A 9.6 Quake? We Want a Recount

For a glimpse into the future, Joe Shea of Hollywood referred me to “The Truth Machine,� a sci-fi novel that has a 9.6-magnitude quake striking L.A. in 2024. Here’s the good news: There’s little loss of life, because scientists can predict quakes by then.

A comforting thought, but just how good is author James Halperin at looking into a crystal ball?

The U.S. Supreme Court may give us some idea soon.

“The Truth Machine,� written in 1996, also has Al Gore winning the 2000 election.

IT’S THE PITS: The makers of Los Angeles in a Box say the Monopoly-style board game “was created with the help of Los Angeles natives. We asked Angelenos what makes this city so great.�

I’m not so sure they talked with folks in the San Fernando Valley. While Beverly Hills ($425) and Hollywood ($375) are the most expensive properties, “The Valley� is listed at a fraction of that--barely more than the smelly La Brea Tar Pits (see accompanying).

The Valley worth a mere $90? That’s ridiculous. Why, Van Nuys is worth almost that much alone.

SPEAKING OF UNREAL ESTATE: Marsha Stolzoff of Irvine spotted an “abandoned house� for sale and understood why the owners fled when she read about the critters inside (see accompanying).

And Joyce Crawford of Culver City was surprised to find a three-bath home where “the guests still have to get hosed down in the park.�

A LITTLE “TWILIGHT ZONE� MUSIC, PLEASE: Odd how a TV rerun or old movie can assume an eerie quality years afterward because of subsequent events.

The other night, I saw a 1966 episode of “Perry Mason� that involved the glamorous blond owner of an L.A. pro football team, whose husband disappears and is presumed dead. Several L.A. Rams, as well as the L.A. Coliseum, had roles.

Little did the writers know that some years later the real-life Rams would be purchased by Carroll Rosenbloom, who would drown while swimming off the coast of Florida, leaving the team to his glamorous blond wife, Georgia.

DOUBLE-HEADER: Columnist David Allen noted in the Ontario Daily Bulletin that when the reality TV show “Cops� recounted its 20 greatest moments recently, one was a chase that started in Pomona and made its way to Ontario.

Before the pursuit had ended, the fugitive had crashed into another driver, lost all four tires and continued a few miles on the rims.

I’m ashamed Allen scooped me on this one, because I saw that show, being a “Cops� addict. But I can add one detail to Allen’s account. When police went back to talk to the driver who had been hit by the fugitive, they discovered he had outstanding warrants himself, and he also was taken to jail.

miscelLAny:

Freeway-phobes in California have expressed their feelings on such vanity license plates as HT60FWY, H891FWY, H8LAFWY, FWY2SLO and FWYBLUZ.

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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].