You know you’re in the Entertainment Capital...

You know you’re in the Entertainment Capital when you enter a second-hand store and come upon a used typewriter that someone has evidently tested by typing the message:

“FADE IN.”

Apparently the destitute screenwriter didn’t have enough money to purchase the machine.

Driven to a luncheon at the Biltmore by a member of her staff, City Councilwoman Joy Picus hitched a ride back to City Hall with City Controller Rick Tuttle.

But as Tuttle tried to exit the Pershing Square garage, the attendant told him he owed $6.60. Tuttle had no money. He turned to Picus. Her purse was at City Hall.

The controller, who signs checks worth millions of dollars on behalf of the city, offered to write a personal one for the tab.

No soap.

A credit card? Nope.

“I didn’t know what they were going to make us do,” Picus said later, laughing. “Wash dishes--or maybe cars?”

The guard finally relented and accepted a check from Tuttle, in spite of (or, perhaps, because of) the fact that Tuttle never revealed he works at City Hall.

So, the Supreme Court has ruled that a judge can’t be held liable even if he has ordered an attorney to be manhandled in the courtroom. Public defender Howard Waco had claimed he was “slammed” against a door by police after L.A. Superior Court Judge Raymond Mireles reportedly ordered them to “bring me a piece” of Waco. (Waco was not present when a hearing was to begin in Mireles’ courtroom.)

The judge, who is known for his wit, says he obviously wasn’t being literal. Be that as it may, only time will tell whether the words “bring me a piece of (attorney’s name)” become known, in the annals of jurisprudence, as the “Mireles Warning” for tardy barristers.

Speaking of warnings, Steven Morris of Torrance wonders if someone is trying to warn people to stay away from the civic center there (see photo).

List of the Day:

We were shocked to hear that presidential candidate Jerry Brown had lifted two lines from a rock song by a group called Midnight Oil in a speech earlier this week. Something about following “in the spirit of our ancestors. . . .”

We were shocked that he didn’t “borrow” from songs more appropriate for a man who has failed in two other presidential bids as well as one try for the U.S. Senate. He could have chosen such memorable lyrics as:

1--”I have often walked down this street before . . .”

2--”It’s impossible . . .”

3--”I’ve won, I’ve lost and cried. I’ve had my fill, my share of losing . . .”

4--”I don’t stand a ghost of a chance with you . . .”

5--And, in honor of his lunar nickname: “I saw polka dots and moonbeams . . .”

miscelLAny:

L.A. ranks second in the nation (behind San Diego) among counties that have had the largest number of bird species sighted, with about 450. Experts attribute the large numbers here to such factors as Southern California’s diversity of habitats--ranging from sea level to mountain tops--and its large numbers of bird-watchers.