He Was a Guy Who Had a Lot of Pull

A City Hall aide recounted to us the colorful funeral of Bob Brough, the popular proprietor of an L.A. city police tow yard. More than two dozen tow-truck operators showed up in their finest rigs at Forest Lawn in Hollywood. The most dramatic moment occurred after the church service. Brough’s body was placed in a hearse and a freshly painted tow truck appeared. The truck hooked up the hearse and pulled it to the grave site. Thus it was that Brough had his final tow.

ONE-STOP SHOPPING FOR TAX CRISES: With April 15 approaching, a Downey resident sent along a shot of a marquee that contained a couple of options for taxpayers (see photo). I’m not sure in which order the offices should be visited.

PAWNSHOP WITH A PUNCH: Among the items on sale at Collateral Lenders pawnshop on 1st Street is the brightly colored championship belt of former light-heavyweight king, Matthew Saad Muhammad. Price: $3,450. It would go nicely with my brown suit but the waist size is a bit small. At least in terms of pounds, I’m a heavyweight columnist.

TOUCHY BRENTWOOD: Driving to Brentwood to interview commentator Arianna Huffington, reporter Phil Shuman of TV’s “Extra” magazine show found the curb in front of her house occupied, so he parked in front of a house next door. He had no problem finding a spot because the street was largely deserted. Nevertheless, when Shuman returned to his car, he found a curious, unsigned notice in his windshield (see accompanying).

THOSE MANGLED NAMES: Ron Keyson recalled that while working for Airesearch Corp. as an electronics engineer in the Computer Memory Research Department unit, “we sometimes received mail directed to ‘The Mammary Research Staff.’ ” Keyson added that the department manager “was Mr. Wollacavage. However, a letter came to him as ‘Mr. Woolly Cabbage.’ ”

CELEBRITY LANDSLIDES: I mentioned a long-running story about a Pacific Palisades couple whose house slid down a hill because they forgot to turn off the sprinklers when they went on vacation.

Jay Mendes may have found the origin of the tale. He points out that the April issue of Architectural Digest discusses the period when British actor Charles Laughton and his wife, actress Elsa Lanchester, lived on the Westside. Their “idyll was somewhat rudely interrupted,” the magazine said, “when one summer the Laughtons went on holiday, leaving the hose running. A large chunk of the sodden garden slid into the ocean, an event Laughton inevitably saw as symbolic. They left the house in 1949.”

CATALINA LITE: You may recall the list published here of the funny things people say about Catalina Island. But have you heard the one about Catalina Blonde beer, which is “as easy and refreshing as a day on the island.”

Whoops--that’s no joke. Budweiser is test-marketing that name for an 86-calorie light beer (Bud Light has 110). Well, I guess Catalina Blonde would have more appeal than a brand inspired by another local offshore body of land. Terminal Island Blonde just wouldn’t sound as glamorous.

SUDDENLY, SHE DIDN’T SEEM SO THIRSTY: Yolanda Finley opened a bottle of juice and found the following bit of unsettling information on the cap: “Rain forests contain 30 million species of insects.”

miscelLAny:

When you’re through with this column, do you throw it away? Shame. Not long ago I printed an item about an amusing typo in a tire ad. That item was later excerpted in the March issue of Tire News. You see--Only in L.A. can be retreaded.

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Steve Harvey can be reached by phone at (213) 237-7083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com and by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053.