It’s Time for Transition to New Name

Note to KNX radio traffic reporter Jim Thornton: As I said earlier, the 101/405 interchange in Sherman Oaks is the busiest in the nation and you and your colleagues should refer to it by a name, not just some numbers.

To the rescue comes Rod Kavanagh, who wrote that in honor of a famous nearby mall, “my friends and I have always called the 101/405 ‘The Stalleria.’ ”

Then, again: I also like the name suggested by Connie Gray of Thousand Oaks: “The Valley Vortex.”

Perhaps one name could be used for the morning commute, the other for the evening.

Speaking of names: It seems as though parents give their kids the screwiest names these days. I mean, just look at my collection of personalized market receipts, submitted by:

* Ron Toth of Panorama City, who came across a Mr. Oper and wonders if friends call him “Dee” for short.

* Lori Levy, who encountered a fellow named Stan, excuse me, Scan.

* Lela Rodriguez, who was waited on by a clerk who had taken someone else’s name (what the heck, it was in Hollywood where this kind of thing is common).

* And, finally, Elizabeth Brown, who could have been excused for fearing she had given her grocery money to a customer posing as a clerk.

The thief better be careful where he wears it: The police log of the Seal Beach Sun reported that “a police motorcycle helmet worth approximately $500, and radio equipment, were reported stolen from in front of a restaurant.”

Not so historic L.A.: Hampton Inns has launched a Hidden Landmarks website (hamptonlandmarks.com) saluting locations of “both obscure and infamous American moments.”

Needless to say Southern California has plenty of them, including:

* “Zsa Zsa Gabor Slapping site,” on Olympic Boulevard, where the actress “was pulled over for speeding by a Beverly Hills cop” in 1989, an incident that culminated in her whacking the officer.

* “Marilyn Monroe Becomes a Blond,” a Hollywood Boulevard salon where the actress, still Norma Jean Baker, had her brunet curls colored for a modeling job in 1945.

The site is now a toy store, by the way.

* “Wrong Door Raid,” the Waring Avenue house in Hollywood that Joe DiMaggio and buddy Frank Sinatra burst into in 1954, mistakenly thinking DiMag’s ex-wife Marilyn Monroe was with another man.

The terrified woman who lived there sued and is said to have settled out of court for $7,500.

Mondegreen of the Day: “When our son Ben was small,” wrote Patty Cutkomp of Laguna Beach, “he used to sing the ‘Music Man’ songs loud and clear, including: ‘Seventy-six strong bones led the big parade.’ Seventy-six trombones didn’t compute to a 7-year-old boy.”

miscelLAny: I wrote a while back that the city of L.A. could raise much-needed revenues by taxing cosmetic surgery, such as breast implants. Jay Leno wondered on his show if a bra would then be classified as a tax shelter.

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, 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].