Musical Plumbing? Stereos Are Sure Getting Complicated These Days ...

Aresident phoned police to accuse his neighbor of “piping music into his plumbing,” the Los Alamitos News-Enterprise said. Not sure I’d mind that so much, as long as I received intermittent traffic reports too.

Related item? Oddly enough, I did just read an article about the next generation of plumbing being developed in Japan: toilets that will play music.

Nevertheless, I’m sure that the sign spotted by Bob Fenton of Rancho Cucamonga at a restroom at the L.A. County Fair was inadvertently placed there (see photo).

Not the shape of things to come: Time was when Southern California boasted such sights as a flower shop in the shape of a flower pot, a photo shop that resembled a camera, and an eatery in the shape of a tamale.

Imagination has given way to the almighty buck, though, and most have disappeared in favor of boring-looking edifices. The latest casualty is the nautically themed Shrimp House in Claremont.

The restaurant is for lease, reports columnist David Allen of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, and it is uncertain whether a new occupant would want to retain the motif, with its smokestack, anchors, pilings, etc. (see photo).

“It kind of makes it hard to do a Chinese buffet,” observed leasing agent Carlos Rodriguez.

But public-spirited Allen pointed out that it would be ideal for another local business: Pizza Pirates.

On the other hand: Jerry Dixon of Torrance did come across an executive suite that bore a remarkable resemblance to an SUV (see photo).

Judging from the traffic, it looked as though that employee stayed late at the “ofice” that day.

King for a night: Wayne Gretzky was saluted at a dinner the other night, and the hockey Hall of Famer invited former Kings owner Bruce McNall as his guest.

McNall, who served almost four years in federal prison for defrauding financial institutions of $236 million, came in for some kidding from comedian Alan Thicke.

Thicke told the Staples Center gathering that McNall was the “Lord of Lompoc,” adding, “What can you say about Bruce McNall that hasn’t already been said about Martha Stewart?”

McNall, obviously relieved to be out of the federal penalty box, thanked Gretzky for frequently visiting him in “in some pretty terrible places.”

Sounds like ... : I mentioned things that had been turned into humans in classified ads: Chester Drawers, etc. Karla Butler of Sherman Oaks saw a sign from someone wanting to adopt a cairn terrier. But it was spelled “Karen Terrier.”

MiscelLAny: On the San Diego Freeway, I steered clear of a car that no sane driver would tailgate. A sign in its rear window warned “Caution--Raiders Fans Aboard.”

*

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 steve. [email protected].