Freeways Driving You Crazy? It’s a Shorter Trip for Some Than Others

Caught up in the usual rush-hour snarl on the Ventura Freeway was a somewhat frazzled-looking Jeep driver with a license plate frame that other Southern California commuters could identify with. The top of the frame said, “5149.” The bottom said: “I’m Almost There.”

Section 5150 of the state Penal Code pertains to individuals with mental problems.

Better keep it out of the Valley in the summer: Russ Leckey of Redondo Beach saw a description of a car that seems to overheat (see accompanying). No wonder it’s “open air,” Leckey pointed out.

Mystery of the day: In a Yokohama shopping center, Sheila Sullivan of Thousand Oaks spotted an international symbol that puzzled her (see photo). Any translators out there?

Let’s not get carried away: Richard Rorex of Gardena noticed a sign that seemed to warn of an offense against the entire city (see photo).

You think you have problems: As I’ve noted before, Laguna Beach police receive some unusual distress calls. The Coastline Pilot told of a resident who “reported that a large hummingbird flew into her home and wouldn’t leave.”

Sorry, I missed how the story came out. But I can imagine the bird making a break for it while several TV news helicopters give chase across Orange County.

Wrong role of a lifetime: The list here of actors who were famously miscast (e.g. John Wayne as Genghis Khan in “The Conqueror”) has been augmented by Jim Crutchfield, who nominated Victor Mature in the title role in “Chief Crazy Horse.” And Tom Ogden added you can’t forget (no matter how hard you try) Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

Speaking of Tinseltown: A couple of set designers visited The Times’ newsroom the other day to soak up the atmosphere for a Superman/Clark Kent-type TV pilot.

It’s always fun trying to figure out what will catch the eye of show biz folk. Years ago, an actress researching a TV role as a star reporter visited here, carrying a notepad. When she left a couple of hours later, a colleague of mine noticed she had written only one thing on the pad: “Big Red Dictionary.”

Hollywood on Spring (cont.): On another occasion, actor Randy Quaid met with me to prepare for his role as a columnist in “The Paper.” When he looked over my messy desk area, the genial Quaid was most impressed with a gray wash tub into which I deposit junk mail. “That’s going to be in the movie,” he promised, and you can imagine my excitement.

Quaid portrayed the columnist as an unkempt, boozing cynic who occasionally fired off a gun in the newsroom, all of which I found flattering.

But to my disappointment, Quaid’s desk was never shown. He was tub-less. Come to think of it, I’m not sure whether the actress in the TV show ever displayed a big red dictionary, either.

MiscelLAny: My 10-year-old son was sick, so I worked at home and we paid a visit to his classroom to pick up his homework. While he waited outside, I heard one of the students murmur to him: “Come inside and get me sick.”

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, 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 steve.harvey@latimes.com.