An Arboretum by Any Other Name Will Smell as Sweet, Won’t It?
Don’t know if you’ve heard, but the L.A. County Arboretum & Botanic Garden has received permission from the Board of Supervisors to drop the term “arboretum” from its logos and advertising.
“People can’t say it (arboretum),” an official told the Pasadena Star News. “People don’t understand what an arboretum is. They go ‘arbo what?’ or they call it an ‘arboretorium.’ ”
Of course, “botanic” is pretty tough too. I think I’d opt for something simpler. Perhaps, L.A. County Trees ‘n’ Stuff.
Attention health authorities: Two seemingly unsanitary items (see above) have been forwarded to me: a car with a wet windshield (submitted by Hal Durian of Claremont) and a faucet to avoid (Silvia Terrones of L.A.).
Even more unsettling ... : As for eye-catching company names, Neil Dixon of Venice spotted a business that would not appeal to vegetarians, and Don Cook of Cathedral City found a guy who makes unique house calls (see photos).
Lightening up a bit ... “Next time you see a 60-year-old, salute him about Youth Month,” writes Art Fein of Hollywood. I didn’t know what he was talking about until I saw that his wife Jennifer recently received a junk mailer from a Westside mortgage company with a half-century-old 3-cent stamp saluting kids (see above). Where did the stamp come from -- the estate of a philatelist whose property had been foreclosed?
You’ll notice, too, it was mailed from Portland, Ore. I’ll never understand the financial world.
Forget about the Rally Monkey: When last I heard of David Coher of Lakewood in 1995, he had auditioned his pet rat Champagne for the David Letterman show. Although Champagne retrieved a piece of food from Coher’s mouth, the duo lost out to an iguana that stood on its hind legs and munched popcorn.
Rejected by Stupid Pet Tricks, Coher has, however, found a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame -- or at least his Anaheim Angels T-shirt has. Coher believes the shirt’s “magical powers” enabled the Angels to win the 2002 World Series. He discovered, just in time, that as long as he wore the garment, and didn’t launder it, the Angels would win.
He even hid the smelly thing at one function under a dress shirt (the Angels rallied to win only after he untucked it). The patriotic Coher mailed the T-shirt to the Baseball Hall, which wrote back to say it would be placed in the Hall’s collection to show “just how significant The Game is to Americans.” I just hope that wing of the Hall is equipped with a strong air freshener.
MiscelLAny: The police log of the Seal Beach Sun reported that what seemed like a suspicious scenario actually was the result of an employee’s being unable “to lock a business’ rear door” at the end of the day. That’s why the worker left his vehicle “parked against the door overnight.” Guess he’s glad the business wasn’t on an upper floor.
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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, 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 [email protected].
