All Columns Are Subject to Change. Why? Because I Feel Like It

Ever-vigilant Phil Proctor noted this “very L.A.” disclaimer in the “Rock & Pop” listings of the L.A. Weekly:

“Due to the erratic lives of L.A. musicians and the capricious personalities of booking agents, all of the following bookings are subject to change for no apparent reason.”

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TALK ABOUT A STRONG MARTINI. . . . In Pages magazine, mystery novelist Steve Martini (“The Attorney”) recalled that he once worked downtown at the L.A. Daily Journal near “a place called the Red Dog Saloon.”

Martini said the Red Dog “was a hangout for politicians and columnists,” adding, in a bit of redundancy:

“It was quite a seedy little place.”

One wonders if Martini might have been sensitive about the inevitable jokes that his name would have inspired among the witty denizens of the bar.

In any event, the Red Dog--formally known as the Redwood Second Street Saloon--is now in its 58th year of business (and its second location).

Its greatest claim to fame was its role as the model for the bar in the 1970s TV series “Lou Grant.”

Just as with Grant’s L.A. Tribune, The Times has a telephone extension at the Redwood in case editors need to round up hookey-playing reporters.

OK, they got me once or twice.

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DINING GUIDE FOR THE ADVENTUROUS: Hi, I’m Steve and I’ll be your waiter today (unless my agent calls and says my screenplay has been purchased).

Anyway, may I start you off with some really hot fried bean curd (submitted by Karen Streisand of San Pedro)?

Or, you might try some food that is “severed” in an elegant setting.

George Marques of Orange spotted that delicacy.

Finally, if you’d rather serve yourself, in our annex we have a fine selection of “health foods,” which Sherry Barber of Whittier happened upon (see accompanying photo).

Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES Ext. 77083 (if he’s not at the Redwood), by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053 and at [email protected].