Make a Date With John

Is state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi the next Fabio?

What the men have in common is competing 1994 calendars. But unlike the Italian hunk, Garamendi isn’t likely to be promoting his calendar on talk shows.

The satirical calendar is aimed at those in the insurance industry who won’t miss Garamendi should he leave his post to make a run for governor.

The calendar pictures Garamendi in a swaggering, hands-on-the-hips pose. The caption reads “One More Year!”--a reference is to the fact that Garamendi would give up his post as insurance commissioner if he runs as expected.

Publishing the calendar is Smart’s Publishing Group, a San Mateo-based insurance newsletter publisher.

Robynne Losert, Smart’s marketing director, says the company expects to sell out its 500 copies of the $15 calendar. So far, she says, the single largest order of 10 calendars came from Garamendi himself in an order called in by his son.

It’s the Only Way to Fly

Anyone with a little after-Christmas money to spend might want to consider an offering from the U.S. Customs Service.

The agency is selling in January a seized DC-9-15 executive jet, hoping to get $3.1 million to $4.9 million for it.

According to an auction brochure, the plane’s interior was redone in 1990 and features a galley, interior with Italian calfskin leather, recessed lighting and polished brass and marble in the bathrooms.

Where did the craft come from?

According to auction officials, the plane once belonged to the bankrupt Ken International, once owned by flamboyant Japanese businessman Ken Mizuno. Mizuno has been charged with violating money laundering laws by selling golf memberships in Japan.

The plane was included in an estimated $100 million in assets Ken International agreed to forfeit in October to settle U.S. criminal charges alleging that the assets were bought with money obtained fraudulently.

Ho Ho Holistic

For those celebrating a New Age Christmas, here are some gift ideas inspired by the pages of “Whole Life Time.”

* Super Blue Green Algae, which claims to be “turbo charged with vitamins, minerals, trace elements and enzymes.”

* A portable Steam Embrace--sort of a portable steam room--that offers “aromatherapy/hydrotherapy.”

* T-shirts for $18 for people who believe they are “living angels.”

Briefly . . .

A postcard advertising a price-slashing sale by trendy shoe seller Kenneth Cole features tabloid headlines on the infamous severing of John Wayne Bobbitt’s penis by his wife along with the line, “Because not all cuts have to hurt.” . . . Clarification: A mention here last week may have inadvertently given the impression that Thomas Bros. is selling maps of areas damaged in the Laguna Beach fire to contractors, public officials and others. Thomas is issuing the maps for free.