We’re speechless:Ron Burton of Sunland visited a...

We’re speechless:

Ron Burton of Sunland visited a Burbank restaurant that had place mats encouraging family members and friends to speak--actually speak--to each other while dining (see accompanying).

A novel idea, that’s for sure. But, then again, why not? After all, the eatery had no television set.

THE DEVIL, YOU SAY: You may recall our item of several months ago about the UCLA film student who dressed up as a naked devil and brandished his pitchfork at passersby on the Santa Monica Freeway. We hadn’t thought about that character until Michael Pardridge of L.A. sent us a shot of a theater’s shocking marquee in otherwise saintly Santa Monica (see photo).

EGGO ON THE FACE: “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” which has a bloopers segment, came up with a dandy: San Diego spelled “Sandy Eggo” in an Eastern newspaper.

That’s the best one we’ve seen since a national newspaper made a reference to the Orange County city of “Honeyton” Beach. You know--Surf City . . .

SPEAKING OF NAME GOOFS: Barbara Scott, who lives on Ximeno Avenue in Long Beach, received a letter that spelled the street as “Exseminal.”

She adds: “The word does not apply to me. I haven’t even hit menopause!”

LOONEY LAWSUIT OF THE MONTH: This award, presented by Torrance-based Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, goes to a woman who was admitted to a local hospital after a suicide attempt involving an overdose of drugs. The woman sued the hospital after falling in the facility and cutting herself. The jury decided in the hospital’s favor in two hours.

WELCOME TO L.A. AND WELCOME TO L.A.: Don Lehti lives in a midtown L.A. apartment building that has several Finnish residents--it’s owned by a church that once had a large Finnish congregation. Anyway, Lehti told us he learned that two Finnish couples recently arrived in L.A. on the same flight but never spoke. They then caught separate rides to the apartment where Lehti lives, unaware of the coincidence. They then found themselves staying in Apartments 208 and 209, respectively. That’s when they noticed each other. “We all had a nice dinner,” said Lehti.

See--it’s a small megalopolis after all.

JOHNNIE COCHRAN WOULD BE A BETTER FIT, YOU MUST ADMIT: The Experts Guide booklet put out by the Southwestern University School of Law lists its specialist for the category “Cameras in the Courtroom” as Christopher Darden.

miscelLAny

Adding to our “Duh!” file, A. G. Edwards passed along an announcement about a dinner that had to be rescheduled from Oct. 31 because of a conflict. The organizers explained that “we goofed and didn’t realize the prior date fell on Halloween!”

Steve Harvey can be reached by phone at 213-237-7083, by fax at 213-237-4712, by e-mail at [email protected] and by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053.