (in the patio) of the Natural History Museum’s cafeteria has unwittingly lost a French fry or two to these bold interlopers,” writes Kimball Garrett in Terra, the museum’s publication. He notes that when some birds’ legs were banded in the cafeteria patio for observation purposes, the museum developed an insight into their fast-food migratory habits.

One sparrow (Male No. 1411-44101) was “observed feasting at an outdoor eatery” at USC. Meanwhile, Male No. 1411-44116 was spotted dining at the McDonald’s at the nearby state Museum of Science and Industry.

Haven’t they read about cholesterol studies?

On Vermont Avenue, Times staffer Lee Harris noticed a disheveled man reach into the back pocket of his tattered slacks and pull out a . . . portable telephone. A street person? An undercover cop? An impoverished screenwriter? In L.A., the possibilities are endless.

miscelLAny:

The Greater L.A. phone directory lists 38 companies with names beginning with the word “Celebrity,” six that begin with “Famous” and 167 that begin with “Star.”