As so often happens with the HOLLYWOOD...

As so often happens with the HOLLYWOOD sign, El Segundo’s less-legendary UNSAFE FOR JETS sign was covered up Thursday.

But Caltech pranksters weren’t responsible. The El Segundo City Council was.

The sign was covered only because Los Angeles International Airport is beginning a four-month experiment: Departing pilots will be required to delay the start of their left-hand turns until they’re about a mile offshore.

In the past, they could head south when they reached the shoreline, but El Segundo officials claimed that the pilots often turned earlier--and flew over the city.

The cover-up of the hillside sign, which was unveiled in 1988, could become permanent if the LAX policy becomes permanent, city officials said.

While UNSAFE FOR JETS might seem like an extreme message, it was muted compared to others that were considered.

Among the rejects was:

TURN AT THE COASTLINE, STUPID.

The Lighting World convention opened this week, and you knew it had to happen.

Visitors at the L.A. Convention Center Thursday beheld a cornucopia of light fixtures of every type and hue set out by manufacturers. And then the lights went out.

“Everything in the place was dark for about 15 minutes,” said publicist Ray Rosenbaum.

Fortunately, several of the conventioneers were stocked with an older industry innovation that got them through the power outage:

Flashlights.

The theaters at Fallbrook Mall near Woodland Hills were showing mostly shoot-’em- and/or knife-’em-ups like “GoodFellas,” “Pacific Heights” and “White Hunter, Black Heart.”

Up to the box office stepped a couple in their 60s.

“Do you have senior citizens’ rates?” asked the man.

“We certainly do,” he was told.

“Then two tickets please,” said the man. “For Fantasia.”

There were no grandchildren in sight.

While the controversy over smoking in L.A. restaurants continues, Milt Kagen of Hollywood writes to say that it’s time to begin a crusade for a new sanctuary:

Smoke-free rental cars.

Kagen fumes about climbing into stinky cars. He sees it as “smokers’ revenge--smokers who sit for hours on nonsmoking airplanes then light up as soon as they are in the cars.”

Incidentally, this is a nonsmoking column. Those who wish to smoke should turn to the weather page.

Does it seem as though the days fly by faster every year? Well, writer Elliot Zwiebach may have found some real supporting evidence. He reports he received a subscription offer from Backstage Magazine, which declared that it publishes “each and every week, 51 times a year.”

miscelLAny:

Beverly Hills buys all of its water from the Metropolitan Water District, which obtains its supplies from Northern California. Thus, even the tap water in Beverly Hills is imported.