Just in Time for the Holiday: a Magazine for the Ex-Generation

Southern California’s Divorce Magazine (yes, there is such a publication) reports that a recent divorce party included “a breakup cake� (like a wedding cake, but each side is entitled only to half).�

So big is the divorce biz these days that a Web site called lastwordcards.com offers a selection of announcements that will inform a special someone that it’s all over.

Example: “All the world’s a stage. Time for you to make your exit.�

And happy un-Valentine’s Day.

*

PERFECT CASTING?: Mention was made here of Dean Koontz’s new thriller, “False Memory,� in which a roofer in Newport Beach says he has seen “the angel of death�--and it looks like Billy Crystal.

“It really shouldn’t come as a surprise,� commented Tim Melnarik of Burbank. “After all, Billy Crystal has already been the devil in Woody Allen’s movie, ‘Deconstructing Harry.’ �

*

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: You’ve heard of a “baron� of beef. Well, Julie Singer of Seal Beach spotted a restaurant offering something “barren� of beef (see photo). Commented Times Food Editor Russ Parsons: “Maybe it’s tofu.�

*

ON THE SINGLES CIRCUIT: Judy Sims says she’s “very happily married, but I may pass this personal ad on to my single girlfriends.� It’s from the Mountain News of Lake Arrowhead and begins:

“SINGLE WHITE MALE, 42, 6-1, 180 lbs., looks OK after a few drinks, attorney, financially secure, enjoys hiking, music and cultural events, fireside chats and tailgating flatlanders. . . .�

*

BAH HA: Alaster McKay, a writer for a Scottish newspaper, paid a visit to Southern California and dismissed L.A. as “a good place to get lost, a bad place to find yourself. It is a place to go, but not to stop.�

At one point he referred to a hotel called the Hacienda near LAX “on a soul-less highway in a Mexican suburb of Los Angeles.�

In case you’re wondering, Daily Breeze columnist John Bogert found the “Mexican suburb� where the Hacienda is located.

It’s El Segundo.

*

Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053 and by e-mail at [email protected].