This item went splat:Over the years, we’ve...
This item went splat:
Over the years, we’ve been privileged to report on such local shrines as the Exotic Dancers Hall of Fame, the Foot and Toe Museum, the Weird Museum, the International Brassiere Museum and the UFO-Bigfoot-Nessie Museum (formerly the Crypto-Phenomena Museum).
But we can’t remember ever feeling such excitement as when we approached the Southwestern Road Kill Museum (see photo).
“Mementos from local highways,” promised the sign at the truckers’ stop at 14th and Alameda streets.
Alas, as so often happens in L.A., things weren’t quite what they seemed.
Inside, there wasn’t so much as a single squashed critter.
“It was for a movie,” a store worker said of the designation. “Paramount.”
Indeed, apart from the messages the Paramount people had scrawled on the front of the building, nothing was out of the ordinary. (The bags of “Trail Mix” on the counter seemed to hold the usual contents.)
The worker said apologetically that he did not speak much English. We asked him if he knew what road kill was. He shook his head no. We decided not to tell him.
DUELING WHAT? Mark Valsi of Sierra Madre found the accompanying ad in an outdoors publication. (It’s nothing scandalous. It’s for a sleeping bag.)
OF FAMOUS STAIRCASES AND INFORMATION CENTERS: Some notable features of Beverly Hills’ Museum of Television and Radio that were named after donors (with the donors’ distinctions in parentheses):
* Carl E. Hirsch Staircase (broadcast executive).
* Diane English and Joel Shukovsky Information Center (writer/producer team).
* Barbara and Garry Marshall Pool (director/actor and his wife).
* Bud Yorkin Balcony (director/producer).
* Candy and Aaron Spelling Trustee Reception Area (producer and his wife).
And a room that carries a descriptor not generally associated with Hollywood:
* Steven and Barbara Bochco Scholars’ Room (producer/writer and actress).
ONLY IN SANTA MONICA: Hank Rosenfeld notes that the character Abby in the movie “The Truth About Cats & Dogs” works for a Santa Monica radio station called KRWW (reminiscent of KCRW).
And in the background of one scene, a disc jockey can be overheard broadcasting a show called “Afternoon Becomes Eccentric,” not to be confused with KCRW’s real-life “Morning Becomes Eclectic.”
OK, WRITE ON THE BULLETIN BOARD 100 TIMES . . . :A parent came to the headquarters of the L.A. Unified School District to complain about what he and other Asians see as a lack of attention to their language and cultural needs.
And, he could have added, a lack of attention to the reserved parking space for the commissioner who represents Asians in the district.
“Asian” is spelled “Aisian” on the space.
miscelLAny
In retrospect, we should have realized there’d be no Road Kill Museum in California--not in the aftermath of a recent law passed by the state Legislature. Sponsored by Sen. Maurice Johannessen (R-Redding), it prohibits any motorist from driving off with an animal he or she has run over. That’s why we’ve thrown away our possum recipe.
