“Too Tall to Live, Too Weird to...
“Too Tall to Live, Too Weird to Die”: That’s Amy Inouye’s sad description of Chicken Boy, the 22-foot-high fiberglass sculpture that once graced the roof of an L.A. eatery. Now, C.B. languishes in a storage yard in Monterey Park, his detached head sitting between his legs.
Inouye’s Future Studio design firm owns Chicken Boy and this time of the year she receives several phone calls from the media because the creature’s birthday--Sept. 1, 1969--is listed in the publication Chase’s Annual Events.
Although Chicken Boy is the star of a line of clothing--we don’t recommend wearing the Chicken Boy headgear into a bank--he has been unable to find a home. Enter KZLA-FM disc jockeys John Garabo and John Murphy, whose mention of C.B.’s plight brought numerous calls from listeners.
Arco Plaza expressed interest in donating space for Chicken Boy in an underground plaza. Alas, $3,000 is needed to restore C.B.
“We’re hoping that a sign company might donate its services in return for the publicity,” Inouye said.
C.B., Inouye explained, “is hollow so he can’t hold his own weight. He needs a structure up his legs, something to affix him to a platform. He also needs a light sandblasting. His paint’s cracked.”
When you get down to it, C.B.’s sort of an old 25.
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They can’t blame this one on Ollie North: G.S. Bahn of Moorpark was surprised to notice that Ventura County’s “Property Tax Default (Delinquent) List” included this entry:
“The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation . . . 40 Presidential Drive . . . $1,124.26.”
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Press releases we never finish: “In an event that’s sure to rock the pillars of competitive rodeo (and land a lucrative recording contract when the dust clears), the Suburban Cowboys, an L.A.-based songwriting duo of composer Daniel L. Simpson and lyricist R. Scott Penza, hope to hang on for a butt-roasting eight seconds as the pair attempt to be the first back-yard cowhands in history to ride two . . . potbellied bar-b-q grills.”
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Polite sounds: When the Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities had its first cards printed up, they were mistakenly called the “Civil Light Opera.”
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But we should talk: The other day we incorrectly reported that a TV newswoman touring the LAPD’s property room thought a box labeled “SIMPSON” (as in Simpson Paper Co.) pertained to the O.J. Simpson case. Actually, a replay of the tape shows that the CNN reporter was only making a joking reference to the box. Judgment reversed.
miscelLAny When the World Team Tennis league held its draft 20 years ago, the L.A. Strings selected Johnny Carson on the last round, the Hawaii Leis took Bill Cosby and the Boston Lobsters opted for Elton John. None of the celebs signed with the teams. Come to think of it, Chicken Boy could have been an effective performer at the net, even if he was only five at the time. He was tall for his age.
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